a very warm welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: france and the us agree to work towards a new iran deal, as president trump warns tehran of "big problems" if it revives its nuclear programme. if iran threatens us in any way, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid. the iranians have responded, warning of severe consequences if the present nuclear deal is not upheld by the us. translation: i am telling those in the white house that if they do not live up to their commitments, the iranian government will firmly react. after the toronto van attack and this dramatic arrest, 25—year—old alek massian appears in court charged with 10 counts of murder. we report on the epilepsy drug that can damage unborn babies. the latest advice is not to prescribe it unless the risks are acknowledged. and a century after millions of women won the right to vote, a statue of one of the leading campaigners is unveiled in parliament square. hello.

president trump has warned iran of "big problems" if it restarts the nuclear programme that it agreed to limit, in a deal struck with the leading world powers in 2015. mr trump described that deal as "insane" and has been threatening to reject an extension, which he is due to sign within weeks. on a state visit to the white house, france's president macron has urged him to considerfixing rather than rejecting the deal — working towards a new agreement. our north america editor jon sopel reports. the first state visit of the trump era and the french were given quite the welcome. these things are about pomp. they're about ceremony. and this one had one added ingredient — bromance.

the two men held hands, they kissed, they hugged. and the biggest beast of the politicaljungle even engaged in a bit of interpersonal grooming with his younger colleague. in fact, i'll get that little piece of dandruff off. little piece. we have to make him perfect. he is perfect. this most unlikely pairing have forged a close personal relationship. though on many policies, they're miles apart. just listen to emmanuel macron‘s introductory comments. it sounded like a repudiation of trumpism. he says "the world must resist aggressive nationalism and work multilaterally. " it is really great to be with you and you are a special friend. thank you. their biggest divide is over the iran nuclear deal. president macron says keep it, donald trump for three years has said it has to go.

it's insane, it's ridiculous. it should have never been made. but we will be talking about it. ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and the president of the french republic. but then, after lengthy talks that overran massively, the french president seemed to offer a new way through on iran. don't scrap the deal, which the americans have to renew by may 12th, build on it. in other words, a third way. what we have to work on, obviously with iran, and the different parties and the regime, the p5, and our allies, is to find a third deal where we can fix the situation. this is the only way to preserve sovereignty in the region and to build peace on the very long run. and donald trump, significantly, didn't rule that out. there is a chance, and nobody knows what i'm going to do on the 12th, although mr president, you have a pretty good idea, but we'll see.

but we'll see also if i do what some people expect, whether or not it will be possible to do a new deal with solid foundations. at that, the french president seemed to nod in agreement. but from outside the white house cocoon, a stark warning from tehran. translation: i am telling those in the white house that if they do not live up to their commitments, the iranian government will firmly react. if anyone betrays the deal, they should know that they will face severe consequences. and that brought an even more muscular response from the president. if iran threatens us in any way, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid. the news conference ended as the day began with more bonhomie, and president macron making a determined effort to pull donald trump in a new political direction. john sopel, bbc news, washington. and iran was not the only subject the two presidents discussed.

donald trump also turned his attention to the proposed summit between him and the north korean leader, kim jong—un. he now describes the man he used to call "rocket man" as "very open" and "very honourable". president trump claims a meeting will happen soon and that it will benefit the whole world. and this evening in washington, french president emmanuel macron is at the white house for a sumptuous banquet. over 150 guests have dined on a menu selected by first lady melania, including rack of lamb with jambalaya, and a nectarine tart served with creme fraiche ice cream. early arrivals include the former us secretary of state henry kissinger, the head of the imf christine lagarde, and president trump's daughter ivanka with her husband, jared kushner. in toronto, the man accused of deliberately driving a van into pedestrians has been charged on 10 counts of murder. canadian police are investigating suggestions in social media posts that alek minassian may have been motivated by a grudge against women. he has no known links to any terror groups. 15 people were injured

in the attack, which prime minister justin trudeau described as "senseless" and "tragic". our correspondent nick bryant has more details. on this street in toronto this morning, the length of the police tape became yet another gruesome measure of how long this killing spree went on. it stretched for over half a mile. a suburban neighbourhood enjoying the warmth of the canadian spring, turned with manic suddenness into a place of death and horror. a white rental van became a guided weapon. this is how the killing came to an end, in a stand—off with police. the driver urges the officer to shoot him, it looks like he's brandishing a gun. it was actually a mobile phone. but the police officer remains calm and moves in to take him alive. 25—year—old alek minassian has now been charged with ten counts

of murder, but this isn't being treated as a terrorist incident. while the motive isn't clear, this facebook postjust before the killings might be a clue. it notes "the incel rebellion has already begun", that's shorthand for involuntary celibacy. he also praised an american, who in 2014 killed six people in revenge against women who'd spurned him. a question for the police then — was this an attack against women? reporter: can you explain to us the number of men and the number of women who were in the victims, to give us a sense? i mean, looking at the list, the names seem to be predominantly females, at least on... yeah, that's fair to say, predominantly female. you were down here? yes, i was right down over here... local resident steven saw the van swerve to hit the first victim and then carry on driving. and as i was coming up the street, i was literally running by bodies all over the sidewalk, some of them were in pools of blood. people were doing cpr, people were injured.

it was just pandemonium. just everybody was going crazy over here yesterday afternoon. here you can see the tyre marks, where the rental van slalomed through various bollards and obstacles. and just further up, a sign of how fast that vehicle was travelling, this road sign simply knocked out of the way. the victims of canada's worst mass killing in decades are being memorialised at the roadside, and they're starting to be named. anne marie d'amico worked at a headquarters of an investment firm nearby. the entire community of toronto has shown strength and determination in the face of this tragedy. all canadians stand united with toronto today. with the suspect now charged, the police won't discuss possible motives. they're also stressing their investigation still has weeks to run. nick bryant, bbc news, toronto. the armenian opposition leader nikol pashinyan has called for renewed protests, after talks he was due to attend

with the country's acting prime minister karen karapetyan were cancelled. the acting prime minister said he's concerned by the agenda proposed by the opposition leader. mr pashinyan led 11 days of protests, that ended on monday with the resignation of serzh sargsyan as prime minister. the uk's medicines regulator has said valproate — an epilepsy drug that can damage unborn babies — should no longer be prescribed to women and girls of childbearing age unless they're made fully aware of the risks. it's thought around 20,000 children in the uk have been left with disabilities caused by valproate. it was introduced in the 1970s. our health editor hugh pym explains. andy, returning from school today, has serious learning disabilities. that's because his mother, emma, took the drug sodium valproate for her epilepsy while she was pregnant. she wasn't warned of the risks. i would not have had my child.

you know, i would have looked at adoption and fostering or focused on a career. he's a very happy child, i love him to bits, but the disabilities that he has are challenges that he didn't have to be born with. i have to do my timestables. she hopes today's new regulations for the use of valproate will protect women in future. absolutely delighted. you know, this is a change to the licence, which really does not happen very often. the mhra have taken this seriously. it's four decades too late for many people. it was four decades ago when potential problems with valproate first emerged. a series of reports and academic articles in the 1980s and 90s highlighted the risks to pregnant women. by 2013, the medical regulator, the mhra, was issuing warnings about birth defects associated with the drug. but the following year, natasha wasn't alerted to any of these risks before she became pregnant.

her son alfie has delayed development, which has affected his speech. i've been let down by my gp, and also anyone else that i was under the care of. i even saw a neurologist during while i was carrying alfie, and he didn't tell me the risks, even though obviously it would have been too late, he still didn't tell me the risks. two years after alfie was born, clear warnings were put on all the drug packaging and gps were issued with a series of guidelines. but now the regulator's changed the licence for valproate, which means any doctor prescribing it will have to ensure female patients are put on what they're calling a ‘pregnancy prevent programme'. —— prevention. this means women will regularly discuss risks to an unborn baby with their gp and sign an acknowledgment form annually

and be advised to use contraception and have regular pregnancy tests. valproate is an effective treatment for epilepsy, but even late last year, a survey revealed that many women were still not aware of the official warnings about the drug. we were devastated because an astonishing 70% of women at that time, who were taking sodium valproate, had not received or heard of the materials that had been issued. and a really significant 20% had no clue that this drug that they were currently taking could harm their unborn baby. emma and other campaigners want to know why it's taken so long for the dangers to be highlighted. they hope an official review, now under way, will provide answers. hugh pym, bbc news. also in the uk, a high courtjudge has rejected an application from the parents of a severely ill boy to allow him to travel abroad for treatment. alfie evans, who's nearly two years old, has a degenerative neurological condition. doctors say further treatment would be "unkind and inhumane". a further appeal by the family

will be heard in court on wednesday. danny savage reports. alfie evans' father says his son was taken off life support treatment late last night, but after breathing on his own for several hours, lawyers from the christian legal centre again asked the judge to allow alfie to be taken to italy for treatment. if they either let me go to italy, or they at least give me the grace and the dignity to take him home to share whatever days or weeks that he may remain. so, i think the doctors now need to sit down amongst themselves and say would it be the right thing, and is there a way out of this for us? tom evans met the pope last week to ask for help. alfie's family want his treatment and life to continue. last night, the pontiff tweeted his support, stating: at the court hearing this evening, a judge ruled that taking alfie

abroad was not in his best interests. the judge said that the hospital and alfie's parents must now discuss his end of life care, either here at alder hey, in a hospice, or possibly even at home. staff here say a hostile atmosphere, from some of alfie's supporters, isn't helping. they are trying to do their best for him. all of the things that they can do to support alfie in terms of his wellbeing, will be done, but they're supportive measures rather than treatments or cures at this stage. tonight, alfie's father suggested another court hearing will take place. alfie's fighting, so i'm going to remain at his bedside with his mum all night, and i'm going to fight them. he is not giving up his legal battle to get his son moved out of the country. danny savage, bbc news, liverpool. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: recording his

voice for the future. new tech is helping this patient silenced by a medical procedure to speak again. the stars and stripes at half—mast outside columbine high, the school sealed off, the bodies of the dead still inside. i never thought that they would actually go through with it. some places have already had nearly as much rain as they'd normally expect in an entire year. for millions of americans, the death of richard nixon in a new york hospital has meant conflicting emotions, a national day of mourning next wednesday sitting somehow uneasily with the abiding memories of the shame of watergate. and lift—off of the space shuttle discovery with the hubble space

telescope, our window on the universe. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: france's president macron and donald trump have agreed to work towards a new deal with iran, an attempt to contain its regional ambitions as well its nuclear ones. after the toronto van attack and this dramatic arrest, alek minassian appears in court charged on ten counts of murder. a century after millions of women won the right to vote in the uk, a statue of one of the leading equality campaigners has been unveiled at westminster. the statue of millicent fawcett is the first of a woman to be installed in parliament square. the other 11 are all men, as our political correspondent vicki young reports.

prime ministers, presidents, civil rights leaders, 11 famous figures, who all have their place in this square overlooking parliament. no woman has ever had her contribution to society recognised in this way, until today. it was a moment worth celebrating and hundreds gathered to commemorate the life and legacy of millicent garrett fawcett. well, it's been a long time coming, but finally parliament square has its first statue of a woman, by a woman. all to mark 100 years since women first got the vote. the idea for this statue came from an activist and writer, who was prompted into action during a jog through westminster. i could not alleviate. it is 2016. how is this not sorted? women are still woefully under represented in all areas of british

cultural and political life, not least in its statues. checking the records, she found there were more statues of men called john than historical women. millicent fawcett started petitioning for women's right to vote in 1866, gathering signatures from women across the country and lobbying politicians. she led the suffragist movement which, unlike the suffragettes, stuck to peaceful protest. she dedicated her life to that cause and, aged 81, she watched from the public gallery in the house of commons as women were given the vote on the same terms as men, and her legacy lives on for another generation. i'm so inspired by millicent fawcett and what she's done for the feminist movement. she was really intelligent and she was very, very persistent and determined to give women rights, and i really love that. someone will say, well, what's the point of a statue? why does it make any difference? does it make any difference? it's what it signifies and shows everyone. there are so many male statues and we need equality, and we need to show women are just as good as men and we can do incredible things as well. millicent fawcett‘s statue now watches over parliament, keeping a close eye on the fight

for gender equality that continues, 150 years after she started campaigning. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. let's ta ke vicki young, bbc news, westminster. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. two men in their 20s from rome have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. police have been investigating a serious assault on a man before last night's champions league semi final in liverpool between liverpool and roma. officials in pakistan say at least six police officers have been killed and several injured in a suicide attack in the south—western city of quetta. the bomber blew himself up when a police van was travelling along a road near the airport. police with assault rifles have been patrolling entry points to boracay island, just days before the whole island, one of the philippines' top tourist attractions, shuts down for a six month cleanup. there were also exercises simulating clashes with protesters, terrorist attacks and a hostage incident, although officials say there is no specific threat.

a huge portrait of nelson mandela has gone on show in south africa, but this is different from what you might imagine. it is thousands of blankets, stitched together. organisers call it the largest portrait blanket in the world. it celebrates 100 years since the man who led the nation from white minority rule to democracy, was born. lebo diseko reports. casting a stitch to honour a hero. inmates at this maximum—security prison in south africa joined thousands of people around the country meeting crochet squares to make a huge portrait blanket of nelson mandela. of course it is nelson mandela. of course it is nelson mandela's centenary year. what better way to celebrate that than to make the largest portrait blanket in the world depicting his beautiful face. thousands of people have made blankets to the extent

that south africa ran out of grey wall last year twice. -- wool. the masterpiece is made up of more than 4000 blankets which will eventually be given to the poor. the idea behind it, knitting together broken lives, a fitting tribute to a man who changed so many. lebo diseko, bbc news. now to a really tough question. what would you say to those you love if it was the last time they would ever hear your voice? that's a frightening prospect for people losing their speech to cancer or other illnesses. but thanks to new technology, many can now communicate using recordings of their own words. the bbc‘s olivia lace—evans followed one man as he lost and eventually regained his voice. your voice is kind of like a fingerprint, i guess. you can imitate somebody, but you do not have to see someone to identify who they are. now that i know i am going

to lose it, i know you do take it for granted. i to lose it, i know you do take it forgranted. iam to lose it, i know you do take it for granted. iam basically to lose it, i know you do take it for granted. i am basically a quiet quy- for granted. i am basically a quiet guy. iam for granted. i am basically a quiet guy. i am a truck driver. i know from a lump i have in my throat, i got to checked out. throat, my doctor told me it was cancerous and chemo radiation won't help, it needs surgery. a full tongue removal was the only way to go. it scares me to death, it still does. the hardest thing i will have to deal with is the immediate realisation when i wa ke the immediate realisation when i wake back up after surgery that i will not be able to talk.

i have a turtle and a dog and two goldfish. the speech therapist that you know i should be able to bank my voice for future reference. when i am going to speak to someone instead of them hearing me, they will hear what i used to sound like. it has given me physically something to do for the future to overcome this. when you have a generic sounding voice, and there might in many people with the same sort of voice,

you are just in a sea of that. as sooi'i you are just in a sea of that. as 50011 as you you are just in a sea of that. as soon as you have these custom voice, you can be an individual. i continue to live on. so, this is the device. all right? so, we can open up the vocal id app. both have your voice. is there anything you want to say? good afternoon. there you go. how does it sound? really good. it is just like me. now we are talking for him so he can talk for himself again. it is good timing they saved my voice. now i can keep up a little. just before we go, we will take a

look at these pictures. three bear cubs have been rescued in bulgaria after villagers found them roaming alone on a road in the country's south—west. the cubs are about three months old and have been taken to a sanctuary while officials keep searching for traces of their mother. despite the stress of it all, the cubs are said to be in relatively good health. and briefly, the main news again. france's president macron and donald trump have agreed to work towards a new deal with iran, an attempt to contain its regional ambitions as well its nuclear ones. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbc mike embley. hello there. temperatures continue to creep down day—by—day now, closer to the april norm, but by the end of the week it looks like it could be a little bit cooler

than the seasonal average. the last 24 hours have been pretty cloudy but again quite mild, we saw a top temperature of 18 across the south—east. the cloud thickened up, though, in the west we saw outbreaks of rain associated with this area of low pressure, which continued its journey eastwards, tending to fragment as the night wears on but eventually it will clear the south—east. maybe one or two showers packing into western scotland, the west of northern ireland, but elsewhere it's going to be a clearer and drier start to wednesday. quite a chilly start as well, certainly chillier than the last few nights we've had. across the north—east of scotland, not that far off from freezing. so, a chilly start to wednesday, but it is going to be a day of sunshine and heavy april showers, some of them could be quite intense with some hail and thunder mixed in. we start off, though, on a fine note, lots of sunshine around and the showers across western areas from the word go will continue to spread eastwards, becoming more widespread, and into the afternoon this is when they will become quite beefy with hail and thunder, like i mentioned. not all areas could get them, where you have the sunshine you could get temperatures

around 14 or 15. when the showers arrive, which will be quite blustery, then it will feel quite cool. those showers continue on into wednesday evening and to some extent during wednesday night but the early hours of thursday it looks like most of the showers will be confined to western areas, some drier interludes further east. and again, another cool night to come, temperatures in low single figures for most of us. for thursday, i think it's a better looking day. a tough cooler, though, winds coming in from a west to north—west direction. most of the showers again will be in northern and western areas, again heavy with hail and thunder mixed in, best of the brightness across the south—east although we could see 14 or 15 in one or two places. now, into friday, we look to the south—west for this area of low pressure, some uncertainty as to the intensity of this area of low pressure and how far north it's going to get, but the current thinking is it looks like england and wales will of the rain and the strongest of the winds. scotland and northern ireland, a day again of sunshine and heavy showers. a cooler day still, temperatures of nine to maybe 12 or 13 celsius. that's the trend as we head on into the weekend.

low pressure will always be nearby, so remaining quite unsettled, with outbreaks of rain, showers, some sunny spells too and notice the blue colours associated with the area of low pressure, meaning it's going to be a little bit cooler than average. the headlines: president trump and france's president macron have agreed to work towards a new deal with iran — an attempt to curb its regional ambitions, as well as its nuclear and missile programmes. mr macron, on a state visit to the us, has urged mr trump to fix rather than reject the deal iran reached with the leading world powers back in 2015. turning his attention to north korea, mr trump spoke about his upcoming summit with the leader, kim jong—un.

he described the man he used to call "rocket man" as "very open" and "very honourable". he said he expects a meeting to happen soon and that it will benefit the whole world. in toronto, alek minassian has appeared in court charged with 10 counts of murder. canadian police say he posted a cryptic message on social media suggesting he may have had a grudge against women. the authorities say he has no known links to any terror groups. we