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. islamic state says it is ready for a last stand in mosul. 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 of 80 million by the middle of this century. 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 ii.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 strategic 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. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the post cyclone operation in bangladesh, as ngos and the government and try to help over 300,000 people affected by storm mora. 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 witnesses one of the biggest debates of the 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, 400 wounded. the afghan president calls it a crime against humanity. as the battle for the iraqi city of mosul enters its final stages, the extremist group, the so—called islamic state, is said to be be preparing its last stand around the al nuri mosque. the iraqi army and federal police have made a major push to drive is out of iraq's second city. nafiseh kohnava rd and cameraman kermaj hoshyar, from bbc persian, managed to get access to the front lines, where it's thought up to 200,000 civilians are still trapped. these streets are free, are

devastated. this is because of the battle to retake mosul from the so—called islamic state. we are travelling with the iraqi federal police to the heart of the city where they have is fighters surrounded. they are taking us to the final frontline. we are at the edge of old mosul. walking the streets would be far too dangerous. so soldiers move from house to house, making holes to walk through. but it is not only the militants who are besieged. many civilians are still trapped inside. translation: we hear that civilians are running out of food and water. most of them are in basements. iss using them as humid shields more than before we tried to open a safe corridor for

them. the area under siege was small. but the streets are densely packed and dangerous for soldiers. it is an important area. they will fight till they die. the federal police use every street they can to gain an advantage. this is old mosul through the highs of a drone. they tracked a suspicious car. now we are civilian. in this situation we can move by vehicle, but in mosul it is not possible. also, as you saw, i told them to go close to see exactly if they had weapons or mocha. but we are sure. the civilians face a

difficult choice. risk their lives trying to escape or suffer the misery of life under siege. translation: we were in prison. all we could do was sit and wait. is we re we could do was sit and wait. is were fighting outside and did not let us come out. we were running out of food and water. it is almost three years to the day that mosul fell into the hands of is. the battle to take it back may be nearing its end but the hardest part is still to come. china and the european union are preparing a joint statement in support of the paris climate change agreement — as president trump prepares to announce whether he will withdraw the united states from the deal. he's now said that decision will be announced in about 17 hours. well, for many climate change is the most important issue facing the planet. mr trump has called it a chinese hoax, an american job—killer, and has promised to pull the us out of the international paris accord.

i asked the bbc‘s david willis what looks 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 on the part of those in favour of remaining in favour agreement and those who say that america should leave. among those, allegedly urging president trump to keep safe and keep membership is his daughter ivanka, who is an environmentalist, the heads of several big businesses, 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 tie american businesses up in bureaucratic red tape, and having pledged on the campaign trail to withdraw from the 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 shattering blow to the 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. one of those arguing for the us to stay is california governorjerry brown.

he's going to china soon to discuss climate change. in sacramento, the bbc‘s james cook asked him how damaging withdrawal might be. california has a long history of dealing with pollution, smog and carbon problem is that we face. so we will stay the course, we intensify our efforts, beat with electric or new energy. the whole radical shift to decarbonise the future. california is playing the lead ina future. california is playing the lead in a leading role, china will not. paris was very much created because of she and obama. obama has left the scene and president trump has gone awol and now it is up to china and california to work with other countries to do whatever we

can to offset the negative pathway chosen by a president trump. do you see that as a global alliance?” chosen by a president trump. do you see that as a global alliance? i do. and, look, king canute had ideas about stopping the movement of the tides. that did not work. even though he was a powerful sovereign. president trump can command science. he cannot command whether and he could not command the climate. the rest of the world is getting it. i don't think we are getting it enough. if, anything, our response at this point is feeble given the threat that climate change represents. california will be on the field doing its role, playing an active role in promoting climate strategies. latest estimates from the bangladeshi government are that 300 thousand people have been affected by the recent cyclone. the homes of several 100 rohingya refugees have been wrecked and locals say many fishermen are still missing.

the bbc‘s akbar hossain reports from the area around cox's bazaar. their homes and livelihood lost. these fishermen, everything has been washed away. indian navalforces these fishermen, everything has been washed away. indian naval forces are reported to have rescued 33 fishermen from the bay of bengal at the others say that many went to see before the storm and are still missing. bangladesh has a long history of natural disasters. but the intensity of mora was worse than many had experienced before. hundreds of trees were uprooted and agricultural fields were badly damaged. these are the victims of cyclone mora which hit the south—eastern part of bangladesh. this is a cyclone shelter and located close to the bay of bengal. thousands of people took shelter here when the devastating storm hit the area. the powerful cyclone,

which swept through the south—east bangladesh, has damaged over 50,000 homes in the area. after leaving the safety of the cyclone shelters, some have started to rebuild using just old bamboo they find. track? my houseis old bamboo they find. track? my house is completely damaged. there is no way to cook food in my home, my family has become helpless. i am here to look for some relief. several 100 makeshift houses of rohingya muslims have been destroyed. local leaders say the priority was to save lives during the storm. now they are collecting names of the families who lost their homes. translation: in our village, 500 houses were lost. now we are trying to distribute relief to the people. we have asked the government help. i am people. we have asked the government help. iam preparing people. we have asked the government help. i am preparing a list of the people in my village who need help,

to send it to the government. people in my village who need help, to send it to the governmentm will no doubt be a long process of rebuilding the damage. the kenyan president has officially opened a new rail line linking nairobi with mombasa. it's the country's biggest infrastructure development since independence. built by a chinese company, and paid for with a massive chinese bank loan. the previous route, built by the british, was known as the "lunatic—line" because it was so expensive, difficult to build and because some construction workers were eaten by lions. our main story again, the uk has witnessed one of the biggest abates of the election campaign. there were fractious exchanges on immigration, security and an future of public services. much more in all of the news at any time on our website. good morning.

london may not have been the sunniest place across the country yesterday, but it was the warmest with highs ofjust over 23 degrees. i expect over the next couple of days, the south—east will get warm, if not hot, as we drag warm air in from the near continent. this slow—moving weather front will bring a contrast to the far north and west. it will be a mild start for all, some mist around, especially close to the coast. that weather front is a slow—moving affair and will bring rain into northern ireland and scotland, lingering for much of the day. cloud, largely dry, and more in the way of sunshine across the extreme south. despite some afternoon cloud into the south—west part of wales, temperatures 18—22 degrees, reasonable. highs of 25 widely in the south—east corner, and stretching into the north of england. a different day for the north—west,

in the lake district, isle of man, northern ireland and western scotland. here it stays cloudy and wet for much of the day with a scattering of showers into the far north—east as well. this conveyor belt of rain sitting across the irish sea, affecting the western fringes of wales. to the south and east, it stays sticky overnight. a milder feel with widely mid teens across the country. it means that on friday, we gradually start to see change. a level of uncertainty as to how quickly that weather front moves eastwards. hopefully improving through scotland through the day. the front sitting on the spine of the country by mid—afternoon. it stays very warm, if not hot, in the south—east. 27 degrees, much fresher condition is beginning to follow behind. that is the general theme as we move into the weekend. significant thunderstorms are likely across the near continent

but the wind direction moves to a fresher westerly feel. a good deal of dry weather with a scattering of showers for the weekend, but look at the difference. 16—17 in the north—west, highs of 22 in the south—east corner. on sunday, a similar story. fresh with a scatter of showers and a touch of breeze. in case you don't have the message, this is the story for the weekend. a scattering of showers and a fresh feel for all. take care. 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. the afghan president, ashraf ghani, described it as a crime against humanity. at least 90 people, most of them civilians, died in the blast during the morning rush hour. over 400 others were injured. the taliban has denied any involvement. china and the european union are preparing a joint statement in support of the paris climate change agreement. president trump, a well—known climate change sceptic, is set to announce whether america will withdraw from the accord later on thursday. now on bbc news, it's time for click. this week...