a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. ourton storiesz~fiemaiete —— that is what britain's communications intelligenceagencg! calls allegations from the white house that it helped carry out surveillance on donald trump. what happened when a bbc team faced the volcanic fury of mt etna, in sicily. we are on the ground in china's xinjiang province, with the so—called people's war on terror. recent attacks here have all been local and low—tech, a handful of young farmers armed only with knives. the art of getting inked. a new exhibit celebrates tattoos through the years, and the mark they have left on british culture. hello.

in a very, very unusual move, britain's communications intelligence agency has gone = on donald trump during the us election campaign. the gchq statement says the allegations are complete and utter nonsense, utterly ridiculous, and should be ignored. about his unproven claim that trump tower was wire—tapped on the orders of president obama, even though the republican speaker it didn't happen. here is our north america editorjon sopel. bagpipes playing. st patrick's day is being celebrated in washington but donald trump does not seem to be enjoying the luck of the irish, as his problems pile up.

remember his claim in a series of tweets that barack obama had tapped his phone and that his predecessor was "sick" and "bad"? well, last night, the president gave an interview in which he stood by the claim. "wire—tap" covers a lot of different things. i think you're going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next two weeks. at a tetchy white house briefing, the president's spokesman said mr trump continued to stand by the claim, even suggesting that british intelligence could have been involved. but again, no evidence was offered. reporter: despite the fact that the senate intelligence committee says they see no indication it happened... no, first of all, he stands by it, but

again, you are mischaracterising what happened today. there maybe similar battles to come over the president's budget which was unveiled today. it proposes a boost to spending for the armed forces and border security, but major cuts to overseas aid and the environment and, the democrats say, domestic programmes also which help the most vulnerable. it throws billions of dollars at defence, while ransacking american investment injobs, education, innovation, clean energy and life—saving medical research. it will leave our nation weakened. no—one can accuse donald trump of not being true to his election promises. but turning an easy campaign pledge into something more concrete is turning out to be extremely difficult. his most eye—catching proposals are stuck in thickjudicial and legislative mud. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. mr trump has said on twitter, a budget that puts america first must make safety its number one priority. i spoke just now to newsweek political correspondent emily cadei, and suggested the president's list to prioritise defence and border

security at the expense of almost everything else. and i think the important thing to keep in mind so this is really trump's campaign priorities reiterated, in what they're calling a budget blueprint. it will be up to congress to really flesh out and determine whether it wants to carry out the priorities that trump has laid out. but certainly you see the same things laidfl in numbers, that he talked about on the campaign trail, which is america first, strong on defence, taking the us out of foreign entanglements, reducing foreign aid, and attacking environmental regulations, and a lot of other domestic programmes that he sees as a waste of resources. you would have thought.— — — —— the chances of getting this through

a republican—controlled congress would be high, many republicans surely keen to see more money go to fight is, modernise the military, also keen to see washington spending cut. there is, though, this thing called "sequestration", isn't there? he may need democrat votes and republican votes? even just a basic spending bill. but of course, the sequestration would have to be repealed to break through the spending caps that it set, which is what trump is trying to do with this budget proposal. see that easel; ‘ee gee but at the expense of slashing diplomatic budgets, the envirnmental protection agency and other domestic priorities. how is this kind of austerity going to play, even to mr trump's supporters, coming from a man who claims to be a billionaire,

who has a cabinet full of people from goldman sachs, when the taxpayers is paying i think, to stay in new york, and for mr trump's regular trips to what he calls the "southern white house", his resort at mar—a—lago? well, i think that when you talk about budget cuts in the abstract, and cutting government, it's popular, but when you start to actually take a scalpel to programmes, people realise that certain things are actually going to disappear. and every programme in this budget has a constituency. you're already hearing an outcry from certain state that are seeing environmental programmes cut, in other states they're seeing jobs programmes cut. so it's a lot more politically difficult, even with republicans where and what he's talking about is eliminating entire budgets and agencies.

so, yeah, this is not going to play out exactly as it is on the paper that trump has presented to congress. just briefly, if you don't mind, if this is a kind of wish—list, a way to pump up his supporter base, if his administration does not expect all of this to become government policy, what do you think are the red lines? what is he really going to fight for? well, he has been pretty clear on the border wall, that he wants to build this wall. but it was such a high—profile promise on the campaign trail that i think he will fight for that, and for the immigration enforcement and homeland security money. it is reported from syria that at least a0 people have been killed, and dozens injured, in an airstrike on a mosque in the north of the country during evening prayers. the building was in the village .-.s -.—l ;-" .-.s +l.e - .l.. aleppo. the british—based syrian observatory for human rights says the village

is in an area held by anti—government rebels. bill hayton reports. this, say rescuers, was once a mosque. dozens of people were inside the building on thursday night when it was.,hit,, many were killed instantly, others lay wounded beneath the rubble. these pictures were filmed by the syrian civil defence, known as the white helmets. while they could not be sure who carried out the airstrikes, this man was convinced it must be the russian air force. the attack on al—jinah was not an isolated incident. syrian activists reported a surge in airstrikes on thursday, targeting areas west of the city of aleppo controlled by opposition rebels. in another village, sheikh hilal, the syrian observatory for human rights said a russian as strike killed two people. there has been no comment

from the russian government. syria's civil war has now lasted more than six years. around 400,000 people have been killed and millions injured or displaces. there is supposed to be a ceasefire in force, and another round of peace talks is due to start next week. but, on the ground, the killing continues. bill hayton, bbc news. in other news: britain's prime minister, theresa may, has rejected a call for a second referendum on scottish independence, saying now is not the time. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has called for a second vote between autumn 2018 and spring 2019. the prime minister insisted the whole of the uk should focus the us secretary of state, rex tillerson, has just landed in south korea, where he will meet the country's acting president. amongst other things, the pair will discuss how to deal with the growing threat from north korea. while injapan, he said 20 years

of international efforts to rein in pyongyang have failed. at least ten people have been injured in a school shooting in the southern french town of grasse. the attacker, who was armed with a rifle, handguns and grenades, is reported to have been involved in a dispute with the headmaster. a 17—year—old student has been arrested. it is spectacular, but also incredibly dangerous. mt etna has burst into life, spitting molten lava nearly 200 metres into the sky above the island of sicily. although the volcano has been active for the last couple of days, the scale of this eruption was unexpected, leaving ten people injured. a bbc crew was filming there at the time, among them our science correspondent rebecca morelle. it is one of the world's most active vulcanoes, and for the last few weeks, mt etna has been erupting again. we were filming a lava flow that had formed overnight. tourists had come to see it, too. the lava is so slow=me¥ieg~m ~

it is usually considered safe. then this happened. explosion. the hot rocks mixed with snow and ice, causing a massive explosion. our camerawoman, rachel price, filmed as rocks, boulders and steam were hurled up into the air. we ran for our lives. many were hit. you 0k? stay down. just sit down. eruptions at etna are frequent. but incidents like this, involving people, are rare. a vulcanologist said it was the most

in his 30—year career. we have made it back down the mountain, and what happened is only really just starting to sink in. look at this. this hole was made by one of the incredibly hot pieces of volcanic rock that rained down upon us. we really thought we were all going to die. we had a very, very narrow escape. scientists will now continue to track how the eruption progresses. our close call only shows how dangerous these forces of nature can be. rebecca morelle, bbc news, mt etna. still lemme; a former team gig, = the rules on taking supplements, but it was covered up. today we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches

and a dimming of vision. all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself is on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. there now that the search for it has become an international search. above all this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible and that's what the voters wanted. this is bbc news. the headlines: the us senate intelligence committee has said there's no evidence that trump tower

was under surveillance by any part of the government during last year's presidential election. britain's communications intelligence agency has also denied being involved. and a bbc team is among those who have escaped from the eruption of mount etna in italy. of the country are the greatest threat to the nation's security. the president has promised to build what he calls ‘a great wall of iron‘ to safeguard the vast western region of xinjiang, home to a community of some 10 million uighurs — mostly muslim people, who the government is concerned may be vulnerable to radicalising propaganda from syria and iraq. widespread intimidation makes reporting from the region extremely aufiuiulf 55.55. 555.55 ema; gamer access and sent this report. southern xinjiang, once the fabled silk road between china and the west, now the frontline

in china's war on terror. they call it an all—out offensive, a new great wall of iron. thousands of troops pledging to lay down their lives and shed blood. we are heading for the scene of the only confirmed attack this year. china doesn't want the world to see the police checkpoints. filming has to be discreet, body searches in every public building. we are the only foreign reporters to get to pishan county. three young uighurs knifed a group of han chinese on the street here last month. five victims died of their wounds. police shot the attackers dead. the government offers huge rewards for information,

and some are glad of the heightened security. you don't need to be afraid, she says, this place is full of police. you can feel safe, it's a lot better than before. recent attacks here have all been local and low—tech, a handful of young farmers armed only with knives. they show no sign of delivering the kind of large—scale atrocity that would explain the government's call for an all—out offensive, and sending thousands of troops to this so—called frontline. but some say there are more attacks than the government admits to, they say it is backward here, they would get out if they could. but beijing worries about where they would go. promising rivers of blood in china's heartland.

beijing fears they will come home to kill. and so religion in xinjiang is under ever—growing pressure. no young people in the mosque, no beards, except the very old, and propaganda slogans urging the public to thank their communist party leaders. some are grateful. ablajan sings a tune that beijing likes. they call him xinjiang's justin bieber. a reminder that uighurs were once more famous for song than for violence. he tells his fans to seize every chance the government offers. but the relationship between uighurs and han chinese?

and i can see why he is careful. people disappear. armed swat teams are everywhere. foreign critics warn this repression is the recruiting 53:12:er g... ézzrreé.” but china vows it will triumph, and until then, every uighur is suspect. the authorities in peru are on high alert after heavy rains caused mudslides and two rivers to burst their banks in the capital lima. schools and many roads were closed. at least 60 people have died in floods in peru since december. "hm-m a former british cyclist has told the bbc that he broke the rules governing the sport by secretly injecting himself with vitamins when riding for team sky.

josh edmondson insists he confessed at the time, but alleges it was "covered up." our sports editor dan roan has this exclusive report. he was one of ricky cycling's top young talents, a teammate to legends. but beneath the surface, former team sky riderjosh edmondson was struggling to deal with the pressure, and for the first time the 24—year—old has broken his silence about the depression i suffered, about the depression he suffered, saying he linked it to the controversial painkiller tramadol, which he secretly took to get through training and races. the 22427} thing about it, through training and races. the ty} thing about it, is through training and races. the 224257: thing about it, is you dangerous thing about it, is you don't know when it is coming. i would be pushing on pushing, normally you would say, i cannot keep on, but. would just go a bit keep on, but he would just go a bit further. it is not a performance enhancing drug, really. the next day feels like you're hungover, really, and you just needed to get through. and you 'ust needed to get through- think the withdrawal from that, i think the withdrawal from that, immediately after a race, i was depressed. i was at a point rated

not leave the house to two months. it doesn't really get much worse than that without committing suicide. while it is not hand, team sky have had a strict no tramadol = sky have had a strict no tramadol policies and is 2007, and they were not aware that he was using the painkiller. but he says he then went a step further and broke the sport's no needle ruled by itself injecting a cocktail of lethal vitamin c bought from italy in the buildup to a big race in 20115. bought from italy in the buildup to a big race in 2014. i bought the syringes, folic acid, tad - b12, syringes, folic acid, tad and b12, andi syringes, folic acid, tad and b12, and i would just inject fat, salt of two or three times a week, maybe. especially when i wanted to lose weight i would inject carnitine more often, because it was very effective. i had to make sure there we re effective. i had to make sure there were no bottles in the butterfly clip, because if there is a mac in there it can give you a heart attack, and people buy that way. it is very daunting. edmondson was reported to team sky when a needle

and vitamin cfound in his room, but tea m and vitamin cfound in his room, but team sky say that edmondson denied using the needle, and because of their concerns over his mental health, theirformer their concerns over his mental health, their former clinical director says he advised senior management not to report the issue to the authorities. if i had done that, and i suppose i am looking at safety issues, i did think there was a really the risk that flu boy a really the risk that this boy would you pushed over the edge. he told us very clearly at the time, he had not done the injection, because he didn't know how to use the needle. he said, i've never used needles, i've - seen the needle needles, i've never seen the needle for. this is what he told us at the time. as i say, you have to remember, without going into too much detail, i haven't got a person who is in a good place in front of me. i've got someone who is breaking down. josh edmondson says he did confess at the time but that senior management covered it up. they would have had to say publicly that there was a kid, a young writer on our team, injecting anything is bad, you know, it was not like it was banned substances, but it was against the

rules, to self inject anything. what he is suggesting is that the team covered up what had happened because they wanted to preservee! they wanted to preserve the reputation and image of team sky. really, really isn't right. i but really, really isn't right. i can see his interpretation. i'm sure some members of the public will believe that. but we did it in good faith and we did it on two counts. one is that the team was, one is that the team discussion was, we didn't think he had actually violated, and the second but most important one was, he just was not ina good important one was, he just was not in a good place. these revelations come with british cycling under unprecedented scrutiny over the use of medication. josh edmondson says he will co—operate with the authorities and hopes his story serves as a warning to other riders. an estimated 20 million people in britain have at least one tattoo and at the current rate it's reported that around 1.5 million works of body art are commissioned every year. the industry is reported to be worth 100 million pounds a year. an exhibition at the national maritime museum cornwall is devoted to the tattoo as an art form, and our arts editor will gomperlz has been to falmouth to take a look. tattoos, as you know,

are all the rage nowadays. there is more choice than ever. you've got the geometric, all—over design, the star wars stormtropper, and of course, your classic love heart. do you know what, lal, i'm as pleased as punch with that. thanks very much. you're welcome. back in the late '70s, lal hardy made his living tattooing iconoclastic punks. today he is taking part in a major museum exhibition, celebrating his artform. times have changed. i think the perception of tattoos has changed, because there is so much fantastic artwork out there. i mean, every genre and subject is covered with tattooing now. there‘s so much beautiful stuff..! you know, there isn't a stigma, like there used to be, attached to it anymore. it is this shift in the perception of tattoos that the exhibition charts, as well as taking on what the curators feel are common misconceptions. we start with disspelling the myth that captain cook brought tattooing back to britain.

british people had been tattooed for hundreds of years before. and we start to see evidence of that in the pilgram tattoos that people in the pilgrimages in the 1600s. this is one of my favourite parts of the exhibition. we're trying to challenge the idea that tattooing is gender or class—specific. it's notjust people that are getting tattooed, but also who was tattooing, as well. justine knight the tattooist was once the target in a circus sharp—shooting act. now she's at the business end of the target no more. in what was predominantly a man's world at the time, in as early as the '20s, '30s, '40s. but her art is so beautiful, and it has a realfeminine quality to it. so the exhibition finishes with 100 hands. it's a snapshot of what's happening in britain, and i think it shows notjust the diversity of styles, but the true beauty and artistic quality of tattoo art now. not everybody will agree with that appraisal.

some see them as a symbol of moral decline, an image this exhibition seeks to alter by presenting them as an expression of artistic sensibility. of course, mine wasn't a real tattoo. lal, lal... very briefly, that main news again. gchq has very publicly and a very unusually issued a statement saying it is" complete and utter nonsense, utterly ridiculous, to allege that it helped carry out surveillance on trump during the us election donald trump during the us election campaign. much more on that story and all the news any time on the bbc website. thank you for watching. we start the day with quite a lot of variety up and down the uk.

as we step outside. some rain for the north and it does not look so pretty. cold wind and wintry showers across the north of scotland. for wales, not too bad at eight o'clock breakfast, there will be sunshine here and the wind is not too strong. quite chilly, mind you. further north it is wet with rain piling into northern ireland from the west. a period of heavy rain through the morning at least. merging with the wintry showers over the highlands makes a cold wet start to the day. sunshine further east, but temperatures are not much above freezing. some dampness is coming into north—west england over the pennines but to the east i think it will be a dry start. plenty of sunshine there across the midlands and east anglia as well southern england. a nip in the air but, again, sunshine makes a difference. wind will be light across the southern parts of the country. as we go through the day, all of this will head eastwards but,

having said that, the high ground will block out a lot of the rain. so there will never be much across the east of scotland of north—east of england, 5.25 see; i).- 7 the heavy stuff there is further west and there will be snow over the highlands. cloud coming down over the southern and eastern areas of england and wales but will stay dry here and reasonably mild into the low teens. unpleasant north and west. the rain should hold iéééj " e'tezt ' '7 "'— not too bad a day if you wear a few layers. as we head into the evening, some rain will arrive across southern areas and it is quite patchy in nature and no great amount. heavy stuff remains north and it does not look like a nice night. some of the rain will be an issue as we get into the weekend, up over the high ground of north—western england and north wales. we will keep an eye on it. a touch of frost first thing across the north of scotland but here, some of the best of the brightness as we go through saturday. for the rest of us, a lot of cloud in the sky. more rain, particularly

across the western areas and a patchy start reaching eastern parts. it will be relatively mild despite the cloud. low to mid teens and chillier across the far north. by sunday, under the system coming in from the west. difficult to get the detail right but on balance eastern areas of the rain. quite blustery, but mild. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm mike embley. the influential intelligence committee of the us senate, along with the republican speaker of the house, has said there's no evidence trump tower was under surveillance by any part of the government during last year's presidential election. very unusually, britain's gchq has issued a statement, calling mr trump's allegations complete and utter nonsense, which should be ignored. a bbc crew and severaljournalists had to run for cover when they were caught on mount etna, in sicily, as it erupted. etna has been active for a few days, but the scale of this eruption was unexpected — ten people were injured. activists say at least 40 people

have been killed in north—west syria, where a mosque was hit by an airstrike during evening prayers. the british—based syrian observatory for human rights says the mosque was in a village held by anti—government rebels. is time now for hardtalk.