campaign. us intelligence agencies believe russia tried to help mr trump win in november by damaging hillary clinton's campaign. in his opening remarks, the vice—chairman of the committee mark warner, accused president putin of deliberate interference. russia's president vladimir putin ordered a deliberate campaign carefully constructed to undermine oui’ carefully constructed to undermine our election, first, russia struck at our political institution, by electronically breaking into the headquarters of one of our political parties and stealing vastment as of information. russian operatives also hacked e—mails, to steal personal m essa 9 es hacked e—mails, to steal personal messages and other information from individuals relating from clinton campaign manager to former secretary of state colin powell. this stolen information was then weaponised. this stolen information was then weaponised. meanwhile, in the white house, it has been confirmed that ivanka trump, the eldest daughter of the president will be officially joining his administration as an unpaid employee with the tit

... russia echoes president trump in describing the calls forjeff sessions to resign as a witchhunt. first the plates slid gently off the tables. then the tables crashed downwards. then the ferry lurched onto its side. the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarf that of a bomb dropped on hiroshima. the constitutional rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the us and they should be protected even in the right to test them out so they don't get their heads broken and sent to hospital. this willjust construe controversy, i know you don't want to talk about it, but don't you worry about it boiling up?” to talk about it, but don't you worry about it boiling up? i think anything will be all right in the end. welcome to bbc world news today. our latest headlines... as the battle for mosul continues thousands of civilians escape as iraqi coalition forces try to defeat so—called islamic state. and results are coming in as the first members of the northern ireland assembly are elected. it seems the dup and sinn fein will remain the largest parties

. my name's lebo diseko. our top stories: russia tried to hijack the us election through "propaganda on steroids," says a democratic senator investigating alleged kremlin political meddling. russia's president vladimir putin ordrered a deliberate campaign carefully constructed to undermine our election. behind bars — the former president of south korea is arrested over a corruption scandal that cost park guen—hye herjob. we return to homs, with the syrian conflict in its seventh year, to meet some of the city's children. and blast—off for space x, as the company makes history by sending a used rocket back into space. russia tried to hijack the us election through "propaganda on steroids," the startling words of a senior democrat who's on the senate intelligence committee, as it began investigating alleged russian interference in last year's us election. our correspondent in washington is laura bicker. she has all latest for us now. just a little bit of breaking news that i can tell you, that there have been reports that general michael flynn, now, he was one of donald trump's c

flynn might reveal if he speaks about russia. he believes he should speak and to adhere to do to get the story out. as guidelines introduced for european union's brexit strategy, it warns the uk of tough times ahead. and who is coming out of the tardis? doctor who being taken ina out of the tardis? doctor who being taken in a different direction. hello and welcome. but as well‘s president nicolas maduro says he will resolve within hours the controversy will resolve within hours the c0 ntrove i’sy over will resolve within hours the controversy over the supreme court's assumption of the opposition led legislative functions. the court decision has sparked widespread protests a nd decision has sparked widespread protests and condemnation. earlier, a senior aide of the venezuelan president had broken ranks with him to condemned the decision. louise ortega described the ruling as a violation of constitutional order. those rulings show evidence of various violations of the constitutional order and ignorance of the state model established in oui’ of the state model established in our c

of the people who live here are happy to be in russia. but not everyone is. and from the greatest show on earth — to a ghost town. six months after the rio olympics, the organisers tell wyre davies they were a missed opportunity. i feel that olympic games in brazil was not so successful, because legacy was not the number one. you might not think football was syria's biggest priority at the moment, but you would be surprised to hear the country still has a national football team, and it's competing for a place in next year's world cup. with the country at war, they can't play on home soil, but the national team is still giving many syrians a reason to come together. they played their first qualifying match against uzbekistan on thursday, and richard conway joined them as they trained for the game in malaysia. they are the nomads of world football. but syria's players are making friends on their travels. with their country at war, they must play home games on neutral ground. here in malaysia, the players are preparing for the most important fixture in their history, while back in

election campaign and russia, but us officials say moscow did try to influence the result. brazil insists its meat is safe, but revelations about sales of rotten produce could hit its massive export market. move over angela merkel. can martin schulz become germany's next chancellor? and a class act. we meet the canadian who's scooped the $1 million global teacher prize. hello. good to have you with us. one month on from the renewed offensive to finally re—take iraq's second city from so—called islamic state, we have a special report on the plight of the civilians of mosul. many thousands have fled the fighting, but the 500,000 people still there are facing a new battle to survive. our middle east correspondent first hand from the edge of al mansur district of western mosul. in the clamour for help, many go empty—handed. gunfire the gunfire from iraqi soldiers trying to control the crowd at an aid distribution. gunfire survivors of the caliphate, now at risk from hunger. troops not keen for the chaos to be caught on camera. in the distanc% but those who flee the fighting here end up

world cup in russia next year. but at 3a, should england get there, what chance of the striker making the squad? nick parrot reports. after more than three years indians national wilderness, jermain defoe return to wembley. at 3a some might have given up representing their country have given up representing their cou ntry after have given up representing their country after being left out of the last world cup. it tookjermain defoe just 2a minutes to show he has still got what it takes. the goal for england four years and four days since his last in a three line shirt. it is a great moment for him, he has been thrilled to be in the squad, he is a good professionalism around the squad, it is great for some of the younger players to see and his finishing in training. today which we expected really, i would have bet the house on him scoring at some stage today. i think he has had a ready positive impact. defoe's cole keatts england on course for the world cup in russia and raises the world cup in russia and raises the hopes of playing brazil. he is a legend in my eyes, it is a goo

trump. that's potentially damaging for mr sessions because russia has been accused of running a cyber campaign to skew the election in favour of donald trump. the whole truth and nothing but the truth. during his confirmation hearing in the senate last month, to become attorney general, mr sessions had been directly asked about contacts with russia. and if there is any evidence that any one affiliated with the trump campaign communicated with the russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do? i'm not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and i did not have the communications have communications with the russians. i'm unable to comment. already, there's been a furious response from senior democrats including nancy pelosi. she's tweeted that mr sessions is not fit to serve as a top law enforcement officer of the country. and that he must resign. this morning, mr sessions denied lying under oath. i have not met with any russians at any time to discuss any political campaign and those remarks are unbelievab

committee says there is no question about russia's motives. russia's goal, vladimir putin's goal, is a weaker united states, weaker economically, weaker globally — and they should be a concern to all americans regardless of political affiliation. laura bicker has the latest from washington. there were two separate investigations going on in the two political chambers in congress. one's already going on in the house but this is the upper chamber, almost the big boys, so to speak, and both the democrats and republicans very importantly stood side—by—side in that press conference as they announced they had called 20 witnesses. now, those witnesses will include president donald trump's son—in—law jared kushner, his former campaign manager paul manafort. now, they are alleged to have met with the russian ambassador during the latter half of 2016 during the campaign, so they will be questioned about that but this is all relating and trying to find alleged ties between the kremlin and donald trump's campaign and it runs in tandem with the fbi's current investigation. but this is a p

. finally this month, we're going all the way back to prerevolution russia. a pioneering photographer travelled to the furthermost corners of the russian empire and recorded a disappearing lifestyle in magnificent colour. michelle is his grandson. —— michel. my my grandfather was one of the pioneers of colour photography. it's a unique example of this quality of colour. this is close to 100 years old. at that time you have to realise that the only photograph in colour were taken indoors. it was probably the first to do a lot of work outside. —— he was. this is a very nice pic on the canal, where he did a lot of shots. you really feel something extremely natural. you can really feel that this guy was very pleased to be taken and at the same time the composition of the picture is great. he was able to travel anywhere in the empire. he got permission from the tsar to travel everywhere, even the areas that were very difficult to access. bukarah todayis very difficult to access. bukarah today is use —— uzbekistan. it is in the south—east of the empire, bordering iran, afghani

— the investigators found no evidence russia carried out any war crimes despite its support for the government. alex forsyth has more from beirut. this report is highly critical of the contact of those involved in the battle for aleppo. war crimes committed by all parties. it singles out one incident which the un report saysis out one incident which the un report says is particularly shocking. the attack on humanitarian aid convoy last september. trucks carrying much—needed aid supplies into aleppo had the permission of the syrian government, and they knew where they we re government, and they knew where they were travelling when they came under attack on the road, as they were making their way into aleppo. they we re making their way into aleppo. they were dropping aid, they were under machine—gun fire from aircraft. a number of the trucks were destroyed, 14 number of the trucks were destroyed, 1a people killed. as a result humanitarian aid into aleppo was suspended, exacerbating conditions for the civilians trapped in the besieged areas of the city. after that, widespread cond

ended once again with russia. it isa it is a scandal that will not go away and as we have gone on terror, away and as we have gone on terror, a dramatic new development. it has been reported that the fbi director, james comey, has asked thejustice department to come out publicly and say that president trump was wrong that this is a false accusation and it needs to be corrected. that is a big slap down from the fbi director. francois fillon has told a rally of his supporters that he'll stay in the french presidential race, while admitting that he misjudged how to deal with questions about employing his wife and children. he says he won't walk away from his campaign, but faces a key test tomorrow with a statement due from his former rival alainjuppe and a meeting of party officials. our paris correspondent, lucy williamson, reports. despite the temporary comfort of the crowd, francois fillon is an isolated man. his party no longer united behind him, his campaign director gone, his candidacy dismissed by some as a collective suicide mission. after weeks of pressure to step aside, mr

ready to exploit these vulnerabilities, and we are seeing increasing brazen interference by russia and others. in light of the alleged montenegro coup plot, i called on the council to do more to counter destabilising russian disinformation campaigns and to raise the visibility of the western commitment to this region. the uk will lead the way. the foreign secretary will visit russia in the coming weeks, where i expect him to set out our concerns about reports of russian interference in the affairs of the government of montenegro. we will provide strategic communications expertise to the eu institutions to counter disinformation campaigns in the region, and we will host the 2018 western balkans summit. in the run—up to that summit, will enhance our security cooperation with our western balkan partners including on serious and organised crime, anti—corruption and cyber security. more broadly, ialso anti—corruption and cyber security. more broadly, i also reemphasised the importance that the uk places on nato as the bedrock of our collective defence. and i urged other member states

on intelligence says he's seen no evidence that donald trump's team worked with russia during the presidential election campaign. devin nunes also said there was no evidence that former president obama ordered wiretaps of trump tower. iraqi forces say they are closing in on mosul‘s great mosque as they fight to push islamic state out of the city. the mosque was where is announced a caliphate, and its recapture would have great symbolic importance. rebels have launched a major offensive against syrian government positions in the east of the capital, damascus. the armed groups are reported to have used secret tunnels as part of a suprise attack. germany's social democrats have chosen the former president of the european parliament, martin schulz, to lead them in their country's election. mr schulz said he would resist anyone who tried to drive a wedge between germany and the eu. at ten o'clock, mishal husain will be here with a full round—up of the day's news. first, talking movies: hello and welcome to austin, in texas, in our special south by southwest film festival edition of

controversy is a "total witch hunt". freed from is for the second time — russia and syria say their forces have retaken the ancient city of palmyra. curbing popular criticism and a free press — china fights to control the narrative ahead of the national people's congress. and jackie's life afterjfk — the lost letters which reveal a love affair with a senior british diplomat. one of president trump's most trusted colleagues, us attorney generaljeff sessions, is under intense pressure after allegations that he lied under oath about his contacts with russian officials during the presidential election campaign. mr sessions has denied any improper conduct but he has withdrawn from the official investigation into claims of russian interference in the election. president trump has said mr sessions could have been more accurate but hasn't done anything wrong. he accused the democrats of taking part in a witch hunt. our north america editor jon sopel reports. marine one touching down on the navy's newest aircraft carrier, and the president feeling the full downdraught of the latest setba

propaganda" law. the movie features disney's first ever gay character and love scene. russia's culture minister is facing mounting pressure to assess whether it violates the law. a memorial is to be built close to beaches of the d—day landings in northern france to honour the thousands of british soldiers and sailors who died during the operation in 19114. the government has donated £20 million towards the cost of the monument, which will be unveiled on the 75th anniversary of d—day in 2019, as robert hall explains. newsreel: this is it. they are on the beach. it was the largest operation of its kind ever mounted. injune, 19114, an estimated 21,000 members of the british armed forces and merchant navy lost their lives as they fought alongside their allies to gain a foothold in occupied europe. in the 70 years since the landings, veterans have returned to the normandy beaches to remember the fallen, but there is no permanent memorial to the friends they lost. injune, 2014, the normandy veterans association gathered to watch their standard lowered for the last time on the se

hillary clinton's e—mails. also give us the truth about russia. the chinese... one of the difficulties, one of the mysteries, why are there no russian and chinese whistle— blowers? icannot imagine! you can expect a face wipe in an airport, that is why, or somebody will saunter across waterloo bridge with an umbrella and stick it in your foot! the problems for whistle— blowers, one of the great benefits of having these open societies is our whistle—blowers, they don't generally face being offed by the state any more. journalists want to know everything, but as citizens we don't necessarily want everything to be known. there are a lot of things our spooks are doing to find out, say, about jihadis that i want them to do. let's say the proposition was, could you bug a jihadi's television so when they are having a conversation about who to bomb you could pick it up? i am in favour. i would be in general not in favour of that being known so the jihadis could stop it happening. so we would share that. insofar as that is what is being explored, i am antsy about other people discovering i

. but a week that began with a presidential recess has ended, once again, with russia. the second day of china's annual national people's congress is getting under way. yesterday premier li keqiang opened the conference with a warning that china faces major challenges in its attempts to overhaul its economy — the world's second largest. today, china's top economic planning body the ndrc will be holding a press conference where more economic reforms are expected to be announced. stephen mcdonell is at tiananmen square in beijing. the economy is indeed a key topic of discussion in this years at national people's congress but what are the keyissues people's congress but what are the key issues will be discussed in this parliamentary meeting? yes, here at the great hall of the people, following yesterday's keynote speech, they will be moving into these regional groupings. every province has its own meeting and at the end of it, we sometimes get news from this because reporters get a chance to throw questions to, for example, the tibet group or the shandong group. apart from talking about t

next to russia. president trump alleged that president 0bama had ordered a wiretap on his phone, calling it mccarthyism. he then went on to say that president 0bama's action was not legal, and he described it as a new low. how low as president 0bama gone? that is what he wrote in another. this is nixon/ watergate. and then, president 0bama is a bad 01’ and then, president 0bama is a bad or sick guy. it is extraordinary to hear a sitting president speak about a former president like that. mr trump spent a weekend at his mara largo florida golf club. we spoke to a friend whojoined largo florida golf club. we spoke to a friend who joined him there. chris ruddy, you spoke to president trump over the weekend — how would you describe his mood at the moment? i spoke to him twice on saturday. i would say he is not a happy camper. i spoke to him after he had done the tweet that morning, where he alleged that there were wiretaps made against him and his campaign at the order of president 0bama, and he was sort of angry that he was targeted, and he was very confident about the informat

investigation into possible collusion between russia and the trump campaign, but went public about its inquiry into mrs clinton's hacked e—mails just days before the vote itself. my colleague philippa thomas asked him if he had been suspicious during the campaign. of course we thought that was going on for some time and argued to the press that they had to really look at that and try to dig into that and cover it. but it was a revelation that the fbi was looking at that as early as now evidently they were, it's kind of one more trip in something that i've been highly critical of the bureau about, which is the double standard they applied in this campaign. the intervention, the number of resources they spend, the number of resources they spend, the scores of fbi agents they had poring over hillary clinton's e—mail server, whichjim poring over hillary clinton's e—mail server, which jim kony, poring over hillary clinton's e—mail server, whichjim kony, the fbi director, ultimately concluded that it wasn't even a close call, there even anything there compared to the engagement on the russia

surrounding russia and its potential ties to donald trump. donald trump's former national security adviser says he's willing to testifty if he's given immunity from prosecution. welcome to the programme. our other main stories this hour: behind bars. the former president of south korea is arrested over a corruption scandal that cost park guen—hye herjob. we report from northern france, and meet some of the young national front activists hoping to cause a political earthquake. i'm aaron heslehurst. in business: terms of disengagement. the eu will set out its stall on brexit later but britain says trade talks must get under way at the same time. plus: cash cows and spread betting. why the price of butter is soaring on us markets. but first: michael flynn was briefly president trump's national security adviser but now his lawyer has says he is prepared to give testimony about russian meddling in the election in exchange for immunity from prosecution. the news came just hours after the senate intelligence committee began investigating russian interference in the election. that hearin

watch, i'll be back in 17 minutes! very exact, impressive! the us has criticised russia and china after they blocked a un resolution seeking to punish bashar al—assad for using chemical weapons. this is the seventh time russia has used its veto power to shield the syrian government from international condemnation. greg dawson reports. there was little expectation this vote would ever passed but at a time when us talks have improved relations with russia there was no sign of it in this session. russia arejust sign of it in this session. russia are just doesn't want to criticise the assad regime for using chemical weapons, that's the truth. so what message are we sending to the world? aun message are we sending to the world? a un investigation accused the syrian government dropping chlorine on rebel held areas twice in 2014 and againa on rebel held areas twice in 2014 and again a year later. president assad denied it. his plan would have banned the sale of helicopters to syria and imposed further sanctions, but russia and china blocked it. syria and imposed further sanctions, but

arrived in poland in as part of nato‘s response to concerns over russia. they are part of the alliance‘s four battalions aimed at giving reassurances to states unsettled by russia's actions in ukraine. a californian company has made history by launching a used rocket back into space. spacex has developed a way of landing its boosters, which are the most expensive part of a rocket, safely on earth after a mission. now for the latest financial news with aaron heslehurst and world business report. terms of disengagement. the eu will set out its stall on brexit later but britain says trade talks must get under way at the same time. plus: cash cows and spread betting. why the price of butter is soaring on us markets. welcome to world business report. if you are in britain it is nice and early, stay where you are and give me eight minutes, nine minutes they just told me, and i will give you an exciting snapshot of the exciting world of business and money. we start in malta, where later this morning eu council president donald tusk will present europe's guidelines for the brexit ne

"presidential" reset has ended, once again, with russia. and nick gave us the latest developments a short time ago. the white house still hasn't produced any evidence to back up the claim that barack obama or the white house ordered wiretaps on trump tower. white house officials pointing people, reporters, towards some newspaper reports that they have read, which heightens the speculation that president trump's twitter tirade was not based on intelligence briefings that he had received, but rather, as strongly suspected, he was reading a right—wing news report on breitbart news. two new developments today. one is james clapper coming out and saying there were no wiretaps. and clapper is not only somebody who worked for barack obama, he also worked for george w bush and george herbert walker bush. he is seen as a trusted figure, a non—partisan figure. and another key development — the fbi director, james comey, it has been reported he approached the justice department, and asked thejustice department to come out publicly and say that president trump was wrong, that this was a f

korean leader, under a deal reached with pyongyang. russia tried to hijack the us election through propaganda on steroids, says a democratic senator in investigating alleged kremlin political meddling. russia's president vladimir putin boarded a deliberate campaign carefully construct it to undermine our election. and...

latest allegations of contact between the trump administration and russia, the attorney generaljeff sessions. at his confirmation hearing, he'd failed to tell the senate about two meetings with the russian ambassador. senior democrats accuse him of lying under oath. president trump says he still has his full confidence. jeff sessions has resisted pressure to resign, but he has now removed himself from any investigations looking into the election campaign, including allegations of russian interference. the reason i believed i should recuse myself is because i was involved in the campaign. to a degree, i think it would have been perceived but i wouldn't have been objective in participating in an investigation that might involve the campaign. i did not confirm or deny any investigation. i just felt like i should clear the air. senatorjeff sessions! but he's denied he did anything wrong, and describes what's been said about his meeting with the ambassador as unfair and hyped beyond reason. president trump has come to his defence, tweeting: jeff sessions is an honest man. the real story

crimea appear to want to be with russia, not with ukraine. that is the president of the united states that you're going to have to deal with. he has changed his mind. look at his twitter. the last tweet he posted on ukraine was that crimea was illegally annexed by russia. so he recognised that crimea was illegally annexed by the russian federation. this is a good move. the truth is you have no idea what's in mr trump's mind. do you have any kind of idea? no, i do not. but for you that uncertainty is deeply dangerous. ok, i'm going to tell you something but i know who can have the idea, or who can get the ear of the new us president. this is your prime minister. she delivered a perfect speech in philadelphia at gop retreat. she did really great at that joint press conference with the united states president. and after this the us president confirmed his commitment to nato and to the free world. the thing is you have to believe the glass is half full even if it looks to most people like it's rapidly becoming more than half empty. you said recently, this was a message that you del

to discover weather russia interfered in the us election campaign continues. some democrats are already convinced. russian propaganda on steroids. it was designed to poison the national conversation in america. i've anchored trump is now going to use a white house office, she is assistant to the president. and in sport, we will hear an interview with the nigerian women's bobsleigh team. it is now six years since civil war broke out in syria and the war has caused untold loss of life. millions and millions of people are being displaced both inside syria and outside of it and it has led to the greatest refugee crisis since world war ii. a truce between the government and rebel groups is nominally in place but it is continually broken. after six years of conflict, the government is now backin of conflict, the government is now back in control of all the major cities in syria and we will focus on a few of them. the bbc has been looking at 2a hours in the life of several people across the country. we will start in hospital. the the syrian army and its allies drove all rebels from ale

to authorities in russia about how they plan to keep fans safe during the confederations cup later this year. the tournament is seen as a precursor to next year's world cup, which russia won the rights to host in 2010. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rainsford has been finding out more. the final countdown to the confederations cup. for russia, it's a dress rehearsal for the world cup next summer and they are planning a party here. but this violence in france last year has cast a shadow over the tournament. russian football hooligans, brutal and disciplined, fought running battles in the streets of marseille then. and england fans were among the targets. so, britain's top footballing policeman has been visiting russia this week to check for himself how safe it is. this tour was a first step in making sure scenes in marseille are not repeated here at the world cup. it was awful violence and left people seriously injured, so i think, anyone watching that would have been absolutely appalled. what we need to do is build on a good working relationship to try to ensure anyone coming to ru

. in america, a congressional committee says it will investigate allegations russia colluded with the trump presidential campaign during the election. syrian government forces once again enter the ancient city of palmyra months after the so—called islamic state drove them from it. and it's being called the greatest blunder in oscar history — the pairfound responsible for that envelope mix—up are told they won't be back again. hello. the british government has been dealt a serious blow during the parliamentary process to leave the european union. by a large majority, the upper house of parliament, the lords, has demanded that the government guarantee the rights of european nationals, already living in the uk, to stay, despite brexit. ministers have refused to give such assurances and insist they'll overturn the lords‘ ruling. this from our political editor, laura kuennsberg. they have voted. contents, 358. wow. not contents, 256. so the contents have it. "wow!" you can hear them say. the lords beat the government by more than 100 votes. a bid to force ministers to say people fr

russia and the trump presidential campaign. mr trump denies he got the white house with russian help. he says it's fake news, but the fbi confirms the extent of its inquiry. and that includes associated with the trump campaign, and the russian government. and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and russia's efforts. the congressional committee hearing is still going on. we'll have the latest from capitol hill on the fbi's evidence so far. from the european union in nine days‘ time. we're going to be out there, negotiating hard, delivering labour's deputy leader claims there's a secret plot to take over home care companies warn of a funding crisis that means they can't recruit or retain enough staff. # we'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when. # and it's a very happy birthday for dame vera lynn, it's five o'clock. our main story is the eventuful committee hearing on capitol hill where the director of the fbi, james comey, has confirmed for the first time that his colleagues are investigating allegations of collusion between the trump presidential campa

between the trump election campaign and russia, that's according to the head of the panel investigating “2 —* ' that's according to the head of the panel investigating “2 claims. 7’ ' panel investigating the claims. i'm babita sharma in london. one mt a hea d i'm babita sharma in london. one mt ahead of i'm babita sharma in london. one z ahead of decision day, front week ahead of decision day, front runners in hong kong's leadership vote clash on to the vision. and one of the world's top servers and his amazing comeback after a nearfatal accident. ii wright amazing comeback after a nearfatal accident. f; wright tells amazing comeback after a nearfatal accident. ii wright tells us amazing comeback after a nearfatal accident. f; wright tells us his accident. owen wright tells us his amazing story in his own words. live from our studios in london and singapore. you're watching bbc news. it's newsday. glad you could join us. it's 8am in singapore and beijing, and 8pm in florida, me president trump has florida, where president trump has told reporters that the north korean leader was

presidential hopeful, marine le pen, has met russia's president in moscow. vladimir putin said he did not want to influence the french election next month, but reserved the right to communicate with all political forces. for her part, the national front leader said that, if she were to win, she would consider lifting the european union's economic sanctions imposed on russia over its role in the ukraine conflict. earlier, we spoke to the co—founder of the news website rue89.com. he thinks her visit is highly strategic. the trip to moscow is not unusual. what is unusual is that in this election, the context, she is received by vladimir putin. she has a problem in that her rivals, like a emmanuel macron, can be seen with angela merkel and theresa may, without any difficulty. she cannot. she has only met as heads of state the head of state of lebanon and off chad. meeting vladimir putin shows she can be presidential and talk directly to some of the most powerful people on this land. but is it a wise meeting, given some of the accusations that have been levelled at rush hour over its alleged

. orla guerin, bbc news, mosul. russia's president, vladimir putin has praised the co—operation developing between russia and turkey over military operations in syria. it follows talks in moscow with turkish president erdogan. the two leaders said ties were returning to normal, after their relations soured last november when turkey shot down a russian bomber on the syrian border. speaking to a news conference, president erdogan said the special relationship between the two countries will go even further. translation: we have discussed issues keeping our agenda at busy as well as what we can do in order to ove i’co m e well as what we can do in order to overcome them. we want to take the historic and special relationship between turkey and russia even further. sadly we have lost precious time because of the incident in 2013 that hurt us badly. translation: as a translation: as a result of co—ordinated actions, the ceasefire in syria is in place. the level of violence has dropped immensely. we agree with turkish colleagues on a further cooperation in fighting terrorist groups.

businesses are lagging many other countries, places you might not expect, like russia, indonesia, latvia and the philippines, where women hold over 40% of senior level positions. the statistics might well depress someone like anna bissell. she was america's first ceo, and she blazed a trail taking charge of her family's carpet sweeper company way back in 1889. i suspect anna would have thought the glass ceiling would notjust have been cracked but completely smashed by now. we're not there yet, and in her memory, we will all keep working to make it happen soon. well, gender equality is firmly on the mind of christine lagarde. here's more of our interview with the international monetary fund chief. wouldn't it be nice if we got to the stage where we didn't need an international women's day any more than we might need an international men's day? it would be terrific, but i don't think that day is about to come, i'm afraid. you think we are still a way off's i think we are still a way off, and i think that we will probably be for ever a way off, because there is something that is sor

russia to try to influence last year's presidential election. and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the trump campaign james comey also told the us intelligence committee that the fbi found no evidence to support the president's claims that obama wiretapped mr trump's phone. jeremy corbyn and tom watson issue a joint statement agreeing to strengthen party unity following claims of a takeover plot. a home care crisis. the bbc finds 95 contracts with local councils cancelled in the last three months because of a lack of money. # there will be

russia. that has just dropped in the last few minutes. a company run by the queen'sgrandson peter phillips has been paid £750,000 for organising the event on the mall to celebrate the event on the mall to celebrate the queen! 90th birthday. 0rganisers say he did not make a profit from the event, lastjune. £750,000, eyebrows raised a bit, or not?m you cast your mind back to win this event was first talked about, eyebrows were raised by the cost of the tickets, which were £150 each, and they were sold to people linked to charities, of which the queen was patron. so that was the history. the explanation was that these events are explanation was that these events a re costly. they explanation was that these events are costly. they said all along that peter phillips was no company would receive a fee and now, we know the size of that fee, £750,000. they have stressed more than once that there was no profit for him. and indeed, sir stuart everington, who was in charge of overseeing the event, has said that they looked at the costs of peter phillips' company, to those of other suppli

committee has pledged to get to the bottom of russia's interference in the 2016 election as it prepares to begin public hearings today. the committee will question 20 people including the son—in—law of president donald trump. laura has the latest from washington. there are two separate investigations going on in the two political change chambers in congress. one is already occurring in the house but this is the upper chamber, the big boys, so to speak, and both of them are cracked and republicans, very importantly, stood side—by—side in the pest conference as they announced that they had called 20 witnesses. those were witnesses who will include the son—in—law of president trump, jared kushner, as will as his former campaign manager. they have alleged to have met with the russian ambassador during the later half of 2016 during the campaign be questioned about that. this is all relating and trying to find alleged ties between the kremlin and donald trump's campaign. it runs in tandem with the fbi's current investigation that this is a political investigation and, cer

looking at the claims russia interfered with the us presidential plus all the latest from the white house. that's all ahead on bbc news. now on bbc news it's time for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday with me, will perry. the headlines this evening. wenger insists sanchez and ozil want to stay at arsenal but says his own future isn't completely sorted. fifa announces how the expanded 48—team world cup will be divided up in 2026, with europe set to get the 16 places they wanted. there's a 147 forjudd trump in beijing as he heads into the quarterfinals of the china open snooker. for you now. and join me ahead of match's bid to join the last four of the women's champions league. —— manchester city's. we start with three premier league managers whose futures at their clubs have been surrounded by speculation and uncertainty. firstly, arsene wenger says his future at arsenal isn't completely sorted — despite saying recently he would inform everyone of his decision "very soon". arsenal's recent poor form has seen the frenchman come under more pressure from some fans to lea

trump election campaign and russia, but us officials say moscow did try to influence the result. i'm babita sharma in london. a week ahead of decision day, the frontrunners in hong kong's leadership vote clash on television. on the crest of a wave, one of the world's top surfers journeys from tragedy to triumph. it is 9:00am in singapore and beijing and 9:00pm in the evening in florida where president trump has told reporters that the north korean leader was acting very, very badly. the reason for his irritation? the latest news from pyongyang, where kim jong—un was pictured celebrating what he said was a successful rocket engine test. the us secretary of state, who was in beijing at the time, said tensions on the korean peninsula had reached a dangerous level. 0ur china editor carrie gracie sent this report from beijing. america's top diplomat. they had intended to steady anxieties about where us—china relations are headed. but, as these players e they were upstaged by another. . . with these pictures of kim jong—un, north korea announced the successful test of a new rocket en

security adviser, mike flynn, is right to ask for immunity in exchange for talking about russia. it's been revealed the retired general is in discussions with the house and senate intelligence committees on receiving immunity from "unfair prosecution" in exchange for answering questions. flynn was fired from his job as trump's national security adviser after it was disclosed that he misled the vice president about a conversation he had shortly after the election with the russian ambassador. in a tweet donald trump said michael flynn should ask for immunity because this is a "witch hunt, by the media and democrats, of historic proportion". our correspondent gary o'donoghue joins me now from washington. it's all a witchhunt, according to donald trump. that's what he said this morning. it's an extraordinary intervention by the president. well, extraordinary in normal circumstances, but we're used to this. even though there is an ongoing investigation by the fbi into russian links to meddling in the us election, tuesday also michael flynn, who is now asking for immunity from prosecution �

might be the moment argentina lost its place at the world cup in russia next year? fifa has banned lionel messi from argentina's for world cup qualifier is. he abused the assistant referee during a home game against chile on thursday. it would always be bad news, but particularly now because argentina is having a hard time qualifying. the first time i had the story, i thought for games was harsh because players criticise assistant referees all the time, so what did he say? he used abusive words to the assistant referee. it does look harsh when you look at the faq neil taylor from wales only got one match for his tackle on seamus coleman last week. so this four match ban is harsh. he will defend the charge, they will try and get it overturned. but fifa say it is in line with disciplinary rulings in similar cases. lionel messi has scored in both of their last wins. they are playing at the moment, it is a difficult situation and they are missing quite a few players through injury and suspension. there is a chance of them going through in their next couple of games into the world cup t

terms of foreign policy, the russia connection. if it is true that there are real connections between his people and putin's russia, we are in big trouble. that is very, very serious. let's move it on. the security services in britain and the united states have advised that laptops and similar devices should no longer be allowed on certain flights, to counter the threat from sophisticated bombs. but in london this week — as we have seen in france and germany in the past year — low tech terrorism is also deadly and difficult to prevent. what, if anything, can be done? i mean, in some ways many people have said it's not surprising this happened because we know big open democracies will always be a target. big open democracy is what we have and what we want. we don't want to do anything to mitigate the freedoms. this is what it's all about. if we destroy the social values and the political values the country stands for in the name of stamping out any conceivable possibility of any misfit, any hanger on, any lunatic going over the edge and doing something on a one—off basis, what is

intelligence chiefs reject claims that donald trump's presidential campaign team colluded with russia. north korea's leader celebrates the testing a new rocket amid fears it could add to its nuclear programme. also in the next hour, former president barack obama leads the tributes to the star, who has diedagedio; and how virtual reality headsets! in professional football could help good evening and welcome to bbc news. police are hunting for a 33—year old man after a one—year—old boy died and his twin sister was seriously injured at their home scotland yard has issued an urgent appeal. what are the police saying about this incident and the hunt for this in the last h;ifrfi§ur.i this incident and the hunt for this in the last hgtfffifiur. we man? in the hstmmhnum had increased man? in the lasthalf;hnur.,4ce41am had increased police activity outside the building behind me, this police cordon has in outside the building behind me, this police cordon has - in the police are now officially dolice are ngg gg'ggjg jggggg'gg enguir¥ after an attack on 5: 25:55: 555”; 5555w5 555555 55 ch

, but this is a tough job because russia ambassador to beijing, but this is a toughjob because russia is such a toxic issue for this administration. there he is, he ran as presidential candidate, looks the part, doesn't he, film star looks, that is the kind of thing that donald trump likes, he likes his representatives to look like american representatives. he is a hawk on president vladimir putin, and press reports in moscow are not happy, they have been critical. it was also president 0bama's ambassador to china, somebody who whilst he is a republican is a fairly centrist republican, somebody who during the course of the campaign was not common entry about donald trump, after the access hollywood tape came out he called for him to drop out of the race and said the american campaign had become a race to the bottom. very interesting selection, if this is going to be confirmed by the white house, doesn't like vladimir putin, and has not always been on the same side as donald trump, none of which is what you would have expected from the white house pick for ambassador... and he i

question about russia's motives. russia's goal, vladimir putin's goal, is a weaker united states. wea ker goal, is a weaker united states. weaker economically, weaker globally, and that should be a concern to all americans, regardless of party affiliation. we get the latest from washington from laura bicker. there are two separate investigations going on. one is already going on in the house, but this is the upper chamber. these are almost the big boys, so to speak. and both the democrats republicans are very importantly stood side by side in that press conference, as they announced that they had called 20 witnesses. now, those witnesses will include president donald trump's son—in—law, jayakrishna, and his former campaign manager, paul manafort. they are alleged to have met with the russian ambassador during the latter half of 2016, in the light blatter part of the campaign. —— son—in—law, jared kushner. this is all looking for alleged ties between the kremlin and donald trump's campaign. it runs in tandem with the fbi's current investigation. this is a political investig

he was asked specifically about contact with russia and during that confirmation hearing which he was doing under oath he said specifically i did not have communications with the russians so clearly many in washington are up in arms about this. senior democrats are calling for his resignation. nancy pelosi has given a statement saying he is not fit to serve as a top enforcement officer in our country. some republicans also calling for him to step down. overseeing the fbi investigation into russian meddling into the election campaign, as attorney general, he does hope to see that so the recalls for him to step down and so far he has refused to do so. a statement came out saying there is nothing misleading about the answer he gave during the confirmation hearing. he was asked about russia and the trump campaign not as a member of the armed services committee. they are saying he has not done anything wrong but others are saying he made these state m e nts others are saying he made these statements under oath saying he did not have contact with russians and now we hear they have been to m

russia hangover. joining me now from minneapolis is richard painter — the former chief white house ethics adviser to george w bush. good evening to you. jeff sessions has recused himself — is that enough, in your view? well, it is a step in the right direction. but we have a very serious problem here in the united states, and this problem has spread to europe as well. the russians are actively seeking to destabilise our democracies by appealing to far right political parties and engaging in espionage. for years they appealed to the commonest party and the far left in espionage. we have been fighting this battle with the russians for a very long time. and it's critically important to know what happened in 2016, what spying was going on inside the united states and who was assisting the russians, who benefited from it, who was negotiating with them, perhaps offering them something in return for their swaying an election? this is a matter of national—security for the united states, just like what's going on in france right now should be a matter of concern to the french and other