this is bbc news. our top stories: questions surface after reports that michael cohen, donald trump's former lawyer, secretly taped him discussing payments to silence a former playboy model two months before the us election. police confirm nine members of same family were among those killed when a tourist duck boat sank during a storm in missouri. with just months left to finalise a brexit deal, the eu's chief negotiator says there is progress, but there is still work to be done. former cricketer imran khan remains the frontrunner in pakistan's elections next week. but is the campaign being overshadowed by his links to the military? and we meet meghan, the nine—year—old helping to keep 250,000 london commuters safe on the underground network. us president donald trump's former

lawyer michael cohen secretly recorded his client discussing payments to a former playboy model. that is according to a us media report. the tapes were reportedly discovered during an fbi raid on mr cohen's property. the new york times reports that on the recording mr trump and mr cohen discuss paying karen mcdougal. she says she had a ten—month affair with donald trump in 2006. the tape was reportedly made two months before the election. 0ur correspondent chris buckler has the details. the allegations of an affair date back a decade before donald trump ran for president here in the united states. however, the question is really about the timing of payments to karen mcdougal, who is a former

playboy model, and that apparently took place in 2016, just before the presidential election took place. now, the payments were made by the national enquirer newspaper here in america. they bought her story, effectively, so she told them about the allegations of the affair with donald trump. however, they never published it. and the national enquirer newspaper is owned by a personal friend of donald trump. it's led some here to claim that it was a case of what is known as "catch and kill". effectively what you do is you buy a story and then you choose whether or not to publish it, and if you don't publish it, you effectively kill the story. now, the question is, was that done specifically to stop her speaking, which could be damaging allegations ahead the vote taking place? now, that would be one thing for a magazine, but of course it's different for the campaign itself. and it seems on this tape that michael cohen and donald trump discuss the potential of buying that

agreement from the national enquirer newspaper, so as effectively they would gain the rights to the story, and it would stop karen mcdougal from being able to talk about it, and that they would hold the control about this. now, the wall streetjournal is reporting that this is a relatively small conversation that took place, lasting somewhere in the region of two minutes, and it seems like the actual tape recording stops at some stage before the conversation actually finishes. so chris, could there be criminal implications here? yeah, the simple answer is it depends. first of all, we don't know if they did buy that story from the national enquirer. but the questions about the payment to the former porn actress stormy daniels, and in this particular case as well, are really to do with the timing of it. if money was paid to stop a damaging story being published, it could break campaign finance rules. so effectively it's not illegal,

but it could breach campaign finance rules, and then it would be illegal. now michael cohen, his own lawyer has been speaking. we should just put this in context with whom michael cohen is. michael cohen was the personal lawyer for donald trump, but it really went beyond that. he was regarded as a mr fixit. he essentially stopped problems for donald trump. he stopped them from being issues, and in some cases it seems he made payments in order for things to go away. now his own lawyer, this is michael cohen's lawyer, has released a statement in which he says there is an ongoing investigation and we are sensitive to that, because at this stage michael cohen has not been charged with anything, although his offices were raided as part of an investigation into allegations of bank and tax fraud. however, he goes on to say, but suffice it to say that, when the recording is heard, it will not hurt mr cohen. any attempt at spin cannot change what is on the tape. and of course, that has only led many people to ask, what exactly is on the tape?

absolutely, chris. and has there been any response from the president himself? well, we've had a comment through the new york times from rudy giuliani, who is donald trump's current lawyer. and i know we talk a lot about different lawyers here, but essentially rudy giuliani is the man who is representing donald trump in a personal capacity at the moment. and he has clarified to the new york times, after initially seeming to suggest to them that this was about a conversation in which allegedly they were discussing a payment to karen mcdougal, he now seems to have confirmed that it was actually a conversation about buying those rights from the national enquirer, about a story that could have been damaging to donald trump. let's get some of the day's other news: the israeli army has launched a number of bombardments on what it describes as military targets across the gaza strip, in response to what it says was gunfire aimed at israeli troops. health officials in gaza say four palestinians have been killed in the latest violence. the new escalation of fighting comes as palestinians have been holding another friday of protests in gaza, beside the israeli border.

a man who became seriously ill after being exposed to the nerve agent novichok in the uk last month has been discharged from hospital. charlie rowley is thought to have found the substance in a perfume bottle. his partner, dawn sturgess, who was also poisoned, died earlier this month. 14 people have been wounded in a knife attack on a bus in northern germany. local police say a man forced his way on to the vehicle in the city of lubeck and started attacking passengers with a kitchen knife. the attacker has been detained. it is not thought the incident is connected to international terrorism. the french president, emmanuel macron, has sacked one of his bodyguards more than two months after he was filmed hitting a protestor while dressed as a policeman. alexandre benalla was given a 15—day suspension shortly after the incident in may, but was allowed to return to his job

protecting the president. he has now been arrested. it has emerged that nine members of the same family were killed when when a tourist boat sank during a storm in the us state of missouri. in total 17 people died, including several children. 31 people were on board the amphibious vessel, known as a duck boat, when it overturned in strong winds on table rock lake near the town of branson. 0ur north america correspondent james cook reports. oh, this is not good. this duck boat made it back to the shore. the passengers, not wearing lifejackets, apparently unaware of quite how much danger they were in. oh, my god. oh, it's going under.

further out, a second duck boat was in bigger trouble, unable to cope with the blast from a severe thunderstorm. of the 31 on board, just 14 survived, brought ashore in shock. among the dead was a one—year—old baby. emts, tell one of the emts, please. the missouri government said that nine of the dead were from one family, and three other members survived. family, and three other members survived. it's been a long night, a very trying night. and please keep all of the families involved, and all the first responder personnel, in your thoughts and prayers. now the questions — a weather warning had been issued, so why were the boats on the water, and were the passengers wearing personal flotation devices, or pfds? it has happened so quick, i guess everybody should have had a pfd a little closer, i don't know.

they were up over our head when we rowed in. you don't think stuff like that's going to happen, and then, man, it happened. based on the amphibious landing craft of the second world war, duck boats are popular with tourists, but their safety record is now under scrutiny. worldwide, a0 people have died in accidents involving them in the past 20 years. this is just the latest in a long line of tragedies. james cook, bbc news. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, has questioned whether the british prime minister's latest proposals for trade after brexit are workable. earlier, theresa may used a speech to urge the eu to evolve its position on the irish border issue. 0ur deputy political editor john pienaar has the latest. the protesters often turn out for theresa may, but the problems of brexit follow her everywhere. today she was in belfast, with a plea and a promise — a promise there would be no hard irish border when the uk leaves,

and a plea to the eu. she had compromised on her brexit plan. now, it was brussels‘s turn. the white paper represents a significant development in our position. it is a coherent package. it is now for the eu to respond, not simply to fall back on previous positions, which have already been proven unworkable. as for the border, her plan sees goods moving freely between the uk and the eu, including ireland, with no customs or other checks. so no special status for northern ireland, no undermining the union. the solution that we have put forward is a practical, workable solution to do that, which respects the vote of the british people, protects jobs, but also ensures that we don't see a hard border between northern ireland and ireland. in brussels, the stage was set for an important moment. how would the british compromises go down? eu foreign ministers had met and set the tone — wary, not convinced, at least not yet. i will remain an optimist,

but it's hard to be an optimist in these challenging times. we will work on the basis of our principles, and see to what extent our british partner fully gets it, including the british parliament. then, it was the negotiator‘s turn. he wasn't ready to buy britain's offer as it stood, but he was willing to talk. "there are several elements that open the way to a constructive discussion," he said, but his doubts and questions piled up. how could britain trade with europe's single market without following the same rules? what about protecting eu consumers? and, in plain english, the eu was ready to contemplate the outcome many fear most — talks ending in no agreements. even if you want to reach a deal, it is also our responsibility to be prepared for all scenarios, including no deal. as the european council said, we have to step up preparation at all levels for all scenarios.

this was no moment of breakthrough, and it was never likely to be. there will be some relief in government that the british plan wasn't dismissed out of hand. but now the going gets really tough. brussels will want more concessions, and there were some mps who are already plotting mutiny when and if those concessions are made. as things stand, senior figures on all sides are telling me it is hard to see mrs may's blueprint getting through in the autumn. as mps prepare for their summer break, brexit looks like a crisis waiting to happen. it also ensures that there isn't a border effectively down the irish sea. if only all talks are as friendly as this. but nothing is easyjust now — not her party, not parliament, not brussels, not brexit. certainly not brexit. john pienaar, bbc news. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has urged members of the un security council to maintain economic pressure on north korea until it acts on its promise to give up nuclear weapons.

mr pompeo said pyongyang was still evading sanctions by smuggling fuel into the country, mainly by transfers at sea. the countries of the security council are united on the need for final, fully verified denuclearisation of north korea, as agreed to by chairman kim. strict enforcement of sanctions is critical to achieving this goal. members of the un security council, and by extension all un member states, have unanimously agreed to fully enforce sanctions on north korea, and we expect them to continue to honour those commitments. when sanctions are not enforced, the prospects for the successful denuclearisation of north korea are diminished. right now, north korea is illegally smuggling petroleum products into the country at a level that far exceeds the quotas established by the united nations. these illegal ship to ship transfers

are the most prominent means by which this is happening. these tra nsfers which this is happening. these transfers happened at least 89 times in the first five months of this year, and they continue to occur. the united states reminds every un member state of its responsibility to stop illegal ship to ship tra nsfers, to stop illegal ship to ship transfers, and we urge them to step up transfers, and we urge them to step up their enforcement efforts as well. we must also crackdown on other forms of sanctions innovation, including the smuggling of coal by sea, smuggling by 0verland borders, and the presence of north korean guest workers in certain countries. north korean cyber threats and other skomal activities are also generating significant revenues for the regime, and they must be stopped —— other criminal activities. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the messaging service whatsapp looks at restrictions, after fake stories led to several mob lynchings in india. 0k, 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 news.

the latest headlines: questions surface after reports that michael cohen, donald trump's former lawyer, secretly taped him discussing payments to silence a former playboy model two months before the us election. police confirm nine members of same family were among those killed when a tourist duck boat sank during a storm in in missouri. the messaging service whatsapp has announced restrictions on its service in india. it's trying to curb the spread of malicious rumours. several fake stories have led to a series of mob lynchings, spurred by rumours about child abduction gangs. in april 2018 a man in the southern state of tamil nadu was beaten to death by a mob, after he was seen aimlessly wandering the streets. since then at least 17 others have been killed, seemingly because of child kidnapping rumours.

the firm's campaign to crack down on fake news followed the lynching of five people in maharashtra. that's included publishing adverts in key indian newspapers, aimed at dispeling misinformation. now the company said it will test limiting the number of times users in india can forward texts, videos and photos, asjoe miller explains from delhi. whatsapp is ubiquitous in india. it has over 200 million users and phenomenal reach. and people use it is not just to phenomenal reach. and people use it is notjust to send each other m essa 9 es is notjust to send each other messages but also to communicate vital information and indeed news via these vast groups. now, that habit began to turn lethal last year when a spate of mob lynchings began by crowds who were convinced by

edited videos and misleading m essa 9 es edited videos and misleading messages circulating on whatsapp. now, there was a public outcry and condemnation from the government and today whatsapp has said it is going today whatsapp has said it is going to restrict users in india to five forwards per message, so they can only forward each photo or video or text to up to five people. with me asa text to up to five people. with me as a cyber expert. will this make much difference? unfortunately, no. it is primarily aimed tojust quench the fire for the time being without addressing the fundamental question. the fact is, you are limiting the numberof the fact is, you are limiting the number of forwards to five recipients. that does not stop a person from resending it again, from doing a cut and paste. more significantly, it undermines the ingenuity of the indian user to find indirect ways of reaching the goal. this kind of content will continue to keep eating generated and posted oi'i to keep eating generated and posted on whatsapp. i think the writing is

oi'i on whatsapp. i think the writing is on the wall. let's stop doing cost—cutting exercises, let's take fundamental steps forward which can help us control the dissemination of such content, and take concrete steps for the removal of such content the moment it is notified. that is the immediacy required by the situation. the quicker whatsapp realises this reality the better it will be, otherwise the indian position of india being the biggest market for whatsapp may tomorrow evaporate. now of course this is not the only issue whatsapp is facing in india. executives from the californian company were here this week to assure the election commission it would monitorforfake news on its platform ahead of the crucial votes in the coming months. it isa crucial votes in the coming months. it is a sure sign that whatsapp doesn't want to lose its grip on what has become its biggest market. that was joe miller, reporting that wasjoe miller, reporting from new delhi. more than 100 million pakistanis will head to the polls next week to choose their next leader.

the former cricketer imran khan is running to become the country's next prime minister. but campaigning has been overshadowed by claims that pakistan's military is backing mr khan, by cracking down on his political rivals. secunder kermani reports from lahore. they've come to see the man they hope will be the next prime minister. cricketer turned populist politician imran khan tells the crowd he'll create a new, corru ption—free pakistan. but he's been forced to deny allegations elections are being fixed in favour of his pti party. what you are seeing is all these status—quo parties certainly saying that, you know, the election is not going to be free and fair. the reason is all the opinion polls now show pti is going surging up, and so they're already seeing the writing on the wall. the reason why they're going to lose is because of the track record. pakistan has been directly ruled by the military,

rather than politicians, for nearly half its existence. the country's now had ten years of civilian rule, one of the longest periods in its history, but there's growing concern that behind the scenes, the pakistani military is still pulling the strings and is trying to manipulate the results of this election. former prime minister nawaz sharif, imran khan's main rival, was sentenced to ten years in jail earlier this month by an anti—corruption court. he couldn't prove where the money came from to buy these central london flats. many believe he was once corrupt, but is only being punished now because he clashed with the army when in power. ijoined sharif as he flew back to pakistan last week. he was damning about the build—up to the elections. 0ur party workers are being arrested by thousands. and, er... the loyalties of our party men

were forcibly changed, and they were asked to leave our party and join mr imran khan's party. this amounts to a massive pre—poll rigging. minutes later, he was arrested. both khan and the military dismiss his claims. but many pakistani journalists say the military isn't allowing them to air sharif‘s side of the story. if you have soundbites expressing people's anger and frustration, those soundbites often don't make it to the screen. i honestly have not seen anything like this in myjournalistic career. even under military dictatorship? even under military dictatorship, no. nawaz sharif‘s party is being led by his brother in his absence. they still have sizeable support, but whoever wins this election, many fear more political instability awaits. secunder kermani, bbc news, lahore. we all have our own experiences

of hearing announcements, or not, over the loud speakers at railway stations. some are easier to understand than others. for the last six months, one of london's busiest underground stations has been trying an unusual way to get passengers' attention. dougal shaw reports. around a 250,000 people use victoria station in london each weekday, and for the past few months, they've been hearing an unusual voice. meet the station's newest and youngest safety announcer, nine—year—old megan. her proud parents both work at the station. i said to my colleague that my wife was bringing down the two kids to meet me after work, and he said, "would megan mind doing a pa announcement?" she does like a bit of acting, so i knew she'd be up for it. i was really nervous

when i first was going to do it, but then once i did it i thought, "this is actually 0k." hello, everybody, and please listen up. take care on the escalators, hold on to the hand rail and your luggage. megan's recorded announcement is designed to tackle a serious problem. around ten people a day get injured on the underground network. what we have noticed is when people do injure themselves it's typically because they're not taking enough care when using stairs and escalators. at victoria alone, on average 15 people a month are injured this way. for some passengers at least, megan's message seems to be getting through. get your attention straight away. you think, "0h, what's going on?" i think everyone takes notice when a child says something because they always mean it. so what does someone who studies the psychology of the human voice make of this? research shows deeper adult voices are perceived by humans as having more authority than higher voices.

so a child's voice wouldn't have that authority, but perhaps it's the shock factor of using a child's voice. it may be just a short—term result from this shock factor, but the station says injuries have dropped by nearly two thirds since megan's announcements started. do you think adults listen enough to children? no, they should listen more to children because sometimes children are right. dougal shaw, bbc news. a smart asmart girl. a smart girl. now, remember boaty mcboatface a few years ago? the online poll to find a name a research ship? now there is a new search, to name a european rover that'll had to mars in 2020. all ideas will be put forward by an expert panel that will make the final choice. that's it. goodbye for 110w. hello.

some areas were lucky enough to have some useful rain on friday. 0thers, though, just had the cloud and hardly anything fell from it and it is looking mainly dry for the weekend as the nose of high pressure builds in behind that rain—bearing weather system clearing away south—eastwards. for early risers saturday morning, a lot of cloud around, rather misty and murky in places, for england and wales anywhere at any stage in the day there's the chance of a hit—and—miss shower. most will avoid them and stay dry with warm sunny spells developing. warm anywhere where you get to see sunshine, not a lot of cloud around for northern scotland and north—east scotland and thickening further later in the day. this is apm, south to north across the uk, at this stage parts of southern england and south wales most favoured for an isolated shower. most stay dry. again, warm sunny spells in england and wales, southern and eastern scotland.

more cloud for northern ireland, western scotland, especially into the north—west, where the breeze is picking up. a bit of patchy light rain is starting to move in. for the golf at carnoustie as the open continues, a lot of cloud around particularly early in the day, sunny spells developing. looks like it will be a sunnier and warmer day on sunday, but at that stage it looks like the breeze will be perhaps more significant. as we go on through saturday evening and overnight, what showers have popped up in england and wales will die away. a few patches of mist and fog around but most will be with clear spells. more cloud starting to filter into western scotland, and again there will be a bit of patchy rain the further north you are, and a warmer night to come for scotland and northern ireland compared with friday night. and some spots into the high teens overnight, particularly in south—east england. into sunday then, and a weather system moving in will give some patchy rain for parts of northern and western scotland, perhaps later in the day into northern ireland as the cloud feeds in from the north—west, breezier across northern scotland compared with elsewhere, but for much of south—east scotland

and across england and wales, there will be more warm sunny spells to come and it's becoming very warm to hot once again as those temperatures get close to 30 celsius across eastern and south—eastern england. early into next week, this weather system will bring patchy rain into scotland and northern ireland. ahead of that, though, we draw up even hotter air to england and wales and the heatwave is absolutely back on. anywhere getting to see some sunshine next week will be very warm to hot but again it's got the weather system earlier in the week affecting parts of scotland and northern england. highest temperatures in east and south—east england in excess of 30 once again and dry. this is bbc news. the headlines: there are reports that us prosecutors have seized a recording of a conversation between donald trump and his former lawyer michael cohen in which they discuss a payment to a former playboy model. the conversation is believed to have ta ken place just before the 2016 presidential election. 17 people, including nine members of one family, are now known to have died

when their tourist boat capsized and sank during a sudden storm on a lake in the us state of missouri. another two members of the family were among the 1a people aboard the amphibious vessel who survived. the eu's chief brexit negotiator says the british government's proposals have opened the way to a constructive discussion, but it must be workable. michel barnier questioned whether the plans for a common rulebook for goods were practical. earlier, theresa may urged the eu to evolve its position on brexit. now on bbc news, it is time for click.