this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00: syrian government forces attack the provinces of idlib, northern hama, and western aleppo — the last rebel—held areas in the country. translation: aircrafts were bombing that day, at midnight a fighterjet bombed them and killed my son, his wife, his daughter and his son. two years after the grenfell tower fire in west london, the government is to spend £200 million on replacing dangerous cladding on privately—owned high—rise buildings. danny baker, one of the biggest names on bbc radio 5 live, has been sacked after posting a tweet about the royal baby which led to accusations of racism.

the alleged serial rapist joseph mccann, who was arrested in congleton in cheshire following a police manhunt, now faces a total of 21 charges. he looks call and focused. it is hazzard. and it's an all—english europa league final as chelsea and arsenal both win their semi—finals tonight. and at 11:30 we'll be taking another look at the papers with the political commentator giles kenningham and director of centre—left think tank demos, polly mackenzie. good evening. eight years after syria was consumed by a bloody civil war, president assad's army is advancing

in a major offensive, backed by russian air power, on the last big area of the country still held by rebel forces. the fighting has forced around 200 thousand civilians from their homes, leading to warnings of a new humanitarian crisis. government forces are attacking the provinces of idlib northern hama and western aleppo — the rebels‘ last remaining strongholds. a takeover of some areas by islamist fighters has led to the collapse of a recent ceasefire as our middle east correspondent quentin somerville reports. with barrel bombs and strikes, president bashar al—assad is clawing at the edges of cerro‘s last rebel province. this most indiscriminate of weapons has killed dozens in the last week alone, a deadly force has brought

the war back to life. the tactics and terror are horribly familiar. but the options for the three million people in idlib have never been narrower. 0riente hospital was one of many targeted. the sick and injured forced out into the open. four months a deal between russia, the regime, and turkey kept some kind of peace here. but the cracks are beginning to show. this family were asleep in their beds when their home was hit. they found the bodies of the children first. two—year—old khadijah was the only one to survive.

herfather, her sister, and baby brother died alongside their mother. four more lives lost to a war which has killed more than half a million syrians. khadijah‘s grandmother did my grandfather tells us only this girl survived. who else will look after her? we will take care of her. idlib is under the control of islamist extremists, some influenced by al-qaeda. damascus says it will eradicate them all. british jihadists are among their ranks. more than 100,000 people are already on the move. many of them have fled aleppo. now there is nowhere else to go, so they take cover in olive groves

and open fields. and, all the while, the government's offensive continues, the regime is far from done with idlib. quentin somerville, bbc news. we're just we'rejust going to we're just going to bring you some breaking news that has come us at bbc news. it has been reported by a number of newspapers that the comedian freddie starr has died at the age of 76. a number of reports in the papers this evening. you remember him as becoming quite a household name in the 1970s. reportedly found dead at his home in spain. we understand that a post on facebook and twitter pages claiming to belong to him read as "this is very‘s manager, just to confirm that freddie has passed away. rip to our greatest comedian of all time". starting his career in the 1960s as pa rt

starting his career in the 1960s as part of the mid—90s group. really rose to national prominence in the 19705 rose to national prominence in the 1970s after appearing on opportunity not. early reports in a number of papers that the comedian freddie starr has died at his home in spain at the age of 76. more on this as and when we get it on bbc news. two years after the grenfell tower fire, the government is to spend an estimated £200 million on the replacement of dangerous cladding on privately—owned high rise buildings. there had been growing concerns that individual leaseholders would have to pay for the work because some private landlords were not coming up with the money. as our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports, there are questions about whether the taxpayer should be bailing out the private sector. flats in this block in bromley can cost up to £300,000, but it's now a fire risk and that means having someone on duty to raise the alarm if the worst happens.

hugely expensive — so the flat owners do it themselves. we are on waking watch duty, 24—7, and we have been doing this for a year and a half to keep everybody safe. it will take seven minutes for the flames to reach the top. seven minutes for everyone to get out. so this is the escape route for the ninth floor of the building. there's the fire door. and this is flammable cladding. it has got to go. cost is £70,000 per flat. the building owner won't pay so they say the government has to. it's just impossible. the situation has come about because of a failure of government regulation, so it is right the government take responsibility. 166 private buildings need remedial work. some building owners have contributed. sec. james brokenshire. but the housing secretary said some others had been reckless.

first and foremost, this fund is about public safety. it will allow remediation to happen quickly, it will restore peace of mind, and it will allow residents living in these blocks to get on with their lives. but look at the numbers. the government is spending £200 million to make about 170 buildings safe. but here they've been told the bill could be £3.2 million. and at other buildings, i've been told, the bill could be £5 million or even £10 million. today's money is just to sort out aluminium cladding. but the government is about to start new tests similar to this on other materials. if they fail, the bill could go up. which is why, in manchester, katie had this reaction to the news. 0n the one hand, it is a good start, but ultimately i felt gutted. because she has been told her wooden cladding and the construction behind it all needs to be removed. it doesn't include us.

this is essentially a cladding lottery, in terms of what our building has been covered in and we're not one of them. it's going to take months and even years to sort out, which is why, back in bromley, flat owner luke will continue the unpaid waking watch, 2a/7. tom symonds, bbc news. danny baker, one of the best known presenters on radio 5 live, has been sacked after posting a tweet about prince harry and meghan‘s baby which led to accusations of racism. the tweet — which we've decided not to show in full — has a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee and captioned "royal baby leaves hospital". david sillito has the story. ah, bbc...! as the press arrived at danny baker's house this morning, he opened the door to reveal he'd just been sacked. the conversation had not been cordial. i said bleep and bleep. so by mutual agreement,

we terminated. the reason? this tweet. a vintage photograph of a couple, and we are not showing the full image, but between them was a chimpanzee dressed in a coat and a bowler hat and a reference to the royal baby. we take all those arguments on board... danny baker says it was a mistake, he deleted the tweet, and it was not a comment on the duchess of sussex‘s african—american heritage. but many feel it was unforgivable. among them, a fellow presenter on a 5 live podcast. when i saw it, i was shocked, genuinely shocked, disgusted. how someone thought that was acceptable is beyond me. we're going through a day and age at the minute in 2019 that u nfortu nately footballers are dealing with banana skins and bananas getting thrown on the pitches. both my brothers played football, and they had to deal with a lot of fans making monkey noises at them, and that was not that long ago. but still it's happening in 2019. and then for a picture like that to come out from somebody that has quite a lot of status,

it was just beyond me, i was genuinely upset and just let down by it. the bbc said this was a serious error of judgement and goes against their values and danny baker will no longer be presenting his weekly show. however, the presenter says this was a grotesque error, and he claims he had no idea which royal baby it was and who the parents were. i asked him again — did he really not know whose baby it was? no, i genuinely don't! the royal baby, archie, i put one joke up about underneath the arches... that's the thing, i know you have an incredulous look on yourface, you simply wouldn't do that, would you, if somebody of colour had a baby? you wouldn't do that. are you the only person in the country who didn't know that she'd had a baby? plainly, the proof is in the pudding — i would not. and, remember, he is an award—winning broadcaster on a national radio programme. his career at the bbc is over. david sillito, bbc news. police investigating the murder of the journalist lyra mckee

in londonderry have arrested four people under anti—terrorism legislation. the 29—year—old was shot during rioting in the creggan area last month. those arrested are being questioned in custody at a police station in belfast. in a highly unusual move, a criminal hearing involving the alleged serial rapist joseph mccann had to be held at belmarsh top securityjail after he refused to appear in court by video link from prison. joseph mccann is facing 21 counts involving eight alleged victims. as well as rape, the charges include kidnap and false imprisonment. the church of england has been accused of secrecy and of "putting its own reputation above the needs of victims" in a critical report into the way it dealt with the former bishop peter ball, who was convicted of abusing teenagers and young men in 2015. the report also said the actions of the prince of wales, who corresponded with ball after he stood down as bishop of gloucester in 1992,

were "misguided". in written evidence prince charles said he had been "deceived". the partner of the first victim of the london bridge attack in 2017 has told an inquest she had "premonitions about terror attacks" the day he died. the body of xavier thomas was found in the river thames after he was struck by a van driven by one of the three attackers. christine delcro wept as she gave evidence at the old bailey inquest. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford was in court. 0n the night of the attack, christine delcros and her boyfriend xavier thomas, were seen on cctv walking hand in hand on london bridge, heading for a drink in the shard. they'd gone out despite her premonition that something bad might happen. two minutes behind them, this white van, driving at speed. today, christine delcros, still injured herself, gave tearful evidence at xavier's inquest.

even the interpreter wept. she described seeing the van just before it hit them and then coming around on the pavement with a stranger caring for her. she told the coroner... his family have questioned whether the subsequent search of the river was adequate. bbc producer hollyjones was on the bridge when she heard the van revving up and swerving into a group of people. in the witness box, she said... hollyjones told the coroner she got a good look at the driver of the van as it hurtled towards her. his eyes were wide open and he looked angry and demented. he was struggling to control the vehicle as it swerved

on and off the pavement. the court also heard from the coastguard who led the search for xavier thomas on the night, but called it off after almost two hours. daniel sandford, bbc news at the old bailey. the headlines on bbc news: syrian government forces attack the provinces of idlib, northern hama and western aleppo, the last rebel—held areas in the country. two years after the grenfell tower fire in west london, the government is to spend £200 million on replacing dangerous cladding on privately owned high—rise buildings. danny baker, one of the biggest names on bbc radio 5 live, has been sacked after posting a tweet about the royal baby which led to accusations of racism.

the us says it has seized a north korean cargo ship, accusing it of violating international sanctions. it is the first time the us has seized a north korean ship for breaching sanctions, and comes amid worsening relations between the two nations. a meeting between kimjong—un and donald trump ended without agreement in february. north korea has carried out two weapons tests in the space of the past week. the former england football captain david beckham has been banned from driving for six months for using his mobile phone at the wheel. he pleaded guilty to using the device while driving his bentley in central london on 21 november last year and was given six points on his licence, leading to his disqualification, as he already had six points. new ministerial appointments have been announced this evening following the promotion of rory stewart to international development secretary. robert buckland has been made the new minister for prisons

and probation, moving from his former role as solicitor general. lucy frazer, formerly a junior minister at the ministry ofjustice, has replaced mr buckland as solicitor general. jeremy corbyn says the prime minister has yet to make what he called a big offer in cross—party brexit talks aimed at ending the brexit deadlock. the labour leader said negotiations were difficult because the government was in disarray. launching the pa rty‘s european election campaign, mr corbyn said labour was more interested in uniting people than labelling them remainers or leavers. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg has more. brexit is a long and a strange journey. labour in kent today to launch a campaign for european elections that were never meant to happen, trying to impress all of us

with a promise from jeremy corbyn he would compromise to take us out of the eu. applause. a vote for labour is a vote to bring our divided country back together. labour is the only party with a plan to unite our country, and make it work for the many, not the few. calls for another referendum lurk here, though. jeremy corbyn‘s mention of the possibility raised a cheer. cheering and applause. and the chances of talks with the tories working out seem very faint. there's been no big offer, and the red lines remain in place. it's actually quite difficult negotiating with a disintegrating government. can you tell voters if labour is now definitely a brexit party, or could you still be a remain party? we triggered article 50.

that was respecting the referendum, and as you know, our manifesto includes an option of a public vote on the outcome. so labour mps backed brexit in the commons, but might still offer another say. they love him here, but there are nerves about facing so many ways. i'm very disappointed in the kind of half—and—half attitude of the party. he's looking at what's important for the country, not what's important for — within the labour party. he's looking at a wider picture. us remainers lost the vote, and therefore we need tojust — they need to do what they were voted in to do, and get us out of europe. jeremy corbyn says he can pull the whole country together. it shouldn't matter who was leave and who remain. but that question is live and kicking in his own party, and in the country. labour's careful compromise of ifs and buts on brexit might not find many friends, at a time when so many voters are aching for something crystal clear. i think they have no strategy,

they have no way forward, and i think they're just making mischief. get on, go with it, and just work with what we've got, really. i think the labour party is sitting back, feeling, we're glad we're not in the tories' position. what do you think about what is going on? i think it's a fiasco — it's a political fiasco. but whose fiasco? yours to judge at the ballot box in two weeks' time. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, gillingham. the scottish national party also launched its european election campaign today, with an appeal to vote snp to stop brexit. the party leader, nicola sturgeon, accused the conservatives of treating the scottish parliament with contempt. she said the european elections were scotland's chance to make its voice heard, as our correspondent lorna gordon reports. nicola sturgeon‘s core message on the european union has never wavered — scotland is a country

which, she says, lies geographically on the edge of the eu, but wants to remain at its heart. this is by far the most important european election in scotland's history. the party she leads, the snp, would like to see two referendums — another vote on europe, and if the country does leave, another on scottish independence. if people do vote for the snp in the european elections, do you see that as strengthening your case for independence for scotland? people who support independence certainly will want to vote snp to express that view. but my message to the people who don't support independence is, if you don't want to see scotland continually ignored, if you don't want to see our interests disregarded and cast aside, and if you want to see scotland, and indeed the whole of the uk, stay within the european union, then vote snp. nicole sturgeon‘s argument that westminster politicians have ignored scotland's interests

for too long isn't new, but this vote is, she says, a golden opportunity to send a strong, unequivocal message that scotland is not in favour of brexit. so is this likely to whet the appetite of scottish voters? if i want to vote and vote for something like remain, then i could vote for the greens, i could vote kind of for labour, maybe, but then i could also vote for the snp, i could vote for the the change uk party. i don't know. i would like the snp to win the day on that and for scotland to stay in europe. i always thought i wanted to be part of europe, but i'm split now. it's 50-50. they'll be hoping to change his mind with a campaign theme clear to all. lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh. more than £1 billion a year will have to be invested in flood defences in england, and in some cases entire communities will have to move to protect homes and infrastructure from the effects of climate change. that is according to the environment agency, which says more than 5 million people could be affected.

0ur environment analyst roger harrabin explains. floods have wreaked havoc in the uk in recent years. 17,500 properties were flooded and several bridges collapsed in storms desmond and eva. the collapse of tadcaster bridge sent locals on a ten—mile round—trip to get from one side of town to the other. the environment agency forecasts more intense bursts of rain and continuing coastal erosion with climate change. it says currently two—thirds of properties in england are served by infrastructure that is at risk of flooding, and it calculates that, for every home flooded, around 16 more suffer problems with power, transport or telecommunications. we should invest heavily to protect properties, it says. we can't continue to wage a war against water by building ever higherflood defences and barriers. so we are preparing for resilience measures, bringing in a range of different methods for better protecting communities

against flooding and climate change. some whole communities may have to be abandoned to get them out of harm's way, the agency says. meanwhile, house building on flood plains to cope with the uk's growing population will mean that properties built on the flood plain will double over the next 50 years, and that in turn will mean more spending on protection. green groups say the uk should be trying harder to prevent climate change in the first place. we believe resilience is undeniably important, to protect communities up and down the country who are at risk of flooding. but, if the government really wants to protect those communities, we need to tackle the climate crisis at its heart. and to do that, we've got to urgently invest in greener transport, cleaner energy, and doubling the uk's tree cover. but extreme weather looks here to stay, however quickly the uk cuts its own emissions. the government said it was taking flood risks very seriously, and would be seeking evidence

for its own flood policy in the autumn. roger harrabin, bbc news. now to what has been described as the uk's equivalent of the tomb of tutankhamun, discovered between a supermarket and a pub in essex — perhaps not where you'd expect to find an anglo—saxon prince. the burial chamber was found under a roadside near southend—on—sea back in 2003, but its precious contents have now gone on permanent display, as debby tubby reports. this is the mound where prince's burial chamber was found, between a supermarket and the appropriately named saxon king pub. it was only discovered because of 16 years ago. and since then, 50 experts have worked on the projects, and little did they know what was buried beneath their feet. this did they know what was buried beneath theirfeet. this is did they know what was buried beneath their feet. this is a recreation of what the burial

chamber look like. precious items now moved to southend museum had sat untouched for hundreds of years. the latest dating technology has been used to reveal the secrets of the past. this is all that remains of the dead man. these are 20 fragments... liz helped lift the precious items from the ground and headed up the team to analyse them before putting them on display. this is said to be the uk's equivalent of tutankhamen‘s term. is said to be the uk's equivalent of tutankhamen's term. it is full of wonderful things, as carter said when he peered into the term of tutankhamen for the first time, and this burial is full of gold and objects, gilded object, and hoarded luxury goods. so it has that richness, it is very much an elite burial. so who is he? you know, we will probably never know who he is, but someone from the higher echelons of society who can afford these wonderful luxury goods. these gold crosses will have been placed on the man's eyes. this buckle in his ways than those on his feet to help the experts work out he was 58" tall.

all found on the doorstep of southend's museum, where it will now be displayed. it's really exciting. it's such a privilege to work on something like this, it's been a really great opportunity to get this material out to the public. there's so much local pride around this collection within southend, so i think there's going to be a lot of excitement about going to see it. this fading sign is the only thing remains to prove a prince's burial chamber was here. the site has been com pletely chamber was here. the site has been completely excavated, and all the a rtefa cts will completely excavated, and all the artefacts will go on display to the public for the first time from saturday. prince harry has taken time from parenthood today, travelling to the netherlands to talk about the invictus games. he gave a speech to mark the one—year countdown to the games and received some gifts for his newborn, rg, including an invictus games baby outfit. here is

what the prince had to say today's visit has given me a real taste of what competitors and their family and friends can expect next year. i know that once again you will fully get year. i know that once again you willfully get behind year. i know that once again you will fully get behind the service men and women who have represented their country is so bravely, and that everyone watching here and around the world won't want to miss around the world won't want to miss a single moment of these games. make these games your own. we chose you for a reason, and it wasn'tjust because i like the colour orange. thank you all for guarding the invictus spirit, and see you in 2020. and, before we go, a reminder to always check the small print. australia's new $50 note features a quote by the country's first female member of parliament, edith cowan, and an eagle—eyed user spotted the word responsibility had been spelt as "responsibilty". there are 46 million notes since it came into circulation in october last year.

well, the reserve bank of australia has admitted responsibility, and said the error would be fixed in future print runs. it is really difficult sometimes to say something incorrectly. now it's time for the weather, with tomasz schafernaker. hello. well, the weather's been very changeable over the last few days, to psy—tu rvy changeable over the last few days, topsy—turvy shower clouds with thunder and lightning hailstorms as well. the weather is expected to settle down over the next few days, but not properly until next week. so for the time being we are still in this changeable weather pattern. you can see a lot of clouds, notjust across the uk, but into spain, portugal, germany, central europe, scandinavia as well. there's a jetstrea m scandinavia as well. there's a jetstream that is driving these

weather systems here. it's coming straight off the atlantic here. you can see a lot of blue to the north, and to the south, where we get big temperature, and the atmosphere, we get a strong jetstream blowing out of the west due east. for the time being it is pretty unsettled on friday. we still have some showers around. very hit and miss, though, so the majority of the country will have a dry day. still relatively cool for the time of year. temperatures averaging maybe 1a, for 10 degrees, and then towards the end of the day, friday night, we could see more widespread rain moving into south—western parts of england and possibly the southern counties. and then a change starts to take place as we head into saturday, so high—pressure starts to build from around say portugal northwards. it is from the south—west here and slowly pushing away, if you like, that unsettled weather further towards the east and further towards the south—east. so the weather will be improving through saturday and western areas of the uk, and the

re m na nts of western areas of the uk, and the remnants of this unsettled weather, with showers