welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories — calls for the sacking of guatemala's head of emergency services after the agency failed to act on warnings of eruptions of the fuego volcano. the death toll rises to 99. president trump grants clemency to a grandmother serving a life sentence after a plea from reality tv star kim kardashian west. britain's grenfell tower inquiry hears from the man who lived in the flat where the fire started. and the salamander, the conservationists and some mexican nuns — we'll tell you about the unlikely alliance to save the axolotl. with 99 people now confirmed dead around the erupting fuego volcano in guatemala, opposition politicians are calling for the head

of the emergency response agency to be sacked. they believe the agency failed to respond to advance warnings. dozens of people are still unaccounted for. volcanologists monitoring increased activity from fuego say they warned officials to evacuate the area, but it didn't happen. will grant reports from one of the worst affected areas, los lotes. the tiny community of los lotes stood no chance. flimsy shacks of tin and corrugated iron offered residents no protection when the awesome power of volcan de fuego thundered through their village. everything was buried under the river of lava and ash. homes, livelihoods, loved ones. some are still looking for survivors, but it is an increasingly forlorn task. instead, the desperate search has turned to the morgues. wendy hernandez has lost

everyone she held dear, ger entire family gathered for her mother's birthday —— her entire family gathered for her mother's birthday was wiped out in minutes. her mother, sister, nephews and what's breaking her heart most of all, her two teenage daughters. translation: alll could hear was screams. i begged her to tell me what was going on. but she did not respond. with each passing day, this disaster isn't easing, but worsening. it is now almost impossible that anyone still searching for lost loved ones will have any success, except perhaps in retrieving their bodies for burial. the emergency services are working around the clock, but barely coping. the president says in this poverty—stricken nation, there isn't a single extra peso available for the relief effort. and amid it all, fuego is still active. a recent alarm prompted

fresh panic among local people, who fled any way they could. they say in latin america, hope is the last thing you lose. but in guatemala, that hope is fading fast. will grant, bbc news, los lotes, guatemala. one of the world's most active volcanoes, kilauea on hawaii, is also still erupting. but despite the almost constant eruptions, hawaii has seen no fatalities. andrew plant reports. it has been erupting for more than a month. the way's kilauea volcano, its molten rock boiling through multiple fishers the. the coastal communities in the way the big island are now largely evacuated. i choose day, 117 homes had been destroyed. overnight, the lava kept flowing. it is thought another 80

properties have now been lost. we are monitoring activity, operations are monitoring activity, operations are still ongoing as far as watching the vulnerable communities on the roads out there, assisting folks and recovering whatever they can before any more inundation takes place. the eruption started on may three, destroying homes and livelihoods here, but predictable, expected even, and so far, no one has died. kilauea never build up the violent pressure that has claimed so many lives in guatemala's explosive eruption. scientists say this eruption. scientists say this eruption cycle started in the 1980s and cannot say when the molten lava will die back down. when it does, though, many here will need really build their homes followed by almost five weeks of flowing lava. andrew plant, bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. spain's new socialist prime minister has named his cabinet, and women are taking most of the posts for the first time

in the country's history. there are 11 women and six men. pedro sanchez, who took office on friday after unseating mariano rajoy‘s popular party, says his new government is pro—gender equality and cross—generational. the leaders of france and canada have reaffirmed their support for strong multilateral trade relations ahead of the g7 summit, trade tariffs and protectionism from the us will inevitably be a main focus of the meeting. canada's justin trudeau, who's hosting emmanuel macron of france ahead of the summit in canada, has said he expects difficult conversations with president trump. thousands of people have marched through the chilean capital, santiago, in protest at sexual harassment and sexist behaviour in universities and schools. students burned a giant papermache stiletto shoe, chanted and beat drums. for the past month, female students have occupied dozens of chilean universities, calling for an end to institutionalised sexism, including harassment by male staff and sexist education. here in the uk, the public inquiry

into the fire at a london tower block a year ago has heard from the man who lived in the flat where the fire started. at least 72 people died in the grenfell tower, one of the country's worst modern disasters. behailu kebede's lawyer told the inquiry that his client did the right thing from start to finish after the fire broke outm but that —— after the fire broke out, but that mr kebede had been made a scapegoat by parts of the media. tom symonds reports. it's nearly a year now. the tower is slowly being covered up. but there's an unwavering determination to remember those who called it home, with these words appearing today. one of those residents was behailu kebede. his kitchen was where the fire started. this is him making the first 999 call. g re nfell tower.

his lawyer said he fled barefoot, phone in hand, using it to film the first flames. but press reports, including this prominent article in the london review of books, reported that he'd packed a suitcase first. elsewhere, it was suggested his fridge had exploded because it was faulty. "garbage," said his barrister. he'd been scapegoated. he is a good man. he did nothing wrong. on the contrary, he did the right thing from start to finish. now he wants privacy for himself and his family. justice! now! kensington and chelsea council has also been blamed and invaded by protesters... we wantjustice! ..for commissioning the fatal refurbishment of grenfell tower. today, we heard the council's early defence. without seeking to prejudge the

evidence, i venture to suggest that you will find that there was nothing unique about the royal borough of kensington and chelsea, which meant that the fire was destined to take place within its boundaries rather than somewhere else. but the refurbishment was overseen by the independent tenant management organisation, which looked after council housing in the borough. so, while tmo is a specialist in the management of social housing stock, it is not a specialist design or construction company and had no in—house expertise in these areas. so it contracted out to a string of companies, including these four. victims' lawyers say this is developing into a carousel of blame. passed between all the bodies and companies involved. the barrister wa nted companies involved. the barrister wanted the enquiry to take a shortcut to drive immediate recommendations to improve safety

for social housing tenants. this man lived on floor 15. right for social housing tenants. this man lived on floor15. right now we are talking the risk in towers, it doesn't be calm, it is not about g re nfell tower a ny doesn't be calm, it is not about grenfell tower any more. the families of those lost and the survivors have been placed at the heart of this process, but they face a long wait for this enquiry‘s considered answers to their many questions. tom funds, bbc news, at the granville enquiry. —— grenfell enquiry. ajudge in california, who was widely criticised for his leniency towards a student sex attacker, has been removed from office by local voters. in 2016, judge aaron persky gave a 6—month jail sentence to stanford university swimmer, brock turner, for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman after a party on campus. the student could have been sent to prison for 14 years. our correspondent, peter bowes,

says the #metoo movement may have played a part in thejudge's removal. the movement have had a tremendous amount of publicity over the last year or $0, amount of publicity over the last yearorso, and all amount of publicity over the last year or so, and all that started after the arrest of harvey weinstein. it has changed the mood in terms of women feeling empowered in cases like this, perhaps where they feel that justice has in cases like this, perhaps where they feel thatjustice has been done, and certainly, that was the mood, the feeling after this case a couple of years ago. though it could well be seen as the first expression of that new—found empowerment at the ballot box, essentially changing a wrong that many people viewed at the time, and taking someone out of office have expressed an opinion that many, many people disagree with. there is another way to look at this, and some people are concerned that it amounts to the politicising of judges concerned that it amounts to the politicising ofjudges and that this system, which is rarely used, this is only the fifth time in california is only the fifth time in california is three, at a judge has been

removed from office under this system, not because of any criminal wrongdoing on his part or any unethical activity on his part, but because of his interpretation of the law and the sentencing guidelines. some people say that is dangerous, but perhaps in the future, judges might be encouraged to hand out stiffer sentences because they are concerned about their jobs. president trump has granted clemency to 63—year—old grandmother alicejohnson, who was serving a life sentence in prison for a first—time non—violent drug offence. this comes just one week after the reality tv star kim kardashian west visited the president in the white house to lobby for alice johnson's release. let's get more from our correspondent in washington, chris buckler. give us the details. alice johnson was involved in a cocaine conspiracy. what she did was passed on messages between drug dealers, both were distributing the drugs and those supplying them. it is called a

telephone renewal, and she received a life sentence for her part in that conspiracy. herfamily a life sentence for her part in that conspiracy. her family and friends have deemed campaigning for some time, it says that for the harsh sentence, she was a first—time offender, someone who had not been involved in a violent offence. it got the backing of kim kardashian in west, the reality tv star, who found herself able to get into the white house and the oval office to take the case directly to donald trump himself. it means kim kardashian in west simply became interested in this story after watching a video on social media. is it does seem like her influence has had an effect on the president, and within days of that meeting, he has looked at the sentence. very publicly today, he did not get the backing of another senior republican. there is a lot of people talking about the use of pardons and the use of clemency by donald trump, and that is because of

his comments earlier this week on twitter when he talked about whether oi’ twitter when he talked about whether or not he would have the power to pardon himself. he said he would and that has been backed up by his lawyer, who has been doing the rounds on a number of television interviews. this question about whether or not donald trump could pardon himself is one that has caught a lot of attention here, particularly with the american media focused on his ongoing investigation. allegations of russian meddling, delegations of colluding in 2016 election. he has done nothing wrong and therefore wouldn't need to use the power of pardon, and he makes it very clear that he believes that the whole enquiry is a witch—hunt. but other members of his republican party are being asked that question, including paul ryan, who is the speaker of the house. what is interesting if he believes it is not about a question of whether or not he could use a pardon, but whether or not he should. i don't know the technical as to that question, but the answer

is he shouldn't and no one is above the law. there you get a real sense of paul ryan trying to dismiss this. he has been talking about some other things that donald trump has been tweeting about, and asked specifically about those, specifically about those, specifically the idea that potentially there was a spy in a camp of the trump campaign sent by the vi, and whether the fbi were missed using their powers by doing so. “— missed using their powers by doing so. —— fbi. a senior republican has been looking at this issue and says there is no evidence for it, really contradicting what donald trump has been saying himself. get a sense of the tensions emerging between the president and his party. thank you very much indeed. thank you to being with us. stay with us if you can. there is much more to come on bbc news. still to come — remembering the life and legacy of robert kennedy, a memorial service is held to mark his death 50 years ago. 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, the 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.

the latest headlines: calls for the sacking of guatemala's head of emergency services after the agency failed to act on warnings of eruptions of the fuego volcano. the death toll rises to ninety—nine. president trump grants clemency to a grandmother serving a life sentence — after a plea from reality tv star — kim kardashian. with just days to go before the historic summit between presdient trump and the north korean leader kimjong un, the authorities have announced the sheer scale of their security operation. the so—called ‘enhanced security special event.‘ will see large areas of singapore sealed off. with the restrictions in place for several days it will cause major

disruption — as rahul joglekar reports. the roads may look calm for now but singapore may soon be transformed into a fortress. we know that sentosa island will be the location for the meeting between donald trump and north korea's kimjong—un. the police have now revealed that the security blanket will extend to areas at the heart of the city state, blocking off some of the main roads and the waters off the coast as well. drones, signalflares, and flammable materials are just some of the things that police have banned. the summit has been declared as an enhanced security special event from june 10 untiljune1li. during this period, the public can expect heightened security measures to be put in place at the summit venues and areas around. security seems to be a major concern in selecting the two hotels. the capella hotel on sentosa island and shangri—la in downtown singapore. capella, being on sentosa island, a resort island, makes it easy to cut it off without disrupting

the rest of singapore. and even within sentosa island, the location of the capella hotel is separate from the other hotels as well, so you can really create a safe space for the summit to happen without creating much disruption at all. can these two very different leaders forge a long road to peace in singapore? the local security forces hope to ensure that there are checkpoints along the way. a footballerfrom england's national team has asked his family not to travel to russia to watch him play in this summer's world cup —— over fears of racist abuse. (00v) the defender danny rose says he's become numb to racism the defender danny rose says he's become numb to racism in football but england manager gareth southgate said the team has a plan to deal with any racism levelled at them. a service of remembrance has taken place at arlington national cemetary — to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination

of robert kennedy. it was a moment when a different type of america seemed possible. robert kennedy had won the california primary and was closer to the white house. moments later, he lay mortally wounded on the floor of a hotel kitchen. another kennedy brother killed by an assassin‘s bullet. 50 yea rs brother killed by an assassin‘s bullet. 50 years later, his life and legacy were remembered by some who never knew him and some who miss in most. you share our deep sense of loss and our happy memories. your presence is deeply moving and a tribute to the love that my father inspired. thank you for remembering. it was at arlington, the place where he was buried just a few feet from the grave ofjfk, that this service took place. many here, convinced that the words of robert kennedy a

more relevant than ever. we can do it all over again but we had to do it all over again but we had to do it the way he did, speaking to everybody, stating the same thing to everybody. with a heart full of love and an outstretched hand. this was a service dedicated to a life cut short, a legacy incomplete. but it was also dedicated to the ideas of robert kennedy, what his grandson called his belief in a truer, kinder tomorrow. tim allman, bbc news. conservationists from a british zoo have formed an unlikely partnership with an order of mexican nuns — to save a critically endangered amphibian from extinction. the axolotl is a salamander that is unique to mexico. but it has been almost wiped out by pollution and over—fishing. however scientists say the nuns could hold the key to saving it. our science correspondent victoria gill has sent this report from lake patzucuaro in central mexico.

lake patzcuaro, central mexico. in central mexico. the only place in the world where you just might find a critically endangered axolotl local known locally as the achoce. this vast lake used to be teeming with this species of axolotl, but now the scientists studying them have set out traps to catch them and this is a half kilometre long line with 100 traps and they're hoping to find just two or three that they can take some samples from. scientists are here on a mission to prevent these strange amphibians from being wiped out completely. deforestation, which is dragging down sediments to the lake, and we have as well pollution — we were talking now to make it official that the species is close to extinction, so it was really we arrive right at the last minute. this emergency effort involves rearing the axolotls in captivity.

and that's where some unexpected experts come in — the sisters of the immaculate health, who run a true sanctuary for this species. translation: it's a lot of work and a great deal of sacrifice. but it's worth it, to work with nature and to protect what god has given us. we're going to take another dna from rubbing the tongue... but while conservationists and their devout collaborators work together to save a species that's disappearing from the wild, axolotls are bred in their thousands in laboratories around the world. most people study them because of their ability to regenerate, and it's remarkable. so let's take the limb gets bitten off here, above the elbow. what will happen is, the limb willjust regenerate

a perfect mirror image of the limb on the other side. and so many people hope that we can identify some latent ability to regenerate in human tissues by studying and understanding how the axolotl regenerates. this is real good. for centuries, these healing abilities have fuelled a belief that consuming axolotl can cure almost any respiratory element. and the original recipe for this remarkable medicine? developed by the sisters themselves. nuns here started breathing breeding the animals 30 years ago to sustain the supply of this ancient remedy‘s key ingredient. that's what makes them such axolotl experts. now, the quiet dedication of this religious community could provide a future for a creature from which we have so much to learn. victoria gill with that report from mexico. it's been announced that the editor of the daily mail, paul dacre, will step down, one of the most influential and controversial figures in british media —— media,

newspaper both had marred and reviled. a small hotel in the english county of wiltshire has become a surprise tip because it was the unlikely source of inspiration for a japanese animated series. hello, welcome to fosse farmhouse. in the animation, the main character is alice, who lives here and her best friend is called shinabu and where shinabu comes to visit alice, being japanese, she thinks she has to take her shoes off sir alistair also, no, before you go

into a house but alice tells her, no, no, you don't have to do that in england, please come in so what she does is she stands at the front door and there she goes into the doorstep and justjumps with both feet into the house. all the fans now who visit here now want to do the same thing. you can reach me and most of the tea m you can reach me and most of the team on twitter. i am @bbcmikeembley. hello there.

good morning. the weather looks very sluggish over the next few days into the weekend as well. so it is going to be difficult to get the detail right. wednesday, most places had a warm, summer's day. not much cloud around at all. over the next couple of days, in the south, there will be more cloud around. maybe one or two heavy and thundery showers. on the whole, most places will be dry. fair bit of cloud across eastern areas on wednesday but this is the cloud coming in from the near continent that threatens a few heavy and thundery showers, notjust overnight — perhaps into thursday as well into the southern parts of england as well — not many of them, most places will be dry. more cloud fills humid southern areas and around the coast there could be patches of cloud on the cooler side but generally temperatures into the low 20s as they were on wednesday. we could scrape an isolated sharp shower across western scotland and western northern ireland, if those fall they will fade overnight, still one or two showers

into the south—west of england and south wales. again for eastern areas, turning misty and more areas of low clouds and patchy fog too. a card to cope a card it will improve through the day on friday and again we have the risk of a few showers here and there. same sort of areas around southern england and wales and clipping the far north—west of the uk, but large parts will be fine and dry and it will feel warm in the sunshine again. always cooler around those north sea coasts because we have an onshore breeze, once again high pressure to the north of the uk and lower pressure to the south and it's around that that we are seeing storms, heavy rain, maybe over the continent through the english channel and the threat of one or two heading into england and wales on saturday. the risk is still there, the most western side of ireland, cooler along the north sea coast. during the second half of the weekend this area of low pressure is close and the weather front too, it threatens to bring with it heavy rain. still could be a few sharp showers across scotland

and the chance of one or two for northern ireland but again some spells of sunshine and temperatures into the low 20s. looking ahead into monday and tuesday, again, most places will be dry. briefly we may see some high—pressure arriving on tuesday, but on the site wind after that. maybe a change. looking ahead into monday and tuesday, again, most places will be dry. briefly we may see some high—pressure arriving on tuesday, but on the site wind after that. this is bbc news. the headlines: opposition politicians in guatemala have called for the sacking of the head of the emergency response agency, saying it failed to heed advance warnings about the deadly eruption of the fuego volcano. 99 people are now known to have died since sunday in a series of volcanic eruptions. an american grandmother jailed for more than 20 years on a non—violent drugs charge has been released from prison

after she was granted clemency by president trump. her case was highlighted by reality tv star, kim kardashian west, who met mr trump last week to lobby for her release. britain's grenfell inquiry has heard that the man who lived in the flat where the fire started was not responsible for the tragedy. a lawyer for behailu kebede said his client alerted his flatmates and neighbours as soon as he saw smoke and claims that he left the building to burn were a nasty lie. now on bbc news: wednesday in parliament.