it's revealed that president trump feared an investigation into his links with russia would end his presidency, and tried to get the man in charge of it fired. but he was all smiles today, as the long—awaited mueller report concluded there had been no collusion with russia ahead of the 2016 presidential election. they're having a good day, i'm having a good day too. it was called no collusion, no obstruction. but the man behind the report — special counsel robert mueller — failed to reach a conclusion on whether or not the president had tried to obstruct the investigation. even in its incomplete form, however, the mueller report outlines disturbing evidence that president trump engaged in obstruction ofjustice and other misconduct.

we'll be live in washington and moscow with reaction. also tonight... facebook bans a dozen british far right groups from its sites — for promoting hate and violence. a fourth day of climate protests in london — now activists threaten to target heathrow tomorrow as hundreds of thousands fly off for easter. civilians among more than 200 people killed in a fight for the libyan capital, tripoli, amid fears the islamic state group could take advantage of the chaos. counting the cost of uncertainty — the british businesses that stockpiled for a no—deal brexit now facing big bills. and invited to meet the french president — the men and women who fought the flames at notre dame. and coming up in sportsday on bbc news — the perfect start for both arsenal and chelsea, but did they hang on to make it through to the semifinals of the europa league?

good evening. it's the investigation that has dominated american politics for almost two years. today, the full report into alleged russian interference in the 2016 us presidential election has finally been released. the investigation was carried out by a former fbi director — special counsel robert mueller. his two questions — did president trump collude with the russian government? and did the president try to obstruct subsequent investigations into the affair? on conspiring with russia — the answer was no. president trump was cleared of that. but on the question of obstruction, the report didn't reach a conclusion. our north america editorjon sopel is in washington now. well, these are the 400 pages of the

report and they are genuinely a page turner, detailing as it does how donald trump tried to have robert mueller fired, donald trump tried to have robert muellerfired, so donald trump tried to have robert mueller fired, so there would never be this report seeing the light of day. but will it change anyone's mines? those who think donald trump is unfit to be president will be kind of reaffirmed in that particular view, having read the report, and those who think donald trump is doing a good job and this was a hoax and a witch hunt will ta ke was a hoax and a witch hunt will take solace from the fact that the attorney general says no laws were broken. i should, attorney general says no laws were broken. ishould, my attorney general says no laws were broken. i should, my report i should warn you , broken. i should, my report i should warn you, contains very strong language. a watershed moment for this president and maybe the presidency itself. donald trump was at the white house meeting wounded warriors. but from his two—year long battle with robert mueller, he feels he has emerged unscathed, his reputation intact. he said his guests were having a good time. i'm having a good day too, it was called no collusion, no obstruction. applause.

before publication of this long—awaited report, the president tweeted this, with its game of thrones styling, and his team confident, put out this video. no collusion. there was no collusion. no collusion. the 400 page report is riveting and dramatic. it describes the fallout the firing of james dramatic. it describes the fallout the firing ofjames comey, dramatic. it describes the fallout the firing of james comey, that then attorney generaljeff sessions goes in to see the president to say he's decided to appoint a special counsel to investigate russian collusion and a obstruction ofjustice. the president uses strong language, he slumped back in his chair, said, oh my god, this is terrible, this is the end of my presidency, i'm locked, this is the worst thing that ever happened to me. the report conveys a picture of a white house in total meltdown with the president angrily demanding that robert

mueller be fired. don mcgann, who was then the general council, is repeatedly told to arrange for mueller to be sacked. mccann refuses. 0f mueller to be sacked. mccann refuses. of the president's attempt at influence, the mother report says they were mostly unsuccessful, but thatis they were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the president declined to carry out orders or accede to his request. the new attorney general has weighed in sympathetically, almost saying the president's behaviour was justified. is the special counsel's report acknowledges, there is substantial evidence to show that the president was frustrated and angered by his sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents and fuelled by illegal leaks. on the other question of whether there was collusion between the trump campaign and the russians, a clean bill of health. the mother report is being devoured on capitol hill, debated online, democrats are not buying the line that the president did nothing

wrong. even in its incomplete form however, the mother report, incomplete because part of it is redacted, even in its incomplete form the mueller report outlines disturbing evidence that president trump engaged in obstruction of justice and other misconduct. donald trump has left washington to travel to florida. his aides say he's jacked, happy, pumped up. his good thursday before good friday. jon sopel thursday before good friday. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. in a moment we'll get the latest from jon at the white house, but first, let's speak to our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg. the report was very clear that there had been russian involvement in the elections. what's the response been there? well, tonight, a stern faced announcer on russian tv tried to dismiss 400 pages of robert mueller with one sentence. she said, two

yea rs with one sentence. she said, two years and tens of millions of dollars wasted. that's how she summed up the mueller report. i wasn't surprised, because for two yea rs wasn't surprised, because for two years russian officials have batted away every accusation, every piece of evidence that moscow meddled in the 2016 us election and we heard vladimir putin's spokesman doing the same today. of the mueller report he said this is not an object of interest for us, we will flick through it and see if there's anything worthy of analysis, so pretty dismissive. but pretty damning was the conclusion of robert mueller about russia's sweeping interference in the us election. you know, russia had high hopes for donald trump, and in 2016 many here hoped that he would transform us russian relations and many still hope he can, but i think that's wishful thinking because the con is —— the contents of the mueller report will affect us russian relations for a long time to come. jon sopel, donald trump ‘s legal tea m jon sopel, donald trump ‘s legal

team are saying this is a total victory. is it? in their mind, yes, it is because there is no collusion, that's clear from the report, and the attorney general says there is no need to prosecute over obstruction of justice, no need to prosecute over obstruction ofjustice, but democrats will say there are still many, democrats will say there are still any democrats will say there are still many, many more questions that need to be answered, they will be subpoena ring people, calling for papers and documents to be submitted to them as part of their investigation. they'll also want to talk to robert mueller and he faces tough questions. he said the written and said he got from donald trump we re and said he got from donald trump were inadequate. if that was the case, why didn't mr mueller peano the president to come and give evidence directly? —— why didn't he subpoena the president. mueller points out ten occasions when he said there could have been obstruction of justice said there could have been obstruction ofjustice by the president and details each one individually. but just president and details each one individually. butjust imagine for a minute, sophie, that donald trump ‘s staff had obeyed the orders that he barked out to them. that they should fire robert mueller. it's arguable that the actions of donald trump ‘s

aides have saved donald trump from himself, because if they'd carried out his orders there may well be a genuine case for obstruction of justice. jon sopel in washington, steve rosen birding moscow, thank you both. —— steve rosenberg in moscow, thank you both. the nhs is failing to meet its own target for the care of people with learning disabilities and autism according to new figures. some of the most vulnerable, including children, are being treated as hospital in—patients rather than being cared for in the community. more than 2,000 vulnerable people are still in long—stay hospitals in england. the nhs promised to cut that number by between 35% and 50% over three years. but so far it has only managed a 19% reduction. campaigners say these patients are trapped and at risk of abuse and neglect. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt reports. gill mead keeps her daughter leigh's bedroom ready for the day when she finally comes home, but she has no idea when that will be. the teddy bear leigh bought her mummy. leigh has autism and

learning difficulties. a year ago she had a crisis, was sectioned and taken to a secure hospital. this was herjust before that happened, and 12 months on this is the 43—year—old now. we've been trying so hard to get her back. we know that her anxiety would be through the roof. her longing for her family comes before anything else, really, so every day on the phone, when she rings me, ten o'clock, please, mummy, help me, please, mummy, get everyone to help me. after so many promises to support people like leigh in the community, her mother doesn't understand why she's still fighting to get her daughter home. i'm helpless. i'm powerless. every little thing, i think of her.

what can i do, what can i do? more reading, more research. bring her in, she's shaking. in 2011, after abuse was exposed at winterbourne view hospital by the bbc‘s panorama programme, the government said all such places would close. the latest figures for england show that's still a long way off. out of the more than 2000 people currently in these institutions, 37% have been there for more than five years. in 2015, there were 110 children in these units. it's now more than doubled to 240. today, there are hundreds of people with learning disabilities and/or autism in units when they do not need to be, and that is detrimental to them, and that is a scandal. are you 0k? give me a big kiss! philip was someone who spent more than a year miles from home in an assessment and treatment hospital, or atu. but now that he's living in the community with support, his life has transformed.

philip is much more happy, much more affectionate, which obviously he wasn't when he was in the atu because he was always locked behind a glass door, so i didn't have the same contact with him. nhs england says it is investing in earlier intervention and ramping up specialist community care to help hundreds more people live more independent lives closer to home. the smartest giant in town. it insists progress is being made, but the question for families remains why is it taking so long. alison holt, bbc news. after four days of protests, the environmental group extinction rebellion says it plans to target heathrow tomorrow, on one of its busiest days of the year. hundreds of thousands of people will be flying in and out of the airport for easter. heathrow says it's working with the authorities to address the threat.

the police say they've arrested more than 500 people at sites across london this week. tom symonds is at waterloo bridge, which has been blocked all week. sophie, the police attempted to raise the pace of their attempts to clear these protest camps today. this afternoon, about 20 people were arrested but then about 30 protesters took their place and as you can see, the bridge is still closed and this man has been playing a cello where the traffic would normally be. it is a problem for the police. they say they can only use what they call reasonable force to clear the protests and this is a peaceful protest so all they can do is remove the protesters one by one. there has been some messages going around today, a fairly well worked out plan to "raise the bar and close down heathrow" tomorrow. we can't be sure that that will happen but the mayor of london sadiq khan has said that if it does, that would be dangerous and illegal and it would

put more pressure on the police. it would certainly be disruptive. the police are under pressure to clear these protests and to reduce the amount of disruption they are causing in the centre of london. many of these protesters say they will stay here in the days to come. sophie. tom symonds, thank you. facebook has banned a dozen british far—right groups, including the british national party and the english defence league, from having any presence on its social media networks, saying they violated rules about promoting hate and violence. the banned groups have been removed from both facebook and instagram. it also means people who use the sites will no longer be allowed to show support or praise for them. 0ur media editor amol rajan reports. masters of modern communication they may be, but, according to facebook at least, these members of britain's hard right groups and organisations often spread hate or promote violence. the full list includes the british national party and its former leader, nick griffin. britain first, its leader paul golding and former deputy leaderjayda fransen. the english defence league

and its founding member paul ray. knights templar international, a militant christian group, and its promoter, jim dowson. national front and its leader, tony martin, and jack renshaw, a convicted neo—nazi who plotted to murder a labour mp. but how exactly did they violate facebook‘s rules? facebook, who declined to be interviewed, says simply that they: posts endorsing these individuals or groups will also now be banned. it is good that the police have actually taken action finally. the hard right have been stirring on and off—line for years, so why is this happening now? upcoming european elections, amid a rising tide of populism across the continent. there's also been a recent spike in activity on the platform by the hard right. and the drip, drip, drip of scandal around the company in recent years must be taking its toll. i think that what will happen is that yes, they will still have a space, yes, they will still have those supporters. but it is about stopping it

from going to the mainstream, and i think that that is really where the key issue is here. 0h, tommy, tommy! in february, facebook banned stephen yaxley—lennon, better known as tommy robinson. the social media reach of the hard right is unclear because the tech giants don't always release the figures. thank you, every single one of you... but millions across the world and many in the united kingdom like and enjoy access to views that they don't see on traditional media. we don't need the media to report that, because we are the media! facebook is being dragged into uncomfortable terrain. the company wants to be impartial, but there's no getting around the fact that today saw a californian corporation, whose upper echelons are liberal, clamping down on parts of the british hard right. and the company says it is not in the truth business, but today's decision was based on the application of subjective criteria to public opinion. there is an old—fashioned word for that — it's journalism. wary of accusations of censorship,

the danger is that global tech giants end up creating national martyrs who simply congregate elsewhere. amol rajan, bbc news. more than 200 people have been killed in libya and 25,000 have been forced to flee their homes after two weeks of fighting on the outskirts of the capital tripoli. a rebel military commander is trying to capture the city from the internationally recognised government that currently holds power there. the united nations has warned of what it calls widening conflagration. libya has been politically unstable ever since its long—time leader colonel gaddafi was desposed and killed in 2011. colonel gaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011. two weeks ago, fighting broke out as the military strongman general khalifa haftar tried to seize tripoli from the government in this battle for power. today, libya's prime minister warned there was a danger of the islamic state group taking advantage of the chaos. 0ur international correspondent 0rla guerin is in tripoli tonight.

well, once again tonight, there is a sense in this city of a threat from chaos and conflict. the prime minister of the internationally recognised government here has been calling on britain to take action, to put pressure on the countries that are backing general haftar. britain has been trying to get a resolution on a ceasefire through the un security council. that is unlikely to be put until next week at the earliest. even if it is adopted, it is not expected to have much impact here on the ground. there is a sense here of a city in waiting, a city being left to its fate. in tripoli, once again, it's time to bury the dead. civilians killed this week by rocket fire as they slept. mourners blamed the military strongman besieging the city, general khalifa haftar. critics say he wants

to be a new gaddafi. prime minister sarraj, very nice to see you again. libya's internationally recognised prime minister has held him off for two weeks, but he's looking weary and sounding worried. translation: this is a dangerous turning point. it's a confrontation between supporters of democracy and supporters of authoritarian rule. i'm really astonished by the stand of the international community. gunfire. it's less a matter of taking a stand, and more of dodging a bullet. these battles are raging around seven miles from the prime minister's office. all this in a week when a un—backed peace conference was supposed to be held, but the international community — which was so hands—on during libya's revolution — now has little to say.

translation: the public is frustrated by the silence. the un security council is not even able to issue a statement saying clearly what has happened. the russians won't accept mentioning haftar‘s name as the aggressor, though everyone knows he is the one behind this. what is the risk now that the so—called islamic state can exploit this vacuum? they were driven from their stronghold in sirte at the end of 2017, but nobody imagines they are gone completely. do you see any indications that they are taking advantage of this moment? translation: definitely. there's a fear that groups like is could come back and take advantage of this void. we did our best to fight them and we pushed them out of the south. after all the work we did, this attack is going to give them

a chance to engage again. and the latest turmoil may have an impact far beyond libya's shores. the prime minister says it's threatening the lives of 800,000 migrants here and could spark a flood to europe. 0rla guerin, bbc news, tripoli. the prospect of a no—deal brexit at the end of march led to many british businesses stockpiling their goods to prepare for every eventuality. but it's come at a price. britain's biggest business lender, rbs, says it's made nearly £3 billion worth of loans to businesses to pay for it all, and those loans will need to be paid back. as the uncertainty continues, our business editor, simonjack, has been talking to companies about the impact it has all had on them. easter time is chocolate time, and was due to be brexit time. we normally at this time of year have one to two weeks' stock. and this is? so now we're looking at one to two months' stock.

so that's what, four or five times what you would normally have at this time? yeah. hot chocolate maker brian watt heeded government advised to prepare his business for a no—deal brexit. that's a lot of money sitting there. what are you going to do with all this now? i mean, what are the options? so, this is stock that i've bought and i've done that on the basis of borrowing from the bank, so now my big concern that keeps me awake at night is how do i actually sell that stock out, get the cash into the business, pay the bank? i wake up at 4:30 in the morning thinking about cash flow. it's hard enough running a business without brexit uncertainty, and while there may be a collective sigh of relief that the uk didn't leave the eu without a deal, even for companies that did take precautions, any peace of mind that provided may be short—lived, as we're still facing an uncertain outcome and an uncertain date. this small company borrowed an extra £43,000. it wasn't alone. firms of all sizes have borrowed billions for brexit planning. rbs is the uk's biggest business lender.

we set aside £3 billion. the vast bulk of that is now committed, it is there to support stockpiling, supply chain—related activities and also trade—related activities. and given we've gone through this cliff edge, which many people were stockpiling for, are you now going to ask for that money back? no, it's still too uncertain for customers to actually decide what they're going to do yet. they need to know how we're leaving and when we're leaving before they take those decisions. and that is why warehouses like this one in hull are still full to the rafters. some businesses would rather continue paying the price to be ready. the problem now is do they keep the stock here, or do they run it down? if we have an agreement and things move quickly, if they've run the stock down, then they're back to where they were before, so most customers are actually holding their stock at a high level to ensure that if a date comes forward quickly that they're in position to deal with it. brexit may have been paused, but for business, the costs continue to stack up. simon jack, bbc news.

football now — and alex mcleish has left his position as scotland's football manager after 14 months in charge. mcleish had come under increasing pressure after a poor start to the euro 2020 qualifiers. the scottish football association says it was a collective decision. and in the europa league tonight, two premier league clubs have made it through to the semifinals, after winning their second leg games this evening. chelsea got off to a flying start against slavia prague, scoring three goals within 20 minutes. the visitors fought back but it wasn't enough, with the final score 5—3 on aggregate. arsenal also secured their place in the semis, after beating napoli1—0 in italy, making it 3—0 to arsenal over the two legs. hundreds of firefighters who helped save notre dame cathedral on monday were invited to meet the french president today, as he called their actions exemplary. dozens of firefighters are still at the cathedral, ensuring no

new fires break out, amid concerns that parts of the building could collapse. lucy wililamson reports from paris. today, france saw the faces of its heroes. the firefighters who, on monday night, pitted their bravery against a vast inferno and won, now filing into the gilded rooms of the elysee palace, the secular cathedral of the french state. translation: it is a great joy, a great honour. the paris firefighters are a humble and discreet unit and we are here as a community to honour the individual and collective efforts of our comrades. 0ne firefighter described emerging from a bell tower and seeing the roof engulfed in flames. "it was only later we understood the risks we had taken", she said. "the hardest thing was that we were so small compared to it." investigators have interviewed 40 people and forensic teams have begun to gather evidence at the site. but the structure of notre dame

is still fragile, damaged by both the fire and the operation to save it. the threat to notre dame did not die with the fire. several areas of the building have been badly weakened. some of the gables have already been given extra support. scaffolding is being brought in to secure the stonework and a tarpaulin is urgently needed to protect the vaulted ceiling from rain. across the riverfrom notre dame, outside the town hall, crowds gathered this afternoon for a service of thanks. translation: i feel gratitude to the fire brigade. by risking your lives, you have saved part of ours. the hymns and prayers of holy week rose from st sulpice tonight, across the riverfrom notre dame. the cathedral‘s leading cleric and many of its congregation marking the rituals of easter here. the christian message of loss

and resurrection, grief and hope, a comfort in the shadow of notre dame's scorched and roofless walls. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. newsnight is getting under way on bbc two. here on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. enjoy the weekend. good evening and welcome to bbc london news with me, louisa preston.

hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm hugh. 0ur our main headlines this evening. chelsea and arsenal make it into the europa league semi finals but it's not all plain sailing at stamford bridge. leaving scotland again — manager alex mcleish is out of a job after their poor start to the euro qualifying campaign. jarell miller insists he's done nothing wrong and will appeal the decision to deny him a licence

to face anthonyjoshua. good evening. for the first time in 35 years four english sides will play in european semi finals this season. after liverpool and tottenham's champions league exploits. both chelsea and arsenal have made it past the quarterfinals of the europa league, with second leg winds tonight. chelsea shared an eventful match with slavia prague at stamford bridge — winning 4—3 on the night. to go through 5—3 on aggregate, nick parrott has more. slob via prague came to stanford bridge with their coach hoping to be chelsea's strongest side, he would've been pleased to see him make his second start in this

season's competition. at the belgians presence might have been a distraction, because it was a spaniard who was the most dangerous man. pedro opening the scoring in just the fifth minute. then unwittingly forcing a second off the face of simon deli just four minutes later. the checks still seem dazed when pedro turned providerfor 0livia jerusha. chelsea's success bred complacency though. tourney five units on the car, and sloppy hits back. that shook the home site awakened, into 63 seconds later, pedro had his second. that wasn't the end of the drama. the visitors we re the end of the drama. the visitors were dreaming of an upset of totte n ha m were dreaming of an upset of tottenham proportions when he struck two almost identical goals early in the second half. unlike manchester city, chelsea held on to reach the semi finals. nick parrott, bbc news. arsenal made it back to back clean sheets against napoli in their quarterfinal, a 1—0 win in italy meaning they go through 3—0 on aggregate. a fantastic free kick from alexandre lacazette

was the difference in naples, as arsenal make it to