a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the low. i name is mike embley. our top stories: a surprise general election for the uk — the prime minister says it will ensure stability during the brexit talks. the only way to guarantee certainty and stablity for the years ahead is to hold this election and see your support fought the decisions i must take. -- see -- for the. mrs may will ask mps to support her decision in a few hours — but outside parliament views in the country are mixed. another one? there is too much politics going on at the moment. we're on the frontline of the battle against the so—called islamic state group in mosul — as the un warns of a humanitarian catastrophe ahead. and the man who posted video of a murder on facebook is dead. the company's murder on facebook is dead. the compa ny‘s boss murder on facebook is dead. the company's boss promises to do more

to prevent any such posts the future. hello. britain's premise has taken just about everybody by surprise by announcing her intention to call a general election on june eight, three years earlier than the date set down by law. theresa may says this is all about getting stability and certainty before the brexit process. her opponents say she's pursuing a cynical plan for party political advantage. this report from the bbc‘s political editor laura kuenssberg. did she surprise them? did she surprise you? did theresa may even surprise herself? her biggest decision as prime minister, taken only days ago. i have just chaired a meeting of the cabinet where we agreed that the government should call a general election to be held

on the eighth ofjune. that was not her plan. but she says to get brexit done, she needs more support around here. in recent weeks, labour have threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach with the european union. the liberal democrats have said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill. the scottish national party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals britain's membership of the european union. and unelected members of the house of lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way. our opponents believe because the government's majority is so small that our resolve will weaken and they can force us to change course. they are wrong. there will be a vote in parliament that will all but certainly get the

process going. and if you are in any doubt as to how the tories will frame your choice? i have only recently and frame your choice? i have only recently a nd relu cta ntly frame your choice? i have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion. since i became prime minister, have said that there should be no election until 2020. but now i have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to hold this election and seek your for the decisions i must take. most of her ministers had been in the dark. only in the last few days had she decided. theresa may only moved in here 279 days ago. and she has said consistently there should be no early general election. but quite simply, she has changed mine. and what happens next for theresa may will be up to you. the weakness of jeremy corbyn is one of the reasons why an early election is on. yet his supporters hope his ideas can cut through. i welcome the opportunity for us to put the case to the people

of britain, to stand up against this government and its failed economic agenda, which has left our nhs and schools in problems, and so many people uncertain. we want to put a case out there for the people of britain for a society that cares for all and britain for a society that cares for alland an britain for a society that cares for all and an economy that works for all, and a brexit that works for all. more than ever, perhaps, this election will notjust be about what happens here. the whole country's constitution. the tories won't promise another vote on independence in scotland, but nicola sturgeon well. this is the biggest u-turn in recent political history. it is clear that the prime minister's announcement today it is all about the narrow interests of her own party, not the country overall. hello, team! on the road or read -- already, the lib dems plan to come back from rock bottom. it is an opportunity for this country to stay

in the civil market. —— rock bottom. it is an opportunity for us to have a decent strong opposition in this country that we desperately need. how many times were you change your mind, prime minister? went well, and theresa may escare some problems. but the hurly—burly of any campaign as casualties too. just ask anybody who has lived at this addressed —— at this address. and we have been getting some opinions on this view on the streets of the country. you arejoking? i on the streets of the country. you are joking? i cannot on the streets of the country. you arejoking? i cannot stand this. there is too much politics going on at the moment. why do she need to do this? she says it will produce clarity, get things out of the open, sort things out. i thought she said that initially when she took over. no, i disagree with this entirely. i am sorry. no, i disagree with this entirely. i am sorry. are you excited about

another election? no. it is too much. i think it is quite good. it must be people vote for someone, is that it must be people vote for someone, is thatitis must be people vote for someone, is that it is a getting forced upon us, kind of thing. i think she is pushing her luck. really? why? because the people in the north voted to come out. and the truth is now things have changed. things are going up in the shop, aren't they? it makes a difference. prices are going up. she seems to have a huge lead in the opinion polls. you don't go lead in the opinion polls. you don't 9° by lead in the opinion polls. you don't go by that. they would say i was elizabeth taylor if you asked folks. so what impact will this have on the uk's relationship with europe? caja adler is in paris. officially in brussels, this is seen asa officially in brussels, this is seen as a basic affair. brussels like to stay neutral. —— katya. some eu

officials could barely contain themselves. donald tusk, who tweeted that brexit and the elections was a bit like a hitchcock film. as the earthquake, and the bee tension rises. but behind the closed doors, there is a says intention to me. —— there is a says intention to me. —— the tension. eu officials believe that a strong win for theresa may would help the eu. they believe that they want to have a strong prime minister opposite them at the negotiating table, not one they perceived as weak. hostage to interested parties and likely to do u—turns at any part of the negotiation. so officials in europe wa nt negotiation. so officials in europe want theresa may to do well. and if those negotiations, those brexit negotiations following the election, do well, i'm being told by high—level sources, tonight, then the eu would be open to starting this trade deals. the trade talks

about a future relationship between the eu and uk, earlier than imagined. but remember that when the eu talks about good progress in brexit, and i heard from a top—level source tonight, that he believes the chances of a good dealfor source tonight, that he believes the chances of a good deal for both sides now arfa improved. but they talk about good progress from the eu's point of view. loads more on the upcoming election on our website. including this from oui’ on our website. including this from our reality check team. go to bbc.com/news and follow the links. the battle to take iraq's second city, mosul, from the extremist group, the so—called islamic state, could end in humanitarian disaster, according to un officials. after six months of fighting, hundreds of thousands of civilians are still trapped in parts of mosul held by is. our correspondentjonathan beale and cameraman barnaby mitchell are embedded with iraqi troops — they witnessed one of the street battles on the edge of the old city. even at night, you can clearly see

the scars on the streets of this city and how brutal the battle for mosul‘s become. we joined the iraqi security forces about to mount yet another assault. these the same troops who've already been fighting here for months and, even under the cover of darkness, they know their enemy, so—called islamic state, will be ready and waiting. gunfire. as they move into position for what's supposed to be a surprise dawn attack, they're already coming under fire. explosions and gunfire. the commander sets up his

headquarters in an abandoned house, soon interrupted by a panic call on the radio — it's his first casualty. dawn breaks and the iraqi forces are still pinned down. this battle's been raging now for more than two hours and it is over a matter of streets they're fighting. and, as we hear, there is still fierce resistance from is. that is a coalition air strike, it's the iraqis one advantage to keep the enemy at bay. but even air power can't always spot and silence is snipers and nor do the rockets fired by iraqi forces. gunfire.

throughout the morning, the casualties mount. gunfire. victory still seems a long way off. explosion. this one battle, for one street, was still raging when we left, five hours later, out of fear for our own safety. after six months, the iraqi forces have only now reached the edge of the old city, much of what you can see on the west side of the tigris is still under is control and there's every indication they'll be fighting and dying for every single street. jonathan beale, bbc news, mosul. president donald trump has signed an

executive order which he says will encourage companies to "buy american and hire american". it is supposed to end abuses of it is a programme and enforces rules that require american supplies to use federal contracts. he made the announcement at a factory in the state of wisconsin. right now, widespread abuse in our immigration system is allowing american workers of all backgrounds to be replaced by workers brought in from other countries to fill the same job for, sometimes, less pay. this will stop. american workers have long called for reforms to end these visa abuses. and today, their calls are being answered for the first time. president trump speaking their in wisconsin. this is an employment visa, a temporary visa that allows people to come into united states. usually a highly skilled and highly

paid, forup to usually a highly skilled and highly paid, for up to six years. 85,000 of these visas are issued every year. 65,000 of which are through a lottery system. the remaining 20,000 are distributed to graduate students, who worked under the same conditions. donald trump's concern is that the system is being abused and that companies here are using this need to bring workers in from overseas who are less skilled to jobs that actually could be done by americans. this really goes to the heart of donald trump's election campaign, and no surprise that he should use a venue like theirs to send out this message that he is attempting to deliver on what he said. it is all part of the "make america great again" message, now talking about buying american and how americans, while this is a message which resonates with supporters. it will be unpopular with companies that are likely to be affected if there are changes. but

therein mind at this stage it is imperative that he is ordered, he is not abolishing the visa scheme. but those countries will be looking at it rather nervously. silicon valley companies especially, who employ highly skilled workers from overseas. “— highly skilled workers from overseas. —— valley. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a legal battle in arkansaw where authorities are trying to carry out a series of executions before a lethal drug expires. the stars and stripes at half—mast outside columbine high. the school sealed off, the bodies of the dead still inside. i never thought they would actually go through with it. some places have already had nearly as much rain as they would normally expect in an entire year. for millions of americans,

the death of richard nixon in a new york hospital has meant conflicting emotions. a national day of mourning next wednesday sitting somehow uneasily with the abiding memories of the shame of watergate. and lift—off of the space shuttle discovery with the hubble space telescope, our window on the universe. this is bbc news. the headlines: the british prime minister has called the us president and european leaders to explain her surprise move to seek an election in six weeks time. senior european union figures have taken a generally positive view, hoping it will lead to clarity in the upcoming brexit negotiations. in the us, the man who murdered a stranger at random,

then posted a video of the shooting on facebook, has killed himself. steve stephens took his own life after being pursued by officers in pennsylvania. the founder of facebook, mark zuckerberg, acknowledged the company had more to do to prevent similar postings. greg dawson reports. this is where the man—hunt for steve stephens came to an end. police were called after he was spotted in the car park of the mcdonald's tried to win pennsylvania 100 miles from his home.j win pennsylvania 100 miles from his home. j since you student officers say he shot himself after his car spun out of control. we are grateful this has ended. we would prefer it had not ended this way because there area had not ended this way because there are a lot of questions, i am sure, that not only family but the city in german rule would have had for steve as to why this transpired. it was on sunday that steve stephens used facebook‘s live streaming service to broadcast his confession that he had

just committed murder. i snapped. broadcast his confession that he had just committed murder. isnapped. he approached 74—year—old robert godwin, sr, and then he had never met before, and shot him dead. his video of the crime was also uploaded to the social network. the footage stayed for two hours before being removed. at his company ‘s annual conference, the facebook founder admitted they need to improve their procedures. our hearts go out to the family and friends of robert godwin, srand we family and friends of robert godwin, sr and we have a lot of work and we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening. steve stephens described himself as a monster. investigators say his death means he will they will never know why he admitted this crime and why he chose to make it so public. arkansas's governor and attorney—general insist they'll continue pushing for a series of executions, despite a setback in the state's supreme court. the court rejected an appeal that would have allowed convicted killer, don davis, to be put to death.

he's one of eight men facing the death penalty in the coming days because a drug used in the lethal injection mix is about to expire. aleem maqbool reports. this death chamber could be a busy place in the coming days. officials here discovered their stocks of elite that injection drug expire at the end of the month as they are trying to rush through as many executions as possible. the state announced eight men would be killed within days, including dell lee, a convicted murderer, who spoke to me from prison. —— ledell lee. convicted murderer, who spoke to me from prison. -- ledell lee. this is my brother. the bizarre, morbid rush to execute people because of the

expiry date of the state's drug, has drawn criticism from all kinds of quarters. what would your message to the governor be directly? how do you sleep? i don't know, how do you sleep? i don't know, how do you sleep? there are legal attempts to block the executions, notjust because a barefaced but because the drug has not worked properly in some other states. in one instance, it took more than a0 minutes to kill a prisoner. it don't matter if they suffer a little bit, as far as i'm concerned, because my wife suffered big time. james phillips wife mary was horrifically assaulted, raped and then strangled to death by a man named jackjones who was among the group to be executed. named jackjones who was among the group to be executedlj named jackjones who was among the group to be executed. i know a lot of people have the given him in that kind of stuff. that's my business if ido kind of stuff. that's my business if i do it. so they can protest all they want, it don't matter. all of they want, it don't matter. all of the men due to be executed are being

held in this prison and officials here are determined that in spite of the legal challenges and the outrage, they will be put to death as soon as outrage, they will be put to death as soon as possible. there are some around the world who will view is certainly this number of executions ina certainly this number of executions in a short space of time as barbaric. what would you say to those people? that would be a question for our governor in terms of what timing the executions were rats. we do have one of the drugs in our free rats. we do have one of the drugs in ourfree drug rats. we do have one of the drugs in our free drug protocol that is expiring at the end of the month, hence why the governor said it for this time period. and that is what it all boils down to. the length of a man's life, however monstrous is crime, decided by the date on the side of the drug bottle. the british stiff upper lip is meant to symbolise courage in the face of adversity. but prince william is calling on people to forget fortitude, and talk openly about their mental health problems. that's after his brother, prince harry revealed he sought counselling to come to terms

with the death of their mother. our royal correspondent peter hunt reports hello, prince william. hello, lady gaga. good morning. a transatlantic call that challenges preconceptions — the campaigning future king garnering the support of a global superstar who suffered. lady gaga has lived with post traumatic stress disorder since she was raped as a teenager. we have to make the strongest, most relentless attempt we can to normalise mental health issues so that people feel like they can come forward. thank you, prince william, have a beautiful day. thanks, lady gaga. after his internet brush with stardom, prince william's next stop — as he strives to smash a taboo — was the bbc for a screening of a documentary presented by nick knowles. ten people affected by mental health issues, united by one goal — to run the london marathon. but you're convinced it can help?

most definitely. ijust feel like i'm not going to be able to do it. joined by some special guests. you're the heroes. kate, william and harry want mental health treated like physical health. i really think this is a pivotal moment in the change of mental health. i really feel we are on the cusp of something really big and i know the bbc are keen to continue covering mental health and really trying to make that change. as you can see, you know, i have my own reasons for being involved with mental health, what happened to me and my mother when i was younger. one of the marathon runners who met william is rhian, her 1—year—old son died five years ago. her husband, who blamed himself, took his own life, five days later. she's now confronting and talking about her personal pain. the more people we can get to talk about mental health, the better because the silence is killing people and it really is, it's as bad as that. i think, yeah, i should stop talking now. meeting the runners confronting their adversity and watching the programme left william, he said, feeling quite emotional.

their next challenge is the race in six days' time. thank you. all the best. peter hunt, bbc news. egyptian archaeologists have unearthed a tomb which they say dates back 3,500 years, and discovered a collection of mummies. the significant find has been made near the famous valley of the kings, on the opposite bank of the nile from the city of luxor david campanale has more. this tomb is quite small, but it contains extraordinary archaeological riches. the find consists of an open court, leading into a rectangular hall, a corridor, an inner chamber. eight mummies were found, along with well—preserved and colourfully decorated coffins. translation: the tomb has a secret room, which dates back to the 21st or the 22nd dynasty. in the room, we discovered more than six coffins. unfortunately, they had been destroyed, but they have not been moved from their original place.

among the finds were more than 1000 statuettes, figurines carved in wood and clay. translation: it was a surprise to discover so many elements inside. clay utensils with the name and title of the tombs owner. his name as userhat, and he belonged to the 18th dynasty. it's believed that the owner was a nobleman, who would have worked as a judge, and the tomb seems to have been left almost intact, unlike many ancient egyptian burial sites, which have been looted by grave robbers. david campanale, bbc news. my my pictures from japan. us vice president mike pence is injapan for talks. he is on the aircraft character —— carrier uss ronald reagan. mike pence storing a number

of countries in asia amid the heightened tensions over north korea. he has reassured tokyo of america's commitment to containing north korea's nuclear and missile ambitions, saying earlier the obamacare of ambitions, saying earlier the obamaca re of strategic ambitions, saying earlier the obamacare of strategic patients with north korea is over. live pictures from the uss ronald reagan. more to come from mike pencejust from the uss ronald reagan. more to come from mike pence just a from the uss ronald reagan. more to come from mike pencejust a little later. and the main news again from the uk. the british prime minister has called the us president and european leaders to explain her surprise move to seek an election in six weeks' time. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, hello. spring, thus far, has been marked by pretty settled fare. and i suspect that is going to be the overriding theme of the next few days, with a quiet spell

of weather set to continue. not just for the next few days, but right on into the forthcoming weekend. but gardeners and growers take note: night—time frost will still be a consideration. not so much for the first part of wednesday, across the northern parts of scotland, you've got a weather front there spreading a veil of cloud. that will keep the temperatures up. but further south, not so much in the major conurbations, but in the suburbs, and in the countryside, the early part of wednesday could see frost. —3 or perhaps even —a or so. but once the sun is up, that converts intto a glorious start of the new day. plenty of sunshine across the southern parts of england and wales, through midlands and lincolnshire and cambridgeshire.

but further north and west of that, the cloud thickens up into the borders, to northern ireland and the eastern side of scotland, and there will be enough cloud for a little bit of rain. as the day really gets going, i am hopeful that some of that cloud will break up. a good bit of sunshine across scotland. some of that rain will drift off into the north channel, away from northern ireland. so a dry afternoon for many here. further south and east, brighter skies will boost the damage to about 13 or 1a degrees. wednesday to thursday, any prospect of frost is largely confined to the south—eastern quarter. while the high pressure really doing its stuff for the greater part of us. save for the northern and western isles, maybe the north of the mainland, too. weather front here just keeping that cloud coming in from the atlantic. and enough about it again for there to be the prospect of some rain. again, not amounting to much. temperatures where we have been of late. somewhere locked into the low to mid teens. friday marked by a progression of the weather front across scotland into the north of england, through northern ireland. to the south with a bit of sunshine, we can boost the temperatures nicely.

possibly 17 degrees. to the north of the weather feature, a cooler and fresher regime sets in and eventually wins out. the front will reintroduce the regime across the rest of the british isles. the high pressure, neverfar away, keeps things fairly settled. your scene could look something akin to that. all that combination, the temperature never better than about 13 degrees, perfect conditions, i would have thought, for those taking part in the london marathon. the latest headlines from bbc news. my the latest headlines from bbc news. my name is mike embley. the british prime ministers spoken to other leaders and president donald trump to explain his surprise decision to call an early election. the german foreign minister said he hoped it would provide more clarity and predictability in the brexit negotiations, due to beginjust after the election, in june. president donald trump has signed an executive order he says will encourage companies to "buy american and hire american". it is supposed to end abuses of the visa programme and enforce rules that require

american suppliers for federal contract. he made the announcement ata contract. he made the announcement at a factory in wisconsin. police in the us say a man who murdered an apparent stranger and posted the video on facebook has killed himself. steve stevens kill themselves as officers are precious car. mark zuckerberg has pledged to do more to prevent similar posts. —— approached his car. now it is time for a look