of g7 finance ministers in canada. members are angry over america's imposition of new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. ministers have warned washington has just days to avoid a trade war. the us has accused china of expanding its military presence in the south china sea to intimidate its neighbours. beijing says it has the right to to deploy troops and weapons "on its own territory" and called the comments by us defence secretary james mattis "irresponsible". thousands of gazans have turned out for the funeral of a palestinian nurse who was killed by israeli fire during protests. 21—year—old razan al—najar was shot dead as she hurried to the side of a casualty at the border fence. the israeli military says it will investigate her killing. now on bbc news, dateline london. hello and welcome the dateline

london, where each week some of the uk's best known columnist debate to be quick story with journalists as dateline is london as they report the events to the world beyond. this week donald trump declares war, but do not panic, it is a trade war, as he pulled back from the rink thomas paine doubles over, the u.k.'s, the conservatives look for a comprise over brexit and a strong marshals his diplomatic forces for peace to discuss all of that with me are great of the newsagency the associated press, stefanie bolzen from the german newspaper de velde, nazanin ansari and ian martin, columnist with the british newspaper the times. there is an old joke that the times. there is an old joke that the united kingdom and the united states are two nations divided by a

common language. but whether you say a luminalandi common language. but whether you say a luminal and i said aluminium, a 10% a luminal and i said aluminium, a io% tariff on imports of that and on steel is not a friendly gesture. on friday, donald trump's administration imposes duties saying that negotiations with the european union, canada and mexico have not made enough progress in the two months of the first in tariffs on foreign metals. the french said it was illegal, the british called absurd, and justin trudeau, canada's prime minister, looked hurt. the european commissioner responsible for responding to this set it wasn't so for responding to this set it wasn't so much a trade war as a dangerous game. but how seriously are they taking it in brussels? they take it very seriously and the reactions coming out from brussels which is at the end of the week were quite harsh. the question of courses will this spina now a tit—for—tat escalation, what everyone is talking about, but it will be difficult also from the european perspective cross

every country has different interest and now the next question is what comes and now the next question is what co m es after and now the next question is what comes after steel? from the german perspective, the big fear of courses after still we will see tariffs on cars. germany in 2017 only exported ca i’s cars. germany in 2017 only exported cars to the value and volume of $20 billion to the us, by far the biggest auto exporter in europe. so of course they don't want of escalation, they want a bit more appeasement. whereas france doesn't have the same interest, the wood will see how much this joint anthem will see how much this joint anthem will stay and what it will look for. why do you think he has taken this step, given the as others have suggested, and even paul ryan, the problem is china and yet he is hitting allies who he may otherwise wa nt to hitting allies who he may otherwise want to work with against china. hitting allies who he may otherwise want to work with against chinalj want to work with against china.|j think this is really classic trump, he loves to provoke things, he lost to divide and conquer, he loves the challenge all the assumptions in place since world war two, we have

thought of this alliance is almost unbridgeable between the us and europe and now he is throwing a hand grenade in brussels and it is very consistent with his approach, he has some fairly arcane explanation for why this is really going to damage china but the immediate impact is the damage everyone else and to put all of these complex trade realities at risk so it is classic trump, it is exciting, it is theatre, it gets headlines at home with america first and it is making enemies rat europe. in terms of the practicalities of these,is in terms of the practicalities of these, is he right to think that europe, like south korea before it, will blink first? he may be right on that, it is economically bad idea, everyone loses, but he's been consisting, he is always had america first. i see it very much in terms ofa first. i see it very much in terms of a bigger story which is essentially trump almost declaring war on europe and i think this is what comes next is nato. he is

breaking the alliance which has been the mainstay of western dynamics since1945, the the mainstay of western dynamics since 1945, the idea that america has your's back. remember, there is a big nato summits coming injuly. of that i think you will see something equally dramatic from trump, maybe even something as serious as a threat to withdraw from nato. this poses all sorts of questions to europe because europe has to adjust to a world in which began underobama has to adjust to a world in which began under obama with the pacific and now has an american president who is really not interested in europe and not interested in having your's back. and does it have anything that is worth having and therefore he can afford to do so? this is the first time in us history that the united states has taken such action against its own allies. and trading partners. but the united

states i think sees itself in a sort ofa states i think sees itself in a sort of a cold war and certainly, wilbur ross, you know, noted that... the trade secretary. the trade secretary, that security is an military security and the damage is important how europe for example postures towards the major crisis that, in the us administration's perspective, is most dangerous and thatis perspective, is most dangerous and that is a and north korea. and also russia. but before iran. the hubble is crisis going on and the united states is trying to make a point that this is important for me, europe is making a stand, it is a symbolic stand, they are saying the will go to the world trade organization but there are two countries that take national security as wilbur ross as us, has also said, is a national security

issue, that when it comes to national security issues, the world trade organization rules don't apply. that is the united states and russia. and russia is also trying to come in between the united states and europe, trying to advise the european union and we are here, if the us abandons you, but who has got the us abandons you, but who has got the healthiest economy worldwide? the us abandons you, but who has got the healthiest economy worldwide7m is not a great choice. especially with the next topics we are talking about which will reflect very much that europe is not only faced with a completely new era in relationship trans— atlantic region, relationship, but also internally with brexit, with italy, with eastern european countries having a very, say, a different policy towards brussels in terms of domestic reforms and so on so there is ofany domestic reforms and so on so there is of any battlefield in europe domestically and internationally, it isa domestically and internationally, it is a bit exhausting. if anyone is playing it, this is a game of multidimensional chess. sticking with europe, italy averted a crisis

after 5—star and the league blinked first. they had wanted to appoint a finance minister who thinks italy should never have joined the euro in the first place. the president said no, he feared italy could crash under the eurozone without italians having been asked whether or not they wanted to leave. all eyes were on rome but it turns out the wrong was looking in the wrong direction. they's commission erupted into crisis on friday and when mariano rajoy lost a vote, the conservative prime minister, lost a vote of confidence in madrid, he will be replaced by a socialist but meanwhile britain's socialist try to resolve their brexit conditions over a nice cup of tea. let's start with britain, since we are here, and we saw in the papers this week suggestions that some of the ex— cabinet ministers that used to sit around with theresa may are trying to persuade her to find a compromise. they say she is listing to the extremes on both sides of the

argument and there is a middle way. what did you make of that? the problem is that britain's two years into the brexit process and it is still in a situation where the government is still negotiating with itself, so it is still ahead of the key gene council, june 28, where a lot of this is meant to be resolved. they still don't really have a clear position. on whether or not the uk is going to stay inside something like a customs union or have a customs agreement with the eu. the cabinet is split. the prime minister's view is unclear, a lot of cabinet ministers said the civil servants are really running the policy, there is complete confusion. i think british politics is about to get, it is the and a bit dull moment but i think it will be a potentially explosive month or two. because of the prime minister cannot resolve this, and if the talks crash injune or insufficient progress is made, i

think you might at that point be back into leadership territory. because britain will then be stuck. and remember, the clock is ticking all the time. and remember, the clock is ticking allthe time. i'm and remember, the clock is ticking all the time. i'm someone who broke all the time. i'm someone who broke a fork voted for breakfast. sorry, brexit. breakfast means brexit. but having said that, by the time that european politics comes back in september, october, it will be six months until brexit, not breakfast, is due to happen. and the situation then become something close to a national emergency so it seems the carand at the national emergency so it seems the car and at the moment at... stefanie is that the sense among the european union leaders? they always say they do not know what britain wants and there is an element of that which will be the brisbane should be the negotiation, you always call it the other side, but are they privately concerned about how close we are now getting to the wire? of course,

there have been concerns for a long time and as you said, britain is leaving, britain needs to tell us what they want. and also with the commission now is doing, they are very much rules —based, they are saying these are our goals, take them or leave them, we will not give you the cherry picking that you like. it is the most important currently is ireland. it is a small country but it is becoming it is a crucial player right now because of the problem of the border in northern ireland and ireland is putting a lot of pressure on the commission now to make sure that britain doesn't get a deal that will hurt, in any way the good friday agreement, and will seek any form of borders again in the north of ireland. we are back to the question of to achieve this without kind of actually having a physical border? ina sense, actually having a physical border? in a sense, you've written this week about the difficulties and negotiations, there are some people arguing that actually we should be saying no to brussels, we should be

compromising? the commission i think for all that britain has serious problems, the commission is behaving very badly on the subject like galileo which is britain is the leading security and intelligence power in europe, europe wants a close relationship with the uk on this stuff. because of terrorism and all the challenges facing the continent. but wants to shut the uk out of galileo. because, as you indicated, it is a rules —based organisation. in other areas like the city, the city of london, where effectively the city of london is the headquarters of the eurozone, it powers the markets of the eurozone. it is where most of the businesses, business is done. it is the world's largest capital market. we're pretty close to situation in the uk where the bank of england and most of the financial establishment apart from the treasury have really woken up to the treasury have really woken up to the idea that actually we cannot

have a situation where this financial giant centre, city of london, is regulated by e—mail from brussels or paris. so there is a lot shifting but at some point, soon, crunch comes and someone will have to decide. ifi may crunch comes and someone will have to decide. if i may say, you say, you should say no to brussels but then again in the end it is about then again in the end it is about the red line is that the uk government has put out sofa example uk will not be governed anymore by the european court ofjustice, how do you want to have a security treaty and said this cannot be controlled by the european court of justice? it is impossible. this is the fundamental disagreement and why britain voted to leave the european union, that is really at the heart of it, it is the sovereignty question. moving away from britain to these other countries that are suddenly bubbling up in political crisis this week. italy and spain. the third largest economy and the fourth—largest economy. in europe. it isa

fourth—largest economy. in europe. it is a political turmoil. in the southern belly of europe. and that is one of the problem is that europe is one of the problem is that europe is an institution is facing. i mean if you look at the depth of italy, which is more than 2 trillion and with all these new promises that the new government has given, whether europe, i mean, debt will go up at least by 7% of the gdp, so how is europe going to react and maintained this situation? this is interesting because although we talked about the political crisis and then say no to the eurosceptic finance minister, this is still the government will ta ke this is still the government will take a sceptic view on the advice it receives from brussels and the ratings agencies were saying friday of last week we might even be looking now at reducing the standard and saying actually do that it isn't much above the level in terms of the debt you can find. we are running out of ways. when i

got here years ago, you had these giant figures with a vision of european unity and now it is in such disarray, it almost doesn't matter where we look. we haven't mentioned the lack of democratic progress or ideas in poland and hungary. the whole thing seems to be fraying for subi whole thing seems to be fraying for sub i was in paris two days ago is visiting family and i saw one of the bridges named, there are pillars and monuments to european union —— unity. at one point, they published leading articles in the british view and the german view and that attempt

to find compromise seems to be lacking. even among those powers that agree with each other. the house was built on the wall so it was overlooking the death strip, as you called it. germany is at the heart of this, very much. talking about compromises, the june council is very questioned in thoms of the reform of the eurozone wet emmanuel macron is tried to make a decision —— where,. if there is one advancing joint idea that will be finally forming the eurozone, that might be really not happening because the german government cannot compromise oi'i german government cannot compromise on this because especially angela merkel's party will not want to be seen as giving money away and control to the european commission at especially now to the italians. soa at especially now to the italians. so a combination of a nude by minister, a populist government and the socialist pay minister. —— nude prime minister. i remember italy,

when i was at brussels correspondence, it was the time of the bailouts of spain, not spain, portugal. everybody was whispering, that's all right but if it italy, we will not cope any more. it was uihlein to come down to the future of the eurozone. italy which is a major economy as one of the founders of the european union... greece was always much smaller. —— it was always much smaller. —— it was always going to come down. standards and views of how currency should work and the italian view. the numbers on italy and what has happened to the italian economy since the europa ijust really horrifying. hence why the ratings agencies are giving warnings. also, what is driving things in terms of why people are voting as they are. real wages in germany since 1990 real wages in germany since1990 have increased by 120%. they have

increased in italy by 3%. you have an electorate sold a promise of the europa there were lots of warnings at the time that it was imperfectly design. —— sold a promise of the euro, but there were lots of warning. emmanuel macron is doing well in many respects at... we could have had this conversation six or seven have had this conversation six or seve n years have had this conversation six or seven years ago and have had this conversation six or seven years ago and we have had this conversation six or seven years ago and we might have been saying the same things and yet it is still that. talking about italy and the love of the italians for europe. they feel let down because of the refugee crisis will stop what country had to cope? it was not germany, but italy, over decades or a decade at least. they took in hundreds of thousands of refugees who were pretty much left alone with it. no wonder they say people don't help us, why should we stick to the project? reeth has been suffering from the refugee crisis as well. malta, too. -- greece. there

have been reports of refugees selling their passports and returning to turkey or syria because they can't cope, the culture change as well. europe is faced with so many tremors and fault lines and a the same time, it wants to stand up to the united states in a symbolic way. there you go. at first they had to agree on a common position. there was a to agree on a common position. there wasa kim to agree on a common position. there was a kim in the white house this week. not that one. though president jump week. not that one. though president jump hopes to meet that kim in a few weeks in singapore. —— president trump foot of this was kim kardashian. she struggled to get her usual coverage because some broad wave wave was another toast. this was the arrival of the former head of the security intelligence agency in north korea but the very outsized envelope, it seemed a moment, posing

in the white house with donald trump. what is the substance? an elaborate leak award and dated —— elaborate leak award and dated —— elaborate leak award and dated —— elaborate leak award and —— elaborately co—ordinated. we don't do gun salutes but they almost went that far. this is to do with trump's buildup. it is an atmosphere like the people in huckleberry finn who go down up and down in mississippi selling things to unsuspecting strangers. this is trump's approach. it isa strangers. this is trump's approach. it is a big surface with him. i happen to think this north korea gambit could possibly bear fruit. i think it placed to some of trump's strengths. i'm not part of the group that thinks this unscripted some —— unscripted summit where you don't know the outcome is a disaster. i think there is an upside but in the

meantime, trump is enjoying is no, it is not great happen, yes, it is. maybe i get the nobel, maybe we don't, maybe we go to war. it's all pa rt don't, maybe we go to war. it's all part of the show. is latest pronouncement on friday that this weekend was to say, actually, maybe all we will get all we will is weekend was to say, actually, maybe all we will is a peace deal, between north korea. expectations come up and then come down. is it really a big achievement, given they have been fighting for 60 years, having a sick —— signature on a page? been fighting for 60 years, having a sick -- signature on a page? they have changed their communications tactic. at the beginning, they raised expectations that north korea will de— nuclear is and anything will de— nuclear is and anything will be fine and dandy. —— everything. until the chinese stepped in and then the russians stepped in and then the russians stepped in. they have been in the —— advising kim, don't follow the libyan model asjohn advising kim, don't follow the libyan model as john walter advising kim, don't follow the libyan model asjohn walter made a mistake of saying it on tv and kim took it seriously. also, don't make

the same mistake as the islamic republic of iran did. you know, get something in return. certainly, there will be summits. already they are making preparations for it in singapore and all that. and trump is saying maybe we won't get it in first and, second time or third time but don't forget, the iranian nuclear deal, it took them over 10— 15 years to come to it. if the world ready to wait that long for north korea to come to deal? i don't think so. korea to come to deal? i don't think so. that's why everything has been, you know, the gas hub has been turned up high. you see all this turmoil, they want to solve everything together, i don't know whether it will happen. the japanese worry because japan's defence secretary said over the weekend, hang ona secretary said over the weekend, hang on a minute, don't reward north korea simply for the —— to be ready to talk. they have to go further to get something. that's true in the

japanese are often overlooked in this but they are in western terms, in terms of the western alliance, a key power that should get a lot more attention. i tend to, although i am attention. i tend to, although i am a trump sceptic, i tend to think there is something interesting going on here and that it might actually work. and he has this, these strange capacity for keeping people guessing and we know from the history of summits that very often it can come down to the personality. gorbachev and reagan. precisely. whether they get on. kennedy. all of those cases, when it works, it is about personal chemistry. i have a sneaking suspicion that they are going to get on and going to go further than people imagine. i am intrigued by this sort of kim jong—un and donald trump having personal chemistry. this sort of kim jong—un and donald trump having personal chemistrylj get trump having personal chemistry.” get very nervous about even the terms we are using, he puts on a

show, it's very interesting what he is doing. i mean, this is very, very high, top level, serious international politics and from what i've read, i'm obviously not a us expert in the uk, but the correspondence are saying there is a lot going on but what comes afterwards nobody knows. this, personally, makes me feel very nervous. and fundamentally, this is a problem, greg, that there is different views on what the nuclear denuclearisation of the korean peninsula looks like. it is not hardening. it is a classic case where it is better to have these discussions than to be threatening and shuddering with fire and fury at this point. the regime is divided within itself and that's what the americans understand, that kim doesn't trust the north korean foreign ministry so there is an internal fight and dialogue and almost power struggle. like him in the states, probably. precisely.

also, the north koreans know that they exist at the whim of... the regime exists at the whim of the chinese but i think the contrast with obama who we are all supposed to praise the hes, you know, his wonderful rhetoric and great statesmanlike way in which he was president of the united states. —— praise him. he really didn't get a lot done. within the course of a year, trump has managed to access their rough serious risks and what could possibly go wrong? but he has managed to move things along and create the possibility of some kind of deal that wasn't there before. create the possibility of some kind of deal that wasn't there before]! there a lesson for iran in this? leigh certainly, if they can reach an agreement with north korea, —— certainly. if they can reach an agreement with north korea for denuclearisation, north korea has been one of the suppliers of this

missile technology to iran. if you disconnect north korea from the islamic republic with its missile capability, whether it's in syria or the middle east or elsewhere in the middle east, this is the strategy of their thinking, middle east, this is the strategy of theirthinking, probably, middle east, this is the strategy of their thinking, probably, to disconnect the two. what is important with north korea and which is very important with iran, the status of the economy. iranian people, what they will do with whether they will bring regime change or not, it doesn't matter on the united states. it is the state of the economy which is really die. suchis of the economy which is really die. such is north korea. north korea needs the money. as somebody watch —— once said, it's the economy. thank you all very much and thank you, too, forjoining us. that is it for dateline london. we are back next week. goodbye. hello.

the weather contrast continued again on saturday. some thundery downpours once more, a few for scotland and northern ireland and northern and eastern parts of england. there will be fewer to come dthe during first half of the week. some sunny spells, too, on saturday. pretty warm and there will be more of those on offer in the day ahead. it will feel a bit warmer, too. we start the day warm, 10—14 degrees. the area of cloud and rain still with us the further north you are in england and southern scotland. it is not moving much in the day ahead. the rain will ease but for some of us, it will still be there into the afternoon. north of the central belt we'll get sunshine in scotland but a few thunderstorms developing. northern ireland, the rest of england and wales, warm, sunny spells. low to mid—20s, maybe an isolated

shower, most of us will stay dry. it's late afternoon i want to focus on, the thunderstorms in scotland. slow—moving, frequent lightning and hail. rain totals racking up because they are slow moving. not everyone will see them but if you do, you will know about it. then the cloudy, wet zone in parts of southern scotland and northern england. for northern ireland, the rest of england and wales, you can see the lack of cloud, plenty of sunshine around and the chance of picking up an isolated shower. most of us will avoid them and stay dry. these thunderstorms in scotland fade away on sunday evening and the rain eventually gives up in northern england and southern scotland but you will notice the increase in cloud from the east as we go through the night and into monday morning. similar temperatures on monday morning but then again, there will be a different look to the weather with all of that cloud around.

the reason why, low pressure to the south us responsible for delivering thunderstorm in the past week and less of a player of the first half of the week ahead. high pressure still with us. to the north, it is around that. north—easterly flow coming into the uk and we will see on monday, plenty of the cloud and lower temperatures as a result. some of the cloud will thin and break at times. particularly, the north sea coast will be cloudy and misty and murky. west is best, sunny spells on monday although there will be an isolated shower developing. most of us will avoid them and stay dry. as we go through the week, the temperatures will gradually recover as some of the cloud begins to clear away, particularly by the time we get to wednesday. while the emphasis is on plenty of dry weather, later in the week, the risk again of some showers and maybe thunderstorms across southern parts of the uk. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm nkem ifejika. finance ministers from the g7 group have expressed concern about the tariffs the us has imposed on imports of steel and aluminium from the eu, canada and mexico. they've warned the united states there are only days left to avoid a trade war.

but washington remains defiant, with the us treasury secretary insisting that president trump's policies weren't isolationist. lebo diseko has more. as family photos go, this looked pretty awkward for one member. us treasury secretary steve mnuchin facing his counterparts from some