welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories: john bolton's set to become the next us national security adviser. but what will the hardliner bring to the white house? fears of a trade war as president trump hits china with sweeping tariffs. beijing vows to fight to the end. eu leaders agree with britain that russia was likely to be behind the nerve agent attack, saying there was no plausible alternative explanation. and the art of protest: the images capturing key chapters in america's social history. president trump has named john bolton as his new national security adviser. he'll replace general hr mcmaster,

who's been sacked in the latest change in white house personnel. mr bolton, a former us ambassador to the un, is a hawk who has advocated using military force against iran and north korea. he'll be the third national security adviser in m months. he'll take up the post next month. let us cross live to our correspondent in washington, chris buckler. there are revolving doors at the white house, but this isn't any old appointment, is it? this is significant and i'm sure there are many people who have sat here and said, oh, it's another person at the white house, someone who is leading, someone who has not pleased president trump but this is a significant change for this reason. it's a very important position as far as foreign policy is concerned and it comes ten days after the other senior position that

regards foreign policy, the secretary of state, since that was changed. rex tillerson was replaced ten days ago by mike pompeo, or it was announced, and we have a change at the national security adviser position and both times we are seeing people who have clashed with president trump privately who we have seen some skirmishes with publicly replaced by people who think a lot more like donald trump himself. in the case of james bolton, sorry, in the case ofjohn boulton, we have got somebody who as you rightly say is a hawkish character, someone who is hardliner. he has spoken about north korea and iran, and is someone who brings a different quality to this position. if you look at what's happening at the moment and what the priorities are for the white house, there are questions about the iran nuclear deal. president trump is not a fan

of it. john bolton said he wants to scrap it. there are questions about north korea, a summit taking place between president trump and the north korean leader. john bolton said as faras north korean leader. john bolton said as far as he is concerned, there should be military action with north korea. he's speaking on fox news. he said, what has been said in the past is now behind him. what's important is what he says to the president but that is the big question. what will he say to the president? and if the president will listen to him. another place where there might be divisions is the issue of russia. john bolton is a rush of pork but president trump, not so much. there has been dashed a hawk on the issue of russia. there has been criticism on the way donald trump has spoken on russia. and

president trump congratulated president trump congratulated president putin but he was told explicitly not to do so. tonight in his interview on fox news, listening tojohn bolton, his interview on fox news, listening to john bolton, who his interview on fox news, listening tojohn bolton, who has been a real critic of russia, and even a critic over the last few weeks, he was a lot more careful in what he said. he said the leak was unacceptable but the congratulations given to vladimir putin, which president trump was so criticised for, he said that was polite, the right thing to do in such circumstances. that is a change forjohn boulton. there might be an indication there is an attempt at the white house to appear a lot more together than things up. president trump has also announced plans for $60 billion worth of tariffs on china, moving the prospect of a trade war between the world's two largest economies a step closer. mr trump said the levies were needed to end what he said was the biggest trade deficit in history. beijing forcefully denounced the tariffs, saying it will defend its own legitimate

interests with all necessary measures. us presidents have long had serious concerns about chinese trade practices. the theft of us intellectual property, for example, and the forced transfer of us technology to chinese companies but presidents have until now at least concluded that the cost is far outweighed by the benefits of access to this booming market of 1.3 billion people. the message from china in without clear. we do not wa nt china in without clear. we do not want a trade war but if you start one, we will fight it. what might that look like? one possible area of retailers —— retaliation hinted at by the chinese foreign ministry is soya beans, an interesting choice because that would hit farmers in the us state of iowa in particular. ilo, a place that firmly backed

donald trump fork president. —— iowa. there are concerns we are sliding towards that trade war. and that nationalistic, nest back party news editor had this to say. china is far more resilient than the us to pain. we'll have more on that story later in the programme. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. at least 13 people have been killed in a fire in an apartment block in ho chi minh city in vietnam. the fire broke out in the underground car park but quickly spread throughout the building. dozens of other people were injured. buses have begun transporting hundreds of syrian rebel fighters and their families out of a town in the former rebel stronghold of eastern ghouta, part of an evacuation deal. the fighters in the suburb of damascus agreed to lay down their arms in return for safe passage to the north of the country. the venezuelan president, nicolas maduro,

says he is re—denominating the country's currency, knocking three zeroes off the bolivar. he's unveiled the new bank notes, which will be put into circulation on june 4. venezuela has the world's highest inflation rate and a chronic shortage of basic goods. eu leaders meeting in brussels have agreed with the british government that it was highly likely that russia was responsible for the nerve agent attack on a former spy. russia continues to deny any involvement in the attack on the former double agent, sergei skripal, and his daughter, yulia. the eu leaders said there was no other plausible explanation. prime minister theresa may gave her reaction to journalists in brussels. yes, we have had a very full discussion on russia, the eu council, and i welcome the fact that the eu council has agreed with the united kingdom's government, their assessment that russia was responsible for the murder on the streets of salisbury, and there is no plausible alternative explanation. russia respects no borders.

it is a threat to our values. it is right that here in the eu council we are standing together to uphold those values. and i will be back here tomorrow when we will have a very important discussion on trade. as those discussions were taking place in brussels, officials in salisbury announced that detective sergeant nick bailey, who fell ill after being exposed to the nerve agent, has now been discharged from hospital. but the former spy and his daughter are both heavily sedated and unable to communicate in any meaningful way. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. for more than two weeks, detective sergeant nick bailey has have been having what his boss called significant and daunting medical treatment. he had become contaminated while responding to the salisbury nerve agent attack, but now he's well enough to leave hospital. i'm pleased to say that sergeant nick bailey's condition has now improved and he was discharged from salisbury district hospital

this afternoon. i personally want to wish nick and his family well and i know that the staff right across the hospital will want me to share their very best wishes. i'm sure you'll understand that, for reasons of patient confidentiality, i'm not able to go into any further detail regarding nick's condition or his treatment. nick bailey's wife said it had been the most traumatic event of their life together. his chief constable read a statement on his behalf. "people ask how i'm feeling. there are really no words to explain how i feel right now. surreal is the word that keeps cropping up — and it really has been completely surreal. i have been so very overwhelmed by the support, cards and messages i have received. everyone has been so incredible." at the same time a judge released

the most detailed description yet of the health of yulia and sergei skripal. he said both are heavily sedated, neither can communicate, and it's not known to what extent either will recover. no friend or relative has been in touch with the hospital to ask about their welfare. at a private hearing at the court of protection, mrjustice williams ruled that as the skripals are unable to give consent and no relatives can be contacted to give consent for them, fresh blood samples can be taken from them with his permission. these will be given to international experts from the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons, to independently verify what the substance was that made them so ill. british experts believe the substance was a russian designed novichok nerve agent, and we learned today that the fourth person affected by it — who's been treated as an outpatient — is also a police officer. daniel sandford, bbc news, at the court of protection. a memorial service has been held in memory of the five people

killed in the westminster terror attack a year ago. the attacker, khalid masood, who also died, drove into pedestrians on westminster bridge, before stabbing a police officer outside the houses of parliament. vicki young reflects on the day. we were visited by what i regard as evil. senior politicians and faith leaders led tributes today to the five victime of the attack. westminster fell silent in their honour and remembered the shocking events of a year ago. the fear as khaled massoud ploughed his car into pedestrians on the bridge. the panic as people fled to safety. pc keith palmer was fatally stabbed as he stood on duty protecting parliament.

one of his colleagues recalls the moment it happened. mass confusion, really. eventually one of my friends came over and said, who is it, who is the officer on the floor? he said, it is your friend keith. and — well, terrible. a conservative minister had been among those desperately trying to save the officer's life. you rack your brains as to what more you could have done and should you have done things differently? there are all sorts of things you torment your mind with but you can't. you have to understand everybody that i think did their utmost on that day and it's very, very sad. romanian tourist andreea cristea also died in the attack. her family are still struggling to cope with the loss. there are moments when i pick up the phone to call her

or write on messenger. we spent all our time together and now all of this doesn't make any sense. in her tribute, the prime minister said this was a day to remember those who were lost but also to defy those who sought to silence our democracy one year ago. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: capturing america's turbulent past. the new york gallery putting protest in the picture. let there be no more wars or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. with great regret, the committee

have decided that south africa should be excluded from the 1970 competition. streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: john bolton's set to become the next us national security adviser, replacing general hr mcmaster. china's vowed to fight to the end to defend its interests

after president trump announced plans to impose trade tariffs worth $60 billion. let's stay with that story now. tao wang is head of asia economics at ubs and shejoins us now from hong kong. thank you forjoining us. i supposed toa thank you forjoining us. i supposed to a certain extent the chinese must have been expecting this because donald trump has been talking about this during his campaign two years ago. indeed, i think this during his campaign two years ago. indeed, ithink rising this during his campaign two years ago. indeed, i think rising trade tension is very much expected. last year the trump administration didn't really do that much and there was a lot of talk but the section 301 investigation was initiated in august, so this is something that's

in the pipeline for some time. but does president trump have a point when he talks about china being punished for things like copyright infringement, intellectual property, the trade deficit, doesn't donald trump have a point there? on trade... in terms of intellectual property rights and protection and so on, indeed there is dispute there and china has agreed to increase the enforcement. there's definitely issues that continue to be a dispute. in terms of a trade deficit, that's probably something different. if you look at the chinese trade deficit with the us, it is indeed very large. china's surplus with the rest of the world is quite limited and it has come down from more than 10% of gdp in 2007 in terms of current to 1.3%

last year, so there's been a lot of adjustment. china's bilateral surplus with the us is also a result of the global supply chain because china has a large deficit with regional economies like taiwan, korea, japan and so on and so forth. so that i think is a less of a point from the us side. they're talking about trade being reciprocal, we're talking about global supply chain and total free trade rather than bilateral issues. i've seen analysis which talks about this being a protection buffer against some chinese giants such as waiwei, which is big in the mobile phone space. the us indeed... almost banned any products from huawei for security reasons and various other

reasons. huawei doesn't really export much to the us. they proposed a tariff on chinese products, it's a 2596 a tariff on chinese products, it's a 25% tariff on goods worth 55 and 60 billion us dollars. be identified information and communication technology and machinery and aerospace. china doesn't really export aerospace equipment much at all. it included cellphones, computers, home appliances and other electric machineries, and there huawei is not really much there. if they do look through some of the products, it would be apples and computers and those types of things. i don't really know how they could impose tariffs on apple products. thank you very much forjoining us from hong kong. that story will run because the chinese have said that they will fight to the end. french police have clashed with protesters in paris as public sector workers across

the country went on strike. they are reacting against president emmanuel macron‘s plans to cutjobs and benefits. lucy williamson reports. the old ways are often cherished in france. that goes for protests as much as forjob contracts. firecrackers, union flags, a few favourite chants. they have stopped the march of change before, but are they a match for france's newest president? translation: emmanuel macron wants to be the one who succeeds in breaking the rail unions. it's one of the last strong union bastions, so for him, that would be a real victory. translation: macron is destroying an entire social system, whether it's social security, pensions, the rail service, or the hospitals. he is destroying all the rights our predecessors woi'i, and we have to fight against that. the march drew teachers, air traffic controllers, hospital staff, all protesting against reforms that will mean fewer jobs, fewer benefits, and more flexibility. but it is france's railway workers that are seen as the real challenge. reforming the railways

is president macron‘s biggest test so far. but this is more than a row about pay, pensions and job security. it is an argument about long—established values and expectations that don't fit with mr macron‘s plan for france. conditions for france's train drivers have barely changed in half a century. it is a job for life, with retirement at 52. the national rail company has promised months of rolling strikes to protect those benefits. but president macron has staked his presidency on reforming the economy, and when it comes to the railways, opinion polls suggest that two thirds of french voters agree with him. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. supporters of gun control legislation are getting ready to descend on washington, dc and other us cities this weekend. the march for our lives

was organised by survivors of last month's parkland school shooting, just the latest issue to inspire mass protest. america has a rich history of demonstrations and artistic works that reflect them. nick bryant has gone to the whitney museum in new york for an exhibition about some of the key moments. we live in an age of political protest. its african—america ns protest. its african—americans condemning police brutality. women campaigning against misogyny. schoolchildren demanding an end to gun violence. white working—class voters railing against the establishment. the whitney museum of art has marked this turbulent chapter in the american story with an exhibition of politically inspired art. at its heart is the question, what's the role of the artist in the modern political realm? i think they're

trying to assess the moment we're m, trying to assess the moment we're in, give some kind of true assessment of where we are. but also really just kind of assessment of where we are. but also reallyjust kind of gauge what the moment is. looking at a lot of this art, you're struck by its resonance today? the exhibition also has works from the 1940s to the current date. you can look at it and say, we're still dealing with these same issues, whether it's about racial segregation, whether it's about violence, whether it's about war, and you can be very cynical and say we haven't gotten out of these traps. this installation looks like a trophy room but it actually showcases the history of police brutality in new york between the 19405 brutality in new york between the 1940s and 1990s. each statuette memorialises an incident. it's the sort of work that could easily be co nsta ntly sort of work that could easily be constantly updated. yes absolutely you could of course build it in with not only incidents since this time but other police departments around the country, around the world, military organisations. i mean, there's a lot

of places you could look to think about this issue. walking through this gallery you do notice the absence of one key figure, and that is donaldj trump? yeah, for usi figure, and that is donaldj trump? yeah, for us i think the idea was putting together an exhibition of the history of protest in the united states is more important than any one person on even the president of the united states. the idea is to think about how art is suffering in these issues, how different audiences have responded to this and how artists might go on to continue to make work that represents the moment we're living in. art and protest are never incomplete sink, the creative process is not a rapid response endeavour, so perhaps it will be some time yet before the iconic images of the trump years emerge. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. the british prime minister called it an expression of independence and sovereignty. but the new blue uk passport that will be issued after brexit could be made in france, according to the british firm that lost the contract. the government says the process was carried out in a fair and open way but one eurosceptic member of parliament condemned the decision

as a national humiliation. danny savage reports. an icon of british identity. post—brexit, the current style burgundy passport is going to be replaced with a new version of the old style. but the current uk manufacturer says they're going to be made in france — and they object. i think it's disappointing for my workforce, who i'll now have to go and talk to later today or in the coming days, and explain to them why theresa may and amber rudd don't believe that the british passport should be manufactured by them. just down the road in durham is the passport office. there wasn't much appetite here today for french—made british passports. well, i think it should be made up here. ijust don't get it. if we're leaving the eu, why take it abroad? it's prestige. a british passport should be printed in made in england. and they shouldn't be made elsewhere in europe? i don't think so, no.

regardless of cost? regardless of cost. the british government should step in and try and make sure... i think it's, the name of the company, de la rue or something... ? they should maybe get the contract. but again they may have to look at the price. the government says the deal could save the taxpayer up to £120 million, and they're playing by the rules. great uk companies compete on a world stage, and we often win business around the world, and will continue to do so, both before and after we leave the european union. and they say on the new—look passports will only be added here, not abroad. danny savage, bbc news, durham. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @nkem|fejika. goodbye. northern ireland, northern england. the weather front further south will have barely any rain on it, as it reaches eastern england. just the odd spit and spot, it'lljust be mainly cloud. but where we have the cloud cover, it's going to be another fairly mild

start to friday. so friday starts off on a grey note for many. outbreaks of heavy and persistent rain in the northern half of the country for friday. however, it's an improving picture into the afternoon. looks like the clouds will move away, sunshine will appear, and we should see one or two showers across the north and west of scotland, though staying wet across the far north—west of scotland. rain coming in towards cornwall and devon. temperatures single figures in the north. cooler generally, 10—12 for england and wales. friday night, this feature in the south of the country will bring further rain from the west country into central and southern england. so here, where we have more cloud cover, not so cold to start saturday. but further north, under clear skies, a touch of frost — temperatures hovering around freezing. so, for this weekend, it's actually not looking that bad. there will be some good spells of sunshine around. a few showers, most in the north of the country. it will be fairly mild, with temperatures fairly typical for this time of year. saturday may start off quite cloudy, damp across southern britain. outbreaks of rain maybe, confined to the south—east

of england in the afternoon. the best of the brightness further north and west. we'll have a few showers for scotland and northern ireland. these will be wintry on the higher ground. temperatures again ranging between nine to 10 or 11 further south. now, during saturday night, that rain should eventually clear away from the south of the country. we'll see largely clear skies. those showers will continue across scotland, these will be wintry. a cooler night to come under clear skies, with light winds. temperatures skies, with light winds. dipping to freezing in rural temperatures dipping to freezing in rural areas. hovering around 1—4 degrees near towns and cities. so a chilly start for sunday, but probably the better day of the weekend. there will be more showers around, a few showers in the north, and they will be wintry in nature over the scottish hills. it could be a touch more mild. 10—13 degrees in the south. but as we head through the new working week, temperatures begin to fall away as we get closer to easter, so we'll start to import a cold wind, and the risk of snow and overnight frost.

this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump has named the right—wing hawaohn bolton as third new national security adviser in just 1a months. he'll replace the sacked general hr mcmaster next month. bolton, wh's a former us ambassador to the un, takes a hard line on iran, north korea and russia. there are growing fears of a trade war between the us and china after president trump announced plans to impose sweeping tariffs worth up to $60 billion on chinese goods. beijing says it's considering tariffs worth up to $3 billion on a range of products imported from the us. eu leaders meeting in brussels have agreed with the british government that it was highly likely that russia was responsible for the nerve agent attack on a former spy. russia continues to deny any involvement in the attack on the former double agent, sergei skripal, and his daughter, yulia. now on bbc news, thursday in parliament.