the right hand man of north korea's leader is to hand deliver a letterfrom mr kim to president donald trump at the white house on friday. the american secretary of state said real progress was made during talks in new york — but refused to confirm a summit mr kim and president trump was going ahead. key us allies have said they'll retaliate against washington for its decision to press ahead with steel and aluminium tariffs. the eu, canada and mexico say they'll impose duties. and this story is trending on bbc.com. fans of real madrid have been stunned by zinedine zidane‘s decision to step down as team coach, less than a week after leading the spanish club to a third straight champions league football triumph. many fans have been saying "gracias" on social media. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk. torrential rain is lashing large parts of the uk as severe thunderstorms hit, causing flooding and travel disruption.

a met office amber warning is in force across wales and south west england. now on bbc news all the latest business news live from singapore. president trump has followed through on his promise to impose tariffs on the european union, canada and mexico and now they have a promise of their own retaliation. let me be clear, these tariffs are totally unacceptable. japan's softbankjoins general motors in the race to dominate the self driving car industry. the us has slapped steep tariffs on metal imports from key allies

including the european union, canada and mexico. the trump administration say the levies are needed to protect national security is while the companies on the receiving end have promised to retaliate. from new york, paul blake reports. all smiles the camera behind closed doors, a simmering family feud. just after meeting european leaders in paris, the us commerce secretary slapped europe, canada and mexico with harsh ta riffs europe, canada and mexico with harsh tariffs on steel and aluminium. everybody has spats now and again. everybody has spats now and again. every family does, every country and there is nothing weird about that. i think everybody will get over this in due course. in due course may be, but not today. mexico and canada immediately slapped back announcing their own levies and europe is promising to follow suit. what they

can do, we can do exactly the same. it's totally u na cce pta ble can do, we can do exactly the same. it's totally unacceptable that a country is imposing these measures when it comes to trade. the trump administration says the us cannot be overly reliant on its neighbours and has to be able to provide for itself in the event of an emergency and for that reason the tariffs are in the interest of national security. but a least one world leader found the justification offensive. from the beaches of normandy to the mountains of afghanistan, we have fought and died together. mac canada could be considered a national security threat to the united states is inconceivable. inconceivable or not, donald trump has already shown his willingness to accept traditional allies. these tariffs are another way his administration is straining long—held ties. wilbur ross is

scheduled to head to beijing this weekend to work out a trade deal between the world's two largest trading partners but has president trump's latest decision undermined the negotiation? one journalist trump's latest decision undermined the negotiation? onejournalist says this is the white house could be sending a message to the chinese ahead of the meeting. clearly this is meant to probably unnerve china but i think china has already come up but i think china has already come up with a strategy and we will play diplomacy as much as we want. today china released a long list of goods that they plan to slash tariffs on and that will be effective in one month. china has shown a lot of goodwill so if this negotiation does not result in positive progress then china can only say we have done our part. is is ironic that the us is doing this at a time when last week we saw the imposition of tariffs

being placed on foreign cars as well and china were making concessions, which is why the all—out trade war has been avoided, so we are expecting it to go to a full—blown trade war in the future? not yet. there are signs that the us is willing to talk. wilbur ross signalled that, even with the sanctions against their allies in the eu and canada and mexico there is some flexibility is which gives room for them to withdraw again and the same happened to china when they had been promising deadlines and that there would be a list of goods released and so on and so forth but they never really put a specific guidelines on when the tariffs will be fermented so there is definitely room for the us to go back to being a bit more diplomatic. so these are

clever negotiating tactics by the trump administration? whether it is clever or not, that is clearly the path the us has chosen and clearly the markets have not really seen it asa the markets have not really seen it as a clever or the markets have not really seen it as a clever oi’ smart move. the markets have not really seen it as a clever or smart move. india grew 7.7%, its quickest pace in two yea rs. grew 7.7%, its quickest pace in two years. one person says that that is what is driving the ghost —— growth spurt. if you look at the breakdown, you saw a big pick—up in government led spending and investment so you could say that government is in the driving seat but i want to point out that private consumption increase for the first time in three quarters so we are for the first time in three quarters so we are seeing for the first time in three quarters so we are seeing some for the first time in three quarters so we are seeing some of the green shoots filter through to the national statistics, so that is one

good thing about that. if we can sustain it, the big concern is oil prices, so do not rule out that it could reach $100 per barrel at the end of the year and that is kind of a looming threat for a country so dependent on imports for our needs. we know prime minister modi is in town today and is establishing trade ties with the region, but to what extent is their confidence in his administration, because they have botched up economic policies in the past such as the goods and services bill, so going forward, can india sustain this growth?” bill, so going forward, can india sustain this growth? i must agree that president modi is not viewed as favourably and confidently as he was in 2014 when he came into power and we also have general elections next year and he has issues at home with

the latest state elections, so the sta nce the latest state elections, so the stance is clearly wait and watch and despite all the lobbying, the pm has been famous for his worldwide travels, we are not seeing that much ofa travels, we are not seeing that much of a pick—up in manufacturing. japan's softbank has announced they will invest two point two $5 billion in general motors self driving car. the move is one of the largest and most high—profile investments to date in self driving technology and iamjoined by date in self driving technology and i am joined by business reporter katie silva. tell us more about this. for $2.25 billion they get a 20% stake in kroos, the general motors autonomous vehicles unit and general motors will put in $1.1 billion and is part of the deal it's a investment so they are paying half upfront and when the vehicles are

paying half upfront and when the vehicle is ready to commercialisation that is when they pay the rest and that is expected to be early 2019 that they have these vehicles ready. softbank has other investments in this mobility space, states in uber, and as well as grab in southeast asia but the question is whether they have overpaid. the deal valued it at $11.5 billion where some say it was only 4 billion of worth but as you can imagine general motors stocks soared and we re general motors stocks soared and were up 10% yesterday and one a nalyst were up 10% yesterday and one analyst said it was a reason to invest in general motors again. so does this validate a general motors asa does this validate a general motors as a leader in self driving cars? it's one of in the space so general motors along with alphabet they are the big leaders. tesla wants a piece of the action and uber. people who are bullish on the market say it

will revolutionise the way we transport but there are inherent risks. in terms of security, safety and regulatory hurdles to overcome. thanks for bringing this up to date. in other news we have got a look at the indian government and their attempt to sell a stake in air india which has failed to attract a single bidder. in march the government announced they would sell three quarters of the airline to off—load some of the 5 billion of debt but despite a booming aviation market perspective buyers stayed away with some saying the terms of the deal we re some saying the terms of the deal were too odorous. us federal prosecutors have charged a vice president at goldman sachs with insider trading by using non—public information about several companies that were clients of the investment bank. they say the 37—year—old korean citizen made more than $130,000 by trading illegally on

confidential information relating to upcoming transactions and merger negotiations that he was privy to through hisjob. negotiations that he was privy to through his job. a negotiations that he was privy to through hisjob. a quick look at negotiations that he was privy to through his job. a quick look at the markets because here in asia amongst those open they are somewhat lower and if we look at australia and the new quay in japan and if we look at australia and the new quay injapan they have both opened lower and that's due to the fa ct opened lower and that's due to the fact that there's a lot of concerns about those trade tariffs slapped on the allies of mexico, the eu and canada and the possible repercussions and what impact it might have on the chinese talks this weekend. thanks for watching. the top stories this hour. on friday a letterfrom north korea's leader will be hand delivered to president donald trump at the white house. it'll be another step facilitating a summit in singapore. the european union, canada and mexico say they will retaliate against the united states for pressing ahead with tariffs

on imported steel and aluminium. for some brexit means taking back control. for others, it makes for an uncertain future. will gompertz talks to people in the arts world about what benefits leaving the eu might bring. bells chime. coventry cathedral, which was heavily bombed in 1940, is a potent example of how a city can respond to adversity with creativity. in 2021, coventry will be the uk city of culture, having in 2016 voted for brexit — an event that many in the arts see as a threat. but might it also present opportunities? young people from g20 countries were saying they were more drawn to british art and culture than they were before the referendum. that's telling us that the opportunities for british artists to get out there, to present their work, the rest of the world wants part of that. so, the british council detects post—brexit potential,

but do these students at coventry university? i wanted to ask you, as the future of the british arts, what opportunities do you think there are in a post—brexit britain for an artist? we're going to have to go outside of europe and probably make connections with people that are in india, asia, africa. now that we don't have these connections, or might not be making connections in european countries, we have to go outside. i honestly see an opportunity for myself personally and people of europe and eastern europe especially, that we get to be more competitive. i think we are super capable of competing with everybody here for the jobs, and we will still get those jobs just because we're good. if you are optimistic about the future, put your hand in the air. wow. that's their particular view, which is regardless of how they might have voted in a referendum the boss of the national theatre describes as... it was a wake—up call, certainly. now he is a man with a clear brexit plan. i think we have to do three things.

we've got to maintain our place as the world—beating, creative industries that we are. we've got to do that. the second thing is to really address the fact that there is this division in the country. that means, as arts organisations, we've got to do more to get out across the country to work in partnership with the arts organisations that are already there. the third thing is we have got to ignore the boundaries and continue to develop our relationships with europe, because we will suffer if we don't do that. i didn't vote for farage, i voted to leave the eu. all the while fulfilling the national theatre's stated aim of exploring what it is to live in brexit britain. this is my country! will gompertz, bbc news. time now for all the sports news in sport today. hello, i'm ben mundy live at the bbc sport centre. here's what's coming up on this edition of sport today. a third straight champions league title five days ago,

but it's not enough to keep zidane in hisjob. he's quit real madrid. no change in paris. the king of clay cruises on at the french open. and, practice makes perfect. well, england hope so. they're desperate for a win over pakistan. hello, good to see you. lots to get through, including the build up to the nba finals' opener. but we're starting with that shock announcement in spain from zinedine zidane. he's stepping down as real madrid manager just five days after leading them to a third straight champions league trophy. in a hastily arranged news conference on thursday, he told reporters that "everything changes". he leaves the bernabeu having guided the spanish club to that hat—trick of european cups and one la liga title, after taking over in january 2016. but real did struggle in the league this season, finishing 17 points behind champions barcelona.