awe a we have the mark your calendars — the president of the united states will meet the supreme leader of north korea onjune 12th. singapore is the chosen venue for the historic meeting — neutral, safe ground for a high stakes summit on a nuclear crisis. tui the announcement came just hours after three american tui ican detainees released by north korea arrived back in the united states to a presidential welcome. israel and iran trade rockets over syria. not yet a war — but certainly a fight that's locking in world powers at a volatile moment. also on the programme... from cold war to hot peace — the former us ambassador to russia says now is not the time to reset relations. and, oh, the irony. town & country magazine disinvite monica lewinsky from their ‘social change‘ event — because bill clinton would be on the same stage.

get in touch with us using the hashtag... hello and welcome — i'm katty kay in new york, and christian fraser is in london. there aren't many places in the world where two sworn enemies can meet for a chat about their nuclear arsenals. it needs to be safe, neutral and able to accommodate thousands of security staff, aides and yes, reporters. singapore, it appears, fits the bill. that's where donald trump will meet kim jong un onjune 12th to discuss the denuclearisation of north korea. mr trump is optimistic, on twitter announcing the date of the summit... "we will both try to make it a very special moment for world peace!" hours earlier the president welcomed home three americans who'd been released by kim in a gesture of goodwill. our correspondent nick

bryant has this report. and the middle of the night before the birds or the president had started tweeting, the plane carrying v3 freed prisoners touched down on american soil. a triumphant welcome from donald trump. he didn't want to miss this dramatic homecoming. it offers flesh and blood proof that his unconventional approach to diplomacy has worked. my proudest achievement will be, this is a part of it, but will be when we denuclearise that entire peninsula. this is what people have been waiting forfor a long this is what people have been waiting for for a long time. this is what people have been waiting forfor a long time. nobody thought we could be on this track, in terms of speed. i am very honoured to have helped the three folks. this was a made for television moment, but the white house quickly turned it into cinema come a slow motion footage, stirring, hollywood style music. the

former reality tv star said this must have set the all—time record for ratings at 3am. the north korean state broadcaster doesn't have quite the same panache, but these are remarkable pictures, nonetheless. kim jong—un meeting the new us secretary of state mike pompeo in pyeongchang. the leader mocked as little rocket man, enjoying a lighter moment with the americans, head of his summit with mrtrump. americans, head of his summit with mr trump. vice president mike pence has been talking about us expectations for that meeting. the president sensors and opening that may result in an historic agreement. what kim jong—un has said publicly, and in discussions, is that the is prepared to negotiate to achieve complete denuclearisation of the korean peninsula. it has now been

announced the north korean leader's security team will soon be pounding the streets of singapore. that is where the much anticipated summit will be held on the 12th ofjune. so ina week will be held on the 12th ofjune. so in a week when donald trump withdrew from a nuclear deal with iran, it is full speed ahead with negotiating a new nuclear deal with north korea, and having alienate it is closest european allies, his administration is forging an improbable relationship with one of america's long—standing enemies. and joining us now is susan page, washington bureau chief of usa today. she is in washington. thank you for joining us. in your conversations with the white house today, i imagine they are feeling pretty good at the moment, they get the prisoners home and they get a date and a place for this summit? that's right, this has been a very good day for the white house, as you saw from the cinematic presentation that they have made of it themselves. you heard also in the interviews that

vice president pence did out at the andrews base. this is also a way to push back against the president's other troubles. look at what we have done on the jobless rate, 3.9%, quite remarkably low, the jobless rate and this prospect of peace with north korea. so this has again been a pretty good day for the white house. so it is kind of part of a package of good news, but you have been covering american politics for a while. you have seen previous presidents tried to go down this path of bringing about denuclearisation in north korea, president clinton, president bush, president clinton, president bush, president obama. does president trump have something that those previous presidents didn't? you know, it is possible. he has taken a

entirely different approach from his predecessors and tried to face this nuclear threat from north korea. the other presidents withheld the prize of meeting with the president himself until an agreement had been negotiated, and president clinton, among others, tried very hard to get that, right at the end of his tenure, and was unable to pull that off. president trump has gone the other direction entirely. we don't think there has been very meticulous preparations for this summit, we don't think the results have been precooked. i think even the white house doesn't really know what is going to happen when the two men sit down together. that is an approach that foreign policy experts have been very critical of, but it has gotten him this far, and people now are saying 0k, gotten him this far, and people now are saying ok, let's wait and see what happens. susan, they were talking about the peace village in the demilitarised zone. why singapore? yes, i think the white house advisers, although not the president himself, wanted something a little more neutral than going to

the dmz. the president had entertained that possibility, he liked the optics of being at the dmz, but some of his aides but that would be a mistake. some in the white house and outside experts think that expectations have got so high that it will be a successful summit that it might be hard for president trump to walk away if the deal that north korea is willing to cut is not such a good deal, if they don't go as far as the united states think they need to do on verification of whatever it is they need to negotiate. that might have been especially hard a you are meeting at the dmz, better, some of his aides thought, to meet at the singapore. today is a good day at the white house, but not to rain on their parade, because it was important that these men are home, there was an easy concession for the north korean is to be made, two of them have been taken since donald trump became president, and they we re trump became president, and they were used as pawns, let's face it. that is exactly right. north korea

released three americans who never should have been held in prison, and therefore some are uncomfortable with the idea that this owns them goodwill for doing so. and of course the history is that north korea in the history is that north korea in the past has imprisoned americans when it is useful to do so, and then has them available as pawns and they need them to release them and have a moment of good feeling. sol need them to release them and have a moment of good feeling. so i think those who follow north korean politics closely have no doubt that if north korea decided it needed some americans to be imprisoned again, they would find some more to do so. susan page in washington, thank you. i just want to pick up on something susan was saying, she must have been hearing the same things i was hearing, that there is some concern, with all the theatrics of this, and the presentation of this good moment the presentation of this good moment the president has had today, he will wa nt the president has had today, he will want another good moment. president trump likes to win, he has said this very often, and will he want to go into a negotiation with north korea and be tempted to present it as a

win, even if foreign policy experts here are saying, you know what colour you are not getting very much more than the north koreans have ever offered, and will it make it harderfor him to ever offered, and will it make it harder for him to walk away, given how good it feels him to be other to have the television moments when things look like they are going well with the north koreans? you knowl ama with the north koreans? you knowl am a keen student of body language. there is a photograph sarah summers put out today, this is the meeting at the moment mike pompeo came back. just look at the faces there. of course, they have been studying kim the years. chief of staff kelly, the vp, donald trump, is that kellyanne conway with her back to us? that is melani nanai. it is, you are right. they have been studying kim the yea rs, they have been studying kim the years, they have the intel then the way he works, that they don't know much about him, what he wants right now and how. there is a huge

interest in how that it has gone, and what sort of a person donald trump will be meeting in singapore. i thought that was fascinating, so much that they don't know about kim jong—un, and mike pompeo of course, two visits now to pyeongchang. he certainly has the inside track. christian, you are a - student of christian, you are a good student of body language, not such a good student fashion, we have been watching that jacket for the student fashion, we have been watching thatjacket for the last three minutes. israel and iran are on a collision course in syria. overnight israeli warplanes mounted their biggest attack yet on iranian positions inside syria, in response to rocket attacks on the israeli occupied golan heights. both sides appear reluctant to escalate — for the moment. france has called on iran to refrain from provocation. and in britain the foreign secretary condemned iran's attacks, while supporting israel's right to defend itself. our correspondent tom bateman is in the golan heights. israeli missiles in the skies above damascus overnight. it was part of the biggest single strike by israel, against neighbouring syria in a generation.

the assault targeted iranian military positions deep in the country, including a battery israel says launched a barrage of 20 rockets towards its territory. the iranian forces, the units that are deployed all over syria, are 1600 kilometres away from iran. the iranians are the aggressors, they are building offensive military infrastructure inside syria, with the clear outspoken goal of being able to menace and terrorise israeli civilians. residents of the israeli—occupied golan heights had been urged to open bomb shelters. you can hear everything, the air force, the bombs. syria's military said the israeli strikes killed three people, it claimed its air defences destroyed a large part of the barrage. israel has seen the balance of power change during the years of war in its northern neighbour,

it sees a growing threat from iran's presence in syria. but the iranians are staying put, determined to support the syrian regime. israel and iran have been on a collision course, and last night saw a significant escalation. as calm returned to israeli—controlled territory, there was a call from russia and france for restraint. but the us accused iran of reckless actions. syria's war still threatened to spill out further into this region. vladimir putin has confirmed russia will continue to co—operate with iran on the nuclear agreement — together with the europeans who are trying to save it. the united states' withdrawal from the deal he said was ‘deeply concerning‘. just one more issue, to add to a growing list, on which moscow and washington stand on opposite sides. michael mcfaul helped craft the 0bama policy known as "reset", which aimed to foster new relations between the us and russia during the presidency

of dmitry medvedev. he was the ambassador to moscow from 2012 — 2014. since then, relations have sunk to their lowest level since the cold war — which is the subject of his new book... from cold war to hot peace. ambassador, a lot of comments this week about the decision donald trump has taken on iran. how do you think the russians will be reacting to 9-5; n--:—- l' e; —;,:..-g~=== +.~. —— —— —~ ~ putin this? book, from cold talk about your book, from cold water hot piece you point to some of the new elements that undermine the relationship that you tried to build, the annexation of parts of ukraine, the russian role in syria, the cyber warfare. it is hard to reset with a country that is prepared to defy the international norms. it is, and tragicallyl prepared to defy the international norms. it is, and tragically i don't think one should try to reset relations with vladimir putin that now. he has decided he doesn't want

to be part of the international system, that he doesn't want to cooperate with the west, and it is notjust the cooperate with the west, and it is not just the united cooperate with the west, and it is notjust the united states. i would say the west as a whole, including the uk and most of our nato allies. instead, he seeks to destroy those multilateral institutions, the nato alliance, break apart, peelaway various allies. that is his agenda now. so tragically, instead of reset right now, i think we would have to have a much more confrontational approach towards putin's russia. and yet the assumptions you made when you try to reset the relationship, that there were common interest between the united states and kgeééggn iii; flfi‘£#3>§$§?§nza. .. .. .. . ... . kgeééggn ile'zf flfi‘£#3>§$§?§nza. .. .. .. . ... . the kgeééggn il;;:z flfi‘£#3>§$§?§nza. .. .. .. . ... . the men well, one has 20 - of compare? well, one has 20 years of experience as a leader of a major country, and international experience. our president, president trump, is new to this business, but they do have some common ideas about how international affairs should be conducted. i think president putin likes the that president trump rarely speaks about democracy and

human rights, most certainly he never talks about it with respect to russia. i think putin likes the fact that donald trump beats up on nato. that is something mr putin shares too. and the other thing, i think both of them fancy themselves as transactional leaders, if they could just get in the room and do deals together. they obviously thought they were onto a good thing with donald trump, given how much we have talked about the interference in the 2016 election. how do you think they perceive him now? there is no doubt vladimir putin preferred donald trump to secretary clinton. for a very rational reason, by the way, he said many things that were in russia's interests during the campaign, and so much so that i think the evidence is overwhelming now that they did try to influence the election in favour of candidate trumps. having said that, think they are disappointed, in what he has delivered so far. he has not lifted sanctions, he has not looked into

recognising crimea as part of russia, and by the way, i think that is good that he hasn't done those things. at the same time, they still hope that the two leaders might get together in ways that will be in russia's national interest. the book is from cold water hot piece, it is a great pleasure to talk to you, thank you for coming in —— from cold war to hot piece. following that decision to withdraw from the iran nuclear deal, the americans are serious about this, we have news today that the us treasury is imposing sanctions on six individuals, three companies it says are funnelling millions of dollars to the iranian revolutionary guard. if the americans are going to be this serious about sanctions already within two days, where does that leave european companies who might wa nt to leave european companies who might want to carry on their trading relationship with iran? obviously the eu worries that without the carrot of economic benefits they lose control over iran, so they are

scrambling for a solution. they are looking back 20 years when, bill clinton and cuba, they have this tool that allows them to stop european companies from reacting to sanctions, or being sanctioned by the united states. it is called a blocking statute. the problem with it is of course the financial networks are all so interconnected, the sanctions that america imposes these days are so robust, and would an eu company wants to deal with all that hassle when probably most of its businesses in united states and not iran? so they do have tools they can retaliate with, butjust how effective will they be? yes, and a supply chains are mixed up too for companies. 0ther supply chains are mixed up too for companies. other news. at least 47 people have died, with hundreds more left homeless after a private dam in kenya burst in the middle of the night. rivers of mud and debris flooded nearby homes, sweeping away entire villages. weeks of heavy rain had put the dam, in the north west of the country, under enormous pressure.

a 104—year—old scientist — who travelled from australia to switzerland to seek assisted suicide — has died. his life in australia. he didn‘t have a terminal illness but said his quality of life had deteriorated over the past year and he wanted to die. you can‘t say he did not have a full life, he was still doing unpaid research in perth, i read today, at the age of 102. but he did leave australia, he had to leave australia to end his life, went to switzerland, the only country in europe that accepts foreign nationals fervour euthanasia, still the only country. the others are netherlands, belgium and luxembourg here in europe. what about the united states? there are some states. there are some, it is a very big debate here as it is in other countries, and one of the things that will resonate with american audiences, as we start to live longer, mr goodall said when it was

he lost the ability to drive, he could go out into the bush but couldn‘t see the birds he wanted to study, greasing the ui hearing that argument here even when there are so much resistance to allowing this to happen on a federal level. cathy's favourite subject. the former england football captain, wayne rooney, could be leaving the premier league and heading to america. although no contract has been signed as of yet, his agents have agreed to a 17—million—dollar deal, which could see the 32—year—old leave everton for the major league soccer side ‘dc united‘ this summer. iam going i am going to be taking my kids there, i tell you. interesting. let‘s head to the bbc sport centre and talk to sarah mulkerrins. .. sarah, it follows quite a number of premier league stars who have gone to mls, beckham, lampard, defoe, gerrard. robbie keane. we could go

on. we could go on and on, the story at everton, it was not a fairy tale return to everton, so i suppose it is no great surprise he will take the money that is on offer? it seems to be becoming a trend, when we think back to david beckham going into thousand seven, he went to la galaxy. 0ver into thousand seven, he went to la galaxy. over the summer we have seen is latter and go there as well, amid all the fanfare he brought back, and you could go back to the 70s before the mls, when pele, arguably the greatest footballer, when he played for new york cosmos. a lot of franchises have since 2007 had this for new york cosmos. a lot of franchises playerice 2007 had this can has to