hello, this is the briefing. i'm samantha simmonds. our top story: president trump agrees to an historic meeting with north korea's leader after months of threats and counter—threats. kim jong—un agrees to stop further nuclear and missile tests but the white house stresses sanctions must remain in place. in other news: widespread condemnation as the us president signs off hefty new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. two decades after being forced from power, the life of yugoslavia's former president, slobodan milosevic, is brought to the stage, in a controversial new musical. and in the business briefing: up, up... and away... is the dream of the flying car finally set for takeoff? and we'll have a report from the signing of one of the world's largest free—trade pacts, the revised trans pacific partnership. a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know

in global news, business and sport. of course you can get involved — let us know what you think — just use the hashtag bbc—the—briefing. it could be an historic, game—changing moment, on a global scale. president trump has agreed to meet the north korean leader, kimjung—un, within the next seven weeks. no sitting american president has ever met with a leader of north korea. the regime in pyongyang has also agreed to stop missile testing for as long as talks continue, and to talk about denuclearisation. in a moment, we'll get reaction from seoul and beijing, but first chris buckler reports on a momentous moment at the white house. with missiles and displays of military might, north korea has at times seemed nothing short of

defiant in the face of sanctions and international condemnation of its nuclear programme but despite appearances, it seems kim jong—un wa nts to appearances, it seems kim jong—un wants to talk. south korean officials are met the north korean leader says he is committed himself to denuclearisation and they have now delivered a message to the white house catching a completely offguard. kim pledged that north korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. he understands that the routine joint military exercises between the republic of korea and the united states must continue. and he expressed his eagerness to meet president trump as soon as possible. the idea of a face—to—face meeting by may seems remarkable. given the insults and threats hurled between

them. they will be met with fire and fury. rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself. but the tone has now changed. on twitter, donald trump said great progress was being made by sanctions will remain until agreement is reached. however, that meeting is being planned. less than 24 meeting is being planned. less than 2a hours earlier, the secretary of state seemed to think the idea of such an event was far—fetched. state seemed to think the idea of such an event was far-fetched. in terms of direct talks with united states and negotiations, we are long way from negotiations. wejust states and negotiations, we are long way from negotiations. we just need to be clear and not idealistic about it. some in the white house will urge cautious and there will be no suspension ofjoint military exercises involving the united states and south korea. this may be a move away from fire and fury and perhaps towards friendship but, in the long—term, that will depend if

that message coming from pyongyang is one of propaganda or progress. let's get reaction now from our correspondents, laura bicker is in seoul and stephen mcdonell is in beijing. let's go to seoul now and speak to our correspondent laura bicker. there has been reaction from the south korean president in the last few minutes? yes, he has said this isa few minutes? yes, he has said this is a victory for diplomacy. he said this could also lead to denuclearisation on the peninsulas. he seems to be welcoming these talks. it is something he has worked towards. he has engineered this deft diplomatic move. you saw the opening on kim jong—un‘s new year ‘s speech and he took it and grasp it and since then there have been busy diplomatic efforts between the two visits between north and south culminating in this invitation from

kim jong—un to president trump but let's put the brakes on for a little minute because they have been overture is in the past. this is the first time the invitation has been accepted by the white house. when it comes to those two sides talking, it isa comes to those two sides talking, it is a huge political gamble. the risks are there. it could just be that north korea is playing for time, playing with president trump, knowing that this is going to be a propaganda coup for kim jong—un, knowing his day will be mentioned across the us networks, or it could be the big prize is inside and that denuclearisation is possible. in south korea, it has been widely welcomed. they want peace and they

wa nt to welcomed. they want peace and they want to find a way for their neighbour to be at peace. but right now they have that decades of this tumultuous freeze and saul and they wa nt to tumultuous freeze and saul and they want to know if it is going to lead to some kind of result. —— thaw. our correspondent stephen mcdonnell is in beijing for us. what reaction from north korea is key ally, china? we will be hearing from the foreign ministry in the coming hours and i can to view they will be welcoming this move. it is standard line for washington and pyongyang to sit down and talk to one another. china hosted the failed six years of six party talk and they say they have been doing their best. beijing could argue that they are the ones who have applied the most pressure to north korea via those

sanctions. 80 plus % of north korea's exports are coming through china. they rely on china so much and as soon as china cut the seaford, textiles, coal, all the straight, it really has put the pressure on north korea and the other thing interesting to watch is whether or not china might even offer at beijing as a place for the two to meet because, after all, where donald trump and kimjong—un are going to meet i don't know. probably not the demilitarised zone. maybe geneva, europe. but obviously beijing could be another possibility because china will be seen as an honest broker, someone who has tried to bring both sides together but we will know much more about this, we are hoping, in the coming hours when the press briefing is on. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news.... pressure is growing on british

counter—terrorism police to identify the origin of the nerve agent used to attack the former russian spy, sergei skripal, and his daughter, yulia. they remain critically ill after collapsing in the city on sunday. the policeman who rushed to their aid is in a serious but stable condition — and conscious. president trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort, has pleaded not guilty to new criminal charges stemming from the investigation into alleged russian interference in the 2016 election. he's accused of fraud in relation to lobbying work he carried out for a russia—backed former ukrainian president. a new study has concluded that bones discovered on a pacific island in 1940 are likely to be the remains of the american aviator, amelia earhart. she disappeared in 1937 while attempting to fly around the world. scientists re—examined the bones‘ measurements and dismissed earlier findings that they belonged to a man. a row has broken out over a barbie doll released in the image of the mexican artist, frida kahlo, to mark international women's day. the artist's great niece says

she owns the rights to use the painter‘s image, and toymaker mattel does not have the proper authorisation. but both the frida kahlo corporation and mattel have rejected the claim. president trump has followed through on his campaign promise and signed an order putting steel and aluminium tariffs in place. the decision is the most significant set of us import restrictions in nearly half a century, taxing steel imports at 25% and aluminium at 10%. jonathan charles, director of communications at the european bank for reconstruction and developmentjoins me now. he made these campaign pledge and followed through. there are exemptions but still a lot of people, not least within his party, are upset about it. it was a bit quiet, it the platform he was

elected on. but the question is whether it triggers a real trade war. he says there will be some exemptions for canada and mexico, particularly while they are really do seated in the nafta deal, the north america canada free—trade agreement. there may be some american interest in exempting canada and mexico because a lot of the car industry, the motor industry, takes imports from canada and imports and it would have been very difficult for some manufacturers without that. we have to see what retaliation there will be. from the chinese, who are the primary target, but also from the european union and they have done some work in the past few weeks trying to identify which area of the american economy, exports, by vulnerable. the chinese are thinking of targeting soya bean exports,

putting a big tariff on that. this is incredibly controversial inside the us. on the one hand, the people who used steel and aluminium made benefit in terms ofjobs but consumers will suffer because prices will probably go up and then there are other areas of the economy which may be targeted with a lot of pain for some. president trump is defending the decision by linking this with national security. he seems to be suggesting that it does undermine us production in key areas to have cheap imports but also saying that some of these exemptions might be expanded to other countries and there have been some suggestions that, for example, if countries spend more on defence spending they may get an exemption. i have never heard that and i think it is symptomatic of some of the freethinking we're getting out of the white house these days. some

days you get suggestion which are out of kilter with conventional economic thinking. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme: how yugoslavia's former president, slobodan milosevic, is being brought back to life, through a stage show, two decades after he was forced from power. the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 2a hours then the soviet union lost an elderly sick leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots in the gym. then he came out through a fire exit and started firing at our huts. god, we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, sentenced to 99 years and due for parole when he's 90, travelled from memphis jail

to nashville state prison in an eight—car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to be married at last? it feels fine, thank you. what are you going to do now? is it going to change your life much do you think? i don't know really. i've never been married before. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: president trump moves to impose new tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium — sparking fears of a global trade war. the president has also agreed to hold a historic meeting with the north korean leader, kim jong—un. following months of threats, it appears to be a major breakthrough. let's stay with that story now. doctorjohn park is director of the korea working group at the harvard kennedy school and hejoins us now from cambridge, massachussetts. to the much forjoining as him bbc

news. what is your reaction to this development and what in your view is the chance of something new coming out of it? is a hours now since this announcement came out and frankly, it is still quite stunning. —— it is a few hours now. if you think of north korean denuclearisation as a minefield map, it is almost as if they are sprinting through it. there area they are sprinting through it. there are a lot of different aspects of this process, we need to see a road map, we need to see what co—ordination will take place, we need to see a sitting us president donald trump meeting with the north korean leader kim jong won as something that does not add up at this point. rushing into something like this is something considered to be very delicate. we're talking seven weeks before they meet, we do

not know exactly where they will meet or what is going to be on the table. we do know though that kim jong—un has said he is committed to denuclearisation, that has taken eve ryo ne denuclearisation, that has taken everyone by surprise. well, the statement is that, it is a collection of words that he is committed to denuclearisation. the actual steps involved to come to that end point is a long and very difficult road, so to have this meeting with president trump my mate, you see the lack of matching up mate, you see the lack of matching up in terms of the statement or promise, if you will, of an actual event that would be of historic proportions. i guess people, experts such as yourself, it might want to urge caution because they have been many talks involving north korea in the past and they have committed to various things and then walked away. is there a danger that this could happen in this case, obviously with diplomacy failing but that if it

does, it could have really dire consequences from both sides reacting more extremely if they do fail? i think so. reacting more extremely if they do fail? ithink so. if reacting more extremely if they do fail? i think so. if you look at the events of 2016, north korea conducted ballistic missile test, the first on july four conducted ballistic missile test, the first onjuly four had the ability to reach alaska. the second one onjuly ability to reach alaska. the second one on july 28 ability to reach alaska. the second one onjuly 28 had the ability to reach all the way to chicago, and the last one or the way to miami. essentially, the totality of the united states. those are the facts and so to have the type of dialogue where you are addressing this threat, that is still very much in the background, so to have this kind of historic meeting, that is not negate those events from last year. what i think is behind this move from north korea? do you think that the sanctions really are biting there or is this about trying to separate south korea from its key

ally, america? so there is that strategic aspect. there are two dominant theories outplacement, one is that sanctions are starting to hurt and we are seeing the result, as this theory goes, with kim jong—un coming to these talks. a second theory is that kim jong—un is essentially in the phase of the most technical phase of this project, which necessitates testing things very meticulously, so why not sell that as freeze and benefit from doing that. doctorjohn park, thank you very much for your analysis. thank you. it's almost 20 years since yugoslavia's former president, slobodan milosevic, was forced from power to face a war crimes tribunal in the hague. he died in custody, but now he's making a controversial comeback on the stage.

the slobodan show is a musical with milosevic as its central character. itjust premiered in a majority ethnic—serb part of kosovo. our balkans correspondent, guy de launey, saw the show in development in belgrade. back from the dead, it is more than a decade since his demise in the hague tribunal‘s detention unit but it seems that slobodan milosevic has unfinished business. show business to be precise. it is called the slobodan show, and the infamous former president is the major character. translation: by interpretation of the character will have to make sure the audience understands no person is either wholly good or holy that. each bad side is balanced by a good one and vice—versa. the work developed in rehearsals, a leading up to the

premier and the majority ethnic serb pa rt premier and the majority ethnic serb part of kosovo. —— in the. the tour will follow. it sounds incredibly provocative but the right to insist this is no celebration. —— writer. society never decides, never deeply decides and finds conclusions about if he is guilty or he is not, and shameful society and good for us if we are here to pose these kinds of questions. this is the visible legacy of the milosevic europe, it shattered government buildings from the nato bombing campaign almost 20 yea rs the nato bombing campaign almost 20 years ago. these are the only monument is that you will find two slobodan milosevic in serbia's capital. some people see them as a reminder of nato aggression but others view them as a warning about ultra— nationalism's ruinous

consequences for people, as well as for buildings. this film director consistently opposed milosevic in the 1990s, but he supports the musical‘s decision to revisit the era. translation: the younger generation actually do not know what it was like under milosevic. they think this is a generally known thing, the milosevic age that they do not know the situation as it was back then. so, the slobodan show is not just a back then. so, the slobodan show is notjust a musical partner balancing act. making meaningful reflections on the milosevic europe without inadvertently singing the nationalist‘s tune. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. angela merkel will attend a summit on the german economy in munich. the opening ceremony of the 2018 winter paralympic games takes place in pyeongchang. teams from north and south korea will not march together. and the french president emmanuel macron arrives in india

for a three day visit, with the hope of deepening trade and diplomatic ties. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello. coming up on this programme... we look ahead to the start of the largest ever paralympic games. and arsene wengerfinally largest ever paralympic games. and arsene wenger finally has something to cheer about. just when you thought the events in pyeongchang were over, reaction is about to get under way once again with winter paralympic games. —— the action. the opening ceremony is now just a few hours away, the action will feature 370 athletes competing for 80 medals across 60 different sports. we have more athletes than ever, more countries than ever, more

broadcasters than ever. the athletes are happy with the venues, we have a very winter atmosphere. there is a lot of snow, as i am really excited, i cannot wait for the opening ceremony on the action to begin in the next day. cricket now and it is winner takes all in the fifth and final one—day international between new zealand and england in christchurch. this —— new zealand are riding high after they won thanks mainly to a stunning 190 not out from batsmen ross taylor. jonny ba i rstow out from batsmen ross taylor. jonny bairstow says it is all set up to be a fantastic decider. this is what we play for, it is the reason why you pay international sport is these games, andi pay international sport is these games, and i think we have worked really nicely to put ourselves into that pressure and obviously looking forward to the world cup, but at the same time, taking into account where we are as a team and as you say, it

is also a cracker in christchurch. having had the western conference for most of the season, the reigning nba champions the golden state warriors now have some competition at the top, thanks to an incredible 17 game winning streak, the houston rocket is are the new leaders. steph curry and his team will be looking to keep the pressure on. next up, they take on the portland trailblazers, who are enjoying their own good run of form of late. last time out, they cruised past the new york knicks111—87. arsenal put their recent problems to one side with a polished performance against ac milan to give them the upper hand in their europa league last 16 tie. arsene wenger‘s side got off to a perfect start when henrikh mkhitaryan opened the

scoring after 15 minutes with his first goalfor the cloud. scoring after 15 minutes with his first goal for the cloud. just before half—time, aaron ramsey made it 2-0, before half—time, aaron ramsey made it 2—0, and that sealed arsenal's fifth win in as many games in all competitions. look, we have won again. we have not — we have not qualified. and the result will mean it will be a relief to be in the team again, because when you lose three games in six days, it's always very difficult. but, and we want to keep our focus and finish the job next week. that's what our target is. purple smoke filled the sky is in florence. teammates, fans, politicians and former rivals alike

—— davide astori was laid to rest. fellow footballers attended his funeral, where his coffin was flanked by children wearing his team's tracksuits, who formed a guard of honour. do not forget you can get all the latest sports news over on our website. at the media, thatis over on our website. at the media, that is your friday sport briefing. thank you. just a reminder of our breaking news, president trump has agreed to hold talks with kim jong—unin agreed to hold talks with kim jong—un in what could be the first ever meeting between a sitting american president and north korean leader. pyongyang is said to have agreed to refrain from any further nuclear tests. we'll have more on that story, stay with us here on bbc news. good morning.

a better start to the day today, compared with yesterday, especially across parts of northern england and north wales, and we saw that disruptive snow. but, afterfinishing yesterday with some sunshine, the clear skies through the night means a cold start to friday. temperatures widely at or below freezing, but at least it does mean most will start with a bright start — sunshine. there will be an area of showers, some of those wintry over the higher ground of scotland, and a few showers here and there across scotland during the day. most, though, will get through the morning dry. sunniest conditions overall through the day will be northern ireland, southern scotland, and northern england. any early brightness in the far south of england and wales will turn hazy, and then grey conditions into the afternoon. cloud spreading its way northwards and rain into devon, cornwall, south wales, and other southern counties by the middle part of the day. it does mean, though, we could see temperatures in sunny spots up to ten degrees, and up to 11 by the time we hit the evening across the south—west. rain, though, through the evening, will be spreading its way northwards across much of central, southern england, all of wales. it's all linked into this weather front, which could produce heavy

bursts of rain as it moves its way northwards. it's what follows in its wake which is of interest. we've got air coming all the way up from iberia, and so a big change to how things feel this weekend. it will take all day in scotland, but eventually the mild air will get in on saturday, and compared to what we've had of late, an incredibly mild couple of days, but with some rain at times. wettest conditions on saturday, first thing in the morning from east anglia, northern england, northern ireland into southern scotland. as that hits the cold air across scotland, we will see a spell of snow over the hills. nothing too disruptive expected at this stage, and then sunshine and a few showers fall in its wake to england, wales, and northern ireland later. but note the temperatures — 15, maybe 16 degrees across some parts of eastern england — could be some of the warmest air of the year so far. now, into saturday night, clear conditions developing quite quickly, as rain in northern scotland gradually clears away. we'll see some mist and fog, though, across scotland to take us into sunday. maybe the odd pocket of fog through eastern areas, but most places will be dry to start the day.

a little bit of sunshine developing across many of the areas. we will see breeze in the west, bringing a few showers for devon, cornwall, south—west england and to the west of wales. just have to watch this area of rain, though, through the southern north sea. there is potential that could be very close to east anglia and the south—east. but for most, a pleasant sunday afternoon, and a warm one in the sun. this is business briefing. i'm samantha simmonds. president trump has defied fears of a trade war, signing plans for steep new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to the us. mexico and canada are exempt, for now. up, up... and away. is the dream of the flying car finally set for takeoff... ? and on the markets: asian stocks rally as investors welcome news that donald trump is to meet kimjong—un to discuss north korea's nuclear programme.