welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories: another day, another crisis for the white house. reports that the president asked fbi directorjames comey to drop an investigation into former national security adviser michael flynn. meanwhile, president trump insists he did nothing wrong in sharing sensitive intelligence with the russian foreign minister. his team says he did the right thing. it is wholly appropriate for the president to share whatever information he thinks is necessary to advance the security of the american people. that's what he did. following north korea's latest missile test, the un security council meets behind closed doors, and the us vows to call out states backing pyongyang. and ruined by rubbish, the south pacific island with more plastic waste than anywhere else in the world. the new york times and several other us media outlets are reporting that

president trump asked the former director of the fbi james comey to close down an investigation into links between mr trump's national security adviser michael flynn and russia. the times reports mr comey was so appalled at this suggestion that he noted it down in a memo, and a powerful committee of congress is now demanding to see that memo. white house officials insist the story is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of what was said. james comey was sacked last week. general flynn was forced to resign in february after giving a misleading account of his contacts with the russian ambassador. reaction from politicians in congress has been swift. the republicanjason chaffetz, chairman of a house of representatives oversight committee, said in a tweet his committee is going to get the comey memo, if it exists. i need to see it sooner rather than later. i have my subpoena pen ready.

in the letter to the acting director of the fbi, andrew mccabe, he says the fbi has a week to get the memo and all other notes detailing president trump's conversations with mr comey to his committee. the democratic senators dick durbin and patrick leahy gave this reaction to reporters: well, this stunning, breathtaking revelation, that the president is accused of reaching out directly to the head of the fbi to stop an investigation of general flynn, under these circumstances, it raises serious questions about the obstruction ofjustice. that is the fundamental question here. is anyone, including the president of the us, above the law? should everyone be held accountable, as they should be, under the rule of law? this revelation of the statement that has been alleged really raises that question. in my decades here, i've never seen anything like this. i've seen problems with both

republican and democratic administrations. i've never seen something that so undermines the rule of law or the separation of powers that we rely on in this country, the things that made us strong. i've never seen such an attack internally. we face attacks externally, but i've never seen attacks right within our government against our government. we should all set aside our labels as republicans and democrats and come together, just as in the watergate commission, and others, and find out exactly what happened. senator lindsey graham, who is a republican, said he wanted to hear the details from mr comey himself. ifjames if james comey was allegedly presented with something inappropriate, there is an open invitation. i don't want to read the memo, i want to hearfrom him. you want him to testify publicly?

yes. have you invited him? ijust did. earlier, our correspondent david willis told me how this story is developing. and this report in the new york times, borne out by other elements of the american media, the allegation basically that, at the end of a meeting in the white house in the middle of february, donald trump got other participants in that meeting to leave, and then he took the former fbi director james comey to one side and basically asked him to shut down, to drop the investigation that the fbi has been carrying out into the conduct of former national security adviser michael flynn. now, james comey was given, it appears, to taking notes of these interactions with president trump. and he wrote a memo, so it's claimed, the following day, saying basically that the president had asked him to let this go. michael flynn, he said, said, is a good guy. james comey apparently,

in response to that, agreed simply that michael flynn was, as the president put it, a good guy. but now we have, in the last few minutes, the revelation that the house, one of the house committees, the house oversight committee, is calling for the fbi to produce that memo that james comey wrote, and others, with this whole possibility of interference at the presidential level, within the next week. so things could be moving extremely fast on this highly significant story. as i understand it, reading the legal commentators, such a memo would be admissable as evidence. if it is true, it would be the clearest evidence that the president has tried directly to influence thejustice department and fbi investigation into links between the trump campaign and russia, if it is true?

well, that certainly is the big allegation here, the elephant in the room, if you like. we had nancy pelosi, the senate minority leader, a short while ago issuing a statement on those lines, saying, at best, president trump has committed grave abuse of executive power. at worst, he has obstructed justice. and there are certainly those in the united states and within the washington beltway, if you like, who have memories of the nixon administration. and some of those are saying that we are looking, potentially, if these stories pan out, and it's still a big "if", potentially at "impeachment territory", as one put it tonight. well, the white house was in damage control earlier over accusations that president trump shared classified information with russian officials last week.

the white house said it was wholly appropriate for the president to share information about the threat from the islamic state group with the russian foreign minister and ambassador. our north america editor jon sopel reports. this meeting with the russian foreign minister and ambassador was already controversial enough, coming a day after the sacking of the fbi director, who had been investigating the trump campaign's links to moscow. now it is being claimed that, during the meeting, the president shared the most highly classified information with his guests, so sensitive that america's allies, like britain, knew nothing about it. as the white house once again scrambled to put out the fire, the national security advisor emerged to say the story was nonsense. at no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed, and the president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known. and i was in the room — it didn't happen. but then on twitter, from the president,

a different story. yes, it did, and so what? he wrote... so, once again, the general was sent out to face the guns and explain the change of story. what the president discussed with the foreign minister was wholly appropriate to that conversation, and is consistent with the routine sharing of information between the president and any leaders with whom he's engaged. and the president was sticking to generalities. we had a very, very successful meeting with the foreign minister of russia. ourfight is against isis, as general mcmaster said. i thought he said and i know he feels that we actually had a great meeting. on capitol hill, the only reaction has been fury from democrats, and, from republicans willing to talk, a certain exasperation and weariness.

i think we could do with a little less drama from the white house, on a lot of things, so that we can focus on our agenda. another influential republican said the white house seemed to be in a downward spiral. the president is frustrated, but it is hard to see what is going to change. the abnormal is becoming normal. john sopel, bbc news, washington. james astill is the washington correspondent at the economist. he interviewed donald trump last week. i know you were part of the economist team interviewing president trump last week. what are you making a borgas? well, i mean, like all observers of the white house and capitol hill, you know, my headis house and capitol hill, you know, my head is somewhat spinning as we try to keep up with scandal after into related scandal, and wondering at the same time at what point a president who seems to have been impervious to intrigues and scandals

that would have sunk almost any other politician in history seems nonetheless to be able to continue unscathed, wondering at what point that changes. and actually, mr trump finds that he has done strategic damage to his administration, to his presidency. i think that, as your correspondent was saying earlier, there is some sense amongst republican congressman that we might be nearing a point of irredeemable breakdown in relations between house republicans and the white house. that is to say, only this morning, as you heard in that package from john zobel, the leader of republicans in the senate, mitch mcconnell, was talking about forgetting these scandals, looking beyond them and getting back to the conservative lawmaking agenda. i think that that is now quite a hard decision to take following this latest allegation, wrote in the new york times, that the president attempted to derail an fbi

investigation that related to his then recently dismissed national security adviser, and indeed affect others of his associates. that clearly carries with of obstruction of justice, the charge clearly carries with of obstruction ofjustice, the charge that brought down nixon in 197a. i think that capitol hill, white house, the washington community generally, is going to try to digestive the gravity of that potential charge. there will be a reluctance to leap to fast conclusions, given what a teflon president this is. mr trump does seem to survive extraordinary scandals, but there is a sense that there is something new now, i think. and we will know soon enough if the memo exists is, assuming it does, we will know what is in it. house oversight committee will have its way, one way or another. some house republicans are saying you must have heard, it could happen, ifjames

comey witnessed an apparently impeachable offence, why didn't he do something about it at the time? why didn't he quit at the time? well, an impeachable offence, for starters, is not something that is rigidly defined under the law. it is a high crime or misdemeanour, among the majority of congressmen. so certainly james comey as the then fbi director could not have known for certain that what he had just witnessed was an impeachable offence. i think the fact that he took some pains, it appears, if the new york times report is to be believed, to record in some detail the content or the material of that discussion with the president and circulate that content amongst other senior members of the fbi is itself an indication that he was somewhat shocked by the events in the oval office, by the conversation that he

had with the president. that is irregular, and even before the story broke, there had been some whispering that james comey broke, there had been some whispering thatjames comey might have left the paper trail. he was a very assiduous and careful, meticulous public servant, who took great pains with his reputation, we are told, though he had some history of controversy in the past. there was some whisper that there might be something like this before it, in short. some people are wondering out loud why mr trump seems so willing to risk his presidency to help general lien. you wouldn't have to be too much of a conspiracy theorist to think that he has a story to tell that people are quite keen he doesn't tell. you certainly could come to that conclusion, it would be logical. then again, there is a sort of central dilemma that we face in trying to analyse this presidency. perhaps donald trump has a great scheme in mind, perhaps. perhaps he is indeed worried about some kind of

complicity in the russian hacking of the general election that he won, amongst some of his campaign associates, just per example. that isa associates, just per example. that is a conspiracy theory that you can logically perceived. at the same time, you might say that he is making it up as he goes along, that he never misses an opportunity to pick a fight, he wants his way at every turn, he has no respect for due process, for the institutions that surround him, and he clearly has no respect for the norms of government that previous presidents, including richard nixon, even, have generally abided by. one of those norms being you don't sack the fbi director, and you don't tweet about it in director, and you don't tweet about itina director, and you don't tweet about it in a way that contradict the explanation is that your own staff have given for that sacking, just for example. but donald trump gives us for example. but donald trump gives us evidence to suggest he is really making this up as he goes along, but he is blundering through this presidency of the day by day basis. in the white house will have

something to say about that, and we will be happy to hear it when they wa nt to will be happy to hear it when they want to tell us. thank you very much indeed. for more on this rapidly developing story, go to our website. labour promises £48 billion of extra spending. the conservatives say the plans would open up a black hole in britain's public finances. the pope was shot, the pope will live. that was the essence of the appalling news from rome this afternoon, that, as an italian television commentator put it, terrorism has come to the vatican. the man they called the butcher of lyon, klaus barbie, went on trial today in the french town where he was the gestapo chief in the second world war. winnie mandela never looked like a woman just sentenced to six years injail. the judge told mrs mandela there was no indication she felt even the slightest remorse.

the chinese government has called for an all—out effort to help the victims of a powerful earthquake, the worst to hit the country for 30 years. the computer deep blue has tonight triumphed over the world chess champion, gary kasparov. it is the first time a machine has defeated a reigning world champion in a classical chess match. america's first legal same—sex marriages have been taking place in massachusetts. god bless america! this is bbc news. the latest headlines: widespread media reports say donald trump as the previous fbi chief to drop an investigation into a key white house aide. the white house says this didn't happen. north korea provoked international outcry following its weekend ballistic missile and of course the claim that the rocket can

carry a nuclear warhead. the un security council has just met in emergency session, behind closed doors. before it got underway, the us ambassador to the un vowed to "call out" states backing north korea and its nuclear ambitions. sunday's missile test was north korea's most successful yet, according to experts. it flew some 700 kilometres, landing in the sea west ofjapan. pyongyang says it's capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead. speaking before an emergency un security council meeting, the us, flanked by its allies, once again repeated this warning to kim jong—un. for peace on the korean peninsula, he has to stop his testing, —— we have worked well with china. they have tried to help us with our communications. we see where they have strengthened sanctions other countries are trying to fill that void and i will tell you that if you are country that supplying or supporting north korea, we will call

you out on it and make sure everyone knows who you are and we will target those sanctions towards you as well. a series of missile tests by the north has led to un sanctions. the us has sent warships to the region and is installing an anti—missile system in south korea as tensions in the region intensify. north korea is at the final stage of nuclear weaponisation. time is running out and the clock is ticking towards the tipping point. the fear is pyongyang's efforts to develop a nuclear missile capable of reaching the us mainland are progressing faster than expected. so far sanctions have failed. north korea continues to defy calls even from its main ally, china, to rein in its nuclear ambitions. with just over three weeks to polling day, labour has unveiled its manifesto. jeremy corbyn said labour would build "a betterfuture for britain", ending government for the rich and the elite. but labour's opponents say

the figures are not credible. here it is — labour's proposed contract, with you. this would be his cabinet. this isjeremy corbyn‘s deal. cheering and applause a massive moment for the man, who two years ago, was a total outsider. i'm delighted to introduce to you, the leader of the labour party and our next prime minister, jeremy corbyn. a plan he believes the country needs. whatever your age or situation, people are under pressure, struggling to make ends meet. our manifesto is for you. listing plenty of crowd pleasers here. labour will scrap tuition fees, lifting the debt... cheering and applause

labour is guaranteeing the triple lock to protect pensioners' incomes. and, labour will take our railways back into public ownership and put passenger's first. more childcare, more cash for the nhs, too. paid for by the richest 5% and taxes on business. with nearly £50 billion of extra spending, paid for by nearly £50 billion of tax. we're asking the better off and the big corporations to pay a little bit more. and, of course, to stop dodging their tax obligations in the first place. this is a programme of hope. the tory campaign, by contrast, is built on one word, "fear." applause

for good orfor ill, you think it's time to pay for your ideas, to tax more, to spend more, and to borrow more. do you know what — every other country in the world says, why does britain invest so little and pay itself so little, while it allows such grotesque levels of inequality to get worse? let's turn it around and do it the other way. do you think the public are going to go for something as radical as this? i think those earning over £80,000, paying a little bit more to pay for our health service and our children's education, i think that they'll be positive and supportive of it. fantastic manifesto. the manifesto that you've got there, laura, is full of really, really popular policies and i am fighting harder, as is every labour candidate, for a labour victory, for a labour government led byjeremy corbyn. do you really believe he's up to the job now? jeremy corbyn is a leader who's had to fight to keep his job

since he started but broadly the manifesto is built in his image. this is his radical offer, to you. the manifesto is the biggest hypothetical expansion of the state in many years. but how exactly would his ideas work? why in this manifesto is there no scale, no ballpark figure for how much it might cost the public purse? how much are you prepared to borrow renationalise four major industries? because we don't know what the share price will be at the time that we do it. as i said in the case of rail, there is a neutral cost on it. i believe in the case of water, the same would apply in exchange for the bond issue. on the other side of the equation, you haven't promised to reverse all the tory welfare cuts. now for some of your supporters, do you accept that might be quite disappointing? no, what i've said on the welfare cuts and cap issue is this — that we have set aside £2 billion to deal with the worst effects of the benefit cap, which will help a lot. so you are not reversing the whole

thing but you are making some... you will see a lot of changes on it but bear in mind we've had two weeks in order to prepare all of these policy issues because of the speed at which the election has been called. i accept the challenge. we've produced, i think, a very well—thought—out and a very credible manifesto in a very short space of time. i think we deserve some credit for that actually but it's all right. well, it'll be up to the voters. indeed. i look forward to their decision. there's never been a question that he can pull a crowd. rapture down the road in huddersfield. right, we have lift off. butjeremy corbyn has three weeks to be heard across the board. politics is not just who can shout the loudest. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, bradford. it's nicknamed plastic island — 38 million items have washed up on henderson island, a remote british territory in the south pacific. 3,000 miles from the mainland,

a remote paradise that has become a rubbish dump. its beaches are now more densely polluted with plastic than anywhere else on earth. henderson island is home only to south pacific sea birds and marine wildlife, and, with no human inhabitants, this should be a pristine haven. but an international team of researchers who visited and studied the island calculated that 17 tons of our litter, washed or dumped into rivers and oceans, have floated here over decades. dr alex bond saw the devastation up close. we looked across the beaches in a variety of different plots, and counted the pieces of plastic on the surface, and down to about ten centimetres. and from that we could extrapolate the area of beaches, and that's how we came up with our estimate of about 38 million pieces on the island.

researchers say that most of the plastic waste they could identify appeared to come from china, japan and chile. most plastic floats, and it can take centuries to degrade, so when it reaches the ocean, it stays at the surface and is carried on the currents. henderson island sits next to a vast circular system of ocean currents called the southern gyre, and that is depositing plastics from thousands of miles away onto its beaches. this is just a snapshot of the millions of tons of rubbish in our oceans, but the researchers hope it may persuade us to end a toxic addiction to plastic. more on that and all the news any time on the bbc news website. thanks for watching. hello there, good morning. tuesday is probably going to be a day remembered for the high temperatures.

looking outdoors, we had some blue skies at times here in lossiemouth, in scotland, and more blue skies and some more humid air here in kent. those two are significant, because in scotland it was the warmest day of the year so far, and with a temperature of 26 degrees at gravesend, the warmest day in the uk so far. but, in between this band of cloud, which didn't produce an awful lot of rain, but that cloud is thickening to give us some more rain today. and the warm air is going to get pushed ever so slowly away into the near continent. we're going to get into this cooler, fresher air, with sunshine and showers over the next few days. a chilly start, though, for scotland and northern ireland this morning, one or two showers in the north—west. but, by the morning, the rain more extensive across a large part of england and wales. now, through the day we will enjoy some sunshine in scotland and northern ireland, but we will see a few some showers, some of them heavy, coming into the north—west. whereas, for a large part

of england and wales, it is going to be cold and wet all day, with some warmth, though, before that rain really gets going in east anglia and the south—east. but temperatures will be a bit lower than they were on tuesday in scotland and northern ireland. many eastern and southern parts of scotland staying dry, with some sunshine, but showers to the north—west and across northern ireland. and if you are stuck underneath this rain across a good part of northern england, wales, and the south—west, it really is going to feel quite cold. the rain starts to ease off later into the afternoon, but cold and wet all day through the midlands, central and southern england. ahead of the rain in east anglia and the south—east, it will be warm and humid. but once that rain arrives, late afternoon and into the evening, it could be very heavy and thundery across the east midlands, east anglia and the south—east. the rain begins to clear away from areas further west. so that is the first soaking rain for the gardens we've had for some time towards the south—east, but could lead to some difficult travelling conditions. by thursday, it is all gone. we're into sunshine and showers.

most of the showers out to the west, some heavy ones. but it may well be a dry day across east anglia and the south—east. that is where we're seeing the highest temperatures, but they are tending to slip away. numbers are dropping, typically into the mid—teens. and sliding in from the atlantic, slowly but surely, we've got this area of low pressure, which is just going to amplify the showers into longer spells of rain for northern ireland and for western scotland, closer to the centre of the low. otherwise, some sunshine and some showers scattered about, some of them still on the heavy side, and temperatures typically 14 or 15 degrees, and not getting any warmer over the weekend. yes, there will be some sunshine at times, but some further heavy showers. and, with clear skies at night, it will be on the chilly side. this is bbc news. the headlines: more controversy

for donald trump's white house. officials are denying widespread reports in the us media that he asked the fbi to end its inquiry into his former national security adviser, michael flynn. a powerful committee of the us congress has demanded to see all communications between mr trump and james comey by 24 may. president trump is still insisting he did nothing wrong in sharing sensitive intelligence with two senior russian diplomats. his current national security adviser says the president's conversation was wholly appropriate, and he hadn't known the material had been provided by a foreign ally. responding to north korea's latest missile test, the un security council has been meeting in emergency session. the us ambassador has said she will call out states backing pyongyang's nuclear programme. north korea claims its latest rocket could carry a nuclear warhead. now on bbc news, panorama. litter is a big problem.

£2 billion spent on cleaning up litter and waste last year. the public wants to see something done about litter. an increasing number of fines are being issued on behalf of councils. it's causing real anger. all i want to do is pick up the poo that you say i'm responsible for. look at this poor old man. you alright, mate? look, and they're abusing him, you scumbag. many of the fines are being handed out by private companies, who often split the takings with the local authority. there are millions to be made. so is this really about preventing litter, or increasing profits?