this is bbc world news today. our top stories. the united nations kicks off a major push for climate change, saying the political will to tackle it is fading. less than two weeks until britain goes to the polls in the european elections, but what will the results tell us? berlin commemorates the seventieth anniversary of the american airlift which saved its west german inhabitants from a russian blockade and — a final day of drama in the english premier league, as manchester city secure the title with a 4—1win at brighton.

hello and welcome to world news today. the world is not on track to tackle climate change, and the political will to act is fading. that's the uncompromising message from the un secretary general, antonio guterres. speaking in new zealand, he described climate change as the defining issue of our time. more now from sunita jaswal. it was a warm welcome to new zealand for antonio guterres, but his message was direct. the world is facing a climate emergency. there's also another reason why he's there. he's coincided his three—day visit to meet leaders and show solidarity during the muslim holy month of ramadan, just less than two months after 50 muslims were killed in a terror attack on two mosques in christchurch. the visit will include travelling to the islands in the pacific region, low—lying countries that could disappear completely because of the rise in sea levels. they are really in the front line of the dramatic impact of climate change. we absolutely must be able to stop

these dramatic trends, to reverse these dramatic trends. we cannot allow for a runaway climate change. we need to protect the lives of our people and we need to protect our planet. speaking about the recent floods in mozambique he said the world is feeling the effects of climate change faster than the human efforts to tackle it. while the paris agreement on climate change aims to try to limit global temperatures to 1.5 celsius, antonio guterres says politicians aren't doing enough. we are seeing everywhere a clear demonstration that we are not on track to achieve the objectives defined in the paris agreement. and the paradox is that as things are getting worse on the ground, political will seems to be fading. however, he praised new zealand, saying all other countries should follow its lead after it introduced its zero carbon bill earlier this week. the country has set a target to reduce all greenhouse gases,

with the exception of biogenic methane, to zero, by 2050. climate change is not just about humans. it's also about wildlife. take polar bears, for example. global warming means there's less sea ice for them to hunt seals on, limiting their access to food, and threatening their survival. then you have african elephants. they need to drink 225 litres of water a day. so changing weather patterns means risking their lives to travel further into unprotected areas to rehydrate. the ramping up of diplomacy will lead to a climate action summit at the un in september, an event that's been billed as a last chance to prevent irreversible climate change. it was a warm welcome to new zealand for antonio guterres, but his here in the uk, conservative politicians have acknowledged that next week's european elections will be difficult for them. the education secretary damian hinds has called them ‘the ultimate

protest vote‘ for some people. as two opinion polls suggest the brexit party is ahead by a signicant margin, its leader, nigel farage, says he would use a successful result to demand the party is included in the government's eu negotiating team. our chief political correspondent vicki young has more theresa may is keeping faith with her brexit deal but there is little sign she's persuading others to back the plan. the uk is still in the eu and has told european elections. senior conservatives braced for a challenging contest. these are going to be difficult elections, that much has been clear from the start. for some people this is the ultimate protest vote opportunity, turnouts tend to be quite low in european elections and people do use it as something of a free vote and i think that will be even more true this time. ironically this is in a sense for some people the second referendum. and two opinion polls out today suggest nigel farage‘s new brexit party could do well. he's back in the spotlight, as outspoken as ever.

this is ludicrous. ..and confident of inflicting damage on his all political enemies. ..and confident of inflicting damage on his old political enemies. we voted to leave, we did not vote for a deal, we voted to leave once in the referendum, the year after that the labour party and the conservative party promised in their manifestos they would honour the result of the referendum and here we are almost three years on, brexit has not been delivered and given this government and this parliament there is no prospect of these parties delivering a clean break brexit. brexit talks between the government and labour have been plodding on for weeks and there will be more tomorrow. the opposition say the prime minister is refusing to compromise and that's what's leading to a surge in support for nigel farage. people in this country are angry. they are angry that the referendum result has not been delivered on by an incompetent government and there is a protest which is being signalled by those figures, 34%, saying they would go for brexit. there is no policies on this party, just one. it's that they want to leave

the european union without a deal. labour has got problems of its own — some members want the party to be more clear about backing a second referendum like the greens, the snp, plaid cymru and the liberal democrats. if you can attach a peoples vote to the brexit deal we will be able to get that through the houses of parliament because there is enough support for making sure that a deal goes back to the people. that's the obvious way out of this mess. conservatives are trying to play down the significance of these european elections are still clinging to the hope that meps elected later this month might never take their seats but that depends on the government being able to break the deadlock here at westminster and finally deliver brexit. if they can't, tory mps fear the party will continue to be punished by voters. theresa may found time for a kickabout this weekend, but if support for the conservatives slumped badly it could be her mps putting the boot

in in two weeks‘ time. for more on this we can now speak to professor of politics at strathclyde university, sirjohn curtice, to breakdown some of those eu election polling numbers. famously, nigel faraj said to the european union, you do not want to see me back here based on these polls, it looks like he will be back here. clearly back there with a lot of colleagues as well. essentially the farage success depends on, the conservative part being predominantly dependent on leave voters in the general election, while that support was given to the party on the basis that they were best placed to deliver brexit. brexit has not been delivered and many of those voters who have switched to the conservative party, before 2017 voted for when he was at that stage, and they basically gone

back to nigel farage‘s new party. three fifths of those people wanted leave in the referendum are now cingulate both for the brexit party and that is the foundation of basically, he is at least in the high 20s and the opinion polls and ahead and it will repeat the success of 2014 where they came first gained around 26 or 27% of the vote. he also wants his party to be involved in the negotiations after the elections, if they are successful, is there a number of seats they could win that would make that a realistic demand. that is an unrealistic demand, but in any case, nigel farage does not want any negotiations, his stance is that the uk should simply leave without a deal. and it is the fact that we have not left because we haven't been able to agree on a deal that can get past the house of commons thatis can get past the house of commons that is the base of discontent for

leave voters, so one of the talks that nigel farage wishes to join, his view is that we should just get out. how do these poles translate the national polling in the general election? today have any significance to offer? both the conservative and liberal party had been losing ground in our national opinion polls are quite a while during the course of the brexit impasse will stop and today's polls suggest that maybe that has gone even further, the conservative party it might be struggling to keep around 20% of the vote, even for westminster election, labour party struggling instead of 25% and certainly in combination, the two parties current pole positions is as bad as it ever has been in the history of british polling. that said, we do know that when we get into the campaign and we see a party like the brexit party surge ahead, this could be reflected in what people say they will do in westminster but then we discovered two or three weeks after the

elections are over that not all of this support has translated, i am not suggesting that all of these people are going to go back to conservative labour, they clearly suffered. but probably the case of the moment that the polls of westminster, the polls for the general election have probably been exaggerated to the extent at which brexit support will stop but it is costing them far more support than they can afford, and the leave voters, there are no signs that they are particularly concerned about losing votes, remain voters to the liberal democrats and to the voters who perhaps are being obstructed by the ideas of the separate referendum where the bill say, less ambiguous than the labour party. very interesting to see, thank you very much. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... gunmen have killed six people in an attack on a catholic church in the city of dablo in northern burkina faso. this is the second church attack in as many weeks

in a country known historically for its religious tolerance. jihadist groups have been trying to destabilise burkina faso. united nations monitors say the withdrawal of houthi rebels from key ports in yemen is going according to plan. it's hoped that the pullout from hodeida will make it easier to import food aid for millions of people who are threatened by starvation. pakistan's military says a total of five people were killed by militants who burst into a five star hotel on saturday in gwadar in balochistan and opened fire. one member of the security forces, a security guard and hotel staff are among the dead. the separatist militant group, the balochistan liberation army, says it carried out the attack. there have been calls for a parliamentary commission of inquiry in france to investigate the involvement of the far—right national rally with the us political commentator steve bannon. senators and members of the lower house allege that the party's leader, marine le pen, is conspiring with a foreign power. the claim follows a documentary broadcast in france this week. the national rally says it

will sue for defamation. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: larry kudlow, one of donald trump's economic advisers says the president is wrong to assert that us tariffs on chinese goods are paid by beijing. that has a television commentator, they have come for the vatican. the man they called the butcher went on trial in a temper he was the gestapo chief. he never looked like sentenced to six years in jail, the judge told mrs mandella there was no indication that she felt even the slightest remorse. an all—out effort to help the victims of the

earthquake, the worst at the country in 30 years. the computed deep blue has triumphed over the world chess champion, is the first time a machinist a raining world champion ina machinist a raining world champion in a classical chess match. the first legal same—sex marriages have been taking place in massachusetts. this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines. the united nations kicks off a major push for climate change, saying the political will to tackle it is fading. there are just 11 days to go to the european elections that the conservatives admit will be difficult for them one of donald trump's top economic advisers, larry kudlow, has acknowledged that the president has been wrong to assert that us tariffs on imports from china are paid by beijing. president trump has recently tweeted

that tariffs paid by china since the trade war began nearly a year ago had helped to boost the us economy. last friday he doubled tariffs on two hundred billion dollars of imports from china. let us get more on this with our correspondent in washington, chris buckler. well, i think it is in some ways inevitable. the white house is trying to focus on the message that trade talks are continuing, if you listen to him today. plank of the potential of presidents meeting next month, for a g20 summit whatever they could discuss some of these issues. but larry was also forced to admit that some of the conversations that had ta ken admit that some of the conversations that had taken place during negotiations at the end of last week in washington actually discovered the same old ground. —— just

covered. issues about how china forces foreign companies to operate in the country, rules and restrictions and why intellectual property, forcing the sharing of information and technology for example, those are things that america wants to try to change and also wants to be in a position to ensure that all of that agreement is in force. but there is no meeting of the minds, but the headlines and the concerns for both countries economies are about the dangers of ta riffs economies are about the dangers of tariffs being put in place. and president donald trump did double tariffs, in fact more than double ta riffs tariffs, in fact more than double tariffs on some $200 billion of goods imported from china into the us as those talks were taking place and he is threatening even more. which he says is bad for china because they will be forced to pay. except, that is not exactly true. as larry was to admit when he was questioned by chris on fox news. fair enough, in fact, both sides will pay.

both sides will pay in these things. and, of course, it depends... if it's a tariff on goods coming into the country, the chinese aren't paying. no, but the chinese will suffer gdp losses and so forth, with respect to a diminishing export market and goods that they may need for their own... i understand that, but the president says china doesn't, it pays the tariffs. they may suffer consequences but it's us businesses and us consumers who pay, correct? yes, to some extent and i do not disagree with that. again, both sides will suffer on this. this acceptance that both sides will suffer, there are dangerous to both countries economies as a result of all of this. and there is a danger that all of this could still escalate because here in washington, officials are admitting they are expecting beijing to retaliate and asi expecting beijing to retaliate and as i mentioned, president donald trump is already asked for paperwork

to begin on perhaps yet more tariffs and some $300 billion of chinese goods. which again, could have a danger on both of them. we listen to larry and that, he suggests that actually these risks might be worth taking, specifically to try and get afairand taking, specifically to try and get a fair and balanced trade deal. but if you look at last week, there are people nervous about this around the world the stock market shows that and it does give you an idea that there are people a little worried that these ten stalks could end up ina that these ten stalks could end up in a full—blown trade war. gavin has all the sport. thank you. got that when they needed to ensure they kept hold of their title as liverpool missed out, city came from behind and starting to come back with the goals from, after glenn

had given with the goals from, after glenn they ad given with the goals from, after glenn they are |iven with the goals from, after glenn they are finishing a 98 with the goals from, after glenn they are finis last a 98 with the goals from, after glenn they are finis last 14 i8 with the goals from, after glenn they are finis last 14 league with the goals from, after glenn they a 5 finis last 14 league with the goals from, after glenn they a row 5 last 14 league with the goals from, after glenn they a row in ast 14 league with the goals from, after glenn they a row in the i4 league with the goals from, after glenn they a row in the first ague with the goals from, after glenn they a row in the first team to games in a row in the first team to hold on for a decade,. and that young man thousand credible, we have done so, winning 40 games in a row to retain the title. and one that is happened in the last ten years is because it is so difficult so, now it is the last game and we have to ta ke it is the last game and we have to take a break and come back stronger. at the stadium are thousands of fans watched city when on the big screen. we are in the aftermath of a party where thousands of gathered to watch manchester city play brighton on the big screen here, the range of emotions this afternoon when

liverpool went ahead and went brighton took the lead, it was her nervousness in the air here but when the equalised, it was jubilation as they knew that city was so close to they knew that city was so close to the premier league title, and they scored in the second half which meant that it was just a party atmosphere for the final moments of this premier league season and eve ryo ne this premier league season and everyone could enjoy city lifting the premier league trophy, they'll get to enjoy some more this evening as city's players are flying to manchester to celebrate with the fa ns manchester to celebrate with the fans and lift atrophy all over again, it has been quite some season. liverpool only lost one game city have won 14 straight premier league matches to get to this point, their second straight premier league victory. the wait for their first title in the league since 1990, continues so what so many records, the only lost once as patrick was

saying, but they kept the pressure on city until the end, beating wolves two nail, they finished our 97 points and. congratulations to manchester city, well done. i have to say that we tried everything to make it as difficult for you as possible. i think we did. but not difficult enough. that is the only thing. apart from that, 97 points, i couldn't be more proud. 20 of goals, eight goals were shared between them and their match, two, newcastle ra relegated to a 4— male, speculation over his future as newcastle manages to continue, west and finishing a top ten but manchester united and ending ona top ten but manchester united and ending on a sour note, they lost 2-0, ending on a sour note, they lost 2—0, one of theirfinal

ending on a sour note, they lost 2—0, one of their final seven games of the season. and this is how the top of the table looks. manchester city clinching the title by a single point. liverpool's nguyen sees them but 97 points and an astonishingly high total, chelsea's goal and confirmation and sixth. lewis hamilton for the spanish grand prix, making it a sixth consecutive of the season, starting second past into the first corner and eased their way to ultimately a comfortable win, winds by seven points in the championship, more disappointment for ferrari as they finished third. and that is all this but for now, back to you. berliners have been marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the berlin airlift.. crowds gathered to mark the day in 1949, when the soviet union

abandoned attempts to blockade west berlin. rahuljoglekar reports. west berlin, 1948. a soviet blockade aimed to throw the british, american and french out. how? by shutting roads, closing bridges and paralysing the city of 2 million people. as panic and despair began to descend on berlin, so did planes, carrying food supplies from the allies. approaching berlin, thick fog closes in, visibility the operation lasted 11 months, bringing food and hope to a people in crisis. the pilot calls to a radar station at tempelhof. .. at its peak, a plane landed every 90 seconds at airfields like this one, the tempelhof airport, today the scene of a ceremony marking 70 years since the soviets lifted the blockade. in 1945, we had been

enemies and when the airlift began and we suddenly became friends, almost overnight. it was a change in our relationship with the visitors. it was wonderful. close to 3 million tonnes of food and other supplies were dropped in berlin during the operation. but one us air force pilot decided to also drop sweets, forever going down as the candy bomber. at 98, he once again arrived in berlin from the us. this time, as a guest of honour. heroes of the berlin airlift, were not the pilots. the germans were the heroes. after the war, they were the future of the relationship in the free world and they made choices. freedom makes choices and they were the people, they were the heroes. not the guys bringing in the food. the people on the ground.

the food packets that rained down on the city filled stomachs, but also one hearts and minds. won hearts and minds. translation: this package gave us so much hope, that there are people somewhere in the world who were giving these to their former enemies. the bugles of war in europe may seem distant to so many today, the skies over berlin's tempelhof airport have seen very different days. to tel aviv now — where the launch of this year's eurovision song contest has been taking place. all 41 contestants taking part in the competetion have been making an appearance along the bright orange carpet at habima square. the competition is billed as the largest singing contest in the world. semi finals begin on tuesday where contestants will be whittled down ahead of saturday's live final. the youngest contestant this year

is zena from belarus — atjust 16 she's no stranger to performing. she voiced the character of moana in the russian version of the film and gave waiting fans a taster of what they can expect to hear over the coming week. singing and we'll know how far all of the 41 contestants go in the competition — over the coming week. and finally — it's mother's day in many parts of the world — and the world's most famous new mum the duchess of sussex, meghan markle has been marking the day on social media. prince harry and the duchess posted a picture of their son archie's tiny feet. the pair said they were paying tribute to all the mother's out there — past, present and to be. of course — this is the first mother's day for the couple. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of my team on twitter — i'm simon pusey

hello there will stop good evening. it was a lovely day out there today, sunny and warmer across many parts of the country, first of all showing the sunshine and just very limited convection that we had today. it stayed fine and dry, you can see how much the cloud bubbled up on the early satellite picture, that wasn't too much of that it all. he did see a demo cloud coming in to northern ireland, that has been a bit high cloud, pushing its way to scotland overnight, picking up in the far north of scotland, and if you spot of rain, otherwise it will be dry, we will have clear skies, another chilly one, not as good as last night northern scotland because of that cloud, probably getting a touch of frost there across east anglia.

as we look ahead and too much of next week, you can see dry, lots of sunshine and the stimulus will continue to rise and high—pressure thatis continue to rise and high—pressure that is really bringing a change in the weather than what we had last week, high pressures going to dominate over the week ahead, sitting right over the top of us for the of the week, part of the uk, the sunshine may be a little hazy with some high cloud but in spoil the day at all. continuing to rise the temperatures due to the southerly breeze for western parts of northern ireland and perhaps around the murray fourth as well, parts of east anglia in yorkshire. 0n murray fourth as well, parts of east anglia in yorkshire. on tuesday, very little cloud bubbling up at all, bit more of a breeze across the southeast corner of england, temperatures will not be quite as high but again this temperatures are rising and many other parts of the uk. probably on wednesday we will get the peak of the heat. again,

sunny skies pretty much across the board and the southerly breeze will push that warmth across northern ireland in northwest england and into scotland where we may get 23 or 24 degrees, the breeze will mean it won't be quite as high in the southeast, still very pleasant sunshine but for the moment it is dry. high pressure that is going to start to drift its way northwards back up toward scandinavia through thursday and then we open the door to more of an easterly breeze and the potential for the end to more of an easterly breeze and the potentialfor the end of to more of an easterly breeze and the potential for the end of the week perhaps to see some rain coming in but that easterly breeze is going to start to drop the temperatures for friday.

this is bbc world news — the headlines... the un secretary general, antonio guterres, has kicked off a push for climate change, warning that the political will needed to tackle the issue is fading. he has called it the defining issue of our time. manchester city have retained their title on a final day of drama in the english premier league. city came back from a goal down to beat brighton 4—1. the leader of britain's new brexit party, nigel farage, says if the party wins in european elections he will demand its meps become part of the government's negotiating team. 0pinion polls suggest the brexit party will do better than both the conservatives and the labour party. the people of berlin have been celebrating the 70th anniversary of the day the soviets lifted a blockade strangling west berlin in the post—world war ii years.