this is bbc news, i'm ben bland. our top stories: president trump says there's ‘no rush' to finalise an agreement with china after the us more than doubles some tariffs on chinese imports. the italian navy says it has rescued 36 migrants off the coast of libya, but off tunisia a migrant boat has capsized, killing at least 65 people. british scientists unveil what they say are radical new plans to tackle climate change. and the life—saving brain surgery vets have carried out on this endangered parrot.

hello and welcome to bbc news. china's vice—president has denied trade talks with the united states have disintegrated, despite the failure of discussions in washington. liu he said that setbacks were inevitable and the two sides have agreed to meet again in beijing. the united states has now imposed higher tariffs on some chinese imports. president trump has said china will bear the cost — but the burden is likely to fall on us consumers. jon sopel reports. bell tolls. a bell can signify celebration, but it also can ring out a warning and today it felt like the latter after donald trump imposed much higher tariffs on chinese goods coming into the us, and fired out a warning to the world's second biggest economy that he is digging in for the long haul. he tweeted:

the chinese are in washington in the hope of concluding a deal. their lead negotiator said increasing tariffs hurts everyone. translation: i came here with sincerity in these special circumstances, to engage in rational and candid exchanges with the us side. of course china believes raising tariffs is not a solution to the problem. it will be harmful to china, the united states, and the entire world. donald trump has often been accused of being too trigger—happy when it comes to tariffs, too keen to start a trade war. but on this, significantly, the democrats are behind him — they are urging him to remain tough. when it comes to trade and china, there is a feeling here that they have been allowed to get away with too much for too long. the talks have broken up for the time being

without agreement, the treasury secretary sounding decidedly guarded about how they had gone. they were constructive discussions between both parties, that is all we're going to say. thank you. this factory in the south of china makes wi—fi routers, millions of them, many earmarked for the us market. but now, with new tariffs, those sales are in doubt. tp—link, like everyone else around the world, thought a deal was imminent, that the two sides would bridge their differences. but last weekend, the us president accused beijing of ratting on a deal to open up the chinese economy to us goods. in the middle of this are us farmers, whose products have been hit by retaliatory tariffs and they are desperate for a trade deal as soon as possible. we have almost waited almost too long, so the only thing that is really going to help us is if he makes a deal and china comes in and they guarantee to buy x amount of bushels. and us consumers, who are now going to find a range of imports costing way more in the shops.

and if this carries on, it will be the global economy that will suffer. ana swanson writes about trade and international economics for the new york times. i spoke to her earlier, here's her take on how these talks are going. it has really been quite a dramatic reversal, momentum has really been building towards what felt like would be a trade deal between the us and china. observers said it would certainly not address all of the points the trump administration and the business community have raised about china's economic concerns, but it would at least reassure markets and some businesses that are more sta ble and some businesses that are more stable relationship would continue. but over the last week and a half, the chinese apparently had made some dramatic revisions to the text, according to the american

negotiators, and the trump administration felt that just wasn't administration felt that just wasn't a good way to proceed. and it seems like for now the agreement is on hold, more tariffs are in effect, and there is really no sign of an agreement coming anytime soon. obviously this will be of huge interest to businesses and consumers in both the us and china, but looking beyond that, the international monetary fund has warned that it is a real threat, a trade war between the two biggest economies in the world is a real threat to global trade and the global economy. is there any evidence of that yet? it is always a little bit difficult to interpret because there are so many different things going on in the economy, and the effect of tariffs is quite small. however at this point all of the tariff actions that president trump has taken over the past year and a half have really started to

add up. now with the tariffs going into effect, the higher tariffs going into effect on $200 billion of chinese products coming into the us, the average weighted mean tariff for the average weighted mean tariff for the united states overall is now more than double that of many other developed countries like the uk, germany and japan. and so the united states really is not necessarily a free trading country anymore when you compare it with some other countries around the world. it really is just a remarkable shift. and all of that does add up to an effect on the economy in the overall, you have wall street firms, businesses, trying to prepare for ta riffs businesses, trying to prepare for tariffs here, thinking about other options. and of course just briefly, donald trump has to keep in mind the election coming up, something that will not really be of concern to the

beijing negotiators. that's a great point. donald trump does have a domestic constituency to worry about here, andi domestic constituency to worry about here, and i think that explains a lot of the underlying dynamics that are going on here. it is true that there were certain changes made to there were certain changes made to the documents that the trump administration found unacceptable, but the president also has a political calculus here about remaining tough on china. staying in the united states, congress is stepping up its efforts to force president trump to hand over his tax returns. the chairman of the powerful house ways and means committee has issued subpoenas for six years' worth of the president's tax returns. he announced the measure after the trump administration refused a formal request to hand over the records earlier this week. donald trump is the first us president since the 1970s not to make his tax returns public.

the un says at least 65 migrants have drowned when their boat capsized off the coast of tunisia. tunisian state media is reporting that 16 people were rescued by fishermen offshore around 70 kilometres from the city of sfax. officials say the boat's passengers were from countries in sub—saharan africa. our middle east analyst alan johnston has more details. another johnston has more details. really major disaster in mediterranean another really major disaster in mediterranean waters, as you say, dozens mediterranean waters, as you say, d oze ns of mediterranean waters, as you say, dozens of migrants dying as they attempted to reach europe. this is unfolding in waters around a0 miles off the tunisian city of sfax, and local fishermen it seems to be mounting some sort of rescue effort, managed to pull some 16 survivors out of the water, but many were missing. the un workers tell us that they believe at least 50 drowned, but tunisian officials are talking in terms of at least 70. we know

that this boat was carrying people from sub—saharan africa, we are not sure exactly which countries, but we know that they left from the area around down the libyan coast, an area where we hear of migrants boarding boats and setting off to europe. let's get some of the day's other news: two frenchmen who were abducted last week by islamists while on safari in benin have been rescued. it was in a covert operation in neighbouring burkina faso. two women hostages — one american, one south korean — were also rescued. two french commandos were killed. the venezuelan government says it's reopened the borders with brazil and the dutch island of aruba. they were closed in february to prevent the opposition leader juan guaido from taking foreign aid into venezuela. ministers said the border with colombia would remain closed while the threat of hostilities persisted. french regulators who spent six months monitoring facebook from within the company have recommended more public intervention.

their interim report was released as president macron met the facebook founder mark zuckerberg. it concluded that self—regulation lacked credibility. almost 900 children have been released by a pro—government militia which is fighting boko haram rebels in northern nigeria. the un children's agency, unicef, says some of the released children had been used as soldiers. it says the move fulfilled a commitment signed in 2017 by the civilianjoint task force in the north—eastern city of maiduguri to end the recruitment and use of children. here's the bbc‘s ishaq khalid in abuja. basically these children, according to unicef, are aged 13—18. and they have been with the vigilante group in north—eastern nigeria, the group is helping the nigerian military fighting boko haram since 2013, and so

fighting boko haram since 2013, and so far, you know, the children have been handed over to unicef, they have been involved in combatant and noncombatant have been involved in combatant and noncombata nt roles according have been involved in combatant and noncombatant roles according to unicef, and more than 100 of them are girls. so now unicef and the civilianjoint task are girls. so now unicef and the civilian joint task force up butting heads together —— putting heads together to ensure that these children get back to their communities, to return to their normal lives. it is a situation where the boko haram insurgency was escalating very rapidly in north—eastern nigeria in 2013 and the military was unable to contain it. so communities decided to defend themselves, and these vigilante groups were set up, and it was a dicey decision for many young people and teenagers, to eitherjoin this vigilante groups or be viewed as sympathetic with boko haram. so many of them decided to join the vigilante groups, and this release, the second batch, these children are the second batch, these children are the second batch, these children are the second batch. in october last

year more i’ow were the second batch. in october last year more row were released. but basically they have been involved in the conflict, and unicef is saying they witnessed a lot of death and violence and killings, and that has really affected them physically and emotionally, and the un agency is saying that children should not be involved in any way in conflict, either in combatant or noncombatant roles. a 2a—year—old norwegian woman has died after contracting rabies from a stray dog in the philippines. birgitte kallestad was travelling in the south asian country when the puppy she took in bit her. shortly after returning to norway, she fell ill and was put in an intensive care unit at the hospital she worked in, but died on monday. it's the first rabies—related death in the country in more than 200 years. a spokesperson for the family said they were deeply saddened. translation: the family are deeply saddened. and that is of course fully understandable. to lose

someone fully understandable. to lose someone closer suddenly like this, and with this kind of disease progression, weighs heavily on them. we didn't think of rabies when it came to this infection. well earlier we heard from doctor sandy douglas, a vaccine researcher from thejenner institute in oxford. he explained how dangerous rabies can be. rabies is caused by a bite from an infected animal, almost always a dog, and people may be bitten and then there could be quite a prolonged period, a number of weeks, often several months even, in which they have no symptoms. and after that, symptoms may develop, and initially with a sort of mild, non—specific illness, fever, and then progressing onto more typical symptoms, with agitation and changes in people's behaviour. by the time symptoms develop, it is essentially incurable. there are a tiny number of people who have survived rabies

worldwide, but usually with very serious disabilities. so it is essentially 100% fatal. it is caused bya essentially 100% fatal. it is caused by a virus, and the virus spreads from the site of a bite through the nerves into the brain, and it is a viral infection of the brain that causes the symptoms and ultimately death. it was actually one of the first diseases for which an effective vaccine was developed. so we had an effective vaccine for more than 130 years, it has got better over that time, so it is completely preve nta ble, over that time, so it is completely preventable, which is one of the saddest things about this case. it has been eradicated from most of western europe, but outside western europe, virtually all areas of the world do still have rabies. so africa, asia, south america all still have rabies. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: faster internet and a fascination with football — how some childen in africa

are being drawn into online betting. the pope was shot, the pope will live. that was the essence of the appalling news from rome this afternoon, that, as an italian television commentator put it, terrorism has come to the vatican. the man they called the butcher of lyon, klaus barbie, went on trial today in the french town where he was the gestapo chief in the second world war. winnie mandela never looked like a woman just sentenced to six years injail. the judge told mrs mandela there was no indication she felt even the slightest remorse. the chinese government has called for an all—out effort to help the victims of a powerful earthquake, the worst to hit the country for 30 years. the computer deep blue has tonight triumphed over the world chess champion, gary kasparov. it is the first time a machine has defeated a reigning world champion in a classical chess match. america's first legal same—sex marriages have been taking place in massachusetts.

god bless america! this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the us treasury secretary has described negotiations with china to try to resolve the two countries' trade war as constructive. the italian navy says it has rescued 36 migrants off the coast of libya, but off tunisia a migrant boat has capsized, killing at least 65 people. online sports betting in africa is worth billions of dollars every year. the boom is being encouraged by faster internet, cheaper phones, and an obsession with the english premier league. but there are fears that children are being sucked into a cycle of betting, debt and poverty. in kenya one government minister has called it "a curse on youth." angus crawford reports.

it's match day in the kenyan premier league and look, there's harry kane, advertising a sports betting company. local team afc leopards is sponsored by a betting company, too. in fact, the whole league is. it's big business here. especially betting on the english premier league. and it's notjust adults, but, increasingly, children too. meet francis. he's only 15 and he bets every day. when you start betting, you don't feel like you can stop it. he and his friends dream of getting rich. some have even used their school fees. when they lose, they don't have school fees, you see. so they can't go to school? yes. and adverts for betting are everywhere. whether you're playing or watching there's something for everyone at betin. nothing wrong with that, but it seems age restrictions just aren't working here.

this is today's newspaper. it's quite clear the government here thinks that the entire industry is actually a curse on kenyan youth. english football and the big betting firms fuelling a gambling boom in africa. they are profit—making, they are making money and probably 30% is from children. jennifer kaberi's a child psychologist who sees vulnerable children pushed deeper into poverty. they have been swallowed by this animal that came here and people didn't realise it was an animal. it is notjust kenyan companies using the english premier league to promote their brands. we have also found british betting companies trying to grab a slice of the african market, and children are gambling with them, too. on the other side of africa, almost 3000 miles away, abidjan, capital of the ivory coast. here, we meet eric. 15 when he started betting, using adults to place his bet on the british site bet365.

even the internet cafe is named after the company and there are plenty of children here, too. it's a picture repeated across the city — children openly betting. and when we travelled to the ivory coast, we found the most popular site was bet365. you've just got to take the money and run. it's one of the biggest betting companies in the world — chief executive denise coates reported to be worth at least £5 billion. bet365 says all accounts have to pass full age verification and must not be used

to benefit a third party. it insists, "if an account holder placed bets for a child, appropriate action would be taken." a betting boom but with children too often the losers — an uglier side to the beautiful game. angus crawford, bbc news, nairobi. vets in new zealand have performed life—saving brain surgery on an endangered kakapo parrot. it's the first operation of its kind ever to be done. there are only 1aa adult birds of the native species left alive. the chick, known as espy1b, was in the care of the department of conservation when rangers noticed an unusual lump on its skull. brett gutful is director of the wild based research centre. he told me more about how the operation went. really well. we had a really good response to the surgery and the check has not had any complications at all. the mesh implant in the

skull seems to have taken very well and we have good scar tissue forming across, and the check is growing and taking on food as we would expect. really spectacular from our point of view. these birds are absolutely beautiful. i just wondered, view. these birds are absolutely beautiful. ijust wondered, it is such a tragedy that they are so close to extinction. what has led to doubt? the x tension of many species in new zealand, including the kakapo, in new zealand, including the ka kapo, has in new zealand, including the kakapo, has been because of the introduced mammals humans brought in. particularly rats, stoats, ferrets, cats. we have a whole range of introduced mammals and the birds here arejust of introduced mammals and the birds here are just not able to avoid them. a kakapo, for instance, they existed down in fiordland and stewart island, but would totally taken out stewart island, but would totally ta ken out by stewart island, but would totally taken out by predators in that area. they now only exist on offshore islands where those predators have

been removed. what does this surgery mean in terms of efforts to preserve the species for the future, or is this just the species for the future, or is thisjust a one—off the species for the future, or is this just a one—off success story? well, this is the story that is getting all the news, but there has been a really good breeding year for the ka kapo, been a really good breeding year for the kakapo, and the department of conservation team done phenomenally well. there is a whole group of veterinarians from different institutions in new zealand providing veterinary support to those conservation efforts. so while this is an unusual story and is sort of the icing on the cake, there is a whole lot of us who are working for the conservation of the species. and just briefly, espy1b, please tell me you have a cuter name being thought up? espy 1b is like a holding name at the moment. this check‘s mother ‘s aspirins. 1b refers to the number of the clutch under the order of the egg in the clutch that espy 1b came out of. the

kakapo clutch that espy 1b came out of. the ka kapo team will give clutch that espy 1b came out of. the kakapo team will give the check and official name in the future and every single kakapo has its own name, but we are not allowed to make name, but we are not allowed to make name up. how to repair the damage done to the earth's climate? scientists at the university of cambridge will look at ways to do that at a planned new uk research centre, as pallab ghosh reports. a scorched earth, where people are poorer and have less food because of severe droughts. there will be more flooding, and all the coral has gone. that is what we are headed for, unless we do more to cut emissions of carbon dioxide. scientists at cambridge university fear that reducing c02 scientists at cambridge university fear that reducing co2 emissions on its own will not be enough. the man who has led efforts at the heart of government to combat climate change for 20 years is planning to set up a new research centre to develop ways of repairing the damage that is already being done. we are looking

for processes that are scalable, by which i mean processes that can take out billions of tons of greenhouse gases each year. we have trillions of tons of ice gone from both the earth's poles, the new centre will look at ways of refreezing them. —— with trillions stop one idea is to have both spray seawater into the clouds above the ice to reflect sunlight away from them. another is to develop forests of artificial trees to absorb carbon dioxide, just like real forests, only better. trees to absorb carbon dioxide, just like realforests, only better. and some think releasing shiny discs into space might act as a planetary parasol, reflect into space might act as a planetary pa rasol, reflect sunlight into space might act as a planetary parasol, reflect sunlight and cooling the earth. the scientists here believe the earth's climate can be repaired. they say new solutions need to be found and implemented within the next ten years, otherwise it might be too late. a reminder of

our top story. china's vice premier has denied trade talks with the us have disintegrated despite the failure of discussions in washington. liu he said setbacks we re washington. liu he said setbacks were inevitable and the two sides have agreed to meet again in beijing. the united states has now imposed higher tariffs on some chinese imports. president trump has said china will bear the cost but the burden is likely to fall on us consumers. before we go, ijust have to show you these pictures of the london zoo's cutest new arrival. elio is a two—toed sloth. here he is, clinging to his mother. and as you can see, he loves carrots. elio was born last month, but today made his first public appearance. unlike human babies, sloths have a long gestation, which means they can immediately eat solid food. and like his mum, he loves a nap. not a bad idea. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @benmbland.

hello there. gradually it is an improving picture this week. we've got high pressure moving and which will kill the showers. we will see more sunshine around and it will turn a little bit warmer for most of us as turn a little bit warmer for most of us as well. but there is no heatwave on the horizon. but it will feel a lot better than we have experienced over the past week or so. low pressure, which brought wet weather to southern parts of the uk during friday night will clear away. we could start off with early showers, particularly across the south—east. these will tend to fizzle out. many places starting off this morning on a chilly note but brightened with plenty of sunshine. that will just wish i was going again. in the afternoons are likely to develop in the northern isles, one or two

across scotland, otherwise plenty of sunshine here. quite a chilly breeze across northern coasts. most of the showers will be across central and eastern england. the odd heavy one, may the odd rumble of thunder two. the best of the temperatures here and that north—westerly wind. i think we will see highs around 15— 17 degrees. the showers fizzle out tonight but it will turn chilly. largely clear, a bit of mist and fog. likely a touch of frost across parts of scotland, but less cold in the south and south—east. sunday, high—pressure, right on top of us, keeping all these weather systems far away from us. so it looks like it is going to be a fine and largely dry day. it will start of chilly, mind you, especially in the north, with light winds and plenty of sunshine. those temperatures will begin to rise in the afternoon. could see some fair weather cloud developing here and there, and just the outside chance of an isolated shower. but most places will stay dry. temperatures reaching into the upper teens. next week we still have

high pressure with us but what it will be doing, certainly as the week wears on, is tapping into cooler hour of the north sea, whereas further west it will be tapping into warmer out from the bay of biscay. so it looks like next week, though it will be largely dry with sunny spells because it is high—pressure, it is more likely to be cooler in the east and a little bit breezy as well, especially along north sea coasts. this is the picture on monday. largely dry. a fairly cool feeling. through the afternoon temperatures will be rising nicely. we should see highs of around 80, meet —— 18, may 19 celsius in the warmer spots across western areas. generally speaking, the further south and east you are over the next few days, it will be cooler, especially on the coast. inland it is always a few degrees warmer, with temperatures further west doing much better. in fact, the north—west of scotla nd better. in fact, the north—west of scotland could fare best.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

crucial trade talks between the united states and china in washington have ended after a two hour meeting. earlier, the us more than doubled tariffs on $200 billion worth of chinese goods. beijing says it will retaliate. the italian navy says it has rescued 36 migrants off the libyan coast. but the united nations says 65 african migrants drowned when their boat capsized off the tunisian coast after setting off from libya to try and reach europe. a 2a—year—old norwegian woman has died after contracting rabies from a stray dog in the philippines. it's the first rabies—related death in the country in more than 200 years. birgitte kallestad was travelling when the puppy she took in bit her. now on bbc news, in one

of his first and only interviews