hello and welcome to bbc news. broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the world. i'm nkem ifejika. the headlines: reports donald trump's former lawyer recorded him just months before the us election. a tourist boat has sunk ina us election. a tourist boat has sunk in a river in missouri killing 17. the eu chief negotiator says there isa the eu chief negotiator says there is a progress is still work to be done. how is story is being told about the 2 million officers who served during world war i from africa. and could this be the rover

mick roverface? africa. and could this be the rover mick rover face? —— africa. and could this be the rover mick roverface? —— mac. welcome to bbc news. donald trump's former lawyer, michael cohen, secretly recorded his client discussing payments to a former playboy model — that's 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. the bbc‘s chris buckler in washington told me more. basically, it is alleged that karen mcdougal had an affair with donald trump a decade right before he stood for the presidential election here in the united states. that was in 2006 but in 2016 she sold her story to the national enquirer.

he has always denied, of course, that he had that affair and he also denied that he knew anything about a payment by the national enquirer. and it seems the national enquirer did not even publish the story. it of course is a tabloid newspaper that is owned by a friend of donald trump, and there have suggestions that what took place was a kind of "catch and kill" — that is a statement that is used to talk about whenever a publication buys a story and then doesn't publish it, effectively it buries the story. but a non—disclosure agreement means that that person cannot talk about it to anyone else. michael cohen is donald trump's lawyer, he was his lawyer during that period and also seen as his "mr fix it". essentially he sorted out problems for donald trump. and it seems, on this tape recording, that was seized by fbi officers during a raid on his officers, that michael cohen and donald trump discussed this payment that took place between the national enquirer

and karen mcdougal, and they talk about potentially buying the rights to the story from the national enquirer, which would in effect mean they could stop that story from ever being published because it included a nondisclosure agreement by karen mcdougal. of course, that is something that has been denied by the trump campaign. they have said that, as far as they are concerned, no payment was actually made, even if these discussions did happen. this was according to rudy giuliani, mr trump's new lawyer, is that correct? yes, indeed. and of course, we do talk about lawyers, it's probably also worth reflecting that michael cohen's own lawyer has now released a statement. in it he says that obviously there is an ongoing investigation, and that is because michael cohen is currently being investigated by the fbi, no charges have been brought against him, but he is being investigated for, among other things, tax and bank fraud. so they say they are sensitive that investigation but here are the key lines in that statement, they say,

"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." that of course leaves to two very obvious questions. first of all, if it will not hurt mr cohen, could it potentially hurt somebody else? and secondly, what exactly is on that tape? 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 responseto 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 on the gaza side of the fence with israel. 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. fourteen 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's not thought the incident is not connected to it's thought the incident is connected to it's thought the incident is not 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's now been arrested. it's emerged that nine members of the same family were killed when a tourist boat sank during a storm in the us state of missouri. in total, 17 people died, including several children. thirty—one people were on board the vessel, known as a "duck boat", when it overturned in strong winds near the town of branson.

0ur north america correspondent, james cook reports. man: 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 1a 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 two other family members survived. again, i say 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 rode in it. you don't think that 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, more than 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. you can get more details on that

story and other stories if you go to a website. the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, has said he's invited britain to work on a solution to the irish border issue next week. speaking after a meeting of european affairs ministers, mr barnier said they were open to any solution as long as it could be transformed into a legally operative text in time for the withdrawal agreement. 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 of our position. it is a coherent package. it is now for the eu to respond, not simply to fall back onto 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 agreement. 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 parliament 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. mike pompeo has urged diplomatic pressure on north korea until they give up nuclear weapons. he said they were still stumbling fuel into they were still stumbling fuel into the country, many 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. 215—year—old boys who plotted the murder pupils and teachers in the north of england have been given sentences. they said they were inspired by the columbine incident almost 30 years ago. they never gave

evidence in court. for months the teenagers collected items. instruments for unexposed devices. the police also recovered a series of social media messages between the teenagers. they talked about shooting up the school. most chilling this... if this is found, it says, i have committed one of the worst atrocities in british history. it is here they found the evidence police needed. they realise what the children were plotting and said they wa nted children were plotting and said they wanted to re—enact the columbine disaster. it happened before they we re disaster. it happened before they were born. wiley will serve 12 years

in detention, boland ten. still to come, we meet a nine—year—old helping to keep a quarter of a million londoners safe in big underground —— safe on the underground. 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. our main story this hour: questions surface after reports that donald trump's former lawyer secretly recorded him, discussing payments to silence former playboy model, karen mcdougal, just months before the us election. police confirmed nine members of the same family were among those killed when a tourist duck boat sank during a storm in misery. i have been speaking to geoffrey goodman, whose law firm has represented people injured in duck boat accidents, and he told me about

the safety of these amphibious vehicles. the main issue with the duck boats is the canopies that come on these boats, and that's been the one consistent theme in all the accidents. going back to 1999 in arkansas, the missed majestic duck boat sank in a river and the same thing happened in philadelphia u nfortu nately thing happened in philadelphia unfortunately in 2010, and the same thing happened in missouri. what happens with these duck boats, given the canopy above these passengers, when the duck boat sinks, the passengers are drawn up when the duck boat sinks, the passengers are drawn up into the canopy and it drags them down with the boat. so whether they're wearing their pfds, their personal flotation devices, or whether they're not, they have no ability to get out of they have no ability to get out of the trap of the canopy. that canopy makes these duck boats deathtraps. where does the transportation board stand on these vehicles? the

national transportation board, when they investigated the mist majestic disaster, came out with the safety recommendation that the canopies must be removed. unfortunately, the ntsb doesn't have the authority to command anything. it was merely a safety recommendation, it is a recommendation the industry ignored and it is the ignoring of that recommendation which is why people continue to die from these duck boats. you have very strong views on them, you feel that they should be banned, taken off the roads and sees? they should be, whether online or on water. 0n land they have problems because they have a bow unlike any other vehicle on the road that creates massive blindspots. they have run over pedestrians, they have run over scooters, they have crashed in the process. they are no safer on the land them in the water. in the water they have no stability,

they tend to capsize, they tend to sink and they drag passengers down with them. the best way to promote tourism is not by killing tourists, and unfortunately that's what these duck boats have done time and time against b that's why for eight years since it killed to tourists in philadelphia we've been calling for a ban across the globe and u nfortu nately a ban across the globe and unfortunately the industry hasn't been listening and this is another sad reminder of that. a major work by the resound, renowned south african artist told the little—known story of 2 million africans in world war i has had its premiere in london to cricket will, critical acclaim. 0ur premiere in london to cricket will, criticalacclaim. 0urarts premiere in london to cricket will, critical acclaim. 0ur arts editor will gompertz went to see the show. a huge william kent ridge, large bills up tate modern's turbine hall. made of sculpture and video, singing and dancing, shadows and shouting.

it tells the largely unknown story of the millions of african soldiers, porters and civilians who were caught up in world war i. the provocation that led to the project, suppose was a provocation of my own ignorance, and how little i had known of this history. the first world war was the kind of crucible of colonialism. all the paradoxes and contradictions and pressures of colonialism god he did in the conditions of war under the pressures of expectation and duty. and for some parts of africa, it was as devastating as the slave trade had been. the piece allows all of the characters, you know, to speak in their own mother tongue as well so that that's where the point of

expression comes from. you don't just go into english, you start with your own language and then when you're comfortable enough, and brave enough to cross the line, you can cross the line because the play's all about crossing the line. so relevant. it's so freshly releva nt so relevant. it's so freshly relevant because the minute you look at it, there are so many relevancy is today. things haven't changed that much in this world. there's still the same problems. this is a work of disorder to suggest a new order. but to set the record straight and recognise the extraordinary contribution and sacrifices made by africans during the first world war. will gompertz, bbc news. hackers have stolen the personal data of 1.5 million patients from singapore's government health database in their worst ever cyber

attack. the communications ministry said they don't know who was behind the attack but that it was sophisticated, deliberate and targeted and well—planned. the targeted and well—planned. the target hackers stole personal details and prescription records but not full medical records. prime minister lee hsien loong was one of the victims. competition has been launched to name a robot being built to explore mars in the future —— a competition. at the moment, the rover is called exomars but the european space agency hopes the public can come up with something more inspiring, as caroline rigby reports. it is a competition that's, well, out of this world — what to call a robot set to explore mars in 2021. currently called exomars, this six—wheeled rover will travel across the red planet in search of life. capable of drilling to a depth of two metres, it will also look for microbes deep below the surface. it is set to be a fascinating mission, and that is why scientists

from the european space agency think this little robot deserves a big name. british astronaut tim peake is a leading the hunt, which he hopes will inspire future generations to follow in his footsteps. if we can encourage them at an early age to start getting interested in science, then that's a great step forward. but it's also, you know, about developing character and personality. but, in order to avoid a repeat of the now—infamous poll which saw more than 100,000 people vote to call an arctic explorer ship boaty mcboatface, an expert panel will have the final say on renaming exomars. caroline rigby, bbc news. we all have our own experiences

of hearing announcements over the loud speakers at railway stations. actually, they probablyjust blend into the background for most of all. 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. 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 that 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 that 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, ‘cause sometimes children are right. dougal shaw, bbc news. let's have a look at the weather, here's nick miller. someone with a relatively deep voice would maybe be willing to take on that role. the new york times said prosecutors have seized their recording of a conversation between donald trump and his former lawyer, michael cohen, in which they discuss a payment to a former playboy model in the run—up to the 2016 presidential election —— have seized a recording. i'm on twitter. say hello. bye—bye. 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 this nose of high pressure builds in behind that rain—bearing weather system clearing, away south—eastwards. for early risers for saturday morning, a lot of cloud around, rather misty and murky in places, and for england and wales at any stage in the day, anywhere, there's a chance of catching a hit—and—miss shower. though 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 a picture at 4pm in the afternoon, south to north across the uk, and at this stage parts of southern england and south wales most favoured for an isolated shower, though most stay dry. and 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, and a bit of patchy, light rain is starting to move in. but at the golf at carnoustie, as the open continues, a lot of cloud around particularly early in the day. i think some sunny spells will develop. it looks like it'll be a sunnier and warmer day on sunday, but at that stage it looks

like the breeze will be perhaps more significant. now, 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, though most will be with clear spells. more cloud starting to filter into western scotland, and again there'll 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 towards 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—east england. now, early into next week, this weather system will bring some patchy rain through scotland and northern ireland.

ahead of that, though, we draw up some even hotter air to england and wales, so 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 our weather system early on 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 former playboy model, karen mcdougal. 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 vessel who survived. the eu's chief brexit

negotiator says the british govenrment‘s proposal 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, our world — weapons of mass deception.