this is bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: a global cyber attack blocks computer networks and demands a ransom from governments, companies, individuals and even hospitals. i think it is a hen is crime this packing, because they are putting people's lives at risk. -- heinous. a veiled threat to the former fbi boss — the white house won't say whether or not there are tapes of his conversations with president trump. the captain who crashed the costa concordia cruise ship reports to prison to begin his 16—year sentence. and chelsea win the english premier league, at the end of antonio conte's first season in charge. hello and welcome to bbc news.

a fast—moving wave of huge cyberattacks has swept the globe affecting computers in thousands of locations. it's thought the hackers used tools developed by the us national security agency, and were leaked online last month. users have found themselves locked by a programme that demands a $300 payment to restore their access. there have been reports of infections in 99 countries. britain's national health service was one of those hit. hospitals and doctors' surgeries were forced to turn away patients and cancel appointments. a number of spanish firms, including telecoms giant telefonica, suffered from the outbreak. there were reports that staff at the firms were told to turn off their computers. russia was also hit. the interior ministry there said it had "localised the virus". our technology correspondent rory cellanjones has more. it looked, at first, like an attackjust on hospitals in the uk, but it's now becoming clear that this malicious software has run riot around the world.

russia, the united states, and many points in between, have been hit by what is now a common form of cybercrime. ransomware is becoming the tool of choice for an awful lot of criminals, simply because it is very, very easy to make money very quickly. you can buy ransomware online for as little as $39. it's quite cheap. at the top end of the market it comes with support and payment systems to help you get your money. so how does ransomware work? it often arrives in the form of an innocuous—looking e—mail. when you click on that link, the malicious software is downloaded and spreads rapidly through your network, locking up all the files on it. then a message flashes up on screens, warning that if you want your data unlocked, you will have to pay a ransom, often in bitcoin, the virtual currency. the irony is that security experts think hacking tool allegedly leaked from america's national security agency in april may have been used by the attackers. microsoft warned about the threat this

vulnerability posed, but said anyone who had installed a security update to windows software the previous month would be ok. the worry is that many health service computers may not have been updated. the nhs is vulberable because typically it has not invested enough in computer security, they are using old computers, old systems, and if they don't keep them properly patched, they will keep on getting hit by attacks like this. the health service will point out that it is just one of many organisations around the world affected by this attack. but it now faces what could be a lengthy process of cleaning up its computers and making the networks safe again. as we mentioned, the nhs was a major victim of the cyber attack. many hospitals were affected, and surgeries cancelled. it has been declared a major national incident. hugh pym has this report. there were

serious disruption in some parts of the nhs today, with signs warning of long delays, and some surgeries having to remain empty. all this the result of the biggest cyber attack in the history of the nhs. some surgeons, in the history of the nhs. some surgeons, like tom, were told their operations had been postponed. surgeons, like tom, were told their operations had been postponedm surgeons, like tom, were told their operations had been postponed. it is inconvenient. a frustrating. this for me to locations. the nurses have been fabulous, and the doctors. —— fought my fellow patients. it is a terrible crime, because it is putting lives at risk. this man was also told his operation would not happen today. they helped me, because i was happen today. they helped me, because i was nervous happen today. they helped me, because i was nervous about it, so i had to go through it again. not in a normal way. they were doing all the paperwork on paper, and their

systems were down, because of this thing that happened. some patients going to court as the hospital were told what services had been affected. the gentleman just inside the door said that all the computers had gone down. and we are not sure whether the doctors can see you, for whatever reason. it is x—rays, or breakage is, or whatever, they are going to send you home. and today, sta rts going to send you home. and today, starts found this on their screens, with a message saying the files are encrypted. if they wanted to recover them, they needed to pay out. —— breakages. ransomware, used by criminal hackers, was to blame. the primers gave the government's response. it is an international attack. a number of organisations have been affected. the national cybersecurity centre is working closely with nhs digital to ensure that they support the organisations concerned, and that they protect patient safety. some hospitals and

gp surgeries in scotland have been caught up in the cyber attack. the scottish government, like ministers at westminster and an edge as leaders, will be assessing the problem and attempt into contented over the weekend. president trump has warned the man he fired as the director of the fbi against talking to the media — and suggested that there could be tape recordings of their conversations. james comey had been leading an inquiry into possible collusion between trump election officials and russia. he was fired on tuesday. now the president has tweeted... laura bicker is in washington for us. laura, another day of developments in this story. the white house says this is not a threat, but it takes a very, this tweet, on many levels. firstly, he appears to be seen to be sacked head

of the fbi, do not talk to the press. secondly, he appears to be saying i may have tapes of the conversation. this all relates to a dinner that supposedly took place in january. it is thought, and this is the president's account, that he turned to james comey and asked him directly if he was under investigation. and jens comey, according to the president, no weed do not know if such tapes exist. —— now. but here is what sean spicer said during the white house briefing, earlier today. did president trump record his conversations with james comey? did president trump record his conversations with james comey7|j assume you are referring to the tweet. the president has nothing further to add on. were there recording devices in the oval office? for a third time, there is nothing further to add on. is the president threatening somebody like james comey not to speak?|j president threatening somebody like james comey not to speak? i don't

think that is a threat. the tweet speaks for itself. i am moving on. if you are listening closely, there was no denial that such tapes exist, they are. the prison was asked during a fox news interview if the recording existed, and he said he did not want to talk about it. —— there. —— president. he was also asked about contradictory castle cove in the white house. this week, we have had one account from the vice president and donald trump's sagas. he went as far as to tell fox news that it might be time that the white house briefings were limited. are you moving so quickly that your communications deportment cannot keep up with this? yes. that is true. so what we do about it? we don't have press conferences. you don't have press conferences. you don't mean that. we just don't have them. unless i do them every two weeks and i have the mosul. i think

it isa weeks and i have the mosul. i think it is a good idea. first of all, you have a level of hostility that is very unfair. sarah huckerby is a lovely young woman. but you know sean spicer. he is a wonderful human being. he is a nice man. is he your press secretary today and tomorrow? will he be there tomorrow? he has been at from the beginning. this has been a chaotic and to malta was weak for the white house. when it comes to donald trump's behaviour and his flouting of the presidential norms, it is once again under the spotlight. —— tumultuous. even richard nixon, famed for his paranoia, did not make this kind of publicly unveiled threat. and when it comes to james comey, we are hearing tonight that he is not worried if any tapes do exist. and we also hearing that he will now not appear before the senate intelligence committee, as he was invited to, next tuesday. whatever we nt invited to, next tuesday. whatever

went on between president trump and the former head of the fbi, jens comey is staying silent, for now. laura bicker in washington. thank you very much for all of that. let's ta ke you very much for all of that. let's take a look at some of the other stories making use: —— news. an ebola outbreak has been declared in the north of the democratic republic of congo. pope francis has been greeting pilgrims at the fatima shrine complex in portugal, where he's due to make two new saints on saturday. portugal has temporarily re—imposed border controls to keep track of the hundreds of thousands of people coming in from elsewhere in the european union. the shrine commemorates three child shepherds, who are said to have had repeated visions of the virgin mary in 1917. candidates in iran's presidential election exchanged barbs in their final debate on friday, accusing each other of corruption and economic mismanagement. the current president, hassan

rouhani, is contesting the election, to be held next week, along with five other candidates. an explosion in western pakistan has killed at least 25 people and injured another 35. the blast in the town of mastung targeted the deputy chairman of the pakistani senate. he survived, and is being treated in hospitalfor his injuries. south africa has been hit by violent demonstrations this week. protestors demanding houses and jobs have been clashing with police in several townships south of johannesburg. the government has admitted that the issues behind the latest wave of protests are genuine and deserve a response. nomsa maseko reports. a sense of calm returns following days of protests. the demonstrations were led by communities who feel marginalised and neglected, protesters up in arms over electoral promises not delivered. they want better housing and jobs.

the week—long unrest, dubbed service delivery protests, have become increasingly violent. poverty and stubbornly high unemployment 23 years after the end of apartheid has angered many, piling pressure on presidentjacob zuma's government. labelled coloured under apartheid, not black, not white, the community of eldorado park, south of johannesburg, feels unheard by the governing anc. some have even openly declared that life was better under white minority rule while others say the protests are justified. the government must act to build houses firstly, then the community, but take the government seriously, but if they don't start, we will not stop until our demands have been met. but our protests in south africa is to start to build. blockade the streets, no cars pass, no—one goes to work, that happened also before democracy. that is how we put this government in action.

this woman has been on the housing waiting list for more than 20 years. she lives in a one—bedroom house with family members. i feel frustrated, i feel very disappointed in all of this. now, because of us young people who can't get houses, we have to come crowd my mother's house. you vote for nothing. you vote for houses, you don't get the house, you vote forjobs, you don't get a job, so it hasn't helped. we struggle a lot in the south. really. i don't know what to say but i'm struggling with my children. they haven't got jobs. it's only my disability grant for this little money. there are concerns that criminal elements are infiltrating these protests but the grievances remain genuine. like many communities in south africa, most people just want a piece of land to build a house on — a simple request that successive administrations have failed to address.

corruption is often cited as the reason why the government appears unable to deliver on the many promises to improve people's lives. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the venice biennale international exhibition opens on saturday, but this time there are some entries from countries that don't exist. the pope was shot, the pope will live. that was the essence of the appalling news from rome this afternoon, that, as an italian television commentator put it, terrorism has come to the vatican. the man they called the butcher of lyon, klaus barbie, went on trial today in the french town where he was the gestapo chief in the second world war. winnie mandela never looked like a woman just sentenced to six years injail. the judge told mrs mandela there was no indication she felt even the slightest remorse.

the chinese government has called for an all—out effort to help the victims of a powerful earthquake, the worst to hit the country for 30 years. the computer deep blue has tonight triumphed over the world chess champion, gary kasparov. it is the first time a machine has defeated a reigning world champion in a classical chess match. america's first legal same—sex marriages have been taking place in massachusetts. god bless america! this is bbc news. the latest headlines: an international assault on computer networks has affected a number of organisations in 70 countries, including britain, russia, the united states and china. the white house spokesman has refused to confirm or deny speculation that president trump secretly recorded a meeting with the sacked fbi

director, james comey. more now on that cyber story. for more we can speak now to the bbc‘s dave lee, who's in san francisco. first of all, do we know where this attack originated? no, we don't know who the criminal gang is behind this attack. it is very hard to trace, partly because one of the ways in which this criminal enterprises like to receive the money from this kind of attack is using it coined, an online currency that is very difficult to trace. —— bitcoin. so we don't know where this has come from. of course it will be heavily investigated. there are clues about how they did it and how it became possible for them. it traces all the way back to link from the us

national security the nsa. there was a leak of some of their tools, these us government hacking tools, leaked onto the internet and they were a p pa re ntly onto the internet and they were apparently repurposed by these hackers to carry out this attack. in terms of who those people were doing repurposed it we don't know. we know this attack has spread far and wide and has affected many countries. what do you think the fallout is going to be? i think it depends on which country you're looking at. the biggest damage has been in the uk and the nhs, being crippled in many places, from doing their vital work. i think there will be a close look at why the nhs was hit so badly, particularly when you compare it to happening here in the states i spoke to the us department of health earlier and they say they are monitoring it but as far as they are concerned there hasn't been any significant incident across hospitals and doctors offices across the us. any people say that suggest

the us. any people say that suggest the nhs's defences weren't up to wheat and some of the feedback we have had from nhs staff and security experts suggest the nhs is very much behind in keeping its computer networks up to date. because this attack could have been prevented. it was known it was possible for oil over a month and if the computers we re over a month and if the computers were kept up—to—date it would have been a problem. i think the postmortem from this attack will be why weren't these organisations better prepared to keep themselves secure? thanks very much, dave lee. francesco schettino, the former captain who crashed the costa concordia cruise ship off the italian coast, has begun a 16 yearjail sentence. italy's highest court upheld his prison term, marking the end of the appeals process more than five years after the disaster, in which 32 people died. greg dawson reports. more than five years since his ship capsized, francesco schettino's fight forfreedom

capsized, francesco schettino's fight for freedom is over and capsized, francesco schettino's fight forfreedom is over and is spending his first night inside this prison in rome. it follows a definitive ruling here at italy's highest court that his 16 year sentence was sound. his convictions include multiple counts of manslaughter, causing a maritime accident and abandoning ship before his passengers had been evacuated. translation: this ruling causes an extraordinary, terrifying affair. 72 hearings in the first trial, then the appeal trial, finally the supreme court. we are glad the supreme court. we are glad the supreme court. we are glad the supreme court have put an end to this because our client needed the sentence. a needed truth and justice. 32 people were killed when the costa concordia capsized on a cold january evening, in 2012. the ship left its planned moving towards the island of giglio. before it saw

the island of giglio. before it saw the rock it was too late. a gaping hole was ripped in the stern. water filled in and the power failed before it eventually tipped onto its side. more than 4000 people were onboard but, instead of staying with his passengers, the captain spoke to the coastguard from his lifeboat. after the ruling francesco schettino's lawyer said his client respects the verdict but he would investigate the option to appeal to the european court of human rights. friends of schettino say he has we made a scapegoat for what happened but there will be no sympathy from victims‘ families, who have been waiting to see the man named ‘captain coward‘ finally behind bars. if you‘ve been following the english premier league this season it won‘t come as a surprise to hear that chelsea will be crowned this season‘s champions. they confirmed it on friday evening with a 1—0 win away to west brom. 0ur sports editor dan roan reports.

glory was within their grasp. chelsea strolled to the title —— chelsea‘s stroll to the title almost complete. in the final ten minutes and with the game seemingly heading towards a draw the pressure finally told. a crucial touch. substitutes barely played this season. now he had scored the goal that would seal the title. chelsea were champions once again. it has rarely been in doubt but this was a moment to savour for a reunited team and for their coach, in his debut season. when chelsea play watford here at fountain bridge on monday evening they and their fans will be able to celebrate the second premier league triumph in just three seasons —— sta mford triumph in just three seasons —— stamford bridge. re—establishing the clu b stamford bridge. re—establishing the club as a dominant force in english game. when you consider what went on here last season, it is an

achievement that should not be underestimated. jose mourinho was backed after a chaotic defence of the title, the club finishing 10th and failing to qualify for europe. chelsea hired conte but had to wait until the end of the euro is before the manager was free to join them. there were a couple of big signings, including the player of the year, but the new coach has largely transformed an underperforming squad. it isn't easy to have a new method and philosophy and also to work very hard, the changed totally your work. if you compared the work of the season and in the past. and there could yet be more success. co nte there could yet be more success. conte has also guided chelsea to the fa cup final. 0ther conte has also guided chelsea to the fa cup final. other managers may have grabbed more headlines, created more have grabbed more headlines, created m o re co ntrove rsy , have grabbed more headlines, created more controversy, but the italian has eclipsed them all. the international art festival, the venice biennale, opens on saturday and some artists have decided to challenge

the customary idea of countries having their own national pavilions to showcase their work. this year there are pavilions for imaginary countries, complete with their own unusual form of passport control. 0ur arts editor, will gompertz, has been taking a look. the whole point of the venice biennale is for countries across the world to have their own national pavilion in which they proudly present the work of one of their artists. but the notion of art belonging to nation states is becoming an increasingly anachronistic concept for many artists and curators, some of whom have set up alternative pavilions, such as nsk state, an imaginary country which we are all welcome to come along and join, although they have made it a bit of an uphill struggle. this is a state without rules or regulations, rights or responsibilities — although citizens do need to get themselves a passport. you‘ve got to do all the boring admin stuff and hand over your fee to a passport officer, who, in this instance,

is a migrant seeking a european passport. so, in a way, the power dynamic is being turned on its head. you then go up this moving stair to an elevated office, where you come along and hopefully pick up your authorised passport. thank you very much. and then there is the diaspora pavilion, showing the work of predominantly non—white british artists, which is challenging the very notion of nationhood, arguing that a multicultural society needs a fresh approach to established ideas of borders and belonging. this is about nationalism. it‘s about the nation. it‘s about what is represented by the nation. for us, that definition has to change. we feel diaspora is really much more appropriate, to talk about fluid communities and diversity within the uk, but also within the art movement. for some countries, though, those that maybe feel

marginalised or misunderstood, biennale offers a public platform on which to show and share. venice becomes even more important for a country like iraq, that can participate because it‘s allowed to, you know, as a national pavilion, as defunct as that notion may be. it‘s one of the few venues available. these antiquities from the iraq museum form the core of the exhibition. some have never left the country before. others were looted after the fall of saddam hussein. they represent both traditional craft and contemporary politics, like much of the work at this year‘s biennale. will gompertz, bbc news, venice. that‘s all for now. i will be back with the headlines shortly. do go to our website for all of the latest stories and more now top stories as well. hello.

showers or longer spells of rain were the mark of the day on friday in many parts of the british isles but other areas got away with a decent sort of day. that was the end of the day in king‘s cross in london. that was the day in cornwall. what‘s driving things at the moment? this area of low pressure sat in the middle of this swirl of cloud. you can see the persistent rain showing up, and those with a good eye can see the showers, some of those were quite sharp. as we get on into the body of saturday, rather than friday, the same area of low pressure has drifted a little bit further north, taking the prospect with it of those longer spells of rain. not a cold start to the day wherever you‘re starting it. the temperatures just about dipping single figures, across a rather murky north—eastern quarter of scotland. further south, across the greater part of southern england and wales, it‘s not wall—to—wall sunshine, but it is mild as you step out the door first thing perhaps, and a lot of dry weather too. you‘ve got to start moving

towards the north—west of wales, northern ireland, north—west england and up into the heart of scotland when you are in the centre of the low that you will see more cloud, thick enough for some rain and further north and east it is a cooler field with a noticeable south—easterly wind there and a lot of low cloud. it‘s going to be one of those days in that neck of the woods. but let‘s not major too much on the rain and showers, because across a greater part of england and wales, yes, isolated light showers but a lot of dry weather too. with the sunshine coming out, quite strong at this time of year, 18 or 19 could be yours. and i suspect, down on the south coast, bournemouth versus burnley, mid—afternoon, there‘ll be a lot of sunshine there, a really glorious spring afternoon. however, closer to the low pressure and some of the fixtures, especially on the western side of scotland, they could be pretty wet affairs. if you are coming further south, and it is the challenge cup weekend for the rugby league fans amongst you, castleford versus st helens,

i think that one will be essentially a dry fixture. saturday evening on into sunday, if you are out and about you will have to put up with a couple of hours at least of pretty weather as the front moves west to east. it will be away from most eastern coastal areas, say for the north—east of scotland, as you wake up on sunday. another day of sunny spells and showers, some of them sharp especially in the north—western quarter of scotland, but i hope you have some time on the weekend to enjoy at least some of this dry weather. and i urge you to do it if you can, because this is what monday looks like — rather wet, rather windy to say the least. cyber attacks have been reported on organisations in more than 70 countries. computers in thousands of locations have been locked by a programme that demands a $300 payment to restore users‘ access. companies, individuals and public services including hospitals have been affected. the white house has refused to confirm or deny whether president trump recorded conversations with james comey — the man he sacked as

director of the fbi. in a tweet earlier, mr trump warned mr comey not to leak stories to the media, saying he had "better hope there are no tapes of our conversations". francesco schettino, the former captain who crashed the costa concordia cruise ship, has reported to prison to start a 16—year sentence for his role in the disaster. italy‘s highest court upheld the sentence — marking the end of the country‘s appeals process. now on bbc news, it‘s time for click.