this is bbc news. the headlines at 11: 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 rule out taking oui’ countermeasures and rule out taking our dispute of the world trade organisation in geneva. we have the united states will think again about this. —— 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. scientists discover evidence there are miles of frozen methane dunes on the surface of pluto. and on newsnight tonight, he promised it would be america first, why is anyone surprised the president is provoking a trade war with europe? we speak with one of america's top trade negotiator ‘s

live. good evening and welcome to bbc news. us tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium are set to come into force tonight — drawing international condemnation from the countries it affects, in europe and in north america. britain has called the decision deeply disappointing, france says its illegal, and canada has announced it will impose its own taxes on american products. the us says it's made the decision for reasons of national security — its critics say america is just protecting its own industries, against free trade rules. here's our north america correspondent aleem maqbool. now it's time for action. i'm not going to let america and its great companies and workers be taken advantage of any longer. an ad for us steel asking the president to deliver

on its election promise to save jobs in the industry, but to many the way he's done that looks like the opening salvo in a trade war between europe and the us that could have far—reaching consequences. from midnight tonight, large tariffs will have to be paid on any steel or aluminium imports coming to the us from the eu. there's overproduction of steel and there's overcapacity throughout the world, and so we have needed to deal with in a very global manner. you can'tjust deal with it dealing with one country. surrounded by steelworkers donald trump actually announced the tariffs for most countries in march, but also exemptions for mexico, canada and the eu. he has today scrapped those exemptions. the workers who poured their souls into building this great nation were betrayed,

but that betrayal is now over. donald trump can only do this by claiming it's in the interests of national security, which he has now done, to the dismay of the friends he is now penalising. thank you very much, everybody, thank you. it's very disappointing that the united states has chosen to apply 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 united kingdom, where we send steel to the united states, that is vital for their businesses and the defence industry, it is patently absurd. let me be clear, these tariffs are totally unacceptable. for 150 years canada has been united states' most steadfast ally. and europe is already talking about retaliation. there will be counterbalancing measures, what they can do we are able to do exactly the same. it's totally unacceptable that

a country is imposing unilateral measures when it comes to world trade. so how could europe hit back? some all—american industries could be hit, like this us denim factory, with talk of the eu imposing other tariffs on bourbon, motorcycles, and even peanut butter. the truth is that a big reason donald trump has introduced these new metal tariffs is to satisfy his supporters. they may not have the impact on jobs he says it will, but has risked a dangerous economic escalation with this country's biggest trading partners. aleem maqbool reporting there. a little earlier our business editor simon jack explained what affect the tariffs would have in the uk. the uk xbox 315 million tonnes of steel to the us every year, about 7%

of our production total, it is a catastrophic but it isn'tjust uk steel but canadian, italian, german, mexican, it all would have ended up in the us market bed now is to find another home and bring down global prices, that will worry the 30,000 people who work in the uk steel industry. the us is a country where we've had to forge a close training partnership after brexit, thanks to the special relationship. on this evidence, many people will be wondering what that special relationship is. while president trump was putting up trade barriers with some allies, he was trying to build bridges again with north korea — saying today that talks about a possible summit next month between himself and kim jong—un are going well. the us secretary of state mike pompeo, who's been meeting one of president kim's closest aides, has said the two countries face a pivotal moment and it would be a tragedy if it went to waste. here's nick bryant. the kim summit dominated

the new york cabinet this morning, although this one involved a kardashian rather than a korean. two reality tv stars in a made for instagram moment, pop and political culture are becoming harder to tell apart. this dinner in manhattan last night may have lacked the same star power but was far more momentous. a smiling us secretary of state, mike pompeo, meeting a north korean general, kim yong—chol, a one—time spy master and his leader's right—hand man. steak was on the menu and that summit in singapore. the fact that even this meeting is taking place shows how rapidly and how dramatically relations between america and north korea have changed. less than nine months ago donald trump was just up the road at the united nations, threatening to totally destroy that country. today's meeting felt like diplomatic speed dating. it was over quicker than expected and that was a sign of great progress according to the americans,

and also an indication of how much both sides want this summit to take place. our two countries face a pivotal moment in our relationship in which it could be nothing short of tragic to let this opportunity go to waste. i believe they are contemplating a path forward where they can make a strategic shift, one that their country has not been prepared to make before. the north koreans are carrying a personal letter from kim jong—un to donald trump and tomorrow in washington they will make a remarkable journey, walking through the doors of the white house to deliver it. and just a week after cancelling the summit, the president has now indicated there could be multiple meetings. hopefully we will have a meeting on the 12th, it's going along very well, but i want it to be meaningful. it doesn't mean it gets all done at one meeting, maybe after a second or third, and maybe we'll have none, but it is in good hands, that i can tell you. whether the two sides even agree on what is meant by denuclearisation

is still unclear, but it does look increasingly likely that air force one will soon be on a flight path to singapore. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. some breaking news, we hearfrom greater manchester police that they are dealing with a collision between are dealing with a collision between a carand a are dealing with a collision between a car and a number of pedestrians. they say it happened at 9:50pm tonight when officers received a call to your rope away in trafford park, emergency services are at the scene, there are five reported injuries, the carfailed to scene, there are five reported injuries, the car failed to stop. enquiries are happening to trace the vehicle. no evidence yet to suggest that this is terror related. five reported injuries in trafford park at europa way. weeks of political stalemate

in italy seem to be over, with the anti—establishment 5—star movement and the right—wing league announcing they have reached a new agreement to govern the country. james reynolds is in rome and explained what was happening. remember, four days ago the populists walked out in anger, calling for early elections after the president vetoed their choice of a eurosceptic finance minister. they followed a political opera in seven dozen acts. that is over, the public knows where they stand. there will be no early election or unofficial referendum on the euro. the populists decided to back down, switching their finance minister. populists decided to back down, switching theirfinance minister. he has not talked about leaving the euro. a relief to italy's pro—euro president, he got what he wanted, but this may not be over. this new

government is making promises to spend more and cut taxes which could put it in conflict with eu spending rules. the new interior minister wa nted rules. the new interior minister wanted tougher policy on migration which could provoke arguments. the dwarf planet pluto — over 3 billion miles away — has long been a mystery to scientists. but now experts say they've found important new evidence about the planet's surface — which in places resembles sand dunes familiar to us on earth. they've been using images captured by nasa's new horizons spacecraft. here's our science editor david shukman. until recently the distant world of pluto was a total mystery but a nasa spacecraft captured these stunning pictures three years ago. and since then scientists have been trying to make sense of sights they'd never expected. everyone thought that somewhere so cold would be frozen solid, but amazingly there are signs of movement at the surface. and the latest discovery is about the texture of the landscape.

these are fields of dunes that look surprisingly like the ones we have on earth. this is important from a scientific perspective because it gives us new insights about pluto but it's also really exciting just to be able to look at this world and recognise that it's notjust a frozen icy blob in the outer reaches of the solar system. but really we are seeing a dynamic world still changing, still forming today. so a major surprise is that pluto was much more active than previously thought. its atmosphere is so incredibly thin compared to earth and its winds are so weak that features like dunes shouldn't be possible. and with a temperature of —230 you'd think everything would be totally frozen. but it turns out there's just enough warmth from the sun to lift tiny grains of frozen methane and they're so light that the winds, however weak, can actually move them. and that's how the dunes are formed. on earth dunes like these in the kalahari desert take shape when the wind blows the grains of sand. then scientists have found

dunes forming in very different conditions on mars, venus and now pluto. this could help them know what to look for when exploring worlds that are even further away. it makes you think that there is a lot beyond pluto. not just within our solar system but beyond our solar system we found lots and lots, thousands of planets around other stars. we can't see their surfaces yet but eventually we will be able to, and what will we see? 50 years ago pluto was described as being silent and barren. now we know that even on the edge of the solar system there is a startling level of activity. the new horizons spacecraft that nasa sent to pluto is now on its way to another world that's even more distant. after years in space it will be woken from hibernation next week and it's on course to come up with yet more discoveries early next year. david shukman, bbc news. severe thunderstorms have hit parts of the uk causing floods

and travel disruption, such as here at didcot parkway station in oxfordshire. fire crews in haywards heath in west sussex were called out to tackle floods and some flights in and out of stansted airport have been cancelled. a met office amber warning — meaning a potential risk to life — is in force across wales and the south west of england until early tomorrow morning. summer(!) that's a summary of the news, newsday is coming up at midnight — now on bbc news it's time for newsnight with emily maitlis. from this day forward, it's going to be only "america first, america first!" so this is what it looks like in the flesh. if ever there were to be a trade

war, which is what so many histrionic interpreters are calling this, the united states would stand to win. economic move or purely political, we get reaction from both sides of the atlantic. also tonight, as the nhs prepares to mark its 70th anniversary, just how big a funding crisis is there? demand is going up by 3.5% every year, however, proportionately, the income for trust is only rising by around 1.2% a year, so we have a fundamental gap, that is how it is. the evening standard defends editorial integrity after being accused of offering advertisers favourable use coverage. can we trust what we see in the news any we speak with the former executive chairman of news international. hello, good evening. if you want to understand

president trump's economic policy, all you have to do is read playboy. an interview he gave nearly 30 years ago to the soft porn magazine lays it out with clarity. "we americans are laughed at around the world for losing 150 billion year after year", he said back in 1990. "for defending wealthy nations for nothing... our allies are making billions screwing us". there, in a nutshell, you have the theory behind what the president has now introduced as trade policy. a levvying of tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium from the european union, canada and mexico, when their current deal expires at midnight. the duties are being imposed, washington claims, on national security grounds, in particular to stop china flooding cheap metal into global markets. it's "america first" worn with pride and has left his allies screaming