this is bbc news. i'm nkem ifejika. our top stories: signs of major progress: north korea says it will close its atomic test site and allow american inspectors to see its dismantlement. president trump confirms negotiations to set up his meeting with kim jong—un are under way, the talks could take place in may. we are doing things that are good. we are doing things that are good. we will have a meeting in the next three orfour weeks. i think it we will have a meeting in the next three or four weeks. i think it will bea three or four weeks. i think it will be a good meeting. the denuclearisation of the korean peninsula, of north korea, to denuke. denuke! tens of thousands return to the streets in spain after a court acquits five men of raping a teenager, convicting them of sexual abuse instead. more mass demonstrations in armenia. the ruling party says it won't put forward a candidate for a new prime minister, to try to ease the crisis.

saving the tasmanian devil, scientists discover a family of marsupials free of a disease threatening their extinction. hello. we saw the handshakes and the warm words, now it seems some concrete steps are being made to bring peace to north korea. president donald trump says he's only three or four weeks away from meeting kim jong—un. and now south korea says the north has promised to close its only known nuclear test site. according to seoul, pyongyang will shut the punggye—ri facility some time next month. crucially, they will invite foreign security experts — including some from the us —

to witness the closure. in another development, north korea says it will adjust its time zone to match south korea. let's speak to our correspondent laura bicker in the south korean capital seoul. we were expecting a quiet sunday morning, but now we get this? and this has all come from the presidential palace, the blue house, here. —— blue house. they say kim jong—un made all these comments. we will start at the beginning. this nuclear test site in north korea, i think you and i were talking a couple of weeks ago, kim jong—un was planning to close this test site, but what he is saying is, not only will i close it, i will allow experts from the united states and south korea and the media to see that it south korea and the media to see thatitis south korea and the media to see that it is closed. there has been lots of speculation around this test site. a number of reports have come out that during the last test in september it was badly damaged. kim

jong—un said he was aware of those reports and he denies them. he said the test site is still in good condition. he says it has not been closed down, and is not being close down because of its condition, it is being closed down, he says, because he wants to make a gesture to say that this is for real. when it comes to the test site itself and letting in the media, we are still waiting to hear any details. he went on to talk about the time zone. he said that it broke his heart when he was in the peace house in the demilitarised zone meeting moon jae—in, and he saw the clocks on the walls with two different times. john yang is half an hour behind. so that time change was made in 2015 by kim jong—un. he is now saying he was —— yea rs jong—un. he is now saying he was —— years going to change the clocks back so that seoul and pyongyang are on the same time zone. that is hugely since —— significant, as a symbolic gesture. it is his way of saying, look, i'm trying to show some method of trustee. but when it

comes to trust in north korea we have been here before. they have made these kinds of gestures in the past. the real test will be when he comes to meet donald trump at the end of may or earlyjune, and how far he is prepared to go along the road to denuclearisation, if he is prepared to do that at all. that has a lwa ys prepared to do that at all. that has always been the big speculation, the big speculation was, what are the concrete steps that north korea will take? and also, during that hand—in—hand walk in the park when all the south korean lip readers are trying to figure out what they were saying, it appears as if they did have some significant conversations during that time on friday? those significant conversations that were had, both in the gardens of the demilitarised zone, are now beginning to trickle out. we are now beginning to trickle out. we are now beginning to trickle out. we are now beginning to see kim jong—un beginning to trickle out. we are now beginning to see kimjong—un perhaps saying the right things to seoul, and that has been passed on through the presidential palace to the

public, and to the us. the us seemed quite optimistic. we heard from donald trump, who says he believes kim jong—un is serious about denuclearisation. but the words used ina denuclearisation. but the words used in a north korean newspaper yesterday, and its broadcast to the people of north korea, they used the word —— the phrase denuclearisation of the korean peninsula. that could mean kim jong—un is also of the korean peninsula. that could mean kimjong—un is also looking to get some concessions from the united states and others. he wants others to also perhaps get their nuclear weapons. right now we just don't know exactly what he means by denuclearisation, because there are no details in the agreement that was signed on friday. so what we will be looking for over the next few weeks are signs that he is serious, and this is a significant sign that he may be serious. at when we see the details, and that will only come from that meeting with donald trump, thatis from that meeting with donald trump, that is when we will know. from that meeting with donald trump, that is when we will knowlj from that meeting with donald trump, that is when we will know. i suspect in the coming weeks, reporters and journalist ‘s are going to be

looking in the mirror and practising saying it denuclearisation. —— journalists. thank you, laura bicker. well with north korea apparently prepared to cooperate over denuclearisation, the international focus could now shift to iran. president trump has said that unless european allies fix the "terrible flaws" in the iran nuclear deal by may 12, he will refuse to extend us sanctions relief for oil—producing iran. reacting to mr.trump's comments while in moscow, the iranian foreign minister accused america of breaching its obligations on the nuclear deal. there is a resolution of the un security council in respect of the iran nuclear deal. the us government was one of the masterminds of that resolution and it has an obligation to implement the deal. but mr trump has been breaching that obligation. and today he is setting forth new disproportionate requirements that are unacceptable for the people of iran, and other members of thejoint conference of plan of action. --

comprehensive plan. but the united states is urging not only its european allies but also others to impose sanctions on iran to curb its missile program. the new american secretary of state, mike pompeo, who's on his first overseas tour of the middle east, has arrived in saudi arabia. it is expected that iran's missile program would be a major topic in talks on sunday between pompeo and leaders from saudi arabia and israel. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. huge crowds have taken to the streets of yemen's capital sanaa, for the funeral of the houthi rebels‘ top political leader. saaleh ul—samad was killed earlier this month in a saudi—led—coalition airstrike on sanaa, which is controlled by the houthis. hundreds of people have welcomed the former president of malawi, joyce banda, on her return home after four years of self—imposed exile. it's not clear whether ms banda plans to engage in politics. she fled malawi when she lost power following a massive corruption scandal.

thousands of people have returned to the streets of the northern spanish city of pamplona to continue protests against a court decision to acquit five men of raping a teenager at the annual bull—running festival. the men were convicted of sexual abuse instead. it's the third straight day of demonstrations. sophie long reports. tens of thousands of people — one message. it's not sexual abuse, it's rape. this is the third day people have filled the streets of pamplona and other cities across spain after a court acquitted five men gang rape. their 18—year—old victim had been at pamplona's bull running festival when they surrounded her and made her have sex with them. they used smartphones to film it and brag about it. calling themselves la manada, or "the pack". but this court acquitted them of rape and found them guilty of the lesser offence

of sexual abuse. jailing them for nine years. that, say these women, is not justice. translation: we believe this sentence is intolerable, justice blames us and justice doesn't protect us. translation: all we want is that when we go out at night not to feel fear. we feel it constantly, and this is so horrible and so unfair. the ruling has led to an outpouring of support for the victim, and mass protests about what's being seen as patriarchaljustice. the government says it will review the legal code on rape. translation: the government wants to emphasise it has always been with the victims. it was for that reason that our first agreement of this legislature was the agreement against gender violence. we're still fighting to defeat the scourge of society. an online petition calling for the disqualification

of the judges who acquitted the men has gathered more than 1.2 million signatures. state prosecutors say they'll appeal the ruling. sophie long, bbc news. armenia's political turmoil continues, with three days to go until the country's parliament is due to choose a new prime minister. it follows the resignation on monday of serzh sarks—yaan, after weeks of street protests against official corruption. armenia's ruling party says it won't nominate a new candidate for prime minister in an effort to ease tensions. the country's protest leader is rallying support to become pm instead. janey mitchell reports. he describes himself as the people's choice. 0pposition leader nikol pashinyan canvassing support and calling for the demonstrations against the country's ruling elite to continue. translation: power belongs to the people in the republic of armenia. the people are the masters of their country. he says the only way out of the current crisis is for him

to be elected prime minister next week. 0n the 1st of may at 8:00am we will take to the streets, we will fill the streets and squares of yerevan. the mass protests have been peaceful so far. in a bbc interview, the country's president praised the people's democratic will. armenia has shown an example that shows that society exists and that people are courageous and proud to express their opinion. that is a fantastic achievement for a country that has decided to go towards the path of democracy. the ruling republican party has an acting prime minister in place, but it is now says it will not put up its own candidate on tuesday. it has not indicated who it will back. and it still holds a majority of seats in parliament. intensive talks are reported to be under way behind the scenes to try to defuse the turmoil. all sides will be keen to avoid a worsening of the crisis in the volatile south caucasus

region, and in a country traditionally allied with moscow. around 4,000 people have fled renewed fighting in northern myanmar, where the burmese military is reported to be pounding ethnic kachin rebels with airstrikes and artillery. the united nations says thousands more civilians are trapped by the violence. a un humanitarian official working in myanmar has warned that thousands of civilians have been trapped by heavy fighting between the myanmar armed forces and the kachin independence army, which has been waging an armed struggle for autonomy for the kachin minority since the early 1960s. the conflicts between the myanmar military and the kachin independence army is one of the longest—running conflicts in the world, running for more than 60 years. in essence, what the conflict is about is the kachin epic 102 population demanding a

federal myanmar in which their minority and other ethical and it is in the country have a substantive say about how the country is run. —— kachin ethnic minority population. the myanmar military have consistently refused to listen to the demands of the kachin and other ethnic minority populations in the country. and that is a big part of the reason we have seen this kind of violence in recent months. there is a common do nominate at between northern myanmar, kachin state, rakhine state further south, the atrocities that we have seen meted out against the ryan gardner some population in the west of myanmar. that common do nominate is the myanmar military. it is the same uniformed personnel who are killing, torturing, perpetrating sexual violence and forcibly displacing thousands of people across the country. so although conflicts in myanmar have long and independent histories, the common do nominate is

the myanmar military. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, not the real thing — the french art museum that's discovered half of its exhibits are fake. nothing, it seems, was too big to withstand the force of the tornado. the extent of the devastation will lead to renewed calls for government help to build better housing. you internationally, there have already been protests. sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians at first denied anything had gone wrong. it was only when radioactive levels started to increase outside russia were they forced to admit the accident. for the mujahideen, the mood here is of great celebration. this is the end of a 12—year war for them. they have taken the capital, which they have fighting for for so long. it was seven o'clock in the morning on the day when power began to pass

from the minority to the majority, when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony. this is bbc news. our top headline: signs of major progress. north korea says it will close its atomic test site and allow american inspectors to see its dismantling. more on that story now and we can go to washington and speak to retired lieutenant colonel daniel davis, a senior fellow at defense priorities think tank. while. is it a gesture that should underpin the talk comedy talks in

recent weeks? if it is true, it is certainly a very positive development. many people are speculating that that nuclear test site had actually collapsed and they are closing something that doesn't work. that has been a lot of speculation. according to the press secretary for president moon today, he quoted the leader kim as saying thatis he quoted the leader kim as saying that is not true and you will see for yourself, because we will allow western media, the united states, south korea, to see for themselves that it south korea, to see for themselves thatitis south korea, to see for themselves that it is still functional and operational and we are going to close it down. if he is good on his word on that and they can validate that, it is certainly a very positive development. what else would you like to see in terms of concrete concessions from north korea and, i suppose, to some extent, south korea and the united states ? extent, south korea and the united states? the gestures and the opening that we saw on friday with president moon and president kim and all the

fa nfa re moon and president kim and all the fanfare that was a really good first start. many have said there was not a lot of substance behind it. that is to be at understood. it is step one. we were in november last year after that last nuclear missile test, unit, it is radically changed. it will take some time to get to we wa nt it will take some time to get to we want to, the rubber meets the road, as they say, when president trump and kimjong—un as they say, when president trump and kim jong—un meet face to face, probably in the latter part of may. that is when you will start to get to what kind of action will come, how much will we be able to translate all these promises into action? that is when it will come down to what is actually possible. i will tell you though that the good news is that the united states doesn't actually need a deal to denuclearising the new term to keep people say. what is in america's interest and that of our allies and

the whole world, especially that pa rt the whole world, especially that part of asia, is that there is no war. 0ur part of asia, is that there is no war. our primary objective is to prevent war breaking out, no matter what the cost is. our military deterrent will make sure that doesn't happen because kim is not in any position, i don't think, to use his nuclear weapons. he knows that if he does we have a conventional and military might that could shut that down. i think we are in a really good dominici negotiating position, because we don't have to have an agreement right now. time is on our site. it is not necessarily on our site. it is not necessarily on kim's side. that may way into negotiations. i want to talk about the denuclearisation of the korean peninsula, which is what kim jong—un has said and also present. is that just north korea giving up its nuclear weapons or north korea and the united states with its deterrence in the region? what we

mean, of course, is it is the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearisation, which means all of their capabilities to be removed. that is a long way from now. it would be great if we get there. i am a little bit pessimistic that we can get completely there. maybe we will. i certainly hope that we do. the good news is again that we do. the good news is again that we don't have to get all the way back to still keep everybody says and prevent war. that is the main objective that i want to make sure that the united states focuses on, to prevent war. thank you very much. that is retired lieutenant colonel daniel davis. president trump has missed the annual white house correspondents' dinner in favour of attending a campaign—style rally near detroit. he's frequently attacked the media and its coverage of him since he first stood as a presidential candidate. it's the second consecutive year he's decided not to attend the dinner. andrew plant has more. a glamorous a—list extravaganza. a fixture of the washington calendar. but this year's white house correspondents' dinner had one notable absentee.

the president, who left in helicopter marine 0ne earlier in the day, snubbing the event for the second year running. holding a rally in michigan instead. you know, you may have heard i was invited to another event tonight, the white house correspondents' dinner. booing but i'd much rather be in washington, michigan than in washington, dc right now. that i can tell you. mr trump was stung here seven years ago — before his presidency — by barack 0bama, who mockingly called mr trump the donald and ridiculed his alleged belief in conspiracy theories. mr trump has said it is due to fake new stories that he chooses to forego the event. 0ften arguing he receives unfair media coverage. the correspondents' association dinner now attracts the biggest

names in american entertainment, but after around 100 years of evenings with the president, the biggest name in american politics has clearly decided he won't be continuing the tradition. andrew plant, bbc news. scientists working to save the tasmanian devil from extinction have discovered a small but healthy population of the animals in the remote south—west area of tasmania. more than 80% of the carnivorous marsupials have been wiped out in the past 20 years by a form of facial cancer. 80% of the species has been wiped out by a cancer which is contagious. so for us to find a small, isolated population that is disease—free is significant. do you think the animals you have found are disease—free because they have not come into contact with others that had the disease, or do they have some kind of resistance? we are pretty sure it is because this particular area

in tasmania is very rugged and isolated. so they are on the coast down in the south—west national park of tasmania. it is surrounded by extremely high and rugged mountains, and also is a habitat that is not suitable for devils. there is an area they won't cross, making it isolated from other populations. what do you do with this information that you have, to encourage these animals to grow a bit more? do you keep them isolated? what do you do next? we don't actually need to do anything to keep them isolated. i think they have done that well themselves. but the information for us is important in that we are looking to see whether the fact that they are so isolated might mean that they are genetically quite distinct from other devils on tasmania. devils in general are quite genetically non—diverse. so we're hoping that the fact

that they are so isolated means that they could be genetically different from other animals. for us this could mean improving the genetic diversity of other devils in parts of tasmania, which can, hopefully, with breeding these genetics into other populations, it gives them a better chance of dealing with the disease in future challenges. a museum in southern france, dedicated to the art of the painter etienne terrus, has discovered that many of its canvasses are forgeries. a close examination carried out during renovation works revealed that dozens of them had not in fact been painted by the artist. it's estimated the cost of the forgeries amounts to almost $200,000. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. etienne terrus was a relatively obscure artist. a friend of henri matisse, he specialised in the use of light and colour.

he studied in paris but spent most of his life and career in the pyrenees, where this museum displays his work — or at least they thought they did. translation: we have appointed a commission of experts which has shown that the vast majority of the paintings that we have at the museum are fakes. the exact figure was 82 — at least half of the entire collection. paintings, drawings, and watercolours bought over a period of 20 years. the fact that they were fake? well, there were clues. translation: you see this tower? in the background is a building that was added in 1958. terrus died in 1922. there were several types of fake in the museum and other pieces made to look like his work. the local mayor has apologised to anyone who visited the museum in good faith. an investigation is now under way and there are question marks over the work of other regional artists.

it may not be just the paintings of etienne terrus that aren't the real thing. tim allman, bbc news. what does it matter if they are pretty pictures? and just before we go, let me show you these pictures from reunion island. a volcano known as piton de la fournaise or the "peak of the furnace" has began to erupt there. it's for the second time this year. the volcano lies on the eastern side of the island, which is a french territory off madagascar in the indian ocean. the area around the volcano is uninhabited, so the eruptions don't pose much danger to the population of reunion. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @nkem|fejika. ido i do post interesting stuff every so often. goodbye.

hello there. yesterday we had a lot of cloud in the sky across much of england, thick enough to bring some rain as well. further north—west, showers developed through the day, but that cloud has been melting away as well. some passing showers in scotland, but a fine looking sunset here in 0ban. as the skies have cleared more over recent hours we have more pictures of the full moon being sent to us, spectacular shots from people out and about under those clear skies. clear skies, yes, but a chilly start to the day. for the early risers, frost patches to look out for in the rural areas of scotland. not quite so cold further south under this zone of thick cloud. most areas of cloud could be thick enough to give us a few spots of light rain on and off through the day. the best of the early morning sunshine again through western areas, but slow—moving showers will form again, particularly in northern ireland. later in the day we will see a band of rain moving

in from the continent, bringing some wet weather to end the day across south—east england, with strengthening winds here making it feel particularly chilly. that wet weather will continue to extend across south—east england and east anglia as we go on through sunday night. 0n into monday. we are going to get this area of low pressure moving up from the near continent. the rain gets more extensive and the winds get colder and stronger. this is what is in the forecast on monday. heavy rain, a windy day with gales around the east coast, and it's going to feel cold, more like a february day than one in late april. so the wet weather is there. a bit of uncertainty as to how far west this band of rain will reach. there is the chance of seeing a few snowflakes mixed in with this and some sleet, mostly on high ground, above 200 metres of elevation. even that won't settle. it's mostly cold rain that will be falling, with those chilly winds.

temperatures really struggling. highs in birmingham, five celsius. it is going to feel that cold. 0n into tuesday, that area of low pressure continues to feed cloud and bits of pieces of rain across eastern areas. another weather front moving in from the atlantic, bringing wet weather to northern ireland later in the day. in between these two systems the weather should be quite quiet on tuesday with some sunshine around. chilly where it is cloudy with the rain moving in, and in the best of the sunshine, temperatures climbing at least up into double figures fairly widely. looking at the outlook over the next few days and the week ahead, you will be pleased to hear once we have got rid of that chilly weather and the rain to start the week, the weather should improve. highs of 19 in london as we head towards next weekend. this is bbc news, the headlines. after friday's historic summit between north and south korea, us president donald trump says his meeting with the north korean leader, kim jong—un, could happen in the next three to four weeks. mr kim has promised to invite us experts to watch the closure of the country's nuclear test site next month. that's according to the south's presidential office. more than 30,000 people

in the spanish city of pamplona have protested against the conviction of a group of men for sexual abuse rather than rape. it's been the third day of demonstrations. protesters say the verdict is too lenient, and sets a dangerous precedent for gang—rape cases. there have been more mass demonstrations against corruption in armenia, with the protest leader rallying support for his bid to become prime minister. the parliament is due to choose a new prime minister on tuesday. the ruling party says it won't nominate a candidate in an effort to ease tensions. now on bbc news, the week in parliament.