the americans were released to the secretary of state, on his second visit to pyongyang. mike pompeo met for 90 minutes with the north korean leader kim jong un. donald trump says a date and location for the upcoming summit has been set. after anglfi figm'g‘sfiéfisififii elf thgfififlgsf e5917 europe will stick with it. britain has no intention of walking away. instead, we will cooperate with the other parties. also on the programme... she is the first woman nominated to lead the cia but today gina haspel faced tough questions about allegations of torture. under my leadership, on my watch, cia will not restart a detention and interrogation programme. the countdown to the royal wedding is on.

and with just ten days to go we'll give you a tour of the key windsor locations. get in touch with us using the hashtag ‘beyond—one—hundred—days‘. hello and welcome — i'm christian fraser in london, rajini vaidya nathan is in washington. president trump's methods are unorthodox, some think they are reckless, but when it coms to north korea the tough diplomacy is working — at least for now. today on twitter the president confirmed that secretary of state mike pompeo was "in the air and on his way back to washington with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting." they seem to be in good health, he wrote. the three americans reportedly walked onto the plane unaided. they are — kim dong—chul — a pastor in his early 60s — detained in 2015 on spying charges. he was sentenced to 10

years hard labour. kim sang—duk, known as tony kim, worked at a university in pyongyang. he was detained in april 2017 also charged with espionage. and kim hak—song, detained in may 2017. a self—described christian missionary who was accused of hostile acts. lets speak to our north america correspondent nick bryant. the americans have made the release of these three americans a condition before the talks but nonetheless donald trump will say that his hardline approach is working. validation that his unconventional approach to international diplomacy, all that fiery rhetoric that alarmed people around the world has worked. there was a mood of celebration in the white house today that these three detainees were being released. they were not worried about european reaction to the iran deal or agonising over the global reaction

which apart from israel and saudi arabia has been largely negative. they were delighting in this news and of course it gives donald trump this great television moment, two o'clock in the morning at andrews air force base he plans to be there when these three detainees come off the plane. that will appeal to the reality television side of his personality. let's get the thoughts of robin wright, joint fellow at the us institute of peace and the woodrow wilson international center, whojoins me now. you have recently returned from south korea, you were at the border of the demilitarised zone. with this news today and a it is now with a date set, what other potential glitches before we get to that. the big rich is what kimjong—un once, his motive injoining an international or us—led diplomatic effort. a re ‘ of effort. there are a number of theories, one that he actually has a nuclear capability and therefore if

he gives everything up now he can rebuild in a couple of years so he is now in a position of having this capability to give up what he's got. the second theory, he is following the way of other asian communists and sees the opening up of the economy as a means of ending isolation and that really is pivotal to north korea and its troubled economy. the third theory is that he is duping everyone and that he does not really intended to give everything over but he is willing to engage in a process that provides some benefits particularly economically for the north. that is the big question, there is a lot of great symbolism so far, in the returning of the three american detainees. aren't at the demilitarised zones it is becoming increasingly a tourist attraction but now the hard part is the substance. the substance, we've been told that set a date and place, it

has been one of the biggest announcements. where do you think is going to be, we've been told it will not be at the demilitarised zone. what is your death. when i was there the americans were doing some prep work for the demilitarised zone so they had also been taken back up work on singapore. so i think they're talking about earlyjune and i think there is still a lot of places in play. where does this leave mike pompeo because yesterday i was starting to think he had been cut off at the knees, he had been trying to persuade the donald trump to stick with the iran deal at least for another few weeks while he dealt with europeans but today he flies back from north korea with these three prisoners and a date and location for the meeting. suddenly the position of the secretary of state is emboldened again. the position of the secretary of state is emboldened againli the position of the secretary of state is emboldened again. i think mike pompeo was one of those who argued to walk away from the deal he talked about regime change in the past and i think he has been a

hardliner along withjohn past and i think he has been a hardliner along with john bolton past and i think he has been a hardliner along withjohn bolton the new national security adviser but he is coming away now as the lead negotiator with north korea and this is the moment for him to define himself as the leading foreign policy makers in the united states. these are easy confessions to make, to release the three americans, and the americans tried to keep other allies in the region onside, japan and south korea have many prisoners left in north korea. the japanese are left in north korea. the japanese a re interested left in north korea. the japanese are interested in the issue and of course there are american held in other places including iran. but these people should never have been detained in the first place so it is a concession but in some ways a meaningless or easy confessions. but soon happy us. watching the speech yesterday he made reference to north korea at the same time he spoke about the iran issue and thejcpoa. what i thought was interesting is that he was saying there is not

going to be a similar dealfor north korea. you're not going to get sunset clauses and limitations to what you're doing, it is denuclearisation for the relaxation of sanctions and nothing in between. but the problem is now he has torn up but the problem is now he has torn up that iran deal it sets the bar quite high. and there is another problem as well, i was at capitol hill yesterday and some people i spoke to said that the problem with what happened with iran means that there is some concern that if president trump and with that one deal, will people in north korea think he has the capacity to get into a deal that would then just be revoked a few years down the line so there is an issue of trust given what he did with iran. well plenty of eye on what europeans are going to do but the british secretary borisjohnson to do but the british secretary boris johnson says to do but the british secretary borisjohnson says the uk has no

intention of pulling out of the deal. together with european allies they will work he said to salvage the gains that have been made. in moscow the russian president vladimir putin said he was "seriously concerned" by development. he is holding talks with israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu to try and resolve the "acute situation". james landale has this report. in iran there is a ritual way of denouncing the united states and today they took it to the floor of that parliament. burning the us flag and shouting death to america. the country's supreme leader denounced president trump's decision to abandon the deal that iran struck to curb its nuclear programme in return for lifted sanctions. he warned that iran would leave the deal as well unless european countries guaranteed their trade. translation: if you can get a guarantee we can be confident in then you can continue.

if you do not succeed in obtaining a definitive guarantee, and i really doubt that you can, at that moment we cannot continue like this. he knows that many in iran believe the nuclear deal never provided the economic benefits they were promised. on the streets of tehran people were worried about what the crisis would mean for them. the first feeling i got was that i should not stay here any more. even when we did not have sanctions, our economy was terrible. with this decision i do not know what will happen. we are living in hope and i hope our leaders will take decisions to limit damage to our country. in the commons the foreign secretary tried to reassure the iranian people. promising to stand by the deal. britain has no intention of walking away. instead we will cooperate with the other parties to ensure that while iran continues to restrict its nuclear programme, then its people will benefit from sanctions relief in accordance

with the central bargain of the deal. today the un watchdog the international atomic energy aid confirmed iran's nuclear facilities were complying with the terms of the deal but european leaders believe iran must do more to restrict its behaviour in the middle east and the us must explain how. translation: we know this deal is only finding solutions for a limited space of time that that is why we have to talk with iran about what happens after that. how we can make sure there is a civil and not military programme. britain and its allies will have to persuade iran that trade is valuable and means jobs and investment. they will have to persuade the us not to enforce

sanctions too harshly. none of that will be easy. but that will not stop supporters of the deal from trying. today the russian president used moscow's victory parade to lobby the israeli prime minister. there will be more discussions in london in coming days. the eu wants to exempt its firms from us sanctions but few expect president trump to bend because he believes the financial freedom of the nuclear deal allowed iran to fund its hostile behaviour in syria and yemen. he told his cabinet iran will have to negotiate or something will happen. i will advise iran not to start the nuclear programme. i would advise them very strongly. if they do there will be very severe consequence. this may not be the first time the us has been denounced on the streets of iran but it is rare in the echoes have been heard in the capitals of europe. i'm joined here in london

by sir mark lyall—grant, who until last year, was the uk's national security adviser. he also worked on the iran deal between 2006 and 2009, during which time he was in close contact with the iranian government. the deal seems to be that the europeans will work for the time being towards jcpoa, europeans will work for the time being towardsjcpoa, european staying in as a whole and trying to persuade the iranians to stick with that. i think that is the short-term plan, the europeans want to preserve the deal as best they can and as you sayjp cla minus the americans. with the view that you might get tojp cla plus, a bigger deal involving the americans and bring in notjust the americans and bring in notjust the nuclear programme but also the ballistic missile programme and indeed of any activity in the region. that is the big prize which president trump hinted at yesterday in his speech, might be possible at some point. the trouble with trying

to keep the iranians on—board is that you have to persuade those european companies that are going to face sanctions by america that they can trade with iran and that is going to be difficult. we heard yesterday from donald trump, they're not going to give any quarter on that. what donald trump said that he would sanction countries that were assisting iran in the building of the nuclear programme. the definition of that is going to be difficult, if you say that by trading with iran are gaining money and spending that nuclear programmes, you could say they would be sanctioned but you are right, this is the crucial point. the americans do not trade much actually with iran, they do not invest in iran and so what is at stake is the other countries and particularly the europeans. there is no european company that potentially has more interest in iran than in the united states so they are going to be very relu cta nt to states so they are going to be very reluctant to risk their business in the united states through sanctions

and go with iran. i think this is an important test case now for example air bus, 100 airbus contracts and only three delivered so far. they have some american components and if air bus is going to be sanctioned, if they go ahead with the contract, thatis if they go ahead with the contract, that is a sign that the americans are not prepared to allow the europeans to fulfil their side of thejp europeans to fulfil their side of the jp cla minus. europeans to fulfil their side of thejp cla minus. and you make noticed in the statement issued by angela merkel, amend or macron and theresa may, as the american specifically not to do anything which makes it impossible for the other place to implement the deal. that is what they were fed too. in the run—up to that decision yesterday of course we had a parade of european leaders and of course the uk foreign secretary coming to washington but they did not get the result that they wanted. how much of this tuc as a snub to european countries? i do not think it is a

snub, ithink countries? i do not think it is a snub, i think it is a question of president trump feeling he should deliver on the promises he made on the campaign that this was a rotten deal and should be ripped up. and clearly europeans had to be able to persuade the americans, the american administration that it was not worth ripping up this deal. i tried that when i was national security adviser, the prime minister tried it, the other european leaders have tried but unfortunately those arguments have not persuasive. thank you very much. democratic senator ben cardin sits on the foreign relations committee and joins us live now from capitol hill. good to have you. it cannot have escaped your notice that the europeans are quite anxious about what is going on, not only facing the threat of terrorists but maybe also sanctions on their european companies if they trade with iran. good to be with you and i think we

really do not understand how this is going to unfold. many of us disagree with resident trump and his strategy here but the bottom line is how do we ensure that iran does not start up we ensure that iran does not start up its nuclear programme and how do we deal with their other activities of the we need to have unity and u nfortu nately of the we need to have unity and unfortunately the decision from the president makes it difficult to have that unity. the europeans are looking for reassurances, does congress play a role in that, specifically when we talk about air bus, they will trade 100 aeroplanes with iran, there are an arrogant components on that. would it face sanctions for example and is there anything that democrats or those that oppose what donald trump is doing to get in the way of it?|j think congress will weigh in with this administration on how the implement the sanctions, user questions being asked about airbus or what you do about the energy

needs of countries that are buying iranian oil, will united states impose sanctions. the president has indicated he will wait for several months before implementing sanctions to give companies the chance to wind down. we have to see exactly what he's talking about, will he infringe upon the parties to the agreement in carrying out their commitment to around. under the agreement if iran is compliant. so early for us to predict how this will unfold but frankly i'm not sure that the trump administration knows itself how they will implement this policy.“ administration knows itself how they will implement this policy. if you can stay with us, we would like your thoughts on the woman that donald trump has nominated to head the cia. she has faced some tough questions. gina haspel currently the deputy director, was challenged over the role she had played some years ago at a cia black site in thailand, where terror suspects had been tortured.

she said no ‘such‘ policy would be introduced again, if she became the new director. i would never, ever take cia to an interrogation programme. first of all, cia follows the law, we followed the law then, we follow the law today. i support the law, i would not support a change in the law. but i will tell you this, i would not put cia officers at risk by asking them to undertake risky, controversial activity again. senator, up to you and your fellow collea g u es senator, up to you and your fellow colleagues in the senate to decide whether or not she should get the job for them after listening to what you heard this morning, what is your boat going to be? i did listen to her testimony this morning and tomorrow i will have the chance in a classified setting to get more information about her so i will withhold my own personaljudgment until i have all the information i

need. i think the troublesome parts with that, that she participated in these enhanced techniques, torture, and why did she participate and secondly, her knowledge about the destruction of the takes is still an issue that is of major concern. so i will withhold judgment until i have the chance to —— to review all information. and assuming seers confirm how much could she be put on a collision course with donald trump had what she said today about how she does not support torture and what the president said about how he might. torture is illegal and it is clear that the directions have been given against the use of these enhanced techniques and torture so thatis enhanced techniques and torture so that is clearly the policy of our country. the challenge is that we have seen this once before where torture was used and they bent the rules. so i think we are concerned that whoever administers these policies does not try to look for

ways to get around the restrictions of the law. good to get your thoughts, thank you for being with us. the afghan capital kabul has been hit by two apparently co—ordinated attacks. the health ministry says at least 7 people have been killed and 17 people are injured. the islamic state group says it was behind the attack in a police compound. at the same time, buildings in the capital have been shaken by an earthquake. the german carmaker, bmw is recalling more than 300,000 vehicles in the uk because of a safety issue concerning their power supply. the recall affects several models produced between march 2007 and august 2011. it follows an investigation by the bbc‘s watchdog programme, which showed vehicles could stop while being driven. the duke of cambridge has officially reopened london bridge train station — one of the uk's busiest — following a five year billion pound redevelopment. prince william unveiled a plaque and then met groups of apprentices, project leaders and architects. it was his first royal engagement since the birth of his third

child, prince louis. now, sticking with that royal theme — the countdown has begun. we are just ten days away from the uk's royal wedding. prince harry is to marry, of course, the hollywood actress meghan markle in windsor a week on saturday — a fine english castle. and i have been down to take a look, with some thoughts of how the big day is going to unfold. welcome to windsor. home to 150,000 people, on the outskirts of london. but this is a town that is dominated byjust one family, who lived in what is reputed to be the largest inhabited castle anywhere in the world. winter has been home to british kings and queens for almost a thousand years and to this day it is an official residence of queen elizabeth the second. so with that big day fast approaching, what can we expect

from saturday may 19? well, from nine o'clock in the morning, the official guests will start to arrive here which is the normal entrance for the public. two hours later, members of the royal family will start to arrive and that point, meghan will begin herjourney with her mother to the castle from an undisclosed location. the ceremony begins at noon in st george's chapel. harry's uncle edward is the last member of the royal family to have got married there nearly 20 years ago. the vows will be taken by the archbishop of canterbury. and princess diana's sister lady jane fellowes will give the reading. around one o'clock the newlyweds will leave the chapel and if it is a day like this, fingers crossed, there will be an open top procession around the streets of windsor. they will go along the high street, and down the long walk. and this is where they will have the big screens, the live entertainment, the food stalls. it is expected that there will be

fans and well—wishers camping through the night, hoping the next day to get the best view of the couple and of course, the dress. they will return to join their guests at a reception, hosted by the queen at saint george's hall in the castle grounds. after that we will see the newly married couple one last time as they head off to a private evening reception within these grounds at frogmore house, hosted by harry's father, the prince of wales. and yes, frogmore house is quite literally named after the large number of frogs that historically lived in the marshy grounds around the house. katty kay and i will be in windsor in the days leading up to the wedding and for the event itself — we'll have special editions of beyond one hundred days on thursday the 17th and friday the 18th of may, right here on bbc news.

and how do i know all this? well it's because i have the inside track. i have had a one on one with the royals todayjust to discuss the final preparation. i can show you the photos. one for their album. in fact we took quite a few photographs... i must say though i did found them a little stiff. a bit false. really? if you look closely you will see they are made out of whack. will know you have no connections with the royal family. —— wax. you can't fool me. they are in fact the new maddam tussauds models that will go on show to mark the royal wedding. very lifelike?

i showed this to my wife and she did at cherry think it was then pulled up at cherry think it was then pulled up he is quite realistic. and i could not believe how tall he is, and apparently these are my flight model. can i say that meghan markle is wearing high heels. i would have prepared to stand next to her. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news — his exposes brought down the careers of harvey weinstein and the new york attorney general — what ronan farrow tells us about the ‘me too' movement. and the bride who just couldn't be stopped from walking down the aisle — not even a crocodile could stop her. her story is still to come. good evening. today was cooler but

we still had temperatures reaching 21 degrees celsius in the south—east of england. helps with sunshine like this and a light wind. further west it has been a different story, much more cloud cooler weather and for some questionnaire with some outbreaks of rain. that brain has been coming in courtesy of this weather front, which has been coming in courtesy of this weatherfront, which has produced some heavy rain. but it will become lighter and more patchy for the out behind that even cooler air living across the whole country in time for tomorrow. on that weather front here is the rain later this evening pushing its way east across the midlands into eastern england at the same time becoming light and patchy. behind that some showers afterwards the north—west by paul much of scotla nd the north—west by paul much of scotland and northern ireland, wales and the west of england, clearer skies later in the night but not too cold. take a closer look at those

showers in the north west of scotland, brushing the north coast of northern ireland. the odd shower in the far south—west of wales but it is across east anglia and the south—east that we have something quite cloudy but that should soon clear away and for the most part it will be a dry day across england and wales on thursday. showers in the south—west of fading away and even in scotland and northern ireland becoming fewer and lighter in the afternoon. temperatures little higher than today here but a bit cooler for england and wales. the high pressure reduces the number of showers later on in the day but we have another weather front coming in from the atlantic again for friday. it looks like northern ireland that will see most of the brain, that strong southerly wind delaying the progress of his reign putting its weight finally in two western fringes of wales. further east dry

day with some sunshine and probably a bit warmer. the band of rain on the weather front is slow—moving and at some point it will grind to a halt and over the weekend it looks like it is the eastern side of the uk that has most of the rain for the some sunshine further west but quite a few heavy showers in the south—west. this is beyond 100 days, with me, christian fraser, in london, rajini vaidyanathan is in washington. our top stories — president trump says three americans imprisoned by north korea are on their way home, flying with the us secretary of state, mike pompeo. an international attempt to rescue the iranian nuclear deal is underway, after president trump pulled the us out of the accord. coming up in the next half hour — i sit down with the journalist who inspired the hashtag #metoo — the american author, ronan farrow, who broke the harvey weinstein scandal. travelling to the towns of america. one couple logs a hundred thousand

miles to paint a portrait of the us between its coasts. let us know your thoughts by using the hashtag... #beyond100days ronan farrow‘s expose of the hollywood producer harvey weinstein gave rise to the #metoo movement. this week he co—authored a new yorker investigation into the new york attorney general, eric schneiderman, who resigned, afterfour women alleged non—consensual physical abuse, allegations that mr schneiderman has vehemently denied. alongside his investigative journalism, he has also written a new book, called "war on peace, the end of diplomacy and the decline of american influence". i spoke to him earlier today, and suggested his book is well timed. we have never before seen this kind of slashing and burning of american

diplomacy, these mass firings, the ambassadorships and senior positions across american diplomacy left empty. there is seemingly a wholesale disregard for this kind of expertise and for the negotiators and peacemake rs expertise and for the negotiators and peacemakers and long—term strategic thinkers that can keep us out of conflicts, and confront rising threats, like the one iran poses. the gamble, and this is the point the republicans may, for the obama administration was that you do a dealfor the nuclear problem and off the back of that build a more constructive relationship with iran. but iran has not done that, it's activities in fact have become or nefarious since 2015, and we gave up the leverage that until yesterday we didn't have. the architects of the iran deal of the first to admit it is incomplete and flawed. the problem with withdrawal, unilaterally, by the united states is that it drives a wedge between the united states and all of those other allies. and,

the united states and all of those otherallies. and, moreover, it sends a message to north korea, as we go into those discussions with them, that the united states is not a nation that stands by its commitments. it really creates a disincentive for any rogue regime to ever come to the table with us. let's start with your local scoop, eric schneiderlin, when did he realise he was a man with skeletons in his own cupboard? we began reviewing leads about eric schneiderlin some months ago, it required a careful reporting job. my colleague was at the forefront of this reporting. both for the sake of his accusers, and did so in the case ofa his accusers, and did so in the case of a lot of fear, and all downside for them, of a lot of fear, and all downside forthem, and of a lot of fear, and all downside for them, and also for the case of eric schneiderman. we had to be

meticulous and fair and it took some time. by the fact that these women, what, seven months since the michu micro—movement have began —— since the me too movement began, have only just come forward. there will always be reticence on survivors. these are traumatising memories that all of these accusers were forced to relive. when going up against a powerful man there is an extra layer of trepidation. many of these women described eric schneiderman threatening to kill them come using the power of his office to come after them. they were intimidated very thoroughly. but one after another they eventually decided after a long period of grappling with this it was important that they speak to protect other women. they are drawn topping allegations schneiderman is facing, which he

denies, we should say, but they are allegations of sexual violence. where do you think the case goes next? it is not for me as a reporter, whose job was very narrow, to meticulously scrutinised these claims and report them out, to handicap what any legal proceedings to come may hold. certainly the conduct described by these women is criminal in nature, you know, it is assault. and i hope that this at the very least opened up a broader conversation about this scourge of domestic violence that's only people have so much trouble confronting. domestic violence that's only people have so much trouble confrontinglj have so much trouble confronting.” wonder whether you were surprised at the pace with which things are unfolding, since you started investigating weinstein, are you surprised at how deep the problem is? bee i did have a clear sense this was a deep vein of untold stories, and, for me, the weinstein story was never just about harvey weinstein, it was always apparent it was a story about the abuse of power, and that it reflected the way

in which powerful men command a whole lot of elaborate systems to suppress allegations against them, not just suppress allegations against them, notjust in suppress allegations against them, not just in hollywood suppress allegations against them, notjust in hollywood but in politics, in media. and we have seen that play out with the stories that have followed. and i think that as far as we have come, we still have a long way to go. there's a lot of work still to be done. would it help those women who are perhaps reticent of coming forward we re perhaps reticent of coming forward were there a prosecution in the weinstein case, because we're still waiting the prosecution. it requires a tremendous commitment on the part of any individual who decides to the a central component of a law enforcement proceeding like that, just as it was a life altering decision for them to talk to me on the record, i know some are now talking to law enforcement officials and deciding do i want to attend my life, maybe for several years to come, the stand, getting torn to shreds. so a lot of this will be in

the hands of the women who would have to be testifying in this case. you will know the trump administration celebrated the downfall of schneiderlin. kellyanne conway tweeted, gotcha. but i am wondering, as we approach the midterms, when women candidates are becoming more important, there are far more women voters, whether there are implications here for both parties? look, the abuse of power is not a partisan issue, in the united states or anywhere else. it is very clear that the same tactics of intimidation and the same kinds of charges of sexual violence exist on both sides of the aisle. my hope is that this brings accountability where ever it is needed, regardless of the political implications, and i hope that to the extent that this has any bearing on upcoming elections united states, that bearing is that voters come to care

about this issue and elect individuals into office who also ca re individuals into office who also care about championing the rights and the voices of survivors of violence. ronan farrow, a great pleasure to talk to you. a very interesting chap, he told me after that interview it is a very bad idea to break a major story on the us attorney at the same time you are heading off on a uk book tour! has that ripple effect, do you think gone down to a lower level, past hollywood, to the women who work in factories, banks, office blocks? do they feel empowered to come forward? it isa they feel empowered to come forward? it is a good question, as you know i have covered a lot of this metoo movement and spoken to a lot of survivors of sexual violence. ronan farrow broke so stories like weinstein and schneiderman, but the referrals aren't necessarily getting down the people lower down the food chain. if the person you are

accusing is not necessarily a celebrity, do you have the confidence to come forward? i think there are still a way to go when it comes to that metoo movement.” there are still a way to go when it comes to that metoo movement. i know you have just come comes to that metoo movement. i know you havejust come back comes to that metoo movement. i know you have just come back from comes to that metoo movement. i know you havejust come back from india, does this travel, do they pick up on the metoo movement?” does this travel, do they pick up on the metoo movement? i did a documentary recently for the bbc about why bollywood, the indian film industry, has not had a ten one movement. what i took away is there a lot of people in power, influential directors and film stars, so some of the women who allege they have been sexually assaulted by these people, they are just too afraid, and it is in their hands to get these parts from these people, so it is an abuse of power. at the moment really bollywood is still waiting to have its metoo movement because there are still is much fear. schneiderman not the only lawyer in trouble at the moment. the attorney for the american adult film actress stormy daniels says president trump's personal lawyer received money from a company with ties to a russian oligarch. michael avenatti said michael cohen was paid half

a million dollars after the 2016 election but he didn't say whether or not it might have been unlawful. neither mr cohen nor president trump has commented on the allegation. russia has been celebrating its world war ii victory over the nazis with a military parade on red square. the annual gathering in moscow's red square saw thirteen thousand russian service personnel taking part in the display. russia's president vladimir putin described the day as a sacred one for russia, and for the people of europe. scientists say they've found a potential cure for baldness — using a drug, originally intended to treat brittle bone disease. in experiments, the drug had a dramatic effect on hair follicles, causing them to sprout fresh hairs. the drug has yet to be put through clinical trials. since the 2016 election, we've talked lots on this programme about the disconnect between the big cities on the east and west coasts of the united states, and the heartland of middle america.

but are they really all that different? forfour and a half years, one couple travelled 100,000 miles to nearly 50 cities to take the pulse of small town america. speaking with civic leaders, teachers, business owners, they found that these towns are remaking themselves with the help of the younger generation. for more on their nationwide journey, iamjoined byjames and deborah fallows co—authors the new book "our towns. thanks for coming in. thank you. quite a journey. as christian said, 100,000 miles in your small plane, making two weeks tops in 25 cities. it sounds like you are a political candidate or something with that schedule. why did you decide to do it? mainly, to start off, with the discovery, we had been living in china for a discovery, we had been living in china fora numberof discovery, we had been living in china for a number of years before this, and had taken the approach of going into rural china to see what was surprisingly we thought we would do this about our own country, and

we came back with a sense of surprise at how much more was going on in the interior of the country than most people knew even about their neighbouring states or communities. and deborah? jim and i are both from small towns, so it was easy for us to embark on this journey, we understand how small towns were, and we go to that other places where you can get around easily and made lots of people. from south dakota through onto new england and maine, down to the north—west, kansas, nebraska, and everywhere in between, to see all these towns, and eventually spotting a great deal of generalities and positive trends are things that were happening. you say you did this because you lived in china. i speak toa because you lived in china. i speak to a lot of americans who haven't been to half the places i have in my reporting, particularly covering 2016, when i went to numerous

states. what do you think many americans don't know about their own country? i think what they don't know is you would have a sense of travelling for election coverage, but even beyond that, when you travel to iowa, michigan, you're getting a sense of the communities but you are asking about them, relative to national politics. we did not ask them about national politics, about obama or hillary clinton or donald trump, said howedes feel about this community? our business is growing over leaving, are your school is getting better or worse, and the surprise is how many people feel about their own communities that the direction is positive, despite the problems.” communities that the direction is positive, despite the problems. i am just wondering how you packed all the luggage such a long journey into a small plane. normally all my stuff gets tossed out in mice butt my house. i do know about you, jim. when you talk about the optimism, why do they feel obliged, then to vote against the establishment? why

are they angry? it is a fundamental question, which we tried to explore in different ways. the simplest answer i can give is there is some kind of disconnect between the reality and the three dimensionality of the life you live in your own community, where you can see the complexity of things and the trade—offs, and a past ten years ahead to make investments. and the way people now think about national politics in the us or the uk or elsewhere, where it is a kind of just simple tribal thing. it is which side do you hate more come and you have some symbolic vote one way or the other. so the message we are trying to give is how to have this complex, positive minded compromise minded approach that the texture of america represents, and see if that can go upward to national life, rather than having the polarisation come downward. we talked about the media, and clearly reporters have to get outside their bubble, that is abundantly clear. but it is donald trump who was painting some of these

darker pictures, make america great again. some of these cities have already moved on, these still making, coal—mining towns have evolved and gone on to different things. is it him that is painting the dark picture? you know, we started this in 2013, when there was a lot of positive activity going on in these towns, and we continued it past the election. and people, if they were preoccupied with something, it was making things in their town better. the schools, the public libraries, the public institutions, things that in a small town you feel like you can have some effect and some control over. so, in a way, looking to washington is not something that is going to benefit you or your town. but looking at your neighbours and main street, and calling the school superintendent and going to volunteer at the public library, and help build up things at the local level raised the political lines and really gave people an

opportunity to have an effect on the positive impact of towns. so if people are not talking about donald trump the whole time, hillary clinton, you mentioned local libraries and civic things, but what else were they telling you when you travel the us? else were they telling you when you travelthe us? many places else were they telling you when you travel the us? many places we went, the idea was, what is the story of this town, the arc of its history, where did it come from, where is it right now and where are we trying to get? that was one of the markers of a place that was going to make it, if they have a sense of fear we are in fresno, california, we had our heyday at a certain point, we have gone through some troughs, but we see a way ahead. so people who could place their family's efforts, their place their family's efforts, their place within the environment and the business community on a forward trajectory. that was a really positive indicator. even for example in wit is, california, the central agricultural valley, the public high school, 500 kids, half of them are studying agriculture, so they learn

not only about the history and the economic sadygov what, but how to maintain and use the farm equipment. and they are growing almond trees outside their school in the orchard, and they are understanding the business of agriculture. so they are making education to the young people in that town relevant to where they live. christian and i get asked this a lot, so all the places you have been to, what was the best or the worst? 0k, been to, what was the best or the worst? ok, so this is like asking who is your favourite child! laughter but we do have some favourites. greenville, south carolina is definitely one. they are kind of father along in their renewals and some other cities. but also sioux falls in dakota, erie pennsylvania isa falls in dakota, erie pennsylvania is a places drama is really palpable. is caught, maine. san berna rdino palpable. is caught, maine. san bernardino california, palpable. is caught, maine. san berna rdino california, right palpable. is caught, maine. san bernardino california, right near where i grew up, and they are going through a great struggle. we feel

like a family with 20 adopted children and they are all our favourite child. i have not been to sioux falls for a start. thank you very much. they remind your book is now out. see if they have two seats in the back of that plane! laughter ok, let's turn from america to europe now... and when i say, europe you'll be thinking italy, france, germany — what about australia ? well, it's the eurovision final this weekend, and yes there is an entry — once again — from down under. why on earth is australia part of eurovision? let's take a look... just imagine if australia was a little closer to the rest of europe. this is australia, everybody. what if, wow! now australia is a part of europe. # but don't, don't give up, because

we've got love. going back to 2014, i was invited to participate being an interval act, i was invited to participate being an intervalact, and i i was invited to participate being an interval act, and i guess that officially made us involved, it opened that door. we've been watching the show forever, over more than 30 years that we have been broadcasting it. i was born right out here, a place called darwin. we really love it. we do our own eurovision parties. it is just really nice to be a part of something that is a part of the world. we have great talent. so showcasing incredible voices and stories. and we love a competition.

hoedown, my bad. what's the word? sorry, cut! laughter yes, continental drift! and some. if they win, they have to host it, so that could be quite expensive, we will all have to shift down to australia. anyway, best of luck to them. just before we move on, some breaking news, some good news actually, from the manchester united twitter feed. sir alex ferguson, who you will remember was in intensive care, he is continuing his rehabilitation as an inpatient and is out of intensive care. his family say they have been overwhelmed by the level of support and good wishes from around the world, and they continue to request privacy as he begins his recovery. best wishes to him, good news that sir alex ferguson is out of hospital. still to come — one bride wasn't even going to let a crocodile attack stop her walking

down the aisle. her story is next. the lives of some cancer patients here in the uk are being put at risk — according to specialist doctors — because workers from abroad are now struggling to get visas after immigration rules were tightened. our health editor hugh pym reports. she had an nhsjob in a role with growing importance in cancer prevention but steph was not allowed to stay in the uk. she could not review her visa and has had to go back home to new zealand. it was really disappointing to get confirmation. i really enjoy working here and i really enjoy my job and would like to continue doing it. but, unfortunately, i can't without a visa. steph is a genetic counsellor. this involves identifying patients who might be at risk of developing hereditary cancers and other diseases and then discussing their options — including pre—emptive surgery. genetic medicine experts say there is a

workforce shortage and visa rules are making things worse. there's a migrant cap on the number of workers in the uk allowed to come in from outside the eu. nurses and some doctors are given priority on the shortage occupation list but many other health professionals, including genetic counsellors, are not on the list and more likely to be turned down. the home office said the list was set following advice from the independent migration advisory committee and kept under regular review. but doctors say they are not getting ca re but doctors say they are not getting care when they need it. —— patients are not getting care. the fact that we are unable to run safe cancer genetic services in this country, i think is awful. unequivocally, waits are getting longer. it varies, depending on hospital trust, and where you are in the uk but we are aware now of at least one trust that is about to have three empty positions. steph's employer is holding herjob open in case she is successful with another visa

application but it may well be that her skills are lost to the nhs. hugh pym, bbc news. you're watching beyond 100 days... a woman who was attacked by a crocodile in zimbabwe just days before she was due to get married says she's lucky to be alive. the 25—year—old was in a canoe with herfiance from kent, here in england, when the crocodile bit her and tore off one of her arms. but she refused to delay her wedding and the couple were married just days later in a hospital chapel — as shingai nyoka reports. zanele ndlovu on her big day, but it wasn't the wedding she had in mind. the two had planned to marry on the 5th of may but took a quick pre—wedding honeymoon. they took the picture before theyjumped on the dinghy. it took us at least...

a couple of seconds to realise that this is actually a real crocodile, like this is really happening, yeah. we both got into the water when the boat deflated, then it grabbed my arm and it pulled me down. then when i was getting loose it would grab my arm again and pull me down. so it bit me at least three times on this arm. then here ijust had a little bite here on my thumb, yeah. so my first thought was i was going to die because the water was now bloody. but then after a while just thought, no, let me just fight. so ijust kind of hung in there until the tour guides were able to save me and get me onto their canoe. she was airlifted to a private hospital in bulawayo, her right arm amputated, and her left arm, she would discover, was broken, too. but five days later, they pushed ahead with their wedding. she dressed up in the hospital ward and was wheeled to the chapel. hers was the first wedding to be held in this tiny chapel, a place normally reserved for memorial services,

but on that day, this chapel was transformed into a place of celebration and triumph. the two are making plans to move zanele to britain to live with jamie, a volunteer with the national citizens service. the attack has given them a new appreciation of life. i could so easily have died in there and it is not every day people survive crocodile attacks. so i think i'm just grateful to be alive. so every day i wake up and i'm happy because i'm alive, yeah. it's just been great. from some good news to an embarrassing one for you potentially. this is not the first time we have worked together, is it christian? this is a photo of us in 2004 at the republican national

convention in new york. at the convention, you thought p diddy was george bush's nephew, do you remember that? laughter did i really? i met snoop dogg at that same conference as well. i said mr snoop dogg, can i have an interview? he looked at me as if i had just stepped off mars. good evening, today was a little bit cooler, but we still had temperatures reaching 21 celsius in the south—east of england. that was helped by sunshine like this, and light winds as well. further west, it has been a different story, much more cloud, grey skies, cooler weather and to some western areas, some outbreaks of rain as well. that rain has been coming courtesy of that weather front. it has produced a fewer heavy bursts of rain as it tracks eastwards, so the rain will become lighter and more patchy, but behind that weather front, even cooler air that will push across the

whole of the country in time for tomorrow. but on that weather front, here is the rain. later on this evening. that is pushing eastwards across the midlands into eastern england, at the same time the rain becomes very light and patchy. behind it, we may have a few showers at the north—west, but for much of scotla nd at the north—west, but for much of scotland and northern ireland, wales and western england, clearer skies in the night, not too cold, seven to 9 degrees. into the north—west of scotland, brushing the north coast of northern ireland, the rest of scotla nd of northern ireland, the rest of scotland will be dry and sunny. the odd shower coming into the far south—west perhaps. but it is across east anglia and the south—west that will start quite cloudy, if you bursts of rain left over from overnight but it should not be too long before that clears away, the cloud breaks up and for the most pa rt cloud breaks up and for the most part it will be a dry day across england and wales on thursday, the showers in the south soon fading away, and even the showers in scotla nd away, and even the showers in scotland and northern ireland becoming fewer and later during the afternoon. temperatures here a bit

higher, 13 or 14 degrees but a little bit cooler for england and wales. that ridge of high pressure will reduce the number of showers later on in the day, but we have another weather front coming in from the atlantic again for friday. and again it looks like it will be northern ireland that sees most of the rain, the strong southerly winds delaying the progress of this rain, pushing its way finely into the western fringes of scotland, west wales and the far south—west of england, but further easter will be a dry day, and some sunshine and probably a bit warmer, 16 to 18 degrees. this band of rain on that weather front is very slow moving and at some point it will grind to a halt. over the weekend it looks like it will be the eastern side of the uk that sees most of the rain. some sunshine further west but quite a few showers, heavy in the south. this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm. anger in iran. mps burn the american flag after donald trump abandons the iran deal, but the us president

warns the country not to restart its nuclear programme. i would advise around not to restart their nuclear programme, i would advise them very strongly. if they do, they will —— there will be very severe consequence. meanwhile, european leaders fight to save the agreement. theresa may insists the deal is good for peace. we continue to believe that the iran nuclear deal was an important step forward in helping to keep the world safe. and as i say, there are other issues that need to be worked on, and both i and the foreign secretary will continue to be working on those with our european and other allies. three us citizens are on their way home after north korea releases them