is is hello, i'm karin giannone, this is outside source. in the english town of windsor, preparations are under way. but the father of the bride will not be attending. he said he needs space to focus on his health. robert mueller‘s investigation into the interference of in this the us election, is one—year—old today, and pressure is not easing on president trop. as ebola outbreak spreads from the countryside to the city. steam, ash, lava, all thrown out by a powerful volcano blast in hawaii, thousands are told to take cover. and remember, to get in touch.

the hashtag is bbcos. after days of speculation, meghan markle has confirmed her father won't be coming to saturday's royal wedding. the news came via this statement from kensington palace. she said: "sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. i have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health." meghan‘s father thomas markle underwent heart surgery on wednesday. and his appearance at the wedding was already in doubt because of this. allegedly staged paparazzi shots for money. it was caught on cctv. and brought incredible scrutiny on the 73—year—old. like a lot of new development on this story, us celebrity news website tmz has reported he is out of surgery. and has said this.

"i'm ok. it will take a long time to heal. staying in the hospital a few more days." as for the royal couple. the show goes on. these are picture of them arriving at windsor today. you might be able to make them out in the back seat there. they had a wedding rehearsal. so too did the cast of thousands of people who are organising and taking part in the big day. what not so much to do, but at least the weather is good. british troops did a carriage procession rehearsal through the streets of windsor. it's fair to say royal fever has well and truly stuck the ancient town. die—hard royal fans are already camping out to get reduce their presence. ' ” " ” that's creating an. unprecedented ,

announcement that meghan markle's father won't be walking her i walked my daughter down the aisle.

g talk more about that in a now, it's notjust the uk in a royal wedding frenzy. the story is being closely followed around the world. there is strong interest in america, given the wedding involves one of their own. one californian woman has gone all out at her home. she's hosting a viewing party for the similarly royally obsessed. seven charities have been picked by meghan and harry to come to the wedding. these are pictures of one of them. the myna mahlia foundation in india. it aims to empower women in mumbai's slums. and four excited staff are now bound for the uk. and just about every possible angle of this story is being covered. by the army ofjournalists, producers and crew from around the world who are in windsor. and they're all now wanting to answer one question,

who will walk the bride down the isle. to help try and answer that question, babita sharma is in windsorfor us. ido i do not suppose you know the concert either? know, to be blunt, we don't. but there is a lot of speculation on what will happen. we got the unprecedented statement from meghan markle on thursday afternoon confirming that her father will not be attending the event here. that statement, came after we had an incredible day of that full dress rehearsal, giving us a snapshot of what we turks expect will stop hundreds and hundreds of people lined the streets here, and it was really quite wonderful to see, because there was a sense of excitement and anticipation as we watched the army and the regiments close to prince harry take part in this dress for her soul, making sure that everything is timed very well indeed. but as you say, a lot of

conversation now centring around meghan markle and herfamily is itself, because that was overshadowed when her statement came out. who is going to walk her down the aisle? there are a few possibilities. doria ragland, her mother, a lot of people are talking about whether she will be the one who takes off that role, the will be travelling together by car to saint george's chapel before the ceremony begins saturday at midday. we understand that yesterday, she had deep with prince harry's father, prince charles and the duchess of cornwall. getting to know one another even more ahead of the day. prince charles does not have a ceremonial role as such on saturday, so ceremonial role as such on saturday, so he could be given the task of walking meghan markle down the aisle. also, prince william. he has aisle. also, prince william. he has a responsibility, the honour of the best man to his brother, part of his best man to his brother, part of his best man to his brother, part of his best man duties, it could be to walk

meghan markle down the aisle. the lady herself is incredibly independent. she has been very vocal about women's rights and it is not com pletely about women's rights and it is not completely out of the picture to suggest that she might walk herself down the aisle alongside the ten bridesmaids and page boys in total that will accompany her. it is probably likely that we will find out when that moment unfolds itself inside the grounds here of windsor castle in the george's chapel. thank you very much. in windsor, days before the big event. health officials in africa are racing to contain an ebola outbreak map in the democratic republic of congo. it was first reported here in the rural bikoro region on the eight may. the situation's now worsened — because some of the latest cases have occurred here,

in the city of mbandaka. and to make matters worse, that city is a major transport hub on the congo river, which runs between the capital kinshasa and the third largest city in the country, kisingani. there are roughly 11 million people in those two cities. the bbc‘s poly muzalia has been speaking to the drc‘s national biological laboratory director — he asked him why ebola keeps coming back. the first is that we do not know what is the reservoir of the virus in nature. i think the second reason is because of what can i say, the poverty, i think. is because of what can i say, the poverty, ithink. people is because of what can i say, the poverty, i think. people are going more and more often in the bush, in the forest, looking for animal protein, bush meat. so far, the world health organisation say there have been 44 confirmed, probable or suspected cases, 23 of them have died.

the who will hold an emergency meeting on friday. in the meantime, they've sent 4,000 doses of this experimental vaccine. although unlicensed, it was effective in limited trials during the west africa outbreak in 2015, which killed over 11,000 people. but it needs to be stored at a temperature of between,60 and —80 c, which can be very difficult in the congo, where daytime temperatures hover around 30 degrees and electricity supplies unreliable. earlier i spoke to our global health correspondent, rebecca kesby, about what can be done to contain this outbreak. there are major concerns here. one that this disease has now made it to a major urban area, it has a population of around 1 million people, and in parts of that city, it is very poor and very densely populated. both of those things are very bad for trying to contain the

disease, potentially that could cause problems. the otherfactor that they are concerned about is the fa ct that they are concerned about is the fact that if you look at the map, you can see that it is right on the river congo and also, right on the major tributary to it. the drc, the rivers are the main routes, that is how you managed to move things around. the fear is that it could move from this city, elsewhere in the country and even to neighbouring countries. what is the strategy for dealing with this outbreak? the who is expected to declare this a major emergency which means they will be able to put more funding and resources into it. there will be a bigger effort internationally, that is not confirmed that is happening tomorrow. already, though, they have specialist teams in the country, these are people who are highly trained, they have special equipment with them to try and contain the

disease, and keep patients isolated, and they have also going to be using this new vaccine for the first time in sucha this new vaccine for the first time in such a major outbreak as this. it is not licensed, but the government hasn't said that they are keen to use it if possible, and it has been very effective in trials. that is quite hopeful, and hopefully they can get the people, that are worried about contracting the disease and try and stop it spreading. we heard so try and stop it spreading. we heard so much about ebola in the 2014th with the outbreaks in west africa. why does he keep coming back?m endemic to this area of africa. it is not something that is going to be able to be got rid of any time soon. it dwells within the primate population, within monkeys and other mammals and so the main risk is when people hunt those animals and really, it is the butchery of those animals, where there is obviously what the blood and so on, that he can be contracted. normally, it does happen in very rural areas. and that

way, it sort of contains itself, these tiny villages. but once it does get into the population to humans, then it is very easily spread by bodily fluids, bonnet, and blood, and diarrhoea and so on. this is the fear that it incubates up 221 days. and we've had these are signs of illness, that people become suspicious by then, people are trying to care for you, and nurses and so on, and that is when they can pick up the disease. all these barrier methods they are talking about is the way they are going to be able to contain it. the russia probe is one—year—old today. the former head of the fbi, robert mueller, this man, was appointed by the attorney general to investigate russian interference with the 2016 presidential election and related matters. that phrase "related matters" opening the door to a wide

ranging investigation. donald trump tweeted birthday wishes, obviously not sincerely tweet@realdonaldtrump "congratulations america, we are now into the second year of the greatest witch hunt in american history. . .and there is still no collusion". let's go over to anthony zurcher in washington. so anthony, what has robert mueller achieved, in a year? if we just look at the numbers, there have been five guilty pleas that mueller has obtained, including one from michael flynn, trouble's former national security adviser, and the foreign—policy adviser, that one was particularly interesting because in the plea agreement that was released, it says that he had been told by a contact that the russians had dirt on hillary clinton, that was in the form of thousands of e—mails. we are finding things from documents. that is how

we get information of what robert mueller is doing. in addition, there have been 17 indictments that robert mueller has filed, including trump's former chair campaigner, paul manafort, and russian organisations, and in those indictment papers, user details about the russians were active in the us, gathering information on the electoral process , information on the electoral process, funding protractor rallies anti—hillary clinton demonstrators and conducting a widespread social media campaign. all of this was alleged in the indictment documents that robert mueller divided. the new lawyer, rudy giuliani, says that robert mueller should bring us to a close. how much longer it might go on for? i think that he has connected a great many interviews necessary to finish this investigation, but the big one that is still out there is he has not interviewed donald trump. there have been reports that donald trump might

been reports that donald trump might be willing to sit down with him if he gets a fair deal, according to the president, but those negotiations are ongoing. we could see it drag on for more time. if you look historically, the whitewater investigation, the investigation of bill clinton, that lasted six years. watergate went on for years, the iran contra investigation, in the late 1980s, president ronald reagan, that stretched well into the 19905. there were investigations in the early 2000 that lasted year5, there were investigations in the early 2000 that lasted years, so historically speaking, i would not be surprised if this drags on, despite donald trump trying to cut this short. i need to keep you here. there is another development. another story, the us senate has confirmed for the cia. we had been hearing a lot on her. why is she so controversial. she was involved in

the interrogations. after the september 11 attacks that used harsh interrogation techniques, what some would call torture, to interrogate terrorism suspects. in those september 11 attacks, and there was also cia destroyed documents and recordings of that to keep investigators from getting details on investigators from getting details o n exa ctly investigators from getting details on exactly the practises. she was questioned, rather toughly, by senators during her hearings, but in the end, the final vote was 54—45. there were six democrats who crossed the aisle to vote for her. republicans voted against her. she will become the first woman head of the cia. thank you very much with. we are glad to have you taking us through all these developments. one night stay with us. in russian

has been taking place. we have been speaking to a photojournalist who has been looking at it right up close. in westminster, the cabinet agreed to ba cksto p in westminster, the cabinet agreed to backstop options that will see the tariffs, if there is no deal on customs arrangements. earlier today, they set up backstop would be an essential part of a withdrawal agreement. we stand by the same position we have had for a very long time now. there could be no withdrawal agreements. we need to backstop withdrawal agreements. we need to ba cksto p to withdrawal agreements. we need to backstop to assure there is no hard

border. if the united kingdom wants to put forward alternatives to that, whether it is on terms of tax on a backstop, or some sort of alternative future relationship between the uk in the eu, we are willing to examine it, but we need to see it written down in black and white. hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source, and these are the main stories here in the bbc newsroom. excitement is bubbling over as preparations continue for what's undoubtedly the wedding of the year. inmates held at the headquarters of the secret service began the uprising on wednesday after a political prisoner was beaten up. fire investigators are investigating

whether a battery killed eight man. he suffered any present burned from the explosion. it is believed to be the explosion. it is believed to be the first us death of its kind. that is on the bbc world service. he set the record, his first attempt in 1975 he set the record, his first attempt in1975 and it he set the record, his first attempt in 1975 and it when he succumbed to frostbite and lost both his feet. donald trump has thrown cold water on the chances of reaching a deal on trade with china, just as a delegation from beijing was in washington for talks.

"i tend to doubt it," trump said when asked if a deal was likely. "china has become very spoiled." kim gittleson in new york 01: what is it that trump wants? it pays to what donald trump said at this press conference. he said one his favourite numbers, which is there an $800 billion deficit and he wa nts to there an $800 billion deficit and he wants to see the number lowered. there is not actually an $800 billion deficit when it comes to the us. that isjust billion deficit when it comes to the us. that is just the billion deficit when it comes to the us. that isjust the number billion deficit when it comes to the us. that is just the number that looks at the amount of goods that the us exports versus how much it imports. post a comment pay attention to a broader figure that also looks at the number of services that the us exports. if you look at that, the number is closer to 566 billion. what you want to see lowered is the trade deficit with china. he wants to see it lowered by a significant amount. it has a trade deficit that is over $300 billion.

he said to beijing he wants to see the bigger cut by $200 billion. what are his chances of getting what he wa nts ? are his chances of getting what he wants? actually, we have seen some significant movement from the chinese which state they might want to be able to concede, maybe not be $200 billion headlines, but it might be closer to $150 billion. the trouble is, when it comes to exports, it would be difficult to significantly increase the amount that us imports to china, without lowering for the european union or canada or mexico. that figure that china says sure, we would buy $200 billion more, that might be significantly difficult to practically achieved here in the the united states. enqueue as always. driverless cars are on their way — whether we like it or not — and today the eu unveiled its plans to catch up with the us and china in this fast—developing technology.

our transport correspondent victoria fritz explains the challenges... first off, it needs to come across with a whole set of new rules, relations that will plug right across the eu. not necessarily that hard, but they need to get people to agree. can they do it? will they be able to do a? possibly, but we also had to think about whether or not this is necessarily a good thing, because actually, this first mover advantage that we have seen over the us for example, they have had systems in place in nevada, since 2011, but we have seen the fatalities happening in the us. we have seen all sorts of problems, huge headaches around ethics as well, and this whole flight towards proprietary systems, all the different companies making out their own rules across this. it has created huge problems in the us, so there may be an advantage, critical to all this, is going to be able to get this technology to work across borders. can you imagine what it would do to college for example, if you could just get goods to move from one area to another without any friction whatsoever? we have been looking into this in the eu,

they have been doing test for the last two years on semi—autonomous trucks and getting them to deliver goods. that sort of thing is where the real key to unlocking this technology will be and this is where china is already way ahead of the rest of us. charcoal is the most popular source of energy in africa. but in kenya, this commodity has become scarce and expensive following a recent logging ban in public and community forests to prevent massive deforestation. a bag of charcoalfor example which three week ago sold for 15 us dollars now costs four times more. here's merchuma. a mother of four is preparing brea kfast for a mother of four is preparing breakfast for her family to stop a recent ban on logging has increased charcoal prices to an all—time high. hitting the low income household. we have a lot of problems now because

charcoal prices have gone really high. those who can afford to buy gas are ok, but for the poor like me, we need charcoal. sundays, my children have slept hungry because we cannot afford kerosene. charcoal comes from the areas, in eastern kenya being the highest generator. because of poverty, locals like myself felt the trees to outsiders to cut. it goes for about 180 us dollars and one that is 20 feet tall is around $100. the destruction of the land is clearly visible. the vast forest is like a no man's land. the felling of trees was unregulated, and thousands of people have been competing for the best mature ones. charcoal production in this region is largely indiscriminate and loggers prefer

trees that took decades to mature. this is a stump, an indigenous tree that locals say was hundreds of yea rs that locals say was hundreds of years old. in the local police station, charcoal traders from outside the country had been arrested, transporting bags of the commodity, what is now commonly referred to as black gold. it has come rare and pricey. the community has been advised to use sustainable methods of charcoal production for local use, like cutting tree branches instead of the whole tree. and to use alternative sources of fuel. just time to recap. meghan correct meghan markle putt father will not be blocking her down the aisle. we will be back in a few minutes' time. i

will be back in a few minutes' time. , walking her down the aisle. there is tropical moisture enhancing rain. there are plenty of stores in florida, the forecast friday says not as many as there had been, so where is that moisture going? it is through the mid—atla ntic where is that moisture going? it is through the mid—atlantic into the northeast of the usa. you can see all the rain here drenching downpours, and thunderstorms as well. some risk of seeing some flash flooding as a result. eastern parts of canada are looking drive, but the further north you go, it is chilly. on his rainfall and what we might be seeing from it. through this so here, not just seeing from it. through this so here, notjust on friday, but into the weekend as well. then we are going to see some further problems.

some have artie had some flooding. the storms by the way into the rockies and west. it is the eastern side of the us that will see further downpours, enhancing the rainfall, and you could get some thunderstorms as well. more than 100 mm possible, and that brings our risk of flash flooding. we will keep watching that. we have heard about those nasty storms affecting part of india, and in the north, there will be some thunderstorms and gusty winds and hazards. heavy downpours in the south have been significant flooding, in parts of sri lanka. there may be further dust storms. temperature in new delhi may be going upa temperature in new delhi may be going up a degree or so. i mentioned the tropical cyclone. let's look at it. here is. this is yemen, and this is where it is. this is the circulation here, of the developing cyclone that might strengthen before

weakening. it is interacting with land. it is not a huge amount of water, so it may not strengthened too much further, but we are going too much further, but we are going to see some impact in yemen, somalia, as it tracks west. there is a lot of dry weather across northern parts of europe. we have seen some very strong thunderstorms for central and eastern areas, even a tornado in germany. a few more of those to come on friday, and the start of the weekend as well. the heaviest of these, fasting further east, and we will see some of those storms and western parts of russia. they'll be some in spain, and southern parts of france and into the alps. northern france, germany and into the british isles are stayed fine and dry. the forecast for friday across the uk shows plenty of dry weather. just a bit patchy rain in the west of northern ireland and into scotland. how about that wedding weather. hello, this is outside source,

and these are the main stories here in the bbc newsroom excitement is bubbling over as preparations continue for what's undoubtedly the wedding of the year. but as we now know the father of the bride won't be attending — we'll be asking how the affair was handled by kensington palace press team. inmates held at the headquarters of the secret service began robert mueller‘s investigation into russian interference into the us election is one—year—old today — and the pressure isn't easing on president trump. concern as the ebola outbreak in the democratic republic of congo spreads from the countryside to the city. steam, ash, lava — all thrown out by a powerful volcano blast in hawaii — thousands are told to take cover. every day outside source features bbc journalists working in over 30 languages. your questions are always welcome. #bbcos is the hashtag we're in the grips of

royal wedding fever — with under a0 hours to go until prince harry marries meghan markle. so let's bring you some of the key pictures that have come into the newsroom today. british troops did a dress run of the entire carriage procession through the streets of windsor. thousands of royal fans have already descended on the town. the diehards have been camping out to get the best view of the couple. more than a 100,000 people are expected to line the streets of the town on saturday. that's creating an unprecedented security challenge. and as you'd expect there is already a high police presence. and after days of speculation,

meghan markle has confirmed her father won't be coming to saturday's royal wedding. the news came via this statement from kensington palace. she said: "sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. i have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health." there has been some criticism of how kensington palace has handled the thomas markle story. i want to show you this is an article by our royal correspondentjonny dymond. he has unpicked how the royal's closely—controlled media operation has unravelled. my colleague babita sharma spoke to him a short time ago, and began by asking if the palace has mismanaged mr markle. designated period very difficult for them. he is thousands of miles away. and from what we know of him he's not someone... they did offer him

assistance in the run—up to the wedding. what has happened with this wedding. what has happened with this wedding is that it has leapt out of the normal palace playbook. normally they control the information and the bride and the bride to post my family know the rules which is that they don't speak out of turn and don't go off the leash. all of that has fallen apart because thomas markle has been talking with dmz. all of the relatives have been bought out. the palace has been left in the dark. it has leapt out of their control. they should have had a contingency plan and is no question about that. i do think it was a difficult one for them. there has always been a strategy from the palace for things like this to having no comments rule in place. clearly can't do that at the moment. especially with this age of digital media with lea ks especially with this age of digital media with leaks left right and centre. does that now mean that the pr machine has to revolutionise how

it operates? i think it does need to change. to be fair to the palace, it has changed over the years and back in the 505 the to spokesman was known. this much more openness and they have to engage more india strategy. they are not stuck in the 505 and 605, there in the 21st—century. they are in a different game now and need to think about how they can get the story out there. the press office of the proper background briefing. if you wa nt to proper background briefing. if you want to try and control the narrative which is almost always the aim ofany narrative which is almost always the aim of any communications operation they need to get out there. more developments on north and south korea relations — and they're not positive ones. pyongyang says it won't hold talks with its neighbour

until they resolve their issues. and their top negotiator was quoted by their state news agency as calling south korean officials "incompetent and senseless". our asia pacific editor, michael bristow, has more. look at what has taken place in the ground nothing much has changed. the united states and south korea have engaged in these exercises for yea rs. engaged in these exercises for years. in factjust a few months ago kimjong—un years. in factjust a few months ago kim jong—un according to south koreans appeared to suggest that's 0k koreans appeared to suggest that's ok and we understand you have to ta ke ok and we understand you have to take part in these things. why now suddenly are they getting so angry? you can only think it's because they wa nt to you can only think it's because they want to assert their strength and don't want to appear as though that they are going to do everything or anything that united states asked them to do. at the moment they are not going to be talking to the south koreans, but i suspect that they will try and cover up the presumably

to promise that certain things and pull them back to the table and give them face if you want. since a new zone of mount kilauea in hawaii began erupting almost two weeks ago, lava has wrecked dozens of homes and forced hundreds of people to be evacuated. and now, an explosive eruption is taking place — starting before most of the island was awake. take a look. the blast sent ash, steam, lava — thousands of metres in to the air. these pictures are from the us geological survey. as you'd imagine, people nearby have been told to seek shelter. the volcano on hawaii's main island has been active for weeks, but this is a major escalation. us government scientists at the scene said the eruption was dramatic, but — thankfully — not too serious. this morning, a little bit afterfor amr around for 15 there was a short—lived explosion, but a pretty powerful one and put a cloud up to 30,000 feet above sea level. the

asphalt was localised to volcano village area and the national park. trace amounts of ash in that area. the big event they got people's attention, but not with widespread impacts. joseph is a photojournalist who's covering this story — he joined us from very close to some of the live fissures. about four or 500 metres away from scissors 16 and 17. just seeing them going off they had the projectile love. from 18, and had me 19 and 20. all visible. i know you are talking to us via your phone, you able to turn your phone around and show us what you can see? yeah, i can try. you can see some

you can see some of you can see some of the steam coming up. that's 16 and behind me smoke has just up. that's 16 and behind me smoke hasjust gone up. that's 16 and behind me smoke has just gone up between 17 and 18. so you are saying all of these actually have numbers. they have almost been mapped out. yes, correct. what happens is underground reports or aerial reports are made by the usgs and then they give that numbers. the numbering has changed and i've been here since saturday. this confusion with the numbering of 17. they have nailed it down now. 16 this to the right. presumably

there's very few people left as close to the volcano as you are. yes. i'm in an abandoned house. we have a mission to stay here. justin anthony who is very close to the volcano. we will keep you updated on that explosion. but show you the pictures. the huge reversal taking place today that everything is going be happening. harry and megan arriving at windsor today. in the back—seat of range rover. the military procession and the carriage procession were also going through the motions. under lovely sunshine as well as its expected to be on the

day itself. don't forget you can get much more detail on our top stories on our web site. there is full coverage on all of our top stories — including, of course, it's summit time for european leaders. here they are — they've been gathering in the bulgarian capital, sofia. top of the agenda — iran. here's the president of the european council. ican agree i can agree with president trump when he says that i predict ability can bea when he says that i predict ability can be a useful tool in politics, but only against opponents. on predictability in my opinion is the last thing we need when we are friends. and we have no illusions and high expectations. still, we

have the highest expectations when it comes to washington. the eu has now said it's going to take steps to allow european companies to continue to deal with iran, despite us sanctions. for more on this, i turned to the bbc‘s regional europe editor, mike sanders. well, what they're trying to implement a something called a blocking statute. it was something that was first done in 1996 when the united states was looking at imposing sanctions on firms that did deals with cuba. it is never actually been tried, so quite how it could be of limited is anybody puzzling deaths. in principle what it does is in trucks european firms not to comply with us sanctions and us courts and to disregard any

rulings regarding sanctions rated foreign courts. that's a difficult road to go down, because if you start disregarding international laws where does that leave you? the good and you up being defined as that nonmarket economy would be for everybody. they've been talking for many hours. how difficult has the process been getting to this point? it has been quite difficult. there's a lot of countries in the eu that do an awful lot of trade. the big players in terms of eu trade with iran are germany, france and italy. overall, the trade last year was worth about $23 billion. this is a substantial stake riding on the outcome of these negotiations with the united states. let's face it, that's probably a negotiating tactic as much as anything because back in 1996 the reason why it is never been tested is because they didn't never had to enforce it because bill

clinton as it was then came back to the negotiating table. what they are trying to do is by raising the spectre of this blocking the statutes they are hoping donald trump will come back to the negotiating table. they don't know at this stage of this would work with a very different character would like donald trump in the white house. they could have the opposite effect is tough negotiator and they have already got the added problem of the us threats of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from the eu. there are several trade disputes ratting along at the same time. there's a genuine desire on the part of the eu to continue investing in iran. they see it as a very positive mark ina iran. they see it as a very positive mark in a possibly lucrative market. france for example wants to invest $5 billion in the gas fields in iran. they're $5 billion in the gas fields in iran. they‘ re not $5 billion in the gas fields in iran. they're not good to give that kind of expert economic prospect might mightily. what is the rift

between europe and america at the moment? who needs enemies if you've got friends like these. he is all that up with another comment saying the decision to abandon the deal is beyond a joke. the temperature is not good at the moment. it's looking like they are set for a fairly prolonged and protracted row. this summit was mainly about trade and security. but its location — sofia — was no coincidence — move — a nod to potential future expansion of the eu bloc into the western balkans. adding more members at a time of increasing instability for the continent is getting a mixed response. here's what the french president had to say. i'm not in favour of moving towards a large but before we have the required certainties and before reform has been made on it deepening functioning of the eu. our europe correspondent gavin lee is in sofia. the security cars a comment to the

leaders in what has been the first summit between european leaders and the six leaders of the balkan states that have met for the first time in 15 years. the point being here that the national palace of culture and sofia and bulgaria is that the eu are saying we want to improve links with the balkan states that want to join the eu. the other issues of corruption, allegations of cronyism ina corruption, allegations of cronyism in a government which has long stopped the likes of albania and macedonia, montenegro, boss media, kosovo from joining. it's worth noting that the expansion seems to be bands today because it seems a sensitive time. with brexit and going from 28 to 27. issues with the financial crisis and a migration credit crisis. the first meeting of its kind to get things back on

track. the head of the arab league has called for an international probe into alleged "crimes" committed by israeli forces against palestinians during deadly violence along the gaza border this week. tens of thousands of people have been protesting along the border since the end of march, calling for palestinian refugees to be able to return to their homes, now inside israel. the largest demonstrations coincided with the move of the us embassy in israel from tel aviv to jerusalem on monday, which saw israeli forces kill some 60 palestinians. a senior hamas official has been quoted as saying that 50 of those who died were members of his group. hamas, which runs gaza, is regarded as a terrorist group by the uk, eu and united states. the bbc‘s mark lowen has more. this comes from a senior official in the organisation. he was giving an interview to palestinian tv and

asked why hamas has been relatively absent from the protests earlier in the week and he responded by saying we we re the week and he responded by saying we were not absent, when you look at those who died since monday, since those who died since monday, since those clashes with the israeli army 50 of them were from hamas. 12 were regular people. that of course has been seized upon by the israeli media and government as proof in their eyes that hamas orchestrated and directed these deadly clashes and directed these deadly clashes and these were not simply innocent protesters, civilians were coming of their own free will to border fence separating gaza and israel, but they we re separating gaza and israel, but they were pushed there by hamas. add to say that statement has not been corroborated by hamas officially. it's not their official position and not been confirmed or denied. they could beat as an off—the—cuff statement by a hamas official. either way it has been absolutely seized upon by israel bolstering their arguments when israel has come

under intense criticism internationally. i've got some pictures to show you from burundi now — they're from earlier today — people have been voting on whether or not to let their president extend his term in office from five years to seven. this is the man in question — pierre nkurunziza. if the changes pass, he could potentially rule until 203a. votes are being counted now. but the referendum has been shrouded in constant controversy after a wave of alleged arrests and killings of government opponents. the people have been intimidated if they don't want to register or if they don't want to register or if they have expressed a willingness to vote against the constitutional changes and also in the weeks around the campaign the have also been receiving regular reports of arrests, intimidation, harassment and even beating of opposition members who were campaigning for a no vote. well, this is mr nkurunziza casting his vote. he's a former rebel leader who came

to power at the end of burundi's ethnically—charged civil war in 2005. his run for a controversial third term in 2015 set off a wave of violence and a political crisis and observers are concerned this the opposition has accused the president of trench temper run deep into a constitutional monarchy. to date there have been claims from the main upon in a country that members of the ruling party for some people to vote. the president announced he would run for a controversial third term. hundreds died in the protests and 400,000 people fled the country because of the instability. today is international day against homophobia. in the georgian capital, tblisi, it didn't quite go to plan. that's because the georgian orthodox church organised a rally to counter people marching in support of the gay community. and then, georgia's lgbt community cancelled its own rally because of fears about safety.

here's the bbc‘s rayhan demytrie. this is a huge procession led by the georgian orthodox church. which is marking may the 17th as the day of family values which while the rest of the world market at the day against homophobia and the trans phobia. the lgbt community is under increased pressure here. they can stage any rallies today on may 17. they tried to do so several years ago in 2013, a small group of us to pt activist tried to rally and they we re pt activist tried to rally and they were met by a massive mob of protesters that were trying to beat them up. the state was proclaimed family values stay following those events. the orthodox church is the

most powerful institution in georgia and has an immense following. you can see from this procession. and most of these people view lgbt communities as sick people that, as they see them as a threat to their traditional values. the fallout from the malaysian election now. raiding the home of najib razak, the former prime minister. he's been accused of corruption, related to a ‘state fund' he founded. this is footage, of police raiding his home, late on wednesday in kuala lumpur. the search is understood to be continuing. a lawyer for mr razak said, that nothing incriminating has been found, and that detectives have only seized a couple of handbags. there are reports of several boxes being taken from the property. the current prime minister, mahatir mohamad, said the anti—corru ption

investgation was justified. translation: we have instructed investigation into all current cases no matter who is involved. if there isa no matter who is involved. if there is a case against them we will take action. especially this investigation involves government institutions, anti—corru ption agencies, police, the auditor general and other institutions. he was reelected last week at the age of 92. and now, some good news for the environment, the european union's general court has upheld a partial ban on three chemicals that are thought to harm bees. the chemicals are known as neonicotinoids — and their developers, bayer cropscience, ta keda chemical industries and syngenta, had appealed the court's decision to partially ban them in 2013. the ruling was welcomed by the eu's commissionerfor health and food safety as ‘good news for bees'. many honeybee colonies have collapsed in recent years,

and the cause of the widespread bee decline has been much debated. the bbc‘s environment correspondent matt mcgrath told me more about what this ruling means for bees. the european union over a overfive yea rs have tests the european union over a overfive years have tests look at the impact of these on bees and this year they published what they feel is a definitive view on the science and not only are they dangerous on crops but the potential they have of moving into other fields where bees come into contact with flowers and these effects are not killing the bees but they disorient them find the way home difficult. they have an impact. they've ta ken the way home difficult. they have an impact. they've taken the view that this impact is real and substantiated by science. to what extent substantiated by science. to what exte nt d o substantiated by science. to what extent do those that defend this except the science that this is having harmful effect? they take the

view that if they are used properly they are a minute major benefit to they are a minute major benefit to the environment. much better than what was in place 20 years ago but you don't spray them, they cover the seeds of the coding and so there is less ha rm to seeds of the coding and so there is less harm to the environment. if you ban them from us will go back and use an worse and more damaging chemicals in greater numbers. they don't actually except for the science shows the bees are being hit by their particular chemicals. these are major companies trying to keep these in use. yes. the biggest pesticide manufacturer in the world. they fear that if the case goes against them in europe what will happen in the rest of the world they are not so sure. just time to recap on a headline. meghan markle has confirmed her father will not be attending saturday's royal wedding. thanks for watching. hello. thursday was the sort of day

when wherever you looked across the uk, salvos went to the north there we re uk, salvos went to the north there were blue skies and sunshine to be found. that's our look for a weather watcher in the far west of scotland. don't expect things to say that sunny throughout the next ten days. frontal symptoms will be trying to wring areas of cloud and rain, but high—pressure keeps things drive further south. for ease of scotland and england and wales under the bright day without the sunshine after a chilly start. northern ireland and west of scotland the frontal system bringing thicker clouds, some spots of rain and temperatures you notice generally speaking beginning to creep up by day or two. that frontal system in north scoots off towards scandinavia. high pressure building its way back in to actually all of us on its way back in to actually all of us on saturday for the royal wedding

day a looking fine and dry with sunshine. that's the forecast. to get to 21 degrees through the afternoon and this confirmation that those sunny skies just about across all parts of the country. other frontal system will starts to make its presence felt in the northwest later in the day and a bit of cloud streaming and towards northern island in western scotland and a strengthening breeze as well. we bring a sweater front end towards the northwest as moving to the second half of the weekend but high—pressure still holding firm down towards the southeast. split fortu nes down towards the southeast. split fortunes on sunday. sunday scotland out across england and wales long spells of sunshine and surreal wants to be had as well. could be misty close to these north sea coast. 22 degrees in london but for the north and west the frontal system bringing clouded outbreaks of rain and the front will hang around across northwest of scotland and northern ireland to go into monday. the south and east high—pressure generally keeping things settled sunshine. could just be the odd sharp shower

pricking out as to just continue to left. 23 degrees across parts of southeast england. that frontal system and northwest looks like it will get squeezed out by high—pressure again trying to reassert itself as a get into tuesday. a lot of dry weather again on tuesday, but what is left of that front as it moves its way eastwards could give energy in the atmosphere and which are to reduce one or two hefty showers. to purchase by the states 24 degrees in london. a bit cooler up towards the northwest. this battle ground situation with weather systems trying to push him from the northwest and high—pressure trying to fend them off that continues throughout next week. the jet stream generally speaking adding just a northwest of the british isles allowing us to set for the most pa rt isles allowing us to set for the most part in relatively warm air. as we get deeper into the week and into the following week and some computer models tried to bring the right up

across the country bring you frontal systems in our direction and outbreaks of rain. it does look most likely that those areas of rain of the confined to the north. high—pressure will always be trying to build its way back in from the south and trying to kill off those weather fronts and return us to try and break conditions. to sum up next week we will see spells of warm sunshine and southern parts minute drive but for the northjust sunshine and southern parts minute drive but for the north just the chance of a little bit of rain. there is dry weather in the forecast, but don't expect it to be sunny everywhere all the time. that's all for now. tonight at ten — ministers are considering a ban on flammable cladding for high—rise buildings, after the grenfell tower fire. almost a year after the blaze in london which left 72 people dead, the government says it will now

launch a consultation. having listened carefully to concerns, the government will consult on banning the use of combustible materials in cladding systems on high—rise residential buildings. it comes despite an official review which today stopped short of recommending an outright ban. we'll be asking why. also tonight. the gambling industry warns of big jobs losses, after the government decides to slash the maximum you can bet on high—stakes slot machines. a woman is acquitted of killing her former partner in an acid attack that left him in such pain he decided to end his own life. in windsorfor wedding rehearsals — meghan markle confirms her father will not be there when she marries prince harry on saturday.