this is bbc news. our top stories: a new trade threat from donald trump. tariffs on european cars if the eu retaliates over steel. syrian government forces advance into the besieged enclave of ghouta. 100 people are reported killed in the past week. video assisted referees are cleared for international football. they could be used in this summer's world cup. and will theyjoin germany's next government? social democrats add up the votes. president trump has stepped up his war of words on trade tariffs, suggesting he would "apply a tax" on imports of cars from the european union. it comes two days after he promised hefty tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.

in a tweet, he said other countries had taken advantage of the us for years. andrew plant reports. the white hot glow of steel. this multibillion—dollar global industry has sparked heated threats of trade tariffs and friction between the us and europe. it's disgraceful. and when it comes to a time when our country... on thursday, donald trump announced plans to levy a 25% tax on steel imports and 10% on aluminium. the current deals, he said, bad for the usa economy. european commission president jean—claude juncker said the eu could retaliate in kind with tariffs of its own on things the us sells to europe. we buy more steel from the united states than any other country... canada, too, opposed the idea, justin trudeau urging mr trump to reconsider. ..would be significant and serious.

now donald trump has hit back, threatening to increase tax on imported european cars. america, the eu's biggest car market. in a tweet, he said: as yet, there's been no retaliatory response, the press secretary simply saying that no—one should be surprised at mr trump's announcements. mr trump says other countries have taken advantage of the us for years because of what he called "very stupid" trade deals. it's the latest salvo in a war of words over trade tariffs — as our north america correspondent, chris buckler, explains. yes, the threat of new tariffs has fuelled fears of a trade war but you are right in saying that the war of words is well under way.

countries had already threatened retaliatory action as a result of president trump's announcement that he was preparing to put 25% tariffs on steel and and 10% on aluminium being imported into america. and probably one of the most memorable warnings came from the european commission presidentjean—claude juncker, who said that they would tax the most american of products, including bourbon and bluejeans. while it is clear that president trump was listening and today he bit back, it probably will not come as a surprise to anyone that he responded on twitter, saying that he was prepared to tax cars coming into the us from europe and it will cause concern across the atlantic because the european car manufacturers‘ biggest export market is the us. however, there are many inside the white house who are urging caution because they believe that no—one really benefits from this kind of tit—for—tat trade war. syrian government forces have gained more ground in their assault on the last major rebel—held enclave near damascus. one monitoring group says they now control 10% of eastern ghouta.

disturbing footage has emerged, showing aid workers carrying an injured man into a van, being targeted in an air—strike, but then managing to escape. from neighbouring lebanon, yolande knell reports. after days of air strikes and shelling, fighting on the ground in eastern ghouta has recently intensified, and the uk—based monitoring group the syrian observatory for human rights says that government forces have now recaptured two areas of the east and south—east of the besieged enclave, where an estimated 400,000 people are trapped. rebels, in turn, shelled damascus. more than 100 civilians are reported to have been killed in eastern ghouta since the united nations security council called for a ceasefire one week ago. shouting. on another front in the many—sided

syrian war, turkey says it has captured a kurdish town in the northern region of afrin. at least 36 pro—syrian government troops sent to support kurdish forces are reported to have been killed by a turkish air strike. six weeks ago, turkey launched a military offensive in the area to clear it of kurdish militia, which it sees as terrorists. our middle east correspondent yolande knell reporting. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. an extremist group affiliated to al-qaeda in mali says it carried out the two deadly bombings on friday in burkina faso‘s capital, ouagadougou. eight members of the security forces were killed and more than 80 people were wounded in the attacks on the army headquarters and french embassy.

the prime minister paul kaba thieba has visited the scene and described it as "post—apocalyptic". the funeral has taken place in slovakia of the murdered investigative journalist, jan kuciak. hundreds of mourners attended the ceremony in the village of stiavnik, a day after the burial of his fiancee, who was shot dead at the same time. mr kuciak‘s last article focused on alleged ties between the italian mafia and government officials. the us secret service says a man has shot and killed himself outside the white house in washington. no—one else was injured in the incident, which triggered a big security alert. president trump was at his estate in florida when the shooting happened. in one of the biggest shake—ups in football for years, it appears the world cup in russia will use video technology, to assist referees. the system, known as var, lets referees review controversial incidents such as disputed goals or penalties. the body which sets the rules for world football has voted

to approve it after a series of top—level trials, even though some of the decisions have proved controversial. here's our sports news reporter richard conway. from diego maradona's hand of god to injustice in the biggest games. football has long opposed technology to help officials make the important decisions. but after an historic vote all that has changed. video assisted referees or var as it's known, finally given the go—ahead. var is good for football. it's good for refereeing. it brings more fairness in the game. and, for these reasons, we have decided to approve. var will be used to correct errors relating to goals, penalties, straight red cards and mistaken identity. nearly 1000 games have formed part of the two year var experiment. tottenham's match against rochdale last week was included in the trial

but was criticised given lengthy delays while the referee reviewed incidents, leading to claims technology is killing the atmosphere and pace of the match. but one of the architects of the new system told me there's evidence that video assistance is working. on sort of clear error situations, clear situations, the accuracy of the referee's decisions went from initially 93% up to around 99%. of course there are grey areas where an incident could be a penalty, could not be a penalty, and they will always remain grey areas. var will almost certainly now be used at this summer's world cup. however, several premier league clubs are said to be more cautious and may opt to delay its implementation with football's lawmakers admitting there's still work to be done. i think the communication with the crowd, the speeding up of reviews, the flow of the game, the spectator—spectacle, i think has all got to be worked on, but we've also got to have the confidence to sell it to people.

it is a change but it's actually a small change to make a big difference. football's leaders want to eliminate game—changing mistakes, but as the experiments have shown, anyone who thinks technology will stop controversy may want to think again. richard conway, bbc news. dr kristen wells is a sports psychologist who's worked with women professional golfers and in minor league baseball. i asked her how she thinks var technology in football will change the game. well, it depends on the player and it depends on, in whose favour the call goes toward. so the team that the call is in favour of will certainly always be happy. the team that the call goes against will not be so happy. the issue is the momentum. and, you know, if a team is in the zone and suddenly, we are going to go to instant replay — or var, as it is called — then you lose that momentum. but, again, if the call goes in favour of the team, the momentum lost isn't going to be such a big deal.

for the other team, however, it could actually then be an even further detriment to them. but in terms of momentum, if you take, say, rugby union— i don't know whether you know how it works, being american — forgive me — but with rugby union, they're used to having a video assistant referee and it is just part of the game, theyjust get on with it. right. well, and here in the states, if you look at american football, it is not such a big deal because it has been around for so — it's been around for decades. major league baseball had just implemented it and so, you know, they have been fortunate, they got to learn from american football. and so, it — the implementation of it wasn't — hasn't been so bad, or at least from the perspective of players and officials and all,

it has not been a bad thing at all. it takes time. fans will have to get used to it, players will have to get used to it, and certainly, officials will get used to it, but overall, it is probably a good thing. what does this do for the way that the game is perceived because people say that basically, if you get rid of human error, then there will be nothing to talk about. but i'm not so sure fans who are on the losing side agree with that! i think there's always going to be human error and, you know, it is... do you lose a little bit of the human aspect to it? probably so. is that a good thing? probably not. from a psychological perspective, you know, i personally would say i would hate to see you lose the human piece of it. but if you look at the benefits of using it, so say, for example, officials — we know research was done and what they found was that with video replay, they went from 93% accuracy up to 98%, almost 99%, and how can you complain about that? i mean, 93% is brilliant.

i mean — but the thing is, if you ask a football fan that would probably say that referees were always getting the calls wrong, not realising that actually, they are doing a good job. the funeral has taken place of the murdered slovakian journalist, jan kuciak. his fiancee martina kusnirova, who was also shot dead, was buried on friday. he'd been investigating alleged ties between the italian mafia and slovak government officials. it's heightened tensions within slovakia's coalition government, with interior minister robert kalinak refusing to resign over the issue. russell trott reports. in the eastern border, jan kuciak elite hundreds of mourners who had arrived from across slovakia for his burial. just 27 he was shot dead last week,

along with his fiancee, martina kusnirova, he was buried a day earlier. her parents were also in attendance. there were two months away from their wedding day. she'd been buried in her wedding dress. the murders have shocked this small central european country. there have been protests in 25 cities, with many venting their frustration at the prime minister and his government, accusing it with links to organised crime. he has denied any wrongdoing. jan kuciak‘s last article focused on alleged ties between the italian mafia and officials. seven people questioned by police have since been released. the government has offered a reward ofi million euros to find those responsible. he has vowed his government would protect freedom of speech and the safety of journalists. this is the first killing of a journalist in

slovakia's street. jan kuciak‘s collea g u es slovakia's street. jan kuciak‘s colleagues fear it may not be the last. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: could the techniques of ancient mayans save guatemala from the curse of plastic? weavers work to end the country's waste problem. first, the plates slipped gently off the restaurant tables, then suddenly the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards, and it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched on to her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans have successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i heard the news earlier and so my heart went bang, bang! the constitutional rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the united states, and they should be protected, even in the right to test them out, so they don't get their heads broken

and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy, i know you don't want to say too much about it, but does it worry you that it's going to boil up when you get to the states? well, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be all right in the end, as they say. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump has threatened to impose more tariffs on imported goods. he's tweeted that if the eu increases barriers for american companies, then the us will apply a tax on eu cars. a british—based monitoring group says pro—government forces in syria have recaptured about 10% of the rebel—held enclave of eastern ghouta outside damascus. votes are being counted in germany after a poll of members of the social democrats on whether the party should join a grand coalition. officials say participation has been very high.

chancellor angela merkel‘s christian democrat union has already voted in favour. if the social democrats also approve, it will end the five months of political deadlock which have followed september's vote. the result will be announced in a few hours time, as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. never in the history of german politics has so much attention been devoted to the contents of one rather unremarkable lorry. on board, hundreds of thousands of ballot papers that, one way or another, will decide the immediate future of the nation. keeping an eye on proceedings, the social democrats' acting chairman olaf scholz and the party's leader in the bundestag, andrea nahles, both nervously awaiting the verdict of their membership. translation: we already know there was a high level of participation, so we hope we can lay a good foundation for the renewal of the spd and, at the same time, assess the implications of

the result once we have it. angela merkel‘s party has already voted to renew the grand coalition, hoping to end nearly five months of deadlock. translation: it's up to us to have the will to shape our country. it's up to us to make these difficult times a success. and it is up to us to find answers for our party. i hope we can succeed together and i'm optimistic, because i think we can do it despite the difficulties. but what happens if the social democrats say no? well, there may be more talks to form a different type of coalition or perhaps a minority government, but the most likely scenario would be another election with no guarantee of a more decisive result. and for angela merkel and the country she leads, there is a lot riding on this vote. tim allman, bbc news. another country that may soon have to confront weeks of coalition

talks is italy. the polls open there in just under an hour's time as people vote for a new government. immigration and high youth unemployment have been the dominant issues of the campaign. polls suggest the former prime minister silvio berlusconi's centre—right alliance could emerge as the largest bloc in a hung parliament. julia ebner is a research fellow at the london based institute for strategic dialogue, who's been monitoring far—right activity in the run—up to the election. we have seen italian extreme right groups mobilising across the country but also joining up and collaborating with international far right groups to influence the election outcome in favour of far right parties, particular lega nord. they have especially mobilised in the online space, the online discourse, co—ordinating their activity in private messaging groups to then push it out into the mainstream. that is something we have seen in

previous elections, especially folly the german election campaigns that will let wi-fi the german election campaigns that will let wi—fi right extremist in germany and i have a tremendous impact on setting the agenda for the online discourse but then also influencing some of the political topics that were actually pick up both by the media but also then in the debates between politicians to thatis the debates between politicians to that is something where we see them increasingly being able to shape the discourse in the run—up to elections and actually start getting into the top trends on social media by tricking the example the algorithms. some breaking news to bring you now. south korea is sending a high—level delegation to visit north korea on monday for talks that are widely expected to focus on resuming dialogue between the communist state and the united states. according to state media, the south korean president moon jae—in has named his top security adviser and the chief of the country's spy

agency as his special envoys to pyongyang. the delegation is then expected to travel to the united states. in guatemala, various local initiatives are under way to reduce plastic pollution in the country. a study has reported that guatemalans use one billion plastic bags per month. virginia langeberg has the story. francisco is doing what he can to try to turn around guatemala's plastic pollution problem. using mayan fabric to make reusable cotton bags and weave a new way forward for local communities. it's lengthy work, all done by hand. but for francisco, and for the bigger picture, the payoff is worth it. translation: when we work the land, we find plastic bags covering the seeds, and the seeds do not grow. it's a disaster. it is difficult to quantify

the scale of the problem but one local university study reported that guatemalans were using i billion plastic bags monthly. translation: we are being very moderate with our number, but we know it's a problem that affects us all. it's the equivalent of filling our local lake five times over with the number of plastic bags used each month. some guatemalan communities have now ended the use of plastic bags. and in the markets, the conscious changes can be seen, with locals using banana leaves to wrap food, and others replacing plastic cups with cardboard. each change helping to tailor a new future with less pollution. a night of rainbow flags, sequins and flamboyant displays has

helped celebrate a milestone year for sydney's gay and lesbian mardi gras. hundreds of thousands of people turned out for the massive street party, which this year marked a0 years since activists first marched in the city for lgbt rights. it's also australia's first parade since legalising same sex marriage by public survey in december. the as warmup to its famous gay and lesbian mardi gras parade. the 40th anniversary of the original march and the first since australia said yes to same—sex marriage. and the first since australia said yes to same—sex marriagelj and the first since australia said yes to same-sex marriage. i feel like this is a really important platform for me to show myself as a middle eastern australian in address and show a different side of us. people that don't have my phone

number. it means being loved and acce pt number. it means being loved and accept that and, you know, being acknowledged. 40 years, it is a big thing, a milestone. writing up front, the self—styled bikes on bikes kicked off a night of colour, music, costumes and glitter. there isa music, costumes and glitter. there is a party going on right here. over 200 floats paraded down sydney polls oxford street from drag queens the giant bottles of champagne and lgbt icon cher. but for many, the most significant float is that of the 78ers, dedicated to the original activist who marched 40 years ago in syd ney activist who marched 40 years ago in sydney and were met with police violence. it is wonderful, exhilarating to have such a wonderful audience to look at us and cheer us and all that. we didn't have any of that 40 years ago. very proud pride march still glowing

from the yes vote. here in the uk, pubs will be allowed to stay open late to celebrate the wedding of prince harry and the american actress meghan markle. the big day is getting closer and now pubs will be able to stay open longer. cheers! on the friday night before the royal wedding and a saturday night at golf licensing hours of being extended till one against the people have more time to raise a glass to the happy couple. it isa raise a glass to the happy couple. it is a great idea, and let people celebrate and bring people together. to connect people to the royal family we need to be able to celebrate as well. very much in favour! it is being all pubs need. this has happened before, including for the wedding of the duke and duchess of cambridge and the queen's 90th birthday. it is the home

secretary who can briefly loosened licensing laws for special occasions. of course the royal wedding coincides with this year's fa cup final on the 19th of may but the government says there have been no reports of increased disorder when proper rules have previously been relaxed in this way. it is all about community, it is about coming together and celebrating, whether it is football are wedding and i think actually it will be a great day the people and pubs. on friday prince harry and meghan markle announced over 1000 members of the public will be invited to the grounds of windsor castle to join be invited to the grounds of windsor castle tojoin in be invited to the grounds of windsor castle to join in the celebrations and he wedding bells chime. drinkers will hear a familiar peel through. bell rings. just a little later than normal. jessica parker, bbc news. if you would like any more on both stories, go to our website. goodbye. hello, thanks forjoining me.

our latest look at how the weather will pan out in the british isles for the next few days or so. the good news is the forthcoming week looks as though it will be nowhere near as brutal as the weather we have just experienced. having said that, it will tend to stay really rather unsettled. nothing unusual for the time of year. the area of low pressure driving the weather at the moment is in fact going to be with us for the rest of the weekend and on into the start of the forthcoming week. at least while that area of low pressure is around we are looking towards the atlantic, rather than towards the continent, scandinavia and siberia, where all of that cold weather came from that has affected so many so very badly in recent days. and the first signs of something a little milder is already there to be had across parts of the far south. not that much further north though. many more of you are having to contend with scenes very much more like that.

there will be a rather wintry flavour to the start of the day across the northern half of the british isles. temperatures in the major towns and cities will be below zero. as a consequence, there will be a widespread problem of untreated surfaces with ice. that does notjust extended in northern half of the british isles, some spots further south are covered by met office warnings. having said that, much of what falls from the skies during sunday will be watery rather than wintry. there will be plenty of it as well, eventually across east anglia and south—east. the north, the high ground, further wintry showers across northern and eastern parts of scotland. increasingly, just beginning to move away from sea level. no great problems with the fixture there. manchester city taking on chelsea at the top of the premier league. the forthcoming week, as i have tried to reassure you already, you need some, the snow will become increasingly confined to the hills

northern britain. things will stay fairly unsettled. this is a snapshot for monday. we see further rain close to the centre of the low pressure down towards the south—western quarter. there is still some wintriness, particularly on the higher ground of northern scotland, elsewhere really not too bad at all as a start to the week. many more of you will be getting to work and notice the temperature is beginning to creep up, nine, ten, 11 degrees or so. here we are continuing a trend, certainly across other parts, double figure temperatures. they are on the way up across northern britain as well. this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump has threatened, in a tweet, to impose additional tariffs on cars imported from europe. it follows the eu's promise to retaliate if the us imposes tariffs on steel. mr trump wants to tackle the american trade deficit, but some of his advisers are understood to be urging caution. football's rule—making body has approved the use of video technology

for all national and international competitions. it's now up to individual football leagues to decide if and when to introduce what's called var. the system is expected to be used in this summer's world cup in russia. a human rights group says pro—government forces in syria have recaptured about 10% of the rebel—held enclave of eastern ghouta outside damascus. more than 100 civilians have been killed in eastern ghouta since the united nations security council called for a ceasefire one week ago.