live from washington. this is bbc news. us secretary of state antony blinken is set to hold talks with china's top diplomat on the second day of his trip to beijing, aimed at soothing tensions between the two sides. a bbc investigation casts doubt on the greek authorities�* account of the boat disaster in which hundreds of migrants are feared to have died. plus, commemorating the day the last enslaved people in the us finally learned they were free. we take a closer look atjuneteenth, america's newest federal holiday. hello, i'm carl nasman. we begin in beijing, where us secretary of state anthony blinken is starting the last day of a whirlwind visit to china. he will shortly meet china's top diplomat, but it still isn't known whether he will meet china's president, xijinping.

mr blinken touched down in beijing on sunday morning, and embarked on more than five and a half hours of talks, plus a two—hour dinner, with his chinese counterpart, foreign minister qin gang. american officials described the talks as candid and constructive, but the only concrete development thus far is a commitment from the two countries to loosen visa restrictions on each other�*s citizens, and to hold more talks in washington eventually. for its part, china's state media reported that... "qin gang pointed out that the taiwan issue is the core of china's core interests, the most important issue in sino—us relations, and the most prominent risk." today, mr blinken will meet wang yi, the director of the chinese communist party's office of the central foreign affairs commission, effectively the country's most seniorforeign affairs official. but questions remain as to whether an expected meeting between mr blinken and china's president,

xijinping, will materialise. joining me now is susan thornton — she was the us�*s acting assistant secretary for east asian and pacific affairs from 2017 to 2018. she's now a senior fellow at the yale law school, paul tsai china center. thank you so much for being here. i want to go back to the first day. it sounds like little concrete progress, but is just seeing these two diplomats sitting at the same table and talking for that many hours, should it be considered some kind of progress?- hours, should it be considered some kind of progress? yeah, i definitely think _ some kind of progress? yeah, i definitely think it's _ some kind of progress? yeah, i definitely think it's progress. i definitely think it's progress. we haven't had a us secretary of state in china for almost five years, which is unprecedented since the normalisation of relations. i would say a meeting of 7.5 hours including dinner... they weren't really expected to come

out with a long list of deliverables, it's more of an icebreaker after a long hiatus. and after a rough couple of years, i think both sides said the relationship is needing work to stabilise things. the first day i thought has gone better than expected, actually. in terms of day two, beginning about now, mr blinken meeting with china's top foreign affairs official, what should we be watching for in those talks? ~ ., _, , , talks? well, of course, these two men _ talks? well, of course, these two men did _ talks? well, of course, these two men did meet— talks? well, of course, these two men did meet on - talks? well, of course, these two men did meet on the - two men did meet on the sidelines of the munich security conference after mr blinken postponed his originally scheduled visit in february. that was a very testy meeting, because basically the us was talking a lot about whether china would ship legal aid to russia in its war against ukraine. the chinese

felt ambushed by that. so it left a very sour taste. the meeting tomorrow will probably be quite cordial, very businesslike. i think that's where we will have conversations about some of the bigger issues on their minds. it sounds like they talked a lot about taiwan on the first day. i'm sure wang yi will talk more about taiwan, it's certainly the most important issue from the chinese perspective. but i think mr blinken and wang yi will also talk more about ukraine and some of the other problems on the global stage, problems between the us and china. you mentioned _ between the us and china. you mentioned taiwan, _ between the us and china. you mentioned taiwan, and china saying in their statement after day one saying it was the most prominent risk for relations between the two countries. in your opinion, how should mr blinken go about bringing up and discussing the issue of taiwan? ., ., and discussing the issue of taiwan? . ., and discussing the issue of taiwan? . . ., , taiwan? taiwan has always been the kind of—

taiwan? taiwan has always been the kind of key _ taiwan? taiwan has always been the kind of key issue _ taiwan? taiwan has always been the kind of key issue in - taiwan? taiwan has always been the kind of key issue in the - taiwan? taiwan has always been the kind of key issue in the us l the kind of key issue in the us china relationship going all the way back to normalisation. the chinese always say it's the most sensitive issue. i think they would even say that if they would even say that if they have some kind of assurances or feel somehow that the taiwan issue is being treated seriously by the united states, then all other issues can be dealt with in a businesslike manner. there no problems, really, between the us and china. only taiwan, in their view, us and china. only taiwan, in theirview, is us and china. only taiwan, in their view, is a problem. that's not exactly how the us sees it, we have a whole list of things we want to raise with the chinese. but i think what they will be looking for some mr blinken is more on this idea of whether or not the us is shifting from its traditional view of one china policy, which incorporates a lot of detailed

things, but to some extent has been a balance between discouraging the use of force by mainland china, and discouraging moves towards independence on the part of taiwan, to see whether the us is still determined to strike that balance. 50 is still determined to strike that balance.— that balance. so far, mr blinken _ that balance. so far, mr blinken has _ that balance. so far, mr blinken has met - that balance. so far, mr blinken has met with i that balance. so far, mr blinken has met with al that balance. so far, mr- blinken has met with a couple of top diplomats. we don't yet know if he will have a meeting with china's lido xijinping. what kind of message do you think it would send if that meeting does not take place on this trip? meeting does not take place on this tri - ? ., meeting does not take place on this tri? . �*, this trip? yeah, it's interesting - this trip? yeah, it's interesting that - this trip? yeah, it's| interesting that that this trip? yeah, it's - interesting that that has become a kind of focal point for a lot of people in looking at the visit. of course, the protocol for these visits is pretty unequalled. i mean, the secretary of state, a foreign minister, wouldn't normally meet with the president. just in the regular order or protocol. but it is true that chinese presidents have, generally, not every time, but generally, not every time, but generally received us secretaries of state when they

visit china. and we try to have the us president receive their top foreign policy officials as well. it should be, according to diplomatic protocol, a receptacle kind of move. i think there is a question as to whether, given the past few years of rocky relations, given the transition we see, the relative power between the two countries, that this may be the point at which this protocol tradition is changed. i think everyone will be looking to see if that's the case here. i hope that mr blinken would meet with xijinping, because i think that would be important to do at this point if we are trying to restart normal diplomatic cadence between the two countries, which i think is very important. indie countries, which i think is very important.— countries, which i think is very important. we will be watching _ very important. we will be watching to _ very important. we will be watching to see _ very important. we will be watching to see if - very important. we will be watching to see if that - very important. we will be - watching to see if that meeting does take place. susan thornton, thank you so much.

thank you. now to greece, where the greek authorities are facing mounting questions about whether more could have been done to prevent a trawler, carrying hundreds of migrants, from capsizing. 78 people are confirmed to have died, but it's thought several hundred people had been on board the vessel. critics say the coastguard should have intervened earlier to escort the trawler to safety. the greek coastguard had claimed that the boat was keeping a steady course towards italy and not in need of rescue. but the bbc�*s own research suggests that the overcrowded vessel could have been in difficulty hours before it sank. the greek authorities have yet to respond to those findings. our europe correspondent nick beake is in kalamata in greece, investigating the ship's final movements. last tuesday morning, from the air, authorities spot the migrant boat. this is a surveillance photo. a simulation we've obtained from a ship—tracking service shows civilian boats in the area in the run—up to the sinking. coastguard and military

vessels do not appear. the yellow pin pin shows where it eventually goes down. at around 1500 gmt, a ship called the lucky sailor — which gave us its logbook — turns north and is asked by the coastguard to supply food and water to the migrant boat. soon after, says the coastguard, its helicopter finds the migrant boat to be on a steady course. but two—and—a—half hours later, at around 6pm, another vessel, the faithful warrior, comes to the same area and also supplies food to the boat. bbc verify has confirmed this is footage of it happening. from 7:40 until 10:40, greek officials — from a discreet distance — see the boat keeping a steady course and speed, according to their initial statement. but they later published this close—up image, in the same time period, which shows no waves around the migrant boat, suggesting it's hardly moving. and let's look again at the activity of the last seven hours.

it's all around one specific spot, suggesting the migrant boat has hardly moved. remember, all this time, greece says the vessel is not in trouble and is on its way to italy, and so no rescue is needed. it is at 11pm that the boat sinks with hundreds on board. and there's a frenzy of ships coming to help, including the celebrity beyond, from where this footage was taken and later sent to the bbc. a luxury yacht, the mayan queen, the mayan queen, is then instructed to assist and takes the 100 survivors to shore. they reach safely the port of kalamata, but leave behind serious questions about the whole greek response. meanwhile, nine men suspected of people smuggling are set to appear in court on monday in southern greece. pakistani officials say they've arrested several people, including an alleged smugglerfrom pakistani—administered kashmir. while bodies are still being recoverd, hundreds remain missing, including people

from syria, egypt and pakistan, which has declared a national day of mourning for the victims. our south asia regional editor anbarasan ethirajan has more. many families are waiting for answers, because a significant number of pakistani youths are thought to be aboard that disaster—prone boat where many people are still missing. one father was telling the local media how the human traffickers were luring his son with the promise of a good job in europe, and they were paying more than $7,000 — and then finally, they ended up on this boat. and he's not hearing any information about his son. this is the case with many of the families, and one police officer told the local media 21 people from one particular village were on board the ship, and they were missing — and that's why the pakistani government is now trying to find out more information on what really happened. they have already declared a day of mourning,

and the pakistani flag will fly at half—mast, and the government has also formed a committee to look into this tragedy and see how they can prevent people from going in this illegal manner. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. could this be the start of the battery revolution? this prototype was unveiled to an audience of engineers and developers. inspired by lotus elise, the electric car is a collaboration between designers and battery developers, with engineers claiming they have developed technology to create ultrafast batteries capable of charging electric cars in six minutes. if charging electric cars in six minutes-— minutes. if you had convenience, - minutes. if you had convenience, you l minutes. if you had - convenience, you don't think about the time it takes to charge, the convenience of the ultrafast charge matches the

convenience of fuel.- convenience of fuel. work is under way — convenience of fuel. work is under way on _ convenience of fuel. work is under way on a _ convenience of fuel. work is under way on a one - convenience of fuel. work is under way on a one tonne i convenience of fuel. work is i under way on a one tonne toto —type road verge and that could charge in six minutes, offering a range of 155 miles. their technology could go into production by 2024, potentially removing range anxiety for motorists. —— toto type road version. —— prototypes. you're live with bbc news. now to the uk — levelling up secretary michael gove has apologised after a video emerged showing conservative party workers drinking and dancing at a christmas celebration when covid restrictions were in place. the footage was filmed in december 2020 at party headquarters. mr gove said the gathering was "indefensible" and he apologised unreservedly, as our political correspondent iain watson reports. december 14th, 2020. the covid rules at the time said that people from

different households shouldn't socialise indoors. but in the basement of conservative party hq, this campaign team didn't appear to receive the memo, or perhaps didn't see the social—distancing posters on the walls. they were campaigners for the conservative candidate for london mayor at the time, shaun bailey. he's soon to join the house of lords, courtesy of boris johnson's resignation honours list. he doesn't appear in the video, but one of his key campaigners does. ben mallet got an obe in the borisjohnson honours list, and senior conservatives are braced for a backlash. michael gove said sorry, on behalf of his fellow conservatives. on a personal level, i would like to apologise to people for this behaviour. it's unacceptable and indefensible.

so, would the honours be withdrawn? no, i don't think that. the decision to confer honours on people was one that was made by borisjohnson as an outgoing prime minister. charlotte hodge, from bradford, lost her husband jim to covid in november 2021, and her children lost their father. it's upsetting and it makes me angry. you know, it's ok for them to say sorry, it's just words. it's a word, you know? it's not going to bring anyone back. the december 2020 event had been reported before, but without video footage. the police previously decided to take no action, but say they're now aware of the new footage and are considering it. opposition parties want action. there also appears to be a mocking of the rules. that is going on in the video, where people up and down. the country were making. sacrifices to follow the rules that were imposed and you, j yet again, get this one rule,

it seems, for those - who are in government and another for everyone else. rishi sunak wants to move on from partygate, but events like this still cast a long political shadow. to colombia now, and a closer look at an extraordinary story of surival, after four children were found in the jungle 40 days after a plane crash back in may. the bbc�*s visualjournalism team has been mapping the massive search effort that found them. mimi swaby breaks it down. the plane the children were flying in crashed over colombia's southeastern amazon on the 1st of may. now, the body of the mother, the pilot and an indigenous leader on board were all recovered at the site. however, the children, now 13, nine, five and one, were then missing for 40 days before they were found by a search party consisting of 160 soldiers and 70 indigenous people. now, all the children were found malnourished, exhausted and dehydrated, but they were found alive.

the bbc�*s visualjournalism team has been mapping out a possible route the children took. they found multiple items during the 40 days, including a nappy and parts of a bottle thought to belong to the youngest sibling. so these were found in the middle area here, and later on, there were more fruit parts found such as passion fruit pits, peel, and then footprints later on in the 40 days. but heavy rain really made this operation hard, as it washed away a lot of the footprints. day after day, soldiers with sniffer dogs and local indigenous groups scoured the jungle area. now, the search was split into one—kilometre squares, and it's thought that teams walked more than 2,600 kilometres in total. so, again, a huge area. two patrols, actually in opposite directions, zigzagged across the area, making sure that nothing was left unturned and there was no possibility they would miss the children.

now, the search commander said that this wasn't just a search for a needle in a haystack, but more for a tiny flea in a vast carpet because they kept moving. so it really is a miracle these children were found in such a difficult terrain to navigate. to the us, where communities across the country are marking juneteenth. it's the newest federal holiday, commemorating june 19th, 1865. that's the day when union troops finally reached galvetson, texas, and announced to over 250,000 enslaved black people who were in confederate—controlled areas that they were free — the last enslaved people to be told about the emancipation proclamation. juneteenth has mostly been commemorated by african americans as the symbolic end of slavery, but in 2021 president biden signed legislation making it a federal holiday. a little earlier, i spoke with democratic congresswoman shelia jackson lee. congresswoman, thank you so much for speaking with us.

what impact do you think juneteenth has had on the country since you helped it become a federal holiday in 2021? well, the passion i had for introducing a resolution for almost a decade honouring juneteenth is the same passion that i continued when i was the first member in the united states congress to introduce the federal holiday legislation. i thought it was the time. and i think, as we have come to this point, this is the second year of commemoration of the federal holiday, it is an important point to make that, for the first time in the history of the united states, we are speaking about what was called a dark moment in the nation's history. we left it there, we didn't

want to talk about it. and racism continued. now, juneteenth, which i believe is america's holiday for all people... because slavery was an act of the united states of america. and some states, of course, pulled away, because brother pulled away, caused brother to go against brother, bloodshed, to maintain slavery. and abraham lincoln among other things wanted to maintain the union and it was the bloodiest war this nation has seen, and more death and certainly more separation of families. because it was so intrinsic in our history, it just was left there, the civil war. now with the juneteenth, it is the only federal holiday in which slavery is even mentioned, and it opens up a whole world of education, healing, reconciliation and repair. it is long overdue, and so the holiday, for me, means we dig deep into an emotional moment in in time, and we tell it

like it is. it was brutal and painful, but now we want people to know and we want america to heal. you mentioned some of the history behind juneteenth. i'm curious. there were these widespread protests after the killing of george floyd, and other high—profile deaths of black people at the hands of white police officers. how has the more recent history impacted and perhaps even changed the meaning of this day? race has never gone away in this country. one thing i think is important for people who do not look like me, are not african—american, is to realise we do better in understanding each other out of the need to understand, not out of anger and hostility. not out of, "i'm out to get you." juneteenth is not a holiday to punish someone. it is a holiday of jubilation and freedom. but for me, it is also a moment

of sombreness, sadness, pain. because i realise those i have descended from, my ancestors, one had an ugly vicious beginning as slaves coming from africa, but more importantly, lived hundreds of years in bondage. no—one should be held in bondage. and as they were held in bondage, it was brutal, and of course families were separated. so juneteenth has that story. no—one should be afraid of telling the story, because in 1865, the general came to the shores of galveston and proclaimed freedom. the words are exactly — "to the people of texas, the slaves are free, now and forever, and become employer and labourer. " of course, many slaves did not wait to find out what that meant.

the fact that race is still an element of our lives, you shouldn't get angry, you should recognise it and try to cure it. because, yes, we have had a series of tragic and very, very deeply hurting losses of life, in most instances black men, black women as well, by the hands of those in power. and certainly the heinous killing of george floyd drew millions, but it drew millions of americans. people of all backgrounds. i know the goodness of the heart of americans, of the people of texas, the people of houston where i live, where even today we have been celebrating all week, yesterday, today. i will be celebrating again tomorrow, juneteenth, because there are good people who want acts of racism cleared and cleansed and they want to repair.

i think those terrible killings have brought people together to realise that we must find better ways of ensuring that race does not raise its head in any aspect of governance, including the governance of law and order. which african—americans adhere to every single day. because they are police officers. but it's whether the devastating act when someone loses their life is more because they were an african—american and, in many instances, a black man. recently, florida has moved to limit the teaching of america's racial history. the governor of your home state texas just signed a law barring diversity, equity and inclusion when it comes to public universities. what is your reaction to what is taking place in some states in the us?

let me again emphasise that we are good people, we are good people, americans are good people, texans are good people. houstonites are good people. and i know in florida, floridians are good people. across america, it is shameful that some in public office have chosen to make their legacy the legacy of division and hatefulness. because to deny diversity, inclusion and equity hurts everyone. you don't have to be an african—american to welcome diversity. you can be a person of every single ethnicity and race, religious beliefs. that's what diversity is. the lead sponsor of the juneteenth national independence day act, thank you so much for taking time to speak with us. it is better when we are together, united, that's the best way. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello there. the rain came pouring down on sunday. there was some flooding in places and, for a while, a lot of thunder and lightning as well, but the storms have eased. the rain, though, continues to be heavy and it continues to push its way northwards away from northern england, coming to rest in scotland by monday morning. and it's muggy air that follows behind that rain, so temperatures around 14 or 15 degrees. but we start with that wet weather in the morning in scotland, heavy rain to begin with. it'll move away to the north—west, clearing away to be replaced across the uk by sunny spells and a scattering of showers developing, the odd heavy thundery one in the afternoon for northern ireland and scotland. for england and wales, there'll be fewer showers, particularly in the south, and you may get away with a dry day. it will be warm in the sunshine, the winds a little bit brisker, perhaps, but temperatures in the mid 20s. much better weather for the cricket at edgbaston. but low pressure continues to bring the threat of some rain as we move into tuesday.

we've got that muggy air coming in on that southerly breeze, but that's where the wet weather is moving in from as well. so we've got this heavy, potentially thundery rain moving northwards across england and wales on tuesday morning, up into scotland. some sunshine around outside of that rain, but that could trigger some more thundery showers here and there. and temperatures may not be quite so high on tuesday, 20 to 22 celsius, probably nearer the mark. heading into wednesday, and again, some more warm sunshine, but more heavy, slow—moving, thundery showers breaking out, in particular in scotland, northern ireland, perhaps the north—west of england and north wales. it's drier and it's brighter and it's sunnier towards the south—east and that's where it's warmer as well — 25 or even 26 degrees midweek. may see a little area of high pressure coming in from the south—west on thursday before this rain arrives in from the atlantic on friday. there are some heavy, thundery downpours very close by in the near continent, but thursday should be a drier day. ridge of high pressure,

the air�*s descending more, limiting the amount of showers, limiting the heavy showers. a lot of places will be dry and quite sunny. we will see the highest temperatures again towards the south—east. out towards the west, it is just a little bit cooler. so we've got the chance of some showers for the next few days that could be heavy and thundery. particularly in the south—east later, it should turn drier, but also quite a bit warmer as well.

we'll have all the day's headlines at the top of the hour. but first on bbc news, it's unspun world. hello, and welcome to unspun world — the programme where the bbc�*s global team of experts tells us