welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: "blame on both sides": president trump again says anti—fascist protesters were partly responsible for the lethal violence in virginia. i think there's blame on both sides. look at both sides, there's blame on both sides, and i have no doubt about it. 400 now confirmed dead in sierra leone, and rescuers fear many more still lie buried under the mudslide. colombia's farc rebels hand over their final truckload of weapons after a conflict lasting half a century. once it would have been impossible, but will climate change allow these yachts to sail to the north pole? in a combative press conference in his new york tower,

donald trump has lashed out at reporters who pressed him on his response to the violence in charlottesville, virginia at the weekend. off the teleprompter and in his own words, the president again blamed both sides for the clashes which broke out as neo nazis and white supremacists rallied on saturday. one anti—racist campaigner was killed and many injured when a car ploughed into them. two officers policing the events also died, in a helicopter crash. you had a group on one side of the group on the other and they came out with clubs and it was vicious and horrible. and it was a horrible thing to watch. but there was another side. there was a group on this side — you can call them the left — you've just called them the left — that came violently attacking the other group. that's the way it is. so you can say what you want, but that's the way it is. reporter: on both sides, sir? you said there was hatred and violence on both sides? i do think there's blame, yes.

i think there's blame on both sides. you look at both sides, i think there's blame on both sides and i have no doubt about it and you don't doubt it either. and if you reported it accurately you would say that. mr trump described his response to the crisis as excellent, despite being criticised for initially failing to directly condemn the far—right groups involved in the violence. here's the thing. when i make a statement, i like to be correct. i want the facts. this event just happened. in fact, a lot of the events didn't even happen yet as we were speaking. this event just happened. before i make a statement, i need the facts. so i don't want to rush into a statement. so making the statement when i made it was excellent. in fact, a young woman, here is a fantastic young woman, it was on nbc, her mother wrote me and said through i guess twitter, social media, the nicest things and i very much appreciated that.

i hear she was a fine — really actually an incredible young woman. but her mother on twitter thanked me for what i said and honestly if the press were not fake and if it was honest the press would have said what i said was very nice. officially, the president was at trump tower to talk about his infrastructure programme. he said job creation was also improving race relations. i think they've gotten better or... i think frayed for a long time and you can ask president obama about that because he'd make speeches about it. but i believe that the fact that i brought in... it will be soon millions ofjobs. you see where companies are moving back into our country, i think it will have a tremendous positive impact on race relations. we have companies coming back into our country, we have two car companies just announced, we have foxconnjust announced in wisconsin, we have many companies pouring back

into the country. i think this will have a huge positive impact on race relations. you know why? jobs. people now want jobs. they want greatjobs with good pay and when they have that you watch how race relations will be. still, though, pretty widespread surprise that the president's inclusion of violent far right groups in his description very fine people. the un chief said racism, xenophobia, islamaphobia are poisoning our societies and we must stand up against them. i recently spoke to david willis and asked for more reaction from washington. it is extraordinary and the reaction has been what you would anticipate, calls forfirm leadership, calls for a denunciation of the very notion that both sides were equally to blame for what happened in cha rlottesville on saturday. we've had calls from leaders of the house, paul ryan, from senator marco rubio,

also a member of donald trump's party, and from the democratic governor of the state of virginia, terry macauliff, where this violence occurred on saturday. all basically lending their voices to the denunciation of president trump's rhetoric today and of course the only support really that has figured prominently in the headlines has been from one david duke, the former head of the ku klux klan, who applauded mr trump for what he called his "courage", as he saw it, for what happened on saturday. we should probably read the direct quote from the governor of virginia in full. we have it here. he said:

of course, quite apart from all this, there is collateral damage. more people feeling the need to resign from the president's manufacturing council. perhaps more to come? perhaps more to come. six already. the president himself making fairly light of that, but it is the sort of thing that he takes very personally. he very swiftly responded to one of the key resignations over the weekend, while taking two days to actually really get down to the nitty—gritty of this and give people that denunciation they were seeking of these white supremacist group. there is a feeling that the president has rendered self inflicted damage on the moral standing of the presidency itself.

he had the choice, if you like, to be the unifying voice of a traditional president at a time such as this and for a moment or two he was. when he spoke from notes from the white house yesterday it was a much more emollient and considered tone. nut today we saw a president who spoke without notes, without any briefing. he was due to speak about infrastructure projects, but instead we heard the raw, unvarnished donald trump and it went back to the views that he espoused on saturday and the feeling that both sides in that conflict were to blame.

rescue workers in sierra leone have recovered almost 400 bodies after a massive mudslide near the capital, freetown, and the death toll is expected to rise. homes were engulfed by mud and water when part of a mountain collapsed yesterday morning. thousands have been left homeless. the authorities are planning mass burials for those who've been killed because the mortuaries are full. from freetown, our correspondent umaru fofana reports. the mountainside collapsed in an avalanche of mud. families were buried as they slept. the deluge of water surged through streets, leaving total devastation and few survivors. outside the freetown mortuary, it's been a difficult day for the emergency services. hundreds of bodies have been brought here. this is a disaster which even by the reckoning of the head of this mortuary, who has been doing this for decades, is unprecedented. he says it's nothing like the ebola virus outbreak or civil war.

he says he has never seen anything like this. those who did escape look on at the place where they used to live. this man lost eight members of his family. translation: i first saw the body of my sister and called on people to help me and we laid her on the floor. then i started hearing other people nearby crying. i've lost all of my family. meanwhile, the rescue operation continues. it's hoped survivors might still be found. it's believed that hundreds of people are lying dead here beneath the mudslide and the hope is they will be able to find any one of them alive. but those hopes are fading fast because of the late arrival of the heavy machinery and equipment needed. many people believe the help did not come in time. the mudslide and flash floods have shaken this country. people here have already

suffered a bloody civil war and the devastating ebola outbreak. now thousands have lost everything. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. another woman has come forward to say she was sexually molested by the filmmaker roman polanski. identified only as robin, she claimed at a news conference in los angeles she had been assaulted by the director when she was 16. she's the third woman to accuse polanski of child abuse. suicide bombers have killed at least 27 people in north east nigeria. local security forces say three female bombers blew themselves up at the entrance to a refugee camp. at least 80 people were wounded in the attack, in borno state, a stronghold of the jihadist group boko haram. the british government has set out its proposals for trading with the eu and the rest of the world after brexit. the plans allow for a temporary deal if needed, the ultimate goal something very similar to the current free—trade agreement

that comes with eu membership. a senior eu figure has dismissed that as fantasy. a court in ecuador has arrested the chinese crew of a fishing boat which was found within the galapagos islands marine reserve carrying 300 tonnes of endangered sharks. the 20 crew members will be held pending court proceedings. if found guilty, they could face up to three years in jail for environmental crimes. a falling tree has killed at least 13 people and injured nearly 50 at a roman catholic festival on the portuguese island of madeira. video shows the tree crashed down onto a crowded square in a suburb of the main town, funchal. in colombia, the last truckload of weapons held by the country's former rebels, the farc, has been taken away under un supervision. it's the latest stage of a peace process agreed between the rebels and the government last year, and colombia's president says marks the beginning of a new phase in the life of his country. aaron safir reports.

for more than 50 years, colombia's farc rebels used weapons like this in its conflict with the government. now the country's president has locked away the final cache of guns and bullets. some 8,000 weapons and more than a million pieces of ammunition have already been collected by the un as part of the process. translation: we just witnessed something truly historic. i'd say it's the last breath, too. and the commissioner of peace called it that too. i would say the last... the last breath of the conflict that's been going for 53 years. when we see the last container go down it's really the last stage of the abandonment of weapons. under the agreement signed just under a year ago, thousands of former farc rebels will become fully fledged citizens, reintegrated

into society in special demobilisation zones under the protection of the colombian security forces. from september, farc will become a political party represented in the colombian congress. translation: it will be called the alternative revolutionary force of colombia. we do not want to break the ties to our past. we have been and will continue to be a revolutionary organisation. we will be within the system, but we will also have our anti—system voice clear and precise. other arms groups are still active in colombia, but this final handover is another significant step towards ending a conflict that has lasted half a century and claimed around 250,000 lives and displaced millions. as for the weapons, they will eventually be melted down and turned into monuments of celebrating the peace accord. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the stuff dreams are made of. a music student steps out of the shadows to become an opera star. the big crowds became bigger as the time of

the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutalformer dictator, has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia, where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. two billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millenium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later when the sun set over the bay of bengal. very good to have you with us on bbc

news. our main headline: president trump has defended his response to the deadly protests in charlottesville at the weekend, again claiming that both sides were to blame. let's get more on this now and take a look at how donald trump has handled race—related crimes during his presidency, including his response to attacks atjewish cemeteries, the murder of an indian immigrant, and the stabbing deaths of two men who protected a muslim woman. racism is evil. it took donald trump two days to deliver that direct condemnation of the white supremacists in charlottesville. for many people, it was too little too late. but how has donald trump responded to other hate—crime ‘s? at the start of his presidency, donald trump was asked to comment on a wave

of anti—semitic crimes. —— but how has donald trump responded to other hate—crimes? number one, iam number one, i am the least anti—semitic person that you have ever seen in your entire life. but it took weeks for an outright condemnation. the anti-semitic threats targeting ourjewish community and community centres are horrible. next thing, he is back with the gun, and i heard a pop. kiran chelluri was injured while his friend, srinivas kuchibhotla was killed in an attack in kansas. he yelled " get out of my country". he said which country did you come from? are you here illegally. there was virtual silence from donald trump. it took a weekly and to

respond in his state of the union address. we stand united in condemning hate any more. in may, taliesin myrddin namkai—meche and rickyjohn best died protecting a muslim woman who had been attacked in portland. it took the president three days to issue a statement. he did so on twitter from his official potus account, rather than the personal one that uses more regularly. and more recently, a mosque in minnesota was firebombed during morning prayers. several people were across the hall from the explosion. more than a week on, the president is yet to comment or denounce it. one of his key aides explained on tv why that was the case. we have had a series of crimes committed by right—wing individuals

that turned out to be propagated by the left. while this shows that while the president could only condemns racism, he is often slow to react in these cases. the measure of aa president is notjust what you say, but how and when you say it. while twitter is donald trump's to medication tool of choice, his predecessor still maintains a strong presence. “— predecessor still maintains a strong presence. —— a president. he posted this responding to the violence in charlottesville. —— communication tool of choice. the british explorer pen hadow and his crew have set sail from alaska to try to be the first people to sail by yacht, three and a half thousand miles, to the north pole. it's been impossible until now because of arctic ice. but that is melting at an unprecedented rate. this report from our science correspondent rebecca morelle.

setting off into uncharted arctic waters, a pair of yachts attempting a first — sailing all the way to the north pole. a crew of ten and dog, fukimi, have just departed from alaska. led by british explorer, pen hadow, they have a 3,500 mile voyage ahead. for the first time in human history, possibly for the first time ini30,000 years, it is now possible to sail ships into this sea area. it's the rapidly warming conditions in the arctic that have made this expedition even possible. this shows how sea ice has melted over time. the smaller the circle, the less ice that year. there's still data to come for 2017, but already it doesn't look good. a large—scale analysis, from the us polar science centre, estimates that, from the late 1970s, half of the volume of sea ice has been lost.

it means that once inaccessible waters are opening up, and researchers say this could lead to significant changes, especially for commercial shipping routes. the north pole is here. what we're seeing in this map... at reading university, scientists say that instead of having to sail around the frozen pole, ships will have a new short cut. at the moment, we're seeing a few experimental voyages through the arctic. in the future, as the ice continues to melt, the possibility of having more commercial ships travelling through the region will only increase. ice—strengthened ships may be able to go right over the pole by the middle of the century. the team do not know how far north they'll get. but this expedition into the unknown may be the start of a new era of arctic voyages. rebecca morelle, bbc news. for more on this i've been speaking to eric larsen, polar adventurer and guide who has

completed several expeditions to the north pole. yeah, there's no question that the arctic ocean will be ice—free in the summertime in as little as 20 or 30 years and already this year we are seeing one of the lowest recorded amounts of ice in history. i know you have said that if everest was blown up tomorrow there would be an outcry, but here is the arctic disappearing and very little is being done about it. yes, people find it hard to understand exactly what the arctic ocean environment is like. i often times get questioned about even if there is land at the north pole and so it's a very abstract place and so people don't have a really good understanding of what's happening there, as well as if it is melting. i suppose there is a slight upside, that people would never dream of getting there maybe will be able to do so, it may be educational about the effects of climate change.

will there also be an impact of more commercial shipping using this shortcut? i think the impacts will be very fast and far reaching. as it stands right now, with the extent of melting sea ice, we are already starting to see a geopolitical scramble to kind of claim potentially melted territory around the north pole and throughout the arctic ocean. the russians and canadians, for example, are all embarking on different endeavours to kind of claim territory in those regions. you've done a lot of intrepid and frankly pretty terrifying stuff. what do you make of what pen hadow is doing? i have a lot of respect for pen. i've known him for quite a few years and he has done similar expeditions to myself. the arctic ocean i think is probably one of the most harsh and in hospitable environments on the planet, so to be able to embark on a unique journey that has been done before, that takes a lot of effort, insight and foresight as well.

eric larson there. —— larsen. it's what performers dream of — a soprano is taken ill at one of the world's great concert halls and the person drafted in to replace her at the last minute is a 23—year—old music student who usually takes the tickets and works in the cloakroom. for one night only, milly forrest stopped taking coats and took to the stage, wowing audience and critics alike. chi chi izundu went to meet her. singing it's the stuff made of dreams. milly's normally back here taking coats and bags a couple of nights a week. sometimes she even gets to page—turn during a live concert, but not for the season's closing night. and that's because one of the evening's performers was taken ill and milly was asked to step in and she says she was shocked by the opportunity. really excited, really scared,

really, really nervous. but when i had a good look at the music and i realised it was doable, i knew that i could make sure i learned it in time. that was a bit of a relief. one critic dubbed her "breathtaking", even though, at 23, her voice is still not mature enough to go into the profession full—time. a few people who i trusted said "have look at this girl." she's very young, so we've got to take care of her and make sure that we don't do things too quickly. but there is a quality to the voice and her interpretation that came out very much towards the end of the audition, actually. milly's heading to the royal college of music for her postgrad in september, but has already been booked to perform at the hall again. maybe mum and dad will catch that one. i rang them and i said, "mummy, i'm going to be stepping "in at the wigmore hall."

she went, "oh, i really wish we could go, but we're "going out for dinner." my dad called me again and he said, "i'm sorry, treasure. "you're going to have to forgive mum for this one". next month, she'll be back taking cloaks and bags in that cloakroom. chi chi izundu, bbc news. and before we go, if a visit to the dentist fills you with dread, then spare a thought for this poor samatran tiger at a zoo in denmark. he'd been dealing with a bad tooth for a long time so the zoo called in the animal dentist. unsurprisingly, the tiger was heavily sedated before the surgeon put her hand in its hugejaws. more on that and all the news on the bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbcmikeembley. thank you very much for watching. well, we've got a bit of rain

on the way on wednesday, particularly across western areas of the uk. but at the moment out there, it is dry. a lot of clear weather. and also quite nippy, particularly across northern areas of the uk. in the countryside temperatures will be down to the single figures. perhaps 5—6. even on the south coast, about 8—9. but that is in the countryside. here is wednesday's weather map. here is the low pressure approaching. that is going to upset western areas. but to the east, we have high pressure. that means the morning could look sunny for many of us in the east, in england and scotland. south wales will be decent enough too. through the morning, rain does increase and the winds, too. things will get greyer and greyer and then there will be outbreaks of rain. rain getting to cornwall, northern parts of wales, northern ireland, certainly into the afternoon. but it will be fine and bright in many parts of england,

especially in the east. 20 in newcastle, low 20s in london. wednesday night, the rain moves through. some of it might be heavy, but it is out of the way by the time we get to wednesday — thursday morning, that is. early on thursday, still a bit of rain around. then it clears out into the north sea. thursday afternoon is looking bright. fairly brisk. some showers around — most will be across the north—west. hit and miss rain. temperatures will get to 2a in london. 21 degrees in newcastle. to get into friday, low pressure is close to our neighbourhood, essentially spelling further showers on the way. so not much change to our weather pattern. still a bit of a breeze out there. most showers will be across the northern half of the uk. so anywhere along the south coast will have a mostly dry day. and then saturday is looking quite breezy. there will be some sunshine and showers. and interesting things happening in the atlantic at the moment. right now, there is hurricane gert, which is churning off the eastern seaboard of the united states. what is going to happen with this storm system, it is going to accelerate into the north atlantic. it will get mixed up

with our normal weather patterns, and then that mess will come our way. we will get wet and windy weather at times. so i think a blustery weekend on the way. and before i go, a quick look at the weather across europe on wednesday. and there's a lot of hot sunshine out there across the mediterranean. temperatures in some spots will be around about a0 degrees or so, and some thunderstorms rumbling through central europe, as well. this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump has again claimed that both sides were to blame for the deadly violence at a protest in charlottesville on saturday. in off—the cuff remarks, he accused what he described as "alt—left" groups of deliberately attacking white supremacists and neo—nazis protesting at the removal of a statue of a confederate general. a spokesman for the sierra leonean president has told the bbc that

at least 600 people are still missing following the mudslide that swamped hundreds of homes on the outskirts of the capital freetown on monday. the authorities say rescue workers have recovered nearly 400 bodies. the last weapons belonging to colombia's former left—wing rebels — the farc — have been handed over to un monitors. the colombian president, juan manuel santos, declared that this was the last breath of the country's fifty—two year armed conflict. former fighters are to be reintegrated into society. the express leads with new figures that suggest house prices have