this is bbc news. the headlines at 10pm. theresa may has dismissed as hearsay and account of sharp disagreement with the eu. it is brussels gossip, look at what the eu officials said after the dinner took place, which was the talks had been constructive. detectives say that the shooting of a businessman at his home in dorset was a targeted attack. rallies in paris are held. social media is not tackling dangerous content, according to a report by mps. good evening and welcome to bbc news.

the prime minister has described reports of a supposedly fractious dinner between her and the european commission president, jean—claude juncker, as brussels gossip. a german newspaper reported there were sharp disagreements about how quickly a deal could be done over the rights of british and eu citizens and over how much money the uk owes the european union. our political correspondent ben wright reports. may day means a bikes and barrows festival in this lancashire village. and people seem keen to peddle their politics. the election was not the main concern here in scorton this morning, but it seems brexit will shape how many people vote. the tories are targeting many

margins will —— marginal seat. this tough? the german newspaper has published an account by and named eu officials about a dinner held at number ten last week, it describes deep disagreements between the two sides. the paper says the prime minister and the eu commissioner clashed over the exit bill britain must pay, the structure of the talks, and the prospect of quick trade deal. apparently, mrjuncker left the dinner ten times more sceptical than he was before had. the prime minister was in lancashire today on the stump and trying to stamp out talk the fracas with brussels. is the account of the meeting true and has brexit gone off the rails? i have to say that from

what i have seen, i think this is russell is gossip, and look at what the european commission themselves said, immediately after the dinner took place, which was that the talks had been construct. but describing the account of acrimony and division between britain in the eu as brussels gossip is not the same as dismissing it as nonsense. she and mrjuncker do do not see eye to eye. there was no fraternity from opposition parties for a prime minister and pressure. to start the negotiations by threatening to walk away and setting up a low tax economy on the shores of europe is not accessible way of approaching people with whom half of our trade is done at the present time. theresa may is guilty of astonishing arrogance and complacency. no free trade deal, no cooperation with police, that is not acceptable.

brexit will shape how people here in lancashire and elsewhere will vote. if she gets a majority, which i presume she will, it strengthens her argument, doesn't it? obviously, it will be a difficult time during brexit. if she wants to push through and put through what we need as a country and as a government, she needs the backing and to know that she has the support of the country with her being elected. she's called it because knows she's going to win. so i think she's covering it up with the brexit banner. which is? labour. brexit will be a difficult dance between the uk and brussels and this lea ked between the uk and brussels and this leaked account from the eu side shows a willingness to talk about the talks to their advantage but it also shows that on many issues the sides are far apart and the mood is farfrom sides are far apart and the mood is far from mary. with me is our political

correspondent, eleanor garnier. so much confusion. they looks like this dinner might go down as the most prickly and an enjoyable enough. number ten has insisted it doesn't recognise as account of what happened. there were interesting remarks from theresa may on the campaign trail. she said these were rumours, gossip from brussels. that is not the same as dismissing it com pletely is not the same as dismissing it completely or insisting that she and john claude juncker dci completely or insisting that she and john claudejuncker dci toure. when they clearly do not. the big consent from number ten is they want these negotiations to be done behind closed doors, not in secret but privately. for the eu, they have a different approach and a different idea, clearly wanting to see quite a lot of this done in public, certainly lots of public lobbying going on. i think you will see this start to strain the relationship.

the opposition have left on this, jeremy corbyn saying mrs may had got her tactics wrong and tim farrand saying the government has no clue. seeing as the conservatives brexit is going to be tough so you need someone is going to be tough so you need someone strong to take on these tough ago she shows coming you can see this perhaps playing into jewellery is a's and. on the other side, this leak could maybe present some difficulties, too, because it shows the eu and number ten are starting out these negotiations from pretty different entrenched views. police have revealed more details of the burglary in dorset in which a businessman was shot dead. they say the men broke into the property wearing balaclavas, one of them armed with a shotgun. 61—year—old guy hedger died at his home in the village of st ives. duncan kennedy reports from the scene. it's been described as one

of the most exclusive residential neighbourhoods in southern england, but it's now the scene of a murder investigation. dozens of officers have been searching for clues in what's become a wide—ranging inquiry. police say guy hedger, who was 61, was shot in the early hours of yesterday morning. he later died of his injuries. this afternoon, detectives said this was a horrific act of gun violence on the tranquil edges of the new forest. we believe there was a level of preplanning within this offence. it appears that the offenders have actually gone prepared to be confronted. they were wearing balaclavas and in possession of a shotgun. police say jewellery, including some designer watches, were taken in the robbery. a friend and former work colleague of guy hedger told us his death was deeply shocking. it's a very close—knit business, so the sense of shock and upset will be felt very deeply. we will give as much support

to our people as we can, and we will offer our sympathy and condolences to his broader family and friends at this distressing time. police say another man living in the house was unharmed and could be an important witness. this is an area with large, detached houses behind imposing electronic gates, with many residents here profoundly unsettled by what has happened. it's absolutely dreadful. absolutely awful, sickening. this evening, the police said that mr hedger‘s family had been left devastated by what has happened. they said a postmortem examination was carried out this afternoon,

and they have again renewed their appeal for any witnesses who might have seen anything to come forward as soon as possible. dorset has one of the lowest gun crime profiles of anywhere in britain. but this violent burglary in the heart of the english countryside is now at the centre of an intensive police investigation. in france, four police officers have been injured during clashes with protestors, as both candidates in the presidential election held rallies in the final week of campaigning. the far right contender marine le pen has attacked her rival as the continuity candidate while emmanuel macron said the future of europe is at stake in this election. the second round of french elections has been the graveyard of far right dreams of power. used to facing a united front of all her rivals, marine le pen is now calling on voters to unite against someone else, her liberal opponent emmanuel macron. at a rally today, she attacked mr macron as a back door socialist, the enemy of the french people all

is still the world of finance, but now it has a name, and a party, it wa nts to now it has a name, and a party, it wants to be elect it and it is called emmanuel macron. her campaign has become softer, a mother and a woman of the people. the french are being fooled less and less, they are fed up of taking orders from people who have always deceived them. for decades, the front national has influenced french politics from the margins. now marine le pen says the party represents the mainstream on issues like immigration and the eu. but many voters still fear that she would unravel france's democratic traditions, and that fear, as one paper put it, is her political glass ceiling. by the river seine today, emmanuel macron honoured a moroccan man killed by far right supporters two decades ago, a reminder of the controversial history that dogs the front national.

but support for the far right is growing here, and on a visit to france's rural heartland over the weekend, he told us that this election was the last call for france's membership of the eu. to have almost half of this country angry with the european idea, we have to reform europe. we need a new european union in situation to protect our people and to regulate our globalisation. if, the day after, i decide to follow up and pursue the current functioning of the european union, i will betray my people. i don't want to do so, because the day after, we will have a frexit or the front national again. france's main unions held separate rallies today, there were scuffles today on the margin ofan there were scuffles today on the margin of an anti—fn march but the success of the far right parties in

the shock that it used to be an rather than voting for liberal reform, some on the left are wondering whether to vote at all. three women have been arrested on suspicion of terror offences after raids in east london. the arrests are being linked to the counter—terrorism operation in which a woman was shot and injured in north west london last thursday. a total of ten people have now been arrested in connection with what's known as the harlesden road police operation. the palestinian militant group hamas has published its first new policy document since its founding charter, in an effort to soften its image. in the document, hamas declares its willingness to accept an interim palestinian state within the pre—i967 boundaries, but without recognising israel's right to exist. social media companies have been accused of a disgraceful failure in their efforts to tackle terrorist propaganda and hate speech online. the commons home affairs select

committee says the firms are putting more effort into protecting their profits than keeping people safe. google, facebook and twitter have previously defended their approach to online safety. richard galpin reports. propaganda videos from extremists. hate speech. sexualised images of children. all should be removed much more rapidly from social media sites, according to today's report. the home affairs committee took evidence from the tech giants facebook, twitter and google, which owns youtube. they have billions of users around the world, and mps have lost patience. the richest and biggest companies in the world have both the ability and a responsibility to make sure that this kind of illegal and dangerous material is removed. i don't think they are taking this seriously enough, and they need to.

and it's notjust angry words being fired off at the tech firms. the report also suggests some tough sanctions, imposing multi—million pound fines on companies failing to remove unacceptable posts fast enough, and forcing them to pay for police investigations into suspect online material. but some charities want mps to go further. the nspcc thinks there should be an independent regulator to hold social media companies to account, and that regulator should have teeth, meaning the ability to force companies to take certain actions. but is it really possible for the companies to pick out extremist and abusive material amid the millions of posts being put up on social media sites every day? there is certainly more that companies can do, and they have acknowledged that. they could improve takedown times, partnering with each other to flag content across platforms. but we should also be careful.

the way that systems work is that they have a limited liability for the content on there, much like the post office can't steam open every envelope to see if a criminal is sending a message to another criminal. so at the moment, social media companies are still largely reliant on their users reporting what they consider to be illegal material. for the mps who wrote today's report, that is not acceptable. they are now expecting the tech giants to do much more. donald trump says he's not ruling out face—to—face talks with north korea's leader, kim jong—un, amid tensions about its nuclear programme. the us president said he would be honoured to meet him, under the right circumstances. a white house spokesman later added that north korea's provocative behaviour would have to be ratcheted down immediately. japan has dispatched its largest warship to protect a us navy supply ship as it crosses japanese waters

in the western pacific. it's the first time ever that japan has sent one of its war ships to sea with the purpose of protecting a foreign military vessel. japan amended its security law last year to allow such missions. from tokyo, rupert wingfield hayes reports. the izumo is the pride of the japanese navy. the biggest warship the country has built since world war ii. today's departure is hugely symbolic. the izumo will escort and protect this us navy supply ship and will respond with force if it comes under attack. forjapan's military this is another big step away from pacifism. just across the sea of japan satellite photos show north korea is preparing for another underground nuclear test. speaking on sunday, us president donald trump again warned pyongyang not to go ahead.

i would not be happy if he does a nuclear test, i will not be happy. and i can tell you also, i don't believe that the president of china, who is a very respected man, will be happy. if pyongyang is worried, it is not showing it. today it vowed to go ahead with the nuclear test at any time and at any location. this all comes two days after north korea test fired another of its growing family of ballistic missiles. the fifth test this year. meanwhile the uss carl vinson carrier battle group has finally arrived in waters off the korean peninsula. the huge ship and its escorts are a very potent symbol of america's military might. but what are they here to do? president trump is not giving many clues. ijust don't want people to know what my thinking is. so eventually he will have a better delivery system and if that happens, we cannot allow it to happen. for the first time the us president

acknowledged the terrible consequences that could result from a military strike against north korea. massive warfare with potentially millions of people being killed. that, as we would say, trumps trade. tensions are now higher than at any time since north korea's young dictator kimjong un came to power in 2011. despite the heated rhetoric, neither side wants a conflict. but when tensions are high so are the dangers of miscalculation. devastating weekend storms in southern and mid—western parts this week, millions of voters in england will elect a new kind of politician — the first—ever metro—mayors, as power is devolved from westminster to some english regions. there are six areas electing a metro—mayor, including the west midlands, from where our home editor mark easton now reports.

in a baptist church on the edge of birmingham, the pews are filling for an election hustings. nothing to do with the national or the local campaigns, though. they're coming to scrutinise candidates for something entirely new, a mayor for the west midlands. thank you to our candidates, who must be all husting—ed out by now. whoever gets the job will oversee the lives of 3 million people and an economy worth £120 billion, inheriting powers currently held in westminster. oversight of the region's transport, housing and economic development. a good idea? we gave each candidate ten seconds to explain why the west midlands needs a mayor. we need to take back control of the west midlands from london. we've been run directly by london politicians for a0 years, and they have let us down. people here voted against having a mayor, it's really clear from the campaign so far, they don't want an mayor at all still. the reason we're having one is the government says to have more money, we have to have one. we need a west midlands mayor as a champion and advocate, as a social entrepreneur,

to deliver a self—made place. and as a consensus builder. that person's got to speak up for us in london, and around the world. and that person's also got to deal with the issues that can only be dealt with on a regional basis. to fight the cuts that we constantly get from westminster, and also to keep control and open up the secret combined authority. well, i don't think we need a mayor. i'm standing against the mayor. we need plenty of extra democracy, we need a new system, but not a mayor. birmingham's most famous mayor, liberaljoseph chamberlain, ran the city at the height of its municipal greatness. he controlled the supply of water, electricity, gas. he controlled the police service and the fire service, and for some, the new metro—mayor is a welcome return of power to the west midlands. as well as birmingham, the mayor's constituency includes coventry and walsall, dudley and sandwell, solihull and wolverhampton. so what do the passengers on the wolverhampton tram think? the worry is that the smaller conurbations around the west midlands won't get as much as everywhere else. as long as it's a fair crack

for everybody then, yeah, go for it. i think it's yet another layer of very expensive bureaucracy, when in essence the country is controlled by central government. they hold the main purse strings. i don't know anything about it to be honest. have you not been hearing anything about it? no. i watch a lot of reality programmes, i've not listened to the normal news! watched over by chamberlain's ghost, the regeneration of birmingham's city centre symbolises what a metro—mayor should do for the region. get it right, and more control may be granted. get it wrong, and the most radical devolution of english power in a generation may turn to rubble. mark easton, bbc news, the west midlands. now for our bbc one viewers in scotland, it's time for reporting scotland.

in iraq, the battle for control of mosul grinds on, with iraqi forces gradually encircling the old city to try to remove fighters loyal to so—called islamic state. but seven months after nearby christian towns were liberated from the grip of is, their inhabitants still haven't returned. the area east of mosul known as the nineveh plains was once home to around 200,000 iraqi christians, but they fled when is arrived in 2014. many live in camps in kurdish controlled erbil. some have gone abroad. 0ur correspondent paul adams has been to the largest christian town, qaraqosh, once home to 50,000 people but which remains almost entirely empty. waiting to go home, the christians of qaraqosh came to erbil more than two and a half years ago. their lives are still on hold.

we meet this couple at the door to the cramped two—room cabin, they have agreed to take us back to qaraqosh to see why it is so hard to return. the area was liberated in october, isis have gone. but it is a ghost town. nazi's father is almost the only person here, this is where the whole family once lived, 30 people. when they came back last year, they found a burned—out, looted wreck. translation: if no one cares about us, or replaces what we lost, how can i come back? it's a disaster. six months after liberation, there is no water or electricity and no plans to repair the damage. as the battle rages on in nearby mosul, the people of qaraqosh feel ignored and vulnerable. translation: we are christians, the original people of this place.

we want our own christian province on the nineveh plain, to run our own affairs by ourselves, to guarantee the future for ourselves and our children. they were married in the church of saint mary, one of the biggest in the middle east, defaced and burned by is fighters. in the courtyard, signs of target practice. and from the roof, a lifeless panorama. this really does bring it home. up here on the roof of the church, you look around in every direction, there is no sign of movement. no one hanging out the washing, no one walking in the street. before isis arrived, there were at least 50,000 people in qaraqosh, now there is almost no one. 0n the edge of town, a small unit of mostly christian troops guards the entrance to qaraqosh but people remember how quickly isis swept in before,

could it happen again? wisam runs the only cafe in town. translation: it's up to the iraqi government whether is comes back or not. it's all about security. we hope they will not come back. but if the security forces withdraw, there is a chance is will return, maybe even stronger than before. qaraqosh is an overgrown, haunted place. the christians who lived here have scattered. some are living abroad, it is hard to see them coming back any time soon. paul adams, bbc news, northern iraq. the future funding of the nhs has

risen up the political agenda, and the election manifestoes should spell out where the different parties stand. the nhs confederation, which represents health groups in england, wales, and northern ireland, has called for commitments for a minimum fixed percentage of gdp — that's national income — to be spent on health, as with defence and international aid. the confederation notes that uk's health spending as a share of the economy, just under 10%, is below that of france and germany. the organisation has also called for an independent office, to advise ministers on appropriate funding for the nhs. the confederation says political parties must recognise that without action soon, the health and care system will be incapable of meeting modern needs.

hugh pym, bbc news. in a few minutes we'll be joined by bbc one viewers for a full roundup of the day's news with ben brown. but first nick miller has the weather. rain into cornwall and devon and parts of the channel islands. showers elsewhere have been gradually fading and the last of those will soon be clearing away so for the rest of the night, it is looking dry. areas of cloud, some clear spells, by the end of the night it will be cooler than this,

in rural spots and a few spots in western scotland, so warm today, clear and cool overnight, close to freezing as we start tomorrow. tomorrow starts fine, cloud and sunshine around, a few showers developing through eastern england. for much of south—west england, wales into the channel islands, a fine afternoon, sunny spells coming through, more cloud into the afternoon for south east england, the odd heavy shower, staying cloudy, across eastern england. the pennines, some warm sunny cloudy, across eastern england. the pennines, some warm sunny spells and some spots into the height teams, cooler along the eastern coast of scotland, breeze coming in from the sea. shall most till the south will fade tonight, looking ahead to wednesday. more cloud for east anglia and south—east england with showers around. plenty of sunshine for scotland and northern ireland. still we have the breeze coming from

the sea and that really is starting peg back temperatures along these zero the coasts. the breezes coming in from the cool north—east and temperatures are only around eight or9 temperatures are only around eight or 9 degrees so that is suppressing the temperature while the north sea coast, the easterly flow continues on thursday and friday, even into the weekend. this high—pressure close by means a few showers and south—east england and east anglia, a lot ofi south—east england and east anglia, a lot of i weather to come, cooler in the east, the west has the warmest weather. goodbye.