this is bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: voting is underway in australia — it's a tight race as conservative prime minister scott morrison tries to stay in power, against a challenger from the centre—left. the us and canada agree to drop tariffs on steel and aluminium imports after lengthy negotiations, opening the way for a new trade deal. hello and welcome to bbc news. australians are voting in a general election. the opposition labour party — led by bill shorten — has had a slender lead in opinion polls over the conservative liberal

party of the current prime minister, scott morrison. climate change is being seen as the prime issue. phil mercer is with voters at a polling station in sydney. voting here in australia is compulsory. and this is the australia street polling station in the seat of sydney. this is very safe labor territory and opinion polls are suggesting a victory for the opposition, labor party. 16 million australians will have their say in this election. the two major parties are presenting a very different vision for the future. the governing centre—right liberal national coalition says that the opposition can't be trusted with money and can't be trusted to manage the economy. on the other side of the ledger, we have the labor opposition led by bill shorten, a former trade unionist and he is saying that he will spend billions on health and education.

we've been speaking to voters here and this is what they've had to say. i am a nurse by trade, and so on the front line we see a lot of change, especially a constant change of the government policies. we have to enact them, it's important to me that we have a government that supports the healthcare system and our educational institutions. and that they do well for the community of our supposed to serve. for me, climate, public education, health. how do you think the major parties are tracking when it comes to those concerns? i think the present government isn't tracking. so, for me, labor certainly seems like it is a good option. one of the features of an australian election is the famous sausage sizzle, the democracy sausage that helps sustain voters while they are waiting in the queue to vote. this particular barbecue at a school here in sydney expects to raise about $6,000 for the school during this election

day, and not only sausages, but vegan sausages too. so never underestimate the power of the democracy sausage. well, i actually came to this particular polling booth because they have quite a gourmet democracy sausage. it has rocket, home—made sauerkraut, what more could a voter want? polling stations close at 6pm here in australia, results will be flowing in shortly afterwards. within a few hours australians will know who the next prime minister will be. the united states and canada have dropped aluminium and steel tariffs that were imposed just under a year ago. it follows lengthy negotiations and a telephone call on friday between president trump and the canadian prime minister, justin trudeau. david willis reports.

president trump broke the news that he was lifting tariffs on metal imports from neighbours mexico and canada in a speech in washington, dc. we have just reached an agreement with canada and mexico and will be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs or major tariffs. president trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports last months pitting the us against all its major trading partners including the european union. lifting them in regards to mexico and canada. he's expected to pave the way to the ratification of the united states, mexico, canada agreement. the trilateral replacement for nafta. these tariffs are a senting significant barriers to moving

forward with the new agreement. now we've had a full lift on this tariffs, we are going to work with the united states on timing for ratification but we're very optimistic we're going to be able to move forward, move forward well in the coming weeks. the us has also announced a pause and plans to levy tariffs of up to 25% on cars and car parts from the eu and japan. those tariffs on steel and aluminium remain. president trump is giving negotiators at six months in which to reach agreement. he believes foreign competition is hurting us car sales and thereby hampering research and development amounts to a threat to us national security. while it pushes forward with the trade deal poster home, the trump administration is holding the it with china. this week china announced retaliatory tariffs against the us and the next

round of negotiation between the world's two largest economies are said to be in flux. mr trump has also declared a national emergency to protect us computer networks from foreign adversaries, an announcement by the thought to be directed at the chinese telecoms giant, huawei. with china and the us locked in an escalating trade war, america may feel it needs its allies and someone saying peace on the trade frontier might even strengthen the president's hand in negotiations with the chinese. let's get some of the day's other news. sudanese protesters have gathered outside the army's headquarters after clearing roadblocks at the demand of the ruling military. talks to finalise the new body to govern sudan were suspended on wednesday after demonstrators put up roadblocks. this comes after the ousting of president 0mar al—bashir last month. in algeria — protestors clashed with police in the capital algiers during another friday of demonstrations,

the 13th in a row. they're demanding the departure of key figures from the regime of the former president abdel—aziz bouteflika who was ousted last month. in the uk, the prime minister theresa may and leader of the oppositionjeremy corbyn are blaming divisions in each other‘s party, for the breakdown of talks to end the deadlock over brexit. mr corbyn pulled the plug earlier on friday after six weeks of discussions between his labour party, and the conservatives. john pienaar reports. odd to see them talking at all about a brexit compromise, but still bad news for mrs may when they broke down. these talks have now reached what i believe to be a natural conclusion. the prime minister has announced the date she's leaving, there have been increasing noises offstage by conservative cabinet ministers and others who don't agree with much of the talks, or any of the discussion we're holding, so we are concluding the talks.

so, no comfort here for a prime minister on borrowed time. helping her was hardly mr corbyn‘s priority anyway. what a time to promote the tories‘ faltering euro election campaign. no cheering crowds, not many there in bristol for her stock message. next thursday, we will be holding european elections. the conservative party didn't want to be fighting these. we wanted to be out of the european union. indeed, if parliament had backed our brexit deal, we could already have left the eu. and the breakdown of brexit talks? all labour's fault. we haven't been able to overcome the fact that there isn't a common position in labour about whether they want to deliver brexit or hold a second referendum, which could reverse it. six weeks these talks went on. some concessions, but labour is split on a new referendum and the tories on sharing eu customs rules. there may soon be commons votes on brexit options and an attempt to pass legislation to leave.

i think it's important that parliament takes a decision and i think that means every mp thinking in their conscience that perhaps they're going to have to accept their second or third preference, to find the right compromise. but the pressure is intense. those tories who are campaigning at all — and many aren't bothering — expect a bad euro election night next thursday. reporter: do you think you're too divisive a character to be tory leader...? borisjohnson has now declared himself a candidate to succeed mrs may. other potential runners would also like to see brexit delivered first. reporter: do you want the top job, mr gove? hello, good morning. i think the most important thing that we all need to do is to focus on the fact that the government is bringing forward the withdrawal agreement bill, which will enable us to leave the european union. if theresa may's last effort to get brexit passed here ends in failure, the next tory leader may well take office having promised a sharper break from the eu. the ca rd—carrying conservatives who will choose britain's next prime minister

are by and large brexiteers. senior conservatives are convinced that the chances of britain leaving with no deal are as high now as they've ever been. parliament might oppose that, but constitutional experts say only the government could at a single stroke stop it happening. two years ago next week, saffie roussos who was eight—years old, was the youngest person to die in the attack on a concert at the manchester arena. her mother lisa was also very badly injured and was in a coma for 6 weeks. but after extensive surgery and rehabilitation, she's now preparing to walk the route of the great manchester run this weekend, to raise money for a new charity in her daughter's memory. she's given her first broadcast interview alongside her husband andrew, to our north of england correspondent, judith moritz. i remember leaving, and saffie had got my hand,

this hand, and she was pulling, jumping about, and the next minute, i just hit the floor with a thud. ijust remember lying there and trying to move, i wasjust phys...just paralysed, i couldn't even, i couldn't move a finger, i couldn't move at all, i could blink, ijust kept thinking to myself, "keep your eyes open," and then somebody finally spoke to me, and started moving me. they asked me my name, and ijust said saffie, that's all i could get out. i wanted to say, "will you just go and find saffie?" then i must have gone again, because the next time i remember them cutting myjeans off, and that was the last thing i remembered until i woke up. how many weeks later? six weeks. six weeks later. what happened at that point, andrew was with you? andrew was with me, and i can remember thinking, well, "why has he not mentioned saffie?" and i knew, ijust knew.

i thought if i'm this badly hurt, and she was a tiny 8—year—old, then what chance would she have? it's like an intuition. yeah. did you ask the question? i said, "she's gone, isn't she?" it's a painful moment. i can't talk about it. because it's so raw, and it's two years on, i know that. it makes no difference at all, does it? no, it doesn't. still like yesterday? i feel like we are stuck in 2017. you do, you feel like you're stuck. it's amazing how these two years have gone by, but sometimes we talk amongst each other, you're stuck in 2017. and for you, over the last two

years, balancing your bereavement, your loss, with your recovery, how have those two things been possible? ifelt like i needed to be strong, and i needed to be the best i could be before i could deal with the loss of saffie. i had to learn to walk again. the first few steps around the ward, i felt like i'd ran a marathon, didn't i? i was out of breath. sweating. it's only about five steps. the hand, i think the progress was a lot slower with my hand. do you ever think about the person responsible? coming to manchester, taking part in the run in manchester, how will that feel do you think, being back here? i know it's going to be emotional. but it's a good thing, and we need, we need it, don't we? something good's got to come out of something so awful,

it's got to. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the us and canada agree to drop tariffs on steel and aluminium imports after lengthy negotiations. venezuela's president, nicolas maduro, says he sent envoys to norway this week to explore dialogue with the opposition. he says it was with the aim of building a "peaceful agenda," but it's not clear if any direct talks took place. venezuela's in the middle of a power struggle between mr maduro and juan guaido that's seen weeks of street protests. let's cross live to caracas, and speak to the bbc‘s guillermo 0lmo. this inclusion of norway in these talks, could this be a genuine attempt by the government and the opposition to come to some agreement? well, for the first time

in the four months that we have been witnessing the venezuelan crisis, it seems that both sides have an incentive to negotiate. the opposition has found —— failed to achieve the goal of ousting president nicolas maduro, which was whatjuan guaido promised when he declared himself the president back in january. but mr madero, declared himself the president back injanuary. but mrmadero, in declared himself the president back injanuary. but mr madero, in turn, is suffering from the economy's, and also from the us sanctions. —— maduro. norway, which is a nation which is well known for having brokered a lot of peace deals for some of the most complex conflicts in the world, perhaps things can be starting to change. what are some of theissues starting to change. what are some of the issues that need to be overcome? because there has been quite a lot of friction between the president and the opposition? well, there are and the opposition? well, there are a lot of issues and there are also a

lot of reasons to be sceptical. experts are warning that the opposition and the government are already engaged in a real negotiation in the dominican republic. it failed in february 2008. both sides blamed each other for that failure. there are a lot of issues. there are the issues of what the opposition considers political prisoners. there is also the issue, and that is the main issue, the fresh election of the opposition wa nts to ta ke fresh election of the opposition wants to take place in venezuela. nicolas maduro has said he wants a fair election in may 2000 —— he won afair fair election in may 2000 —— he won a fair election in may 2008 and he has the right to hold the presidency until 2025. meanwhile, as the two sides potentially start talking,

what is the situation in venezuela? are we still seeing more protests? no, we're not seeing protests, at least not the massive protests were used to see at the beginning of the year. things appear to have calmed down in that sense. what we are still seeing as the steep decline of the economy, the venezuelan people keep struggling, the economy has been badly affected, not only by the government's mismanagement but also because of the impact of the us sanctions. a lot of experts say that this is further punishment, they say also that they're worse is to come. the governor of the us state of missouri says he'll sign into law a bill which severely limits women's access to abortion. doctors could face up to 15 years in prison for performing the procedure, after eight weeks of pregnancy. the bill was overwhelmingly approved by the republican—led legislature, but sparked fierce criticism

from democrats who say an abortion is a woman's "constitutional right". chris buckler has been watching events from washington. we spend so much time talking about how divided american politics are. i don't think there is any issue which is more divisive and emotive than abortion. certainly when you take a look at republicans and president trump's base support, there are many evangelical christians among them who feel very strongly that this law should be challenged and changed. they want to see it in the supreme court, partly because the supreme court has changed. newjustices have been appointed by president trump and there is now a conservative majority in the court. they believe they can potentially change the law which offers abortion to women right across america. there is a backlash as well, coming from others. they feel very strongly that some effort should be taken to challenge the states.

in georgia, there are television film production companies which have said they will not film there. that industry is very important to this state. this weekend there is a music festival taking place in alabama and there are calls for a boycott. it gives you a sense there is a real battle taking place between conservatives and liberals which will feed into 2020. i am not saying it will be settled in 2020, but you can be sure that in that election it will be discussed and strongly debated. the duke of cambridge has spoken of the pain he felt following the death of his mother, diana, princess of wales. he made the comments in a bbc documentary about mental health. prince william also spoke about the pressures of his former job as an air ambulance pilot, saying he was often left with a very depressing feeling, thinking that death was always around the corner. ramzan karmali has this report. we have to relax a bit and be able to talk about our emotions because

we are not robots. prince william in a frank discussion with footballers, former footballers, and the current england manager gareth southgate. william is the president of the football association, england's governing body for the sport. he was taking part in a bbc documentary, a royal tea m taking part in a bbc documentary, a royal team talk, tackling mental health. 0ne topic he spoke about openly was the hurt he felt when his mother diana, princess of wales, died. william was just 15 at the time of her death in 1997.” died. william was just 15 at the time of her death in 1997. i think when you are bereaved at a very young age, any age, really, but particularly the young age, i can resonate closely to that, you feel pain like no other pain and you know that your life, it is going to be very difficult to come across something that is going to be even worse pain than us. but it also brings you so close to all those other people out there who have been bereaved. in july 2017 the prince left the east anglia air ambulance service. his two—year experience as an airambulance pilot service. his two—year experience as an air ambulance pilot had a profound influence on his outlook. in some cases very raw, emotional

day—to—day stuff, where you are dealing with families who are having the worst news they could ever possibly have on a day—to—day basis. it gives you a very depressing, negative feeling when you think that is just around the door everywhere i go. that is quite a burden to carry on the field. prince william has made mental health the cornerstone of his public work. by speaking so honestly, he hopes it will encourage others to take this issue much more seriously. there's an ancient legend dating back to king charles ii that if the ravens that live at the tower of london ever leave the tower will crumble, and the kingdom will fall. so it's come as something of a relief that, for the first time in thirty years, the tower has welcomed four new arrivals. chris skaife, whose been the ravenmaster for 13 years, says he feels "like a proud father". early morning, late february, i went around to the enclosure and they were being quite protective. i wondered why. within 2a hours they had built this huge nest, and that's when i realised something spectacular was going to happen. we had a vision to produce ravens

for ourselves for the future and so we needed to find a quiet area. i identified a little area in the moat where the ravens could do the natural thing. and luckily, we got four beautiful, magnificent chicks out of it. i was totally surprised, to be honest. i didn't know. i was like, oh, they're there! i saw the female raven starting to sit on the nest and i realised we had chicks. i couldn't see how many we had, or how many eggs, because we hadn't prepared, we didn't have any cameras or anything like that, because we didn't think they were going to breed. they did, and it's fantastic. we had not had a breeding ravens here at the tower of london for nearly 30 years.

the last one was born in 1989, and it was called ronald raven. ifeel like a proud dad. somebody called me a proud granddad today, which i'm not too happy about, actually. i think poppy's trying to bite my ankle. millions of people will tune in on saturday night to the final of the eurovision song contest. 26 countries are going to compete, and madonna will perform two songs at the event in tel aviv, from where our correspondent david sillito reports. welcome to the eurovision song contest 2019. israel, and the week—long eurovision party is now in full swing. live from tel aviv, israel. but remember, all this is happening

against a background of considerable political tension on the border with gaza, which raises issues of security. will there be protests and also, will people turn up? as you can see, the crowds are here, but even among some of the entrants, there are questions. # svallid var homlulaust... this is iceland's hatari, and they have qualms about israel, but have been told "no politics", on or off stage. we've been warned. we've been told we reached the limit of the ebu's tolerance regarding politics. but at the same time, we're told they can't change our views. indeed, eurovision bosses were today making their position more than clear. if a competitor staged a protest, what would you do?

well, we would intervene immediately. we have very strict rules and policies. you'd shut the performance down? yeah, for sure we'd be shutting it down, and they would be punished afterwards. meanwhile, the first brief glimpse of madonna. after a week of doubts, one eurovision insider is now confident that she will perform. i have heard madonna's voice in that arena, and it wasn't a cd. you're confident, saturday night? i'm quietly confident. i'd put a shekel or two on it. david sillito, bbc news, tel aviv. let's get the latest weather prospects now. hello. much of this week has been gloriously sunny, dry and reasonably warm. things turned a bit cloudier and cooler later on friday. this was a picture taken by one of our weather watchers in mepham in kent. a bit of sunshine across scotland. through the course of the weekend the sunshine will be in shorter supply. quite an unsettled showery story. some sunny spells, especially

across parts of the uk. scotland will see the bulk of the rain on saturday morning because we have got this frontal system, fairly weak front coming and which is introducing a lot of low cloud, mist and fog as well. outbreaks of rain across parts of scotland. a soggy start to saturday here. patchy rain affecting parts of northern ireland. a few showers popping up for northern england. further south, dry weather through the morning, but you'll notice too, one or two of those showers just bubbling up in the afternoon. nowhere immune to catching a passing shower. in the afternoon. it will be hit and miss, some sunshine in between. temperatures in the south likely to hit 19 also. further north, just 13 or 1a celsius. a different feeling in scotland compared to what we have seen in the past few days. moving through into the early hours of sunday morning, quite a lot of cloud in general across the country, particularly cloudy in the north and patchy outbreaks of rain to scotland and northern ireland. drier further south and we're looking at a frost—free night with temperatures generally holding up into mid—single figures. so this is how we are heading into the second half of the weekend for sunday. a big area of low pressure

across central parts of europe. we're drawing in the breeze around that. a bit of an easterly flow bringing that cloud off the north sea to parts of eastern scotland. eastern england could see one or two showers popping up, and some patchy rain moving into western scotland and northern ireland. during the afternoon, more of these showers tending to bubble up. you will really notice that mix of sunny spells, scattered blustery showers, one or two on the heavy side, could be heavy hail and the odd rumble of thunder. a bit warmer, 20 degrees or so the top temperature by the time we get to sunday. heading on into the new working week, and there's not a great change in the pressure set—up. we've still got a bit of a slack flow, things not moving very quickly, patchy cloud around, some sunshine i think through the day on monday, and a lot of dry weather in the morning but again, it will be the afternoon with the daytime heating we see those showers developing, particularly in eastern scotland and eastern england during the day on monday. temperatures not too bad. 14—20 degrees or so. the outlook is fairly settled through the week ahead. some showers around and spells of sunshine. temperatures typically 15—20 degrees. goodbye for now.

this is bbc news. the headlines: australians are voting in a tightly fought general election which could see the opposition labor party regain power. labor, led by bill shorten, has had a slender lead, in opinion polls over, the conservative liberal party of the current prime minister, scott morrison. the united states and canada have agreed to drop tariffs on steel and aluminium imports imposed just under a year ago. it follows lengthy negotiations. it could pave the way for the ratification of a new north american trade agreement. venezuela's president nicolas maduro has said he sent envoys to norway this week to explore

dialogue with the opposition. he said it was with the aim of building a peaceful agenda, but it's not clear if any direct talks took place. venezuela is in the middle of a power struggle between mr maduro and juan guaido that's seen weeks of street protests. the inquest into deaths of the eight people killed in the london bridge attacks in 2017, has heard how an off—duty nurse went to the aid of an injured man, and was set upon by all three attackers. kirsty boden, who was 28, and had moved to the uk from australia, was one of those who died. the inquest also heard from wayne marks, the first police officer on the scene. daniel sandford reports. an australian nurse with a love of travel, kirsty boden was living in london with her english boyfriend. in her flowery dress, she was just caught on cctv as she came to the boro bistro for a meal.