welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories: now they are going for a second summit. the white house announces surprise plans to invite vladimir putin to washington. president trump bats away accusations he is cozying up to russia. getting along with president putin, getting along with russia is a positive, not a negative. now, with that being said, if that doesn't work out, i'll be the worst enemy he's ever had! britain's new brexit secretary promises to intensify talks with brussels, but the european commission is now warning that "no deal" looks more likely than ever. a facebook furore, as mark zuckerberg says posts from holocaust deniers should be allowed. and it has been buried for 2,000 years, but what is inside? an egyptian sarcophagus spills its secrets. hello and welcome to bbc news.

russia's president, vladimir putin, is being invited to washington by donald trump in the autumn. that news seemed to come as a bombshell this evening to the us director of national intelligence, as american security services still struggle to find out what was agreed earlier this week in the us president's closed—door meeting with president putin. here is that news being broken in public to dan coats, mr trump's own appointee as director of national intelligence. he was on stage at the aspen security forum with msnbc‘s andrea mitchell. we have some breaking news. the white house has announced on twitter that vladimir putin is coming to the white house in the fall. say that again? vladimir putin coming to the white house... did i hearyou...

yeah, yeah. 0k. that's gonna be special. the white house, still underfire for mr trump's bizarre performance at the press conference after the meeting with president putin in helsinki, has now backed down on givng russia access to 11 americans it wants to interrogate, including a former ambassador. earlier, mr trump had said it was an interesting idea. in an interview with the us network cnbc, he pushed back at the idea that he has failed to stand up to president putin. look at the sanctions i've put on, look at the diplomats i threw out, look at all of the things that i've done. nobody else did what i've done. 0bama didn't do it. 0bama was a patsy for russia. he was a total patsy. look at the statement he made, when he thought the mics were turned off, 0k? the stupid statement he made.

nobody makes a big deal about that. getting along with president putin, getting along with russia, is a positive, not a negative. now, with that being said, if that doesn't work out, i'll be the worst enemy he's ever had. 0ur correspondent in washington, chris buckler, says the invitation came quickly. it does seem bizarre and it does seem quite remarkable to some of donald trump's political opponents, and also some within his own republican party, that he is rolling out the red carpet to vladimir putin so soon after that helsinki summit, that frankly had a fallout that was pretty difficult for president trump. whenever he misspoke alongside vladimir putin, appearing to back his suggestion that russia hadn't interfered in the election back in 2016, against the word of his own intelligence services. now, of course, donald trump since rowed back on that and says he backs his intelligence services.

but dan coats, who you saw there, the director of national intelligence, he was at the security forum being interviewed on stage when the news broke, and he was specifically setting out what the intelligence agencies think. now, he was being diplomatic, but he was making very clear that their assessment is that russia interfered in the election with cyber attacks two years ago, and that they remain a threat to american diplomacy, and that that is a concern with the mid—term congressional elections coming up injust a few months‘ time. so, on one hand, we have these very harsh words from parts of president trump's administration, saying russia are a menacing government who are doing things that potentiallyjeopardise democracy. and, on the other hand, you have president trump opening the door and saying, come to the white house and see me. and yet, chris, with those mid—term elections in mind, you have to assume the president is being buoyed by these polls which suggest the american population as a whole might be unhappy with his russia policy, but actually his core supporters,

they love it by a large margin. and we've talked about this before. the truth is that there is this divide, and little of what president trump does makes a difference to the polling, because we have president trump's support base very firmly behind him, and that doesn't look like it is going to change. nonetheless, when you look at this in a wider brief, you have to take into account that russia themselves continue to be a threat to america, and therefore, if there is another situation where the intelligence agencies have to come out and say listen, potentially this is an attack, that could be a real problem for president trump. but, for the moment, he appears prepared notjust to weather this but also to take his own tack, to lead his own way. as far as he's concerned, he has the right diplomatic approach, and others, well, they can criticise

from the sidelines, but it's his call as president. here in the uk, the new brexit secretary has promised to intensify and energise negotiations with brussels. the uk's official departure date, next march, is fast approaching. but the european commission has now advised eu member states to step up preparations for a no—deal brexit, anticipating that no formal deal may have been reached by the deadline. from brussels, our europe editor katya adler. a new face in brussels, confronting the same old brexit challenges. michel barnier, the eu's by now rather dour chief negotiator, has been in on this process from the start. 0ur challenge will be to find common ground between the fundamental principles that define the eu and the uk positions. the smiling enthusiasm of the new brexit secretary came in stark contrast. i come out today to discuss the detailed proposals that we've got in our white paper, that you'll have seen. and i'm looking forward to,

with renewed energy, vigor and vim, heating up the negotiations, and making sure we're in the best position to get the best deal. is the government stable enough to make a deal with brussels? dominic raab‘s upbeat message doesn't quite match the political turmoil we've seen this week in westminster. the eu is not convinced by the new brexit secretary's calm, confident message. are you sure? we were really presented several positions, and great britain was facing even some resignings of ministers and of state secretaries. now, we have a new brexit secretary. which has got the eu thinking that the possibility of the uk crashing out of the club without a deal has become a lot more likely. but what exactly is this no deal brexit? all this brexit terminology, the political toings and froings, it can make the brexit process seem very theoretical and far away from our everyday lives.

which is why the european commission has come up with this — a stark warning about planes, trains and queues at borders, published just as britain's new brexit secretary arrives in town. it is a reminder to eu countries to do more contingency planning, in case, after more than a0 years of being intertwined, the uk and the eu now break apart without any practical agreement in place of how to work together after brexit. a no—deal brexit could have a big impact on northern ireland too. the prime minister arrived there this evening at the start of a two—day visit. first stop — a china factory, a perfect setting to make assurances about safeguarding the fragile peace process, while preventing the uk from breaking apart. disagreement over the irish border is possibly the biggest elephant in the room in eu—uk brexit talks, with the potential to shatter

whatever other progress is made. katya adler, bbc news, brussels. mark zuckerberg has once again found himself at the centre of a row, after saying posts from holocaust deniers should be allowed on facebook. in an interview with technology website recode, facebook‘s ceo said that he did not believe such people should be removed from the site. they were not, he said, intentionally getting their facts wrong. dave lee, the bbc‘s north america technology reporter, says this issue is a signicant problem for mark zuckerberg. this was an interview with a very well respected tech journalist here in silicon valley, a woman named kara swisher. and the intent of this interview was a chance for mark zuckerberg to go into the various messages and views he has on dealing with problems facing the site, which as we know, this year, have become a real issue for the network. instead, mark zuckerberg has managed

to talk himself into another controversy. speaking about holocaust deniers on facebook, of which there are a significant amount. he said he found it deeply offensive, but crucially, he said i don't think they are intentionally getting it wrong. and those words, "intentionally," many have taken serious issue with, condemning that as a view and thinking holocaust deniers simply have no place on the network, and that they should be covered by facebook‘s hate speech policy, which isn't allowed on the network. and so while mark zuckerberg, himselfjewish, is saying that he finds the comments offensive, he doesn't think the policy should be to remove it. instead, he clarified later they're going to reduce the distribution, so not delete them, but make them harder to see. many people don't think that's enough, and facebook once again this year is facing huge amounts of criticism. it does seem bizarre from a man who isjewish, clearly smart. it seems naive and unthinking to suggest that holocaust deniers are not intentional or malicious, that they're just kind of mistaken. yes, and i think what this shows

very, very strongly is that facebook is really struggling right now to define just what its policies are. 0n the one hand, it says it is a place that is free to say what they please, to have free speech, just like in wider discourse in the us. but, on the other hand, it wants to draw some lines, particularly when it comes to comments that directly incite violence. many people would say that while denying the holocaust might not call for violence directly, it still does naturally create a huge amount of anger and hatred towards certain groups. i think what facebook has found itself in is a real problem trying to define what exactly is bad content on its network, and what it wants to do about it. i think frankly it's notjust a debate that's going to affect facebook. other networks will think about this and what their policy should be. but right now, because it's

the biggest, with 2 billion users worldwide, this is a problem that's very much on mark zuckerberg's desk. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: tackling plastic pollution. scientists warn that so—called biodegradeable bags may not be the answer. coming down the ladder now. that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30 year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia. but now, a decade later, it's been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunctioning sperm, unable to swim properly.

thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime, as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: donald trump has defended his relations with russia, and said he plans to invite vladimir putin to washington in the autumn. britain's new brexit secretary has promised to intensify talks with brussels, but the european commission is warning that no deal looks more likely than ever. let's get more on our main story this hour. earlier, jeffrey prescott, who served on the national security council and was a special assistant to president 0bama, told me why he thought plans for the next summit were overshadowed by the secrecy and lack of of transparency over the last meeting in helsinki.

i think it's a little early to talk about a new summit. we don't really know much at all about what happened in the meeting thatjust concluded. what we have seen so far, and what we saw obviously in the press conference between president trump and president putin, was quite disturbing. both president trump siding with putin over american intelligence agencies when it comes to attacks on the american democracy. we heard disturbing things from president trump after that meeting, in regards to possible agreements over interviewing a former us ambassador, which the white house has subsequently walked back, and also concerning reports about agreements that may have been reached in a very long one—on—one meeting where our secretary of state, as you said, the director of national intelligence and others don't seem to have any idea what happened in the meeting. and all we're getting in terms of reports on the meeting is coming from the russian side.

it's quite unusual for a diplomatic endeavour with the stakes this high. that's for sure. russian diplomats seem to be celebrating military agreements they say were made behind those closed doors. and yet mr trump is right, isn't he, that getting along with russia or north korea is better than fighting a war with them? well, there's no doubt that diplomacy is important in a relationship like the one with russia. those kinds of summit meetings can be important. they require preparation, and we have to be very clear—eyed about what we're trying to achieve. you know, i think there are a couple of dangers going into a meeting like this, and i think we've seen some evidence of them on the back end. one is the idea that a personal relationship is really going to make a difference. both countries are really, at the end of the day, and certainly president putin is, going to make decisions based on what's in his interests. and it's very important for the united states to make sure it does the same. a chummy relationship is not really going to get us very far. and the second idea is that there is some kind of grand bargain, sitting one—on—one at a table,

you're going to work out all the issues at once. i think we need to take each issue in turn and be hard—nosed about it. and coming out of this meeting, the very little information we have, is president trump giving an interview where he questioned, in some ways, the foundational role of nato in protecting the united states and protecting european security, and that's quite troubling. geoffrey prescott of national security action. we're getting some breaking news out of the us, where a tourist boat has capsized at a lake in missouri with 31 people onboard. the southern stone county fire protection district says it's responding to a mass casualty incident after the amphibious vehicle sank on table rock lake, near branson. local media are reporting that eight people have been killed in the incident. a number of people have been taken to hospital. it's reported that british police have identified several suspects responsible for the chemical attack on a former russian spy and his daughter. a woman, dawn sturgess, died after being poisoned by the novichok nerve agent, and her partner is still in hospital.

police believe the incidents are linked. daniel sandford reports. in central salisbury this afternoon, troops in gas masks again, gathering possible evidence of the nerve agent attack. the focus on this occasion — a large plastic container, which was taken away for examination. it is now more than four months since sergei skripal and his daughter yulia fell ill, not long after leaving his home here in a quiet cul—de—sac, where they had become contaminated by a russian—made, military-grade nerve agent, a novichok, that had been smeared or sprayed on his front door. the cnn network in the united states suggested today that detectives have used cctv and facial recognition software to isolate pictures of two suspects seen leaving britain soon after the attack, though it is not known if they are russian, and it is not clear they have been fully identified. counterterrorism detectives refused to discuss the reports, leaving only the russian ambassador to comment. unfortunately, we don't

have official statements of the british side. i want to hear that from the scotland yard or from the foreign office. a lot of versions that we hear, you know, in the newspapers, they are not supported by the statements of the foreign 0ffice. the attack ended up taking dawn sturgess‘s life. she is thought to have been contaminated by a perfume bottle which somehow ended up in her partner's flat. the inquest into her death opened and adjourned at the local coroner's court today. the coroner confirmed that police had recovered a bottle of liquid novichok. one of the last places dawn sturgess went before falling ill was the queen elizabeth gardens in salisbury, and that has been the focus of the police searches for the last two days. detectives now have a bottle of the possible chemical weapon, and may have images of two suspects to work with. this unique investigation appears to be edging gently forward. daniel sandford, bbc news, salisbury.

plastic bags that biodegrade have been hailed as one answer to the huge amount of plastic polluting the environment. the british manufacturers of so—called oxo—biodegradable bags claim they break down to nothing, and the technology is widely used across africa and the middle east. but now the european commission is considering banning the bags because of fears they're not what they seem. 0ur correspondent angus crawford reports. is this a solution to the plastics crisis? 0rdinary plastic with a simple chemical additive. its makers call it oxo—biodegradable. one of the manufacturers is a british company. its product is called d2w. you know this is going to convert basically organically to materials similar to a leaf. it couldn't be better. d2w automatically breaks down... they have promotional videos, and big name supporters. here's environmentalist chris packham on the bbc‘s one show.

there are technologies out there, now. 0xo—biodegradable plastics which will break down very easily... what he didn't declare on the programme, he's one of symphony's paid advisers. the bbc says he's done nothing wrong, and he didn't want to talk to us about it. d2w is now being used in many countries. here in the ivory coast in west africa, for example, where even water is sold in plastic bags. millions per day. they have banned normal bags, encouraging people to use oxo, from manufacturers around the world, including the british d2w. they even have a special police unit, whose job is to track down and seize ordinary plastic. look at this. it's not popular, but that's the law. hundreds of millions of plastic

bags get into the rivers and oceans every year. this technology is meant to provide a solution. if you chuck this away, manufacturers say that within about two years it will break down to nothing, on land or at sea. but does it really? here's one way to find out. quite a lot of marine life on here now, after several years in the sea... thousands of miles away, hanging in the water, bags placed in the sea at plymouth university. this bag is labelled as d2w. we have had this bag in the sea for more than two years, now. it's probably still strong enough to carry your shopping home in. what's more, scientists fear when they do break down, they may create tiny pieces. under the microscope, a bag that's more than ten years old. it's degraded as a carrier bag.

you could no longer carry your shopping in it, that bit is true. but is this an environmental solution? what we've now got is millions of very small pieces of plastic. the european commission agrees, and is moving to restrict or may even ban oxo products across the eu. it says that there is no evidence oxo—degradable plastic will fully biodegrade in a reasonable time. the eu's report refers to misleading claims to consumers, and warns of a potential increase in littering. it concludes that oxo—degradable technology is not a solution for the environment. that's just bad science, according to one british manufacturer. it insists the product does fully biodegrade. this is what we describe as an insurance policy, if it ends up in the environment, it probably wouldn't even get to the ocean as a piece of plastic. it would probably end up in the ocean as a biodegradable

material. but if you do just drop it in the ocean, which has been our studies, we have shown, versus non—degradable products, that it degrades and biodegrades an awful lot faster than conventional plastics. in ivory coast, the debate has moved on. the government is now talking about banning all plastic bags, including oxos. the solution here, then, not better plastic but no plastic at all. angus crawford, bbc news, in abuja in the ivory coast. the philippines has issued a deportation orderfor an the philippines has issued a deportation order for an elderly australian none at odds with president duterte. immigration officials accuse sister produced a fox of breaking the terms of her missionaries these are by engaging in political activism. the president ordered her arrest and deportation and described her as an undesirable

alien. amid much speculation, archaeologists in egypt have unsealed a massive black sarcophagus, a huge coffin found at a construction site in alexandria. some have been wondering if it might reveal the body of alexander the great, or unleash a deadly curse. gail maclellan reports. tightly sealed and made of black granite, the sarcophagus‘s monumental dimensions sparked fevered speculation that it might contain the remains of alexander, the great leader who conquered much of the ancient world and died in 323 bc. 0ther rumours, not entirely serious, warned against opening it and releasing a deadly curse. in the end, neither was the case. when opened, it revealed three skeletons and a red liquid, which gave off a pungent smell. egypt's antiquities ministry never believed it was the great man's restingplace. translation: it's not alexander. it's not royal. here is the evidence. we denied it a few days ago, but we were sure, i was sure. here is the coffin lid.

there are no hieroglyphics or carvings. it's unfinished. how could this be a king? it might not be a royal sarcophagus, or full of pharaohs‘ gold, but it is still impressive. nearly three metres long and two metres high, it has lain unopened for more than 2,000 years. weighing more than 30 tons, it is the largest sarcophagus ever discovered in alexandria. the occupants will probably remain unknown. and as to the whereabouts of the man who gave the city its name, that will continue to be a tantalising mystery. gail maclellan, bbc news. watch this space. we will let you know more. much more on or off the news for you on the bbc news website anytime. thank you for watching. hello there.

we're set to see a little bit of a change to our weather for the next 2a hours, some very useful rain moving in across northern and western areas. thursday, though, was another fine, dry day. quite warm, too, plenty of sunshine. we start to see the change taking place, though, across the north—west corner of the country. clouds thickening, outbreaks of rain pushing there into the highlands later on in the day. now, during the early hours of friday, that tangle of weather fronts will continue to move south—eastwards slowly across the country, bringing some rain, initially to parts of northern ireland and scotland, with some heavy bursts of rain, turning quite breezy as well. but early on on friday, it's going to be a dry one again for england and wales, bar the odd shower across the extreme south—east. a warm and muggy to start the day, too, but something a bit cooler and fresher in the north, with that cloud and rain. so this is the picture for friday, then. a lot more cloud across northern and western areas, with outbreaks of rain, some of it quite heavy. the rain will tend to become light and patchier as it pushes further southwards and eastwards.

so it will be a cooler day because of more cloud around, the rain, the breeze, temperatures in the mid—to—upper teens celsius. but across the south—east, it could be quite warm again, 2a—25 degrees. now, what we'll see through the afternoon across the south—east is also the risk of some thundery downpours. hit—and—miss showers, generally starting in a line from the wash down to hampshire, and then moving their way eastwards. if you catch one of these downpours, you really will know about it, and it could give rise to some disruption, perhaps some flash—flooding too. now, as we head on in towards saturday, we lose the showers across southern areas, and then actually across england and wales will have good spells of sunshine. a little bit of patchy cloud in the afternoon, and there'll also be a bit more sunshine across northern and western areas. so it'll feel that bit warmer, certainly across england and wales, 24—27 degrees. high—teens to low 20s further north. on sunday, again a fine—looking day for much england and wales, and more sunshine around, so it's going to be warmer, too. a bit more cloud further north, more of a breeze. thicker cloud could bring some outbreaks of rain to western parts of scotland, where it'll be cooler. but eastern scotland

will do pretty well. we could be looking at 26—29 celsius in england and wales. then, as we head on in towards next week we'll see this weather front, a new one, waxing and waning across the north—west corner of the country. further south and east, though, we'll be tapping into some very warm and humid air off the near continent, so it's likely we could see temperatures reaching the low 30s celsius in one or two places. so always a little bit cooler and cloudier further north and west, with some fierce heat and humidity further south and east. this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump is inviting vladimir putin to washington later this year, despite the continuing criticism of his summit with the russian leader in helsinki on monday. the us director of national intelligence, dan coats, a personal appointee of mr trump's, was visibly taken by surprise on live tv when news of the invitation was broken to him. britain's new brexit secretary has promised to intensify talks

with brussels, as the official departure date next march approaches. but the european commission has now advised eu member states to step up preparations for no deal being reached before the deadline. mark zuckerberg has courted controversy by saying posts from holocaust deniers should be allowed on facebook. in an interview with technology website recode, facebook‘s ceo said that he didn't believe such people should be removed from the site. they were not, he said, intentionally getting their facts wrong. now on bbc news, hardtalk‘s stephen sackur speaks