:00:00. > :00:00.I'm Geeta Guru-Murthy with BBC World News.
:00:07. > :00:11."No evidence of collusion" between the Trump election
:00:12. > :00:19.That's according to the head of the panel investigating the claims.
:00:20. > :00:21.He also rejected the President's accusation that Trump Tower
:00:22. > :00:28.was wiretapped on Barack Obama's orders.
:00:29. > :00:33.Was there a physical wiretap? No, but that never was.
:00:34. > :00:35.Iraqi forces push on in the battle to retake Mosul -
:00:36. > :00:37.now the Mosque where Islamic State declared its caliphate
:00:38. > :00:41.Could this man be the next Chancellor of Germany?
:00:42. > :00:43.Martin Schulz officially becomes the number one challenger
:00:44. > :00:47.to Angela Merkel for the top job in Berlin.
:00:48. > :00:50.And in sport - four of the English Premier League's top
:00:51. > :00:53.six were in action - we'll reveal who had the best day
:00:54. > :01:12.in the chase to close the gap on leaders Chelsea.
:01:13. > :01:17.There is no evidence so far that President Donald Trump's campaign
:01:18. > :01:21.team colluded with Russia during the 2016 US election -
:01:22. > :01:26.Devin Nunes, head of the House of Representatives intelligence
:01:27. > :01:29.committee also said there was also no evidence that Barack Obama had
:01:30. > :01:33.ordered wiretap surveillance of Mr Trump's headquarters,
:01:34. > :01:37.Let's get more on this with Laura Bicker who joins us
:01:38. > :01:55.First of all on the statement about collusion with Russia what have we
:01:56. > :02:02.heard? When it comes to the accusation that Russia meddled in
:02:03. > :02:08.the 2016 US presidents election the question is did they do it and what
:02:09. > :02:13.the Donald Trump and his aides now? 17 intelligence agencies have come
:02:14. > :02:17.forward and said they have evidence that Russia tried to meddle with the
:02:18. > :02:22.election and many of them say they did so to help Donald Trump win so
:02:23. > :02:25.that brings you to the second question, the Donald Trump or his
:02:26. > :02:30.aides know anything about it, did they collude with the Russians? So
:02:31. > :02:35.far we have heard evidence to say there is nothing to say that Donald
:02:36. > :02:40.Trump or his aides knew anything about that and that is what we have
:02:41. > :02:48.heard from the represent of this morning on Fox News. I am going to
:02:49. > :02:53.be very simple, no. No evidence. And this was after getting this
:02:54. > :02:59.information from the FBI? After everything I have this morning. No
:03:00. > :03:04.evidence of collusion. Russia has always denied being involved in the
:03:05. > :03:09.2016 election and Donald Trump has always denied knowing anything about
:03:10. > :03:15.it. But there are some Democrats who also sits on this intelligence panel
:03:16. > :03:19.who say there is some circumstantial evidence that something took place
:03:20. > :03:24.and they want it continually investigated. Here is one
:03:25. > :03:29.representative from Texas. This will be an opportunity for us to have an
:03:30. > :03:32.open discussion about this investigation, I am sure we will not
:03:33. > :03:36.hear everything because we are not in a classified setting but I think
:03:37. > :03:41.there are a few things I'm hoping to hear. Firstly whether any Americans
:03:42. > :03:45.are being investigated for cooperating are conspiring with the
:03:46. > :03:52.Russians who interfered. Second are the scope of that investigation and
:03:53. > :03:55.third time I bark resolving it. What about the allegation President Obama
:03:56. > :04:04.somehow ordered a wiretap on Trump Tower? Leading Republicans and
:04:05. > :04:10.Democrats have said they had seen no evidence of that. However what some
:04:11. > :04:15.are asking for is an investigation is to weather wire surveillance was
:04:16. > :04:20.ordered on the Trump campaign and why. All of these questions will be
:04:21. > :04:25.answered hopefully on Capitol Hill at this panel hearing because all
:04:26. > :04:27.eyes will be on the leading directors of the National Security
:04:28. > :04:32.agency and the FBI as they give evidence to the intelligence
:04:33. > :04:33.committee. We will bring everyone more on that tomorrow, for now,
:04:34. > :04:35.thank you. Iraqi forces are pushing forward
:04:36. > :04:38.in their operation to drive so-called Islamic State militants
:04:39. > :04:40.out of their former stronghold There are reports of fierce fighting
:04:41. > :04:47.in areas of Western Mosul Iraqi authorities say 180,000
:04:48. > :05:04.civilians have fled the West bank. Conditions for those who remain -
:05:05. > :05:07.estimated at more than 550,000 - From the outskirts of Al Mansur
:05:08. > :05:19.district in Western Mosul, In the clamour for help many go
:05:20. > :05:29.empty-handed. The gunfire from Iraqi soldiers try to control the crowd at
:05:30. > :05:38.an age distribution. Survivors of the caliphate. Now at risk from
:05:39. > :05:45.hunger. Troops not keen for the chaos to be caught on camera. In the
:05:46. > :05:50.distance, smoke from at IS car bomb. The front line is just a mile away.
:05:51. > :05:57.Those who flee the fighting here end up in overcrowded camps. There are
:05:58. > :06:06.no good options. For the people of Western Hymn Mosul. You can see the
:06:07. > :06:09.utter desperation in this area, local people tell us this is the
:06:10. > :06:14.first aid supplies that have come here, they say they have no running
:06:15. > :06:18.water or electricity, no access to medical supplies. People in the
:06:19. > :06:20.queue are afraid the food is going to run out before they are able to
:06:21. > :06:39.get some. I am crying, she says, because my
:06:40. > :06:48.children don't understand why we have no food. They don't accept my
:06:49. > :07:00.excuses. IS took our money to buy weapons. I hope they will burden. --
:07:01. > :07:09.burn. This woman has suffered a double loss. IS killed two of my
:07:10. > :07:19.sons she says. One had just got married. As the troops keep watch,
:07:20. > :07:28.there is tension in the crowd. With the frustration building, the
:07:29. > :07:32.security forces are compared to their former oppressors. What is the
:07:33. > :07:39.difference between the IS police and these guys he asks? The IS police
:07:40. > :07:49.beat us and they beat us, just asking for food. Is this
:07:50. > :07:56.deliberation may have brought us? Nearby some are returning to this
:07:57. > :08:02.battle scarred neighbourhood. Like Abdul, an ice cream salesman. His
:08:03. > :08:08.home was occupied by IS for three months. He says they threatened to
:08:09. > :08:16.hang his wife because she dared to oppose them. She head in the fields
:08:17. > :08:22.to survive. IS knocked through the wall so they could move unseen from
:08:23. > :08:29.house to house. Their reign of terror has destroyed the fabric of
:08:30. > :08:35.his neighbourhood. We can never live again with those who collaborated
:08:36. > :08:44.with IS he says. If I catch the man who informed on my wife I will cut
:08:45. > :08:50.into pieces. The battle for Mosul may be in its final phases, this
:08:51. > :08:54.ancient city emerging from modelled a barbarian is. When the caliphate
:08:55. > :08:55.crumbles there will be much to rebuild including a divided
:08:56. > :09:03.community. There's been fighting on the edge
:09:04. > :09:06.of the Syrian capital, Damascus, where rebels have launched a major
:09:07. > :09:08.offensive that's brought them Syrian government forces
:09:09. > :09:11.responded with an intense bombardment of Jobar,
:09:12. > :09:13.around two kilometres east Our correspondent Ben James
:09:14. > :09:20.is monitoring the fighting from Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon,
:09:21. > :09:31.and he sent this update. This assault has been launched from
:09:32. > :09:34.the Jobar part of the city where opposition forces still have some
:09:35. > :09:50.strength. It's been a battle ground for a couple of years, a pocket of
:09:51. > :09:54.all. This happens, it began at 5:20am this morning, monitors from
:09:55. > :09:59.the Syrian Observatory for human rights from the UK said there were
:10:00. > :10:04.car bombs, suicide attacks to begin this assault. Syrian state TV also
:10:05. > :10:10.talks about secret tunnels being used to launch the attack. Who is
:10:11. > :10:16.involved? One group that has brought under the Free Syrian Army banner
:10:17. > :10:22.but also the jihadi this is who incorporate the group formerly known
:10:23. > :10:29.as Al Nusra front. There have been rebranding is and redrawing of
:10:30. > :10:34.alliances. In response government forces have deployed warplanes,
:10:35. > :10:37.there have been air strikes, more than 42 monitors. Tanks have been
:10:38. > :10:42.seen heading into the areas in preparation for a counterattack.
:10:43. > :10:43.Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party has
:10:44. > :10:46.confirmed Martin Schulz as its new leader and the man who'll
:10:47. > :10:48.run against Angela Merkel in the country's general
:10:49. > :10:51.A former President of the European parliament,
:10:52. > :10:54.Mr Shulz was given an unprecedented endorsement from the party base -
:10:55. > :11:14.Boot, the leader after the Second World War got 99.7 but that is when
:11:15. > :11:19.he was trying to unite the party. Nobody has done anything like that
:11:20. > :11:24.since then. How much of a threat is he, where is he in the polls if they
:11:25. > :11:30.can be trusted? He was declared they Chan did it for the Chancellor back
:11:31. > :11:37.in January. Since then there was a 12 point gap between the parties and
:11:38. > :11:44.he has closed it entirely, they are now neck and neck. Not only that he
:11:45. > :11:49.has brought in 13,000 new members. A considerable achievement. Germany,
:11:50. > :11:54.so much of the political focus, Angela Merkel and Donald Trump,
:11:55. > :11:59.events like that, battles Germany is taking on an migrants within Nato,
:12:00. > :12:05.with America, with the new leadership in America, how is that
:12:06. > :12:09.affecting potentially the election? Nato is one area he could make some
:12:10. > :12:16.gains because he is distancing himself from this commit --
:12:17. > :12:21.commitment Nato have made, he says it's the wrong way to go, he does
:12:22. > :12:24.not want more spent on armaments and less on social welfare. That will be
:12:25. > :12:34.a distinct platform when the election comes around. Tell us more
:12:35. > :12:38.about who is Martin Schulz, is he that well-known? They know him as
:12:39. > :12:44.the president of the European Parliament in Germany. He has been
:12:45. > :12:47.in European politics since 1994, he was mayor of our small town on the
:12:48. > :12:51.border with Belgium and the Netherlands where he grew up. He's
:12:52. > :12:56.making a bit of a feature of that because he's a man the people. He is
:12:57. > :13:01.a book-seller, 61-year-old book-seller before he a politician.
:13:02. > :13:03.Stay with us on BBC World News, still to come:
:13:04. > :13:06.They were rescued from pirates - we'll reveal what the crew
:13:07. > :13:08.of the oil tanker which was saved from Somali hijackers
:13:09. > :13:31.Today we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. More
:13:32. > :13:35.than 3000 subway passengers were affected. Nausea, bleeding,
:13:36. > :13:37.headaches and the dimming of vision. All caused by apparently organised
:13:38. > :13:50.attack. It was on a pedestal in the middle
:13:51. > :13:54.of the Cabinet, this was an international trophy and we
:13:55. > :13:55.understand now that the search for it has become an international
:13:56. > :14:08.search. Above all this was a triumph for the
:14:09. > :14:09.Christian Democrats of the West offering reunification as quickly as
:14:10. > :14:28.possible. That is what voters want. The latest headlines, the head of an
:14:29. > :14:32.American congressional committee on intelligence says he's seen no
:14:33. > :14:37.evidence that Donald Trump's team worked with Russia during the
:14:38. > :14:42.presidential election campaign. And Iraqi forces fighting to recapture
:14:43. > :14:45.Mosul from so-called Islamic State are closing in on the great Mosque
:14:46. > :14:49.where they declared their caliphate in 2014.
:14:50. > :14:51.The German defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen,
:14:52. > :14:53.has rejected a claim by President Trump that Germany owes
:14:54. > :14:58.Nato and the United States vast sums for the defence of her country.
:14:59. > :15:01.It follows a tweet by the US President which said
:15:02. > :15:04."Germany owes vast sums of money to Nato, and the United States must
:15:05. > :15:07.be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it
:15:08. > :15:19.Von der Leyen responded in a statement, saying
:15:20. > :15:23.into UN peacekeeping missions, into our European missions
:15:24. > :15:26.and into our contribution to the fight against IS terrorism."
:15:27. > :15:31.Well, America's former ambassador to Nato, Ivo Daalder,
:15:32. > :15:34.is among those who felt the need to correct Mr Trump,
:15:35. > :15:46.Thank you for joining us. Why is Donald Trump incorrect? He is saying
:15:47. > :15:53.all nations sued contribute 2% of their budgets to defence and that
:15:54. > :15:58.doesn't happen. He is correct in saying all countries need to do more
:15:59. > :16:03.on defence, that the Europeans in particular over the last 15 years or
:16:04. > :16:11.so have been cutting defence at a time when in fact more spending is
:16:12. > :16:15.necessary. Nato agreed in 2014 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and
:16:16. > :16:19.the annexation of Crimea to take the 2% guideline and make it policy and
:16:20. > :16:26.said countries not spending 2% of GDP on defence should do so by 2024.
:16:27. > :16:31.All Nato countries agreed including Germany and as Chancellor Merkel in
:16:32. > :16:37.her press conference on Friday reaffirmed, that commitment. We must
:16:38. > :16:41.have that commitment implemented, some of us would like it sooner
:16:42. > :16:46.rather than later. That's not the same as saying anyone owes the
:16:47. > :16:52.United States vast sums of money. As the president put it in his press
:16:53. > :16:57.conference and then this tweet. We owe to our countries to defend
:16:58. > :17:01.ourselves, everyone makes a national decision about how much defence is
:17:02. > :17:06.going to be done within Nato. There is no kitty in which people pour
:17:07. > :17:11.money so they can pay the United States or anyone else for that. But
:17:12. > :17:16.if you are sitting in America are paying taxes, why should you feel
:17:17. > :17:20.you have been subsidising Europe's security and why should nations not
:17:21. > :17:28.have a much tighter deadline by which they have got to put the money
:17:29. > :17:34.in? On the deadline we can have that discussion. When it comes to the
:17:35. > :17:38.Nato summit Donald Trump may try to change the deadline from 2020 42
:17:39. > :17:44.something sooner. But let's be clear why the United States on defence and
:17:45. > :17:49.why it has troops and capabilities in Europe. Over the past century the
:17:50. > :17:53.United States has fought two active wars and one cold war in Europe
:17:54. > :17:58.because we believe the security of Europe and the freedom of Europe,
:17:59. > :18:02.the prosperity of Europe is fundamental to the National security
:18:03. > :18:06.of the United States. We do not think it is a favour to the Germans
:18:07. > :18:10.anyone, we are in Europe because it's important for the United States
:18:11. > :18:17.and our security. It is important to prevent the kind of conflict we saw
:18:18. > :18:26.in the world wars at great costs to Americans and of course Europeans.
:18:27. > :18:35.Do you feel, just briefly, that Nato is under real threats now from this
:18:36. > :18:37.current administration? No, I think we have seen re-commitments by the
:18:38. > :18:43.president and the vice president and others but if we are starting to
:18:44. > :18:47.condition our security commitment to Europe on particular outcomes with
:18:48. > :18:52.regard to defence spending then we are in uncharted waters. We have
:18:53. > :18:56.been here since 1949, we should continue to be here, it is important
:18:57. > :19:02.to us. We want Europe to pay more, we have been saying that many years,
:19:03. > :19:06.but fundamentally Nato is not about just securing Europe, it's about
:19:07. > :19:08.securing the security of the United States. Thank you so much for your
:19:09. > :19:13.time. Let's take a look at some
:19:14. > :19:16.other stories now. Brazilian police have arrested
:19:17. > :19:18.a number of employees of the meat-packing company BRF over
:19:19. > :19:21.allegations of exports of rotten They're investigating alleged bribes
:19:22. > :19:24.to health inspectors to overlook Three major meat-packing
:19:25. > :19:29.factories have been closed. Brazil's President Michel Temer
:19:30. > :19:34.is due to hold crisis talks. The Socialist candidate
:19:35. > :19:36.for the French presidency, Benoit Hamon has told supporters
:19:37. > :19:39.at a rally that "everything begins today" in an attempt
:19:40. > :19:41.to boost his campaign. A poll published on Sunday
:19:42. > :19:43.showed him dropping four Since he won the Socialist primary
:19:44. > :19:49.in January, the 49-year-old has failed to unite the party
:19:50. > :20:09.behind him. We start with football, the teams
:20:10. > :20:12.chasing runaway Premier League leaders Chelsea have been in action,
:20:13. > :20:16.third against fourth as Manchester City drew 1-1.
:20:17. > :20:19.After James Milner's opener, Sergio Aguero equalised for City,
:20:20. > :20:22.and he'll be disappointed he wasn't able to convert his chance in injury
:20:23. > :20:26.It means City have fallen back in their pursuit of Chelsea.
:20:27. > :20:36.It's one of the more special days of my life because after defeat on
:20:37. > :20:40.Tuesday, Wednesday was so tough for us. Then recover how we recovered
:20:41. > :20:44.today with his mentality to play and attack an attack, we could not
:20:45. > :20:48.attack more often because Liverpool is a top team. I want to stay with
:20:49. > :20:51.these guys for a long time, do not want to change anything, in terms of
:20:52. > :20:57.the club I want to stay here and help the squad to make a step
:20:58. > :21:02.forward. Between 50 and 65 we could have decided the game and we didn't
:21:03. > :21:09.so that is may be our fault but how can we speak today about faults and
:21:10. > :21:13.mistakes? I said before the game if somebody tells me you would get a
:21:14. > :21:18.point at City OK. I would not take it immediately but you would do, you
:21:19. > :21:21.would take it. And today we have to take it and that's what we did.
:21:22. > :21:23.That draw keeps Tottenham safe in second place.
:21:24. > :21:25.And they've reduced Chelsea's lead to ten points after beating
:21:26. > :21:30.There was much talk before the game about how Spurs would cope
:21:31. > :21:35.This man, Christian Eriksen, put them ahead.
:21:36. > :21:39.Before James Ward Prowse celebrated his England call-up
:21:40. > :21:52.I am very pleased, and happy with the performance of the whole team.
:21:53. > :21:58.Obviously it's a big impact when you miss, you miss Europe main striker
:21:59. > :22:03.but I think our offensive players worked very well, working very hard,
:22:04. > :22:06.our offensive line. And I think the team, we running a fantastic
:22:07. > :22:08.position for us. Keep going. Manchester United are up to fifth
:22:09. > :22:11.after a 3-1 win at Middlesbrough. Maroune Fellani put United
:22:12. > :22:13.ahead before the break, then a stunning strike
:22:14. > :22:16.from Jesse Lingaard put them 2-0 up. After Rudi Gestede pulled a goal
:22:17. > :22:19.back, it looked as though Boro But a terrible mistake
:22:20. > :22:38.from goalkeeper Victor Valdes gifted The spirit is fantastic and the good
:22:39. > :22:42.thing is that we have two doors still open for Champions League
:22:43. > :22:47.football. So we are going to try Europa League, we're going to try
:22:48. > :22:49.the fourth position in the Premier League and let's see what happens.
:22:50. > :22:52.There are five matches from Spain's La Liga to update you on.
:22:53. > :22:55.The pick of the ties is Barcelona against Valencia,
:22:56. > :23:00.There's about 20 minutes to play, and what an eventful game it's been.
:23:01. > :23:02.Barca have come from behind, they're currently winning 3-2.
:23:03. > :23:04.In the other games, Atletico Madrid increased their chances
:23:05. > :23:06.of Champions League football next season, beating Sevilla 3-1
:23:07. > :23:11.Towards the bottom of the table, Sporting Gijon beat Granada 3-1.
:23:12. > :23:16.Deportivo couldn't follow up their shock win over Barcelona.
:23:17. > :23:31.It looks set to be a tight finish to the Arnold Palmer Invitational
:23:32. > :23:35.in Florida, with no fewer than six players within two
:23:36. > :23:38.Overnight leaders Charley Hoffman and Kevin Kisner have both
:23:39. > :23:40.dropped shots today, but are one clear of
:23:41. > :23:44.They've just been joined by four-time major winner Rory McIlroy.
:23:45. > :23:53.Marc Leishman has just made an incredible eagle on the 16th to move
:23:54. > :23:58.to 11 under. And Elena Vesnina has defeated fellow Russian Svetlana
:23:59. > :24:02.Kuznetsova in three sets in the women's final at Indian Wells.
:24:03. > :24:06.The crew of an oil tanker hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia
:24:07. > :24:08.say they feel as if they've been born again, after being
:24:09. > :24:12.The seizure of the Aris 13 - the first hijacking of a large
:24:13. > :24:15.merchant vessel in almost five years - had raised fears that Somali
:24:16. > :24:20.Heading for calm waters, surrounded by Somali forces almost
:24:21. > :24:27.The boat is crewed by eight Sri Lankans, now relieved
:24:28. > :24:32.Everybody here helped us a lot and saved our lives,
:24:33. > :24:40.What I can say is we are dead and born, all I can say, dead and born.
:24:41. > :24:45.At 68 years I am, I am dead and born.
:24:46. > :24:47.The vessel was hijacked by gunmen as it made its way
:24:48. > :24:50.from Djibouti to Mogadishu, reportedly just 18 kilometres
:24:51. > :24:57.It was forced to change course and head towards Alula.
:24:58. > :25:01.A fierce firefight then followed between the coastguard and armed men
:25:02. > :25:03.on board a skiff believed to be taking supplies to
:25:04. > :25:11.A number of civilians were injured by stray bullets.
:25:12. > :25:14.And the Puntland coastguard had threatened to use force to retake
:25:15. > :25:18.the ship if negotiations with the pirates failed.
:25:19. > :25:20.The circumstances of the ship's release aren't clear,
:25:21. > :25:26.but the authorities say no ransom was paid.
:25:27. > :25:29.The incident had raised the spectre of a return to the days
:25:30. > :25:33.of the rampant Somali piracy which disrupted a major
:25:34. > :25:35.international shipping route and cost the global economy billions
:25:36. > :25:43.Armed escorts and other anti-piracy measures finally ended attacks
:25:44. > :25:46.on commercial vessels in 2012, and there are hopes that the crisis
:25:47. > :26:16.We've been watching a week weather front slowly slipping its way south
:26:17. > :26:19.across the UK so far today, it extends quite a long way out into
:26:20. > :26:20.the Atlantic and