this is bbc news. i'm chris rogers. 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. 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. and the rivers running dry in the uk before summer has even begun, prompting fears of a drought. and in business, the cosy relationship between big business

and government — voting is under way in south korea, but will new leadership make a difference this time? and the wasteland! american shopping malls lie deserted and retailers suffer. so what is president trump planning to do about the problem? hello and welcome to bbc news. a former acting attorney general has told a us senate committee that she warned the trump administration against hiring michael flynn as national security adviser. sally yates said she had let white house officials know injanuary that mr flynn had lied about contacts with russian diplomats, leaving him open to blackmail. nada tawfik has more. it was the hearing that many, not just in washington but across the

country, had waited months for. sally yates, the former attorney general, speaking in public for the first time regarding her numerous warnings to the white house about general michael flynn. she testified that she spoke three times with white house counsel, saying that general flynn had lied about conversations he had with the russian ambassador before donald trump became president. general flynn said he did not discuss sanctions issued against russia by the obama administration. but that appears to have been untrue, and yates told the white house it made him and the country vulnerable. this was a problem. not only did we believe that the russians do this, but they likely had proof of this information. that created a compromising situation, one where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the russians. she said officials asked her whether or not he should be fired. they asked me whether

general flynn should be fired, i told them that that was not our call. but i said that we were giving them this information so that they could take action. sally yates was fired a few days later for refusing to defend president trump's travel ban in court. it took the white house more than two weeks after her warnings to force general flynn's resignation. he has now become a centralfigure in resignation. he has now become a central figure in allegations of russian interference in the 2016 us election, and possible collusion between the donald trump campaign and moscow. the white house confirmed that president obama also warned donald trump about general flynn after the election, although that advice appears to have been ignored. president obama made it known that he was not a fan of general flynn. that should not come asa general flynn. that should not come as a surprise to anyone given that general flynn had worked for president obama and was an outspoken

critic of him. on twitter, president trump was defensive, writing: after three hours, sally yates' testimony raised as many questions as answers. among them, why did president trump continued to protect general flynn despite many warnings that national security could be at risk? south korea is just a few hours away from finding out who its next leader will be afterformer president park geun—hye was impeached and arrested over allegations of fraud. the election front—runner, former human rights lawyer, moonjae—in has indicated he wants closer ties with north korea — risking a clash with donald trump. 0ur correspondence is at a polling

station in seoul. after months of political people in this country, it is time for south koreans to choose a new president. as you said, we are ata a new president. as you said, we are at a polling station in the korean capital. time to have a little look inside. people are lining up and we have seen a steady stream of people coming to vote today. it seems like there will be quite a turnout. apart from the fact that it is a public holiday, people are saying that this does seem to be at the high—end of what you might expect for an in korea. after people get their names ticked off, they grab a ballot paper, were over to the secret voting area, and then we will see in the middle of the room a box. this woman is watching it. people come and place their votes in here. on the other side of the officials, there are more people ensuring that

there are more people ensuring that the rules are not breached. 0ne there are more people ensuring that the rules are not breached. one of the rules are not breached. one of the big issues we have seen today is that north korea is at the forefront of people's forts. that is because, as you mentioned, moonjae—in, if he wins, will be a president who is arguing for much greater engagement with north korea. certainly much more than president park geun—hye, who we saw. and so, that is why there is so much talk here of national security, foreign policy, rather than just economics which is what we might expect. we may get the result in about 12 hours, i would expect. we will be covering this all day. thank you for that. sally is here with all

the business news. and that is also dominated by the south korean election. the country's economy bounced back strongly following the 2008 financial crisis, but in recent years, quarterly growth has struggled to break above 1%. the current frontrunner — moonjae—in — has vowed to boost government spending and create over 800,000 newjobs in the public sector. his main rival — ahn cheol—soo — feels the government should be more cautious with its spending plans, but both candidates are united over one key issue: corruption.

south korea is still reeling from a "money—for—influence" scandal which has seen several of the country's top executives grilled by politicians. this includes the bosses of massive corporations such as samsung, hyundai and lotte group. in the past, large conglomerates were credited with south korea's rise to economic prominence, but now many experts are questioning whether the country has become too over—reliant on the so—called "chaebol". to give you a sense of scale — the biggest company in south korea is samsung — the group spans every aspect of life and its business accounts for roughly 20%

of the country's gdp growth. currently the ten biggest companies in south korea account for nearly a quarter of the country's total corporate tax revenue. much attention has been paid to the loss of manufacturing and heavy industryjobs in the us. but in the last few months alone, morejobs have been lost in retail than exist in the entire coal industry. despite years of steady recovery and a pick up in wages, us retailers are in dire straits. in our world business report, we'll have a report on a crisis that can be seen from the boutiques of manhattan to the local mall.

don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter, i'm @sallybundockbbc. 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: announcement: we have two rubber boats possibly also 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 0f 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 mother, joy, who's nigerian, said she risked the journey because she couldn't return to her home country. she'd been working in libya, where 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 that she's 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. 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. 0ur 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. some news just some newsjust in some news just in from some newsjust in from indonesia, we are hearing that a court has found jakarta's christian governor guilty of blasphemy against islam. he has been sentenced to two years in jail. we heard thejudge been sentenced to two years in jail. we heard the judge told the court that the governor was found to have legitimately and convincingly conducted a criminal act of blasphemy. the trial is widely being seen as a test of religious tolerance. indonesia is the largest muslim majority country in the region. 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.

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 as national security adviser. record numbers of migrants have tried to reach europe so far this year. aid agencies say more than 7,000 migrants have been rescued from the mediterranean in the last few days alone. 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. gunfire. caracas has once again become a battlefield. with makeshift shields and helmets, thousands of anti—government protesters faced off with police. undeterred by teargas and armoured cars, they're trying 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, the streets. we have nothing else because the constitution isn't respected, human rights are violated, the government does what it wants. demonstrators say the president's plan to reform the constitution will sideline the national assembly. they accuse him of repression and amassing power. since unrest erupted five weeks ago, 36 people have been killed and hundreds more injured. the leader of the opposition was at the front of monday's march and encouraged more

people to join his cause. translation: everyone who voted for chavez, who is unhappy today, who doesn't believe in this government and agrees with us that this country needs change, i invite them to join in the front, in defence of the constitution. but government officials say they are now facing an armed insurrection. there were more violent clashes as protesters targeted a military airport and later a police checkpoint. president maduro says this crisis is a us—backed capitalist conspiracy and accused opponents of trying to topple him by force.

and red—shirted maduro supporters also rallied in caracas on monday. yet these venezuelans say severe food shortages and high unemployment have pushed them to their limit. with a week of protests ahead, they refuse to back down. sarah corker, bbc news. parts of the uk are having one of the driest springs for many years. areas in northern england have seen rivers and streams unusually low or even dried up with fears we could be facing a summer drought. danny savage reports from the yorkshire dales. across large parts of britain at the moment there is a lack of water. a dry spring, preceded by low winter rainfall, has left many riverbeds exposed. this wouldn't be an unusual widespread sight in late summer but it's rare in may. when i had a ride around up there on friday, you get a lot of small ponds and wet holes that are usually there all year round.

they're all dried out, they're absolutely bone dry, there's nothing at all in the bottom of them. stuart herd has farmed here all his life. the riverbed drying up is not unheard of but he's noticed the hillside springs aren't right. you can tell that it's been a lot drier because we're actually noticing sheep that have come down to parts of the river where the water is still running, noticing sheep standing on the river bank drinking. whereas ordinarily they would be spread about up on these fells and drinking out of little springs and streams and things like that, which suggests there isn't as much water up there as what there has been in other times. southern england has seen the driest conditions with just over half the average rainfall since lastjuly. the water company affinity says people must do their bit to avoid restrictions later in the year. and these pictures were taken

in northern england over the last few days, showing rivers many miles apart in a similar condition. but yorkshire water says there shouldn't be widespread alarm. i think nationally it's been very dry. up in yorkshire it's been a dry winter, probably the driest in the last six years, but we have seen recharge, every other month we've seen some rainfall but in the last six weeks we have just seen it dry. a few dry months doesn't make a drought, though. it may be bone dry in some of the headwaters of these river catchments but we're a long way from a water crisis. a few miles down the valley, the wharf looks a lot more healthy, and reservoir levels are holding up too. a prolonged dry spell may change things but it would have to be for months. danny savage, bbc news, upper wharfedale in north yorkshire. in sport and in football chelsea are just one victory away from winning the english premier league title after a 3—0 defeat of middlesbrough. antonio conte's side need just to win at west bromwich albion on friday night to guarantee

the title in his first season in charge at stamford bridge. at the madrid 0pen eugenie bouchard is through to the last 16 after winning a much anticipated match against maria sharapova. the russian has recently returned from a 15—month doping ban and bouchard has been a fierce critic of her opponent in the lead up to her recent return to the court referring to her as "a cheater". 0n the court the canadian winning 7—5, 2—6, 6—4 against sharapova. i definitely had some extra motivation going into today. 0bviously motivation going into today. obviously i had never beaten her before, and also given the circumstances, i was actually quite inspired before the match because i had a lot of players coming up to me privately, wishing me luck, players i don't normally speak to, and getting a lot of text messages from

people in the tennis world that were just rooting for me. so i wanted to do it for myself, but also for all of these people, so i really felt support. every match at this point is important. i'm just one of the two players out on the court, and everything that surrounds myself, i don't really know a lot of it, i don't really know a lot of it, i don't pay attention to too much of it. i have been part of this game for many years. i know what the drill is, i know the excitement, i know there is always a lot of talk and bars and match ups, rivalries, news. “— and bars and match ups, rivalries, news. —— talk and bars. but at the end of the day it isjust two athletes competing against each other, and i am one of them, and thatis other, and i am one of them, and that is howl other, and i am one of them, and that is how i treat this game. the governor of texas has banned so—called sanctuary cities in his state. those are areas where police tend not to carry out checks on a person's immigration status. the signing of the bill could set the stage for the first legal battle over the issue, one that has even drawn churches into the line of fire.

the bbc‘s 0livia lace evans visited one parish in chicago that has offered to hide undocumented families, and is 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. still to come, a look at the international news agenda. and sally will be here with a round—up of the business news.

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. 0n 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 world news, the headlines. the former us attorney general, sally yates, says she warned president trump's administration against hiring general michael flynn, because he was open to russian blackmail. flynn was forced to resign, as national security adviser less than a month later. riot police have fired tear gas at protestors in venezuela at the start of another week of demonstrations. 0rganisers say the want to stop president nicolas maduro's plan to reform the constitution. people in south korea are voting for a new president

following the impeachment of park—guen hye. the front—runner, moon jae—in, favours closer ties with north korea — the so—called sunshine policy. record numbers of migrants — have tried to reach europe so far