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. riot police in venezuela, fire tear gas at protestors — the latest demonstrations against president maduro‘s plan to reform the constitution. 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 — 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 2 weeks before he was forced to resign. here's some of sally yates‘s 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. white house press secretary sean spicer has blamed the obama administration for not revoking general flynn's security clearance in april 2016. i spoke just now 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. well, 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 vulnerableposition, open to russian blackmail. 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 an 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 intelligence agency probes. and so president trump has, for a long time now, been very, very critical of comments coming out about this, calling them, as you said, a hoax. he wants to kind of get passed this in his presidency. the allegations into russian meddling in 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. and so president trump has been very forceful to kind of counteract this narrative. but what we have seen from several testimonies —

i mean, the fbi, directorjames comey has said they are looking into any connections between the trump administration and russia. the director of national intelligence did revealed today that an american — he wouldn't say whether it was a member of the congress or a member of the trump transition team — but that they had been revealed in the incidental collection of intelligence, they were investigating that individual. so while president trump tries to kind of highlight some parts of this testimonies today in this hearing, of this testimony today in this hearing, it still does not really close the door to the overall investigations that are ongoing. it doesn't kind of clear this issue for him and i think that's what's really frustrating to the president. he wants to kind of move on from this issue. but with several probes going on, and continual hearings, there seems to be more questions raised rather then answered. riot police have fired tear gas at protestors in venezuela during further demonstrations to protest against president nicolas maduro‘s plan to reform the constitution. masked men leading thousands

of people in caracas clashed with police as the political crisis deepens. sarah corker reports. caracas has once again become a battlefield with makeshift shields and helmets, thousands of anti—government protests faced off with police. undeterred by teargas and armoured cars, they tried to put pressure on president nicolas maduro. they want early elections to remove him and to solve venezuela's economic crisis. translation: it is the only thing we have left, we have nothing else because of the constitution is not respected, human rights violator, the government does what it wants. demonstrators said the plan to reform the constitution will sideline the general assembly

giving him massive power. 36 people have been killed since routers began and hundreds more injured. —— protests. the leader of the opposition was at the front of the march and encourage more people to join his cause. the fashion make eve ryo ne join his cause. the fashion make everyone who does not believe in this government and agrees that this country needs change, i invite them tojoin in the country needs change, i invite them to join in the fight. country needs change, i invite them tojoin in the fight. —— translation:. but government officials say they are now facing an armed insurrection and more i get protests as protesters targeted a military airport and later a checkpoint. nicolas maduro says this crisis is the us backed capitalist conspiracy and accuse opponents to topple him by force. nicolas maduro supporters also rallied in caracas

on monday stop yet these venezuelans say severe food shortages and high unemployment have put them to their limits. they refused to back down. 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. 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 he'd vowed to kill drug traffickers. senator alan peter cayetano told the un human rights council that it was a misunderstanding. violent clashes in the town of coligny in south africa, where 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. france's incoming president begins the transition process before taking office in under a week's time. more world leaders have been giving their reaction, the german chancellor angela merkel saying she is delighted. more than 7,000 migrants have been rescued from the mediterranean in just the past few days. italian officials fear as many as 200 drowned. it's thought they were trying to make the treacherous crossing from libya, in search of a new life in europe. so far this year numbers are 50% higher than the same time last year. reeta chakrabarti has spent the past 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. 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 take you to 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 this our: —— the latest headlines this hour: 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 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 an issue 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 and a bag packed, 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. let's ta ke

let's take you back to our main story. let's stay with that top story and speak tojonathan landay, national security correspondent for reuters, based in washington. good to talk to you. on twitter, there has been some suggestion that there has been some suggestion that there has been fake news. yes. sally yates' testimony before the subcommittee raised new questions about what the white house knew about what the white house knew about general flynn's indications we re about general flynn's indications were the russians, and why it did not act. —— knew. as well is what donald trump new and when he knew it. so this is not going away. her testimony raised new questions. yes,

because it makes it clear that despite warnings from a very senior legal authority, donald trump gave some potentially compromised person access to comp at most —— sensitive information. indeed. he also had conversations at mar—a—lago concerning north korea's missile launch and other... and he was present for whenever donald trump took his daily intelligence brief. it seems to have gone almost under the radar that james clapper, it seems to have gone almost under the radar thatjames clapper, apart from describing russian interference as the transcendent issue, went on to confirm that yes, european allies, did pass on intelligence about contacts between the donald trump team and russia. indeed he did. and he confirmed a report in the guardian that the first

information that was provided by a european intelligence service came from britain's intelligence services. and said earlier, there are new questions. sally yates testified that she delivered a warning to white house counsel donned again on the 26th ofjanuary. —— don mcgann. it is then said that this warning immediately went to the president, and that four days earlier, donald trump said he had no information about any conversations that could have been had with the russians concerning sanctions imposed under barack obama. —— don mcgahn. it sounds that we are all

coming back to this one. thank you for joining coming back to this one. thank you forjoining us. my pleasure. bill o'reilly stepped down last month are to act of sexual harassment by a number of women. —— fox news anchor bill o'reilly stepped down last month, accused of sexual harrassment by a number of women. and 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. this from our media editor amol rajan. on the west coast of ireland, people are flocking to a remote island to see a sandy beach that has reappeared — that is the word. it was washed away by storms more

than 30 years ago. but a freak tide has dumped thousands of tonnes of sand back there again. 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 just about as far west 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 here in the village with cars, camper vans, and motorcycles, and people from all over ireland and the uk, to see our miraculous new beach. the people here have always spoke about their days on the beach and how they enjoyed it here as kids, and now to have it back for their kids is absolutely unbelievable. 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 one final story. in malaysia,

customs officers have seized more than 700 kilos of pangolin scales. they are also known as scaly ant eaters. they are one of the most traffic animals. these girls are used in traditional medicine. much more on all the stories on the bbc website. —— trafficked. thank you for watching. hello. we are watching a weather change later this week which will bring some rain to some areas that have been mainly dry, now, for several weeks. until then, though, it's as you were. this is how it looked on the the satellite picture during 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.

and that's with high pressure stretched across the uk. but we are waiting for low pressure to make a move, as it will do. i'll 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, to give some occasional light rain or drizzle. sunshine pretty limited, though, to begin the day. this is the picture at 8am in the morning. sunny spells in scotland. especially in northern ireland. plenty of blue skies to begin the day. but a lot of cloud over much of england and wales, leaving western fringes of england into west wales 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. some sunshine here, though, to the south coast. now, as the day goes on, we'll nibble at this cloud. some that start cloudy will eventually see sunshine coming through. that's more of wales and the west midlands. but the east midlands, east anglia, into parts of yorkshire, rather cloudy.

maybe the odd spot of drizzle, but essentially it's dry. some rain in the northern isles. warm in the sunshine, cool with the cloud. warmer in south—east england. the breeze is less noticeable on the north sea coast. a bit more cloud into scotland as we go on 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. some areas will be close to freezing, as wednesday begins, so 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 across the north of scotland, the further north you are in scotland, some outbreaks of rain around. but again, there's some warmth in the sunshine. warmer around the north sea coast compared with recent days. and then on thursday, whilst 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. but as we move from high pressure to low pressure, 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. 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. 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. now on bbc news, hardtalk.