hello you're watching bbc world news. i'm james menendez. our top story this hour: complete and utter nonsense. britain's communications intelligence agency rubbishes the suggestion that it helped spy on donald trump. leaders of the us senate intelligence committee also say they've seen no evidence to support mr trump's claim that barack obama wiretapped his phone. welcome to the programme — our other main stories this hour: hungary presses ahead with the construction of container camps for asylum—seekers along its border with serbia. what ha ppened—when a bbc team of mount etna in sicily. i'm susannah streeter. in business: trading accusations. chancellor merkel heads to the white house amid growing us complaints that german business isn't playing fair. plus — a yawning hole in our finances — why lack of sleep could be wiping billions off the global economy:~ ”ww" hello.

we begin with president trump's claim that barack obama's administration placed trump tower under surveillance during last year's election campaign. committee have now said they see no indications that this ever happened, while the chairmen of the house intelligence committee have also said they don't believe mr trump's allegation. and britain's communications ifieellifififife éfiéfiffi ' f " f 7, f " " gchq, said the suggestion that it wiretapped donald trump during the election campaign were "utterly ridiculous" and "should be ignored". from washington, our correspondent tulip mazumder reports. as presidentjohn‘s st patrick's day celebrations got under way, minus a green tie, another controversy looms

large. his tweets from a couple of weeks back dreaming that his predecessor, barack weeks back dreaming that his predecessor, ba rack obama weeks back dreaming that his predecessor, barack obama had tapped predecessor, ”figgggg,grlhgmgrhgdtgmgg phone keep coming back to haunt his phone keep coming back to haunt him. he called mr obama sick and dad. now a statement from the chairman of the senate intelligence committee has said that based on the information available to us they see no indications that trump tower was the subject of surveillance by any $23 of the the subject of surveillance by any glgzg of the united states element of the united states government either before or after election day 2016. but the white house is that president trump is standing by his claims which he bases on newspaper articles and fox news. while defending the claims, his press secretary highlighted another serious allegation, this time involving the uk. three intelligence sources have informed fox news that president obama went outside the chain of command, he did not use the fbi cia or nsa or the department of he not use the fbi cia or nsa or the department of- he used to

department ofjustice. he used to gchq, the british intelligence. the agency was quick to - saying agency was quick to respond saying that the allegations about gchq being asked to conduct a wiretapping we re being asked to conduct a wiretapping were against the then president—elect were nonsense, utterly ridiculous and should be ignored. president trump was asked again about the tweets earlier this week on fox news and he said there is more evidence to come. wiretap covers ma ny is more evidence to come. wiretap covers many different things. i think you're gonna find some very interesting items coming in to the forefront of the next two weeks. yet the spotlight has swung away again, the spotlight has swung away from policy that impacts the lives of order nary americans, like the budget released yesterday, on to yet more budget released yesterday, on to yet m ore c0 ntrove i’sy budget released yesterday, on to yet more controversy sparked by the tweets of donald trump. let's talk to harley shaiken — a professor at the university of california berkeley. thank you forjoining us. first of all, is this a case of president trump spouting off for he has a

chance to think? this is a very unusual case. i think we have subtly moved from alternative fact to imagine that reality. there is clearly no evidence for the claim. this was not a pressing issue that the united states faces or that even president trump faces. evidently at casual radio interview has transformed itself into an issue that has riveted enormous media coverage. - is a wider issue of coverage. there is a wider issue of course which is damage to relations with the close intelligence allies. of course, the wider issue of and, of course, the wider issue of relations generally with other countries 5:51 the i relations generally with other countries g the trust that those countries and the trust that those countries and the trust that those countries can have in the administration. i think these are in fa ct administration. i think these are in fact serious issues and deeply

troubling. the uk intelligence agencies have summed it up in a word, nonsense. and, really, there is no other way to explain it. there is no otheuuavtoexplain,it.,there ! been a complete lack of evidence has been a complete lack of evidence but it has developed its own momentum. it goes much beyond the specifics of this case and, really, goes into credibility of the presidency and that is not a good thing to have to be discussing. presidency and that is not a good thing to have to be discussinglj would like to talk about the budget because it is labour and the global economy, your specialities. what are the budget proposals had been laid out, what does that say about mr trump's priorities? it is a clear statement of priorities but will not necessarily translate into a reality. there are sharp parts. this was not surgery with a scalpel, this was not surgery with a scalpel, this was with a meat axe and priorities,

for example, guiding the environmental protection agency could be costly. we will not be doing federally funded research on climate change. the cost of addressing it will go exponentially higher now in the future. 30% of the state department's budget has been axed. much less engagement with the world, not merely diplomatically but in terms of us aid. so it is a troubling budget, much of it will be addressed by the congress, even some of the areas where president trump's support was greatest will be investigated closely during this proposed budget. will it be popular with his core supporters? no. this is what is so fascinating. his rhetoric and his promises really do

still resonate with his core supporters but all of a sudden you are looking at reality. 2a million people falling off healthcare. many of them are absolutely his core support. funding is gutted to deal with problems of wisconsin and michigan, two key states are going to be very damaged by this and the third state, pennsylvania, that was absolutely central to his victory will also be damaged by this budget cut. so what we see is not merely severe cards, it they are cuts that damage people, in particular, and create very, very real problems for the future. thank you for your input. hungary is pressing ahead with the construction of two container camps for asylum—seekers on its border with serbia, despite a chorus of

international criticism. by the end of march the government plans to keep all asylum seekers, including families and unaccompanied teenagers, in detention. here's james reynolds on the hungary—serbian border. when says it is taking when - says it is taking tough action to stop migration, this is what it means. it is holding these migrants ata what it means. it is holding these migrants at a detention - in migrants at a detention centre in the south of the country. we are allowed to speak to them from the street. we are not terrorists, we are not criminals. we are refugees. there are no human rights here for a it isa there are no human rights here for a it is a prison. they are treating us like animals. but hungary sees no reason to back down. far from like animals. but hungary sees no reason to back down. farfrom it. this month, the prime minister took charge of a new group of so—called

water hunters. a new law now gives the government even more power to round up migrants. hungry plants to hold all in these containers it is setting up next to the border with serbia. these are civilised places to live in, the contractor says. european workers certainly find them acceptable. hungary says that the migrants to be held in these containers would be free to leave at any time, so long as they head in just a single direction, south. they will be free to walkjust a few just a single direction, south. they will be down» walkjust a few just a single direction, south. they will be down here ljust a few just a single direction, south. they will be down here and : a few just a single direction, south. they will be down here and theyw just a single direction, south. they will be down here and they would metres down here and they would ci’oss metres down here and they would cross back into serbia, away from the eu, making them someone else's problem. these young migrants are stuck on the serbian side. the rest of the european union may publicly criticised the actions of hungary but, quietly, europe may put up with

anything that keeps migrants back will stop i , a german chancellor, angela merkel is travelling to washington today where she'll be meeting president donald trump at the white house. during his election campaign, trump frequently criticised merkel, accusing her of "ruining germany" by taking in large numbers of refugees. merkel, who holds significant sway in europe, was critical of trump's refugee and immigration travel ban, which was blocked by the courts. and susannah is here with all the business news. big trade angle to that meeting... that is what. have been looking that is what we have been looking at. the two nations are major trading partners — but there's been growing concern on the us side that their relationship is simply not fair. let me show you why. last year the us sold $49 billion worth of goods to germany — everything from boeing airliners to pfizer medicines. that sounds like a healthy figure until you look at this one $114 billion was the value of goods

germany sold to the us. that's a lot of bmws — not to mention everything from industrial machinery to medicines. it's more than double. and it puts the difference — known as america's trade deficit with germany — at $65 billion. that's a bigger deficit than the us has with mexico — injanuary one of president trump's top trade advisors accused germany of using a "grossly undervalued" euro to "exploit" the us. chancellor merkel rejects the claim — and points out the thousands ofjobs created by german investment in the us. she says she will remind the president that bmw's us plant ,.:.s.:...=. £1: the bosses of bmw and another huge employer in the us — industrial giant siemens — will be travelling with her to make the point.

we'll be getting the views of a frankfurt—based economist in 20 minutes' time. or like me you started work at three in the morning — this may wake you up. according to research by the rand corporation — lack of sleep is costing the world economy billions of dollars in lost productivity. today is world sleep day — and our reporter theo leggett has been to find out why nodding off — instead of logging on — could be good for business. you can get in touch with us on twitter. you can send me any of your sleep nightmare stories. i'm wondering about our physical and mental health... a report on colombia by the un high commissionerfor human rights says dozens of activists were killed last year, and warns that armed groups are moving into territories previously occupied by farc rebels. of the violence were human

rights leaders or members of left—wing political organisations. in south korea where he'll meet the country's acting president. mar-g; atfinr ham's- with the growing threat from north korea. while injapan, he said twenty years of international efforts to rein in pyonyang had failed. it is spectacular and also hugely dangerous. mount edna has burst into life spitting lava nearly 200 metres into the sky above the island of sicily. the volcano has been active a few days but the scale of this eruption was unexpected. it injured ten people but it have been much eruption was unexpected. it injured ten pe| a e but it have been much eruption was unexpected. it injured ten pe| a bbct it have been much eruption was unexpected. it injured ten pe| a bbc crew we been much eruption was unexpected. it injured ten pe| a bbc crew was ween much eruption was unexpected. it injured ten pe| a bbc crew was filming ch eruption was unexpected. it injured ten pe| a bbc crew was filming there worse. a bbc crew was filming there and among them, rebecca. 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—moving it is usually considered safe. then this happened. explosion. the hot rocks mixed with snow and ice, causing a massive explosion. 0ur camerawoman, rachel price, filmed as rocks, boulders and steam were hurled up into the air. we ran for our lives. there were cuts, burns and bruises, but amazingly, nothing worse. 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 dangerous event he had experienced 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 fl: lh-,!_-_-jili.. l-l _i---- of volcanic rock that rained down upon us. we really thought we we had a very, very narrow escape. scientists will now continue to track how the eruption progresses. 0ur close call only shows how dangerous these forces of nature can be. rebecca morelle, bbc news, mt etna. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: meet xingjiang'sjustin bieber — the uighur pop singer who aims to bridge the gap between two opposing cultures. 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. this was an international trophy and we understand 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 world news.

i'm james menendez. the latest headlines: britain's eavesdropping agency, gchq, has issued a statement furiously denying that it wiretapped mr trump during the us election campaign. hungary moves ahead with the construction of 2 container camps for asylum—seekers on its border with serbia, despite international criticism. it's 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 of al—jinah west of the city of aleppo. separately, the united states military says it killed several al qaeda militants in an air strike on a meeting place in neighbouring idlib province on thursday. the statement made no mention of civilian casualties. 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, 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 0bservatory for human rights said a russian as strike killed two people. there has been no comment from the russian government. syria's cml—war—hasneflasted: more than six years.

injured or displaced. 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. the authorities in peru remain on high alert after heavy rains caused mudslides and two rivers to burst their banks in the capital lima. the damage has forced schools and roads to close and tens of thousands of people have been left homeless as greg dawson reports. asa as a mudslide in shows up the debris of what was someone's home, a woman emerges, clinging for her life. slowly she is able to find her feet and carefully step away before onlookers brush to help her. ——

rush. later, in hospital, peru's health minister tells her she has had a lucky escape. she is not the only one. watch as a mudslide takes out two trucks. 0ne only one. watch as a mudslide takes out two trucks. one of the drivers somehow out two trucks. one of the drivers somehow manages out two trucks. one of the drivers somehow manages to climb from his cab before the water breaks his vehicle away. it is not clear what vehicle away. it is not clear egg! to vehicle away. it is not clear eggg! to the people in the other happened to the people in the other lorry. in some parts of the route's capital, lima, the only route to safety is up as police rescue lift children to rescue. torrential rain caused birth riverbanks and mudslides. people have died and tens

caused birth riverbanks and m thousands eople have died and tens caused birth riverbanks and m thousands have have died and tens caused birth riverbanks and m thousands have lost 3 died and tens caused birth riverbanks and m thousands have lost a die‘ homes. is of thousands have lost their homes. the president has promised emergency funding for infrastructure repair. translation: we are going to start with this area. this phenomenon is seenin with this area. this phenomenon is seen in many other basins. there are basins which have not been sufficiently taken care of which is something we propose doing during a campaign. the floods have damaged crops, the water supply and hit the tourism industry. the full extent of the damage. the non—or a while. forecasts is that rain will continue forecasts is that rainrwill centinae another few weeks. the duke and duchess affcamariage for a two—day trip that's being seen as a bid to foster closer relations brexit negotiations.

the royal couple will meet french president francois hollande before being guests at a dinner celebrating the friendship and cultural ties between the nations. they will also attend the six nations rugby match between wales and france. the trip comes days after prince william was criticised for his behaviour on a recent skiing trip with friends that saw him miss now for a look at some sport: tennis and kristina mladenovic is through to the semi—finals of the indian wells 0pen. she beat caroline wozniacit'r but had to come from behind to do it, after she lost the opening set. mladenoovic levelled when she woon a second set tie—break and raced through to the decider 6—2. next up for her is a possible meeting with venus williams there've been plenty of tributes to the legendary golfer arnold palmer at the start of the pga tour event which bears his name. this is the first time the event that he founded has been held since his death last september and a statue to him was unveiled last weekend. 0n the course the lead is held

by argentina's emiliano grillo and the englishman matt fitzpatrick who shot rounds of 67. but shot of the day went to cody gribble — well, i say shot, but really it was him clearing the fairway of an alligator that caught the eye. this province is home to about 10 million people from the uighur minority — whose muslim identity is gradually being eroded by the majority han chinese state, according to activists. between these two very different cultures. a bbc team has been to meet him.