this is bbc news, i'm ben bland. our top stories: twenty years after the first astronauts took residence on the international space station, nasa says it will allow tourists on board. ‘s missions will be privately funded, dedicated commercial space flight funded, dedicated commercial space flight allowing approved activities to ta ke flight allowing approved activities to take place on by the space station. the united arab emirates says only a state actor could have carried out the attacks on four tankers off its coast in may. the clock is ticking on tariffs, as president trump says a deal is possible between the us and mexico. if talks fail, duties are imposed on monday. and france kick off the women's world cup in style — the hosts win the opening game with four goals against south korea.

hello and welcome to bbc world news. space tourism — once a distant dream for many — will become a reality from next year according to nasa. but anyone hoping to visit the international space station will need plenty of money to spare — a round trip costing about $58 million. earlier, nasa announced it will open up the iss for tourism and other business ventures, but numbers will be limited, we are enabling private astronaut missions to the international space station. nasa will support up to two short duration private astronaut missions per year to the international space station, beginning as early as 2020. these missions will be privately funded,

dedicated commercial space flight allowing approved commercial activities to be conducted on board the station. earlier i spoke to business insider's senior science correspondent david mosher, and began by asking him whether this was the first example of tourism in space. no, not by a long shot. they have been seven tourists who have been to the space station, the thing to understand is that the space station is international, so there is a russian element to it as well as japanese and other countries, and russia has allowed tourists to visit its elements and operate in the space station. 50 how its elements and operate in the space station. so how are they actually get up there, who will operate the shuttles? according to the information we saw today from nasser, they are going to have to travel on either boeing or spacex ships, spacex has shipped that looks like a space capsule, boeing are

also building a seven seat space capsule. they will have two fly to the station to dock with the national parts of the space station. there are russian ducking it up us docking adapters. to get there and follow this nasa plane you will have to go ona follow this nasa plane you will have to go on a commercial space right. the other interesting aspect aside from the tourism is what they call approved business ventures. i wonder whether we have the potential to see feature films, for example, being shot up on the international space station. i think that is absolutely a possibility if not explicitly laid out thing. there is a lot of documentation that was dumped today, but that is one thing that has been discussed. it seems like it is almost a given, imagine the kind of films and scenarios you could film if you had access to space, and with the budgets at the movie industry has today and the amount of pull an impression they can have on people, nasa would, i think, be champing at the bit to have a leading production company film some footage on the

international space station. and i suppose from a financial point of view, the space station is expensive to run, space travel is a costly thing, and at times when money becomes short it can often be the thing that comes in the firing line for making savings. this i suppose moves away from a reliance on public government money and brings in a bit of private finance as well. this to me seems like the set up for that to happen. nasa has talked a few years ago about the full commercialisation of the space station, basically handing it over to the private industry, but they found there was not enough demand to do that, because the maintenance pricetag of this is 3— because the maintenance pricetag of this is 3- $4 because the maintenance pricetag of this is 3— $4 billion per year. that isa this is 3— $4 billion per year. that is a lot of money. this is a a foot in the water to get these companies up in the water to get these companies up there, get them operating, get them excited about seeing what they can do in space and may eventually taking over the space station after

they do that, because once they can prove a case to their shareholders and customers that this is worth the money, this is worth the expense, they can get more investment and eventually expand their operations and space. that is the ultimate goal, and nasa, not selfishly but as pa rt goal, and nasa, not selfishly but as part of its directives, it is trying to get back to the moon. so it needs to get back to the moon. so it needs to save some of its budget to do that. this is an expensive endeavour to send back to the surface of the moon, and they are looking to congress and the president for help with that. and one thing they can do is kind of lower this pricetag over the years by handing it over to private industry, the space station. an investigation by the united arab emirates into an attack on four oil tankers off its coastline has concluded that it's very likely it was carried out by a "state actor". meaning someone connected to another state. limpet mines, it

believes, were attached by divers operating from fast boats — a highly spohisticated operation. but the investigators stopped short of blaming a specific country. washington however has blamed iran — which has denied any involvement. rana rahampourfrom the bbc‘s persian service is following the story — here's what she thinks this means for the building tensions between the us and iran in the region. both iran and the united states have tried to calm things down, so i think where we were two weeks ago was far more worrying than what we see today. the navy ship was the first to go to the persian gulf, it went to the arabian gulf. —— supposed to go. there is now a sense that everybody is trying to calm down and part ways because it is clear that neither side wants a confrontation. i think everybody was worried, the international community, the united nations, they asked both parties to show restraint and in the country, people of iran, the majority kept asking, is there going to be a war. there was a point

whether this was incident, because the straight of hormuz, where the navy ship was going to be sent, is a very narrow piece of water, and it was being policed by the iranian revolutionary guard, which was added to those of terrorists goes by the united states. so any confrontation they could have ended up in a full—scale war. but at the moment eve i’yo ne full—scale war. but at the moment everyone is trying to avoid that scenario. —— terrorist groups. to another, unrelated, maritime incident — this time in the south china sea, involving russian and american warships. these pictures were shot from on board the american guided missile cruiser, the uss chancellorsville — showing the two vessels coming extremely close to each other. moscow says the american ship suddenly changed course — washington has made a formal diplomatic protest. this aerial image of the two shows just how close they came to crashing into each other. neither ship sustained any damage, and there were no injuries reported. the united states says it will go ahead with new tariffs on mexico

on monday, unless the two countries reach an agreement. the two sides have been holding talks in washington — this is mexico's foreign minister arriving a few hours ago. president trump has threatened his southern neighbour with the tariffs, unless it meets his demands, over immigration. mr trump wants mexico to stop migrants from central america reaching the us border through its territory. in a moment we'll hear from our washington correspondent, chris buckler , but first here is what the mexican president had to say. translation: i can see the negotiations have not broken down. though neither parties have left the table. as i understand it, the towers would begin to take effect on monday, and it is still friday, and there is dialogue. so agreement can be reached. there have been three days of talks but there has been absent from the

white house negotiations, and that is president trump has been away in europe on that trip. to mark the d—day commemorations. he is back in the us, and therefore you get a sense that potentially they could start to have conversations about a deal coming together. speaking from air force one on his way back the president said that there was a good chance of an agreement being reached, but there is still a number of issues to address, we have seen mexico over the last few days really trying to push the idea that they will do what they can to stem this tide of migrants that are making their way from central america through mexico to the us border, talking about deploying the national guard, mexico's national guard to the southern border with guatemala, talking about maybe changing asylum rules, those are all things that president trump has been pushing for some time, but actually getting a deal, that is going to be tough. because you do get the impression that mexico are a different page with some of the things that america

wa nts. with some of the things that america wants. for example this idea that potentially people could claim asylu m potentially people could claim asylum in the us while remaining in mexico while they can, potentially they can do a deal but time is very tight. these tariffs potentially coming to place on monday. what is the feeling in washington about this latest development, this is president trump using tariffs as an instrument of foreign policy on a matter that is not really anything to do with trade. there were some in congress who feel he is putting the elements and pushing the extent of his presidential power potentially to snapping point. he is bringing two of his biggest issues together if you like, questions of trade and tariffs, and tariffs have been his favourite weapon in trying to get through what he wants in any type of negotiations. and this issue of immigration, which he has promised time and again that he will address to his supporters. it was one of his key campaigning issues, and he believes tariffs another way to focus minds. when you talk to some

supporters and some of those close to the administration, they will say very clearly that if you look at what has happened, he threatened ta riffs what has happened, he threatened tariffs and mexico immediately came to negotiating table, and started to discuss what they could potentially do. and certainly the reports from mexico are suggesting that they have been many more arrests in recent days, that there is a greater military and police presence on some of the road used by those, and indeed bank accounts have been frozen by traffickers. some believe president trump, with his sometimes wonder negotiating style is actually focused minds with mexico. the problem is, will it be enough for the president and can mexico really address some of these issues. they are supposed to be looking at a longer term issues, they want to deal with the problems in central america, where america is really focus on trying to sort out the short term issues and stemming those growing numbers that are coming to the border as quickly as possible. let's get some of the day's other news.

the united nations human rights council says the number of venezuelans leaving their country as refugees has reached 4 million. the un body described the number of people fleeing since the humanitarian crisis under president maduro began as "staggering." three people have been killed after their boat capsized off the west coast of france, during storm miguel. they were part of a crew of seven who had gone to the aid of another boat which had got into difficulty. this facebook has announced it will stop its apps being pre—installed on huawei devices. the action was taken in response to us government action in may, which bars us companies from using foreign telecom firms it regards as a security risk. facebook said that people who already own a huawei phone and have the relevant apps installed can still continue to use them. here in the uk, theresa may has formally resigned her position as leader of the governing conservatives.

she will remain as prime minister until a successor is chosen by her party. that will happen over the coming weeks. this is the letter which officially starts the race to replace her. it's from the 1922 committee, which is the group which organises the conservative party's leadership contests, confirning that the nominations are now open. our uk political correspondent nick eardley has been following this story from westminster. theresa may has struggled to exert any authority really over her party for months now. the big issue in the uk, brexit was one, she could not get a uk, brexit was one, she could not geta grip uk, brexit was one, she could not get a grip on. she could not get enough of her party to support her, and that has led to what has happened today, she has finally officially said that she is no longer leader of the conservative party. as you say she is going to stay in downing street for a few weeks yet, the race to replace her has officially begun now, we will find out exactly who the candidate are on monday, there are about 11 so

far, a couple who may or may not declare over the weekend. tory mps in the house of commons will whittle that list down to two as quickly as they can, and then the vote goes to conservative members across the uk. it will probably be before we know who the next british prime minister is going to be, before theresa may leaves. on the main issue, at the heart of her time at the top, brexit committee has failed, by her own admission. she has not managed to do what she intended and she leaves without achieving a withdrawal agreement. i think you will see over the next few weeks we will have her trying hard to come up with some sort of domestic legacy. i think you will see a few announcement over the next few weeks on things like environment, on women in work, on knife crime in the uk which is a big topic at the moment, to see her trying to come up with something

that she can be remembered for apart from brexit. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: #we # we have to heal this wound we will never stop bleeding. to kill a mockingbird becomes the highest—grossing play in the history of broadway. the show‘s writer, aaron sorkin, tells us why it still resonates now. the day the british liberated the falklands, by tonight, british troops had begun the task of overcoming the enemy. in the heart of the german capital, this was gorby—mania at its height. the crowd packed to see the man who raced great hopes for an end to the division of europe.

michaeljackson was not guilty on all charges. the screams of the crowd, a testament to his popularity and their face in his innocence. as long as they'll pay to go and see me, i'll get out there and kick 'em downhill. what if you like to be the first man to cross the channel a car? marvellous, really. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: nasa has said it will allow tourists to visit the international space station. they‘ll pay $35,000 a night to stay on board. the united arab emirates has said only a state actor could have carried out the attacks on four tankers off its coast in may. the ethiopian prime minister, abiy ahmed, has called for unity

in sudan and a quick transition to democracy. mr ahmed has been trying to mediate between the military council and pro—democracy groups, after dozens of protestors were killed earlier this week. catherine byaruhanga has been meeting the relatives of one of those killed. it's the kind of grief that can be understood anywhere in the world. why my beautiful son? i want him to have kids and get married, and he had his life. mohammed celebrated his 26th birthday hours before he was killed protesting for democracy. family and friends continue to mourn a man they say was a natural leader. mohammed was studying engineering at brunel university in london. he recently came back home for his sister's wedding, and joined the sit—in against military rule. this is thought to be the last footage of him. i told him today maybe

they are going to do bad things. he said, he know, and he has to do his work. mohammed is from an influential family, but that did not save him. this conflict has touched people from all walks of life. ethiopian's prime minister has spent the day trying to mediate after security forces killed more than a hundred protesters and talks collapsed. activists insist they will only negotiate once there is justice for the victims. friday prayers at the mosque in khartoum. this is another community that has been attacked. people have set up barricades all over this neighbourhood to protect themselves

from government militia. they say a few days ago one person was killed outside a bakeryjust down the road, another in front of the local mosque. they're sceptical about whether negotiations with the military can work out. translation: the only way to have successful talks is by publishing who committed these crimes, and we think the only ones responsible for the crimes are the military council. so, do you think there's a chance that you can negotiate with the military council? translation: there is no chance for negotiation with the army, because they're not honest or serious. they have lied and been manipulative from the start. there is little comfort to be found in sudan at the moment. this is a nation still in shock, and unsure what comes next. catherine byaru hanga, bbc news, khartoum. the women's football world cup has kicked off in france, with the hosts beating south korea in the opening match. in a sold—out stadium in paris, france won 4—0.

the french team, les bleus, are tournament favourites and have won 14 of their last 15 games. the tournament lasts a month, with 24 teams taking part. more than a million tickets have been sold so far. our correspondent sarah mulkerrins is in paris, and just before she went to watch the match, she sent us this assessment of the competition: this women's world cup being held here in france is being billed as the biggest and best one yet. it is the biggest and best one yet. it is the eighth edition of this tournament, the first was held in china back in 1991, and we have really seen a phenomenal amount of change in the women's game since then. that has been a real talking point in the lead up to this tournament. back in 1991 when the usa one data edition, that women's tea m usa one data edition, that women's team arrived back as champions in

the united states, and arrived back to three people in the airport to greet them. —— usa won that edition. when you look at france under the pressure under the coverage the hosts have had coming into this tournament, it is worlds away. but there is still plenty more to do in there is still plenty more to do in the women's game in terms of true equality between the man's again and the women's game. the differences in prize money has been a big talking point in the lead up to france 2019. just consider that the women's total prize fund for this event is $30 million us, and the prize fund for the next men's world cup is $400 million. the winning team here would get $4 million, the men's team will get $4 million, the men's team will get $38 —— get $4 million, the men's team will get $38 -- $38 get $4 million, the men's team will get $38 —— $38 million. the discrepancy is still really large between them. we have had here in france the first—ever women's football convention, which features hosted, where they have been

outlining strategies to get more women into the game, get more women into the boardrooms, and get more results on the pitch. —— fifa hosted. also, increasing the commercialisation of the women's game. i think if they can really ca ptu re game. i think if they can really capture the imagination of the global audience you with this product in france, that will certainly help to spur those developments. the novel to kill a mockingbird is one of the best—known works of literary fiction to come out of the us, with its story of racism in the justice system in the deep south of america. but it's now also become one of the most profitable plays, with a stage adaptation on broadway making more than $40 million since it opened last december. nick bryant reports. we have to hear of this wound or we will never stop bleeding. a classic of american literature has become a

box office sensation of american theatre. aaron sorkin's adaptation of to kill a mockingbird, a story set in the american south, of racial injustice, where a black man is accused of raping a young white woman. let's begin with justice. you know what happened on november 21, you know it. don't do this. the central character, the heroic lawyer atticus finch, is played byjeff daniels, who has received a tony nomination for the role. and although the play itself has been co ntroversially although the play itself has been controversially overlooked although the play itself has been co ntroversially overlooked for although the play itself has been controversially overlooked for the top award, it has been enormously popular with audiences. the play, at its heart, is about decency, and what it means to be a person. and that's a story that i think we are thirsty for right now. all of the world, but especially in this country. the play is set in the days ofjim crow, the system of racial apartheid which wasn't dismounted until the civil rights reforms of the 1960s. the theme of racial

division resonates still today. why in the world should this story still be relevant today? it feels to me like it is more relevant now, even, thenit like it is more relevant now, even, then it was back then. we speak now ata time then it was back then. we speak now at a time when america has had an african—american president, there have been various civil rights acts, yet this problem still persists. this problem still persists. that should be on a t—shirt. this problem still persists. that should be on a t-shirt. the characters of the play, from atticus finch to bob ewell, the town drunk, he sees the warring tribes who make up he sees the warring tribes who make up modern america. the elites and their heartland critics. there is a large swath of the country, large enough to elect donald trump, that feels the way bob ewell feels about atticus. 0k? feels the way bob ewell feels about atticus. ok? you think you're so much better than i am, don't you? you think you're so much better than iam. you you think you're so much better than i am. you look down your nose at me, you people on the coast, you elites. you think you're so much better than

iam. and you think you're so much better than i am. and it is that you think you're so much better than i am proud that just, you're so much better than i am proud thatjust, more than anything, wa nted proud thatjust, more than anything, wanted to stick it to the rest of us. wanted to stick it to the rest of us. and i think that donald trump was elected because he is a fantastic stick with which to poke liberals in the eye. broadway has staged a number of more politically charged productions during the trump presidency. the success of to kill a mockingbird demonstrates audiences clearly wa nt mockingbird demonstrates audiences clearly want to see them. new zealand's government is spending $11 million to install cameras on fishing boats to help save the world's rarest and smallest dolphin from extinction. only 63 maui dolphins remain in their native new zealand, ina dolphins remain in their native new zealand, in a small area of the country's west coast. environmentalists fear that boats using nets to catch fish are threatening their long—term survival. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @benmbland.

hello there. the atmosphere on friday was in an extremely lively mood. a lot of rain for some of us, thunder and lightning, and even reports of one or two final clouds. these pictures came from sommerset. this certainly looks like a funnel cloud. a funnel cloud is very similartoa cloud. a funnel cloud is very similar to a tornado, itjust doesn't touch the ground. this is the radar picture from friday evening. showers and thunderstorms developed across the west country, south—east wales, drifted up into the midlands. still some hefty showers around through the first pa rt showers around through the first part of saturday morning. the thunder and lightning risk much lower at this stage. outbreaks of persistent rain drifting into southern scotland, northern ireland,

certainly affecting northern england under some very windy weather down towards the south. it all comes courtesy of this, an area of low pressure, only snow —— slowly drifting north through the day ahead. it will bring some unseasonably windy weather and some outbreaks of rain at times. for brett 's time, the rain is likely to be sitting across the south and east of scotland, into northern england, wales, the midlands, east anglia, adjusting to the south—east. really, the spiral of ranger sits in the south —— in the same place throughout the day. elsewhere we see some spells of sunshine but also showers breaking out and those winds will be brisk indeed, especially for southern and eastern parts of england, which could see gusts of 40 01’ england, which could see gusts of 40 or 50 miles england, which could see gusts of 40 or50 miles an england, which could see gusts of 40 or 50 miles an hour, which could well have an impact on some outdoor events. those temperatures really disappointing. 14 in newcastle, maybe 17 in cardiff. the weather will start to come down during saturday night. that area of low pressure finally spins away to the north—east, taking much of the rain with it. clear spells, north—east, taking much of the rain with it. clearspells, it north—east, taking much of the rain

with it. clear spells, it is going to bea with it. clear spells, it is going to be a bit chilly in one or two places, and as the winds fall lighter, i would places, and as the winds fall lighter, iwould not places, and as the winds fall lighter, i would not be surprised to see beyond mr patch here and there sunday morning. —— the odd mist patch. sunday's weather still dominated by dutch low pressure, but it is moving away. not as many lines on the chart, not as many isobars. a of sunshine and showers. the show is most plentiful across northern ireland and scotland. fringes of western england and northern wales. eastern england should not see too many showers, it was a largely dry with some sunshine, and those winds will be noticeably lighter especially in southern areas. it will feel a bit warmer, 15 in belfast, 19 in london. but there week ahead looks very unsettled. outbreaks of rain at times. it will often be quite windy, and for a while at least it will feel very cool indeed.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: nasa says it will start offering tourist and commercial trips to the international space station from next year. flights into orbit and back are likely to cost more than $60 million. the united arab emirates says only a state actor could have carried out the attacks on four tankers off its coast in may. america has accused iran of being responsible. tehran has denied any involvement. the us says it will impose tariffs on mexico on monday, unless the two sides reach agreement over immigration. president trump says there is a "good chance" of success in talks. france have kicked off the women's world cup with a decisive victory against south korea in paris. the score was 4—0. the hosts are favourite to win the tournament. here in the uk, the high court has thrown out a private prosecution