welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is duncan golestani. our top stories: face—to—face — president trump says he believes vladimir putin when he says russia didn't meddle in the us elections. the husband of a british—iranian womanjailed in tehran is to meet the british foreign secretary on sunday. protests in barcelona — thousands call for the release of pro—independence leaders. spain's prime minister will visit catalonia on sunday. and, brothers reunited — the two argentine men who met completely by chance decades after being given up for adoption. welcome to bbc news. president trump has said that he trusts his russian

counterpart vladimir putin, who has again denied interfering in last year's elections for the white house. the two leaders met in vietnam, where they were attending a summit. mr trump claimed the allegation that russia had meddled in the campaign was costing lives in syria because it was getting in the way of his relationship with mr putin. from there, aleem maqbool reports. all eyes at this summit were on these two men and what they might give away about the ties between them. for his entire time in office, donald trump's been plagued with questions he just doesn't want to hear over what vladimir putin might have done to get him elected. they met only briefly here, but president trump said he did raise the issue of russian interference in the us elections. "he said he didn't meddle", said mr trump. "i asked again. you can only ask so many times. "every time he sees me", trump said of putin, "he says ‘i didn't do that."

"and i really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. "i think he's very insulted by it". but those words have led to an angry reaction from some back in the states, where the intelligence community has determined that russia did meddle in the election. "donald trump believes an ex—kgb agent over 17 us intelligence agencies — that's outrageous", tweeted senate democrat ben carden. "the president's denial of facts is troubling". —— cardin. but that type of denial is nothing new. for months, at rallies, he's been saying this to his supporters. the russia story is a totalfabrication. it's just an excuse for the greatest loss in the history of american politics. that's all it is. president putin says it is all made up by donald trump's opponents, too. but if either of them think that will lay to rest the matter,

they are, of course, mistaken. the usjustice department is investigating the extent to which russia did interfere and donald trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort, is currently under house arrest because of information discovered during the investigation. well, donald trump now says all this focus on russian interference in the us election is costing lives in conflicts like the one in syria because it is getting in the way of his relationship with vladimir putin, and so his ability to resolve such issues. but that is not going to stop investigators back in the states determining exactly what did happen with moscow, the trump campaign and the election of 2016. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in vietnam. well, president trump is now in hanoi on the last leg of his five—nation tour. our correspondent karishma vaswani is there. we are expecting a joint press

conference any moment now? yeah, in about 15 minutes the united states president and his counterpart here in vietnam will be making a joint statement right behind me at those two podiums over there, you can see that they are getting ready to the event, it has been here all morning at the presidential palace, but the building just behind me as well, where he has had a bilateral with the vietnamese leader and to have talked about reaffirming their ties to one another. remember this country fought a long and bloody war with the united states but over the last few years, decades or so, there has been a renewed commitment from the us to vietnam and it was certainly started and improved with president obama but under barack obama's term, there was mention of human rights, there was a big push from the united states about human rights, the human rights issue here in vietnam, and we are not expecting president trump to bring things like

that up. instead, he is likely to focus on trade, naval commitment here in vietnam, touched on the image —— issue of south china sea which of course is also very contentious because both china and vietnam lay claim to it, and were expecting to hear those sorts of comments in the joint statement that is due in the next 15 minutes or so. but the pick you up on trade. i remember during the election campaign, donald trump highlighted vietnam as being one of those countries but was, in his words, dumping cheap goods into the us market. so i imagine the russian quite difficult issues about forming a trade issue —— there are some quite difficult issues. throughout this trip in fact president trump has repeatedly talked about making trade fair to the united states again. but frankly he hasn't really achieved very much in actual actionable or deliverables he can ta ke

actionable or deliverables he can take back home, the race a lot of rhetoric but not a lot to show. here in vietnam we are expecting him to bring up that surplus again, the fa ct bring up that surplus again, the fact that the vietnamese fell about $30 billion worth of goods to the united states and the other way around. but frankly the vietnamese are around. but frankly the vietnamese a re really around. but frankly the vietnamese are really keen to get some sort of agreement with the united states that that will not hurt their trading effort in the future. remember vietnam was one of the countries that was expected to benefit the most from the transpacific partnership agreement, which donald trump old out of earlier this year. selecting the vietnamese would be keen to try to cement the relationship with president trump and also get his agreement that whatever the trading agreement that whatever the trading agreement may be right now, whether it is unfair, but the rhetoric dies down and they can get on with making some real commercial deals. finally, i cannot help but notice from my twitter feed that president trump is back being vocal in quite a big way, shall we say. yeah, it does seem to

date have been the day where he has been slightly going off script, i think it would be fair to say, in terms of his twitter feed because we've seen him quit in the last couple of hours, before he arrived here at the presidential palace, about the fact that he met with president putin and had good progress on syria, the report that you heard from my colleague just before going into the details, but apart from that, he has been tweeting about china and north korea, saying that china is popping sanctions on north korea. there has been no official confirmation on that from the chinese foreign ministry as far as we have been able to see. and then he has also talked about the fact that the north korean leader kimjong about the fact that the north korean leader kim jong lohan about the fact that the north korean leader kimjong lohan has insulted him and wide as he continued to insult him when actually all that he wa nts to insult him when actually all that he wants to do is be friends with him. i believe the press conference may $0011 i believe the press conference may soon be under way, the two leaders

are expected down at the podium any minute now to have a joint statement and talk about the pressing issues facing both of those nations. and talk about the pressing issues facing both of those nationslj and talk about the pressing issues facing both of those nations. i can see a lot of activity behind you. we will let you get into position and hopefully speak again soon. then she very much. —— thank you. for more on the united states relations with russia, and president trump's tour of asia, head to our website, bbc.com/news. the husband of a british—iranian womanjailed in iran has told the bbc he will speak to the uk foreign secretary on sunday. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe is accused of spying. her family fears her sentence could be extended after comments from borisjohnson gave the false impression that she'd been teaching journalism in iran. eleanor garnier reports.

injail in iran, separated from her daughter and husband. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe is british and iranian and facing a five—year sentence for allegedly plotting to topple the government in tehran. it's now understood the foreign secretary borisjohnson has agreed to meet her husband. i think it's important now that he tries to meet with us as soon as possible, next week, so that it's clear from a political point of view that the uk government is standing alongside nazanin and her family. this week, the foreign secretary had to apologise after he mistakenly told mps he thought mrs zaghari—ratcliffe had been in iran teaching journalists. mrjohnson later said his comments could have been clearer and the uk government has no doubt she was on holiday in iran, as her family have always insisted. but this week, iran's state tv broadcast a report claiming the foreign secretary's comments

about mrs zaghari—ratcliffe amounted to an unintended admission of her guilt. in lebanon, it is still unclear what the current position is of the man who was the country's prime minister. that is until he unexpectedly resigned last week. saad hariri announced his resignation in saudi arabia. there is widespread concern in lebanon that he is being held against his will. however, his party in lebanon has issued a strong statement in favour of saudi arabia and against iran. but the lebanese president has demanded answers from the saudis. so what is the political situation in saudi arabia at the moment? 0ur security correspondent frank gardner explains how many of the country's new policies are down to the crown prince. he is mohammed bin salman, and he has consolidated his hold on power. the saudi crown prince mohammed bin

salman is incredibly young for someone with so much responsibility. he's also a defence minister and in charge of the economy. he has got that because he spent the last few years being effectively tutored by his father, the king. he has had emerged from the shadows with a meteoric rise, to take over one portfolio after another. saturday, the fourth of november, has been termed already the "night of the long knives", because, under the orders of the crown prince, a large number of senior saudi princes, ministers, former ministers and business figures have all been rounded up, their assets seized, they've been put into luxury detention. this is unprecedented in saudi arabia. these are big public figures and they have been publicly humiliated and accused — so officials say — of corruption and abuse of power. this has also been seen as a power grab by the crown prince. he is now consolidating

all the reigns of power into his hand. the saudi crown prince is one of the very few people who could take on the power of the religious conservatives inside arabia and say it is time for women to be allowed to drive. saudi arabia is the last country in the world where women have not been allowed to drive. that's going to change injune, when the ban is lifted. so far the clerics have said that is ok. they've always resisted this. let's see what happens injune. the saudi crown prince is absolutely right in that he needs to reform the saudi economy — it has got this huge dependence on oil, that will one day run out. so to that end, he has announced plans for this massive vision 2030 and a huge megacity — a half trillion dollar megacity — in the desert, that's going to have robots, and drones and driverless cars and there will be zones where men and women can mix publicly,

and there will be entertainment, cinemas — these things are unprecedented in conservative saudi arabia. driving it through is very much his vision. anyone who gets in the way of that, he is making sure that they are removed. the saudi crown prince is taking on a lot of enemies at the same time. 2.5 years ago, he committed saudi armed forces to join in the war in yemen and that war is unwinnable, it's costing a lot of money, and it's costing a terrible amount of casualties in yemen. he is leading a boycott against neighbouring qatar, which is damaging to both countries. and he is very much involved in the saudi war of words with iran, with both countries accusing each other of aggression and stirring up trouble in the middle east. he is also still technically fighting isis and taking on the power of the entrenched religious clerics at home, as well as many business interests. this is a lot of people to be taking on at the same time and it has been described as building up

a reservoir of discontent. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: ceremonies are held across europe — in memory of those who have lost their lives while serving in the armed forces. berliners from both east and west linked hands and danced round their liberated territory. and with nobody to stop them, it wasn't long before the first attempts were made to destroy the structure itself. it's keeping the candidate's name always in the public eye that counts. success or failure depends not only on public display but on the local campaign headquarters and the heavy routine work of their women volunteers. yasser arafat, who dominated the palestinian cause

for so long, has died. the palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning for the leader who symbolised his people's hopes for independent statehood. in the wake of the colombian volcano disaster, rescue teams are trying to reach thousands of survivors who managed to clamber onto rooftops and trees above the sea of mud. after 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy. women ministers who'd long felt only begrudgingly accepted amongst the ranks of clergy suddenly felt welcomed. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: after meeting president putin on his asian tour, donald trump says his russian counterpart was very insulted by allegations that moscow interfered in last year's us election. the husband of a british—iranian womanjailed in iran has told the bbc he will speak to the uk foreign secretary on sunday. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe

is accused of spying. the spanish prime minister will visit catalonia on sunday, two weeks after he imposed direct rule there. earlier, hundreds of thousands catalans rallied in barcelona, calling for the release of pro—independence leaders. james reynolds reports. these protesters have come out here to the centre of barcelona to call for freedom for eight imprisoned former catalan ministers and two social society activists. "sos democracy", as you can probably read, and this is written in english, "republic of catalonia", "freedom", "political prisoners". and there's a yellow ribbon, a symbol of solidarity with the imprisoned politicians and activists. to this crowd, these politicians and their names and faces are here. this is the former vice president, 0rioljunqueras. all these people have been remanded into custody. to these people, they are

political resonance. do the authorities in madrid, it is simply a criminal case. but there is a political impact because this is an election campaign. there will be elections here in december and these protesters want to win a majority for the pro independence movement, that will give them the chance to try and break away from spain again. there is of course another half of catalan society that wants to remain inside spain. millions of people have observed two minutes' silence for armistice day marking the moment when the fighting came to an end in the first world war. ceremonies have taken place across the uk and around the world to remember the dead of two world wars and other conflicts as well. adina campbell reports. preparing for remembrance.

to the sounds of pipes, veterans from the second world war and those from later wars on parade in whitehall. in the drizzle, before them, the cenotaph. britain's stark memorial to its war dead. keeping faith with countless lives lost in conflict. at 11am, big ben, silent for three months because of repair work, marked the hour. big ben chimes last post plays

today's services have been a chance for many people to remember those who fought and what they fought for. i thought it was really emotional because so many people died. i think it makes your memories more real. there's the opportunity to really reflect on what was given during those times. today's services have been a chance for many people to remember those who fought and what they fought for.

adina campbell, bbc news. members of lewis hamilton's formula 1 team have been robbed at gunpoint in brazil. a minibus carrying the mercedes technical staff was stopped as it left the interlagos circuit in sao paulo. a spokesperson for the team said valuables were stolen, but no—one was injured. hamilton has tweeted about the incident, calling on formula 1 to do more to improve security arrangements. bbc radio 40-0 bbc radio 40—0 commentatorjack mikel is told us formula 1 can only do so much because of the number of staff working in the city —— bbc radio 4 i've live commentatorjack nichols. —— bbc radio 4 i've live. there's a particular set of traffic lights on the way out off the circuit where this kind of thing is prevalent. the problem last night was that the teams were leaving after dark.

the brazilian authorities have put in a lot of police this year but when the teams are leaving at eight o'clock, nine o'clock, that is when things can get sketchy. we heard the stories in the build—up to the rio 0lympics last year about the security concerns last year. there are ten teams in sao paulo. there's about 300 journalists. so you're looking at 500 or 600 people make up the formula 1 paddock that travel around the world. naturally, they're all going to be staged in different places around the city so formula 1 and the circuit itself can do all they can in the perimeter of the actual venue but if you have teams staying ten miles in that direction and ten miles in that direction, there is only a certain amount that formula 1 can do short of not going to brazil any more. two of the world's most outspoken leaders, donald trump and rhodri duterte ar meant to meet in manila shortly. the bbc went to a former us level base in the philippines to see if residents there could correctly match up some of their most infamous outbursts. —— rodrigo duterte a. "there is no issue with me

regarding corruption — girls, yes — but money, no." how did you know he said that? um, he says that all the time. "you know, it really doesn't matter what they write, as long as you've got a young and beautiful piece of (bleep)." laughs boy, that's a tough one. but i would say probably duterte. it was actually donald trump. really? i would think he would say something exactly like that. "part of the beauty of me is that i am very rich." trump said it. talking about the other one, "he is a bigot but i am not." duterte. duterte talking about trump, yes. "grab them by the (bleep)." of course. 0r both. oh, i don't know. it could be both but i know he said it.

"grab them by the (bleep)." of course. 0r both. oh, i don't know. it could be both but i know he said it. personally i have very little respect for both of them. i think one is needed and the other... i'm not going to say which is which. i think it's good for (inaudible). would you like to see more duterte—style politics in america? 0oh, to a point. let's tell you about an extraordinary story from argentina. it involves two young men, both seriously ill, who made a remarkable discovery at a clinic where they were being treated. it is a discovery that has changed their lives.

the bbc‘s tim allman takes up the story. emanuel godoy and francisco rios both suffer from huntington's disease. it's a rare condition typically inherited from a parent or parents that destroys brain cells and can lead to mental and physical impairment. both of them were being treated at the same rehabilitation centre in the city of parana when they started asking questions. translation: i told my mother, i said, "mum, there is a boy who has the same illness as me and he has a cleft lip." she said, "he must be your brother." i didn't believe her. but she found emanuel‘s dad and that's when our stories came together. the two men, adopted as babies by different families, now reunited as adults completely by chance. it's not all brotherly love. they support rival football teams. but the ups are much better than the downs. translation: my father told me.

i was very happy because i have a brother and he lives here and i see him every day. translation: for us it was weird. because living in the same city they never met on the street or anything. and then they meet here, both with a rare genetic disease. if they were not brothers they had to be relatives. now they want to find their other siblings, all 17 of them. and they will also have to deal with the challenge of their medical condition. a challenge they will face together as brothers. tim allman, bbc news. let's go back to donald trump's tour of southeast asia, he is in vietnam right now, where he's been meeting

the vietnamese president in hanoi and ina the vietnamese president in hanoi and in a few minutes we believe they are going to give a press conference just outside that building and perfectly timed, there is president donald trump and the vietnamese president. they've been holding a bilateral meeting and we believe they are going to hold a press conference. it will be interesting to see if it's a press conference where they take questions from the press because donald trump, when he met president xi jingping, press because donald trump, when he met president xijingping, opted not to, much to the consternation of the western media at least, breaking with quite a lot of protocol. we will see if they will take questions now, we expect they will probably make some statements discussing their day of meetings. let's have a listen. your excellency, donald trump, president of the united states of

america. your excellency tran i quang, president of the socialist but republic of vietnam. ladies and gentlemen of the media, donald trump and tran i quang are holding a press briefing to announce the result of their talks and can i invite this excellency tran i quang to deliver this remarks. your excellency, donald trump, president of the united states of america, ladies and gentlemen, members of the media. we have had fruitful talks about the bilateral relations and international and bilateral relations of mutual interest. we both share the views that the bilateral relations have brought substantial results over the years,

delivering enormous benefits to the people. during president trump's state visit to vietnam, vietnam and the united states issued a joint statement pledging to further deepen the vietnam united states comprehensive partnership on the basis of mutual respect for each other‘s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political systems. within the visit‘s framework, the two sides reached important agreements on economy and trade. addressing war legacy issues will receive high priority, and we are committed to collaborating actively on this matter. vietnam highly values the united states' decision to co—operate with vietnam on an airbase collaboration after the two countries successfully concluded the cleanup pro connect at

da nang airport. the president and i discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest. we agreed to strengthen our close cooperation at international forums to improve peace and stability in the region and the world at large. we agreed on the importance of the asean united states strategic partnership. we believe that the development of vietnam us relations will not only benefit each country, but also contribute to strengthening asean us relations for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the asia—pacific and the world. the

president's state visit to vietnam marks a milestone in vietnam us relations, creating strong momentum for the substantive and effective and stable development of the bilateral comprehensive partnership. i wish president trump and members of the us delegation a successful visit and i hope that you will have a good impression of our country and our people. i sincerely thank mr president personally and the american people for the warm friendship towards our country and people and i appreciate the great effort to develop vietnam— us bilateral relations. the press conference between president tendai