welcome to bbc news, i'm ben bland. our top stories: french officials say the gunman who shot dead a policeman in paris had beenjailed previously for trying to murder officers. us ground troops have killed a leading member of the islamic state group in a commando raid near mayadin, in syria. anti—government protests continue in venezuela. 11 people were killed in the latest violence and looting. he had 13 weeks as number one before harry came along and spoiled his easter. takeaways and game of thrones. wills and kate take to the airwaves for some revealing regal radio. hello.

it has emerged that the gunman who killed a policeman and wounded two others in paris was known to the french authorities. karim cheurfi was shot dead by security forces on thursday evening after he opened fire on the champs—elysees. the paris prosecutor said he had served a prison sentence for the attempted murder of two police officers. the issue of security dominated the final day of campaigning ahead of the first round of voting in the french presidential election, on sunday. thomas fessy reports. the french prepare for an election organised under a state of emergency. armed police and gendarmes have been a common sight in the streets since the 2015 shootings in paris. 50,000 of them have been deployed across the country.

security has been stepped up around famous tourist sites, like montmartre, in the capital. the french are also used to the presence of soldiers patrolling their cities. when the campaign started, many believed it would be defined by terrorism and security. it turned out voters have so far been more concerned about unemployment and the economy. it remains unclear whether thursday's attack will have a last—minute impact on people's choice. we've had enough of anxiety, and things like that, with all the attacks and so on, so we just wanted to ignore it, personally. so maybe it will have an impact, but i don't know. translation: i'm not worried about sunday in particular, but i am worried, in general, for all of us. ijust don't think our politicians really have a full grasp of the problem.

the most important, i think, is the economy, and the economic recovery. this is the most important. more than security? yes, for me. the champs—elysees have reopened, and are bustling again. but, on the pavement, a reminder of the attack in which a police officer was killed and two others wounded. on friday, the paris prosecutor revealed that the attacker had spent 1a years injail, and never showed signs of being radicalised. police questioned him again earlier this year over suspicions of terrorism, but he walked free. there was no proof to charge him. 0n the eve of the most unpredictable presidential election in years, thursday's shooting will have repercussions beyond the french capital. across france, people hope for a peaceful vote. more than 100 police officers gathered in paris to remember their colleague killed

in thursday's attack. they laid tributes at the scene of the attack in the champs—elysees, where the officer, xavierjugele, was shot dead. some expressed disappointment at what they saw as a lack of public expressions of support by the government. flags in paris have not been flown at half—mast, as after previous terrorist attacks. and there is, of course, much more on our website. you can find analysis of what this attack might mean for the first round of the french presidential election this weekend, and also profiles of the candidates. head to bbc.com/news. us troops have targeted and killed a leading member of the so—called islamic state group, according to us military officials. abdurakhmon uzbeki was reportedly killed during a commando raid on the ground near mayadin, in syria. the pentagon says uzbeki was involved in plotting the new year's eve attack on a nightclub in istanbul, in which at least 39 people died. for more on this, our correspondent

in washington is laura bicker. what more details have been given about the raid? very little. the fa ct about the raid? very little. the fact that we know this is a ground operation is unusual. the pentagon usually would never inform us of one of these kind of missions. but we do know that this was a targeted operation, so they were there to try to eliminate abdurakhmon uzbeki. when it comes to this kind of mission, it is far more risky for missions when it comes to troops based in syria. however, they usually tend to use drone strikes, usually tend to use drone strikes, usually based in vehicles, to try to minimise civilian casualties, and they usually use hellfire missiles. at this kind of raid can have its advantages. not only can you perhaps ca ptu re advantages. not only can you perhaps capture the target alive, to interrogate them, you can capture

other intelligence from computer systems to other kinds of intelligent is on the ground, which are hellfire missile would eliminate —— intelligence on the ground. and when it comes to this kind of surprise attack, perhaps, unusualas it may be, it also keeps the so—called islamic state wondering what america is going to do next. and what do we know about this man they targeted and killed, al—uzbeki? al—uzbeki is thought to have been one of the main planners of the istanbul nightclub attack on new year's eve, that killed 39 people, according to the us. he is also thought to have been a close aide of the leader of the so—called islamic state group, al—baghdadi. when it comes to his role, it is thought he moved fighters, took on money, and was a key planner in some of islamic state group's activities. so when it

comes to a target, that is one of the reasons that the us said they wa nted the reasons that the us said they wanted him out. thank you very much. in other news: at least 70 afghan soldiers are reported to have been killed in an attack on a military base outside the northern city of mazar—i—sharif. officials say taliban gunmen, disguised in army uniforms, struck as soldiers were leaving friday prayers at a mosque on the base. they say at least ten taliban militants were killed in fighting, which lasted several hours. emergency services in south africa say at least 19 children have been killed when their minibus collided with a truck. the accident happened near the capital, pretoria. it is not clear what caused the crash. the us state of arkansas executed its first inmate in 12 years on thursday, after a legal battle that lasted well into the night. the us supreme court rejected ledell lee's final appeal to stop the lethal injection. he was one of eight men that arkansas has originally planned to execute over an 11—day period.

police in germany have arrested a man accused of bombing the bus of german football team borussia dortmund last week. but, as damien mcguiness reports, the attack may have been part of a complex financial scam. the bombing was potentially deadly, shattering the windows of the coach. police initially thought the attack on borussia dortmund's team bus was an act of politically motivated terror. but now prosecutors say the attacker was driven by greed, not ideology. a 28—year—old man, who stayed in the same hotel as the players, is accused of bombing the team in order to force the club's share price down. prosecutors say that his aim was to make a huge profit on the stock market. translation: we traced the accused

by noticeable option dealings. we now know that the accused bought three different derivatives of the borussia dortmund stock. with all these derivatives, he speculated on falling stock rises. he brought the main part of this finance product himself on april 11, the day of the attack. the team has expressed relief that the perpetrator appears to have been caught. but there is also widespread disgust in germany that someone may have been prepared to kill in order to make money from shares. borussia dortmund's trainer says the team is looking forward to the next match, on saturday, but that some players haven't yet fully recovered. translation: a success away at monchengladbach would certainly give us something like a boost, once more. i can speak for myself, i definitely think that i am able,

and at the moment i don't see a reason why i, personally, with all of the emotion involved here, should not be able to coach this game. the bombing shocked germany, especially as it was unclear who caused the attack and why. 0fficials remained cautious, saying the perpetrators could have been islamist extremists, or criminals with a completely different motivation. now, it seems, that caution has paid off. the authorities in venezuela say at least 11 people died in violence and looting on thursday, making it the bloodiest day in three weeks of anti—government protests. tens of thousands have taken to the streets over the past three weeks, to call for new presidential elections. sarah corker reports. another day of deadly unrest on the streets of caracas. riot police backed by armoured trucks fought running battles with protesters on thursday. the worst incident took place here, in this district. ten

people were killed while trying to loot a bakery, some reportedly electrocuted. residents are now left to clean up after the chaos. translation: we lost everything here. if only it were just the food. everything is gone, and we all feel u nsafe everything is gone, and we all feel unsafe here, at the edge of the slum. this latest wave of protests was triggered by a supreme court decision last month to take over powers from the opposition controlled national assembly. the decision was later reversed, but it was too late to contain the demonstrations. president maduro has accused opponents of trying to topple him by force. now he has called for talks. translation: i hope they have the courage to step forward , hope they have the courage to step forward, so that we can sit at the negotiating table and tell each other the truth, and search for pathways to peace in venezuela. this

isa pathways to peace in venezuela. this is a call for dialogue, for peace. but venezuela is facing a serious economic crisis. shortages mean people have two 0 all day for food and medicine, and opposition leaders repeated their demand for new elections. translation: the government can't avoid its responsibility. the violence that was sown by the government. what is the solution to this violence? the vote. over the last three weeks, 20 venezuelans have vote. over the last three weeks, 20 venezuela ns have died vote. over the last three weeks, 20 venezuelans have died during the unrest, and there are plans for new protests for saturday, and to a wrecked roadblocks on monday, to grind the country to a halt. —— to erect roadblocks. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: turning blue. the british city that went naked in the name of art finally sees the results, as a new exhibition opens. 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. hello. this is bbc world news. i'm

ben bland. the latest headlines: officials in paris say the gunman who shot dead a french policeman was known to them as karim cheurfi, a convicted criminal. us military officials say a close associate of the leader of the group which calls itself islamic state, has been killed in a commando raid near mayadin in syria. being gay in the deeply conservative, mainly muslim republic of chechnya comes with many risks. reports of torture, kidnapping, imprisonment, even death have emerged from gay rights activists in the past month. but chechnya's president has denounced the reports as distortion and slander. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rainsford has been to a safe house, and met several men who recently fled chechnya. their voices and identities have been disguised.

rislan said he was tortured for being gay. we met in a safe house after he fled chechnya for his life. he told me he was kept prisoner by the security forces for more than a week, beaten daily and electrocuted. translation: they have a special black box and they tie wires to your hands or ears and shock you. the pain is awful, you scream. it's terrible torture. they used to detain people before all the time to blackmail them. the level it's at now, it's extermination. the extermination of gay men. human rights activists are sure dozens of men were rounded up here in recent weeks. chechnya is a deeply conservative society, part of russia, but one that seems to live by its own rules. being gay is not accepted here.

translation: people came to us, they wanted help. anonymous and scared people reporting what happened to them. it's hard to know the scale of it but we know people are still being repressed. the head of chechnya has denied everything. with international concern growing, ramzan kadyrov was called into the kremlin. he said all talk of a gay purge was slander. vladimir putin's spokesman told me there is an investigation but no evidence. there have been threats, though. thousands gathered in chechnya's main mosque just after the first reports of abuse were published. religious leaders accused the newspaper responsible of insult and they vowed retribution. reporting on human rights in chechnya has already got two journalists at novaya gazeta killed. when they announced a jihad on all staff at novaya gazeta, notjust me, that was pretty scary because it was the first time... it was kind of confusing

and disturbing because it reminds us the situation we are in, when some fanatics can do whatever. because it's kind of a motivation for them. rislan‘s life has already been shattered. he says he can never return home. translation: i can't ever go back there. it's not just the security forces. my own relatives won't forgive me. it's a permanent stain. 0ur mentality means that even if the security forces don't deal with me, my own relatives definitely will. after what he's already been through, he's also terrified to stay here. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. an egyptian—american charity worker, aya hijazi, detained in cairo

for three years on charges of human trafficking has been flown home to the united states. president trump reportedly asked his egyptian counterpart to help resolve her case, when president abdel fattah al—sisi visited washington earlier this month. barbara plett usher has this report. first of all, the trump administration will see this as a sign of its diplomacy on human rights. good job, write? a wonderful job. —— negative. rights. good job, write? a wonderful job. -- negative. but it probably wouldn't have worked if donald trump hadn't brought al—sisi in from the cold, promising support and praising him asa cold, promising support and praising him as a fantastic leader. you have a great friend and ally in the united states and me. in the end, this exposes the domestic crackdown

from rct against alleged threats. no evidence or due process were brought against aya hijazi. the charges were dropped when it suited him. a court has heard how a teenage computer hacker unleashed nearly two million cyber attacks on websites around the world using a programme designed in his bedroom. adam mudd, who is now 20, admitted creating the programme and selling it to criminals. angus crawford reports. simple, effective, illegal. in german: die website, titaniumstresser. net. the titanium stresser, a cyber weapon designed to shut down websites unless their owners paid a ransom. it bombarded targets with data, using ddos, or distributed denial of service attacks, and it was created by adam mudd when he wasjust 16. internationally, this tool caused a considerable amount of damage... mudd sold it to other criminals, making hundreds

of thousands of pounds. but after a massive attack in the us, the software was traced to his home in hertfordshire. 1.7 million ddoss, making nearly $100,000 — that's not innocent, that is like an industrial scale for the purposes of cybercrime. this site is a hack forum... but are there other adam mudds out there, teenage boys dabbling in hacking? an online investigator shows us forums where they meet. look, here, young people are openly discussing how to use illegal software. so all—in—one virus toolkit. how young are the youngest people on here? i've seen youngsters from the age of12,13,14. we find a user who says he's 15 and is happy to talk. i've just asked him, by text, what age he started, and he said about 12 or 13.

did you make much money? he says, "a lot, actually." spends almost on his computer! night, 0llie. -- all —— all night. the average age of cybercrime suspects is just 17, and police are so concerned they've launched this video. told us he robbed a bank! and they've helped put together this tech competition. here, teenagers learn how to hack and stay on the right side of the law. if you know what you're doing, you'll probably find the bad side a bit more interesting, more challenging maybe. it does seem quite easy, like hints of what we got to do. you've got in? we've just got in. there can be a fine line between hacker and criminal. after today, they should all know the difference. angus crawford, bbc news. the duke and duchess of cambridge

have made a surprise appearance on bbc radio one. 0ur royal correspondent peter hunt reports. please welcome to radio 1 the duke and duchess of cambridge. with a destiny to fulfil, some djing in the meantime. these are royals bringing their message about mental health to a young audience and a confession about listening habits. is it true that you text in? i have texted in, yeah. under a different name? obviously, i wouldn't tell you who i was. definitely not! what are you doing texting in your car? obviously i stopped in a lay—by. i have not texted while driving because that is illegal. the princely fan who seeks shout—outs and who was castigated when he missed a royal event for a skiing and clubbing trip loves going to gigs. it's not something you can really do all the time? no, and you know, i've got enough trouble with my dancing recently so it's kind of best to keep away from that, to be honest. the price of such airtime, questions that wouldn't have amused

victoria, like what takes their fancy for a tv supper. yeah, i'm not so good with the spicy food. i'm not good with spice. but if you do a takeaway they must never believe you when you're ordering it to the palace, right? it doesn't usually get ordered to the palace, chris. right, i see. we tend to go and pick it up. not ourselves. i've got you, got you. go for a little visit around the area. he's not going to go to chicken cottage, is he? laughter the professionals changed, the royals remained, and were set to work. and the duke and duchess of cambridge. go. he had 13 weeks at number one with shape of you. before harry came slong and spoiled his easter. sounds familiar! laughter radio bringing together briefly two national institutions, the monarchy and the chart show. so, number one is ed sheeran, shape of you. for a couple facing a life of pomp this was pure pleasure. when i'm on holiday would you mind stepping in? to be honest with you we could probably do a betterjob. peter hunt, bbc news. it was a rather unusual sight on the streets of one british city

last summer — thousands of naked people, painted blue. 0ur arts correspondent colin paterson reports from hull. what makes 3,200 people strip off their clothes and paint themselves blue? laura dykes, support worker, hull resident and now hanging in a gallery. i really wanted to be on a piece art work in the art gallery, that's what drew me to it. i have a little boy who's eight. i wanted him to come to the art gallery, and me to say, "that's me." it was july last year when people came from as far as japan and australia to take part in artist spencer tunick‘s latest photographic extravaganza, sea of hull, featuring four different shades of blue body paint. i was trying to bring the sea back into hull over paved and concrete landscapes. i think it worked out well. cheek byjowl by buttock, from a distance, it looks like a gigantic smurf nudist colony. i'm quite, obvious, just there. with so many people from hull taking part, it led to more than a few awkward moments. i actually bumped into somebody from work, which was a bit awkward. but no, not really.

everyone was there to do the same thing. 0nce everyone was in the same situation and they got their kit off, it was fine. how did the conversation go when you bumped into them? it was very much eye to eye and everything was kept above the neck line. all the participants have been invited to this evening's launch to find out which parts of them have made the final photos. i was kind of way down there. you would think there might be some kind of nervousness or awkwardness. you had to ask strangers help you do the bits you couldn't reach. but because everybody was in the same situation, it was just... i'll always look back on it fondly. the day hull turned blue, now making a lot of people happy. colin paterson, bbc news. how do i follow that? i can't. see you soon. hello there.

we may well be heading towards the end of april now, the weather is feeling a little bit wintry, particularly next week we have got some chilly weather on the cards. during friday there was some glimpses of sunshine, this was the view taken in south yorkshire by one of our weather watchers and during the weekend there will be a bit of sunshine and things mostly dry but temperatures still on the cool side, not as cold and frosty as earlier in the week. during saturday we've got this weather front working its way slowly south across parts of england and wales introducing a bit of cloud, perhaps the odd spot of light rain here and northern ireland seeing some cloud and some drizzle. through the day some showers pushing into the north of scotland but elsewhere quite a good deal of dry weather. this is at 4pm on saturday afternoon. fairly cloudy for a time in central and southern parts of england, maybe the odd light shower and temperatures up to 15 or so. sunshine in east anglia, the midlands, parts of north wales, mostly cloudy for northern ireland but some brighter spells potentially and in scotland and northern

england, some sunshine, but to the north of scotland we'll continue to see showers and a bit of snowfall on top of the mountains. then moving through saturday evening and overnight we'll continue to see the showers in the far north and north—east of scotland. the winds tend to come down the east coast too so quite chilly around the east coast. clearer skies so first thing sunday temperatures lower than this in the countryside, but even in towns and cities down to around five or six, so a cold start to sunday morning. if you're planning on running or watching the marathon in london you might want to wrap up warm first thing but by the afternoon, sunshine breaking through and that should lift the temperatures into the mid—teens. across much of the country sunday not looking like a bad day. probably a fair amount of sunshine, some rain for the far north of scotland, most other places dry and temperatures typically between 11 and 12 in the north, 15 or 16 further south. high pressure not far away as we look through sunday night and the new working week

and then we see low pressure moving in from the north, and this is when we introduce that very cold air, look at the blue colours and the northerly arrows moving from monday into tuesday, we could even see some sleet and snow showers around too. monday into tuesday, one or two wintry showers particularly in the north and east. further south it's colder and there will still be some sunshine in between those showers. to summarise the weather into next week, staying pretty cold, a bit of sunshine around, wintry showers and most places largely dry. bye— bye. the headlines on bbc news: the gunman responsible for the attack in paris on thursday has been named as karim cheurfi. a handwritten note defending the so—called islamic state group was reportedly found near where he was shot. us military officials say their troops have killed a leading member of the so—called islamic state group. abdurakhmon uzbeki was reportedly killed during a commando raid near mayadin, in syria. the pentagon says al—uzbeki

was involved in plotting the new year's eve attack on a nightclub in istanbul, in which at least 39 people died. the authorities in venezuela say at least 11 people died in violence and looting on thursday, making the night the bloodiest in three weeks of anti—government protests. the worst incident happened in caracas, where ten people were killed during an attempt to loot a bakery. now on bbc news, click.