the trump administration has confirmed that it's stopping all funding for the un agency that supports palestinian refugees. washington had already drastically cut its support for the agency, which helps more than five million palestinians. a spokesman for the palestinian president described the move as a ‘flagrant assault‘ on the palestinian people. the us and canada have failed to strike a deal to amend the north american free trade agreement, despite a week of talks. president trump has said he'll sign a bilateral deal with mexico if canada doesn't agree to the terms being offered. friends and relatives have been paying their final respects to aretha franklin at an invitation—only funeral ceremony in detroit. famous faces attending included jesse jackson and former president bill clinton. he described aretha as the voice of a generation if not the century. now on bbc news, human endeavour —

the british racing driver, billy monger, meets alex zanardi — pa ralympic gold—medallist and one—time formula one star. most people remember alex zanardi is a formula 1 driver. he suffered a horrific crash and lost both of his legs but he took a hand cycling and made headlines in london and rio at the paralympics, he won two gold medals and became a superstar. when i had my accident, somehow or another, alex zanardi rang me a couple of times, he'd been through something similar and gave me a bit of advice. now i know his story and what he went through and how he has coped with it, and what is achieved, it's pretty impressive and when people ask me who motivated me, he is definitely one of those people. meet alex zanardi, a global

superstar. from racing car to para— cycling champion, this man is always ona cycling champion, this man is always on a mission. today the veterinary is on his way to meet britain's billy monger, fondly known in racing circles as billy whiz. this is a special day, it is their first meeting. there is my man. how are you doing. good to see you. it's nice to finally meet you. sorry if i don't get up but i'm sure you understand my issue.” don't get up but i'm sure you understand my issue. i do, definitely. billy monger's talent was well— known even at primary school. at the age of nine he was featured on blue peter. how fast we re featured on blue peter. how fast were you going? 55 miles per hour. 17 and a star of formula four, he is tipped by many to be the next lewis hamilton. one of britain's most

talented racing drivers was competing at donington park when he collided with a stationary car in front of him at 120 miles per hour. airlifted to the queens medical centre in nottingham, is lower legs we re centre in nottingham, is lower legs were removed during surgery. teenager billy monger has driven a racing car for the first time since losing both his legs in a crash. well done yesterday. thank you, it was really cool. not only is billy back driving, the 19 your old sensation is competing in british formula three and returned to the podium, finishing third at spa this season. podium, finishing third at spa this season. i saw that you are drinking out of your sockets. yes, this one. i will go and introduce myself. i'll introduce you to my sister.” i will go and introduce myself. i'll introduce you to my sister. i am jenny. this is bonnie. nice to meet you, iam jenny. this is bonnie. nice to meet you, i am alex. and i am jenny. i'm presenting and i'm delighted that

we've finally got you to together. presenting and i'm delighted that we've finally got you to togetherli have we've finally got you to together.” have some of my coaches and i ask them to bring up a normal bicycle but with an electrical assisting model. maybe he could try to see where it is at all. mario is the boss, gianni is like his assistant. the wrong way around. i can tell that you haven't worn one so long. you love exercising so much on the b i cycle. you love exercising so much on the bicycle. let's go this way, thank you. i tried. bicycle. let's go this way, thank you. itried. it is bicycle. let's go this way, thank you. i tried. it is possible to push. you get stuck in the middle,

in between. what are your first impressions of meeting alex? he's a character, really positive, really engaging. just talking to him, you get the impression that he has already been through a lot and he knows the right sort of things to do and not to do. he is creeping back up. maybe it's a good idea while you are going down, there is a vast section where i can maybe try to impress him a little bit. we are now going at 80 kilometres an hour. he is basically luging. running on a

bit of adrenaline, i think so. it's different to racing but it's not, it's the same thing in a different way. you have met some pretty amazing people in your life, especially since the accident. lewis hamilton. lewis has been really good to me. i love the fact that so many people got in touch with me, people ididn't people got in touch with me, people i didn't even know, people like lewis who i never spoke to before. he was someone always looked up to. to get that support from them was really cool. and yes, alex isjust another one of those, the guys that i'm now looking to for motivation, to keep the pushing on. things are looking bleak for

zanardi, who is fighting for his life in hospital in berlin. ely was only two years old when alex zanardi crashed 13 laps from the end of the american memorial kart race in germany. two years later alex returned to finish those 13 laps of that fateful race. he continued on to become a successful touring car driverfor to become a successful touring car driver for bmw. i very much like to get the two of you to talk about your accidents with each other. do you remember losing consciousness?” with each other. do you remember losing consciousness? i was unconscious in the carp about 45 minutes and then they realised how

serious my injuries were and that was the point where they put me into an induced coma and i can't remember anything from that point onwards, to about three days into my time in hospital and by that point, the amputations had already happened in everything. but theyjust completed the amputations or you amputated at the amputations or you amputated at the hospital? i'm not too sure, they didn't complete the amputations, but i think looking back on it, it was easy, the fact that i didn't have to make that decision for myself. it was a situation where i woke up and it happened, there was no going back. for me, it was much, much easier than having any part. i'm not a doctor. those guys, they know what

is best view. i feel very familiar in these words in the sense that it's been the same to me, although when i woke up, ifelt i it's been the same to me, although when i woke up, i felt i was full of drugs. so that was a big filter all the pain. when i was told by my wife what happened, she was very pragmatic and got straight to the point. the feeling which unnerved —— which emerged wasjoy. point. the feeling which unnerved —— which emerged was joy. two of lost my legs and that moment was the last of my problems because i was so happy to be alive. to know the worst was already behind me was like, wow, so was already behind me was like, wow, soi was already behind me was like, wow, so ijust was already behind me was like, wow, so i just told was already behind me was like, wow, so ijust told daniela listen, darling, it's ok, the doctors said i'm not dying and that is enough. i

thought, if other people have done it, ican thought, if other people have done it, i can do it. it won't be easy but i can do it. since i'm an optimist, i also thought i can actually add a little bit more. and he did. former f1 driver alex zanardi claims gold on the 15th anniversary of losing his legs in a crash. you wake up and they tell you the worst is behind you and from that point onwards, i very rarely thought about my accident afterwards. if anything, thought about my accident afterwards. ifanything, i thought about my accident afterwards. if anything, i was curious. there was on—board footage, i saw that. it was important to have a quick look at that city can push it under the carpet and forget about it. you never fully forget when an

accident like that happens but in order to move forward, for me that's fine, i had to fully understand what i have been through. curious. i was curious to watch the footage of my accident. i was not afraid of it but i guess this is down to the way we are and you can't make sure what kind of reaction we have in particular circumstances and i saw what happened to me, i would join the club of those saying wow, hats off to him, i would not be able to do what he does but it's not true because we are amazing, marvellous machines and sometimes we are capable of surprising ourselves with the reaction we didn't think we could bring in a particular circumstance, but we do. it is a

very, very positive young man. the first thing was to work out how to use a first thing was to work out how to use a clutch with his hand. if i was going to go through everything i had to go through, i didn't want to adjust my ambitions and dreams to assume what everyone wanted me to do. when i wasjust assume what everyone wanted me to do. when i was just recovering, assume what everyone wanted me to do. when i wasjust recovering, it didn't take me long to realise that is the way wanted to go. i'm glad you can all be out here today. a big round of applause, everyone. when it comes to that rehabilitation process , comes to that rehabilitation process, it must hurt. you are smiling. it does hurt but every step isa smiling. it does hurt but every step is a step forward. you know that the following day will be better so you move on. actually, to a certain

degree, the suffering gives you a right measure of the value of all tidy —— what you're doing. i remember during the course of my rehabilitation, i was starting to work with these strange things and i had to go to the toilet and ijust passed in front of the restaurant so i take advantage, so i went in and while i was doing my business i realised it was the first time i was taking a leak standing since after the accident. i said, wow, this is a special moment. even before you start doing physio on the legs, i did a lot of training staff to build as much strength as i could because you are in a wheelchair and your wounds are recovering and you can't train in the way he wants to train. you can't start walking and getting better at it. until you've recovered yourself. i've been lucky my

rehabilitation that i've been able to meet a lot of soldiers. they then a big source of inspiration, not so much what they can do physically but of their mental attitude. when it came to the licence, tell me what you had to do. ignorance is what scares you the most. everybody was basically sure that if they allowed me to drive, i would have a big accident, hurting myself and possibly hurting other people is that they were just looking for an excuse that they were just looking for an excuse to say no, you can't. i lost my legs, not my head. but finally i passed every test and they gave me the green light and i got my licence. what alex did to get the perception of other people, to change, has helped me a lot, especially. when asked the question of why i could not raise a single

seat, they didn't have an answer. there are always go to people who are concerned that you are jumping back into a car and you're not going to be safe, notjust to yourself that other people sol to be safe, notjust to yourself that other people so i had to prove that other people so i had to prove that i was capable of driving the car ina that i was capable of driving the car in a safe manner and that i was able to get out of the car with a did have an incident, so that if it was 011 did have an incident, so that if it was on fire or anything like that, i would be as safe as any of the other drivers and also making sure that the controls are viewed as safe from the controls are viewed as safe from the fia, make sure they are up to a level that they were happy with. ibump into i bump into people who tell me like isa i bump into people who tell me like is a beautiful thing matter what. i bumped into this gentleman and had coffee with and they did not ask why he was there. it was normal. and when he was holding his baby, his daughter, and the baby was with no legs, and he was crying, and so i

went to comfort him. and he said no, alex, i'm just very happy, that is why am crying. i asked what he was talking about. he said his baby was born with no legs and when he came there the first time, they had to wait until she was four years of before they could give her prosthetic legs. he said he was the happiest man in the planet because he bought his daughter are issues that day. still, to this day, i think how can you not learn a lesson in something like this? how can you complain? this is the marvellous aspect of us all as individuals. we can't fly. we then have the strength of some animals. we don't have the sense of some animals. but with our

intelligence we have been able to run the planet. we are limited to different degrees. the fact that you are certified as disabled because you have lost something does not stop you to do things in an alternative way and a display your talent if you think you have some, 01’ talent if you think you have some, or if you think you have enough to get thejob done. i think billy is or if you think you have enough to get the job done. i think billy is a typical case of somebody very sure of that. he can have a career in motor sports. i have always been a big fan of him and now that i have met him, i am even more convinced. you are kind of ready to go. change

gear. downshift. you push, block ship. downshift, up shift. can you push your brother up? you've got it. 0bviously push your brother up? you've got it. obviously this journey has been a jenny kleeman in the past year, but also for you. -- this has been a journey for him. when the accident happened, you are there that day and you went out to be with them? yes.

mum was in a bit of a state so i was kind of the only one that was half we i’e kind of the only one that was half were that to go and keep him calm. that is a big responsibility, or even just as that is a big responsibility, or evenjust as a that is a big responsibility, or even just as a brother or sister. yes, but it needed to be done, so i knew that... everyone who saw the footage knew it was bad. i had to do at any moment and in what was best to him. to render the first only saw him post accident, after that they? gascony was in the hospital bed. not nice. it was nice to know that he was still there. i bet your mind this was not an easy thing to accept and to have gone through. she still does not like the racing but she knows that make him happy, so she let him get on with it. as long as he's happy, she is happy. the first

time that he got back into the car to go to his licence, they could not have been comfortable for anyone. i was relieved to see him back. ever and had —— thereon was nervous. just to see his face when he was back in the car and to see him back on the environment was the car and to see him back on the environment was so the car and to see him back on the environment was so nice after all the stuff he had been through. it was nice to see him back there. what do you think to date has meant to him and to you? i think it has been a long time coming to meet alex and just seen together is so funny, because i can see just seen together is so funny, because i can see so just seen together is so funny, because i can see so many similarities in them, even nothing to do with the injury, itjust them to do with the injury, itjust them to talking about racing. a long journey ahead of for both of them, then. nothing will separate them, when you see them. you will always be linked by the fact that you've

had these horrible igg injuries, yet neither of you as sat there and said that you will let us overtake you. you are bad days, but like you say, you need to not let it overtake you, to be honest. just meeting him and chatting with them and taking what they can from his experiences is enough to know that today was an awesome day. what he has been able to do isjust amazing to me how fast and rapidly he has been able to recover, mentally speaking, especially from what has happened. it really let us imagine that the future is quite bright for this kid, and he isn't a surprise us all with these things. i wish in the best because i see a little bit of myself in his story and what is director at the moment. i really hope that he is going to be able to turn that into an opportunity and not to see this

into the opportunity. because this is also a dangerous aspect of being a superstar. just because something happened to you for which everybody tells you your special, the danger is also to end up thinking that that is also to end up thinking that that is your role in life. no. his role is your role in life. no. his role is to carry on and do what he wants, to try to achieve what he loves and never be happy with it, because life isa never be happy with it, because life is a beautiful thing, but we only have one opportunity. the clock is ticking, see you need to take every opportunity to add things to live. not being anxious to add, but when you can, why not? well, the weekend's upon us, and the weather is actually looking

pretty good across much of the country over the next couple of days. some warmth, summerlike warmth. in fact, temperatures could get up into the mid—20s. the nights are drawing in, the days are getting shorter and any warmth that we do get, we really should make the most of it. so let's see what's happening then into the weekend, high pressure's very close to the uk, so that means settled weather conditions, but there are weather fronts very close to our neighbourhood. they will be nudging in later in the weekend, possibly bringing some rain to north—western areas. but before that happens, we've got that warmth being drawn in from the south, from spain, portugal, france as well and, as i say, temperatures will be well into the twenties. this is what it looks like through the rest of the night into the early hours of saturday morning, clear skies across many eastern and central areas so here there will be a nip in the air very early in the morning.

temperatures dipping down to single figures. not as cold as last night. across western areas, more cloud here, more of a breeze and a little bit warmer. that means in the west of the country, temperatures first thing will be around about 15 degrees but there's quite a lot of cloud you can see here from cornwall, devon, throughout wales, the irish sea and into south—western scotland, and if you squint you'll notice there's even a little bit of rain here, so perhaps for some of us, a grey start to the day across western parts of the country. the clouds here will be breaking up here, it's not one layer of grey, there will be some sunshine out for sure, and even if you get a grey morning, by late morning, lunch time, you will probably see some sunshine by then. best of the weather by far will be across eastern and southern areas and here, temperatures could reach around the mid—20s, but certainly around 20 degrees on the cards for northern ireland, and not far off that in the lowlands of scotland. that was saturday, this is sunday now. again the best of the weather will be across eastern and southern areas but this weather front

is edging closer and closer. the winds are strengthening, really quite blustery around the western isles, in the north and west coast of northern ireland. but the real warmth develops in central and eastern areas, that's that plume of warmth coming out of france, so temperatures will get into the mid—20s in london, possibly even the mid—20s as far north as yorkshire, but in the north—west, a little bit of rain on the way for belfast later in the afternoon on sunday or early evening. the outlook into next week isn't looking bad at all, variable amounts of cloud. looks like the temperatures will drop a little bit, but essentially speaking it's looking fine, into the 20s or high teens for most of us. bye— bye. this is bbc news, i'm nkem ifejika. our top stories. the trump administration confirms that it's stopping all funding for the un agency that supports palestinian refugees. a week of talks — but no deal yet. the us and canada fail to reach a new north american free trade agreement. a star—studded send off for aretha franklin at a funeral

ceremony in her hometown of detroit. the world is celebrating you. and the world is mourning you. and the world is going to miss you. and sweden hosts a women—only music festival in reaction to a series of sexual assaults at events last year.