should be fine, with a lot of sunny weather. that's it. bye. this is bbc news. the headlines at 11pm: donald trump and kim jong—un are in singapore ahead of their historic meeting in three hours. american officials say preliminary talks with the north koreans have moved quickly, and they're focused on a key prize. the complete and verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the korea peninsula is the only outcome that the united states will accept. theresa may calls on conservative mps to unite behind her ahead of tomorrow's crucial brexit bill debate, but labour accuses her of a fudged attempt to heal divisions in her party. and on newsnight, as the greatest showman on earth come together in just a few hours time, john sweeney will take you to the heart of the qin dynasty in north korea —— greatest show men. —— kim dynasty. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. president trump and kim jong—un are in singapore ahead of their long—awaited summit, which starts injust a few hours‘ time. the americans say mr trump will accept nothing less than the complete denuclearisation of north korea but they added that the us was willing to offer north korea guarantees about its security as well as economic incentives. north korea says it will seek to establish a new relationship for a new era. here's our north america editor, jon sopel. cheering was there ever a more vivid symbol of the dramatic change that seems to be in the singapore air? the reclusive leader of a one—time pariah state on a night—time walkabout in a tourist destination, just ahead of his summit with donald trump. korea watchers even debating whether this is kim jong—un‘s first known selfie.

the us president, the long—time master of grabbing all media attention, was having a much more low—key day. lunch with the singaporean prime minister. no, this isn't him celebrating prematurely — it's donald trump's birthday later this week, though progress with kim jong—un would be the gift of all gifts. the american president sees this potentially as his moment in history — potentially a moment of history for the world. he's determined, energised and positive and so much happier to be in singapore than quebec. at a briefing, the us secretary of state was upbeat. all the preparations were coming together nicely. there are only two people that can make decisions of this magnitude, and those two people are going to be sitting in a room together tomorrow. we are hopeful this summit will have set the conditions for future productive talks. in light of how many flimsy agreements the united states has made in previous years,

this president will ensure that no potential agreement will fail to adequately address the north korean threat. so what might denuclearisation mean? america wants any abandonment of nuclear weapons to be complete. it must be verifiable — north korea must submit to international nuclear monitoring. and it must be irreversible — north korea will not be allowed to maintain capacity to covertly rebuild its nuclear programme. in pyongyang, the country's most famous newsreader had breaking news. she was on air to confirm that the supreme leader was in singapore for these historic talks. she was on air to confirm that the supreme leader was in singapore for these historic talks. 68 years ago, at the height of fears about the spread of communism, the korean war erupted. chinese and soviet—backed forces from the north attacked the south. america, britain and others were sucked in. the status quo was restored, but not before as many

three million koreans died. the korean war was brutal. over a three—year period, nearly 37,000 americans lost their lives, commemorated here at this memorial in washington. 1,100 britons also perished. it may be 65 years ago since the fighting ended, but for some, it is still living history. master sergeant howard griffin, now 91 years old, is a veteran of the war. it was cold and... to me it was useless, i think. i don't know. what, the conflict was useless? yes, yes. we lost the war. i don't know if it would have made any difference if we had won it or not. but anyway, we lost it. singapore is the most ordered, structured society in south east asia, but tomorrow two of the world's most unconventional leaders will try to win the peace, try to forge a new path for a peninsula that for seven decades has only known conflict — and the fear of conflict. jon sopel, bbc news, singapore. and unsurprisingly,

president trump has just been tweeting. he's said: joining me now is john nilsson—wright, senior research fellow for north—east asia at chatham house. good to see you. thanks for coming in. pleasure. we will soon know soon enough if a deal is in the offing. we're not going to know that really, are we? this is the first meeting of potentially many. both men of course wa nt to potentially many. both men of course want to make this summit a success. kim jong—un just by virtue of

showing up and meeting the most powerful man on the planet will be able to claim that success. donald trump wants to present himself as the master of the deal, but what does success really look like for him? we've does success really look like for him ? we've heard does success really look like for him? we've heard mike pompeo saying ambitiously we need conference, verifiable and irreversible disarmament. the north koreans aren't going to give away their only major insurance card so we might expect a worthy declaration about both sides' declaration for peace, the idea of continuing talks and the possibility of a timetable, some benchmarks both leaders might agree to but the idea we're going to have a fully fledged package, completely unrealistic. the idea any deal would be verifiable, how likely is that evenif be verifiable, how likely is that even if it's a year down the road? imean, the even if it's a year down the road? i mean, the stanford nuclear physicist,, said it would take 15

yea rs physicist,, said it would take 15 years to provide that reliable denuclearisation deal. we're talking about thousands of nuclear inspectors if the north koreans agree. it will take a lot of detailed negotiation. donald trump, to his credit, has said this is the first of many meetings, assuming both sides can get to that basic understanding. talking of basic understanding, do both sides agree on what denuclearisation is? no, that's the big sticking point, the gap is huge. the north koreans have been talking for years about having us troops leave the korean peninsular and, in fact, us troops leave the korean peninsularand, infact, having us troops leave the korean peninsular and, in fact, having the us‘s entire nuclear arsenal removed from east asia. that's a major claim, a major target, that's also unrealistic. think about the impact on america's allies! we've got to countries with two very different

maximalist demands, the us wanting to get rid of all north korean nuclear weapons, the north korean is wanting complete assurance from the united states united states that they will be safe —— north korean is. how does either side deliver on that? what we will get is strategic ambiguity and effort from both sides to fudge this issue and tried to sell it to their respective constituencies as a success —— and tried to. donald trump has been tweeting again, he says the fact i'm having a meeting is a major loss to the us said the haters and losers, we have our hostages, testing missile units stopped, the pundits have got it wrong from the beginning, we will be fine. —— try to. he says you got to give peace a chance and in order to do that you have to sit down with kimmich. he has a point? i think he does -- with kim jong—un. the beginning has a point? i think he does -- with kimjong—un. the beginning of the process is clearly a good first

step. here's the interesting question, does donald trump have the strategic patience, to coin a phrase, does he have the vision, does he have a strategy? kim jong—un, i would argue, a young man not ina jong—un, i would argue, a young man not in a hurry, and is looking ahead decades, looking at the future of his country for many years, is playing a clever, long—term chess game. he's ahead of his american rival, who is thinking much more short—term. rival, who is thinking much more short-term. interesting. john nilsson—wright, senior research fellow for northeast asia at the chatham house foreign affairs think tank. thanks for joining chatham house foreign affairs think tank. thanks forjoining us. and just a reminder that special coverage of the summit will be broadcast here on the news channel overnight and that one—to—one meeting is due to get under way at 2am our time. the prime minister has told conservative mps that if they oppose parts of the brexit legislation in the commons it will undermine the uk's negotiating position in brussels. theresa may was addressing parliamentary colleagues at westminster. 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg, is in the houses of parliament. why did you think the prime minister

was giving such a dark warning to her troops tonight? because she's worried about another potential knock to her authority. tomorrow and wednesday there will be a frenzy of voting in the commons on the draft laws that will take us out of the eu after the lord stoneham there did their best to tweet the plans to what they thought gave them a better version of the government's proposals to what many of the lord's‘ critics would say as a softening up of many of the key elements of brexit. the government wa nts to elements of brexit. the government wants to un—pick many of the changes the lord's have made, but the difficulty is they don't have a ridge or oche, majority and the government is forever having to do the splits to keep the various factions of the tory party on board. tonight they have backed down and made a compromise on one of the votes they looked like they might lose. they've had to give some

concessions on the plan for customs arrangements after brexit, but there isa arrangements after brexit, but there is a vote tomorrow that could still be pretty squeegee for the government. the numbers still looked rather dicey on the so—called meaningful vote. many people in parliament, including in the house of lords, think that mps should have more power to tell the government what to do if the final brexit deal fails. the government was in a compromising mood earlier and it seems to like that a certain defeat is absolutely not on the cards, but things still feel dicey, things still feel very febrile round here. this is a hot and bothered westminster and another week where theresa may just westminster and another week where theresa mayjust can't be guaranteed that she's certainly going to get her way. laura kuenssberg there. theresa may has described talks at the g7 meeting in quebec in canada which took place last week as difficult. mrs may told mps she'd made it clear to president trump that new trade tariffs imposed by the us were unacceptable and she underlined the need for dialogue to stop the international dispute from escalating. 0utput in the uk's

manufacturing sector fell by 1.4% in aprilfrom the previous month, the biggest month—on—month fall since 2012. the figure is well below the expectations of some economists, who had predicted slight growth. jaguar land rover has said it's moving production of its discovery model from birmingham to slovakia next year. the firm says the solihull factory will be used to build a new generation of range rover models, but warned there may be some job losses in the uk. passengers affected by delays and cancellations on northern rail services are to be offered compensation of up to a month's travel. an inquiry has been ordered by the government into what's been described as unacceptable disruption following the introduction of new timetables three weeks ago. a man has been found guilty of kidnapping a 20—year—old british model, chloe ayling, and holding her

captive for six days in italy. a polish national, who lives in the uk, was sentenced at a court in milan to 16 years and nine months in prison. the court heard how the 13—year—old had pretended to be a photographer when he approached her. her said the model feels vindicated by the decision. that's a summary of the news, newsday is coming up at midnight. now on bbc news it's time for newsnight. is this how the korean warfinally ends? in a flurry of flash photography? in three and a half hours' time, two of the biggest showmen on earth will sit down together and get a lot of attention. which is probably enough to make the whole thing worthwhile for both of them no matter what comes next. but is there really any chance the north koreans will give up

the very weapons the kim dynasty has been trying to build for three generations? we'rejoined by president 0bama's expert on weapons of mass destruction. also tonight, an apparent truce in the battle of brexit — for now. is love really in the air for the conservative party on brexit? if every tory mp agrees on the answer, what on earth is the question? and, just as their new government promised, italy has refused to take 600 illegal migrants floating off their shore in the mediterranean. we ask the boss of the charity running the boat they're now on if europe is facing a summer of showdowns. good evening. like a bride and groom on the night before a wedding, the two statesmen are spending their singapore night in different hotels just a stone's throw from each other. the acrimony of the last 70 years —

wars hot and cold — could end when, at 2am uk time, president trump and supreme leader kim meet to make peace. but america, as her secretary of state pompeo cautioned today, has been fooled before. that have come to nothing in its dealings with north korea. the country has been hugged close — jimmy carter and madeleine albright were two who tried — and been banished as a far flung axis of evil, memorably by george bush. trump's diplomacy seems to follow no rational rules but he may have found a like—minded personality in the character of kim jong—un. could that be enough to make this time a success? 0ur diplomatic editor, mark urban, is here. talk us through today, what has it looked and felt like? you used the marriage metaphor, i was thinking of those muhammad ali fights in the 70s promoted as the rumble in thejungle and the thrilla in manila and this is the singapore sizzler. we saw the prizefighters earlier, donald trump sparring