welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: a thaw in relations — the united states and european union avert an all—out trade war and agree on getting rid of tariffs and the threat of sanctions. as the task of finding more bodies in greece's devastating wildfires goes on — we hear from those who managed to escape. the count continues in pakistan's general election with the former international cricketer imran khan forecast to become the new prime minister. and it's the question everyone is now asking: is there life on mars? scientists say they've found evidence of water on the red planet. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has reaffirmed that washington rejects russia's annexation of crimea from ukraine. mr pompeo‘s declaration came shortly

before he gave evidence to the senate foreign relations committee, where he defended the privacy of president trump's talks with mr putin. i want to show this committee the united states does not and will not recognise the kremlin‘s purported annexation of crimea. we stand with many in our commitment to the ukraine and its territorial integrity and there will be no relief of crimea related sanctions until russia returns control of the crimean peninsula to ukraine. meanwhile threats of a trade war between the united states and the european union appear to have vanished after a meeting at the white house on wednesday. european commission president jean—claudejuncker met donald trump to discuss tariffs, after the us president said america was losing out because of unfair deals. it led to him putting tariffs on steel and metal imports in may. andrew plant reports. ladies and gentlemen, the president

of the united states and the president of the european commission. donald trump and jean—claude juncker. after months commission. donald trump and jean—claudejuncker. after months of trading tit—for—tat threats on tariffs, now meeting at the white house, the accusatory tone is abandoned and fears of trade wars receding. this is what we agreed today, first of all, to work together towards zero tariffs, zero nontariff barriers and zero subsidies on non— auto industrial goods, thank you. there is $1 trillion of trade between the two. donald trump says in areas like steel and agriculture, the us has lost what he said was billions of dollars because of unfair tariffs with the year you. services, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical products, even soya beans or mentioned at this meeting is areas where trade could increase between america and the eu. mr trump called

ita america and the eu. mr trump called it a big day for free, america and the eu. mr trump called it a big day forfree, fair dealing. i had the intention to make a deal today and we made a deal. we have identified a number of areas in which to work together. work towards zero tariffs on industrial goods. that was my main intention. back in may, the us imposed 25% duty on steel and 10% on aluminium, what he called retaliatory tariffs, and said those would now be resolved. thank you very much everybody. this was a meeting many are now seeing is a new era between two of the world's largest trading areas and a sign that any all—out trade war is now very firmly off the table. andrew plant, bbc news. our correspondent, chris buckler, joins me from washington. chris, first of all, this apparent resetting relations with europe, it's hard to know, given the

president's tendency to say one thing, contradicted 2a hours later and tell you, you never heard him say the first thing. jean-claude juncker did give a briefing to some of us are three spoke alongside donald trump and i was there and we asked specifically about the relationship, whether he could trust donald trump and he said specifically he believed he could and certainly when you take a look at the relationship between the two men, after all, from one side of the atla ntic to men, after all, from one side of the atlantic to the other, things do seem to have changed. he has even published a picture of him giving a kiss or getting a kiss from mr juncker outside the white house as he was talking to him that he has talked in terms of the eu, represented byjean—claude juncker, as represented by him, they are really in love. i'm not sure this goes as far as london. the new talk —— when you take a look at what has

been agreed yet, it is a ceasefire rather than an end to a trade war because we didn't really have the hostilities which are expected to come of this trade war and they have pulled back from the brink. what we are seeing are a number of things. specifically this idea that while negotiations continue to try and get a deal, they won't have car tariffs being increased, per example, in the us, the eu are talking about buying soya beans, energy from the us. these are all things they can work together on but i put it to jean—claude juncker specifically, this really is, i suppose, not a deal that the start of negotiations and he said that was both fair and unfairto and he said that was both fair and unfair to say. there and that ultimately, this is not a final agreement on solving all the problems to do with tariffs but at the same time, they have made strides. how much weight you putting on what mike pompeo said today. he covered a lot of ground. when you

look at what he set about russia, he wa nts to look at what he set about russia, he wants to be seen as tough, the secretary of state saying that as far as he is concerned, the us government is not going to except russia going beyond its bounds. they say that is simply unacceptable and they will keep sanctions in place. at the same time, there were some fiery conversations in which mike pompeo was being grilled by members of congress about whether or not they would know exactly what donald trump had said of vladimir putin. there is this question that came up time and time again in quite aggressive tones asking, did you talk about the potential of easing sanctions, per example, and mike pompeo did not want to talk specifically about what donald trump said. mike pompeo was asked if he knew exactly what donald trump and said to vladimir putin. he said he had had conversations that there we re had had conversations that there were quite a lot of conversations

and a lot of not answered. chris, many thanks for that. survivors have been describing their desperate battles to escape the wildfires that have swept through parts of the greek coast. many were trapped in homes and vehicles, others seeking refuge in the sea. it's now known at least 80 people died. from the town of mati, our correspondent mark lowen. with it, the lives they struck. hope to is dying here. the family of 88—year—old angeliki of the worst. the family of 88—year—old angeliki giannopoulos had just heard the worst. that she was the 80th person killed by the wildfires. her charred remains worst discovered in her home. for herson, a mix of shock and rage. fortunately i didn't find her by myself because i couldn't face that. the body is totally burned.

when the pain will calm down will prosecute to all levels, everybody that is responsible for this catastrophe. i will not stop until i will die. it is still not known how the spark was lit, but the gale force winds meant the flames galloped down the mountains. dozens are still missing and almost 200 were injured. like susan stephos from britain. minutes after seeing the flames in the distance, they were at her home. she ran through them, burning her arms. it's hard to find words for such a tragedy. when i was in the house, i was going over and i thought i and i thought i and i thought, i am not going to make it, this is the end. but, prayers were answered — and i managed. brian o'callaghan from ireland didn't make it. he was on honeymoon here with his wife zoe, after marrying last thursday.

happiness crushed. the streets of mati are like a burnt—out ghost town. the scorched shells are all that remain of family homes, some still bear the trace of the inferno. for the engineers, the task of assessing what can still stand and what must be torn down. dora matsia says it is as if a earthquake struck. just the feeling of walking along in a blaze that i know was green and full of trees and all these thing is very difficult and i have to cope with people who have a lot of psychological problems right now. it is quite difficult for everyone. go on the water! volunteer lifeguards scour the coast for any sign of life or death. hundreds of people were rescued as they ran into the sea to escape the flames. they pass a group still searching for any sign of their relatives — and encouragement from the water to keep going. the hope of finding any more

survivors has virtually gone. so the aim now is to look for belongings and bodies. for some, the sea marked their salvation from the flames. for others, it was the end. the memories of that night lay buried here and in the remains of a part of greece scarred forever. mark lowen, bbc news, mati. let's get some of the day's other news. here in the uk, 5 men have appeared in court in connection with an acid—attack on a 3—year—old boy at a shopping centre in worcester. one of them is the boy's father. the men spoke with the help of slovakian and afghan translators. all five will appear in court again next month. the swedish air force has joined efforts to tackle a wildfire that's been burning in central sweden for almost two weeks. military planes have dropped laser—guided missiles to deprive the fire of oxygen. it's thought the explosions have been effective, extinguishing flames as far as a hundred metres from the centre of the blast.

new zealand — a country with one of the world's highest rates of domestic violence — has passed a ground—breaking law granting victims10 days of paid leave. the extra time is designed to allow victims to attend court, move home or transfer children to new schools, without fear of losing theirjobs. early projections in pakistan's general election suggest the former international cricketer imran khan is likely be the new prime minister, although he'll probably have to form a coalition. his party fought on an anti—corruption platform — former prime minister nawaz sharif is injailforfraud — but there's concern about whether pakistan's powerful military may be manipulating the results. several of the parties opposing imran khan are rejecting the results, saying the poll was rigged. from islamabad, the bbc‘s secunder kermani. celebrations by imran khan's supporters as results roll in. it looks increasingly likely

that the former cricketing star will be pakistan's next prime minister and his party, the largest in the next parliament. i think the hard work of pti, the members of pti, which is definitely, in my opinion, the biggest political force in the history of this country has paid off, votes are still being counted, with final results likely tomorrow. earlier today, imran khan cast his vote. he's promised to crackdown on corruption. his main rival, former prime minister nawaz sharif, was sentenced to ten years in jail following an investigation khan pushed for. his brother shehbaz has been leading the party in his absence. tonight, he rejected the results, claiming fraud.

this election campaign has revolved round two competing narratives, about the case against nawaz sharif. his supporters say the pakistani military has been working behind the scenes to ensure his conviction and remove him from power. imran khan says those claims are simply an attempt to distract from the corruption allegations. residents in rawalpindi watching the results come in were divided about who they believed. translation: nawaz sharif has been in power and he has been stealing from us and taking the money abroad. translation:i support the pml-n because they fulfilled their promises, they developed infastructure and reduced power cuts. imran khan's supporters are in buoyant mood tonight, but it seems likely he would have to form a coalition in order to take power. and his opponents seemed adamant in rejecting his victory. secunder kermani, bbc news, rawalpindi. stay with us on bbc news, still to come:

the highest form of flattery, hamilton takes to the stage. 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: the us and the eu about a trade war and agree on sanctions. more bodies are being found as greece's wildfire, goes on. well let's get more on our top story now. jesse byrnes is associate editor of the hill newspaper and hejoins me now from washington. this apparent relationship reset with the european union and movement by mrtrump on with the european union and movement by mr trump on tariffs, what do you

make of it? i think there is lot of scepticism still among the allies of the president in the united states, who are very much against his trade policies, against many of these protectionist tariffs that he has imposed and they are breeding some sigh of relief today. i think we are seeing some leaders in europe in the same position. but it doesn't change the reality that this president has pushed for months and we would expect him to continue to push for many of the steep tariffs not only involving europe, but china, canada, mexico, any of the top trading partners that the us has had the decades. while this is, in their view, an optimistic statement today coming out of the white house, there is still a deep scepticism that trump will change his view overall on trade. so you think he will stick with protectionism, even if he has backed off for today? a lot of what

he has done in terms of trade negotiations, we have seen a few times now where he will go soft on trade appearances before going very hard. back in march he had the exceptions for the eu, canada and mexico dealing with the steel and aluminium tariffs before a couple of months later, going forward with those and removing those exceptions. we saw the same thing with chinese tariffs, one of his top advisers going on television here in the states, saying that no decision had been made. a few days later donald trump said no, we are going ahead with it. we understand his advisers are looking at potential tariffs on automobiles coming out of europe, but at least for today the statement out of the white house says they are not looking at any new tariffs. what did you make of hearing that president trump apparently backed down from inviting president putin from washington, dc? there has been

massive outcry donald trump's warm embrace of vladimir putin. feeling a lot of pressure to pass legislation, it essentially condemning election meddling and trying to rebuke trump publicly for his embrace of putin last week. we are seeing now trump realising he is in a difficult position. he had a very combative series of statements last week, including having his top national security adviserjohn bolton invite putin to washington. public facing, there is a lot of pressure on him to have some distance from putin at the moment and we are seeing that statement today from the white house thomas saying that they are not going to have any kind of meeting at the white house until next year and thatis the white house until next year and that is a few months after the november mid—term election, where so many lawmakers will be running for their seats again. thank you so

much. now the debate over whether there could be life on mars has been around for years, but scientists could now be a step closer to at least knowing where to look for signs of life as we know it. a team from the european space agency say they have detected a lake of liquid water under the martian ice. our science correspondent victoria gill has been explaining more about why this is such a significant find. actual liquid water was the holy grail, wasn't it? that it -- that it —— that is why it is such big news today. we have discovered ice, but never liquid water. that is the key to life. that is why this is a big deal. if there is one, there may be more, is that the thinking?

that is exactly right. we found this vast lake, 20 kilometres wide, if there is one, hopefully there is more. it makes sense there would be more. it makes sense there would be more and that is what the team has to do. they have to follow up now and see if there is more water and very likely, there is. if there is, it could be very salty, that is hostile? it is hostile, but we need luke wood waterfall molecules to grow and evolve and get larger and larger. so without the salt there wouldn't be any liquid water, it has its benefits and its negatives, but overall it is much better that it is there then if it is not there. in practice, how much more you think we are likely to find out about it? we would have to send a massive drill and that is quite an ask. that is one thing, however, before we do that, we have these two orbiters

right now and that is where this data came from, with ground penetrating radar is from the orbiters. we will be electing more data as we are speaking. and europe has another rover that is going in 2020 with a surface ground penetrating radar and that will brea keven penetrating radar and that will breakeven more penetrating radar and that will brea keven more data. penetrating radar and that will breakeven more data. we are collecting more data today and more in the near future and then we will do the drilling that you mentioned, that would be a future mission in the 20 20s sometime. you know people will be yelling at this screen, we are messing up this planet, do we wa nt to are messing up this planet, do we want to mess another one? well we are not messing it up by looking for water. 0k? are not messing it up by looking for water. ok? this is a very innocent, very simple things. we are looking to see what is there and that is what exploration is all about. if you want to make an argument about that, we might as well have not sent

columbus to the americas. is all about exploration, we are studying the solar system and the universe to see are we a loan? is there a second is that of life forming? is what we are doing and that is what we want to find out and i think that would be one of the greatest discoveries we could ever make a. how soon are we could ever make a. how soon are we to see the information that you wa nt to we to see the information that you want to see? as i said, there are two orbiters that are orbiting mars collecting data. in the next few months or years, we could have already more data. i am sure they are looking at other areas already at the south pole and the north pole and the equatorial region. we don't even have to send another spacecraft there. we already have the assets there. we already have the assets there to do the work, all we need to do is continuing to gather the data

and use the painstaking process of analysis to make sure the data is telling us exactly what we think it is. we have to make sure, this is an amazing statement to make them so you have to back up with amazing science that proves that it really is accurate and that is what we are doing now. thank you very much. thank you to having the. —— having me. it's been the smash hit musical of the decade on both sides of the atlantic. now hamilton, the tale of one of america's founding fathers, has inspired a spoof. called spamilton, it's a comedy—take on the production — which celebrates its ground—breaking role whilst also poking fun. 0ur arts editor will gompertz has been talking to its director. # just you wait... # alexander hamilton. ..#. hamilton is the blockbuster musical about the american founding father whose face appears on the $10 bill. # 0n closer inspection, he's the salsa hip—hop main man...#. spamilton, on the other hand, is a spoof about it and its ground—breaking creator, lin—manuel miranda. # lin—manuel as hamilton # that's me, i'm lin—manuel as hamilton #.

when i sat down to write this, i thought, "well, i can't do a spoof of alexander hamilton because he did it", you know? he already told me everything wonderful i needed to know about hamilton so what am i going to do? so i thought, "well, how did he write this show? it's a game changer. how did he create the show that changes. you know, it's even changed, like, the racial make—up of broadway, you know? no more pretty blonde girls doing laurie in oklahoma. # straight is back # soon you'll see # campy musicals went out with glee #. what do you see as your role? what's the purpose of your satire? 0h... i think that theatre can sometimes be bloated and take itself very seriously and i puncture it and let some of the air out. spamilton parodies itself in song about being a satirical parasite.

which begs the question, where is the line between respecting the work of another artist and making money from mocking it? any form of imitation is a form of flattery, so the fact that it's happening already is gold. i think as long as it's funny and done in good taste, which i think it is in this, then you're fine. let's be clear, spamilton is not hamilton. it's a small show basking in the glory of a global hit. but it is good fun and reflects hamilton's legacy, which is the emergence of a more contemporary multicultural era of musical theatre. will gompertz, bbc news. moora on that on the bbc website. —— more on that. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley. thanks for watching. good morning.

if you think it's been hot enough already this summer, well, just wait for the next couple of days because it looks like it's going to turn even hotter. some spots could get to 36 degrees and that brings with it the chance of some thunderstorms and welcome rain and you can see from the satellite picture, a couple of different areas of low pressure spilling out into the atlantic as they approach our shores. we will eventually see some wet weather but ahead of that, drawing this very hot air up from the south. we start thursday morning in double digits just about wherever you are, parts of the south—east starting the day up around 20 degrees and as we go through the day, a lot of dry weather and some spells of sunshine. more on the way of cloud spreading up from south. small chance we might break out the odd shower into the afternoon. a bit more cloud into the west as well, into the western side of northern ireland, a bit cooler here. down towards the south—east,

look at these temperatures. 3a degrees in the heart of london but for some in the south—east, maybe 35 degrees. but the building heat and humidity, it looks like we will see some showers and thunderstorms starting to break out across the eastern half of the country, particularly as we head into the early hours of friday. thickening cloud and outbreaks of rain starting to trickle across northern ireland. a warm and muggy start to friday. during friday, this rain band tracking in from the west. then we see these thunderstorms blossoming to life across parts of south—east england, the east midlands, maybe eastern scotland. these are the areas most prone to vicious downpours. perhaps even some disruption. to the far east of the country, that is where we might get all the way up to 36 degrees. however, we push these various bands of rain and thunderstorms to the east as we get into the start of the weekend. then we start to tap into some much fresher air, these green and even blue colours blowing in our direction. during saturday, we say goodbye to ourfirst rain band quite quickly but there will be further bands

of showers or further spells of rain from west to east on a fairly brisk breeze. the wind of the bit stronger than it has been of late. some sunny spells as well but a big drop in temperatures. 10—degree drop in places. 25 for norwich in london. maybe 18 for edinburgh, glasgow and belfast. we stick to that fresher feel for the second half of the wekend and we'll see some rain spreading in from the west. this is bbc news. the headlines: the us secretary of state mike pompeo has reaffirmed that washington rejects russia's annexation of crimea from ukraine. but russia's foreign ministry dismissed his statement, highlighting previous us foreign policy reversals. mr pompeo's declaration came shortly before he gave evidence to the senate foreign relations committee. a series of measures to avert an all—out trade war has been agreed by the united states and the european union.

after talks at the white house with the eu commission president jean—claude juncker president donald trump said a new phase in their trade relations had begun. the greek authorities say 80 people are now known to have died in wildfires around athens — making them the deadliest ever recorded in greece. dozens of people remain missing after the fast—moving fires swept across the attica region — trapping some people in their homes or cars. now on bbc news, westminster in review.