and this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: north korea's president promises to close its main nuclear test site, and invites the world to watch — according to south korea. us secretary of state mike pompeo uses his first diplomatic trip to the middle east to accuse iran of destabilising the region. facing calls to resign, home secretary amber rudd will address parliament tomorrow as the fallout from the windrush scandal continues. us comedian michelle wolf is under fire over remarks made at the white house correspondents dinner directed at president trump's press secretary, sarah sanders also in the next hour — rescuing the reef — australia pledges to protect one of the world's underwater treasures. the canberra goverment promises to spend £290 million on restoring and preserving the great barrier reef if and celtic win the scottish football premiership with a thumping five nil win over rivals rangers. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. north korea says it will close its main nuclear test site within weeks, and wants us weapons inspectors to verify the shut down. the news follows the historic meeting between the leaders of north and south korea on friday. the new us secretary of state, mike pompeo says washington has an obligation to pursue peace, as preparations continue for a possible meeting, between president trump and north korea's kimjong—un. from the south korean capital seoul, laura bicker reports. from this momentous show of unity... laughter. comes an apparent display of sincerity. president moon is making his conversation with

kim jong—un public. and it seems the north korean leader is willing to go further than simply stepping over the border. he has pledged to close an atomic test site, something his father did before him. this was the yongbyon nuclear cooling tower being blown up in 2008, but still north korea continued to build weapons in secret. this time, the promise is to close the punggye—ri test site, the last six nuclear tests were carried out here. it has been slightly damaged, but kim jong—un says it still works and he's prepared to close it while experts and the media watch. they are masters of propaganda. we have to put aside emotions and collect ourselves and concentrate on the conversation, which is dismantling north korea's weapons. but the south korean government believes its relationship with the north has to start somewhere. trust goes in two directions,

build trust in the process of implementing agreements. kim jong—un is also turning back time... literally. in 2015, he changed pyongyang's clocks and since then, they've been 30 minutes behind seoul. korea will become one time zone once again. and it does seem that some in the south are reassessing their view of kim jong—un. translation: i used to think of north korea negatively, but now, little by little, i've realised we want people and touched by it. translation: this time, kim jong—un speaks with conviction. i think that is why this time it will be different. kim jong—un seems to be saying all of the right things, and changing the clocks is a good sign of unity. he has also said through the south koreans that the south

poses no threat to the us or to them. but it kind of misses the point. the us do not want them to have those weapons in the first place. south koreans have to wait and see if the us president can do a deal on denuclearisation. history has taught them to be wary of the north, but there is hope here that this could be the start of a new era. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. joining me now via webcam is marco milani, who is a research fellow at the korean studies institute at the university of southern california. half news coming thick and fast from the korean peninsula. what is your ta ke the korean peninsula. what is your take on today but brendon edmonds? the korean peninsula. what is your take on today but brendon edmonds7|i think the developments are very important. i think this announcement of closing down the nuclear site is a very important gesture of goodwill

from the north korean regime. in the direction not only of south korea but the international community and the us. but at the same time i don't think this signal can be interpreted asa think this signal can be interpreted as a clear well from the regime for as a clear well from the regime for a complete and irreversible dinner clarification. that is the goal of the us. from this point on i think the us. from this point on i think the path has to be flexible on both sides, if both sides want to achieve some sort of agreement to future denuclearisation. what you say to the sceptics who point to the former closing of nuclear sites and say when you look at this test site it was effectively defunct after last yea r‘s test was effectively defunct after last year's test and so to decommission it now is just a piece of theatre by

the north koreans? certainly the comparison with what happened in 2008 is very important, but at the same timei 2008 is very important, but at the same time i think we have to look at what happened in these past ten yea rs. what happened in these past ten years. and especially we have to focus on policy line of parallel development of the nuclear weapon ‘s economy. i think this time the regime is recommitted to walk a different path because they want to focus right now on developing the economy of the country. on one side, i'm on the other side they want some sort of recognition in the international community, recognition thatis international community, recognition that is not based on the fact that north korea is a nuclear weapons state but a recognition of north korea as a normal state in the international community and kim jong un as international community and kim jong unasa international community and kim jong un as a legitimate leader of normal state. so i think that this is not the arrival point but unlike what

happened in 2008 what is happening right now is very different and it can be really a different path to ward rapprochement and on the peninsula and with the us that has to include an eclair rotation but cannot be limited to that. for example including a peace treaty or normalisation with the relations. and we have heard the new secretary of state for the us, mike pompeo, talking in greater detail about the conversation he had in pyongyang with the north koreans about the question of what irreversible denuclearisation would look like. what you think the options are for the two sides as they approach the discussions for that trump cheap kim jong un summit? discussions for that trump cheap kim jong un summit? as i said, i believe

there has to be flexibility on both sides. if the american government wa nts to sides. if the american government wants to sit down at the table in one month from now a little more than a month, and an agreement for com plete than a month, and an agreement for complete verifiable and irreversible new denuclearisation right away, thatis new denuclearisation right away, that is not a good starting point for negotiations. i think what they have to do is start the process right now, start to build trust between the parties and decide and agree on a clear road map for dinner authorisation in a short or mid—term, but i don't think that is set something that is likely to happen that's north korea will sit at the table and suddenly decide to give up their hull nuclear programme right away after working on it for so many years and committing so many resources to this programme. so i think there has to be flexibility on

both sides and complete in its rotation has to be an important goal but achieved through a process in the short or mid—term. but achieved through a process in the short or mid-term. thank you joining us. the new us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has reiterated america's determination to prevent the iranians ever getting a nuclear weapon. as part of his first overseas tour in the role, mr pompeo visited saudi arabia before arriving in israel. speaking to reporters, alongside the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, mr pompeo said the us stood with israel in countering the threats posed by iran. strong cooperation with close allies like you is critical to our aim to counter iran's end to destabilise the middle east and throughout the world we remain deeply concerned about their dangerous escalation of threats to israel and the region. and their ambition to dominate the middle east remains. the united states is with israel in this fight,

and we strongly support israel's sobran right to defend itself. —— sovereign right. regarding thejcp 0a, president trump has been clear that this deal is flawed and has directed the administration to try and fix it and if we cannot permit he will withdraw from the deal. it is pretty -- if —— if we can't fix it. straightforward. unlike the past administration, there is a comprehensive administration designed to counter the full array of threats emanating from tehran. as part of the president's competence of iran strategy we are also working to counter a non—nuclear threats like missile systems and their support for hospital. the fermentation of thousands of proxy fighters into syria —— hess boller. we will be working with strong allies and counter the threats. and rolling back the full range of

iranians malign influence. in the last hour the elysee has said in a statement, french president emmanuel macron and iranian president hassan rouhani spoke by telephone and agreed to work together in coming weeks to preserve the 2015 iran nuclear agreement. 0ur correspondent tom bateman is following developments from jerusalem for us, on what seems to be a significant visit. it was really telling that only days after he was sworn into his position, he chose to make this trip. it was hastily arranged, he said he had not seen this office in washington and said chose —— and chose to come to strategic allies of the us in the middle east. the message he delivered was what we heard there. he said it was simple that president trump would withdraw from the iran nuclear deal if its terms could not be expanded. what benjamin netanyahu refers to as the deal being fixed, and whether it had been ditched,

and that is the message that has come to saudi arabia with. and when key european leaders were lobbying the white house to try and keep the deal alive with us input. whether or not that is achievable in the two—week timetable, president trump has a self—imposed deadline to make his decision about the iran nuclear deal, that remains to be seen but i do think mike pompeo was pretty clear about the way they are going and the lines of thinking. here is a man who comes to the region more ideological elite closer to president trump than his predecessor. the former immigration minister, brandon lewis, is supporting a claim by the home secretary, that she didn't know of targets for the removal of illegal immigrants. amber rudd told a commons committee last week, that she wasn't aware of the targets, and days later said she hadn't seen an email last year giving details of the policy.

ms rudd has resisted growing calls for her resignation. 0ur political correspondent iain watson reports. archive footage: the empire windrush brings to britain 500 jamaicans. the plight of the windrush generation, commonwealth citizens and their families who came to britain after the war and has brought with it a new focus on government immigration policies. ministers were criticised for demanding that some of these legal migrants provide proof of their right to be here. but the home secretary was all at sea, when she was questioned by a committee of mps about the removal of illegal migrants last week. and targets for removals, when were they set? erm... we don't have targets for removals. today, the former immigration minister, who worked with amber rudd, said she had only really been asked about local internal targets, key performance indicators, that she had not known about at the time. she was asked about local regional internal kpis that the local enforcement agencies were using.

she was not aware of that. she was clear on that. but the person who asked amber rudd the question said that that was not true and another member of her committee agrees. brandon lewis is using semantics and also trying to frankly rewrite what happened in the committee. i was there, i know the conversation that took place. anyone can see it if they look it up online. it's clear she says there were not targets and we now know that there were. this leaked letter published by the guardian newspaper today from the home secretary to the prime minister, dated january last year, refers to the promise of increasing the number of illegal migrants removed from britain by 10%. it may sound suspiciously like a target. but the foreign immigration minister claimed that it was merely an ambition... the 10% is an ambition based on the increase we see in people that we remove. so it's an ambition, not a target? there's a big difference

between the two things. amber rudd has been told by downing street to resist pressure to resign. political opponents will say that is because she is being used to protect her predecessor of the home office. none other than the prime minister herself, but there could be another reason. because every week, in there, an inner group of cabinet ministers meet to thrash out the policy on brexit. if amber rudd goes, the balance of forces between those who voted to leave the eu and those who, like her, voted to remain, could be disrupted at a potentially crucial time. so far, amber rudd may be using up as many political lives as this creature. number 10 do not want to show her the door — but tomorrow, the home secretary will have to convince mps that she's on top of herjob. ianjoined me ian joined me here ianjoined me here in the studio ian joined me here in the studio for more analysis on what looks set to

bea more analysis on what looks set to be a difficult case for amber rudd to the commons tomorrow. i think the case she will make will be twofold, i think first you will show humility, say she should have known about other things she claimed she didn't, but crucially you can only really resign as a minister or be forced to resign as a minister if you knowingly mislead parliament, so she will say she didn't knowingly mislead mps, she got it wrong, she's mistaken and not misleading, that will be a key part had a sense. having the second part of her defence will be saying this is a policy about it and moving illegal not legal migrants and therefore the labour party attacking me for this, what they've done instead? effectively that will be the argument. but the questions will keep coming. what did she know? i think she will be forensically about when does for example an ambition to reason move 10% more people really

become a target? is it not simply a target by another name? two men wanted by police in northern ireland, have been found tied to a bench and covered in paint, in a suspected vigilante attack in county armagh. james white and alexis guesto, were wanted for offences including breach of license. images of the pair had been shared on social media. three men have been arrested in northern ireland, under the terrorism act, after police discovered a bomb during a number of house searches in county tyrone. ten houses were evacuated in the town of strabane as a precaution. the men, aged 43, 45 and a7, have been taken to belfast for questioning. the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, has said the time has come for the uk to "resolve the contradictions" in its irish border policy. mr barnier was writing in ireland's sunday independent newspaper, ahead of a visit to the country tomorrow. he said there needed to be "substantial progress" on the issue by the next meeting of eu leaders, injune the former house of commons

speaker and glasgow mp, michael martin, has died at the age of 72. lord martin of springburn, as he was known latterly, resigned over his handling of the mps' expenses scandal, but friends say he was held in affection. graham stewart reports. 0rder! the man who kept the house in order, elected speaker of the commons in 2000, micheal martin was the first roman catholic to serve in the role since the reformation. his background was untypical, the son of a ship stoker, he emerged from the working—class tenements of glasgow to make politics his career. he became a union official and then a city councillor, and served as a member of parliament for glasgow springburn until 2005. often a controversial speaker, his integrity came under attack after he led efforts to block the publication of mp's expenses. i'm profoundly sorry,

now each and every member, including myself, must work hard to regain your trust. in the end, he was forced to resign. the first speaker of the house of commons to do so in 300 years. by tradition, speakers are elevated to the lords but the decision to grant his peerage also proved controversial. his successor in the glasgow seat that he represented for 30 years says that micheal martin's working—class background made him the target of snobbery. weir i think it was unfair of the metropolitan tabloid media. they sneered at him because of his accent, assuming he was not intelligent. he was one of the brightest people ever to represent glasgow in parliament. the former prime minister gordon brown said that he

will be sorely missed. the current speaker, john bercow, described his predecessor as a decent public spirited man who was proud of his roots. micheal martin died this morning after a short illness at the age of 72. the headlines on bbc news: north korea's president promises to close its main nuclear test site, and invites the world to watch — according to south korea. us secretary of state mike pompeo uses his first diplomatic trip to the middle east to accuse iran of destabilising the region. facing calls to resign, home secretary amber rudd will address parliament tomorrow as the fallout from the windrush scandal continues. sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here is james. celtic are

celebrating winning a seventh successive scottish premiership title. they did it by thrashing rangers 5—0, one—way traffic, it could have ended up being an even bigger margin of victory. all the goals came in the first 53 minutes. brendan rodgers' side are now looking to make even more history with back—to—back troubles, they will do that if they can beat motherwell in the scottish cup final. you want to win the league, that's important, and you're playing against what is your big rivals, you wa nt to against what is your big rivals, you want to go and show that you can play. i think what i was really pleased with, they are very emotional games, celtic and rangers, soi emotional games, celtic and rangers, so i was very pleased with their commerce and control in the game. as well as the intensity. they will improve again next year, we have to do. this group of players have been outstanding over these last couple of seasons, but there is still a lot of seasons, but there is still a lot of work for us to do. premier league

champions manchester city so no signs of slowing down at the end of the season. they won 4—1 at west ham, leaving the hammers only three points above the relegation zone. city were dominant throughout, an own goal put the visitors 2—0 up. creswell gave them some hope but it was short lived. in the second half city were in control. they scored two more. the final one of the goal was putting them within one of chelsea's premier league record. arsene wenger was greeted by sir alex ferguson as he took arsenal to 0ld alex ferguson as he took arsenal to old trafford. no sentimentality on the pitch as united took an early lead. arsenal pulled equal in the second half. injury time when

fellaini got all three points for united. it guarantees them qualification for next season. united. it guarantees them qualification for next seasonm was a very nice gesture and i would like to thank them. it is very nice, very classy. sometimes in life it finishes well. they didn't finish to well this afternoon. manchester city's hopes of winning the women's champions league final were dashed after a 1—0 defeat giuliani. they we re after a 1—0 defeat giuliani. they were hopeful of causing an upset but it was settled by a wonder goal from a former city player. an incredible goal but an equaliser would still have seen cities throughout the away goals rule but they never really got close. the chances were liang's. and

chelsea ladies as well were knocked out, they lost 5—1 on aggregate. the german side beat chelsea 2—0. lewis hamilton has won his first grand prix of the formula i season but he has needed a lot of luck to do it. it was action and fairly chaotic as a bio and grumpy. the two red bull ca rs a bio and grumpy. the two red bull cars collided. he then overtook someone cars collided. he then overtook someone who got a puncture. hamilton finds himself at the top of the drivers championship standings. and thatis drivers championship standings. and that is all the sport now. hereford has been marking the centenary of the formation of the raf this afternoon. hundreds of people have packed the cathedral for a special service of celebration. it also marks the final day of the weeping window sculpture of poppies which has been on display

for six weeks. ben sidwell reports. they packed into hereford cathedral, veterans, serving members and cadets, all here to celebrate the centenary of the raf. raf hereford was here from 1939 to 1994, training many thousands of young men and women for the royal air force. so there is a large veteran community, many of whom have attended the service this afternoon. among the congregation, 98—year—old doug cox from herefordshire, a bomber command during the second world war. i personally have always felt the raf, it has been there, and to suddenly realise that it's only a couple of years older than i am is quite amazing. and it wasn't just the centenary service attracting the crowds.

today also sees the final day of the weeping window poppy sculpture. in the six weeks it's been here at hereford cathedral, close to 200,000 people have come to visit. it seems very fitting that it's outside, well, inside the cathedral while the celebration of the centenary of the raf takes place. young and old, they come from across the country, so it has touched something very deep in people's lives. joining forces to mark two very important centenaries. today was a chance for the city to both celebrate and reflect. ben sidwell, bbc midlands today, hereford. australia is promising to spend £290 million to help restore and protect the great barrier reef. the world's largest reef system has been damaged by warming sea temperatures, which have bleached large swathes of coral in recent years. phil mercer reports from sydney.

the great barrier reef is australia's greatest natural treasure. but this world heritage listed wonderland is under siege. for two years running it was hit by major coral bleaching, which scientists blame on warmer sea temperatures. then there was the assault by coral eating crown of thorns starfish. these predators will be targeted by the new multi—million dollar plan to revive and restore the reef. farmers fear the queensland coast will be encouraged farmers near the queensland coast will be encouraged to change their ways, to reduce the flow of fertilisers and pesticides into the sea. it is part of a pledge that the australian government says is the single largest investment ever in the great barrier reef. we will be providing money for scientific research, particularly to build more resilient coral, and to deal with heat stress and life stress. we will be putting the money

towards better data management so we better understand what is happening to the reef so we can deal with the challenges. we are spending money in terms of working with local indigenous communities, the traditional owners who have such a big role to play. ministers say there will be efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, but they gave no specific details. critics accused them of being hopelessly unable to tackle the climate emergency facing this underwater paradise that snakes down north—eastern australia. the government in canberra has previously set an ambitious target to cut the nation's emissions by 2030. but this is a country heavily dependent on cheap supplies of coal for its power. conservationists argue that until this reliance on fossilfuels is broken, there can be no real hope of preserving the great barrier reef. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. a new world record has been awarded for surfing the biggest wave.

here's the brazilian surfer rodrigo koxa riding the enormous wave off the portuguese coast in november. 80 feet, orjust over 24 metres, high. koxa said being awarded the record made it the happiest day in his life. the marvel studios superhero movie, avengers: infinity war, has set a new record for global box—office sales on its opening weekend. industry observers said it took in $630 million, even though it has yet to open in china. the takings in north america amounted to $250 million — a record for the region. lets get the weather now. we'll see gale force winds around

the east coast and very cold for a time. expecting temperatures around 15 degrees at this time of year but tomorrow there will be large stretches of the day where temperatures are struggling around three or 4 degrees. add to that there will be strong winds that will make it even colder. winter coats at the ready. this weekend the pressure has been rising across scotland. as this low—pressure rhoose northwards from france it brings us strong winds, wet weather working across east anglia and south—east england. further north and west clearing skies overnight will allow things to get very chilly, some patches of frost just in get very chilly, some patches of frostjust in the countryside, it might get down to