welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: facing bankruptcy. the company at the heart of the facebook data scandal, cambridge analytica, announces it's shutting down. we have the details. america's new top diplomat mike pompeo is sworn in and says he'll be "tough" on iran and russia. there's a pledge too on north korea. we have the unprecedented opportunity to change the course of history on the korean peninsula. we will not repeat mistakes. a bad deal is not an option. after weeks of anti—government protests, armenia's parliament prepares to vote. it looks likely the protest leader will be the new prime minister. and nearly 4,000 artefacts, smuggled into the united states, the company at the centre of the privacy scandal about the use

of private data from facebook is shutting down. cambridge analytica is accused of improperly obtaining personal information from tens of millions of facebook users on behalf of political clients, including the trump election campaign. the firm denies any wrongdoing but claims media coverage of its work means it can no longerfunction. investigations are likely to continue. 0ur media editor, amol rajan, reports. it sold itself as the pioneer of a new kind of digital marketing, able to give companies and political campaigns unprecedented control over their message. but cambridge analytica bowed to the inevitable. the company, which denies wrongdoing, received the data of some 3.7 million users via an app developer. it was the harvesting of that data which ultimately caused its undoing. in undercover filming by channel 4 news, the company's most senior figures claimed they could decisively influence elections. by the culture, media

and sports select committee. the cemmittee's chairman” ”w 7, ,- ”h l—‘e’e've 53a! to make ewe that this. — ~ — that these companies aren't shutting down in order to avoid being vigorously investigated for the allegations made against them, the misuse of data, the ethics and legality of their practices. those investigations have to continue. we have to know what happened. in a statement, cambridge analytica said the scandal had driven away virtually all customers and suppliers, leaving the comp no longer viable. fallout from the controversy is global and ongoing. the founder and ceo of facebook, mark zuckerberg, apologised in washington last month

for his company's failure to control the british firm. we didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. and it was my mistake and i am sorry. many analysts believe this scandal will have a long—lasting impact. this whole affair has changed people's perceptions of social media. we've drifted into the way that we use these tools without really a clear understanding of the way that that data is used, and how it is targeted by advertisers. we have had too much more mindful people and making people more mindful of what they share. the company says it will honour its obligations to staff, but many think the company still has questions to answer. rajan, bbc news. donald trump has made his first trip to the us state department since he became president to attend the formal swearing—in of his new top diplomat mike pompeo. the new secretary of state, former head of the cia, has a worldview very close to mr trump's own. so, will it make for a more coherent american foreign policy?

jane 0'brien reports. mike pompeo became the 70th secretary of state in a ceremony of political theatre a shot of pomp for a beleaguered department that for the past year has struggled with morale and direction. i want the state department to get its swagger back. we need our men and women out at the front lines, executing american diplomacy with great vigour and energy, and to represent the finest nation in the history of civilisation, we should be proud of that and i'm counting on you all to help communicate in every corner of the world. and true to type, mike pompeo got straight down to business. we are committed to the permanent, verifiable dismantling of north korea's weapons of mass destruction programme and to do so without delay. even before he was confirmed as america's top diplomat, mike pompeo made a secret visit to north korea over easter. he met with kimjong—un himself in a bid to pave the way for the highly anticipated summit with president trump in the coming month. the trip caught most people by surprise, like much of us foreign

policy itself, and the president hinted at more to come. and we'll be doing things that you don't even know about. right now, they're not even a glimmer in your eye. but... and we have a couple going, mike, right now that a lot of people don't know about, that are very, very encouraging. mr pompeo‘s predecessor, rex tillerson, was often at odds with the president, who frequently contradicted him in public, before unceremoniously firing him by tweet. i think rex will be much happier now, but i really appreciate his service. thank you. mr pompeo is clearly more in tune with mr trump — at least for now. less clear is whether that will translate into a more coherent foreign policy, particularly on contentious issues such as syria, iran and north korea. jane 0'brien, bbc news, washington. and there's another shake—up in the president's legal team,

a change predicted a short while ago by the new york times, although mr trump derided it then as "fake news." ty cobb, his main representative in the russia probe, is stepping down to be replaced by emmet flood, a republican defence lawyer who worked for president clinton during his impeachment proceedings. here's our north america reporter, anthony zurcher, on the significance of the cobb departure. the official line is that he's leaving to retire, to spend more time with his grandkids or something, but the reality is that ty cobb, over the past few months, has been preaching cooperation with robert mueller‘s probe. he wants to turn over all of the documents, he says that is the quickest way to get this behind him, he has been saying it is going to wrap up since last thanksgiving. the reality is that this could represent a more adversarial approach to robert mueller‘s investigation. sarah sanders described what emmet flood is going to be doing, saying he is going to lead the defence against the russia witch—hunts. you cannot get more adversarial than that. they have indicted russians, they have presented evidence of russian involvement in the us election, but they are looking

at, if this is going to involve trump, pushback. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. president trump has suggested in a tweet that three americans held in north korea could be on the brink of being released. us officials are checking reports in south korea that the detainees have been moved from a labour camp to a hotel near pyongyang, ahead of the planned summit between mr trump and the north korean leader. the un secretary general is urging the united states not to withdraw from the iran nuclear deal. antonio guterres has warned the middle east faces a dangerous situation and there is a risk of yet more war. the 2015 agreement between tehran and six world powers is aimed at limiting iran's

nuclear capability. the extremist group that calls itself islamic state is claiming it carried out one of the bloodiest attacks in the libyan capital in several years. suicide bombers stormed the headquarters of the electoral commission in tripoli, exchanging fire with security forces, killing at least twelve people and wounding more. two african—american men, arrested while they were waiting in a starbucks coffee shop they were falsely accused of trespassing have settled a legal case against the city of philadelphia. city authorities are paying donte robinson and rashon nelson a symbolic $1 each, but also, at their request, will contribute $200,000 to set up a programme for young entrepreneurs. anti—government protests that have brought much of armenia to a standstill have been suspended now the governing republican party has indicated it will not oppose the protest leader nikol pashinyan, becoming prime minister. that still depends, officially, on a vote in parliament. the bbc‘s steve rosenberg reports from the armenian capital, yerevan. it was the day armenians made their voices heard —

louder than ever. the day people power appeared to be changing a country. tens of thousands of protesters had packed into republic square, in the centre of yerevan. they'd come here to accuse the ruling party of corruption, of trying to cling to power, and to demand a new prime minister. the man they want for the job is nikol pashinya — once a journalist, now an opposition mp. he's been leading the protests that have been sweeping armenia, and he's become something of a political superstar. revolution have won, and people's victory should be recognised. there can't be power or government that doesn't support their opinion and doesn't support the people. he is our new prime minister. he believe us that we are together, we are strong, and he can take our nation to the winning world. we believe in him. earlier, people power had brought

armenia to a standstill. nikol pashinya had called on supporters to block roads and railways. a day of civil disobedience that felt more like a national holiday. they're calling it here "the revolution of love and tolerance". 0n the road from yerevan airport into town, we hit a roadblock at every intersection. we managed to get through, along with some of the protesters. tonight, nikol pashinyan ordered a pause in the protests, after reports he may have won the backing of the ruling party to become prime minister. but he called on supporters to remain vigilant. the idea that power resides with the people and that those in power are beholden to the people, that idea is inspiring huge crowds across armenia.

and these protesters say they will continue to take to the streets until they see real political change here. and if change happens, the biggest challenge for any new leader of armenia will be living up to the expectations of the people. steve rosenberg, bbc news, yerevan. for more background on the armenian crisis, go to our website. you'll find more analysis on why the opposition leader has suspended nationwide protests, and a guide to the six things you may not know about armenia, that's all at bbc.com/news or download the bbc news app. after months of resistance, myanmar‘s leader aung san suu kyi is now saying she will allow un agencies to help return some of the one million rohingya refugees who've fled across the border to bangladesh. it looks like a significant softening of her position. here's our myanmar

correspondent, nick beake. with around i million rohingya refugees stuck in makeshift camps in bangladesh, this is the biggest refugee crisis in asia, the biggest refugee crisis in the world today. but so far, the message from here in myanmar has been no, we don't want any help from the outside world. however, there has now been a change in tone and message from aung san suu kyi. she says that the time is right for the un to come in with their expertise and help her government. she says together they want to create the conditions whereby rohingya can come back and not live in fear, as she puts it. the un seems to think they pretty near the signing of some sort of agreement with the authorities here. we will have to wait and see. speak to human rights groups though, and they are sceptical. they say look at the 500,000 rohingya people who have not fled for their lives still in rakhine state, they don't have

access to education or healthcare and they don't have citizenship. they think that they should be the priority before other people are. so a change of message from aung san suu kyi but for now, it is a change in words, not in actions. the bbc‘s nick beake in myanmar. and let's stay there, because may the 3rd is world press freedom day, and in myanmar two reuters journalists, arrested last december, are still on trial. they were investigating violence against the rohingya minority. and just this week, in afghanistan, a double bomb attack killed 9 journalists in kabul and, in the east of the country, one of the bbc‘s own reporters, ahmad shah, was shot dead. reg chua is chief operating officer at thomson reuters. there are 260 journalists jailed all

over the world. you mentioned afghanistan, we had a photographer barry nearby, he captured images of the tragic deaths right after the second bomb went off. there has probably been never a more difficult time for journalist is to work around the world, in terms of restrictions, in terms of physical threats, in terms of digital threats to them. i wish i could, i wish there was a happier message on world press freedom day but i am afraid it is not all good news, but we do keep going, i think we all have a real sense of mission and a desire to serve the public. stay with us on bbc news. still to come. we meet a troop of girl scouts. they're young, they are determined, and they‘ re homeless. nothing, it seems, was too big

to withstand the force of the tornado. the extent of the devastation will lead to renewed calls for government help to build better housing. internationally, there have already been protests. sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians at first denied anything had gone wrong. only when radioactive levels started to increase outside russia were they forced to admit the accident. for the mujahideen, the mood here is of great celebration. this is the end of a 12—year war for them. they've taken the capital, which they have fighting for for so long. it was 7:00am in the morning, the day when power began to pass from the minority to the majority, when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: the company at the heart of the facebook data scandal — cambridge analytica — has announced it can't stay in business anymore and is closing down. america's new top diplomat is sworn in. mike pompeo claims he can "change the course of history on the korean peninsula". faced with a new wave of killings in bangui, capital of the central african republic, the president and religious authorities have appealed for calm. it's been very tense there since at least sixteen people were killed in clashes in and around a catholic church. estelle cornado reports. angry crowds marching through bangui with the body of a catholic priest killed at his church, alongside several other civilians. translation: we were in the church

and everyone was running. one of my church sisters was shot in her feet and brought here, but others who were wounded stayed there. it is our muslim brothers who surrounded us. according to the united nations, the attackers came from the nearby muslim neighbourhood of pk5, the un force minusca has launched an operation against armed militias in the beginning of last month, but had to withdraw. we are not inside, but we are controlling the borders of these neighbourhoods to avoid the criminal gangs that were involved in yesterday's attacks to move from that area to another district of bangui. with respect to yesterday, unfortunately we were not present and we were deployed immediately after the first shootings. witnesses say our lady of fatima church was attacked with gunfire and grenades during a morning service

celebrating the patron saint of workers, as this was may day. at least 16 people died and dozens are being treated in hospital for gunshot wounds. the attackers triggered retaliation against a nearby mosque, so this morning the president faustin—archange touadera and religious leaders that to discuss the crisis and to appeal for calm. translation: muslims and christians, we are all one people. must work hand in hand to build the central african republic. but on both sides, bangui's residents are getting frustrated with the government, the army and the united nations' inability to prevent continuing violence in the heart of the capital. there are concerns that the country risks returning to the crisis that followed the overthrow of the former president francois bozize in 2013, when interreligious violence broke

out, leaving hundreds dead and many thousands displaced. estelle cornado, bbc news. thousands of ancient artefacts illegally imported to the us have been returned to iraqi officials in washington. described as "national treasures", they were bought through dealers in the united arab emirates and israel. andy beatt reports. centuries of iraqi heritage illegally smuggled to the united states, is going home. nearly 4000 items dating back as many years, represent one of the biggest repatriations of cultural property to iraq — a country heavily plundered in the 15 years since the invasion that toppled saddam hussein. officials from both countries celebrated the return, saying it struck a blow against the black market in antiquities and militant groups such as so—called islamic state. such efforts are to be noted, not only does it enforce the law, it says as a sense of historic

justice and helps the fight against cruel and terrorist networks. the tablets and clay labels are covered in cuneiform script, one of the regions earliest systems of writing. among them, ancient schoolbooks, religious texts and records of day to day trade, all offering a unique glimpse into the past. the writing on these cuneiform tablets describes life in ancient mesopotamia. contracts, messages about the distribution of grain, fish, even food for the palace dogs. in those times, professional scribes walked through marketplaces with clay tablets the size of smartphones, recording agreements. the items were labelled as tile samples and brought to america by a chain of art and craft stores called hobby lobby. officials said the firm ignored warnings they may have come from looted archaeological sites, more than 1000 imported items remain unaccounted for. the hope is that eventually these will end up in the restored museum in mosul. andy beatt, bbc news.

pay a visit to girl scout troop 6000 in new york and you'll find what you would at countless scout meetings — young people working hard to earn that next badge. but this troop stands apart as the first for homeless girls living in the city's shelters. it's an attempt to build community and skills. on my honour, i will try. all: on my honour, i will try. to serve god and my country. all: to serve god and my country. i am proud of the first aid kit that we made. 67% of the children who come to us have already been in shelter or living on somebody‘s couch or floor. homeless children go to at least

two schools are year. they come from a disjointed education. all of this is trauma that the children internalise. and we saw what happened with veterans. if you don't provide an outlet, that trauma will just fester and fester, and what it does for homeless children is make them twice as likely to be homeless adults. have you ever changed your appearance or clothing, style, to please others? have you ever changed your appearance or clothing, style, to please others? i have more than enough understanding of what the mothers of homeless little girls are going through, because i too was homeless for 3.5 years. when you're going through those kinds of things, you don't think about dressing up, or the little girl dreams that you had. you think they don't apply to you. but what we do, and what we've been able to do, is let them know

that they can dream. i would start my own business, like, it would be a clothing business. what are some things that you think you need to have? how would you be successful? i want to be a criminaljustice lawyer, to help people with crime and all that stuff, and i would hopefully want to win all the cases. the girl scouts are helping me become a lawyer by dealing with problems, and just being considering and caring about how people feel. often you think of shelters as places where dreams don't exist. but the girl scout troops create another place where dreams are fostered, and those will come to a reality someday for these homeless kids. a town in canada's western province of british columbia has an unlikely menace stalking its streets. it's being overrun by wild peacocks. the locals — unsurprisingly — are not exactly rolling out

the welcome mat for their feathered neighbours. virginia langeberg has more. they are often admired for their majestic appearance, but when these residents of sullivan heights moved in, it is likely most locals had no idea what they were in for. any time they are disturbed, they start screaming. and it sounds a lot like a crying baby, i have gone into my kids room thinking they are crying and it turns out to be a peacock. around 150 of the large, exotic birds now freely roam these streets undisturbed and they are have well and truly made themselves at home. i can't send the kids out in the backyard to play, my kids never play in the backyard because the patio is full of poop. my neighbours, i sometimes heard scratches on their cars. the neighbourhood is located in surrey, british columbia, where peacocks fall outside the scope of animal control. and just where did they come from? it is rumoured they were on a rural property in the area a decade ago, but now it seems anyone's backyard can be a new nest. 0ne resident has taken matters

into their own hands, cutting down a healthy tree on his property where peacocks were nesting. the homeowner now faces a $1000 fine and potential for much more. we will continue our investigation, looking into further legal action and fines, for the home and the individuals who cut the tree down. the city says it plans to hold community meetings to educate residents on how best to deal with the birds. virginia langeberg, bbc news. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbc mike embley. hello. there's warmer weather on the way for the bank holiday weekend. for most of us, it's looking dry, as well, with increasing sunshine

as the weekend goes on. we're not quite there yet, though, this weather front went through on wednesday, with some rain followed by showers. this weather front is coming in from the west thursday, though by no means all of us will get rain from it. but even from the word go, in the morning, that bit of patchy rain for parts of northern ireland and western scotland, whilst for many, particularly across eastern parts, it will be clear, it will be sunny once the sun is up, but it will be chilly, with low single figures in places, and that sunshine will be lost to increasing cloud as we go into the afternoon. from the cloud for northern ireland, western scotland, some spots north—west england, and a few in wales, there will be some patchy rain around, shouldn't amount to too much. and a brisk breeze blowing across the northern half of the uk, moderate to fresh west—south—westerly wind. around 10—14 degrees for most places, as high as 17 in south—east england. even into the afternoon, even into the evening, southern and eastern parts of the uk will see a few breaks in that cloud,

allowing a bit of sunshine to come through. now, as we go on through thursday night and into friday morning, a lot of cloud around away from east anglia and south—east england, but even here, under clear skies, not as chilly as it will be first thing thursday. so a milder start on friday. a lot of cloud around, misty, murky in places. some outbreaks of rain, particularly affecting the north and north—west of scotland. this little piece of energy runs away northwards. still a bit of drizzle, i think, parts of western scotland and northern ireland. for many, friday will be a dry day, if not a particularly sunny day. when the sun comes through the cloud, occasionally it is going to feel warmer. those temperatures are starting to edge up. and that is the process that accelerates into the weekend, with high pressure for most of us, though the further north—west you are, you're still close to weather fronts. with breeze, cooler here compared with elsewhere, especially north—west scotland. for most of the weekend, this includes the bank holiday, it'll be fine, dry, and it will be getting warmer. take a look at saturday and sunday for now.

saturday, i think some cloud to begin the day. rather misty and murky in places, and cloud could increase in northern ireland and western scotland. north—west scotland beginning to see some outbreaks of rain coming in. for most, it'll be dry, and a few spots start to get above 20 celsius. for part two of the weekend, on sunday, some rain affecting mainly the north of northern ireland, running through central parts of scotland for a time, whereas england and wales, looking dry. again, that sunshine starting to break out more widely, even more so by the bank holiday, along with that welcome, for many of us, warmth. the latest headlines: the company at the centre of the privacy scandal about the use of private data is shutting down. cambridge analytica denies improperly obtaining personal information from tens of millions of facebook users on behalf of political clients, including the trump election campaign. criminal investigations into the firm's directors continue. in washington, mike pompeo has been sworn in as the new us secretary of state, america's top diplomat. the former cia director insisted north korea must immediately

dismantle its nuclear programme. and said he would help the us diplomatic corps "get back its swagger." anti—government protests, that have brought much of armenia to a standstill, have been suspended now the governing party has indicated it will not oppose the protest leader, nikol pashinyan, becoming prime minister. 0fficially, that still depends on a formal vote in parliament.