a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm lebo diseko. our top stories: us judges consider whether to reinstate president trump's controversial travel ban, as protests continue. troops patrol the streets of the brazilian city of vitoria after a police strike led to a crime wave that left dozens dead. france and the far right. we're on the campaign trail with marine le pen as she makes a pitch for the presidency. the final phase of a controversial american oil pipeline gets the go—ahead. environmental activists say they'll fight the decision. switching to automatic. why the rise of the robot could put a third of us out of work. president donald trump's first major legal battle has

started in california. three federaljudges have been hearing arguments on whether to reinstate his travel ban, which was suspended last week. the executive order temporarily stopped entry for all refugees and people from seven mainly muslim countries. lawyers from the department ofjustice argue the countries listed pose a terrorist threat. audio from that hearing was streamlined live over the internet, and at least 100,000 people listened in. let's hear one of the early exchanges between the one _—.-,_ has the government pointed to any evidence connecting these countries with terrorism 7 the proceedings have been moving very fast. and the strongest point on that is that in 2015 and 2016,

both congress and the administration made determinations that these seven countries posed the greatest risk of terrorism. in doing so, restricted visa waivered to people who had even traveled to those countries over the past five or six years. the executive order relies on that determination. and that is, i think, the strongest kind of reliance where the president is relying on congress's determination that these are countries of concern and congress's procedures to identify countries of concern based on significant terrorist activity in the countries. earlier, president trump said will fight this right to the end. this is what he had to say in washington a few hours ago. we're going to take it through the system. it's very important, it's very important, for the country regardless of me or whoever succeeds

at a later date. we have to have security in our country, we have to have the ability. when you take some place like syria you take all of the different people... and if you remember, isis said "we are going to infiltrate the united states and every countries through the migration." and then we're not allowed to be tough on the people coming in? explain that one. the bbc‘s richard lister has been watching the court hearing in washington. the supreme court will almost certainly get this case in the it. for now, it is up to the appeals court. we heard a little bit from the government lawyers. each side is given half an hour to give their argument and be tested by the three judges in the court. you heard a lawyer floundering when asked if the government had given any evidence connecting the seven countries to

terrorism. he had to admit they had not submitted that evidence but it was early days ifs, el; l: ;2;% ézr—é'irf'; ;>j;;,, 77, ,,,,,, ,,, state ifi el; l: 777? ézr—é'irf'; 7757777 777 7,777 777 state egg:i*£e:ea'was~ , , —— , if: ;::: l: :::: ::::i~z:———; 7:57:77 777 7,777 777 state igii’gél—‘gésél was asked , , , state solicitor general was asked how he could argue that the executive order was discriminatory againstan —— executive order was discriminatory against an —— muslims when so little we re against an —— muslims when so little were affected. he said it was not about how many, but the intent. he said donald trump had made clear in his anti— islamic statements over the course of the election campaign that he was somebody who did want to discriminate against muslims. he said that was really all he did have to disprove. the court will find out who it was in favour of in a few days. donald trump said he would fight this to the very it. some say this could be good if it goes to the supreme court. it might be an own goalfor the two supreme court. it might be an own goal for the two states that brought

this action to begin with. it is difficult to see how this will turn out. whichever side loses in the appeal court in california will take it to the supreme court. the supreme court is not at its full number of judges. it usually has nine to be because of the death of wine it only has eight. it so happens that they are split exactly down the middle. four appointed by democratic residence and four by republican ones. “— residence and four by republican ones. —— presidents. the last time they had to rule on immigration they split down the middle. if it happens again, they will split down the middle, and the verdict everyone would have to honour would be the one from the appeals court. it could be self—defeating to go to the supreme court because it could not go forward. this supreme court because it could not um

go forward? ml?» it is. gis- g is andl—threeg! judiciary have more than equal clout where it to judiciary have more than equal clout where it- to defining judiciary have more than equal clout whl president. to defining judiciary have more than equal clout whl president and defining conress actin will be down to ‘ what i is ‘what. is trying ‘what istryingtf; is' ' ' , , and he will be abide . g . by that?” federal troops in brazil are patrolling the streets in the state of espirito santo, where scores of people have been killed since police went on strike. school classes and bus services have been cancelled in the capital city of vitoria, which has seen scenes of looting and ca rjackings but overnight, the streets

still looked deserted despite the presence of 1200 federal troops sent in by the central government. since police went on strike on saturday, dozens of shops have been looted. normalitgg'f:::ar: and wherever necessary. run;- 7.7 $31}? .: 15:11:53 a": “i v

reacted withaager; l. translation: everybody is scared of the violence and we want to go home. 0n social media, residents feeling trapped in the city of 2 million have adopted hash tags such as ‘pray for the espirito santo state', ‘espirito santo asks for help,‘ and ‘espirito santo in chaos.‘ in france, the leader of the far—right, marine le pen, seems to gaining support in the latest opinion polls in the presidential race. the finance minister said today she‘ll never win the election. but her team says that‘s precisely the kind of elitist talk which boosts her support. 0ur paris correspondent, lucy williamson, has been to an old steel working town in north—eastern france, which has elected a national front mayor, and sent this report. communists and socialists used

to run this place together. but unemployment here has soared by 75% in the past decade, and in its wake has come the front nationale. translation: i'm for the front nationale. i‘m not afraid to say it. i‘m not happy with today‘s politics. there‘s too much immigration. we give to everyone. that‘s why you chose brexit and i absolutely approve of that. in 2010, the socialists won almost 60% of the vote here in the regional run—off. five years later, it was down to 19%. votes for the fn over the same period more than doubled, putting them in the lead. hayange now has an fm mayor, himself once a union man from the far left. the party presents itself as defending france‘s forgotten ones against crime, immigration,

and economic change. translation: the left betrayed its voters, the workers, the middle—class, the shop owners. ifs?%és§§§—'?ffi??f§§~i¥éf? ' ""

to the far left and to the far right. lucy williamson, bbc news, hayange. the us army says it will now give permission to complete a controversial oil pipeline across land it controls in north dakota, reversing a decision it took last december. the project got donald trump‘s formal backing last month. but local native americans from the standing rock sioux tribe say they‘ll take their fight against it to court.

been going oner month? nearly 700 people have been arrested in the protests. the demonstrations at times have been extremely angry, with enviromentalists and native american groups protesting, as they see it, the possible environmental consequences of this pipeline, with the possible contamination of drinking water and damage to sacred burial sites as well.