welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: a close aide of the north korean leader arrives in new york for talks about the trump—kim summit. the disgraced film producer harvey weinstein is indicted on charges of rape and sexual assault. it was fake news. the russian journalist reportedly murdered in ukraine, is alive and well after all. translation: i'm sorry you had to experience it but there was no other way. sprinterfor hire. usain bolt is training in norway and looking for a job in the beautiful game. the most senior north korean official to visit the united states for nearly 20 years has begun high—level talks aimed at salvaging a summit between his country's leader, kimjong—un and president

trump. general kim yong—chol is having the first of two meetings with the us secretary of state, mike pompeo in new york. earlier, the white house had said that preparations for the summit, expected on june 12, had been positive. our correspondent nick bryant reports. this is the week in the american calendar when the nation honours its fallen soldiers. among them, the 36,000 us personnel killed in the korean war. that conflict has never officially ended. the threat from north korea has intensified, not gone away. this memorial in washington reminds us of the horrors of war and the decades of failed diplomacy. in new york tonight, the latest diplomatic manoeuvre, the arrival on american soil of the most senior north korean official to visit this country in nearly 20 years, a mission to salvage the singapore summit. kim yong—chol is the korean leader's right—hand man, at his side at the recent summit with the south koreans, a former spy master who satjust

yards from ivanka trump at the closing ceremony of the winter olympics. he's received a guarded welcome from the white house. the conversation is going to be focused on denuclearisation of the peninsula. that's what these ongoing conversations taking place now will be centred on, as well as this summit that would take place in singapore, and we're going to continue... as long as that is part of the discussion, we're going to continue to shoot for the june 12. this on—again, off—again diplomacy has been hard to keep track of. last thursday, in what read like a break—up letter, donald trump cancelled the summit, citing north korea's "tremendous anger and open hostility." but the north korean response was conciliatory. that clearly mollified the president, who yesterday tweeted:

so tonight, the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, will renew acquaintances with kim yong—chol, who he recently saw in pyongyang. it's their third meeting in the last two months. the main stumbling block is likely to be what precisely is meant by the denuclearisation of the korean peninsula? the two sides have very different definitions. and the latest cia assessment is pessimistic, that north korea has no intention of giving up its nuclear weapons, but rather, it's considering a number of goodwill gestures, such as opening up a western hamburger franchise in pyongyang. that's not the kind of deal that donald trump is looking for, not even close, and the fear about a singapore summit is that it could be all sizzle and no steak. nick bryant, bbc news, washington. barbara plett—usher is in new york outside kim yong—chol‘s hotel.

she told us how significant it is that he is in new york now. he was sanctioned by the us because of his role in the nuclear weapons programme, so those sanctions had to be waved him to come quite an effort has gone into this and then of course he is the point man very much on the summit and is well on the diplomacy that has led up to it. he has been with kimjong—un for most of those meetings that have been going on over the last week, so he knows the detail of what the north koreans mean when they say talk vaguely about denuclearisation, what they are willing to put on the table on what they actually are not willing to put on the table. your man for that and the fact that he is having dinner now and will have meetings with the secretary of state, shows just how much the leaders of two countries, president trump and kimjong—un, want this summit. a grand jury in new york has indicted the disgraced film producer harvey weinstein on charges of rape and a criminal sexual act. he has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 70 women,

which he has denied. the bbc‘s chris buckler is following developments for us from washington. essentially, the grand jury has said that they believe there is enough evidence for the case to be tried. harvey weinstein himself has decided not to appear. his lawyers say that is because he was not given enough time to prepare. he only learned the identities of his accusers on the specific charges on friday and that was memorial day weekend here in america. that means that this case has now reached the next stage. and he faces additional investigations, i think in los angeles, london, and by the federal government. his lawyer, i'm reading, is arguing that unfair political pressure was placed on prosecutors because of a high—profile case. and this is undoubtedly

a high—profile case. what we're seeing here are a number of women coming forward and there are several high—profile women, particularly actresses, who have made allegations about harvey weinstein. of course, this case itself involves two accusers, but there are many others beyond that. and i think that notjust harvey weinstein‘s lawyers, who said that he will plead not guilty in this case, it's notjust them that are aware of this, it is the manhattan district attorney as well. they have released a statement, i think it is very interesting to look at it closely because it says "this indictment brings the defendant a step closer to accountability" but it also goes on to say, "this court will try this case not in the media but in the court, where it belongs." this case is being discussed widely and given the high profile nature of many of the accusers who are not involved in this case and, of course, the high profile of harvey weinstein himself, there's no doubt that there will be huge public attention once it reaches a public trial. and, chris, is it clear at all when this case will come

to a public new york courtroom? yeah, it is difficult to say at this time. we are going through the various hoops that will lead this to trial. there have already been questions asked about the court case, notjust the date but exactly what form it will take. already, people are looking back at the bill cosby case quite recently, another one that has been connected to the metoo movement, as the harvey weinstein case has as well. they're asking questions like will other accusers be allowed to bring their accusations into the courtroom as well, as they were in the bill cosby case, to try and show a pattern of behaviour? at this stage, we simply don't know. we are still a long way from the trial being conducted, but it's worth saying harvey weinstein does deny all the charges against him. much of the world has been watching the extraordinary turn of events in ukraine where a russian journalist, who was reported to have been assassinated on tuesday, appeared alive and well at a news conference in kiev. the journalist arkady babchenko,

who is a critic of the russian government, was said to have been shot dead at his home. but on wednesday we learnt that the incident had been staged by the ukrainian security service to expose russian agents operating in ukraine. caroline rigby reports. alive and well, the russian journalist and prominent kremlin critic, arkady babchenko, appearing at a press conference into his own death nearly 20 hours after he had been reported to have been shot and killed. these were his colleagues at the ukrainian tv channel where he worked. translation: first, i would like to apologise for what all of you had to experience, and what you had to get through. i have buried friends and colleagues many times and i know this sickening feeling. i'm sorry you had to experience it, but there was no other way. in an astonishing turn of events, it soon emerged arkady babchenko had

been a willing participant in the security service sting, that we are told aimed to foil a russian plot to kill him and up to 30 other people. one person has now been arrested. but as mr babchenko met ukraine's president, relief that he was alive had already turned to debate about the ethics of the operation. i think that our security services have worked very specifically under their mandate and they have carried out their responsibilities professionally. also, we have to understand that when we are trying to paint the picture, it is not always black and white. russia's foreign ministry called the staged murder "an anti—russian provocation". it accused ukraine of deceiving the entire international community. ukrainian authorities say the plot was justified, but as a country that claims to be on the frontline in fighting what it sees as russia's war of disinformation, many question

whether this fake news assassination will have a lasting impact on the country's credibility and even that of its western allies. caroline rigby, bbc news. let's speak now to yana lyushnevskayia a journalist with bbc monitoring. the people are very happy he is alive. he must be happy he is alive. there is a lot of confusion and anger as well. yes, it was a shocking development to everyone. to people who knew arkady babchenko, to journalists, and to people who followed him on social media and his viewers. and the initialfeeling is disbelief. and obviously people were very happy that arkady babchenko is alive and well, but some are also pretty angry about the whole operation, because of what they went through. some said they went through

emotional hell, because they thought theirfriend emotional hell, because they thought their friend was emotional hell, because they thought theirfriend was dead. and of emotional hell, because they thought their friend was dead. and of course there is a mix of reaction to the actions of the ukrainian security service is. some praised it as brilliant, some said it was a pr stu nt of brilliant, some said it was a pr stunt of the ukrainian government. of course there is concern that staging a fake assassination is going a little bit too far. well, yes, do you think it is damaging for ukraine? well, some questions like that are indeed being asked, for example, what subsequent assassinations are not taken seriously and dismissed as fake news? and was it really appropriate to use a journalist in an operation like this? i have to say that most of this concern is mostly coming foreign journalists and international media organisations. in ukraine, from what i have seen on social media and in the media, people are defending this operation, saying that if this is what it takes

to keep a journalist safe in ukraine, then that's fine. it seems arkady babchenko had not even informed his wife about this plan. is it clear why? yes, it looks like his wife didn't know, because the first thing he did when he appeared at that press conference was apologised to her for putting her through all this. his colleagues did not know either. and even some top ukrainian officials have yet to be informed about its operations. the a nswer informed about its operations. the answer is they wanted to keep it secret, because they felt like they need to catch the murder and they needed the mastermind of this crime to be absolutely sure that babchenko was killed. are there likely to be lasting implications for human? he could be under threat and presumably other projection now for some considerable time. gas. the president promised a round—the—clock security for yana

president promised a round—the—clock security for ya na lyushnevskayia president promised a round—the—clock security for yana lyushnevskayia —— yes. considering he is not the first high profile target of an assassination, it appears that there is still a danger for other russians living in ukraine, just two years ago and other russian journalist was killed in a car bombing in ukraine and last year a former russian mp was killed just in the street in kiev as well. there are quite a few russians here who fled what they described as persecution. they wa nted described as persecution. they wanted to end up in a safe country. and it looks like it is not always the case for them. yana lyushnevskayia, thank you very much for them. more discussions have been held in rome to try to avoid another italian general election. it's reported the country's prime minister—designate, carlo cotta relli, has abandoned efforts to form his own interim administration. he'll now focus on a renewed attempt to put together a coalition involving the populist five star movement, and the right—wing party, the league. 0ur europe editor katya adler has more. emotions here are running really high. migration—weary, recession—weary italians are fed up of their traditional ruling classes here at home and in brussels. they want those changes that

populist politicians have promised them, so their president trying to foist an unelected government of technocrats, threatening the same old, same old, trying to put a lid on things, thatjust didn't go down well. if there were fresh elections, it would probably explode into even more support for the populists. so what now? now we're really in a waiting game. can italy avoid those fresh early elections? will italy get that antiestablishment government? and, if it does, will those antiestablishment politicians be as radical and as fiery as they promised, or will being in government temper their policies? everyone is watching, of course, italians, investors, the financial markets and brussels. i have said this before, but as the third largest economy in the eurozone, you cannot underestimate italy's importance to the european project. 0ur europe editor.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: what lies behind the disappearance of dozens of shia men in pakistan? we have a special report. 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 world news. the latest headlines: one of the north korean leader's closest aides has arrived in new york for talks with the us secretary of state about plans for next month's trump—kim summit. the disgraced film producer harvey weinstein, has been indicted on charges of rape and sexual assault. officials in belgium have said a man who shot dead 3 people in the city of liege on tuesday had already murdered another person the night before. prosecutors said they were still trying to establish a motive, but are treating the incident as an act of terrorism. 0ur europe correspondent damian grammaticas reports. they were colleagues,

police officers, both murdered in cold blood. 0n the left soraya belkacemi, a single mother who leaves twin 13—year—old daughters as orphans. 0n the right, lucile garcia, recently married with a 25—year—old son. "shoot him, shoot him," a woman shouts. she was filming the attacker yesterday from her balcony. this wasjust moments after he had gunned down the policewomen and a man in a car. he can be seen brandishing two guns. when he gets close, the woman retreats. and just a few minutes later, armed officers have now arrived. you can see them advancing cautiously up the street. the attacker is hiding in a school. he runs out firing. prosecutors say the killer, benjamin herman, was on temporary overnight release from prison.

he had been in and out ofjail for ten years for minor offences. the killer, benjamin herman, had been in and out of prison for a decade — drugs crimes, theft. prosecutors here say he was on temporary release this week because he wasn't seen as a threat. now they think he was radicalised in prison and these were terrorist crimes. herman's killing spree started here on monday nightjust after his release from prison. his aunt saw him come to visit a former inmate he knew. the man, too, was murdered. translation: he didn't seem stressed. he was normal, laughing, he went up to michael's. i heard nothing after that. but was yesterday's mayhem avoidable? belgium's justice minister today said he was examining his conscience. "i am responsible for prisons. the question is, should this man have been released ? " he said. so, today, a silence for the victims of benjamin herman and hard questions for belgium to answer. damian grammaticas, bbc news, brussels. let's take a look at some

of the other stories making the news. the islamic state group has claimed responsibility for a bomb attack president trump has weighed in over the scandal surrounding roseanne barr. her hit tv show has been cancelled by abc after the star published a racist tweet about an adviser to former president 0bama. the tv network apologised, but president trump has accused abc of hypocrisy, because, he says, nobody on the channel has ever apologised to him over false reporting. authorities in algeria have seized more than 700 kilogrammes of cocaine aboard a container ship. the liberia—registered vessel was due to offload its cargo in the algerian port of 0ran, but the captain mysteriously refused to dock for three days. acting on a tip—off, the algerian coastguard boats forced the ship into port. the drugs were found in boxes marked as halal meat. dozens of pakistani shias have gone missing in recent months after, according to their families, being detained by the security forces.

they've never been produced in court or charged with an offence, but sources in the community have told the bbc it's believed they're being secretly held by the intelligence services, accused of links to a brigade of shia foreign fighters in syria. but theirfamilies say they're innocent. they've been speaking to secunder kermani. this cctv video shows this 30—year—old being ta ken this cctv video shows this 30—year—old being taken away by members of the security forces in the city of karachi in november 2016. he hasn't been seen since. both the police and the intelligence services deny holding him in custody. his family say he had just returned from pilgrimage in iraq with his pregnant wife. now, over a year later, she has given birth to a

son who has never met his father. translation: no one is telling us where he is or how he is. we are so worried. at least tell us what he is accused of starting my kids are a lwa ys accused of starting my kids are always asking me, when will our dad comeback? what answer can i give them? he was picked up from this working class, predominantly shia neighbourhood and he is not the only one. seven young shia man had gone missing from this one area in karachi. across the country, over 11:0 karachi. across the country, over 140 have disappeared over the past two years. their families say they have never been told why. but it is believed the missing men are suspected of links to this militia in syria. made up of around 1000 pakistani shias, fighting on the behalf of bashar al—assad. this man

has led the campaign for the missing men. he says most of them were detained after having travelled to the middle east for pilgrimage. translation: some officers from the intelligence agencies met us to try and convince us to end our protest movement. they told us we think these men have gone to syria to fight. i these men have gone to syria to fight. i said these men have gone to syria to fight. isaid if these men have gone to syria to fight. i said if that is the case, then you should put them on trial, otherwise what is the point of having codes? a handful of those detained have been released. this man was picked up last january and let go 14 months later. his brother—in—law is still missing. pa rt brother—in—law is still missing. part of the interrogation focused on it. they said you are involved in syria, it is a fact. tell us the

name. tell us the name of the people's. what did you say? i said i never visited there in my whole life. he prefers not to talk in detail about his treatment while detained. but says his life now has been left in ruins. these images of dead fighters were uploaded to social media. the intelligence services seem to fear those returning from syria could increase sectarian tensions in pakistan, with the country's sunni majority. but the country's sunni majority. but the families of these disappeared men say they deserve to know what, if any, the evidence is against them and where they are now. the olympic legend usain bolt is spending a week training with a norwegian football team, he says he wants to take up the game professionally. the record—breaking athlete has

already trained with the german side borussia dortmund and says his ultimate ambition is to play for manchester united. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. he is arguably the greatest 0lympian and perhaps the greatest athlete of all time. usain bolt won countless races, countless golds in an illustrious career. but his heart has always belonged to the beautiful game. applause and this was the reception he got from the players and coaches at stromsgodset, as hejoined the side for training. for me i don't think i can teach them anything when it comes to football. for me it's to learn movement, touches, get better at my vision and stuff like that, so i'm just here to open my mind and to learn as much as possible. bolt says he has serious ambitions to be a professional footballer.

this is not a joke. a few days' training will help him improve his fitness ahead of a couple of upcoming friendly matches, including a charity game in the uk. but bolt is nearly 32, that's quite an age to start a career in football. translation: i don't know what his plans are and what football background he has, but he can come a long way with his speed. and the shirt number he was given? 9.58 — his record time in the 100 metres. they do say pace is vital in the modern game. tim allman, bbc news. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello there.

the weather once again looks in turbulent mood through the day ahead, because while there will be some spells of warm sunshine, there will also be some vicious thunderstorms, torrential downpours, which could lead to localised flooding and certainly the risk of some travel disruption, especially across central and southern parts of the uk. now, the earlier satellite picture shows that these showers and storms have been gathering across continental europe. they are drifting their way northwards at the moment, and these showers are going to start to show their hands during the first part of thursday. not a bad start for many, but with a lot of mist and murk and low cloud, few showers up towards the north—west, but it's these heavy downpours down towards the south—east that we'll be keeping a close eye on. it's really hard to predict exactly where the worst of the weather will be but right across the south—east, east anglia

and eventually into the midlands, wales and the south—west, there's there risk of some really intense, thundery downpours that could give enough rain to cause some flash flooding. across northern england, here we could see one or two showers breaking out through the day, once the cloud breaks up through the morning across northern ireland and scotland and the sun comes out, again there's the potential we'll see one or two isolated heavy showers, but the heaviest downpours always likely to be found in southern areas. a very warm and muggy day as well, 21 degrees in edinburgh, 21 in belfast and perhaps 23 in london if you get some sunshine. now, some of these showers and storms will continue to rumble through the evening and overnight as they drift westwards, but they will tend we suspect to fizzle away to some extent. a lot of cloud, some mist and murk around, and temperatures not dropping very far, 12 to 15 degrees, quite a muggy start to friday. friday will start off with a lot of cloud, misty, murky conditions in places. we'll see sunshine developing but a scattering of showers and thunderstorms again in western parts this time through wales, northern ireland, north—west england and scotland for the most part.

very slow—moving, heavy downpours, which again could cause issues with flooding. there will be some showers and perhaps some thunderstorms in north—western areas by saturday, but a change in england and wales here, fewer showers, more in the way of sunshine. the weather turning quite a bit quieter across these southern areas as we go into the start of the weekend. still warm, you'll notice, up in the twenties. on sunday and monday, things looking generally quieter, not as many showers, more in the way of sunshine and things still generally feeling warm. this is bbc news. the headlines: one of north korea's highest—ranking officials is talking with the us secretary of state in new york, to finalise plans for an historic summit next month between his leader, kim jong—un, and president trump. prospects for a summit seem to have improved since mr trump briefly cancelled it last week. a grand jury in new york has indicted the disgraced film producer, harvey weinstein, on charges of rape and sexual

assault. the charges relate to alleged attacks on two women in 2013 and 2004. he also faces investigations in la and london, but denies all accusations. russia has criticised ukraine after it emerged that the "murder" of a russianjournalist in kiev was faked, apparently to foil a genuine assassination plot. 0fficials claim they've arrested a ukrainian man who offered a hitman $30,000 to kill the journalist arkady babchenko.