earlier i spoke to laura bicker in washington and asked her how risky this approach was.f all, it is a strategy in which

and we'll have more on this story from our washington correspondent, laura bicker, later in the programme here with alllei business news. when can advertisers trust their products are being looked it? yes. thanks, adnan. more now on our top story: one thing that all businesses have] of what they do, is advertising. making yourself known brings in customers and their cash. but advertising can also be a sizeable investment, and whatever size of business you have, you don't want to be ripped off. that's bound to be discussed at one of the industry's big annual events starting in london in the next few hours. so, how much is spent on advertising? worldwide, across all forms of media, it's estimated to be at almost half a trillion dollars a year. that's last year's figures. but where companies chose to spend their ad dollars is changing. about 38% went on traditional tv adverts last year, with 36% on digital platforms. you can see that here. this year, on—line ads are set to become the biggest slice of the advertising pie. but the platforms which host the ads, like google and facebook, are gra

laura bicker in washington there.ghtingronrthe edge e damascus, where rebels have launched a major offensive that's brought them close to the old city. government forces responded ofjobar, around two kilometres east of the old city walls. blood tests have revealed that a man who attacked soldiers at 0rly airport in paris on saturday had taken drugs and alcohol. 39—year—old zayed ben belgacem was killed after he put a gun to a soldier's head saying he wanted to die for allah. the man's father told french radio his son had never been a terrorist. the socialist candidate for the french presidency benoit hamoh has told supporters at a rally that everything begins today in an effort to boost his campaign. in two weeks. since he won the socialist primary injanuary, the 49—year—old has failed to unite the party behind him. brazil's president michel temer has tried to reassure foreign countries about the scandal engulfing the meat industry. mr temer told ambassadors that his government is confident about the quality of brazil

watergate scandal, but offered no evidence that it had taken place. 0ur washington correspondent laura bickere is a protocol between presidents, even across the political divide — a peaceful handover of power even when the pair do not get along. in a tirade of tweets donald trump has trashed this tradition. he accused barack obama of ordering a wire tap on his trump tower phone, not in one, but in four tweets. the last read: "how low has president obama on to attack my "phones during the very secret election process?" "this is nixon — watergate." what a contrast to his tone during this week's address to congress. this was not the pivot to a different kind of president that many people thought. so were the trump towers phones tapped ? the conservative news organisation breitbart seems to think so, and it blames barack obama. but no president has the power to order a wiretap, only the fbi can do that, with a warrant from the court. president trump is now facing calls to produce proof of his claims. in the last hour, a spokesman for mr obama has responded to president trump's claims. he said: "n

that was the bbc‘s laura bicker.port on his home island of madeira named after him. however, it was his rather odd—looking statue that attracted most of the attention at the unveiling ceremony, as our reporter sarah corker explains. cristiano ronaldo is a local hero in madeira. the islands most famous son, a rags to riches success. on the island of madeira he is a local hero and in tribute to his success the airport has been named after him with a new statue unveiled. but this probably wasn't quite the likeness he was expecting. i'm fazed by the bulgy eyes of the past behind him he thanked the regional government for this new tribute. —— bust. but social media hasn't been quite so kind. the statue has already got its own spoof twitter page. football fans said it looks more like former republic of ireland captain noel quesne van ronaldo. another wrote... —— then. one fan said... and another statue again in ronaldo's hometown has also been the subject of ridicule. across—the—board there are ronaldo waxworks, monuments,

laura bicker, bbc news, washington.osis and treatment of tuberculosis. using genome sequencing they can isolate different strains of tb more quickly, giving patients a greater chance of recovery. the leading candidate in the french presidential election, the centrist emmanuel macron has won the backing of a senior member of the socialist government. defence ministerjean—yves le drian is expected to make his support public in a newspaper interview on friday. russia's state—controlled television has rejected an offer from organisers of the eurovision song contest to let their contestant perform via satellite. host country ukraine has banned the russian singer yulia samoilova from the country, accusing her of illegally visiting crimea, which was annexed by russia three years ago. the man who ran hillary clinton's failed presidential bid has accused the fbi of double standards in its investigations during the election. john podesta has told the bbc fbi directorjames comey kept quiet about the investigation into possible col

thank you very much indeed, laura bicker in washington.e centre right presidential candidate, francois fillon, has admitted to his supporters that he should not have asked his wife to work for him. mr fillon has repeatedly denied paying taxpayers' money to family members for little or no work. senior politicians in his party are due to discuss his continued candidacy tomorrow. i've been speaking to our pairs correspondent hugh schofield. it was very dramatic stuff, delivered in the teeth of a howling gale. a hailstorm at one point. before a sea of supporters, with their red, white and blue flags. it was quite exciting stuff, fighting stuff as well. the impression that you got from what he was saying was that he has no intention of standing aside. he was appealing to the faithful, these were the faithful, saying i made a mistake... he said that before, that he was ethically wrong in what he did. but not in law. but, iam wrong in what he did. but not in law. but, i am the person who you voted for because my programme is the right one to get

that was the bbc‘s laura bicker.nt trump signed an order rolling back some of his predecessor's environmental policies. experts say that will take the us back a step in meeting global targets. so what is the scientific community to do? well, nada tawfik takes a look. scientists and their process are under attack. and that's really terrifying. science has made a new discovery that you can ignore politics but it will not ignore you. we're going to cancel the paris climate agreement. we will stop giving money to these un global warming programmes. the american public and perhaps the public of the world really do feel like their world views are not being reflected. the government is doubting the facts. conservative voters particularly concerned scientists. trust in research is at a a0 year low. how can scientists change that? i would love to see 20% of congress made up of scientists and engineers. and i think we would have a very different approach to governing if we did have that. rather than waiting for a seat at the t

laura bicker in washington.nterterrorism police are tried to work out if the man behind the westminster attack was alone or work with others. —— working. police have released the first image of the attacker — 52—year—old khalid masood. seven of the people who were arrested have now been released. four are still being questioned. here's our special correspondent lucy manning. the face of khalid masood. the face that confronted police officers at parliament. the face that looked out of the car at pedestrians, as he knocked them over. the 52—year—old was known by a number of names. born adrian elms in kent, by the time he was at huntleys secondary school for boys in tunbridge wells, he was called adrian ajao, after his mother got married. school friends remembered him as a sporty pupil, who liked to party. adrian was a nice lad, a fun guy, always laughing, always joking. worked reasonably hard. good at sport. played rugby very well. just an unassuming guy. but masood was soon developing a reputation for violence. i

laura bicker, bbc news, washington.come: a vigilfor the victims of wednesday's attack. and london's mayor says it won't divide the city. so proud of both of you. with great regret, the committee have decided that south africa be excluded from the 1970 competition. streaking across the sky, the white hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. this is bbc world news. i'm sally bundock. the latest headlines. the perpetrator of the westminster attack has been identified as a 52—year—old british man, who converted to islam and changed his name to khalid masood. president trump has insisted that the us congress votes on republican healthcare reforms on friday even though it's unclear whether the bill has enough support to pass. the attack in london has focused minds again on the global threat posed by so—called islamic state — and how to combat it. in syria, the military battle to defeat is in their self—proclaimed capital of raqqa in northern syria is gaining ground. and earlier this month, syrian forces, backe

, laura bicker, who joins us from washington.utsider, because he was unconventional yet this address to congress was very conventional indeed. especially considering he was in an environment thatis considering he was in an environment that is very new to him. this was a one—hour speech which contained ins and highlights those who followed his campaign rallies. there was the phrase america —— make america great again. there was the border war with mexico and a new outline for an immigration policy. in the past, his talk has been of making sure that bad dudes do not get into the country. the talk in the chamber has been a new immigration policy based on merit system, the likes of canada and australia. that was new. he talked on a trillion — dollar investment in infrastructure across the united states. that'll be good news to any of those construction companies and those who wantjobs with those companies and yes, a lot of talk about jobs and with those companies and yes, a lot of talk aboutjobs and how he would create them and how h

let's get the latest now on this live from washington, and our correspondent laura bicker. some possible agreement. but regardless of what all of this is saying, this boat is delayed. here's what we know so boat is delayed. here's what we know so far —— this a vote. this vote is delayed. it's an embarrassment to the white house because donald trump prides himself on doing deals and he hasn't managed to persuade those in his own party to vote for his health reforms. however, in the last hour with had some breaking news. president trump appears to have issued an ultimatum to the republicans. he said he wants a vote on friday, which is tomorrow here in the united states, he wants a vote on the repeal and replacement of this healthcare act or he's prepared to leave it and move on. why is this important? because there are some within the republican party who has been fighting for the last seven yea rs been fighting for the last seven years since this law was passed to repeal it and replace it. this is something that they've made their key campaign pledge and here is donald trump

laura bicker, bbc news, washington. moment, the look at how the financial markets close the day. but first the headlines. all schools in england will have to teach sex and relationships education with children as young as four being given age—appropriate lessons. the government is facing defeat on its brexit bill in the house of lords with peers seeking to protect the rights of eu citizens living in the uk. it comes as the president of the european commission invites opinions on the way ahead for the european union after brexit. hello. now a look at how the markets in europe have ended the trading session. the ftse hit a six—week high today. commodity related stocks — so companies that produce raw materials like copper and iron ore for example have done well. banks did well as well — as further hikes in us interest rates look more likely. the pound sunk to a five—week low against the us dollar after an unexpected drop in february's manufacturing pmi figures. the us stock market the dowjones has hit a new high within min

earlier from washington the bbc‘s laura bicker explained where the claims have come from.art news, a conservative publication, the former publication of his chief strategist, they came out with a story alleging that there should be an investigation into president 0bama's conduct, because they believe it was under his orders that the fbi started to conduct an investigation into whether or not some of the trump campaign aides during the election had contact with russian officials. there is certainly no confirmation that such an investigation is going on. it's understood that there is. there have been media reports that the fbi asked to tap the phones at trump tower, during the presidential election last summerer. they were denied that request initially, according to the media reports. they were eventually granted access in october, again according to those media reports. nothing has been confirmed. what president trump seems to be saying is that any investigation being conducted by the fbi is under the orders of president obama. he says that in itself warrants an investigati

our correspondent laura bicker is in washington. do you think this is likely to get bigger, this case, this suit, and what exactly are the grounds? well, this is what happened last time, a number of states came forward and a numberjoined the fray. but yes, washing —— washington state was the key one, judge robart initiated that order. just hearing from the washington state attorney general, bob ferguson, he said that it is time that donald trump was told not so fast. he says it is still unconstitutional because it is still unconstitutional because it is still a muslim ban. he quoted the president's words back at him from during the campaign trail. he says he will be speaking to a number of employers from xpedia to amazon who says it will adversely affect their companies, and policies and universities, if people from these countries are not allowed in. the white house says it is confident that this ban in its current form will stand up to legal interpretation, to legal talent. now, the changes, let's look at the changes, current visa

election campaign, of course, preston trump said that he loved wikilea ks. 0ur correspondent, laura bicker out that there was a big difference between there was a big difference between the situation surrounding the wikileaks release the situation surrounding the wikilea ks release of the situation surrounding the wikileaks release of e—mails from calorie content which embarrassed the democratic candidate. —— helen the democratic candidate. —— helen the continent. wikileaks cia wikilea ks cia and wikileaks cia and one of the most sophisticated hacking organisations in the globe. according to the documents, uncle unverified, they we re documents, uncle unverified, they were trying to pretend that these we re were trying to pretend that these were russian tactics. the documents also claim that some of the operational hardware that was used by the cia had been stolen by criminals. very serious claims within these documents. the cia and the fbi are no recorded 18 and or operation to check that everyone who works through them, to try and find out who maybe be find the leak. the german foreign m

here's laura bicker.e was one of donald trump's close advisers and appointed national security advisor. it's understood that he is asking, and is in discussion with the senate, house and house intelligence committees, about giving testimony in return for being granted immunity or protection from what he calls unfair prosecution. now, it's worth remembering that general flynn was the national security advisor, but was forced to resign from the administration after it was disclosed that he misled the vice president about the nature of his calls with the russian ambassador, and the fbi is investigating his links to russia. but his lawyer, in a letter, says he has a story to tell, and very much wants to tell it to the senate and house intelligence committees, he said, but no reasonable person would submit to questioning in this witch—hunt environment without insurances against unfair prosecution. so that's the latest that we have on michael flynn, who may or may not give evidence. but, with regard to the evid

what happened along the way was streamed live fresh from their trip, the bbc‘s laura bicker caught upce. part of the drama of this was would we get to vote in time? we only had 36 hours. could we get along with each other? that is a big coffee |. they drove through themgbt’ catching the attention of a divided nation. i need to sleep, but i can't turn this off. that is so funny. they livestreamed their debate, taking questions on border control healthcare, the threat of terrorism. a town hall on wheels. do we defund the department of education? no. there were singalongs. a whole lot of doughnuts. cheers, buddy. they also took an odd detour including to the gates of graceland. when you see, you know, there is a cool congressman like that. like bete q'beeriee' ~ about music or a healthy guy like beto who enjoys doughnuts. how many doughnuts to you eat per week? i am not a big doughnut eater. this is the high—tech map that i worked on last night. i am supposed to be the cyber security guy and we couldn't work the camera properly or the speaker. i think that humanised the entire trip. the

earlier i spoke to laura bicker in washington and asked her how risky this approach was.all, it is a strategy in which the previous administration they have had 100 racialforces the previous administration they have had 100 racial forces working behind the scene, equipping and training in the army to defeat the so—called islamic state. this is a biggerfootprint as well so—called islamic state. this is a bigger footprint as well in terms of number on the ground. there is a danger of mission creep. it could ta ke two danger of mission creep. it could take two weeks, in some ways it could take two months, or two years. you could be getting further involved in syria. remember the promised president 0bama of no boots on the ground that is a reversal of that. lives are on the line. a lot of risk for the trump administration in this deployment. there is bitter division dividing the militia fighting is. the us believes there isa fighting is. the us believes there is a particular kurdish force is placed to help them but turkey says they are a terrorist force. does the us dragged i

our correspondent laura bicker is in washington. hello, laura. this mean for trump and the republicans? when it comes to the republican party, they look like the party of drama, defeat and disappointment. when it came down to it, after seven years of promising to repeal and replace obamacare, when it came down to the moment of asking, theyjust could not do it. they were spared the humiliation of defeat after not calling the vote, but it does look incredibly embarrassing. it is a real setback for the republicans. the right of the party didn't like the bill, neither did the left. it meant they could not find some consensus and serious questions will be asked about their governing abilities going forward. will they be able to make real decisions? real policy decisions. paul ryan, house speaker, dismissed it as a growing pains of his government, but he will have to go away and lick his wounds, wondering how to move forward. president trump has sold himself as the ultimate deal—maker and when it came to it, coming to his first attempt at legislation c

i asked our correspondent laura bicker in washington what exactly are the grounds of this suit.number of states came forward and a number of states came forward and a numberjoined number of states came forward and a number joined the fray number of states came forward and a numberjoined the fray but, yes, washington state was the key one. judge robart issued the order against the travel ban and they asking to continue that. bob ferguson, the state attorney general, said it is time donald trump was told not so fast. he says it is still unconstitutional because it is still unconstitutional because it is still a muslim ban. he quoted the president words back at him from the president words back at him from the campaign trail. he will be speaking to lawyers and a number of universities who say it would adversely affect their businesses, colleges, universities, if people from these six countries are not allowed in. the white house says it is confident that this ban in its current form will stand up to legal interpretation, to legal challenge. let's go through those changes at that cu

we get the latest from washington from laura bicker.ady going on in the house, but this is the upper chamber. these are almost the big boys, so to speak. and both the democrats republicans are very importantly stood side by side in that press conference, as they announced that they had called 20 witnesses. now, those witnesses will include president donald trump's son—in—law, jayakrishna, and his former campaign manager, paul manafort. they are alleged to have met with the russian ambassador during the latter half of 2016, in the light blatter part of the campaign. —— son—in—law, jared kushner. this is all looking for alleged ties between the kremlin and donald trump's campaign. it runs in tandem with the fbi's current investigation. this is a political investigation. this is a political investigation. and certainly, when it comes to politics, the parallel investigation down in the house seems to be falling apart. hearings are not being held and there are accusations between democrats and republicans, and in fact, has democrats have eve

from washington, laura bicker.ged russian meddling of the us presidential election, there are two main questions. did they do it and he‘ did donald trump and'fifsaides did they do it and he‘ did donald trump and'fifs aides do did they do it and he‘ did donald trump and' fe aides do it? did they do it and he‘ did donald trump and'fifs aides do it? the did they do it and he‘ did donald trump and' fe aides do it? the first trump and his aides do it? the first question, 17 agents came forward gave evidence that russia did try to with the election and many of meddle with the election and many of them said they did so to help donald trump. did donald trump or his aides know anything about it? did they couude know anything about it? did they collude with the russians as mac so far we heard evidence saying there is nothing to say that donald trump oi’ is nothing to say that donald trump or his aides knew anything about it. that is what we hfii from or his aides knew anything about it. that is what we heard from devin nunes thi

our correspondent laura bicker has more from washington.ing that was clear that yesterday's drama is that both republicans and president trump balls spokesman to push forward the message that president trump had done all he could, that he had been up done all he could, that he had been up to the help, notjust twisting arms but breaking them, when it came to persuade republicans. the problem is, when it comes to comes to politician to represent different districts across the united states of america, you have very differing views with than the one party. on the left of the party, they thought the left of the party, they thought the reforms went too far and would leave too many people without medical insurance and underrated of the party, they felt the reforms did not go far enough and they too could not go far enough and they too could not come to any consensus. when he says we will come together, that we will piece together a new health ca re will piece together a new health care plan, right now, that is not looking very likely. a17—year—ol

let's get the latest now on this live from washington, and our correspondent laura bicker.hey? yes, because with the initial reforms this budget office turned around and said how will exactly is going to live 2a million people uninsured within the next decade. now they have tinkered with the reform and they have gone away and made a few more deals but the offers have come back and, by the way, this is a bipartisan committee, it has returned and said it will still leave 2a million more uninsured in the next decade and, by the way, some of these reforms will cost you even more. and eat into the budget deficit. however, the problem with all of this is that no—one can agree on where they go with it, with the healthcare reform. for some republicans, the current bill as it is, the repeal and replace bill goes far too far. they believe it will leave more people uninsured than it does now. but for other conservatives that they see government overreach, they see the hand of government in health—insurance and they do not like it. so they want to strip away some reform, for example em

laura bicker is in washington says donald trump has already moved the conversation onto trade.lk about industry bringing backjobs, yes, he has been talk about industry bringing back jobs, and yes, he has been talk about industry bringing backjobs, and that is exactly what he has tried to do in the last few hours. after a bruising week, another bruising week, he is trained to move it back to his own kind of comfortable territory. and he tried to do that by signing two executive orders on trade, trying to stop the cheap import of foreign goods and also reduce that half $1 goods and also reduce that half $i trillion trade deficit. but as he was signing those orders, i think you can see from the pictures, here, as he was signing those orders, a reporter shouted out a question about michael flynn, and donald trump seems to have got a rather distracted and forgot to sign those executive orders. in fact, the vice president, mike pence, had to take off the table, and they eventually signed off camera. but russia really is the scandal donald trump cannot shake. but is go to devoted —— h

will be speaking to laura bicker, our correspondent, very short.nt, very short. does very soon. —— very soon. police investigating the terror attack on westminster have been trying to establish whether the man behind it was working alone or with others. detectives have also released the first image of the attacker, 52—year—old khalid masood, who was born in kent and named adrian elms at birth. they're appealing for information from anyone who knew him. here's our special correspondent, lucy manning. the face of khalid masood, the face that confronted police officers at parliament. the face that looked out of the car at pedestrians as he knocked them over. the 52—year—old was known by a number of names. born adrian elms in kent, by the time he was at this boys' secondary school in tunbridge wells, he was called adrian ajao after his mother got married. school friends remembered him as a sporty pupil who liked to party, "a very nice guy". adrian was a very nice lad, a fun guy, always laughing, always joking, worked reasonably hard, good at sport, pla

. —— this is laura bicker.re is a protocol between presidents, even across the political divide — a peaceful handover of power even when the pair do not get along. in a tirade of tweets donald trump has trashed this tradition. he accused barack obama of ordering a wire tap on his trump tower phone, not in one, but in four tweets. the last read: what a contrast to his tone during this week's address to congress. it appears this was not the pivot to a different kind of president that many people thought. so were the trump towers phones tapped 7 the conservative news organisation breitbart seems to think so, and it blames barack obama. did this article start the twitter cascade? but no president has the power to order a wiretap, only the fbi can do that, with a warrant from court. president trump is now facing calls to produce proof of his claims. we can speak to laura who is in our washington bureau. you said that president trump has been asked to produce evidence, has he? no, he hasn't. we know he went off to pl

fbi, . . z;:—'§r:f§r§§§€l§iifi§—— fiuzfilfifi: fifiut fifizffizrfiuw‘g earlier our washington correspondent laura bickerlleged russian meddling of the us presidential election, there are two questions. the first is, was main questions. the first is, was russia responsible for trying to hack mt" donald trump's democratic hack into donald trump's democratic rivals? well, certainly 17 intelligence agencies have said that intelligence agencies have saidrthat: russians were behind several hacks. they also believe that russia tried to meddle in the us presidential election, which leads us to the second question, did donald trump know about this or did his aides know about this or did his aides know about this or did his aides know about this? so far what we've heard from the likes of james clapper, the former director of national intelligence under barack 4: 1.1” % 4.11 1.1” % he 41. 1.111 % he has 4111.111 % he has said there's no 0bama, he has said there's no evidence to suggest such collusion and today we've from representative nunes who has said there's no evidence that he has seen of such a collusion. no

nick bryant, bbc news, new york. 0ur washington correspondent, laura bicker, has been getting the latestrump's allegations. many of his critics and some democrats are saying this is exactly what donald trump was looking for when he started his tweed storm yesterday morning. they say this is a deflection tactic, but donald trump is trying to deflect attention away from the constant controversy over his campaign links to russian intelligence agents. when it comes to jeff intelligence agents. when it comes tojeff sessions, his attorney general, he had to step aside from being in charge of any investigation into the current campaign this week because he failed to disclose a meeting with the russian ambassador to the us under both to the senate. president trump was said to be furious thatjeff sessions had to step aside and then, 2k hours later, we have this storm. democrats believe this is a deflection tactic. 0thers believe this is a deflection tactic. others are wondering is this something we need to take sirius late, because he has made a very serious allegation towards president 0bama. it

let's get more on this with laura bicker whojoins us live from washington.all on the statement about collusion with russia what have we heard? when it comes to the accusation that russia meddled in the 2016 us presidents election the question is did they do it and what the donald trump and his aides now? 17 intelligence agencies have come forward and said they have evidence that russia tried to meddle with the election and many of them say they did so to help donald trump win so that brings you to the second question, the donald trump or his aides know anything about it, did they collude with the russians? so far we have heard evidence to say there is nothing to say that donald trump or his aides knew anything about that and that is what we have heard from the represent of this morning on fox news.” heard from the represent of this morning on fox news. i am going to be very simple, no. no evidence. and this was after getting this information from the fbi? after everything i have this morning. no evidence of collusion. russia has a lwa ys evidence of collusio

our correspondent in washington is laura bicker.as all latest for us now. just a little bit of breaking news that i can tell you, that there have been reports that general michael flynn, now, he was one of donald trump's close advisers during the presidential campaign, and also he was appointed as national security adviser, now it is understood that he was asking, and is in discussion with, the senate house and house intelligence committee is, about giving testimony in return for being granted immunity or protection from what he calls unfair prosecution. now, it is worth remembering that general flynt was the national security advisor but was forced to resign from the administration after it was disclosed that he misled the vice president at about the nature of his calls with the russian ambassador, and the fbi is investigating his links to russia. but he is lawyer in a letter says he has a story to tell and very much wa nts to has a story to tell and very much wants to tell it to the senate and house intelligence committees, he say

the bbc‘s laura bicker is in washington.lmark of president trump's campaign was his rhetoric on immigration and of course building that border wall. he talked about that border wall. he talked about that in the speech, he called it a great great wall and said work was under way on proposing the wall and how it would work but he then went on to outline a new immigration policy, one we haven't really heard before and the tone had softened. he was talking about a merit based system, so a system like they have in canada and australia. here's what he to say. my administration has answered the pleas of american people for immigration enforcement and border security. applause by finally enforcing our immigration laws we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions and billions of dollars and make our communities safer for everyone. applause we want all americans to succeed, but that can't happen in an environment of lawless chaos. we must restore integrity and the rule of law at our borders. applause we've had some breaking

i asked laura bicker what this meant for donald trump's plans.s been delayed but the timing of the announcement was crucial because moments earlier president trump had said that there were enough votes and the deal would be done and then congress and announced that there would be no vote this evening. that is what we are here for, that is what we have expected. it has been to malta was day on capital hill as the president was once again they're trying to twist the arms of republicans to vote to these health—care reforms. and you are correct, it was a key campaign cry. he wanted to repeal and replace obama care. why? considering the numbers show that millions more are insured under obama care. in some states they don't have a choice and many insurance premiums have rocketed, skyrocketed because of the insurance costs of obama care. that is one of the reasons why he wants to repeal and replace. but the plan they are trying to come up with, no—one seems to agree. the man who ran hillary clinton's failed presidential bid has accused the fbi of ‘doubl

our correspondent in washington laura bicker gave details on the outcome of the first open hearing onday, the first was the level of sophistication it is being alleged when it comes to claims russia meddled in the election last year. cyber security experts are saying there was a disinformation campaign and they targeted key states in the united states and voters. they spread disinformation on various social media profiles and used to that to slander, in their view, the view of cyber security experts, one, certainly the hillary clinton campaign, and also trying to influence votes. the other level of this propaganda war, as they called it in this hearing, is being targeted times in this committee hearing, is targeting times when they believed the then candidate donald trump candidate was tweeting. they used those hours he was on line to put that disinformation online in the hope that the candidate would see it. and according to the cyber security expert giving evidence today, a former fbi agent, clint watts, he alleges that donald trump then cited some of that fake information. china sa

let's cross to our washington correspondent laura bicker.there are two main questions. the first is, once russia responsible for is. once russia, r, c, -' to is. once russia, r, s, -' to hack into donald trumps trying to hack into donald trumps democratic rivals? well, certainly 17 intelligence agencies have said that russians were behind several hacks. they also believe that russia tried to meddle in the us presidential election. the second question: did donald trump know about this, ordered his aides? so far what we have learned from james clapper, the former director of national intelligence under 0bama has said there is no evidence to suggest such a conclusion and today we have heard from representative nunez who has said there is no evidence that he has seen of such a collusion. that is important because he is the head of the house intelligence committee. he is head of the panel that all eyes will be on the next 2a hours, as many people ask those questions with regards to russia - that election. there was russia and that election. there

the bbc‘s laura bicker has been covering the story. but republicans control the house.washington. and still they could not get the job done. what was the problem? well, those within the partyjust simply couldn't agree. those on the left of the party hated the idea. those on the right of the party hated the idea. for some it went too far. for others, they didn't go far enough. so bringing those two sides together required the ultimate diplomat, it required the ultimate deal—maker, you would think. donald trump has sold himself during the campaign as the man who would get things done in washington. but it seems he has oversold his ability as a salesman because when it comes to politics he couldn't persuade them to get the job done. do you think this is more about divisions over 0bamacare within republican members of congress, rather than any issues between them and donald trump? it is more about republicans being unable to come together. paul ryan said yesterday in trying to blame it on growing pains, for the last eight years republicans have had to oppose democratic poli

laura bicker reports. donald trump is done doing deals.or change or there will be no changes at all. this has forced the hand of the house speaker. for seven and a half years we have been promising the american people that we will repeal and replace this broken law because it's collapsing and it's failing families. tomorrow we are proceeding. but the votes are far from assured as different factions of the party can't agree. for some the health reforms go too far, for others, not far enough. i'm still a no at this time, i'm desperately trying to get to yes and i think the president knows that. outside the capital they gathered in fear and frustration. chanting. 24 million americans could lose their health insurance if the reforms go ahead. struggling to afford medication. we try our hardest to save money. because we know the medication is going to finish in 30 days, they only last me 30 days, every month we have to start saving more and more money, it could last us longer. sometimes it's not possible. protesters circled the white house hopi

here's our washington correspondent laura bicker.trump's trip to congress gave him a few last moments to practise his speech. the president of the united states. yet again, the president delivered what few had expected — the most presidential of speeches. what we are witnessing today is the renewal of the american spirit. our allies will find that america is once again ready to lead. he softened his tone on immigration, talked of reform and a new merit—based entry system — a slight shift in policy. but he said it was still important to keep out those who would harm america. those given the high honour of admission to the united states should support this country, love its people and its values. we cannot allow a beachhead of terrorism to form inside america. we cannot allow our nation to become a sanctuary for extremists. then the announcement the republicans were waiting for. tonight, i am also calling on this congress to repeal and replace obamacare. still, no detail on how health care would be reformed for the millions who rely on

our correspondent laura bicker is in washington.esident trump's key election pledges. the fact he couldn't get rid of obamacare when the republicans control both houses of congress must be a huge blow? well, when you look at it he tried to blame the democrats. but republicans control the house. they control the senate, they role the white house. the major levers of power here in washington. and still they could not get the job done. what was the problem? well, those within the party just what was the problem? well, those within the partyjust simply couldn't agree. those on the left of the party hated the idea. those on the party hated the idea. those on the right of the party hated the idea. for some it went too far. for others, they didn't go far enough. so bringing those two sides together required the ultimate diplomat, it required the ultimate diplomat, it required the ultimate deal—maker, you would think. donald trump has sold himself as the — during the campaign, as the man who would get things done in washington. but it seems

laura bicker, bbc news, washington. that the khalid masood was formerly known as adrian russell ajao, as questions are being asked about how the 52—year—old became radicalised. police make two more significant arrests overnight in their investigation and they are trawling through massive amounts of computer data. they have urged the public to help them. an american tourist post a picture of murdered police officer pc keith palmer taken less than an hour before he died. a 75—year—old man who died from his injuries last night is named as leslie rhodes, from south london. this is the business news today. automatic compensation — that's what ofcom wants for landline and broadband customers facing slow repairs, missed deadlines and engineers' visits that fail to happen. the telecoms regulator says it could benefit up to 2.6 million customers — more on that in a moment. statutory maternity pay for uk mothers is among the worst in europe, according to analysis by the tuc. the trade union body says only ireland and slovakia hav