welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: "detestable lies." a massive fire right now in a west london tower block. we speak to our reporter right now at the scene. donald trump's attorney—general denies claims he colluded with russia to influence the us presidential election. i have never met with or had any conversations with any russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election. australia offers to compensate almost 2,000 asylum seekers detained at an off—shore processing centre on manus island. and a special report from venezuela. despite massive wealth in parts of the country, unprecedented numbers of children are going hungry. fellow, and straight to that raking

story in west london. —— raking. the london fire brigade are dealing with a serious fire in a tower block art in west london. a 23—storey block of flats in kensington. andy moore is at the scene. andy, what can you tell us?” andy, what can you tell us? i am standing just beside the cameraman who is trained on the building at the moment. the police have pushed us the moment. the police have pushed us back, the cordon has been pushed back, because there are fears the building might possibly collapse. it has been well alight for nearly two hours now. as you can see, it is burning from top to bottom, all 2a stories. residents we have spoken to

say that the fire seems to have started on those lower floors, perhaps the third or fourth floor. we can see that the fire brigade are training their hoses on the lower pa rt training their hoses on the lower part of the building, but obviously they cannot reach those higher floors at the moment. the ambulance service i hear. so far we are aware of two people that were being treated for breathing in smoke. the police say they will update us later on whether there are any further injuries. there are lots of little here who are obviously concerned about friends and relatives who were in the building, but we are not aware at this stage of anybody being trapped in this building, which is owned by the local authority. it had been undergoing an upgrade, and as far as been undergoing an upgrade, and as farasi been undergoing an upgrade, and as faras i am been undergoing an upgrade, and as far as i am aware that work was finished. as you can see, this whole building now is well alight. the police, fire brigade and ambulance services all here in force, and there are fears the structure could

be compromised and this building could collapse. it is a horrifying sight. it would be marvellous if everybody has got out, but it is kind of hard to believe, isn't it? we just kind of hard to believe, isn't it? wejust don't kind of hard to believe, isn't it? we just don't know the answer to that. we have been here for about an hour. certainly we have not been able to see anybody trapped in the building. to the naked eye, we couldn't see anybody calling out for help. we did hear some people in the early stages who said that they did hear calls for help from the building. at the moment we are hoping and praying like the crowds around us here that everybody has got out of this fire. certainly, this report from the metropolitan police is that only two people have been treated for smoke inhalation. we have seen ambulances arriving but we have not seen any ambulances leaving while we have been here. we have seen a command unit for the fire service arriving, and as you

can imagine, this is a big incident oi’ can imagine, this is a big incident or them. as you say, andy, everybody here hoping for the best as well. that was andy moore, at the scene in latimer road. we will bring you more on that as we have more. the american government's top lawyer has been facing tough questions about the trump campaign's links to moscow and allegations that he colluded with russian intelligence to influence the result. asked if he believed the russians interfered with the election, attorney—generaljeff sessions said "it appears so," but he angrily rejected claims of collusion. and he defended president trump's sacking of fbi directorjames comey. from washington, nick bryant. capitol hill, on days such as this, america's most elegantly designed theatre. the stage for the latest instalment of a russian saga gripping washington and destabilising the trump white house. last week saw act i, the testimony of this former fbi directorjames comey, fired by president trump. now the sequel, attorney generaljeff sessions, a former trump campaign adviser, now the head of the justice

department. he came out counterpunching, fierce in his denial that he'd held meetings with russian officials last year to discuss interfering with the presidential election. the suggestion that i participated in any collusion, that i was aware of any collusion with the russian governments to hurt this country, which i have served with honour for 35 years or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process. it is an appalling and detestable lie. the attorney general has recused himself from the russian investigation, but he was adamant that shouldn't be misconstrued. i did not recuse myself. i'm defending my honour against scurrilous and false allegations. the democratic senators complained he refused to discuss his conversations with president trump. i believe the american people have

had it with stonewalling. i am not stonewalling. i am following the historic policies of the department ofjustice. then tempers flared. mr comey said there were matters, with respect of the recusal, that were problematic and he couldn't talk about them. what are they? why don't you tell me? there are none, senator, there are none. i can tell you that for absolute certainty. so for once, the most angry words in washington didn't come from donald trump. he'd left town, seemingly in a genial mood, but he can't escape the russian cloud that hangs still over his presidency. donald trump has made no secret of his annoyance in the past with jeff sessions for accusing himself from the russian investigation, which means that his deputy has been making all the key decisions. but i dare say that donald trump would have been delighted

with the performance of this attorney general in the last few hours on capitol hill, for it was the most passionate rebuttal yet we have seen to the allegations of collusion between team trump and the kremlin. live now to new york and tim whiner, author of the book enemies, a history of the fbi. tim, i know you've been following the congressional committee hearings closely. james comey‘s testimony to the same committee was felt by many to be dynamite, though i know many trump supporters felt it entirely tolerated the president. i don't think this was dynamite anybody, was it? attorney-generaljeff think this was dynamite anybody, was it? attorney—general jeff sessions denied, and called a detestable liar, something that nobody has accused him of doing. which is colluding with the russians. he said, i don't recall, or i can't

remember. he said that approximately 100 times. not since the watergate hearings before the senate in 1973 has anybody failed to recall so much in so short a time. finally, there was an astonishing moment where he said that he and his deputy had discussed firing fbi director comey before they took office. that would have been between donald trump's inauguration and the night of —— the ninth of february, 19 days later. the stated reason he gave for firing mr comey was his handling of hillary clinton's emails, which defies credulity. and yet... welcome given the number of people he must meet, it is not surprising, is it, that

there are many meetings he can't remember. where do you think this leaves the investigation as a whole now? with all due respect, if you have ever seen a picture of the russian ambassador to the united states, that is not a face that he would ever forget. yet states, that is not a face that he would everforget. yet he states, that is not a face that he would ever forget. yet he somehow forgets having met him twice during the transition. the investigation is going forward. the investigation is going forward. the investigation is going forward. the investigation is going forward under the counsel and the guidance of the special counsel, robert mueller, who was the head of the fbi from september four, robert mueller, who was the head of the fbi from septemberfour, 2001, consider that date, until 2013, when he was succeeded by james comey. sir robert mueller, who has great respect and who cannot be fired by the present —— president, is leading the present —— president, is leading the investigation now. he's in charge of all things related to rush

in 2016 election, —— russian interference in the 2016 election, and the question of whether any americans aided or abetted the russians. and his star witnesses james comey. tim, thank you very much indeed. i hope we can come back to you have that communication. i should add that the deputy attorney—general, rod rosenstein, who appointed robert mueller and would have to do the actual firing, said today that he sees no evidence of good cause for firing robert mueller, and a white house spokesperson, sarah huckabee sanders, has said in the last couple of hours that the president has the right to fire him but has no intention to do so. we will move on for the moment. looking at other news now. here in the uk, talks between northern ireland's democratic unionist party and the british prime minister will restart on wednesday as they try to finalise their support for her minority government. the head of uber has announced he's taking indefinite leave of absence. travis kalanick made that announcement amid a welter of allegations about the company's ethics and just ahead of a report sparked by a former employee's claims that uber ignored her complaints about sexual harassment.

spanish prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against the portugual and real madrid football star cristiano ronaldo, accusing him of tax fraud worth more than $16 million. the case relates to non—payment of money linked to image rights. he has denied any wrongdoing. much more to come for you on bbc news, including this. a special report from venezuela. despite massive wealth in parts of the country, unprecedented numbers of children are going hungry. 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 theirfaith 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. on bbc news. the latest headlines: a huge fire burning out of control and

eight west london tower block. there is no word yet on casualties. president trump's attorney general has told a congressional committee that allegations his campaign colluded with russia are "detestable lies". in what's being described as potentially the largest human rights settlement in australian history, almost 2000 asylum seekers who were detained in an offshore facility on manus island in papua new guinea, have been offered compensation by the australian government. the detainees claim they were held on manus island unlawfully, and were kept in poor conditions, which resulted in many of them suffering serious health problems. for more, our sydney correspondent hywel griffith joins us. i think this would have to be ratified by the supreme court, still. it is a very big settlement though? absolutely. we havejust learnt some of the numbers involved. we have been told by some of the detainees' lawyers that the package was something like 70 million

australian dollars. that is the £40 million. plus legal costs, on the back of that. so the government and its three service providers have agreed to pick up a pretty hefty bill for a policy that was controversial from the start. australia has had a hard line on immigration. anybody who lands on the borders here is not allowed to settle. instead, there were sent to the offshore detention centre, either to manus island or its sister centre, nauru. detainees has said that they were subject to inappropriate conditions and the agreement of a settlement today means that a trial was averted when it possibly embarrassing details could have been ad for the australian government. how will this impact on the australian immigration policy? i think actually be a straggly and government may keep the hit financially, because just yesterday, the stream prime minister was boasting about the hundreds of

days they have had without anyone trying to land on its shores. so while it generates bad headlines, and it will mean millions of taxpayers dollars being put into the pot to shared between the detainees, actually, the benefit, the government says, is a border which is secure, and it has planned migration only, only who apply to come here actually get in. what happens eventually to these detainees is a matter of contention. the centre of manus island is set to close in october. there is a deal, it described as a done deal by donald trump, with america, to potentially resettle some, if they get through the extreme batting position —— vetting procedure. but for those who do want to go home, this money will be key for some of them, because some are still being

detained on manus island. thank you for that, hywel griffith. there have been further demonstrations in the venezuelan capital caracas, as the country's economic crisis deepens. an unprecedented number of people are thought to be facing hunger. the country should be one of the richest with one of the largest oil reserves in the world. the international media is rarely given permission to enter the country, but the bbc‘s vladimir hernandez has been there. his report contains some images you may find distressing. this is angelie, she's eight years old and weighs barely three stone. which is 60% of what she should. this is an oil—rich nation, now unable to feed its own people.

this is a problem that the government is trying to keep out of sight. the media can't get into hospitals, but at this private clinic, doctors are desperate to show how bad things are. these pictures are hard to watch. they were given to me by medics in despair for treating children like these since the turn of the year. patients are often in and out of hospital, but in a country struggling for food, chances of survival are not high. in big cities, desperate people are now chasing the bin lorry to find food. people in this area,

where there are restaurants and bakeries, say that never before have they seen so many people chasing rubbish trucks, to try to get something to eat. the lack of food is hitting mothers and children particularly hard. outside of the capital, food is even harder to come by. those affected are likejermaine. at 11, he's half the average weight for his age. since i metjermaine, he's been rushed into hospital twice

after getting help from a local ngo. but will help reach them next time? vladimir hernandez, bbc news, caracas. the european union has announced plans to exert greater control over the regulation of a business worth billions to london's financial sector. the draft law calls for the european commission to have greater oversight of financial clearing houses which move billions of euros through the city each day. currently london is the undisputed market leader in the sector. it processes three quarters of the vast trade, supporting thousands ofjobs. here's our business editor, simonjack. this rather plain building is home to one of the crown jewels of the city. companies like this act as middlemen in international trades, often between european firms in euros, and that's why this has

become a front in the battle for britain's financial services. buyers and sellers of special financial insurance called derivatives sent their orders from all over the world to clearing houses like this one behind me, and london accounts for 75% of all the trades done in euros. now that is worth a colossal 900 billion euros a day, and accounts, on some estimates, for up to 83,000 direct and indirectjobs. little wonder, then, european officials have always been keen to get their hands on a piece of the action, and today launched the boldest raid yet. we need to adjust to the fact that the eu's largest financial centre will be actually leaving the eu and potentially the single market. in the small print of today's announcement, an explicit threat to force some businesses to relocate to european centres, in the interests of financial stability. one way to think about the city

is like a coral reef, it's a delicate ecosystem that's grown up over centuries, lots of specialist organisms and animals living next to each other. it's very hard to replicate, very hard to build, but it doesn't mean it can't be damaged. chip a piece of the coral off and some of the animals, some of the plants that live next to it also suffer. city lobbying groups insisted this intervention was not really about managing financial risk at all. this is something for which there is no appetite amongst our members, no appetites amongst our customers, no appetite amongst european companies. nobody, literally nobody, has come to me from an economic or commercial perspective and made the case for this. so the only driver for this is a political driver, and the important thing to recognise here is that the politics need to be conscious of the economic realities. city veterans told the bbc that brussels may have some power over european firms, but international firms are free to roam the world's capital markets. and if there is a mutually damaging fight between the eu and london,

there is another reef out there called new york. simon jack, bbc news. a new exhibition devoted to comic books and graphic novels is opening in washington. the display includes some of the earliest appearances of characters like spiderman and iron man — but also focuses on more diverse superheroes — as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. the library of congress is, in effect, america's national library. but these august hallways are now playing host to something a little different. they call it the library of awesome, a pop—up exhibition devoted to comic books, a medium once seen as disposable and aimed solely at children. yes, there are the usual suspects. the comic book heroes we already know. but there is also a move away from the mainstream. one of the things we would like to do in the collection is to make sure that we are including, you know, non—traditional subjects

non—traditional characters, so people of colour, women, lg btq creators and characters. it is a sacred duty to defend the world, and it is what i am going to do. diversity in comics appears to be all the rage. wonderwoman, a woman who first appeared in the 1940s, is currently dominating the global box office in her first solo movie, a film that was also director by a woman. i cannot stand by while innocent lives are lost. this is just a sample of the almost 140,000 items in the library's collection, but an example of the variety and dynamism that comic books can offer. before we leave you, let's take you back to west london and show you this weather camera shot. that smoke

trail is a residential tower block, 23 stories high,, on fire. that is g re nfell tower 23 stories high,, on fire. that is grenfell tower and this is a block near white city, west kensington. their ambulances there. we are being told that people are have been treated for breathing in smoke, but no other casualties. —— high, on fire. it is a horrifying sight and ha rd to fire. it is a horrifying sight and hard to believe that everybody managed to get out. but we can only hope. there are reports that it started on the lower floor. that is about 2am that it started. about 90 minutes ago. this is owned by the local authority. we understand that it was being upgraded, but it had been finished. that is grenfell tower in west kensington. we

understand if you havejustjoined us, there are 40 fire engines at the scene. 200 firefighters. you can imagine that there is little there is they can do. we had reported their cover they have been moved back because again, as you can imagine, there is great concern that that block is just going to collapse. we willjust show that block is just going to collapse. we will just show you again, fora collapse. we will just show you again, for a moment, that whether camera shot. that smoke trail across the west london skyline. the whole thing is astonishing. we are trying as hard as we can to get more information on it. nothing is at the moment, but we will bring you the latest as soon as we have it. much more on all the news, national and international, on the bbc website, and you could reach me and most of the team on twitter. i am mike embley. thank you for watching. hello, there.

the middle of the week is going to bring a peak in the temperatures. you could describe it as very warm across many parts of the country. especially across southern areas of england and wales you could describe it as hot. some sunny spells around, but that's not quite the case everywhere because on the satellite picture you can see the cloud that's been rolling in from the atlantic. this will be clipping into northern ireland and western scotland. so here there will be more cloud through the day and it will be breezy. some splashes of rain at times, especially to the far north—west. there could be the odd shower in the afternoon in england and wales. further south, long spells of sunshine and that's where we will have the highest temperatures. for the middle part of wednesday afternoon, maybe the odd shower over

northern england, but 24 degrees in leeds and manchester. towards the south—east, lots of sunshine and easily up to 27—28. always a little bit cooler towards the coast. we could have 18 degrees in plymouth. fine and sunny across the south—west of england and much of wales. there could be the odd shower, especially over high ground. the vast majority staying dry. cooler towards the coast. for northern ireland there will be more cloud, but the day is by no means a washout. a lot of dry weather, mainly mpatchy rain into the north—west. more rain in the northern and western parts of scotland. for eastern scotland there should be some sunshine and a fair degree of warmth as well. through wednesday night it will turn quite muggy across eastern areas. the humid air still in place. temperatures not dropping far. 0ut west, a change. the ban deep of rain working through northern ireland and into scotland, wales. this is associated with a cold front and as that moves in from the west on thursday it will start to introduce cooler and fresher aironce again. still a pretty warm day in east anglia and the south—east, with some humidity holding on.

but as the weather front continues to move eastwards it will sweep the real heat and humidity away. temperatures in most places on thursday afternoon about 16—19 degrees. there will be sunshine, but there will also be hefty showers across parts of the north—west. then we'll have some showers again on friday, especially in parts of wales, northern ireland, western scotland. some drier and brighter weather further east. still up to 23 degrees in the south—east and into the weekend it looks like the heat and humidity will return in the south. always cooler further north, with a little bit of rain. this is bbc news. the headlines: firefighters are dealing with a serious fire in a tower block in west london. pictures show several floors of the grenfell tower in shepherds bush engulfed in flames. as yet there is no confirmation of casualties, but the block is home to a large number of people. america's top lawyer, attorney generaljeff sessions, has made a defiant appearance before the senate intelligence committee, strongly denying allegations that he colluded with russian intelligence to influence last year's presidential election in favour of donald trump. asked if he believed the russians did interfere with the election,

he said "it appears so." the australian government has offered to compensate almost 2,000 asylum seeker who were detained at an off—shore processing centre on manus island, in papua new guinea. the detainees claim they were held unlawfully, and were kept in poor conditions, resulting in many serious health problems. now on bbc news, it's time for panorama. a prime minister fighting for her political life. i think she's in a lot of trouble. i think she's a dead woman walking. how long do you think she stays on death row? who knows. ready and waiting to take power, a man who just weeks ago was dismissed as unelectable. it is seismic. it will be recorded as such. labour found its heart and soul again. britain's approach to brexit in the balance. they should remember, they have seen tory leader after tory leader after tory leader

try the brexit line and fail. all this the consequence of an election almost everyone believed theresa may would win, and win big.