this is bbc news. i'm geeta guru—murthy. the headlines at six: president trump defies protocol ahead of his state visit to britain, as he praises borisjohnson and his bid to become prime minister. i've always liked him. i don't know whether he's going to be chosen, but i think he's a very good guy, a very talented person. a call to expel peter willsman from the labour party, from formerjustice secretary and labour peer lord falconer. nine incidents of small boats carrying migrants off the kent coast are being dealt with by the coastguard. tens of thousands of football fans are in madrid for tonight's champion's league final between liverpool and tottenham. here at the metropolitano stadium,

the gates open, two hours and so kick—off in the biggest match in clu b kick—off in the biggest match in club football. and in rugby union, saracens do the double — beating exeter in a thrilling premiership final. donald trump has broken with convention by commenting publicly on the conservative 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, talented person. he's been very positive about me and our country. and offers this teaser about the other contenders. other people have asked me for endorsements, i'd been asked for endorsements. other leadership contenders have asked you for endorsements? 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 is not endorsing a candidate despite all appearances. the 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 this would not 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 who will say what is on his mind. meanwhile the leadership race remains wide open. today the home secretary put no—deal firmly at the centre of his bid. speaking in singapore the defence secretary penny mordaunt, speaking in singapore, the defence secretary penny mordaunt, who is thinking aboutjoining the contest, was asked to allay us fears about the uk's relationship with the chinese telecoms company huawei. these are judgements 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 the fanfare

the words of support from this man gets. mark lobel, bbc news. mr trump also praised the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt. our correspondent glen campbell asked mr hunt for his reaction at the world news media congress in glasgow. what do you make of president trump offering warmer words for your leadership rival borisjohnson than he does for you, does that help or hinderyourcampaign? i think you have to ask boris whether that helps or hinders him, but what i would say is i am very proud as foreign secretary that we have the best relationship with the united states, and i am sad that some political parties have used this state visit when we are celebrating and remembering the normandy landings, the 400,000 american troops who lost their lives in the second world war, they are using it as a moment for virtue signalling. this isn't about any individual president or prime minister,

this is about a deep friendship between our two nations, the two nations that have done more than any other to stand up for liberty, freedom, democratic values, the rule of law, things we all believe in. earlier i spoke tojohn rentoul — chief political commentator for the independent who said he doesn't think that trump's comments will have a big impact on a british election. protocol doesn't mean much to donald trump. he has blundered straight into this. actually, i imagine boris johnson is probably more embarrassed then and pleased to receive this kind of endorsement. it will go down very badly with conservative mps who are at the first age of the leadership contest. i would imagine most conservative mps if they are being pushed in the last american election with a preferred hillary clinton to have one. so being endorsed by donald trump does not really help borisjohnson that much.

seeing thatjeremy corbyn later leader has tweeted saying that... laughter. who chose him 7 he was chosen by admittedly rather more unrepresented labour party members. conservative members have never chosen a prime minister before, they have chosen an opposition leader. absolutely true, but if jeremy corbyn had won the last election he would not have been chosen by his mps, he would've been chosen by labour party members. either you accept the party members to choose a leader or you think mps should do it but... jeremy corbyn is jumping on the anti—american bandwagon. donald trump is not popular in this country. so when he interferes in our politics, people

do get up on their high horses. mr trump also commented on jeremy hunt, praising him i think for his commitment to increasing defence spending. mr trump wants all the europeans to give more money to nato. he also criticised michael gove. do you think any of this affects how people vote? no. i don't think it does. it might make some conservative mps who don't really approve of borisjohnson anyway, might strengthen them in their conviction that he is a populist in the trump mould. but no, maybe some conservative grassroots members who like donald trump and are very pro brexit might strengthen their appreciation of boris i said but i think it is a very small but i think it is a very small effects. also interesting he said in the

interview that other people have been asking for his endorsement. but michael gove wasn't one of them. tom asked if michael gove was one of these people who had asked for an endorsement. he said no he wasn't. michael is in the clear. who might it be? i don't know. it is fascinating. dominic, sajid... who knows. it doesn't really matter. this is a bit of a fuss about nothing. i don't think donald trump... he breaches protocol all the time. i don't think this will have a huge effect on a british election. mr trump has also responded to comments made by the duchess of sussex, who has been critical in the past of the us president. ahead of the 2016 us presidential election, la—born meghan backed mr trump's rival hillary clinton and suggested she would leave the us if he won. when asked by the sun

about the comments, mr trump said he had not been aware of them, adding: "what can i say? i didn't know that she was nasty." but mr trump said meghan would make "a very good" american princess, adding he thought it was "nice" she had joined the royal family. a former government minister, philip lee, has lost a vote of no confidence, at his local conservative association. bracknell conservative association called the vote after 53 members signed a petition. the mp for bracknell said the move was linked to his decision to campaign for another eu referendum. dr lee was the first government minister to resign over brexit after citing the government's approach to withdrawing from the eu would damage businesses in his constituency. 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.

lord falconer is leading labour's inquiry into the claims. earlier today he spoke to the bbc about the current position of the claims and the process. well, first of all, my task is now effectively being done by the equalities commission, that are launching a full—blown investigation into allegations of anti—semitism in the labour party. the issue of peter willsman is an acid test for the labour party. peter willsman has, in this recording that was published by a radio station yesterday, said that the allegations of anti—semitism in the labour party are, in effect, orchestrated by the israeli embassy. that is a conspiracy theory which has absolutely no foundation whatsoever. if you were a member of the jewish community, it would give you little hope that the labour party would deal fairly with allegations of anti—semitism, if somebody on its main ruling body — the national executive committee — had those views.

it's right that he's been suspended, but the next step for the labour party is to deal with the disciplinary case against him as quickly as possible because, otherwise, people will have little confidence in our setting ourface strongly against anti—semitism. the uk border force has confirmed it's dealing with a number of boats carrying migrants off the kent coast. hm coastguard say they assisted the uk border force with nine vessels this morning. four have apparently been intercepted with around 30 people on board. our correspondentjohn mcmanus has been speaking to the local mp charlie elphicke. nine vessels which the coast guard said is has assisted in intercepting today, assisting borderforce officials who have special vessels that patrol up and down the waters of the english channel behind me. we know these numbers appear to be climbing again, about 138 arrivals in december. when the weather was a very calm and relatively mild. the

weather is mild, warm seas are calm again today. we know that it may come 140 people made thatjourney successfully from france to the kent coast. numbers which the government was to the government was to deter, just because the sea is calm, that does not mean the crossing is of the busiest shipping channels in the welcome extremely dangerous, it can be dangerous even for sailors who know what they are doing. never migrants who are in inflatable dinghies come often in very small boats and trying to make their own way across that narrow stretch of water. so the government trying to get a water. so the government trying to geta grip water. so the government trying to get a grip on this, and the dover and pete charlie elphicke who has been campaigning around this now for several months says he has secured a beating with the home secretary sajid javid, mrjaved declared a major incident back in december, because of the large numbers of people arriving then and i think it is fairto people arriving then and i think it is fair to say that some of the plans he put in place which include greater cooperation with the french haven't deterred a migrants as we can see from today but mr elphicke

says he has its own particular plan. what's needed is a compact between britain and france that anybody found anywhere in the channel should be returned back to france, anybody trying to get to britain though they have no hope of succeeding, that is the only way it will get the message to the migrants, to the traffickers and there needs to be a pact between britain and france for more surveillance to see anybody setting off on the french coast and make sure they are picked up rapidly before they get too far in the channel. the weather can change so quickly in the channel, conditions can worsen, and we have to remember that it's important to preserve and protect life here as well. so as she heard mr elphicke said, he has a plan and government to get a grip on this, one thing the government did do was announced back in the winter was they put two more borderforce in the winter was they put two more border force vessels in the waters of the english channel and it doesn't seem to be having a huge effect judging doesn't seem to be having a huge effectjudging by doesn't seem to be having a huge effect judging by last doesn't seem to be having a huge effectjudging by last month's figures, mr michael vaughan says he is hoping for the government to announce more concrete measures and

says he will give us an update tomorrow after his meeting with the home secretary. a team of eight mountaineers, including three britons, has gone missing on its way to the nanda devi peak in the himalayas. the expedition — led by experienced british climber, martain moran — failed to return to base camp yesterday after attempting to reach the 7,000 metre peak. a rescue team searching for the group have struggled to find them due to bad weather. the headlines on bbc news... president trump defies diplomatic norms, ahead of his state visit to the uk, praising borisjohnson and his bid to become prime minister. peter willsman, who's accused of saying the israeli embassy was "almost certainly" behind complaints of anti—semitism, should be expelled from the labour party, according to labour peer lord falconer. nine incidents of small boats carrying migrants off the kent coast are being dealt with by the coastguard. 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. fans have been told they won't be able to watch the game on the big screens at the designed fan zones as officials have confirmed that they will shut before kick off for safety. if tottenham win, they'll lift their first european cup — liverpool will be hoping they can win their sixth. with me is our sports correspondent david orenstein who is at the stadium. also i'm joined by gavin lee who is in the heart of madrid, with liverpool fans. david, let me begin with you and the football is one team a favourite? liverpool are the favourites to win this match. they have the experience of being in the final a year ago, they lost to riau madrid and even mitigating circumstances and that the foetus well. they are seeking a

six european cup which will take them clear in third place in the all—time list behind only riau madrid and ac my life out push manchester city right to the wire in the premier league. —— a real madrid and ac milan fussed at the finish 26 points above tottenham and that premier league table beating them to— one at home and away. asked for a tide of them, a lot less pressure on them, but probably with good reason. they do not have any pedigree in this competition. —— asked for tottenham. this is the first time they have any pedigree in this competition. —— asked for totte n ha m. this competition. —— asked for tottenham. this is the first time they had done so. they are going have a lot to lose it is fair to say. it is clear when you see mauricio pochettino speaking in his news co nfe re nce mauricio pochettino speaking in his news conference last night. he was relaxed and calm and he smiled a lot. wejurgen relaxed and calm and he smiled a lot. we jurgen klopp relaxed and calm and he smiled a lot. wejurgen klopp too but i think mauricio pochettino knows that the spurs have a chance of upsetting the odds here especially after they come—from—behind victory over idx in the semifinals which really was incredibly dramatic. many the supporters, we will see in a moment

arriving care by having wet behind us now and the gates are open, only a few hours until the atmosphere in the it is kind of alike. they have beenin the it is kind of alike. they have been in the city for most of the day. a lot of alcohol consumed i'm sure, a lot of singing and celebration, flights arriving people coming on trains and by road as well. but it has been good—natured. we have seen no incidents or heard of anything. but one thing is that tickets are exchanging hands for a lot of money for sub farm where fans are then there are spaces in the stadium, only 17,000 officially from liverpool tottenham. you can guarantee there will be many more people getting their hands on tickets however they can. thank you, david. let's cross life to this centre of madrid, gavin is in a fans owner would liverpool fans. a lot of alcohol consumed i imagine. do you think it will stay good—natured? alcohol consumed i imagine. do you think it will stay good-natured? for the moment, a really good

atmosphere. interesting because all they come a lot of the fans here, one of the main squares and madrid, the felipe a square, and a great atmosphere, some of the spurs fans have been coming into a liverpool fan zone, and many people here are from the liverpool foreign legion supporters club from italy, spain and germany. a lot of liverpool fans who came from the uk heading for bar. if you walk this way, that touristy sunshine, we will see and never get away and catch a glimpse. catch a glance of the evidence of the afternoon before, which is a pretty messy scenario. a big clean—up operation in tow. a lot of the bar owners i have spoke to around this area, talking about half around this area, talking about half a mile radius, saying they are closing up, they are not dealing with the trouble and know what the reputation of english fans and making money but it is not worth it. it is frustrating scenario when you

have 70,000 fans at the stadium, 20,000 without tickets wanted to suck up the atmosphere by all said we are heading to bars. heading to the city centre, that is what the police are worried about. you see a few police upper here if we walk this way possible 4700 officers for the biggest ever surveillance operation and spanish boarding history. —— operation and spanish boarding history. — — police operation and spanish boarding history. —— police officers. they also have drones and one of the jones has disabled another drone in the sky close to one of the other bars. they are not taking any chances here. the clean—up operation and start is about the —— the match is about to start and is a pretty good atmosphere. thank you. let's hope it stays that way. with me is simonjones who is at a pub with tottenham fans in north london. also i'm joined our correspondent, stuart flinders, is at an event in the heart of liverpool that is being held in association with bt sport. let me start with you, simon. the fa ns let me start with you, simon. the fans have been an amazing spirit where you are. are they still going?

yes. and a lot of noise here. if you cannot get to madrid, where else would you rather be, north london, the sun is shining, look down there, people enjoying a drink, people enjoying the build up to the match, just under a few hours to go. and a real party atmosphere here. and i think what we want to do now is here from some tottenham fans, we have casperin from some tottenham fans, we have casper in charlotte. you will be watching the game here. how are you feeling? so excited. i haven't been here before to watch it. i am really excited to be here in the atmosphere will be great. excited and nervous? so nervous. especially, personally for me and my family, they are huge sprayers fans. i am really hoping for the best for all of us. you are born here? no, iwasn't for the best for all of us. you are born here? no, i wasn't born here but my family originally come from here and all of my family supports the spurs. family support here. casper, you will be going to watch at the stadium. really looking

forward to it. the massive atmosphere and all the fans being there. all the passion they show towards this club and this feeling it breaks your heart. you get so excited over it. element in your new stadium, you cannot have dreamt that you would be going there to watch on big screens. a champions league final. here, here! amazing to get there. what we have gone for is the whole club to get this position. what the team has made it to. the first time in history for us to be here. amazing. putting on the score prediction. 3-2, us. going to win it definitely. i agree. we will win it. we have to. harry kane? hopefully i think i don't think you should start. they should put him on later on. he will get us there. not long to go now. the crowd herejust cannot wait for kick—off. nerves and

also excitement. thank you, simon. i love the optimism. equal optimism i'm sure in liverpool. store it. what is the mood there? -- stuart. don't worry. you have a come to the wrong place. it looks pretty quiet but the doors have onlyjust open. i am told by eight o'clock, by kick—off time, this place will be full. -- kick—off time, this place will be full. — — you kick—off time, this place will be full. —— you have not come to the one place but the 7000 screaming and shouting and sinking liverpool fans. of course many have actually managed to get out to spain itself, some of them using the most unorthodox means, i saw a lot of the cramped camper van setting off last week for the long journey by road. and one young man apparently spent £40 on a new car, i don't know howl young man apparently spent £40 on a new car, i don't know how i knew he would get for that but he spent that thinking that might be a cheap way of getting to the match by driving to with. i would love to know whether he actually made a possible for those who couldn't get to spain, maybe this is the place. one of three venues on liverpool's waterfront showing the match like

tonight come organised by a bt sport, the tv rights holders, 11,000 fans in total across the three venues, and as you can see, they are pretty optimistic, they have reason to be. they finished so far ahead, liverpool, of the spurs in the league. but the real motivation for them is the shattering defeat in la st them is the shattering defeat in last year's final, those two goalkeeper mistakes that pretty much cost liverpool the title last year. so they come here with great optimism, liverpool finishes the season strongly, the fans think this is theirgearto do season strongly, the fans think this is their gear to do it. they haven't won the title since 2005. could this be get christmas optimism now, let's see if that last beyond kick—off. be get christmas optimism now, let's see if that last beyond kick-off. in the city of my birth. a great place. that is all i am saying on the better. good luck to everybody and i hope it is a great few hours ahead. —— on the matter. thank you to everybody there for giving us a flavour of what is going on.

and you can see all the build—up to the game here on the news channel, and then listen to live commentary on bbc radio five live at eight o'clock tonight. some tragic news in the football world. the former arsenal footballer, jose antonio reyes, has died in a car crash at the age of 35. the spain international signed for arsenal in 2004 and returned to spain after two years, going on to play for real madrid, as well as atletico madrid, and sevilla. 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 has been named by police as dewayne craddock, 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 on friday afternoon never had

a chance to go home. the police say one of their long—time colleagues walked in and started shooting indiscriminately, killing a dozen people. they said to stay and wait 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, 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. the suspect, and this will be the only time we announce his name, is dewayne craddock. he was an engineer of public utilities, and was employed with that department for approximately 15 years. the suspect's family

has also been notified. 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 is believed the gunman was a disgruntled public employee, based here at the offices at virginia beach. there will 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. more than 30 people have been arrested as thousands of hells angels bikers take part in a three—day event to mark the club's 50th anniversary in the uk. the arrests were made on suspicion of drugs offences and possession of offensive weapons. the hells angels euro run,

in sussex and surrey, marks the creation of the first branch of the california—based motorcycle club in the uk. one of iceland's most beautiful natural attractions has been left in ruins after years of uncontrolled tourism. the layder—rendi cave — near reykjavik — has seen many of its stalactites and stalagmites destroyed — and much of the walls have been covered in graffiti. conservationists say local tourist companies are to blame. tim allman reports. an age old dilemma when nature and commerce meet head—on. this cave was only unearthed in 1990, but it is estimated that since then, hundreds of thousands of tourists have tried to visit. a delicate coating of fungus that covers the walls has been damaged by people writing graffiti. stalactites and stalagmites have been broken off. translation: i have come to the conclusion that a natural

wonder of this magnitude and importance should have some sort of natural rights, like human rights, so it would be illegal to use it without limitations. the cave has been proven to be highly lucrative, with claims some tourist companies charge $130 a trip. with thousands of people visiting each year you are talking about a lot of money. the local authorities say they're working on an action plan to try and put things right. translation: we will start inside the cave and try to repair the damage. regrettably some people don't show respect for their surroundings. we need to know how many people visit because that gives us an indication of the plans we need to make. if tourist numbers are not controlled, the damage to the cave is likely to continue, and potentially get worse. but the clue might have been in the name. leidarendi means "end of the road."

now it's time for a look at the weather. ben, good weather for watching football? i suspect so for some fans across the uk. in the southeast today, and has been a beautiful day with lots of sunshine at temperatures as high as 27 degrees to the west of london. but some spots for the north and west of the country didn't do as well. pretty cloudy for a weather watcher in cumbria, and as we go through this evening come across northern ireland and scotland, we will see outbreaks of heavy rain pushing northwards and turning breezy through the night. some rain into the west of english and welsh by the end of the night, it will be very muggy and humid for all of us, minimum temperatures between 12 and 16. to malcolm alpert to heavy rain across scotland, then this been a cloud and shall be rain pushing eastwards. —— tomorrow it will be heavy rain. brightest eyes the cooler here is the heat gets us washed into the southeastern corner, east anglian air southeast chrissy temperatures up to 26 or 27 but much lower value further west. we have

that cloud and outbreaks of shall be rain. a quick look for the week ahead. it remains rather cool, some rain at times but some sunshine as well. hello, this is bbc news with geeta guru—murthy. the headlines: president trump defies protocol ahead of his state visit to the uk by praising boris johnson 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 a very good guy, a very talented person. peter willsman should be expelled from the labour party, according to formerjustice secretary and labour peer lord falconer. mr willsman, who's accused of saying the israeli embassy was "almost certainly" behind complaints of anti—semitism, was suspended yesterday. nine incidents of small boats carrying migrants off the kent coast are being dealt with by the coastguard. four british climbers are amongst a team that has gone missing in northern india during an attempt on the country's second—highest

mountain nanda devi.