aleem maqbool, bbc news, washington. and 19 other people injured after a motorist drove into pedestrians in new york. the car was driven at high speed on the pavement for three blocks near times square. the driver, an armed forces veteran, was arrested. it‘s thought to be a drink—driving incdent rather than one related to terrorism. police are investigating the deaths of eight babies at the countess of chester hospital. they were called in by staff concerned about the high death rate in the year tojune 2016. they are also reviewing the deaths of seven other babies and a number who became seriously ill during the same period. rolf harris will be released on bail from stafford prison in the morning. the entertainer is still on trial at southwark crown court, accused of indecently assaulting three teenagers between 1971 and 1983. he‘s expected to appear in court in person and denies all the charges against him. a former television producer has been convicted of trying to hire three men to kill his partner. the old bailey he

aleem maqbool reports. president's just not happy with the scrutiny he continues to come under over his links with russia. the entire thing has been a witch hunt. and there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can only speak for myself and the russians, zero. i think it divides the country. i think we have a very divided country because of that and many other things. did you at any time urge former fbi directorjames comey to close or back down the investigation into michael flynn? no. . . no. next question. the major development of the last 2a hours is the appointment of robert mueller to oversee the russian investigation. he's a man renowned for his independence, having been appointed fbi director by george w bush, and being asked to serve on longer than his term by barack obama. and his appointment has received support from many on both sides of the aisle. probably the best thing that has happened is that the deputy attorney general did appoint bob mueller, a man of impeccable i

aleem maqbool reporting. the headlines at 8:15pm...y launch their general election manifesto tonight with the promise of a second referendum on whether to leave the european union at the end of the brexit talks. donald trump faces increasing pressure over allegations he might have tried to shut down an fbi investigation into possible links between advisers and russia. chelsea manning, the former us soldier who passed hundreds of thousands of confidential diplomatic documents to wikileaks, has been released from a military prison in kansas. 0ne match in the premier league this evening, manchester united face southampton at st mary ‘s. romero has saved a southampton penalty. half an hour gone, it is goalless. the race to get into the premier league sees yorkshire rivals sheffield wednesday facing huddersfield at hillsborough for a place in the play—off against reding. no goals yet this evening. britain's kyle edmund is out of the rome masters, losing to one martin del potro in the second—round in straight sets. we will be back with more

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington.cking ofjames comey has led to us democrats and some republicans intensifying their calls for an independent investigation into links between the trump presidential election campaign and russia, as richard lister reports. james comey‘s impact on the american presidency has been profound. democrats say he swung the election against hillary clinton. trump supporters say he has undermined the white house. but the question is why now? i made a mistake using a private e—mail. now? i made a mistake using a private e-mail. when days before the election mr comby re—opened the investigation into whether mrs clinton had compromised national security by using a private e—mail server, trump security by using a private e—mail server, trump was security by using a private e—mail server, trump was thrilled. it took guts for director comey to make the move he made in light of opposition he had. then came this. although there is evidence of potential violations of statutes regarding the handling of cla

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington.nd speak to our correspondent gary o'donoghue the tightening of this sacking is rather curious, raising lots of questions. yes, it is, because in many ways the white house reasoning for getting rid of james many ways the white house reasoning for getting rid ofjames comey over his handling of hillary clinton's e—mails and that investigation, all those facts were pretty much no when donald trump came into office. there's been a little bit of toing and froing since, he's to correct the record on some evidence he gave to the senate, but really the things in the criticism is set out in the documentation, donald trump new. after he knew all that, invited him to the white house when he became president and put his arms around him, a big pro hug, as if he had his support. the thing that has changed is that the former director did confirm in congress last month that he was investigating possible coordination between the trump campaign and russia. so there aren't really many people that think t

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington. through to us from the us vice president, mike pence, saying firing james comey was simply the right decision, saying he is confident president trump will choose a replacement forjames comey who can restore confidence. those coming in from the us vice president. joining me now via webcam is drjacob parakilas, deputy head of the us and americas programme at chatham house. good afternoon to you. i guess we wouldn't be expecting the vice president to say anything other than that. the whole thing is very curious, given its not that long since president trump was praising mr comey. yes, it's very interesting timing. the fact that comey was castigated this week for misrepresenting what was found on anthony wiener‘s laptop, and what huma abedin had forwarded to anthony wiener during the course of the clinton e—mail scandal is the sort of proximate cause, it was certainly what the deputy attorney general cited in his letters giving reasons for the firing of james cited in his letters giving r

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington.ashington and speak to our correspondent gary o'donoghue gary, this is quite extraordinary, even by the standards we have become used to in the trump administration. was there any suggestion before this sacking president trump was deeply unhappy with director comey‘s performance? there was some suggestion he wasn't very happy about being investigated, that's certainly true. about a week ago there were social media activities in which he sort of suggested james comey had given hillary clinton what he described as "a pass" a free pass on her e—mails. even now hillary clinton blames james comey for losing her the election by announcing the reopening of that investigation just ten days before polling day. donald trump is sort of revered in both directions over his attitude to james comey. he once said he'd had a great deal of guts for taking that decision to reopen the investigation. now he says he doesn't have the confidence of anyone in washington and he needs someone anyone in washingto

aleem maqbool, bbc news, washington.will stay in the united states for our next story because in new york's times square and 18—year—old woman has died and 22 people were injured after a car was driven the pavement, knocking people down. the driver, a 26—year—old former us servicemen is in custody. police say that they do not think this is terror related. they say that the man had previous drink—driving convictions. the worst went through my mind of course and that is why the mirror and my mind of course and that is why the mirrorandi my mind of course and that is why the mirror and i came here as quickly as we could. we spoke to the detective chief of manhattan south and we quickly determined that at this time it does not appear to be terrorist related. same thing exactly. obviously we know that the times living in and we know it is a dangerous moment in history. i also had some of the second i heard times square, i knew there a tremendous police presence but as we have learned more, again, there is no indication that t

our washington correspondent aleem maqbool gave more details of the new york times report.has now been confirmed by several news agencies and if it is true it is eager even than the story we have been discussing for the last 24 we have been discussing for the last 2a hours because their details, as you say, something that appears to show ina you say, something that appears to show in a memo that president trump asked james comey as director of the fbi to drop an investigation into michael flynn, the former national security adviser. that is very serious if it is proved that donald trump was trying to impede an investigation. but what we know now is that james comey was keeping investigation. but what we know now is thatjames comey was keeping a paper trail because he perceived that there were efforts by the president to try and i'm fairly influenced his investigation which, in itself, appears to be alarming enough. but then there was this one moment which has come to light which james comey road after a meeting on the 14th of february with president trump where he wrote dow

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington. academy in leicester. 0ur reporter andrew plant is at drayton manor for us this morning. we understand there has been an updated statement from the school? that is correct. they said they are deeply shocked and saddened by what happened yesterday and have asked for time to grieve at this morning. drayton manor remains closed today asa drayton manor remains closed today as a mark of respect to the girl's family and also to allow investigations to continue. we do not know her name but we know she was a year 6 student who was here on a school trip with staff and other pupils at yesterday when she was on the ride. you can go on this ride with six other students. she fell into the water and was taken out by drayton manor staff, given first aid and then airlifted to hospital where she tragically died, in birmingham a short while later. you probably know the type of ride she was on, everybody on a circular bow with a ring around the outside. ex— people ata time, ring around the outside. ex—

our washington correspondent aleem maqbool reports.bsolutely exclusive news out of washington tonight. an alert, james comey has been fired. americans have learned to expect almost anything from their president but this really was high drama. fbijames comey was not even in washington, he was addressing staff in los angeles when he learnt he had been said. a letter that arrived at fbi headquarters. you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately. it was signed, donald trump. accept the trump campaign was being investigated by the fbi for its links to russia. james comey was leading the investigation and now he's gone. are people going to suspect cover—up? absolutely. if an independent prosecutor is appointed there is some faith that we can get to the bottom of this is not eve ryo ne to the bottom of this is not everyone was suspect a cover—up. to the bottom of this is not everyone was suspect a cover-up. the president adviser dismissed the motion. it has nothing to do with the rush hour. it has everything to do

our north america correspondent aleem maqbool is in washington.es are down again. until that problem is solved, the danger of a continued income squeeze remains. yes, this presidency has it seems lurched from one controversy to the next. but with this scandal, donald trump may be on the shakiest ground yet. in his first appearance since the story broke he has been as defiant as ever. no politician in history, and i say this with great assurety, has been treated worse, or more unfairly, you can't let them get you down. you can't let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams. adversity makes you stronger. don't give in, don't back down, and never stop doing what you know is right. he has become more famous than me. it centre on relations between these two men. james comey was fired as fbi director by donald trump last week. the allegation is the president had tried to get him to dropa president had tried to get him to drop a key investigation. mr comby was looking into links between michael flynn and russia. but its reported the fb

for more let's talk to the bbc‘s aleem maqbool, who's here with me now.elief. so they target specific towns, they know where... they target specific towns and that i have the data on which towns are vulnerable. it is stunning. incredible. you have been covering this story, what is the reaction from mr sterling's family? it has been interesting. all eyes were on the family because of all that protest that happened last year, the family was fairly positive, they said ok, the department ofjustice has said that it doesn't meet their criteria for charging these officer, but they say they now have had more information from the department of justice, that will make it easier to prosecute these officers at a state level, so there is still the opportunity, you know, all the talk before now, over the last 24 hours or so before now, over the last 24 hours or so of rumour that the department ofjustice was not going to prosecute, was that it was something to do with the fact that donald trump was always support porting the police officers, that the attorney general ha

aleem maqbool reports. absolutely explosive news out of washington tonight.x news alert — fbi director, james comey, has been fired by the president of the united states. americans have learned to expect almost anything from their president but this really was high drama. fbi director, james comey, was not even in washington, he was addressing fbi staff in los angeles, when he learnt he had been sacked. a short while later, a letter arrived at fbi headquarters. "you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately. while i greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that i am not under investigation, i nevertheless concur with the judgement of the department ofjustice that you are not able to affectively lead the bureau." it was signed, "donald trump". he's become more famous than me. except the trump campaign was being investigated by the fbi for its links to russia. james comey was leading the investigation and now he's gone. are people going to suspect cover—up? absolutely. if an independent special prosecutor is app

director — who was sacked by mr trump — to be released to congress. 0ur north america correspondent aleem maqboole on the shakiest ground yet. in his first appearance since the story broke, he has been as defiant as ever. no politician in history, and i say this with great assurety, has been treated worse, or more unfairly. you can't let them get you down. let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams. adversity makes you stronger. don't give in, don't back down, and never stop doing what you know is right. he has become more famous than me. it all centres on relations between these two men. james comey was fired as fbi director by donald trump last week. the allegation is the president had tried to get him to drop a key investigation. mr comey was looking into links between michael flynn and russia. but it's reported the fbi director kept details of his meetings with mr trump and wrote this in a crucial memo. it says the president told him... this is not good for america. with what looks to many like the president trying to impede an investigation, it has had some comparing to

aleem maqbool reports. absolutely explosive news out of washington tonight. a fox news alert, fbi director, james comey, has been fired by the president of the united states. americans have learned to expect almost anything from their president, but this really was high drama. fbi director, james comey, wasn't even in washington — he was addressing fbi staff in los angeles when he learned he'd been sacked. a short while later, a letter arrived at fbi headquarters. "you're hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately. while i greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that i'm not under investigation, i nevertheless concur with the judgment of the department ofjustice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau." and it was signed, donald trump. he's become more famous than me. except the trump camp was being investigated by the fbi for its links to russia. james comey was leading the investigation and now he's gone. are people going to suspect cover up? absolutely. if an independent special prosecutor is appoi