a great environment. and ben's book is called ‘sevens heaven'. that's all we've got time for this morning. i'll be back here tomorrow from 6:00 with charlie. now on bbc one, john craven is on the malvern hills celebrating their beauty and wildlife in countryfile spring diaries. and wildlife in this is bbc news. i'm vicki young. the headlines at nine. flash flooding hits parts of the midlands and wales, after some areas experience more than a month's rainfall injustan hour. talks resume between us and north korean officials on a possible leaders‘ summit — after donald trump says he sees "great potential" in the north's future. the labour partyjoins calls to change abortion laws in northern ireland, following a referendum in the republic of ireland. and in the next hour, it's been voted britain's most scenic bus route. simon gompertz hops on board the double decker which runs from pickering to whitby to find out why it's valued so much by passengers. in paris, a young immigrant from mali has been invited to meet

president macron of france, after climbing a block of flats to save a boy hanging from a balcony. good morning and welcome to bbc news. parts of the midlands and wales are recovering from flash floods caused by heavy rainfall yesterday. in some places, more than one month's rainfall felljust one hour. there are still almost 30 flood warnings in force across england. ben ando‘s report contains flashing images. the waters rose with breathtaking speed. in some parts of birmingham, they had more rain in one hour than the average for the whole of may. on a bank holiday weekend in edgbaston, harborne

and selly park, there was little residents or the emergency services could do other than watch and wait, as floodwaters reached up to five foot in depth. some of these houses have been flooded three times in recent years. the police urged people not to travel but stranded cars like this one were perhaps the most effective warning to other drivers. i don't think this is safe. some motorists did make it through. while birmingham bore the brunt of the deluge, flash floods also hit parts of buckinghamshire, berkshire and here in northampton. in many areas the rainfall varied dramatically from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. the flooding extended as far west as welshpool in mid wales. and the storms also led to dramatic lightning displays. today, the heavy downpours may continue in some parts, though elsewhere, forecasters say it could be barbecue weather. as some enjoy the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures possibly reaching

29 celsius in the south—east. ben ando, bbc news. us officials are in north korea to try to ease the path to the proposed summit between president trump and kim jong—un. the discussions — on the northern side of the demilitarised frontier — are thought to be focusing on details of a possible denuclearisation deal. the summit was originally scheduled for the 12th ofjune. joining us now from the south korean of paju, near the demilitarized zone, is our correspondent rupert wingfield hayes. it is hard to keep up with whether this is on or off this summit. what are they discussing now to try and get that historic meeting to take place? well, we arejust get that historic meeting to take place? well, we are just guessing, really, but i think they are now down to the nuts and bolts and this is, you know, we now have

professional diplomats, experienced diplomats from both sides, pyongyang and the us, who are very familiar with the issues you are all experts on the korean peninsula, sitting about a mile and a half from where i am standing. they started yesterday, they have been talking all day today and it will go into tomorrow, still not much time but they are trying to outline the agreement that can be put forward to a summit in singapore next month, if it goes ahead. we don't know exactly what it all what the outline of the agreement will be but it appears the americans will offer security guarantees and large economic assistance to north korea in return for north korea agreeing to give up its nuclear weapons programme. now the big question over all of this is, what is north korea willing to give up? it has been pretty clear that kim jong—un is not going to unilaterally hand over all of his nuclear weapons so short of

that, what is he prepared to give president trump that president trump can take back to the united states as some kind of win? and also that he can get the agreement of all the allies in the region. that is the big issue for president trump, i suppose, that he needs to be able to show he's getting something out of this. he has already seemingly changed his mind. you can see it's a pretty volatile situation. but how are they going to be able to pin down mr kim about what he is willing to give up? that is, you know, that has always been, and this is going back to the 1990s, this has always been the really thorny question with north korea. whenever negotiations have begun, in the early 1990s, again and through the 2000s, north korea has sought to drag out the process over months and years while breaking promises, going back on commitments, and that is why really the drug administration and its advisers said, "we're not doing this again —— the trump administration

and its advisers said, they wanted to go for a one—time deal, and north korea had to agree to closing down its nuclear weapons programme and handing over the nuclear weapons in one go and it is very clear from what the north koreans have been saying in the last couple of weeks that they have no intention of doing that, and yet both sides still want to go ahead with this summit for their particular reasons. one suspects because president trump personally because a big foreign—policy victory and this is the closest he has been getting one, is with north korea. thank you for joining us. rupert wingfield—hayes in the demilitarised zone. pressure to relax northern ireland's strict abortion laws is intensifying — with labour adding its voice to calls for change. it comes after friday's historic referendum in the republic of ireland. mps from across the commons say women should have the same rights in all parts of the uk, but downing street insists it's a matterfor northern ireland. the dup, on whom theresa may relies for a majority in parliament, says it will not be bullied into accepting abortion. with us now is our political correspondent jonathan blake.

it does feel as though pressure is mounting but actually, it is not a simple thing to do, to change the law in northern ireland because of the rather complicated political situation we're in. yes, it is a complicated political picture, as you say, but there is pressure on the government to act here, since the government to act here, since the result of the referendum in the republic of ireland. it has thrown into sharp relief the difference between the rest of the uk, when it comes to the law on abortion, and the law in northern ireland, and now the law in northern ireland, and now the difference between northern ireland and their neighbours to the south. but it is very difficult for the government to act. they could do in the absence of the northern ireland assembly and the executive which, as you say, has not been in place the nearly 18 months now. it is possible for the westminster government to legislate and impose that change in the law on northern ireland but it would be very difficult and a very controversial thing to do. that said, there's

pressure on the government to act. labour say they are looking at legislative options and whilst their preferred method would be to do this through the northern ireland assembly, they say that women have suffered long enough. the shadow attorney general, shami chakrabarti, spoke this morning, saying," as a self identifying feminist, theresa may should negotiate with parties in northern ireland and impose legislation. women have suffered long enough and this is an issue of fundamental human rights". but downing street are not really engaging on this. a source says it isa engaging on this. a source says it is a matter of northern ireland and also suggested that this situation shows really why there is an urgency on the government's parts to bring the northern ireland assembly back into action. there have been some conservatives, haven't there, who feel this should happen, some senior former home secretary is, for example. there is quite appealing but i suppose they may well be put off voting because they know it was cause to mendis difficulty for drivers —— it would cause to mendis

difficulty for theresa may. yes, it is wanting to be in favour of a change and liberalisation of the laws in northern ireland but the political reality is very difficult. there is broad support among mps of many different parties the house of commons to change the law here but if it were to come to a vote, and thatis if it were to come to a vote, and that is a big if, there's talk of an amendment to the domestic violence bill currently going through parliament which would change the law, it may well be that is every vote where mps can vote according to their conscience and they are not whipped by the respective parties but for that to happen, as i say, when there is no government or assembly in place in northern ireland would be controversial and there are many hurdles to overcome before it could happen. thank you for joining before it could happen. thank you forjoining us. jonathan before it could happen. thank you for joining us. jonathan blake. parts of the midlands and wales are recovering from flash floods caused by heavy rainfall yesterday. one of the worst affected areas is selly park in birmingham. 0ne local resident stu dunnigan sent us this picture of his road which has been badly affected by the downpour. and we can speak to stu now.

thank you forjoining us. this must have been, well, pretty alarming. explain what happened to you and what your street is looking like. hello. so, yeah, last night, iwas out and about with my family, and we saw through social media that there had been flooding again in this early pa rt had been flooding again in this early part area so it was a case of we thought it was probably going to be, here we go again, and then the photos of the catastrophe on the road started coming through and the water was submerging cars, well, almost submerging cars, above waist height so i left it a little bit of time and took a drive back but the road was closed off so i eventually ended up getting a lift home on a kind of raft with the fire service, who kindly brought me to my front door. have you heard from any other

people living nearby who have got themselves into trouble? clearly you we re themselves into trouble? clearly you were safe but it must have been pretty frightening for people. yes, we are quite lucky because this happened in 2016 as well and we escaped. it was a lot worse then, i think, there were cars floating down the road on that occasion. but we escaped any kind of real damage at that point, and i think the same people who were hit last time have been hit again which must be very frustrating for them. the fire service were actually, people have been taken home on the rocks but the fire service were rescuing some people from their homes and taking them out on the rafts so i can only assume that their downstairs areas we re assume that their downstairs areas were quite badly flooded. i've not actually been out and about this morning to discuss the level of damage with those people. presumably you are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast. i know you are keeping a close eye on the weatherforecast. i know in you are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast. i know in other places there was pretty dramatic lightning and that kind of thing but presumably you couldn't enjoy that?

no, no, it was not particularly enjoyable. we had one eye on what was going on at home, really. i think the weather forecast is a bit more promising today. so i am not too nervous about any potential impact today, really. i think we have probably seen the worst of it. thank you forjoining us. a local resident who had a lucky escape in birmingham. the environment agency has issued multiple flood warnings for birmingham and the west midlands as rivers continue to react to the deluge. the agency says flooding is still expected in low lying areas near rivers and waterways. the met office says further rainfall today is expected to the south of the area, and birmingham should largely escape further heavy rain. italy is again in political turmoil, after the man chosen to be prime minister by the two main anti—establishment parties, guiseppe conte, said he didn't want

thejob, when his pick for finance minister was vetoed by italy's president. president sergio mattarella has summoned former international monetary fund official carlo cottarelli for a meeting, with the possibility he might form a temporary technocrat government. but the leader of italy's biggest political party, the five star movement, has called for the president to be impeached for vetoing their would—be prime minister's choice of finance minister. it's sparked a furious reaction, as our rome correspondent james reynolds explains. italy's president has begun a dramatic stand—off with the country's populist parties, five star and the right—wing league. the head of state vetoed the government line—up suggested by giuseppe conte, the law professor put forward by the populists as prime minister. translation: as you already know, i have declined the mandate i have been given by president mattarella

to form a government of change. i would like to thank the president for giving me this opportunity on may the 23rd. i can assure you that i have put the greatest effort and paid the greatest attention into fulfilling this duty. i can assure you all so that i've done it in an atmosphere of full cooperation with the leaders of both parties which appointed me. at issue was the appointment of paolo savona to run the country's economy. the 82—year—old economist has said in the past that italy should prepare to leave the euro. but for the president, the signal that sends out is unacceptable. translation: i agreed with all the ministers except that of the economy ministry. the nomination for the economy ministry delivers to the financial world an immediate message of trust and alarm. the five star movement's leader, luigi di maio, accuses the president of overstepping his powers. translation: it is pointless going to vote because the rating agencies, the financial and banking lobbies, decide the government.

in governments, the leadership is always the same, even when the citizens with over 50% of consensus between two political forces who want to change things and want to represent italians and their interests, in the end, a way to block this always seems to be found. the league party's leader, matteo salvini, is equally critical of the president's intervention. translation: we worked for nothing. we will have a technical government. i ask, are we a democracy? in italy, do the italians decide, or do the germans or french? i'm sorry i lost so much time. they could have told us before. as a stopgap move, italy's president may now appoint a non—populist prime minister. but the only lasting solution may be an early general election. james reynolds, bbc news, rome. scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon is raising her concerns

over brexit during a meeting with the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier in brussels this morning. ms sturgeon, who wants to remain in the customs union and single market, has called on the uk government to "engage properly" with devolved administrations after britain leaves the eu. the headlines on bbc news: flash flooding hits parts of the midlands and wales, after some areas experience more than a month's rainfall injustan hour. talks resume between us and north korean officials on a possible leaders' summit, after donald trump says he sees "great potential" in the north's future the labour partyjoins calls to change abortion laws in northern ireland, following a referendum in the republic of ireland — but it's understood downing street believes any reform "is an issue for northern ireland". hugh ferris has the latest

from the bbc sport centre. good morning. chris froome says he won the giro d'italia with an "absolutely clear conscience" after becoming just the third rider to win all three of cycling's grand tours back to back. he also became the first british man to win the race in italy. but many had questioned whether he should be competing at all after the controversy generated by his adverse finding for asthma drug salbutamol at last year's vuelta, the second of his three wins in a row. froome denies any wrongdoing and has got on with the job in hand. it's part of my character. i've a lwa ys it's part of my character. i've always been someone who is very good at blocking things out, staying very focused on what i need to achieve. i know what i want to do. once i set my mind to something, i like to get it done. three major seeds in the women's draw fell at the first hurdle on the opening day of the french open.

venus williams lost, which means she hasn't won one grand slam match yet this year. while british no1 johanna konta also lost, to kazakhstan's yulia putintseva, claiming afterwards that the media are not making it easy for her, after being beaten in the first round at roland garros for the fourth year in a row. she says she doesn't like everyone bringing up the fact she's never won a match in the main draw in paris, but unfortunately that's still the case. defending champion jelena ostapenko is also out, and is only the sixth female major winner to lose in the opening ruond of her title defence after she was beaten in straight sets by the unseeded ukrainian kateryna kozlova. england have dropped mark stoneman for the second test against pakistan which starts on friday at headingley, after a run of bad scores for both his county and his country. he's the only change england have made, with keatonjennings replacing him. the opener last played for his country last summer before losing his place in the side, but he's scored three centuries for his new county lancashire so far this season. england have strongly refuted allegations made in a documentary claiming three players were responsible for spot—fixing during a test

match in india in 2016. the icc say they are investigating the claims made by aljazeera, whlie the ecb have released a statement outlining their strong denial of the accusations. i think it's outrageous that england players have been accused of this. all the players have got the full backing of the ecb. you know, it is something really not for the guide to worry about. we've got to concentrate on next week and make sure we are fully focused on winning at headingley but you know, it's an outrageous accusation and i'm sure, you know, all the right channels will be taken by the ecb and people that need to worry about it. both lewis hamilton and fernando alonso described the monaco grand prix as boring. in fact, hamilton claimed it was the "most boring of his career." there was a moment of excitement when two of the midfield runners crashed during the race, but with its tight, twisting turns, the street circuit in monte carlo makes it hard to overtake, so daniel ricciardo was able to win from the front despite having problems with his red bull. hamilton finished third,

as his championship lead was cut to 1a points. justin rose has tied for the most pga tour wins by an englishman since world war ii, going level with nick faldo with his ninth victory. it came at the fort worth invitational by three shots. he had a bit of a cushion going into the final day in texas, and made sure by carding a 64 to finish 20—under par. rose will move up to third in the world rankings, and he could become the new number one at the next tour event in ohio. meanwhile, it was a frustrating day for rory mcilroy at wentworth as italian francesco molinari won the pga championship by two shots. nothing seemed to go right for mcilroy all day as he missed birdie after birdie and failed to threaten the leader. that's all the sport for now. the nhs in england is to review how much it pays male and female doctors in an effort to eliminate a gender pay gap of 15%.

a review announced by the health secretary will look at why male doctors are paid on average £10,000 more than female doctors. our health correspondent dominic hughes reports. the nhs is farfrom alone in struggling with a gender pay gap, but in an organisation where women make up most of the workforce, it is noticeable that men still hold the most senior positions. as the bbc reported in april, overall, female staff earn nearly a quarter less than their male colleagues. this review will concentrate on the gender pay gap among medical staff. the average pay for a male doctor in the nhs is just over £67,700. but atjust over £57,500, the average pay for a female doctor is more than £10,000 less. across all medical professions, including doctors, the pay gap is 15%. we need to make sure people are really supported to progress in work,

but also if women need to take time out of the workplace to have children, that we have the right policies in place to support things like flexible working, shared parental leave and that we are recruiting people back into our health service after they may have taken a career gap for any reason. the review will look at issues such as the impact of motherhood, working patterns and care arrangements. and also why, given that more women are entering medical school, men still dominate in senior roles. while this is looking at medical jobs, it should have implications across the nhs. dominic hughes, bbc news. i'm joined by professor jane dacre from the royal college of physicians who is leading the review. thank you forjoining us. these figures shower and —— than chopping, it seems like a lot of money and big pay gap, what is the reasoning behind this because there's been worked on already about why the nhs

is in this predicament.” worked on already about why the nhs is in this predicament. i think there are a number of reasons and really it is quite complicated to work out exactly which one is the major part but there are the obvious things like motherhood, like part—time working but there are also potential barriers to career progression for women. i noted in the peace that they said, the reporter said there were a number of winning earlier in medicine and fewer women at senior levels and so —— a number of winning earlier in medicine. trying to encourage women to reach higher levels of seniority in medicine and rewarding them for that will be part of the solution. because actually, i think it is 50 slash 50, the number of women going into medical training, the number of women who are in these positions. —— 50-50. it is women who are in these positions. —— 50—50. it is not the situation that there are so few women and they have not climbed to the top. as you say it is about encouraging them to maybe stay and flexible working and

that kind of thing? absolutely, the 50-50 is that kind of thing? absolutely, the 50—50 is interesting because 2017 was the first year that there were the same number of male and female doctors in the profession so that has come quite recently. what we need to do is ensure that we encourage those women who are coming through to reach the top of the profession. it isjust through to reach the top of the profession. it is just like on a company board, if you don't have mixed gender balance at the top level, then how do you know you are treating a patient as well as you should? after all, varies a 50—50 of men and women in the population. —— there is a 50—50. men and women in the population. —— there is a 50-50. eigen said it might be more than that, that there might be more than that, that there might be more than that, that there might be biased and dissemination in a health service, particularly when it comes to doctors and women being able to become consultants and going into senior positions? the researchers from surrey university led by professor carol woodham ‘s have started to look at what the contribution of different factors may be and it looks as though there

is an unexplained gap. there are some things that quite obviously would go towards explaining the gap that i have mentioned earlier but it is this unexplained proportion that is this unexplained proportion that is perhaps the most interesting. that may suggest some unconscious bias or maybe some barriers to the progression of women and that is what we need to tease out in order to be able to mitigate against it. some people will look at it and say it is obvious because women are working part time so they will be paid working part time so they will be pa id less working part time so they will be paid less but presumably this case it is not about that because you are pro rata, presumably, on those kind of salaries. and others will say, if you are a doctor, it is much more difficult to do flexible working. is there a long—term solution for the nhs here? i think flexible working in the nhs is perfectly possible because the nhs are a number of yea rs now because the nhs are a number of years now has been working on shift patterns and one of the interesting things about providing a seven—day service is that nobody works seven days so everybody is part time

really. it is just a question of how part—time you are. in employment, though, there is potentially a negative feeling about people who perhaps are part—time, committed if they are working part—time, i personally don't think that is true but those kind of prejudices need to be weeded out and they need to be handled. thank you forjoining us. professorjay baker, handled. thank you forjoining us. professor jay baker, we handled. thank you forjoining us. professorjay baker, we will speak to you again when the report is finished towards the end of the year. ——jaime data. wh smith has been voted the worst shop on uk high streets, by more than 10,000 people. in the survey carried out by the consumer organisation which, customers complained the stores were out—of—date, products were expensive and staff were rude. wh smith says just 184 shoppers commented. the top companies were the cosmetics chain, lush, the discounter savers and the toy chain, smyths toys. the journey to work on the number 840 bus in north yorkshire isn't your ordinary commute.

it's just been crowned the "most scenic bus ride in britain". however campaign groups are warning that rural services are in crisis. simon gompertz has hopped on board to find out how to keep the wheels turning. it's a bus driver's dream. the 840 coast liner starts in leeds, takes in york and then heads over the north york moors here and out to whitby on the coast. driving what has been crowned our most beautiful bus route and getting paid for it is adam davies. every day is a joy. every day is a joy on this route. it is just beautiful. it's not only helping people that live out here getting to bigger places and cities, but bringing people out of the cities into this beautiful land. it is always nice when you see a whitby come up on your rota. this award for most scenic route was thought up by paul kirby, to drum up more interest in bus travel as funding is

squeezed ever tighter. rural communities, many of them do need their bus services. they are a lifeline for many people because they don't have cars and they don't have access to cars or the elderly, for example, they can't drive any more. so that is why it is important to bring publicity to especially scenic routes like this one. are you going to york, love? ticket sales pay for this service but only partly. it depends on public money, council subsidy over the winter and also the bus firm being reimbursed for letting on all the trippers with free bus passes. for anyone who has not got a car or anybody who hasn't got a driving licence, it is the only way to get out and about in the area. if you didn't have the bus? if we didn't have the bus, we wouldn't go half of the time because you'd only use the car, because of the fuel price, you'd only use it once a week or once a fortnight, to try to save on the fuel.

because i have epilepsy and i can't drive, it is very important to me that there are these bus routes so i can get to places like whitby that i've been coming all my life. this is a trophy service. it is scenic and popular so it has survived but that is not the case for a lot of bus routes. bus funding has been cut by a third in the last eight years and it is often the rural, most—needed services, the ones that people don't have an alternative to, which tend to suffer. thank you, enjoy your holiday. last year, over 500 routes in england and wales were reduced or completely withdrawn. in whitby, volunteers have stepped in to provide services up to the places on the moors where people feel abandoned. whitby moores bus, we will have one of those. eden blyth is one of them, rebadging local buses and paying with donations. i think that somebody like us will always be needed. and we're happy to do it.

but we don't really want to have to keep on taking overfailing bus services because that shouldn't be the case, should it? it is all the more reason, then, to cherish remaining routes like the 840, on which you can go where you need to while soaking up the views. simon gompertz, bbc news, north yorkshire. an illegal immigrant from africa has been hailed a hero after scaling a block of flats in paris to save a boy who was hanging from a fourth floor balcony. that's mamoudou gassama on the left, who in less than a minute pulled himself up with his bare hands, and grabbed the child — while a neighbour was trying to hold on from another flat. in the past half hour, president emmanuel macron has thanked him personally during a meeting at the elysee palace.