this is bbc world news today. our top stories... a suicide attack at an election centre in the afghan capital, kabul. 57 people are killed and more than a hundred wounded. translation: look at this, this is a voting card drowned in blood. who would come to vote? as he prepares to head to the us, president macron of france calls on donald trump not to scrap the iran nuclear deal. thousands of anti—government protesters in the armenian capital, after their leader was arrested by riot police. it was an attack aimed directly at efforts to build afghan democracy. at least 57 people are now known to have been killed in a suicide bomb attack outside a voter

registration centre in the capital, kabul. the so—called islamic state says it was behind the bombing. there have been a number of attacks on polling centres since voter registration began a week ago. officials say security is a big concern as the taliban control large parts of the country. zia shah—reyar reports from kabul. the people who were killed and injured here had been waiting in line at this voting registration centre for identity cards that would have allowed them to vote in elections due to take place in october. the suicide bomber walked up to the building's entrance and detonated his bomb. translation: this kid was innocent. what was she guilty of? she was killed today in this attack. these people call themselves muslims? curse on such muslims. translation:

look at this. this is a voting card which has been drowned in blood. who will come to vote when the government asks us to? the government hopes to register up to 14 million people in the coming months at thousands of centres across the country. but afg hanistan‘s independent election commission is concerned about security. election registration has been under way for one week but there have already been four attacks. islamic state claim they have carried out this one. every attack undermines the credibility of the western—backed government. it has pledged to hold parliamentary elections this year. joining me now is javid ahmad. he is a nonresident fellow at the atlantic council and has previously worked as adviser to the afghan government. welcome. we have a tax on people attempting to register to vote. the taliban control large parts of the

country. democracy is exceptionally fragile, can it take hold ever? country. democracy is exceptionally fragile, can it take hold ever7m was another sad day for afghanistan as the report illustrated with this new wave of violence. it is an election year, with four elections. parliamentary and district council elections and the presidential and council election next year. the preparations for this year's elections comes in the midst of this fighting with the taliban and an upsurge in violence as seen today. today's attack was a forceful response by an islamic state offshoot in response to the realities of and in opposition to the afghan people and to erode public confidence in the electoral

process and the government ‘s ability to protect it. for the afg ha n ability to protect it. for the afghan government the attack, this is becoming all too familiar. the participation of the afghan people in these elections and democratic activities worry and scare groups like isis because the elections further alienate the insurgency from the afghan people. the second is that isis and the taliban, many of these have targeted facilities. given the parameters you outline,

what can be done to make these elections later in the year in october meaningful? the president has said he is prepared to talk to the taliban. there will be difficulties around organising the elections. it is notjust the voter registration process, but registering as many as a0 million eligible voters at 7000 centres. the afg ha n eligible voters at 7000 centres. the afghan government has concluded a security plan focused on securing polling centres. there will be a challenge. despite these arrangements. attacks on the polling centres a re arrangements. attacks on the polling centres are likely to occur. the.

there we must leave it. thank you. france's president emmanuel macron is due to arrive in washington on monday, the first state visit of the trump presidency. he invited mr trump to paris last year for france's national day onjuly iath. but the two leaders have many tricky issues to discuss — trade tariffs, the future of the us role in syria and the iran nuclear deal. speaking on fox news, mr macron called on the us president to stick with the joint plan to deal with iran. what is a what if scenario, a plan b?ido what is a what if scenario, a plan b? i do not have a plan b for nuclear against iran so we will discuss that. i want to say on nuclear, let's preserve the framework because it is better than the north korean type of situation. second, i am

the north korean type of situation. second, iam not the north korean type of situation. second, i am not satisfied with the situation with iran. i want to fight against ballistic missiles and to contain their influence in the region. for more on all this, i'm joined by benjamin haddad, who's a fellow at the hudson institute — specialising in european and transatlantic affairs. this is rocky territory for president obama on to get into before he sees donald trump at what is interesting about this relationship between them is an overlapping of their policy agendas. the quality of this relationship is both of them see themselves as political outsiders who ran against the political establishment of their countries and surprised observers. their victories were not expected. they come from different policy platforms with president obama on pro—european. they see themselves i

think as populist. the second issue on which they are close, they see the fight against terrorism as a key priority. france has gone through a series of isis inspired terrorist attacks. this explains the quality of the cooperation between the countries. the american support for the french fight against terrorism. let's see what president obama said about syria. if we leave, definitely totally, even from the political point of view, we will leave the floor to the iranian regime, assad and they will prepare a new war. they will fuel the new terrorists.|j suppose they will fuel the new terrorists.” suppose what remains is whether they

can forge a closer friendship and donald trump ‘s erratic behaviour sometimes does not break it up. you are right. the personal relationship is good but the french do not get much from donald trump. there are issues of contention from the paris climate agreement, jerusalem. syria will be key. president obama has a strong position because of the fact the french and british participated in the us—led strikes last week after the use of chemical weapons in syria. it sends the message europeans will be strong partners for the us. he will make the case the us needs to stay in syria to stabilise the area and liberated from isis, to prevent the rise and re—emergence of terrorist groups. it is critical for the french because

europe has been at the front of the consequences from this conflict, from refugees to terrorist attacks. i think he will be helped by people around donald trump, like the defence secretary, who will try to make the same case. donald trump is sceptical about foreign intervention but he is in a strong position to make that case. the former mayor of new york city, michael bloomberg, has said he will fund next year's us contribution to the paris climate agreement. mr bloomberg says that he will write a cheque for $a.5 million to cover washington's commitment to the deal. president trump announced the us's withdrawal from the accord last year — but mr bloomberg says that he still hopes the president will change his mind. america made a commitment and as an american if the government is not going to do it, we have responsibilities and i am able to do it. i will send a cheque for the money that america had promised, to the organisation. let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news. four britons were killed and i2 others injured in a coach crash in saudi arabia as they travelled from mecca to medina on saturday. the travel company says their vehicle was hit by a fuel tanker which then caught fire and set the coach alight. police in the american state of tennessee are still searching for a naked gunman who shot dead four people at a restaurant outside nashville early on sunday. the suspect walked into the waffle house and injured four other people before his rifle was wrested away from him by one of the customers a menu from the first meal ever served aboard the titanic has sold for $1a0,000 at an auction in the uk. the lunch was served to officers on the first day of sea trials in april 1912. the second officer — the most senior crew member to survive —

gave it to his wife as he left southampton. its said to be "one of the rarest menus in existence". thousands of anti—government demonstrators have gathered for a second day in the armenian capital yerevan. they call for the resignation of the country's long—time leader, serzh sargsyan, and the release of the main protest organiser, nikol pashinyan. police detained mr pashinyan shortly after direct talks with prime minister serzh sargsyan collapsed. the two men had met for a television debate but the prime minister walked off the stage before beginning the discussion. our correspondent rayhan demytrie is at the protests in yerevan. young people are carrying flags, the armenian flag carried by young protesters. it is really long, seven metres. they are chanting, nikol.

the name of the leader of the protest movement who was detained on sunday by authorities in the capital. other leaders and organisers of this mass protest have also been detained. right now these protesters appeared to be without the leader. despite that, thousands are in the square and they still demand the resignation of our media's prime minister, serzh sargsyan. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come... the uk government threatens to impose new laws on social media firms, if they don't do more to protect children online. the stars & stripes at half—mast outside columbine high, the school

sealed off, the bodies of the dead still inside. i never thought they would go through with it. some places have already had nearly as much rain they would normally expect in an entire year. for millions of americans the death of richard nixon has meant conflicting emotions. a national day of mourning next wednesday sitting uneasily with the abiding memories of the shame of watergate. and to lift off of the space shuttle discovery with the hubble space telescope, our window on the universe. this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines.

a suicide attack at an election centre in the afghan capital, kabul, kills 57 people and leaves over a hundred wounded. as he prepares to head to the us, president macron of france calls on donald trump not to scrap the iran nuclear deal. let's return to the growing political crisis in armenia — thousands of anti—government demonstrators have again gathered in the capital yerevan tonight. joining me from yerevan is anahit shiri—yan from the russia and eurasia programme at chatham house. welcome. the pictures showing the main square of yerevan dramatic with many gathered. where do you think the situation is heading? the situation is intense. we have seen that even though earlier today and yesterday, some of the major leaders of the protest had been detained or

arrested. people have demonstrated remarkable ability to decentralise and self organise and continue to march for their demands. i think the next 28 hours will be critical and decisive for the protest results. the protesters demand the prime minister resigns. i think there is a lot of pressure on the prime minister from these protesters to do so. the prime minister, the powers that were previously belonging to the president now belong to the prime minister and in this case it is the same person. exactly. after serving two terms as president of armenia, there was a constitutional

change initiated in 2015, which allowed the incumbent to continue to rule the country by simply switching his position. in many countries in the region, there are strong interests from europe or russia and there are strong links to russia, but you would not necessarily say there was a russian interest in the outcome? no. what is important about this protest is there is no geopolitical link and element in them. russia has in the past supported the incumbent, but this time we are seeing russia is worried about taking any side whatsoever, because it does not perhaps want to risk its already lowered reputation by protecting the incumbent. thank you. the british government

is threatening social media firms with new laws unless they do more to protect children online. health secretaryjeremy hunt has written to companies like facebook and google giving them until the end of the month to outline action to cut cyber bullying and curb underage use of social media. joe lynam reports. samson, from leeds, has three children. unlike most dads, he restricts screentime to the weekend. it's all about balancing priorities. their priorities should be their education, and we should also have family time when these days, when kids have got access to gadgets, then that will have a negative influence on our family communication. the health secretary wants social media giants to do a lot more to protect children online, orface sanctions. writing to facebook, google and twitter, jeremy hunt said they are turning a blind eye to a whole generation of children

being exposed to harmful material. he said it was unfair to parents and morally wrong. yes the government are appearing to do something, but not actually doing anything. this is about bullying, cyber bullying, we have no control over anything, and to say to google, and facebook, it is your responsibility — it is not. it is our responsibility, our government, if we have to do something then we have to do something. ok, this is how the app works. google, who owns youtube, says it understood the concerns and introduced a family link to set the ground rules for children, including screen time limits. and when you see this, it is time to go out and play. studies found that children between five and 16 were spending more than six hours a day in front of computers and televisions. that is more than twice the time spent in front of screens 23 years ago. at the moment young people only need to tick a box confirming they're

at least 13 years old, before using facebook or youtube. so, are children, and adults for that matter, spending too much time online? we allow them to have 30 minutes in the evening, like six o'clock, after dinner. probably everyone is using the internet too much, including parents. it's not so much pressure, we don't have outlets any more, we rely too much on the internet and it's having an effect on communication skills. the challenge for any government, is how to curb excess internet use and reassure parents without stifling technological progress, or turning to the nanny state. now, the sport. it'll be manchester united versus chelsea in the fa cup final, after chelsea beat southampton 2—0 at wembley on sunday. chelsea took the lead through olivier giroud who showed good footwork and a nice finish from close range. the second was a header from substitute alvaro morata

while southampton hit the post through charlie austin, but it's antonio conte's chelsea that will face united and mourinho in may. we reached the second final in a i’ow. we reached the second final in a row. it is important to for a club like chelsea. to reach for the second time in a row this final in this competition. it is very important in this country, this competition. i am very pleased especially for the fans. manchester city thumped swansea city 5—0 as they played their first match at home since being crowned premier league champions. it could've been six had gabrieljesus converted his spot kick in the second half but the fans revelled in the atmosphere as they picked up their first title under pep guardiola. elsewhere on sunday stoke city gave up a lead at home to burnley meaning they remain 19th and four points from safety with just

three games remaining. while arsene wenger‘s first match since announcing he'll leave at the end of the season saw the gunners trounce west ham four—one but the frenchman had this to say about the fans attitude towards him in recent years. the fans, they did not give the image of unity i want at the club. all over the world. that was hurtful because i feel the club is respected and overall, the image we gave from oui’ and overall, the image we gave from our club is not what it is and not what i like. holders lyon were held to a goalless draw at manchester city in the first leg of their women's champions league semifinal. lyon had won all 28 of their competitive matches this season, scoring 173 goals and conceding just five, prior to their goalless draw in manchester. while wolfsburg will take a three—one lead over chelsea back to germany with both second leg ties to be played next sunday. time to look at what else has been happening in the sporting world

and in tennis rafael nadal has beaten japan's kei nishikori in straight sets to claim a record extending 11th monte carlo masters title. the spaniard won 6—3 six—two, retaining his world number one status in the process. nadal had to win this masters 1000 tournament to prevent roger federer overtaking him in the rankings, but had few problems outclassing the world number 36 nishikori, who like nadal had himselfjust returned from an injury lay off. it is always special for me to have this trophy again. the feeling not easy to describe especially coming back after injuries. it is so special for back after injuries. it is so specialfor me back after injuries. it is so special for me and i back after injuries. it is so specialfor me and i am happy back after injuries. it is so special for me and i am happy with everything, i am special for me and i am happy with everything, iam having special for me and i am happy with everything, i am having a great week. very positive. i cannot ask for more. and staying with tennis, it will be the united states against czech republic in the fed cup final in prague this november. the usa sealed their place in the decider after beating france. madison keys ended french hopes

with a hard—fought seven—six, six—four victory over pauline parmentier. that gave the usa an insurmountable three one lead while earlier the czech republic beat germany by the same score. the london marathon saw kenya's eliud kipchoge win the race for a third time in record temperatures at the event. permanently, kept pace britain's mo farah, who's switched from the track permanently, kept pace with the leaders for much of the race but was two minutes and four seconds behind kipchoge. while it was victory for kenya in the women's race as well with vivian cheruiyot crossing the finish line in an personal best two hours, 18 minutes and 31 seconds. luxembourg's bob jungels posted the biggest win of his career on sunday in the liege bastogne liege, cycling's oldest race, as his quick step team continued to dominate the season. just days after his team—mate julian alaphilippe won the fleche wallonne, jungels secured a 27th win for quick step this season.

dutchwoman anna van der breggen prevailed in the women's race, achieving the fleche wallonne liege bastogne liege double for the second year in a row. liege bastogne liege is the fourth of five so—called monument one day cycling classics. that's all the sport for now. before we go, a heavy hailstorm has dumped a7 millimetres of water onto a chinese city in just 30 minutes, damaging property and causing disruption. low—lying areas were severely waterlogged, leading to car breakdowns and traffic jams. government workers have been sent to drain roads and direct traffic. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. changes are afoot with the unusually

warm weather we have had of late, with the jet stream dragging air from iberia. the week ahead, the atla ntic from iberia. the week ahead, the atlantic jet stream charges from iberia. the week ahead, the atlanticjet stream charges in and in the second half of the week we are on the northern flank of it. the week ahead, back to normal. spring weather as you would expect but hefty downpours. and it will feel cooler when the showers come along. a cooler night. storm is clear east and east and the and showers across parts of scotland and northern ireland. clearer conditions to the south and east later. down into single figures to start monday morning. but there will be sunshine in the south and east. sunny spells in the south and east. sunny spells in the west but cloud increasing for

all in the afternoon. in northern ireland, rain which slides into western scotland and set to turn wet across western fringes of england and wales. temperatures down in the east but with sunny spells, 15—18d. as we finish the day, rain and drizzle spreads across the uk. notice how this trailing front will linger in the south. tuesday, cloudy in the south, brighter spells developing before it becomes cloudy later. and more outbreaks of rain come in. into northern ireland, scotla nd come in. into northern ireland, scotland and the far north of england, sunshine and heavy showers through the day. the last of the milderair through the day. the last of the milder air pushed away as beginners through to the middle of the week

and all will be in a fresh air mass and all will be in a fresh air mass and all will be in a fresh air mass and a typical april showers day on wednesday. starting with sunshine, showers in the west, some of them heavy with and thunder. and on thursday on friday, the showers most frequent and heavy in the west. this is bbc world news. 57 people have been killed and over 100 wounded in a suicide bomb attack in kabul. the so—called islamic state group said it sent the bomber to kill vote rs group said it sent the bomber to kill voters as they queued to register at an election centre. the french president has asked president trump not to pull out of the iran nuclear deal. emmanuel macron said the deal was not perfect but it was the deal was not perfect but it was the best option available. and the former mayor of new york city has said he will fund next year's us contribution to the paris climate agreement. president trump announced

the us withdrawal from the accord last year. tens of thousands of armenians have been demonstrating in the capital in