welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories: finance ministers from the g7 warn america that its steel and aluminium tariffs could spark a trade war within days. china rejects allegations by the us that it's trying to intimidate neighbours in disputed areas of the south china sea. thousands of palestinians attend the funeral of a nurse killed by israeli gunfire. her mother says she was trying to help injured protestors in gaza. translation: this is what she was resisting with. on what basis did the soldier kill her? she has been targeted since the first day of the protests. after decades of communist rule in cuba, could the new president be about to bring in significant changes to the way the country is run? hello, and welcome to bbc news.

finance ministers from six of the g7 countries meeting in canada have expressed "unanimous concern and disappointment" at america's new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. they've warned washington that there are only days left to avoid a trade war. lebo diseko reports. as family photos go, this looked pretty awkward for one member. us treasury secretary steve mnuchin facing his counterparts from some of america's closest allies, united in their frustration at the us‘ latest tariffs. over the course of the last couple of days, there was an important difference of opinion. the americans have decided, in our mind, to take an action that is not at all constructive. it is actually destructive to our ability to get things done around tariffs on steel and aluminium. steve mnuchin played down talk of us isolation,

saying his country believes in the g7. i think our leadership on the economy, which is one of president trump's major objectives, that national security, is not only good for the united states but is good for growth around the world. and, if anything, that additional growth is potentially leading to us even more reason to want to focus on these trade issues. signing in measures against cheap steel and aluminium imports was a key campaign promise for mr trump. he said china was a key offender but now, america's allies have been hit too. the tariffs on the eu, canada and mexico have led to a heated response. canada is imposing dollar—for—dollar countermeasures and the eu says it is taking the matter to the world trade organization. the message from six of these finance ministers — there could be a trade war within days. so if this meeting has been tense, next week's summit of g7 heads of state could be even more difficult. lebo diseko, bbc news.

a short time ago i got the latest from our business correspondent paul blake in new york. typically after these big meetings you get a joint statement from all the ministers who were in attendance, summarising what they talked about and what they hope to accomplish going forward. that hasn't happened after this one and that is a clear sign of discord in the group. on top of that we had the french foreign minister coming out with a very strong statement, saying the united states had just days to avoid potentially sparking a trade war with some of its closest allies. now, for his part, steve mnuchin says he has conveyed some of these concerns back to the white house and back to president trump. and what has president trump said? so, there has been no official reaction from the white house, at least not yet. but the president has been tweeting on the topic of trade throughout the day, slamming what he calls "unfair trade" and "stupid trade," saying that he wants to see

a "rebalancing of trade" with some of these key allies that he has imposed tariffs on in the past few days. that could set him up for an awkward meeting this weekend. he is going to quebec, where he will meet with other g7 leaders, and i think it is highly likely the issue of trade will come up. and i guess all of this suggests that these countries want to talk first, before getting entangled in serious trade wars? they are definitely looking for some sort of concession from the us, or even a reversal of the tariffs imposed this week. the us, for its part, says the imposition of tariffs does not preclude negotiations. wilbur ross was in paris this week where he met with eu officials ahead of the imposition of the tariffs which were announced on thursday and came into effect on friday. he said there thatjust because we are imposing tariffs doesn't mean we are not willing to negotiate on trade. he pointed to the example of china,

where the us has imposed tariffs in recent weeks and months, and wilbur ross is in china this weekend where he is holding trade talks. the main takeaway from the perspective of the us is, just because we are imposing tariffs doesn't mean we can't also talk and discuss and come to a deal. paul blake in new york. a war of words has broken out between america and china after the us accused the chinese of expanding their military presence in the south china sea to intimidate their neighbours. china said the comments, by us defence secretary james mattis, were irresponsible and not worthy of rebuke. mr mattis was speaking at a security summit in singapore. from there karishma vaswani sent this report. the united states is here to stay in asia. that is the message us defence secretary james mattis had

for his asian counterparts in singapore today. but he also warned of china's increasing influence. and whenever the two sides are in the same room, they usually argue about the same thing: china's power in the region and the impact on its neighbours. china's militarisation of artificial features in the south china sea includes the deployment of anti—ship missiles, surface—to—air missiles, electronic jammers, and more recently, the landing of bomber aircraft on woody island. despite china's claims to the contrary, the placement of these weapons systems is tied directly to military use for the purposes of intimidation and coercion. china says it owns all of the south china sea, a lucrative and strategic shipping zone, even though six other countries lay claim to it. it has been building military installations in the area, and critics say beijing has silenced condemnation of its actions, either by paying off its asian allies or by bullying them. translation: it is within china's

sovereignty to deploy troops and weapons on islands and reefs in the south china sea, and it is allowed by international law. anybody who makes comments on this is trying to interfere with china's internal affairs. it is not worthy of refuting. the us and china are also battling over trade. an american delegation led by us commerce secretary wilbur ross is in beijing this weekend to address what the us says are unfair trade terms set by china. in just under two weeks, singapore plays host to the summit of the century — the meeting between president trump and north korea's kimjong—un. but tonight, american and chinese military delegations are just departing from their dinner at the presidential palace. on the menu, trade, security, and the jostling of two superpowers

for regional influence in the very heart of asia. israeli warplanes have targeted two sites in the gaza strip after rockets were fired from the territory into southern israel. gaza residents said israeli aircraft struck training camps belonging to hamas. an israeli military spokesman declined to comment. there were no immediate reports of casualties. earlier thousands of palestinians attended the funeral in gaza of 21—year—old razan al—najar, a well—known volunteer nurse who was killed by israeli fire during protests along the border on friday. our arab affairs editor, sebastian usher reports. once again, thousands of mourners have filled the streets of gaza through which the body of the young woman was carried on a stretcher, wrapped in the palestinian flag. health officials and eyewitnesses said that razan al—najar, a volunteer nurse, was shot in the chest by israeli forces on friday as she ran to treat a casualty near the gaza border with israel which has been the scene

of weeks of palestinian protests. her father held what had once been her white medical coat, now drenched in blood, as her mother lamented her child and demanded justice. translation: this is her weapon. this is my daughter's weapon. this is what she was resisting with. on what basis did the solider kill her? she has been targeted since the first day of the protests. so many times, she has survived death. she would come and tell me what she went through. may god account every person who is silent about this. razan al—najar had become a well—known figure at the weekly protests at the border, held to demand the right of return for palestinians to israel. the israeli military said it will investigate her death. more than 100 palestinians have been killed by israeli forces since the demonstrations were launched at the end of march. israel said its soldiers have only opened fire to prevent militants from breaking through the border. it accuses hamas, which controls gaza, of orchestrating the unrest for its own ends.

but the un and human rights groups have accused israel of using disproportionate force. palestinians see razan al—najar as a new and potent symbol of their cause. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. injordan, protesters have taken to the streets for the third night in a row calling for the dismissal of prime minister, hani mulki. security forces fired tear gas and blocked main roads near government offices in the capital amman. the protesters are angry at a new tax bill that is part of austerity measures. king abdullah has called for compromise from all sides. a number of people have been injured in clashes between the police and opposition protestors in the malian capital, bamako.

police fired tear gas and beat the demonstrators who were holding a march demanding transparency in next month's presidential election. the authorities had earlier banned the protest, which was organised by a coalition of opposition parties. turkey's president, recep tayyip erdogan, has declared that the ride—hailing service, uber, is "finished in turkey", saying the country has its own taxi system. thousands of regular taxi drivers in istanbul have argued that uber provides an illegal service. the government has toughened transport licensing rules, making it harder for drivers to register with uber. australia has issued an alert after 83 shipping containers fell from a vessel off the coast of new south wales during heavy swells. the items include sanitary products, surgical masks, and nappies. they've begun washing up ashore and there are concerns that they could prove dangerous to whales if they swallow them. spain's new prime minister, pedro sanchez, has been sworn into office by king felipe.

it followed the ousting of the government of mariano rajoy, in a parliamentary vote of no confidence. a new separatist catalan government was also formally sworn in on saturday, with it's regional leader calling for talks with spain's new prime minister. richard galpin reports. the leader of spain's socialist party taking the formal steps to becoming the country's new prime minister. translation: i promise on my conscience and honour to loyally fulfil the responsibilities of prime minister and to be loyal to the king and to safeguard the constitution, as well as keeping the deliberations of the cabinet secret. king felipe the first to congratulate pedro sanchez at today's ceremony in the royal palace on the outskirts of madrid. all of this following a parliamentary vote of no—confidence in the long—standing prime minister mariano rajoy on friday, forced out as a result

of a corruption scandal within his party. 46—year—old pedro sanchez takes the reins of power without ever having held government office before. and his party has only a quarter of the seats in parliament. he need allies urgently. meanwhile, the new leader of catalonia, quim torra, on the left, was also attending a swearing—in ceremony. this in barcelona, for members of his separatist regional government — a move which ends seven months of direct, emergency rule of the region by madrid. and already, the catalan leader is saying he will pursue the goal of independence, despite last year's failed attempt to break away following a referendum. translation: this government is committed to advancing

in accordance with the referendum of october i. that is, to pursue an independent state in the form of a republic — a mandate which was supported by the december 21 elections. it will not be easy, there are powerful interests against this. # catalunya, triomfant! this catalan government wants negotiations with spain's new prime minister about independence. their support in the last few days helped bring him to power. but madrid says the constitution bans any break up of the nation. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: up for sale in paris, the auction of this unique fossil which experts hope will raise a million dollars for conservation groups. the queen and her husband

began their royal progress to westminster. the moment of crowning in accordance with the order of service, by a signal given with great guns of the tower shall be shot off. tributes have been paid around the world to muhammad ali, who has died at the age of 7a. outspoken but rarely outfought, ali transcended the sport of boxing, of which he was three times world champion. he was a good fighter and he fought all the way to the end, even through his illness. yes, he did. uefa imposes an indefinite ban on english clubs playing in europe. today is the 20th anniversary of the release of the beatles' lp sgt pepper's lonely hearts club band, a record described as the album of the century. this is bbc news.

our main headline: 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 washington that there are only days left to avoid a trade war. let's get more on this story. earlier, i spoke with eswar prasad, a professor of trade policy at cornell university and the former head of the international monetary fund's china division. i began by asking if a trade war was avoidable? it is quite interesting to see the us taken to the woodshed by its traditional trading partner allies. the risk of open trade war has increased significantly with the us showing no signs of backing down. donald trump thought these threats would cause the other countries to capitulate. instead, there has been harsh retaliation. it has not been easy for either side to back down right now. what does donald trump want from these other countries?

that is the interesting point. what donald trump has defined success in these relationships as is eliminating the trade deficit with these countries. he sees a trade surplus with any country as a win for the us and a trade deficit as a negative. economists would tell you that what determines trade deficits with one or more countries is the macroeconomic policy that happens in the economy rather than any trade policies. donald trump wants a win in terms of bringing down trade deficit, like getting china to commit to reducing the bilateral trade deficit. it is not a zero—sum game. if donald trump says he is quote—unquote "losing" against china, when you look at the trade balance of china with its neighbours, that tells a different story.

certainly. i think this is not the right way to view a trade relationship. it is not a zero—sum game. all countries can benefit. and certainly the us is running a significant trade deficit, though it is smaller than it used to be, what is driving it up is the policies the us are taking. one such policy is a huge increase in the budget deficit of the government. that will drive up the trade deficit, plus the fact the private sector in the us does not save much. so it's policies to fix those issues which are important. there are certain concerns about trading practices with china that are legitimate,

but the way donald trump has approached this, i do not think it will be successful, even in that area. eswar prasad in washington. saturday was the first full day in office for italy's new prime minister, giuseppe conte, after being sworn in on friday. mr conte is to lead a coalition government, one half of which, the five star movement, held a celebration rally in rome. our correspondent, james reynolds, was there. this rally, organised by the five star movement in rome, shows how quickly things can change in italy. just a few days ago, five star was calling for everyone to come here and call for the impeachment of the country's president because the president had vetoed the choice of a eurosceptic finance minister for the five

star—league coalition. then everyone got together, the arguments were resolved, and so this rally has now been rebranded as a celebration. people have still decided to come out, and it is an important moment for five star. bear in mind this movement was only founded in 2009 as a direct democracy and anti—corruption party and now, for the first time, it is now officially in government. its priority, it says, is to bring about a jobseeker‘s allowance for many italians who live in poverty, particularly in the south of the country, and the league, its partner, wants to have a tough new policy on migration. everyone here is a reasonably celebratory mood because they are still talking about promises. that may all change when they realise they are now no longer the anti—establishment parties — five star and the league are now officially the establishment, and they have to get on with it. cuba is getting ready to reform its constitution

to open up the economy to business and investment. however as will grant reports from havana, this won't mean the island abandons its "irrevocable nature of socialism." before business, a moment of reflection. the parliament, among them raul castro, observed a minute's silence for the 112 victims of the recent plane crash in havana. once the national grief was marked, they settled down to rewrite the constitution upon which the communist state is founded. it's no small undertaking. in stepping down from the presidency in april, raul castro urged the assembly to codify his economic changes into law. private businesses, from family—run restaurants to homes on aianb have cropped up in their thousands since he relaxed the rules. yet many business owners fear they have no legal protection under the constitution. these reforms would, at the very least, recognise their greater role in the new cuban economy. there are other questions on the table as well, not least the issue of term limits. mr castro and his older brother, fidel, ruled for the best part of six decades. their successors will be

contained to just two consecutive five—year terms. socially as well, cuba is changing. gay and lesbian rights have moved on a great deal from the repression of the 1070s and 80s. the lbgtq rights lobby led by mr castro's daughter, mariella castro, is hopeful they can overturn the concept of marriage on the island as strictly between a man and a woman. whatever reforms are agreed, there are some fundamentals that won't change in cuba. the socialist character of the political system was enshrined into law several years ago. and with raul castro overseeing the reform committee, no change will be allowed to stray too far from the original concept of a communist—led revolution. will grant, bbc news, havana.

a dinosaurfossilfound in the united states is going on sale at the eiffel tower in paris on monday. the skeleton is worth millions of dollars, though experts are still uncertain of its identity. shuba krishnan reports. headed for auction. this dinosaur skeleton is expected to fetch up to $2.2 million. not bad for an unidentified species. translation: until all the bones were discovered, we all thought it was an allosaurus. it was in the laboratory that they realised as they gradually removed all the bones that there were plenty of anatomical details

that didn't match up. it is thought to have hollow bones and three toed feet. the skeleton is almost nine metres long and is unusually complete with 70% intact. it's a good sign for scientists who are continuing to research its unique anatomy. they've already spotted several differences with other known species such as more teeth and a substantial pelvis. organisers are hoping this rare dinosaur will find a good home. translation: in terms of potential clients, there are quite a few. it's a large bracket. these past years, everyone was thinking about a museum but the problem is that museums don't have enough money at the moment. the current owner of the skeleton has asked for the money raised from the sale to go to conservation groups and further excavations. bbc news. normally they name it after places

they're found. call it a wyomingasaurus. now, if you're afraid of closed spaces, this might leave you a bit anxious. a french performance artist has embarked on a less—than—comfortable trip back in time by locking himself in a wooden cavity. abra ham poincheval will stand upright in an oversized wooden replica of one of the world's oldest and most famous stone—age carvings, a lion—headed man. with gifts of dried food and a wave to the crowd, the artist will test his mental and physical limits for the next seven days. but why? a reminder of our top story. g7 ministers have accused washington of abandoning its leadership of the global economy and warn of a trade war over new tariffs. don't forget, you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. i'm nkem ifejika. goodbye. hello.

the weather contrast continued on saturday. thundery downpours once more, a few for scotland and northern ireland and northern and eastern parts of england. there will be fewer to come for the 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. starting 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. 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. this is bbc news. the headlines: the us treasury secretary has faced sharp criticism at a heated meeting 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 —— beijing says it has the right 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, it's time to click. this week: it's hey from hay.