19/03/2017 World News Today

I'm Geeta Guru-Murthy with BBC World News.

"No evidence of collusion" between the Trump election

That's according to the head of the panel investigating the claims.

He also rejected the President's accusation that Trump Tower

was wiretapped on Barack Obama's orders.

Was there a physical wiretap? No, but that never was.

Iraqi forces push on in the battle to retake Mosul -

now the Mosque where Islamic State declared its caliphate

Could this man be the next Chancellor of Germany?

Martin Schulz officially becomes the number one challenger

to Angela Merkel for the top job in Berlin.

And in sport - four of the English Premier League's top

six were in action - we'll reveal who had the best day

in the chase to close the gap on leaders Chelsea.

There is no evidence so far that President Donald Trump's campaign

team colluded with Russia during the 2016 US election -

Devin Nunes, head of the House of Representatives intelligence

committee also said there was also no evidence that Barack Obama had

ordered wiretap surveillance of Mr Trump's headquarters,

Let's get more on this with Laura Bicker who joins us

First of 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. 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 always denied being involved in the

2016 election and Donald Trump has always denied knowing anything about

it. But there are some Democrats who also sits on this intelligence panel

who say there is some circumstantial evidence that something took place

and they want it continually investigated. Here is one

representative from Texas. This will be an opportunity for us to have an

open discussion about this investigation, I am sure we will not

hear everything because we are not in a classified setting but I think

there are a few things I'm hoping to hear. Firstly whether any Americans

are being investigated for cooperating are conspiring with the

Russians who interfered. Second are the scope of that investigation and

third time I bark resolving it. What about the allegation President Obama

somehow ordered a wiretap on Trump Tower? Leading Republicans and

Democrats have said they had seen no evidence of that. However what some

are asking for is an investigation is to weather wire surveillance was

ordered on the Trump campaign and why. All of these questions will be

answered hopefully on Capitol Hill at this panel hearing because all

eyes will be on the leading directors of the National Security

agency and the FBI as they give evidence to the intelligence

committee. We will bring everyone more on that tomorrow, for now,

thank you. Iraqi forces are pushing forward

in their operation to drive so-called Islamic State militants

out of their former stronghold There are reports of fierce fighting

in areas of Western Mosul Iraqi authorities say 180,000

civilians have fled the West bank. Conditions for those who remain -

estimated at more than 550,000 - From the outskirts of Al Mansur

district in Western Mosul, In the clamour for help many go

empty-handed. The gunfire from Iraqi soldiers try to control the crowd at

an age distribution. Survivors of the caliphate. Now at risk from

hunger. Troops not keen for the chaos to be caught on camera. In the

distance, smoke from at IS car bomb. The front line is just a mile away.

Those who flee the fighting here end up in overcrowded camps. There are

no good options. For the people of Western Hymn Mosul. You can see the

utter desperation in this area, local people tell us this is the

first aid supplies that have come here, they say they have no running

water or electricity, no access to medical supplies. People in the

queue are afraid the food is going to run out before they are able to

get some. I am crying, she says, because my

children don't understand why we have no food. They don't accept my

excuses. IS took our money to buy weapons. I hope they will burden. --

burn. This woman has suffered a double loss. IS killed two of my

sons she says. One had just got married. As the troops keep watch,

there is tension in the crowd. With the frustration building, the

security forces are compared to their former oppressors. What is the

difference between the IS police and these guys he asks? The IS police

beat us and they beat us, just asking for food. Is this

deliberation may have brought us? Nearby some are returning to this

battle scarred neighbourhood. Like Abdul, an ice cream salesman. His

home was occupied by IS for three months. He says they threatened to

hang his wife because she dared to oppose them. She head in the fields

to survive. IS knocked through the wall so they could move unseen from

house to house. Their reign of terror has destroyed the fabric of

his neighbourhood. We can never live again with those who collaborated

with IS he says. If I catch the man who informed on my wife I will cut

into pieces. The battle for Mosul may be in its final phases, this

ancient city emerging from modelled a barbarian is. When the caliphate

crumbles there will be much to rebuild including a divided

community. There's been fighting on the edge

of the Syrian capital, Damascus, where rebels have launched a major

offensive that's brought them Syrian government forces

responded with an intense bombardment of Jobar,

around two kilometres east Our correspondent Ben James

is monitoring the fighting from Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon,

and he sent this update. This assault has been launched from

the Jobar part of the city where opposition forces still have some

strength. It's been a battle ground for a couple of years, a pocket of

all. This happens, it began at 5:20am this morning, monitors from

the Syrian Observatory for human rights from the UK said there were

car bombs, suicide attacks to begin this assault. Syrian state TV also

talks about secret tunnels being used to launch the attack. Who is

involved? One group that has brought under the Free Syrian Army banner

but also the jihadi this is who incorporate the group formerly known

as Al Nusra front. There have been rebranding is and redrawing of

alliances. In response government forces have deployed warplanes,

there have been air strikes, more than 42 monitors. Tanks have been

seen heading into the areas in preparation for a counterattack.

Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party has

confirmed Martin Schulz as its new leader and the man who'll

run against Angela Merkel in the country's general

A former President of the European parliament,

Mr Shulz was given an unprecedented endorsement from the party base -

Boot, the leader after the Second World War got 99.7 but that is when

he was trying to unite the party. Nobody has done anything like that

since then. How much of a threat is he, where is he in the polls if they

can be trusted? He was declared they Chan did it for the Chancellor back

in January. Since then there was a 12 point gap between the parties and

he has closed it entirely, they are now neck and neck. Not only that he

has brought in 13,000 new members. A considerable achievement. Germany,

so much of the political focus, Angela Merkel and Donald Trump,

events like that, battles Germany is taking on an migrants within Nato,

with America, with the new leadership in America, how is that

affecting potentially the election? Nato is one area he could make some

gains because he is distancing himself from this commit --

commitment Nato have made, he says it's the wrong way to go, he does

not want more spent on armaments and less on social welfare. That will be

a distinct platform when the election comes around. Tell us more

about who is Martin Schulz, is he that well-known? They know him as

the president of the European Parliament in Germany. He has been

in European politics since 1994, he was mayor of our small town on the

border with Belgium and the Netherlands where he grew up. He's

making a bit of a feature of that because he's a man the people. He is

a book-seller, 61-year-old book-seller before he a politician.

Stay with us on BBC World News, still to come:

They were rescued from pirates - we'll reveal what the crew

of the oil tanker which was saved from Somali hijackers

Today we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. More

than 3000 subway passengers were affected. Nausea, bleeding,

headaches and the dimming of vision. All caused by apparently organised

attack. It was on a pedestal in the middle

of the Cabinet, this was an international trophy and we

understand now that the search for it has become an international

search. Above all this was a triumph for the

Christian Democrats of the West offering reunification as quickly as

possible. That is what voters want. The latest headlines, the head of an

American congressional committee on intelligence says he's seen no

evidence that Donald Trump's team worked with Russia during the

presidential election campaign. And Iraqi forces fighting to recapture

Mosul from so-called Islamic State are closing in on the great Mosque

where they declared their caliphate in 2014.

The German defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen,

has rejected a claim by President Trump that Germany owes

Nato and the United States vast sums for the defence of her country.

It follows a tweet by the US President which said

"Germany owes vast sums of money to Nato, and the United States must

be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it

Von der Leyen responded in a statement, saying

into UN peacekeeping missions, into our European missions

and into our contribution to the fight against IS terrorism."

Well, America's former ambassador to Nato, Ivo Daalder,

is among those who felt the need to correct Mr Trump,

Thank you for joining us. Why is Donald Trump incorrect? He is saying

all nations sued contribute 2% of their budgets to defence and that

doesn't happen. He is correct in saying all countries need to do more

on defence, that the Europeans in particular over the last 15 years or

so have been cutting defence at a time when in fact more spending is

necessary. Nato agreed in 2014 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and

the annexation of Crimea to take the 2% guideline and make it policy and

said countries not spending 2% of GDP on defence should do so by 2024.

All Nato countries agreed including Germany and as Chancellor Merkel in

her press conference on Friday reaffirmed, that commitment. We must

have that commitment implemented, some of us would like it sooner

rather than later. That's not the same as saying anyone owes the

United States vast sums of money. As the president put it in his press

conference and then this tweet. We owe to our countries to defend

ourselves, everyone makes a national decision about how much defence is

going to be done within Nato. There is no kitty in which people pour

money so they can pay the United States or anyone else for that. But

if you are sitting in America are paying taxes, why should you feel

you have been subsidising Europe's security and why should nations not

have a much tighter deadline by which they have got to put the money

in? On the deadline we can have that discussion. When it comes to the

Nato summit Donald Trump may try to change the deadline from 2020 42

something sooner. But let's be clear why the United States on defence and

why it has troops and capabilities in Europe. Over the past century the

United States has fought two active wars and one cold war in Europe

because we believe the security of Europe and the freedom of Europe,

the prosperity of Europe is fundamental to the National security

of the United States. We do not think it is a favour to the Germans

anyone, we are in Europe because it's important for the United States

and our security. It is important to prevent the kind of conflict we saw

in the world wars at great costs to Americans and of course Europeans.

Do you feel, just briefly, that Nato is under real threats now from this

current administration? No, I think we have seen re-commitments by the

president and the vice president and others but if we are starting to

condition our security commitment to Europe on particular outcomes with

regard to defence spending then we are in uncharted waters. We have

been here since 1949, we should continue to be here, it is important

to us. We want Europe to pay more, we have been saying that many years,

but fundamentally Nato is not about just securing Europe, it's about

securing the security of the United States. Thank you so much for your

time. Let's take a look at some

other stories now. Brazilian police have arrested

a number of employees of the meat-packing company BRF over

allegations of exports of rotten They're investigating alleged bribes

to health inspectors to overlook Three major meat-packing

factories have been closed. Brazil's President Michel Temer

is due to hold crisis talks. The Socialist candidate

for the French presidency, Benoit Hamon has told supporters

at a rally that "everything begins today" in an attempt

to boost his campaign. A poll published on Sunday

showed him dropping four Since he won the Socialist primary

in January, the 49-year-old has failed to unite the party

behind him. We start with football, the teams

chasing runaway Premier League leaders Chelsea have been in action,

third against fourth as Manchester City drew 1-1.

After James Milner's opener, Sergio Aguero equalised for City,

and he'll be disappointed he wasn't able to convert his chance in injury

It means City have fallen back in their pursuit of Chelsea.

It's one of the more special days of my life because after defeat on

Tuesday, Wednesday was so tough for us. Then recover how we recovered

today with his mentality to play and attack an attack, we could not

attack more often because Liverpool is a top team. I want to stay with

these guys for a long time, do not want to change anything, in terms of

the club I want to stay here and help the squad to make a step

forward. Between 50 and 65 we could have decided the game and we didn't

so that is may be our fault but how can we speak today about faults and

mistakes? I said before the game if somebody tells me you would get a

point at City OK. I would not take it immediately but you would do, you

would take it. And today we have to take it and that's what we did.

That draw keeps Tottenham safe in second place.

And they've reduced Chelsea's lead to ten points after beating

There was much talk before the game about how Spurs would cope

This man, Christian Eriksen, put them ahead.

Before James Ward Prowse celebrated his England call-up

I am very pleased, and happy with the performance of the whole team.

Obviously it's a big impact when you miss, you miss Europe main striker

but I think our offensive players worked very well, working very hard,

our offensive line. And I think the team, we running a fantastic

position for us. Keep going. Manchester United are up to fifth

after a 3-1 win at Middlesbrough. Maroune Fellani put United

ahead before the break, then a stunning strike

from Jesse Lingaard put them 2-0 up. After Rudi Gestede pulled a goal

back, it looked as though Boro But a terrible mistake

from goalkeeper Victor Valdes gifted The spirit is fantastic and the good

thing is that we have two doors still open for Champions League

football. So we are going to try Europa League, we're going to try

the fourth position in the Premier League and let's see what happens.

There are five matches from Spain's La Liga to update you on.

The pick of the ties is Barcelona against Valencia,

There's about 20 minutes to play, and what an eventful game it's been.

Barca have come from behind, they're currently winning 3-2.

In the other games, Atletico Madrid increased their chances

of Champions League football next season, beating Sevilla 3-1

Towards the bottom of the table, Sporting Gijon beat Granada 3-1.

Deportivo couldn't follow up their shock win over Barcelona.

It looks set to be a tight finish to the Arnold Palmer Invitational

in Florida, with no fewer than six players within two

Overnight leaders Charley Hoffman and Kevin Kisner have both

dropped shots today, but are one clear of

They've just been joined by four-time major winner Rory McIlroy.

Marc Leishman has just made an incredible eagle on the 16th to move

to 11 under. And Elena Vesnina has defeated fellow Russian Svetlana

Kuznetsova in three sets in the women's final at Indian Wells.

The crew of an oil tanker hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia

say they feel as if they've been born again, after being

The seizure of the Aris 13 - the first hijacking of a large

merchant vessel in almost five years - had raised fears that Somali

Heading for calm waters, surrounded by Somali forces almost

The boat is crewed by eight Sri Lankans, now relieved

Everybody here helped us a lot and saved our lives,

What I can say is we are dead and born, all I can say, dead and born.

At 68 years I am, I am dead and born.

The vessel was hijacked by gunmen as it made its way

from Djibouti to Mogadishu, reportedly just 18 kilometres

It was forced to change course and head towards Alula.

A fierce firefight then followed between the coastguard and armed men

on board a skiff believed to be taking supplies to

A number of civilians were injured by stray bullets.

And the Puntland coastguard had threatened to use force to retake

the ship if negotiations with the pirates failed.

The circumstances of the ship's release aren't clear,

but the authorities say no ransom was paid.

The incident had raised the spectre of a return to the days

of the rampant Somali piracy which disrupted a major

international shipping route and cost the global economy billions

Armed escorts and other anti-piracy measures finally ended attacks

on commercial vessels in 2012, and there are hopes that the crisis

We've been watching a week weather front slowly slipping its way south

across the UK so far today, it extends quite a long way out into

the Atlantic and