hello. you are watching bbc world news. i am hello. you are watching bbc world news. lam ben hello. you are watching bbc world news. i am ben bland. hello. you are watching bbc world news. lam ben bland. al top hello. you are watching bbc world news. i am ben bland. al top stories this hour: british mps will vote later today on whether to allow the government to call a surprise general election in six weeks. prime minister theresa may says the vote will give their backing she needs for brexit negotiations with the eu. good to have you with us. welcome to the programme. our other main stories: by american and higher american says donald trump —— "buy american and hire american" says donald trump as he signs as he signs a new order restricting work visas for foreigners. and another record for ronaldo, with 100 goals in the champions league as real madrid reached the semifinals again. i'm sally bundock. in business the boss of the uk's biggest business lobby group — the cbi — gives us her reaction to the snap election called by the british prime minister.

and we talk to facebook about policing violent material on the social media site following the suicide of murder suspect steve stevens. suicide of murder suspect steve steve ns. — — suicide of murder suspect steve stevens. —— stephens. hello. around 18 hours ago, theresa may stood in front of ten downing st and announced her plans to call a general election in the uk onjune the act. it surprised most people. the next election was not due to happen for another three years. but the process for calling for the early poll begins in parliament later on wednesday. the timetable for the coming weeks looks like this: in her announcement, mrs may said the government would present a motion in parliament asking mps to agree the request for a general election. this vote is needed under the fixed term parliaments act — because the next election wasn't due to take place until 2020. opposition parties say they will

agree to the request, so it is pretty certain to be carried. parliament would probably be dissolved on may 3, starting a 25—day campaign. polling day across the uk will be on thursdayjune the eighth. eleanor garnier reports it is not even 3a hours as the prime minister called for a general election, but already the party leaders are gearing up, positioning their parties and getting ready for their parties and getting ready for the campaign ahead. —— 24. it was a shock announcement, and a decision theresa may said she had only made in the last few days. i have only recently and in the last few days. i have only recently a nd relu cta ntly in the last few days. i have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion. since i became prime minister, i have said that there should be no election until 2020. but now i have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to hold this election, and seek your

support for the decisions i must take. later today, there will be a vote in parliament, to bring the general election forward from its original date of may 2020. with labour and the lib dems expected to back the plans, it is almost certain to go ahead onjunior. —— labour. back the plans, it is almost certain to go ahead onjunior. -- labour. we are to go ahead onjunior. -- labour. we a re clear to go ahead onjunior. -- labour. we are clear there is an election coming, and we will fight to ensure that we win to have a fairer and more decent society. -- june eight. the lib dems see an opportunity for the party to come back from rock bottom. it is an opportunity for the people of this country to change the direction of this country, to decide that they do not want a hard brexit, they want to keep written in the single market, and indeed, this is an opportunity for us to have a decent and strong opposition in this country, that we desperately need. this election will notjust be about what goes on in westminster, but the

whole country's constitution. theresa may won't promise another vote on scottish independence, that nicola sturgeon well. it is very clear that the prime minister's announcement is very much about the narrow interests of her own party, not for the country overall. remember, despite favourable polls for the tories and a weakened opposition, the last few months and yea rs have opposition, the last few months and years have shown the politics of this era have become rather hard to predict. the question is, what do voters think of this? we have been getting some reactions to the news from people around the uk. you arejoking? not another one? for god's sake, i cannot stand this. there is too much politics going on at the moment. why do she need to do it? she says it will produce clarity, it get things out of the open, sorts things out.

i thought she said that initially when she took over. no, i disagree with this entirely. i am sorry. are you excited about another election? no. no, not another one. it is too much. i think it is quite good. it lets be people vote for someone, not just theresa may getting forced upon us, kind of thing. —— the people. i think she is pushing her luck. really? why? because the people up north voted to come out. and the truth of it now is things have changed. things are going up in the shop, aren't they? it makes a difference. makes things really different when prices are going up. she seems to have a huge lead in the opinion polls. you don't go by that. they would say i was elizabeth taylor if you asked folks. with brexit so high on the election agenda, what impact will be voted on the uk's with europe? our europe

editor, katya adler, is in france, which faces its own election as we can. officially in brussels, a country's election is very much seen as a domestic affair, and brussels likes to stay neutral. —— this weekend. but with brexit being such an all—consuming issue, some eu officials could barely contain themselves. the president of the european council, donald tusk, tweeted that brexit and the elections was a bit like a hitchcock film — "first comes the earthquake, and then the tension rises." but behind closed doors, here in brussels, there is sense of optimism tonight. theresa may has called the elections in the hope of strengthening our hand in eu negotiations. eu officials believe that a strong win for theresa may would help the eu, too. they believe that they want to have a strong prime minister opposite them at the negotiating table, not one that they perceive as weak, hostage to interested parties, and likely to do u—turns at any point of the negotiation. so officials in brussels, berlin and paris want theresa may

to do well. and if those negotiations, those brexit negotiations —— and if those negotiations, those brexit negotiations following the election, do well, i'm being told by high—level sources, tonight, then the eu would be open to starting those trade deals, the trade talks about a future relationship between the eu and uk, far earlier than had been imagined. but remember that when the eu talks about good progress in brexit, and i heard from a top—level source tonight that he believes the chances of a good deal for both sides now are far improved. but they talk about good progress from the eu's point of view. katya adler there with that assessment. but let's get the business and economic indications. sally is here. yes, here we go again. nine months after becoming prime minister, theresa may is throwing the dice and the betting on a strong victory in a snap election. today, as you been hearing, mps are expected to vote in favour of the

proposal which mrs may says will bring greater certainty as britain prepares to leave the european union. markets react swiftly to the news. the pound was on a roller coaster ride on tuesday. itjumped — then swung to loss and back again rising by as much as 2.7% against the us dollar — some analysts believe markets are cheering the prospect of a larger conservative majority which would give less power to hardline eurosceptics within theresa may's party. the ftse100, the leading stock market in london, it fell 1.8% which is the most since early november. but despite the ongoing uncertainty, the international monetary fund predicts the uk economy will grow by some 2% this year. they made that announcement before the announcement by the prime

minister. this will make it the second fastest growing developed economy in the world, behind only the united states. business groups have used yesterday's news to demand politicians make firm commitments as part of any potential election campaign. on world business report, i will be joined by carolyn fairburn, the boss of the cbi. she will be giving us her reaction to the news of the snap election. also on the programme, will be talk about facebook. mark zuckerberg has paid his respects to the family of a man whose killing was filmed and posted onto its side. speaking at the company ‘s annual developers conference, the boss of the social media giant said it was doing all it could to prevent similar tragedies. yesterday was make suspected murder ofa yesterday was make suspected murder of a shattered the company's other announcements about virtual reality technology and so on. we have a report from the conference coming up. we will have all the business stories, so join me in about 20 minutes. we will

see you then, sally. president trump has signed an executive order that he says will encourage companies to "buy american and hire american". it is supposed to have and abuses of the visa programme and enforce rules that require american supplies for federal contracts. peter bowes is in los angeles for us. he joins us from their live. privatising americans for jobs privatising americans forjobs in the us, this is part of the america first programme that president trump campaigned and got elected on. he is ordering a review. —— prioritising. but it sure does seem to fall short of what he promised? it does. it is essentially a review of the h1b visa system. it has existed for some time. 85,000 of these visas are issued every year. 65,000 of which are part of a lottery system. and they are for people overseas, coming

to work in america, with exceptional abilities, scientists, engineers, computer experts, often well—paid positions, and donald trump's argument is that this system has been abused and some lesser skilled, lesser paid workers have been brought into america to do jobs that americans could be doing. and that is why he wants a review of the system, and especially looking at government departments, who uses these are to bring in people to work for them. a course, this potentially affects tech companies in silicon valley, doesn't it? yes. silicon valley could be the hardest hit. a lot of indian workers for example are used by tech companies in silicon valley, and they are looking at this very closely indeed. it looks like, if changes are made, they will move more towards, away from a lottery system, and mortally merit system. —— valley. so they can

really scrutinise the people who are awarded these visas, to those who have skills that no american workers can offer. —— two more of a merit system. —— to. meanwhile, mike pence it is injapanfor —— to. meanwhile, mike pence it is in japan for talks with —— to. meanwhile, mike pence it is injapan for talks with leaders there. mike pence has been on board there. mike pence has been on board the aircraft carrier the uss ronald reagan in yokosuka. he is touring a number of countries in asia, amid heightened tensions over north korea. the president's direction, the policy of the united states will be to work diligently with japan, our allies across the region, china, and the wider world, to bring economic and domestic pressure to north korea. and we will do so until they abandon their nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. as all of you know, readers is the key, and you,

the instrument of american policy, should know, all options are on the table. —— readiness. you're watching bbc news. stay with us. you're watching bbc news. stay with us. still to come: the first round of france's presidential election ta kes pla ce of france's presidential election takes place on sunday. we travel to northern france and find dissatisfaction with the establishment is giving outsider candidates a chance for power. and prince william reveals that the death of his mother princess diana led to his current campaigning on mental health issues. the stars and stripes at half—mast outside columbine high. the school sealed off, the bodies of the dead still inside. i never thought they would actually go through with it. some places have already had nearly as much rain as they would normally expect in an entire year.

for millions of americans, the death of richard nixon in a new york hospital has meant conflicting emotions. a national day of mourning next wednesday sitting somehow uneasily with the abiding memories of the shame of watergate. and lift—off of the space shuttle discovery with the hubble space telescope, our window on the universe. this is bbc world news. i'm ben bland. the latest headlines: britain's prime minister, theresa may, is expected to get approval from parliament today to call an early general election. president trump has signed an executive order that he says will encourage companies to hire american

by restricting these exemptions for foreign workers —— visa exemptions. the battle to take iraq's second city, mosul, from the extremist group, the so—called islamic state, could end in a humanitarian disaster, according to un officials. after six months of fighting, hundreds of thousands of civilians are still trapped in parts of mosul held by is. our correspondentjonathan beale and cameraman barnaby mitchell are embedded with iraqi troops, they witnessed one of the street battles on the edge of the old city. even at night, you can clearly see the scars on the streets of this city and how brutal the battle for mosul‘s become. we joined the iraqi security forces about to mount yet another assault. these the same troops who've already been fighting here for months and, even under the cover of darkness, they know their enemy, so—called islamic state, will be ready and waiting.

gunfire. as they move into position for what's supposed to be a surprise dawn attack, they're already coming under fire. explosions and gunfire. the commander sets up his headquarters in an abandoned house, soon interrupted by a panic call on the radio — it's his first casualty. dawn breaks and the iraqi forces are still pinned down. this battle's been raging now for more than two hours and it is over a matter

of streets they're fighting. and, as we hear, there is still fierce resistance from is. that is a coalition air strike, it's the iraqis one advantage to keep the enemy at bay. but even air power can't always spot and silence is snipers and nor do the rockets fired by iraqi forces. gunfire. throughout the morning, the casualties mount. gunfire. victory still seems a long way off. explosion. this one battle, for one street, was still raging when we left, five hours later, out of fear for our own safety. after six months, the iraqi forces

have only now reached the edge of the old city, much of what you can see on the west side of the tigris is still under is control and there's every indication they'll be fighting and dying for every single street. jonathan beale, bbc news, mosul. people in france will be voting on sunday in the first round of the presidential election. if opinion polls are right, candidates from non—traditional parties could capture the top two places. a run—off will be held two weeks later. our correspondent thomas fessy reports from the northern city of amiens. here it in france, the belt, once

firmly believing in the left. parties of the right and left to play ping—pong, but nothing moves. wa rs play ping—pong, but nothing moves. wars have been passed, but not implemented. people are fed up. none of the candidates talk about relocation, he says, except for perhaps marine le pen. like these people, many people here look at the extremes. employment is high in this town, above 10% in the national average. but the picture is not all grim. this man and his colleagues

have opened a co— working space where technology is available to those who want to use digital tools, whether it is for an experiment or to create a business. they said the ballot box will not give an answer to every problem. this election cannot really change the way we work, live. you have to change it to suit yourself. four days to go before the vote, and only 2000 voters say they are sure of their choice. last—minute decisions made proof the current polls wrong. traditional parties worry they might suffer from a potentially record low turnout. this woman has always voted republican, but this time around she says trust is broken. she will abstain. i am not going to vote for people who have been manipulating us

for so long, whether it's one side or the other. they always talk a lot, but nothing ever gets done. distrust of the political elite, job losses and calls for change, the stories resonate across france and will determine the direction the country decides to take. in sport, cristiano ronaldo has become the first player to score 100 champions league goals. his hat—trick in real madrid's 4—2 win over bayern munich means the 11 times winners are once again in the semi finals. the german side were two one up in the leg which sent the tie into extra time. but those extra 30 minutes gave ronaldo the opportunity to reach the landmark and keep his side on course to become the first in the champions league era to retain the trophy. atletico madrid joined their city rivals in the last four after a 2—1 aggregate victory over english champions leicester city. the second leg finished 1—1.

it all means diego simeone's team remain on course for a third champions league final appearance in the last four years. translation: first, iwant translation: first, i want to say what a great performance from leicester tonight. it was almost a pleasure to compete against them. they never gave up for a minute, they didn't let their heads drop. what they achieved as they were coming forward, they put in a fantastic performance and pushed us all the way. the fact of the matter is that we are in the semifinals once again, and that is fantastic. tennis and novak djokovic is through to the third round of the monte carlo masters. this is his first tournament following injury and at times it showed against the experienced gilles simon. but the world number two came through winning the final set seven games to five.

i felt like i ifelt like i had control of the match, and then it turned around. i started making some on forced errors, he made less on forced errors. he was three points the way, three points away from winning it. soi three points away from winning it. so i got myself out of that tricky situation, and that is properly the most positive thing i take from today. ding junhui is through to the second round of the world snooker championship after beating fellow chinese player zhou yuelong. the world number four was always in control of the match — resuming after the first session at 7—2 up. but he was pegged back a bit by his teenage opponent before his experience showed. ding reached the final last year becoming the first asian player to do so — in the next round he'll play fellow countryman liang wenbo who was also a first round winner as wasjohn higgin.

prince william has said the death of his mother princess diana was one of the reasons for his involvement in campaigning on mental health issues. the duke of cambridge's comments follow those of his brother prince harry, who revealed he'd had counselling to help him come to terms with her death. both princes have been campaigning for the heads together mental health charity, as our royal correspondent, peter hunt, reports. promoting better mental health is a family affair. after prince harry's frank acknowledgement of the pain he suffered after his mother ‘s death, prince william also went to a screening of a documentary on the subject. 10 million people affected by mental health issues united to run the london marathon on. by mental health issues united to run the london marathon onlj by mental health issues united to run the london marathon on. ijust feel like i am never going to do it —— marathon on. feel like i am never going to do it -- marathon on. kate, william and harry want to mental health treated like physical health. harry want to mental health treated like physical healthlj harry want to mental health treated like physical health. i really think this is a pivotal moment for the change in attitude to mental health.

i know the bbc are keen to continue promoting and trying to make that change. as you can see, i have my own reasons for being involved in this. one of the marathon runners met william. her son died five years ago. her husband blamed himself and took his own life five days afterwards. the more people we can get to acknowledge this cause, it really is better. i think i should stop talking now. meeting runners confronting adversity left william feeling quite emotional. that was that was the worst —— feeling quite emotional. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @benmbland. coming

hello. spring, thus far, has been marked by pretty settled fare. and i suspect that is going to be the overriding theme of the next few days, with a quiet spell of weather set to continue. not just for the next few days, but right on into the forthcoming weekend. but gardeners and growers take note: night—time frost will still be a consideration. not so much for the first part of wednesday, across the northern parts of scotland, you've got a weather front there spreading a veil of cloud. that will keep the temperatures up. but further south, not so much in the major conurbations, but in the suburbs, and in the countryside, the early part of wednesday could see frost. —3 or perhaps even —4 or so. but once the sun is up, that converts intto a glorious start of the new day. plenty of sunshine across the southern parts of england and wales, through midlands and lincolnshire and cambridgeshire. but further north and west of that, the cloud thickens up into the borders, to northern ireland and the eastern side of scotland, and there will be enough cloud for a little bit of rain.

a drier prospect, although still pretty cloudy first up across the rest of scotland. as the day really gets going, i am hopeful that some of that cloud will break up. a good bit of sunshine across scotland. some of that rain will drift off into the north channel, away from northern ireland. so a dry afternoon for many here. further south and east, brighter skies will boost the damage to about 13 or 14 degrees. from wednesday to thursday, any prospect of frost is largely confined to the south—eastern quarter. the high pressure really doing its stuff for the greater part of us. yet more dry weather to come for many. save for the northern and western isles, maybe the north of the mainland, too. a weather front here just keeping that cloud coming in from the atlantic. and enough about it again for there to be the prospect of some rain. again, not amounting to much. the temperatures are where we have been of late. somewhere locked into the low to mid teens. friday is marked by a progression of the weather front and across scotland into the north of england, through northern ireland. to the south of it, with a bit of sunshine,

we can boost the temperatures nicely. possibly 17 degrees. to the north of the weather feature, a cooler and fresher regime sets in and eventually wins out. the front will reintroduce the regime down across the rest of the british isles. the high pressure, neverfar away, that keeps things fairly settled. your scene could look something akin to that. hello. this is bbc world news. i am ben bland with the headlines: letter on wednesday, members of parliament in britain are respected to vote in favour of an early general election, called for by the prime minister. she said she wanted to secure the electorate's backing for her brexit negotiations. theresa may has spoken to german chancellor angela merkel and other leaders about the decision. most public reactions have been positive, with officials saying they want stability for the forthcoming negotiations. donald trump has signed an executive order intended to curb abuses of a long—standing visa programme, which

he says will encourage companies to "buy american and hire american". it is likely to restrict work visas for foreigners. police in california