welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: one of the biggest debates of the uk election campaign, with fractious exchanges on immigration, security, and the future of public services. world leaders condemn the massive bomb attack in kabul. at least 90 are dead and 400 wounded. the afghan president calls it a crime against humanity. after being called called a broken state and a breeding ground for terrorism. we report from libya's forgotten war. china and the eu prepare a joint statement in support of the paris climate change agreement, president trump prepares to announce whether the united states will withdraw from the accord. hello. one of the biggest tv debates of the uk election campaign has just taken place without

britain's prime minister. theresa may said she'd rather be out meeting voters. jeremy corbyn, leader of the labour opposition, did take part. his decision only announced hours before. here's our deputy political editor, john pienaar. guess who came after all, and what an entrance? jeremy corbyn left it late, but how could he resist trying to show up theresa may, who stayed away? maybe make up for the odd campaign gaffe. this was his chance, and look at him, he meant to take it if he could. she came to stop him. her leader's favourite, amber rudd. fewerfans, but a bigger motorcade and a single mission, take down jeremy corbyn. wherever theresa may was, she wanted this, the nearest thing this election has to a contact sport, to go her way. amber rudd was straight into the attack after mr corbyn criticised treatment of those

on disability benefits. you're not credible on this issue. jeremy, jeremy, i know there is no extra payment you don't want to add to. no tax you don't want to rise. but the fact is, we have to concentrate our resources on the people who need it most, and we have to stop thinking, as you do, that there's a magic money tree. you have to be accountable of the money you want to spend, jeremy. i'd like to bring in some of the other parties. it was already a personal confrontation, the labour leader counter—attacking on poverty. i would just say this, since amber rudd seems so confident that this is a country at ease with itself, have you been to a food bank? have you seen people sleeping around our stations? have you seen... applause. have you seen the levels of poverty that exist... jeremy, i need to answer that. i would like to answer your attack. i'd like to answer your attack. ..it exists because of your government's conscious decisions on benefits. of course, i have

been to food banks. for amber to say that this is a government that actually cares for those most vulnerable, i think is downright insulting to the kind of people that i see in my constituency surgery. this though was a seven—sided debate. brexit was inevitably a big issue tonight, passion and heat from all sides. we have to get the population under control because if we carry on, on the road we're on, we'll have a population now, you just thing what'll happen. there'll have to be a huge school building programme. there'll have to be new hospitals, new motorways, a new rail network, new houses. we're already having to build a house every seven minutes simply to keep up with the numbers of people coming to this country. i'm afraid that ukip keep using this issue, they want to whip up people's hatred, division and fear and that's why they talk about immigration all the time. no, i've got to come back to that. i think this debate shames and demeans us all. i don't think there's anyone in this room or anybody watching this debate, from cornwall to caithness, who does not understand the positive contribution that people have made

to this land who've come from the rest of europe and the rest of the world and demonising those people is totally unacceptable. amber rudd took her opportunity. if theresa may had come along, she'd have said what her stand—in said next. i was thinking how chaotic it would be if they all got together, formed a coalition, and tried to run a government. i'll tell you what, you're the coalition, you two, tory/ukip coalition. jeremy corbyn was put under pressure, he'd come to apply pressure of his own, on pensions. we've said very clearly... are you going to protect the triple—lock? jeremy, have you not read my manifesto, i'm happy to give you a copy afterwards. i'd love to have one, but i'd like the answer now. are you going to protect the triple—lock? we've said.. no, they're going to get rid of it, jeremy. they're going to get rid of it. terrorism was always going to be a hot topic, and it was. and i am shocked thatjeremy corbyn, just in 2011, boasted that he had opposed every piece of anti—terror legislation in his 30 years in office. my opposition to anti—terror legislation isn't opposition to protecting us from terrorism, it is simply saying there must be judicial oversight over

what is done in our name. you cannot give... there is. applause. it got heated. ukip‘s leader demanded more action against extremists from muslims, too much for tim farron. you have to rebuild trust and confidence in prevent. you know, paul, that the murderer last monday was reported five separate occasions by the muslim community. they want our safety as much as anybody else. then it was over. no knockout blows, but this fight‘s heating up. just a week to go. john pienaar, bbc news, cambridge the prime minister spent most of the day campaigning. theresa may rejected accusations that her decision not to join the leaders‘ debate was a "sign of weakness." 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg, reports. there is flash photography coming up. london, 9.00am.

days to go. a rare sight these days, an old—fashioned press conference. labour attacking the tories on public services. patients are suffering ever longer waits in overcrowded wards. those who need care have been left without it. a&e and maternity units and whole hospitals are threatened with closure. children are crammed into overcrowded and crumbling classrooms. schools are sending home begging letters to the parents. it has to change. rather than preparing, or even considering tonight's big debate, theresa may was up early with the boats. then a campaign classic, sampling the produce at a county show. notably, the prime minister on the road today in parts of the country, the south—west, the tories are trying to defend. but elsewhere, labour and the leader's crowds are enjoying

being the insurgent underdog. it's about 11.30am and we're on the road in reading. this rally of people packed, waiting to hear from jeremy corbyn. it's just a case of vote for me, not that horrible man. i've come to see the horrible man because he's not horrible. he's very sensible. he's really relatable to people and he understands what the young people really want. their hero's welcome, ready to commit that he will debate with all without the pm. i invite her to go to cambridge and debate her policies, debate her record, debate their plans, debate their proposals and let the public make up their mind. 0n the move, but heading the other way, the prime minister won't respond to heckles or agree to those chanted demands to show her face tonight. show your face! staff at this factory in bath did try to put her on the spot, but applauded when she was asked about not showing tonight.

but could she really laugh it off? look... he's now up for a head—to—head debate, doesn't it suggest that you're frightened of taking him on directly if you don't go too? no, you know, laura, first of all, i've been taking jeremy corbyn on directly week in, week out, in prime minister's questions. secondly, actually, yes, public scrutiny is for an election campaign, but that's why taking questions from members of the public, who are going to be voting on the eighthjune, is so important. the risk — she just looks scared. isn't your decision not to take part in a debate tonight a bit of a metaphor for your whole campaign? you're very happy to repeatedly criticise the labour party, but for your own plans, you're reluctant to give us very much detail at all, whether that's on brexit, your future immigration system, how many people will lose their winter fuel allowance?

what i've done, in terms of our manifesto, is been open with the british public about the great challenges that we face as a country over the next few years and beyond and how we will address those challenges. and you talk about the brexit negotiations, i've set out very clearly what our 12 objectives are for those brexit negotiations. i believe that's the right thing to do. don't people want more from you, because you're basically saying, on many of these big issues, i'll get back to you? i think what we owe to people is to be open with them about the challenges we face as a society and as a country and be open with them about the solutions that we're offering. but in campaigns the path is so often less smooth for those who start out in front. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, bath. and you can get the very latest on this and all the stories we're following. just head to our website, bbc.com/news the afghan president, ashraf ghani, has described a massive bomb attack in kabul‘s diplomatic quarter as "a crime against humanity." at least 90 people, most of them civilians,

died in the blast during the morning rush—hour. 400 people were wounded. caroline hawley reports. her report contains distressing images. you could see from miles away the force of this explosion. a massive bomb at a busy kabul intersection, hitting commuters on their way to work, children on their way to school. it was a bomb so powerful it shattered windows up to a mile away, leaving a trail of horrific destruction. 0ne witness said it was like an earthquake. there were so many casualties, security vehicles had to double—up as ambulances. the afghan government said hospitals in the capital were in dire need of blood. translation: i was working in the office when a powerful blast happened.

i collapsed under the desk and received injuries from shattered windows. most of the dead and injured were civilians, including many women and children. among those killed is mohammed nazir, who worked for the bbc as a driver. the bbc said he was a popular colleague, with a young family. the area where the bomb went off is supposed to be one of the most secure parts of the capital, walking distance from the presidential oalace. the bbc‘s harun najafzade was at the scene soon after the attack. it was a water tanker or a lorry full of explosive that hit this tragic location, right in the heart of kabul. it's very close to the german embassy, indian embassy, french and british embassies. even in a country that's become painfully used to violence, the scale of this attack has been a shock. security in afghanistan has been deteriorating for some time. most of the country was under government control back in 2014, when nato ended its combat mission.

since then, large swathes of territory have fallen to the taliban. most of helmand, where so many british soldiers lost their lives, is now in taliban hands. so is much of the province of kunduz and is has established a presence in nangarhar. the americans have over 8,000 troops in afghanistan. uk has about 500, but us commanders are now asking for several thousand more. at one point we had 150,000 foreign military boots on the ground. that did not weaken or destroy the taliban. so a few thousand more today is not going to be a solution. yes, in the short—term, it is going to give some support and better training to the afghan government and afghan security forces, but the insurgency will still be there. afghan intelligence are blaming an affiliate to the taliban a network, the haqqani network, but no group has yet admitted to carrying out one of the worst attacks kabul has ever seen. caroline hawley, bbc news. let's round up some of the other main stories. a malaysia airlines passengerjet

had to return to melbourne when a passenger tried to enter the cockpit shortly after take—off, saying he had a bomb. airport security apprehended the passenger, a sri lankan national, and the bomb turned out to be a battery. flight mh128 had been heading for kuala lumpur. turkey has condemned the us decision to arm a kurdish militia group in syria as extremely dangerous. the turkish foreign minister urged washington to correct what he called a mistake. on tuesday, the pentagon said it had started to provide small arms and vehicles to kurdish fighters in a rebel alliance, the sdf. in what's thought to be the world's first posthumous gay wedding, a french policeman, who was killed in an attack by an islamist militant, has been married to his partner. xavierjugelay was shot dead on the champs—elysees last april, shortly before the first round of france's presidential election. lebanon has banned the new hollywood film, wonder woman,

because its star, gal gadot, is an israeli who served in her country's army. the film was due for its lebanese premiere, but the interior ministry has decreed it should not be shown. there's been a campaign for a boycott in lebanon, which is still officially at war with israel. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: why nasa is setting its sights on the sun, with plans for the space agency to fly a probe directly into the star's fiery 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 juventus 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 11,500 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. the uk has just the uk hasjust witnessed one of the biggest debates of the election campaign with fractious exchanges on immigration, security and the future of public services. world leaders have condemned the massive attack in kabul. 400 people are wounded and at

least 19 are dead. the afghan president has called it a crime against humanity. libya's descent into chaos since the fall of colonel gaddafi six years ago has created a broken state — and a breeding ground for extremism. it's been exploited by the militant group, the so—called islamic state, drawing in young men such as the manchester bomber salman abedi. our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville has been talking to a former friend of abedi's — also from manchester, who travelled to libya not to support is — but to fight them. his report contains flashing images and disturbing scenes. gunfire libya's been ripping itself apart for years. much ignored, it seemed far off, but we're more involved in this fight than we ever realised. these home videos are from benghazi and one faction, the libyan national army. it's a foreign war, but this fighter is from manchester.

the boys from moss side became libya's soldiers. mohamed el—sharif has taken up arms against islamists, including the so—called islamic state. he left manchester in 2011, and never went back. people at that time wanted to come to libya. i knew he could come to libya. just come. go book a ticket to tunisia. book a ticket to egypt. book a ticket to wherever and then just get a taxi into libya. once they know you're in libya they know you're living, that's it, nobody can topple you. it's your hometown, it's your city. this is home now, drugs are widespread, dulling the monotony and the wounds of young fighters. in this madness, the islamic state is waiting for the right moment and the right recruit. make sure they don't go to that

path, if you know what i mean. like, if you needed them to do what they do, there's people that are looking for young lads to blow themselves up. to do stuff like that. they're going to find them. they're going to convince them. they're going to make them do and do and do. yeah, that's salman there. that's salman right there. that's salman. he was once good friends with the manchester bomber, salman abedi, but they chose different sides in libya's war. they haven't seen each other in five years. the fighting changed both men. i've been in wars for over three years. i've seen so much blood. i wouldn't go blow myself up. gunfire but life here is warped. mohamed was filmed proudly desecrating is corpses. you posted a video on instagram, tell me what happened? why did you shoot those bodies?

it is wrong. it is, obviously. what can i say to you? i do regret it but, what can i say, they deserved to do die too. they deserved to die because they killed so many people. gunfire the journey to here from manchester was quick and it was easy. these two worlds overlap. mohmmed stayed in libya, but salman abedi brought the violence back home with him. libya's chaos won't be contained. quentin sommerville, bbc news, eastern libya. china and the european union are preparing a joint statement in support of the paris climate change agreement. it comes as president trump prepares to announce whether he will withdraw the united states from the agreement. he hasjust said he has just said that that decision

will be announced in about 18 hours from now. let's get the latest from washington. david, for some the climate change is the biggest chain, problem facing the planet but to trump says it is a chinese hoax. one of these big campaign promises was to withdraw. what do you think is most likely to happen? he said that he is close to reaching a decision on whether to keep america part of the paris accord. there is deep division, we are told, in the white house and part of those in favour of remaining in favour of this agreement and those who say that america should leave. among those, allegedly urging president trump to keep safe and keep membership is his daughter who is an environmentalist, the heads of several big businesses, including some energy companies including some energy companies including exxon mobil and shell and the pope, pope francis, of course, met with donald trump last week at the vatican. there are also those

here who say that the paris accord threatens to thai american businesses are in bureaucratic red tape and having pledged on the campaign trailto tape and having pledged on the campaign trail to withdraw from the paris accord it does seem as though thatis paris accord it does seem as though that is what president trump is about to do. despite the fact that only two nations are not part of this agreement and the fact that america is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to the production of greenhouse gas emissions. now this would deal,, of course, a shuddering blow to the bread legacy of barack obama but environmentalists were also concerned that it could lead to other countries currently signatories to the paris accord, doing the same thing as the united states and also withdrawing or perhaps falling short of the agreement they made to cut greenhouse gas emissions. it does seem as though president trump is about to favour isolationism rather

than cooperation as far as confronting one of the biggest issues to confront our planet at the moment. we will hear that decision in about 18 hours from the white house. the chinese premier has been given a red—carpet welcome with military honours in berlin by the german chancellor, angela merkel. climate change and trade were expected to dominate their discussions. the visit coincides with indications by mrs merkel of strained relations with mr trump, partly over his stance on climate change. parliament in macedonia has endorsed a new government, ending the political deadlock since elections last december. it's headed by the pro—eu social democrat leader, zoran zaev. he is entering a coalition with parties representing macedonia's ethnic albanian minority. a british surgeon who carried out a series of unnecessary breast operations has been jailed for 15 years. thejudge told ian patterson he'd deliberately played on patients' worst fears, by exaggerating or inventing their risk of cancer. the doctor was convicted last month

in a case involving ten of his private patients. nasa has outlined plans to fly a probe directly into the atmosphere of the sun. the aim of the mission, next year, is to determine what makes the sun so hot and how it affects life on earth. our science editor, david shukman has more details. a giant flare leaps from the turbulent surface of the sun. these latest images capture scenes of extraordinary violence, but there's a lot we don't know about how the sun works, and how it affects us. and the best way to find answers is to get as as possible. so next year nasa plans to launch a specially designed spacecraft, to fly right up to the sun and endure the extraordinary temperatures there. scientists can't wait. the solar probe is going to be the hottest fastest mission. i like to call it the coolest hottest mission under the sun. we are going to be moving at blistering temperatures,

we are going to go right up into the corona. to give you an idea of how incredibly close this mission will go, the earth is 91 million miles from the sun. by contrast, the tiny planet mercury is 21 million miles from it, but a new nasa spacecraft will fly to just 4 million miles from the sun. that is far closer than ever before. at the same time, the european space agency will also send a mission to the sun, and together with the nasa spacecraft it'll explore the stream of solar particles flowing our way. how does what we call the solar windfall, which is a constant stream of material radiating out from the sun at hundreds of kilometres a second, it is going to help us understand how the biggest explosions and eruptions in the solar system were formed. our sun has a very dynamic atmosphere, and to fully understand it, you need to get close. mercury, crossing in front of the sun.

the nasa spacecraft will go much closer. one big puzzle is how the sun generates such powerful bursts of energy, and this matters because the giant flares can affect us by wrecking anything electronic. the best way to understand these events, and to forecast them, is to get as close as you can. david shukman, bbc news. and finally, the kenyan president has officially opened a new railway in kenya. the biggest infrastructure development since independence. painful as it chinese bank loan. the previous route was known as the lunatic lion because it was expensive and difficult to build because some construction workers we re because some construction workers were eaten by lines. more on that and all the news anywhere on the good morning. london may not have

been the sunniest place across the country been the sunniest place across the cou ntry yesterday been the sunniest place across the country yesterday but it was the warmest with highs ofjust over 23 degrees. i suspect over the next couple of days the south—east will get very warm if not hot as we drag in this warm airfrom get very warm if not hot as we drag in this warm air from the get very warm if not hot as we drag in this warm airfrom the near continent. this year is a slow moving weather front ringing a contrast to the far north and west. more on that in a moment. it will be a mild start for all of us, a little messed around, particular coast to the coast. that weather front is a slow—moving affair bringing rain into northern ireland and the west of scotla nd into northern ireland and the west of scotland and lingering so much of the. adding that elsewhere, largely dry and it will be more in the way of sunshine across the extreme south. despite a little bit of afternoon cloud into the south—western part of wales, temperatures are still reasonable, 18, 20 two degrees behind. a good seat fourth or 25 widely in the

south—east corner, a good slice dredging up into the north of england. different to the north—west across the lake district and the isle of man, northern ireland and western scotland here. it will stay cloudy and went from much of the day with a scatter of showers into the far north—east as well. that weather front is like a conveyor belt of rain as we go through the night sitting across the irish sea, and affecting island, western scotland and western fringes of wales as well. to the south and east it will stay sticky through the night. a mild feel with widely mid—teens across the country. it does mean that on friday we will gradually start to see change. there is a level of uncertainty as to how or weekly that weather front will move its way eastwards, hopefully improving is through scotland through the day. the front sitting through the day. the front sitting through the day. the front sitting through the spine of the country by the middle of the afternoon. it stays very warm, if not hot in the south—east. we could see 27 degrees, fresher conditions starting to

follow—on behind. that is the general theme is moving to the weekend. significant thunderstorms likely across the near continent. ourwind likely across the near continent. our wind direction swings more around when fresh and westerly filter things. it will still be a great deal of dry weather in the story with a scattering showers for the weekend that look at the difference, 16 or 17 the north and west, highs of 22 in the south—east corner. similar story is well into sunday. a fresh feel, as gathering showers and a touch of easier than of late. just in case you have not got the message, this is a story into the weekend. sunny spells but a scattering of showers and a fresher feel for all. this is bbc news. the headlines: theresa may's political rivals have criticised her for not taking part in a televised, party leaders election debate. the conservatives were represented by home secretary amber rudd. the event was marked by fractious exchanges on immigration, security, and the future of public services. world leaders have condemned the massive bomb attack in kabul. more than 90 people

were killed and over 400 others were injured. the afghan president, ashraf ghani, has described attack as a crime against humanity. the taliban has denied any involvement. china and the european union are preparing a joint statement in support of the paris climate change agreement, in an apparent attempt to take over global leadership on the issue. president trump, a well—known climate change sceptic, is set to announce whether the america will withdraw from the accord. now it's time for hardtalk.