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. 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. responding to north korea's latest missile test, the un security council meets behind closed doors, and the us vows to call out states backing pyongyang. a key battleground — london's rapid economic growth means it'll play a key part in next month's uk general election. 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 united states, 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 anything 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. 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. our correspondent david willis told me how this story is developing. 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 directorjames 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. well, i mean, like all observers of the white house and capitol hill, you know, my head is somewhat spinning as we try to keep up with scandal after interrelated 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 congressmen 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 jon sopel, 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, broken 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 others of his associates. that clearly carries whiffs 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 digest 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. 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. he must have thought it could happen

— if james 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, decided 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 might have left a 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 flynn. 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 for example. that is a conspiracy theory that you can logically perceive. 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 a way that contradicts the explanations that your own staff have given for that sacking, just for example. but donald trump gives us evidence to suggest he is really making this up as he goes along, that he is blundering through this presidency on a day—by—day basis. for more on this rapidly

moving story, head to our website, at bbc.com/news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: ruined by rubbish. the south pacific island with more plastic waste than anywhere else in the world. 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: reports from the us say president trump asked his former fbi chief, to drop an investigation into a key aide. the white house says it didn't happen. they are also insisting donald trump did nothing wrong in sharing sensitive intelligence with the russian foreign minister. north korea provoked international outcry with its weekend missile test

and the claim it can carry a nuclear warhead. the un security council has met in emergency session and the us ambassador promised to "call out" states backing north korea' nuclear ambitions. sarah corker reports. 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. the un security council met to discuss tougher sanctions. the us, flanked by its allies, warned that all countries must step up action against north korea orface the consequences. we have worked well with china. they have really tried to help us in our communications with north korea. but we've seen where they have strengthened

sanctions other countries are trying to fill the void and i will tell you that if you are a country that is supplying or supporting north korea, we will call you out on it. we will make sure that everyone knows who you wire and we will target those sanctions as well. a series of missile tests by the north this year has sparked international alarm. the us has sent warships to the region and is installing an anti—missile system in south korea, as tensions on the peninsular intensify. north korea is at the final stage of weaponisation. we are reaching the tipping point. the fear is pyongyang's efforts to develop a nuclear missile capable of striking the us mainland is progressing faster than expected. so far sanctions have failed. north korea continues to defy calls, even from its main ally china, the range in its main ally china, the range in its nuclear ambitions. but quickly round up some more of

the main news. us backed fighters in northern syria as a there have advanced to within four kilometres of the so—called islamic state group's stronghold. syrian democratic forces say they have taken five villages since monday and are taken five villages since monday and a re close taken five villages since monday and are close to encircling raqqa from the east and north. a candidate in iran's presidential election has pulled out in order to smooth the path for the incumbent, hassan rouhani. the withdrawal of mr rouhani's ally, the vice president, had been expected. both are from the more moderate, reformist camp. on monday the conservative mayor of tehran pulled out of the race. it's nicknamed plastic island — 38 million items have washed up on henderson island, a remote uninhabited british territory in the pacific. researchers see it as a symptom of the growing mass of waste. here's the bbc‘s victoria gill. 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. it's shocking because as you step along the beach, plastic is absolutely everywhere, no places without it. 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. the uk votes in a general election onjune the 8th and london is a key battleground. it accounts for more than ten per cent of all members of parliament and at least a dozen closely—co ntested marginal constituencies. our chief correspondent gavin hewitt reports. london — a fast—charging, global city. a place apart from the rest of the uk. even the politics are different, registering some of the strongest support for remaining in the eu.

but running through london is a faultline between those living well off the global economy and those left behind. take housing. london average house price is coming in at 475,000, that's twice the uk average. lucian cook from the property group savills sees a great divide. if you look at what's happened in london, it's dislocated itself from the rest of the uk for a prolonged period. that means london faces a series of housing challenges that are more acute than the rest of the uk. it's about building enough housing stock. if you look at london, particularly in the lower tiers of the market, we are not building nearly enough housing stock. along the river are new developments where half the flats are foreign—owned. it is a city of extraordinary wealth, with public sector workers squeezed over places to live. amina works in the nhs as a paediatric nurse.

she lives with her four children in a one—bedroomed flat in south london. you do get demotivated sometimes, you get angry, you get frustrated, because obviously having to work 12 hours and then coming home and not to even have your, you know, a space to rest from the shift, even some of my colleagues that do, sort of nurses, midwives, they can't really afford to live and work in london at the same time. london's public sector has many similar stories — around half the met‘s police officers that patrol the capital live outside the city. there are just so many ways that this city is different from the rest of the uk. two million out of london's five million workforce were born abroad. immigration is part of this city's identity and part of its lifeblood. take this luxury hotel in leicester square. it is totally dependent on workers from abroad. where are you from?

i'm from romania. i'm from spain. where are you from? i'm italian. from india. barcelona in spain. london is a melting pot, its flexible labour market a magnet for young workers. across our business, we employ approximately 2,300 people, so it would be fair to say that more than 50% of those employed from the eu. and from the rest of the world altogether? so in total probably around 80% we are looking at. the question that london asks the politicians — if migration is reduced, where will the capital draw its workforce from? the computers flowing over london bridge support a financial sector employing 750,000 people. the city provides nearly 12% of the uk's tax receipts. the brexit negotiations hang over the city, with some banks making plans to move part of their

operations to elsewhere in europe. uncertainty is what's causing city firms to continue to build out their contingency plans. the longer those plans are worked through in the fine detail, the more likely that they will be put into action. london is the indispensable city and at election time it provokes different choices. the city's inequalities boost the labour vote. the prospect of a hard brexit troubles many of those who voted remain. a city that depends on outsiders is less concerned with immigration. others look to the tories to deliver global britain. london — a capital with its own priorities. much more for you on that and all of the news on the bbc website. that's it for now. 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 may 24th. 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, coming up in a minute it'll be hardtalk, but first let's have a quick look at the front pages of this morning's newspapers.