hello, you're watching bbc news. i'm alpa patel. our top story this hour: another twist in the saga surrounding russia and its potential ties to donald trump. donald trump's former national security adviser says he's willing to testifty if he's given immunity from prosecution. welcome to the programme. our other main stories this hour: behind bars. the former president of south korea is arrested over a corruption scandal that cost park guen—hye herjob. we report from northern france, and meet some of the young national front activists hoping to cause a political earthquake. i'm aaron heslehurst. in business: terms of disengagement. the eu will set out its stall on brexit later but britain says trade talks must get under way at the same time. plus: cash cows and spread betting.

why the price of butter is soaring on us markets. but first: michael flynn was briefly president trump's national security adviser but now his lawyer has says he is prepared to give testimony about russian meddling in the election in exchange for immunity from prosecution. the news came just hours after the senate intelligence committee began investigating russian interference in the election. that hearing heard top democrat senator mark warner describe the tactics used as "propaganda on steroids". here's laura bicker. he was one of donald trump's close

advisers and appointed national security advisor. it's understood that he is asking, and is in discussion with the senate, house and house intelligence committees, about giving testimony in return for being granted immunity or protection from what he calls unfair prosecution. now, it's worth remembering that general flynn was the national security advisor, but was forced to resign from the administration after it was disclosed that he misled the vice president about the nature of his calls with the russian ambassador, and the fbi is investigating his links to russia. but his lawyer, in a letter, says he has a story to tell, and very much wants to tell it to the senate and house intelligence committees, he said, but no reasonable person would submit to questioning in this witch—hunt environment without insurances against unfair prosecution. so that's the latest that we have on michael flynn, who may or may not give evidence.

but, with regard to the evidence that has already been heard, here's what democratic senator mark warner had to say. russia's president, vladimir putin, ordered a deliberate campaign, carefully constructed to undermine our election. russian propaganda outlets like rt and sputnik successfully produced and peddled disinformation to american audiences, in pursuit of moscow's preferred outcome. this russian propaganda on steroids was designed to poison the national conversation in america. the committee heard about a sophisticated operation that is alleged to have taken place. cyber security experts said that in key swing states there were operations underway, fake news operations, to disseminate disinformation to those who may be persuaded to vote. and, when it comes to some

of the information that russian agents are alleged to have put out there, many believe, and certainly it was the belief of cyber security experts, that they were trying to target donald trump himself. clint watts, who's a former fbi agent, testified that when it came to online habits, they were monitoring the then—campaign and wondering when he was online, in the hope that he would see the fake news and then repeat it at one of his rallies. and he also said to the senate that they should follow the dead bodies, because he said several russian officials that may have been involved in this have been killed in recent months. but vladimir putin has always denied any involvement. translation: did the russian government attempt to influence the result of the us election? translation: at one time, reagan debating i think about taxes, and addressing the americans, said, "read my lips — i'io." donald trump has said repeatedly

that he has never been involved in any of this, and he says that — and he has dismissed it as fake news. in other news: israel has announced that it's to build the first new settlement in the occupied west bank in more than 20 years. the settlement near the palestinian city of nablus was approved at a meeting of israel's security cabinet on thursday. palestinian officials have condemned the new plan and called for international intervention. south africa's finance minister, pravin gordhan, has been sacked by president zuma. despite many senior officials opposing mr gordhan‘s removal and jitters in the country's financial markets, he's been replaced with the man who was home affairs minister. part of a motorway in atlanta has collapsed after a major fire underneath an overpass.

local reports say police believe it was caused by an electrical wire. no reports of casualties but all lanes were closed. south korea's ousted president, park geun—hye, is being held in a police cell following her arrest on corruption charges. she is accused of allowing a close friend to extort money from companies in return for political favours, charges she has always denied. stephen evans has more from the capital, seoul. it was a rough night for the former president. at 3am she was told she would be going to jail. she was driven there accompanied by law enforcement officers. i7 accompanied by law enforcement officers. 17 hours earlier she had arrived in court to plead for her

freedom. thejudges ruled against, saying she might destroy evidence. outside court, her supporters said she should be put back in power. one even collapsed in grief. she says she feels more distraught than when her parents died. "there is nojust law in this country." already in jail pending trial are the head of samsung and the president's best friend. the standard prison cell in this country is pretty well the height of the president by the height of the president by the height of the president by the height of the president — there is no bed, simply a mattress on the floor. it is a long way from a presidential palace. park geun—hye is tough. an opponent once slashed herface is tough. an opponent once slashed her face with a blade. but she is

used to leading the country, giving orders. and being listened to — not washing up her own dishes in a prison cell. her opponents and the courts have pushed out she denies wrongdoing but it is a big fall from power to prison. and aaron's here with all the business news. is it brexit for breakfast? don't you start for me, because last year i was saying brexit every time i was trying to say breakfast. i already wa nt to trying to say breakfast. i already want to shoot myself, to be honest with you, alpa. hello, there. we start in malta, where later this morning eu council president donald tusk will present europe's guidelines for the brexit negotiations. the key question for britain — can it negotiate a future trade deal with the eu at the same time,

or as france is insisting, must it wait until exit talks are done? two years is already seen as tight to do such a complex trade deal. so what happens if one can't be done in time? for a start, these: tariffs are customs taxes slapped on imported goods. they range from around 1.5% on things like toys and watches, up to 45% on meat. if the uk leaves the eu single market without a deal, it would be subject to those tariffs under world trade organization rules. according to the think tank, civitas, that would see british exports to the eu hit by tariffs worth $6.5 billion.

making them more expensive and less attractive. they won't buy them. of course, it cuts both ways. civitas says europe's tariff bill would be well over double that, $16 billion, a lot of it landing on germany and its carmakers. a huge incentive then on both sides to do a deal as fast as possible. then there's the potential chaos caused by all those extra customs checks at ports and airports, especially in the south of england. for britain, there's another specific worry. it also needs to secure access to the eu for its huge financial industry. if it fails, 70,000 jobs in the city of london could be at risk. so what about the long—term? within five to ten years, britain's total trade could slump by 30% if there's no trade deal with the eu. that's according to a recent study by the national institute for economic and social research. it argues deals with the likes of the us and australia just wouldn't make up for the loss of the eu single market.

there you go. a lot more coming up. also on today's business dairy—diary. i didn't write that, by the way. we are in the us where there's a new meaning to the phrase ‘cash cows'. the price of butter is at an all time high. butter futures on the chicago mercantile exchange havejumped 14% over the past five months. so what's behind all this ‘spread' betting? find out in 20 minutes' time. laughter. follow me on twitter. ahead of next month's french presidential elections, the front national has been attracting increasing numbers of young french voters, and it seems to be working. according to one poll, 39% of 18—24 year olds intend to vote

for national front leader marine le penn. that compares with 21% for centrist candidate emmanuel macron and just 9% for centre—right rival francois fillon. so what is attracting many young voters to the far right in france? james reevell has been spending time in northern france with the young activists hoping to cause an earthquake in french politics. hi,| hi, iam hi, i am christophe, 26 and hi, iam christophe, 26 and i hi, i am christophe, 26 and i am the head of the national youth. christophe is part of a new generation of activists all believing that the fa's future is mainstream. the last few years they have rebranded itself and say they are no longer fascist or racist but realist who have diagnosed france's problem and christophe has taken this to a school to spread the

message. hello, i hello, lam hello, i am camille, hello, lam camille, i hello, i am camille, i am 22 years old and i am a law student. she is one of the writing stars, she has been elected as head of the youth division. she has offered to show us the area around her university. it is poor, diverse and to her symbolises what is broken in france. at beyond fears for her safety, four

camille, despite the opportunity that law provides, she feels immigrants and their french born children got a better deal than white french people. hello, iam hello, i am guillam, hello, iam guillam, i hello, i am guillam, i am 25 years old. i think that the government has forgotten the people. i think it is time to give the power back into our hands. guillam lives in a rural, industrial place. he wanted to show me how the promised to bring back jobs was key to the party's appeal. you would have come, i was not born,

you would have come a0 years ago, there would have been a lot of people right here in the city. at look now, it looks like it is a dead place. it is sad. you know, ithink that politicians are, most of them, are here to give us hope because i think that without hope we would be in sorrow. we need hope. the human mind needs hope, and to think of a good future, a brighterfuture. our correspondent speaking with young french voters. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: returning to mosul. our reporterfinds out how his old neighbourhood is coping after life under the so—called islamic state. and blast off for space x, as the company makes history by sending a used rocket back into space. the accident that happened

here was of the sort that can at worst produce a meltdown. in this case the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel, where he'd been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. this is bbc news.

i'm alpa patel. the latest headlines: a lawyer for one of president trump's former aides, michael flynn, says he's offered to give testimony about russian meddling, reportedly in exchange for protection from prosecution. the former president of south korea, park guen—hye, has been arrested over a corruption scandal that led to her impeachment. almost six months into the battle for mosul and iraqi forces have managed to clear the eastern half with fighting continues in the west. my colleague basheer al zaidi from bbc arabic was born and raised in mosul. for the bbc series our world he's returned to the eastern section of the city to find out how his friends and old neighbourhood are coping after life under so—called islamic state. it is quite different. it is quite

different, to be honest. there are no houses. this is my primary school. i couldn't sleep last night, really. i was just thinking of these moments. hello. hello. aww.

this is overwhelming. it is really overwhelming to see kids that are smiling. it is the end of the school day for the girls. and the boys. it isa day for the girls. and the boys. it is a special moment for the kids because normal life is back for them again. a kind of quietness. it is new for them. a new life. some emotional scenes for a basheer al zaidi, a reporter who revisited his childhood home in mosul. roger federer is into the semi finals of the miami event after a thrilling tie—break win against tomas berdych. it looked plain—sailing for the 18 time grand slam champion when he won the first set easily

before his opponent turned the tables and levelled the match. the third set went all the way to a nail—biting tie—break, which federer won when berdych double faulted on match point but not before federer had been forced to save two match points himself. he'll play australia's i2th seeded nick kyrgios after he accounted for germany's alexander zverev of germany in three sets. kyrgios held match point in the second set tie—break but couldn't close it out and needed a third set to claim his place in the last four. in the women's event, caroline wozniacki came from a set down to beat karolina pliskova and make herfirst final in miami. the second seed beat wozniacki in the doha final in february and it looked like she would do so again when she won the first set. but her opponent came back strongly to take the next two sets losing just a couple of games in the process.

the final is on saturday where she'll play either venus williams or britain'sjohanna konta. actually, williams has just actually, williams hasjust beaten konta. manchester city's women have done something their men's team have failed to do this season, reach the semi finals of the champions league. lucy bronze scored the only goal in thursday's second leg to seal a 2—0 aggregate win over danish side fortuna hyer—ring. they'll face holders lyon in the semi—finals. we wa nted we wanted to be in this competition. it is the first time we have been in a semifinals. you can see what it means to the whole of the squad and the staff. it has been a hectic two weeks with four games in 10—12 days. i think the whole squad is coping with it really well. now, it's being called one small step for a technology company,

one giant leap in the search for cheap space exploration. the californian company space x have sent a used rocket, the falcon 9 back into space. up till now, rockets have just been used once and then discarded. greg dawson reports. you are looking at a rocket with a difference. unlike the rest, it is fitted with a booster that has been used before. lift off, falcon 9. and now history, as it is successfully relaunched back into space. boosters cost tens of millions of dollars, and are normally discarded and destroyed during an ascent. but the private californian aerospace company spacex has found a way to eject them safely back to earth. after the successful launch, another key moment in the flight, to see if the second—hand booster can safely detach and fly back to its landing pad in the atlantic.

cheering and applause. rapturous cheers from the mission crew tell you it is a success. minutes later, it is back on earth, an unprecedented double achievement of launching a reusable rocket, and recovering it for a possible third mission. this is gonna be, ultimately, a huge revolution in spaceflight. it's the difference between if you had aeroplanes where you threw away an aeroplane after every flight, versus you can reuse them multiple times. it has taken years for spacex to reach this goal, and there have been some tough lessons along the way, including lastjanuary‘s failed attempt to re—land the rocket. but it represents a new era in the space race, where private enterprises compete against each other, instead of countries. this success will be a boost for a company with much more ambitious long—term goals, that include sending two unidentified space tourists to the moon next year. greg dawson, bbc news. a big

development in space. coming up injust a couple of minutes, aaron has all the latest business news in world business report. first, a look at the weather where you are. hi there. yesterday, our warmest day of the month, temperatures reached 22. today we have rain again affecting western parts, as this front pushes through, it will bring slightly cooler air, not quite as warm. here's the forecast through the day, the wettest weather through northern however, wherever you are, in the morning it's going to be a nice mild start to the day. temperatures around 11 or 12 degrees for many of us but there will be some rain around. i think it will probably be quite a wet start to the day across south—west england and for wales. some fairly heavy pulses of rain here. there could be a few spots getting in across the midlands and hampshire, but not amounting to too much. east of this line is probably going to be largely dry. the front will be very weak as it moves in later during the morning.

now, for northern ireland, although it starts off on a cloudy and wet note, the rain moves through fairly quickly during the morning and these guys will then brighten up. but it's a different story in scotland. here the rain willjust continue to get more extensive and a bit heavier as the day goes by with some strengthening winds in the north. north—west england, some wet weather around cumbria and north lancashire but the rain rather patchy across the likes of cheshire, merseyside, greater manchester. as i say, as this weather front moves across south—east england, it's going to be so weak in the south—east it will bring little if any rain. in fact, for much of england and wales, at least the weather will brighten up with some sunshine and there will be some sunshine for a time in northern ireland. temperatures still on the mild side, up to 17 degrees, but not quite the dizzy heights of 22 that we had yesterday. then during the night time, well, low pressure will be swinging towards the south—west approaches, bringing a number of showers across wales and south—west england overnight. quite a bit of cloud elsewhere. still some damp weather for northern ireland and scotland but for most of us, temperatures stay on the mild side.

saturday, a day of sunny spells and showers. those showers clear through overnight, it then turns quite chilly, but then a fine day will follow for sunday. so sunday the better of the two days on the weekend for getting out and about. low pressure then toward south—west england and wales, that's where we're going to see the most frequent of the heavy showers on saturday but the showers are going to be slow—moving because there's not much wind to push them through. early morning cloud breaking, sunny spells coming through. similar temperatures ranging from ten in the north to 17 towards the south—east. that's your latest forecast. bye for now. this is bbc news. the headlines: a lawyerfor one of president trump's former aides, michael flynn, says he has offered to give testimony about alleged russian meddling in last year's us presidential election in exchange for protection from prosecution. south korea's ousted president, park geun—hye, has been arrested on corruption charges. they're the same charges that led to her political downfall, when the country's constitutional court backed a decision to impeach her.

more us—led troops have arrived in poland in as part of nato's response to concerns over russia. they are part of the alliance's four battalions aimed at giving reassurances to states unsettled by russia's actions in ukraine. a californian company has made history by launching a used rocket back into space.