hello, my name is tom donkin, with a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. here are our top stories: defiance, as north korea test—fires another ballistic missile. the us says the world must do more to curb its nuclear ambitions. failing to act now on the most pressing security issue in the world may bring catstrophic consequences. violence across brazil, after the country's first general strike in 20 years. millions are protesting over proposed changes to pensions. as president trump approaches his 100th day in office, we report from ohio, where some say he has sparked a rust—belt revival. three leaders in three days. france's national front in turmoil ahead of next week's presidential election. and it could be the biggest fight in british boxing history. anthonyjoshua and wladimir klitschko square up ahead of saturday's heavyweight showdown. in the last few hours,

the us military and south korean officials have confirmed that north korea fired a ballistic missile which exploded shortly after launch. the failed test, reportedly from near an airfield in pukchang, came just hours after a special session at the un security council in which the us pushed for tougher sanctions on the pyongyang regime. barbara plett—usher has this report from the un headquarters in new york. after weeks of mounting concern in washington about north korea, the secretary of state arrived at the united nations to make his case. un sanctions aren't working was the message, there needs to be a new campaign of pressure.

and he clarified the stakes. ultimately this is being driven by america's of national security considerations, he said, so it is serious. with each successful detonation and missile test, north korea pushes north—east asia and the world closer to instability and broader conflict. the threat of a north korean nuclear attack on seoul or tokyo is real. and it is likely only a matter of time before north korea develops the capability to strike the us mainland. indeed, the dprk has repeatedly claimed it plans to conduct such a strike. given that rhetoric, the united states cannot idly stand by, nor can other members of this council, who are within striking distance from north korea missiles. despite un pressure, north korea has been able to accelerate its weapons programme, and shortly after mr tillerson spoke, it fired another missile, although that test seems to have failed.

still, it was an act of defiance, like this massive live—fire exercise last week. only tighter sanctions and greater diplomatic isolation might force north korea to give up its weapons, said the secretary of state, and its powerful chinese neighbour was the key to make that work. but the chinese foreign minister pushed back. translation: mr president, china is not a focal point of the problem on the peninsula. and the key to solving the nuclear issue on the peninsular does not lie in the hands of chinese side. that said, as a close neighbour to the peninsula, and with a responsible attitude for peace and stability on the peninsula, and in the region, china has over the years made unremitting efforts and played a unique role in promoting a negotiated solution of the issue. china wants immediate negotiations, not a military buildup, like this us missile defence system in south korea, or more us warships in the region. that just escalates tensions, it says.

but the trump administration is keeping open the threat of military action in case of further provocations. the latest missile test probably won't be enough of a trigger for that, but it may help strengthen international resolve to put the economic squeeze on north korea's determined young leader. barbara plett—usher, bbc news, at the united nations in new york. a short while ago, donald trump responded on twitter to the missile launch, the us president saying... let's speak to the bbc‘s laura bicker, whojoins us live from washington. a response from the american president via his favourite medium. what else other than that we have we been seeing? well, i think what that tweed suggested that president trump is going to lean on what he sees as his new ally, president xi, in

china. those talks in florida a few weeks ago, he seems to feel like he has a rapport with president xi, or an understanding with president xi, and certainly the us has said that china is showing some kind of willingness to be dissipate in this process. other options that the trump administration could be discussing the night, now we are hearing this from reuters, who have been speaking to us officials on condition of anonymity, but we have been hearing that they could speed up been hearing that they could speed up the process of current sanctions which are already under way. so these economic sanctions, and in that they could start targeting north korean banks, or chinese banks. other options, they could, and certainly next week the house of representatives is voting on whether to push forward with further sanctions, or declare north korea as a sponsor, a sanctions, or declare north korea as a sponsor, a state sponsor of terrorism. further options indeed could also include sending warships to the region, more warships to the

region, or more aircraft to the region. that is likely to anger the chinese, but it also may put leverage on president xi, may put a little bit of pressure on president xi, as he may be the key. remember, north korea's trade with china is 85%, so if president xi turned the screw and put the pressure on, that certainly would be significant pressure in deed. thanks very much for the update. let's ta ke let's take you back to washington and speak to the vice president for international peace studies at the carnegie endowment in washington. he has served previously as director of asian affairs under both reagan and george bush senior. thank you very much forjoining us. you heard our correspondent talking about the us now looking perhaps the sanctions, but that is surely a strategy which has been tried and has failed before. well, we have had net around

north korea with sanctions, but it has never been a tightly woven net, and the hope now is that with some domestic legislation to impose something called secondary sanctions, which i can explain, or more pressure on china to close down things which are not susceptible to sanctions from outside, but there could be china's help in a coalition effort to tighten that net around north korea. and as your report showed, 85% of the trade comes through china, often through very small firms, but some through big oilfirms. and there small firms, but some through big oil firms. and there are things china has within its discretion to tighten up. now, the other side of thatis tighten up. now, the other side of that is that china doesn't want to put north korea out of business. it likes having a buffer state between it and the american ally in the south korean government. and so they have been caught in the horns of a dilemma. they want north korea not to be nuclear, but wanted to remain sta ble to be nuclear, but wanted to remain stable and not threatened. and they

are being forced now by american effo rts are being forced now by american efforts to build a coalition of nations at united nations and elsewhere to try to press china to do more. just briefly, secondary sanctions, take us through those. secondary sanctions are those which would be applied to firms who try to do business with north korea, and try to do business in the us. if we can identify that they have done business with north korea, they will be denied access to the american financial system. now, i be denied access to the american financialsystem. now, i happen to believe that, along with people watching that situation, that the number of businesses in china that do business with both is already very small, because they fear these sanctions. the hard companies to get to other ones that are not in our market or in europe but have a bilateral trade with north korea and depend on it for their livelihood. and for china to shut them down, it has to find a subsidy, some kind of compensation for them to go into a different line of business. our correspondent laura becker in

washington suggest that donald trump's latest tweets suggest that he is really looking at china now to use its leverage with north korea. how much leverage do you actually think china still has with north korea? well, it is not how much leverage they have, but how much are they willing to use? they have plenty of average. they they could shut down the oil supply, and that would penalise the north koreans. russia would not want to go in and make upfor russia would not want to go in and make up for that, no one else would either. so they have that at their discretion. the question is do they wa nt to discretion. the question is do they want to risk the collapse of north korea, one of the last sister communist regimes, strange though it may be, and have the possibility of south korea's borders extend all the way up to the chinese border, and be potentially an american ally and south korea right on china's frontier. thank you forjoining us, live from washington. violence has broken out in brazil as police clash with anti—austerity protestors. there are reports of police using tear gas to disperse crowds. it happened at the end

of the country's first general strike in more than 20 years, where trade unions called for a stoppage to protest against president michel temer‘s pension reforms. from sao paulo, here is daniel gallas. brazil once again in the state of chaos. peaceful anti—austerity demonstrations in rio quickly turned violent. police were called in, and the clashes intensified. the violent erupted at the end of the country's first general strike in more than 20 yea rs, called by first general strike in more than 20 years, called by unions in protest at president michelle temer‘s proposed pension reforms. the government says people must work longer before retiring, in order to fix brazil's deep economic troubles. trade unions that organised the strike say the country's poor are the ones who would pay the price for reform. translation: our struggle is

to open a path of negotiations, because we are not going to accept this dictatorial attitude for the government, which does not respect its people, which does not talk with its people, which does not talk with its people. today is a historical date of paralyse action for the people. we think that if the young people. we think that if the young people are on the workers' side, we will succeed in stopping this reform from temer‘s government, and we will also succeed in overthrowing this government. others agree, but are not impressed by the outbreak of violence. translation: at 85 years of age, i have to go through this? we are going to fight, but we are going to fight the right way, and not like the mess they are making. translation: the strike was weak, and people need to understand that. the strike doesn't make sense, and the reforms really have to happen. resident temer deplored the clashes, saying his government will press ahead with its plan, and will work

to modernise the country's laws. brazil's congress will start voting the pension reforms next week. out temer, they chant. people power, they are hoping, will work. us defence officials say two un special forces soldiers killed in eastern afghanistan may have been accidentally shot by their own site. they died soon after dozens of us and afghan personnel launched a raid targeting the islamic state leader in afghanistan. in colombia, at least ten people have died after a 6—storey building collapsed in the northern city. rescue operations are under way to find any survivors in the rubble. several others have been injured after the building, that was under construction, collapsed on thursday. president trump has signed an executive order aimed at reducing restrictions on oil drilling in the arctic.

the directive could enable offshore oil and gas drilling in areas that are currently off limits. it's the latest in a series of executive orders that reduce environmental protections introduced by the obama administration. on saturday the american president, donald trump, marks 100 days in office. he will spend the actual anniversary at a big rally in pennsylvania. coincidentally, that rally is being held at the same time as the white house correspondents' dinner, which is traditionally attended by a sitting president. today mr trump met possibly some of his staunchest supporters at a meeting of the gun lobby group the national rifle association. the eight—year assault on your second amendment freedoms has come to a crashing end. applause you have a true friend and champion in the white house. no longer will federal agencies be coming after law—abiding gun owners. applause staying with donald trump's

first 100 days in power, if you follow the trail of support for mr trump, you will find he enjoys popularity in the so—called rust belt, a region suffering from economic decline, population loss, and urban decay. the bbc‘s nick bryant travelled to the state of ohio, one of the key swing states of last year's election, to see what voters there make of donald trump's first 100 days in office. when we visited the ohio river valley last summer, this stretch of water was suffering a slow and agonising death. but, since donald trump became president, locals have seen a dramatic and instant turnaround, a rust—belt revival. coal barges are full again, partly because of the relaxation of environmental regulations. 150 boats now work this part of the river, compared to just 25 last year. back then, bob harrison told us america needed a businessman as president, and in 25 years, he has never seen such a turnaround.

like the switch was turned on. we're busy. we got more stuff going on, and our business has dramatically picked up. and you think that's the trump effect? yes, i talked to lots of different people, we call it the trump bump, so it's been good for us. last summer, in the town of clinton, pennsylvania, we came across this huge trump sign erected by a one—time democrat, mike leber. now, it has been put away in the barn, but not through embarrassment. if anything, his admiration for donald trump has grown. just speaking with people, they‘ re more upbeat. they feel like the government isn't on their back. feels like the jackboot of the government's off their neck. so it gives them a chance to thrive. he promised to revive regions like this. do you think he's doing that? yes, i do. it was trump's hothead temperament

that put off american football coach bill timko, when we spoke to him last year. he's bombastic, he's obscene, and i don't like the guy. now, not only a change of sport, but a change of opinion. in these first 100 days, trump has won him over. well, i've changed my mind because he made campaign promises and he came through. and that's what you want. you want to see that the guy's going to do what he said he was going to do. what about twitter? he needs to stay off of that. you know, that gets him in a lot of trouble. a republican who voted for hillary clinton, amber thompson, was a staunch trump critic, and remains so, but nonetheless applauds his decision to strike syria. even a blind squirrel finds the nut sometimes. i believe that trump's response to the chemical attack in syria was 100% correct, and i hope that putting pressure on the russians and the assad regime will help to bring an end to this war. i hope that syria will be donald trump's nut.

donald trump has been suffering from historically low approval ratings, but in this run—down region, we did not find much evidence of buyer's remorse. president trump has been much like candidate trump, and while that has horrified liberals in america's major cities, who regard him as a national embarrassment, here in the rust belt, he is still widely viewed as a potential national saviour. two trumps, two americas. but the region that won him the presidency remains a stronghold. nick bryant, bbc news, ohio. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: face to face. anthonyjoshua and vladimir klitchko square up ahead of what could be the biggest fight in british boxing history. nothing, it seems, was too big to withstand the force of the tornado. the extent of the devastation will lead to renewed calls for government to build

better government housing. internationally, there have already been protests. sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians at first denied anything had gone wrong. only when radioactivity levels began to increase outside russia were they forced to admit the accident. for the mujahideen, the mood here is of great celebration. this is the end of a 12—year war for them. they've taken the capital, which they've been fighting for for so long. it was 7am in the morning, the day when power began to pass from the minority to the majority, when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony. this is bbc news. the latest headlines:

north korea has test—fired another ballistic missile, sparking international condemnation. the us wants the world to do more to curb its nuclear ambitions. there've been violent scenes across brazil after the country's first general strike for 20 years. millions were protesting over proposed pension reforms. in france, the far—right national front has replaced its leader for the second time in just three days after a row erupted about past comments he made about the holocaust. jean—francois jalkh denies claims he questioned the reality of nazi gas chambers. stepped aside to fight for the french presidency. sarah corker reports. once again, marine le pen's far—right national front party found itself fighting controversy over alleged holocaust remarks by a senior official. this man, jean—francois

jalkh, who she named the party's interim leaderjust days ago. he's accused of praising the work of a convicted holocaust denier. and so outside her campaign ho, ms le pen was on the defensive. translation: he's very affected by this controversy, which he considers deeply unfair. he's going to sue over the claims. i've appointed one of the vice presidents of the national front, in this case steve briois, to be the interim president. this is an unwelcome episode. earlier on french television, marine le pen emphasised her hard work to purge the party of the anti—semitism that was its trademark under herfather. and her rival, centrist emmanuel macron, visited the site of a nazi massacre on friday. france's wartime past, it seems, is taking centre stage in the race for the presidency. translation: i want, in the context of this campaign, at an important time before the second round,

to come here and pay respect to these victims and their families and to an important and sombre page in our history. french voters face a stark choice between a resurgent far—right and a pro—eu former banker, whose political movement is barely a year old. meanwhile, the far—left‘s jean—luc melenchon declined to back either candidate, dismissing it as a contest between extreme finance and the far—right. translation: amongst the 7 million people who voted for me in the first round, i'm almost certain there must be a small minority that are going to vote for the national front. while mr macron may be the front—runner, but ms le pen has attracted a record number of voters, and there are more intense days of campaigning ahead of the may 7 run—off. sarah corker, bbc news, paris. one of the biggest bouts in british boxing history will take place at wembley stadium this weekend. more than 90,000 people are expected

to be there to watch heavyweight anthony joshua take on vladimir klitschko, one of the most decorated heavyweights of his era. but, joshua, who only turned professional after the london olympics, is actually the favourite to win. natalie pirks has more. one is the young world champion who has brought integrity back to heavyweight boxing. the other is the elder statesman who has been the man to beat for 19 years. but in a build—up free of histrionics, the tone has been distinctly more intelligent. i feel young, hungry, humble, and totally obsessed. he's obsessed, he's got passion, he's in love. so when i do defeat him, i'd like people to say i faced the best man possible, and a man coming off defeat is the best man, because you learn from your mistakes. i think that's why i'm looking forward to the challenge. with just 18 pro fights

under his belt, though, joshua concedes 1a years of experience to the erudite a1—year—old, a man whose camp he joined as a youngster to learn from the olympic gold—medallist. joshua, of course, went on to become one himself. the audience of 90,000 here inside wembley stadium will break post—war boxing records. the fight will be watched in more than 140 countries, and in britain alone more than one million people are expected to pay to watch it. the fight could generate up to £60 million, which would mean, for anthonyjoshua, that come sunday morning, he could be £15 million richer. the world may well be watching, butjoshua's mum won't be. honestly, i've hit people before, and i admire the shot, because it's. .. i have the best seat in the house. you know? that's why i don't want my mum to be that close to seeing her son go through war.

she's important in your life? she's important, yes. let's keep a smile on herface. i can't remember the last time i see her cry, or worried, and i'd like to keep it that way. she might well be about to miss a career—ending fight for klitschko, and a career—defining one for her son. natalie pirks, bbc news, wembley. michelle obama has ruled out a future bid to be president saying politics is tough and she wouldn't do it to her daughters. speaking in the first public address since leaving the white house she described how the family i'm drawing the freedoms in their new lives. both her and ba rack the freedoms in their new lives. both her and barack obama are writing separate memoirs in book deals worth $40 million. finally before we go, you may remember how this family won the affection of millions of people around the world when professor robert kelly's children interrupted a bbc interview last month. they became a global sensation and now the kelly family's been immortalised as cartoon characters. a new york couple has created

the adventures of mina and jack, where the mischievous children try to help their father out with his important work. some details, like names and professor kelly's job, are different, but the cartoon has already clocked up more than 100,000 views online. it was such a raw, perfect family moment that we had to make it live on outside of that 30—second clip. we thought these kids are such characters, we can actually bring them to life. the pair paid for the pilot episode themselves, it's already been viewed more than 160,000 times online, and a second episode is being made. the children's father, professor robert kelly, has tweeted his approval. don't forget you can get in touch with me to discuss any of the stories we've been covering here via twitter, i'm @tomdonkinbbc. from me and the team, goodbye, take care. the bank holiday weekend is upon us.

let's see what the weather's up to. it's looking a little bit mixed. a little breezy but reasonably warm i think for most of us and there is some rain on the way, but not everybody‘s going to get the rain. let's see the weather map in the short term. weather fronts are fairly close to the uk, but far enough to give us a dry start to the day. so this is what it looks like around 4—5 in the morning. lots of clear spells around, temperatures in towns and cities around 6—9 degrees celsius, so not a particularly chilly start to the day. saturday morning, dawn's on a bright — if not sunny — note for most of us. there will be a little bit of cloud here and there, but it breaks up through the morning and the best of the sunshine on saturday is expected across the southern half of the uk, especially the south coast. so looking out to sea, it might be clear blue skies. temperatures at lunchtime,

1pm there, 15 degrees in london. but for most of us, around 12—13 degrees, and just maybe one or two light, stray showers around, but that's pretty much it. nice enough there in inverness as well, about 12 degrees with sunshine. the afternoon's not going to change much. it will turn breezy across some of these western areas, maybe even later in the day in northern ireland. around the coasts it could touch gale force. how are we doing compared to the rest of europe on saturday? fairly similar. 17 in paris. we are doing better than madrid. madrid about 14 degrees. rome will be sunny at 22. the real heat at the moment across greece, there, into the 30s. back to the uk, saturday and into sunday, low pressure still out there in the atlantic. but starting to push weather fronts ever closer. so already, on sunday, the weather will be going downhill across south—western parts of the uk. quite strong winds as well — notjust in the south—west, but also in these sunnier spots. along the north sea coasts,

really blustery winds. so feeling really quite chilly on the coast. ahead of this weather front and the rain it could get up to 18 in london and possibly up into the mid or high teens in scotland as well. and then through the course of the evening, this is sunday evening, that rain will be slowly pushing further north and east. by the time we get to monday, you can see the weather front in the north and the chance of catching some showers across southern areas. so a bit of a mix. certainly the best day of the weekend looks as if will be sunday, with dry weather across the uk. and this is what the average temperature at this time of year. 16 in the south and 14 in the north, so that's roughly what we're getting. this is bbc world news. the headlines: north korea has launched another ballistic missile from a region north of its capital, pyongyang. but a us government source has told the reuters news agency the test failed, and the us might speed up sanctions. it came hours after the us secretary of state called for a tougher international approach

towards the north korean regime. rex tillerson warned of potentially catastrophic consequences if the world failed to deal with the country's nuclear programme. there have been violent scenes across brazil, after the country's first general strike for 20 years. millions were protesting over proposed pension reforms, forcing schools and banks to close and paralysing public transport. france's far—right national front has replaced its leader for the second time in just three days, after a row erupted about past comments he made about the holocaust. jean—francois jalkh denies claims he questioned the reality of nazi gas chambers. now on bbc news, hardtalk.