i am ben bland. hello. you are watching bbc world news. lam ben bland. al top hello. you are watching bbc world news. i am ben bland. al top stories this hour: british mps will vote later today on whether to allow the government to call a surprise general election in six weeks. prime minister theresa may says the vote will give their backing she needs for brexit negotiations with the eu. good to have you with us. welcome to the programme. our other main stories: by american and higher american says donald trump —— "buy american and hire american" says donald trump as he signs as he signs a new order restricting work visas for foreigners. and another record for ronaldo, with 100 goals in the champions league as real madrid reached the semifinals again. i'm sally bundock. in business the boss of the uk's biggest business lobby group — the cbi — gives us her reaction to the snap election called by the british prime minister. and we talk to facebook about policing violent material on the social media sit

i am ben bland. its founder's anniversary while defying the us. a funeral is held for the pakistani student killed by a mob after being accused of blasphemy. several thousand people have been resettled from four besieged towns in syria. they are the first of up to 30,000 people due to be moved. inhabitants from two government—held towns in opposition territory in idlib arrived near aleppo, which is controlled by president bashar al—assad's forces. at the same time, similar operation took place in two rebel—held towns west of damascus. other six years of conflict in syria, the historical centres of places like aleppo and homs now lie empty. there are now, however, the first tentative signs of rebuilding. beast to set —— lyse doucet reports from homs. from the ruins of war, the first rebuilding. this is the restoration project in the ancient quarter of homs. some of the worst battles took place here. this man has been the leading architect, designing the roof of the silk. —— souk. translation: the impo

i'm ben bland. the man who shot dead 3 welcome to bbc news. i'm ben bland. the man who shot dead a policeman in paris on thursday is said to have four previous convictions. officials have given details of his time in prison. translation: during his imprisonment of a0 years he didn't show any signs of radicalisation. —— 14 show any signs of radicalisation. —— ia years. security forces mobilise ahead of the french elections. the pm says everything will do to make sure the elections go smoothly. us troops target and kill leading member of the so—called islamic state group in syria. as theresa may campaigns for the upcoming election in the uk, there are suggestions of a possible softening of the government's thomas not to raise taxes. last week harry styles went to number one with this debut single! can he do it again? and the royal couple on the radio as they visit the bbc to talk about at all health and play some charttopping music. —— mental health. campaigning in france has ended ahead of the first round of voting in the presidential election. the final day

i'm ben bland. our top story this hour: the un will hold emergency talks after the suspected chemical attack in syria. it's one of the worst atrocities of the syrian war, killing at least 58 people, and sparking global condemnation. thank you forjoining us. welcome to the programme. our other main story is this our: —— stories this hour. north korea fires a ballistic missile into the sea ofjapan, just before a key summit between the us and china. frontrunners in the french presidential election clash over europe in their second tv debate. i'm sally bundock. in business, today politicians in the european parliament get a chance to debate brexit with meps well aware they have a final say once negotiations are complete. another brick in the wall: the bidding process for the building of president trump's controversial wall along the us—mexico border has ended. we are going to talk you through the proposals. hello. the international community has accused syria's president assad of being behind a suspecte

i'm ben bland with the headlines. the suspected chemical weapons attack in syria was "brutal, unabashed barbarism" according to the us secretary of state. at least 58 people died. hundreds more were affected. the un is set to stage emergency talks later. north korea has fired a ballistic missile into the sea ofjapan, prompting an angry reaction from south korea and japan. the launch comes ahead of a visit by china's president xi jinping to the united states to meet president donald trump. frontrunners in the french presidential election have clashed over europe in their second tv debate. the centrist candidate, emmanuel macron, said proposals by marine le pen of the national front amounted to "economic wa rfa re" colombia's president, juan manuel santos, has told the bbc the landslide that killed more than 250 people was a direct result of climate change. 300 people are still missing in the south—western town of mocoa. right, if you want to know what is going on in the financial world, i can tell you that sally is her

iam ben bland. vote, later on wednesday, in favour of an early general election, called for by the prime minister. she said she wanted to secure the backing of the british people for her brexit negotiations with the european union. theresa may has spoken to the german chancellor, angela merkel, and other european leaders about her decision. most reactions have been positive, with officials saying they want stability in the forthcoming negotiations. donald trump has signed an executive order designed to curb abuses of a long—standing visa programme and encourage companies to hire american. donald trump said widespread abuse of the immigration system was allow us workers to be replaced by people brought in from other countries. police in california say a shooting in which three white men were killed and another wounded is being treated as another wounded is being treated as a racial attack, not terrorism. the local police chief told reporters that the suspected attacker shouted god is great in arabic

i am ben bland.d. al top stories this hour: british mps will vote later today on whether to allow the government to call a surprise general election in six weeks. prime minister theresa may says the vote will give their backing she needs for brexit negotiations with the eu. good to have you with us. welcome to the programme. our other main stories: by american and higher american says donald trump —— "buy american and hire american" says donald trump as he signs as he signs a new order restricting work visas for foreigners. and another record for ronaldo, with 100 goals in the champions league as real madrid reached the semifinals again.

i'm ben bland. our top story this hour: over 50 people remain in hospital in st petersburg following the explosion on an underground train. eleven people died in the blast which prosecutors are treating as a terrorist act. president putin has declared three days of mourning. welcome to the programme. our other main stories this hour: colombians bury their dead, following the mudslide that killed over 250 people — a national emergency is declared. hundreds are still missing. and china's baby boom, driven partly by older mothers — we have a special report. i'm sally bundock. in business: a passage to india. uk chancellor philip hammond goes on a mission to drum up trade from one of the world's fastest growing economies. stuck in a holding pattern — a top airline boss warns brexit could cause chaos in the skies with flights between the uk and europe suspended once britain leaves the eu. people in russia are beginning three days of mourning, after 11 people were killed in what authorities believe was a

i'm ben bland. our top story this hour: rex goes to russia. america's secretary of state, rex tillerson, prepares for crucial talks over moscow's continuing support for syria's president assad. he's been finalising a joint message from the g7 nations, which may include a threat of new targeted sanctions. welcome to the programme. our other main stories this hour: smartphones capture the moment a passenger is forcibly dragged off an overbooked united airlines flight. one of the security officers involved has been placed on leave. we'll hear from someone who saw it all. and a report on the use of the death penalty around the world claims china is hiding the true number of executions it carries out. i'm aaron heslehurst. in business: they're finally here, after months of delays. japan's battered toshiba finally tells us its latest numbers and, i tell you what, they ain't for pretty reading. we're going to find out if this company will be booted from the tokyo stock exchange. and alexa start the car and

i'm ben bland.e gunman who shot dead a french policeman was known to them as karim cheurfi, a convicted criminal. us military officials say a close associate of the leader of the group which calls itself islamic state, has been killed in a commando raid near mayadin in syria. being gay in the deeply conservative, mainly muslim republic of chechnya comes with many risks. reports of torture, kidnapping, imprisonment, even death have emerged from gay rights activists in the past month. but chechnya's president has denounced the reports as distortion and slander. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rainsford has been to a safe house, and met several men who recently fled chechnya. their voices and identities have been disguised. rislan said he was tortured for being gay. we met in a safe house after he fled chechnya for his life. he told me he was kept prisoner by the security forces for more than a week, beaten daily and electrocuted. translation: they have a special black box and they tie wires to your han

i'm ben bland.esident putin has declared three days of mourning and laid flowers near the scene of the st petersburg metro blast, which killed 11 people and injured more than 50. investigators believe it was a terrorist act. a second device was found and defused at a second station. in colombia, funerals have been held for victims of the mudslide which killed at least 250 people. residents are still without water and electricity. officials are handing out sanitation kits and warning of the risk of disease. president trump has extended a warm welcome at the white house to egypt's leader, and declared a reboot in relations. abdel fattah al—sisi is the first egyptian president to visit the white house in nearly a decade. iraqi forces say they've opened safe corridors in western mosul for civilians to flee the battle to drive is out of the city. around 400,000 civilians are estimated to remain in the western half of mosul. now it's time for our news review. the arab news leads with the explosion on the

i'm ben bland.vious convictions. officials have given details of his time in prison. translation: during his imprisonment of a0 years he didn't show any signs of radicalisation. —— 14 show any signs of radicalisation. —— 1a years. security forces mobilise ahead of the french elections. the pm says everything will do to make sure the elections go smoothly. us troops target and kill leading member of the so—called islamic state group in syria. as theresa may campaigns for the upcoming election in the uk, there are suggestions of a possible softening of the government's thomas not to raise taxes. last week harry styles went to number one with this

i'm ben bland. our top story this hour: rex goes to russia. for crucial talks over moscow's continuing support for syria's president assad. he's been finalising a joint message from the g7 nations, which may include a threat of new targeted sanctions. welcome to the programme. our other main stories this hour: smartphones capture the moment a passenger is forcibly dragged off an overbooked united airlines flight. one of the security officers involved has been placed on leave. we'll hear from someone who saw it all.

i'm ben bland.emain in hospital in st petersburg following the explosion on an underground train. eleven people died in the blast which prosecutors are treating as a terrorist act. president putin has declared three days of mourning. welcome to the programme. our other main stories this hour: colombians bury their dead, following the mudslide that killed over 250 people — a national emergency is declared. hundreds are still missing. and china's baby boom, driven partly by older mothers — we have a special report. i'm sally bundock. in business: a passage to india. uk chancellor philip hammond goes on a mission to drum up trade

i'm ben bland. war — by sending warships to the region. speculation is mounting that pyongyang is about to conduct a sixth nuclear test — and promised a "merciless" response to any provocation. us commanders have insisted that the huge bomb used against so—called islamic state in afghanistan was the right weapon for thejob. afghan officials say there were no civilian casualties, but 36 is fighters were killed — however the group has denied suffering any losses. buses carrying hundreds of villagers and fighters have left four rebel held villages in syria — two of them close to the capital damascus. it is hoped more than 30,000 people will be moved under the deal. now on bbc news, it's time to click. this week, fighting crime before it happens. and keeping warm in the arctic.

this is business live from bbc news with aaron heslehurst and ben bland. day of reckoning on wall street. can america's banking giants back their sky—high share prices with sky—high profits? live from london, that's our top story on thursday the 13th of april. jpmorgan, wells fargo and citi kick off the earnings seasons where we'll get to learn the strength of any trump bump. also in the programme: "they're not currency manipulators" — the us president makes a big u—turn on his view of china's monetary policy. and as always we'll give you the latest lowdown on what's happening on the markets all around the world. cautious trading continues. and we'll be getting the inside track on the key to success in china. the founder of uk high street stalwart timpson‘s will be here to explain why he's expanding his key—cutting and shoe repair business overseas, and why brexit was the right thing to do. today, as burger king launches a new ad that hijacked google‘s home assistant, we want to know: do adverts need to be more creative to get your attention these days? le

i'm ben bland. our main story this owl: —— hour.ternational condemnation. the us wants the world to do more to curb its nuclear ambitions. in a speech to the national rifle association today, president trump hammered home the point that he would build a wall with mexico. that's despite recent signs of backing down over funding the barrier. so what can we expect in the next 100 days on this issue? the bbc‘s james cook explained how things now stand along the us—mexico border. there is a fence across quite a significant stretch of the border at the moment. perhaps a third of the border, perhaps slightly less, is fenced at the moment. you can see it here. we're the pacific end — the pacific ocean is just over there, that's mexico over in that direction. it runs along that way. the border itself goes some 2000 miles or 3000 kilometres towards the gulf of mexico. so building a wall all the way along it, almost everyone you speak to actually on the border itself tells you it's just not really practical or necessarily desirable. nonetheles

i'm ben bland.orst atrocities of the syrian war, killing at least 58 people, and sparking global condemnation. thank you forjoining us. welcome to the programme. our other main story is this our: —— stories this hour. north korea fires a ballistic missile into the sea ofjapan, just before a key summit between the us and china.

which at least 39 people died. 0ur correspondent in washington, laura bicker, told my colleague ben blandbout the raid. well, it does. the pentagon is giving very little away at the moment. we know there are around 500 us troops in syria. they mostly help out kurdish and arab forces, help train them, work alongside them, but we do know that there are some special operations forces. and on rare occasions they are tasked with targeting an individual, as in this case, it seems. now, it is very rare for usjust to hear case, it seems. now, it is very rare for us just to hear about it, but it is also very rare for these kind of ground troop attacks to take place, because they involve an extra risk. the us usually prefers a drone attack, usually targeting a vehicle to minimise civilian casualties, and they usually use a hellfire missile. but on this occasion they used ground troops to go in and target the man. so that is what we know about the operation so far, and we know that they chose to eliminate him because it his believed involvement in those istanbul nightclub bombings. so quite a high r

our correspondent ben bland is in croydon for us. bring us up—to—date. bring us up-to-date.an hour, the police have been updating us on there in investigation into this attack, which began at that bus stop just over my shoulder shortly before midnight on friday. police said they suspect it was a racially motivated attack. there was no reason for it. they said it was horrendous. the victim so viciously beaten that he was lucky not to have lost his life. the nature of it, it is thought around 20 or 30 people who had left the goat pub, just about 200 yards that way, they approached the victim, asked him where he was from. when he said he was an asylum seeker, they then set about attacking him. witnesses say they think something like ten people were involved in the attack, while ten or 20 others in the group stood around watching. even as he fell to the flock can they were kicking him in the head. police gave us a bit more details about the victim as well. this is a horrendous attack, racially motivated, there are 11 suspects, we have just arrested one, so suspects, we have just

this is business live from bbc news with ben bland and sally bundock. and then there were two — the final candidates for the french presidency, emmanuel macron and marine le pen, have been chosen, but what economic challenges will the winner face? we talk you through what's at stake. live from london, that's our top story on monday, 24th april. the candidates of both mainstream political parties in france have urged their supporters to back emmanuel macron for the presidency, after they were eliminated in the first round, but is he the man to to supercharge the french economy? also in the programme: is chinese steel cooling? china shuts down 29 plants and puts another a0 on warning. here is how the markets look. very strong, especially in paris. and we'll be getting the inside track on a business that's been able to draw on the artistic talents of its founder. we're going to be speaking to co—founder and creative director of wrendale designs. today we want to know, as uk politicians consider offering a price cap on energy bills, we want to know — what p

this is business live from bbc news with ben bland and aaron heslehurst. throwing out the junk. international investors go cold on south africa, as one of the continent's biggest economies moves from political to economic turmoil. live from london, that's our top story on 12th april. as south africa's battered economy tries to recover from a double downgrade, protesters are heading out on to the streets. we're live in johannesburg for this developing story. also in the programme, the bbc understands that the head of security at barclays is now facing an internal disciplinary probe over his part in a whistle—blowing inquiry. we will get all the news from the markets. and we'll be getting the inside track on one start—up that is taking used batteries and giving them a second life. as the boss of united airlines, we wa nt to as the boss of united airlines, we want to know when have you wished you'd apologised sooner? just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. welcome to the programme. as south africa's president jacob zuma celebrates his 75th birthday, the festivities may be rather more low

our correspondent ben bland is in croydon for us. this was a particularly vicious attack, what is the condition of the young man in hospital? he spent much of the weekend in intensive care. it is no wonder he needed that intensive medical care over the past couple of days. police when they were updating us days. police when they were updating us earlier said they feel he is making progress, at some point he will be well enough to move on to a general ward, and when he is able to they want to question him to get his recollections about what happened. here in croydon, it is what has been dominating conversations. people i passed by the little row of shops nearby, it is what they are all talking about. at one point, a couple of police sirens blared past, not sure if it was anything to do with this investigation but everything, everyone here on edge, wondering if it was kind of developer or breakthrough but a reminder perhaps that although five people have been charged this investigation is not over and police are still appealing for inf

in an area where this attack has raised tension. 0ur correspondent ben bland is in croydon for us.orrific but the police investigation is moving apace? yes, it certainly is. in the last few hours we have heard police sirens, more than one police cargo past where we are, not entirely sure what they were looking into, but certainly there was some activity going on. there's been a heavy police presence throughout the day. uniformed officers and officers in plain clothes given away only by noticing the handcuffs sticking out of their pockets. that is the bus stop where it's thought this attack took place. we know the name of the victim is rica ahmed, a 17—year—old kurdish iranian asylum seeker, a student here in london, he was out on friday night when he was set upon by this group. it was a group of it's thought ten people, continuing to kick him when he fell to the ground. those injuries that we've got more detail on were indeed horrific, fractured spine, skull and bleed on the brain. when you realise that, you realise why he's spent the weekend in intensive care. detectives earlier s

this is business live from bbc news with ben bland and aaron heslehurst. throwing out the junk.

this is business live from bbc news with ben bland and sally bundock.french economy? also in the programme: