hello and welcome to bbc news. i am david eades in brussels, where eu leaders are gathering for a summit with security issues very much at the top of the agenda, following recent terror threats and terror attacks. for britain's theresa may, it will be her first european summit since losing her parliamentary majority. hello. i'm sally bundock in london. in other news:: —— news: islamic state militants have destroyed mosul‘s historic mosque. the iraqi prime minister described their action as an admission of defeat. welcome to a barmy brussels here at

the start of a day which will see a european council taking place in the building behind me. it is a counsel of some contrast, i suppose you could say, because the message coming out from eu leaders ahead of this event is that there is a growing confidence and optimism once again within the european union, amongst the people of europe, that the eu can be of value to them. that message, though, coming in contrast to, of course, the discussions about brexit. the whole notion of one large country within the eu finding its way out of this club. so that, if you like, is the contradiction. as to the agenda, certainly issues of security and defence, not to

mention migration, very high up on the list of priorities, here. only on tuesday night, it is worth remembering, that in the central station in brussels, just down the road, a suspected suicide bomb was taken out and shot by police. it just raises the levels of attention and focus once again on security and defence within the european union. just let's get a look at what we can expect in the course of this council. elaine jung explains. leaders of all 28 member states are attending the two—day summit in brussels. the european council meeting, as it is officially called, is scheduled for times a year. but extra summits are sometimes called to discuss urgent issues. as always, france and germany play a pivotal role. at this summer, however, if you key differences. attending for the first time is french president emmanuel macron, a staunch eu

supporter. also there, but weakened by election results, its embattled british prime minister, theresa may. with brexit talks under way, she will give an update on plans, but won't negotiate with other leaders. she is expected to outline an offer on the rights of 3.2 million eu citizens living in the uk. overall, the focus is on security and migration. strengthening border cooperation of bid terrorism threats, and striving for an agreement on taking in asylum seekers. opposing forces are at work, here, where on one hand the eu is dealing with uk as a departing member, an unprecedented movement, but it is looking to strengthen the remaining 27 countries. —— the relationship between the remaining. that lays out the plan for the next two days. i am joined here by the

head of policy studies. eu leaders meet to capitalise on the french election above all, but also a sense that maybe the eu is not lost after all. exactly. that is a sense that we have here, in brussels and throughout the union. the economy is going up and migration appears under control. the eu now needs to show what it can do from citizens in practice. when you tell a migration being under control, one of the key issues that has caused much disturbance in recent years is the lack of clarity, a lack of decision—making, on how to deal with asylu m decision—making, on how to deal with asylum seekers, who should take responsibility. —— talk about migration. so we are still treading water and issues that should have been resolved by now. yes, that the keyissue been resolved by now. yes, that the key issue for the leaders of the union is that for the time being, the numbers are down. so there is a sense that we are in control. the control is more for appearances. but

the time being, the issue goes down the time being, the issue goes down the political agenda, and that is key for angela merkel, for example, because she faced an election in her main opposition other populists, who are down for the voters. —— she faces. you talk about the agenda. brexit is not just faces. you talk about the agenda. brexit is notjust on the official agenda, but will also have again this evening, and even then, we're told, even 30 minutes discussion. is an important message from the eu, that they will not be dominated by brexit? to make exactly. that has been coming out of the foreign ministry for a year now. we have more important things to do. we will get on with business. —— exactly. theresa may and the chance to say something to our counterparts. she can at least say that her approach is changing and that she is no longer seeing no deal. secondly,

that she can show that the uk can contribute, especially on security and defence, where the uk has an important role to play. if she plays the car, maybe she could bring the uk back into the european mainstream. let's finish on security and defence. when the problems around the eu. there are issues on the table in terms of tackling these problems. can you see any progress there? there will not be any concrete progress. but we will see what is being done they could be done better, like euro poll. that the golby directions given to the collection services, how they could improve things in the future. -- europol. it would not be the same with out a siren at this time of mourning. daniel gros with what we should be of the expect over what will be two days of european council here in brussels. i'll be back with more reflections at the moment, that back to you, sally. thank you david.

and we will hear more from david soon. and we'll have a lot more on that eu summit in world business report — we'll be getting the view from a top business school in france. we are also looking at chinese e—commerce giant alibaba. it's a household name in asia and accounts for over 10% of all retail sales in china. but despite floating on the new york stock exchange two years ago — it has yet to crack the us market. billionaire founderjack ma has been trying to change that at an event in detroit — the bbc‘s samira hussain was there and we'll have that report for you. but now let's cover some other important news. the iraqi and us military say islamic state militants have blown up the great al—nuri mosque in mosul and its famous leaning minaret. the mosque is where abu bakr al—baghdadi made his only public

appearance as the leader of is, after announcing a new caliphate three years ago. the us military described it as a crime against the people of mosul and of all iraq. it has denied an allegation by the jihadists that an american air strike was to blame. frankie mccamley reports. an image of the past: the grand al—nuri mosque in mosul, which had stood for over eight centuries with its famous leaning minaret. from above, drone footage shows its now flattened. one of the old city's most famous historical sites, a shadow of its former self. us—led coalition forces claim so—called islamic state is responsible: however, is claims us aircraft destroyed the mosque.

but, no matter who is telling the truth, this is a hugely symbolic moment. the mosque is where back in 2014 isis leader abu bakr al—baghdadi made his only public appearance shortly after declaring a caliphate. it comes as this exclusive footage filmed by the bbc shows coalition troops within metres of the site. a few hours ago i was there in the evening with counterterrorism forces in iraq, which is the closest we've gone today. just 150 metres away from the mosque, and two hours after we left the place, we heard this bad news that is destroyed the mosque, or blew it up. attacking the city from all directions, iraqi commanders say they are in the final chapter of the offensive, but with thousands still trapped

in the city and more sacred sites destroyed, it's clear the battle for parts of mosul is far from over and nothing is safe. let's pick up one of the issues that is front and centre here at this european council, and that is the situation of migrants trying to get into the eu, what to do with them, and how best to look after them. it is an issue which is not going to go away or be resolved here. the bbc has heard accounts of a prison in libya in which african migrants are being held. they are being held for ransom. around about a thousand nigerians have been repatriated over the last year or so. and they are returning home with some utterly awful stories about the sort of

abuse that they are facing and have faced back in libya. it has been a long journey. often a nightmare of unimaginable suffering. they left nigeria with hopes of a better future in europe. they left nigeria with hopes of a betterfuture in europe. now, they are returning with nothing. after learning, the first parity was a vocal home to let their families know they say. —— landing. war—torn libya is a lawless world,

with a brutal exploitation of migrants, growing. this man was tortured in a makeshift prison for months, freed only after paying a ransom. he saw a man beaten to death. did you think you are going to die there? —— were. now leading a

slum, this man, like other migrants, is trying to please his life back together. —— living. some are getting help. this hairdresser is run by five nigerians who recently returned from libya. it was paid for by the european union and is part of a job creation scheme aimed at stemming migration. this woman says she was tricked when she went to libya. christopher is happy, for now, but he has big dreams for his son. even with support, it is tough make

a living in nigeria. thoughts of europe are neverfar a living in nigeria. thoughts of europe are never far away. a living in nigeria. thoughts of europe are neverfar away. martin patience, bbc news, lagos. so you can see from that the challenges facing the eu. to deal with those issues will be huge. there will be addressed but not resolve here at the council. there are the issues coming into play as well, with regard to brexit. the uk, of course, has not get left the eu, but the ramifications are already being felt, not least in the agriculture sector in the uk. i'll be back in to talk about that. still to come: scientist in bolivia fight to preserve the future of our

planet through ancient glaziers before it's late. —— scientists. members of the neo—nazi resistance movement stormed the world trade centre, armed with pistols and shotguns. we believe that, according to international law, that we have a right to claim certain parts of this country as ourland. i take pride in the words "ich bin ein berliner." cheering and applause. chapman, prison pale and slightly chubby, said not a single word in open court. it was left to his lawyer to explain his decision to plea guilty to murdering john lennon. he believes that onjune 8th, god told him to plead guilty, and that was the end of it. the medical research council have now advised the government that the great increase in lung cancer is due mainly to smoking tobacco.

it was closing time for checkpoint charlie, which for 29 years has stood on the border as a mark of allied determination to defend the city. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: brexit, security and migration are top of the agenda, as eu leaders head to brussels amid tight security after recent terror threats. the iraqi and us military say islamic state militants have blown up mosul‘s historic mosque. one us general has called it a crime against all iraq. president trump has held a campaign—style rally in iowa, five months into his presidency. against a background of low approval ratings and investigations into ties between russia and his campaigns, mr trump came up with a novel plan —

to cover his proposed border wall with mexico in solar panels.0ur north america correspondent, rajini vaidyanathan, was there. president trump has just finished his rally here in cedar rapids in iowa. it looked and sounded like a campaign rally. huge crowds, as you can hear, came to see him. some said they had camped overnight to get a prime spot. it sounded like a campaign rally. president trump dipped into some of the things that he had talked about previously. he spoke of how the media was co nsta ntly spoke of how the media was constantly out to attack him, and despite saying that he wanted politicians to come together, he also presented a strong viewpoint. he highlighted some of the things he

has done in his first few months in office. he talked about the reversal office. he talked about the reversal of the obama administration's policy on cuba, talked about getting the us out of the paris climate deal, something that was in a lot of tears in the room. he also talked about his plans to build a wall, saying he was going to make it a wall that would pay for itself and mexico would pay for itself and mexico would not have to pay as much. the theme of overall was the president's promised to put america first. i hope she did not lose her voice trying to talk to us over the shouting about what was going on there. in canada, the police have raided the home of a terror suspect who's believed to have stabbed an officer across the border in the united states. the attack took place at bishop international airport

in flint, michigan, on wednesday. an airport officer was stabbed in the neck with a 12—inch knife. he's said to be in a stable condition after undergoing surgery. a canadian man was overpowered and is now being questioned by police. he was cooperative and has talked to us about what his motivations were and i think it's suffice to say he has a hatred for the united states and a variety of other things which in part motivated him towards coming to the airport today to conduct this act of violence. a bbc survey has found that more than half of british summer fruit and salad growers could be short of migrant workers to harvest their crops this summer. there is an interesting impact that is being recognised by the bbc. each year around 80,000 seasonal workers pick and pack british fruit and veg — more than 90% of them come from eastern europe. over three quarters of growers

who took part in the bbc‘s survey said recruitment this year had been more difficult compared to last. anna hill reports. this company employs around 2500 seasonal workers across the country. it is salad harvesting on a huge scale and relies almost entirely on workers from bulgaria and romania. inside each of these factories, teams of people work on shifts, day and night. cutting and packing, up to 280 letters as per hour. a steady supply of seasonal labour is crucial, and one year on from the

wrecks that vote, it is drying up. we have had to make several trips to romania and bulgaria to get the same number of applications, which we have got, but we had to do a lot more to get the same people. why not recruit people from the uk? we operate in areas with such low unemployment, here in cambridgeshire it is less than one and a half %. it simply and people available to do the work. bbc news carried out a survey of almost all businesses growing fresh fruit and salad. we askedif growing fresh fruit and salad. we asked if they had enough workers for the start of the season. over half said they were unsure. we asked if recruiting workers had been more difficult this year. more than three quarters said yes. we asked what they would do if rules on immigration were toughened. seven out of ten said they would consider reducing uk production. the pound

has devalued, the confusion and concern about brexit has caused has created a a lot of uncertainty in europe about the status of anybody that comes here. we are becoming less and less attractive as a destination to come and work. the government says the situation is under review. there are no plans as yet for a visa scheme for seasonal agricultural workers, most say it can't come soon enough. it does point to a potentially long, hot and frustrating summer for a large number of people within the uk. for a large number of people within the we will be discussing some of those issues in the world business report. if global warming is happening — and the vast majority of scientists say it is — the consequences could be severe. one problem will be the huge amount

of information that may be lost if ancient glaciers melt away. a team of climate experts are trying to preserve ice samples and their latest project — is a huge glacier on a mountain near the bolivian capital — la paz. tim allman has more. the bolivian plateau, one of the highest altitudes on earth, but even here rising temperatures are having an effect. slowly but surely the fear is this glacier will simply melt away. the impact could be devastating in so many ways. translation: we want to be here with the scientists of this magnificent international project, which is a contribution to the future of humanity. it's also a contribution to the future of our planet, a planet we have to defend from here, from bolivia, one of the most beautiful places in the world. a team of international scientists, with the help of local guides,

climbed mount illimani. they dug down more than 130 metres to remove dozens of blocks of ice. translation: we want to keep this kind of sample because it is an encyclopaedia of the climate and environment. you are cutting through into the world's history. the surface shows today's information and when you go deeper you can find old samples. here in the andes we have samples of up to 18,000 years old. the archives of the oldest climates to have existed are in the andes. the ice will be moved to a storage base in antarctica. samples have already been taken from mont blanc in the alps, and future trips are planned to russia and nepal.

the hope is, even if these glaciers can't be preserved, the information they contain will be. tim allman, bbc news. people around the world have been celebrating the longest or shortest day of the year during the annual solstice. in the northern hemisphere, crowds gathered early to see the sun rise at the ancient site of stonehenge in southern england, while in the southern hemisphere, people made the most of a slightly cooler winter solstice, braving the ice in antarctica, and baring it all for a swim in hobart, australia. i will be back with the world business report very soon. we also have the news review, so do stay with us. hello, there. the heatwave picked on wednesday

afternoon. temperatures soaring across southern britain. a top temperature of 35 degrees, even warmer at heathrow, making it the warmest day of the year and the warmest day of the year and the warmestjune warmest day of the year and the warmest june day warmest day of the year and the warmestjune day since 1976. you can see the deep colours of that heatwave ebbing away towards the near continent, replaced by a mighty yellow as we head towards thursday. an introduction of fresh air, it could spark some showers and thunderstorms. through the rest of the night, showers and thunderstorms across northern areas. easing away, across northern areas. easing away, a quiet start to thursday. some low cloud, mist and a quiet start to thursday. some low cloud, mistand murk a quiet start to thursday. some low cloud, mist and murk affecting coastal areas and hills. quite a warm and monte start to the south—east. some early sunshine around, a line of showers and thunderstorms moving through in the midlands and south—east. a number of showers and thunderstorms pushing through wales, northern england and

into lancashire. some sunny spells. it is going to feel much pressure across northern and western areas. — to 25 degrees in the south—east, 10 degrees down from what we had on wednesday. into thursday evening, turning more unsettled across northern ireland and scotland. wet and windy conditions pushing on. this area of low pressure will change as we had through friday. fresh air pushing behind the weather front. a breezy and windy day through friday. early sunshine across the south and south—east. a few showers, most of the rain through central areas. sunshine moving through for scotland and northern ireland. a fresh today, mid—to high teens in the north. into saturday, the start of the weekend looks unsettled and quite easy. a lot of cloud around. some sunshine and showers, heavy as in the north

and showers, heavy as in the north and west. temperatures 13— 22 degrees. a similar picture on sunday, quite a lot of showers across the north and west. feeling fresher, temperatures returning to more normal values for this time of year. into the weekend, certainly feeling fresher than it has. quite breezy at times, but by sunday, some sunshine and showers. hello. your with bbc world news. i am sally bundock. these are the headlines: eu leaders are heading to a summit in brussels amid heightened security after recent terror threats. —— you're. security will be high on the agenda, but leaders will also be focused on migration and britain's departure from the european union. britain's prime minister theresa may will face eu leaders for the first time since she lost her parliamentary majority. she's expected to raise the issue of the future rights of eu citizens in britain, and of uk nationals in eu countries.

the iraqi and us military say islamic state militants have blown up the great al—nuri mosque in mosul. the mosque is where abu bakr al—baghdadi made his only public