07/04/2017 BBC News at One


07/04/2017

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The US launches missile strikes on the Syrian airbase believed

:00:00.:00:00.

to have mounted a chemical weapons attack earlier this week.

:00:07.:00:13.

Nearly 60 cruise missiles were fired from two American navy ships

:00:14.:00:16.

in the Mediterranean in the early hours of this morning.

:00:17.:00:25.

Tonight, I call on all civilised nations to join us in seeking to end

:00:26.:00:30.

the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria.

:00:31.:00:32.

As Syrian television shows the aftermath of the attack,

:00:33.:00:34.

Russia says fewer than half the missiles hit their target,

:00:35.:00:36.

The Governement here gives the attack its full support,

:00:37.:00:43.

but Jeremy Corbyn says it risks further escalating

:00:44.:00:45.

We'll have the latest from our correspondents

:00:46.:00:50.

The remaining in tourist injured in the Westminster attacks has died. --

:00:51.:01:04.

by Romain yen tourist. Andreea Christea was

:01:05.:01:05.

on holiday from Romania. She was catapulted into

:01:06.:01:07.

the Thames during the attack. There's a sharp rise in the number

:01:08.:01:09.

being turned away by A And, it's Ladies Day

:01:10.:01:13.

at Aintree on the second day And coming up in the

:01:14.:01:17.

sport on BBC News... Lee Westwood is the leading British

:01:18.:01:24.

player after the opening He is third, five shots off

:01:25.:01:27.

the lead, at Augusta. Good afternoon, and welcome

:01:28.:01:51.

to the BBC News at One. The US has carried out a missile

:01:52.:01:55.

strike on a Syrian air base in response to the chemical weapons

:01:56.:01:58.

attack earlier this It is the first direct US military

:01:59.:02:01.

action against forces commanded The Kremlin, which backs the Assad

:02:02.:02:06.

regime, has condemned the move. The missile strike hit the Shayrat

:02:07.:02:14.

airbase in the west of Syria, north of the capital,

:02:15.:02:17.

Damascus. Six people are thought

:02:18.:02:19.

to have been killed, and the Pentagon says aircraft

:02:20.:02:22.

and buildings were severely damaged. The strike was a direct response

:02:23.:02:25.

to the chemical attack believed to have been carried out

:02:26.:02:28.

by the Syrian regime further north Our first report comes

:02:29.:02:32.

from our correspondent It contains flashing images from the

:02:33.:02:38.

start. It was a decisive response

:02:39.:02:49.

from an administration that has often seemed disorganised

:02:50.:02:51.

and at times dysfunctional. A fusillade of Tomahawk cruise

:02:52.:02:54.

missiles fired from US Navy ships in the Mediterranean,

:02:55.:02:58.

aimed at the Syrian air base from which America says that deadly

:02:59.:03:00.

chemical weapons attack was launched A line-in-the-sand moment

:03:01.:03:03.

for the new Commander-in-Chief. On Tuesday, Syrian dictator Bashar

:03:04.:03:13.

al-Assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack

:03:14.:03:19.

on innocent civilians. Using a deadly nerve agent,

:03:20.:03:25.

Assad choked out the lives These are the heart-breaking images

:03:26.:03:30.

that moved the President to action, prompting in the process

:03:31.:03:40.

a remarkable shift in foreign policy on the part of his

:03:41.:03:43.

fledgling administration. A week ago, White House officials

:03:44.:03:47.

professed little interest in regime change in Syria,

:03:48.:03:49.

but the use of what they now say was the deadly nerve agent sarin

:03:50.:03:53.

on people in the province of Idlib by Bashar al-Assad's forces

:03:54.:03:59.

has changed everything. At least 86 people are thought

:04:00.:04:03.

to have died in the attack, The President's revised stance

:04:04.:04:06.

on Syria is in sharp contrast to the position he took

:04:07.:04:11.

after the chemical As then President Obama

:04:12.:04:13.

contemplated, and subsequently shelved, plans for a retaliatory

:04:14.:04:20.

strike, Mr Trump fired off a string of tweets calling on the US

:04:21.:04:24.

to stay out of Syria. Now, less than three months

:04:25.:04:32.

after taking office, the man who campaigned on a platform

:04:33.:04:35.

of selective engagement in the Middle East finds himself

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embroiled in one of the most complex and intractable conflicts

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the region has ever seen. A conflict Barack Obama spent years

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actively attempting to avoid. So, will there now be more US

:04:47.:04:49.

missile strikes to come? This was the first time the US has

:04:50.:04:57.

taken direct military action The Tomahawk missiles

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caused considerable damage to the airfield in central Syria,

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and several Syrian soldiers are also President Trump said he acted

:05:06.:05:08.

in the national interest to prevent But news of the missile strike has

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overshadowed today's summit with China's President Xi,

:05:19.:05:24.

a meeting at which the two were expected to discuss the growing

:05:25.:05:27.

threat posed by North Korea. President Trump has said that,

:05:28.:05:33.

if necessary, he's prepared to go it But he could find he has his work

:05:34.:05:36.

cut out in Syria, in a quagmire of a conflict which could come

:05:37.:05:42.

to define his presidency Russia has strongly condemned

:05:43.:05:46.

the US missile strikes, describing them as an act

:05:47.:05:55.

of aggression against a sovereign state carried out in violation

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of international law. Our Moscow Correspondent,

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Steve Rosenberg, reports On Russian TV, the first pictures

:06:04.:06:19.

from inside the Syrian air base hit by US cruise missiles. In the

:06:20.:06:25.

distance, one aircraft that is still intact. Russia's military claims the

:06:26.:06:30.

damage he was limited, but Moscow is calling the US strike a gross

:06:31.:06:34.

groundless violation of international more. It is definitely

:06:35.:06:38.

an aggressive act against international law, against a

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sovereign country. And without any true evidence of the Assad regime

:06:42.:06:50.

using chemical weapons. Up until now in Syria, it is Russian military

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power that's been keeping President Assad in power.

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Russia's air force, and the Russian navy, helping Syria's leader turned

:07:00.:07:06.

the tide of the country's six-year long Civil War. And helping Moscow

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boost its role in the Middle East. Today, the Kremlin accused

:07:15.:07:18.

Washington of inventing a pretext for the missile strikes, which

:07:19.:07:21.

Moscow claimed had harmed the fight against terrorism. There is a

:07:22.:07:26.

American Tomahawks may have been targeting the Syrian military, but

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judging by what the Kremlin has been saying, it is US - Russia relations

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that will take a real battering now as a result of the missile strike.

:07:34.:07:37.

The Russians had been hoping that with Donald Trump in the White

:07:38.:07:41.

House, relationships with America would improve. But so far, there's

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been no sign of that. Today, Russia said it was suspending a deal

:07:50.:07:51.

designed to prevent US and Russian warplanes from accidentally clashing

:07:52.:07:55.

in the skies over Syria. As for political dialogue, that will

:07:56.:07:59.

continue. America's Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due in Moscow

:08:00.:08:05.

next week. Up until the US missile strikes in Syria, he could be in for

:08:06.:08:10.

some difficult conversations -- after the missile strikes. Steve

:08:11.:08:11.

Rosenberg, BBC News, Moscow. Here, the Prime Minister has given

:08:12.:08:13.

her full support to the attack. In a moment, we'll speak

:08:14.:08:16.

to our Political Correspondent, But first we can talk

:08:17.:08:18.

to our Washington Jane, is it fair to say that the

:08:19.:08:28.

administration is still very much staying at this stage that this is a

:08:29.:08:33.

one-off? Yes, it is. And there is no signs of any further military action

:08:34.:08:38.

in Syria against the Assad regime. But don't forget that there or

:08:39.:08:41.

American forces on the ground in Syria are already, supporting the

:08:42.:08:47.

push to retake Raqqa from Islamic State. That has always been the

:08:48.:08:51.

focus of the Trump administration, the fight, he says, is against

:08:52.:08:55.

Islamic State not against the Assad regime. Now, there has been a

:08:56.:08:59.

dramatic change in that in that only a few days ago by the administration

:09:00.:09:03.

was saying that Assad could stay. Now they are saying that he needs to

:09:04.:09:09.

go. But this strike is being framed as a one-off, purely as a message to

:09:10.:09:14.

Assad that America will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons. But I

:09:15.:09:22.

think it is also a message to Russia that even were Russian interests are

:09:23.:09:24.

involved, America is not afraid to act. Fiona O'Brien, thank you. --

:09:25.:09:27.

Jayne Bryant. Our Political Correspondent, Eleanor

:09:28.:09:28.

Garnier, is in Downing Street. There was support to that approach

:09:29.:09:35.

from number ten? I think Britain has been at the forefront of the

:09:36.:09:40.

international support for the US strikes in Syria. I spoke to the

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Defence Secretary earlier, he said that he and the Prime Minister had

:09:44.:09:47.

been kept informed brought by the White House and that he had spoken

:09:48.:09:54.

to the US Defence Secretary yesterday to discuss the options

:09:55.:09:57.

available to viewers administration. He said he thought the response by

:09:58.:10:02.

the US was both proportionate, but it was also limited -- to the US

:10:03.:10:07.

administration. He said it was an appropriate response to what he

:10:08.:10:09.

called the barbaric chemical attack in Syria earlier this week. I asked

:10:10.:10:14.

him if the UK support for the US military action was so strong, why

:10:15.:10:16.

was Britain not involve itself? They didn't ask us to get involved

:10:17.:10:29.

or choose a particular option. They decided to take this very limited,

:10:30.:10:33.

appropriate action, attacking the airfield, the aeroplanes and the

:10:34.:10:36.

equipment that they believe were involved in the gas attack with the

:10:37.:10:40.

very specific purpose of trying to deter the regime from future gas

:10:41.:10:44.

attacks on their own people, including civilians. That is the

:10:45.:10:48.

view of the Defence Secretary. It would appear this lunchtime there is

:10:49.:10:51.

not unified response from the opposition? That's right. The

:10:52.:10:58.

strikes have polarised political opinion here, with the Labour leader

:10:59.:11:02.

Jeremy Corbyn criticising the Trump ministration, saying the actions

:11:03.:11:06.

could in fact make the situation in Syria even worse -- the Trump

:11:07.:11:10.

administration. I think it is the wrong time to do it. I think they

:11:11.:11:14.

should have been in consultation with the UN before anything

:11:15.:11:19.

happened, but it just happened. Let's now have a rapid ceasefire and

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return to the negotiating table in Geneva. Millions of people have been

:11:24.:11:31.

forced into exile, tens of thousands have died in this conflict, weapons

:11:32.:11:34.

are pouring into the region and it's getting worse. There has to be a

:11:35.:11:36.

political solution. I should doubt that Jeremy Corbyn's stance is that

:11:37.:11:40.

direct odds with the deputy leader of the Labour Party -- I should add.

:11:41.:11:44.

Tom Watson believes the US strikes were a proportionate response to the

:11:45.:11:49.

chemical attacks. The Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has urged the UK

:11:50.:11:53.

Government to consider further military action. The Defence

:11:54.:11:56.

Secretary has said that this stage it doesn't look like that is going

:11:57.:11:59.

to happen. If there were an appetite for it, the Government would go to

:12:00.:12:03.

Parliament, it would go to the Commons to ask MPs to vote on

:12:04.:12:11.

further military action. And I think it would only do that if it knew

:12:12.:12:14.

that it could win the vote. Eleanor Garnier, thank you.

:12:15.:12:16.

Our Security Correspondent, Frank Gardner, is with me is now.

:12:17.:12:19.

Do you think there is any sense in which the Assad regime. To consider

:12:20.:12:26.

that chemical attack and on goal, essentially? I think it will

:12:27.:12:29.

certainly think twice before doing it again. It got away, according to

:12:30.:12:34.

chemical experts, with three chlorine strikes on civilian areas

:12:35.:12:36.

last year with no action. And remember that there was no action,

:12:37.:12:42.

punitive action, after the 2013 chemical strike, the sarin gas

:12:43.:12:46.

attack on the outskirts of Damascus. So clearly President Assad is

:12:47.:12:49.

determined to reclaim the Hall of Syria. And he wants to punish those

:12:50.:12:58.

areas outside his control, and basically drive them back into the

:12:59.:13:01.

Syrian government or by -- the whole of Syria. This was an extraordinary

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on goal really. There is a similarity here with the so-called

:13:04.:13:05.

Islamic State. Back in 2014 they were carrying out atrocities and

:13:06.:13:09.

nobody was really paying any attention. Then they went and

:13:10.:13:13.

captured that Yazidi people, the sex slaves and Western hostages and

:13:14.:13:17.

beheaded them on camera, that brought the West into the war, it

:13:18.:13:20.

was an own goal. Now they are using... Abusing Mosul and they will

:13:21.:13:27.

lose Raqqa. There is a similarity -- now they are losing Mosul. Assuming

:13:28.:13:31.

President Assad did this chemical strike, he will think very carefully

:13:32.:13:35.

before doing any more. It is a deterrent. Thank you, Frank Gardner.

:13:36.:13:37.

And we'll have more on this story later in the programme.

:13:38.:13:40.

But you can also get more online at bbc.co.uk/news.

:13:41.:13:51.

Now we will take a look at the rest of the day's news.

:13:52.:13:54.

The Romanian tourist who was knocked into the River Thames

:13:55.:13:57.

during the Westminster attack two weeks ago has died.

:13:58.:13:59.

Andreea Cristea, who was 31, had been visiting London

:14:00.:14:01.

Her death brings the number of people killed to five.

:14:02.:14:04.

Andreea Cristea was much loved. She had come to London with her

:14:05.:14:21.

boyfriend, Andrei Burnaz, when they became victims of the terrorist

:14:22.:14:22.

attack on parliament. On a spring day two weeks ago,

:14:23.:14:26.

the couple had been strolling along Westminster Bridge

:14:27.:14:29.

when Khalid Masood deliberately Ms Cristea fell into

:14:30.:14:31.

the River Thames, Despite intense efforts

:14:32.:14:37.

by medical teams, yesterday it was decided her life-support

:14:38.:14:40.

machine should be switched off. Today, her family

:14:41.:14:44.

made this statement. Last week, hundreds walked

:14:45.:15:07.

across Westminster Bridge to pay Among them was Miss Cristea's

:15:08.:15:09.

partner, Andrei Bernaz, whose foot was broken

:15:10.:15:15.

during the assault. It'a emerged he had intended

:15:16.:15:23.

to propose to her that evening. They were coming to London

:15:24.:15:26.

to celebrate their birthday. The floral tributes

:15:27.:15:28.

at Westminster Bridge to the four people who lost their lives

:15:29.:15:36.

there continue to grow. Ms Cristea's family say

:15:37.:15:40.

the thousands of pounds raised by the public for her care will now

:15:41.:15:42.

be donated to charity. Hospitals in England were forced

:15:43.:15:45.

to turn away ambulances almost twice as often this winter

:15:46.:15:55.

than in the previous three years. The Nuffield Trust says its analysis

:15:56.:15:59.

shows ambulance services are facing even more pressure

:16:00.:16:02.

than NHS hospitals. Our Health Correspondent,

:16:03.:16:06.

Jane Dreaper, has the details. A grieving brother. Sam has suffered

:16:07.:16:20.

from an Ambulance Service under strange. His brother died in

:16:21.:16:23.

December after a six-hour wait and he feels he's had to battle to get

:16:24.:16:28.

answers. We believe the ambulance arriving late, very late, had a

:16:29.:16:34.

direct result, so it's absolutely devastating and I'm not sure that

:16:35.:16:42.

myself and other members of the family really quite believe what's

:16:43.:16:47.

happened. It's like a really bad dream. Emergency services are under

:16:48.:16:51.

increasing pressure, with ambulances sometimes being sent to hospitals

:16:52.:16:56.

further away as a temporary measure. Today's report shows hospitals are

:16:57.:17:01.

diverging ambulances more often. During the three winters beginning

:17:02.:17:05.

in 2013, this happened on average 249 times. But in the most recent

:17:06.:17:09.

winter, the number of diverts jumped, to almost 500. You may say

:17:10.:17:15.

that's not a big number for stopping the tip of the iceberg. They have

:17:16.:17:19.

doubled. They reveal a service under tremendous pressure. There will be

:17:20.:17:25.

500 diverts, but many more A departments working right at the

:17:26.:17:30.

limit that they could have diverted. Ambulance trusts in England are

:17:31.:17:34.

missing their expected response times and paramedics say being found

:17:35.:17:40.

elsewhere doesn't help anyone. -- being sent elsewhere. The report

:17:41.:17:45.

says morale is low amongst ambulance staff. NHS England believes too many

:17:46.:17:50.

ambulances are being dispatched to simply try to hit targets and it's

:17:51.:17:54.

reviewing the system. Jane Dreaper, BBC News.

:17:55.:17:59.

Lloyds banking group is to set aside ?100 million to compensate customers

:18:00.:18:02.

who were victims of a large fraud at its subsidiary, HBOS.

:18:03.:18:04.

Six people, including two former HBOS employees,

:18:05.:18:06.

were jailed earlier this year for their part in the scheme.

:18:07.:18:09.

The Financial Conduct Authority is resuming its investigation

:18:10.:18:11.

into the fraud, which was put on hold because of

:18:12.:18:13.

A man who was spared prison sentence for domestic violence after telling

:18:14.:18:25.

the court he would lose an offer to play professional cricket has now

:18:26.:18:28.

been jailed, after the judge reviewed his sentence. It emerged

:18:29.:18:32.

after the original hearing that Mustafa Bashir had not been made an

:18:33.:18:36.

offer, as he'd claimed, by Leicestershire County Cricket Club.

:18:37.:18:40.

Judith Moritz is outside Manchester Crown Court. There was a huge

:18:41.:18:44.

reaction after that original sentence for stuff explain what's

:18:45.:18:50.

happened now. What's happened today is that most Bashir was led down to

:18:51.:18:56.

the cells to begin serving his prison sentence immediately. Last

:18:57.:18:59.

month, when he was brought before this court, he was given an 18 month

:19:00.:19:05.

suspended sentence. But today, the Judge Richard Mansell QC told him he

:19:06.:19:09.

was altering that sentence, because he had been fundamentally misled by

:19:10.:19:15.

Mustapha Bashir. He had pleaded guilty previously to assaulting his

:19:16.:19:20.

wife, to forcing her to drink police bleach and hitting her with a

:19:21.:19:24.

cricket bat but when he was being sentenced his original defence team

:19:25.:19:27.

told the court that if he was allowed to keep his liberty, that

:19:28.:19:31.

he'd be employed as a professional by Leicestershire County Cricket

:19:32.:19:34.

Club. On hearing that, the club denied it, contacted the proud

:19:35.:19:41.

prosecution service and the judge brought the man back in front of the

:19:42.:19:45.

court today to have his sentence reviewed. We were told in court that

:19:46.:19:49.

Mustapha Bashir had played cricket at local league level but never had

:19:50.:19:55.

the offer of a professional contract. He said there had been a

:19:56.:19:58.

series of misunderstandings but he had not intended to mislead the

:19:59.:20:01.

court. The judge dismissed that and said he had misled them. The judge

:20:02.:20:06.

addressed criticism that had been made about comments he'd previously

:20:07.:20:10.

made to do with the vulnerability of the Victor Minnis case for stopping

:20:11.:20:14.

been reported as saying siege hadn't been particularly vulnerable. Today,

:20:15.:20:17.

he said he'd been sticking to guidelines issued by the court do

:20:18.:20:24.

with victims' vulnerability, and she should be considered a vulnerable

:20:25.:20:25.

victim. The US launches missile strikes

:20:26.:20:32.

on the Syrian airbase believed to have mounted the chemical attack

:20:33.:20:36.

earlier this week. President Trump said

:20:37.:20:38.

it was in the interests Reaching new heights, the coastal

:20:39.:20:51.

rope bridge that is so popular timed entry has been brought in to deal

:20:52.:20:53.

with the crowds. Coming up in sport at 1:30pm: Unsafe

:20:54.:20:56.

conditions force second practice to be abandoned ahead

:20:57.:20:59.

of the Chinese Grand Prix - leaving the drivers to find other

:21:00.:21:02.

ways of keeping the crowds Refuges and shelters in England

:21:03.:21:04.

are now turning away more women and their children

:21:05.:21:16.

than they accommodate. That's according to the domestic

:21:17.:21:18.

violence charity, Women's Aid - which says a lack of funding

:21:19.:21:20.

is putting lives at risk. Our home affairs correspondent

:21:21.:21:22.

June Kelly has been talking to women These children in an art

:21:23.:21:25.

class are the victims They may not have been physically

:21:26.:21:33.

hurt, but they have witnessed And they fled with their mums

:21:34.:21:39.

to this refuge in Surrey. Clare arrived here last

:21:40.:21:45.

year with her young son. We left with one

:21:46.:21:48.

carrier bag, literally. I had five minutes

:21:49.:21:51.

to grab what we could. All my belongings, my child's

:21:52.:21:55.

toys, just left behind. I came here and, basically,

:21:56.:21:57.

I broke down and cried and cried. Although her partner didn't

:21:58.:22:03.

harm her physically, he subjected her to years of mental

:22:04.:22:06.

torment, what is known I used to say, "I'll lock

:22:07.:22:08.

you out," and he'd say, The Government has a strategy

:22:09.:22:17.

for tackling violence And it says it's earmarked

:22:18.:22:24.

at least ?40 million But those who work on the frontline

:22:25.:22:29.

say there needs to be The Government is putting

:22:30.:22:33.

money in at the moment, which we're very grateful for,

:22:34.:22:39.

but it's a very short-term approach. What we need is a longer-term

:22:40.:22:42.

approach, and a longer term investment with a long-term

:22:43.:22:45.

strategy, so that refuges can If that doesn't happen, refuges

:22:46.:22:47.

will close and more women will die. Clare is now preparing to move out

:22:48.:22:53.

of the refuge, into a new home. This refuge, run by the charity

:22:54.:22:59.

Women's Aid, is so short on space that this office will soon be

:23:00.:23:02.

converted into an extra bedroom. Staff will then have to work

:23:03.:23:05.

from a shed in the garden. One in six specialist refuges

:23:06.:23:09.

in England have closed since 2010 because of a shortage of money,

:23:10.:23:12.

according to domestic And they're warning that around

:23:13.:23:16.

the country, the future of many At the refuge in Surrey,

:23:17.:23:24.

new arrivals are provided with the basics for mums

:23:25.:23:49.

and children, as they But for all the women and children

:23:50.:23:53.

they give a home to, there are many more that they have

:23:54.:23:57.

to turn away. Brexit poses an unprecedented threat

:23:58.:23:59.

to the environment - that was the warning

:24:00.:24:08.

from the Green Party, as it launched its local election

:24:09.:24:10.

campaign Speaking in Worcester, the party's co-leader

:24:11.:24:13.

Jonathan Bartley said the UK's withdrawal from the European Union

:24:14.:24:16.

puts 40 years of environmental Timed tickets are being introduced

:24:17.:24:18.

at Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, to try to deal with the crowds

:24:19.:24:28.

at the coastal attraction Its popularity has been boosted

:24:29.:24:30.

in recent years by its link Yes, there's been a huge growth of

:24:31.:24:50.

visitor numbers here to Northern Ireland's northern coast and part of

:24:51.:24:55.

that is due to Game of Thrones, which builds around here. There's a

:24:56.:24:58.

tour on now. This bouncy rope bridge is something a lot of people come to

:24:59.:25:02.

see. However, the National Trust has taken the decision to put in place a

:25:03.:25:08.

strict time limit. This lot will have 16 minutes to cross to the

:25:09.:25:11.

island, because of the sheer pressure of numbers. The National

:25:12.:25:14.

Trust says that's important to protect both people and the

:25:15.:25:16.

spectacular environment. Each year, 100s of thousands of

:25:17.:25:24.

people test their nose by crossing high above the rocks to the tiny

:25:25.:25:33.

island of Carrick-a-Rede. This rope bridge hangs many metres over the

:25:34.:25:36.

sea but it's only 18 inches wide and just eight people are allowed across

:25:37.:25:44.

it at any one time. But there is such a demand from visitors that the

:25:45.:25:48.

National Trust have put in place a strict time limit. It's to ensure

:25:49.:25:55.

people have a safe visit and time to access the site. We welcome 425,000

:25:56.:26:00.

people here last year. NEWSREEL: Isner 90 feet to the land

:26:01.:26:11.

below. It was built in the 1700s by salmon fisherman. It's long been one

:26:12.:26:16.

of Northern Ireland's most tour popular tourist attractions. It's

:26:17.:26:20.

gradually been made safer and sturdier over the centuries,

:26:21.:26:23.

although it still sways in the wind and many choose not to look down. If

:26:24.:26:30.

someone is walking behind you, it feels terrifying. Very, very

:26:31.:26:39.

beautiful. Magic. The Giant's Causeway, which sits nearby, also

:26:40.:26:43.

attracts many visitors. There are some people concerned about

:26:44.:26:47.

protecting the natural beauty along Northern Ireland's rugged north

:26:48.:26:51.

coast. But they also want to ensure tourists get a chance to see as much

:26:52.:26:57.

as possible, even if here at Carrick-a-Rede that will now be

:26:58.:27:01.

against the clock. Chris Buckler, BBC News at the Carrick-a-Rede rope

:27:02.:27:02.

bridge. It's Ladies Day at Aintree,

:27:03.:27:07.

on the second day of And thoughts are also

:27:08.:27:10.

turning to the world's most famous steeplechase

:27:11.:27:13.

which takes place tomorrow. Top female jockey Katie Walsh

:27:14.:27:14.

says she will be fit to ride in tomorrow's race

:27:15.:27:17.

despite injuring her arm Our correspondent Andy

:27:18.:27:19.

Swiss is at Aintree. Hello, yes, welcome to Aintree,

:27:20.:27:34.

where, as you say, Ladies Day is very much in full swing. Around

:27:35.:27:41.

50,000 fans here already soaking up the atmosphere. If today is the

:27:42.:27:45.

social highlight, tomorrow is very much a sporting highlight. It's the

:27:46.:27:49.

Grand National, and as usual, it's wide open.

:27:50.:27:53.

Welcome to Aintree's annual fashion stakes - Ladies Day.

:27:54.:27:55.

The glitzy warm up, ahead of tomorrow's main event.

:27:56.:27:57.

And this year it's something of an anniversary National -

:27:58.:28:00.

exactly 40 years since a legend completed a memorable hat-trick.

:28:01.:28:07.

COMMENTATOR: Red Rum wins the National.

:28:08.:28:12.

Appropriately enough, this year's favourite is another

:28:13.:28:15.

red - Definitely Red - trained in Yorkshire,

:28:16.:28:17.

The pressure is always there, whether you are running

:28:18.:28:23.

It's great, we've got one of the favourites

:28:24.:28:28.

so all we want to do is get him there and in the race

:28:29.:28:31.

Well, the challenge of the National is like nothing else.

:28:32.:28:37.

These huge fences make it one of sport's most unpredictable events

:28:38.:28:41.

and as history has proved anything can happen.

:28:42.:28:45.

It's exactly this 50 years from this melee,

:28:46.:28:52.

from which remarkably all emerged unscathed, allowed a 100-1

:28:53.:28:55.

outsider to romp to victory and half a century on,

:28:56.:28:59.

the National's surprise factor is as great as ever.

:29:00.:29:03.

It's the biggest horse race over jumps for sure in the world

:29:04.:29:07.

and the biggest test for any horse, and for a jockey it's one

:29:08.:29:10.

of the best thrills in the world to have a good ride round there.

:29:11.:29:14.

I've been lucky enough to finish second twice, but there's

:29:15.:29:16.

So while for the fans it might be all for fun, for the riders,

:29:17.:29:21.

racing's sternest test is now within their sights.

:29:22.:29:26.

Let's return to the news that the US has carried out a missile strike

:29:27.:29:36.

on a Syrian air base, in response to the chemical

:29:37.:29:39.

weapons attack earlier this week in Idlib province.

:29:40.:29:45.

Our Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, is with me now.

:29:46.:29:51.

Might thoughts turn to regime change as a result of this? Just before the

:29:52.:29:58.

attack the US Secretary of State said Assad has no part in the future

:29:59.:30:01.

of Syria. That's been said loads of times before. But when it said in

:30:02.:30:07.

conjunction with an attack on the regime, crossing a self-imposed red

:30:08.:30:12.

line on the US Administration, then that I think means that it will be

:30:13.:30:17.

taken much more seriously. But how would they actually make that

:30:18.:30:20.

happen? When he says it has no future, I think they've still been

:30:21.:30:23.

talking about some sort of political deal that excludes him full stop not

:30:24.:30:27.

active Saddam Hussein style regime change, which is a much bigger

:30:28.:30:31.

event. But I think the big question now is will the Americans do

:30:32.:30:34.

something else? They've been indicating this is job done. But if

:30:35.:30:39.

they have any other plans, certainly at the very least is what they've

:30:40.:30:42.

done is inject a big note of uncertainty into the regime, which

:30:43.:30:47.

seemed to have been riding high. Although the regime in Damascus

:30:48.:30:50.

absolutely denies it had anything to do with a chemical attack and blames

:30:51.:30:54.

the rebels. Thanks very much, Jeremy Bowen.

:30:55.:30:57.

Time for a look at the weather, with Tomasz Schafernaker.

:30:58.:31:05.

It's good news as far as the weather goes this weekend. The temperatures

:31:06.:31:12.

are going to be rising. We could get temperatures as high as 23 LCS in

:31:13.:31:16.

some spots. Not for everybody, but warm enough. The warmth, as

:31:17.:31:22.

predicted, will be coming in from the south, from Spain, from France.

:31:23.:31:26.

The temperatures that will happen in London on Sunday could be as high as

:31:27.:31:32.

Paris and even Madrid. Some pleasant warm weather on the dot way. The

:31:33.:31:37.

pollen level has been high and will remain high in England and Wales for

:31:38.:31:42.

a couple more days at least yet. Stating the obvious, we are not used

:31:43.:31:46.

to that strong spring sunshine just yet, so if you are heading off to

:31:47.:31:50.

the beach where the temperature may be 13-14, you will burn. All this

:31:51.:31:53.

talk about sunshine, there's certainly a lack of it across a

:31:54.:31:57.

number of parts of the country in the last couple of days. Suddenly

:31:58.:32:01.

Northern Ireland, the north-west of England, North Wales and West of

:32:02.:32:05.

Scotland. It's been cloudy, the clouds have been stuck on this very

:32:06.:32:09.

sluggish area of high pressure. Here I think it will be fairly cool

:32:10.:32:12.

today. Temperatures of 12 Celsius, the best of the weather by far

:32:13.:32:15.

across some southern and eastern areas of the UK. Very little change

:32:16.:32:20.

on the way tonight, like last night it will be chilly this coming night.

:32:21.:32:25.

In towns and cities, probably around 6-7. In rural spots, maybe 2-3 above

:32:26.:32:30.

freezing. Saturday dawns on a beautiful note. We are exciting

:32:31.:32:35.

about it. A stunning sunny day. Earlier today, 12-macro people said

:32:36.:32:39.

wherever I touch the map, the sun comes out! I'm going to touch the

:32:40.:32:43.

map pretty much everywhere across the country, hear, hear, hear, are

:32:44.:32:49.

really beautiful day! Adventures into the 20s across parts of

:32:50.:32:52.

Yorkshire, nudging into the north-east, maybe 18-19 across

:32:53.:32:56.

southern Scotland. I'm not going to reach the far north-west of Scotland

:32:57.:33:00.

for our friends in Stornoway, Kirkwall and Lerwick, it looks like

:33:01.:33:03.

it will be cloudy with spots of drizzle. Great for the Grand

:33:04.:33:08.

National. Ladies Day was a little cloudy. The sun will come out.

:33:09.:33:12.

Sunday, while it will be the warmest day for England and Wales, things

:33:13.:33:16.

are going to go downhill across north-western areas. Much fresher

:33:17.:33:20.

across Scotland and Northern Ireland eventually. In England, temperatures

:33:21.:33:25.

could get up to 23 Celsius. It's going to end on a sour note as we

:33:26.:33:30.

head into Monday. Not that sour, but temperatures are going to lower and

:33:31.:33:33.

we will see a little bit more cloud. But the weekend is looking good.

:33:34.:33:39.

A reminder of our main story this lunchtime.

:33:40.:33:44.

The US has launched missile strikes on the Syrian air base believed to

:33:45.:33:49.

have mounted the chemical attack earlier this week.

:33:50.:33:55.

On BBC One we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.

:33:56.:33:57.

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