welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: more business leaders resign from president trump's advisory councils — in response to his stance on the charlottesville violence. he's now shut the councils down. grief and anger in freetown as the search for survivors goes on — at least 600 people are still missing in monday's mudslide. grooming the next generation. the bbc talks to former child soldiers of the so—called islamic state, now living in europe. also in the programme life's a beach in the world's most liveable city but where is it 7 hello.

the businessman president who bills himself as the ultimate deal—maker has just lost his two business advisory panels — both of them, officially, dissolved by the white house, but onlyjust before they fell apart as leading figures resigned in protest at mr trump's statements on the charlottesville violence. the president's refusal to draw a distinction between neo—nazis and anti—racist protesters is still having major political impact. two former republican presidents weighed in today, against him. here's our north america editorjon sopel. # amazing grace... the memorial service for heather heyer, an anti—racism protestor mown down by a white supremacist in charlottesville on saturday. but far from this being an occasion when a nation comes together, america seems more bitterly divided than ever. they tried to kill my child to shut her up. well, guess what?

you just magnified her. applause this was charlottesville on friday night — racist groups chanting "jews will not replace us," carrying ku klux klan style torches, and also marching to the slogan "white lives matter." yesterday, the president blamed both sides for the violence that ensued. you had a group on one side and you had a group on the other and they came at each other with clubs and it was vicious and it was horrible and it was a horrible thing to watch. but there is another side. there was a group on this side — you can call them the left, you have just called them the left — that came violently attacking the other group, so you can say what you want, but that is the way it is. it is true there was violence on both sides. but the race hate protesters had come tooled up for trouble.

many carried guns. this is not the army, but a right—wing militia that turned up bristling with weaponry. most had clubs, helmets and shields with white supremacist insignia. the anti—racism demonstrators were not organised, they were mostly local people among whom a small core had come to fight. but donald trump seeming to draw a moral equivalence between swastika—carrying neo—nazis and anti—racism protesters has brought near universal condemnation. the senior republican paul ryan tweeting: the only significant voice of support last night came from the former leader of the ku klux klan, david duke, who said: there is reported to be deep unhappiness among some senior white house staff over the president's comments.

he had not been due to say anything and significantly, a new intervention — this time from two the former living republican presidents, george hw bush and george w bush — saying there is no room for bigotry or anti—semitism in today's america. donald trump left new york today to resume his hardly quiet or relaxing holiday. more isolated from the political and business establishment than at any time since he took office. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. it doesn't look good, does it? but this man has done and said things that would have demolished anyone else‘s reputation and he has come sailing through. does any of this stop him from doing the things he will select to do? it is a good question.

we will have to wait and see. he was the president of the business. he appointed himself as the ultimate dealmaker, or at least described himself as such. one of the first things he did was to set up two councils tube boostjobs and the manufacturing industry, and to deliver on the promise that he made while he was campaigning for the presidency to make america great again. in recent days, we have seen resignations from those bodies, a trickle became a flood. then, word came out that members of one of these groups were thinking of basically disbanding the group itself. the president heard about that and he is of course the man that likes to say, you're fired, rather than be told as such. he decided to jump the gun and decided to disband those groups before the members got the opportunity to resign. having the business community distance itself from the president is bad news for his legislative

agenda, potentially. bearing in mind that he has tax reform coming up on the agenda, and also has boosting the nation's infrastructure. both measures, policy areas where the president will need the support of the country's top business leaders are. on that point, his supporters say, he was always the antiestablishment candidate. he doesn't need the establishment. i think he is becoming increasingly isolated, and his problems with the party itself, from which he has long differed, are getting greater almost by the week. we heard from john kasich, the ohio governor, mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader, both prominent republicans, as well as paul ryan, speaker of the house. they have all come out to distance themselves from donald trump's comments over the last 2a hours. well perhaps not directly mentioning the president by name,

it is nonetheless clear what they were referring to. you do have a schism which potentially threatens to become a chasm as far as republicans are concerned, and donald trump. in the past hour, south korea's president moonjae—in has been holding a press conference to mark his first 100 days in office. he spoke about the rising tensions with north korea, but assured his people there would not be a second war on the korean peninsula. there cannot be a second war on the korean peninsula. i can guarantee that. after the korean civil war,

all the people of the nation worked very ha rd to all the people of the nation worked very hard to build the nation. and war cannot happen on the korean peninsula. robin, what did you make of that? only 100 days in but this is a man, a president doing all he can to dampen down the tension. president moonjae—in was elected on a much more consider its own to the north and he and his people have long lived with the prospect of a military confrontation with north korea, just 35 miles away, the border where there is an array of artillery barrackers which can hit the city. it has been the case for a

long time. what's most interesting in those comments is two things, he doesn't think tom all trump intends to use military action to deal with north korea. —— donald trump. and secondly, he said that the president has promised not just secondly, he said that the president has promised notjust to seek to get south korea's approval before any military action was taken. we aren't quite sure whether he talked about donald trump seeking to get agreement. it's quite clear that he says the us counterpart has agreed to get clearance from the country before any action was taken. that is give your quick rundown. the said he could guarantee there would be no second war on the korean peninsula. he says that north korea's —— north koreans are approaching what he describes as a breadline and that would be nuclear tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles. he says he doesn't think donald trump intends to use military action

and he said the us president in conversation with him as promised to get south korea's approval before any military option was enacted. and the most obvious question put to him today, certainly by the international journalists, today, certainly by the internationaljournalists, was about the language of donald trump both on social media and to camera. locked and loaded, fire and curie. he said, ina very and loaded, fire and curie. he said, in a very diplomatic answer, but this showed donald trump had a strong determination to press the north koreans away from using any missiles. they threatened to land missiles. they threatened to land missiles within a few dozen miles of guam but instead returned to negotiations. it's hard to see this would work in practice, no military action against north korea without south korean approval when the us defence secretary has it north korea carries out its threat, send missiles in the territory —— in the

direction of guam. that would be an act of war. there would not be much time to react. a fair point. that would be a strike against the us. if it did cross into military action, it did cross into military action, it would almost be guaranteed that the next phase of that would be human south korea just 35 miles away. they would be targeted and thatis away. they would be targeted and that is what he does not want to see. at least 100 children are among the 400 people now known to have died in a mudslide in sierra leone's capital freetown. heavy rains brought down a mountainside, and more than 600 people are still missing. in freetown, the ambulances are rushing not to the hospital but to the main mortuary. they are ferrying the dead — victims buried alive by a landslide.

the relatives wait outside to collect their bodies. the stench of death is overpowering. emotions are raw. bishi lost her sister. daniel wasn't home when disaster struck. but he tells me six members of his family are dead, including his wife. they died, they died. the grief and anger is tangible here. this is a nation mourning the loss of hundreds. and rescue workers say that authorities are hampering their rescue efforts. this gaping scar was once a neighbourhood. now a landscape changed forever. it's the scene of a recovery operation on the hoof. diggers have been drafted

in but there are no sniffer dogs, not enough body bags. the fear is disease could spread unless hundreds of corpses are found. a trickle of aid is getting through but many, like adama, are now homeless. i've lost everything, she tells me. martin patience, bbc news, freetown. much more to come, including preparing for a solar eclipse, american style. washington, the world's most political city is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa 97 people have been killed today

in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last 10 days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we are all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people, in his hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us," chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me to desert rome?" this is bbc news. the latest headlines: more business leaders have resigned from president trump's advisory councils in response

to the violence in charlottesville. he has responded by shutting down those very same councils. there's grief and anger in freetown as authorities are blamed for hampering rescue efforts. at least 600 people are still missing after monday's mudslide. in the middle east, the extremist group that calls itself islamic state is collapsing, but concern is focusing now on fighters returning home — some very young. it's believed at least 2,000 children went through is military training, those who schooled them as fighters and suicide bombers called them lion cubs. the bbc has discovered some now living in europe, although most authorities are unaware of their past. this from our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville. this is childhood in the so—called islamic state. this footage, filmed secretly in raqqa and passed to the bbc, is of what is calls the ‘cubs of the caliphate'. they are child soldiers, barely teenagers. clumsy and armed to the teeth,

their guns are almost too big for them. even as is is collapsing, it's investing in its future. it's a slow and steady defeat. this was is‘s capital in iraq. mosul‘s old city is now in ruins. this is where the is war machine suffered its biggest defeat but it isn't the end of them. here the fighters honed their skills. this was their training ground. imagine fighting in this, and then surviving. well, some did — some escaped, and some have made it to europe. we travelled to belgium, and there we met ahmed. he joined is when he was just 15. translation: they taught me how to use a kalashnikov. we stayed for seven days in mosul. they kept talking about martyrdom operations. i was brainwashed and i believed it. i told my family, "you can't change my thoughts, and,

no matter what you do, i'm going to stay." he became disillusioned with is and escaped, first to turkey, and then to europe. the authorities here don't know about his past. translation: they were my enemies but now i'm living among them, eating and drinking among them. they've received me and looked after me. when all this happened, i started to hate my entire past and started to establish a new life. he's not alone. we travelled to germany, where we met motassin. again, his youth means his is membership has gone undetected here. he was one of many groomed by the group. translation: they would give us whatever we wanted, and tell us we were the best, that we were right and all the others were wrong and must fear us. they would also allow us to carry oui’ weapons wherever we go. for two weeks, he underwent military training and was schooled in sharia law.

he was assigned to an is media unit. others, though, volunteered for suicide missions. they prefer children to adults because they can use them to bomb between civilians. nobody would expect that 3111 or 16—year—old boy would bomb himself. both teenagers that we met say they've turned their backs on is but, as we travelled across europe, we learned of at least three more young fighters living here. we approached the eu police force, europol, but they declined to comment. europe is still vulnerable but it's here where the journey begins. on the turkish border, syrian refugees can still slip through, scrabbling past searchlights and guard towers. near the border, i met a people

smugglerfrom raqqa, one of many still operating. he helped one of the boys make it from is territory to europe in only a month. translation: i've helped many, a huge number. the route is getting worse. it used to be easier in 2014 and 2015. now the situation is more difficult due to the presence of us backed forces. you have to go through the kurds, the rebels and the us forces. it's difficult. is is not yet defeated. its territory is shrinking and its supporters fleeing. these are the final days of the so—called caliphate, but still the islamic state is no less of a threat. and, amid these ruins, they leave behind a legacy — hundreds of child soldiers, and a new generation of hate.

for anyone looking for the best that urban living has to offer, the answer seems to be, yet again, head to australia. that's because, on a ranking of the world's most liveable cities, calculated by the economist intelligence unit, melbourne has come out on top for a record seventh year in a row. but don't rule out canada. they grabbed three of the top five spots. also in the top ten, adelaide, perth and auckland. sydneyjust missed out at number 11. a short time ago i spoke with melbourne's lord mayor robert doyle, and asked him why this recognition is about more than just bragging rights. i can brag a little, can't i? seven years is pretty remarkable. many of those cities are very close together.

they are all wonderful cities. we use it as a marketing tool. for instance, international students, it is a great lever for chinese students. it is great for tourism. i am a little stunned, i was preparing myself to lose it this year but seven years in a row is remarkable. we are an all rounder. you cannot come to melbourne and take a photograph of a particular landmark, as you could in sydney, london, paris and new york. that is not what we are about. we are much more nuanced, layered sort of city. security pays a big role in these surveys. how has melbourne managed to be a world leader in that ranking? i think we live in a different world now. we pay a great deal of attention

to security and safety. recently, comparatively recently, the former mayor borisjohnson, invited me to london to look at the full spectrum of security that we do here. more recently i was in chicago and met with the former head of the metropolitan police to share intelligence about security and safety. we try to be as proactive as we can. we recognise we live in a different world. one of the things may be that we are a long way away and that can be a blessing at times, but we are not taking any security or safety measures for granted. we were specially singled out to being a particularly safe city and that made me feel very proud but i would not want to say, mike, we are some sort of perfect city. we have the same problems as other big cities have. vulnerable people, housing affordability, homelessness,

congestion. i hope we tried to manage those as anybody else in the world but it is a great pleasure for us to come out as the most liveable city for seven years in a row — the only to do that in its own right. preparations are being made across towns and cities of the usa for a historic moment next monday. a total solar eclipse will take sweep from the west coast through to the east — the first such occurrence for almost 100 years. and the first place to witness it will be in a small seaside town in the state of oregon as greg dawson reports depo bay, proud home of the world's smallest harbour, just 1500 residents and one set of traffic lights. next monday tens of thousands are expected to overwhelm this tiny town for a once—in—a—lifetime glimpse of solar history. a glimpse you would be well advised to take through these. this eclipse will spend the entire continental united states — the

first time that's happened since 1918. its path will be more than 100 kilometres wide over 1a states, but this place is right in the middle of where it hit first makes landfall. so, what better way to mark the occasion that with merchandise? they say it's gonna happen in another 100 yea rs say it's gonna happen in another 100 years but for my town to be in the centre of it probably hasn't happened for several thousand years, so happened for several thousand years, so the way i'm capitalising off of this is i decided to design a shirt, and because it is a commemorative event i decided i would make it like a rock shirt and people would keep it for the rest of their lives. sitting close to a geological fall line, depoe bay is prepared for the worst nature has to offer, and officials hope that mightjust come in handy next week. a lot of the eclipse preparations in some ways mirror those disaster preparations, so, in that regard, i would say nothing unusual, we've been doing what we are used to doing and hopefully we are all prepared are we

all have our emergency backpacks and supplies. getting ready for an influx of visitors means they are stocking up on supplies of food, drink and yes, these. with only one road in and out of fiat officials are advising people to get to the town hours before the eclipse to avoid missing it. after decades of waiting it will all be over in two minutes. you have probably heard daniel craig is back forjames bond but filming for the latest mission impossible franchise is on hold because tom cruise has broken his ankle doing a stu nt cruise has broken his ankle doing a stunt that went wrong. the actor was jumping between high—rise rooftops in london. he is known of course for doing many of his own stunts. production could be delayed for up to three months as he recovers. more on that and more on all of the news anytime on the bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, thank you for watching. let's see if the weather

is going to be behaving itself on thursday. looking a little mixed. there's some rain out there right now, but thursday itself is looking not too bad across the uk. there will be some sunshine around and a few showers as well, so you mightjust about need your brolly. 'e efiiflilé si 5“? eee eee “if; ' that mixture of sunshine and showers. and the showers might happen across the south—west, through the midlands, wales, scotland and northern ireland too, but not too many of them across northern england, we don't think. could be a beautiful day in cumbria and the north—east of england, for example. how about the cricket? just the chance of a shower, probably not too many of them around, so the risk of any

disruption i don't think is particularly high. now, the forecast into friday — so, thursday night into friday — a low pressure is barrelling across the uk, and one thing that we will all notice on friday is the strength of the wind. it's going to be a very blustery day across the uk, all parts of the country. there will be some very blustery showers around, as well, across many northern and western areas of the uk. some of those showers will be heavy. so temperatures might be, say, 15—21 degrees, but it might feel cooler than that because of the strength of the wind. saturday, maybe not quite so windy but still pretty breezy. there will be some showers around but not as many. i think, overall, a slightly better day i think on saturday for most of us. now, i'm going to go back to what is happening right now, just off the eastern coast of the us, we have hurricane gert here, and that is going to be influencing our weather to an extent come sunday. this is what's going to be happening, so gert is going to start dying away, fizzling out, over the next two or three days and then it gets mixed up with the weather systems that

usually come our way anyway. and basically what's going to happen is the leftovers of gert — so the clouds, some of the wind and rain — will be crossing our country during the course of sunday. so you could call it "ex—gert" if you like, but it's certainly not going to be a hurricane. that means rain in some parts of the country but some uncertainty exactly how much rain, how much wind. but it will be an unsettled sunday for sure. so here's the weekend summary — there will be some blustery showers and wind around for sure. this is bbc news. the headlines: donald trump, the businessman president who bills himself as the ultimate deal—maker has just lost his 2 business advisory panels z— both of them officially dissolved by the white house but onlyjust before they fell apart as leading figures resigned in protest at mr trump's statements on the charlottesville violence. two former republican presidents weighed in today, criticising his stance. south korea's president moonjae—in has been holding a news conference to mark his first 100 days in office.

he spoke about the rising tensions with north korea, but assured his people there would not be a second war on the korean peninsula. at least 100 children are among the 400 people now known to have died in a mudslide in sierra leone's capital freetown. heavy rains brought down a mountainside. more than 600 people are still missing. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.