congress into whether the obama administration tapped donald trump's phone. it's offered no evidence to support its claim. the second day of china's annual nationalake a look at some front pages from around the world. the china daily is of course leading with the national people's congress now in its second day. that's president xi jinping leading the way. the paper outlines the economic targets set by the government — 6.5% growth and 11 million jobs to be created. the new york times is featuring the desperate situation in south sudan. the un has formally declared a famine in parts of the country. and the financial times world edition are headlining with the latest on the french presidential election race. their main image shows france's centre—right candidate francois fillon at a rally in an attempt to save his campaign amidstan impending criminal investigation. moving on now... japan's emperor akihito has paid his respects to thailand's late king bhumibol in bangkok. it's the emperor's first visit to thailand since 2006. king bhumibol died last october and his son maha vajiralongkorn ascended to the throne two weeks later. joining me live now f

the second day of the chinese national people's congress is under way.

this weekend, china will open its annual parliamentary session, the national people's congress. up to the congress have been marked by a nationwide effort to stop some of the most marginalised members of society from reaching beijing. our correspondentjohn sudworth has had first—hand experience of the tactics deployed against them. there are some violent images in his report. give us the camera. our interview is not going to plan. we are stopped from meeting the family we've come to see. this woman and her sister claim their father was beaten to death by a policeman in a land dispute. they're among the many thousands of people who travel regularly to beijing seeking justice — known as petitioners. so the petitioners hope to use china's annual parliamentary gathering to make their case. but here's the reality, china's communist party doesn't want the pomp and pageantry spoilt by... by this country's dispossessed and marginalised. the thugs force us out and smash our cameras. before the start of the national people's congress this weekend, a major security operation is under way.

the second day of the chinese national people's congress is under way. and francois fillon says he will not quit amid allegations of corruption. and the top story here in the uk: talks will begin later today to try and form a new powers sharing government in northern ireland. but the first time, the unionists will not have a majority of seats. china's premier has the growth target from 2017. we take a look at the risks facing the world ‘s second—largest economy. and how the dream of 3—d printing is becoming closer to reality. good morning asia. hello world. it isa good morning asia. hello world. it is a monday, the start of a brand—new trading week. glad you to join us for this edition of asia business report. i am rico hizon. we start with china, which is that a forecast of growth of about 6.5% for this year, down from 2016's range, and the lowest in more than two decades. the plan was outlined at the national meeting at the national people's congress. premier li pledged to go ahead with economic reforms and tackled the buildup of debt in the world's se

this weekend, china will open its annual parliamentary session the national people's congress.onwide effort to stop some of the most marginalised members of society from reaching beijing. these petitioners are often prevented from airing their grievances and this year our correspondent, john sudworth has had first—hand experience of the tactics deployed by the authorities to silence criticism. there are some violent images in his report. give us the camera. our interview is not going to plan. we are stopped from meeting the family we've come to see. this woman and her sister claim that their father was beaten to death by a policeman in a land dispute. they're among the many thousands of chinese people who travel regularly to beijing seeking justice, known as petitioners. so the petitioners hope to use china's annual parliamentary gathering to make their point. but here is the reality. china's communist party doesn't want the pomp and pageantry spoilt by... ..by this country's dispossessed and marginalised. the thugs force us out and smash our cameras. before the start of the na

our top stories— raising the flag on china's national people's congress in beijing.housands of lawmakers are gathering to hit the country's priorities for the next year. president trump accuses barack obama of wiretapping his phone during the presidential campaign. the obama camp denies it. scandal striking french politics. fillon tries to keep his campaign alive as police raid his home. and a school that reaped a fortune on a small tech investment. over 3000 chinese lawmakers are meeting for the annual national people's congress. it is getting under way now in the capital. the meeting is taking place in the great hall of the people and will last for about ten days. the chinese premier is due to deliver the country's economic report card. we can go to carry who is in tiananmen square for us. carry who is in tiananmen square for us. carrie, what will be the policy priorities that the chinese leaders will announce today? as you said a moment ago, the key thing this morning is the prime minister's work report. a kind of state of the nation address in which he sets out t

a program, we have china's second-most powerful men talking to congress. -- man talking to congress. nationalcongress has come to a close. they are hosting a highly anticipated news conference in an hour. the etching economic growth of 6.5%. lawmakers of all corners of china are hoping to impress president xi jinping. trump's toys for trade negotiator says china is high on the list of things the u.s. should worry about. also said it is still not clear if china is manipulating its currency. they are waiting for a treasury department review next month. they are hoping president trump will shake things up. >> between now and the time i leave, you will say bob, i am right -- you are right. he will change the paradigm on china. if you look at our problems, china is right up there. >> secretary of state rex tillerson arrives in japan for a three nation tour of asia that will offer clues to the trump administration's agenda. tensions rise in north korea with concern over u.s. protectionism. he will be in beijing by the weekend where he will discuss a likely presidential summit. u.s. east coast has m

. >>> delegates from across china have wrapped up the annual national people's congress. they're calling for unity under president xi jinping as they attempt to tackle social and economic challenges. >> reporter: thousands of representatives gathered on the final day of the event to approve a range of plans. they agreed to lower the 2017 gross targets slightly from last year's figure to around 6.5%. premier li rejected any suggestion the target is pessimistic. >> translator: we will keep our growth steady at a medium to high speed. that in itself will help the world to maintain stability. >> reporter: li also wanted u u. president donald trumpp notot t provoke a trade e war. flrn. >> translator: analysts say if a trade war breaks out between china and the u.s., american companies will be the ones that suffer first. >> reporter: stability is a tough priority for beijing because of the upcoming communist party convention. five of the top seven leaders are due to retire. until that happens, beijing can't afford painful structure reforms. that's why we have delegates calling

our top stories: we're live in beijing as china's annual national people's congress gets under way. chinese lawmakers are meeting for the annual national people's congress. it's got under way in the last hour in the capital beijing. the meeting is taking place in the great hall of the people and will last for ten days. the congress is the body which debates and approves government policy.

the second day of china's annual national people's congress is getting under way, with the focus on economiceform. francois fillon, the embattled centre—right candidate in france's presidential elections, says he won't quit amid allegations of corruption. mr fillon said he's made mistakes, but is the legitimate choice of the party. now on bbc news it's time reporters. hello. welcome to reporters. i'm david eades, and from here at the bbc newsroom, we send our correspondants to bring you the best stories from across the globe. in this week's programme, the other side of the american dream. as donald trump sets out his vision for the next four years, ian pannell assesses the challenges that lie ahead. if you want to know what poverty in america looks like, well, this is it. president trump says he is going to fix it. he's going to deal with what he calls the carnage in america, of crime, of drugs, of gangs, of violence and of poverty. maram's story. quentin somerville tells the tale of the syrian baby who lost her parents and had nearly every limb broken in a bombing in aleppo. and also her re

thousands of ordinary chinese have been blocked from seeking justice ahead of the annual national people's congress, which starts this weekend. and this video is trending on bbc.com: the indonesia president has taken the unusual step of video—logging his lunch meeting with the saudi king and posting it online. it's the arab monarchs first visit to the country for 47 years. —— it's the arab monarch's first visit to the country for 47 years. how times change! that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. and the top story here in the uk: policing in england and wales is in a potentially perilous state, with some forces putting the public at risk, according to the police watchdog, the inspectorate of constabulary. business now. off toa off to a snappy start — social media company snap inc surges on the sharemarket debut. and as the chinese super league prepares to kickoff, we explain why it has become football's latest financial superpower. welcome to asia business report. many of you would have heard of it, snapchat, an app popular among teenagers and well known for the quirky video features as w

they're gathering for the national big bulls congress this weekend.will be getting more from helen chow. this is bloomberg. ♪ haidi: this is bloomberg. i am haidi lun in sydney. china's latest manufacturing data coming in better than expected. 51.6 is what we got for the official pmi. policymakers a pretty solid leeway as they tried to reign in the financial risks in the system. ,et's get back with helen chow chief of the greater china economist at of america merrill lynch. the themelking about in china economy and policymaking. how does the story and? is it shifting from one arm of the party to another? >> not necessarily. conferencesfor the they are conveying. the most important message is policy continuation. policy targettant this year is stabilization. stabilization in terms of growth levels as well as stabilization in terms of rain again financial and high leverage related risks. i think they probably should have already enough confidence to feel that they need to do something about that leverage. they probably cannot do it to aggressively or to

as the second day of china's national congress gets under way, we'll be asking delegates what they thinkurce. # you call me on a lazy afternoon. she's the malaysian singer—songwriter who's made it big in america. yuna tells us why fame does not mean compromising on your identity.

the second day of china's annual national people's congress is happening.th a warning that china faces major challenges in its attempts to overhaul its economy — the world's second largest. in the past half an hour, the country's top economic planning body, the ndrc, has been holding a news conference to announce more economic reforms. let's get the latest now from beijing. our correspondent stephen mcdonell is there. it seems that their efforts are focused on tackling pollution and dealing with oversupply? absolutely. here at the great hall of the people in beijing, as you mentioned, we are into day two of the national people's congress. of course you would expect the economy to be front and centre at these meetings. that is because the government here is trying to wean people off unbridled growth. it is tried to have slower growth. it is tried to have slower growth at better quality growth, if you like. and so the national development and reform commission, this is one of the bodies, the main economic policy—making body here, holding a press conference on

china's national people's congress convened this weekend in beijing's great hall of the people.t is staged each year by the party, and is usually a forum to rubber—stamp legislature for the year ahead. but china's economy is in trouble, and yesterday premier li keqiang's annual report gave some clues about the state of the economy in the year ahead, and there are a lot of problems ahead. here is what we know. economic growth is expected to be unchanged from last year, at 6.5%. that is one of the slowest growth rates for more than a quarter of a century. this growth rate has complicated chinese government efforts to shift from an economic model based on debt—fuelled investment and exports, towards a consumer—driven one. but it doesn't end there. the government also wants to trim bloated state—owned government industries, while tackling the slumping currency. and at the same time it needs to halt the massive capital flight from chinese enterprises seeking better returns abroad, and also deal with fears about a housing bubble and the bad loan crisis. joining me now from beijing is

course, also in china we have the international people's congress -- national people's congress taking here in we are going to be talking about stock strategy when it comes to china. that is coming up in about 15 minutes. she is from atlantis investment management. joining us there. least, itertainly not is international women's day. in some ways, the lives of women have gotten that are in some sense. in other ways, it has gone backwards. a gender gap does exist. 62 million girls are not in school globally at the moment. we will look at the world bank. that is on the way as well. work to be done at closing that gender gap. the trump presidency. >> my feeling is that the 2500 estimate was based on trump getting his progrowth agenda implemented. the problem is, he is spending so much time on first he had to replace the national security advisor. now he has the sessions recusal. now he has to deal with this accusation. he should really be working on legislation. >> bottom line is? >> bottom line is that i am getting a little nervous about 2500, but i am not backing away from it. the 2500

speaking chinese mandarin] [speaking chinese mandarin] >> translator: they will hold the 19th national congress chinese diplomats will continue to forge ahead guided by the diplomatic thinking of the general secretary. china will continue to be an anchor of international stability and an engine of global growth and a champion of peace and development and a contributor to global governan governance. >> thank you. at the situation on the korean peninsula at the moment is extremely tense. north korea is against the missile this week and the united states now serves that all options are on the table for north korea and in malaysia, the leader was ordered on the merits of nerve gas do they think that there will be a war on the korean peninsula and what his strategy for preventing the war from breaking out? thank you. >> [speaking chinese mandarin] [speaking chinese mandarin] [speaking chinese mandarin] [speaking chinese mandarin] >> translator: the dpr k. has ignored international opposition and insisted on advancing its nuclear program and launched ballistic missiles in violation of security counci

this weekend china will open its annual parliamentary session, the national people‘s congress.hese petitioners are often prevented from airing their grievances and this year our correspondentjohn sudworth has had first—hand experience of the tactics deployed by the authorities to silence criticism. there are some violent images in this report. give us the camera. our interview is not going to plan. we are stopped from meeting the family we‘ve come to see. this woman and her sister claim their father was beaten to death by a policeman in a land dispute. they‘re among the many thousands of people who travel regularly to beijing seeking justice — known as petitioners. so the petitioners hope to use china‘s annual parliamentary gathering to make their case. but here‘s the reality, china‘s communist party doesn‘t want the pomp and pageantry spoilt by... by this country‘s dispossessed and marginalised. the thugs force us out and smash our cameras. before the start of the national people‘s congress this weekend, a major security operation is under way. while local officials work to st

chinese]ing >> this is the year the cbc will hold its 19th national congress. chinese diplomats will continue to forge ahead, guided by the diplomatic thinking of the general secretary. china will continue to be an anchor of international stability, and engine of global growth, a champion of peace and development, and a contributor to global governance. >> thank you, foreign minister. the situation on the korean peninsula at the moment is extremely tense. north korea has again tested missiles this week and the united states says that for options are on the table. in malaysia, the half brother of north korea's leader was murdered, apparently on the order of north korea's leader. does china think there will be war on the korean peninsula, and what is china strategy for preventing war from breaking out? chinese]ing >> [speaking chinese] >> tensions are again rising on the korean peninsula. has ignored international opposition and insisted upon advancing its nuclear program and launched ballistic missiles in violation of security council resolutions. u.s. andher ha

congress and asked her this to be designated as the national museum. because of the scope of the collection and significant amongst other museums in the inld, congress designated it 2004 as the national museum. congress again in a bipartisan bill named the memorial as the national memorial. effectively carrying both congressional designations as the national museum and national memorial. quite a sitting tribute for a citizen initiated museum and memorial. all to honor those who served in world war i and marked the turning point for the nation and the impact it had in the united dates. catastrophe of the 20th century, the moment that launched the american century captured here with national designation. let's go up to the memorial and talk about some of the architectural features of this extraordinary landmark. extraordinaryhis memorial tower dedicated in 1926, but the foundation state when thelaid in 1921 president and commanders gathered here to begin the building work. whichxtraordinary power is larger than the statue of liberty. a dominant feature on

[speaking chinese mandarin] interpreter: this is the year they will hold the 19th national congress, chinese diplomats will continue to forge ahead guided by the diplomatic thinking of the general secretary. china will continue to be an anchor of international stability and an engine of global growth and a champion of peace and development and a contributor to global governance. >> thank you. >> thank you foreign minister. i'm from reuters. the situation on the korean peninsula at the moment is extremely tense. north korea has a contest did missiles this week and the united states now serves that all options are on the table for north korea and in malaysia, the leader was ordered on the merits of using a nerve gas. do they think that there will be a war on the korean peninsula and what is the strategy for preventing the war from breaking out? thank you. >> [speaking chinese mandarin] interpreter: tensions are again rising on the korean peninsula. on the one hand the dprk has , ignored international opposition and insisted on advancing its nuclear program and launched ballistic missil

thing. >>> now i announce that the fifth session of the 12th people's congress of the people's republic of china opens. >> china's national beijing on sunday. the premier outlined the goals for the year and made priority cutting companies' debt burdens. >>> well, editor jeff defterios has more and he reports that china is forecasting slower growth in 2017. >> reporter: in the heart of beijing an annual political gathering like no other. some 3,000 delegates at the national people's congress brought under one roof in the great hall of the people. but this year, a more sobering message as the premier laid down the groundwork for slower growth. >> the difficulties we face are not to be underestimated. but we must remain confident that they will be overcome. >> reporter: the economic engine that not long ago cranked out double digit growth will ease down further, to the slowest rate in three decades. >> the leadership wanted to manage expectations stressing the need for stability, quality growth and reducing poverty especially in the rural areas. in the major urban centers the government wants to create 11 million new jobs wh

>>> lawmakers in china are gathered for the country's parliamentary spectacle known as their national congressriana diaz reports on the opening ceremony in beijing. >> reporter: while the npc is a largely symbolic event, at the opening ceremony the premiere event presents china's status report to the world and sets goals for the year ahead much like our state of the union address. about 3,000 delegates, the largest legislture in the world, packed into the great hall of the people to hear his speech. he pledged to tackle china's poor air quality, acknowledge the dangers of rising debt, and pegged gdp growth at 6.5%. while president donald trump wasn't mentioned by name, mr. lee criticized policies presented by mr. trump and said china remains committed to globalization. >> we can't continue to allow china to rape our country. >> reporter: mr. trump has had a rocky relationship with china after accusing the country of stealing millions of u.s. jobs. during a heavily choreographed press conference saturday, we asked where the u.s./china ruopp is heading. the question topic had to be presubmitted

president has backed his former national, michael flynn, saying he is right to testify to congress abouthe jump -- trump campaign's alleged leaks to russia. he says he is not worried what he will reveal. he is offered to testify only in exchange formmunity from prosecution. reporter: for just over three weeks, he was in the front row at the white house. as national security adviser, michael flynn was in trump's innecircle. the retired army general was a close advisor on trump election campai2016gn in back then, concerns were already raised for his ties to russia. like his attendance at a dinner with vladimir putin. michael flynn maintained the relationship even after the election. when president obama imposed sanctions on moscow, flynn call ed the russian ambassador to offer reassurance, even though neither flynn nor donald trump were in office yet. when it emerged that michael flynn had lied to the vice president about the conversation, he was left with little choice but to resign. even then, trump did not fully condemn his behavior. president trump --\ now he is offering to tesfy in pr

the national people's congress.his is a big deal as tom mackenzie was talking about the 6.5 point sent -- percent gdp target. it is a very big deal. thank you so much, kathleen hays. up next, two years into his strategy, deutsche bank ceo now reversing course. details of his capital raising plan. that is next on bloomberg. haidi: i'm haidi lun in sydney. betty: you're watching daybreak australia. deutsche bank reversing course, raising capital, and it will not be selling off its postbank unit. is this a total u-turn and strategy? >> they wanted to hold on -- sell the postbank unit, but now they say we have had a change of heart. asked them to find a buyer, but now the plan is to and for totalnd costs to be $23.3 billion by 2017. plans to selling minority stake in asset management unit next couple of years, and building asset that investment tank. toat least that will help build that ratio to over 40%. end of last year, it was at 11.9%. what about the cost issues that deutsche is facing? billion -- $24.2 billion in a

and we attend the national congress of american indians mid year conference.so learn something new about healthy living and hear from our elders on this edition of native report. announcer: production of native report is made possible by grants from the shakopee mdewakanton sioux community, the blandin foundation, and the duluth superior area community foundation. [music playing]

to the national people's congress in beijing, talking about a restart when it comes to u.s.omberg markets: asia" lamb haidi lun in sydney. inhaad: i am rishaad salamat hong kong. quite a scene at the moment, wang yi addressing the npc, talking about a new beginning for the relationship with washington. they want toaying expand cooperation in all areas and that each have to respect one another's social system, going on to say there is no reason why the united states and china cannot be partners and hoping the washington relationship with will be more robust. too paying a compliment perhaps his opposite man there, rex tillerson in the united saying he is a man who loves to communicate. this is what is coming out of beijing at the moment. that's right. we will continue to monitor that speech there. a lot on his agenda at the moment with that troublesome ally in north korea. we have pretty big guest joining us on bloomberg tv. ceo of talk to the new iata. on daybreak america, our conversation with the commerce secretary wilbur ross. guests comingg up, in particular that conversa

as he wraps up the national people's congress in beijing. david: he says he is optimistic at times but acknowledges there are disagreements. cannot do anything about that. tom mackenzie joins us live from tiananmen square. what else has li been focusing on here? as you touched on there, the first question to from your -- premier li was on ties and trade. the relation about their difficult points, we expect to move forward. we expect the relationship to improve. but the phone call between the two presidents where trump said he would support the one china policy, that laid a foundation on which they could build it now. he was also asked on the trade side about a potential trade war. he made the point of saying, u.s. companies will be hardest hit if there is a trade war. we know policymakers have drawn up a list of retaliatory measures that they would take, should tariffs be imposed. he was also asked about financial risks. top of moved toward the the agenda during the national people's congress. policymakers say the focus will be on weighing i

the national people's congress getting underway.ps the, capacity. >> we do have in pc as you mentioned opening on sunday but today, we have the cpp, cc kicking off its 11 day gather he. that is the government's top advisory. property among the biggest is that the u.s. rate hike possibility on the sectors. new orders did rise compared to january. at 945. down about half a percent following for a second day. a stick a look at what's going on. we had the peavy oc fixing slightly weaker, the six spot. ahead of that gathering. we have seen the yuan following. it. is closing it is closing in. the see that emerging market currency. it is trading at the narrow , it could send ripples perhaps through the yuan's newfound comments. with the currency and financial market are giving the worries. expectations. limit the probably appreciation to contain the risk of u.s. protectionist measures. paul allen in sydney. paul: japan's inflation rose in january for the first time in 14 months. offering some hope the price gains may begin inching towards

the african national congress has its policy conference in june. that would be the time to change policy. but there has been no policy change. this is about personnel change, and effectively about moving out people that have been in president zuma's way. guy: let's deal with the internal politics. this is an interesting aspect of this. wanted -- heuma ended up with gigaba. is there a difference in terms of positioning? is -- colin: i think time will tell. certainly, the perception is they belong to broadly the same camp of thinking about what to do with the south african economy. the public finance minister. the issues surrounding corruption at that state utility would effectively have put these gentlemen in broadly a similar political camp. the questions to watch, i think from a political point of view, is, what is the reaction of the deputy president going to be? what is the reaction of the party going to be in terms of the cabinet ministers from the communist party that have been retained, which were several? and what is the reaction of the trad

. >>> china's national people's congress has opened in beijing. coming up here, we will go live for the chinese capital. ahead, to hear about what's expected. >>> plus, "saturday night live's" latest swipe at the trump's administration but this time it pokes fun at attorney general jeff sessions. we'll have a smnippet for you. and zyrtec® is different than claritin®. because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. try zyrtec®. muddle no more®. >>> somalia's leaders say their country needs food and water and fast. a famine is threatening millions. unicef warning that at least 185,000 children are expected to suffer life-threatening malnutrition this year. susan susanna price is chief of communications. susana, thank you so much for joining us. those numbers give us a sense of this unfolding disaster that it could be major. tell us what you know. >> we can't confirm the some mali government's figure. we are seeing increasing numbers of children at risk. 185,000 severely malnourished, nine times as likely to die as normally nourished c

congress going to the national museum that congress designated as the national museum. >> following her retirement from the industry helped to keep me to where she settled into the role of activist and philanthropist and selecting veterans' benefits and remained active of other important reform crusades. >> and to have the effect of an world communities. this is a half-hour. [inaudible conversations] thanks for the massive turnout today. thanks for overcoming now we do appreciate you being here with our ranking member to my left and our ranking member with agriculture i am sure we hear here to talk about standing up for hard working man and women like many of the community is that we represent. this is very rural and but many people who live represent has seen their wages stagnate as they are shifted to over two places spinet and we have seen people when their children had made the decision because those food those of felt because of economic uncertainty but to give the opportunity to work hard. >> then normally don't have to speak to the people when you say i will bring your jobs home

speaking at the annual national people's congress in beijing, mr li attributed the slow down to globallso promised to tackle pollution, saying "we'll make the skies blue again". john sudworth reports from beijing. chairman mao would still recognise china's parliaments, rigid, authoritarian and unapologetically communist. but every year, the delegates turned up to hear their leaders warn of the increasingly complex challenges faced by a modern capitalist economy. the chinese premier set the growth forecast for this yearataround 6.5%, a slight softening of last year's target. potential risks cannot be overlooked, he said, warning reforming china's economy is a process filled with promise, but also accompanied by great pain. he spoke of the need to combat industrial overcapacity and to reform what he called zombie enterprises, the bloated state—owned sector, producing more coal and steel than the market needs. similar pledges in the past have proved hard to fulfil. he pledged to make china's skies blue again, outlining further targets for emissions cuts. once again, these promises have be

our top stories: we're live in beijing as china's annual national people's congress gets under way. the communist party leadership is announcing the main priorities for the coming year. hello. more than 3,000 chinese lawmakers are meeting for the annual national people's congress. it's got under way in the last hour in the capital beijing. the meeting is taking place in the great hall of the people and will last for ten days. the congress is the body which debates and approves government policy. high on the agenda is the state of the chinese economy and concerns about economic growth. they are also expected to discuss ways to reform finances, the future of international trade policies and how to tackle pollution. chinese premier, li keqiang, is delivering the country's economic report card to the npc. 0ur china editor, carrie gracie, is in beijing. what will be the main policy priorities that will be announced at this year's congress? well, they are all being announced writenow. premier li keqiang is delivering this, the report on the work of the government. it is a state of the nati

china's rubberstamp parliament, the national people's congress, is opening its annual session. the premier is preparing to announce economic targets and other policy priorities. he is expected to aim for a priorities. he is expected to aim fora 6.5to priorities. he is expected to aim for a 6.5 to 7% economic growth rate. the us president has accused his predecessor of wiretapping his phone a month before he was elected. a spokesman for barack obama has issued a strong denial. the centre—right candidate in the french presidential election, francois fillon is fighting to stay in the race. he is embroiled in a growing corruption scandal. police have searched a number of his homes. malaysia says the north korean ambassador must leave the country in the next 48 hours. the two nations have fallen out after death of the half brother of the north korean leader. coming up next it's reporters. hello. welcome to reporters. i'm david eades, and from here at the bbc newsroom, we send our correspondants to bring you the best stories from across the globe. in this week's programme, the other

with the national people's congress opening on sunday, comparisons are being made this year between china free trade and renewable energy. a group of peers has dismissed claims the uk could face a so—called "divorce bill" of up to 52 billion pounds when it leaves the eu. the lords eu financial affairs committee says the government might not have to pay anything if there is no post—brexit deal, but says concessions are likely if the government wants to secure access to eu markets. earlier, baroness kishwer falkner, the lib—dem peer and chair of the eu financial affairs sub—committee, explained the thinking behind the house of lords report. we took legal advice from a variety of experts, and where that legal advice conflict and we tested that against our own select committee's legal adviser and came to a judgment that the two pertinent bits of law, one is article 50, everyone is familiar with that, which says that if you have a withdrawal agreement and if you don't do that within two years at the end of the two—year period the treaties cease to apply. those are the words they used. then the

he will make an announcement shortly after a meeting of senior african national congress officials. growing criticism of venezuela's president euro after he allowed the supreme court to take over responsibility for lawmaking on the opposition controlled national assembly on wednesday —— maduro. the head of the organisation of american states said that the decision had dealt the final blow to democracy in the country. three, two, one... you are watching history in the making, this californian company has just made this monumental moment, this historic moment, by sending a used rocket, the falcon nine back into space. traditionally space companies have been trying to create usable ones that are more cost—effective than the nasa space shuttle programme. spacex has developed a way to land rockets safely on earth after a mission. nine malaysians freed by pyongyang have arrived home after kuala lumpur agreed to send back the body of kim jong—nam. the half brother of the north korean leader was killed at kuala lumpur airport last month by two women using a deadly nerve agent, triggering a

china's annual national people's congress gets underway in beijing, where the communist party leadership will announce its priorities for the coming year. barack obama rejects claims from president trump that he ordered the tapping of his phones during the us election campaign. the french presidential candidate, francois fillon, urges his supporters not to give in amid calls from some within his own party to stand down. north korea's ambassador to malaysia is expelled for criticising the investigation into the murder of the half—brother of north korea's leader. the californian school that reaped a fortune on a small tech investment. hello. the meeting is taking place in the great hall of the people and will last for 10 days. the congress is the body which debates and approves government policy. these are live pictures. high on the agenda is the state of the chinese economy, and concerns about economic growth. they are also expected to discuss ways to reform finances, the future of international trade policies and how to tackle pollution. chinese premier li keqiang will deliver the countr

our top stories: we're in beijing as china's annual national people's congress gets under way. the communist party leadership is announcing the main priorities for the coming year. barack obama ba rack obama rejects barack obama rejects claims from president trump that he ordered the tapping of his phones during the us election campaign. and francois fillon urges his supporters not to give in amid calls from some within his party to stand down. also, north korea's ambassador to malaysia is expeued korea's ambassador to malaysia is expelled for criticising the investigation into the murder of the half rather of north korea's leader. —— half—brother. hello. more than 3,000 chinese lawmakers are meeting for the annual national people's congress. it's got under way in the last hour in the capital beijing. the meeting is taking place in the great hall of the people and will last for ten days. the congress is the body which debates and approves government policy. high on the agenda is the state of the chinese economy and concerns about economic growth. they are also expected to discu

mr zuma will make an announcement shortly after a meeting of senior african national congress officialsa in the states has collapsed after a major fire burned underneath an overpass. local reports say atlanta police believe the fire was caused by electrical wire burning under an overpass on the interstate 85. so far there are no reports of casualties. people are being advised to avoid the area. three, two, one... you are watching history in the making, this californian company has just made this monumental moment, this historic moment, by sending a used rocket, the falcon—9 back into space. traditionally rockets are used once before being discarded, so space companies have been trying to create usable ones that are more cost—effective than the nasa space shuttle programme. spacex has developed a way to land rockets safely on earth after a mission. here's, an unusual bit of animal welfare work from india, where a man resorted to offering a poisonous snake a drink, from a water bottle, after it was found in a village in the south—west of the country. it seems the cobra was thirsty, after