this is bbc news. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: theresa may has discussed finalising a deal with a northern irish party to enable britain's minority government to pass laws. one of germany's key ministers tells us that mrs may's poor performance was the result of a change of mood across europe. also this hour, us special forces join the fight against islamic militants holed up in the philippine city of marawi for nearly three weeks. and rescued by a cruise ship after a storm leaves a lone yachtsman stranded in the middle of the atlantic. it's now three days since the uk held a general election and britain's prime minister theresa

may is still trying to finalise a deal with a northern irish party to enable her party, the conservatives, to stay in government. with no majority, it needs support to get legislation through parliament. such an agreement is known as a "confidence and supply deal". theresa may has also confirmed to german chancellor angela merkel that britain is ready to begin brexit negotiations "as planned in the next couple of weeks". our political correspondent mark lobel has more. historically friends, hoping to shape the future working together. without enough conservative mps to form her own government, theresa may has turned to the democratic unionist party. she outlined her intentions straight after the shock election result. to help regain the political balance. we will continue to work with our friends and allies

in the democratic unionist party in particular. our two parties have enjoyed a strong relationship over many years. and this gives me the confidence to believe that we will be able to work together in the interest of the whole united kingdom. the dup now has ten seats to use as a powerbroker. to back theresa may on key vote like the budget and queen ‘s speech. but as a full coalition but in a loose agreement. —— not as. that is pumping speculation about what the pro— brexit socially conservative party may want in return. causing concern among some tory mps at a bowl. i don't think we are going to go backwards in terms of social legislation. it is part of our dna and what makes us a great country that we are and i'm sure the dup understands that. but balancing two parties's interest could have an effect. i cannot see how a queen 's

speech can be laden with interesting pieces of legislation because many of them are going to be items which will cause dispute within the conservative party and certainly between the conservative party and dup. the most unexpected result of the election has been to make the job of governing here harder than ever. well, as we've been hearing, mrs may needs the support of the democratic unionist party to give her a working majority in parliament. they say discussions are continuing. so, what will the dup demand in return for their loyalty? here's john campbell. political views here are firmly held and slow to change. on saturday mornings for the last five years, unionist protesters have gathered at belfast city hall. they're opposing a council policy to reduce the numbers of days on which it flies the union flag — a decision they feel undermines their british identity. they welcome the dup‘s new influence. from a loyalist point of view,

i think northern ireland is in the best position we have ever been in. we couldn't have wished for anything better than a hung parliament. what should they be asking for? first off, they should be asking to stop the witch—hunt against the british army. just across the street, what do people think the dup should be prioritising? i think the national health and the hospital is one of the most important ones. mostly all of the schools and welfare and stuff. i'm pleased they are going into government with them, to be honest. a functioning executive for government in northern ireland, because that's what we really need. money's great, but it doesn't answer all the questions. we will organise massive demonstrations! the dup is a party with religious roots, and that continues to influence its social policy. chanting: stormont, stormont, hear us clear! it opposes extending gay marriage and abortion rights to northern ireland. fundamentally, we did not expect to be in this position. but issues like these are unlikely to feature in talks with the conservatives. the dup‘s demands here will be overwhelmingly financial.

they have a clear road map they set out in 2015 when they thought they would be in this position. there is very little in that about social policy. but this new relationship raises wider questions about the conservatives' role here. on monday, cross—party talks are due to get underway, aimed at restoring northern ireland's collapsed government. but how can a conservative secretary of state act as an honest broker at those talks when the conservatives are now so reliant on the dup? this deal has come more quickly than many expected but tonight, the dup are revealing nothing about what they want in return for their support. but on brexit, the dup does not appear to share theresa may's view that walking away with no deal is a viable option. the pa rty‘s financial demands are likely to include more money for infrastructure. and it will not support further austerity measures, like the means testing of winter fuel allowance.

let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the youngest son of the former libyan leader, colonel gaddafi, has reportedly been released from prison. a militia group controlling the town of zintan says it freed seif al—islam under an amnesty law. he'd spent six years in jail following the revolution which overthrew his father in 2011. iran's intelligence minister has said the mastermind behind wednesday's attacks at the parliament and mausoleum of ayatollah khomeini ayatollah in tehran has been killed. 17 people died during the attack. the so—called islamic state group has claimed it was involved. the us attorney—generaljeff sessions has agreed to appear before the senate intelligence committee as it investigates alleged russian meddling in the presidential election. he says his decision comes after testimony by fired fbi directorjames comey. more now on the situation in the philippines, where us special

forces are helping the military there to dislodge militants allied to so—called islamic state in the city of marawi. more from our asia—pacific regional editor, michael bristow. after nearly three weeks of fighting, this is what is left of marawi. until insurgents took over, there was a population of 200,000 in this lakeside city. most have left in the streets are largely empty. they are having to battle for every house. 13 marines were killed in a 16—hour clash with rebels on friday. government soldiers are now getting some help from a long—standing ally, the us, after a changing heart from rodrigo duterte, who spent most of his presidency criticising washington. according to a spokesman, us troops are not fighting on the streets, but providing technical support. the presence of the us counterparts facilitate the exchanges

of intelligence, facilitate subject matter and expertise exchange, and also provides training exchanges. despite government bombardment, the mounting insurgents have managed to hold out, even though there are unconfirmed reports that the two brothers who lead them have been killed. government deadlines for retaking the city have all come and gone. inside marawi, fires rage. hundreds of civilians are still trapped. the militants are fighting from bunker and tunnels and are thought to have hostages. even with american help, the fight to recapture marawi will not be easy. michael bristow, bbc news. french parliamentary elections are this sunday and emmanuel macron will be hoping his party can go from no mp‘s —— and emmanuel macron will be

hoping his party can go from no mps to the party of government. it's fielding candidates in almost all of the 577 seats. in keeping with his promise to renew french politics, half of those running on behalf of the president's party have never held office before. predictions that he may win an outright majority have surprised many. here's our paris correspondent, lucy williamson. president macron has promised to ta ke president macron has promised to take on some fronts's most entrapped bill problems. this collection will decide whether he has the political and public support to deliver. his party en marche! is currently to you to hold any seats in parliament and untiljust a to hold any seats in parliament and until just a few to hold any seats in parliament and untiljust a few months ago, even close allies were doubtful he could win outright majority. now, the predictions are that he may do just that. half the party's candidates are new to politics, picked from

tens of thousands of cds are sent into consideration. with a fighter pilot, a judge and a former bullfighter among those hoping to enter parliament. the nominees are also evenly split between men and women. the vote will also be closely watched to see how the country's to traditional parties performed after being excluded from the presidential run—off last month. for the first time in front‘s post—war history. it's been revealed the ringleader of the london terror attack, had tried to hire a seven and half ton lorry, instead of a van, to run down members of the public. police say the number of injured would have been much higher. eight people died in the knife and van attack a week ago. here's our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford. on the edges of borough market, they were repairing the damage today, replacing the doors that had been shot off by armed police in the desperate hunt to find the killers. the police are gone but the market itself, where five of the victims were stabbed to death, remains sealed off for now.

a scene of horror and heroism. we have stories of people who came out armed with chairs, other items, were throwing bottles and anything they could get their hands on, with a view to try to prevent the attackers either coming into pubs and bars, but more importantly, to scare them off, to stop other people being attacked. the weapons the attackers used were 12—inch pink ceramic knives of the ernesto brand, possibly bought at lidl. they were found tied onto the men's hands with leather straps after they'd been shot by police. minutes earlier, they'd killed three other people on london bridge before crashing their b&q van. in the van, police found 13 petrol bombs made with lighter fluid and cloth cut from tracksuit bottoms and two blowtorches. detectives believe that behind this green door in east ham was the men's safe house. in a top floor bedsit rented by rachid redouane two months ago, detectives discovered items that had been used to make their petrol bombs

and their fake suicide vests. and an english—language copy of the koran left open at a page referencing martyrdom. the ringleader of the gang, khuram butt, had actually tried to hire a 7.5 tonne truck that morning which would have made the attack much worse, but fortunately, his payment did not go through. he was also being investigated by counter—terrorism detectives for fraud and was still on police bail, though the case was about to be dropped. at the present time, i do not regard what i have seen as an intelligence failure. but, you know, everybody would expect us to look at what has happened and to ensure that both we learn whatever we can from what has happened and secondly, that we continue to improve and improve and that is what we have always done in this country in the face of a changing terrorist threat. the men killed three of their victims as they drove across london bridge and stabbed five more to death in borough market.

it was the third attack on britain in 10.5 weeks. daniel sandford, bbc news, east ham. stay with us. plenty more to come, including he was the first batman on the small screen, adam west has died at the age of 88. the day the british liberated the falklands and by tonight british troops had begun the task of disarming the enemy. in the heart of the west german capital, this was gorbymania at its height. the crowd packed to see the man who, for them, had raised great hopes for the end of the division of europe.

michaeljackson was not guilty on all charges. the screams of the crowd testament to his popularity and their faith in his innocence. as long as they'll pay to go see me, i'll get out there and kick 'em down the hill. what does it feel like to be the first man to go across the channel by your own power? it's pretty neat. feels marvellous, really. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the office of britain's prime minister theresa may says talks are continuing with a small northern irish political party on a deal that should allow her minority government to function. the german chancellor angela merkel has called the british prime minister to offer her congratulations following the uk election.

theresa may confirmed her intention for brexit talks to begin in the next couple of weeks as planned. mark urban has been speaking to one of angela merkel‘s ministers peter altmaier in germany. it depends on the uk's decision when we will start. what we know so far is that uk has triggered article 50 and that means a delay of two years will be available to negotiate, transitional periods to negotiate citizens‘ rights. we hope all this can be done in due time, but we have never interfered with domestic political debates in the uk. we have allowed for sufficient time to decide when to trigger article 50. we have allowed a reshuffle last year in august. and certainly, we have understood that the uk is in a situation where some things have to be considered and therefore we will respect widely

and as good as we can, the decisions of the british government. what would happen if the uk tried to change its mind about the whole thing and tried to withdraw the article 50 declaration? my god, this is a trap. this is a trap and i have avoided these types of traps for almost one year now because the question whether article 50 application has to be changed or not, this is something to be decided in the uk. we are not interfering with that. theresa may has explained brexit means brexit. this is the official position of the british government and this is understood and accepted by europe. to what extent do you think attitudes across europe are now changing? over the last two months, we have seen a considerable shift in public opinion. we have seen it in france. we have seen it in germany, where angela merkel has the support of a growing number of citizens and is leading the polls.

we have seen it in the uk. nobody knows the result. younger people are more interested in politics than ever over the last 20 years. we have a more vivid political debate. it's of course awfully difficult but it presents also a chance. it presents a chance for reflection about the challenges of a worldwide scale. this is something we want to do together with the uk, either inside or outside the european union. a major rescue operation has taken place in the mid—atlantic after a fleet of yachts that set out from the uk was hit by a severe storm. one boat sunk and several other crews had to abandon their vessels. caroline davies reports. close to safety, after surviving what's been called a once—in—a—lifetime storm. this is the moment a 73—year—old yachtsman was rescued by a luxury ocean liner, the queen mary 2.

he'd been taking part in a transatlantic race when a storm hit. at the end of last month, 22 boats set off from plymouth in the uk as part of a race heading for newport, rhode island in america. but across the atlantic, they hit 15 metre waves and 60 knot winds. many of the boats were damaged. tamarind, the boat rescued by the liner, was just one of them. a boat called happy suffered a damaged mast and another, called furia, sank. all the crews were rescued. other ships, like this research vessel, also diverted to help, co—ordinated by the canadian military. but reaching the yacht was not easy. they have to slow down to remain safe. that is why cases like this, so far out in the atlantic, always will take a day or more. even those who run the race were surprised by the conditions. i've been involved with this race for 25 years. and i must say, we've never had this kind of depression.

nine, six, seven millibars were extremely low. with these conditions, i can't remember them, so it's unusual, it's extreme, but it does happen in the north atlantic. now safely on board and heading to halifax in canada, at least one yachtsman will enjoy an easier journey, according to the captain of the liner. he's absolutely fine. he is very happy to be here. and i think he will have a much more leisurely and luxury transit to the other side of the atlantic than he would have done in his 38—foot boat. despite the damage, organisers have said the race will go on. caroline davies, bbc news. officials in the us say president trump is expected to announce a change in policy towards cuba during a speech when he visits miami at the end of next week. so what's he likely to say? our correspondent in havana is will grant.

we don't know the fine detail but the expectation is absolutely that this will be a rollback, at least a partial rollback, on one of president obama's key legacies which is the warming of ties with cuba. we expect to see, for example, some kind of partial reverse of the relaxation of travel restrictions which has done so much to allow us citizens to come to cuba, opening the doors of cuba to americans who weren't able to visit the island for so many decades. also we expect trade to be impacted as well. obviously there is still a us economic embargo in place on cuba so it's not like there's huge amounts of trade already. but what there is may now find it very difficult because we're expecting president trump to say that us entities cannot work with the cuban states, specifically the commercial and tourism wings of the cu ban military. and given that they're so important, so ubiquitous to the cuban economy,

that could have a real impact. we're going to take you now deep below the beaches of the netherlands where hidden beneath the sand are secret nazi tunnels and bunkers built as part of the atlantic wall to stop allied forces invading during world war ii. a total of 500 bunker remnants have been discovered in recent years. anna holligan takes us there. it's like an underground nazi village, there last bar facilities, kitchens. and in here is one of the dormitories and you can see up here on the wall, one of the german army eagle is and there was once a

swastika under here, it was scratched off by dutch teenagers after the war in an effort to delete that history. there would have been about 60, 65 soldiers living here during the war. and up here you can see where they put the directions painted on the wall in black ink. k, the direction to the coast, and p eight kay, the anti—tank guns. you find them down there. —— pak. people come in here, they get a feeling about the war. the time capsule is decorated just like the quys capsule is decorated just like the

guys left yesterday. adam west, star of the 1960s hit tv series batman, has died. he was 88. his family said he had been suffering from leukaemia. and we need him now. guesstimation? batman made adam west an icon. more recently he voiced the character mayor adam west in the animated series family guy. our correspondent peter bowes has some of the reaction from los angeles. a lot of people paying tribute, he will be missed. and we could tell, just from that clip there of him talking on hollywood boulevard, his sense of humour, it was always with him. i think he'll be remembered as the actor who played batman with certainly a sense of humour, with a wink in his eye, a sort of quizzical expression. it certainly wasn't a dark character when he played batman. it changed according to different actors over the years but i think he will be remembered in that way and in fact illustrated in a statement that his family released saying, "our dad always saw

himself as the bright knight and aspired to make a positive impact on his fans‘ lives. he was and always will be our hero." a huge number of tributes. you mentioned family guy. of course, he voiced at the character mayor adam west in his later years and it really was a huge revivalfor him. seth macfarlane, the creator of that series, has issued a statement saying, "family guy has lost its mayor and i have lost a friend", he says, "adam west was a joy to work with and the kind of guy you always wanted to be around. his positivity, good nature and sense of fun were undeniable and it was always a big jolt of the best kind of energy when he walked in to record a show." we've also heard from other batmen over the years. val kilmer said that he was so kind when they met, he said he was a real gent. rafa nadal could become the first

man to win the french open title ten times later on sunday. the spaniard faces times later on sunday. the spaniard fa ces sta nd times later on sunday. the spaniard faces stand wawrinka in the final following his semi—final win on friday. —— stand wawrinka. his total career in france has seen him lose two matches of the 80 he has played and the swiss opponent he faces will know neither of those defeats has come ina know neither of those defeats has come in a final. stay with us on bbc news. good morning. rough rule of thumb for the day ahead is that where you were warm and sunny yesterday, you will be that bit cloudier and cooler today. where it was wet, a bit brighter. not necessarily dry because there will still be some showers around. they are driven by quite a deep area of low pressure to the west of the uk which keeps things rather blustery on sunday. notice this weather front here, that brought the rain across northern england and wales through saturday.

nothing more than a weakening feature in east anglia and the south—east first thing this morning. this morning, across scotland and northern ireland, the showers have been going through the night. they will still be there. they will get heavier as the go through the morning. one or two just pushing into northumberland and cumbria. much of norhtern england, west midlands, wales and the south—west, compared with what you saw on saturday, a much drier and brighter day. a lot more cloud across east anglia and the south—east. that's the weak weather front i wasjust mentioning, producing patchy rain or drizzle. particularly murky around some of the coasts of sussex and kent. that will clear and for the rest of the day, dry with increasing amounts of sunshine. after a sunny start in northern and western england and wales, a few showers pushing in here. scotland and northern ireland, showers becoming that bit more frequent, heavy and thundery into the afternoon. you'll be ha rd—pressed to completely avoid them. temperatures here may be up a bit on what you saw yesterday, down towards the south—east corner but pleasant enough once the sun is out. the sun will be out at the cosford airshow. small chance of a light shower later on. a greater chance of showers

at dublin for republic of ireland's world cup qualifier. for those still heading to wales for the match in belgrade, there could be a few storms around early on but a lot of the day will be dry, sunny and warm. through sunday night and into monday, still a bit breezy and still more showers across the northern half of the country. longer spells of rain for scotland. temperatures a bit down into monday morning compared to sunday. it will feel fresh across scotland because of the breeze. it may cause a few travel issues for the monday morning rush—hour. you could see gusts of 30—50 mph. the bridges and ferries could be impacted by that. elsewhere, a breezy, blustery start but the winds easing down. one or two morning showers but nowhere near as frequent as we have seen on sunday. the showers by the afternoon mainly across scotland and northern england. generally, quite a bit of cloud on monday. a few sunny breaks, best of which in the south and east. temperatures will have dropped down compared to the weekend but that will change through tuesday and into wednesday, a ridge of high pressure builds in. it doesn't quite build enough to stop some showers in parts of scotland and northern ireland. a few showers showing up

on the chart for belfast but cardiff, london and much of england and wales, increasing amounts of sunshine and temperatures on the up. bye for now. this is bbc news, the headlines. britain's conservative party says it is working on a deal with a small northern irish party to help it pass legislation. the democratic unionist party says discussions will continue next week. the prime minister has faced mounting criticism since she lost her parliamentary majority in thursday's election. american special forces have joined the battle in the southern philippine city of marawi against militants who've declared allegiance to the islamic state group. the fighters have held parts of the city for nearly three weeks despite intense urban fighting. the us forces will provide technical support to philippine forces. a major rescue operation has taken place in the mid—atlantic after a yacht race that set out from the uk was hit by a severe storm. one boat sunk and several other crews had to abandon their vessels. a passenger cruise ship,

the queen mary 2, was among boats that were drafted in to help the rescue.