welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: explosive eruptions at hawaii's mount kilauea. the volcano spews more ash and toxic gas. thousands of residents are told to find shelter. ongoing investigation or partisan witch hunt? one year into robert mueller‘s investigation, the white house questions its purpose. it's gone on for over a year. they've found no evidence of collusion, and still strongly believe that it's a witch hunt. syrian refugees leaving europe. a special report finds some illegally selling their eu passports and travel documents, prompting fears of a security risk. and meghan markle confirms her father won't be attending the royal wedding, to focus on his health. one of the world's most active volcanoes, on hawaii,

has erupted explosively, sending ash more than 5.5 miles into the sky. local people have been told to take shelter. geologists are warning that rocks the size of cars could be ejected over a wide area. mount kilauea, one of five active volcanoes on hawaii, has been erupting continuously for 30 years, but there has been nothing like this since 192a. our north america correspondent james cook reports. in the dead of night, kilauea exploded. by dawn, this webcam was splattered with ash, and a cloud was rising 30,000 feet into the sky. the blast had been brewing for weeks, if not years. kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes. it has been erupting constantly since the ‘80s. it's a real dynamic situation up there. we could have additional events like this morning, that punch up and then die back

down really quickly. the one this morning was definitely the biggest we have seen so far, in terms of energy and how high up into the atmosphere it got. on the ground, fissures continue to fizzle and boom. parts of the island have been ablaze for weeks. there is no way to stop the lava oozing from the cracks in the earth. it consumes everything in its path, including at least 26 homes. and still there is no end in sight. the seething magma in kilauea's crater is now draining into the water table, producing steam and, scientists predict, more powerful and dangerous explosions at any moment. james cook, bbc news. cbs correspondent david begnaud is in hawaii, and has been to the evacuation zone in leilani estates. some of the first responders have

actually pulled back from their positions after testing the air quality with this monitor and realising the levels of sulphur dioxide gas, the toxic gas that is in the air, is alarmingly high in some places. so they evacuated to this fire station here on the big island, where we are right now. the day got started with an alert that went out on cellphones, radio and television, telling people about a giant ash plume that radiated from the summit. there have been giant plumes rising almost daily but this one was different because it rose 30000 feet in the air. however, scientists tell us it was short lived and didn't have much of an effect. scientists have said, for the last several days, that the ash itself is not toxic. within the last 24 itself is not toxic. within the last 2a hours, the national guard took us into one of the evacuation zones and got us really close to those fissures, that is the crack in the earth where laver and steam erupt from. we watched it, but more impressive than watching it was hearing at —— lava. we also got a good look from the air. an aerial

perspective from the helicopter. we flew over the greater, and that is where the floor of the crater actually dropped. the laver dropped, drainfrom actually dropped. the laver dropped, drain from the bottom, and that set in motion the chain of events that has been from the last 15 days. i helicopter we also made our way to leilani estates, which is the evacuation zone, and we could see lava bubbling up at the earth's surface, but also brown vegetation for nearly two to three miles. we we re for nearly two to three miles. we were told that that vegetation was brown because the sulphur dioxide gas that is also coming out of those cracks is killing just about all the vegetation around it. when it comes to that sulphur dioxide gas, it is extremely toxic, and officials are telling people don't worry about a mask. worry about getting as far away from it as you possibly can. a year ago, special counsel robert mueller took over the investigation into russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether anyone from the trump campaign colluded with the russians. mr mueller was given sweeping legal powers, but 12 months later, there are still many questions unanswered.

president trump regularly calls it a witch hunt. jane o'brien reports. never a fan of the russia investigation, president trump marked its one—year anniversary by calling it notjust a witch—hunt, but a "disgusting, illegal and unwarranted witch hunt." and he has consistently denied any involvement in attempts by russia to meddle with the 2016 election. the president knows that there was no collusion in the campaign, and he has been quite clear about this. it's gone on for over a year, they've found no evidence of collusion, and still strongly believe that it's a witch—hunt. the fbi opened the investigation in the summer of 2016, after us intelligence agencies warned that russia was trying to undermine the presidential race.

robert mueller, last may. the first criminal charges came a few months later, against a former adviser to mr trump, george papadopoulos. he was charged with lying to the fbi, and has since been cooperating with the investigation. soon after, former trump campaign chairman paul manafort surrendered to the authorities. he has pleaded not guilty to charges including money—laundering and tax fraud. in february, 13 russians were charged with stealing the identities of americans and pretending to be political activists online in an effort to sway the election. a total of 19 people have now been indicted, four of them trump associates. three companies have also been charged. so a year on, amid continuing controversy and partisan rancour, an investigation unique for its lack of leaks has no end in sight, and so far, there is no public evidence of collusion. jane o'brien, bbc news, washington. eric ham is a political analyst

and author of a biography of the republican party. he joins us from washington. the president's spokeswoman says they have found no evidence of collusion. in fact, we don't know that, do we, because the investigation is still going on? that's right, we don't know if there is in fact any evidence of collusion. however, we do know that five people have not only been charged, along with 1a others, but five guilty pleas have already been entered by people. so there is clearly evidenced of wrongdoing. in fa ct, clearly evidenced of wrongdoing. in fact, the chairman of the trump campaign will actually go on trial beginning this summer. so, after one year, we have seen this investigation yields enormous results for the special counsel. which is considerably more substantial results than say the whitewater investigation. that's

right, where we saw millions upon millions of dollars spent, and of course, the president was impeached, but in terms of where it actually lead and where it went too, many saw it as just lead and where it went too, many saw it asjust a lead and where it went too, many saw it as just a colossal waste of tax money. also, if you look at the special investigation into the outing of former cia agent valerie plane, where that did yield the guilty verdict of the vice president's chief of staff, libby schooner, but again here we are seeing schooner, but again here we are seeing enormous schooner, but again here we are seeing enormous results. just in terms of the people that have already been swept up in this investigation, and like the reporter said, we still don't know where this investigation is going, but we do know that it is circling directly around this president. and it is worth stressing, eric, i guess, that pretty much all of those involved in the investigation at senior levels are republicans, despite what mr trump says quite regularly. how would you assess the impact, if any, that all this is having on the

running of the federal government? well, the government is able to run because the president is surrounded by about 4000 appointees that operate directly within the white house, and throughout his cabinet level positions. so it is running. however, we are seeing people within the trump orbit being deeply affected, whether it is his personal attorney, michael cohen, who is now under investigation by a separate investigation taking place out of new york county, or if it is the members of the trump campaign, or just this week we saw senior adviser roger stone being issued a subpoena. so now he has been tasked with actually speaking to the mueller probe. and just to be clear, people talk rather loosely about the trail possibly leading to trump's door, no sign of that so far, possibly about

impeachment, but actually impeachment, but actually impeachment is a political decision and not a legal one, and therefore very, very unlikely. that's exact the right, and i am glad you brought that up. because it is the policy, actually, and this is important for your viewers, the policy of the united states is that no sitting president can be indicted. the vehicle to actually adjudicate an issue around wrongdoing or the president violating his oath of office is actual impeachment. and so many are waiting for bob mueller‘s report to come out, and that will determine if congress is willing to move forward on such an issue. very good to talk to you, thank you very much. thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news: the us senate has confirmed gina haspel as the next director of the cia, the first woman in the job. she faced strong opposition in confirmation hearings over her links to the cia's use of brutal interrogation techniques. she ran one of the intelligence service's secret prisons outside

the us, where terror suspects were subjected to waterboarding. she replaces mike pompeo, now president trump's secretary of state. at least two people have died when a school bus collided with a truck in newjersey. a teacher and a student were killed, at least 40 injured. the bus was one of three taking fifth grade students on a school trip. police are investigating the collision, on a newjersey interstate. a close friend of khamzat azimov, the islamist shot dead by police after he stabbed a man to death in paris last weekend, has been placed under formal investigation. chechen—born abdul hakim anayev is accused of associating with a terrorist conspiracy. police have also detained two women accused of having links with khamzat azimov. police in brazil have arrested more than 130 people in a major operation against paedophiles. thousands of officers were involved, uncovering a million pieces of paedophile content. andy beatt reports. dawn raids across brazil, the

co—ordinated operation by 2500 police officers sought equipment seized and suspect arrested in 25 of the country's 26 states. translation: this was the biggest ever operation in brazil, and the largest in the world in one single day, against the crimes of child abuse and sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. authorities say the suspects include men, women, lawyers, doctors and teachers, ranging from 22 retirement age. between them, have downloaded hundreds of thousands of explicit sexual images of children. translation: they all had a considerable amount of files stored, so considerable amount of files stored, so it wasn't a matter of downloading one 01’ so it wasn't a matter of downloading one or two by mistake. they were

individuals who had downloaded at least 150 files. no one accidentally downloads 150 files. it is the second nationwide operation against paedophilia injust over second nationwide operation against paedophilia in just over six second nationwide operation against paedophilia injust over six months. the first, in partnership with the us, led to 112 arrest. authorities say they have managed to compile a database which will make future arrest and prosecutions easier. police will now examine evidence on computers, mobile phones and hard drives. those charged could face prison sentences of up to eight yea rs. stay with bbc news. still to come: a picture—perfect match. we join the crowds getting ready for prince harry and megan markle's big day. the pope was shot, the pope will live — that's the essence of the appalling news from rome this afternoon that, as an italian television commentator put it, terrorism had come to the vatican. the man they call the butcher

of lyon, klaus barbie, went on trial today in the french town where he was the gestapo chief in the second world war. winnie mandela never looked like a woman just sentenced to six years injail. the judge told mrs mandela there was no indication she felt even the slightest remorse. the chinese government has called for an all—out effort to help the victims of a powerful earthquake, the worst to hit the country for 30 years. the computer deep blue has tonight triumphed over the world chess champion, garry kasparov. it's the first time a machine has defeated a reigning world champion in a classical chess match. america's first legal same—sex marriages have been taking place in massachusetts. god bless america! this is bbc news. the latest headlines:

there have been more explosive eruptions at hawaii's mount kilauea. thousands of residents are told to find shelter. ongoing investigation or partisan witch—hunt? one year into robert mueller‘s investigation the white house continues to question its purpose. the world health organisation will convene an emergency committee on friday to consider the international risks of an ebola outbreak in the democratic republic of congo. it was first reported in the rural bikoro region nine days ago, but the situation's now worsened. rahuljoglekar has more. supplies are being rushed to the frontline in the latest fight against ebola. at the isolation ward at bikoro hospital, the spread of the virus is being monitored closely and personally by officials from the un. we will have to bring that behaviour back — washing hands with chlorine, taking temperature is good in public places and health centres — everywhere, basically. in 2015, the world health

organization was criticised for its slow response to the ebola outbreak that claimed thousands of lives in west africa. this time the who says it's preparing to distribute a vaccine in the coming days but insists there are big challenges. the main challenge is logistic. we have to use aircraft, helicopter, to have access to this land, and it's very costly. it's estimated the entire response for partners and government will cost close to 26 million us dollars in three months. the virus is known to spread easily and quickly. the worry of an outbreak in kinshasa, a city with a population of about 10 million, isn't lost on anyone. translation: what i want the authorities to do is to organise medical controls in airports, in ports, especially on boats coming from the affected sites. the government must forbid the gathering of people

because ebola can be transmitted even by human body contact. on the banks of the congo river in kinshasa, there's a sense of calm, but, with one confirmed case in bantaka, which is only 350 miles upstream, the residents hope things continue to remain this way. the bbc has uncovered a growing and illegal trade in eu passports and travel documents, many of which are being sold by refugees who've decided to leave europe. german politicians have described it as a huge and worrying problem for european security because such documents could allow access to europe's schengen zone, in which people can travel between countries with few checks. from the greek—turkish border nawal al—maghafi has this special report. under the cover of darkness, once again syrians are starting a journey. families, together with all their belongings,

hoping to make a new life. but these people aren't entering europe — they are giving up on it. they'd rather face poverty in turkey or the prospect of conflict back home in syria. translation: it's impossible for me to go back to germany. we're muslims, but they say we are terrorists. they look at us and they're afraid of us, like we're monsters, not humans. as these refugees leave europe we've discovered some of them are selling their european ids to people looking for an easy route in. the next stop is here, in istanbul. the crossroads in syria's migration route, and now, as we've discovered after weeks of investigation, this is the centre of a lucrative trade in eu travel documents. as the syrians leave europe, some of them are now advertising their ids online. there are just so many facebook groups where people are buying

and selling passports, travel documents and european residency ids. i've clicked on this one group and it has over 5000 active members. we've put up a post asking for a passport for someone who is around 30 years old and within just a few hours we've received a dozen responses. posing as a syrian couple hoping to go to europe, we're going undercover to buy our eu travel document. we're meeting a smuggler who says he has dozens of passports for sale. it's not long before he pulls out german documents. he says as long as you look similar to the passport picture it's easy to travel. here it is.

i've just been able to buy a refugee travel document, which the germans call a blue passport. i don't think i realised how simple this process is, until now. we went from talking to the broker on facebook, to meeting him a few hours later, and now i'm holding the document in my hand. in theory this enables you to travel across the eu schengen territory. this new trade is worrying security services across the eu. we've come to germany to return the passport we purchased. a spokesman for angela merkel‘s party says he's worried that fighters from the islamic state group could get their hands on an eu passport. for us in germany it's a tremendous problem because our task must be to prevent terrorists to travel

to germany by using stolen or lost documents, or false documents. every night more and more syrians are being smuggled through what they call europe's back door. while they turn their backs on the continent, militants in turkey are thinking about new opportunities. nawal al—maghafi, bbc news, turkey. thousands of people in the north of colombia have been told to leave their homes, over fears of massive flooding. there had already been some at the ituango hydroelectric dam on saturday, after a blocked tunnel was cleared. now heavy rains mean authorities are worried the banks could breach, as lebo diseko reports. evacuated right now. the message from police as they order people to grab what they can

and head for safety. nearly 5000 have been told to leave their homes over fears about massive flooding. this is a hydroelectric dam under construction in ituango was to be the largest in the country. heavy rains have increased water levels in the river which featured, leading to concerns its banks could burst. problems with the construction project itself have added to that danger. translation: this is an undesirable situation. a complex one. because that water hitting the base of the dam could erode and possibly destabilise its infrastructure. water levels have been rising by the power and the state's governor has declared it a public calamity. thousands of living in the surrounding towns have started the long walk to safety. many have been placed in temporary shelters like this one. their homes may not be safe, but at least these people are.

meghan markle has confirmed that her father will not be at her wedding to prince harry on saturday. thomas markle had been expected to walk his daughter down the aisle. in a statement she said he is staying in the united states so he can focus on his health. prince harry and his fiance were in windsor on thursday for wedding rehearsals. our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell reports from windsor. time to end the uncertainty and focus on the wedding. harry and megan were driven to windsor castle for a private rehearsal in st george's chapel as it was confirmed that the bride's father, thomas markle, will not be at his daughter's wedding. kensington palace issued this statement from miss markle: in windsor, preparations for saturday. a rehearsal for the 250 members of the three armed services taking part.

the most visible element will be the mounted escort by harry's old regiment, the household calvary. they'll accompany what, weather permitting on saturday, will be an open carriage procession through the centre of windsor. also rehearsing has been the choir of st george's chapel, and preparing for his role presiding over the service, the dean of windsor. my impression is that they love one another very much. they are very committed to each other. they are very serious about their relationship. and that's why i think they particularly want to see it grounded in a religious ceremony. the royal wedding can be said to be back on track after three days when even its most committed supporters may have felt a little bemused. but, in thomas markle's absence, who will escort miss markle to the altar? might itjust be that the father of the groom, prince charles, whose marriage to the duchess

of cornwall was blessed in the chapel — might he escort his new daughter to the altar? we should know tomorrow. we will keep you posted. we will have a lot of buildup to the ceremony. and, of course, we will have a special live programme on saturday, from windsor castle, starting at 9am gmt, right here on bbc world news. just a reminder of that may news tonight, high levels of toxic gas have forced emergency workers on hawaii's big island to retreat from the latest eruption of mount kilauea. people have been warned to get away from a sulphur dioxide clout that is killing large swathes of vegetation. it has been rocking for more than three decades, but nothing like this since the 1920s —— erupting. that is it for now. thank you for

watching. alan. for most of the uk thursday was a glorious sunny, dry day. many weather watcher picture seems like this one in cheshire. flowerfulfils an blue skies above. a lovely scent —— into the day with gorgeous sunsets. temperatures falling away under those clear skies, particularly across eastern scotland for much of england and wales. close to freezing in one of two places with a touch of frost. not so much for the north and west of the uk. western scotland, northern ireland, a veil of cloud will move in off the atlantic, less cool to start friday. atlantic, less cool to start friday. a chilly start elsewhere. a lovely sunny a chilly start elsewhere. a lovely sunny one a chilly start elsewhere. a lovely sunny one expected for england and wales. more cloud across scotland and northern ireland. it could swell things a little bit. there will be some holes in there and some sunny

spells. temperatures up a notch from what we had on thursday, up to around 19 celsius across the south and east. high pressure still the dominant feature of the weather as we head into the weekend. weather fronts are never too far away from the north—west. for saturday, some big football matches going on, at the top of the country it looks like it'll be fine and dry for all of them. and the royal in winter. a cool start and the temperatures will rise in the afternoon. maybe 20 or 21 celsius with good sunny spells. this is the picture for saturday. a cool start. a little bit of fair weather cloud bubbling up here and there. close to the west of scotland there. close to the west of scotland there are weather systems with the cloud. most places will be dry. temperatures up a notch. maybe 21 or 22. as we head into sunday, it looks as though these weather fronts will make inroads into scotland and northern ireland. so here a cloudier, breezier day, with outbreaks of rain for northern ireland and western scotland,

maybe pushing further southwards and eastwards, but i think some parts of northern scotland should see sunshine. for england and wales, another gorgeous day on the cards with temperatures reaching highs of 22 or 23, but a bit cooler further north and west, because of the cloud and rain. similar picture as we head on into the start of next week. high pressure still dominant but still these weather fronts plaguing the north and west, so outbreaks of rain in northern ireland into northern and western scotland. the further south and east that you head, it should be dry and bright, with plenty of sunshine. could see the odd sharp shower developing in the south—east later on, and those temperatures even warmer — 23 or maybe 24 celsius. this is bbc news. the headlines: there have been more eruptions at mount kilauea, hawaii's most active volcano. it has been spewing ash more than 5.5 into the sky, forcing residents to seek shelter. officials said they would also hand out masks to stop residents from breathing in toxic gas. a year into robert mueller‘s investigation into the us election and russian interference,

president trump has called the inquiry a witch hunt. the special counsel has requested an interview with mr trump, but the terms and date for that have not been agreed. president trump has rejected claims that a peace deal with north korea could be modelled on the agreement which brought an end to libya's nuclear programme. the idea, suggested by his national security advisor, had alarmed pyongyang, which threatened to pull out of the summit planned forjune. now on bbc news, thursday in parliament.