. ♪ beirut. it's good to be back. ♪ i took a walk through this beautiful world ♪ ♪ felt the cool rain on my shoulder ♪ ♪ found something good in this beautiful world ♪ ♪ i felt the rain getting colder ♪ ♪ sha la la la la sha la la la la la ♪ ♪ sha la la la la sha la la la la la la ♪ ♪ ♪ [ motorcycles revving ] >> anthony: the mediterranean sea itself trembles. the ground shakes beneath the wheels of our heavy metal thunder. back in beirut after all these years. the first time i was here did not end well, but it made no difference to me. i love it here. in spite of everything, i love it here. ♪ >> anthony: nice ride. woo! it's a good way to see beirut. >> ramsay: this is very similar to that place we went to years ago, barbar. this is rizk. this is your, you know, traditional chicken sandwich, shawarma. >> marwah: deep-fried, broasted. >> anthony: the broasted chicken was this guy's idea, my british-lebanese friend. born, "born to be wild" ramsay short, who i met back

. ♪ >>> beirut. my birthmark. what came with you, beirut, bullets before my mother's milk. beirut, you are under my skin, split bit by bit, you melt into sunset on blistered rooftops. it hurts to touch you, beirut. you are a lesson i will never learn. it hurts to love you, beirut. but i still knock at your door at 4:00 a.m. with the neon lights in your neighborhood are dwindling, when the political chants in your square are soothed. i will stay outside your door. i know you will never open for me. beirut, i kissed your cracked sidewalks and slept huddled against your bullet-ridden walls. you and i, it's a love story for the books. ♪ ♪ >> in 1975, civil war broke out in lebanon. beirut, its capital, was split down the middle. the war raged on for 15 years and more than 100,000 people lost their lives. while there's peace now, religious tensions and war next door in syria make it fragile at best. i spent decades covering conflict in this part of the world, but i never had the chance to ask, how do you live and love in a place like beirut? where you never know when the nex

. ♪ >>> beirut. my birthmark. what came with you, beirut, bullets before my mother's milk. beirut, you are under my skin, split bit by bit, you melt into sunset on blistered rooftops. it hurts to touch you, beirut. you are a lesson i will never learn. it hurts to love you, beirut. but i still knock at your door at 4:00 a.m. with the neon lights in your neighborhood are dwindling, when the political chants in your square are soothed. i will stay outside your door. i know you will never open for me. beirut, i kissed your cracked sidewalks and slept huddled against your bullet-ridden walls. you and i, it's a love story for the books. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> in 1975, civil war broke out in lebanon. beirut, its capital, was split down the middle. the war raged on for 15 years and more than 100,000 people lost their lives. while there's peace now, religious tensions and war next door in syria make it fragile at best. i spent decades covering conflict in this part of the world, but i never had the chance to ask, how do you live and love in a place like beirut? where you never know when

i'm david muir in beirut. have a good evening. good night. this deadly tesla crash, elon musk speaks out. >>> a family on vacation who never made it to the bay area last week. >>> we are finding out why this driver ended up in need of rescue from the waters of the pacific. >>> and we are following breaking news from washington d.c. where president trump is about to address the nation any moment right now. >> the president has been promising a decision on whether to attack syria for a chemical weapons attack. we are standing by for a special report. >> just to get you updated on the latest developments regarding this, earlier today, the u.s. ambassadors nikki haley saying the president isn't -- >> she said president trump said from the beginning the united states must have all the information and proof. here now is the president ready to address the . crisis in syria now >> we come on the air because president trump is set to address the nation. as you know, the president has said a military strike could be coming. he has said that earlier in

and james is here in beirut, obviously, with us tonight. we know that chemical weapons inspectors who are here in this city are preparing now to visit that site where the alleged attack took place? >> reporter: that's right, david. they are due to begin their work on saturday, but it's been a full week since that attack took place, and since russian troops have already been in the area, there are real concerns about the kind of evidence they're going to be able to gather. >> and evidence that might have been taken away. james longman with us here tonight. james, thank you. >>> we do move on now, and to that breaking news back home involving former fbi director james comey, who was fired by the president. in his new book about to be published, he reveals what he says played out with president trump before he was fired. their conversations, that private dinner. and the president's demand for loyalty. ing coe comey now comparing the president to a mafia boss. here's abc's chief justice correspondent pierre thomas tonight. >> reporter: in his u

talk to me about "beirut." oh, my gosh. >> "beirut," it's coming out tomorrow. it's a really exciting kind of old school throw-back kind of movie. it's the kind they don't really make anymore. but it's a hard political thriller, takes place in the 70's and 80's in beirut, lebanon, and kind of examines, like, what the geopolitical process and the process was kind of the beginnings of terrorism and how we got to where we are now. how do we solve conflicts without blowing people up. but it was written by tony gilroy, who went on to write "michael clayton" and the "bourne" franchise. he's a very talented writer. he wrote an amazing script about a really challenging and intellectual and exciting place in time. >> jimmy: and rosamund pike. >> ros pike, yeah. >> jimmy: is your costar? did you know her before you did this? >> i have met ros through some mutual friends. she kind of lived in my neighborhood in l.a. for a a little while. >> jimmy: she is super fun. >> amazing and kind of looking at her, you expect this sort of very patrician, english, proper person, and th

. >> good evening tonight from beirut, the region bracing for any possible u.s. military -- strike that could be coming against syria. all of this as the white house trying to stem the fall out from something else. james comey first interview since being fired by the president. the former fbi director describing in stunning and graphic detail the conversations he said he had with the president, the private dinner and the unverified dossier comey said the president was fixated on. tonight what we never heard from james comey before one on one with george stephanopoulos. >> reporter: as you headed into trump tower that day, were you nervous? >> yes. >> reporter: fbi director james comey was with a group of intelligence agency heads briefing the president-elect and his top aides on how the russians interfered in our election. >> president-elect trump's first question was to confirm that it had no impact on the election and then the conversation, to my surprise, moved into a pr conversation about how the trump team would position this and what they could say about th

well the inspectors arrived in beirut last evening today they'll be traveling to damascus and to morrow they will be in to look at least that's what is expected now on the assad regime has invited them to conduct this investigation and this is going to be offered any kind of support that they need but the question here is the russian woods had already on the ground and some of the experts from the western countries fear that they have russians may already cleaned up the chemical attack site where the russian forces have actually been so with the u.p.c. have you really find anything there it's also important here to remember that the u.p.c. w. after last year's last year's attack and it did been the responsibility on assad regime instead of chemical agent was was indeed used but this time around the mandate is limited and they can always check if chemical attacks have been user not that they cannot been any responsibility ok considering this limited mandate on trial how will this investigation be influencing any possible military intervention by the u.s. . well there's a bit of a questio

this crisis would be even tougher to achieve in the near future and charge for our correspondent in beirut thank you. i'm now joined by daily political correspondent melinda crane to discuss this further melinda thank you for joining us the major fear perhaps was that an american led intervention a military intervention what put them in direct conflict with the russian is that right still clear and present no i don't think it is i think it has been substantially mitigated by the fact that this strike was indeed so limited and so targeted and that russia for example showed immediate relief its spokespeople could not get out there quickly enough after the strike to say none of our forces on the ground in syria were damaged in fact the strikes were wide too far apart from any of our installations and similarly us spokespeople very very clear to say we did not look to hit russian targets we did not look to engage with them now we know that russia is very eager to get a summit between vladimir putin and donald trump if you look at the larger picture russia's actions in syria are very much about

rami khouri a senior fellow and professor for public policy at the american university of beirut also a senior fellow at the harvard kennedy school and in a red so in italy via skype is joshua landis director at the center for middle east studies at the university of oklahoma gentlemen thank you for being in on inside story welcome to you all joshua if i can start with you was this military operation enough to achieve what the americans say was their goal to stop bashar assad from using chemical weapons again i believe it will be successful the united states has had a large measure of success in this very narrow. part of the civil war and the use of chlorine gas that slipped under the radar it wasn't included in the original obama you know in two thousand and thirteen they put it in later but assad continued to use it because it killed so few people american over looked at this mistake is now being addressed by president trump i don't believe that assad will. try it again and it but it's not going to affect as all of your you know heads of state said this is not about entering into sy

in washington and child in beirut thank you. human rights group amnesty international says the number of reported judicial executions around the world fell during twenty seventeen the group is warning that the true number of people put to death is unknown since some countries like china treat execution on this as a state secret and many of us carry out executions in full view of the public. in iran responsible for carrying out small then huff of the well it's known executions last year that's according to amnesty international's latest because in dozens of those cases that meant public execution in iran drug trafficking and blasphemy are among those crimes punishable by death. at least five people were executed in iran for acts committed when they were still under eighteen. just four countries were responsible for eighty four percent of all recorded executions last year iran saudi arabia iraq and pakistan but the country suspected of being the world's leading executioner is china. it's thought to have put thousands to death last

that president trump would take the fight to us from a career in beirut do you agree with joshua last year's u.s. strike fail to change fresh al assad's behavior at this time would it be any different when he is chemical weapons again or i agree with joshua that it will send a strong message in a very narrow space for short period of time and you might find four or five months down the road people testing again these red lines i think it's important to remember that it was exactly almost twenty five years ago that the united states bombed a site and sudan that it said was making was potentially chemical weapons site that car that was using it turned out to be a milk factory but in the last twenty five years the car the group has grown to be very big much bigger all over the world than it was then and other groups like it have grown so the lesson is that military strikes alone cannot stop this kind of action or address the underlying dysfunctions that lead to it and this is the challenge the americans have how do you combine and in militarism with serious diplomacy and socio economic a

in washington and child in the beirut thank you. not human rights group amnesty international says the number of reported judicial executions around the world fell during twenty seventeen the group is warning that the true number of people put to death is unknown since some countries like china treat execution numbers as a state secret and many of us carry out executions in full view of the public. in iran responsible for carrying out small than half of the well it's known executions last year that's according to amnesty international's latest because in dozens of those cases that meant public execution in iran drug trafficking and blasphemy are among those crimes punishable by death. at least five people were executed in iran for acts committed when they were still under eighteen. and that. just four countries responsible for eighty four percent of all recorded executions last year iran saudi arabia iraq and pakistan but the country suspected of being the world's leading executioner is china. it's thought to have put thousands to d

in washington and child in beirut thank you. human rights group amnesty international says the number of reported judicial executions around the world fell joining twenty seventy the group is warning that the true number of people put to death is unknown since some countries like china treat execution numbers as a state secret and many of us carry out executions in full view of the public. in iran responsible for carrying out small than half of the well it's known executions last year that's according to amnesty international's latest figures in dozens of those cases that meant public execution in iran drug trafficking and blasphemy are among those crimes punishable by death. at least five people were executed in iran for acts committed when they were still under eighteen. and that. just four countries were responsible for eighty four percent of all recorded executions last year iran saudi arabia iraq and pakistan but the country suspected of being the world's leading executioner is china. it's thought to have put thousands to d

that president trump would take the fight to us from a career in beirut do you agree with joshua last year's u.s. strike failed to change crush al assad's behavior at this time would it be any different twenty use chemical weapons again or i agree with joshua that it will send a strong message in a very narrow space for short period of time and you might find four or five months down the road people testing again this red lines i think it's important to remember that it was exactly almost twenty five years ago that the united states bombed a site and sudan that it said was making was potentially a chemical weapons site that carter was using turned out to be a milk factory but in the last twenty five years the car the group has grown to be very big much bigger all over the world and it was then and other groups like it have grown so the lesson is that military strikes alone cannot stop this kind of action or address the underlying dysfunctions that lead to it and this is the challenge the americans have how do you combine and in militarism with a serious diplomacy and socio economic an

i am live from beirut with our continuing special coverage. president donald trump has hailed the military operations against syria as a success hailing mission accomplished. three chemical sites were targeted with 100 missiles. today in an emergency meeting of the un security council the united states says it was prepared to strike again if necessary. i spoke to the president this morning and he said if they use these weapons against the us is locked and loaded. russia has campaigned this —— content the strikes as blatant disregard for international law. the political solution has been called for. international law. the political solution has been called forli international law. the political solution has been called for. i urge them to avoid anything that could escalate matters and worsen the softening —— suffering of the syrian people. president tusk third condemned what he saw as aggression and said it makes him more determined to fight against his opponents. welcome to beirut and to our continuing special coverage of the overnight

i'm matthew price live in beirut. just a few hours ago, american, british and french missiles hit several different target in sight syria. the targets were outside damascus and in and around the capital of syria. they were all so in and around the city of hommes. three alleged chemical sites were targeted in an overnight operation. the biggest show of force against the men donald trump described as a monster. for british tornadojets for british tornado jets were involved in the operation. theresa may said there was no practicable alternative to the use of force. we judge it highly likely, both that the syrian regime has continued to use chemical weapons since then and will continue to do so. this must be stopped. the russian military says the syrian government forces have shot down more than a dozen of the missiles. russia has warned there will be consequences. we are alive in beirut on bbc news. in the last 12 hours or so, britain, the united states and france have taken part in a joint military operation which has l

in washington and in beirut thank you. human rights group amnesty international says the number of reported judicial executions around the world fell during twenty seventeen the group is warning that the true number of people put to death is unknown since some countries like china treat execution numbers as a state secret and many of us carry out executions in full view of the public. iran responsible for carrying out small than half of the well it's known executions last year that's according to amnesty international's latest because in dozens of those cases that meant public execution in iran drug trafficking and blasphemy are among those crimes punishable by death at least five people were executed in iran acts committed when they were still under eighteen. election. just four countries responsible for eighty four percent of all recorded executions last year iran saudi arabia iraq and pakistan but the country suspected of being the world's leading executioner is china. it's thought to have put thousands to death last ye

in washington and child in the beirut thank you. human rights group amnesty international says the number of reported judicial executions around the world fell during twenty seventeen the group is warning that the true number of people put to death is unknown since some countries like china treat execution of this as a state secret and many of us carry out executions in full view of the public. in iran responsible for carrying out small then huff of the well it's known executions last year that's according to amnesty international's latest figures in dozens of those cases that meant public execution in iran drug trafficking and blasphemy are among those crimes punishable by death. at least five people were executed in iran for acts committed when they were still under eighteen. but. just four countries were responsible for eighty four percent of all recorded executions last year iran saudi arabia iraq and pakistan but the country suspected of being the world's leading executioner is china. it's thought to have put thousands to death

abc's james longman also here in beirut tonight. very tonight, signs russia and syria are bracing for attack. the syrian military taking defensive action, repositioning war planes and moving equipment to protect them from being targeted. russians on the move, too. these satellite images appear to show russian naval ships disappearing from this port in syria. russia today saying they will protect their people on the ground. and tonight, possible evidence in that horrific suspected chemical attack. u.s. officials are aware of a new report from syrian medical activists describing most of the victims symptoms, saying they're consistent with chlorine exposure. some showing symptoms consistent with a nerve agent. an attack russia and syria say never happened. >> let's bring in james longman. and james is here in beirut, obviously, with us tonight. we know that chemical weapons inspectors who are here in this city are preparing now to visit that site where the alleged attack took place? >> reporter: that's right, david. they are due to beg

. ♪ >>> beirut. my birthmark. what came with you, beirut, bullets before my mother's milk. beirut, you are under my skin, split bit by bit, you melt into sunset on blistered rooftops. it hurts to touch you, beirut. you are a lesson i will never learn. it hurts to love you, beirut.

carthon unto us monitoring the story from beirut and joins me from there until russia fears the town of duma is fully in the hands of the syrian government and the russian military police are ensuring law and order is maintained there what are you hearing from the ground. but what i'm hearing from the ground from people who are still in dumas that russian forces are still outside the city they're not inside and the evacuations are still going on nonetheless it's it's a matter of time because soon the flag is flying in certain places in goma and there are rebels did ask for the russian forces to be on the ground and not the regime forces because in a when they ditched trust the russians more than the regime because they fear the regime soldiers will incarcerate them or execute them on the spot having said that this is highly significant of course from a military perspective and we talk about it in a bit but also from the perspective of the chemical attack which is allegedly taken place last week and with the russian balls on the ground the fear is that the chances of an independent in

fares shehabi in beirut today, welcome to hardtalk. you described how syrians came onto the streets of damascus and, indeed, aleppo as well, and you said they were chanting, they were singing, they were feeling victorious. it is hard for me to understand how syrians, in the current context, of all that's happening in your country, can be celebrating and feeling victorious. can you explain that to me? well, the same feeling you had when hitler was bombing you in world war ii, and you were chanting on the streets with all this destruction and aggression, becoming on your head, and you felt victorious, and also, you felt like one country and you kept yourself together in one piece,

france was among the first to modify its schedules for destinations close to syria including parts of beirut in tel aviv the european aviation safety agency has alerted airlines on tuesday urging them to take precautionary measures to white house counsel flights to beirut meanwhile townsend says it has avoided flying over the eastern mediterranean for some time as a precaution and precautionary measure. tensions mount around serious talks in china have suffered of the don't from stress let's bring in standing by at the frankfurt stock exchange danny what's the mood with investors that investors are still a very reluctant and nervous not just in asia where all the major indices were and the red but also here in europe in general during the last weeks i guess we can even say amman's the market was a very volatile and with every geopolitical decision or announcement we usually see the shares here on the trading floor dropping after last night when it was announced by the spokeswoman off donald trump that so far at least that's the official version there are no concrete plans for an air strike o

inspectors entry and tampering with the site but moscow has denied this saying a honda has been latest from beirut. the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons confirming what a u.n. official told us earlier and that is the u.n. security team that entered tomb on tuesday came under small arms fire the o.p.c. w. also confirming that during their visit to one of the sites an explosive device was detonated now there were no injuries but the security team left duma and right now the o.p.c. w. does not know when they can deploy their chemical weapons inspectors to do my the site of that alleged chemical weapons attack the o.p.c. w. saying any deployment will have to follow

correspondent is following the development from beirut in neighboring lebanon and shall start by bringing us up to date on the rubble of accusations from eastern is there now an agreement between the government of the rebel groups in duma well east and kook are essentially has been controlled by three large rebel groups hamas was under the control of turkey back they have already evacuated and want to live like a grandmother was backed by a cop out and they were controlling your bar in one thousand right next to the old city of damascus. struck a deal with the regime and its backers russia have evacuated and some of us who are grandma who were in goma have also evacuated today but the biggest group in dumas which is the largest town in eastern who is josel islam which has these the beginning the back by saudi arabia they have not yet officially said whether it has been struck between them or the regime yet bought assad's state television some artillery and hizbullah's media center has confirmed to journalists now that in fact a deal has been struck with gesture under which the fighters an

correspondent and chavez ora is monitoring events in from beirut in neighboring lebanon and she joins us now for more on child what can you tell us about this alleged chemical attack. but what we've heard from people on the ground is that essential barrel bomb was packed with chemical compounds and it struck an area which is which continues to be under the control of rebels the group is called general islam the number of people killed currently is disputed it could be anywhere from forty to seventy five at the moment the activists on the ground also see that they do not have enough medical personnel on the ground so the number could actually be much higher what we've learned to whitelist is which is a group that is helping those so the for the victims of the war the civilians on the ground of the number of injured could be as high as one thousand images that they have released to some of us journalists are pretty horrifying as you said to torture as decided not to show them but essentially some of the symptoms that you can quite clearly see it in those images sort of would indicate th

i'm matthew price live in beirut. just a few hours ago, american, british and french missiles hit several different target in sight syria. the targets were outside damascus and in and around the capital of syria. they were all so in and around the city of hommes. three alleged chemical sites were targeted in an overnight operation. the biggest show of force against the men donald trump described as a monster.

that brings to an end our live coverage from beirut. that was our correspondent live from beirut. more coming up over the afternoon here on bbc news. now we can take you over to the weather. it felt strange today, actually seeing some spring, warm sunny weather. the sunshine has been extensive today. most of us have been enjoying that. glorious earlier in newquay. this picture does tell the story of the weather, with sunshine across england and wales. there has been more cloud across northern ireland, central and southern scotland and north—east england. but what little cloud that we have seen today will melt away with clear skies. the clear skies will be with us for rest of the night. the exception is the south west with a front moving into cornwall by the end of the night, threatening rain. temperatures around five degrees. colder in the north and east of scotland. on sunday, we see a different day, thanks to this low pressure. you see how the cloud spirals around, that is what we see with old areas of —— low pressure. tomorrow will be a cloudy day with rain developing and

this time i travel to beirut to explore the influence that lebanon's recent wars and religious cross currents have on relationships there. zima is a writer and artist who hosts a monthly story telling night that's lgbt friendly. even in relatively liberal beirut, homosexuality is still criminalized just like around the rest of the arab world. >> be i came back to lebanon, one of my friend's frs said so you're going back to beirut? i said yes i am. she said you're not scared? i said yes i am. she said, but it's okay because then you get to fight the beast from within. >> there are so many surprises as sex and love around the world continue this is saturday at 10:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. >>> that's it for our program tonight. thank you for watching amanpour on pbs. join us again next time. ♪ (female speaker) support for "yoga in practice" is provided by the etv endowment of south carolina. ♪ ♪ >> hi, welcome to "yoga in practice." my name is stacey, and i will be your teacher. close your eyes for a moment and prepare for your practice. in sanskrit, the original language of yoga, t

we will go live to correspondence in washington, london and here in beirut. you also have analysis from a russian expert. first, let us look at the latest developments with this report from paul adams. after week of talking, and ourof bombing. from a french ship in the mediterranean, a salvo of cruise missiles, in all. britain acting as well, tornados taking off from their base in cyprus, also loaded with missiles. a carefully coordinated operation led by the united states. a short time ago i launched precision targets on targets associated with the dictator bashar al—assad. in the early hours of the morning, explosions near to the syrian capital damascus, one of three hit by america and her allies. this is not about intervening in a civil war. it is not about regime change. it is about a limited and targeted strike that does not further escalate tensions in the region, and that does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties. and while this action is specifically about deterring the syrian regime, it will also send a clear signal to anyone else who

well the inspectors arrived in beirut last evening today they'll be travelling to damascus and tomorrow they will be in duma at least that's what is expected now the assad regime has invited them to conduct this investigation and this is going to be offered any kind of support that they need but the question here is that the russian boots are already on the ground and some of the experts from the western countries fear that the russians may already clean up the chemical attack site where the russian forces have actually been so with the u.p.c. have you really find anything there it's also important here to remember that the u.p.c. w. after last year's last year's attacking it live did been the responsibility on assad regime instead of chemical agent was was indeed used but this time around him and it is limited and they can only see a check if chemical attacks have been use or not but they cannot be in any responsibility ok considering this limited mandate on trial how will this investigation be influencing any possible military intervention by the u.s. . well there's a bit of a questio

correspondent is following developments in eastern from beirut in neighboring lebanon and she joins us from there bring us up to date on these rebel evacuations from eastern guta how close is the regime to regaining full control of the region around damascus. well the regime is pretty close the offensive of the regime began in one thousand february and since then hundreds of thousands of people have already evacuated he says he some who thought was a century dominated by three rebel groups durkee back. was controlling how to stop the war ready evacuated file up and around mom's back up out of one point and the abu bakar way to jobar which is five next to the old city of damascus and other areas and i gesture this now which is the dominant group in dumas the largest town of eastern ghouta they have apparently come to a deal according to his blood and according to. state media that they would soon begin evacuations to those still there is a certain silence from josh in the slum and they have officially only admitted that the wounded would be allowed to leave and they haven't said anythin

chorus financial virus monitoring the story from beirut and joins me from there until russia fears the town of duma is fully in the hands of the syrian government and the russian military police are ensuring law and order is maintained there what are you hearing from the ground. but what i'm hearing from the ground from people who are still in dumas that russian forces are still outside the city they're not inside and the evacuations are still going on nonetheless it's it's a matter of time because syrian flag is flying in certain places in goma and there are rebels did ask for the russian forces to be on the ground and not the regime forces because in a weird to us the russians more than the regime because they fear the regime soldiers will incarcerate them or execute them on the spot having said that this is highly significant of course from a military perspective and we talk about it in a bit but also from the perspective of the chemical attack which is allegedly taken place last week and with the russian balls on the ground the fear is that the chances of an independent investigati

who's based in beirut with many contacts in syria and she's monitoring the situation from there it's good to have you with us if the u.s. does indeed strike what are the likely implications both for the country and beyond its borders. well the implications are huge i mean you have u.s. and russia facing off some of the and some already started saying that the perhaps to get a third world war now even though that may be an exaggerated this is but as i said if it's united states and russia is facing off then there is a lot of if you remember last year after the chemical attack in the united states did conduct a limited air strike it was seen more as a face saving exercise by dollar charm but that was limited the russians weren't informed earlier in a sense it could be contained and. this internet evidence was pretty much back in the day but this time the president of the united states says not only that the missiles were becoming but also the smarter than you are which means that it would be tomahawk like the last time something more need turn so it would be a bigger strike that if it

let's talk to correspondent she's following developments in ghouta from beirut in neighboring lebanon hi anshul good to see you bring us up to date on these that rebel of accusations from eastern guta does this mean the syrian regime is now regaining control of the entire region around damascus well it certainly means that though it might take them a little bit longer than expected because there is it's the general slum the army of islam which is the main group controlling the muslims to be divided some members say one that we know office said there is no deal with the government according to the state television to buses with the fighters and their families have actually left and have left for john robbins they're not going to live there will be jobless which is another area in the north of syria so there still is a little bit of confusion because that is the final word from. the dominant vote group but having said that they have admitted to at least this march that the wounded would be evacuated at some point today if we do see a full rebel withdrawal from tomorrow what does this me

correspondent and charm for a is monitoring events in from beirut in neighboring lebanon and she joins us now for more on child what can you tell us about this alleged chemical attack. but what we've heard from people on the ground is that a century of battle of bomb was packed with chemical compounds and it struck an area which is which continues to be under the control of rebels the group is called general islam the number of people killed currently is disputed it could be anywhere from forty to seventy five at the moment the activists on the ground also see that they do not have enough medical personnel on the ground so the number could actually be much higher what we've learned to whitelist is which is a group that is helping those sort of the weak teams of the war the civilians on the ground of the number of injured could be as high as one thousand images that they have at least to some of us journalists are pretty horrifying as you said the doors are less decided not to show them but essentially some of the symptoms that you can't quite clearly see it in those images sort of woul

on the story we're joined now by a correspondent on child maura who's monitoring the situation from beirut in neighboring lebanon so i'm shiloh what's the latest you can tell us about the suspected attack. well what we have heard from syrian american medical society and my talents which are a group of medics and activists working on the ground there yesterday evening of a quarter to eight in the evening barrel containing a chemical agent was dropped in a part of the city and they started receiving a lot of patients and the these patients the street signs like excessive or reforming which led the medics to conclude that they've been attacked with a poisonous gas now all videos that have been shared by these activists and medics on the ground with us of course the images are quite graphic they say that it is likely a chemical agent has been used but that of course cannot be verified verified until and unless you've got a legitimate authority on the ground. all right well the images cannot be verified but just how credible are the claims from the syrian opposition groups should we believe the

well course one of our eyes following developments in kuta from beirut in neighboring lebanon for us good to see you know what else can you tell us about what is being touted as the final evacuation deal for duma. well we still have to be careful with our reporting because this information is coming we syrian state television some are t.v. and they say that the regime in fact has refused to deal with the dominant rebel group which is known as gestural islam and that an exchange of civilians that have been incarcerated by jason islam these. rebels would be let go to italy but the activists on the ground are still not confirming this in fact some of them that i managed to speak to continue to state say that the rebels of some the other group ramón have in fact left dumas but not to general islam and what general islam which i repeat is the dominant group in the long want is to be is to have control is to continue to have control of the duma as promised to them in a stand on stand by russia so that struggle is still on we haven't heard the final word from the dominant rebel group in th

on shore and beirut thank you for the update. to sports now and then friday's bundesliga action relief for hanover as they finally end a five game losing streak against vertebrae men however broke the deadlock when martin harnick flicked the ball at the near post this or more had never made it to the fore half time thanks to fill the crowds. and it was this creative lot that started it all. hanover hold on for a two one and are now nine points clear of the locations. staying with the bundesliga and two struggling clubs face off in the fight to avoid relegation cologne sit in seventeenth place but a win against mines today would bring them within three points of their rivals in sixteenth and cologne had better win if they want to hold on to their first division status but first they'll have to bounce back from a tough loss last weekend. with cologne you just never know when it's over leipzig in labor coups and then a loss of epic proportions six mill in hoffenheim they're not letting it set their confidence though much of the targ

correspond on to monitoring the story from beirut and joins me from there on just russia says the town of duma is fully in the hands of the syrian government and the russian military police are ensuring law and order is maintained there what are you hearing from the ground. well what i'm hearing from the ground from people who are still in dumas that russian forces are still outside the city they're not inside and the evacuations are still going on nonetheless it's it's a matter of time because soon the flag is flying in certain places in goma and there are rebels did ask for the russian forces to be on the ground and not the regime forces because in a with a ditch the russians more than the regime because they fear the regime soldiers will incarcerate them or execute them on the spot having said that this is highly significant of course from a military perspective and we talk about it in a bit but also from the perspective of the chemical attack which is allegedly taken place last week and with the russian rules on the ground the fear is that the chances of an independent investigatio

correspondent and shove ora is monitoring events in from beirut in neighboring lebanon and she joins us now for more on shall what can you tell us about this alleged chemical attack. but what we've heard from people on the ground is that essential barrel bomb was packed with chemical compounds and it struck an area of dumas which is which continues to be under the control of rebels the group is called general islam the number of people killed currently is disputed it could be anywhere from forty to seventy five at the moment the activists on the ground also see that they do not have enough medical personnel on the ground so the number could actually be much higher what we've learned from white homeless is which is a group that is helping those sort of the victims of the war the civilians on the ground of the number of injured could be as high as one thousand images that they have released to some of us journalists here are pretty horrifying as you said the doors are less decided not to show them but essentially some of the symptoms that you can't quite clearly see in those images sor

correspondent is following the developments in go to from beirut in neighboring lebanon and shall start by bringing us up to date on the rubble of accusations from eastern is there now an agreement between the government and all the rebel groups in duma. well east in guk our century has been controlled by three large rebel groups hamas was under the control of turkey backed they have already evacuated and want to live. around mom was backed by qatar and they were controlling your body in one thousand right next to the old city of damascus the struck a deal with the regime and its backers russia have evacuated and some of us who are grandma who were in goma have also evacuated today but the biggest group in dumas which is the largest town in eastern will die is josel islam which has these the beginning the back by saudi arabia they have not yet officially said whether it has been struck with me in them or the regime yet bought assad's state television some martini and his well as media center has confirmed to journalists now that in fact a deal has been struck with gesture under which th

. ♪ >>> beirut. my birthmark. what came with you, beirut, bullets before my mother's milk. beirut, you are under my skin, split bit by bit, you melt into sunset on blistered rooftops. it hurts to touch you, beirut. you are a lesson i will never learn. it hurts to love you,

to evacuate but most have refused to go correspondent on child is monitoring events in ghouta from beirut in neighboring lebanon on shall tell us how significant this government bobbing has been well it's pretty significant in the terms of. thieves that we've for victory in the neighborhood in damascus his neighborhood but there's a huge human cost attached to it according to the u.k. based want to see they're not sufficiently human rights so while forty people have been killed aged then are children. activists on the ground we getting a horrifying radios of families looking for help intense bombing happening the combat on the ground now as in dubai now is happening on the ground so it is significant if you look at it militarily but it is also significant if you look at the human cost attached to it and you see that combat is continuing to happen on the ground and what's the situation on the ground now like for the civilians and the remaining rebels. well the civilians really are caught in the crossfire actually because a lot of them want to leave and the rebels are not letting them belie

on the story we're joined now by correspondent on child maura who is monitoring the situation from beirut in neighboring lebanon so what's the latest you can tell us about the suspected attack. well what we have heard from syrian american medical society and my talents which are a group of medics and activists working on the ground that yesterday evening of a quarter to eight in the evening barack containing a chemical agent was dropped and part of the lost city and they started receiving a lot of patients and the these patients the street signs like excessive or reforming which has led the medics to conclude that they've been attacked with a poisonous gas now all videos that have been shed by these activists and medics on the ground with us of course the images are quite graphic they say that it is likely a chemical agent has been used but that of course cannot be verified verified until and unless you call to illegitimate of quality on the ground. all right well the images cannot be verified but just how credible are the claims from the syrian opposition groups should we believe them. w

i'm matthew price, live in beirut. britain, the us and france have bombed multiple government targets against president assad in syria. three alleged chemical sites were targeted in an overnight operation — the biggest show of force against the man donald trump described as a "monster" i ordered the united states armed forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of syrian dictator bashar al—assad. four british tornado jets were involved in the operation — theresa may said there was "no practicable alternative to the use of force". we cannot allow the use of chemical wepaons to become normalised, either in syria, on the streets of the uk or elsewhere. russia has condemned the strikes as an act of aggression, and called for an urgent meeting of the un security council. hello from beirut. you are watching bbc news. it is about ten hours now since the first missiles started to strike targets in syria. damascus, the capital, is a couple of hours down the road. across

to discuss this further we're joined by for a freelance journalist in beirut what will the inspectors from the o.p.c. w. be doing in syria exactly. well there would be going to dora and there they would be meeting the people who've been affected according to the syrian american medical society which is a group of medics and white helmets which is an anti that are active this group of five hundred people were affected and more than forty were killed so some of them should be there if least we've tried to connect with sam's ourselves and have found only one person who gave a testimony but that's not affected so first they would be essentially collecting urine and blood samples of these people then they would be going into the basement where this attack took place which is that he was seen in trying to get more samples from there and these samples with essentially help them establish if the chemical attack took place a lot but the second discovery that is needed for the obviously the who does not have a mind if war is to pin the blame as to who stockpiles where these chemicals were used

i'm matthew price live in beirut. the headlines at 11. the us and the uk agree "on the need to take action" in syria as the world waits to find out what that action will be. moscow warns the us that launching air strikes in response to the suspected chemical attack could spark a war between the two countries. we're here live in beirut to bring you the latest developments from the region and around the world. i'm annita mcveigh in london with the rest of this morning's stories on newsroom live. protestors gather for alfie evans, the terminally ill boy at the centre of a right to life battle. how much is too much? a major new study says having more than five alcoholic drinks a week could shorten your life. a think tank warns employers are falsely listing jobs as apprenticeships in order to get government subsidies. and divers tom daley and dan goodfellow have won gold for england in the synchronised ten metre platform at the commonwealth games. theresa may and donald trump have vowed that the alleged use of chemical weapons in syria will "n