welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the former us attorney general says she warned president trump's administration that general michael flynn was open to russian blackmail, before he was forced to resign. the russians also knew what general flynn had done, the russian also knew that general flynn had misled the vice president and others. preparing for power — france's incoming president begins the transition process before taking office in under a week's time. record numbers of migrants have tried to reach europe so far this year — we have a special report on the rescue efforts in the mediterranean. these women look really exhausted. they're coming on one by one. one of the women i see has got a little child with her. the church in chicago, offering sanctuary to families

fighting president trump's deportation orders. hello. a congressional hearing has been told president trump was warned against hiring michael flynn as his national security adviser, because general flynn was open to blackmail by the russians. sally yates — a former acting head of the justice department — told senators general flynn had lied about his contacts with the russian ambassador. despite this, he stayed in his highly—sensitive job for more than two weeks before he was forced to resign. here's some of sally yates‘ testimony. we weren't the only ones that knew all of this. the russians also knew about what general flynn had done and the russians also knew that general flynn had misled the vice president and others because in the media accounts, it was clear from the vice president and others that they were repeating what general flynn had told them.

and that this was a problem because not only did we believe that the russians knew this but they likely had proof of this information. and that created a compromise situation, a situation where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the russians. sean spicer has blamed the obama administration. earlier i spoke to the bbc‘s neda taufik in new york. when you look at past white house comments on this, reince priebus, the white house counsel, said, "oh well, it wasn't any alarm bells that sally yates had rang, it was merelyjust a heads up." and that their lawyers had looked into this and there was no problem with michael flynn ahead of when they forced his resignation. they had been waiting for months to hear from sally yates today and she basically said that she had urgently warned the administration.

three tiems she spoke with them about how michael flynn's comments and lies, she said, to the vice president, could really put the country and himself in a vulnerable position, open to russian blackmail. and so she very forcefully came out today to kind of go against the administration's narrative on this so far, saying that this was an issue that she had raised with them. they had actually asked her at the time, "should he be fired?" she said, "that's not something for her to answer, that's an issue for the administration." but she was subsequently fired, of course, if you remember, for refusing to defend president trump's travel ban. and then, as you say, micheal flynn then stayed for a n additional 18 days. this does fill the gap on kind of what exactly happened that made michael flynn stay on for so long. white house press secretary sean spicer blamed the obama administration for not revoking general flynn's security clearance back in 2016. the president himself weighing

in as well on twitter saying that the whole story of collusion is a hoax and a taxpayer funded charade. he also says of director clapper‘s evidence, "director clapper told the hearing what everybody, including the fake media already knows, no evidence of collusion." actually, what james clapper said surely is that he was not made aware of the evidence because he was not made aware of the investigation. yeah, it's interesting because this senate judiciary committee is just one of three congressional probes. there is also the fbi. president trump has for a long time, been critical of comments about this, calling them a hoax. he wants to get passed this in his presidency. the allegations into russian meddling into the election, he feels, delegitimises his presidency and has called it a hoax that there is any collusion between the trump administration and the russians.

president trump has been forceful to counteract this narrative. what we have seen from several testimonies, directorjames comey of the fbi is looking into connections with the trump administration and russia. the director of national intelligence revealed today that an american, whether it was a member of the congress or the trump transition team, has been revealed in the incidental collection of evidence and they were investigating that individual. while president trump tries to highlight some parts of the testimonies today in this hearing, it still does not really close the door to the overall investigations that are ongoing. it doesn't clear this issue for him and that's what's really frustrating to the president. he wants to move on from this. there seems to be more questions raised then answered. he's the youngest french leader

since napoleon bonaparte and today emmanuel macron has been trying on the trappings of office, a day after his decisive presidential victory. mr macron, who's 39—years old, has been receiving a number of congratulatory phone calls from world leaders. has begun forming his government. our europe editor katya adler reports on the day's events. it has been a day of reflection in france, paying tribute to the world war two fallen. taking stock of fresh challenges ahead. france's brand—new and youngest ever president elect here at ve day commemorations. a little hesitant, a little unsure, taking his cue from the outgoing head of state. it will be a steep learning curve. emmanuel macron is pretty new to politics but the crowds

here were hopeful. it's very difficult to put some reforms in france and having such a guy who is so young will help to change things. translation: we hope he keeps his promises, politicians normally don't, we want france for the poor as well as the rich. vive la france. tonight, emmanuel macron‘s fans and foes will be watching this with interest. a fly on the wall documentary filmed during his presidential campaign. intriguing because france is about to be presided over by a politician known for his charm but whose person, party and policies are pretty much unexplored. what we do know is that he is the europhile, a passionate one, and leading europeans are cock—a—hoop, in understated tones. translation: emmanuel macron carries the hopes of millions

in france and across europe. he led a courageous pro—european campaign and stands for openness to the world. emmanuel macron has raised high expectations, promising many things to many people. to dramatically reform france, caring for the fragile while boosting business, and to change the european union and be very tough on brexit, but he doesn't have his own government or mps in parliament so is he flexing muscles he doesn't yet have? france's president—elect has made brexit threats aplenty. damp and desperate in calais today. after brexit, mr macron has vowed to tear up an agreement where france prevents thousands of migrants making their way to dover each year. he has talked too about luring banks and businesses from the city of london this side of the channel.

but domestic discontent, not brexit, will be mt macron‘s main focus. but domestic discontent, not brexit, will be mr macron‘s main focus. it is what drew one in three voters to marine le pen, his far right presidential rival. she's popular here in the pool halls of calais where unemployed youngsters wile frustrated days away. in struggling towns like this, there is little faith in elite educated metropolitan emmanuel macron. young people vote for marine le pen because they can't find anyjobs. the unemployment rate is sky—high here in calais unfortunately. "there are no jobs and too many migrants," daniel said, "almost 60% of calais thudded marine le pen and maybe daniel said, "almost 60% of calais voted marine le pen and maybe next time the whole country will be ready."

this evening in paris, there were small but heated demonstrations against emmanuel macron, some organised by the trade unions. as a centrist politician, he faces opposition left and right. and only weeks away from crucial parliamentary elections. katya adler, bbc news, paris. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. 82 nigerian schoolgirls just freed by the extremist group boko haram have met their country's president. they were escorted to the reception in the capital abuja by armed soldiers, after a check—up at a medical centre. they were among more than 270 kidnapped from their school in chibok three years ago. south koreans are voting in their presidential election. opinion polls suggest the left—leaning, moon jae—in, has maintained a lead over his nearest rival, the centrist ahn cheol—soo. the election was called early to fill the vacancy left by park geun—hye, who was impeached in march for corruption and abuse of power. a verdict is expected on tuesday in a case that's widely seen as a test of indonesia's

religious tolerance. on trial, on blasphemy charges, is governor basuki tjahaja purnama, known widely as ahok. he's accused of insulting the koran. he denies any wrongdoing. in a ruling likely to have international implications, an appeals court in austria has ordered facebook must remove hate postings. the green party has been seeking to block posts hostile to its leader, made via a false account. record numbers of migrants have already tried to reach europe from north africa this year. more than seven thousand have been rescued from the mediterranean over the last few days alone. the italian coastguard says as many as 200 may have drowned. most of them have set off from libya — attempting the treacherous crossing — in search of a new life in europe. reeta chakrabarti has spent the last week on a rescue ship. seven uneventful days at sea with the rescue mission and then suddenly this: we have two rubber

boats possibly one wooden boat. team, please prepare on deck for rescue. a scene, said the crew, like never before. first two, then three, then as we were spotted, more and yet more boat loads the people veering towards us to rescue and to safety. these women look really exhausted. they're coming on one by one. one of the women i've seen has a little child with her. this toddler, named blessing, is one of the tiniest travellers. her motherjoy, who's nigerian, said she risked the journey because she couldn't return to her home country. one of the women i've seen has a little child with her. she was working in libya, but she was repeatedly kidnapped and ransomed for money. i asked her what she hoped

for from the future. blessing is happily ignorant of her mother's grief and oblivious to the peril she just faced. still they come, goodness knows how many people were cramped into that rubber dinghy there. they're all processed now, checked — this man clearly in pain. the vast majority on board are men of working age, from west and east africa, and also from asia. there are many factors driving them, but the turmoil in libya is key. these scars, imran told me, were inflicted on him in bangladesh, which is where he's from. he says he was targeted by the local mafia and so left for libya to work as a cook. but he went months unpaid and was beaten if he asked for his wage. he told me he took the rubber boat

because libya was dangerous. he had a chance of life if he left. libya was intolerable, he couldn't do it any more. last year broke records for the number of migrants making the crossing, and this year looks set to top that. italy has borne the weight of housing and caring for them, but opinion is hardening with claims that these rescue missions are a taxi service for migrants and even that the aid agencies are colluding with libyan people smugglers to bring the migrants to europe. our sole mission is to save the lives of people and especially children who are escaping violence, persecution and extreme poverty. we have no contact whatsoever with people smugglers. earlier in the week, a body was spotted. the sea is a graveyard too. the search will go on. this crossing from libya has become an established route run by ruthless criminals who care little

whether their desperate passengers will see another day. reeta chakrabarti, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we visit a church in chicago offering sanctuary to families fighting president trump's deportation orders. i, nelson rolihlahla mandela, do hereby swear to be faithful to the republic of south africa. after six years of construction and numerous delays, the channel tunnel has been formally opened by the queen and president mitterrand. the tunnel is still not yet ready for passengers and freight services to begin. for centuries, christianity and islam struggled for supremacy. now the pope's visit symbolises

their willingness to coexist. roger bannister became the first man in the world to run a mile in under four minutes. memories of victory as the ve celebrations reach their climax. this night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. good to have you with us on bbc news. the latest headlines: the former us attorney general says she warned president trump's administration that general michael flynn was open to russian blackmail before he was forced to resign. preparing for power: france's incoming president begins the transition process before taking office, in under a week's time. the governor of texas has banned from his state the so—called

"sanctuary cities" where police tend not to carry out checks on a person's immigration status. it could trigger the first legal battle over the issue, one that has even drawn churches into the line of fire. olivia lace evans visited one parish in chicago that is offering to hide undocumented families, and daring authorities to intervene. we are going to tell them, here they are. if you are going to separate this family, you're going to do it while the whole world is watching. the election of president donald trump, it has injected, umm, an incredible amount of fear into our community. we have five families that have already been given a deadline where they have to go with a one—way ticket to be deported and their family will be basically destroyed. after the church services we go through each case individually

to see what we can do. we have attorneys that are with us and are fighting those cases of deportation, using whatever legal avenues are open to us. but at the end of the day, we want our families as a last resort to take sanctuary here in the church. i am a us citizen. i applied for her to be legal in the country. but if somebody makes a mistake with our application, we don't have any rights at all.

our whole lives we are living here. we have nothing, though. this is the shower we created. now, people don't have to leave the building in order to take a shower here. that is what sanctuary is. we provide them everything they have in a home and that's what we're going to be doing with our families. donald trump, right now he is fighting syria to protect children. but they are here in the country. these are us citizen children separated from their fathers and mothers. i don't know how he is doing is to this to the community. olivia lace—eva ns. that report coming from chicago.

more of the main news for you: riot police fired tear gas at protestors in venezuela on monday at the start of another week of demonstrations planned by the opposition. organisors say the want to stop president nicolas maduro's plan to reform the constitution. thousands of people in caracas clashed with police when they were blocked from marching to the education ministry. an ally of philippines president rodrigo duterte has denied there's been a new wave of extra—judicial killings since he took office ten months ago, despite the fact that president duterte vowed to kill drug traffickers. senator alan peter cayetano told the un human rights council that it was a misunderstanding. there's been violent clashes in the town of coligny in south africa, after two white men accused of killing a black teenager were released on bail. police fired rubber bullets at protesters, outside the courthouse. the teenager's death sparked angry demonstrations last month. four people are missing in some of canada's worst flooding in decades. police are searching for a man

and a toddler swept away when their car swerved into a river in quebec. water levels are expected to keep rising, and the number of troops helping to evacuate the thousands of people affected is being tripled. the fox news presenter bill o'reilly has been one of the most famous in america for years, but he stepped down last month after being accused of sexual harrassment by a number of women. now one of them has flown to london to try to block rupert murdoch, who owns fox, from taking full control of sky. she met the media regulator ofcom, which is investigating whether murdoch's company 21st century fox would be fit and proper to take full control of sky. are you worried about ofcom at all? no.

fox news is getting record ratings, so i'm not worried at all. you don't think ofcom will consider what is happening at fox news? you have lost three of your top people, that is something, isn't it? lots of people say this is about comp. —— ofcom. on the west coast of ireland, people

are flocking to see a beach. it was washed away by storms more than 30 yea rs washed away by storms more than 30 years ago. a freak tide dumped thousands of tonnes of sand on a wide stretch of rocky coastline off the west coast of ireland. keith doyle has the story. achill island, on the west coast of ireland, has many beautiful beaches. but for the past 30 years, this was not one of them. however, nature has now returned dooagh beach to its former glory. storms in the 1980s stripped the beach. but over ten days, ocean currents have deposited thousands of tons of sand, to recreate its 300 metre white sandy beach.

the most probable reason this beach has reformed is due to two things: it is either a change in sediment supply from further up or down the coast that has brought a fresh and of sediment to this beach, or it could be due to a change in environment or conditions. either an alteration in the wave climate, or a series of tides, that has provided the ideal conditions for this beach to reform. dooagh beach on achill island is about as far as you can get in ireland and europe. thousands of tourists visit each year. having a new beach has delighted locals and the tourist board. yesterday, we had gridlock in the village with cars, camper vans, and motorcycles, and people from all over ireland and the uk, to see our miraculous new beach. they people here have always spoke about their days on the beach enjoying it here as kids, and now to have it back for their kids is amazing. the people of the island are thrilled. and we already have five blue flag beaches. and hopefully, if we keep our beach here, we will have a sixth.

now that the spring high tides have passed, there is hope that the new beach will stay in place, at least for the summer. but this is the wild atlantic coast, where the sea could reclaim the beach again. but for now, people are making the most of this new tourist attraction. just finally, the main news again, the former us attorney general has told a congressional hearing that she warned the trump administration about michael flynn being open to blackmail. he stayed in hisjob for at least another 18 days. sean spicer has blamed the obama administration for not revoking michael flynn's security clearance. much more on the bbc website. hello.

we are watching a weather change later this week which will bring some rain to some areas that have been mainly dry for several weeks. until then, though, it is as you were. this is how it looked on the the satellite picture on monday. cool in the cloud, warm in the sunshine. variable cloud in the next few days. but the main theme is until the end of the week, most places are going to stay dry. that's as high pressure is stretching across the uk. we are waiting for low pressure to make a move. i will show you that later this week. it will not be bone dry on tuesday, though. there will be enough cloud to the far north—east of scotland, especially in the northern isles, giving occasional light rain and drizzle. sunshine pretty limited, though, to begin the day. this is 8am. sunny spells in scotland. especially in northern ireland. plenty of blue skies to begin the day. cloud in england and wales living western fringes with some sunshine to begin with but elsewhere you can see the cloud cover across much of the midlands into yorkshire and east anglia.

and it's another single—figure temperature start to the day. on the cool side like recent mornings. now, as the day goes on, we'll nibble at this cloud. some will start cloudy will eventually see sunshine coming through. that's more of wales and the west midlands. parts of yorkshire, rather cloudy. maybe the odd spot of drizzle, but essentially it's dry. some rain in the northern isles. cold with the cloud. warmer in south—east england. the breeze is less noticeable on the north sea coast. a bit more cloud into scotland through tuesday night into wednesday morning. but then for wednesday, we will start elsewhere clear and quite chilly. temperatures lower than this away from large cities and town centres. gardeners take note of the potential impact on delicate plants of this cold temperature. a sunny start on wednesday especially in england and wales.

southern scotland and northern ireland seeing sunny spells. more cloud the further north you are in scotland. some outbreaks of rain around. some warmth in the sunshine again. warmer around the north sea coast compared with recent days. on thursday, most places staying dry. variable cloud and sunny spells. cloud building in the south of the uk. we begin to get showers and outbreaks of rain. that will lift northwards into friday and saturday. it's not going to be a washout. as we move from high pressure to low pressure, though, there will be rain in areas that have nothing very much for quite some time. this is bbc news, the headlines: the former us attorney general, sally yates, says she warned president trump's administration against hiring general michael flynn as his national security adviser because he was open to russian blackmail. flynn was forced to resign less than a month later for misleading the white house.

france's incoming president, emmanuel macron, has received congratulations from world leaders and began the transition process, before he takes office in under a week's time. mr macron must also pick candidates quickly, ahead of parliamentary elections on the 11th and 18th ofjune. riot police have fired tear gas at protestors in venezuela at the start of another week of demonstrations. organisors say the want to stop president nicolas maduro's plan to reform the constitution. thousands in caracas clashed with police when they were blocked from marching to the education ministry. parts of the uk are having one of the driest springs for many years. areas in northern england have seen rivers unusually low or even dried