welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories: britain's home secretary resigns amid claims she misled parliament over targets for removing illegal immigrants. the us says there's a real opportunity for a deal with north korea but pyongyang must get rid of its nuclear weapons. protesters show their support for armenia's main opposition leader days before a new prime minister will be chosen. and a group of migrants who've been travelling through mexico stage a demonstration at the border with america. the british home secretary, amber rudd, has resigned after weeks of pressure over the government's treatment of long—term migrants from the caribbean. ms rudd had denied knowing

about targets for the number of illegal immigrants to be deported, but leaked documents showed that she herself set a target for officials to increase the number of deportations. our political correspondent, alex forsyth, has more on amber rudd's resignation. it was the windrush scandal that marked the start of the end for the home secretary. days of damning headlines about the treatment of migrants who'd lived and worked in britain for decades. when will the government get a grip on the windrush crisis? good morning. amber rudd under increasing pressure for her handling of the story. home secretary, will you resign over windrush? but in the end, it wasn't windrush directly that led to her downfall. on wednesday, mps quizzed amber rudd about the government's wider approach to immigration. a key focus, its drive to get immigration numbers down and illegal migrants out,

and that's when the home secretary said this. targets for removals, when were they set? we don't have targets for removals. she was summoned to clarify in the house of commons. she admitted there were local targets, but claimed she hadn't known. there are some offices which are working with them, unfortunately i was not aware of them. and i want to be aware of them, which is why i am now putting in place different measures to ensure that happens. then today another revelation. the guardian obtained a memo dated last year, copied to the home secretary and her senior team, referring directly to national targets. and that prompted amber rudd's resignation tonight. for someone tipped as a potential leader, it's a brutal comedown. since entering parliament in 2010, amber rudd has risen through the ranks to the cabinet, where she's been a crucial support to theresa may.

she even stood in for the prime minister during last year's election debates. the fact is we are to concentrate our resources on the people who need it most. her feisty exchanges during the eu referendum lead her to be seen as a competent performer and as someone who campaigned against brexit, she was a vital voice in cabinet for mps who backed remain. her departure is a loss to them. it's damning to her leadership dream. and it leaves the prime minister very exposed in downing street. alex forsyth, bbc news, westminster. with more analysis of what this means for the british government, here's our political editor laura kuennsberg. a big moment for any government to lose their home secretary, after all it's one of the big offices of state, but in these peculiar times its leaving a more uncertain path of action. amber rudd's departure will upset the very delicate balancing

cabinet over brexit. you will remember everytime theresa may has moved ministers around, there's been a calculation, who was in the remain side and who was in the brexit side. amber rudd was a powerful remain voice in the cabinet, her departure will upset that balance and put a very seniorfigure in will upset that balance and put a very senior figure in the back benches was on that side of the argument. the second very important factor here is while amber rudd was in place at the home office, she was answering for the mistakes that were made over the windrush generation and this recent confusion over immigration, but who was in charge there before the home office, but for amber rudd took up her position there? the prime minister herself, of course, theresa may. labour has suggested in recent days that amber rudd was somehow protecting her as a human shield. that, of course, was denied by the government but now ms rudd has gone from thatjob but it may well be the opposition parties try to point the criticism over this

whole issue more pointedly at the prime minister herself. the us national security adviser john bolton has sounded a cautious note in the aftermath of friday's ground—breaking summit between north and south korea. both countries pledged to work towards the de—nuclearisation of the korean peninsula. the focus now turns to the forthcoming meeting between kim jong—un and donald trump, which us media have reported could be held either in singapore or mongolia. on us television, john bolton said the trump administration is not what he called "starry—eyed" about what the meeting may yield. president trump is determined to see this opportunity through, hopeful that we can get a real breakthrough. but we're not naive in the administration and a lot‘s gonna ride on this meeting with kim jong—un. laura bicker has more on this story from seoul. from this momentous show of unity 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, in front of witnesses. the site is where all six nuclear tests were carried out. south korean officials said mr kim promised to close it by may, and let experts and the media watch. a welcome development, but the us is being cautious. we use the word irreversible with great intention, and we're going to require those steps that demonstrate that denuclearisation is going to be achieved. we are not going to take promises, we are not going to take words, we are going to look for actions and deeds, and, until such time, the president has made it incredibly clear we will keep the pressure campaign in place until we achieve that. it does all sound rather familiar. in 2008, north korea blew up this cooling tower, but continued to build

weapons in secret. however, the south korean government believes it is time to place some trust in the north. trust is two—directional, ok? you 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 half an hour 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 realise we are one people, and i am touched by it. translation: this time, kim jong—un speaks with conviction. i think that is why this time will be different. kim jong—un seems to be saying

all the right things, and changing the clocks is a good sign of unity. he's also said through the south koreans that his missiles pose no threat to the us, or to them, but it kind of misses the point. the us doesn't want him 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's hope, here, that this could be the start of a new era. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news: the new us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has used his first diplomatic trip to the middle east to accuse iran of destabilising the region. standing alongside the israeli prime minister, mr pompeo said washington would not neglect what he described as the vast scope of tehran‘s

links with terrorism. and he reiterated president trump's threat to abandon the iran nuclear deal unless it can be strengthened. the philippine president has introduced a permanent ban on citizens going to work in kuwait. a temporary ban was imposed in february after a filipina maid was murdered there. last week kuwait expelled manila's ambassador over videos of philippine embassy staff helping workers to escape allegedly abusive kuwaiti employers. a vigil has been taking place in toronto for the victims of the van attack a week ago that left 10 people dead. a 25—year—old man, alek minassian, has been accused of deliberately driving into pedestrians. officials say he had no links to known terror groups but he had posted on social media referencing a misogynistic online community before the attack. protesters in armenia have demonstrated their support for the country's main opposition leader two days before politicians

in the country choose a new interim prime minister. former leader serzh sarkisian, who became prime minister earlier this month after serving a decade as president, resigned on monday after days of mass protests. andrew plant reports. marches on the streets of armenia's capital city, one of many in recent days, as the country's parliament prepares to choose a new premier. in the centre here, the opposition leader, nikol pashinyan, drumming up support to become the country's next prime minister. the former leader, serzh sarkisian, resigned last week after protests across the country in the capital serzh yerevan and these other towns. president for ten years he then merged into the position of

prime minister after armenians voted ina prime minister after armenians voted in a referendum to switch from a presidential to a parliamentary system, critics accused him of clinging on to power against the will of the armenian people. armenia's economy has suffered in recent decades, its people claiming of corruption and poverty and nepotism in its ruling party. the former soviet republic now seeing many move abroad to find work. translation: we have 50 hectares here. 70 people used to work here. now everyone's going abroad to work. the majority of them, 80% go to russia. now the ruling republican party has said it won't field a candidate when politicians choose a new leader on tuesday. meanwhile, supporters of the opposition candidate hope that this show of force will help propel him to power. andrew plant, bbc news. a group of migrants has reached the united states after travelling through mexico from central america in a caravan disparaged by the us president donald trump. the group of around 400 hondurans, guatemalans

and salvadorans have angered president trump during their month—long journey across mexico. he repeatedly called on mexico to stop them before they reached the border. some 200 people are now attempting to claim asylum at the border near san diego in california. joining me now is daniella burgi—palomino, senior associate at the latin america working group which is based in washington. what happens now to those who have got to the border? well, they'll exercising their right to seek asylu m exercising their right to seek asylum and so they are trying to seek asylum basically at the tijuana port of entry currently as of the last few hours, which is what i've been seeing, and they're basically exercising their right to seek asylum, which should happen after that... what should happen after that... what should happen after

thatis that... what should happen after that is they will undergo processing at temporary detention facilities and eventually longer term have an interview to claim their fear of return to their country. that's what should happen, but what we're seeing is, as in the past, customs and border protection will likely turn away this group of asylum seekers from central america. away this group of asylum seekers from centralamerica. but away this group of asylum seekers from central america. but the border forces will be well within their rights because the convention is you apply for asylum in the first safe country you are right at, and of course they've already gone through mexico, which would be considered a safe country in this instance. in this case, the united states does not have an agreement with mexico for mexico to act as a safe third country. there's actually no law on the books that says migrants who ci’oss the books that says migrants who cross through mexico should have to request asylum there first. it's not necessarily that they should apply for asylum in mexico, it's that they

should apply for asylum in the first country they are in, no matter what country they are in, no matter what country they are in, no matter what country they are in in the world. that has not been the united states position in the past. it is not a justification for the administration to use that in this scenario. under international law, an asylum seeker can claim asylum in the country of their choosing. this has been again a part of the administration's rhetoric to justify rejection for asylu m rhetoric to justify rejection for asylum for the individuals in this ca rava n asylum for the individuals in this caravan and also others. it's a kind of tactic we have seen under this administration for the past 1.5 yea rs. administration for the past 1.5 years. you should have requested asylu m years. you should have requested asylum in mexico, we're no longer taking asylum seekers, you need to come back another day, we are at capacity in our detention facilities, those are the kinds of excuses that are illegal that border patrol agents have been using when

an asylum seeker has presented themselves at a port of entry when trying to seek asylum. are you saying that if people have legitimate claims for asylum in the united states that they are turned down? yes, that's what we have seen. we've seen cases in the past year and a half where migrants, approaching the ports of entry at the border, like the caravan participants are doing currently, approached a border patrol agent and say, i'm trying to seek asylum in the united states, i have a fear of returning to my country and we've seen returning to my country and we've seen cases where returning to my country and we've seen cases where border patrol agents illegally have said come back another day, we're at capacity, we're no longer accepting asylum seekers when in reality it's not up to the border patrol agents to determine the validity of a claim. they simply have to accept the individual, process them within their facility, so they will be in detention facilities, and then follow the procedures under us law,

by which eventually an individual can have access to an interview to make their case. we're not saying accept make their case. we're not saying a cce pt every make their case. we're not saying accept every case, we're saying allow them a chance to make their case heard. thank you very much, senior associate at the latin america working group in washington. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the russian ship that some are calling a nuclear titanic sets sail on its maiden voyage. 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. 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. the latest headlines: the british home secretary amber rudd has resigned after weeks of pressure over the government's treatment of long—term migrants from the caribbean. the us says there's a real opportunity for a deal with north korea but pyongyang must get rid of its nuclear weapons. rohingya refugees in bangladesh have been holding

protests demanding justice and the right to return to myanmar. they're appealing to un ambassadors visiting refugee camps in cox's bazar, which currently hold nearly seven hundred thousand rohingyas who've fled from violence in myanmar. the delegation from the un's security council is also due to meet myanmar‘s leader aung san suu kyi and senior officials in the burmese army. the bbc‘s nick beake is in yangon. (tx sot) the fact the security council like coming here are on the security of the region in the future. some are hoping the political weight of the security council mean sanctions against key generals and the burmese

military may become more of a reality but they also hope the likelihood increases that in the future, the international criminal court investigating crimes against humanity but for the diplomats to meet aung san suu kyi and the head of the burmese military, they have a delicate path to take because in the short term, they want to guarantee that any rohingya families who do return from bangladesh are given a security here, i given some sort of assurance about their safety, they are given citizenship and also crucially there is some sort of guarantee that in the future, they will not face persecution. the australian government has pledged half a million australian dollars — that's nearly $380 million us — to restore the health of the great barrier reef. the reef is so large, it can be seen from space but health of its coral has been severely damaged by pollution, rising sea temperatures

and an invasive, pest—like starfish. over the past two years, two thirds of the reef has been devastated by bleaching. so is this money being spent too little, too late? the australian environment minister, josh frydenberg, told the bbc that the reef can recover. my message to your viewers is that the reef is resilient, it is under stress. whether it's from bleaching, whether it's from the crown of lawns starfish or whether it's from cyclones like we recently had a major cyclone in the region which did a lot of damage. that is a matter of fact that the same time, have also seen good coral recovery rates in periods after these bleaching events and we think by adapting the best science and technology and innovation to the challenges that the reef faces, that it will have a very bright future. joining me now from brisbane in australia, is anna marsden, the managing director of the great barrier reef foundation. we should point out, you are not

under water, the background makes it look that way. should this money have been spent a while ago? the reality is is that the new crisis we are finding the world's coral reefs in has been around for a couple of yea rs in has been around for a couple of years and in that time the science community has been working together to make a plan and identify where we can best target efforts. would got to do everything we can to meet the targets of the paris agreement because there is no doubt climate change is the number one threat facing the future of coral reefs but what scientists and conversationalists are focusing on, what other measures and actions we can do now? climate change mitigation to build the resilience of this ecosystem but also to be able to rebuild the reefs that have been lost. i was going to ask you about that because you've made the

most important point. climate change, australia on its own cannot reduce emissions. so what can you actually do locally? i think there are actually do locally? i think there a re lots of actually do locally? i think there are lots of leaders weaken —— lots of leavers we can pool. there are a of leavers we can pool. there are a of challenges to the reef but the focus this attention and funding is isa focus this attention and funding is is a suite of measures which essentially will buy time for coral reefs while the world works together to achieve that paris agreement. practically, what does that mean? what about a natural predator for that starfish that is eating everything? and all. it should. it's about working on outbreaks of crown of thorns starfish. we need to find some natural predators. it is to ensure that the trigger of such

outbreaks which is excess nitrogen coming into the water is reduced and the broader issue of water quality. a lot of sediment running off the adjoining land and that is hurting the shallow reefs. a lot of works to remediate gullies and improve the amount of water and quality of water overall. there is a big piece of work going around this practice managing the reef and building the adaptability of coral reefs to survive the changing climate so collectively, it is half $1 billion of australian money to be spread across about six different measures, that the science and conservation community can agree on. its critics have called it a floating chernobyl and a nuclear titanic. what's said to be the world's first floating nuclear power plant has set sail on its maiden sea voyage from st petersburg in russia. the company behind the project insists the ship is safe and will provide much needed energy to remote areas.

the bbc‘s tim allman reports. wouldn't exactly call it pretty but the ship may well turn out to be revolutionary. the akademik lomonosov is a floating nuclear power station designed to operate in russia's promote arctic north—east. they say the reactor on board can generate enough energy for a town of up generate enough energy for a town of up to 100,000 people but environmental groups have voiced concerns that this floating power plant could become a floating disaster, something strongly denied by the people who built it. translation: i say this floating power plant has all the characteristics we have amassed at oui’ characteristics we have amassed at our nuclear plants. it has protection against all impacts,

including man—made problems. chernobyl was one of the first soviet reactors of its kind to be built and now it is the site of the soviet union's first nuclear accident. the russian authorities know too well what can happen when the pursuit of nuclear energy goes terribly wrong. the chernobyl disaster which took place in what is now in neighbouring ukraine was one of the worst such events in history. critics fear there is the potential something similar could happen at sea. the akademik lomonosov was slowly towed out of port adding to murmansk were it will be filled with nuclear material. it is expected to go into full operation sometime next year. put on your hazmat suits. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @nkem|fejika. hello again.

for some of us across east anglia and south—east england, it's going to be a disappointing start to the new working week. on the weather menu today, heavy outbreaks of rain, strong to gale—force winds and this will all conspire to make it feel really quite cold if your‘e out and about. normally, this time of year, temperatures up to 15 degrees across parts of south—east england however underneath this area of persistent rain, large swathes of the day where temperatures struggle to get much above 4 degrees across parts of south—east england and east anglia. the troublemaker then is this area of low pressure. will begin with relatively high pressure, the isobars are pinching together, that's what's bringing the strong winds to these eastern areas, with high pressure with us to the north and west of the uk. we've had clear spells overnight which has allowed temperatures to plummet away. it's a cold start to the morning. indeed, we've got a number of areas that already have frost, so it'll be a cold start but a fair amount of sunshine first thing. so the best of the sunshine

across northern and western parts of the country where again there'll be a lot of dry weather. really, across the midlands into eastern england, a lot of cloud with those cold winds. notice those winds around the east coast, 50—55mph, something like that, and those winds will be with blowing all day, persistent rain across east anglia and south—east england. we could 25—35mm of rain. there is the risk of some localised surface water flooding across eastern counties. temperatures really struggling. where we see the sunshine, we shouuld see highs pushing on into at least double figures. the low pressure will be moving away into the north sea. a little ridge of high pressure for a time ahead of the next atlantic weather system. so, cloud and rain close away from eastern england. sunshine for a time for scotland,

england and wales, but the next band of rain comes in quickly from the atlantic to bring some wet weather to northern ireland and as we go through tuesday afternoon, that rain will be arriving across parts of england, wales and scotland. temperatures coming up a bit, 12—14 degrees for most, but still, a little cool for the time of year. that rain will continue to push eastwards, right the way across the country through tuesday night. by wednesday, it still loiters around central and eastern england but should clear through the day followed by some sunshine but there will be heavy showers moving into the north—west the uk. these, thundery at times. temperatures between 10 and 1a degrees. a bit of a manky start to the week for a number of places, particularly across eastern england, but things improve and we will get some drier and warmer weather towards the end of the week and next weekend when temperatures push back into the 20s. this is bbc news, the headlines: the british home secretary, amber rudd, has resigned after weeks of pressure over the government's treatment of long—term migrants from the caribbean. her departure is a major blow to the prime minister, theresa may, who has to maintain

a delicate balance over brexit in her divided cabinet. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, says north korea must take irreversible steps towards ending its nuclear programme if a deal can be struck between the two countries. america's national security adviser, john bolton, has also sounded a cautious note about a possible agreement. armenia's ruling party says it will not try to prevent the man who's led two weeks of anti—government protests from becoming prime minister. seniorfigures in the republican party say they will not field a candidate against nikol pashinyan, who told a rally earlier that he was ready to take office. now on bbc news, the week in parliament.