things are moving at speed in washington, dc. in the past hour the white house confirmed anthony scaramucci will leave role as white house communications director to give chief of staff john kelly a "clean slate". bearin bear in mind he hasn't officially started the job. that was slated to happen in august. this was the first we've heard of this story in the new york times. all this means we are paying very close attention to this feed coming in from washington, and this is where sarah huckerby sanders, the white house spokesperson will be. here she is. let's listen to what she has to say. good afternoon, everyone. i would like to bring out a national security adviser and treasury secretary to discuss their response to nicolas maduro‘s regimes actions in venezuela. as always, your favourite time of day, i will come back and take your questions.” thought it might be best to read the president's statement. the trump administration has called on venezuela to respect... we will keep an eye on that but the person we really wa nt a

i am katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london. there is a monument in krazinksi square in warsaw that commemorates the polish uprising of 19114, which liberated the city from nazi occupation. a classic triumph of good over evil. today donald trump stood in front of that monument to evoke a new struggle — the battle for western civilisation. and it that moment the american president committed himself to standing with europe. the fundamental question of our time is whether the west has the will to survive, do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? do we have enough respect for oui’ cost? do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? mr trump also clearly called on russia to stop its "destabilizing activities" including its support for "hostile regimes" like iran and syria. he confirmed that poland, russia's neighbour, will be supplied with the patriot missile defense system and standing on european soil, he committed the united states to nato's article 5, the principle of mutual def

the bbc‘s suzanne kianpour has been following the story in washington. this is significant because one of president trump's campaign promises last year was indeed better relations with russia and now that is hanging in the balance. now russia has made it clear for a very long time that this was at the top of the agenda. but they gave president trump about six months, he has been in office for about six months now, so was is inevitable for this to come to a head. trump and putin had a very good meeting at the 620. however, the political climate in washington is quite toxic right now. president trump has very narrow line to tread. indeed it is toxic because with these demands by the russians, you also have the enquiries into allegations of russian meddling into the presidential elections and possible collusion with the trump campaign. that is exactly right. this could not have come at a worse time for president trump. his presidency is indeed mired in multiple investigations and every day there seems like there is a new report that could be seen as damagin

but you are right, this is all part of washington's attem pts this is all part of washington's atte m pts to this is all part of washington's attempts to increase pressure on north korea and the growing frustration with their inability to bring matt missile and nuclear programme, the heel and try to get north korea to curtail its ambitions, that frustration is leading the ministry should in washington to look for other ways it can act unilaterally. although this is clearly in large part a response to what happened to that young american tourist, sentenced to 15 yea rs ha rd american tourist, sentenced to 15 years hard labour, died after being released in a coma last month, the shock surrounding that dreadful story is of course in large part, in terms of describing what's behind this measure. but there is other consideration about looking for ways to punish and pressure the regime on that side of the water. all right. thank you. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: as wildfires rage in southern france we follow the firefighters on their mission to quell t

it has been a fast—paced week in washington. the latest high profile departure from donald trump's administration is the president's, now former, chief of staff, reince preebus. he was the subject of a tirade of abuse last week from the new white house communications director. mr priebus, whose tenure was the shortest of any white house chief of staff in modern us history, has been replaced byjohn kelly, a former general, who president trump praised for his work as head of homeland security. general kelly has been a star. done an incredible job thus far, respected by everybody. a great, great american. reince priebus, a good man. thank you very much. 0ur washington correspondent laura bicker gave us reaction to the latest departure. well, the republican party has been praising reince priebus, who is, in effect, one of their own. that could be part of the reason why donald trump never seemed to have confidence in him. remember, he was appointed chief of staff because he was part of the republican party. he was an insider. he also

he knew how believers in washington should work. but as time or on, reports started to come from the white house that president trump out in week and said he questioned his loyalty on several occasions. as a new chief of staff, he has turned to someone a new chief of staff, he has turned to someone a bit like himself, outspoken and outside of the swap, as he calls washington. a political outsider, generaljohn kelly. as a 4—star marine general, you would expect that he would be able to kind of imposing some military discipline on what has been a to montrose white house, but he has no political experience. it will be kind of interesting to see how he steers this ship going forward. how distracting or all of these fractures within these relationships at the white house to getting on with the job of passing laws? when it comes to the likes of health care, it has been ratherfrustrating for donald trump and the republican party. i have travelled the country, and when you speak to people, the first thing they bring up as health care, bec

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. now, another person within the trump administration facing a lot of scrutiny is the attorney general. jeff sessions has already recused himself from the russia investigation, but the white house communication director has told the bbc that talk of replacing him is not happening. anthony scaramucci was responding to a story in the washington post. that story came from the post's national security reporter matt za potos ky. he also broke the story about jared kushner being the focus of a federal inquiry, and joins us now. first of all, where would you say we are now with jared kushner‘s testimony? well, i think we are still very early in this investigation. today was a critical moment, and as you mentioned this was the president's closest confidant, arguably, and his son—in—law who went and talked to senate investigators and gave him his version of these meetings with russians. that is a critical moment, but there are so many more people we need to hear from, but there are so many

we'll have more from our washington correspondent laura bicker shortly. we're hearing reports of a stand off between police and protestors in dalston in north london. it follows the death of rashan charles who was killed last saturday. unverified footage on social media appeared to show at least one police officer attempting to restrain mr charles on the floor of a shop the metropolitan police have said disturbances have continued with officers deployed on horseback and on riot gear. cash in. —— in. on the line is alex collins, a bbc journalist. things have calmed down from half an hour ago. 50 riot officers are in dalston in front of a series of buses. there are a group of protesters or people running up the street away from the police looking like they are being pushed back. things have calmed down. there's a lot of anger about what happened in the previous week and a lot of people want answers. this is a lively area of north london and they are used to crowds on the street at this time of night. it's different from a normal night in dalston. as i w

i came to washington, dc from pennsylvania. i lived with my auntie, and she took me to church. and the church i went to was sarah smith's church, and she was a golfer. one of the charter members of wake—robin golf club. i went to her house to a meeting, and she had a big piano with these huge trophies on it. and i was fascinated by that. so we got a bunch of young girls together, and we formed a little club. they called us "robinettes, and we had about 18 young girls who started out playing golf. i had never heard of golf before, and i got hooked on it. elizabeth rice mcneill is a unique individual all her own. is it right you have six holes—in—one. i've had six holes—in—one in my golfing career. that's phenomenal! it is, it is. we don't have any weak women in this club. we've had good, principled women, good leaders, that have kept this club going all these years. eight decades after that first meeting, inclusion and support are still at the heart of their mission. the helen webb scholarship honours the memory of their founder by supporting young woman dreaming of tu

economics — a washington—based think tank. thank you very much for being with us. thank you very much for being with us. the united states is already britain‘s biggest export market. so how would we further benefits from an open and bigger trade deal, a free—trade deal? an open and bigger trade deal, a free-trade deal? i think the reality is precisely because of the scope and jets of the existing relationship, in order to further enhance and deepen it, you would have to get down to some of the very tough political issues that relate not to traditional trade barriers, but really environmental, food product regulation, financial regulations and the like. and there, once you get to the nitty—gritty, you will find that actually the transatlantic differences might be quite a lot larger than you think. yes. from a strictly trade perspective, the uk is the requesting party and we are in a hurry. so we don‘t have much room for manoeuvre, which worries people. well, i mean, yes. donald trump said it himself in the art of the de

that will anger a lot of people in washington. that would bea of people in washington. that would be a difficult situation ifjeff sessions did not go quietly into the night. health care is also an president trump's twitter feed. let's bring you news update. it isa it is a pretty significant hurdle. it is a pretty significant hurdle. it had lost their vote, would've been it for now. if they can't get toa been it for now. if they can't get to a debate, there is no way they can get torvill. this was the very first step to getting something passed. it was a 50—50 vote broken by mike pence to get to this point. they will bring everything up. the night break some appeals down and try to vote on individual amendments. it will be hard to cobble together 50 republican votes to sign off on anything. this is a big step, but they're not out of the woods. john mccain has had grave health news in recent days. he was there. he flew in from arizona. he had brain surgery a week ago to remove a mass behind his right eye. it turned out to be a cancerous mass. he is suffering from brain

in the same way. first time in washington were shut down in the same waylj first time in washington were shut down in the same way. i am from hamburg andi down in the same way. i am from hamburg and i brought here. now i work in the capital, and i had walked to my parents home, because there was no taxis, no buses, no public transport. 06 weeks i walked four kilometres. new hamburg. some critics say it's a vision of a dystopian future, with visions of water cannon tanks on the streets and all this security. the alternative angela merkel was to hold it in the middle of nowhere and some people might praise herfor bringing it to write to the middle of one of your most important cities? some of the hamburg people are saying it's a bad idea to bring it to such a big city, shut it down so nobody can go to work, schools are closed, very difficult. a lot of people i know have fled the city, have taken some days off, holiday or whatever. i think she wanted, you just said it, she wanted to have it here as a centre, a harbour free—trade, so that was a symbol, and it's her birth town, so mayb

laura bicker, reporting from washington. security's been stepped up at airports across australia, after investigators uncovered a plot to blow up a plane. the prime minister, malcolm turnbull, called it an "elaborate conspiracy. " four men have been arrested. phil mercer reports from sydney. a suspect is taken into custody in the surry hills neighbourhood of sydney, one of four people arrested in raids across the city by heavily armed police and members of australia's domestic spy agency. investigators say they have information that the plot to blow up an aircraft involved the use of an improvised device. as roads were sealed off and properties searched, it has been reported the operation was not planned but a rapid response to a tip—off. the prime minister, malcolm turnbull, says the authorities have foiled what appears to be an elaborate conspiracy. i can report last night that there has been a majorjoint counterterrorism operation to disrupt a terrorist plot to bring down an aeroplane. the operation is continuing. a wom

laura bicker, bbc news, washington. and we'll be speaking to laura live from washington a little later in this programme. the london hospital treating the terminally ill baby — charlie gard says its staff are being subjected to intimidation and even death threats. all this as a court case continues over whether to withdraw life support for the baby. the hospital's chairman — mary macleod said that charlie's case is a heartbreaking one. and she understands emotions are running high. but she said that there is no excuse for such behaviour. in a statement she said "in recent weeks — the great 0rmand street hospital community has been subjected to a shocking and disgraceful tide of hostility and disturbance." "staff have received abuse both in the street and online. thousands of abusive messages have been sent to doctors." she went on to say "many of these messages are menacing, including death threats. we in close contact with the metropolitan police". laura trant has been following the case. we know that charlie gar

the washington post, it is a campaign trailfor washington post, it is a campaign trail for them. washington post, it is a campaign trailfor them. one washington post, it is a campaign trail for them. one or two washington post, it is a campaign trailfor them. one or two papers, the new york times honing in, some others may just leave it the new york times honing in, some others mayjust leave it for the time being? it is interesting, the investment in journalism at the washington post over the last year has been extraordinary. the coverage of the trump administration and their ability to keep getting scoops is really impressive. the daily telegraph, many papers in the uk lead on the story that bbc stars who are man are disproportionately paid, compared to their female counterparts. many of whom do exactly the same job will for example, the stars of their breakfast television. example, the stars of their breakfast televisionlj example, the stars of their breakfast television. i am sure there are going to be some good conversations this morning. how amazing for the bbc team. they mu

it's 7am in singapore, midnight in london and seven in the evening in washington, dc. there have been talks which have been seen as a test of donald trump's ability to improve relations with moscow. russia is demanding that the us unconditionally hand back two diplomatic compounds seized by the obama administration last year. 35 russian diplomats were also expelled over suspicions of meddling in the us election. at the time moscow declined to retaliate. russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov says washington's behaviour is unacceptable: translation: pav it is daylight robbery. they are acting like bandits on the road, taking away a pity that belongs to us. —— it is daylight robbery. in order to get it back, they act according principle, what is mine is mine, what is yours, we will share. decent people do not behave this way. well we can go now to washington to speak with suzanne kianpour who is following the story how significant are these demands from the russians? well, this is significant because one of president trump's campaign promises last year was indeed be

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the government says food safety standards will not be lowered to straight a post—brexit trade deal with america. liam fox, who is in america for talks with his counterpart says there was no food safety issue with chlorinated goods. this comes after concerns that were raised over chlorine washed chicken, which is banned in the eu, but legal in america. housebuilders may be banned from selling new homes in england as leasehold, under new government proposals. a public consultation has begun on the issue after it emerged some developers have been selling leaseholds onto investment firms, leading to extra costs or rising charges for homeowners. more than 86,000 nhs posts were vacant in england in the first three months of this year. the latest figures show the number of vacancies were up by almost 8,000 compared with the same period last year, with nursing and midwife jobs worst affected. the royal college of nursing says patient care is suffering, but the government insists it is inves

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. bradley blakeman is a republican strategist who previously worked in the administration of president george w bush. he says changing personnel in the white house is not that unusual. every white house has a certain amount of organised chaos. people come and go, people are expendable. the only people who are not are the president and vice president. after four years they are at the will of the people. six months an? absolutely. historically we've seen changes at this level almost in every administration. this early on. people are just getting their feet wet and establishing themselves and somejobsjust don't fit. wet and establishing themselves and some jobs just don't fit. anthony scaramucci will have a tough job being a communicator and a communications dog in a white house that extremely fluid, more fluid and less organised than probably any modern presidency. but also the timing of appointing him just before this week week that's coming up, with the president's son—in—law due to

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. now, another another person within the trump administration facing a lot of scrutiny is the attorney general. jeff sessions has already recused himself from the russia investigation. but the white house communication director has told the bbc that talk of replacing him is premature. anthony scaramucci was responding to a story in the washington post by its national security reporter matt zapotosky. we understand that these conversations about ferrari jeff sessions a very preliminary right 110w. “— sessions a very preliminary right now. —— replacing. some people see this as a first step in an effort to get in the way of special counsel. and the us house of representatives is expected to vote today on legislation that would punish russia for its alleged interference in the us election. the bill also includes further sanctions against iran and north korea, for conducting continued ballistic missile tests. but it's the russian measures that set up a tough choice for president dona

let's talk to our correspondent in washington laura bicker.. it's been an up and down week for the white house, hasn't it? you wonder what else is coming next. last night, we got that weed from the president saying that priebus was out and general kelly was in. maybe on monday to reset button will be pressed. what does this bring to the white house? he's a 4—star general with a a0 year the white house? he's a a—star general with a a0 year career in the armed forces. he used to be in charge of guantanamo bay which is why he was put into homeland security because he knew about securing orders. but when it comes to the white house, what does he know? he may bring military discipline to the white house which has been leaking left, right and centre. he might be able to order his staff, but when it comes to politics, what does he know about running a political organisation and thatis running a political organisation and that is one of the questions being asked by key critics today? looking at the make up of the white house, in terms of traditiona

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. live now to our correspondent, david willis. this story is moving, another development. yes, in the last hour. the new york times, which broke the story of this meeting on sunday, is now reporting that donald trump junior was informed by e—mail that the compromising information he was to receive about hillary clinton from this russian lawyer was all pa rt from this russian lawyer was all part of a russian government attempt to basically assist the donald trump can do the —— candidacy. it has been seen by three people and information was passed on to the new york times. that report is unconfirmed at this time. the e—mail is said to have come from a man called rob goldsten. it was he who brokered the meeting between donald trump junior and it was he who brokered the meeting between donald trumpjunior and the russian lawyer, according to the new york times, a former publicist and tabloid journalist. it is clear this e—mail would be of interest to congressional investigators. today, both democrat and republican senators ca

in washington once that briefing gets underway. we will keep an eye on that. meanwhile we will catch up with the latest sports news. good afternoon. the open leaderboard is getting pretty congested. as those at the top battle the toughest conditions of the week so far. the rain is very heavy at the moment at royal birkdale but it has not stopped adam wilde from keeping an eye on everything and humayan men currently sharing the lead. that is right, the rain has for the moment stopped, it was very heavy ten or 15 minutes ago. the players are really having the worst of it, those who are still on course this afternoon. really very difficult conditions, i am being told, as we speak, that play has just been suspended. we heard just as you were coming to us, a few rumbles of thunder in the background and that of course spells very bad news for golfers. play has been temporarily suspended but we will bring you the leaderboard. a four way tie at the top, matt kuchar, the clubhouse leader, four under, he finished with a round of 71a under, h

doctor fox goes to washington... the uk's international trade secretary meets his us counterpart to talk trade. but he's not allowed to strike a deal, before brexit. the international monetary fund keeps its forecast for world economic growth. but it cuts prospects for the uk and the us, while china, japan and the eurozone gets a boost. welcome to world business report. i'm ben bland. also in the programme, we'll learn the success secrets of another ceo. but first, later on monday the uk's trade secretary liam fox will be in washington to discuss a preliminary trade deal ahead of britain's departure from the european union. a final trade agreement cannot be signed until the uk formally leaves the eu, but the two nations are keen to lay the foundations for what the us president expects to be "a very, very big deal". in an interview with the bbc, mr fox said that uk—us trade is currently worth nearly 220 billion dollars. but this could increase by as much as 52 billion dollars if trade barriers between the countries

barbara platt usherjoins us live from washington. we had two different views there, sergei lavrov insisting that president trump has accepted president trump has accepted president putin's denials. what do we make of any of this? well, rex tillerson talked about how there we re tillerson talked about how there were two views on what happened and how they would never agree on it, really. i think you are hearing public statements about the fact that those two views have not been agreed on. rex tillerson tried to say, look, we raised it, mrtrump pressed him on it but we will move forward , pressed him on it but we will move forward, because this will be a different story from both sides, so we will move on to the future. we are setting up a forum on cyber security and will try and work more closely on this in future, preventing this kind of thing from happening. i think the question to ask is, what will people in washington be hearing? rex tillerson saying we pressed on, let's move on, oi’ saying we pressed on, let's move on, or serge

we can get more on this from washington. we just had an offer from donald trump junior to cooperate with investigations. there have been multiple requests from congress for donald trump to speak to their committees. susan collins, there was also a democrat from california, he also wants him to appear. that is one of the reasons why donald trump junior just appear. that is one of the reasons why donald trump juniorjust said he was hiring a lawyer. this is the latest member of donald trump's inner circle who has obtained independent lawyers to represent them. they all have legal team is helping to advise them. because of the possibility of criminality. how damaging is this? is this not what campaigns do, they look for dirt about their opponents? that is certainly standard in campaigns, you try to find anything you can use during the campaign. most campaigns have teams dedicated to it and they're usually isolated a bit from they're usually isolated a bit from the presidential campaign because there could be blowback if you meet

i'm katty kay in washington. and i'm christian fraser in london. our top stories — the pentagon says the united states is capable of defending itself against the kind of intercontinental missile north korea tested earlier this week. the united nations will hold emergency meetings in the security council. south korea is calling for tougher sanctions. saudi arabia said today it will not lift its embargo of qatar after the gulf emirate rejected terms to end the blockade. the saudi foreign minister described the decision as "painful" but necessary. he repeated the criticism that qatar supports terrorism. saudi arabia joined the uae, egypt and bahrain in imposing the embargo. the four countries say qatar doesn't understand the gravity of the dispute. we cannot have a country like qatar that is an ally militarily, and in the 6cc, and in the arab league. and that hosts an airbase from which planes take off to fight isis and al-qaeda, and at the same time, it turns a blind eye to terror financiers who operate openly in qatar, turns a blind eye to extremi

this low—pressure brought wet conditions across washington and the eastern us last weekend. friday night into saturday morning, very lively rain. but it does clear for the daytime. so basically, sunshine and showers most frequent in scotland and northern ireland, fewer showers in england, more sunshine, but nothing much to shout about with the temperatures. in the sunday, low—pressure joined by another cousin working its way in with longer showers across scotland and northern ireland, lacking in milderair and northern ireland, lacking in milder air for and northern ireland, lacking in milder airfor england and northern ireland, lacking in milder air for england and and northern ireland, lacking in milder airfor england and wales. more cloud in the west and brightest conditions in the east. a potential weather system in the english channel could produce heavy rain later in the day. for the weekend, the story summed up by sunshine, showers, and some rainbows for many. into the following week, little changes. this is thejet into the following week, little changes. this is the

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. missiles have been fired in north london after the death of a young man, which is being investigated by the police watchdog. the transport secretary chris grayling has been criticised for backing london‘s crossrail two project days after scrapping electrification schemes in wales and in northern england. the mayor of greater manchester andy burnham said people would not accept that spending billions more on london is the country‘s highest the international trade secretary, liam fox, is holding talks in washington to discuss a possible trade deal with the united states after the uk leaves the european union. current eu rules prevent britain signing an agreement until after brexit. speaking earlier today, mr fox said the talks cover a ‘number of ‘strands‘ including ‘continuity‘ of existing deals. he also set out why the two countries‘ economies were well suited to trading with one another. it is perhaps a cliche, but the fact that it it is perhaps a cliche, but the fact

we can speak to our american reporter in washington. i think these reports first appeared in the new york times. the new york times and politico, all reporting the same thing, that anthony ‘s cara mcshane was effectively forced out by president donald trump. this was also at the request ofjohn kerry, the new chief of staff who was sworn in this morning scaramucci came in about ten days ago, sean spicer resort and shortly after he was announced as communications director, party at protest at scaramucci's harring, and last week scaramucci's harring, and last week scaramucci went on my parade against reince priebus, saying he was a schizophrenic among other obscene references. reince priebus was pushed out on friday afternoon so now it is monday and scaramucci himself is out. there has been considerable turnover in the white house. what is behind this kiosk? it seems like president trump is hiring people who have different opinions and are not getting on and are quitting were being fired. that was one thing remarkable about this white ho

today, you get this article in the washington post. it contains the accusation that us intelligence officials have evidence that this was a hack and that the uae was behind it. the foreign minister gave lucy hawking isa foreign minister gave lucy hawking is a quite different story earlier. com pletely is a quite different story earlier. completely untrue. and posting comments... completely untrue. i think if you look at the comments, they are very consistent with what they are very consistent with what they have been doing. i am talking about the hack, completely untrue. they also said that on the 23rd of may, senior members of your government discussed the plan and implementation. the whole story is com pletely implementation. the whole story is completely untrue. we turned to bbc arabic for help. the uae ambassador in washington denying the involvement of his government. the statements for foreign affairs in the uae also denying involvement. we need to know that this was the trigger for the crisis. but we go beyond going back to the

live now to washington and the bbc‘s laura bicker. first of all, who is this man and how significant is his resignation? mark corallo has been in the white house for just over mark corallo has been in the white house forjust over a few months. he was hired as a spokesman for donald trump's lawyers, who are looking at ways of the russian investigation into whether or not russia interfered with the us elections. they are looking at ways donald trump may defend himself if necessary. he is their lawyers' spokesperson. he has reportedly resigned on the same evening that the washington post and the new york times have both come out with stories, saying donald trump's lawyers are seeking ways to undercut, undermine, the investigation into russian meddling. this investigation led by special counsel robert miller. one of the reasons why certainly people are speculating that he has resigned is because he had warned donald trump's lawyers not to go after robert mueller. is the white house going to war over this investigation? that's probably one

the bbc‘s suzanne kianpour is in washington. tell us how this has come about and whether we are likely to see donald trump junior testify? if donald trump junior testify? if donald trump junior testify? if donald trump junior were to be trump junior testify? if donald trumpjunior were to be subpoenaed he would have to appear in front of the judiciary review and that would be very significant because he would need the highest member of resident from's in a circle to testify with regards to the russia investigation. it is unclear whether will —— when that will happen and whether it will be in public and also whether or not he chooses to invoke the fifth amendment, which allows him to not a nswer amendment, which allows him to not answer questions. remember there are multiple congressional investigations into the trump campaign's ties to russia and so the intelligence committee also wants to speak to everybody involved in that 110w speak to everybody involved in that now very controversial meeting between donald trump junior an

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. the other top stories. governments and by that organisations have pledged more than $2 billion to make contraception more widely available. donors in london including the bill and melinda gates foundation. milestone is not a finish—line. we have a lot of work ahead of us. our advocacy is needed now more than ever. this is a difficult political climate for family planning, and ever. this is a difficult political climate forfamily planning, and i am deeply troubled, as i am sure you are, by donald trump budget cuts. empowering women is more thanjust rhetoric for the president? prove it? a day after iraq declared mosul clear of islamic state, the human observatory for human rights claims the leader of islamic state is dead, al—baghdadi. however, this is not verified. there has been a lot of media interest in the whereabouts and status of al—baghdadi. despite all of the helpful reports to us and resources , all of the helpful reports to us and resources, i am unable to confirm or deny where he is and whet

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. our other top story: the former brazilian president lula da silva has been sentenced to nine and a half years in prison after being convicted of corruption. he was found guilty of accepting bribes worth over $1 million linked to the secret renovation of a beach resort. he will remain free while he appeals the verdict but his campaign to run for the presidency again next year could be affected. the bbc‘s katy watson is in rio. this is a nine and a half year sentence for corruption and money—laundering and it relates to a beachside apartment that he allegedly received and it was in return for bribes of more than $1 million from a construction company in exchange for some contracts, and again it relates to the state owned oil company petrobras. this is all pa rt oil company petrobras. this is all part of a bigger operation carwash, the country's biggest ever corruption investigation that started just over three years ago. it's really spread its tentacles far and wide and a lot of pol

we'll be live in washington. there's a general strike in venezuela. it's the latest effort to oust the government. oj simpson has served nine years of 33 year sentence for armed robbery. he will be released from prison. mr simpson, before i cast my vote, i wa nt to simpson, before i cast my vote, i want to let you know that we believe we are a fair board, we believe we area we are a fair board, we believe we are a consistent board. i will let you know that consistency also goes to parole, and we do not look kindly on parole violations, and if i cast my vote to grant, and it concludes the hearing, our expectation would be that you not violate even the simplest condition for parole. having said that, i am prepared to cast a vote, i am repaired to ask the condition is —— commissioners to set conditions. the bbc's james cook is covering this from los angeles. for people coming to this story afresh, remind us why he is in prison in the first place? oj simpson was imprisoned because of a botched attempt to raid a hotel room in los angeles with some arme

let's get the latest from the bbc‘s suzanne kianpour in washington. what are you hearing? how far is this likely to go? their's been a lot of unrest and violence in venezuela as of late. this is effectively mr trump's shot across the bow at nicolas maduro. he is playing the business card, which he knows well. it is sort of a classic donald trump statement, calling him a bad leader, saying that he dreams of becoming a dictator. in whale, the state department response has been that this was a statement by the venezuelan people as support of free and fair elections. we don't exactly know what it means yet, but the venezuelan economy is crumbling. timidly, this threat will not fall on deaf ears. we should also bring people up to date on this, senior russian officials suggesting the talks in washington are close to resolving the issue of russian diplomats having been accused of interfering in the election. they have accused the americans of stealing their property. senior russian officials are suggesting talks in washington are close to resolving the row over two diplomatic com

so shocking was that news that i think it focused minds in washington. the bigger picture is north korea's nuclear and missile programme. washington's growing frustration, particularly with china, the feeling it is not doing enough to push north korea. america is looking for anyway it can to get leverage. those new announced in washington, and this new step, they are all designed to send a message to pressure north korea in the hope that some leverage can be gained. because everybody except that step—by—step, it is getting ever closer to a real, deliverable and usable nuclear weapons. jon sopel worth in dandong, on the border with northcote you. —— john sudworth. thank you. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme, as wildfires rage in southern france we follow the firefighters on their mission to quell the flames. also coming up on the programme, why prince william is quitting thejob he loves, flying helicopters for the air ambulance service. cheering the us space agency, nasa, has ordered an investigation after confirm

that is what he's in washington. it has long been a nap dummett argument for those who wanted the uk to leave the eu for something, like liam fox, that by leaving the shackles of the eu, the uk can go off and forge new trading relationships with other countries around the world and make the most of those opportunities. that is what we're seeing liam fox trying do now. that is why he is in washington for these early stage trade talks. it is right seen before we formally leave the european union, no deal can be signed. and there is a question on whether anything could be signed off even if we entered the transitional period after the official brexit date. but that did not stop liam fox from being very optimistic about what he sees as the future opportunities. this is since peaking in washington are little bit earlier. us firms employ more than one million people in the united kingdom, and the uk firms employ more than one million americans here. us companies are investing in the uk, seeing a familiar environment built

washington wants to reduce its massive trade deficit in goods from beijing. that deficit reached nearly $350 billion last year. the us also wants a better access to china's growing consumer markets. but the trump administration could introduce ta riffs administration could introduce tariffs or quotas on chinese steel and aluminium products. washington has frequently accused beijing of flooding the market and driving prices down. earlier i asked our business correspondent is this tough talk is a good strategy. donald trump campaigned on this promise to shrink america's trade deficit which he says are helped diminish american manufacturing. if you look at the trade gap in america, the widest gap it has with any country is china so unsurprisingly it has been a focus of tough talk. the president chose a billionaire investor to steer this meeting, and his language echoed that of his boss. china now accounts for nearly 50% of the us goods trade deficit. if this were just the natural product of free—market forces, we could understand it. but it is not. and so it i

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the us house of representatives have voted overwhelmingly for sanctions against north korea and russia. iran was also targeted. the bill must pass the senate before it can be passed. and president trump is about to speak at a rally in youngstown, ohio. that's a state where he has a lot of support. we'll be back to hear what he says later in the programme. also this hour: the two main rival leaders in libya have reached a joint agreement to try to bring stability to their country. the head of the un—backed government and the leader of the so—called libyan national army in eastern libya agreed to a conditional ceasefire after talks brokered by the french president emmanuel macron. australia's best—selling indigenous musician, doctor g yunupingu, has died at the age of forty—six. the family has requested that his image is not be broadcast. the singer, who performed around the world and sold hundreds of thousands of albums, had been in poor health for some time. new research revea

let's talk to our correspondent in washington, laura bicker. what is american making of the last seven days? the last seven days, trying to make something out of the last six months. when it comes to it, donald trump has yet to have a major legislative victory. this week was supposed to be one, this week that we re supposed to be one, this week that were supposed to be a health care victory and this morning he's tweeting, giving reasons for why it may have failed. but he is also distancing himself from the party. the departure of reince priebus is pa rt the departure of reince priebus is part of that. he was an establishment figure, you would got the feeling that he did not quite have confidence in mr reince priebus and he did not quite have the aa of the president. he is replacing him with a general, someone who can perhaps impose his military discipline on a feuding staff and someone who has already shown that he has good management skills as pa rt he has good management skills as part of the department of homeland security. so can he go and

what's been the general reaction out of washington? i think you get very different reactions outside of the beltways — inside washington people, who are politically connected — and those in, let's say, the real world. i think there is more shrugging of shoulders in the real world. i think people can clearly see this is, by all accounts, a fairly dysfunctional white house, at the moment, especially in their communications department. and people have very quickly, over the past six months, kind of got used to that. and in a sense, these kinds of announcements, sudden announcements via twitter, from the president, are becoming quite commonplace. and people don't really been too much. it has to be said, a lot of president trump's ardent supporters, the supporters especially in middle america that got him into the white house, they are still backing him — it seems whatever happens. these controversial moves that the president seems to make do nothing to dent his support in his base. 82 buildings have failed a new fire safety test in w

in washington, president trump described the tests as reckless and dangerous. the reaction from north korea's neighbour in the south was equally harsh. translation: dashing the international community's hopes have eased inter—korean military tensions and in particular, seoul's offer of bilateral military talks. these joint us south korea military drills a response to the launch, designed to send a clear message that seoul and washington stand shoulder—to—shoulder in the face of an increasingly belligerent north korea. the us already has battleships in the pacific ocean. now, it has promised to scale up its strategic assets in response to this latest threat. more aircraft carriers and stealth bombers could soon be on the way. a jubilant kim jong—un wants us recognition as a nuclear power. instead, in the wake of another missile test, he's likely to face stiffer sanctions with china and russia under pressure not to stand in the way. president trump has described his new chief of staff, john kelly, as a true star of his administration — after reince prie

singapore, going back to your father, has always sought strong relationships with both washington and beijing. right now, i look at your relationship with beijing and it seems to me you have some major problems, perhaps symbolised recently when the chinese impounded, for a short time, some of your military vehicles because they had been on exercise in taiwan. how worried are you about your relationship with the chinese? i would not say we have major problems but we have some issues and some incidents. i think the military vehicles were an incident which happened to both of us and we had to handle it. it suggested a lack of trust. well, it is a delicate matterfor both sides. and i think both sides handled it carefully and there has been a satisfactory outcome. to put it bluntly, the chinese are furious about some policy decisions you have made, not least your support to support the court of arbitration‘s backing of the philippines in a dispute in the south china sea. the chinese feel you are betraying a friendship. no, i think you misparaphrase me. because i did not strongly support

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. so what do the president's supporters make of the latest revelations about his campaign team and the mounting questions about their links with russia? our north america correspondent, nick bryant, has been to nebraska, a state that voted for mr trump in last year's election. in the rollicking ride of the troubled presidency, you often wonder how long he will stay on the horse. every day seems to bring a new wrestle in the mud — with the media, congress, international leaders — but here in nebraska, a trump state in the election, there is still strong support for his presidency, despite the attempts of opponents to ensnare him. did you vote for him? yes, i did. are you happy with the job he is doing? you bet. he's a good businessman and that's what the country needs. get a lot of people back working, and that's what he's doing. on the night of the bombshell of the trump e—mails were released, no one at the cou nty e—mails were released, no one at the county fair was in the leas

is washington comes together? i think so, the village that is washington comes together? ithink so, driving in the village that is washington comes together? i think so, driving in to the bbc today you see so many american flags waving, so many people in a good mood, sitting together, visiting comic eating, and looking forward to these fireworks tonight to say that we stand shoulder to shoulder as americans and we revel in our country and its history and look forward to history yet to be made. while we wish you a happy 4th ofjuly. thank you very much for coming in and sharing some of that with us. kathie kay will be back tomorrow. she is taking a well earned break but we'll be back in this seed tomorrow. join us for that and thank you for watching. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines. north korea says it's successfully tested a long—range ballistic missile, capable of reaching anywhere in the world. the mayor of london warns the judge leading the grenfell tower inquiry that he must urgently improve relations

let's begin with that story in the washington post.