this is bbc news. top stories: the white house says it wants to see concrete steps from north korea before a summit between president trump and kimjong—un can take place. a former us drug company executive who became infamous for hiking the price of a life—saving medicine is sentenced to seven years in prison. the british army on the streets of the city of salisbury as chemical warfare experts investigate the suspected poisoning of a former spy. the suspected poisoning of a former spy. and she was an american hero who disappeared without a trace 18 yea rs who disappeared without a trace 18 years ago. as the mystery surrounding aviation pay near amelia earhart‘s finally been sold? —— solved. welcome to bbc world news. let's

talk, the offer from welcome to bbc world news. let's talk, the offerfrom north korea was simple. the response from washington unexpected. the white house now says it wants to see concrete steps from north korea before president trump needs kim jong—un. nevertheless, north korea before president trump needs kimjong—un. nevertheless, the reaction has been appallingly positive. at the open of the paralympic winter games in south korea, president moon thank the two leaders for a step which he said was already helping to realise a new global peace. elsewhere president xi jinping of china spoke with his us counterpart in a phone call, praising the positive aspiration of the talks and urging them to begin as soon as possible. meanwhile us vice president mike pence, who recently travelled to south korea, was quick to point out that his administration made no concessions in order to secure the talks. rather it was north korea who caved in i agreeing to discuss giving up its

weapons programme and hold all nuclear and missile tests. our north america correspondent nick bryant has the latest. like the kid who couldn't keep the secret, donald trump slipped into the white house press room and told reporters to expect a huge statement on a big subject. here we go, here we go. sure enough, a delegation from south korea soon stepped before the microphones to make one of the mostjaw dropping diplomatic announcements in decades. after delivering to the president a personal message from kim jong—un. he expressed his eagerness to meet president trump as soon as possible. president trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet kim jong—un by may to achieve permanent denuclearisation. prior to arriving in washington, they had held a meeting in pyongyang with kimjong—un offering a warm hand of friendship rather than rattling his usual sabre. orchestral music plays.

on state tv the schmaltzy soundtrack doubled as diplomatic mood music, because the north korean leader offered to abandon his nuclear arsenal in return for security guarantees in the united states. then came a sentimental farewell. kim jong—un sent them off notjust with a wave, but an invitation to mr trump — the most improbable of overtures. orchestral music plays. donald trump agreed to the invitation insta ntly, a ppa re ntly without pre—conditions, without even consulting aides. perhaps that explains the confusion at the white house tonight, with aides playing catch—up and demanding verifiable actions by north korea before the summit can take place. the president will not have the meeting without seeing concrete steps and concrete actions take place by north korea. so the president would actually be getting something. frankly, the world would be getting something. north korea's nuclear and missile capability has posed

the toughest foreign policy dilemma for successive administrations. us presidents have always turned down offers of face—to—face meetings. only yesterday america's top diplomat ruled out direct talks with any us officials. in terms of direct talks with the united states and us negotiations, we're a long way from negotiations. what the white house is certain is about that the president's tough talk has exerted maximum pressure on pyongyang. they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. "rocket man" is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime. this is a huge gamble which offers pyongyang a propaganda coup without much ground work and without a guarantee of success. but all of donald trump's presidential predecessors have failed to halt north korea's nuclear programme, so perhaps it's worth this dramatic new gesture. two combustible leaders dealing with what is potentially the world's

most combustible problem. diplomacy akin to a las vegas title fight. the international summit of the century. key to unlocking the talks was the willingness of north korea too, in the words of the south, to commit to denuclearisation. they did so while accepting that the us military exercises in south korea would continue, something the north has not oppose. in the past pyongyang has made it clear it's a lot is to give up its nuclear weapons without major security concessions in turn from the us. in november 2016 the north korea to donald trump's election victory with commentary in its state newspaper saying: ? election victory with commentary in its state newspaper saying:? in election victory with commentary in its state newspaper saying: ? injuly last year after successfully testing

its first intercontinental ballistic missile, kim jong—un said: in december, north korea's newsagency said it would continue to develop its capability, to launch a pre—emptive nuclear strike, : so is this a major change of policy on the pa rt this a major change of policy on the part of north korea? earlier i spoke to the director of the programme on us korea policy and the council on the relation, stop —— scott snyder and asked if he thinks north korea is really committed to denuclearisation? with regard to denuclearisation, what we have is a mediated statement of intent by kimjong—un, that refers to the behest of his father

and grandfather, for denuclearisation, it runs directly into contradictory and with the more recent —— contradiction with the more recent statements that you read, as well as the core strategic policy of north korea, to focus on nuclear and economic development simultaneously. so that contradiction has to be resolved before you can say that north korea is fully committed to denuclearisation. even this word, denuclearisation, is their common agreement what it means from pyongyang, to washington? the one time we have seen the north koreans use it in the past, has been to agree with a counterpart on a word, but then assign a different meaning to it. and so that is precisely the reason why the idea of going in to a top—level meeting between leaders is making people feel uncomfortable, because it needs to be accompanied

by the lower level bureaucratic or assess that would be necessary —— process that would be necessary to secure full understanding on the definitions of the terms and the meaning of the steps that the greeters might —— leaders might agree to. the nude music from washington —— mood music from washington —— mood music from washington seems to be that we will have this big summit and then the talks and negotiations will work out from there, howl that work?” talks and negotiations will work out from there, howl that work? i think we had a bit of buyers from all strong secondary centres today, but basically —— sarah centres today. basically would be for trump and kim to define the relationship, and define parameters for potential cooperation that would then have two be nailed down through a bureaucratic process that would follow. this is a very unusual

approach because normally we think about the american president as the close of a negotiation rather than the opener of negotiation. but it does fit with kim jong—un's style in that he is the any person that matters when it comes to negotiating, and it is necessary to talk to him when it comes to getting an agreement. martin shkreli, the former drug company executive to up to price of a life—saving aids medication by 5000 % in 2015 has been found guilty of fraud and sentenced to seven yea rs of fraud and sentenced to seven years in prison. shkreli, known —— has made headlines two years ago for jacking up the price of the jug has made headlines two years ago for jacking up the price of thejug —— drug daraprim from. afterwards he was found guilty of forgery from

hedge funds. the judge said it was a pattern of conduct. rebecca o'brien isa pattern of conduct. rebecca o'brien is a reporterfor the pattern of conduct. rebecca o'brien is a reporter for the wall street journal who has been covering the case in new york, and jones is now. thank you for coming on the programme. “— thank you for coming on the programme. —— joins us. thank you for coming on the programme. ——joins us. he has thank you for coming on the programme. —— joins us. he has not been sentenced or found programme. —— joins us. he has not been sentenced orfound guilty programme. —— joins us. he has not been sentenced or found guilty for the reasons that he is notorious, is he? that's correct, that has been a strange part of this entire trial, it isa strange part of this entire trial, it is a duality, of the entire trial. martin shkreli was on trial ona trial. martin shkreli was on trial on a securities contract that had nothing to do with the activities that have made him so notorious, the drug price hikes, the twitterfeuds, the appearance before congress several years ago, and the judge today in fact said she was not considering his social media provocations in her sentencing. of course his character has been the background and sometimes the centre of the stroll from the beginning. what kind of character has emerged

during this court case? it is interesting, the federal prosecutor you quoted earlier had pinned something down and i think, and a few other reporters and i were discussing it, that he has this need to be seen, that emerged during the trial and beforehand, his status is that he wants everyone to believe that, his image is very central to who he is. he presents himself as a whiz kid, financial... he has this brash public persona, he tends to provoke people on the internet, he also buy many account is a very smart young man, he went to a good school here in new york and successfully convinced any people to invest in his hedge fund. he does seem to be, he is very clever, and the question is, what martin shkreli

did at the end of the day, it was a questioner was asked during the trial, and has asked since. did he show any remorse? he did, during the sentencing today, his defence lawyer spoke and said" please don't sentencing for being martin shkreli." the prosecutor said that his image is who he is and what he has cultivated, and... after he a p pa re ntly has cultivated, and... after he apparently threatened or solicited threats on... his personality is who he is. and today at the end of his three—hour sentencing hearing he appeared to choke up in court and get tearful and say "i am a responsible, i am ashamed of myself

and my disgraceful actions, but he saidi and my disgraceful actions, but he said i am not a victim. and my disgraceful actions, but he said i am nota victim. he and my disgraceful actions, but he said i am not a victim. he did appear to be crying and losing his composure in court. and thejudge said she didn't quite buy that he was fully remorseful, but it was clear that he was overwhelmed by the prospect of going to prison are a very long time. it has been a fascinating case, rebecca o'brien from the wall streetjournal, thank you forjoining us. let's look at some more stories making the news. the national rifle association has filed a suit challenging the gun safety bill of the us state of florida which was signed into law earlier. the organisation says that the bill is unconstitutional. the bill — proposed in the wake of the school shooting at parkland— raises the legal age for buying rifles from 18 to 21. the german chancellor has warned that no—one could win in what she called a "race to the bottom", amid concerns that heavy new us tariffs on steel and aluminium could launch a global trade war.

angela merkel said it would be best if the european union was exempted. the eu is seeking talks on the issue. britain has drafted in the military, following the nerve agent attack on a former russian spy and his daughter in the city of salisbury. they'll help remove vehicles and objects from the scene which may have been contaminated. sergei and yulia skreepal are still critically ill sergei and yulia skripal are still critically ill in hospital, while the policeman who tried to help them remains in a serious condition. tom symonds reports. it began with unprotected police officers dealing with an unexplained medical emergency. this evening, the military was called in at salisbury hospital. troops, trained to tackle chemical warfare, supporting a british police investigation. their mission includes securing possibly contaminated evidence — painstaking work. the stakes are high. as ministry of defence we have been supporting the police in their investigations

through the work of military scientists at porton down. we will continue to do that. another task — dealing with contaminated vehicles. this police car may have been driven to the hospital after the incident. 180 troops will be involved in this phase of the investigation. they have all the chemical agent monitors, the personal protective equipment, respirators etc that allow them to safely, and they will probably take this kit to porton down or perhaps winterbourne gunner, where it can be decontaminated effectively. they're also expected to secure sergei skripal‘s car and there are ambulances which may have traces of the nerve agent. across the city, scenes that might have come from a disaster movie. this isjust a graveyard, but it contains the graves of sergei skripal‘s wife and his son alexander. he died last year. again, no official explanation for all this. the dates on alexander's grave may be relevant. last week, before

the nerve agent attack, was the anniversary of his birth. did his father and sister visit the grave at some point? sergei skripal remains in a critical condition. his daughter yulia the same, but she is responding better to treatment. salisbury has become a multi—location crime scene, a city of disturbing images and unanswered questions. who wanted to kill them? why? how did they do it? what will happen next? tonight the evidence is being gathered. there is plenty still to come on bbc news. she was american hero who disappeared without a trace 80 years ago, has the mystery surrounding and merely a heart finally been solved?

—— amelia earhart finally been solved? 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.

this is bbc news. the latest headline: the trump administration says it's given no concessions to north korea over the agreement on a summit with kim jong—un. an aid convoy which entered a besieged rebel enclave on the outskirts of the syrian capital has crossed back into government held—territory. 13 trucks carrying food were unloaded in eastern ghouta, before heading back to damascus. this is the emergency aid convoy inside eastern ghouta today. according to the icrc it came dangerously close to the firing line. the convoy was meant to deliver food supplies on monday, but was forced to leave because of ongoing fighting. 0pposition activists say about a thousand people have been

killed in air strikes and shelling in just two weeks. the un high commissioner for refugees filippo grandi has called the civil war in syria as a colossal human tragedy. he says deteriorating conditions on the ground means it it still too unsafe for refugees to return. you know what is tragic about syria? there was a time when people fled outside the country. there was a time, there is still a time when people are fleeing within the country. but for those trapped inside isn't it, who we reached with eight convoy today, there is no option today. —— inside eastern ghouta. there is no option. it could not get worse for any civilian. this is one of the most tragic situations we have seen in a long time from a humanitarian perspective. but what i am worried about with the persistence of the crisis and the difficulties that people had to return to make the decision to

return, they won't go back right now. that support to live and on and other host countries in the region, jordan cope, act, turkey, and others, we must not lower the guard, we must lower the course. the medium to long—term challenges like employment and the impact on host communities, especially here in lebanon on, we were at the border with syria, yesterday. the meas of the border communities were telling us the border communities were telling us that the scarce water reserves are completely depleted. this is why it is extremely important, especially in a relatively fragile country like lebanon to continue to invest both in the humanitarian response, but also in the support to local communities in developmental aid, which, by the way, can have longer term beneficial effects, even

if it will go back, even if refugees go back, they will stay for the benefit of lebanon on and its communities. police in central sri lanka say they have recovered more than twenty home—made petrol bombs during search operations in a district which has seen a wave of communal violence. attacks against the islamic community erupted on monday and were led by nationalist crowds. police say the situation in kandy has now improved significantly with only minor incidents reported in the past 48 hours. david campanale has more. after a state of emergency and thousands of troops on the streets, kandy is now a showing signs return to normality. but local muslims remain fearful after days of violent attacks against homes and businesses. more than 150 houses, shops, and vehicles are estimated to destroyed in the riots, which were sparked after a group of muslim men we re sparked after a group of muslim men were accused of killing a sinhalese

man. muhamed lost his cousin and house when the crowds turned on their muslim neighbours. they came straightaway and they hit the houses. they have some kind of petrol or something like that. they just hit the petrol something. and try to burning the houses and stuff like that. any tax, the mosque was set on fire. it is one of several in the area targeted by mobs. because of the damage done, friday prayers we re of the damage done, friday prayers were conducted in a school playground under military protection. our mosque has been destroyed. we had no place to prey. we asked the government, we need peace. they won anything for us. we just want peace. the authorities insist that the situation in kandy

has improved significantly, with only minor incidents in the last few days. some arrests have been made, with the most important people having been identified. plus the people should believe in the justice of this country and the law of this land, and if they are being treated and punished accordingly in a way that they should be satisfied, they should be trusting in that. businesses remain closed as the country tries to pick up the pieces. and the police curfew has been continued in kandy and tell early saturday. foreign visitors to the town, a prime tourist destination, are exempt if carrying their passports. david campa nale, are exempt if carrying their passports. david campanale, bbc news. bones discovered on a pacific island in 19110 are likely to be those of famed pilot amelia earhart. earhart, her plane, and her navigator vanished without a trace in 1937 over the pacific ocean. many theories have sought to explain her disappearance. but a new study claims these bones prove she died

as an island castaway. cordelia hemming reports. these are the very last pictures of amelia earhart, the american aviator famous for flying solo across the atlantic. her tough character and high profile advocating for aviation and other women, particularly women pilots, made her a legendary figure. the flight is one that has never been accomplished — around the world by the equator. in 1937 she set off in an attempt to fly across the globe, but she vanished over the pacific ocean during one of the last legs of that trip. a disappearance that would lead to multiple theories. three years later, a british party explored an island in the pacific ocean south—west of hawaii. they found items including a human skull and a bottle of herbal liqueur which the pilot was known to carry.

the investigation at the time believed that the remains belonged to a man. but doubt has been cast on that conclusion. a study has used historical photographs to determine that her body proportions match the skeletal remains. scientists say that when the remains were found, the study of bones was in its early stages so their results may not have been accurate. how about taking me along? gasoline is more valuable than you are on a long flight! earhart once said of her solo activities, "it is far easier to start something than to finish it." now, more than 80 years since her disappearance, it seems as though this mystery may be nearing its end. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @duncangolestani. goodbye for now. hello there. a different feel to the

weather this weekend. it looks like weather this weekend. it looks like we will see mild conditions for most of us compare to what we had last weekend. a big area of low pressure moving up from the south—west, feeding in the mild air. but a lot of cloud and also a lot of rain, too. rain continues to move north during the overnight period. not really reaching the northern half of scotland. here it will remain chilly. milder air scotland. here it will remain chilly. milderairfeeding scotland. here it will remain chilly. milder airfeeding into england and wales. by saturday morning, 10— 11 degrees the overnight low here. cold across central and northern scotland, with frosty start the day. we can smile. both saturday and sunday. that mild air spreads into scotland as well. it will be cloudy with some rain. but given sunshine, you will feel the mildness. 0ne front will be followed by another following later in the day. a messy picture to start

saturday. the rain will lie across northern ireland, northern england, pushing into scotland. so in the high ground there is an account is the cold air. cos will see some dry weather before this next rain comes through. for 0rkney and shetland here it will be equal day. temperatures in single figures was sunshine across the fort, far north to scotland. —— across the far north to scotland. —— across the far north to scotland. —— across the far north to scotland. it will tell whether through the day. the showery band of rain will move north. notice the temperatures 14— 15 degrees. you could even see 16 celsius given some prolonged sunny spells. the dry weather across the south—west will continue to advance northwards during saturday night. into sunday, it looks like it will bea into sunday, it looks like it will be a cloudy damp start. but there will be brightness across the northern half of the country. though the south, showers developing. some could be heavy, predicts even find

beauty. —— heavy, even thundery. this is the pressure chart into monday. this area of pressure will bring some rain into the southern half of the country, with strong winds at times, too. heavy rain for england wales. sherry by sport england wales. sherry by sport england and wales. brightness into the afternoon, the best of the dry and bright in northern ireland and southern scotland. double figures for most with a high of 12 or 13 across the south. mild for most of the week. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: president from's spokeswoman has said a proposed meeting between the president and the north korean leader kimjong would not happen unless washington sees concrete steps or actions by pyongyang. —— kim jong—un. sees concrete steps or actions by pyongyang. —— kimjong—un. martin

shkreli a former us drug fund invested has been sentenced to seven yea rs invested has been sentenced to seven years in prison. he had become notorious for hiking the price of a life—saving medicine in 2015. the first aid convoy since the beginning of the week has crossed the front line into eastern ghouta year damascus. shelling force many trucks to turn back on monday. and british military personnel have been deployed to salisbury to help in the investigation into the intended murder of a russian double agent sergei skripal. before our next programme, let renew these pictures