this is bbc news. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories — russian diplomats based in the us have begun leaving the country following tit—for—tat expulsions over the poisoning of a former spy in britain. sorrow and anger on the streets of gaza as palestinians mourn the 16 protesters killed in clashes with israeli troops. china says it is handling its abandoned space station's re—entry to earth in a highly responsible way, although where it will land is still unknown. and social media under scrutiny — the us considers asking visa applicants to hand over their online accounts. hello and welcome to bbc news. dozens of the russian diplomats

expelled from the united states have now left washington. they'd been given just seven days to leave the country after worsening relations between the west and moscow. it follows the poisoning of a former russian double agent in the united kingdom. chris buckler has more from washington. behind the gates of the russian embassy you have a real sense of defiance, diplomats and their families standing there, clapping, cheering and waving, music was being played. some colleagues got on buses with theirfamilies played. some colleagues got on buses with their families and with their suitcases to leave america. they have been given seven days to leave the us, 48 of the 60 officials that america had were based in washington. that action was taken not just because of washington. that action was taken notjust because of the poisoning of a former spy in england as well as his daughter, but also because of

concerns about russian power and influence being used in countries like syria and also in the ukraine, and indeed, concerned about espionage and interference happening inside america's borders. there is a deep concern about the actions of what the white house called russian spies here. but russia denies all of that, and they of course have already responded i ordering 60 already responded by ordering 60 americans out. i think the white house will be looking closely at what's happening with the uk and russia at the moment, with russia ordering yet more uk diplomats out of their country. because there is a concern in a sense that there is a danger of this escalating. certainly, if you look at deteriorating relationships, they do exist between america and russia and you get a sense unless somebody says 0k, enough is enough, let's pause this for a second, there is a real chance that yet more diplomats and theirfamilies could chance that yet more diplomats and their families could be chance that yet more diplomats and theirfamilies could be climbing on board theirfamilies could be climbing on boa rd yet theirfamilies could be climbing on board yet more buses. meanwhile, the british foreign office says

it is considering a request to allow russian consular access here to the daughter of double agent sergei skripal. yulia skripal is recovering after she and her father became victims of a nerve agent attack in the english city of salisbury. the bbc‘s simonjones has more. given that the british authorities were so quick to point the finger at russia in the wake of the attack here for being responsible, it might seem extraordinary that the british government is now considering a request from russia to be granted access to yulia skripal in hospital. the key thing i think here, though, is going to be what yulia skripal herself wants. the big question — is she going to want any contact with the russian authorities, and even if she did, is she likely to be well enough any time soon for that to happen? now, the russian authorities say it is their right to have contact with her, and they've also listed 27 questions

that they would like to ask the british government about the attack here, and also about the treatment that she is receiving in hospital alongside herfather. they want to know why the treatment she is getting seems to be having a greater effect than on her father, who remains in a critical condition. they've also even asked to see photos of yulia and sergei skripal in hospital to prove that they are indeed here in salisbury and that they are indeed alive. there hasn't been a response to that from the foreign office, but what they say is they will consider russia's request under international law, but they're stressing yulia skripal‘s rights will be the number one priority. we've also learnt today further details about expulsions of british diplomats from moscow. we already knew 23 had been kicked out of the country. yesterday, we were told there were going to be even more who were going to have to leave. now, we've learned it's likely

to be extra 27 or so diplomats or possibly administrative workers who are going to have to leave moscow once again. now, what we're not sure is whether the british government are going to take any direct action following that. they say they're aware of what's happened, they're monitoring the situation, but they say it's regrettable, but it was to be expected. the united nations is calling for an independent inquiry following the shooting dead of 16 palestinian protesters by israeli security forces on friday. hundreds of people were wounded when soldiers opened fire on palestinians demonstrating on gaza's border with israel. yolande knell reports from jerusalem. gunshots. this was a day of mourning. thousands turning out for funerals in gaza. distraught relatives... and defiant militants. yesterday, palestinians said they planned a peaceful march

on the israel gaza border. but israel's military says demonstrators threw stones and tried to breach the perimeter fence. that's when its soldiers opened fire and the result was deadly. at least 15 killed and hundreds wounded. palestinians here are demanding the right to return to land they lost 70 years ago when the state of israel was created. they say they won't give up, although israel has long rejected their claim. translation: they say that the old will die and the young will forget, but yesterday, there were young people, children, women and men at the borderers, showing the occupier that they will not forget. this is their land. we will not forget, nor will we surrender. the un is calling for an investigation. but israeli officials blame gaza's leaders for stirring up unrest. of course they're allowed to protest,

but this wasn't a protest. this was an attempt of potentially thousands of people to cross over into israel. any state in the world would have taken measures to stop people from infiltrating into its territory. for the next six weeks, palestinians say they'll stay in these camps near the israeli border. and the fear is that further mass protests here will lead to further violence. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. there's a warning that two british men detained in syria, accused of being members of an islamic state gang that murdered dozens of hostages, could escape justice. alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh, who were captured by kurdish fighters injanuary, say they've been stripped of their british citizenship. relatives of some of their victims have said britain and america must quickly reach agreement on bringing the men tojustice. duncan kennedy reports. the two men were picked up by kurdish forces in northern syria injanuary

and had been part of a sadistic gang of british is fighters that tortured and beheaded dozens of hostages. four of them stood out for their brutality. mohammed emwazi, known as ‘jihadijohn‘, found dead. aine davis, now injail. and the newly captured pair, alexanda kotey and elsheikh. they're accused of at least 27 beheadings, including alan henning, an aid driverfrom eccles, and david haines, a former raf engineer from perth. now, in comments which have outraged their victims‘ families, kotey and elsheikh have called the murders of their hostages " reg retta ble". they also say the uk has illegally withdrawn their citizenship. one of their victims was the american journalist james foley, here in the helmet. his mother says she's worried the men could escape if there's a delay in dealing with them. if somebody doesn't

take the leadership and take them to trial, i fear they'll get away or something else. i am concerned that the international community and our government, the us government, and uk, need to work together to hold them accountable. but that raises the question of where the two men should be held accountable. the home secretary, amber rudd, hasn't confirmed that they've both been stripped of their british citizenship. what is known is that the uk has been speaking to the americans about them, and that the last thing britain wants is to have them back here to stand trial. a view endorsed by the government's legal and political supporters. i'm sure it would be desirable that individuals against whom there are serious allegations, should be brought to trial. but that's not to say that the home secretary is wrong in her view that they should be deprived of british citizenship, which i understand she's done,

although it hasn't been confirmed, and, therefore, has no desire to bring them into this country to try them. but others say as the men spent most of their lives in britain, it's british justice they should face. we have a duty, i think, to try them, fairly as we will, and to punish them heavily. and to show the world just how british justice works. elsheikh and kotey stand accused of the most barbaric crimes. where and when they answer for them is now the subject of intense international debate. duncan kennedy, bbc news. china's out—of—control space station is tumbling back to earth and experts say it's on course to crash within days, possibly this sunday. due to a technical glitch china lost control of the tiangong—i spacecraft after it was decommissioned in 2013. the 9—ton station has been spinning out of control ever since. china has said it's been handling the problem in a highly responsible attitude. translation: china attaches great

importance into tiangong—i's re—entrant into the atmosphere. we have been dealing with the interventions and common practice and are highly responsible attitude. we have notified the united nations office for outer space affairs about it we will keep the information open and transparent. we can now speak to an expert on space debris, ted muelhaupt of the aerospace corporation. should any of us be worried? no, it is unlikely to hit anywhere, hit anyone will cause much damage. it's very rare for states —— space to breathe to labour people ever can see it. only one person has ever been struck. what do we know about where it will come down? we know that it's going to follow the

orbital pass, objects are in orbit, they go around what is known as the ground track and we are pretty confident it will land along a given track. we don't know where because it is such that even a one—minute error will move it 450 kilometres for a re—entry point. we are pretty confident it will be along that track and that means if you are not along the track, you are not in any danger. give us an idea of where the track is globally. well, at the moment, the track shifts every orbit, it shifts about 22.5 degrees to the west, and so each of these tracks, it doesn't quite repeat, but where they overlap the most is over central asia, the middle east, a little bit on europe, south america

has several repeating, it looks like the indian ocean and the northern, most of north america is not under the path at this point. at what point will scientists know where it will come down? we probably won't know exactly until it actually enters. every it passes through a censor such as the radar, we get an orbit estimate and we find our predictions. but there is always an error in the prediction of about 20% because it is not under control and so we because it is not under control and so we don't know exactly how much drag it going to experience. so there was always going to be some estimate, error estimate and it's going to result in a footprint that is hundreds of thousands of kilometres long where we won't know for sure. when we will know what came down when either we see it, somebody sees it all when it doesn't pass through the next radar, we will

be looking for it to come by, and when it doesn't, we will say, well, it must have come in. when no—one report the sighting, we will have to ta ke report the sighting, we will have to take our best guesses to try to figure out where it did come in. we wait and see. thank you very much. stay with us on bbc news. still to come — tesla has confirmed that one of its vehicles, involved in a fatal crash, was on its autopilot system. what will this mean for the future of driverless cars? the accident that happened here was of the sort that can, at worse, produce a meltdown. in this case, the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world

to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs or restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. a hundred years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment it has become a symbol of paris. a hundred years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: dozens of russian diplomats have begun leaving the us after being expelled over the nerve agent poisoning of a former spy in britain. palestinians observe a day of national mourning for at least 16 people killed in clashes with israeli soldiers

at the gaza border. electric car maker tesla says a car involved in a fatal crash last week was in autopilot mode, raising further questions about the safety of self—driving technology. one of the company's model x cars crashed into a roadside barrier and caught fire. tesla says the 38—year—old driver, who died shortly afterwards, had activated autopilot moments before the accident. to discuss this further, i am joined by maribel lopez, a technology analyst and founder of lopez research that strategizes for tech firms, including in artificial intelligence. shejoins me from north carolina in the us. welcome to bbc world news. first of all, can you explain to me what this autopilot mode means? it isn't as simple as that sounds, is it?

technically autopilot doesn't fully drive the car for you, it actually senses things around you, can slow it down, could stop it, but the way that tesla claims it is designed, the driver needs to be in control at all times to assist you as opposed to fully drive the car for you. how damaging to you think this is for tesla and four other car firms developing this technology?m tesla and four other car firms developing this technology? it is a tragedy from tesla, a tragedy for the family and a tragedy for the self driving industry and i think it really shows just how far away we are actually having autonomous vehicles that can take into account various situations and respond to the right time. what do you make of these vehicles being tested out on open roads like this?|j these vehicles being tested out on open roads like this? i think we need to test on some roads but i do think we have got to a point where the environment isn't ready for them

and we are trying to treat the environment as if it is ready for them. we have people walking in the street with cellphones, bicycles, and the reality of what is happening is these cars still need more controlled environment and they need more data and there is a push and pull between how do they get enough darter to respond to a real—world situation without having to kill people in the process of having to get that data. i suppose tesla would point out in terms of the number of accidents that they have been, this is absolutely nothing compared to all of the deaths that happen every single day with the traditional carmakers cars. i suppose the problem is the reputations are damaged very quickly and they are still building theirs.|j damaged very quickly and they are still building theirs. i think we all want this technology to work. there has been a huge push with government, a huge belief that self driving cars will be safer so to have incidents where there has been the palate is really throb into

question the industry at large —— fatalities really through the industry into question. there are many fatalities draw or caused by drunk drivers, people unaware of when they are at the wheel and the question is now considered fallible as humans were as technology is not supposed to be fallible, it is supposed to be fallible, it is supposed to be fallible, it is supposed to work better than it is at the moment. good to talk to you, thank you for coming on. are you prepared to hand over all your social media identities in exchange for a us visa? a new state department proposal may require just that. if approved, the proposal would require most visa applicants to give details of their email addresses and social media accounts such as twitter, facebook or instagram. reports say the net would also cover china's weibo and russia's vk social network. the administration says this could help create tougher national security vetting. critics say it's an invasion of privacy. i've been speaking to

corey brettschneider, professor of political science at brown university, who gave me his reaction to this story. i think it is very worrying, the trump administration talks about heavy vetting and this is part of the process of restrictions, in one case the travel ban that had questions about religious freedom and now this policy has very serious questions not just about and now this policy has very serious questions notjust about privacy but also about our first amendment rights to free speech and i think it sounds like there is a serious precedent that is being infringed. sounds like there is a serious precedent that is being infringedlj precedent that is being infringed.” suppose the white house would say, though, that online, on twitter, instagram, faced, people reveal their true selves and often it is a good indicator of their intentions, that this may be the way to make your country safer, therefore isn't itan your country safer, therefore isn't it an argument the carrying this out? yes, if it wasjust about national security issues they wouldn't be so much of a worry but

concern is the administration has talked about punishing political opponents and certainly singling people ‘s speech or whether they are american citizens or people in conversation with both in the united states, targeting them based on their political opinions is a clear violation of our first amendment free speech rights. there is also talk on more invasive policies, they wa nt to talk on more invasive policies, they want to ask for passwords as that goes well beyond just a national security concern, it looks like they may be digging around and looking for viewpoint that they oppose. namely viewpoints that may be opposed to this administration. it is one thing is the question is the security of the united states but the president did not have the ability under our constitution to punish political opponents or to just excluded because he feels like they are critics of his policies. my worry is this is part of a wider policy where this administration is doing precisely that. we saw the insta nce doing precisely that. we saw the instance of them i spoke to the bbc a few months ago about the dream case where they would collect in darter on american citizens

attending protests in washington, dc, they claimed again it was the security but the net was cast so why the suspicion is now going after political opponents and that is about as antithetical to a free—speech projection as you can get. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. syrian media is reporting that the enclave of eastern ghouta is almost empty of rebel fighters. a state news agency has said that buses carrying fighters and civilians have left the area. the syrian army has promised to "finish off" rebels in the final holdout. president trump has continued to criticise the online retailer amazon following comments earlier this week. on twitter, he said the company does not pay enough tax and is ripping off the us postal service by billions of dollars. mr trump also accused the washington post, which is owned by amazon head jeff bezos, of acting as a lobbyist. malala yousafzai has returned to her home town in pakistan for the first time since the taliban tried to kill her on a school bus. the nobel winner, who now lives

in the uk, was only 15 when she was shot in the head for campaigning for female education. herfamily‘s home region of swat was once a militant stronghold. the funeral of professor stephen hawking has taken place in the british university city of cambridge. hundreds of people gathered to pay their respects. professor hawking was perhaps the world's most famous scientist, with his book a brief history of time selling more than 10 million copies. 0ur correspondentjo black reports from cambridge. he was one of the greatest scientists of modern times, an international icon, but home was cambridge, the city and the university. the bell at great st mary's tolled 76 times, once for each year he lived. bell tolls. outside, in the drizzle and rain,

thousands came to say goodbye to the man with the magnificent mind. professor hawking was such an inspiring person and it's a very sad day. history is being made today because stephen hawking is going to be interred in westminster abbey, next to sir isaac newton. he's a scientifical genius, like, he's discovered a lot of things, and it'sjust showing appreciation. people stood quietly, respectfully, breaking into spontaneous applause as professor hawking's coffin was carried in and out of the church. his family stood solemnly but proud. his first wife, jane hellyerjones, waved as the hearse pulled away. the service was very heartfelt. we heard remembrances about his work, as well as his family, how he was as a man and how he was as a physicist and how he was as a wonderful human being. also among the 500 mourners

were actor eddie redmayne, who played the professor in the film the theory of everything, comedian and science presenter dara o briain, and astrophysicist and musician brian may. this was a private service for professor hawking's family, friends, and colleagues. an unruly prince in belgium has had his allowance cut after a vote by the country's federal parliament. prince laurent has been docked 15% of his 307,000 euro annual endowment — that's a cut of 46,000 euros. the royal, known as ‘the cursed prince' attended a chinese embassy reception last year without government permission. you were watching bbc world news. saturday was a pretty disappointing

day across the board, cool, cloudy, further outbreaks of rain across many central and eastern areas with some sleet and snow on the hills. this weather watching teacher from east lothian sums up how many places we re east lothian sums up how many places were throughout the afternoon but there was some sunshine across the north and west of scotland because a ridge of high pressure was moving in and the east today the ridge of high pressure will be in control we are starting off on a cold and frosty note with clear skies for many and it will be largely dry day, the sunshine around through the morning. temperature wise, could be looking at —3 to —6 across scotland this morning and a cold start across wales, the south—west of england, but cloud to begin across central and eastern areas, a few showers around, wintry over the higher ground but the most of us, fine and dry. the brightness around. the wintry showers across the far north of scotla nd

wintry showers across the far north of scotland and later in the day, a speu of scotland and later in the day, a spell of wet and windy weather will arrive across cornwall and devon, courtesy of the area of low pressure which will continue to move northwards during the early hours of easter monday, bringing a mixture of rain and sleet and snow and nick initially across southern areas where will the snow into the highest ground but as it continues to bump into the cold air we could see some sleet and snow down to lower levels across mid— north wales, the north midlands, northern england, the pennines and into central southern scotland, maybe northern ireland too as it continues to much as we northwards. further south, as it continues to much as we northwards. furthersouth, reverting back to rain because it will be turning mild, temperatures 10— i2 but the snow could cause some problems, particularly for central northern parts of the country as it settles the lower ground so keep tuned to bbc local radio and to all of the weather forecast. as we head into tuesday, a different feel to the weather, while there from the south or south—west, 20 of heavy april showers, some sunny spells

between which may contain some fund are. wet weather continuing across the north and west of scotland but the north and west of scotland but the temperatures, 10— i4 the north and west of scotland but the temperatures, 10— 14 or 15 degrees. low pressure still with us as we head on into the middle of pa rt as we head on into the middle of part of the week so it does remain u nsettled, part of the week so it does remain unsettled, a lot of rain at times, but i think we are looking at heavy showers on wednesday. some merged together to produce longer spells a friend, even the odd thundery one central southern eastern areas as again it will feel cold in south—western winter. given some sunshine, highways of 14 or 15 celsius and even quite mild across the northern parts as well. this is bbc news. the headlines — russian diplomats expelled by the united states over the poisoning of a former double agent in britain have begun leaving washington. earlier, russia told britain it must reduce its diplomatic presence by just over 50 people. palestinians are observing a day of national mourning for at least 16 people killed in clashes with israeli soldiers at the gaza

border on friday. the un secretary—general has called for an independent inquiry into the deaths. two men, believed to have been members of the islamic state cell known as ‘the beatles', complain they can't have a fair trial because the government has stripped them of their british citizenship. the funeral of world—renowned scientist stephen hawking has taken place in cambridge. the theoretical physicist, who had motor neurone disease, died on 14th march, aged 76. now on bbc news, brexitcast, the arena spectacular.