welcome to newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl, in singapore. the headlines: after meeting the japanese prime minister, donald trump says next week's summit could end the korean war. i really believe that we have the potential to do something incredible for the world and it's my honour to be involved. meanwhile other g7 leaders gather in canada, facing deep divisions with the us on trade. i'm kasia madera, in london. also in the programme: was the red planet always a dead planet? nasa says it's found something which suggests there might really have been life on mars. and peace on a plate — singapore cooks up some korean—american fusion food. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news — it's newsday.

good morning. it's 8am in singapore, 1 am in london and 8pm in washington, where president trump has been meeting the japanese prime minister, ahead of the summit with north korea, that now looks almost certain to take place next week. mr trump promised shinzo abe improved trade links, in a bid to smooth over any worries tokyo might have about a korea peace deal. he expressed optimism about his encounter with kim jong—un, later backed up by his secretary of state who said he believed north korea was ready to denuclearise. jane o'brien reports. with the clock ticking down to tuesday's summit with kim jong—un, donald trump was visibly excited.

i think it is going to be a very fruitful meeting, an exciting meeting, i think we are going to get to know a lot of people that our country never got to know. so the summit now seems to be more of a getting—to—know—you session rather than a complex and high—stakes negotiation — another insight into mr trump's rather unorthodox approach. i don't think i have to prepare very much. it's about attitude, it's about a willingness to get things done. but i think i have been preparing for this summit for a long time. that's in contrast to the rather more direct approach taken by the secretary of state, mike pompeo, when asked if both sides were closer to agreeing on a definition of "denuclearisation". yes. reporter: can you describe that a little bit? no. ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and the prime minister ofjapan. but forjapan‘s prime minister, shinzo abe, here in washington to ensure his voice is heard, the direct threat from north korea remains. these drills are a practised

for the ballistic missiles that can already reach tokyo with or without nuclear warheads. but mr abe seems to have been sidelined. kim has met with china's president xi, south korea's president moon and mr pompeo. mr trump meanwhile is already thinking of other photo ops with mr kim. reporter: sir, if you do invite him to the united states, will it be here at the whote house or mar—a—lago? maybe we'll start with the white house, what do you think? mr abe has invested a lot of time building a personal relationship with mr trump but, as other leaders of us allies have discovered to their cost, friendship does not always come up with benefits. and with mr trump so keen for his own success, mr abe might be right to worry. jane o'brien, bbc news, washington well, that trump—abe meeting was a precursor to both leaders heading to canada for the g7 summit, the gathering which brings together the heads of the world's

biggest economies. but it's a meeting that won't be without a few awkward moments. the main reason for disagreement, those tariffs imposed by the trump administration on aluminium and steel imports from g7 allies, including france and canada. the prime minister of the g7 host nation, justin trudeau, is not happy and sent a strong message to his us counterpart. translation: we see that there is a lot of pressure within the united states to perhaps revise this laughable statement that canada, france and nato countries could represent a threat to america's national security, when in reality we are the best allies that the united states has had for a long time. gary o'donoghue is in quebec, where the summit will be taking place — he told me more about what we can expect. it promises to be an extremely awkward summit between seven country, seven economies, that are meant to be in lockstep

and have been in lockstep in terms of their attitude to trade and to other international matters for a number of years. so there is a good reason why many people are calling this the "g6 plus one" and this will be the first opportunity that those allies have face—to—face to tell donald trump what they think about those tariffs. you heard there the prime minister of canada, the host country, describing them as laughable. he has previously called them insulting and unacceptable. the european union and those countries who are in the g7 from the eu have also said that they are going to retaliate, as is canada, to those tariffs so there's going to be a lot of pressure on the american president when he arrives here on friday. there will be some room for agreement between these countries. they have been working on other initiatives such as the education of girls around the world and progress for women in leadership issues, but on things like trade,

on things like economic development, on things like some international affairs, such as the iran nuclear deal, the moving of the us embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem, all these things have created huge tensions between these countries which would normally be allies. also making news today: it's been a chaotic 2a hours over brexit. british ministers have been trying to agree their back—stop position if there isn't a deal when the uk leaves the european union. prime minister theresa may wants a stop gap plan that sees the uk stick closely to eu customs arrangements. some of her pro—brexit ministers weren't happy, wanting a firm date for the temporary arrangement to end. the result, a compromise that's unlikely to be end of the matter. a software bug has meant millions of facebook users may have unknowingly posted private information to the public. the glitch set a user's post to be

shared to "everyone", even if that user had chosen a more restricted option, such as the "just share with friends" option. facebook has apologised and says the problem is fixed. such as the "just share with friends of friends" option. facebook has apologised and says the problem is fixed. a south korean tourist has been rescued after spending six days lost in the australian wilderness. joohee han fell into a gully in northern queensland, and was only found after search teams heard her calling for help. she survived without any supplies, but is said to be in good health, and good spirits. for six days, surviving is a miracle. it is a miracle that has essentially happen. after i did it myself, i said i would never be going back up there again. the french parliament has voted to ban the use of mobile phones in schools. it's hoped the move will improve concentration in class, and help prevent cyber bullying.

both teachers and students will be affected by the bill, which, if approved, will come into force later this year. we're less than a week away from the start of the football world cup. and as you can see fans are making their way to russia in all sorts of different ways. hubolt wirth, from germany, is travelling with his dog, using his tractor. he's currently in belarus slowly towing his caravan to the border, with a top speed ofjust 20 kilometres per hour. despite that, he says he's still confident of reaching moscow in time to take in some matches. more now on oui’ main news this hour — the build—up to the summit between donald trump and kimjong—un, which begins on tuesday right here in singapore. it will of course be a face—to—face meeting between the leaders of america and north korea, but several other countries will be

watching events very closely. we asked our correspondents in three of the most interested nations to give us the view where they are. japan is rather worried about the kim—trump summit in singapore and the reason is all about location. north korea has hundreds of short and medium—range missiles that can hit pretty much any city injapan. but president trump is really only concerned about north korea's handful of long—range missiles that can maybe hit the united states. so the worry here is that, in singapore, he might do a deal with kim jong—un to get rid of his long—range missiles and forget all about the ones that can hit japan. then there's the issue od abductions, which is a really, really big issue here injapan. shinzo abe has promised to get back all japanese citizens abducted by north korea in the 70s and 80s.

president trump has promised to help but does he really care? is this really a big issue for the us? almost certainly not. this summit is south korea's chance peace in decades. they believe their president moonjae—in has been instrumental in diplomatically bring in these two leaders together. now south koreans have the step back and watch the seat if a deal can be done to try to end nearly 70 years of war. of course, they have been here before, only to be disappointed. the north has made offers of peace only to walk away and continue with its nuclear weapons programme but there is a feeling here that this time things may be different and they are on the first tentative but historic step of forming a new relationship with their neighbour. when it comes to north korea, china matters. every us administration has been aware of that fact and none more so than this one which has been badgering beijing to do more

to enforce sanctions. has that been the crucial thing that has forced north korea to the negotiating table? it seems unlikely. china has been doing more but it has also made it clear it does not one want to bring about north korea's collapse. beijing may be more realistic in washington about the prospect of north korea giving up its nuclear arsenal and if this summit fails to deliver then beijing may be less likely to blame its old ally and a neighbour and more likely to point a finger at america. that is the view from our correspondents. let's bring you the view from america now: i spoke earlier to andray abrahamian, from the griffith asia institute, in our los angeles studio. he says there's a lot at stake for everyone involved. well, it is difficult to tell exactly what will be decided,

given how quickly it has been put together. it is clear the south korean like to see a peace treaty in match and i think donald trump is also quite keen on doing something grand on the world stage that can leave a legacy. the question is, with such a short compressed time line for putting it together, can they get to an agreement in time and i suspect they may not but they will probably lay out a process by which a peace treaty could be reached. we also heard from the us secretary of state that kimjong—un has indicated to him personally that north korea is keen to denuclearirize approaching a common interpretation of the term denuclearisation. is it potentially being naive given the sobering talks with the parties involved? i do not think there is much naivite tea on the american side, at this moment they need to be clear

what they are far the north korean. normalisation and security guarantees and possibly an adjustment of us forces in south korea. removing forces completely or ending the alliance with south korea, that is not on the table. but beneath that, what is the us able to offer the north koreans? and indeed what will they accept from them? the us dream is perhaps a two—year rapid denuclearization timeline but i do not think that is possible. aside from the nuclear issue, much speculation that this meeting might also bring about a pact to formally end the korean war. is that likely? what else is likely from the meeting? i am not sure if that is on the cards just yet although the rumours are that moonjae—in is interested

in going just after the summit. if that is so, it is possible they would have reached a peace deal but the americans need to see some movement on denuclearisation before they can get to putting signatures on paper. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... organic molecules on mars — nasa announces a tantalising new discovery on the red planet. also on the programme... singapore's chefs cook up special fusion dishes ahead of the trump—kim summit. the day the british liberated the falklands, and by the night,

british troops had begun the task of disarming the enemy. in the heart of the west german capital, this was gorby—mania at its height. the crowd packed to see the man who for them has raised great hopes for an end for the division of europe. michaeljackson was not guilty on all charges, the screams of the crowd testament to his popularity and their faith in his innocence. as long as they'll pay to go see me, i'll get out there and kick 'em down the hill. what does it feel like to be the first man to go across the channel by your own power? it's pretty neat. feels marvellous, really. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: after meeting the

japanese prime minister, donald trump says he's optimistic about progress on the issue of denuclearisation at next week's summit with north korea. meanwhile, other g7 leaders are gathering in canada facing deep divisions with the us on trade. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the south china morning post has a nice picture of coffee art of the korean leaders, as it reports on china possibly sending fighterjets to escort kim jong—un to his summit with president trump in singapore on tuesday. it says beijing wants to increase its influence over the north korean regime. the japan times is looking at a new law on short—term rentals causing problems for tourists ahead of a busy summer season. rules coming in next week require hosts to register and meet new regulations, meaning

about 40,000 properties might be taken off airbnb. and the philippine daily inquirer says a drug war in bangladesh is becoming increasingly bloody. it reports that the un human rights commissioner has criticised dhaka for the killing of 130 people, the government denies extra—judicial killings. that brings you up to date with some of the papers. kasia, there's a row that has broken out when donald trump cancelled his invitation to the philadelphia eagles to celebrate their super bowl win at the white house. it has turned into a war of words with a difference. yes, it certainly has, sharanjit. one of those eagles players who'd actually said they weren't going to the white house anyway, malcolm jenkins, held a news conference using only hand—written signs.

lets have a look. are you upset with the white house and the president for cancelling the trip? jenkins also held up cards defending players who mr trump had implied were unpatriotic because of their protests against social injustice during the national anthem. he chose not to reply out loud to any of the questions, letting his cards speak for themselves. and you can see more of that on bbc.com. nasa says it has found evidence that there might once have been life on mars. the discovery was made by the curiosity rover, which discovered what nasa says were organic molecules in rocks dating back three billion years. their conclusion, while it's not necessarily evidence of life itself, it can't be ruled out. we found organic molecules in rocks from an ancient lake bed. those organic molecules could have come from life.

we don't know that there was never life on mars. the organic molecules that we found are not specifically evidence of life because there are other sources of making those molecules, including things that are non—biological in nature, things like meteorites, oi’ even i’ock processes. we can attribute geology all by itself, without life, to making organic molecules, and the information that we have doesn't tell us which source is responsible for what we have. masoe being a bit cautious about those findings. —— nasa. the deputy director of the royal astronomical society, dr robert massey, explained why we shouldn't get too excited just yet. it's an intriguing discovery, but as the scientist said in your report, its not hard evidence of life on mars. what it is is part of that incredibly, you know, sometimes painful process of scientific discovery, where you have to send probes, extract data, you're looking for those tentative clues.

but this is a big clue because it's the discovery of organic materials that, you know, in some ways you would think would be quite fragile. they are analogous to some of the things you find in gas deposits on earth, and they're associated on earth with ancient life. that doesn't mean that the same is true on mars, but it's really intriguing. so the fact that these organic compounds and this methane gas has survived, is that a big deal? well, the methane gas is intriguing too because that's fluctuating in the present day on a six—monthly timescale, so it has a sort of seasonal change, and that's intriguing. obviously you can wildly speculate and say there were bacteria, that they are somehow, i don't know, breeding in the spring and dying off in the autumn. it's not quite like that, probably, but it is fascinating. it says, look, this is a hostile world, it's not a place

where you or i could simply get out of a station and walk around. the air is poisonous, and there isn't much of an atmosphere anyway. it's a harsh radiation environment, as well, so not an easy place to live. but it's still possible there is some primitive life sitting somewhere deep beneath the surface, and that's why there's more of an imperative than ever to send more advanced missions to advance that research. now, the curiosity, back in 2014, how does that compare? well, i think this is very significant. it's just really intriguing to find these more fragile compounds, and these things that are more associated with life than we've seen before. we've seen plenty of evidence on mars of the action of water, that's beyond dispute now. we've seen things that look like ancient river beds, and close—up, fragmented masses of stones. and the landscape the rover is exploring is thought to be somewhere where there was once quite a lot of water, that maybe flowed, back

in the martian ancient history, actually a long time before advanced life was established on earth. so it's a very significant discovery. i'd be really intrigued to see a development, notjust in this mission, but doing more tests. it carries an on—board laboratory, it can drill into rocks and extract samples. also, missions that we'll see in the next few years, there's a european one, exomars, there's nasa's mars 2020 mission, these will be even more advanced roving laboratories. and then i guess, someday in the future, if we get astronauts there, they can do even more advanced work to answer some of the fundamental questions. are we alone in the universe? is there even primitive life in our solar system? robert massey speaking earlier to kasia. here in singapore, we are crazy about food. so it's no surprise our chefs have been creating special fusion dishes ahead of the trump—kim summit. but are they worth their place on the menu? we sent ourfoodie

reporters to find out. the much—anticipated meeting between donald trump and kim jong—un is about to take place right here in singapore, one of the most food—obsessed countries in the world. so it's no surprise that the singaporeans are marking this special occasion with some fancy fusion food. but are these dishes good enough to bring about world peace? we're about to find out. as you can see here, we're joined by our special guests. we have president donald trump over here, and kimjong—un over here, and these are pinatas. we're in a mexican restaurant, and right now we're about to test two different ta cos. the one right here is called the el trumpo.

it is a deconstructed cheeseburger. and then we have the rocket man, with a spicy korean sauce. that's got some kick. you can see how they arrived at the rocket man, being a bit fiery. you would expect this in a cheeseburger, but this is an unexpected match. but i quite like it. so do you think these are dishes worthy of bringing world peace? there's certainly a lot of conflict in it, but i'm leaning more towards yes than no. this is a burger with minced chicken, kimchi, and seaweed seasoning on top of it, and you also see korean rice rolls. this is not the usual kimchi.

growing up, it was different, with more vegetables in it. 0k. it's just something different. it's definitely not a burger in the traditional sense, but i am getting a lot of really lovely flavours out of it. i think the kimchi, banh, it works. do you think this is good enough to bring about world peace? i'm going to say yes. i think this is a winner. actually, me too. this is a winner. you heard it first from our bbc reporters! piece on a plate. it's going to happen! —— peace. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. if only it was that easy but let's hope so! that's all for now, stay with bbc world news. hello there, good morning. in wales, it's just been the warmest day of the year so far. here, 27 degrees.

in scotland, we had some slow—moving, thundery downpours yesterday, bringing some flash—flooding. and, across the southern half of the uk, much more cloud, and there's sufficient cloud over the next few days to bring the chance of one or two heavy and perhaps thundery showers. again, the worst of the storms, the more widespread storms, are likely to stay over the near continent. but we're looking at a few home—grown downpours in the next couple of days or so. difficult to pick out exactly where they'll be. but we've got this zone of weakness on friday, from wales up towards the humber and north yorkshire, where we could see a few more showers developing, perhaps towards the south—west of england, too, hence the odd slow—moving downpour across western parts of northern ireland, and particularly central scotland — some thunderstorms here. large parts of the uk will be dry. best of the sunshine, south—west scotland, north—west england, and later in the south—east of england. those storms in the north will tend to fade away.

most of the showers in england and wales fading away, too. but a fair bit of low cloud coming into eastern scotland and eastern england overnight, and a chillier night, actually, across eastern scotland and north—east england. quite a grey start here. that low cloud, misty weather, will tend to burn. we will see sunny spells developing more widely. quite a grey start here as well. a lot of that low cloud, misty weather, will tend to burn. we'll see sunny spells developing more widely. very few showers on saturday, the bulk of them are going to be in scotland, and these again will be heavy and thundery. not moving at all, so if you catch one, you will know about it. but it seems to be all or nothing again, and most places will have a dry day. now, we've got very little wind to stir things up at all, or to move things around. this lower pressure towards biscay threatens to bring some thunderstorms our way. at the moment, it looks like on sunday they're more likely to be through the english channel, affecting the channel islands. the odd shower further north, but again the bulk of the showers will be in scotland. probably more widespread showers on sunday, and again, heavy and thundery.

but large parts of the uk dry, and temperatures into the low 20s. now, at one stage it looked like this weather front will bring all these downpours into the south—east of the uk. but now, we've got sufficient high pressure to just keep it at bay, and it's not far away from kent on monday. 0therwise, some good spells of sunshine. again, no wind at all. a few showers, not quite as heavy this time for scotland, but one through the pennines, too, and temperatures 22, maybe even 23 degrees. and, looking ahead to tuesday and wednesday, not a great deal changes. most places will be dry. temperatures in the low 20s in the sunshine. mid—week, though, things may change. you are watching bbc world news. our top story: donald trump has met japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, to discuss his upcoming summit with kim jong—un. mr trump said there was the potential to do something incredible for the world. later, his secretary said the north korean leader had suggested he was now willing to denuclearise. mr trump will now head to the g7 summit in canada, where he is expected to face opposition to his decision to impose new tariffs on imports of steel

and aluminium to america. and this story is trending on bbc.com: nasa says tests on the soil and atmosphere of mars have given the strongest indication yet that there was once life on the red planet. the curiosity rover has found organic material in three billion—year—old rocks. that is all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk: another big name on the high street runs into trouble. house of fraser plans to shut over half its stores.