hello. this is bbc news. my name is tim willcox. our top stories: a show of force: america tests its missile defence system over the pacific, as concerns grow over north korea's nuclear ambitions. free speech or die portland. you've got no safe place. this is america, get out if you don't like free speech. in court and defiant: the man accused of the portland double murder. the victims were killed defending a muslim girl. and solar secrets: nasa's historic mission to fly directly into the sun's fiery atmosphere. and i'm susannah streeter. in business, how does a country survive without big banknotes? we'll find out when the indian government releases economic growth figures later today. it's almost like a game of hide and seek. passengers involved in the disruptions of ba flights over the weekend are desperately seeking their luggage — in many cases is still missing.

hello. welcome to the programme. the us military says it's successfully carried out a test to simulate the interception of an intercontinental ballistic missile aimed at america. it was the first such test of its kind, in response to the growing threat from north korea and it part of a $40 billion programme. peter bowes has been following the story from los angeles. on display for all to see, the complex technology designed to halt a long—range missile in its tracks. the interceptor was launched from vandenberg air force base on california's central coast. its target, a mock—up of an intercontinental ballistic missile, was fired from an island in the pacific more than 4,000 miles away.

the operation, likened by the pentagon to a bullet hitting another bullet, though at far higher speeds, was successful. according to the director of the us missile defense agency, it was an incredible accomplishment, and a critical my milestone. it demonstrated that america had a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat. earlier this week, north korea carried out its ninth ballistic missile test. officials say the interceptor test was not timed as a specific response to the increased tensions, although pyongyang is facing growing isolation from the international community. the united states will pursue an aggressive international diplomatic campaign to further isolate the regime in pyongyang, and calls on all countries concerned about north korea's nuclear sabre—rattling and flagrant violations of international law to join us in this effort. pyongyang's growing nuclear and ballistic missile ballistic threats put at serious risk strategic stability around the globe and cannot go unchallenged. north korea has significantly ramped up its weapons programme over

the past year, with its successful interceptor test and more to come, america is showing it has the technology that could thwart an attack on its mainland. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. we are getting some breaking news added the afghan capital of the huge explosion nearforeign added the afghan capital of the huge explosion near foreign embassies added the afghan capital of the huge explosion nearforeign embassies in the city. no more details at the moment, but violence is increasing in afghanistan. no details of casualties at the moment, but reuters are talking of a huge explosion nearforeign reuters are talking of a huge explosion near foreign embassies. reuters are talking of a huge explosion nearforeign embassies. we will try to get the latest from our correspondence in the region in a moment. —— correspondents. a man accused of murdering two men

and wounding a third on a train in the us state of oregon has appeared in court in portland shouting "death to the enemies of america". the victims were reportedly trying to protect two young women from anti—muslim harassment when they were attacked on friday. 0ur north america correspondent james cook reports. free speech or die, portland. you've got no safe place. this is america, get out if you don't like free speech. jeremyjoseph christian appeared in court in a city on edge, uneasy about white supremacism. he did not alleviate those fears. you call it terrorism, i call it patriotism. you hear me? die. mr christian is accused of murdering 23—year—old taliesin namkai—meche and 53—year—old ricky best. the only survivor, micah fletcher, was in court for the hearing, he said he, too, thought he was going to die, and he had this tribute for his fellow passengers. they did what they thought the right thing to do was, what, in my opinion, the factual thing to do was, and they paid the ultimate price for that. witnesses said the men were targeted when they stepped in to challenge anti—muslim abuse on a train

aimed at two women, one of whom was wearing a hijab. herfriend, who is not muslim, is still in shock. i want to say thank you to the people who put their life on the line for me because they didn't even know me. and they lost their lives because of me and my friend and the way we looked, and i just want to say thank you to them and their family. a tweet from the official account of president trump described the violent attacks in portland as: during the brief, rowdy session in court, jeremy christian did not enter a plea to charges, which include aggravated murder. he's due to appear again onjune 7. james cook, bbc news, los angeles. you are watching abc news. susannah is here with all the business news. -- bbc.

in a few hours time, the latest official statistics are expected to show that india has retained its crown as the fastest growing major economy in the world. economists are predicting that india expanded at an annual rate of 7.1% in the first three months of the year. this compares with growth ofjust 6.9% for china. the resilience of the indian economy will come as welcome news to prime minister narendra modi following the country's controversial demonetisation programme. towards the end of last year, the government removed some 86% of banknotes from circulation in a bid to crackdown on corruption. this led to widespread disruption and queues outside banks and cashpoints, but the shock announcement seems to have had limited impact on growth. and there could be yet more good news for the indian economy — in a months time, consumers are set to benefit from a major tax reform. from july i, all purchases will fall under a single goods and services tax.

this will lower the average tax rate compared to the existing system. 0n on other news. british airways says it is "working round the clock" to reunite passengers with their bags but it will take "some days" to clear the backlog. many people have contacted ba on social media to complain they still do not have their luggage back. the airline is now operating a full flight schedule and its it systems are up and running after the systems failure over the weekend. thousands of flights were cancelled with 75,000 people affected. so, what kind of damage will this do to ba? i'll talk to an expert in world business report in 20 minutes' time. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @bbcstreeter. susannah, see you in a few minutes' time. greater manchester police say three men arrested in connection with the suicide bombing that killed 22 people have been released without charge.

16 arrests have been made since the attack. 11 people remain in custody. earlier, ariana grande announced that she'll perform in the city on sunday at a benefit concert for the victims and their families. she'll be joined by other musicians including justin bieber and coldplay. but some of those affected say they think it is too soon. danny savage reports from manchester. # got to have it. # i want you, you...#. she's the global superstar who the victims of the manchester bombing had gone to see. after the attack, ariana grande quickly returned to her home in the states, saying her heart was broken. but tonight she announced this — the one love manchester benefit concert this sunday. free tickets will be offered to those who were at the arena last week. # tell me what you wanna drink...# she won't be performing alone, justin bieber is alsojoining her. # when i look in your eyes #

other famous names include take that, who donated the proceeds from their liverpool concert to the victims. # turn it up, it's your favourite song # and katy perry, who broke down in tears, last week, as she talked to fans about the atrocity. this is where the concert will take place, the cricket ground at old trafford. it has a capacity of about 50,000 people who, for speed of entry, are being asked not to bring bags, but that's down to security, too, which will be upper—most in people's minds. the concert occurs on the same day as a testimonal match at neighbouring manchester united. the police chief, here, says he's confident his force will be able to cover both events. you will see a significant police presence around both of those events, both with unarmed and armed officers. you know, and we'll continue to review intelligence as it comes in, to make sure, as much as we can, that everybody‘s absolutely safe and can go and enjoy both of those events. police have been speaking

to families who were at the original arena concert. most say they are happy, but some are not. i personally don't think it's showing a great deal of respect to them. it's not giving them a chance to show their respects to their loved ones orfor the individuals in hospital to get over their injuries. but, in the quiet dignity of st ann's square, in manchester city centre, there's broad support for ariana grande‘s return. i think it's amazing that she's coming back. and i think it's something that should be commended, really. and it's something that, yeah, it's definitely needed. i think it'lljust be a message to them, you know, not hide who you are. you shouldn't be ashamed of who you are. you shouldn't have been targeted. the concert will undoubtedly sell out quickly. ariana grande says she hopes it will help heal the city. danny savage, bbc news, manchester. and you can get all the very latest on the investigation into the manchester bombing

and all the other news stories on our website. just go bbc.com/news. nasa is set to make a major announcement about its first mission to the sun. the agency wants to send a spacecraft closer to the star than ever before, where it will face extreme temperatures and radiation levels. jonathan lunine is director at cornell university's centre for astrophysics and planetary science. he told us what nasa is hoping to achieve. nasa is hoping to find out how the solar wind is actually generated. we live on the planet earth, immersed in a wind of charged particles coming from the sun. solar probe plus will actually travel to the region where those particles are accelerated by the powerful magnetic field of the sun. we hope to find out how that all happens. the closest solar probe plus will get is approximately 7 million kilometres.

that's about nine times the radius of the sun. that's incredibly close. it's a place where the spacecraft will get a50 times as much sunlight as we get on the earth. and the temperature at the front of the shield protecting the spacecraft will be at about moo celcius. so these are really extreme conditions for a spacecraft. —— celsius. the real star of the show is the sun. by making these measurements very close to the sun, not only will we understand how this wind is generated, and flares and coronal ejections occur, but we will understand better the environment of planets around other stars, planets that live very close to their own suns. this mission has been under development now for more than five years. it was conceived of 60 years ago in a national academies report in 1958. so the mission is well under development now and we look forward to a launch in a year. sounds exciting.

jonathan lunine speaking to us earlier. you are watching bbc news. that's bring you a few updates. that huge blast in kabul in afghanistan, and the last five or ten minutes, we are getting tweets and reports that it happened close to the embassy and presidential palace, close to the us embassy, as well. no reports of casualties at the moment. but looking at some of the social network comments across the wires at the moment, across the agencies, windows blown out in buildings, hundreds of metres away from the presidential palace and the us embassy, as well. it follows a spate of attacks in the past few weeks and months. the last major attack in kabul earlier this month killed

eight. that was claimed by islamic state. this picture hasjust come in now on social media of the immediate aftermath. you can see the plume of smoke there from that attack. as i say, at the moment, no word on any casualties, but reuters are saying that clouds of black smoke are spiralling over the city and houses of hundreds of metres away were damaged, with winters and doors blown off their hinges. —— windows. —— houses hundreds of metres. you're watching bbc news. stay with us because still to come: a spectacular display in the skies over tasmania and new zealand — as the southern lights sweep across the upper atmosphere. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletic events

to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers of star wars hope will be thousands of queues started forming at 7am. taunting which led to scuffles, scuffles to fighting, fighting to full—scale riot as the liverpool fans broke out of their area and into the juve ntus enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. the whole world will mourn the tragic death of mr nehru today. he was the father of the indian people from the day of independence. the oprah winfrey show comes to an end after 25 years and more than 4,500 episodes. the chat show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. geri halliwell, otherwise known as ginger spice, has announced she's left the spice girls. ahhhhh! i don't believe it! she's the one with the bounce, the go, the girl power. not geri, why? this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: america completes its first successful test of a system to shoot down intercontinental missiles, as concerns grow over north korea's nuclear ambitions. a huge explosion has hit the afghanistan capital, kabul. it has stretched hundreds of metres in this —— the city. arsenal are set to announce manager arsene wenger will extend his 21 year reign at the north london club. the bbc has learnt that the 67—year—old frenchman has signed a new two—year contract with the gunners which will be officially announced on wednesday. 0ur sports editor dan roan has more. he is already the longest serving manager in british would fall, and now we know. arsene wenger‘s tenure will extend to a 22nd year. the saga

finally concluded after a meeting of the club's finally concluded after a meeting of the clubs or watch —— football. finally concluded after a meeting of the club's or watch -- football. -- club's board. they are already showing their feelings, there will be some who are angry. then there would be as many, if not more, who will say, there is no better manager than arsene wenger. the pressure on him has intensified in recent months. while he considered a new contract, many fans lost faith as arsenal where she merely aged in europe and failed to qualify for the champions league for the first time in 20 years. last week, arsene wenger made it clear he was hurt by the criticism. the lack of respect at some stages has been a disgrace. i would never accept that. i believe

there is a difference between being criticised and being treated in a way that you don't deserve to be treated. i will never forget that. having arrived in 1996, he silenced critics by shaking up the game, revolutionising arsenal on and off the pitch. three league titles followed, and seven fa cup is. the most followed, and seven fa cup is. the m ost rece nt followed, and seven fa cup is. the most recent of which came against chelsea —— cups. a triumph that may have proved crucial in agreeing to new contract in support of the club's owner. he needs to be given funds, and he needs to use them. we hear that they are there but he doesn't go in for the big players,

the players on the international stage. it is hard to imagine arsenal without their most successful manager, and he has been reassured that he remains in charge. despite the frustrations of recent seasons, the frustrations of recent seasons, the wenger years are set to continue. ben ainslie's land rover bar team secured a crucial win over swedish team artemis in the america's cup qualifiers in bermuda. the most successful 0lympic sailor ever had struggled for speed and stability in previous races, losing their last four in a row. but the british crew found both on tuesday, winning by 30 seconds to leave them third behind emirates team new zealand and holders 0racle team usa. the singer and actress olivia newton—john has revealed she has breast cancer for a second time, 25 years after recovering from her original diagnosis. ms newton—john, who was born in britain and raised in australia, shot to fame in the 1978 movie adaptation of the musical grease. she has postponed upcoming tour

dates in the us and canada while she undergoes treatment. returning to our main story, the huge explosion in kabul. we're joined now by a doctor on the ground in afghanistan. what can you see? good morning. iwasjust in afghanistan. what can you see? good morning. i wasjust preparing to leave for the office, and i suddenly heard a very huge explosion. it was very scary, to be frank. i closed the door and came to the window. i could see smoke in the air. people were running around, trying to find a secure place. what

does the target appear to be?m does the target appear to be?m does look like it was in a diplomatic area, but there is also an idea that it happened it —— in an area close to the turkish embassy, also close to the ministry of foreign affairs. it has happened in a very diplomatic area. it is very close to the turkish embassy as well. also close to the minister of foreign affairs. the chief of foreign affairs. the chief of foreign affairs. the chief of foreign affairs has not said exactly which office has been targeted. it

is on that square. how far away are you from the explosion? by car, it is about five minutes drive from where am. -- minutes' drive from where am. -- minutes' drive from where i am. as the security been stepped up in kabul? yes, you can see it in some areas —— has. there area see it in some areas —— has. there are a lot of weaknesses, i would say. how can an explosion in a very diplomatic area have happened? there is obviously a lot to be done in the areas of security management. thank you, dr bashir

najeeb in kabul. over the last few days stargazers have been treated to a spectacular show as the ‘southern lights' swept across australia and new zealand. 0nlookers were treated to a stellar display on sunday when the phenomena appeared above tasmania and new zealand's south island. sarah corker has the story. pulsing beams of light danced across the skies over the 0tago peninsula in southern new zealand. known as the aurora australis or the southern lights, this spectacular display transformed the horizon for hours on the weekend. 0ne astronomer captured this timelapse over the city of dunedin. lots of material from the sun

which basically interacted with the earth's magnetic field, making the atmosphere glow. the glow was very bright, so the material must have been quite dense. probably three, four, five hours on sunday night here in new zealand, we got the most astounding view of the southern lights, it was so bright you could see the cities. seeing the beams of light moving across the sky, it was absolutely mesmerising. the displays are most visible near the earth's poles. they are created when solar wind and magnetic fields are thrown into space by the sun, colliding with the earth's magnetic fields. though aurora australis may be lesser known than its northern sibling, aurora borealis, interest is growing. you can actually see these lights from new zealand pretty often.

some of the displays we get down here rival those in the northern hemisphere. we are quite pleased that we are in this little corner of the earth where we get these amazing displays and nobody knows about it. this was the view from tasmania at sunset. clear skies meant the displays were much brighter than usual, delighting stargazers across australia and new zealand. spectacular displays across the skies. you can get more news on our website and on facebook. see you soon. good morning.

we start with a quick look back at what happened yesterday. this weather front made its way southwards and eastwards across the uk. it brought in some heavy rain to the north and west of the uk. as it went southwards, the rain fizzled out and allowed fresh air to follow in its wake. fresh air continues to creep southwards overnight. not quite getting to the southernmost counties, but we see cloud which is low round the coast. along with clear skies, major towns and cities clear, rural spots colder — chilly and not as warm as it has been further south. it begins with cloud breaking up into the afternoon, some showers and the further north you are, it should be a nice day with light winds and plenty of sunshine. it will feel pleasant and into the afternoon, in south—west england along the coast, 15 or 16 degrees. further inland, it is in the low 20s. 15 or 16 degrees, up to 23 in london. the chance of the odd shower, but most places will avoid them and have a decent day.

good spells of sunshine across much of northern england. northern ireland may see more cloud, but in scotland we have a pleasant day with sunshine, 18 degrees in glasgow and inverness. through the evening, any showers we see will fade away. low cloud may become extensive in southern and western coastal counties. this weather front is creeping into the north—west and by dawn on thursday, nowhere near as chilly as the northern half of the uk, 1a degrees to start the day on thursday in glasgow. this weather front heads our way. a fair number of isobars associated. tied in with this area of low pressure for iceland. southerly winds bringing in warmerair. in eastern areas in particular. thursday sees temperatures on the rise again. temperatures in the south—east at 25 degrees, 20 degrees widely, decent for most that there's rain in western scotland and northern ireland.

into friday, this rain gets into northern england. it affects parts of wales but ahead of that, it will be another warm day, warm enough to spark thunderstorms but again, fresh air behind this weather front, and into the weekend. a weekend of sunny spells and scattered showers. westerly winds bringing a fresh feel to all parts. hello. you are watching bbc news. the headlines: there's been a large explosion in the afghan capital, kabul. witnesses say homes have had their windows shattered and doors blown off their hinges. it has just been reported that it was a car bomb in a city that is home to several foreign embassies. there is no immediate word on casualties. the united states has completed its first successful test of a system to shoot down intercontinental missiles. earlier this week, north korea carried out its ninth ballistic missile test this year. the man accused of murdering two men on a train in the us state of oregon last week has appeared in court shouting "death to the enemies of america".

the victims were reportedly trying to protect two young women from anti—muslim abuse. nasa has announced an historic mission to fly directly