could take military action against the syrian without a vote in parliament. the government loses a court bid to delay publication of its air pollution strategy until after the general election. the united states says it will try to pressurise north korea into dismantling its nuclear and ballistic weapons programmes by using diplomatic means and by tightening economic sanctions. china has called it a positive move, but as our correspondent wyre davies reports, tension on the peninsula remains high. not a sign of rapprochement between two countries on the brink of war but a crude attempt at parody this week in hong kong. donald trump and north korea's kim jong—un are not

about to kiss and make up but, following an apparently softer tone from washington, the chinese government, which had urged both sides to show restraint, saw some positive seeds of hope. translation: we have noted the relevant comments and have noted the messages conveyed in these comments, hoping to resolve the korean nuclear issue peacefully through dialogue and consultation. we believe this message is positive and should be affirmed. president trump's approach to north korea's growing nuclear programme is carrot and stick. on one hand, calling for tougher international sanctions, on the other, accelerating the deployment in south korea of the american anti—missile defence system known as thaad. a south korean defence ministry spokesman said the decision to deploy thaad had been taken as a direct result of the grave security situation in the region.

following this week's high—profile joint american military exercise with south korea, what isn't clear is if president trump has abandoned the long—standing but unsuccessful policy of containment through sanctions or if he is genuinely preparing to attack. a much—publicised white house briefing on korea for all 100 members of the us senate came up with few answers. it is more of a pep talk. the secretary of defence, secretary of state, the top administration officials, i think it is to try to get the senate to support the president whatever he might decide to do. china aside, the north korean regime has few powerful allies, but in a letter reportedly sent to regional leaders, pyongyang appealed for support in order to prevent what it warned could be a nuclear holocaust. one of india's well—known bollywood

actors vinod khanna has died at the age of 70. vinod khanna, who has acted in more than a hundred films, had been suffering from bladder cancer. he died in hospital in mumbai this morning. he was also an mp for the ruling bjp party. the indian prime minister narendra modi described him as a popular actor, dedicated leader and a wonderful human. we are going to take you live to leeds where theresa may is going to be speaking shortly. she has been campaigning across parts of north england and also hopefully hearing a response to some of the comments made by the german chancellor angela merkel on brexit. so much happening of course in the latest developments

concerning the general election. a lot of talk earlier today about the comments boris johnson, not lot of talk earlier today about the comments borisjohnson, not only in relation to the uk strategy in syria but also what someone described as an attack, a personal attack on the labour leaderjeremy corbyn. it will be interesting to hear what theresa may have to say, not only about that but also about brexit. looking very happy in leeds, just being introduced before we hear her comments. boris johnson had mentioned that concerning those, that strategy or potential strategy in syria. he had said that theresa may is in agreement with him. just the introduction is here two theresa may and let's listen in. thank you.

thank you very much for that wonderful welcome and it's great to be here in yorkshire, great to be in leeds, one of england's great cities. leeds is a great financial centre, its cultural centre, as i say, it's a modern, thriving, diverse city, university city, it represents so much of what is good in our country today. i am here this evening to celebrate that. but also to make a simple pledge. that if you vote for me, to strengthen my hand at the negotiating table in brussels, i will do everything i can to represent the interests of every

person in this great city and every person in this great city and every person in this great city and every person in this great country. applause and i know that this is a city, a place where people perhaps might call a traditional labour area. but here and in constituencies across the country, although it may say labour on the ballot, it will be jeremy corbyn who gets the vote. and there are only two people who it is possible to beat prime minister on june nine, only two people who can possibly represent britain in europe. and the choice is between five years of strong and stable leadership with me as prime minister oi’ leadership with me as prime minister ora

leadership with me as prime minister or a coalition of chaos withjeremy corbyn at the helm, a weak leader negotiating brexit, higher taxes, more waste and more debt. because this election, as stuart said, is really important. this election, i think, is the most important election this country has faced in my lifetime. and in this election, every single vote will count. and every single vote will count. and every person in this country has a positive reason to lend me their vote. because this election is not about who you might have voted for in the past. it's about voting in the national interest. it's about voting for the future. and every vote cast for me, through local conservative candidates, in cities like leeds and up and down the country, will strengthen my hand as i sit around that negotiation table

with the presidents, prime ministers and chancellors of europe in the months ahead. and we have seen from chancellor merkel today, we have heard her comments today, we have seen that actually, there will be times when these negotiations are going to get tough. yet our opponents are already seeking to disrupt them, at the same time as 27 other european countries are lining up other european countries are lining up to other european countries are lining o oppose other european countries are lining up to oppose us. and that can mean only one thing, it will mean uncertainty, the risk, not being able to develop and grow our economy, fewerjobs, able to develop and grow our economy, fewer jobs, higher taxes, more debt and more waste. so we need the strongest possible hand, the strongest possible mandate and we need the strongest possible leadership. every vote cast for me and local conservative candidates will strengthen my hand in negotiating our brexit deal and

getting the best deal for britain. every vote cast for me and local conservative candidate will be a vote for strong and stable leadership. in taking britain not just through brexit but beyond. it will be a vote for strong and stable leadership in the national interest and that is what this election is about. it's about leadership, it's about. it's about leadership, it's about stability, it's about doing the right thing for britain. when i became prime minister, i took over after the referendum, people said they were predicting immediate financial crash, economic danger. but actually, because of the leadership shown by the conservative government, we have seen consumer confidence remain high, we have seen record numbers of jobs, confidence remain high, we have seen record numbers ofjobs, we have seen economic growth that was above all expectations. when i took over as prime minister, people said the

country was divided and it would never come back together again. yet today, not what i see is a real unity of purpose, for the government to get on with brexit and deliver it and makea to get on with brexit and deliver it and make a success of it. applause when i took over as prime minister, what we needed was a clear vision and the determination and strong government to actually get on with thejob of government to actually get on with the job of delivering brexit and that's exactly what we did. that's the kind of security that a strong and stable government can provide. it's what leadership looks like. if we look ahead to this election, we need to ensure that we have in government, a party that can take as not just through brexit government, a party that can take as notjust through brexit but beyond brexit. we need to beat... make no

mistake about the choice on offer at this election. it's between strong and stable leadership with me and the conservatives or a coalition of chaos led by jeremy the conservatives or a coalition of chaos led byjeremy corbyn. and we see the other parties lining up to pf°p up see the other parties lining up to prop up jeremy corbyn, see the other parties lining up to prop upjeremy corbyn, we see it from the liberal democrats, we see it from nicola sturgeon's scottish nationalists... laughter and what we see is actually from these other parties that they are already trying to disrupt the negotiations and frustrate the task ahead, trying to stop us from leading britain forward. but make no mistake, it could happen. remember this, the polls got it wrong about the general election in 2015, they got it wrong on the referendum and asjeremy got it wrong on the referendum and as jeremy corbyn got it wrong on the referendum and asjeremy corbyn himself has said, he was a 200—1 chance for the labour leadership in 2015 and look what

happened there. every single vote cou nts happened there. every single vote counts and we must not be complacent. we must be out there taking our message across the country because britain needs that strong and stable government. it needs the right deal from brexit, strong and stable government. it needs the right dealfrom brexit, a deal that will work for every part of our country and for everybody in this country. it is only the conservatives who can deliver that. 0nly conservatives who can deliver that. only the conservatives to have the plan for brexit and beyond. and i say and beyond because brexit isn't just a process, it's an opportunity. we have a once in a generation opportunity to change our country for the better. to truly make it a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few. but to do that, you need a government that is strong and stable, a government with a plan. and we will stick to our plan for a stronger britain. a plan which is not just plan for a stronger britain. a plan which is notjust about delivering

in terms britain's relationships abroad but actually delivering a better and more secure future for ordinary working people up and down this country. that's what we have as conservatives and those are the people i am in this four. studio: theresa may speaking live on the campaign trail talking about strengthening her hand, a stable, strong country and leadership. more on this right here on bbc news after the weather. we found our april showers at long last and not enough to really water the gardens but there have been a fair few across eastern england through the afternoon. they are drifting steadily south. more cloud around today and a nagging breeze running in off the north sea. overnight, most showers will push into the south—west. temperatures get a hold up and

into the south—west. temperatures geta hold up and it into the south—west. temperatures get a hold up and it will be frost free for most of us first thing tomorrow morning. not a cold start, a bit more cloud around. some showery rain across wales and south west england. but also sunshine through eastern england. there will be fewer showers than yesterday. showers fairly isolated generally the further west you are and highs of eight to 13 degrees. we start our bank holiday weekend, and extended weekend awaits, starting off promising to make the most of saturday. some rain in the forecast for sunday. looks likely to affect mostly the south—west as we move through the day. hello and welcome to 100 days.

the russia probe into the trump campaign intensifies as the pentagon launches its own investigation. the department of defence is looking at whether the former national security advisor accepted payments from moscow illegally. it appears michael flynn did not ask for approval when he took thousands of dollars from russia today. as a former military officer, that would be against us law. the us tones down the rhetoric on north korea after the entire us senate is summoned to the white house for a briefing on the crisis. another terror alert in the heart of london. a man is arrested carrying knives near downing street during a stop and search. in france, the two presidential candidates are trawling for votes... quite literally.