this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm. fears of a transatlantic trade war: the us goes ahead with big tariffs on steel imports from the eu, canada and mexico. the government says its deeply disappointed at the move. we absolutely do not rule out countermeasures and we do not rule out taking a disputed the world trade organisation at geneva. we hope the united states will think again about this. is the us — north korea summit be back on? following high level talks today the us secretary of state says he is confident things are moving in the right direction. a crack down on high cost lending on domestic appliances, but charities say more action is needed to help the poorest and most vulnerable. italy's two main coalition partners say they have once again nominated a little known law professor to be prime minister in a bid to form a government and avoid further elections in the country. also tonight, dunes of frozen methane on pluto. scientists previously thought

the atmosphere of the dwarf planet was too thin to allow the dunes to form. fork ‘andles. here you are. four candles. no, fork ‘andles. ‘andles for forks! the handwritten script for one of the best loved comedy sketches of all time, is going under the hammer. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the united states has confirmed that it is pressing ahead with its threat to impose tariffs on some metal imports from the european union, canada and mexico. the move — which could have major ramifications for the global economy — immediately triggered vows of retaliation from us allies mexico and the eu, which called the tariffs "protectionism, pure and simple".

us commerce secretary wilbur ross announced the sanctions from paris, where he had been negotiating with eu leaders who were trying to avert the tariffs. the tariffs — which will be 25% on steel imports and 10% on aluminium will begin tomorrow. the eu commission president said they would impose their own import duties. the uk government has said it is ‘deeply disappointed' by the decision. the international trade secretary, liam fox, has expressed his concern anout the tariffs. it's very disappointing that the united states has chosen to apply steel and aluminium tariffs to countries gci’oss steel and aluminium tariffs to countries across the european union, allies of the united states, and all in the name of national security, and in the case of the uk where we sent steel to the united states that is vital for sent steel to the united states that is vitalfor their sent steel to the united states that is vital for their businesses and their defence industry, it is patently absurd. the shadow international trade secretary barry gardiner is in westminster.

what should the reaction be from britain and eu? president trump is a bully, he is trying to bully his trading partners into making concessions to america and this is a tactic he has used successfully with other countries. the only way to deal with it is to stand up to a bully. it is absolutely right and the government should be working absolutely closely with the eu to make sure that we put in place countermeasures that we take this spurious statement that this is against the us national interests, to the wto, the world trade organisation, because what president trump is doing, he is undermining the whole global rules —based system of international trade. when he came into power he said he would put

americanjobs into power he said he would put american jobs ahead of all others, why would anyone be surprised he is doing this? this is in line with what he promised. that is not right. he's putting american jobs at risk, because what the eu is going to do is put in place countermeasures, and those countermeasures will mean that americanjobs are those countermeasures will mean that american jobs are put at risk because we will be putting in place countervailing tariffs against american produce. a trade war is in nobodies interests and the way in which president trump is dealing with this is entirely wrong. the eu must stand together, it is their mandate to negotiate these things on behalf of all eu members at the moment at the wto, and we must do that and initiate a proceeding against america. the reason

president trump has chosen to do this, by saying this is in defence of national security is, that is the only exclusion, he has tried this before, that is the only exclusion under the wto rules which means she cannot challenge it. what he has done is illegitimate and it is right that the eu should be taking countervailing action against the us and making it clear that we will not sacrifice our legitimate jobs in this country for his popularity in the us. so what do we put tariffs on in countervailing measures? the eu commission has spoken about putting ta riffs commission has spoken about putting tariffs on goods like bourbon and jeans and tariffs on goods like bourbon and jea ns a nd motorcycles, tariffs on goods like bourbon and jeans and motorcycles, so those are industries which have been carefully chosen, partly because they are emblematic but also because they would resonate in terms of the states where these jobs would be up forgrabs,

states where these jobs would be up for grabs, they are also steel states, and is is important that those states and those workers understand that a trade war is not in their interest. it may sound tougher president trump to come out and say that he is going to whack these tariffs on overseas suppliers but that should be only where there is dumping and only where there is a legal activity in terms of the world trade organisation rules. there has been oversupply in the global markets, that is correct, but that oversupply has mainly come from china, and what we must do is address that through the walls based system, president trump is trying to avoid that and trying to make sure that the rules —based system is undermined. he has refused to continue with the appointment of judges to the body and that will hamstring the world trade organisation towards the end of this

year because they need a minimum number ofjudges year because they need a minimum number of judges to be year because they need a minimum number ofjudges to be able to process cases like this. but he doesn't think they can hold the ring. he wants to be able to use american power to bully other countries and we must not let him. eu will stand up to him. if national security can be easily undermined as an argument, isn't it worth looking at the function of what president trump is doing, why is he doing this, if it will do the opposite to protecting american jobs? what is the function? i don't pretend to be able to get inside the minor president trump but i know he is someone president trump but i know he is someone who likes bilateral negotiations and he likes to hold the whip hand and put pressure on an interlocutors, but what he has to understand is that the world doesn't just stand by and say, that's fine, you do what ever you want, and we will sacrifice our interests for your benefit. that is not how the

world should work and it has to operate within the rules framework that has been set out. he doesn't wa nt to that has been set out. he doesn't want to do that but the west of the world does and he will have to learn that lesson. —— the rest of the world. thanks forjoining us. our business correspondent kim gittleson is in new york. who benefits from a trade war like this? most economists say no one benefits from a trade war because it increases the costs of most of these products and in particular aluminium and steel and also the things that use aluminium and steel like aba can, for example, —— like a beer can for example, but i will say the us steel industry has chaired the move and shares in many steel companies rose on the announcement that the us was going forward in imposing these ta riffs was going forward in imposing these tariffs or taking the exemptions away that they had granted to the

eu, canada and new mexico. but however, some have said they are mostly worried about china, and by imposing these tariffs on the closest allies of america, by not solving the core problem which is cheap chinese aluminium. why does the president think he can rely upon this national security defence when many people say that is just a convenience because it gets him round the wto rules? that is exactly the reason they have gone with this excuse the reason they have gone with this excuse because when we have looked at other trade arguments that the administration has picked, in particular with china, they have not used that rationale, and they have said with china that us intellectual property is a threat and that is why they feel justified property is a threat and that is why they feeljustified in imposing ta riffs of they feeljustified in imposing tariffs of around 25% of around $50 billion worth of chinese goods, so in using the national security excuse in using the national security excuse for these particular tariffs

the trump administration thought they may be able to be more successful at the wto in a way that barack obama successful at the wto in a way that ba rack obama wasn't successful at the wto in a way that barack obama wasn't —— in a way that president bush was in 2002. how likely is it that these tariffs will be imposed ? likely is it that these tariffs will be imposed? if i could likely is it that these tariffs will be imposed? ifi could predict the future i would be happy to sharing with you but i will say, one of the most interesting things that were said on the conference call where the us commerce secretary wilbur ross said the tariffs would be going into effect, he said as a result of using this national security rationale, that meant the second president trump decides that the national security concerns have been alleviated they can take away these ta riffs alleviated they can take away these tariffs which gave the us wiggle room in deciding how long they plan to impose these tariffs and whether they would deem what a success would look like here. thanks forjoining us. and we'll find out how this story —

and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 1040 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are jim waterson — media editor at the guardian. and the political commentatorjo tanner. the us secretary of state mike pompeo says us relations with north korea are at a "pivotal moment" after holding talks with the senior north korean diplomat kim yong chol. mr pompeo said he could not confirm if a planned summit between president trump and north korea's leader kimjong un on denuclearisation would go ahead as planned on i2thjune — but said talks were moving in the right direction. he's been speaking in new york in the past hour. we expect both leaders to enter the summit in singapore, with eyes wide open, and with a clear understanding of the possibilities for the future. if these talks are successful it will truly be historic. it will take bold leadership from kim jong—un will truly be historic. it will take bold leadership from kimjong—un if we are bold leadership from kimjong—un if we are able to seize this once—in—a—lifetime opportunity to

change the course for the world. president trump and myself believe that kim jong—un can president trump and myself believe that kimjong—un can make president trump and myself believe that kim jong—un can make those decisions and that the coming weeks and months we will have the opportunity to test whether or not this is the case. well, we can speak now to john everard, a former british ambassador to north korea, who was on the un security's councils panel of experts on north korea between 2011—12. hejoins me live in the studio. how clear is it where they are at and whether the summit will go ahead on the 12th ofjune? and whether the summit will go ahead on the 12th ofjune? not at all clear. mike pompeo played a blinder in serum journalists in the face and using language that did not give anything away —— staring journalists. he also made it clear that as far as he knows the north korean leadership has not even made the strategic decision to go ahead. it sounds as if there will be a

scramble between now and the 12th of june. scramble between now and the 12th of june. how different are the views? the basic idea of denuclearisation? very different. president trump means complete denuclearisation but when north korea talks about it they mean that, plus the removal of the ability of the us to throw a nuclear bomb at north korea, which is a big ask and a different interpretation. to what extent is it in the interest of either leader to agree or even to appear to agree of either leader to agree or even to appearto agree in of either leader to agree or even to appear to agree in public? both of them want to appear to agree on both of them for different reasons like photo ops but how much good is in this for north korea is unclear because we don't know how convincing the security guarantees are that dou btless the security guarantees are that doubtless mike pompeo has been discussing with kim jong—un, doubtless mike pompeo has been discussing with kimjong—un, it is allup in the

discussing with kimjong—un, it is all up in the air. wouldn't it be a goodidea all up in the air. wouldn't it be a good idea to get together and start talking and see where it goes? yes, fine. everyone is in favour of talking. the trouble is, you do need at some point to get down to the ha rd at some point to get down to the hard underlying issues, is north korea going to give up its nuclear weapons? we have been talking about north korea for long time and we still haven't got to that point. finally, he said there was no daylight between the us and north korea... the us and south korea in how they were approaching north korea. no daylight quite a after president mcenroe signed off a cancellation of the summit without even “— cancellation of the summit without even —— no daylight? after president

trump signed off a consolation of the summit without even contacting president moon. i think there is a big gap. for now, thanks forjoining us. barbara plett usher is in washington. mike pompeo did not commit himself to very much. the word is positive, he said they had made progress in the last 72 hours to create the conditions for a summit, but he did not say what the conditions were, but he said these were arrangements which would make it worthwhile for kim jong—un which would make it worthwhile for kimjong—un and which would make it worthwhile for kim jong—un and president trump to meet and achieve something, so he did not announce the summit would go ahead but he came as close as he did without making the formal announcement. kim jong—un will get kim yong chol to go to washington to hand deliver a letter to the

president. we have heard about the idea of nuclear disarmament and the pace and security of that, and the spirited concerns of north korea, but he said they had had concerns about that and discussions about that on both sides had made their expectations clear, and they understood each other so well they had ended the meeting several hours early. this looks like the summit could be going ahead but we're not clear at this point about how they are going to square that circle about their different approaches to this topic. we were led to believe it was deftly going ahead, and then it was deftly going ahead, and then it wasn't, but now it might be. —— definitely. this is diplomacy that many commentators have never seen before. it is because of president trump. historically the north koreans and kim jong—un in this case have been known to make abrupt changes and have been known to promise things and then pull back and then have been known to turn on

the charm and then the hostile rhetoric, so they are the ones who have the reputation for being unpredictable, but now they have met their match in a president trump because he seems just as unpredictable. he did not even tell his close allies south korea that he was suddenly going to cancel the summit. he approaches this like you did asa summit. he approaches this like you did as a businessman, bring manship and tough talk and see what you can get, but in international affairs it is not quite the same —— brinkmanship. he might cause the north koreans to rethink their position but this is a long process if we actually get it going. they will be all kinds of things involved that will need trust and patients and building and convincing the north koreans to do things they are afraid to do. his style may not work so afraid to do. his style may not work so well in that way. mike pompeo might be better at it. he says

interesting things, speaking about they are prepared to redefine the nation should in terms of friendship and collaboration if things went ahead, he said he thought the north koreans were contemplating a strategic shift, something they had never done before, and a kimjong—un was a bold leader who could take this decision. he may be taking the long view on how to build a relationship with north korea and build negotiations towards the outcome. barbara, thanks forjoining us. a supporter of the islamic state group who called for an attack on prince george has changed his plea mid—trial — and admitted a string of terror offences. woolwich crown court has heard how husnain rashid, who's from nelson in lancashire, used an online chat group to urge people to target the four—year—old prince. the judge told him to expect a long prison sentence. a promising young footballer misused alcohol and drugs to cope with being repeatedly groped and kissed by a youth coach at southampton fc, a court has heard.

bob higgins ran youth team coaching for southampton and peterborough united. he denies 50 counts of indecent assault against 2a boys between 1971 and 1996. prosecutors said he'd become "infatuated" with billy seymour, who has waived his right to anonymity. sport now and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre. good evening. it's been a day of two managerial appoinments. .. but one shock departure too. zinedine zidane sez real madrid need a ‘fresh voice' after deciding to leave the club just five days after they made history again in the european cup. beating liverpool on saturday brought a third straight champions league title. and a ninth trophy in his two and a half years at the bernabeu. an extraordinary haul. but one that has led zidane to conclude it'll be pretty tough to keep the team winning. so to the two appointments.

one in the premier league. and the other of a premier league great. frank lampard has signed a three year deal to take his first step into management with derby. the former england international spent more than 20 years at the top as a player with west ham, chelsea and manchester city before retiring after a spell in the us. he's been a tv pundit since. butjoins derby after they missed out on promotion from the championship via the playoffs last season. i moved quickly into my badges, which i achieved, and i'm excited andi which i achieved, and i'm excited and i can't wait to get to work. having had the career i've had, i was always determined to win, i work ha rd was always determined to win, i work hard and that is still in me, and thatis hard and that is still in me, and that is the thing when you finish playing, you can't take away that desire. meanwhile everton have eventually got their man. appointed marco silva, also on a three year deal. the portuguese coach was a target for the club back in november, but was manager of watford at the time. and they eventually

appointed sam alla rdyce. but the vacancy came up again after allardyce's sacking. and silva says he wants to build a connection with the club's fans. kyle edmund is the only british player left in the singles at the french open after booking his place in the third round. he came past the hungarian marton fuchovich in four sets. and it was a bit of a strange match. he won the first set 6—love, but dropped the second 6—1, before winning the next two to progress. cameron norrie is out. he resumed his match with lucas pouille after it was stopped because of bad light last night. the british number three attempted to force a fifth set but lost the fourth on the tie break to the 15th seed. britain's heather watson is also out, losing to the 16th seed belgium's elise mertens in straight sets. she'd never reached the third round at roland garros before. and could only hold serve twice as mertens won 6—3 6—4 that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website.

the financial watchdog wants to crackdown on high—cost credit — an issue which affects more than 3 million people in the uk. the financial conduct authority has outlined plans to cap prices in the rent—to—own market, where you buy furniture or appliances with weekly or monthly payments, but at a high interest rate. it wants a crackdown on doorstep lending, where the lender comes to your home to collect payments and also on catalogue shopping. on overdrafts, the fca says banks should give customers more information. but some campaigners say they want a cap on overdraft fees. it's a wide—ranging set of proposals. our business correspondent emma simpson has been looking at the details. carolyn knows all about high cost credit. she's got the washing machine and the dryer. and then there's this, the tv, and more. this single mum from

south yorkshire has bought them all through rent—to—own, paying well over the odds. for everything, it costs me about £40 a week, which i know is a lot, but i didn't have the money to be able to just go out and buy them. but you could end up paying thousands extra. yeah. do you feel ripped off? i think we are all being ripped off. and that's why they make money out of us, because we're vulnerable in that way. she's not the only one. there are 400,000 rent—to—own customers, but now the financial regulator is proposing a cap on these fees by next april, as well as a ban on extended warranties. other proposals include stricter controls on doorstep lending, store cards and catalogue credit firms will need to do more to help customers avoid persistent debt.

what i want to see in this country is the section of the population that is dependent on this sort of credit frankly gets a better deal. at the moment, they are not getting a good deal, and we owe it to them. we owe it to the more vulnerable members of society to frankly ensure they get credit on better terms. it is notjust rent—to—own companies like this one, which can charge sky—high fees. unauthorised overdrafts from banks can also cost consumers dear. high street banks made £670 million from unplanned overdraft in 2016, and most of that came from just 1.5% of customers. the regulator wants banks to do more, like texts warning of potential overdraft charges, but critics say today's measures are not enough. we are really disappointed to see that the regulator has not taken action today to put a cap on unplanned overdraft fees.

it has already taken action in other high cost areas, like payday loans, and now unplanned overdraft are more expensive than payday loans in some circumstances, yet banks still get away with charging customers rip—off fees for unplanned overdrafts. lloyds bank has already scrapped extra fees on unplanned overdrafts. will the regulator force other banks to follow suit? it's considering more radical action, just not yet. emma simpson, bbc news, doncaster. joining us now from our studio in birmingham is angela clements — ceo of fair for you — a so called ethical lender which aims to act as an alternative to typical rent—to—own schemes. how much of this is down that is made by someone who enters into these agreements rather than choice? under pressure a lot of mothers, single mothers especially, in our research, single mothers who were working were the most vulnerable

group and they do make bad decisions under pressure, they will tell you that, but when the washing machine is broken and the school uniform is piling up, it is a realistic to get toa piling up, it is a realistic to get to a launderette when you have time p i’essu i’es to a launderette when you have time pressures and other commitments. we found in our research losing time from work was a big stress around people who work part—time, zero—hours contracts, there are so bloody pressures around some of these more vulnerable —— there are so many pressures around some of these more vulnerable households. there is pressure to get these essential items but you don't have the money in your bank account. often it is said people need to be taught to budget, is that fair? that is very unfair, if there are better options out there, that is fine, you can blame the victim, but that is a lot like blaming a mugging victims

for going out and walking out at night in the streets on their own. we have customers who are low income mothers who are working on tight budgets and they can borrow up to 18 months, and most of our customers clear their loans, they can choose whether they want to pay wiggly, monthly, —— weekly, monthly, yearly, and a quarter of our customers will overpay so they can clear the loan quicker and many of them will choose to spread the cost of what they need to spread the cost of what they need to get over 12 weeks and on a £300 loa n to get over 12 weeks and on a £300 loan interest at £18 it really isn't hugely expensive but even that works out at 42.6% apr, people will say thatis out at 42.6% apr, people will say that is not cheap, but the reality is that some people who can't wave a credit card or they don't have the money to buy essential items, they

have to go and get that item, so we need better choices and not to blame the victims for the fact they need these items in theirfamily home. legislation should be brought in then to stop lenders behaving in that way? your organisation says it can be done differently. that way? your organisation says it can be done differentlylj definitely can be done differently.” definitely think they should. credit needs to have several facets for its work, for low—income households, which have income coming in from different sources, that sometimes fluctuate, and it needs to be flexible and supportive, and we don't need to punish people with late fees and penal fees, and we can do that better, we can allow people to choose repayment strategies that sit around their own income and we can bea sit around their own income and we can be a bit more supportive when they fall off the payment plan to get them back onto a payment plan so there are good things from the fca andi there are good things from the fca and i hope they get there a bit faster. this research matches what we came up

faster. this research matches what we came up with in 2014 and was the basis of why we built this charity the way we did. there needs to be more consumer led personal credit around that actually meets the needs of the people is trying to serve. angela, thanks for joining of the people is trying to serve. angela, thanks forjoining us. after weeks of uncertainty, political parties in italy could be closer to forming a government. the two populist parties have revived their plans to form a coalition. both of them have backed the law professor giuseppe conte to be italy's new prime minister and in the last half hour he has been meeting with the president, sergio mattarella who is expected to hand him his second mandate to form a coalition government in eight days. the president had blocked the far—right league and anti—establishment 5—star movement coalition because of their choice of a hardline eurosceptic as finance minister — spooking international markets. our correspondent jenny hill is in rome. how likely is this deal to stick? that's the big question. on the face

of it this is the news that europe has been waiting for, we have heard from the leaders today, of the populist parties, they say they are willing to try again to form this government, they can go ahead and do it. as you say it looks as though giuseppe conte, a law professor, is going to be italy's next prime minister, he has been meeting with the italian president this evening. on the face of it looks as though weeks and weeks of political uncertainty which has seen financial markets across europe really spooked, are rats on end. i would suggest the drama is not at an end just yet —— are at an end. these are radical parties at the opposite ends of the political spectrum, one on the left and one very right wing and anti—migrant. the left and one very right wing and anti—migra nt. let's look the left and one very right wing and anti—migrant. let's look at their policies which are already raising eyebrows. if they get these policies into play they are looking at lowering taxes, bringing in radical

and very lowering taxes, bringing in radical and vei’y generous lowering taxes, bringing in radical and very generous welfare benefit reform, which some say does not add up. they are also pledging to deport half a million migrants from italy bearing in mind immigration was a real topic in the inconclusive election in march. there's a lot there which is making his country nervous and a lot which is making the eu nervous. this whole drama following the inconclusive elections has raised the issue of what is more important, national sovereignty or eu integrity, with both of these parties coming up with eurosceptic rhetoric and anti—euro rhetoric at times, soi rhetoric and anti—euro rhetoric at times, so i would say yes, the uncertainty is at cyber for now but the drama isn't at anand —— is perhaps over for now but the drama isn't at anand. —— an end. time for a look at the weather with ben rich.

today has again brought sunshine for some, but the storm clouds have been gathering for others. the met office still has in force an amber be prepared warning for heavy rain, particularly affecting the south—west of england and the south of wales. the and the south of wales. radar picture shows how ti storms the radar picture shows how the storms develop in the latter part of the afternoon, continuing to drift north and west through the night. still potentially enough rain in a short enough space of time to give issues with flash flooding. elsewhere a lot of dry weather, but misty and cloudy conditions and a muggy night. minimum temperatures between 12 and 16 degrees. tomorrow we start off with a lot of cloud. that should break up with some sunshine. but then the showers and thunder storms break out again. particularly this time across western and northern parts of the uk. and wherever you are it will feel warm and muggy. highs up to 24 degrees. this is bbc news,

our latest headlines. fears of a transatlantic trade war: the us goes ahead with big tariffs on steel imports from the eu, canada and mexico. the government says its deeply disappointed at the move. is the us, north korea summit be back on? following high level talks today the us secretary of state says he is confident things are moving in the right direction. a crack down on high cost lending on domestic appliances, but charities say more action is needed to help the poorest and most vulnerable as regulators fail to bring in caps on overdraft charges. hopes of a coalition forming in italy are revived as the two main populist parties say they can now form a government. their pick for prime minister meets with the italian president in a bid to avoid a second election. scientists say they have found evidence of dunes, created by grains of frozen methane, on pluto. images of the dwarf planets surfaced were captured by nasa's new horizons spacecraft in 2015 and have been analysed

by an international team of geographers, physicists and planetary scientists. it was thought to have the wrong atmosphere and temperature to create the features familiar in deserts on earth. welljoining us now is monica grady, professor of planetary and space sciences at the open university. lovely to have you. a lot more going on, more interesting than previously thought. we use it think it was a dim and dark planet at the edge of the solar system, and now it was john but —— downgraded it wasn't a planet any more and out these amazing pictures, and show us that there are dunes there, not sand dunes, but dunes made of ice c rysta ls dunes, but dunes made of ice crystals and methane, and they should not be there. the window, you need wind as well as grains to make a doing, and it's thought the wind was not strong enough, but now scientists are shown that melting

ice put them in the atmosphere. they're being called dunes, that something us on earth can imagine, but are they really similar to a sand dune you would find in the sahara? well, yes and no. there are lots and lots of different sorts of dunes on earth, yes there is the sand dunes in sahara, but there are big ones of ice in antarctica. and the different dunes are formed by wind blowing in different direct shins whether there are mountains and stuff like that, there are similarto and stuff like that, there are similar to some found on earth, but actually not the big ones we know about in the sahara. the conditions on pluto are very different in terms of pressure and gravity. 0h, extremely. hugely cold, very, very cold. water and ice, you know it's

frozen hard, nitrogen which is in our atmosphere is present as ice on mars, sorry, ithought our atmosphere is present as ice on mars, sorry, i thought pluto. and so is methane. so to actually get these particles moving around in the atmosphere, it's a great surprise. soaped him must —— it must get warmer at some point for ice to be mobile. that's right, even though it's quite weak shown on earth, there is enough energy in the rays of the sun to get the ice to go from a solid to a gas, and grains of met they don't survive, so they stay like that, so it's all down to the sun and wind and ice. you mentioned that pluto is not even regarded as a planet any more it was downgraded to a dwarf planet because it does not have the characteristics for a planet but how do these findings change that status potentially again as? it does not. actually i would

like to think that pluto was not great downgraded to a minor planet, it made a great career move and was promoted to being an object. so instead of being the last planet to be explored by spacecraft, it's the first object. this is a belt of thousands of thousands of things like pluto, we can't see most of them because they are dim, but pluto is showing us that these small bodies out at the fringes of our solar system are really, really important because they have the building blocks of life in them, all thatice. building blocks of life in them, all that ice. yeah, it doesn't hurt to bea that ice. yeah, it doesn't hurt to be a small player, does it sometimes. monica grady, thank you and lovely to see you thank you for coming in. more details have emerged of how a russian journalist, working with the ukrainian secret service, managed to fake his own death. arkady babchenko said he used pig's blood as part of the deception and watched news reports about his murder at a mortuary. he's dismissed criticism of his actions, saying his aim

was to ensure the safety of his family. jonah fisher has been talking to him in the ukrainian capital, kiev. arkady, welcome back from the dead! laughter. thank you very much. arkady babchenko has got a lot of explaining to do. two days after he was announced dead, and 24 hours since his resurrection, he sat for an exclusive interview with the bbc. can you talk us through what happened on the night of the fake assassination? translation: they put make-up on me, the blood used was real. everything was done for real. my wife called the police, so the special police came, and emergency services, too. they took me to the morgue, and until i was through the gates, i had to pretend to be dead. arkady hid at the morgue

and then a safe house, while outside his apartment his friends mourned, and ukraine's secret service arrested a man, who they say is a russian agent with plans to assassinate russians in kiev. did you have some misgivings about taking part in a huge fake like this? my dearfriend, let me put it like this, when the security service come to you and say there is an order out for your murder, are you going to stay proud and say no, i won't take part, because it will hurt the media's reputation? come on. but as a journalist, can you see how this episode can erode trust in basic information and the work ofjournalists? ok, what choice did i have? what would you choose in my place? and what of arkady‘s wife?

at the press conference yesterday, he made a point of apologising to her. she did know about the fake plot, he said, but he would rather not talk about it further. our interview over, arkady babchenko told me he would now be living under heightened security. one of the world's biggest fakers is still very much a marked man. jonah fisher reporting there. the american actor and comedian, matt le blanc, is to leave the bbc programme top gear. in a statement, he described his time on the motoring show as "great fun" but said he wanted to spend more time with his family. his fourth and final series will be broadcast later this year. the muslim council of britain has repeated its demand for the conservatives to hold an independent inquiry into alleged islamophobia within the party. the group, an umbrella organisation for 500 mosques and schools, says there are "more than weekly incidents" involving tory candidates and representatives.

a conservative spokesman said it took all incidents of islamophobia seriously. our political correspondent jonathan blake says the row could damage the party's image. well, what i would like, first and foremost, is a very clear inshore calling on them to do more and tackle what they say is a problem of islamophobia within the conservative party. the letter singled out the mp for a post he made on social media and meeting a hindu nationalist figure in parliament. he has responded to that saying that he did not that meeting and also that the social media post we re and also that the social media post were made in errorand he and also that the social media post were made in error and he will continue working with all communities in his constituency and condemns islamic phobia, but the letter goes on to list half a dozen or so letter goes on to list half a dozen or so of cases of the comment made largely online by conservative party

—— party members, aware that counties is more action should be taken, and it describes this as the tip of the iceberg, bleeding clearly there is a wider problem within the party. this problem, as the muslim council of britain sees it, an issue with islamophobia within the party does not seem to be widespread or serious as the accusations facing labour and its handling of anti—semitism within the party, but it does raise a lot of the same issues in terms of image the party hats. and it's ability to clamp down on the racist behaviour and appeal to people from ethnic minorities, which we know that in many cases it struggles to do. but for action is going to the top of the party and indeed earlier today, the former party chairman called on the prime minister to tackle the problem head—on. minister to tackle the problem head-on. what i would like is a clear statement and acknowledgement

of the issue and the fact that the party will tackle it and i want that to come from the top either prime minister chairman of the party, because i think up until now sadly there are parts of the pride he there are parts of the pride he there have been in denial about the issue. muslim council of britain as well as calling on the party to undertake a review, want compulsory training for people in the party to help tackle islamophobia as well, and a statement of intent from the party leadership. in response to this, conservative parties in a statement they take all such incidents seriously and that is why they suspended all those who behaved inappropriately and launched immediate investigations and downing street as well, clear and a keen to show and demonstrate they are taking action as well, pointing to the prime minister setting up a racial disparity audit, and also to the appointment of a site javid as the first ethnic minority home secretary. torrential rain is lashing

large parts of the uk as severe thunderstorms hit, causing flooding and travel disruption. a met office amber warning — meaning a potential risk to life — is in force across wales and south west england. rya nair, have cancelled a number of flights from stansted airport citing "adverse weather conditions" "all the good women have already been snapped up", "we have one woman already", "the issues covered are extremely complex". these are just some of the excuses given by top companies for not appointing women to senior positions. they were released as part of a report commissioned by the government into gender balance. it's recommending at least a third of board members be women by 2020. lucinda adam reports. i don't think women fit comfortably in the board environment. "the issues covered are extremely complex." these are some these are some excuses these are some excuses for why they have not pointed more women to senior positions. we showed them to

this executive, and campaigner. i'm outraged to hear there are bosses criticising and saying why men do not want to be in the role, it's nonsense. we are dismissing 50% of the population and brilliant women and opportunities to create diverse businesses, which we have proven work —— will businesses, which we have proven work — — will create businesses, which we have proven work —— will create better returns financially and a better world socially. the government wants women to make up a third of board members at big companies by 2020, and some research shows that bridging the gender gap can add £150 billion to the economy, if there is a changing culture. often it's in the mid—career point actions need to be taken to more candidates are available for boardroom appointments, but i don't see any reason why men and women should be treated differently at all, we not