this is bbc news. i'm reeta chakrabati. the headlines at apm. as us and russian foreign ministers meet in moscow, president putin says trust between the two countries is at its lowest level since the end of the cold war. a man has jailed forfour months for threatening on facebook to kill the mp caroline ansell. german police arrest a suspect with islamist links in connection with yesterday's attack on the borussia dortmund team bus. the boss of united airlines apologises on tv for a passenger being dragged off an over—booked flight and blames "system failure" for the incident. you saw us at a bad moment and this can never and will never happen again on a united airlines flight. that's my premise and that's my promise. going up — again. energy firm edf hikes fuel prices for the second time in four months. i'm simon mccoy. coming up this hour, two of the fastest things you'll see on tv today. the goal from this scottish

semi—professional footballer, an astonishing 3.2 seconds after kick—off. and the steam train that's topped the 100mph mark for the first time in nearly half a century. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the russian president, vladimir putin, has said trust between moscow and washington has deteriorated since donald trump took office. mr putin's comments came as his foreign minister, sergei lavrov, was holding talks on syria with his us counterpart, rex tillerson, in the russian capital. opening the talks, mr lavrov warned the us not to adopt an "us or them" approach regarding russia's support

for syria's president assad. mr tillerson wants russia to withdraw that support following last week's chemical attack on a rebel—held town which killed more than 80 people. our north america correspondent barbara plett—usher is travelling with mr tillerson and she sent this report from moscow. this is not the kind of meeting that once seemed on the cards. long gone is talk of a grand resetting of relations with russia, previously encouraged by donald trump. that has been replaced by over tensions over the chemical weapons attack in syria and russian anger over the american military response. translation: it is important for us to understand your intentions, the intentions of the us and and the real intentions of this administration. the secretary of state said both sides had some explaining to do. we can further clarify areas of common objectives, areas of common interest, even when our tactical approaches may be different. and to further clarify areas

of sharp difference so that we can better understand why these differences exist. the trump administration has raised the stakes by so publicly and strongly blaming russia for the actions of its syrian ally. it's a major shift in approach and it's not clear what the larger strategy is. relations have never been easy but moscow says they haven't been this low since the end of the cold war. the strike on a syrian air base seemed like a game changer, but the americans said they were taking a stand against the use of weapons of mass destruction, not taking sides in the civil war. yet president trump is now pressing the russians to back away from support for the syrian leader, bashar al—assad. frankly, putin is backing a person that is truly an evil person and i think it's very bad for russia, i think it's very bad for mankind, it's very bad for this world. that's reinvigorated western allies who met rex tillerson yesterday. they're hoping this means the us

will take a more forceful role in pushing for a political solution. in moscow though, that approach has backfired. president putin has only deepened his show of solidarity with assad and blames the rebels for the chemical attack. the relationship between the us and russia is as bad as it has been in a very long time. in the aftermath of this airstrikes, of course russia in the aftermath of these airstrikes, of course russia is a key backer of assad. and tillerson is going over with the hope that he can somehow persuade russia of the critical importance of the us and russia not coming to conflict in syria. rex tillerson has a lot of experience working with the kremlin, but in cutting business deals when he was head of the energy firm exxon mobil. his task as america's top diplomat is a whole other matter. this trip will be an important test of whether he is up to the challenge. police in germany,

hunting the perpetrators of yesterday's attack on the bus of the borussia dortmund football team, have identified two suspects from what they call an "islamist background". one has been arrested. the bus was hit by three explosions while it was taking the players to last night's champions league match against monaco. a narrow escape from a targeted attack on the borussia dortmund football team. three roadside explosions triggered tame last night as the coach left its hotel in the south of dortmundment the spanish international, marc bartra was sitting close to the window. he has been treated for a broken wrist. translation: marc ba rtra been treated for a broken wrist. translation: marc bartra is being operated on right now for a broken bonein operated on right now for a broken bone in his right—hand and he has very glass shards have been blasted into his arm. the team just rang me. they are still very shocked and thinking about marc. we hope he recovers quickly. j also injured was

a police officer escorting the team to the stadium. federal investigators detained one man suspected of links to islamist terrorism, one of two suspects whose apartments were raid this morning. authorities are attempt to go verify a letter left at the scene claiming jihadists were behind the attack. german state media says the note left in the road claims high—profile german figures and sports stars would continue to be targeted until the withdrawal of german aircraft againstist in syria. monaco are the other team due to play tonne and they are staying at a hotel near the stadium and i've spoken to the players, and the staff inside, they say they're wore they're checking developments on their mobile phones, but that they trust this german security. and there is an extra police presence checking the other coach throughout the day. the kindness of strangers in the aftermath of the explosions overnight was evident in hundreds of germans offering through social media, to take in french fans for the night. this man and his friends took up the offer. we had the

possibility to rest in dortmund today. so, it is fantastic because we really want to see the match. earlier today, football's governing body, uefa confirm the game will go ahead this evening with heightened security and amid an ongoing police operation to find those responsible. president trump's spokesman, sean spicer, has apologised after saying that hitler didn't use chemical weapons. sean spicer made the remark during a white house press briefing, as he answered questions about the war in syria. earlier he was speaking at an event in washington and had this to say. i made a mistake. there is no other way to say it. i got into a topic that i shouldn't have. i screwed up. i mean, you know, i hope people understand that we all make mistakes. i hope i show that i understand that i did that and that i sought people's forgiveness because i screwed up and i hope each person can understand that part

of existing is understanding that when you do something wrong, if you own up to it, you do it, you let people know and i did. so, for me, i mean obviously there is two take aways. one, it is a very holy week for both thejewish people and the christian people and this is not to make a mistake and a gaffe like this is inexcusable and reprehensible. so of all weeks this was not — this compounds that kind of mistake. but second of all, and so, first of all, it is obviously, it's, it's, it really is painful to myself to know that i did something like that because that obviously was not my intention and to know that when you screw up that possibly offended a lot of people. ijust, you know, so i would ask obviously for folks forgiveness to understand that i should not have tried to make a comparison. there is no comparing atrocities

and it is a very solemn time for so many folks that is part of that and that's obviously a very difficult thing personally to deal with because you know that a lot of people who don't know you wonder why you would do that. that's first and foremost and secondly, just from a professional standing point, it is disappointing the president's had an unbelievable couple of weeks. he took very decisive action in syria. he has made tremendous progress with president xi and yourjob as the spokesman is to help amplify the president's actions and accomplishments and i think he had an unbelievable successful couple of weeks and when you're distracting from that message of accomplishment and yourjob is to be exact opposite, on a professional level it is disappointing because i've

let the president down. and so, on a personal level and a professional level that a man has beenjailed for four months for posting messages on social media, threatening to kill a conservative mp. mark sands pleaded guilty to sending grossly offensive messages to eastbourne mp caroline ansell. our political correspondent alex forsyth was at brighton magistrates court. mark sands was sentenced to a custodial terms for the message he posted on facebook in november last year. now the court heard how he had been angry at proposed disability cuts and as a consequence he put on his facebook page, "if you vote to take £30 off me, i will personally come round to your house and stab you to death." now police were alerted to that post and then made caroline ansell, who is the eastbourne mp, mark sands‘ local mp, aware of what had been posted. they said it was a "credible threat" and they charged mark sands, but earlier i spoke

to caroline ansell about the impact that that threat had had on her and her family. i remember where i was when i picked up the call from my local police to say that they had had a credible threat against my life and that a local man had been arrested and was in custody. i was at home, it was a sunday morning and i wasn't expecting that. what's been the impact on yourfamily? seeing it on the front page of your local newspaper and then seeing it in every cafe in the town and the supermarkets and the newsagents, it was very powerful and i sat with my 12—year—old son and his eyes widened as you'd imagine as he sort of read that message and saw my photograph alongside the man who had been charged and so it did have an effect on them. were you genuinely fearful for yourself and your family? it did change things in that moment.

there is a deal of sort of low level abuse and i have become unfortunately quite accustomed to that, but this did feel tangibly different. the threat that you received came after what happened tojo cox, how do you think that changed things? i did know her. i knew the sound of her voice. i knew her smile and i really related to her as in very similar age and stage in life and that connection with children too. so, i think, that did change my response to this experience because of what had happened to her, but i think also perhaps it made the police rather more concerned to take the action that they did. do you think this is a particular problem for women this kind of threat? i know from my male colleagues that they get equal treatment in social media terms. nobody should have to put up

with this kind of engagement. this idea that life online isn't real, doesn't have repercussions is something we need to stop and stare i think at that. there is no separation between our digital selves and our real life, you know, there isn't. that's a very false distinction and i think it is a dangerous one. do you worry it will put people off politics? i think there is a risk in that because why would you go there? why would you want to embrace that kind of life experience? i think particularly for women with children, especially younger children, would you want to expose them to that? and so for that reason, alone, i hope that there is something of a sea change in the way in which people view their politicians because in my experience i haven't met one who hasn't got

firmly the best interests of the people they represent at heart. well, there was mention made in court about the current climate where mps are receiving online abuse, but madeleine priestley who was mitigating on behalf of mark sands said he was of previous good character. this was an empty threat borne out of frustration because he was concerned about cuts to his disability. thejudge said he didn't accept that, he said when you looked at his facebook page there was an ethos of hatred. he cited the death ofjo cox who was murdered last year and the districtjudge said the comments made by mark sands were unpleasant and they gave a sinister context to the threat that he had made against caroline ansell mp and as a consequence, he sentenced him to four months in prison. the headlines on bbc news:

as us and russian foreign ministers meet in moscow, president putin says trust between the two countries is at its lowest level since the end of the cold war. a man is jailed forfour months for threatening on facebook to kill the mp caroline ansell. german police arrest a suspect with islamist links in connection with yesterday's attack on the borussia dortmund team bus. and in sport, he admits they're the underdogs, but leicester city manager craig shakespeare says the team are still out to get a result in their historic champions league quarter—final against atletico madrid tonight. double formula one world champion fernando alonso will miss the monaco grand prix next month so he can race in the indianapolis 500. elinor barker wins silver in the scratch race on the opening day of the world track cycling championships in hong kong. i'll be back with more on those stories after ii.30pm. the chief executive

of united airlines has appeared on american television, to apologise for what he's described as the truly horrific removal of a passenger from an overbooked flight and he promised it will never happen again. oscar munoz had been under growing pressure after initially defending what had happened. the family of the passenger say he's being treated in hospital and they‘ re grateful for the outpouring of support they've received. simonjones reports. oh, my god! no! it's the footage that has gone viral, caused widespread revulsion, and led to shares in united airlines falling. david dao is dragged from a plane in chicago after he refuses to obey officials who tell him he must give up his seat. united insisted it needed four seats for crew members. there has been condemnation on social media. the video clips have now been viewed more than 100 million times. oh, my god! look at what you did to him! the immigrants are under attack.

and people have protested outside chicago airport calling for a boycott of united. the boss had at first defended what happened, saying the passenger had been disruptive and belligerent. but now a shift in tone. the first thing i think is important to say is to apologise to dr dao, his family, the passengers on that flight, our customers, our employees. that is not who are family at united is. and you saw us at a bad moment and this can never, will never happen again on a united airlines flight. that is my premise, and that is my promise. the family of david dao have issued a statement expressing gratitude for the outpouring of support. he's undergoing treatment at a chicago hospital. but some passengers want convincing that the airline really will learn lessons. i hope this never happens again to anyone. and i will continue to fly united,

i will continue to also check on other airlines as well. ijust got asked to volunteer to give up, but travelling with two kids, i said no. so i'm hoping it is a better situation today. pr experts believe the belated apology should have come much sooner. they have done all the wrong things really, really well. and i think, you know, people in pr will be looking back at this for many years as the perfect way to explain what not to do in the social media. performing together with a single, united purpose... the slick adverts seemed a world away from what was caught on camera phones. the company now needs to unite to limit damage. america's first lady melania trump is to receive damages and a public apology from the daily mail after it published a story questioning the nature of her work when she was a professional model. the newspaper ran an article which included allegations that she provided services beyond simply modelling .

it later retracted the story and apologised. earlier our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba explained what happened. in august 2016, the daily mail newpaper print made the allegations, in a two page article. the article made claims about her time working as a model in the 1990s saying that she basically provided services beyond simply modelling, that she was working as an escort. well, today at the high court, associated newspapers which publishes the daily mail said they now accepted all the allegations were absolutely untrue, that they wished to apologise to mrs trump for any distress and embarrassment that the articles may have caused her. now, the same allegations were made by mail online in the united states. now, of course, the high court has nojurisdiction in the united states of america, but a statement

from mrs trump and the mail online said mail online accepted as far as the publication in america was concerned that the allegations that they made there were untrue and they wished to retract. and they wished to retract them. it means mrs trump had an apology in the high court from the daily mail and their lawyers. the daily mail print edition will print an apology and associated newspapers and the publisher of the mail online and daily mail say they will pay her legal costs and an undisclosed amount in damages. it is unusual for a lady of this profile to go abroad though, isn't it, i know it went on mail online, but to go for a british newspaper like this, can be risky? well, the legal situation is somebody has a reputation to defend in the uk, they can bring proceedings here at the high court in london. and it seems that she felt that these allegations, which have been said to be untrue

by the associated newspapers, they have now accepted that, that they couldn't be answered, you know, be unanswered and she was going to take legal action in the uk and the united states to set the record straight and that's what she has done. an update from moscow. the american secretary of state, rex tillerson is presently meeting president putin. that was a meeting that was suggested after he met the foreign minister. we know that president putin said earlier that relations between russia and the us had detear rated since president trump took over. well, he is presently now meeting with his foreign minister. which means that the reporters in this room, who are waiting for the arrival of rex tillerson may have to wait longer. that news conference scheduled for, well, any time from lipm, but with the news that rex

tillerson has in fact met with the russian president in the kremlin, that would suggest this news conference will be pushed back somewhat. we will keep an eye on that. if it starts, we'll take you straight over there. the is dent happened in may last yearin the is dent happened in may last year in south—east london. a 37—year—old man has beenjailed for three years and four months and ordered to pay £2,000 in compensation, while the other two have yet to be sentenced. 27 men appeared at court in huddersfield charged with dozens of sexual offences against 18 girls aged between 11 and i7. the crimes are alleged to have been committed between 2004 and 2011. the charges include rape and trafficking. our correspondent spencer stokes is at kirklees magistrates‘ court and has more on the background to this case. this was a major three—and—a—half

year long police investigation that ended last month and resulted in 27 men and two women being charged with historical sexual offences. those offences relating to rape, trafficking to rape, trafficking with intent to engage in sexual exploitation, sexual activity and the supply of class a and class b drugs to 18 women in total, those women aged between 11 and 17 years and those offences taking place over a seven year period between 2004 and 2011 in the huddersfield area. all of the defendants coming from west yorkshire apart from one man who is from dudley. as those defendants arrived at court this morning, either on their own or in small groups, many of them faced abuse from groups of protesters shouting at them as they made their way towards the magistrates‘ court here in huddersfield. once inside the magistrates started working his way through the 29 cases and all of them have been referred to leeds crown court.

the person facing the largest number of charges is from the thornton lodge area of huddersfield. 5a charges in total. 21 of rape and 1a of trafficking girls along with a number of other charges. unemployment has fallen to its lowest level in a decade. in the three months to february, the number of people out of work fell by 115,000 to 1.56 million. but the rise in average earnings has started to slow down. our economics correspondent, jonty bloom told us that will begin to cut into people‘s disposable incomes as inflation rises. there are some people who are worse off anyway. civil servants had their wages frozen so they‘re worse off this year than they were last year, but we are expecting inflation to increase in coming months and we‘re not expecting average earnings to go up. so inflation in the system is going to come through because of the weakness of the pound, higher energy prices, higher travel prices which we know are in the pipeline and that‘s going to push up inflation

and people are beginning to feel that squeeze. they won‘t have much money to spend as they did last year as those prices wipe out their salaries and to put that in context it has been going on a very long time. people are still paid less than they were ten years ago. that‘s really unprecedented. that‘s because of the credit crunch and the recession and the squeeze on salaries and spending that we have seen ever since. customers of the energy company edf are facing a second price rise in four months. its standard variable price for electricity will increase by 9%, and gas by 5.5%. the hike has been described as difficult to justify by the energy regulator. it follows price rises by other leading energy companies. a short time ago i spoke with archna luthra from money saving expert. she told us what customers could do to get better energy deals. what everyone should urgently be

doing is looking for market comparisons, to use one of the comparisons, to use one of the comparison sites out there. it is really quick and easy to do. it ta kes really quick and easy to do. it takes five minutes. you just enter your details and it will tell you who the cheapest provider and deal is for you. if you don‘t want to do that, the best thing to do, ring up your current provider and ask them to put you on its cheapest deal. a steam locomotive has been driven at 100mph for the first time since steam power was abandoned by british rail, nearly 50 year ago. the new steam locomotive, tornado, reached the speed as part of an experiment, to assess whether steam trains can safely run faster than the current limit of 75mph. judith moritz reports. it may look like something from a bygone era, but the tornado steam locomotive is a very modern train. to run competitively on today‘s railways it must hit top speeds.

which is why in the middle of the night, its volunteer crew did something that has not been done since 1966. on the line between newcastle and doncaster, they took the train to the max, past the normal running speed, past 90 miles an hour and beyond. right up to the top of the dial. we did what we set out to do. we need to see, we have not got it home yet, so it really only counts when you get it home. but the guys have had an inspection and we seem to be all right. this is all about gathering data, that is the difference with this, then we will take the engine to the shed and put to bed and put ourselves to bed. this class of steam train was common throughout the 1950s until the end of the 1960s when it was scrapped in favour of diesel. the tornado was built in 2008 at a cost of £3 million and it runs a charter service. but to fit into the modern rail network timetable the crew had to show that it could cope at more than 90 miles an hour. a lucky few were on board last

night as the train hit the 100 mile an hour mark. cheering. i‘ve every confidence and faith in them, to be honest, they‘re wonderful people and they have done us proud. just amazing. absolutely incredible. she'sjust the only loco that could have done it. brilliant. if there was any problem they would have backed off immediately and they were just cruising in the high 90s. as smooth as silk, amazing. it‘s an achievement built on soot, steam and sweat and for the crew, huge cause for celebration. rather than champagne though they were gasping for a cup of tea. the tornado was the first steam locomotive to reintroduce a timetabled service to england. now it has shown what it can really do, the hope is that by the end of this year it will operate regularly at express speeds. it is time to get an update on the

weather. i won‘t ask you about trains, just the weather. of course, he was talking about thomas the tank engine. cool thomas the tank engine. cool, with a few showers. to be honest, there won‘t be much change in the coming days. the weather will va ry in the coming days. the weather will vary a little bit, but it will be cool vary a little bit, but it will be cool, a breeze out of the north—west at times cloudy with showers and that‘s what we‘ve got right now, but a lot of dry weather around too. so, on balance, actually, the outlook isn‘t looking too bad both for this evening and the rest of the week. cool fronts crossing the country this evening. still some showers around across north western areas, western scotland and the north of scotland, but for many of us, a dry night, lengthy clear spells and chilly out of town. cold enough for a bit of grass frost, but that‘s

before sunrise. a similar picture across the north of the country. showers around to the south, fewer showers and probably dry for most of us, around 12 celsius and there will be glimmers of brightness every now and then. that‘s it. this is bbc news with me, reeta chakrabarti. this is bbc news with me, reeta chakra barti. the this is bbc news with me, reeta chakrabarti. the headlines at half past four. president putin has said relations between russia and the us have worsened since donald trump came to power. he made the comments as his foreign minister met america‘s top diplomat, rex tillerson in moscow. a man has beenjailed forfour months for making threats to kill conservative mp caroline ansell in a facebook post. police in germany have detained a man they say may have islamist links over last night‘s attack on the borrusia dortmund football team. the united airlines‘ chief executive oscar munoz says he will not quit amid an explosive backlash to video of a screaming man

being dragged off a plane. he has made a public apology. let‘s get a sport update with hugh ferris at bbc sports centre. after last night‘s attack on the dortmund team bus players from the german side and their opponents monaco should be arriving for their rescheduled champions league quarterfinal. it kicks off injust champions league quarterfinal. it kicks off in just over an hour. these are the scenes from last night when thousands of fans already in the stadium as news filtered in about the attack dortmund team bus... the opposing monaco fans chanting their support for the dortmund players. the football world has joined together in wishing defender marc bartra a speedy recovery. he‘s said to be ‘doing much better‘ after he surgery on his wrist. while the dortmund president has praised the fans. i was very, very lucky when i heard how the monaco fans reacted and

called "dortmund, dortmund, dortmund!" solidarity like this we have only in sport. that‘s the only positive thing we learned yesterday. ina positive thing we learned yesterday. in a sport, it is possible to make solidarity, to make respect, to help each other. i‘m sure the people are discussing the whole day what happened yesterday. but when they come to the stadium, we will have a fantastic atmosphere. that‘s what i feel. uefa has said security measures will be tight around all of this week‘s european matches, including leicester‘s quarter final first leg against atletico madrid tonight. the leicester players will have to focus on matters on the pitch though, as they embark on one of the biggest days in the club‘s history. last year‘s premier league winners are the only english club left in the competition. and the manager craig shakespeare says the players will relish the occasion.

walking through the stadium in terms by the changing rooms, seeing all the cups, it‘s a lovely, traditional ground. it gives you a little tingle. but i‘m on this site now i do have to make sure you enjoy these moments, but i think to enjoy it you have to make sure you try and get a result. warren gatland names his lions squad for the tour of new zealand a week today originally selected for the 2013 squad but eventually missed out because of a ban for verbally abusing a referee. dyla n dylan hartley. anyone selected, i'm sure it‘s a great honour. i have been previously selected, so yes, it isa been previously selected, so yes, it is a great honour. to tour, i‘m sure it‘s a great experience as well. not counting my chickens. i don‘t want to build myself up for possibly a

setback in my eyes. i‘m just taking it as it comes. i‘m happy where i am at the moment. if it comes it‘s a bonus. if not, i‘ve got other things to look forward to. cycling, and great britain have won a silver medal on the opening day of the world track championships in hong kong. elinor barker finished second in the women‘s scratch race. the 22 year old won gold at the rio olympics as part of the team pursuit — and it looked like she might get her hands on another gold, but was pipped in the closing stages by italian rachele barbieri. we‘ll return to football, and to one of the fastest goals ever scored. it came in scotland over the weekend in an amateur game. maryhill midfielder gavin stokes scored this. straight from the kick—off! it was against clydebank... and was timed atjust 3.2 seconds. his side won 3—0. more now on russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov,

holding talks on syria with his us counterpart, rex tillerson, in the russian capital. mr lavrov has warned the us not to adopt an "us or them" approach over russia‘s support for syria‘s president assad. mr tillerson wants russia to withdraw that support following last week‘s chemical attack in which killed more than 80 people were killed. mr tillerson is now meeting the russian president vladimir putin. earlier i spoke to chief of the financial times‘s washington bureau, and began by asking him about the relationship between the two countries. it's been a dramatic turnaround. during the campaign trail donald trump rarely said anything negative about vladimir putin, and a lot of republicans on capitol hill were worried he would ta ke capitol hill were worried he would take a soft approach, that he would undo the sanctions put on russia because of its taking of the crimea from ukraine. everyone was expecting a much softer approach from trump.

he‘s come into office and the syrian gas attack which sparked his decision to launch missile strikes ata decision to launch missile strikes at a syrian airbase have clearly opened up a really deep fissure between the us and russia. while trump himself may have spoken softly, look at rex tillerson, secretary of state, jim matters the secretary of defence, nikki haley the ambassador to the un... these people are making very strong statement about russia that are very different from the things donald trump has said in recent months. donald trump speaks in a certain way but the team he‘s put in place around him is not going to be soft on russia at all. when it comes to syria is it clear to you there is a strategy on syria? no, i think the strategy on syria? no, i think the strategy on syria is still emerging. what the trump administration tried to do yesterday was get everyone on the same page. you have the president, rex tillerson again, jim matters, everybody coming out saying what happened in syria last week

when the us launched missiles, was a message to bashar al—assad not to use chemical weapons again. and it didn‘t signify the us was about to enter the syrian civil war. the us has gone close to entering the civil war ina has gone close to entering the civil war in a sense by doing what it‘s done. relations with russia, key to trying to achieve any kind of outcome in syria that is good for the people there, relations are on the people there, relations are on the rocks. it is very difficult to see what the us will do at the moment, particularly when putin, trump and the different sides are at loggerheads. you interviewed president trump last week and spoke about north korea, would you say it stands is clear on north korea? yes and no. it clear in that he told us he wanted china to put more pressure on north korea to rein in its nuclear and missile programmes. china has the greatest sway of eve ryo ne over china has the greatest sway of

everyone over north korea. he said if china didn‘t step up to the plate he would go it alone. he didn‘t make clear what that would be. he delivered exactly the same message when he met xijinping at mar—a—lago on thursday and friday. over the weekend the pentagon deployed one of its aircraft carrier strike groups, they you as carl vincent, to waters near the korean peninsula. trump is playing a two pronged china to do more to pressure north korea and send more military force towards north korea. which in the wake of the strike on syria sends a certain message to north korea. however, i think the us says all options on the table. this means a pre—emptive strike cannot be ruled out. clearly eve ryo ne strike cannot be ruled out. clearly everyone in washington and the trump administration, most people would rather find some kind administration, most people would ratherfind some kind of administration, most people would rather find some kind of diplomatic solution, perhaps by sanctions or other measures, rather than taking the more aggressive route, which could backfire because north korea

would retaliate against seoul and tokyo, the two american allies in the region. it‘s a very tense situation right now. there you are, working the head of the washington bureau for the financial times. what is it like being a white house political journalist in is it like being a white house politicaljournalist in the era of sean spicer and donald trump? it's interesting. after the campaign it‘s ha rd to interesting. after the campaign it‘s hard to be surprised by anything any more. on one hand there is a slight alice in wonderland quality to what‘s going on, sean spicer had a very bad day yesterday, essentially trying to say assad was worse than hitler, which completely backfired. a lot of things said at the stadium and donald trump tweet things which are and donald trump tweet things which a re clearly not and donald trump tweet things which are clearly not true, a way you wouldn‘t have seen in the past. their race at internal discord and infighting in the white house there are more leaks coming from the administration and many of us can remember compared to recent administrations. there is an awful

lot of information coming out and i would say sometimes it‘s an easy story to cover, and sometimes very difficult. a terminally—ill man has won the right to bring a high court challenge over the law on assisted dying. retired college lecturer noel conway asked the court of appeal to overturn an earlier court ruling, that prevented a judicial review over the ban on helping someone to die. tom davies is from the campaign group dignity in dying — which is supporting noel conway‘s legal challenge. speaking to our medical correspondent, fergus walsh, the group said it welcomed the ruling. we delighted of course, and noel is delighted that finally you‘ll be able to have his day in court to explain why people like him deserve the right to a dignified death, and he exactly why he thinks that‘s the case rather than as we head in the high court, not being given permission to hear the case in the first place. the decision by the

court of appeal today doesn‘t in any way prejudge what the courts will do? it means he has a full legal challenge to the suicide act. absolutely. there is nojudgment from the court on whether his case will win. the court has recognised he deserves his arguments heard and will be able to challenge the existing law that doesn‘t allow people like him to have a choice at the end of life. yesterday this case was being heard by the appeal court, judgment yesterday. there was a judge in the high court who said a little baby, charlie garde, should be allowed, as he put it, to die with dignity because, effectively, to end his suffering. i would imagine dignity in dying would see some kind of connection between those cases? we think it should be for dying adults with mental capacity to decide when and where is best for them to die. the issue of

oui’ best for them to die. the issue of our children is different because the ability... sorry, we think it‘s the ability... sorry, we think it‘s the ability... sorry, we think it‘s the ability to decide for oneself thatis the ability to decide for oneself that is the real issue here. no clearly has the right to decide for himself whether he wants to die or not and at the moment the law doesn‘t allow him that. not and at the moment the law doesn't allow him that. presumably you need this case to come on quite quickly? we do, know all is terminally ill and we think he deserves his case as possible so he can turn up to court, and make his argument. tim lelito people don‘t have much time left and it‘s brave of him to spend some of his last months on this planet arguing his case. ultimately he deserves his case. ultimately he deserves his case heard, and soon. one of the high courtjudges who turned down his case described him as a selfless individual, and praised him for doing this campaign for the right to die, as he put it, because

parliament has already made clear it will not change the law and if he was to win at the high court there would be appeals and the rest of it and it would end up at the supreme court. isn‘t it almost certain no matter what happens any final judgment will come too late for him? u nfortu nately judgment will come too late for him? unfortunately that seems to be the case, but as noel has said, it‘s not necessarily just for case, but as noel has said, it‘s not necessarilyjust for him, this is for dying people across the country, people deserve a choice. if no orders and benefit from a change in the law, hopefully the hundreds of people who supported the campaign will benefit in future. what would you say to the fact parliament is very clearly overwhelmingly decided there should be no change in law, and that if you were to allow it, albeit in these tragic individual cases, it could turn right to die into duty to die for the sick and

vulnerable. i don't think there is any proof of that in any country, we‘ve seen in 20 years oregon in the us, california, colorado, the whole of canada now has the assisted dying law, there are other laws in other countries that do this very well indeed and all of the fears raised by parliamentarians, opponents of assisted dying, don‘t come true when you look at other countries. cambridge county council failed to protect a 15—year—old girl being sexually abused by her teacher. social services had previously written to warn the council about the teacher — who cannot be named — but he was allowed to continue teaching. noel phillips has this exclusive report, and just to warn you there are graphic descriptions of the abuse suffered by the victim. abigail, not her real name, wasjust 15 when she says she was groomed and raped by her teacher. a man who she claims used his profession as a cover to sexually exploit her. on

several occasions he tied me to a radiator with a dog collar and told me not to move and made me sit there naked. this would happen in the classroom? for the first three years it would happen in the classroom and after, say, 11—5 months, he started getting me to go to his house. to do that he would get me to jump into the back of the car, sit behind the seat, and be covered up by a blanket. so when we got to his house nobody would see me go in the house. he‘d drive into the garage and then i would have to get out. for legal reasons we cannot name the teacher, but documents we‘ve seen shows he was arrested in the early 80s after being accused of sexually abusing two vulnerable girls at a secondary school in cambridge, but was found not guilty. shortly after in the early 90s a number of chances were missed by cambridge county council to monitor him before he went on to abuse abigail in whittlesea.

to monitor him before he went on to abuse abigail in whittlesealj to monitor him before he went on to abuse abigail in whittlesea. i would like the government to consider mandatory reporting. baroness new loew says to prevent similar cases the government should make it a crime for anyone who suspects abuse but does not report it. you've got social workers, everybody, you think the essence of their core training is the safeguarding of that child. if you have some inclination something is not quite right, you‘ve been given some information that supports what you think, you have to report it. that is your duty. a social worker had previously written to cambridge county council with concerns about the teacher but despite this he was still allowed to continue teaching. the social worker who wrote that particular report went to the first two trials at school number one. she noted inconsistencies in her evidence and it failed to be listened to. he moved to school number two where he was given unfettered access to

children, including abigail. no one from cambridgeshire county council would speak to me on camera, but in a statement they‘ve apologised and agreed an out—of—court settlement of more than half £1 million. they go on to say the school itself and the vetting and checking process is very different from the systems in place 25 years ago. i'll never forgive him, no, he was an adult, he knew what he was doing was wrong. the teacher has been banned from teaching for life but for abigail shejust teaching for life but for abigail she just hopes teaching for life but for abigail shejust hopes her teaching for life but for abigail she just hopes her story will encourage other victims to speak out. noel phillips reporting. the home office has told bbc news a consultation is currently taking place on how to reform the child protection system when it comes to reporting child abuse. in a moment, a look at how the financial markets in europe closed the day, but first, the headlines. as us and russian foreign ministers meet in moscow, president putin says trust

between the two countries is at its lowest level since the end of the cold war. a man‘s jailed for four months for threatening on facebook to kill the mp caroline ansell. german police arrest a suspect with islamist links in connection with yesterday‘s attack on the borussia dortmund team bus. let‘s ta ke let‘s take a look at how the market in europe have been trading. investors are buying in europe, but gold, yen, bonds — all those safe havens are still at multi month highs as investors are worried about geopolitical tensions. let‘s look at the footsie and london. some crucialfigures

let‘s look at the footsie and london. some crucial figures out this morning, that is what the ftse has been focusing on. the uk unemployment rate. the uk unemployment rate has remained at 4.7%, and average weekly earnings including bonuses increased by 2.3% — that might sound good but that wage growth is being met by inflation and while wages are looking set to slow, inflation is forecast to rise leading to even more of a squeeze on our earnings. and profits at bookseller and stationer wh smith rose almost 4% over the last six months, profits from its outlets in airports, railway stations, motorway service stations and workplaces all went up but sales at its high street business fell and the share price down around 1.5%. let‘s talk about tesco — full year results out today and they were better than expected at £1.2 billion — however that was before exceptional one off costs — including legal charges and the share price was down around 5%. tesco said it did exceed its

four—year operating profit target. the share price down around 5%. earlier, tesco‘s chief executive, dave lewis, had this to say about today‘s results. i‘d describe them as another year of solid progress in tesco. the very pleasing thing is that on every dimension of customer service we‘ve had positive feedback from customers of the service we‘re are giving, it has allowed us to drive an improvement in sales and profitability. a year were very good progress. that was dave lewis. joining us is richard jeffrey, chief investment officer at cazenove capital management. do you agree with what dave lewis has said about the tesco results today? it's difficult to get past the headline which shows the effects of the fine. it's which shows the effects of the fine. it‘s very disappointing. tesco is moving on, quite confident statement from management. there are positive

features of these numbers, the first like—for—like growth in sales for seven yea rs. like—for—like growth in sales for seven years. that is what tesco needed to get back to. i think it is showing the benefits of an improved strategy. the numbers also showed a slightly more inflationary environment is helpful for the food retailers. the problem for tesco is that many investors are rather sceptical about the book a takeover. not the rationale, but the price being paid. whsmith sales are up in airports, station concourse stores, but down on the high street. we‘ve heard this story again and again. do they need to refocus their business? i think whsmith is probably delivering what the city wants so far. good cash generation in the business as you say, it is the travel part of the business driving ahead. the high street part, though

it has benefited from spoof humour books this year, it‘s finding the going tough. some people think is going tough. some people think is going tough. some people think is going to find growth hard but harder to come by in future. that is a longer—term challenge. to come by in future. that is a longer-term challenge. unemployment figures and wage growth, looks like we‘re good at creating jobs, but not well paid. average earnings growth is quite slow, that is true. i‘m slightly sceptical of some of the numbers, i suspect for many people average earnings growth is a bit faster than is shown in these published figures. with one feature of today‘s numbers, which you haven‘t mentioned, which was very interesting, the number of job vacancies in the economy, which has risen to an all—time high. demand for labour is still strong. another feature of the numbers is there has been a big shift from working into

full—time working, a sign of strength. when you take these things together, it means it is likely wage growth will pick up over the next 6-12 growth will pick up over the next 6—12 months. growth will pick up over the next 6-12 months. thank you for your time. before we go let‘s take a look at what‘s happening at markets in the states. you can see the dow is down ever so slightly. investors in america and across asia are worried about those tensions. syria, north korea, those upcoming elections in europe. in the states they are prepping for a lot of corporate results out tomorrow. things like gold and treasuries up a little bit. let‘s ta ke gold and treasuries up a little bit. let‘s take you to moscow where we are waiting for a press conference between rex tillerson and his

russian counterpart, sergey lavrov. it was meant to take place at apm. but there is a delay. because we‘ve heard in the last few minutes that, in fact, rex tillerson is meeting president putin himself. so that meeting going on. we will of course bring that press conference whenever it happens. doctor who is back this weekend and this time he has a new companion travelling with him. that‘s not the only reason this series is highly anticipated — it‘s also the last outing for peter capaldi as the doctor and for its writer stephen moffat. tim muffett went down to london‘s south bank to catch up with him. there is a strange alien landscape here on london‘s southbank. daleks, bit of a clue. it‘s been created byjoe hill, the artist, in honour of the new series of doctor who which begins this saturday. it‘s the last series to feature peter capaldi as the doctor.

it‘s also the last series to be overseen by the show runner as he‘s known, the writer and executive producer stephen moffat. i had a chat with him to ask how it feels to be overseen his last series. at the moment flat—out working so it doesn‘t feel like the end, it‘ll suddenly feel like the end when i am dumped in the skip i think. until this moment it just feels like i‘m working very hard. metaphorically dumped? no there an actual skip, russell is in there already. exclusive, there is an actual skip! why did you decide to call it a day? i‘ve been doing it a very very long time. i certainly never got tired of doctor who, never got tired by it, but i wanted to be at the beginning of something new, i wanted to enter the phase of my career known by britain as regret and failure. scottish people are brilliant at resenting lost success. getting a bit controversial. a disclaimer. peter capaldi‘s last series.

are the two things not entirely unrelated ? they are unrelated, i told him i was leaving and said, whatever you want to do, you want to stay with chris, leave with me, it‘s entirely up to you. he took a long time to make up his mind but in the end he decided, as so many doctors have, three years is the right amount of time. he still loves it to bits, the difficulty with doctor who is you love it so much you realise you have to hand it on at some point and the big red for it on at some point and the big dread for any doctor and any show runner is, you don‘t want to be the last one. you want to be handing it on in good shape to somebody else. the last series to be overseen by steven moffat, the last series to star peter capaldi as the doctor. who‘s the next doctor going to be? amongst bookies favourites, chris marshall, tilda swinton, david harewood... we‘re going to have to wait and see on that one. for now all the attention is on the latest series, series ten, of doctor who, which begins this saturday. a surprise visitor stopped traffic

for more than an hour near a busy motorway near leeds. a pig was spotted walking down the carriageway between junctions 28 and 29 of the m—62 yesterday evening. a police dog support unit was sent to the scene and the pig was taken away in a van. west yorkshire police later confirmed the male piglet who was seven weeks old had been reunited with its owner. he was clearly on the way to market. let‘sjoin he was clearly on the way to market. let‘s join tomasz for the forecast. thanks, reeta it‘sjust on the way to the market. that was pretty good. rest of the week or with a few showers around. no real change. some rainbows today. we‘ll probably catch one or two rainbows tomorrow as well. showers around for the rest of

the afternoon and evening. cool northwest breeze, 11 degrees for most of us. tonight turning quite chilly quite quickly. behind this cool front we have a stream of fresh aircoming in out cool front we have a stream of fresh air coming in out of the north—west. we can see those showers continuing across western and northern scotland. grassed eastern areas, probably the clearest of the weather. —— across eastern areas. tuesday, again from april showers across the north west. to the south of that clouds will break up a little bit, temperatures 11—111. overall compared to what we‘ve had today not an awful lot of change. friday looks as though it would be more cloudy across the southern half. we‘ll continue with the cool theme april showers, i think, through easter weekend. that it can have a great rest of the day. today at five. the us secretary of state and

vladimir putin meet in moscow over the syria crisis. this is the theme live in moscow. we expect rex tillerson to hold a news conference shortly with his russian counterpart. a review into an nhs trust in shropshire — after concerns were raised over a cluster of baby deaths. they had four missed opportunities to deliver my girls, and they didn‘t. so now i get to spend the rest of my life going what if, what if?