this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 3:00pm. prime minister borisjohnson pledges to fund a new high—speed rail route between manchester and leeds. it's time we put some real substance into the idea of the northern powerhouse rail. that's why we're here this morning. we want to inject some pace into this so that we can unlock jobs and boost growth. president trump praises borisjohnson — and says talks on what he calls a "very substantial" us—uk trade deal are underway. the uk's biggest charitable funder of scientific research, the wellcome trust, says a no—deal brexit threatens the uk science industry. the mp for sheffield hallam, jared o'mara, says he is to resign as a member of parliament — to deal with personal issues. riot police fire tear gas at protesters in hong kong after tens of thousands march through the town where gangs

attacked pro—democracy activists last weekend. and coming up — click is in arizona, checking out the self—driving car capital of the world. the prime minister has pledged to fund a new high—speed rail route between leeds and manchester. borisjohnson says it will "turbo—charge the economy". it is thought the new route is part of the government's wider investment commitment to the north of england, set to cost around £39 billion. but labour have cast doubt on the plan, saying mrjohnson failed to deliver on infrastructure when he was mayor of london. tom barton reports. in manchester, they're expanding the tram network, spending millions

on improving public transport. but the new prime minister says he wants to go further, promising to build a fast railway line between this city and leeds, 35 miles away. i want to be the prime minister who does with northern powerhouse rail what we did for crossrail in london, and today, i'm going to deliver on my commitment to that vision with a pledge to fund the leeds to manchester route. but while local leaders have welcomed that promise, the chief executive for transport for the north told the prime minister that the proposed line doesn't go nearly far enough. we want to have liverpool, sheffield, hull and newcastle all getting the benefit, as well as leeds and manchester. well, there you go, barry, 39 billion, a number to conjure with, i dare say. but you're absolutely right, barry, and you're writing your aspiration

and we support that. labour says today's announcement is just reheated promises, pointing out that improvements to northern rail services have been on the table for years. jeremy corbyn, though, said he would go much further. when the government set up its powerhouse for the north, they had an office in whitehall to administer it. we are moving the treasury to the north, we're moving an awful lot to the north, in order to ensure that that fairness of national investment begins to be a reality. both leaders are promising that they are the man to rebalance the british economy, as they target northern voters ahead of a possible election later this year. tom barton, bbc news. i'm joined in the studio by lord andrew adonis — former labour cabinet minister — who served as secretary of state for transport from 2009 to 2010.

what do you make of borisjohnson‘s announcement today?” what do you make of borisjohnson‘s announcement today? i strongly support the construction of the line between leeds and it should have happened a good while ago, when we planned the original hs2 line which is london to birmingham, manchester and then going north—east to leeds, it was obvious at the time that what we needed was a trans—pennine link. it's only a0 miles between leeds and manchester and yet most of the trains take an hour, some of them longer. the trains are called the trans pennine express but there is no greater misnomer and perhaps my own name! laughter it feels a bit like the pony express at times. you can get huge economic and social gains by bringing these teeth conurbations —— bringing these two

conurbations —— bringing these two conurbations separated by the pennines. having a high—speed line that would be substantially tunnelled would be a transformation. you could have a very regular service taking 20 minutes and that could have a hugely beneficial effect. it's important the trains go on to liverpool and also hull. this is what the labour party is proposing, a longer route. nonetheless, an important section but the prime minister has committed to. what has held this up? george 0sborne talked about it when he was chancellor in the last government but one. firstly the treasury. the treasury hates big infrastructure plans. to be fair, for the last three years george osborne has been in charge of the treasury. the other issueis in charge of the treasury. the other issue is getting a plan together. the reason hs2 has made so much progress is because when i published the planned ten years ago we fortu nately the planned ten years ago we fortunately got the planned ten years ago we fortu nately got cross— party agreement very rapidly. with these cross— party agreement very rapidly. with these cross—party projects, you've got to

establish consensus quite early. there's still no plan for the line between manchester and leeds and issues such as does it go via huddersfield or bradford. i think it should go via bradford, the connectivity between those cities is terrible at the moment. i sorted thoseissues terrible at the moment. i sorted those issues in respect hs2 and they now need to be sorted in respect of the trans—pennine now need to be sorted in respect of the tra ns—pennine route. now need to be sorted in respect of the trans-pennine route. are you suspicious but given borisjohnson has launched a review of hs2 and downing street has said today that this, the details of this scheme will only be confirmed once that review is complete, that it could be a consolation prize for cancelling hsz? a consolation prize for cancelling hs2? hs2 a consolation prize for cancelling h52? h52 cannot be cancelled. really? legislation has been passed, billions has been spent. but he could still kill it and legislate and cancel it. the government has no majority to legislate and there was

a ten to one majority in parliament for its. is still there? the second phase going from birmingham to crewe, one of the last acts of the house of commons before recess was to pass that bill. borisjohnson could put a big question mark over the timetable of the funding and have another look at it which would be lethal. if he does that, not the end of hs2 because it's beyond the point of no return but it could massively add to the costs and delay it. that would also kill at birth hs three, the new trans—pennine route. full stea m three, the new trans—pennine route. full steam ahead for hst, not put any question marks around that but make hs3 part of the hs2 project say that over the next 12 years, we sought outpace north—south connectivity but also east—west connectivity but also east—west connectivity in the north. if we did that it could be borisjohnson‘s

great legacy. lauder donors, thank you. us president donald trump has said talks are under way to agree what he says will be a "very substa ntial" trade deal with the uk after brexit. speaking after a phone call with the new prime minister yesterday, the president said borisjohnson would do a greatjob. boris and i just spoke. i congratulated him and he's all set to go. he's gonna be — i think he'll be — do a greatjob. we're working already on a trade agreement. and i think it will be a very substantial trade agreement. you know, we can do with the uk — we can do three to four times — we were actually impeded by their relationship with the european union. we were very much impeded on trade. donald trump speaking to reporters yesterday. let's talk to christian bluth, a trade economist based in germany. thank you very much forjoining us. let's start with what we know about

the need for a trade agreement because britain will have left the eu, probably the prime minister says on the 31st of october if not before and certainly no later, whether or not there's a deal to get it out the eu that immediately puts us outside the eu single market and opens up the eu single market and opens up the potential for a separate trading arrangement. what are the first steps to be established between the us and uk governments actually create something that is a trade deal? so, the idea seems very tempting, that the uk no longer enjoys the preferential access it has to the eu market, to compensate that with preferential access to the other largest market that is out there which is the us. a trade agreement is a complex legal element. it takes quite a while to negotiate. the first thing would be

to start negotiating between the us in the uk and sort out the many details that need to be resolved for a trade agreement. it's notjust about slashing tariffs, that's the relatively easy thing. but if you wa nt relatively easy thing. but if you want this trade agreement to be meaningful, you need to deal with what is called non—barriers to trade which is all sorts of regulations that need to be aligned or mutually recognised. that is a very complex legal task. so far there is no country in the world that has done a trade deal like that.|j country in the world that has done a trade deal like that. i was speaking toa trade deal like that. i was speaking to a british mp last night he was telling me about a requirement for flame telling me about a requirement for fla me reta rda nt telling me about a requirement for flame retardant protection on furniture and clothing which effectively means that no outside foreign company can sell their products into the uk because they don't actually have that flame reta rda nt. don't actually have that flame retardant. that is the sort of thing we might have to negotiate on to allow more international access for the us. that's exactly right. this

isa the us. that's exactly right. this is a good example of what is at sta ke. is a good example of what is at stake. generally i do you recognise another country's regulations is equivalent... you actually develop common standards for things. this can be quite complicated, actually. 0ne can be quite complicated, actually. one of the big contentious points when the eu was debating with the us about the transatlantic trade and investment partnership, was actually the regulatory bit. in particular when it comes to agricultural products. here in germany, the worry is that chlorine washed chicken would be allowed into the eu market we re would be allowed into the eu market were massive. inaudible lots of this

regulatory cooperation is likely to stirup regulatory cooperation is likely to stir up domestic opposition. you raised the issues, the public reaction and hostility that can come to opening up certain sectors. in the uk we've had exactly that conversation about chlorine washed chicken. what about president trump's approach to trade relations? he's ina trump's approach to trade relations? he's in a virtually declared trade war with china and threatening to impose tariffs on french wine because of tax on companies like google. what caution would you offer to the british when they are told by the president you're going to get a big beautiful trade deal that could expand trade fourfold ? big beautiful trade deal that could expand trade fourfold?” big beautiful trade deal that could expand trade fourfold? i think i would be very careful. there are many reasons to be careful but trump has already shown he is not already

breaking trade agreements that have been concluded by previous us administrations, but he's also breaking deals that he and his team have negotiated under his government. we've seen that in the context of the us negotiations which after being concluded he threatened additional tariffs to achieve political aims. trump is not a reliable trading partner and one thing is absolutely crucial to realise. the current government is much more desperate for a trade deal with the us than the us is desperate for a trade deal with the uk. for the us, this is may something that's nice to have but it's not something that makes a huge difference to the us economy. in the uk the picture looks quite different. thank you.

britain's thriving science sector would be put at risk by a no deal brexit. that's the warning from the head of the wellcome trust, the uk's biggest charitable funder of scientific research. the trust spends around a billion pounds a year supporting research, most of it in the uk. katy austin has more. jasimin is a scientist from germany, researching sex chromosomes at the francis crick institute in london. she's not sure whether to stay in the uk, though, because the country's leaving the eu. my feeling is that over the next 10, 20 years, if brexit actually happens, especially if it happens without a deal, which seems likely now, that uk science is on a decline, with regards to, yeah, funding opportunities, positions that are available, attractiveness of living here. you could see this place as a symbol of britain's status as a science superpower — europe's largest biomedical research facility under one roof, with 1200 researchers working here from across the globe.

the director here warns continued success relies on collaboration that he says is incompatible with a no deal brexit and notjust because millions of pounds in funding would be at risk. it's our reputation, it's being able to attract people. it's making them feel comfortable here. all of this is injeopardy if we are turning our back on europe and saying, "we don't really care about you." and what it will mean is, is we have to follow the rules and regulations that we've had no role or impact on in setting up ourselves. so, in fact, we lose power, we lose freedom, rather than gaining it. now britain's biggest science charity has written to the prime minister, praising his vision for a thriving science sector but describing no deal as a threat. we're already a science superpower, but there are some clouds on the horizon, which if we don't banish them, could erode that position.

what we are anxious about is that the science that is done here goes on being excellent, and to do that it requires both more investment and support from the government, it also requires an immigration policy that welcomes to this country the best researchers in the world, and their families. in a statement, number 10 said the prime minister is committed to supporting the uk science sector, to take full advantage of opportunities outside of the eu, so it can offer the best environment for cutting—edge research and the best global talent. katy austin, bbc news. sheffield hallam mpjared 0'mara has said he will resign when parliament returns from its summer recess in september. mr 0'mara was elected as the labour mp for the constituency in may 2017, ousting former deputy pm nick clegg. he now sits as an independent mp. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blakejoins us now.

he fell out with the labour party, he was suspended at one point because of some tweets he had sent in the past. he has a torrid couple of years. what do we know this afternoon? a relatively short time in the house of commons but the controversial one. he first attracted attention when apparently sexist and homophobic comments he made online before he became an mp came to light. the whip was withdrawn from the labour party but he was readmitted and he subsequently quit himself. most recently, his former chief of staff has been attracting attention, when he quit in dramatic fashion this week, posting several tweets online, making clear his very dim view ofjared 0'mara and the state he was in. we had a statement on thursday from mr 0'mara singh he was taking time out to get professional help and apologised to his family and constituents. today, we have a statement again from mr

0'mara, saying that he does intend to stand down as an mp after the summer recess, when the house of commons reconvenes in the autumn, he will look to resign. i will tell you what he has had to say and that short statement. please let everyone be assured that i will be tendering my resignation via official parliamentary procedure. i am not in a fit state to continue nor would it be appropriate if i was. he reiterates his apology to his constituents, the people of sheffield and the people of the uk asa sheffield and the people of the uk as a whole. the procedure, mps do not have the right to resign after being elected so there is a bit of arcane parliamentary procedure that comes into play. he will be appointed to one of two jobs which are formal titles which carry no responsibility or salary, either the crown steward and bailiff of the chiltern hundreds or the manor of northstead and there will be a by—election to a the new mp for the seat of sheffield hallam, which is a

side note, was formerly the seat of lib dem leader nick clegg and it is now held by labour with the majority of just over now held by labour with the majority ofjust over 2000. it has had two liberal democrat mps, richard allen, who went to work in silicon valley, and nick clegg. there is a by—election next week and the lib dems are desperate to take that back. they would presumably be very keen to fight in sheffield hallam hard. they will have their eye on it, a slim majority of a%, just over 2000 votes, so that will be a target for the liberal democrats under new leaderjo swinson as they look to maximise their presence in parliament and they will be campaigning on that uncompromising no brexit message. jonathan blake, thank you for that update on the situation regarding sheffield hallam. the headlines on bbc news. prime minister boris johnson pledges to fund a new high—speed

rail route between manchester and leeds. president trump praises borisjohnson and says talks on what he calls a very substantial us—uk trade deal are under way. the mp for sheffield hallam, jared 0 mara, says he is to resign as a member of parliament to deal with personal issues. police in hong kong have fired tear gas at an unauthorised protest involving thousands of demonstrators. the march was in response to attacks on pro—democracy activists by armed masked men last week. protests began seven weeks ago against a planned extradition law. 0ur china correspondent stephen mcdonnell is there. it has obviously got more intense, the activity, and how would you describe the mood? right now, this violent day of street clashes has come to an end. the protesters were here and there

are thousands, tens of thousands, at the height, they have finally been pushed by riot police, block by block towards the train station and they have left. behind me, i am sure you can see that the riot police are resting, sitting down, after a full day of battles with hardline protesters, throwing bricks and other projectiles at them. they have responded by firing rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray, and responded by firing rubber bullets, tear gas, pepperspray, and itjust shows yet again that these protests are escalating in terms of the level of violence. if you weeks ago, we saw the odd projectile being thrown at the police, but today, there were at the police, but today, there were a lot. protesters came here geared up a lot. protesters came here geared upfor a lot. protesters came here geared up for battle. some had home—made shields, gas masks and home—made helmets. they knew there was going to bea helmets. they knew there was going to be a big series of clashes. the response has also been lots of tear

gas coming back the other way. there is no sign of an end to this. we are in the second month of this political crisis, the protesters have expanded what they are calling for. initially, they were demanding that this unpopular bill be withdrawn, allowing people to be extradited to mainland chinese courts controlled by the communist party. that bill is politically died, those mastriet rallies featuring hundreds of thousands of people killed it, but emboldened, bolstered by that victory, they have decided to accelerate and they are going and harder, attacking the authorities. they believe the peaceful path does not work, and for many they think that this is it, this is the fight for hong kong that had to come, and they are hoping somehow or other that this will lead to genuine democratic elections here but there is no sign that the

government in hong kong or especially beijing will be prepared to grant them that. potentially could go the other way, imagine the politburo standing committee in beijing, watching this rebellious city, where tens of thousands of people are prepared to attend what is essentially an illegal gathering. the nuclear option for them would be to send out the people's liberation army who are garrisoned in the city to ta ke army who are garrisoned in the city to take back control of the streets. that would be the end of hong kong as we know it. thank you. police in russia have detained more than 300 demonstrators who gathered in moscow to demand free and fair local elections. thousands of people attended the protest which was called for by the jailed opposition leader alexei navalny to pressure authorities into allowing opposition candidates to run in a local vote in moscow, which they are currently barred from. more than 700 passengers have been rescued from an express train trapped by torrential rains near the indian city of mumbai.

helicopters, boats and diving teams were deployed after the train became stranded close to the town of vangani. passengers were told to remain on board, but were left without food or waterfor 15 hours. here, rail passengers between london st pancras and nottingham and sheffield have been urged not to travel as disruption caused by hot weather enters a third day. the extreme heat earlier in the week damaged overhead line equipment, causing long delays. train companies have told customers to expect a reduced service until monday. the us supreme court has ruled that the us president can use military funds to build sections of his promised border wall with mexico. the supreme court justices narrowly voted to allow $2.5 billion to be diverted from the military budget to strengthen existing barriers in border states. meanwhile, the us says it's reached an agreement with guatemala to help stem the flow of migrants reaching its southern border. chris buckler in washington reports. the long border between

the united states and mexico has been at the centre of a long battle between president trump and his political opponents. in congress, democrats have consistently blocked his attempts to secure funding to build more and bigger barriers between the countries. causing the president to declare a national emergency. he has repeatedly argued that the surge of migrants making their way to the us has created a crisis at the border. and he said that left him in a position where he should be able to redirect billions of dollars from defence department funds to pay for the wall. and now supreme court has agreed, overturning a decision from a lower court. on twitter, president trump said it was a big victory for the wall and a big win for border security and the rule of law. it's not the only success he is claiming.

guatemala has now agreed to a deal where migrants who travel through the country to the united states will have to claim asylum there before they reach the us border. that will apply to huge numbers of people fleeing violence and poverty in el salvador and honduras. the president oversaw the signing of the new deal in the white house. in return, mr trump has dismissed threats of sanctions and tariffs and agreed to more visas for foreign workers from guatemala. —— farm workers. it's going to be terrific for them and terrific for the united states. this landmark agreement will put the coyotes and the smugglers out of business. these are bad people, these are very, very bad, sick, deranged people. but it's not clear if the new measures will substantially reduce the numbers trying to get from central america into the us. translation: you don't know how i feel. i want to cross over

to give my son a better life. the money i've been spending to get here is not a small amount. build that wall! donald trump is a president preparing to seek re—election. he promised his supporters tougher immigration policies and a border wall. he believes he is making progress. but there's still a chance of more barriers being put up by the courts and politicians in the us congress. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. sports direct says it regrets rescuing house of fraser and has warned that there will be more store closures. sports direct boss mike ashley said the problems at the department store were "nothing short of terminal." andy moore reports. for house of fraser staff worried about their future, there's little reason for optimism in this set of results. the chain of stores employed around 17,000 people when mike ashley rescued it last year, and saved 3! of its 59 stores from closure.

a handful of shutdowns since, but now there's the prospect of more closures to come. the smaller stores are especially at risk. mike ashley said about the house of fraser buyout: mr ashley said some stores were still losing money, even though their rent had been cut to nothing. sports direct results were due to be published 11 days ago, but they were delayed time and time again. the reason for that now appears to be this huge £605 million tax bill demanded by the belgian authorities. the company believes it's unlikely it will actually have to pay that full amount. and there's also been a loss of £55 million at house of fraser since that company was taken over. mike ashley said, with the gift of hindsight, he might have made a different decision about stepping to

about stepping in to rescue the chain. andy moore, bbc news. the summer heatwave has broken records across the world, and not even the arctic has escaped the dramatic rise in temperatures. there have been hundreds of wildfires within forests in the arctic circle, including siberia, alaska and greenland. plumes of smoke from the fires can be seen from space. now the weather forecast. hello, the heatwave across the uk has now gone, and we are backed into fresher air for this weekend and on into next week. wet weather around for some of us, and particularly in the next 2a hours. we have a weather front that is parked up for the evening, from the north—west of scotland to the south—east of england. through the course of the night it will slump into northern ireland, leaving drier weather to move into scotland but it could turn misty behind the weather front first thing on sunday across

parts of central scotland. a muggy night again, temperatures in the mid teens and fresher than it has been lately. breezy across the uk, northern ireland writer for sunday, sunshine and south—west, brighter for scotland but shares developing later in the day. hopefully sunshine for the north—east of england and east anglia by the afternoon. wales and the south—west faring well in the second half of the weekend. top temperatures of 23 or 2a degrees.