a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: president trump reignites his public feud with his own intelligence agencies, and the media, over the resignation of his national security adviser. he also seems to have changed decades of american foreign policy in the middle east, with one sentence to the visiting israeli prime minister. north korea asks malaysia to hand over the body of the man thought to be kimjong—nam, half—brother of north korea's leader. a helicopter pilot is killed, and hundreds of homes in southern new zealand are evacuated, as wildfires burn out of control. hello. the day in washington began with another full—blown twitter attack from the president on his own intelligence agencies

and the media. the subject of mr trump's anger — reports, based on security sources, that his team had frequent contacts with russian intelligence during the election, just as the russians were being accused of trying to influence the election. later, israel's prime minister was at the white house, trying to make the middle east, not russia, the centre of attention. this from our north america editorjon sopel. these are not the best of times. not yet four weeks in, his travel ban has been blocked, his national security adviser has been fired, and the questions about his links with russia are piling up. and when the president is angry, the place he vents is on twitter, and, boy, did he let rip this morning. and, on the reporting of this:

the president of the united states and the prime minister of israel. at his news conference with the israeli prime minister, no mention of concerns about links with russia and you'd never have guessed that it was the president who had forced general flynn's resignation. michael flynn, general flynn, is a wonderful man. i thinks he's been treated very, very unfairly by the media. as i call it, the fake media, in many cases. and i think it's really a sad thing, that he was treated so badly. i think, in addition to that, from intelligence, papers are being leaked, things are being leaked. it's criminal action, criminal act. but on capitol hill, there is one central concern among

senior republicans and democrats. it is the administration's links to the russian government. the base issue is getting to the bottom of what the russian interference was, and what the relationship was, with associates of the trump effort. and so that is the big elephant in the room, that has got to be dealt with in the most appropriate way. the american people need to understand, we need to understand, and it needs to be dealt with quickly. so this is what we know. on isjanuary, the vice president went on television to deny that russian sanctions had been discussed in those phone calls. on 26 january, the acting attorney—general tells the white house, actually, they were. that is when the president was informed. but it wasn't until 9 february, when the story was about to break in the press, that vice president mike pence was told. that means he was deliberately kept

in the dark for over two weeks. and listen to the president last friday. i don't know about it. i haven't seen it. what report is that? and this was his spokesman yesterday seeking to explain that discrepancy. what he was asked specifically is, was he aware of a washington post story? he hadn't seen that at the time. of course he was involved. ijust said that he was aware of the situation right after the white house council informed him back injanuary. it is hard to avoid the conclusion that this is an administration that is reeling. just take donald trump's controversial travel ban. he announced at the end of last week there would be a new executive order on monday or tuesday to replace it. it is now wednesday. there has been nothing. work is not getting done because of the turmoil. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. paul farhi is media reporter with the washington post. and we are both in the same business, so i have to play devils advocate with you a bit. i have a whole bunch of people on my timeline saying yes, this administration is stumbling all over the place but new administration ‘s do. these people are not used to being in the white

house. as someone put it to me, get over yourselves, your lot, this is not watergate. well, it is not necessarily watergate, but we have never seen anything quite like this in washington, certainly in the 28 yea rs i have in washington, certainly in the 28 years i have been in washington. no administration has gotten off to a start quite like this, and no administration seems quite as flummoxed by all of the events that keep coming out and all of the leaks that keep coming out. this is unprecedented. we are in new territory. so where do you think it goes, where do you think it ends up? the president has a point, doesn't he? this media turmoil is stopping him getting thejob done, to some extent. well, i disagree with that. the media turmoil is simply reporting the fact that a known within the administration, and we in the media are certainly grateful for the media are certainly grateful for the people who are leaking the information to us. i think the american public should be grateful for it as well, because we are

getting a look at possibly criminal hours he, but certainly incompetence within the administration —— possibly criminality. we are a democracy, we have the right to know those things. so i don't think we should... i think that actually should... i think that actually should be some congratulations in order, not any condemnation. you know you can talk to people within the administration who say, yes, laws may have been bent but relations with russia could hardly have been worse than they were under the obama administration. something had to be done, so we talk to the russians. we needed to talk to the russians. we needed to talk to the russians. well, yes, if that is all it was, and all it was was an attempt to create better relations, i think everyone in america would be in favour of that. but there is a sinister undercurrent of this, that we don't know the extent of... what we re we don't know the extent of... what were the campaign officials and the trump campaign talking about with their russian contacts? what was ma nafort‘s their russian contacts? what was manafort‘s role, what was flynn's

role in talking with the russian ambassador? what were they sang, who directed them, and what are the president no? and so far as being a reference to watergate, the question back on the watergate days is what did the president no and when did he know it? i think the same question isa know it? i think the same question is a foot right now. i hope we can talk again, thank you very much. president trump has lost another cabinet nominee, just days after his national security adviser was obliged to resign. his choice for labour secretary, andrew puzder, has said he no longer wishes to be considered for the job. his withdrawal had been anticipated. there has been widespread opposition to him, even within mr trump's own party, and several potentially damaging allegations. our correspondent david willis is in washington. what is going on here? well, andrew puzder was the president's choice for the labour secretary position, and that is a position which basically oversees the rights of

workers at the workplace, and andrew puzder is the head of a company which runs fast food franchises. now, this is a company which has resisted increases in overtime pay, resisted increases in overtime pay, resisted increases in the minimum wage, resisted calls for paid sick leave, and so on. basically nearly all the workplace benefits and rights that come under the purview, if you like, of the us labour department. on top of that, it was revealed that he and his wife had been hiring an undocumented worker as their housekeeper for the last five years, without paying taxes on her salary, and that andrew puzder‘s ex—wife accused him of domestic abuse several decades ago, and actually went on the oprah winfrey programme to talk about this. now, she has since withdrawn those

allegations. but mr trump's nominees for cabinet positions have faced some difficult, contentious hearings at times, but andrew puzder‘s was a step too far, it seems, for some senate republicans. it became clear a few hours ago that he wasn't going to get the votes he needed at that confirmation hearing tomorrow, so he has decided to withdraw his name. david, thank you very much for that. the mystery surrounding the death of the north korean leader's half—brother has ta ken a bizarre twist. pyongyang has now asked for the body of kim jong—nam, and said it doesn't want an autopsy. malaysian authorities have so far refused to comply. kim jong—nam was at the kuala lumpur international airport when he was reportedly poisoned. police there have one suspect in custody. karishma vaswani reports. —— two suspects. is this one of the female assassins who carried out an audacious attack

on kuala lumpur airport? these cctv images have been released by media in malaysia. they say a vietnamese woman has been detained in the investigation. and they want to find out what happened to this man. kim jong—nam is the older half brother of north korean leader, kimjong—un. he is believed to have been murdered at an airport in malaysia on monday. he visited malaysia often, but that details of his death a murky. between the hours of 9am to 10am in the morning on monday, the man believed to be kimjong—nam was attacked in this crowded, busy airport. police say that he was accosted by at least one woman, who covered his face with a cloth filled with some sort of burning chemical. after that he is thought to have walked over to that counter to ask for help and was taken to a medical

clinic at the airport, just one floor down. one man who some believe may have wanted kim jong—nam dead as the north korean leader. kimjong—un took part in a rally to mark what would have been his father's 75th birthday. experts say he is in the midst of a purge campaign to get rid of any threat he sees to his grip on power. no one is safe, not even his close uncle, who was branded a traitor for all ages close uncle, who was branded a traitorfor all ages and close uncle, who was branded a traitor for all ages and executed close uncle, who was branded a traitorfor all ages and executed in 2013. in the small world of pyongyang politics, media does help him to have him dead. it is nevertheless a telling reflection on the regime that in 2017 you are still executing possible rival members of the royal family. it a habit that england got out of after the tutors. north korea's staunch enemy, south korea, insists that kim jong—nam was brutally murdered on the orders of the north korean regime —— tudors. the orders of the north korean regime -- tudors. translation: the government is certainlyjudging that

the murdered person is kimjong—nam. since this case is still being investigated, we should wait for details until the malaysian government makes an announcement. the focus of the investigation will now moved to a hospital in the malaysian capital, where a postmortem is now being performed on the body of the man believed to be kimjong—nam. the body of the man believed to be kim jong—nam. north korea the body of the man believed to be kimjong—nam. north korea has asked for the body to be returned, a request malaysia has refused. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the ruling body of the church of england, the synod, votes on a controversial report that said clergy shouldn't bless same—sex relationships. nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan, the last soviet troops were finally coming home. the withdrawal completed in good order, but the army defeated in the task it had been sent to perform. malcolm has been murdered. it has a terrible effect on the morale of the people, i'm terrified of the repercussions in the streets. one wonders who is next. as the airlift got under

way, there was no letup in the eruption itself. lava streams from a vent low in the crater flowed down to the sea on the east of the island, away from the town for the time being, but it could start flowing again at any time. the russians heralded their new generation space station with a spectacular night launch. they've called it mir, russian for peace. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump reignites a public feud with his own intelligence agencies over the resignation of his national security adviser. north korea asks malaysia to hand over the body of a man thought to be

kim jong—nam, the half—brother of north korea's leader. two people are in custody. there was a moment in president trump's news conference with the israeli prime minister that appeared to undo decades of american foreign policy in the middle east. mr trump suggested the us would no longer favour a palestinian state, the so—called two—state solution, which for so long was seen as the best hope of any peace settlement between israel and the palestinians. the president was also asked about the sharp rise in anti—semitic incidents in the us. he talked once again about his election victory, his numbers in the electoral college. this report from our middle east editor, jeremy bowen. when mr and mrs netanyahu arrived at the white house there seemed to be real warmth. the israeli prime minister certainly hopes so. he had a sour relationship with president obama and wants this visit to be a new start. before he was elected president, mr trump seemed ready to give israel a blank cheque on the palestinians. mr netanyahu authorised thousands more homes forjews in the occupied

territories in defiance of international law within days of mr trump's inauguration. but now he's in the white house, the president has changed his tune. he sees himself as america's greatest deal—maker and seems to believe he can make the deal between israel and the palestinians that evaded the last four american presidents. but that, he said, means give and take. as far as settlements, i'd like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit. we'll work something out. but i would like to see a deal be made. i think a deal will be made. as with any successful negotiation, both sides will have to make compromises. you know that, right? both sides. but in a middle east that is often chaotic, mr netanyahu sees opportunities. for the first time in my lifetime, and for the first time in the life of my country, arab countries in the region do not see israel as an enemy, but increasingly as an ally. and that's because israel and the arab states in the gulf

have a common enemy. it's iran. it's seen as a big threat in the region by the governments in the region and the us. but other arab countries of the gulf are also suspicious of the iranians. prompting that talk of a broader regional deal. now, among these are smaller nations, such as bahrain and the united arab emirates and among them crucially is iran's main regional rival, saudi arabia. israel has settled 600,000 jews on occupied land palestinians want for a state. israeli right—wingers do not like president trump's call to stop expanding settlements. they prefer his backing away from a two—state solution an independent palestine alongside israel. many people on the ground believe the likeliest outcome is no

solution at all. jeremy bowen, bbc news. thousands of people have taken to the streets of paris to show their support for a young black man who says he was raped by police. there's been growing tension in some of the city's suburbs since the 22—year—old was arrested and allegedly assaulted. one police officer has been charged with rape, and three others with assault. and as lucy williamson reports from paris, the president's appeal for calm is not being heeded. anger is spreading along france's urban veins. tonight, chants of "police, rapists, murderers" rung outjust south of the sacre coeur. this is a protest about power. the power of individuals, their community, the state. france has been living with it for years, but in the last fortnight the story of theo's assault in a rundown paris suburb has reignited it. there are long—standing divisions

rising to the surface here. the deepest anger in these protests has come from people who say they feel ignored and left behind. who feel that the french establishment is remote and those in power abusive, corrupt and self—serving. the names of other young men who died while being chased or arrested in the suburbs north of paris are repeated like a mantra of mistrust in the police. they want us to just shut up, ok? they don't want us to express in any shape or form of protest, ok? and that's how i feel about it. it's not like they're here to protect us. they're just here to shut us down. over the past two weeks, the protests have grown,

spreading to rouen, lyon, marseille. this is no longer a case of one man, in one paris suburb. it's a reminder of france's deep divisions, and a test of the trust between people and power. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. in other news: the us senate has voted to block legislation passed under president obama which would have prevented some people with a mental illness from buying firearms. the regulation strengthening background checks was introduced in the wake of the sandy hook elementary school shooting five years ago in which 26 pupils and staff were killed. the border agency of the european union, frontex, says the number of migrants illegally entering the eu decreased by 72% last year compared to 2015. the agency says the main reason for the fall was last year's deal between the eu and turkey on returning migrants as well as stricter controls in the western balkans. iraqi officials say a suicide bomber in a car packed with explosives has

killed at least 1a people in baghdad. dozens of others were wounded. the blast went off in the sadr city area, a poor, densely populated and mainly shia suburb. it's not yet clear who was behind the bombing but islamic state militants frequently strike in baghdad in this way. the world health organization declares an end to the outbreak of ebola in angola and the democratic republic of the congo. according to officials, 30 million people were vaccinated in emergency campaigns in both countries. emergency services are battling a wildfire in new zealand which is burning out of control on the outskirts of the city of christchurch. hundreds of people have been evacuated and several homes destroyed. sarah corker has more. changing winds have made the fire is unpredictable and fanned the flames. the wildfires are now disturbingly close to communities in

christchurch. tens of thousands of homes are without electricity and more than a50 properties have been evacuated. it's running. i wouldn't say it's out of control because we have resources working on it but it is heavy material and once it gets burning it hard to stop. on the ground fire breaks have been dug. new zealand's military deployed to help. from the air, 15 helicopters worked in difficult conditions, filling up on water from a nearby river. one pilot died when his helicopter crashed on tuesday. it started in the port hills district earlier this week, but spread rapidly overnight. those evacuated face an anxious wait. we've been up pretty much all night since we got evacuated and keeping an eye on it. my neighbours up the hill are absolutely terrified because they're surrounded by forest and gauze and long, dry grass so they're

very very nervous. across the region, unusually dry conditions have been persisted for three years. officials say in some areas blames are up to 20 metres high and several properties have been destroyed. sarah corker, bbc news. the ruling body of the church of england, the general synod, has rejected a controversial report which insisted that marriage in church can only be between a man and a woman. the report had been produced by the house of bishops, and the archbishop of canterbury had appealed for it to be approved as a way of continuing the debate on sexuality and same—sex marriage. our religious affairs correspondent, martin bashir, reports. in the house of clergy, 93 in favour, 100 against, with two abstentions. and with that, general synod delivered a devastating blow to three years of deliberation on the issue of same—sex marriage. so the motion was lost.

the debate itself, which lasted more than two hours, contained passionate and sometimes painful disclosures on both sides of the argument. outside of these walls we are being heard as lacking in love. its purpose was not to please everyone, but rather to give a steer to the way we order our lives as god's people. please do not vote for this measure, we deserve better. your lgbt sisters and brothers deserve better, both here in the church and in the country. all sexual expression outside the lifelong and permanent union of one man and one woman is sinful. lesbian and gay christians who held an all day vigil outside church house broke into song as news of the results filtered through. i think what we've seen is a breakthrough of understanding of love and people coming together, really understanding

the lgbt community. just before the debate, archbishopjustin welby held a private meeting at this church in an attempt to persuade members of synod to vote with him. but he was ignored and so were his fellow bishops. the fact the synod has chosen not to take note of the report means, effectively, that the last three years work is now rendered null and void, isn't it? i absolutely disagree. what certainly is happening is the report we have just presented will not be considered again as a report in these five years. but the process of shared conversation which has been such a good process of listening and mutual understanding will continue. and so after three years of discussions, and passionate debate, and a personal plea from the archbishop of canterbury, the general synod has voted against the report. it is an embarrassment for the house of bishops, following a fraught process. tonight, the bishops say they will reflect carefully and prayerfully on the result. martin bashir, bbc news, at church house. a plane struck a deer in north carolina. it landed safely after aborting the flight to mississippi.

no injuries were reported among the 44 passengers. it was steak served rare for the winner of best in show at westminster. it was served steak from a plate at a new york restau ra nt. from a plate at a new york restaurant. it competed against 1800 other dogs on tuesday. that is it. thank you for watching. hello. wednesday was a real mixed bag of a day right across the british isles. for some, after a dull start, it turned out to be a really glorious day, dare i say, almost springlike. for others, my word, you had to wait. eventually in the east some saw some brightness after a thoroughly miserable day. it depended on where you were in relation to the weather front which started life in the south—west and moved ever further to the north—east. into the channel islands, eventually brighter skies into the south—east.

it won't be a cold start to the day. given all the cloud around, the front has not quite disappeared. we still have a vigourous area of low pressure close by to the north of scotland to start that day. notice the isobars squeezing together. that could well signify some gusts of wind around 30, if not a0 miles per hour to start off the day. and you will have some rain and blustery showers, especially so in northern and western parts of scotland, and maybe the odd bit close by in northern ireland. the odd rogue shower getting across the border into the north of england. further south, some brightness in the heart of wales, the midlands, towards east anglia into lincolnshire. further south, again, lots of cloud around and quite a bit of hill fog. that will give you a grey and murky start. that will take some time before it lifts away. but things improving widely in the greater part of england and wales. rain returning to northern ireland eventually push into the north—west of wales. maybe the odd shower may getting into the south—western parts of england and scotland. all the while, the breeze will be noticeable in northern areas. the top temperatures,

10—11 degrees or so on the day. and that's a trend we'll see continuing on into the weekend. that puts us above the average for the time of year, closer to eight or nine depending on where you are. through the course of the evening and overnight, a ribbon of cloud going across the irish sea into the north of england. then, come friday, it will leave behind a tail of cloud south—west to it diagonally, the best of the brightness on either side. on into the weekend, staying mild. there will be some sunny intervals around. quite a bit of cloud as well. rain at times, especially in the north. this is how we start the weekend. quite a few isobars. so, breezy. this weather front will weaken as we go further south. it's this area of cloud and rain that gives that wet prospect for northern areas.

the headlines on bbc news: president trump has reignited his public feud with his own intelligence agencies, and the media, over the resignation of his national security adviser. he has dismissed reports based on security sources that his team had frequent contacts with russian intelligence during the election. the president has also has changed decades of american foreign policy in the middle east. mr trump suggested to the visiting israeli prime minister that the us no longer regards a palestinian state alongside israel, the so—called two—state solution, as the best hope of a peace settlement. police in malaysia have detained a woman in connection with the death of kimjong—nam, the half—brother of the north korean leader. the dead man is believed to have been poisoned as he waited to board a flight in kuala lumpur. the government in north korea has asked malaysia to hand over the body. now on bbc news, hardtalk.