welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is duncan golestani. our top stories: high level talks continue as officials meet to try and revive a summit between donald trump and kimjong—un. gauging what life is like inside north korea — the bbc hears direct testimony from a network of dissidents. two police officers and a civilian are shot dead in belgium — prosecutors are treating it as a terrorist attack. and the american comedy actress roseanne barr has her hit television series cancelled after sending racist tweets. hello and welcome to the programme.

as speculation continues about the possibility of a summit meeting between president trump and kimjong—un, the debate about north korea's record on human rights has been largely sidelined. direct testimony from within north korea is exceptionally hard to record, but over many months the bbc has used a covert network of dissidents to put questions to a range of citizens. as michael cowan reports, they expressed strong views about the country's leadership — and relations with the rest of the world. north korea is the world's most repressive regime — ruled by the totalitarian kim dynasty, the authorities wield an absolute control over information. citizens‘ mobile phones can't call outside the country and they have no access to the internet. using a covert network over many months, we've been able to put questions to two ordinary north koreans. they'd face retribution for this type of communication, so we're concealing their identities.

this man is a father who works in the military. this woman is a market trader who lives with her husband and two daughters. they told us about the power of the state and the country's notorious labour camps. sometimes the state security department get people by calling them spies. they make up stories for their own performance. they make people say that they were planning to go to china and then deport them. here, there are a lot of government captures. people arrested and taken away. people cannot survive in the prison camps. they unconditionally beat you. they starve you while doing extreme labour. once you go there, you are no longer a citizen. i think this terror is what keeps society going. in north korea, it is illegal to criticise the regime and carries severe punishment.

people say that kim jong—un acts the same as us, but takes away our money a lot, that the little man uses his head to suck out money like a vampire. the number of people who assess him positively is increasing. in the 1990s, north korea experienced a famine that left over a million people dead when the state couldn't fund its ration system. in response, black markets emerged across the country. today, they serve as a lifeline to the population, with the regime reluctantly allowing this capitalist trade to grow. without them, portions of the population would once again starve. he leaves the markets alone and doesn't crack down much, no matter what we do. many people want things to continue the way it is. and internally, there appears to be a softening in rhetoric towards the west. recently, they say we should be living in peace with america

for everyone to have a better life. michael cowan, bbc news. let's get more on the on—again, off—again summit now. our state department correspondent barbara plett—usher explains some of the issues surrounding the talks. well, it certainly keeps us on our toes on — for both the substantive and the logistical levels. on the substantive level, you have more than any other time i think, diplomacy being directed from the oval office in a very public way by this very unpredictable president, which creates all sorts of problems for the diplomatic corps because it makes it difficult for them to fill in the details. and of course for us, normally we would be following the diplomatic process, we would be getting some sense of the preparations, what the buildup was, what the possible outcomes were, but really we're scrambling like everybody else, and yes, from a logistical point of view, yes, on friday we all had discussions, should be cancel our flights?

should we keep our flights protectively? the website has suspended our accreditation, so i suppose we won't. now, it's put the accreditation back on just in case, so it has been extraordinarily chaotic. a high profile russian journalist who was a prominent critic of president putin has been shot dead at his home in ukraine. arkady babchenko was shot in the capital, kiev, where he had been living in self—imposed exile. russia has demanded a prompt investigation be carried out into the killing by ukraine. caroline rigby has more. arkady babchenko was one of russia's best—known investigative journalists. an outspoken critic of the kremlin, as well as russia's actions in syria and eastern ukraine, the 41—year—old claimed he'd suffered a campaign of harassment and feared for his life in his home country. that, he said, led him to move to ukraine last year. and it was at his apartment block in the capital,

kiev, where the 41—year—old was shot and fatally wounded. his wife told the police she was in the bathroom when she heard gunfire. she found her husband lying in a pool of his own blood. he's been shot in the back and died in an ambulance a short time later. of course, it's about finding out who was behind it and, as i have said, it's too early to say. we see simply the russian pattern there. arkady babchenko had hosted a programme on the ukrainian channel, atr tv. this is how the station broke the news of his death. and the ukrainian prime minister volodymyr groysman described the journalist as... "a true friend of ukraine, who told the truth about russian aggression." an investigation is now under way into mr babchenko's death. police in kiev say the evidence points to a targeted murder, related to his work as a journalist. caroline rigby, bbc news. a gunman has killed three people,

including two female police officers, in a suspected terror attack in the belgian city of liege. he was later shot dead by police. it's believed the man had been released from prison on monday and some reports suggest he was on a police watchlist. this report by our europe correspondent damian grammaticas does contain some flash photography. gunfire, mid—morning and suddenly confusion. on boulevard d'avroy, people scrambled to get away. within minutes, police armed response teams were on the scene. a man with a knife had attacked two policewomen, grabbed their guns, and shot them dead in the street, then shot the passenger in a passing car too. siren 100 metres up the street, the attacker‘d entered a school and taken a hostage. just minutes later, filmed from across the road, this was how it all ended.

police advance from the left. but look at the centre of the screen. the attacker runs out firing — shot by police on the spot. at least one of the officers was injured in this exchange. and this footage was taken seconds later by another witness. "they shot him dead", the man says. nassir lives by the school and heard it all happen. "i saw the police, the ambulances. it was impossible to go outside", he said. this nine—year—old boy was playing in the school courtyard. teachers told the children to escape by a back door. "the man grabbed our concierge, bob", he told me. "then the police fired. we all ran away. everyone was crying." all the schoolchildren escaped

unharmed and the caretaker survived too. this attack happened in the centre of the liege — a city of almost 200,000, an hour east of brussels. police are treating it as a terrorist incident. translation: he attacked the police officers from behind, delivering multiple blows from his knife. he grabbed their guns, which he immediately turned on the officers, who died on the spot. then he continued on foot — tried to steal a parked car — and shot a young man who was in it. one thing investigators are looking into is why this attacker assaulted the policewomen with such ferocity. he had no known links to radicalism or terrorism. what they're considering is whether he was radicalised in prison. that in itself would fit a pattern with previous attacks. damian grammaticas, bbc news, liege. the popular us sitcom roseanne has been cancelled after its star roseanne barr posted a racist tweet. the american actress compared former 0bama adviser valerie jarrett

to an ape on social media. in a statement, abc called her comments ‘abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent‘ with the network's values. more from james cook in los angeles. in terms of twitter outrage, it doesn‘t get much bigger than suggesting that a black woman is an ape and that wasn‘t all she did in this late—night twitter tirade. she also attacked in vulgar terms hillary clinton, her daughter chelsea clinton. she attacked the billionaire financier george soros, a bete noir of many on the right in the united states, as a nazi — he isjewish. and she also voiced support for an english far—right politician, tommy robinson, who‘s been in the news today as well. the combined effect of all of this was very serious but, to be honest with you, i think the ape tweet alone would have been enough

to get anyone fired. james cook in los angeles. political upheaval in italy has prompted a slump in global stock markets. investors are worried that another election could strengthen the mandate of euro—sceptic parties, threatening the future of the eurozone. a vote within months seems likely, if anti—establishment parties, as promised, block the appointment of an interim government. the man appointed to lead it has suspended talks about an interim cabinet until wednesday morning as our correspondent james reynolds reports from rome. if you‘re heading to the president‘s palace this week in italy, it‘s probably not good news. carlo cottarelli, the president‘s choice as a stopgap pro—euro prime minister, went to see the head of state. italy expected him to be sworn in. but reporters were told to come back tomorrow. there‘s speculation in rome that mr cottarelli may have decided that there‘s no point in taking the job. if so, elections will be

held in the summer. this audience of bankers in rome is worried that populists might win the vote and then possibly pull italy out of the euro. the central bank governor warns that this country‘s just a few short steps from losing the confidence of the market. translation: trust in our future must not be frittered away with actions that will affect growth and could even reduce it. so, how did italy get to this point? in a general election held in march, two rival populist movements, five star and the league, outperformed traditional parties. the populists then got together

to form their own potential eurosceptic administration — but the president vetoed their line—up on sunday. you can‘t think about leaving the euro without having a national debate first, he told them. italians must now pick a side. do they go with the parties who support the eu and the euro without question? or do they go instead for the populists, who want the freedom to be able to renegotiate everything that italy does with europe? for 30 years, sonia has worked at rome‘s campo di fiori market. she tells me she can‘t stand the populists. translation: you cannot vote for this type of people, who are illiterate. they have never read a book. they have no political credentials — none. "not true", says daniele, who works a few stalls away. to him, the real enemy is italy‘s pro—euro president, who‘s stopping the populists. translation: it's a disaster. we‘ve gone back to mediaeval times, where the people no longer decide.

the populists, blocked by the president, may return in greater numbers. current polls suggest that they may win an early election. james reynolds, bbc news, rome. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: it‘s the ultimate loft clear out — a secret space high above westminster abbey opens to the public for the first time in 700 years. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletics events to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers of star wars hope will be thousands of queues started forming at 7am. taunting which led to scuffles, scuffles to fighting, fighting to full—scale riot, as the liverpool fans broke out of their area and into the juve ntus enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. the whole world will mourn

the tragic death of mr nehru today. he was the father of the indian people from the day of independence. the oprah winfrey show comes to an end after 25 years and more than 4,500 episodes. the chat show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. geri halliwell, otherwise known as ginger spice, has announced she‘s left the spice girls. argh! i don't believe it! she's the one with the bounce, the go, the girl power. not geri — why? this is bbc news. the latest headlines: high—level talks continue as officials meet to try and revive a summit between donald trump and kimjong—un. gauging what life is like inside north korea. the bbc hears direct testimony from a network of dissidents. the father of a 5—year—old boy

who died in the grenfell tower fire said his son would probably be alive had he not followed the advice of firefighters who advised him to stay where he was. speaking at the public inquiry, paulos tekle said he had to live with the guilt after his family was repeatedly told to stay in their 13th floor flat. 72 people died as a result of the blaze at the block of flats in west london lastjune. our special correspondent lucy manning reports. five—year—old isaac paolos was an arsenal fan, just like his dad. he was good at maths and reading. his name meantjoy and laughter. today, there were only tears. i am broken and now the only thing that can make me whole again is to fight for truth and justice in isaac‘s name. isaac was seen running happily around his flat. but the night of the fire, they‘d been told to stay inside it by a fireman who came to their door.

why did we trust the authorities, his father wept. i want to know why i was physically stopped from leaving the flat at about 2am. why were we kept inside for so long? if i had not listened to the fire brigade, my son would have likely been alive today. 12—year—old, biruk haftom, died with his mum, berkti. he wanted to be a pilot or a scientist or a footballer. she was ten weeks‘ pregnant. she‘d fled the war in eritrea and had to leave behind her eldest son. he told the inquiry they were planning to be reunited after 15 years. i didn't even have a chance to say goodbye. what makes me feel hopeless is i will never, ever, see my mum again and my brother. thank you. mariem elgwahry died with her mother, eslam.

the 27—year—old was, her brother said, a graduate, ambitious, and in love. they stayed on the phone to him as he stood helpless outside the tower. his mum‘s last words, "i can‘t breathe." my mum and sister were poisoned by the smoke. they were burned, they were cremated. i had to listen to them suffer and i had to listen to them die. i had to watch grenfell tower burn for a couple of days, particularly the top floors. also remembered today, italian gloria trevisan, praised as a talented architect. sakineh afrasiabi, who cooked persian food she shared with neighbours. hamid kani enjoyed acting and was a skilled chef. fathia ahmed was a teacher who died with two of her grown—up children. mohammed al—haj ali fled the war in syria. he was studying to be an engineer. he wanted to reunite his family, marry, and have children.

right now when i think about my future, i don‘t really see anything. lucy manning, bbc news. scientists have made a potential breakthrough in fighting the most aggressive form of brain cancer by using a new vaccine. the standard treatment for glioblastoma involves removing the tumour, followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy. but trials show that by adding the new vaccine, created by using the body‘s own immune cells, the life expectancy of some patients increased by at least 6 months. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh has the story. you feeling ok yourself? this is a glioblastoma. it was found three years ago in nigel‘s brain. now, all traces appear to have gone. we can see no evidence of any residual or recurrent tumour. nigel is a patient at london‘s king‘s college hospital

and one of more than 300 volunteers on a trial of a personalised vaccine. there‘s horror stories on the web. the survival rates are very low, aren‘t they? and short—lived. anything to help is great, you want to grab onto it and run with it. i feel quite lucky to be on the trial, to be fair, yes. the trial extended average survival from 17 to 23 months. one in three patients survived for a0 months and a few are still alive seven years on. so how does the treatment work? first, surgeons remove the patient‘s tumour and then mix it with cells from their immune system to educate them, to recognise and destroy the cancer which otherwise can evade the body‘s own defences. from this, cells are turned into a personalised vaccine individual to any patient who receives it. we have removed the tumour as much as possible. we can use these antigens to educate the immune system

against the tumour. so that might help to explain why we are seeing such good results. yes, because it is personalised to that patient and that tumour at that point in time. it will be a few years before we get definitive findings from this trial but the interim results are promising to hinting at a significant breakthrough in the treatment of glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive of all cancers. kat charles was not part of the trial, so she paid to have the vaccine privately three years ago. every six months, she has a top—up injection, and so far, there‘s no trace of her tumour. it means i can be a mum tojacob, it means i can be a wife to jay. i‘m living proof that you canjust survive it and survive it for more than six months. 3,000 people a year in the uk are diagnosed with glioblastoma,

so an effective immunotherapy vaccine would be a significant advance in the treatment of brain cancer, so an effective immunotherapy vaccine would be a significant advance in the treatment of brain cancer. fergus walsh, bbc news. let‘s take a look at some of the other stories making the news. amnesty international has accused the nicaraguan government of unleashing what it calls a lethal strategy of repression against protestors. a new report says the government has been colluding with paramilitary groups to suppress weeks of student—led demonstrations against president daniel 0rtega. around eighty people have died so far in the protests. it‘s now thought more than 4,000 people died when hurricane maria hit puerto rico last september, dwarfing the original estimate of just 64. a study by harvard university found mortality rates in the us territory went up by 60% in the months after the disaster. many of the deaths were due to interruptions in medical care, power shortages and blocked roads.

its view was described by the poet sirjohn betjeman as "the best in europe" and now, for the first time in hundreds of years, visitors to westminster abbey will be able to see why, when the queen‘s diamond jubilee galleries open to the public. 0ur arts editor will gompertz reports. the imposing presence of westminster abbey, which dates back over 1000 years. but the grand exterior has been untouched for more than 250 years but now boasts a brand—new tower housing a staircase for visitors to climb the 108 steps to take them up and into the queen‘s diamond jubilee galleries. the point from the ground, where you could no longer see it... they are new, but the space isn‘t. it‘s been here for centuries, largely unused and neglected. i think there was a plan in the 13th century, possibly, to create chapels up here.

a lot of monks, masses needed to be said, chapels, but they didn‘t ever do it. the bbc used the 16—metre high vantage point to report on queen elizabeth ii‘s coronation in 1953. now, this space, which is named in her honour, is being used to tell the abbey‘s ancient story. there‘s the westminster retable, england‘s oldest surviving now, this space, which is named in her honour, is being used to tell the abbey‘s ancient story. there‘s the westminster retable, england‘s oldest surviving altarpiece. the funeral effigy of admiral nelson. fragments of stained glass that date back to the 1250s, when henry iii was building his then—new church. and some wonderful stone carvings.

you know, these galleries are terrific. they‘re light and they‘re bright, they‘re warm and welcoming, and the objects on display are absolutely fascinating. but they are not the best thing. the best thing, the thing that you‘ll remember forever, is what you can see from here. the poet, john betjeman, called it "the best view in europe," and now you can enjoy it, too. but at a price. entrance to the abbey costs around £20, and then there‘s an additional £5 charge to visit the new galleries. some might consider that good value. others might feel, like the old spiral staircase, it‘s a bit steep. but most would probably agree, as loft conversions go, it‘s not at all bad. will gompertz, bbc news. don‘t forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i‘m @duncangolestani hello. good morning.

the distribution of downpours will vary from one day to the next, but the general weather pattern remains the same. so, we still have some warm sunshine around but a chance of more storms. tuesday was a day of extremes. heavy rain in a short period of time closed the m2. it was especially difficult in kent, but also flooding in london. north and north—west, look at that, 27 in scotland yet again. drier to the north—west and wet in the south. closer to low pressure and the spiralling bands of cloud. you can see the cloud has been growing. that rain will go south to east anglia. to northern england and the midlands, across towards wales, allowing the south—east of the uk to become more dry later with late sunshine. it will be misty for a while with heavy and thundery rain. more cloud for eastern scotland. another lovely day in northern ireland. well, this rain will continue drifting north. showers will perhaps head towards scotland and northern ireland. may well be drying off

in england and wales. still rather misty. not much wind to move things around. still very humid air. 12-14. more cloud for scotland and northern ireland. temperatures will not be as high on thursday. perhaps the odd shower. most storms will go to the south—east towards wales, the midlands, and east anglia. more very heavy rain, thunder and lightning, and some localised flooding. pressure is dropping across the uk which is keeping storms going. the tendency in the next few days is to push everything that much further north. southern parts of england and wales, not as wet, generally dry, sunshine, warm and muggy air. the midlands, scotland and northern ireland, slow—moving and heavy and thundery downpours. this is the first time wet

weather arrives in scotland and northern ireland for a while. heavy showers and possible thunderstorms here on saturday. for most of england and wales, may well be dry. a few showers dotted around, though difficult to tell where. warm sunshine with temperatures in the mid—20s. sunday and monday, the threat of catching some thunderstorms remains. the weather pattern is not changing significantly. large parts of the uk will be dry with some sunshine. this is bbc news. the headlines: american diplomats and north korean officials are continuing preparations for a summit between president trump and the north korean leader kim jong—un, less than a week after mr trump cancelled it. a close aide of the north korean leader will meet the us secretary of state in new york this week. one of russia‘s best—known investigative journalists has been

shot dead at his home in the ukrainian capital, kiev. arkady babchenko was an outspoken critic of president putin and left russia last year, saying he feared for his life. kiev‘s police chief said evidence pointed to a targeted murder. it‘s emerged that the man who killed two women police officers and a civilian in belgium was on day release from prison. benjamin herman reportedly converted to islam while injail and was on a security list. police also suspect him of the murder of a former associate — who was found dead at his home. now on bbc news, hardtalk.