welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: after weeks of threats, president trump now says he'd be honoured to meet and have talks with north korea's leader under the right circumstances. if the circumstances present themselves, we are prepared to, but they are clearly not at this time. violent scenes on the streets of paris, as the city's traditional mayday march becomes a protest against marine le pen. they can't even agree to disagree. britain and eu leaders offer rival explanations for what happened at a downing street dinner. after months of demonstrations, venezuela's president says he's creating a new citizens assembly which could give him much greater power. and the faces of war. a new exhibition focuses on the americans who fought in iraq and afghanistan. president trump has now said he would be willing to meet

the north korean leader, despite weeks of tough talk against the pyongyang regime. in an interview with bloomberg, mr trump said he would be honoured to meet kim jung—on in the right circumstances. but then, speaking to fox news, the president reverted to a stronger line, calling north korea's stance on its missile programme inflammatory and very threatening to the united states. he said he'd take action if he had to. barbara plett usher reports. during the election campaign, donald trump said he might be willing to sit down for a burger with kim jong—un. but he dropped that notion of burger diplomacy after the north korean leader declared he was working on a missile powerful enough to hit the united states. you do you have to do, and you don't talk about it. so when people say — i was asked a question yesterday, exactly when would you go in?

at what time would you go in? i mean, it's ridiculous. i don't want to talk about it. 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. 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. now, after weeks of tough talk, and escalating questions, mr trump has again mentioned the possibility of meeting kim jong—un, under the right circumstances. the white house spokesman sean spicer quickly clarified that conditions are not right at the moment. we have got to see their provocative behaviour ratcheted down immediately.

those are the conditions that i think would have to happen, with respect to its behaviour, and to show signs of good faith. clearly the conditions are not there right now. but i think the president's made it clear, as secretary tillerson had the other day, that if the conditions are clear, if the circumstances present themselves, we would be prepared to. but they're clearly not at this time. the secretary of state, rex tillerson, has said north korea must take concrete steps to reduce the threat of illegal weapons programmes before talks can even be considered. in the meantime, he is pressing for an international campaign to tighten sanctions on north korea, while keeping open the threat of military actions. but president trump likes to keep his adversaries off—balance. true to form, in the last few days, he has ranged from predicting a major conflict with north korea to describing mr kim as a pretty smart cookie, for holding on to power by wiping out his rivals. bbc news, washington. the bbc‘s david willis is following events from los

angeles. the trump administration has tried a number of different approaches to tackle this growing threat from north korea. it has attempted to get china to exert the leverage that it, as north korea's chief benefactor, has over the country there. it has also sought to beef up the military angle, if you like, sending an aircraft carrier group to the region. now we see a sort of charm offensive, if you like, on the part of president trump. we heard in barbara's report there that he referred to president kim jong—un as a smart cookie, and now he is saying that he would be willing to negotiate with kim jong—un directly. he would be willing to meet him, and would be honoured, in fact, to do so. now, the white house very swiftly had to say, well, this is not imminent, and there are no plans to go ahead with this. but it has led to some saying that this sending of different signals, if you like, is rather confusing, and it demonstrates a sort of lack of coherence, as far as the trump administration is concerned, in its dealings with north korea. now, the white house

very swiftly had to say, well, this is not imminent, and there are no plans to go ahead with this. but it has led to some saying that this sending of different signals, if you like, is rather confusing, and it demonstrates a sort of lack of coherence, as far as the trump administration is concerned, in its dealings with north korea. that particular word, david — does the north korean leader, who starved and imprisoned thousands of his own people, threatened to destroy the united states — now president trump is honoured to met him, or would be. it is only fair to point out that, if barack 0bama had used that phrase, he would be under a republican onslaught for kind of humiliating the us, wouldn't he? absolutely, and you know what? it is controversial language, and it has attracted criticism. also, in another interview with fox news network, president trump said that nobody was safe, as he put it, from the threat posed by north korea. he was referring to the united states, particularly, and he said it is very unsettling.

the north korean regime poses, as he put it, a big threat to the world. but as far as the red line, as it were, is concerned, mike, he refused to directly answer that question, or to define what would constitute a red line as far as the north korean actions are concerned. he said, as he has said before, that he doesn't choose to telegraph his military intentions in advance. the two rivals in the french presidential race have traded blows to start the final week of campaigning. on sunday, voters will chose between the pro—eu former banker, emmanuel macron, and marine le pen, on the far right. in a rally on monday, she characterised him as the establishment candidate. he said he'd fight "until the last second" to make sure she didn't reach office. here's our paris correspondent, lucy williamson. 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 this campaign has become ever softer, a woman of the people, a mother, and a protector of what she calls 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. that isn't working anymore. the barrier now is against emmanuel macron, and all he represents. that's the future. 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. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. three young women have been arrested in east london on suspicion of terrorism offences. the arrests are linked to a raid on thursday in another part of the capital. a woman was shot and wounded there by police. another seven people arrested after the raid are still in custody. the united states has issued a new travel warning for europe, saying americans should be aware of the continued threat of terror attacks. the state department cites recent incidents in britain, france and russia and warns

that the so—called islamic state and al-qaeda have the ability to plan and carry out attacks. officials say they're not responding to a specific threat. at least 27 people have been injured in severe clean air turbulence on an aeroflot flight from moscow to bangkok. you can see here how the inside of the plane looked afterwards. the jet hit an air pocket without warning about a0 minutes before landing. several passengers suffered broken bones and three needed surgery. britain's prime minister has responded to reports of a sharp disagreement with the european commission president during a dinner last week. a german newspaper has suggested they clashed over the rights of eu citizens and the cost of brexit. it said jean—claude juncker left the meeting 10 times more sceptical than before. theresa may has claimed the talks were constructive, and called the story brussels gossip. here's our political correspondent, ben wright. may day means a bikes and barrows festival in this lancashire village, and people seem keen to peddle their politics. but the election was not the main concern here this morning. a different sort of contest was.

ready to shoot. the tories are targeting many marginal seats, like scorton, in lancashire. and their message, that brexit negotiations are going to be tough, and that theresa may is best—placed to handle them, sits at the heart of their election campaign. but this tough? a german newspaper has published an account by unnamed eu officials of a dinner held last week at number ten between theresa may and the eu negotiating team. it describes deep disagreements between the two sides. according to the paper, the prime minister and the eu commission president, jean—claude juncker, seen here before the dinner, clashed over the exit bill britain must pay, the structure of the talks, and the prospects

of a quick trade deal. apparently mrjuncker left the dinner ten times more sceptical than he was beforehand, and he found theresa may showed no willingness to compromise. the prime minister was also in lancashire today, on the stump and trying to stamp out talk of a fracas with brussels. is the account of the meeting true, and has brexit already gone off the rails, before the talks have even started? i have to say that, from what i have seen of this account, i think it's brussels gossip. and just look at what the european commission themselves said immediately after the dinner took place, which was that the talks had been constructive. but describing the account of acrimony and division between britain and the eu as brussels gossip is not the same as dismissing it as nonsense. she and mrjuncker clearly don't see eye to eye. may day means workers‘ solidarity for labour, but there was no fraternity from opposition parties for a prime minister under pressure. to start negotiations by threatening to walk away with no deal, and set up this sort of no—tax economy on the shores of europe, is not a very sensible way of approaching a people with whom half of our trade is done at the present time.

the revelations overnight showed theresa may being guilty of astonishing arrogance and complacently, that she feels that somehow the lack of any kind of deal, no free trade deal, no co—operation on peace and security, that that's somehow acceptable to families up and down this country. this matters, because brexit will shape how people in lancashire and elsewhere will vote. if she does it, which i presume she will, it strengthens her argument, doesn't it? obviously it's going to be a difficult time during brexit, and 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 can have the support of the country, with her being elected. i think she's called it because she knows she's going to win, doesn't she? i think she's coming under the brexit banner, really. but it wouldn't change the way i was going to vote, anyway, i don't think. which is? labour. brexit will be a difficult balance between the uk and brussels, and this leaked account from the eu

side shows a willingness to brief about the talks to their advantage. but it also reveals that, on many issues, the sides are far apart, and the mood is farfrom merry. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: storms and tornadoes in parts of the us bringing damage and a dramatic rescue for a family trapped inside an overturned car. 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 bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump has said he would be "honoured" to meet and talk with the north korean leader kim jong—un if the circumstances are right. there've been clashes during mayday protests in paris — at the start of the final week of campaigning for the presidential election. venezuela's president is to form

a new national assembly, to be made up, he says, of ordinary citizens. it's seen as a way to get round parliament, which is controlled by the opposition. it's been another day of violent clashes between anti—government protestors and police. greg dawson reports. it has become a familiar sight in caracas. running battles through the streets, protesters versus police, hand—held catapults versus teargas canisters. this marked a month of deadly protests in venezuela which began after the courts tried to strengthen the president's grip on power. over the last four weeks, nearly 30 people have been killed in clashes. but addressing the rival pro—government march, nicolas maduro delivered his new idea to defeat his opponents. translation: today, i announce that by using my presidential powers,

i summon the constitutional power so that the working classes and the people organise a national assembly. his plan would be to create a new body to circumvent the country's opposition—controlled national assembly. he says it will defeat what he calls the fascist coup threatening his country. the response from his opponents was swift, calling on venezuelans to rebel against the proposals. venezuela's political crisis is twinned with an economic one. this is petare, one of south america's biggest shanty towns just outside caracas. residents have faced food and water shortages for more than two years. a symptom of a long recession for which the government and opposition blame each other. from monday, president maduro has ordered a 60% increase in the country's minimum wage. 0pponents say the move will merely fuel the country's soaring inflation rate and will do little to stop those who want

president maduro removed from power. greg dawson, bbc news. there were similar scenes around the world — as thousands took to the streets for mayday protests. in chile, police used water cannon to try and disperse crowds in santiago — many responded by throwing rocks. the country is due to go to the polls later this year but mayday protests have often turned violent. in cuba, a protester waving an american flag in front of may day marchers was bundled to the ground and carried away in havana's revolution square. it's the first may day celebration since the death of fidel castro in 2016 and the last that his brother, raul, will attend as president. and in south africa presidentjacob zuma had to abandon a may day rally after he was booed by workers demanding his resignation. fighting broke out between mr zuma's supporters and opponents — and all speeches had to be cancelled. devastating weekend storms in southern and mid—western parts

of the united states have killed at least 16 people. deaths were reported in texas, arkansas, missouri and mississippi. tornadoes flattened homes, overturned cars and brought down power lines. more dangerous weather is forecast — as abc's senior meteorologist, rob maricano reports. tonight, the system that brought deadly tornadoes to texas now targets te ns deadly tornadoes to texas now targets tens of millions in the east. we are outside texas. just after the tornadoes tore through, tom mitchell discovered this truck overturned and a family of four trapped inside. oh my god. with storms are still swelling overhead, good samaritans racing against time. mitchell puts down his phone and start giving the infant cpr.

tonight, the family is recovering. they have message for their rescuers. thank you so much for everything that you did. for helping somebody you didn't know. just a few miles away, a high school prom taking direct hit. this new well built venue. they crowded into the bathroom and all survived. we are not new to tornadoes that one of this magnitude with a 50 mile swath is unbelievable. along with tornadoes, torrential rain. part of the region getting nearly one foot in the last three days. that report from abc's senior meteorologist, rob maricano. more than two and a half million american soldiers have been deployed to iraq and afghanistan in the 16 years since the start of the so—called war on terror. the politics of war often gets more attention than the men and women who actually fight in them. but now the national portrait gallery in washington is putting faces to the bodies in the firing

line, with a new exhibition. jane 0'brien went along. 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 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.

the continual thread 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 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. 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 artists in this show have risked their lives to get close to their subjects. tim hetherington, who created these pictures, sacrificed his life in 2011 while covering the insurgency in libya. and to a picture of a very different kind.

the duke and duchess of cambridge have released a new photograph of princess charlotte to mark her second birthday. the picture was taken by the duchess at their home in norfolk. the couple released a similar photograph of charlotte last year to celebrate her turning one. now the mission is a bit hush—hush, but space x — wants the world to know its rockets are re—usable. it's launched a secret us government spy satellite into space. and then successfully retrieved the booster rocket for later use. the unmanned falcon nine 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. 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 much more uncomfortable elliott and all the news any time on the bbc website. —— constable elliott. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello 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. this is bbc world news, the headlines. president trump has said he would be willing to meet the north korean leader, kim jong—un, despite weeks of tough talk against his regime. however, a white house spokesman said the right conditions for a meeting did not yet exist. at the start the final week of campaigning in the french presidential race, the two rivals have criticised each other. marine lepen characterised emmanuel macron as the establishment candidate.

he said she "fed off hate". britain's prime minister theresa may has dismissed reports of a sharp disagreement with the president of european commission during a dinner last week. a german newspaper has suggested they clashed over the terms of brexit. after months of anti—government protests, the president of venezuela, nicolas maduro, has called for a new citizens assembly with powers to rewrite the constitution. he said it would bypass the opposition—controlled parliament. time now for hardtalk.