this is newsday on the bbc. lam rico i am rico hizon in singapore. after weeks of threats and tough talk, president trump says he will hold talks with north korea's leader under the right circumstances. talks with north korea's leader under the right circumstancesm the circumstances present themselves, we would be prepared to. the president of the philippines, rodrigo duterte, gets an invitation to the white house, but he says he may be too busy to go. also. violent scenes on the streets of paris as the city's traditional may day march becomes a protest against marine le pen. and a tribute to the japanese designer, reu kawakubo for the

annual met gala in new york where the stars of fashion are meeting up. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it is newsday. glad you could join us. in washington, dc, president trump has broken global diplomatic norms by saying he would be open to meeting north korean leader kim jong saying he would be open to meeting north korean leader kimjong on. he said it would need the right circumstances. they worry america's allies, japan, has sent its biggest warship to protect an easy supply vessel, an historic first for tokyo. i can say this. he's very threatening, he's a big threat to the world. how safe are troops in the demilitarised zone, and our ally in south korea? how safe are they with some of the defence systems we have

provided, and what is the status of those? well, nobody is safe. imean, i mean, who's safe? the guy has nuclear weapons. i would like to say they are very safe. these are great, brave soldiers. these are great troops. and we know the situation, with 20,000 troops on the line, and they are right there. so nobody is safe. we are probably not safe over here. if he gets the long—range missiles, we're not safe either. so we have to do something about it, and we'll see what happens. but whatever happens, a spokesman said a meeting cannot take place right now. we have to see their provocative behaviour go down first. there are many conditions. we need signs of good faith. clearly, conditions are not there right now. i think the president made it clear, like secretary killers and said the other

day, if circumstances present themselves, we would be prepared to, but they are clearly not at this time. —— rex tillerson. well, the white house very swift to play down any suggestion that any sort of meeting might be imminent between the two men, and meanwhile, there are those who are saying that this is just a sign of an incoherent policy on the part of the administration, and is only likely to lead to confusion. they have been looking to work with china to get leverage in regards to north korea. they have been working with the un as well. in a separate move, they sent an aircraft carrier group to the region. now, the latest prong of action with north korea is a charm offensive on the part of donald trump who yesterday described the leader, kim jong—un, donald trump who yesterday described the leader, kimjong—un, as a smart cookie. he says he would be willing to meet him in the circumstances we re to meet him in the circumstances were right, even going as far as to say he would be honoured to do so. the white house was very swift to

play down any suggestion that any sort of meeting might be imminent between the two men. meanwhile, there are those who are saying that this is just there are those who are saying that this isjust a sign of an there are those who are saying that this is just a sign of an incoherent policy on behalf of the administration and there is only likely to be more confusion. incoherent policy, but there are those saying, through this latest move by mr trump, he wants to keep his adversaries off—balance. in terms of having this meeting with kim jong—un, what would be the conditions imposed on pyongyang for this meeting to materialise, if ever? well, they would have to drop their commitment to these ballistic and nuclear weapons. that is one thing, for sure. you talk about president trump playing his cards close to his chest militarily, and he actually made that point in an interview with fox news, in which he said that what was happening on the korean peninsula was very unsettling, a big threat to the world. nobody is safe.

but, asked if there was a red line as far as military action is concerned, he said it is not his policy to telegraph any decision regarding military action in advance. david willis reporting. the president of the philippines says he may turn down an invitation by donald trump to visit the white house. president trump invited rodrigo duterte on saturday after a phone call between the two. meanwhile, the un says mr trump must bring up alleged human rights abuses in the philippines if the visit goes ahead. we don't have sufficient data on the patterns of the violations, and clearly — and the numbers suggest that there is orchestration — if there is planning

and organisation, clear planning and organisation, that threshold may be breached. but we are not in a position to say. we have warned the government of the philippines against undertaking these sorts of measures, what amounts to seemingly extrajudicial killings. also making news today, thousands of demonstrators have in taking part in may day protest in the united states. including this major rally in los angeles. thousands took part, criticising president trump's executive orders on immigration. demonstrations also took place in pennsylvania, wisconsin, and minnesota. meanwhile skirmishes broke out in venezuela, where may day protests there turned violent. it follows a month of unrest which has led to the deaths of almost 30 people. the protests a re against the government. 0pposition parties are demanding fresh elections. at least 27 people have been injured after a passengerflight from moscow to bangkok experienced severe turbulence. several passengers suffered broken bones.

the airline, aeroflot, said the turbulence happened in clear skies, which meant they weren't able to warn passengers. mark selby has retained the world snooker championship. there he is. he beatjohn higgins by 18 frames to 15. it was a remarkable recovery. at one point in the match selby trailed higgins, also a former world champion, by io—a. it means selby has now won the snooker world championship three times in the last four years. and doesn't he look happy? back to our top story: after weeks of tough talk against the pyongyang regime, donald trump says he would be open to meeting with north korean leader kimjong—un under the right circumstances. at the same time, japan, has sent in its biggest warship to protect a us navy supply vessel. the 249—metre—long izumo, seen here departing from its base in yokosuka, south of tokyo, will escort a us supply vessel within japanese waters.

it is the first time ever that japan has sent one of its warships to sea with the express purpose of protecting a foreign military vessel. let's get more from our correspondent in tokyo rupert wingfield—hayes. he says it is a first for the country. this is the first time that japan has, under its new security law, dispatched a ship explicitly on a mission — not a joint training mission, not an exercise, but explicitly to escort and protect a foreign naval vessel. and this would not have been allowed under japan's security law, under its pacifist constitution. it is only since the law was changed last year that this has been possible, for the first time since the second world war. and i think this comes obviously with a background of the tensions in the korean peninsula and the deployment of a large us carrier battle group to the region.

japan is now exercising that new law, and prime minister abe is deliberately exercising that new law, to take part in a military operation. so, what is basically the strategy, rupert, behind sending the izumo to protect the us navy fleet? well, it is under what is called collective self—defence. and japan wasn't allowed to exercise collective self—defence. japan's military could only defend the home islands, and could only use force ifjapan comes directly under attack. under this new law, the strategy of the abe administration is to say no, we're going to become a normal country, like britain, like france, like any other country around the world. we are going to be able to come to the defence of our friends and our allies, and of course, their biggest ally is the united states. the us navy is currently deployed on operations in this part of the world, because of the tensions over the korean peninsula, and mr abe wants the japanese military to take part in that. and that... you know, it is also not an accident they are sending their biggest,

most modern ship. this is the biggest ship the japanese have built since the second world war. it is effectively an aircraft carrier, in all but name, and it is hugely symbolic because of that, and certainly the biggest, most modern carrier that the japanese have. and given the current situation injapan, if there could be a direct attack, how would they likely respond? well, japan doesn't have... if there were an attack on the ship is escorting, then the japanese navy will come to the defence of the american navy, and that will be a first. i don't think anybody thinks that is going to happen. if there were an attack onjapan by north korea, then the us and japan will jointly respond under the joint defence treaty. at the moment, japan does not have any offensive weapons. it cannot strike back at north korea if it is attacked. it would have to rely on the united states. but a debate has now started injapan, again pushed by the abe government, as to whetherjapan should also change that,

and should acquire offensive military weapons, to allow it to strike back at north korea if it were attacked. rupert wingfield—hayes reporting from japan. and now we move to france. there have been violent scenes on the streets of paris during the traditional may day march. 0ne police officer was seriously hurt. it comes as the fight for the french presidency intensified. both candidates used campaign days to launch attacks on each other. we report from paris. 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. translation: the enemy of the french people is still the world of finance.

but now it has a name, it has a face, it has a party, it wants to be elected, and it's called emmanuel macron. her image in the campaign has become softer, a woman of the people, a mother, and a protector of what she calls the forgotten france. translation: the french are being fooled less and less. they're 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. you have almost half of this country angry with the european idea, so we have to reform this 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 we will have the front national again. there were scuffles today on the margins of an anti—fn march, injuring several police. but the success of france's far—right party isn't the shock that it used to be, and rather than voting for liberal reform

to keep the front national from power, some on the left are wondering whether to vote at all. this has been newsday on the bbc live from singapore and london. still to come. a celebration of rei kawakubo, still to come. a celebration of rei kawa kubo, japan's famous still to come. a celebration of rei kawakubo, japan's famous designer. and also, the faces of war. a new portrait exhibition focusing on the americans who fought in iraq and afghanistan. 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 7 o'clock 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 newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm alpa patel in london. our top stories.

president trump has said he is prepared to meet the north korean leader kimjong—un if the circumstances are right. the philippine president rodrigo duterte has said he may turn down an invitation by donald trump to visit the united states. let's look at at some of the front pages making news around the world. and the japan times leads with washington's efforts to put pressure on north korea. the headline reads "trump lines up asian allies". the story goes on to say the president is reaching out to asian countries to secure their help in the "the singapore straits times" — the headline focuses on the president of the philippines. he's visiting chinese warships in his hometown of davao city. it sees the visit as a warming of ties between the philippines and china — after president duterte distanced himself from his country's traditional ally — the united states.

and in the new york times — this piece on china's enormous appetite for sea food. it says intense fishing in china is ravaging african waters — pushing fisheries to the brink. it has long been considered one of the biggest red carpet events of the year as new york play's host to the met gala. it celebrates the opening of the metropolitan museum of art's annual fashion exhibition. it's an extravagant black tie event — which brings together big names in music, fashion, film and politics. this year the gala is honouring 74—year—old japanese designer rei kawa kubo. sharon lim is former editor of elle magazine and is now fashion communications lecturer at nanyang academy of fine arts in singapore. i asked her why rei kawakubo is so influential? where do i begin?

she was part of a group of japanese designers in the 1970s, like, the punks in england? punk movement because they subverted everything about traditional forms of dress. what they did was not honour the traditional female form. absolutely. just looking at her creations during the paris fashion week they have all kinds of shapes, they look like snowballs or dirt balls. exaggerated round shapes. are these creations that someone would wear? i would. many fashionistas consider her one of the best examples of architectural design. her approach is quite cerebral. however, some of the clothes are more wearable than you would think. you need to try them on to understand. but it is living art. you are wearing art. and everybody knows rei kawakubo when she made famous a brand called comme des garcons.

what does that mean? it means like a boy. it was a bit of a joke. she was the only female fashion designer of a bunch of designers which included issey miyake. she was a renegade and she was quite feminist in her own time. should we classify her work as art? i call it art. fashion as art, art is fashion. there are many pieces which are statement pieces with a lot of 3—d detailing. however, there are also wearable pieces. i have some, just not today. i thought, honestly, comme des garcons was a french brand. is she european or asian? how would you consider it japanese or asian? she is both.

she has not stopped showing. when you speak about the japanese sensibilities in the subversion of the traditional female form, again, as opposed to traditional curves, you know? breast, waist and hips. rei kawakubo is 7a years old. who will succeed her? good question. nobody really knows, i think. there are a couple of young designers to work with her including wata nabe, possibly. that was sharon lim, a former editor of elle, now a lecturer on fashion communication here in singapore. and from striking designs to some stunning, and thought—provoking images, alpa. wright i think they are stunning. fashion very important on this programme. of course, my high heels particular important. as are yours, i'm sure, ricoh. let's go to washington where an exhibition is putting a face to the men and women

who serve their country. more than two and a half million americans have been deployed to iraq and afghanistan in the last 16 years. but the politics of war can often gain more attention — than those who actually fight in them. this exhibition at the national portrait gallery aims to change that. jane 0'brien has been to have a look. in spite of the title, faces of war, some of the most moving images in this exhibition show nobody. these are the empty bedrooms of fallen soldiers, their very absence creating a haunting presence. that familiar intimacy is captured more traditionally in the work of stacy pea rsall. this is a picture i took of specialist garcia, i had to catch him chain—smoking, the smoke drifting around his head like a halo. an airforce combat photographer in iraq, she was seriously wounded twice and awarded a bronze star for bravery. we have this idea of a soldier being

impenetrable, being invincible. and what i wanted to remind folks photographically was that there is more to a soldier than the bullet and the blood. there is humanity. what happens in the downtime? what do we do with that suspended time between fighting a war? other images captured soldiers in the midst of battle. these works from afghanistan reveals the psychological impact of conflict. and there is more of the unexpected. cataloguing is the approach of this archivist who was inspired by seeing the rollcall of dead soldiers on television. this is a montage of all the american service men and women who have been killed in the conflicts in iraq and afghanistan. they are tiny, tiny intimate portraits arranged on this grid which implies some sort of order.

but, of course, it was the chaos of war that caused these deaths. but what links all these images is a tragic timelessness. a continual threat of war and personification of conflict that has gone on for centuries. if you look at the face, that could be gettysburg, it could be yorktown, it could be agincourt. there is an element of commonality. there is a common mythic reality of war. war is the most celebrated subject in human history and what we do is link through portrait photography, we are linking these men and women back to the tradition of the war. —— warrior. while the focus of this exhibition is squarely on the men and women who fight it is also a reminder of the bravery of the image makers. most of the artist in this show

have risked their lives to get close to the subject. tim hetherington, who created these pictures, sacrificed his life in 2011 while covering the insurgency in libya. blight princess charlotte's birthday has been captured by the duke and duchess. the couple released a similar photograph last year to celebrate her turning one. she does look very cute, doesn't she? now a change of pace — the mission is a bit hush—hush, but space x — wants the world to know its rockets are re—usable. earlier today it launched a secret us government spy satellite into space. and then successfully retrieved the booster rocket for later use. the unmanned falcon 9 rocket took off from a launchpad — the company leases from nasa. the leftover booster landed safely

back on earth a few minutes later, ready for its next mission. no word however on what the newly—launched satellite will be doing up in space. you have been watching newsday. thank you so much watching. stay with us. we'll meet the entrepreneur from singapore who's built an empire from scratch. and we couldn't let you go before showing you these pictures. this is constable elliot, a very cute guinea pig, dressed up as a police officer. he's also the adopted mascot of new zealand's police force. he's raising awareness about road safety. and he's huge on social media, so if you want more pictures of him, look him up. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello and good morning.

we just had the warmest day of the year in northern ireland. 20 degrees in county tyrone. a lovely day in the sunshine. we also had some similar temperatures in the south—west of scotland. again, nice and warm with some sunshine. the best of the weather over the week ahead will probably be across western scotland and northern ireland. we have more cloud coming into eastern scotland, north—east england, quite low cloud and these are the temperatures by the time we get to early tuesday. seven or eight degrees typically. a little bit of mist and fog towards the south—west after that rain on monday. the showers that we had, some lively, have headed southwards into the near continent and high pressure will come to dominate eventually, but this weather front here could spoil things a bit, coming in off the southern north sea. we'll see some showers. a mishmash in the morning with sunshine and areas of cloud. but more cloud and perhaps few showers coming in off the north sea into more central and southern parts of england. for much of the day, the south—west is likely to be dry as well as wales, nice and warm in the sunshine,

but feeling cooler under this cloud, especially as the wind picks up. showers will be light, but there could be a few heavy ones in south—east later on. showers as far north of northumberland, to the west it is likely to be dry. and temperatures not quite as high across northern ireland and scotland as they were on monday but 18 degrees is quite likely. cool for eastern scotland under the cloud, though that should break up for a while. showers through the evening head in to wales and the south—west and they fade away and then we see, after a brief respite, some more showers coming in again from the southern north sea. a lot of cloud for england and wales, perhaps further north for scotland and northern ireland, but again on the chilly side in the highlands. as we head into wednesday, these showers and cloud thickening, mainly from the humber southwards into south—east of england, further west into england and wales, there will be some sunshine at times but the sunniest weather developing after a bit of a cloudier start for scotland and northern ireland and again we will find temperatures here in the west into the high teens. another lovely day to come.

not the sort of weather for dipping your toes in the north sea, perhaps, where the temperature will be eight or nine degrees. starting to warm up at this time of year. those temperatures are significant because the wind is coming in off the north sea. this high—pressure that's dominating our weather, fairly typical weather pattern for this time of year but means strong winds later on in the week. a lot of dry weather through the rest of the week. there will be sunshine around as well but it is always going to be cooler in the east, near the east coast in particular. more sunshine and higher temperatures further west. i'm alpa patel with bbc world news. our top story: president trump says he would be willing to meet north korea's leader, kim jong—un. the president said he'd be honoured to meet mr kim, but "under the right circumstances. " in an interview, he warned that the north korean leader is still a big threat to the world. mr trump's also extended an invitation to rodrigo duterte,

the controversial president of the philippines. but mr duterte may turn down the invite, he says he can't make a commitment because of what he called a busy schedule. and this video is trending on bbc.com. at least 27 people were injured when a passenger flight from moscow to bangkok experienced severe turbulence. several passengers suffered broken bones. the airline, aero—flot, said the turbulence happened in clear skies, which meant they weren't able to warn passengers. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc world news. and the top story here in the uk: the detective leading the investigation into the fatal shooting of a businessman at his home in dorset, says it doesn't appear to have been a random attack.