i'm kasia madera in london. the headlines: the former first lady of the united states, barbara bush has died. she was 92. president trump admits high level talks are taking place between the united states and north korea but says he hasn't spoken with kim jong—un directly. i'm rico hizon in singapore. also on the programme: syria says weapons inspectors are set to visit the scene of douma's suspected chemical attack. a un security team are already there. stormy daniels speaks out again, this time revealing a sketch of the man she says threatened her to keep quiet about having sex with donald trump. live from our studios in z? 535 f: ’ ’ further medical treatment.

she said she wanted to spend her last days in "comfort care" with her family. laura trevelyan looks back at her life. barbara bush was a commanding matriarch. only second woman in american history to be both the wife ofa american history to be both the wife of a president and the mother of one. she was married to the 41st kim occu pa nt of one. she was married to the 41st kim occupant of the white house and raised the a3rd. born barbara third she met george hw bush at a school dance and were married in 1945 after his service as a naval pilot. barbara was credited with helping his political career by keeping a ca rdfile of everyone his political career by keeping a cardfile of everyone he ever met. at all paid off when george hw bush was all paid off when george hw bush was a let it first vice president to ronald reagan and then president. the office of president of the united states... barbara wore her trademark pearls at his

inauguration, confirming they hid the wrinkles in her neck. it was this honesty that helped endear her to the american public. as first lady she focused on promoting literacy, helping the most disadvantaged americans. the more people who can read, write and comprehend, we would be that much closer to solving so many of the problems that plague our nation. during the first gulf war in 1990, barbara bush spoke for the nation in calling for a speedy end to the conflict. we are all wishing for peace. when her son george w bush decided to run for president... barbara was back in the spotlight once again. after his two terms in office, she was regretting the lack office, she was regretting the lack of civility in public life. office, she was regretting the lack of civility in public lifeli office, she was regretting the lack of civility in public life. ijust hate it. i hate the fact that people think compromise is a dirty word. it is not a dirty word. by the time her sonjo dyer is not a dirty word. by the time her son jo dyer made is not a dirty word. by the time her sonjo dyer made his unsuccessful run for president in 2016, barbara

bush was a national icon. —— jeb. she was tough, plain and often —— plainspoken. the former us first lady, barbara bush, who has died at the age at 92. that news is just coming into us within the last few minutes. crossing live now to los angeles. peter... barbara bush had been in that hell for quite sometime now. yes, she had. we heard on sunday that she had decided to decline further treatment for her various health conditions. she was suffering from heart disease and to she wanted to focus on care at home. two days later we hear the news that she has passed away. you read a little bit of the statement earlier that we have had from her house ‘s office, president bush's offers. a former

first lady, barbara bush has passed away at the age of 92. as you said she was a proponent of family literacy and she leaves behind president george hw bush, five children and their spouses, 17 grandchildren and seven great—grandchildren and her brother, scott pierce. she will be sadly missed. she epitomised the notion of afamily missed. she epitomised the notion of a family matriarch. she was the rock behind the bush family as we saw time and time again when, of course, her husband was president and her son, george w bush became president as well. an extraordinarily strong character. as you mentioned, the only woman to have seen both her husband and her son sworn in as us president. a remarkable achievement. she equals that with abigail adams, many decades ago, the same scenario applied then. it was an

extraordinary achievement and not just her husband and her son but her extended family as well. jeb bush stood for president himself. they are quite apolitical family. there are quite apolitical family. there are younger generations in the family who people have pointed to was possible presidents of the future. who knows? and her family, they had been visiting her over the past week and she died with her family. that is the way she wanted. she refused medical treatment after a while, she wanted comfort care and to be surrounded by herfamily a while, she wanted comfort care and to be surrounded by her family and her last moments. yes. and that goes to the heart and soul of the woman. she generally got what she wanted. she generally got what she wanted. she was firm minded and opinionated over many issues. so to hear that she did not want to continue with medical care and be visited by

members of her family and to focus on comfort care in the final few days, there really was the woman we have known and that americans have known for so many years. thank you very much. that information just coming to us that in the last few moments we are getting details that barbara bush has passed away. she had been unwell for quite sometime and she refused care and wanted to be surrounded in comfort care with herfamily. michaeljohns is a former speech writerfor george bush and hejoins me from philadelphia. a remarkable woman, isn't she? she really is. the role of first lady throughout modern times in the united states is one that requires incredible strength and barbara bush,in incredible strength and barbara bush, in many respects, was one of the greatest first lady is we have ever had. she supported her husband

throughout a great number of significant positions. she contributed on her own to literacy which she felt quite passionate about. she engaged in speaking about that extensively and in bringing the country's attention to the importance of it. in many respects an extraordinary accomplishment. if you look at her comments, look at her remarks through the years, they reflect on the importance of family and relationships. you canjudge her legacy in many respects by this extraordinary family she leaves behind. her husband who was the 41st president of the united states, her son was the 43rd, as state governor and two other children who are quite accomplished in many respects. and a great number of grandchildren who are equally extraordinary. it was

linkable family and her role has been acknowledged byjust about everybody. a remarkable dynasty, isn't it. the name carries so much weight. in terms of her role as first lady, how did she take on that role and had achieved turn it into her own role? the biggest significant change was that she took on this issue of literacy. the first lady of the united states has had an issue or two that they have brought the of the nation. remember the first lady in the reagan administration brought attention to thejob administration brought attention to the job trouble in the united states. she tried to encourage the use to say no to drugs. barbara bush focused on literacy and she stood by her husband throughout the ran contra scandal, which many people

have perhaps forgotten over time but it was an incredible is stressful time for the former president bush and culminated in the first iraq will war which was a stressful and contentious political moment here in the united states. and is president bush acknowledged many times, she helped to support him through difficult times. the president bush was a politically accomplished individual and in a was a politically accomplished individualand in a high was a politically accomplished individual and in a high stress position and she was a great bedrock for the president and for the entire family. a great red rock. a 73 year marriage. a remarkable achievement

in itself. as a person, can you tell us in itself. as a person, can you tell us about what she was like as a person, away from the limelight? she was focused on relationship. those who came into her universe and her world typically remained in it. she was a compassionate person. she emphasised the importance of personal relationships developed over a lifetime and how significant they were. she was, i think, a bedrock of strength. she may not have always projected that because she did not feel the obligation to, perhaps, but she was a strong implement in the sense that she encouraged her husband and stood by him. she shared her viewpoints passionately and strongly. she was a great mother. if you look back at george w bush and what has emerged

since his presidency... she is credited with straightening his life guard at the age of 40, she turned his life around, a life that was not going ina his life around, a life that was not going in a positive direction. and she engaged with him and was a force, along with many others, to give him a fresh start to life. with all the family, certainly, just with george w bush? all the family, certainly, just with george w bush? yes. there was jeb bushin george w bush? yes. there was jeb bush in florida who many thought would be a serious campaigner, candidate for the republicans. she was involved in that. encouraging and inspiring and, you know, her legacy is extraordinary. she engaged

in media and politics and everyone spoke highly of her role. it is significant. the legacy that she leaves behind, it is always difficult to summarise, but be her family. if you look throughout the yea rs, family. if you look throughout the years, that is the message. she communicated to people of the importance of keeping family and friendships close because of the end of the day that is what matters. when people heard that, that is what they will think of when they look back on her life. it is an important message and one she held onto the very end. you are a former speech writer for george very end. you are a former speech writerfor george hw very end. you are a former speech writer for george hw bush. very end. you are a former speech writerfor george hw bush. what influence do barbara have in how he presented himself? barbara bush, in many ways, urged him to be strong

against political opposition, to maintain decency in political dialogue. i think that is one thing that all of us, along with president bush, that we miss right now and this permanent toxic political environment in the us. she was a believer in decency. she believed in conversation and dialogue that could open a lot of doors. she did not appreciate the idea of permanent enemies. she stood for a great number of principles that were generally very much aligned with that. michaeljohns, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and

your experiences and your memories of the late barbara bush. thank you for your time. on the line is mica mosbacher. she was a family friend of the bushes for many years. my condolences. could you share your memories? i have so many. she was elegant and showed grace under pressure. i had the privilege of having known her for so pressure. i had the privilege of having known herfor so long. when my husband and i were dating almost two decades ago and i was introduced to barbara bush. i had worked on the campaignfor to barbara bush. i had worked on the campaign for president bush senior. the first thing she said to me was that i was younger than she thought and she asked me if i was prepared for political life. she gave me a lot of advice on how to keep grace

under pressure, like herself. do not let people get under your skin and how to conduct yourself with dignity. that resonated with me. i felt i had an ally as a young wife trying to navigate a very tough world of politics and one of my favourite memories was being at their home, their home in texas when her son was running for president and it was election night and she had tea rs and it was election night and she had tears in her eyes and she was so nervous. what struck me, more than anything else, was having the privilege of sitting next to such a woman, to see her as a mother. she cared about her son, she took personally what was said about him and she was as protective towards her son as i am towards mine. she

was an amazing woman, a straight shooter and told me over and over that she was the luckiest woman alive because i get to spend my life with george w bush. memory and so eloquently put. take you so much. in terms of the role that she carved out as first lady, she completely took to be her iron, didn't she? she was not second to the president, she was right up there with him. they were such a partnership that i noticed any time she was in the room she was a calming influence on her husband, he relied on her, and also her quiet strength. he seemed —— if he seemed concerned about an issue, he consulted with her and really valued her opinion. he said she was the

stronger one of the two of us and i think it was her quiet strength, in addition to her moral fibre and think it was her quiet strength, in addition to her moralfibre and her sense of decency, the way she treated people, she was decent of eve ryo ne treated people, she was decent of everyone she met. i went on many trips with the president and the barbara bush and she's so patiently talked with everyone from weight stuff to people carrying their baggage, the secret service, the random people who came up and talk to her and random people who came up and talk to herandi random people who came up and talk to her and i thought to myself doesn't she get tired? and she was inexhaustible, i really felt like she cared more about others than herself. ye used the phrase grace under pressure, there must have been given the historical moments that the bushes have experienced, both presidents, there must have been

many, presidents, there must have been any presidents, there must have been many, many times of intense pressure. especially when her husband lost the second term as president. he actually went to a grieving period, which would be normalfor a grieving period, which would be normal for a politician who grieving period, which would be normalfor a politician who has dedicated his whole life to his country. she took it personally and she also saw him through, i feel, what was very dark period of his life and of course, later, they were somewhat vindicated when their son became president and she began to realise philosophically that perhaps it was good reason for her husband to step down because it provided the pathway for her son. she really was so involved with herfamily, she was concerned after my husband died of pancreatic cancer, not only concerned about me she called me, which meant the to me at the time andi which meant the to me at the time and i really thought that considering all of her projects and her literacy projects, and the fact that she had very little free time

on her hands, that she still reached out to me and that says so much about the person, that they are therefore you when you. on that note, we are going to leave it there. thank you so much and our condolences to you, but thank you for sharing your memories of the late barbara bush, who has died at the age of 92, for any of our view is joining the age of 92, for any of our view isjoining us, the president george bush senior, barbara bush, who has passed away, and that news just breaking in the last 20 minutes or so. president trump says high level talks are taking place between the united states and north korea. top american officials have spoken with kim jong—un, but not the us president himself. donald trump is currently hosting the japanese prime minister, shinzo abe, in florida. this is what mr trump had to say a short time ago. we've had talks at the highest

level, let's leave it a little short of that we have had talks at the highest level. we will see what happens. almost immediately after, president trump corrected himself to say that those talks were a little bit short of the highest level. let's get the very latest from florida. our correspondent barbara plett usher is with on the phone. what more can you tell us? yeah, there was some confusion about what mrtrump was there was some confusion about what mr trump was actually saying, he 1—point responded to a brush of reporters's questions with the a nswer yes , reporters's questions with the answer yes, what of those questions had been did you speak directly with kimjong—un? had been did you speak directly with kim jong—un? the white house later clarified he had misunderstood the question and in fact, he had not

spoken directly to anyone that there had been that the mutation at the highest level. now we have a report from the washington post which is quoting two anonymous sources who say that in fact the caa director —— caa director mike pompeo did visit and meet kim jong—un, caa director mike pompeo did visit and meet kimjong—un, and it is notable that about a week after that, the white house made it public that, the white house made it public that kim jong—un had that, the white house made it public that kimjong—un had directly confirmed that he was willing to talk about denuclearisation, put that on the agenda, so it seems based on this report that that did come ina based on this report that that did come in a face—to—face conversation with the cia director mike pompeo, who of course has been nominated as secretary of state and is waiting to be confirmed as such. this news comes amid a two day visit by the japanese prime minister shinzo abe

in florida, will it have any impact on their talks? well, shinzo abe came to the sort of get an update on the preparations for the summit, he had been taken by surprise at the announcement because japan and the trump administration had both been in lockstep about the very hardline with the north korean regime and very sceptical about the value of the policy, so he had asked for a meeting after the summer to make sure everyone was on the same page and to make sure that japan's concerns would be kept on the table and will not be downplayed during any forthcoming meeting. he seems to, certainly in terms of the body language and his statements on the first day, he seems to have been reassured and he was also quite pleased that president trump promised that in any summit, he would raise the issue of japanese, who had been abducted by the north koreans, something that is very

important for shinzo abe. so this will at least be one thing for the japanese prime minister. thank you very much. the inspection team from the chemical weapons watchdog — the opcw — is in douma and will today visit the site where a suspected chemical gas attack took place nearly two weeks ago. earlier, syrian state television said the inspectors were at the site. but syria's ambassador to the un says that only a un security team had been given access to it so far. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in aleppo. aleppo's ancient ramparts now a monument to president assad's staying power. once in rebel hands, once the scene of the war‘s worst fighting, which divided the city and cost so many lives. now, for the government, a site of celebration, chosen notjust to mark syria's independence,

but to show the world the war is going its way. i could not stand here, you could not stand here, we would have been sniped or beheaded. and this is... look, look, it became, you know, normal again. tonight, inside this fortress, soldiers strike up national anthem to a crowd of syrian elite and invited guests, some from abroad. entertained by songs and dance of a syria gone by. a syria from before the war. stirring emotions and defiance too. translation: it's a big celebration for aleppo and all syria. we are very happy and celebrating this day. you can see the people around here, we are the winners. god protect the president. and we are going to leave you with a

reminder of our main story. barbara bush has died at the age of 92. she was the wife of george bush senior and the mother of george w bush. hello there, good morning. the temperature on tuesday was just over 20 celsius in dorset but temperatures are going to rise higher than that over the next few days. this was the scene in cambridgeshire, where we enjoyed a good deal of sunshine and warmth as well but with more sunshine, and the winds becoming lighter and pushing away the rain, the temperatures will be rising even higher. and talking of rain, there was some of that on tuesday across some western parts of the uk. wales was quite cloudy, some rain from to time. it came from that band of cloud there. that has been weakening, and the rain petering out as the cloud has thinned.

but this is the thicker area of cloud and that is heading its way northwards and taking rain back across ireland, some heavier rain in northern ireland early in the morning, spots of rain through the irish sea. it all clears up towards the north—west of scotland, allowing more and more sunshine to develop widely. the winds still southerly, not as strong. it will feel warmer and temperatures will be a shade higher. 18 in the central belt. 24 or even 25 now in the south—east of england. still that rain towards the north—west of scotland, could come back into northern ireland, western scotland for a while overnight and then that tends to peter out. we're left with cloud through the irish sea, a little bit misty here as well. otherwise further east, clearer skies, lows of 9 or 10 degrees. that band of cloud there is a very weak weather front. it is more a band of cloud but even across northern ireland and scotland, that cloud should break up. still rather misty and cool around some of these western coasts, so not quite the sunny skies here. widely getting into the high teens in scotland and northern ireland. inland england and wales, low 20s.

26 possible in the south—east of england. that's probably the peak of the heat on thursday. the really high temperatures get pushed away into central europe. we start get more of an influence from the atlantic. so instead of the southerly, we're picking up more of a west— to south—westerly. still a warm day, though, on friday. and a lot of dry weather too. maybe some showers coming into the north—west of scotland but otherwise some good spells of sunshine around and those temperatures, just a little bit lower than they're likely to be on thursday but still pleasant in the sunshine. this time, it could be rather misty around the coasts in the english channel and around some north sea coasts as well. high pressure building in across the uk. going to keep these weather fronts at bay in the time being. so the fine weather continues into saturday. again, some areas of misty low cloud in the morning perhaps. that should tend to break up more in the afternoon, allowing the sunshine to develop more widely. temperatures a little bit lower by this stage, mind you. but it's still going to be a warm one for the london marathon

on sunday. i'm kasia madera with bbc world news. our top story. the former first lady of the united states, barbara bush, the wife of george bush sr has died. she was ninety—two. mrs bush — the mother of president george w bush — was the matriarchal figure of the political dynasty. she went beyond the traditional role of a political spouse, setting up a foundation for family literacy and speaking out in favour of abortion rights. president trump has announced the united states is having high level talks with north korea ahead of a planned summit — but he says he hasn't yet spoken directly with kim jong—un. and this story is trending on bbc.com: british pop starjessiej has won a talent competition in china, which pitches professional singers against each other. jessiej won with 48% of the vote. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk:

theresa may has apologised to caribbean leaders for the anxiety caused to the windrush migrants facing