welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america on pbs and around the globe. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: president trump says a republican memo alleging the fbi abused its surveillance powers shows the agency is biased against him. i think it is a disgrace what is happening in our country and when you look at that and you see that in so you look at that and you see that in so many other things what's going on, a lot of people should be ashamed of abandoned in a mountain blizzard — how one syrian refugee survived after being left for dead by smugglers. anger in court — the father of three girls abused by the doctor of the american gymnastics team is held back during the sentencing hearing. and a unique view of polar bears struggling to find enough food to stay alive on the shrinking arctic ice. hello.

welcome to the programme. after weeks of fevered speculation, a republican memo has been released alleging political bias in the us justice department and fbi. it was cleared by president trump, in spite of strong opposition from democrats and many in the intelligence community who say it misrepresents highly sensitive information. nick bryant reports from washington. in washington, the feeling of deja vu in washington, the feeling of deja vu when the day began as it often does with an attack from the white house on the russian investigation. but this has intensified the big chill between the president and his senior law enforcement officials. what is the main accusation of the

secret republican memo which the president authorised the public release. it alleges an anti—trump bias among top or officials.” release. it alleges an anti—trump bias among top or officials. i think it isa bias among top or officials. i think it is a disgrace what is happening in our country and when you look at that and you see that and so on the other things what's going on, a lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse than that. the memo commissioned by republican congressman accuses the fbi of using a politically biased source fossicking surveillance warrants against the current campaign adviser carter page. it alleges the request of the court relied on a much disputed dossier compiled by former british intelligence agent christopher steele who, it says, was anti—trump and funded in part by the hillary clinton campaign. but if there is a partisan republican stu nted there is a partisan republican stunted discredit the fbi and by

extension the investigation of the special counsel robert muller into possible russian collusion with the tron campaign? there has been no public response from the fbi but feel it for fiercely resisted the release of this issue having expressed grave concerns about its a ccu ra cy expressed grave concerns about its accuracy has also been slammed a senior democrats. the fact that the president of the united states will blithely disregard the admonitions of both his own fbi director in the department ofjustice tells you all you need to know about what the president's priorities are. it is not protecting classified information, it is not respect the hard—working men and women at the fbi. it is whatever the president needs to be in a short—term political interests. what we have been the russian investigation is increasingly becoming the subject of a toxic and vicious fight. notjust between the political parties in washington but between branches of the us government in washington. vladimir putin must be rubbing his hands in delight. if the memo a dud,

sir? is it a dud? will trump looked pretty ha p py sir? is it a dud? will trump looked pretty happy too, his supporters will believe he has struck a blow to justice, his critics will argue it is engineered a political stunt. joining me from new york is yael eisenstat from new york university's center for global affairs. yael is a former cia analyst and served as national security adviser to vice presidentjoe biden. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. president trump says the memo shows the fbi is biased against him. do you think that allegation is supported what is the memo? thank you for having me again. actually i think if anything the memo proves the opposite. it is so cherry picked, things that we actually already know, we already know that the investigation was launched because of a conversation with the australians but pa padopoulos

because of a conversation with the australians but papadopoulos have and yet this memo is trying to build and yet this memo is trying to build a case against christopher steele so if anything i think proves the opposite at the most interesting thing is if the allegations that the president is trying to put forward that the fbi is biased, while on why didn't the fbi put this information out before the election? the fbi had been investigating these allegations against page and others before these elections even happened and they don't make any more public than any of these allegations and the investigation continued on into january, when the director of national intelligence put up their memo. so it is interesting that really is the fbi had been out to get donald trump, they could have put this information out in the public eye before we even went to the voting booth. yes, many people arejumping on the the voting booth. yes, many people are jumping on the timeline. you the voting booth. yes, many people arejumping on the timeline. you use interesting wording there, which is cherry picking. put this into context for us, we shall knowledge of the intelligence community, is intelligence normally treated in

such a partisan way as it has been in the last few hours? i personally have never seen this happen before and in general, even though parties disagree and they have to give up policy options, when it comes to protecting classified information, protecting classified information, protecting national security, those of the types of things that usually do not fall into such partisan showmanship and partisan football like so i've never seen anything like so i've never seen anything like this myself and i used to co—ordinate the president's daily brief, i used to also work on wa rra nts brief, i used to also work on warrants and requests in all these kinds of things that i have never, i mean from the inside from when i was in the cia, i never, ever saw anything like this happening. so the idea that this is not a complete political stunt is just absolutely unfound. what do you think of the political ramifications for those intelligence organisations being dragged into the mud like this?

well, i mean, i know the men and women at the agencies continue to put their head down and do their work and do know they will continue to do so. of course i am concerned about morale, you see so many people who cannot sell up and defend themselves and they cannot in any way say what is accurate or not accurate and if you have the american people saying their agencies are political like this, it will be demoralising and even more importantly from a it could perhaps affect even the potential to recruit further cia and fbi and other government agency employees in the future the way to think it is a really unfortunate situation for agencies that i also have faith that the men and women in those institutions are they continued to serve the constitution, to serve the american people, and to continue to do what they are doing. professor, a lwa ys do what they are doing. professor, always good to get your analysis. thank you. let's take a look at the

other stories making the news now. the pentagon has published a policy document, saying the united states should extend its nuclear capabilities. it wants to develop new low—yield atomic bombs, largely in response to the threat it believes is posed by russia. the deputy director of strategy at the pentagon denied that the us was entering a new arms race. a report by united nations monitors says north korea earned nearly $200 million last year by exporting banned commodities in violation of international sanctions. the leaked report from the un security council said several countries, including china, russia and malaysia, had failed to stop the illegal exports. at least 90 people are feared dead in the latest migrant tragedy in the mediterranean sea off the coast of libya, according to the un migration agency. only three people are known to have survived the sinking, which happened early on friday. the bodies of ten people have been recovered so far. eight of them were pakistanis and two from libya. french prosecutors have placed the prominent muslim academic

tariq ramadan under formal investigation on charges of rape. the swiss national denies wrongdoing and is suing one of his accusers, henda ayari, a former radical islamist who now heads a secular feminist group. a second woman has claimed she was raped in 2009. 16 syrians, including several children, died recently trying to travel across the mountains from syria into lebanon. they used a route taken by thousands before them but were caught in an icy blizzard and froze to death. one of the few to survive was a small girl called sara. she's just three years old. our middle east correspondent martin patience has been to meet her. meet little sara, just three years old. the black marks on her face are caused by frostbite. smugglers abandoned sara during a blizzard as she was crossing the mountains

from the war in syria tojoin her dad. she only survived because the man who dumped her was forced at gunpoint to go back and get her. but sara's mum, big sister, and granny all froze to death. now, in a lebanese hospital, sara's dad watches over her day and night. translation: i'll do my best to be a mother and a father to sara. i'll do everything i can to help her get over this. she's all i have now. 16 syrians died trying to reach safety that day. for the rescuers, it was the worst thing they'd ever seen. hello. but there is some good news. a couple of days after first meeting sara and her dad, we went to see them again. sara's had an operation on herface.

she's got her appetite back. her doctor says the surgery was a success. so you're hopeful there won't be too much scarring? yes, yes, i hope. that her face will be...? yes, will be normal, like a normal baby. fantastic, it'll look normal? yes. sara's dad captured herfirst moment after the operation. she's got a long way to go, but she's still smiling. martin patience, bbc news, lebanon. the father of three victims of the disgraced us gymnastics team doctor larry nassar has apologised for trying to attack him during his final sentencing hearing. the court had been hearing from 150 women sexually abused by nassar. randall margraves told the court he had "lost control" when two of his daughters finished their victim statements. nada tawfik reports. that a girl who had

larry nassar as her doctor... another family stands, like so many before them, to confront the disgraced doctor. all three of the margraves' children were sexually assaulted by larry nassar. at this final sentencing hearing, two of them, lauren and madison, speak of their grief and their parents' guilt. i see the look in their faces and i know they want to be able to do something, but they can't. and the guilt they have will never go away. and all this is because of you. to my parents, thank you for all your love and support through all of this. you have done everything that a parent could ever do. i love you. randall margraves then asked permission, as a distraught father, to speak. go ahead, sir. you son of a (bleep). we don't want to swear. we don't want to have profanity. the courtroom first chuckles

as he asks for time alone with nassar. i would ask you to, as part of the sentencing, to grant me five minutes in a locked room with this demon. would you do that? that is not how out... no, sir, i can't do that. would you give me one minute? you know that i can't do that. that's not how our legal system... well, i'm gonna have to... stay down. stay down! stay down. there have been numerous powerful moments throughout nassar‘s sentencing hearings, but this one father's reaction shows so clearly how raw emotions are. when the court resumed, the judge shows compassion. there is no way that this court is going to issue any type of punishment, given the circumstances of this case. and i do — my heart does go out to you and your family

because of what you've gone through. the reality that larry nassar sexually abused close to 300 girls over years has been regarded as a failure of society. this case has inevitably led to investigations, but more importantly, it's forced the nation to take a hard look at how women are treated and valued. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. the united states is trying to bring an end to south sudan's four—year civil war by banning the export of weapons there. the ban also prevents any us company or citizen from offering defence services to south sudan. about a third of the country's population has been displaced by the conflict. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: viva forever. after more than 20 years, a spice girls reunion.

this is the moment that millions in iran had been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid. the ban on the african national congress is lifted immediately, and the anc leader, nelson mandela, after 27 years injail, is to be set free unconditionally. the aircraft was returning from belgrade, where manchester united had entered the semi—final of the european cup. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it a piece of cake. thousands of people have given the yachstwoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world non—stop.

welcome back. this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump says a republican memo alleging the fbi abused its surveillance powers shows the agency is biased against him. the father of three sexual abuse victims has lunged at the disgraced usa gymnastics team doctor larry nassar during his final sentencing hearing. the man who drove his van into muslim worshippers outside a mosque in north london has been sentenced to life with a minimum of 43 years in prison. darren osborne killed makram ali, who was 51, and injured 12 other people during the attack in finsbury park lastjune. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, reports from woolwich crown court. back! everyone back now! darren osborne was seized

at the scene of the finsbury park attack after ploughing his van into a group of muslims, trying to kill as many as possible. just have a seat for us up there, mate. convicted of murder and attempted murder yesterday, his 102 previous convictions for violence, dishonesty and drugs offences were outlined to the court today. as was the devastation caused to the family of makram ali, the man he murdered. outside court, his daughter, with his tearful wife by her side, spoke of the family's love for him. he will never be forgotten. he will always stay in our hearts. his laughter will echo the walls of our home. his smile will be reflected in our eyes and his memory will be alive in our conversations. darren osborne's absurd defence that a man called dave was driving during the attack was scorned by thejudge. addressing him directly,

mrs justice cheema—grubb said: that means he can't be released until he's at least 90 years old. the judge drew attention to how osborne was rapidly radicalised over the internet, how in a matter of a month he'd allowed his mind to be poisoned by those who, she said, claimed to be leaders but who were determined to spread hatred of muslims. today, the judge also chose to praise the imam who protected osborne after the attack. she said mohammed mahmoud had the strength to do the right thing under pressure, to respond to evil with good. daniel sandford, bbc news, at woolwich crown court. the afghan capital kabul has seen 3 large attacks over the past fortnight, with more than 120 people killed. two were carried out by the taliban,

one by the so—called islamic state group. despite controlling less territory than the taliban, is has launched more major attacks in kabul than any other militant group over the past year. is is growing in influence in afghanistan just as it's being pushed out of syria and iraq. secunder kermani was given exclusive access to one jailed is member in kabul and has this report. inside an afghan prison, a man who was once willing to kill in the name of the islamic state group. translation: i took part in fighting and executing people. we used to make people sit on top of bombs and blow them up. like many is fighters in afghanistan, the detainee we spoke to was previously part of the taliban. he asked us not to show his face out of fear of reprisals.

we interviewed him with members of the security services present. translation: for the taliban, if someone from the government repents, he should be forgiven. but is say he should be killed. is preach that they are the real muslims, not the taliban. the islamic state group might only control small pockets of territory in the country, but over the last year they've carried out at least 14 major attacks here in the capital, kabul. that's significantly more than even the taliban. is have repeatedly attacked kabul‘s shia minority. they killed over a0 people at this shia cultural centre in december. this man narrowly escaped with his life. translation: in the past, shias living in the countryside used to come to kabul because it was safer. now my relatives tell me to leave kabul because it's become so dangerous here.

in the past two weeks, kabul has been repeatedly attacked by both is and the taliban. the groups have fought against each other at times. but officials here claim there is little difference between the two. and that in attacking kabul they share the same aims. their goal and their objective behind this approach is to provoke people against the government and make them rise against the government. so then the government will fall apart. and then what happens, then in afghanistan we will have chaos. but this former is member says the group is different from the taliban, and it's more extreme. translation: they say they will do what taliban can't do and take over the whole country. outside the cultural centre, attacked by is, the shoes of the victims remain piled in a heap. whether it's further attacks by is or the taliban, this is a city braced for more bloodshed.

secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul. bid isjust going to become more common in kilmore men if we aren't able to do that. scientists studying the decline in the survival rates of polar bears have observed them expending more energy than they can consume as they hunt. the researchers found that the bears have a higher metabolic rate than previously thought. a polar bear‘s view of the arctic. these remarkable images were captured cameras inside tracking collars that scientists fitted to nine solitary female polar bears. the researchers had to work for three arctic seasons to capture and collar nine solitary bears. each was collared for about nine days before the cameras were retrieved, revealing these unique insights

into their behaviour. it showed whether they got enough to eat within the critical spring months. satellite images show arctic sea ice is decreasing at a rate of about 14% every decade and the bears use that ice to hunt their main and most calorie rich prey, seals. so as well as fitting them with gps tracking and camera containing collars, the bears were injected with a metabolic tracer, showing that wild bears have a higher metabolic rate than previously thought and that most of them were unable to catch enough food to meet their energy needs. it's really quite fascinating to learn the basic behaviours of these animals and how they are using the sea ice environment. this is in the spring, where temperatures can get down to —20, —30 celsius, so it is pretty inhospitable, almost impossible for a researcher to be out on the sea ice in those

conditions in that period of time. there is a little information that exists on the basic behaviours of these animals on the sea ice, so the video cameras provide us actual insight into what the bears are doing. the scientists say this new technology, following their every move and meal, reveals just how the predators will be affected as their icy environment transforms around them. the spice girls appear to have confirmed a reunion of some sort, after they met at geri horner‘s house to discuss reforming. they posted this picture with emma bunton, better known as baby spice, commenting that the "future is looking spicy". it's the first time they've been seen together like this since 2012. the group were hugely famous in the 1990s with their ‘girl power‘ slogan but they split in 2000 and then performed a 3—month, supposedly farewell tour

of europe in 2008 and then at the opening ceremony of the london olympics. ever going to be completely honest, i broke down in tears. i was on the back of a friends car. there have been rumours that literally months, yea rs, been rumours that literally months, years, decades saying, they are going to get back together, they are going to get back together, they are going to get back together, they are going to do something, an special, another two and it's been massive, winnie the spice girls back. millions of people still want them i think like now, especially with feminism and the me too movement being the forefront of news, which is great. there you are, somebody's weekend has been made. do stay with us. good morning.

at long last the weekend is upon us, but as the saying goes red sky at night, shepherd's delight, i would get in touch with trading standards. some of you had a lovely sunset on saturday and it's farfrom delight. this is the cloud pushing in. it's a weather front moving in across cold air and that's bringing overnight some sleet and snow and an icy start for some into saturday morning. the temperatures at their lowest where it is driest, the eastern parts of england and eastern scotland. elsewhere, temperatures won't rise much through the day. the weather front in scotland, western england and wales to begin with. sleet and snow over the hills and even the lower levels further north. at lunchtime, not a huge amount changes. parts of north—east scotland and aberdeenshire may get some brightness through the day. that could go on into western parts of scotland, with sunshine and showers throughout the day northern ireland,

much of england and wales. the main exception is lincolnshire and east anglia, where you just about stay dry after morning brightness, but grey, gloomy, cold, damp and a little bit wintry in places for many, with temperatures at lunchtime only about 2—3 degrees. there is a chance of snow mixed in and that'll be over the hills. through the afternoon, the patchy rain and drizzle, sleet and snow, gradually fizzles out. most will stick with the cloud and that will be evidenced to and from cardiff for the start of the six nations. maybe a little bit damp. dry in paris, but here it will be cold. the weather front starts to ease a bit into sunday. we see more clear skies and there could be ice into sunday morning. this is the temperature profile across europe on sunday. the blue colours are the coldest conditions, towards the east. that's significant because it's an easterly wind that will develop especially in england and wales into sunday and should take us into next week. pushing the weather

front back westwards. that means brighter skies across much of england on sunday. brightness breaking through in scotland and northern ireland, where the winds will be lightest. this quadrant of england will see showers coming in on the raw wind. there could be some snow inland. nothing significant at this stage. the big story for england and wales is how cold it will feel — close to freezing in many areas. rain is steady in the south—east on monday and there could be some potent snow showers to begin the day. most, after a frosty start, have a dry and sunny day. bye for now. this is bbc news. the headlines: the us congress has published a republican memo that accuses the fbi of abusing its powers to spy on president trump's election campaign. mr trump says the document tells a disgraceful story. democrats claim the memo is an attempt to discredit the investigation into russian interference in the election. there have been chaotic scenes

during the sentencing of the former team doctor of the american gymnastics team, larry nassar, who's been found guilty of sexually abusing girls in his care. randall margraves, whose three daughters were victims, apologised. thejudge said she would not punish him. as many as 90 migrants are feared drowned after a smuggler‘s boat capsized off the east coast of libya. the bodies of ten people have been recovered so far. only three people have been rescued. now on bbc news, the week in parliament.