this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at one: ahead of his state visit to the uk, president trump defies diplomatic norms — he praises borisjohnson and his bid to become prime minister. i've always liked him. i don't know that he's going to be chosen, but i think he's very... a very good guy, a very talented person. in madrid — fans gear up to this evenings all—english champions league final, liverpool versus spurs. i've been a spurs fan all my life, just incredible, historic. i think in madrid, it's going to be number six. come on, liverpool, come on!

totte n ha m tottenham and liverpool will vie for tonight's prize at the estadio metropolitano. good news for tenants in england, as a ban on letting fees — including credit checks and viewings — comes into effect. in the us state of virginia — 12 people have been shot dead, after a gunman opened fire in a local government office. and coming up: bbc wales investigates travels to argentina, to meet the family of the footballer emiliano sala, who was killed in a plane crash. that's in emiliano sala: a family's search for truth — at half past one. good afternoon. donald trump has broken with convention by commenting publicly on the conservative party leadership race, saying that borisjohnson would do "a very good job." in an interview with the sun newspaper, ahead of his state visit

to the uk, president trump described mrjohnson as "very talented". he also expressed his view about some of the other contenders — as our political correspondent, mark lobel, reports. it's not a diplomatic intervention, but donald trump doesn't seem to much care. ahead of a three—day state visit, the president comes close, very close, to endorsing a candidate as our next prime minister. i've always liked him. i don't know that he's going to be chosen, but i think he's a very good guy, a very talented person. yeah. he's been very positive about me and our country. and offers this teaser about the other contenders. other people have asked me for endorsement too, i've been asked for endorsements. other leadership contenders have asked you for endorsements? well, i don't want to say who, but other people have asked. there were harsh words for michael gove after he criticised

donald trump for sabre—rattling over iran. donald trump's team don't want this to overshadow his state visit and have insisted the president isn't endorsing a candidate, despite all appearances. but conservative party members will be left in no doubt that boris johnson has friends in high places. when the british government and the white house fixed the date, they probably thought that this wouldn't be such a critical moment when we had essentially a lame—duck prime minister and an open field for the succession — in which case, i think it was inevitable this was a president that says what is on his mind. meanwhile, the leadership race remains wide open — today, the home secretary put no—dealfirmly at the centre of his bid. speaking in singapore, the defence secretary penny mordaunt who is thinking aboutjoining

the contest, was asked to await us fears about the uk's relationship with the chinese telecoms company huawei. these are judgments to be made. there are vulnerabilities ofjust having one supplier. so, all nations facing these decisions have to look at the detail, they have to weigh that up. candidates have just over a week left to come forward with 12 standing so far. and expect a few more to enter the race and for others to publicly back candidates, though not perhaps with a fanfare of the words of support from this man gets. mark labelle, bbc news. the political analyst drjames boysjoins me now. author of hillary racing. you know who. well, she didn't. she sang from the point of view of the book. donald trump arrives in the uk this week. this is an example of the effect he can have on british politics, what you make of his remarks? quite remarkable, to be held in context, he is doing an interview with the sun ahead of his visit here. he has not put his thumb on the scales to say they should, he

has office expressed an opinion. one wonders whether he is quite frankly, borisjohnson the only candidate donald trump is particularly aware of. they have a track record of history together, but it is unprecedented for an american president to try to intervene not only in the selection of a prime minister but a party leader. and presumably, the question is, what effect, if any, presumably, the question is, what effect, ifany, it presumably, the question is, what effect, if any, it will have on the immediate select tracks, the tory mps, and the wider election. give donald trump some credit, he does recognise it is possible boris johnson might not be selected and might not make it out of the initial candidates to make it into the wider conservative membership, which might be something a lot of people did not know he would be aware of. one wonders whether the blessing and laying of hands of donald trump is what boris johnson laying of hands of donald trump is what borisjohnson is looking for and it will be interesting to see if donald trump has the same feelings about boris johnson when donald trump has the same feelings about borisjohnson when he sees some of the quotes doing the rounds

on twitter and in the telegraph this morning about boris johnson's previous views of donald trump. some of them quite colourful, to say the least! what about the significance oi’ least! what about the significance or otherwise of this, does washington see any real benefit in coming to the uk for a state visit? clearly, there is a specific reason because of the d—day commemorations this time, but in terms of the relationship with the uk. it is my pet grape, every time there is a state visit, there are these discussions about the end of the special relationship and it doesn't mean as much as it used to. the intrinsic relations between great britain and the military and political and cultural level, they are not going anywhere, quite frankly. this is something a lot of people need to give more credence to. from a personal point of view, this is something donald trump has been angling for, i think it means a great deal to him, he's bringing his aduu great deal to him, he's bringing his adult children with him because he realises the significance of the state visit and all that entails. the practical question is, where are

the differences in terms of foreign policy? two of these things, one is iran and the other is huawei. united states and great britain are not aligned on that issue but we have had differences in the past, many of us had differences in the past, many of us remember the suez crisis of and that was the great point of departure for us and great britain's foreign policy. we rebounded on that. if we disagree about whether a chinese telecoms company should be allowed to engage in our wi—fi five g network, that seems rather small potatoes compared to the suez crisis. thank you very much. always a pleasure to have you with us. the formerjustice secretary the labour peer lord falconer says the party should expel a prominent party member who was suspended yesterday. peter willsman is accused of saying the israeli embassy was "almost certainly" behind complaints of anti—semitism. jenny manson is co—chair ofjewish voice for labour.

shejoins me now. thank you for being with us on bbc news this morning. you have heard the different criticisms being made of peter willsman, what is your response to that? well, my response, ifi response to that? well, my response, if i may, to what lord falconer said is part of my response to what peter willsman might have said, there is an alarming lack ofjustice in the way that claims of anti—semitism are being dealt with both by the press and the public, too often. if pete willsman has made statements people make offensive, —— find offensive, thatis make offensive, —— find offensive, that is one thing, there is nothing i have heard that is anti—semitic. instead, if the party wants to investigate what pete willsman said, that should be dealt with as a confidential issue and they should be no commitment to expel anybody until there has been a thorough and fair investigation. as to that particular comment, about israel, we

know israel has been involved to some extent in british politics because of the film made by al jazeera in 2016, shown in early 2017, called their lobby. that is not unusual, governments interfere all the time in other country's politics, but it is not anti—semitic to make that claim. what about the points you made about there should bea points you made about there should be a proper process before somebody is expelled and if pete willsman we re is expelled and if pete willsman were to be expelled, that should be the end of the process and it should be confidential. what explanation on the basis of that you give to decision to expel alastair campbell earlier this week? that does not appear to have been an open and transparent process. my guess is that he leaked that story. that is a very simple and straightforward rule in the labour party rule but, you are not supposed to campaign for other political parties. a friend of mine found himself expelled because he nominated a green party candidate. this is —— this is an

absolute standard labour party and i am sure labour party —— liberal democrat and conservative party that you cannot campaign for another party. is it that if you do not reveal it until after the election? alastair campbell said he would not vote labour before the election. but you cannot endorse another candidate? he spoke several times to you on the tv and on the radio telling us just why it was such a bad time to vote labour, how wrong labour was getting it and how tempting it was for him to vote lib dems. i might be wrong but that is how i remember it and i think that is whatjeremy corbyn said yesterday in defence of the expulsion. i think it is called auto exclusion, you cannot do that. and if you did that, thatis cannot do that. and if you did that, that is an expandable auto exclusion. in yourjudgment, and this new information comes out, there are not grounds to expel pete willsman? i have not heard the film

which, by the way, it was leaked. it was a confidential conversation and this seems to be the habit at the moment of people trying to brand the labour party anti—semitic. what he has done from what i have heard is criticise the involvement of the israeli embassy, which we know about because of the lobby. in 2016, at the conference, they were there. people influenced by the mc‘s decision to try and disrupt the labour party. and of course, it is better people say things temperately and they don't ever expect things to be off the record when they speak. but at the moment, i have no evidence whatsoever pete willsman is an anti—semite or a racist in general. i know him slightly and i have every confidence he has absolutely no anti—semitic feelings. jewish voice for labour chair, thank you for being with us and being so beautifully framed by a couple of lovely prints, i don't know if they

are local to norfolk. lovely prints, i don't know if they are localto norfolk. yes, come back, goodbye! around 70,000 liverpool and tottenham hotspur supporters will be in madrid tonight, for only the second ever champions league final to feature two english clubs. without a ticket, fans won't be able to watch the game on the big screens, as officials have confirmed that fan zones will shut before kick off for safety. apparently, that is for safety reasons. if tottenham win, they'll lift their first european cup. liverpool will be hoping they can win their sixth. david ornstein is already at the stadium in madrid where tonight's match will take place, and anna holligan is in central madrid, where fans are beginning to gather. david first at the stadium, what are the prospects for this match? it certainly has everybody pretty worked up! it has indeed. and many of those fans you mentioned are already making their way over to the estadio metropolitano on the

outskirts of the city. despite there being a few hours until kick—off, the excitement is so raw. i had the privilege of being in baku a few days ago for the europa league final and there were fewer than 10,000 supporters travelling from the uk on that occasion to watch chelsea and arsenal. estimates suggest there could be 100,000 here and it is going to make for a brilliant atmosphere. as for the match itself, liverpool are the firm favourites, they were in the final a year ago and they are trying to win a six european cup. if they manage to do that, that will take them outright as the third most successful team in the competition's history, behind only real madrid and ac milan. they also had a far superior season 21, finishing 26 points ahead of them, and the second to manchester city by one point. they got 97 points and they have been so solid this season at the back with a key signing of virgilvan dijk and at the back with a key signing of virgil van dijk and alison and their 3—pronged attack of mohammed sala and roberto firmino and sadia mane.

totte n ha m and roberto firmino and sadia mane. tottenham don't have any pressure on them and that could be vital. like liverpool, they pulled up extraordinary results in the semifinals. but they have never been at this point in their history. so it is probably the biggest match they have ever played. they have a fitness doubt over their star striker and captain harry kane, will they start him or bring him off the bench? it is evenly poised in terms of predictions for this match and one thing we do know is that the trophy will be coming back to england and there will be a parade for the winners in either london or liverpool tomorrow. one reason to celebrate, david. whoever your team is, even if they are not in this competition. anna holligan in central madrid, have they been occupying themselves, the fans? it isa occupying themselves, the fans? it is a long wait for those who arrived yesterday. and there is a great sense of anticipation, trepidation

in the heart of madrid. they are partially occupying themselves, obviously, in the bars. but also, behind us here, there are opportunities to compete for tickets. one of those golden tickets. one of those golden tickets. most of the fans we have spoken to have not got one, but even those who have are being advised to show extra care because uefa have been warning there may be people dressing up as officials, in an effort to try to steal these precious tickets. fans have been travelling from all over the world, coming in all day. and we can speak to two young tottenham supporters. callu m to two young tottenham supporters. callum and lewis and grandad. you travelled all the way from edinburgh to support your team. what does this mean to you, tottenham first time in the final? yes, it means a lot. i really wa nt the final? yes, it means a lot. i really want them to win. grandad, imagine bringing your grandson is here for this. once-in-a-lifetime. i

promised if tottenham got to the final, we would come and that is what we have done. we travelled for the last two, three days, we have no tickets, but the atmosphere is unbelievable. with both liverpool and tottenham supporters, it is one big happy family. that is one of the things most striking, this atmosphere of solidarity between these rival fans. do you think that is partly because everyone is so conscious of how unique this is having two english sides in the final for the first time in a decade? yes, it is really good. and it is not like they are rivals in a way. it is not going to be any trouble or anything. well, hopefully, that will continue. thank you very much and enjoy your day. there are about 5,000 police on the streets and their strategy is to divide and conquer, or control those supporters. there are two separate fans owns about one kilometre apart. the match will not be shown in those fan zones so the idea is to try and

disperse the passions into the pubs and bars and restaurants throughout the city when the kick—off happens. but whatever happens here in madrid, this is bound to be, guaranteed to bea this is bound to be, guaranteed to be a night of glory for english football. that is anna holligan in the centre of madrid. and david is at the stadium, lucky man, i hope he has a ticket! the headlines on bbc news... ahead of his state visit to the uk — president trump defies diplomatic norms, praising borisjohnson and his bid to become prime minister. champions league final — liverpool versus tottenham. good news for tenants — as a ban on letting fees comes into effect in england from today. sport, and for a full round—up,

from the bbc sport centre, here's... will. good afternoon. less than seven hours to go now until liverpool or tottenham will compete for club's football's biggest prize — the champions league trophy. it's the first time tottenham have reached the final and former captain ledley king has praised manager mauricio pochettino for his calm approach throughout the tournament. at each stage, he has managed to ta ke at each stage, he has managed to take the pressure off the players. i think that has really helped. we have seen the performances of the players and they never say —— the never say die attitude that we have managed to provide and of course the last two games and that has helped us last two games and that has helped us through and that could be an important role in the final. you can hear full commentary of the liverpool v tottenham tonight on bbc radio five live. marc pougatch brings you all the build up from six o'clock. former arsenal forward jose antonio reyes has died in a car accident in spain at the age of 35.

another of his old clubs, sevilla, confirmed the tragic news. reyes spent three seasons at arsenal between 2004 and 2007, having arrived halfway through the club's invincibles season. during his time in england, he won the premier league and fa cup. reyes also had spells with real madrid and atletico madrid. reyes' former arsenal team—mate thierry henry has tweeted the following: "i'm devastated to hear the sad news about jose antonio reyes. wonderful player, superb team mate and exceptional human being. i wish his family and friends continued strength and courage to get through this difficult time. #taken far too soon" england's women are taking on new zealand at brighton's amex stadium, in what's their final warm—up match ahead of the world cup, which starts on friday. it kicked off

at1 o'clock, these are live pictures from bbc1. the score is currently 0—0. phil neville's side play scotland in their opening game next sunday. it's a big night for anthonyjoshua, who's fighting in the united states for the first time in his his professional career. joshua will defend his world heavyweight titles against andy ruinr at new york's maddison square garden at around 3:30 tomorrow morning. the mexican weighed in more than 20lb heavier thanjoshua, although few people are giving him a chance against the man who's still unbeaten. i know the support in britain right now is phenomenal and i know thejob at hand, so i approach my training, my lifestyle towards the sport very seriously, and it's about delivering time and time again. as i said, tomorrow night, i put the titles in the air and they're up for grabs, and me and him go to war and the best man wins. joshua said earlier this week that he was targetting tyson fury next, but he may have missed his chance. the wbc heavyweight champion deontay wilder claims he's signed an agreement to face fury in a rematch following his next fight against luis ortiz. fury and wilder's first contest in las vegas ended in a draw last december.

fury‘s promoter, frank warren, has told bbc sport, "any announcements about future fights will be in due course." in the french open tennis, simona halep is through to round four at roland garros. the defending champion needed just 55 minutes to see off ukranian 27th seed lesia tsurenko in straight sets. 6-2, 6-1. in the men's draw, stefanos tsitsipas has become the first greek player to reach the fourth round at roland garros since 1936. the sixth seed was made to work hard again before finishing off a third—round win over filip cryinovic in four sets. two matches in the cricket world cup today. afghanistan face defending champions australia later but, first, sri lanka are taking on new zealand. the black caps have been making the most of bowler friendly conditions at cardiff's sophia gardens. matt henry has picked up three wickets, including two in two balls.

lockie ferguson has grabbed a couple as well. sri lanka were all out for 136. huge match in madrid later, and it's a massive day at twickenham as well, with exeter taking on saracens in the premiership rugby union final, a repeat of last year's showpiece and the 2016 version too. between them, they've won the title every year since 2014. exeter‘s director of rugby, rob baxter, knows beating saracens is no easy task. being current premiership champions, they're a good side. i've heard them described as maybe a once—in—a—generation team, and i can understand that because teams tend to become cyclical around groups of players, and you can really see they've got a strong playing group at the moment. that said, i think we're a strong playing group and, on our day, we've beaten saracens before in important games, and that's what we've got to strive to do again. busy afternoon of sport, loads going on including the epsom derby where the aidan o'brien trained horse is the aidan o'brien trained horse is the favourite. that is all for now. so much look forward to and so much to choose from.

that's all the sport for now. the uk border force has confirmed it's dealing with a number of boats carrying migrants off the kent coast. there are reports of as many as 13 boats. four have apparently been intercepted, with around 30 people on board. our reporterjohn mcmanus is in dover. this is difficult for the authorities, presumably, a lot is about the fine conditions this weekend? yes, exactly, those numbers starting to grow, we know that last month in may, 140 migrants successfully cross the channel from northern france to the kent coast, topping the number of 138 in december. december was a very mild month weather—wise and the wind was blowing from the cell. the channel waters behind me were relatively calm and the authorities thought that prompted many migrants to try to make the crossing. they were deceived into thinking it was safe to sim —— safe simply because the

water appeared to be calm. the government says it is not a safe crossing and they are trying to deter migrants from making that crossing from france, but local mp charli elphicke says the government must do more to get a grip on this. he says the french government have a role as well and that is what the home secretary sajid javid said he would start to do in december, a new year's day, he cut short his family christmas holiday to return. he declared a major incident and he brought back two border force vessels patrolling the waters between greece and turkey on that very dangerous mic —— dangerous migrant treat and brought it back to the channel behind me to try to deter migrant —— migrants and he said there would be greater cooperation in the waters to dissuade migrants from making that dangerous crossing, and also to disrupt the criminal gangs taking their money and stealing boats and facilitating these very dangerous journeys. from those numbers we saw last month and today with the coast guard saying there are 13 incidents

and we know several men have already been brought ashore at dover and are being spoken to by immigration officials, with those numbers starting to climb again, it is safe to say this operation still has some way to go. from dover, thank you. in the united states, at least 12 people have been killed — and several injured — in a shooting at a government building in virginia. the suspect is described by officials as a disgruntled city employee. he fired indiscriminately at the location in virginia beach last night. our washington correspondent, chris buckler, reports. some of the employees who were finishing up their work here on friday afternoon never had a chance to go home. the police say one of their long—time colleagues walked into this local government building and started shooting indiscriminately, killing a dozen people.

they said to stay and wait in there until the cops got there and let us come out. there was probably about 20 of us in an office, crammed in. we barricaded the door. did you hear any gunshots? yes. yeah, we did. several people were wounded and had to be airlifted to hospital. the gunman is said to have made his way from floor to floor, shooting wildly, before being killed in an exchange of fire with police. an officer was also struck, but he was saved from serious injury because he was wearing a bullet—proof vest. this is a horrific day for the commonwealth of virginia. our hearts ache over the senseless violence that has been inflicted upon the virginia beach community today. my deepest condolences and prayers go to the families of those who left home this morning and will not return tonight. behind the cordons, police teams, the fbi and forensic officers are examining the scene and trying

to piece together the background to this country's latest shooting. it's believed the gunman was a disgruntled public employee, based here at the offices at virginia beach. there will, of course, be a full investigation to try to determine what led him to commit these murders. but the wider debate, once again, will now about how easy it is to get guns in america. this is the 150th mass shooting in the united states this year. chris buckler, bbc news, virginia beach. a ban on "unfair" fees charged by lettings agents in england has come into force today, two—and—a—half years after the plan was first announced. it means tenants will no longer be billed for things like viewings, credit checks or setting up a tenancy. but there are warnings rents could be pushed up as a result, as landlords try to make up their lost income. time for a look at the weather with nick miller.

i was contemplating putting a bit of sun cream on before i stepped outside this afternoon, would you advise it? very wise, there is strong sunshine across some parts of the uk and heat in some areas, too, especially into south—west england where it is the highest temperature at the uk has recorded so far this year, 26.2 at heathrow airport and temperature is still going up. so the heat very much there towards the south east and east anglia with the stronger sunshine, but a different story elsewhere. north wales, northern england, patchy rain so far and northern ireland and southern scotland. it will turn wetter overnight here is welcome in this area of heavy rain sweeps through pushing into parts of wales as well. temperature is not going down too far overnight, especially where it has been so hot today and the weakening weather front moves east with cloud and showers, not reaching easternmost parts until late on.

still hot, 28 degrees as possible. elsewhere, fearing cooler and fresher with sunny spells and showers. the street towards the north west of the uk later on and it looks a bit cool in the week ahead with plenty of showers around. hello this is bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines: ahead of his state visit to the uk, president trump defies diplomatic norms —

he praises borisjohnson and his bid to become prime minister. in madrid, fans gear up for this evening's all—english champions league final — liverpool versus tottenham. good news for tenants in england as a ban on letting fees — including credit checks and viewings — comes into effect. now on bbc news, the tragic death of emiliano sala in a plane crash touched thousands of people across the world. bbc wales investigates examines the circumstances of the crash. news archives: an air and sea search has been launched for a missing light aircraft which is thought to have been travelling to cardiff... what i can tell you is that cardiff are seeking clarification and they are genuinely concerned... the aviation authority has confirmed that the premier league footballer,