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[applaus >> and now, "bbcorld news." laura: this is "bbc world america." reporting from washington, i am laura trevelyan. pushing for a delay and waiting for an answer.it n's prime minister makes her case for a brexit extension hebrussels, still saying earlier of the exit, the better. peime min. may: i wanted to be able to leave the an union in a smooth and orderly way as soon as possible. laura: the u.s. attorney general declares that the trump campaign was spied on, and he is going to review what happened and why. plus, behold the first-ever images of a black hole. this picture from a distant galaxy has scientists excited about what it could reveal.

laura: welcome to our viewers on public television here in america and also around the globe. european leaders are debating whether to give britain an extension for brexit, as th' u.k.'prime minister waits on the sidelines. theresa may went to brussels to ask for brexit to be postponedof until the enune. all 27 members must agree to the delay. etjust one objection could the whole thing, and then britain would crash out of the eu in two days time. laura kuenssberg has the latest. laura k.: onpoof the most ant conversations of her career started wita laugh. angela merkel sharing an online gag on their almost identical wardrobe choices today we don't know what else the leaders had in common tonight. here she is ready to persuade the rest of om on the case

for delay. are you embarrassed to be askin other delay? prime min. may: first of all, obviously, i'm here with fellow leaders to talk about the request i put in for sho avtension to article 50, and i know many peoplebeen frustrated that the summit is taking place at all because the u.k. should've left the eu by now and i greatly regrt parliament has not been able to pass a deal. laura k.: the decision of the length of the delay is not in your hands. you said as prime minister you a delayntenance beyond the 30th. ask forl you do if th a longer delay? prime min. may: i'm working to ensure that we can leave the european union -- i want to be able to leave the european union in a smooth and orderly way soon as possible, and that is what i am going to be working for. thank you. n'laura k.: she doe't want to answer that yet. l her counterparts wilke some convincing of what she could do with a short pause.

>> an extension in itself does p det solve thblem. gives the british ore time and space to find a solution, i think it is worth trying at the same time, it is frustrating. laura k.: the french president the most resistant, saying he needs more clarity. and repeated "nothing, nothing is decided." ussels andsensus in across the european union will be to give the the united kingdom a little bit more time for the cross party talks to conclude. we can review the tuation in a few months' time. laura k.e u.k. is still walking this red carpet because at home the governmentthailed to win e case for the brexit deal in parliament. es>> order. on to the prime minister. laura k.: the proposal even for a delay of three months is hated by many on her own side. >> rather thaneliver a diluted al which is unrecognizable to

many of us w voted to leave, go with wto rules, we should grab the opportunity and believe in the ability of the british osople. laura k.: yet for who would rather stuff it altogether, a likely longer wait is the chance to ask all of us again. >> in her final days as prime minister, will she aept the eu offer of the long extension, cept that the only choice now is to put this back to the people? laura k.: her only answer to a th is to go on. prime min. may: and i am continuing to work to ensure that we can deliver brexit and can do that in a way that works for people across the country.in laura k.: knthe day of our eventual departure from the eu is tied to her own exit, too. >> the prime mintoter has agreed o. i was in discussions with her. she has given a period for that. she has hinged it to the passage or ratification of a deal. but i think the reality now is

that is becoming a firm date for departure, end of may, june. laura k.: discord at home watched so closelyere, a big reason why this process has stumbled again and gain. voices slamming the prime minister's leadership, or lack of it, never far away. e prime minister is back here,in arfor more time to stay, because the politics of gettingp out haved impossible so far. now theresa may is trying to persuade the eu that she can make it happen by finding common ground with labour. but yet, there is simply there is no hard proof she will ever be able to make that work. tonight's plea is about avoiding th aturmoil of leaving witho deal at all. on its own, mo time does not remove the same dilemmas staring the country in its face. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, brusls. a former joining us i

board member of the international fund. kecountries have sout in favor of a longer extension to brexit. assuming that the political risk for mrs. may? >> 17 is n 27, and it takes 27. as far as we know at this point, there is not a consensus. i think we all agreed it will be an extension. there will be an extension of potentially a longer period, but that inot a done deal. if it does get to the point where the consensus is longer extension, then that keeps gs like general elections, second referendum all of these broader outcomes on the table. not necessarily very good for prime minister may. extension,shorter then that basically says that france and some of the others that are like-minded are saying that the only way the u.k. will

resolve this is undernormous, acute pressure. l keep the pressure on a you have got a get something done now, and if you don't, this looming threat of the hear brexit remains. neither one of those is good for theresa may. laura: what is the economic impact of all of this uncertainty on britain? douglas: what we know is tha s everything hfered under the uncertainty over the past two and a half years. lack of investment, lack -- overall fght of investments that would have come to britain have gone elsewhere. there has been paralysis. one we also saw from the imf th week is different britain goes down the route of a hardal brexit, no- brexit, it would be dramatically worse for the u.k.rt then eu counter the imf has quantified that as seven times worse for the uk's and the eu. there are those in germany and elsewhere that will take a

hit. the eu doesn't want this. on the other hand, the argument that they will create the economic motivation to come to the table seems to be because it was free. -- casuistry. laa: you have argued they failed to educate the people of britain about the process. locatedoo difficult or, -- or complicated? douglas: we are seeing in april 20 1980's everyone a lot of us said was going to happen -- aprilac 2019 y what a lot of us said was going to happen two years ago. they were miss portrayed and misunderstooby the british political system to the british public, promising a set of outcomes that were unrealistic. as the year progressed, 2018 to 2019, they failesato go back and ok, everyone, here is what is going on, here is the

dynamic. as a result when you get tohe point we a now, the british public is a price to find that the eu is cohesive and keeping it consistent, and the u.k. has been negotiating with itself. laura: tnk you so much for joining us. douglas: thank you. the u.s. attorney general declared today that he believes the trump campaign was spied on. william barr was speaking to lawmakers on capitol hill. though he wouldn't explain why he thought spying occurred, held said it she reviewed. the bbc's nick bryant has more. nick: springtime arrives in rashington with a cherry blossom burst of color andance. but the toxic cloud of the mueller investigation into russian meddling stillns the political air. the report cleared donald trump ofollusion, and today he claimed again the investigation was not just a witch hunt, but part of a coup attempt against his presidency. pres. trump: this was an attempted coup.

this was an attempted takedown of a president. and we beat them. we beat them. what they did was treason. what they did was terrible. what they did was agait our constitution and everything we stand for. nick: donald trump's ne attorney general expresses himself less colorfully, but the carefully chosen words onto capihill were nonetheless explosive. atty. gen. barr: spying on al politimpaign is a big deal. >> you are not suggesting,py though, thatg occurred? atty. gen. barr: i think spying did occur. cuyes, i think spying did nick: there will now be a review as to whether secret surveillance of the trump campgn was improper or illegal. we are awaiting the public release the mueller report. so far we have only seen a four-page summary prepared by theustice department. in the meantime, donald trump has vowed to fight back against

his accusers, and in his new attorney general, he appears to have a loyal ally. nick bryant, bbc news, washington.ur among the senators questioning the attorney general today was democrat chris van hollen from maryland. he joined my colleagues christian fraser and katty kayra for their pr"beyond 100 days." katty: what did you make of what the attorney general said about the possibility thatrump campaign was spied on by u.s. intelligence services during the campaign? sen. van hollen: here we have an attoey general who has not even delivered the mueller report to the united states congress and is talking about redacting majoparts of it, and instead of making sure he does that, he said he is ing to look into what he said was spying on the trump campaign. but he then acknowledged he had no specific evidence.

clearly he is doing thet' presi's bidding. the president has been tweeting about this for months, maybe even years now. it is very, very worrisome to have an attorney general who on the one hand has not been fully forthcoming with the mueller report and on the othes to be doing the president's bidding and launching a fishing expedition into the unfounded areas. katty: what role should the u.s. attorneyeneral be playing in a special prosecution of this nature? sen. van hollen: well, first of all, with respect to the mueller report, he should be delivering the report to congress, and he needs to do that rig away. the american public deserves to see it. with respect to issues regarding the clinton campaign, as you know, we already knew that therw was a firant that had been

issued under due process of law. the attorney general again said today that there was no new evidence that would leave him to open an investigation, which obviously leads you to the conclusion that he is just susponding to political pr from the white house. that is definitely not the appropriate role of a united states attorney general. they are n president's political bidding. they are supposed to abide by the rule of law. not go off on fishing expeditions. laura:t ts maryland senator chris van hollen speaking earlier. new zealand's parliament has voted to change the country'los month's fng las' deadly terror attack on two mosques. lawmakers voted almost unanimously to ts.hten regulati australian brenton tarrant has been charged with 50 counts of muner following the attacks christchurch. a least two people have died and 16 injured iopping

center fire in bangkok. the complex which includes a shopping mall and offices and a hotel was evacuated. some people were repy forced to jump from a burning ilding. the cause of the fire is not yet known. the spiritual leader of tibet the dalai lama, has been admitted to hospital in delhi. reports suggest he is suffer ig from a cheection. he is said to be in stable condition. a spokesman for the 83-year-olde prize winners said he is expected to remain in hospital the next few days. israel's prime minister has inclared a colossal victor what was a closely fought election. benjamin netanyahu is set for a record fifth term. his main rival, former militaryt

chief benny conceded defeat. mr. netanyahu has the task of forming a government with a coalition of smaller parties. i spoke to lyse doucet in jerusalem. what roadblocks does mr. netanyahu face in forming a coalition? lyse: when it became clear that even though benjamin netanyahu came to a time with his main challenger, benny gantz, 35 seats each for the parties in the knesset, but that he would right-wing and the religious parties to form the government, many asked whether that would be easy, cause he created so much anger among some of these right-wing pties when during the election, 48 hours before the polls, he panied that benny gantz was leading in the polls, he basically urged israeli voters to throw all their support behind likud, to leave their backing for the smaller parties. but now after the votes haveen ounted, one right-wing religious leader after another is pledging support to the primi ministwaiting and saying they will join his coalition government. laura: lyse doucet in jerusalem, thank u. you are watchin"bbc world news erica."

still to come on tonight's program, voting is set to begin yacross india with votersoung and old and even the oldest ready to cast their ballots. jack shepherd, a londodesigner who spent 10 months laying low in georgia after his state, 24-year-old charlie brown was killed in a speedboat accident, has made his way back to the u.k. ahead of a court appearance on thursday. sarah rainsford has more for us on the story. sarah: the so-called speedboat killer left georgia tonight escorted by police on to this flight. >> why did you run? >> fear. sarah: he is heading back to britain to face justice. it was case of being fear and animalistic

jumping on a plane. sarah: it is over three years since his boat was found capsized in the thames aftea first date ended inragedy. this was filmed by charlotte brown shortly before the crash that killed her. at some point, jack handed her the controls. .he boat it an obstacle at high speed and overturn charlotte brown was discovered in the icy water. e died later in hospital. it is more than a year since jack shepherd aived in georgia, where he was living etdisc but not in hiding. he is now heading back from here to the u.k. to begin serving a manslaughter. it wasn't until january that he turned himself into georgian police after securing the right to appeal against his conviction. in court, jack shepherd harlotte's death as his greatest regret. but he has since made clear he does not beliesp he is fully sible for the crash.

his georgia lawyer told me he fled before his trial because he was depressed, even suicidal. charlotte brown's family want jack to take responsibility for charlotte's death, saying his hepeal will only prolong t pain and suffering. sarah rainsford, bbc news. india --iers across voters across india head to the polls tomorrow and the largest democratic election the world has ever seen. arnd 900 million people are eligible to vote, and the process will last more than a month. e untry's current prime minister, narendrais mod fighting for a second term to continue what he calls his mission to transform india. h our soutasia correspondent rajini vaidyanathan has more. rajini:at the founs of modern india were built on one basic principle, the right to vote. over the coming weeks, people in

every corner of this land will decide on its future. we traveled deep in the himalayaso visit the border this mana.toeet t 102he is india's oldest voter. for him, this election matters more than mo. >> india hasn't progress enough. to grow, we need unitynd everyone needs equal rights. rajini: he voted in every poll since the country gained independence. but this election shows india at a crossroads. is facing increasingatnalism and division. some say the very idea of india is at stake. more than a thousand ,iles east, from old to young many wonder if this country has

beme less tolerant. these first-time voters are part of the coury's growing street rap scene. with more than half of india under change 25, the voice of the millennial majority matters more than ever. he focused on growing religious tensions between hindus and muslims. is disappearing. i don'tt wan india to be a country where indians are fighting each other." some blame prime minister narendra modi for the country's divisions. in bjp party swept to power 2014 and a landslide victo thislection is seen as a referendum on his time in office. his supporters say he has been a strong man who has protected india's interests at home and abroad. others say the better days he

promis never arrived. every shack in this will cut a slum tells the -- kolkata slum tells the story of struggle. rashida lives in this one rm with six members of her family. she works as a picker because she cannot find another job. in the last five years, unemployment in india has risen to the highest in nearly half a century. "we want decent jobs," tells me. "during the election politicians promised to help the poor, but afterwards nobody bothered to eck on us." en so, this country has advanced under prime minister modi. it is the world's fastest-growing major economy, said to overtake the u.k. but india is characterized by deep divides.elections are the one time the country's powerless can send a message to those in power. e they happy with the way

things are going, or will they vote for change? rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, kolkata. laura:t is stunning and compelling, the first-ever image of aollackin space. scientists hope this will help our understanding of the c and how galaxies are formed. until now, black holes have been considered the most mysterious objects in the universe. the bbc's science correspondentm pallab ghosh he. >> this is the nucleus of the galaxy, m87, and this is the first ever image of a black hole. world,unveiled to the this black hole is 3 million times the size of the earth and devouring material that falls into it. it is being described as a monster at the heart of the galaxy. on top of a mountain in southn spain seemingly touching the clouds is one of the instruments astronomers used to take the

picture. radio telescopes around the world that wa pointed towards a distant galaxy 300 million trillion miles away. together, they scanned the and were abledays to take a picture of the gigantic black hole at its heart. astronomers have used a global network of dishes from all across the world andthinked them to. no single telescope is powerful enough but by adding together the informat the image gradually becomes sharper. >> you can see black holes. beyond what wcan be doing. this is the super heavyweight champion among the black holes in the universe. pallab: they are important because they are at the heart of every galaxy, and probably the reason that stars an planets form around thit. y is so strong close to a black holeev that orders how time flows, making it seem to

pass slowly. it is not known what is on the other side of a black hole. speculate there may be a doorway -- some speculate there may be a undoorway to paralleerses. this image proof that black holes exist, and it is hoped that it will help astronomers learn more about sce, time, and our own existence. t is so exciting is that we are taking our knowledge of black holes, which is focused on the theory, simulating how the environment of a black hole looks. now the data, seeing this, it turns the bible into something tangible, something that you can see -- it turns the black hole into something tangible, something you can see, and there is so much we can learn from this. pallab:ea rhers are recalibrating their instruments to take another picture of a black hole, this time at the heart of our own t galax milky way. pallab ghosh, bbc news spain. laura: albert einstein was right

about those black holes all along. remember, you ca find all the day's news on our website. i am laura trevelyan. thank you so much for wching "bbc world news america." >> with the bbc news app, our vertical videos are desiuned to work ad your lifestyle, so you can swipe your waygh the news of the day and stay up-to-date with the latest headlines you can trust. downlo now from selected app stores. >> funding of this presentation is made poible by the freeman foundation, and judy and peter blum-kovler utionstion, pursuing s for america's neglected needs. >> what are you doing? >> possibilities. your day is filled with them. >> tv, play "downton abbey."ve >> and pbs helryone discover theirs.

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captioning sponsored by newshour pro, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff.on he newshour tonight, as the votes are tallied in israel, prime minister benjamin netanyahu is set to return for a record fifth term in office. then, a scientific milestone-- researchers reveal the first image ever captured of a black hole. plus, our next report from the boom of the world. the ice in antarctica is melting at an accelerating pace, threatening coastal communities thousands of miles away. >> in areas around some of our biggest cities, new york, e boston, miami, where yout a lot of development, very close to sea level-how do you defend those? a >> woodruff: that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.