welcome to bbc news, broadcasting at home and around the globe. my name is lebo diseko. our top stories: a humiliating defeat for president trump as he withdraws his health—care bill because he could not get enough support for it to pass congress. a lone wolf, or did he have helped 7 pass congress. a lone wolf, or did he have helped? british police investigate what motivated the westminster at hacker. —— attacker. hello, and thank you forjoining us. president trump has withdrawn his health—care bill before congress got a chance to vote on it after it became clear he did not have enough support for it to pass. jon sopel has the story. mr vice president, do you have the vote? a day of truly frantic meetings and phone calls, as the vice president, mike pence, went to the hill to try to secure the votes needed to pass

health care reform — trumpcare. and the usual tools deployed, a mixture of menace and flattery. but it wasn't going well. my vote is still a no. my vote has not changed. if anybody tells you for certain they know what is going to happen, they are lying. the situation is still very fluid. and if concessions are made to the right of the republican party, you lose the moderates, and vice versa. at the white house, there were no attempts to distance themselves from the legislation. the president's spokesman saying donald trump had done everything he could. there is no question, in my mind, at least, that the president and the team have left everything in the field. we have called every member with a question and concern, taking into consideration the strength of the bill. but there was one definitive statement about how the day would unfold. obviously, later today, the house will vote on the american health care act, the current vote is scheduled for 3:30pm. except it didn't, with journalists prowling every corridor, doubts started to creep in and then

the bombshell announcement after the speaker, paul ryan, went to see the president to tell him they didn't have the votes. we came close, today, but we came up short. i spoke to the president, just a little while ago, and told him the best thing to do was to pull the bill and he agreed. i will not sugar—coat this. this is a disappointing day. doing big things is hard. and the president was defiant in defeat. i've been saying for the last year—and—a—half, that the best thing we can do, politically speaking, is let obamacare explode. it is exploding right now. but on the campaign trail, donald trump said it would be easy. and this was his pledge at every rally. obamacare has to be replaced. we got to get rid of obamacare, which is a disaster. repealing and replacing the disaster known as obamacare! and the author of the art of the deal said only

he could deliver it. if you can't make a good deal with a politician, then there is something wrong with you. you're certainly not very good. chanting: hey hey, ho ho, donald trump has got to go! protestors were vocal in their opposition to the reform plan, which could have seen 2a million americans lose their health insurance. west virginia was solidly behind donald trump last november. john ingram, a retired miner, articulated an uncertainty that echoes around the country. i hope to god that they realise what they are actually doing. in effect, they are dealing with life and death situations. for notjust me, but for millions of people. do you use the rapid insulin, too? at the cabin creek health center, they are watching these proposed changes with alarm. it's the disturbing to think that, you know, we have made some gains — and to take that away

is especially difficult. i think that is disheartening. for patients. yesterday, donald trump clambered on board a giant truck. today, his politicaljuggernaut came to a grinding halt. make no mistake, this is a huge embarrassment and setback. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. american health care is the most expensive here in the uk, police have released nine of the 11 people arrested since wednesday's attack in central london. detectives are still trying to determine weather the attacker, khalid masood, was acting alone. there are still many questions that officers are working to answer.” sensed this investigation is moving into a new phase tonight. the immediate arrests are over. seven people caught in that first sweep

have now been released. that leaves just four people in custody who detectives are concentrating on as potential accomplices, though i am told more arrests are possible. now the hard part of the investigation begins as detectives have to sift through the evidence and try to work out whether khalid masood was acting alone. i understand they simply do not know the answer to that question at this stage. as ever with a modern terrorism investigation, they will have to sift through a mountain of computer evidence and mobile phone evidence, including, intriguingly, the fact that khalid masood's mobile phone sent a message to the encrypted messaging out whatsapp just two minutes before he crossed that bridge. if that is correct, the key question is, who did he send that message to? detectives are hoping that buried in that mountain of evidence they have seized, computer and mobile phone evidence, is the answer to that critical question. who, if anybody, helped khalid masood kill four people and

wreak avec and terror in the heart of westminster? —— havoc. police in belgium have used antiterrorism legislation to charge antiterrorism legislation to charge a 39—year—old tunisian man with attempted murder after a car was driven at high speed towards crowds in antwerp‘s shopping district. liberty was injured. —— nobody was injured. let's get more now on the westminster attack. six people are still in a critical condition in hospital. this afternoon prince charles visited some of the injured and thanked hospital staff for their ha rd and thanked hospital staff for their hard work. sarah campbell reports. a royal thank you to the medical teams, who are continuing to deal with the aftermath of wednesday's attack. 17 people remain in hospitals across london, including here, at king's college. as many as 50 people were injured and most have now been discharged. francisco lopes from portugal is amongst the first to talk publicly about what happened.

he started to move towards the pedestrian pavement and started to take out the people that were in front of the car. so literally, when i realised this, the car was literallyjust about one metre away. so i had literally no time to get out of the way. travis frain, a student from lancashire, was asked by the prince what he remembered of the attack and how he was being cared for in hospital. the visit was also a chance for staff to reflect on what they themselves have had to deal with. it was inspiring, the way people just worked together and communicated to deal with the patient in front of them. it didn't matter how many would be coming. you knew you would just keep working. in westminster, as the number of tributes continued to grow, so too did the number of people killed in the attack. friends and neighbours here in clapham, south london, are mourning the loss of leslie rhodes. he was 75—years—old and a retired window cleaner. he would clean the windows

without even asking. he would just clean the windows, take the rubbish downstairs. he would do anything for you. to be there at that precise time and get hit by that maniac, i mean, unbelievable. he'll be sorely missed. he was a lovely man. old school. pc keith palmer, pictured here with an american tourist in the hour before he was stabbed to death in the line of duty. an online appeal for his family, organised by the metropolitan police federation, has reached more than half a million pounds — double its target. named today — police constable kris aves. he's been left with significant injuries after being struck by the car. he and two other officers were returning from a commendation ceremony. and still unconscious but now in a stable condition, andrea cristea. she was thrown into the thames by the force of the car's impact.

a romanian citizen on holiday with her boyfriend, today, the country's ambassador told me she should have been celebrating her engagement that day. they were coming to london to celebrate their birthday. he intended to ask her for marriage on the same day. this was unfortunately the destiny. today, at westminster abbey, in a show of solidarity, religious leaders joined together for a minute's silence to remember the four who were killed and the many more who were injured. sarah campbell, bbc news. the russian president, vladimir putin, has met with the french far right presidential hopeful marine le pen in moscow. president putin denied trying to influence the french election next month and said he reserves the right to commit kate with all political figures. marine le pen said, if elected, she would

do what she could to get eu sanctions against russia lifted. a rare but symbolic show of hospitality from vladimir putin. translation: are we in no way want to influence events, but retained for ourselves the right to meet with all representatives of all political powers, just as our partners in europe and the us do. the kremlin likes what it is hearing from france's national front leader. marine le pen has called for eu sanctions imposed on russia to be scrapped. she claims that crimea, the ukrainian peninsula co ntroversially the ukrainian peninsula controversially annexed by moscow, has always been russian. translation: you know my positions are known. i rarely change them, which probably makes me an exception. you know that i am for the development of relations with

russia, and the long history that links are two countries. the national front leader may have won widespread support in france but her populist views have deterred most foreign leaders. vladimir putin, however, says she represents a fast—growing element of european politics. russia may already be accused of meddling in the us election to help donald trump win the white house, at the kremlin denies those claims and insists it will not try to influence next month's election. recent opinion polls in france but marine le pen neck and neck in the first round with centrist candidate and manuel macron as the favourite to win in the run—off. this meeting delivered a not so subtle hint that russia would be happy to deal with president marine le pen. the telecoms regulator is calling for automatic compensation for phone and broadband customers who are forced to wait for lines to be installed or for forced to wait for lines to be installed orfor repairs forced to wait for lines to be installed or for repairs to forced to wait for lines to be installed orfor repairs to be carried out. ofcom says sky, bt and

virgin media have put forward their own voluntary scheme, but didn't go far enough. the plans could affect more than 2.5 million customers who have received a t £85 million in payments every year. at the moment, compensation is only paid to a small number of customers. you are watching bbc news. the headlines: donald trump has withdrawn his health—care bill after it became clear he did not have enough support from his own party to win a vote in congress. british police have appealed for the public to help uncover the motivation of the man who killed four people in wednesday's attack in westminster. president trump has been forced to abandon his plans to replace our obamacare abandon his plans to replace our obamaca re with his abandon his plans to replace our obamacare with his own health scheme after failing to obamacare with his own health scheme afterfailing to get obamacare with his own health scheme after failing to get enough support in congress to pass that ill. doctor george benjaminjoins in congress to pass that ill. doctor george benjamin joins me in congress to pass that ill. doctor george benjaminjoins me on skype now. he is executive director at the

american public health association. thank you forjoining us. the democrats are billing this is a win for the american people, but isn't this rather a failure on the part of the republicans? well, you know, it isa win the republicans? well, you know, it is a win for the american people, and, you know, clearly the pit will that were not supportive of the affordable care act, they undertook a foolhardy mission, i think. —— clearly the people. we are all pleased that this piece of legislation went down. donald trump has blamed the democrats, but this is more about the divisions in his own party, isn't it? yes, when you are in thejob, you own it. clearly the administration and those members of congress that are in place today, that were against the affordable ca re that were against the affordable care act, they will own healthcare for the next four years. donald trump has said that he is going to implode and explode a obamacare. isn't this a bit of a poisoned

chalice for the democrats, if he is going to be sitting with this? well, you know, they have a responsibility for making sure that americans can become much healthier, and... but, sorry to interrupt you, they have said they are not going to do that. we have already seen certain aspects of obamacare we have already seen certain aspects of obamaca re not we have already seen certain aspects of obamacare not being enforced. that's right. the public will continue to blame them until they get it right. they're very patient who gets sick. every person who doesn't get health insurance, all of us are doesn't get health insurance, all of us are going to be reminded, the american people, that it is their fault. they can fix it. theyjust have to work collaboratively across the aisle to make that happen. how urban are the democrats to that? donald trump has said he is open to their advances if they come to what he calls their senses? i can tell

you that all the advocacy groups are willing to support help the president fix the affordable care act, but we are not ready to help them destroy it with the kind of legislation they tried to pass today. are the people who are really suffering from this, the american people, those from the democrats' behaviour and from the republicans? no, ithink behaviour and from the republicans? no, i think democrats are very clear on what they need to do to fix the affordable care act. there have been some republicans that would probably support it if they were not getting such a hostile reception from their colleagues. at there is a fix. it is very clear. the affordable care act in its holkham in its entirety is working. but it is not, is it? there area number of working. but it is not, is it? there are a number of people for whom their premiums are double, triple what they were before.

i live in maryland. it's working just fine in maryland. there are many places in which the affordable ca re many places in which the affordable care act is working. remember, at the end of the day, when you have 2a million people who would lose their health insurance coverage, they will die prematurely. so the affordable ca re die prematurely. so the affordable care act has reduced mortality, it's improved access to preventative health services and, if you actually look at the health outcomes of the aca - look at the health outcomes of the aca — which is, by the way, what the intent was — it's a big success. now, it is clear that there are parts of the affordable care act — the health exchanges, where rates are going up. but if you actually look at the congressional budget office, our referee, they say that, while the rates are going up, the exchanges are stable. so they can fix it. you're saying that it is working, it's working in several states, but isn't it the people that it's not working for are the middle—class people, right across america? well, there are some targeted states where it's not working. but if they actually pulled

back and looked at why it's not working, in many of those states, the governments there have not reallim braced the affordable care act, they have not worked very hard to get people into health plans. there's reasons, in those particular states, why those plans have not worked very well. 0k. we're going to have to leave it there. there's a lot to discuss. dr benjamin, we really appreciate your time. thank you very much. thank you. the assault on so—called islamic state is gaining ground, on two fronts — in iraq, where the attack on mosul continues, and also in syria. in northern syria, government forces — backed by russian and iranian allies — have recaptured the ancient city of palmyra from the extremists for the second time in a year. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet has travelled to palmyra — and its historic ruins — and sent this report. palmyra. roman ruins, precious world heritage. is occupied this site twice in the past two years. their last target,

the roman theatre — a stage for grisly executions, slitting throats, shooting soldiers and civilians here. is has lost this prize and ground beyond here to the syrian military, backed by its allies. the helicopter overhead is russian. palmyra matters, but the battles which lie ahead, including raqqa — the is's self—declared capital — matter more, and are far more difficult. and that's because confronting is in syria means confronting a fundamental question. are the west and countries in this region now willing to work with president assad and his russian and iranian allies to fight their common enemy? the world knows of is crimes now. in the basement of a deserted building we are shown what's called a makeshift courtroom. and the paper trail

of its brutal rule. the arabic word for execution. the crimes include leaving islam, spreading corruption. two men, called ahmed, were thrown from the top of a building — no reason given. the city of palmyra next to the ancient site is a ghost town. people fled is and the ferocious fighting here, including syrian and russian air strikes. this is where some of the displaced have taken refuge. an abandoned school, 100 miles away. 30 families here, including this woman and her five children. she remembers the exact moment when is fighters came to her door. translation: it was a quarter to five in the morning.

i opened the door and saw men shouting at me. they came in and took my husband and niece. i was told they chopped off his head. they took my nephew, who was only 15. my brother—in—law was beheaded too. she doesn't know how herfamily will cope. it's the story of syria. is no longer occupies their home, but it's dark shadow hasn't left their lives. a teenage bloggerfrom singapore has been granted asylum in the united states after persuading a judge that he faces political persecution at home. amos yee was jailed for several weeks in 2015 and 2016 after posting atheist comments online. he was accused of hurting the religious feelings of muslims and christians. he also created controversy in 2015 by posting online an expletive—laden video about singapore's first

prime minister lee kuan yewjust after his death. you may remember last month when the hollywood star harrison ford made an unusual landing at an airport in southern california. he came down on a taxiway instead of a runway — flying directly over a waiting passenger jet. now, audio tape has emerged of him explaining what happened. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. as han solo, he was the pilot who made the kessle run in less than 12 parsecs. but in real life, harrison ford's aviation is more perilous. he had a near—miss last month atjohn wayne airport, his single, small—engine plane coming down in the wrong place. so, what happened? this is the conversation the actor

had once he this wasn't the first mishap he'd had in recent years — in 2015, he suffered injuries after crashing a vintage plane on a golf course in sa nta vintage plane on a golf course in santa monica. that time, it was down to engine problems. fortunately, there were no injuries in this latest incident — other than, perhaps, a little damage to harrison ford's pride. the duke and duchess of cambridge have announced that their son prince george will start at a private school in september in south—west london. he'll become a pupil at st thomas's at battersea. in a statement, the royal couple said they were confident it would provide george with a "happy and successful start to his education". the headmaster said he was greatly looking forward to welcoming the prince in september. to another couple of four year olds now — a set of twins from london who helped to save their mother's life. when she collapsed at their home, one of them managed to get into her mobile phone and call the emergency services. duncan kennedy has been speaking to the twins and their mum. when it comes to ingenuity,

this boisterous pair don't do things by halves. four—year—old twins roman and samuel sharma saw their mum, claudia, faint onto the floor. but what did they do? panic? cry? oh, no... first, samuel picked up his mum's hand to place her thumb on her iphone to unlock it. and then, they did this... siri, call daddy. they used siri, the phone's voice—recognition system, to call not dad, but 999... the boys knew about siri by watching their mum and dad.

isaid, "siri, 999." and what happened? the police and the doctor came. eventually, mum was taken to hospital. as a parent, you tell them things and hope they sink in, but you never, a — expect it to happen, or b — for them to remember anything you said. the boys say using smartphones is, well, smart. clearly a life—changing piece of four—year—old philosophy. hello. there will be some chilly nights this weekend. there will be frost for some of us as the weekend begins, but by day, it's sun, sun, sun. what a glorious weekend if you're a fan of blue skies. high pressure right across the uk.

the weather ingredients this weekend, because of high pressure, as you might imagine, it's going to be settled. there will be some warm spring sunshine around, but for some others there will be a noticeable breeze. we will need to shelter from that to enjoy the warm sunshine. some chilly nights with frost around. looking at the temperatures as the weekend begins, these are the urban readings, but away from the towns and cities in the countryside we will see those lower readings on the thermometer. in parts of northern england, northern ireland and scotland we'll see frost. many of us will have widespread frost on ground and grass. a few patches of fog in parts of yorkshire, lincolnshire, the midlands and parts of wales. that shouldn't last too long into the morning. an exception to the settled weather will be in the northern isles. more cloud around on saturday, especially in the shetlands. outbreaks of rain at times, mostly on the light side. as day breaks you can see the extent of the sunshine to begin with, but hints of either mist fog

patches, or low cloud, to begin with, through parts of yorkshire, lincolnshire, the midlands and into wales. it should not last too long. by mid—morning that should be gone. look at the strength of the wind in east anglia, south—east england and along the south coast. if anything that may be a notch up compared to what we had on friday. quite a windy picture for some of us. you will need to shelter from the easterly wind to get the best of the warmth from the sunshine. the blue sky continues for the majority of the afternoon. that warmth will be felt, especially where the wind is right down the western side of the uk, 15 or 16 celsius. saturday, a fine evening, but a chilly night. a touch of frost, especially in the north. remember, on saturday night the clocks go forward an hour, the beginning of british summer time. nothing to do with the weather, though it sounds good. great for night workers, and great if you want your light longer into the evening. here are the sunset times on sunday. there will be some sunshine around again on sunday for the vast majority. maybe just a bit of cloud to some eastern parts of the uk later in the day.

still that breeze to the south and still sheltering from that to make the most of the sunshine. for the vast majority, the weekend will have a blue sky note. whatever you are doing this weekend, enjoy that, and enjoy your weekend. the latest headlines from bbc news. iron lebo diseko. donald trump has withdrawn his health—care bill. he was forced to abandon his plans after being told he did not have enough republicans support to win a vote in congress. some republicans opposed his alternative to obamacare, which will now remain in force across the united states. british police have appealed for the help of the public to uncover the motivation of the man who killed four people in wednesday's attack in westminster. detectives are still trying to establish whether he acted alone before he drove into pedestrians before stabbing a police officer death. the french presidential hopeful marine le pen says she would consider lifting sections on russia if she was elected. the national front leader

met vladimir putin in moscow. he said he was not try to influence events. —— trying. now want bbc news, it is the week in parliament. there hello and welcome to the week in parliament — a week that brought bloodshed to the streets of westminster and a defiant response from mps. let this be the message from this house and this nation today — our values will prevail. this democracy is strong, and this parliament is a robust. this was a horrific crime, and as an act of terror