hello, i'm karin giannone, this is outside source. bob mueller breaks his silence. in a surprise press conference, the man who investigated donald trump for two years refuses to clear the president of obstruction ofjustice. if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. president trump and his press secretary are quick to respond — they say it's case closed. he completed his investigation, now he's closed his office and it's time for everybody to move on. he's going back to his private life and we think everybody else should too. borisjohnson — the leading candidate to replace british prime minister theresa may — is ordered to appear in court over claims he misled voters

during the brexit campaign. and from garage wall to gallery showroom — the delicate operation to relocate a precious banksy artwork. robert mueller has spoken publicly for the first time. the us special counsel has spent the past two years investigating russia's interference in the 2016 election campaign, looking into any ties between the trump administration and russia, and investigating any possible obstruction ofjustice by the president. he completed his report in marchcaroand in april, we saw a redacted version of it. but while all ears in the bbc newsroom were tuned to mr mueller‘s statement today, we didn't learn much that was new. president trump hasn't changed his mind either,

he says: "there was insufficient evidence and therefore, in our country, a person is innocent. the case is closed!" his press secretary also spoke to the media. we think the president has been fully and completely exonerated, based on the fact there was no collusion, there was no conspiracy and there was no obstruction. let's take the big questions one by one. first of all, russian interference, and the trump campaign's response. the first volume of the report details numerous efforts emanating from russia to influence the election. this volume includes a discussion of the trump campaign's response to this activity, as well as our conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy. robert mueller then said the second part of his report was about whether the president attempted to obstruct his investigation. here's his finding. if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. we did not, however,

make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime. and for those democrats and others who want to see the president charged. mr mueller repeated what was in his report. under a long—standing department policy, a president cannot be charged with a federal crime while in office. that is unconstitutional. even if the charge is kept under seal and hidden from public view, that is also prohibited. the special counsel's office is part of the department ofjustice and by regulation it was bound by that department policy. charging the president with a crime was therefore not an option we could consider. anthony zucher is in washington. why do you think robert mueller felt he needed to make this statement? no one knew this was going to happen. i guess advance word was

given to the white house last night. essentially the reason he felt compelled to come in front of the cameras was because he was announcing he was stepping down as special counsel, that the investigation was ending and he was returning to life as a private citizen and wanted to give a bullet point highlights of the findings of his report. essentially saying these are the key thing is i went to look back i think are important to know about —— the key things i want the american public and congress to know about. stay with us, anthony. mr mueller also announced he's resigning from the justice department now that the investigation is complete. but it's not over yet. the democrats want him to appear in front of congress — but he doesn't want that. i expect this to be the only time i will speak to you in this manner. i am making that decision myself, no one has told me whether i can or should testify or speak further about this matter. there has been discussion about an appearance before congress. any testimony from this office

would not go beyond our report. it contains ourfindings and analysis and the reasons for the decisions we made. we chose those words carefully and the work speaks for itself. the report is my testimony. i would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before congress. he's saying he won't say anything appearing before congress which he hasn't put in that report. jerrold nadler is a senior democrat in the house of representative — he says investigations will continue — and he didn't rule out impeachment proceedings. it falls to congress to respond to the crimes, lies and other wrongdoing of president trump. we will do so. make no mistake, no one, not even the president of the united states, is above the law. if robert mueller wanted to exonerate the president from having committed a crime, he would have said so. instead...

and he says he would have said so. instead, the special counsel makes clear that obstruction ofjustice, which he found substantial evidence of, is a serious crime that strikes at the core of ourjustice system and that the constitution points to congress to take action to halt the president accountable. to congress to take action ——to hold the president accountable. kamala harris — a democratic presidential candidate tweeted "what robert mueller basically did was return an impeachment referral. now it is up to congress to hold this president accountable." so does this put the ball into congress's court if they want to take this further? i think it puts it squarely back in the hands of congress. they will have to figure out what to do with this report, whether they want to continue independent investigations of focusing attention on the judiciary committee which would involve impeachment hearings. there was a nugget in what robert mueller said earlier, that a lot of

democrats are pointing at. he indicated congress should take up impeachment proceedings, and he cited some guidelines, the constitution requires a process other than the criminaljustice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing. some democrats are saying that that process is impeachment and it's time to get it started. there is some resista nce to get it started. there is some resistance but it seems like it is. what does it mean going ahead into 2020? if you listen to nancy pelosi earlier today, she said congress has to ta ke earlier today, she said congress has to take action. democrats have proposed some legislation strengthening the electoral systems, helping to prevent a similar attack in 2020. republicans have been blocking it because they think it goes too far. i think what robert mueller was saying at the beginning

and end of his statement was that the usa was targeted by a hostile foreign power trying to meddle in oui’ foreign power trying to meddle in our elections and that isn't ending anytime soon. he said americans need to aware of it and take it into consideration. thank you. the high—profile british politician borisjohnson has been ordered appear in court to face accusations of misconduct in public office. he's currently one of the top candidates to be the next leader of the conservative party, which would make him the next prime minister, too. during the 2016 eu referendum campaign, he was a leading advocate for britain to leave. the accusation against him is that he misled voters, when he said that the uk gave the eu £350 million, or us$442 million, every week. the claim was even emblazoned on the side of a bus. it'a a private prosecution, launched by campaigner marcus ball, who crowdfunded £20,000

for the case. borisjohnson‘s team have called the prosecution "nothing less than a politically motivated attempt to reverse brexit and crush the will of the people". the judge reviewing the case says "the public offices held by mrjohnson provide status, but with that status comes influence and authority". "i am satisfied there is sufficient evidence of an issue to be determined at trial". with the conservative leadership race underway, this comes at a very inconvenient time for boris johnson, as our assistant political editor norman smith points out. it is a huge distraction to his campaign. the timing could hardly be worse, but he is the front runner. many people thought he was looking potentially unstoppable. this could be a possible game changer if it reignites question marks about his suitability for the topjob.

the tory leadership contest is already quite a crowded field, here are ten of the candidates, including borisjohnson. today they were joined by an 11th contenderjames cleverly, under secretary for brexit, that means there are now enough conservative mps running for the leadership to make up a football team. the central issue they are all battling over is brexit, and whether the uk should leave with or without a deal at the end of october. here's james cleverly‘s position. we absolutely can deliver a brexit with no deal. but we should also remember... and you're reasonably, — my words, not yours — but you're reasonably sanguine about that? yes, because i've seen the preparations. it is not my preferred option and i don't think it should be an outcome to be pursued. it can be delivered but not pursued. but it's also really important we understand that not delivering brexit would be, in my mind, significantly more damaging. ben wright is in westminster.

so, now there are 11 — is there a form of brexit that can win over the conservatives? well, somebody will manage to craft a pitch that will win this contest but the numbers at the moment continue to swell. people likejesse norman, penny mordaunt are still consulting colleagues and friends and association members to work out whether they should run. i'm sure we'll get about 15 or 16 by the end of the challenge is how to win over mps who are the first hurdle to clear, who will decide which two will then go to a vote of the wider membership. the feeling is the wider membership. the feeling is the wider membership are far more eurosceptic and uncompromising when it comes to the question of having a no—deal brexit in october but tory mps will be more cautious. you've seen people likejeremy be more cautious. you've seen people like jeremy hunt say yesterday that he doesn't think there should be a

no—deal brexit because it would allow injeremy corbyn, trying to win over tory mps making that argument. james cleverly leaving open the possibility but saying it's not his preferred route. there's only one candidate explicitly ruling out no deal and that's rory stewart. he says under no circumstances would he allow it. it is a separate question whether parliament would allow it either. at the moment that's the territory where this debate is being conducted. how long will be processed take of whittling all these hopefuls down to one?” think we'll have the parliamentary stages of this completed by perhaps mid—to—late june. then it stages of this completed by perhaps mid—to—latejune. then it will find a vote of the membership and there will be a series of hustings which will be a series of hustings which will be a series of hustings which will be televised. we aren't sure yet how long the respective stages will be but the parliamentary tory party have said they want it wrapped

up party have said they want it wrapped up by party have said they want it wrapped up by the time mps disappear on their summer holidays at the end of july. thank you. more signs of the division in the uk's labour party today. yesterday, tony blair's former adviser, alastair campbell, was kicked out of the party after revealing he voted for liberal democrats in the eu election. today, more senior members have also admitted to voting for other parties. labour's former home secretary charles clarke and ex—mp fiona mactaggart confirmed they voted lib dem. while defence secretary bob ainsworth said he voted green. labour's deputy leader has called mr campbell's expulsion "spiteful" saying the party should be "listening rather than punishing". mr campbell has said: "remains to be seen whether all who have said they did not vote labour will now be expelled." ben wright is in westminster. how much of a problem is this becoming for the labour party?

it's really interesting. i think the way alastair campbell was kicked out so way alastair campbell was kicked out so abruptly has crystallised a lot of questions facing the labour party and labour leadership right now about the nature of its control over the party, about how it resolves the dilemma around another referendum and how it responds to the electoral hammering it received in the european elections. i think the clear majority of voices from the labour party at the moment are very much on the side of alastair campbell. we've become used to tom watson being pretty starkly at odds with jeremy corbyn watson being pretty starkly at odds withjeremy corbyn and he is again today. not only does tom watson think there needs to be another referendum and the pledge needs to be made quickly but he thinks it was spiteful to get rid of alastair campbell who is laboured to his fingertips in this way. mr watson said the labour party needed to be broad—minded and pluralistic, and allow these voices to be aired within the labour tent. labour

insists that alastair campbell broke the rules. it's a straight case of having broken the party rule book. there was an interesting intervention from lord falconer today who served under tony blair and is against another referendum, but felt that in the case of alastair campbell, there was no case to a nswer alastair campbell, there was no case to answer because he said alastair campbell made his comment about having voted liberal democrat after the polls had closed and he thought this wasn't remotely a breach of the rules. he made the point if you're going to retrospectively go back and punish every labour member, even mp 01’ punish every labour member, even mp orformer mp who punish every labour member, even mp or former mp who might punish every labour member, even mp orformer mp who might have punish every labour member, even mp or former mp who might have voted for another party, you will be in the process of expelling hundreds or even thousands of people. it rolls on but it's indicative of the really fractious, unsettled mood within the labour party. there is a huge argument going on about how it

responds to the brexit crisis. thank you. stay with us on outside source. still to come: for the first time, the boss of boeing says sorry for the two crashes that claimed 346 lives. a new report by the charity the health foundation shows public spending on care for the elderly and disabled is much lower, per head, in england than in scotland and wales. it also warns that underfunding is "pushing families to the end of their tether." the economist, sir andrew dilnot, author of a major report on social care, insists more money must be found to address the problem. if we were to get an extra £4 billion a year into the system, we could have a properly funded means tested system, the system being looked at in panorama tonight, and something that would make the structures work for the population as a whole. £4 billion sounds like a lot of money, but actually it's only about one half of 1% of total public spending. it's a very small amount of money compared to the amount of money

we've seen go into the health service and other areas. it's certainly doable and something we could all reasonably turn to our politicians and say, come on, you've had many goes at this. you've repeatedly said on all sides of the political argument that this is an urgent problem and now it's time to do something about it. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is — speaking for the first time about his investigation into russian interference in the us election — robert mueller refuses to exonerate president trump and says constitution wouldn't have allowed him to lay charges. the president declare it's "case closed". the boss of boeing has made a candid apology for the two crashes of the company's 737 max airplanes which claimed 346 lives.

dennis muilenburg was giving his first interview since an ethiopian airlines jet crashed just after take off from addis ababa in march. that accident came five months after a similar accident in indonesia and led to the grounding of all boeing 737 max planes wordlwide. let's hear what mr muilenburg told cbs. ido i do personally apologise to the families. as i've mentioned earlier, we feel terrible about these accidents. we apologise for what happened, we are sorry for the loss of lives in both accidents. we are sorry for the impact to the families and loved ones that are behind. that will never change, that will always be with us. it affects me directly asa be with us. it affects me directly as a leader of this company. it's very difficult. house so? it gets to the core of who we are, it feels

personal. in my 44 years at boeing, this has had the biggest impact on me of anything that has happened. we can't change what happened in these accidents but we can be absolutely resolute in what we are going to do on safety going forward. i am sorry, we apologise to the families who have been affected. we apologise more broadly to the travelling public. for people who are scared of flying. we have impacted our customers and we regret that as well. we are taking responsibility, well. we are taking responsibility, we know we have improvements to make and we will make those improvements. we are committed to safety for the long run. our correspondent samira hussain is in new york. what did the airline body iata have to say today? there is a position by the company to try and get out and start talking to try and get out and start talking to as many people as possible, because they are trying to get a

softwa re because they are trying to get a software fix. you saw something similar being played out with airline regulators, they had been talking to global counterparts to give them updates in terms of where they are in getting the safety softwa re they are in getting the safety software fixed in the boeing planes. what did the airline body iata have to say? iata signalled it isn't going to see these planes going up in the airanytime going to see these planes going up in the air anytime soon and it could be further delayed. there was some indication we could see the maxjets return sometime in june indication we could see the maxjets return sometime injune but iata, the big airline governing body, has said that they don't expect that to happen until the end of the summer. given there were so many of the 737 max aircraft service, how are airlines coping with the fact they are all grounded? it is a big impact

financially for these airlines. the most pa rt financially for these airlines. the most part they've cancelled any flights they had with these jets until the end of the summer. for larger like southwest, it's a bit easier to bear because they have so many other planes. but for smaller airlines, it is much more difficult. thank you. let's show you this tweet from reuters — "huawei challenges legality of us defense bill as sanctions fight ramps up". this is part of what the chinese telecoms giant said as it came out fighting against the sweeping restrictions the us has imposed on it — during a press conference at its headquarters in shenzhen. let's hear some of it. we fired a motion for summary judgment. by doing this, we hope that the court can issue a judgment

in the fastest and most efficient way declare restrictions on huawei as unconstitutional and stop enforcement of related sections. this tweet from us politics website site the hill tells you what the secretary of state, mike pompeo, thought of that. he reiterated us claims that huawei is an instrument of the chinese government. that's something that the company has repeatedly denied. our correspondent robin brant was at the huawei press conference and tried to find out more about those alleged links. those suspicions and planes from the trump administration at the very core of the us government's concerns about huawei and wyatt believes it's about huawei and wyatt believes it's a not just about huawei and wyatt believes it's a notjust in the us but around many parts of the world —— why it believes. this is something huawei from its founder and chief executive

refuse. it denies it is closely associated with the chinese communist party. it refutes that it is controlled by the communist party and the government. this is not a political party like others you may expect in some western countries where it has huge powers and huge influence here. that's why i thought it was important to ask them if they we re it was important to ask them if they were members of the party. i put it to both men, the chief legal officer and the head of global communications. the chief legal officer said he wasn't a member of the party, the other man refused to answer. before you construct a building, you have to dig the earth — but how do you know where to dig? at one building site in spain, they're doing it with satellite guided diggers and drones. let's take a look.

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the drone is there to enable us to understand everyday how the terrain is changed and how much material is being moved. the availability of the data means we can help the customer to manage more efficiently. studio: impressive stuff. just to recap our top story. the us special counsel robert mueller has spoken publicly for the first time. he spent almost two years investigating possible collusion between russia and the 2016 trump campaign. he spoke today forjust a few minutes, talking about the report. a redacted version came out in april and concluded there was not enough evidence to bring conspiracy changes. earlier mr mueller declined on making a judgment on whether the president obstructed justice. he also made clear that he does not want to appear appear in front of congress.

the tornado season across the us has been exceptionally active. in the last few weeks we've seen hundreds of tornadoes touching down. this is damage from one that touched down in kansas on tuesday, damaging property, trees and hurling around vehicles. when to thursday, more thunderstorms breaking out from texas to illinois. any of these could contain tornadoes in the next couple of days but the intensity will slowly ease. the reason they've been forming so often it's because of the temperature difference. it's cooler across the rockies and hot across the south—east. this is where

we are getting these violent thunderstorms forming over the central plains. not far off a0 celsius in one or two places. in the pacific region, heavy rain from taiwan through southern china into myanmar. it's going to stay very wet here. across the north—east of china, heatwave conditions building backin china, heatwave conditions building back in thanks to the high pressure. talking of high temperatures, south asia is being battered by an intense heatwave. warning is in force in india and pakistan. widespread rain, this is the monsoon rain across the southern bay of bengal. it's delayed and should be a bit further north. expecting this to make in raids by the end of the week. increasing cloud and heavy rain to the south,

to the north it's all about high temperatures. near record—breaking temperatures. near record—breaking temperatures for the time of year across central and northern india, highs of around a8 in one or two places. a5 or a6, aa for delhi. very hot in the middle part of the week. closer to home, this is the weather across europe. we've got further thunderstorms and heavy rain across the east of the continent. these could bring some large hail and flash flooding on thursday. meanwhile, a big area of high pressure building across the southwest. temperatures on the rise for spain and portugal and will start to tap into some of this warmth as we end the week and into the weekend. turning sunnier and warmer across france, the low countries and into the british isles. warming up, although many northern and western areas holding the cloudy showers with england and wales seeing most of the sunshine.

stay tuned for a full uk weather forecast in half an hour.

hello, i'm karin giannone, this is outside source. bob mueller has broken his silence. in a surprise press conference, the man who investigated donald trump for two years refuses to clear the president of obstruction ofjustice. if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. president trump and his press secretary are quick to respond — they say its case closed. he completed his investigation, now he's closed his office and it's time for everybody to move on. he's going back to his private life and we think everybody else should too. what to do about iran? as gulf leaders hold an emergency summit over tensions with tehran, the us has accuses it of attacking oil tankers. we'll go live to washington.

and time is running out for the israeli prime minister — who now has less than an hour to form a new government. gulf leaders are preparing for an emergency summit in mecca in saudia arabia tomorrow. they're gathering here to discuss a serious saudi accusation — that iran attacked oil tankers off the coast of the united arab emirates. we know a total of four ships were damaged — two of them saudi—owned. you can see some of the damage here. no, we won't. but can we be sure it was iran? america's national security advisor is convinced. john bolton is known for his hawkish views on iran, and says it was clearly them. he even joked a little, saying "there's no doubt in anybody‘s mind in washington

who's responsible for this... who else would you think is doing it? someone from nepal?" iran's leadership may not have laughed at thatjoke, but they have dismissed his claims as "laughable". even so, it's another example of tensions between the us and iran heating up. just this weekend the us announced it was sending another 1500 troops to the middle east. donald trump also declared a national emergency over tensions with iran. that allowed him to approve the sale of billions of dollars in weapons to saudia arabia. let's bring in our state department correspondent barbara plett—usher. the timing ofjohn bolton's comments right as this summit gets under way. significant? he essentially makes the saudis case for them which is that these attacks show iran is becoming an increasing threat. so, as you mentioned, he blamed iran for the sabotage of the four oil

tankers, although the uae itself has not done so. and he also linked iran to three other incidents in the region, including a drone strike on a saudi oil pipeline. i think this is the case the saudis have been making on the one they will make at the summit as they try to get the arabs to back them against iran. how much concern is there globally about this escalation in the rhetoric over iran in recent weeks? a lot of concern. which of course peaked with the us military build—up in the region. since then everybody has been trying to calm it down, so you have the us and the saudis are saying they do not want war, although there will be a strong response if they are attacked by the iranians. you have the iranians saying they do not want war although they blame what they call the bt tea m they blame what they call the bt team for trying to get president trump to punish iran. they mean mister bolton and the leadership of saudi arabia, the united arab emirates and israel. but mister

trump has taken perhaps the biggest setback. he said he doesn't want war, doesn't want regime change, all he wants is no nuclear weapons. and thatis he wants is no nuclear weapons. and that is a softer approach than taken by his senior advisers. what message is saudi arabia sending by hosting this summit? it is trying to say iran is a real—world threat and the arabs need to unite against it. perhaps by declaring that iran is a terrorist state or something like that. i think the uaa ee and bahrain would probably be on board for that because they agree with saudi arabia, but qatar, kuwait, they don't agree or at least they have a moo more nuanced view and relationships with iran. barbara, thank you. iran won't be the only point of controversy at this summit. there's also question of qatar, and whether or not the country is even invited to the summit. sincejune 2017, saudi arabia, the uae, bahrain, and egypt have blockaded qatar, both economically and diplomatically.

qatar is seen as being too close to iran, and the other states have also accused it of supporting terrorism. but this summit is so important it appears an exception may have been made. although we can't be certain until the summit starts. if you're confused, here's our chief international correspondent lyce doucet to explain. this happened before with other summits. we heard last week that king salman had invited all members of the gulf cooperation council including qatar, but then today the qataris are saying they are not invited. so i think we need to wait and see who comes from qatar tomorrow to the holy city of mecca, islam's holiest site. will it be the emir of qatar, who hasn't spoken to king salman for more than two years? will it be a lower ranking diplomat? or will there be anyone at all? all of this, of course, comes at a time when king salman has called notjust one but two summits, first of the gulf rulers, then of leaders across the arab world.

then there is the third summit on friday, which was already scheduled, of the global islamic organisation, the islamic organisation of cooperation. they are trying to forge a united front to send a clear message to iran that they don't want a war but they will respond forcefully if they feel their interests are threatened. and of course the same messages coming from iran. to syria, where at least 15 civilians are reported to have been killed in bombings by government forces. conflict is escalating in the rebel—held territory of idlib in the north—west. according to the un, barrel bombs are being used against civilian targets, including hospitals. civil defence workers also say the government has destroyed crops by setting fire to farmland. this picture shows you crops being set fire to and farmland destroyed. recent violence has displaced 270,000 people. the un warns it won't be able

to cope, and that "in many areas of active hostilities, humanitarian operations have been suspended". "this includes health, nutrition and protection services previously supporting some 600,000 people." the bbc has been speaking with jan engelend, former adviser to the un special envoy for syria. really our worst nightmare come true. because idlib is like no other place. there are 3 million people there now. pre—war there was 1.5 million. so idlib was the place where families fled from war elsewhere in syria. it was supposed to be a safe place. it was supposed to be a place where war should not come. this is a place with no escape. that adds to the trauma. the fear of the families is beyond belief. where can they flee? where is the idlib for the people in idlib, you could ask.

again, no war should come to this place. that is why i was part of the talks between these members of the united nations that led to the agreement about idlib. this was the place to be spared from war. we should have learned something from seven years of war, and not in the eighth year of war smash this overcrowded place full of women and children. diplomats must now do theirjob. we humanitarians can keep people alive — we cannot protect them. america's mid west is being pummelled by tornadoes this week. 20 were reported in kansas alone last night. pennsylvania was also hit. and a whole wave of twisters struck ohio the day before. the city of linwood in kansas has been hit especially badly. jericka duncan from cbs news is there. this home belongs to ronjones, his

home was completely flattened. it was a one story. where you see this gentleman picking this box up, is the area in the basement where ron jones and his wife had to hide the cover while that tornado came through. this appears to be the kitchen but you can see debris everywhere weather is and insulation, tables, 31 years of their life all gone because of this destructive tornado. and tornadoes tend to be a very active season in this area along the midwest. when you consider the national weather service here reports more than 900 tornadoes this year that is about more than 200 than the yearly average. so the season is not over yet, we're even expecting some severe weather tonight here in the kansas area. when we to the homeowner, ronjones, kansas area. when we to the homeowner, ron jones, he kansas area. when we to the homeowner, ronjones, he is sitting over here in this red chair, and you can seal his family and friends here to help, he said, listen, we have been living in this community for decades, we know what to expect. he

described seeing a tornado years ago that skipped over a house on the street. but when it hits no one is prepared to deal with the aftermath. tha nkfully prepared to deal with the aftermath. thankfully this is not new for this area, they have people in place to help and everyone is out here cleaning up and doing what they need to do so that they can move forward. stay with us on outside source — still to come: how do you move a banksy? very carefully is the answer. one of the prize that works —— prized artworks is set for a new home in wales. people selling their homes are having to drop prices more steeply than at any time for four years. the average difference between asking and selling prices, now stands at £8,500. here's simon gompertz. so it's the third one right up there. one, two, three, the black door. in london where house prices have been falling, the discounts are big. matt has just negotiated £50,000

off, nearly 10% down from the original asking price. it's a duplex, it's a two bedroom, 75 square metres, fully renovated. chain free, no one's lived there since the renovations have been done. the price coming down, what difference did that make for you? well, i mean, it meant that i could buy the flat. it was at a price point that i could afford, i had the money for a down payment and i would be able to get a mortgage. the average gap between asking and selling prices stands at nearly a% across britain. so narrower than matt's in pricey london but up from 3.3% last year and a recent low of 2.7% halfway through 2016. so a price drop could make all the difference. it could mean you can afford to buy. but for many, the house price boom was so big it means that even with a small drop in prices, they're still way out of reach.

and there's a stand—off between buyers expecting something cheaper and many potential sellers not bothering unless they absolutely have to put their homes on the market. it's really important to find the home you want to buy, i mean the home that want to live in, not looking for a good deal. and you've got to remember that actually sellers are being a bit nervous at the moment and they're not putting houses on the market so there might be fewer homes to choose from. house sales are still brisk in some parts of the country, but for people like matt, being able to argue the price down can make the difference between getting the home you went and seeing it slip away. simon gompertz, bbc news. this is outside source, live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is: speaking for the first time about his investigation into russian interference in the us election, robert mueller refuses to exonerate president trump and says constitution wouldn't have

allowed him to lay charges. the president declare its "case closed". other stories from around the bbc newsroom: 16 people have been charged in bangladesh over the murder of a teenager who was burned to death days after alleging her school headmaster sexually harrased her. he's accused of ordering the killing from jail, and is among those charged. bbc bengali has the details. amnesty international says myanmar‘s army is committing fresh war crimes against ethnic groups in rakhine state. a new report accuses the army of arresting, killing and torturing members of an ethnic buddhist guerrilla force. the army denies the allegations. that's on bbc burmese. mourners have been paying their last respects to the world motor racing champion, niki lauda, who died last week. his body is lying in state in the austrian capital, vienna. lauda was famed for returning to the sport, weeks after being badly burned during a crash in 1976.

an australian teenager, who broke an egg on a far—right senator's head, has given almost $69,000 to the survivors of the christchurch mosque attacks. footage of 17—year—old, will connolly smashing an egg over fraser anning in march, went viral on social media. the clock is ticking for israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. he has less than an hour to reach a coalition deal to form a new government. —— less than 15 minutes or so. his party came out on top in last month's general election, but he's unable to convince this man — defence minister and ally turned rival avigdor lieberman, tojoin him in government. here's the jerusalem post's la hav harkov on the sticking points. the main policy issue that is being debated is the enlistment of the

ultra orthodox population in israel in the military. there is a mandatory draft in israel for most of the country because my 18—year—olds. and the ultraorthodox have historically been exempt from that draft. and it has become a real political issue over the past couple of decades, it is not a new one. but following a court order the defence minister put forward a bill that would require at least several thousand ultraorthodox men to enlist in the military each year, and there are two ultraorthodox parties whose combined power is much bigger than his alone that opposed this. and netanyahu his alone that opposed this. and neta nyahu has to his alone that opposed this. and netanyahu has to bridge those gaps to build a coalition. tom bateman is injerusalem. just under 15 mins until the deadline — any sign of a breakthrough?

none whatsoever and in the next couple of minutes we expect that vote to get under way in the israeli parliament, where mps even though they have yet to pass a single law, it is only six weeks as they were voted into parliament, and they may choose to dissolve the parliament, to sack themselves, if you like, and ta ke to sack themselves, if you like, and take israel to new elections later this year. it will be the first time that has been that situation. in modern israeli history. at the heart of this is a situation where benjamin netanyahu of this is a situation where benjamin neta nyahu was of this is a situation where benjamin netanyahu was really desperately trying to reach an agreement between those two sides in the debate you are hearing about there, about the ultraorthodox military draft. now, in a sign of some of the measures he was prepared to go to this evening it was reported he even offered ministerial positions to the israeli labour party, the left wing that is derided and attacked for many years. they

refused to take part and so we ended up refused to take part and so we ended up with this stand—off. a lack of movement and the deadlock went on, so now is that vote is due to get under way in the next few minutes it may be that israel decides it will go to new elections. 30 minutes to midnight. if this doesn't work out for neta nyahu the midnight. if this doesn't work out for netanyahu the country goes to the polls all over again? absolutely. it was april nine earlier this year, after a fairly lengthy election campaign, that that right—wing coalition that benjamin netanyahu right—wing coalition that benjamin neta nyahu hopes to right—wing coalition that benjamin netanyahu hopes to achieve was voted m, netanyahu hopes to achieve was voted in, at least he was celebrating victory. but now we find ourselves in this position. where despite him thinking that he would be able to reach agreement with those parties, he could not do so. and at the heart of that, one of those old rivalries, the x defence minister and one—time

ally of mister netanyahu, now increasingly one of his rivals. there is a sense here that people are snapping at the heels of mister netanyahu. he is in a situation where he faces charges later this year and people may sense this is the moment to extract compromises from him. tom, thank you. in scotland, legislation has been tabled in parliament, which could pave the way for a second independence referendum. that would mean voters have their say on whether scotland should remain as part of the united kingdom or be an independent country. it's been nicknamed "indy ref 2". scotland's first minister said "just published a bill to set the rules to allow the scottish people to choose our own future rather than having a brexit future imposed on us." the scottish government wants the public vote in the second half of next year — but the bill doesn't set a date or ask a question. that's because ministers need to get the green light from the uk government first, before an independence referendum can happen, and so far westminster has said no. here's nicola sturgeon.

there si a point of principle here. it is legitimate for the westminster government, and anybody else for that matter, to oppose independence. it would be a democratic outrage, particularly given the mandate i have as first minister for a westminster government to seek to stand in the way of the people of scotland having the right to choose. an independence referendum was last held in 201a. the noes had it by 55%. but marches like this by independence supporters have become a regular sight in scotland — they're calling for a second referendum. remember, that in the brexit referendum in 2016, scotland voted by 62% to stay in the eu, but the uk as a whole voted to leave. and that was reflected in last week's european parliament elections, when the pro—independene and anti—brexit scottish national party won three seats — its highest ever result. there's been strong criticism from opposition parties. the scottish conservatives have

labeled it a ‘stunt‘, and its leader ruth davidson had this clear message — "indy ref 2 — no way nicola." here's a video she tweeted. only one in five say they want it on her timetable. me and all the scottish conservatives will stand full square against her, please, join us. here's the bbc‘s square against her, please, scotland correspondent, join us. scotland correspondent, lorna gordon on what happens next. well, this bill well, it's thought, completed its passage here by the end of the year. if a section 30 order were to be granted, there would still need to be secondary legislation he had to set the date for any referendum on scottish independence, and the question in any referendum on scottish independence — that

would need secondary legislation. but, because this bill would have passed, it would mean that could happen in a timely fashion. a mural by the artist banksy — which had been painted on the walls of a garage in wales — has been moved, very carefully, to its new home at a gallery. the artwork, called seasons greetings, was cut out of the wall and loaded onto a truck. it'll now be displayed at a museum in the town centre. tomos morgan has the story from port talbot. as christmas descended on port talbot last year, so did banksy. a painting on one side of a young boy playing in what looks like snow but, on the other side, police shows the is breathing fumes. can it be moved intact? after sleepless nights and months of planning, the moment of truth has arrived and the banksy is on the move.

it's been quite the headache for engineers. protective resins, wooden casings, and steel barriers have been needed. it's been a slow process, as a crane slowly moved the garage corner onto a flatbed before being transported through the centre of town. but seasons greetings has remained in perfect condition. i am so relieved, you've no idea. i said this morning i didn't see anything going wrong. i had total faith in these guys, because they looked so professional, but accidents happen, things do happen, and now here it is in port talbot. anybody can look at it easily. the aim is for the piece to be on full display to the public by the end of the week, with a view to making its new home into a museum of street art in the future. visitors flocked to view season's greetings.

tomos morgan, bbc news, port talbot. the europa league final between arsenal and chelsea has finished. block your ears if you don't want to hear the score — chelsea have won a—1. the match has been overshadowed by controversy, because of the venue. arsenal and chelsea are of course london clubs. the match is being played in baku in azerbaijan, around a,000km away, and there aren't even any direct commercial flights between the two cities. getting to azerbaijan has proved so difficult and expensive, neither london club managed to sell their ticket allocation. olly foster is at the game in baku. how did it go? full time whistle has just gone and it will feel like a much longerjourney for the arsenal fa ns much longerjourney for the arsenal fans heading back to london. they we re fans heading back to london. they were simply outplayed. it was goalless at half—time and an awful first half compounded by a terrible

atmosphere, lots and lots of empty seats at this olympic stadium. they said it would be a sell—out despite neither of the club is taking up their allocation. three quickfire goals after the break, the header and one set up by hazzard. then he scored a penalty. it looks to be all over with about 25 minutes left. then a substitute for arsenal, a wonderful half volley from outside the box. a glimmer of hope for the gunners. none of that whatsoever. chelsea are europa league champions for a second time in six years. we now have to look forward to an all english final again in the champions league in three days' time. for arsenal, possibly some big repercussions because they could have got back into the champions league with victory here, but they haven't, so there will be a lot of for them over summer. but champ

delaware chelsea are europa league champions. i'll be back at the same time tomorrow. see you then. we will see some quite big weather changes taking place in the next few days. those changes really started on wednesday as cloudier worked in across the uk. a little bit of damp weather across parts of wales. this isa weather across parts of wales. this is a change to the weather is starting to come off the atlantic. the atlantic starts to flex its mussels and with it a flow of westerly winds bringing a lot of cloud, outbreaks of rain across the north and west. but it starts to feel warmer and more humid with the airfrom the feel warmer and more humid with the air from the subtropics. for thursday, we start on a mild but cloudy note. a bit of dampness across western coasts and hills, perhaps some mist. breezy, and through the afternoon wet weather

into northern ireland, scotland, north—west england. the rain heavy at times for scotland. although the cloud could break to give warm weather across england it is probably a cross into the northern isles, shetland, that will have the sunniest weather. here, quite cool at just sunniest weather. here, quite cool atjust ten. into friday, a lot of cloud. rain pushing back into the north—west of the uk, and weather front on the way. another mild night, 13 or 1a degrees. friday, more wet weather. the weather front will target particularly western scotla nd will target particularly western scotland with particularly heavy rain forecast for the hills. some localised flooding building, because the rain is also persistent through much of the day. some of the rain gets into northern ireland and north—west england. but further south, after a cloudy start, the will fit and break to give some brighter weather in the afternoon. where there is sunshine the temperatures at highs of around 23.

quite a contrast to glasgow atjust 15. for the weekend, quite a contrast to glasgow atjust 15. forthe weekend, high—pressure nudging into the south—east. whether france will weaken as they move that high—pressure. for the north and west, may some rain left. but across the south and east, we will see more sunshine and it will get much warmer. temperatures across eastern england could reach 27. into the early 80s in terms of fahrenheit. for the second half of the weekend some uncertainty. this cold front pushes and of the atlantic, the uncertainty is how quickly that will move uncertainty is how quickly that will m ove a cross uncertainty is how quickly that will move across the country. if it becomes quite slow, it could be sunnier and warmer across eastern parts of england. but for the time being we think it will be cloudier, a bit of rain at times, and the fresher air push into the west. in other words, across the north and

west we never really get into the very warm air. temperatures 17 in glasgow and belfast. but it could still be warm across eastern england. the uncertainty grows next week. we are quite sure that the jet strea m week. we are quite sure that the jet stream will take this diving southward pattern. this will develop an area of low pressure which will probably be somewhere to the south of the uk or over the uk. the details of where we'll determine how much rain we get but on the whole next week looks unsettled. temperatures will ease back down to the high teens, low 20s, and it will become a little windier. next week is looking much more unsettled. that is looking much more unsettled. that is your latest weather.

tonight at ten... borisjohnson is to appear in court to face accusations of misconduct in public office. it relates to claims he made during the referendum in 2016. he says the case is politically motivated, but his accusers say it's in the public interest. mr ball, who stood with me today, considers that politicians have made, or said, things that are untrue, and he wants to ensure that there is a better standard in politics. we'll have the detail and reaction, as the conservative leadership contest gathers pace. also tonight... we report on how public spending on social care is much lower in england than in scotland and wales.