gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.e "fair and decent," according to a government commissioned review of employment practices. it looks particularly at the so—called gig economy, a growing sector of people who currently work flexibly but do not receive employee benefits, though the review says they should. it also examines the use of zero—hour contracts and recommends that everyone should enjoy a "baseline" of protection. with more, here's our economics editor kamal ahmed. whatever work we do, we spend half our waking hours doing it. steady or insecure, full—time or self—employed, high pay or low pay, the world of work is changing. appearing alongside theresa may, matthew taylor said it was time for a reset. our national performance on the quantity of work is strong. but quantity alone is not enough for a thriving economy and for a fair society. so we believe now is the time to complement that commitment in creating jobs with the goal of creating better jobs. victor likes his job for uber. flexible, works the hours he w

this is bbc news my name is gavin grey. our top stories: hong kong is marking 20 years of chinese rule. these pictures show resident xi jinping leading celebrations as china's flag rises over the former british territory. the era of patience is over: president trump and his south korean counterpart have called for a tough and united response to the security threat posed by north korea. the battle for mosul: iraq says it will recapture the city from the so—called islamic state in a few days, but the fighting remains fierce. the council leader in london responsible for grenfell tower where 80 people died in a fire has resigned. canada celebrates 150 years since its founding. we look at what sets it apart, and why not everybody is in on the party. hong kong is marking the 20th anniversary of the territory's return to chinese rule. president xi jinping will inaugurate the newly elected chief executive, carrie lam, after a flag—raising ceremony which is about —— is currently underway at victoria harbour. at the same time protest

vonnie: thanks, bill gavin. no plans toions has resign as attorney general despite president trump pressing regret about appointing him as the nation's top law enforcement officer. sessions spoke today at at a news conference to announce an international cyber crime thercement action at department of justice. serving ashe honor attorney general. it's something that goes beyond i would have ever had for myself. we love this job. department. i plan to continue to do so as appropriate.is >> president trump told "new york times" that sessions from the russian investigation was extremely unfair. sessions former alabama senator, was the first to officially trump candidacy. words of encouragement coming from both sides of the political john mccainenator diagnosis of brain cancer. dick burr din count this democrat in john mccain's corner. thein's office said 80-year-old former republican presidential nominee and his family are reviewing treatment options. on twitter today, mccain said, i greatly appreciate the of suppor

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. our top story this evening.—ill baby charlie gard alive continues, as his case returns to the high court. and still to come... a pay gap on teachers will stay but there are warnings that is putting off new recruits. coming up on bbc news, the latest on a big day for andy murray and johanna konta, at 6:30pm. the birmingham pub bombings in 1974 — it was one the worst ira attacks in england during the many years of the troubles. 21 people were killed and almost 200 were injured. now, decades later — a self—confessed ira bomb maker has finally admitted that he was part of the group responsible for the explosions. in an exclusive interview with the bbc, he has apologised to the families of those who were killed. but he has refused to say exactly what role he played in the notorious bombing. today, a relative of one of the victims called him a coward. here's our ireland correspondent chris buckler. the bombs were left in the heart of birmingham on a thursday night. placed inside pubs to cause destruction. explosions t

. >> you picked up gavin. are we not showing that one? >> you picked up gavin? >> we got it. >> no.ike cradling. that's a cradling. >> also, my face. gavin says it all. >> i think you can pick up giada. >> you want me to lift you? >> ye, you can. >> are you kidding? >> come here. come on. >> jenna, use your legs. >> she's been -- it's all about the core. >> only because i haven't had breakfast. >> i can lift you up with a pinkie. >> really? >> yeah. she's nothing. >> that's not good for your back. >> where it's not great for, is right here. >> giada, you're tiny. >> that's amazing. >> i don't know how it became a thing. but can it end? >> can you pick up tina? hey, tina. come out over here. and tina is a bodybuilder. >> tina's like -- >> wait. look at tina. >> i'm heavy. >> you're not. >> here we go. >> one, two. >> yeah. all right. >> okay. >> i don't know -- >> wait. >> oh. yes. boom. that's how we roll. >> how did this become something? when did this turn into something. >> in the meantime, tammy.filler. >> tammy is the one that makes us do stuff like this. >> she picked you up a

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. the other top stories. organisations have pledged more than $2 billion to make contraception more widely available. donors in london including the bill and melinda gates foundation. milestone is not a finish—line. we have a lot of work ahead of us. our advocacy is needed now more than ever. this is a difficult political climate for family planning, and ever. this is a difficult political climate forfamily planning, and i am deeply troubled, as i am sure you are, by donald trump budget cuts. empowering women is more thanjust rhetoric for the president? prove it? a day after iraq declared mosul clear of islamic state, the human observatory for human rights claims the leader of islamic state is dead, al—baghdadi. however, this is not verified. there has been a lot of media interest in the whereabouts and status of al—baghdadi. despite all of the helpful reports to us and resources , all of the helpful reports to us and resources, i am unable to confirm or deny where he is and whether he is alive or dead. let m

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.is a republican strategist who previously worked in the administration of president george w bush. he says changing personnel in the white house is not that unusual. every white house has a certain amount of organised chaos in it. people come and go, people are expendable. the only people who are not are the president and vice president. after four years they're at the will of the people. six months in? absolutely. historically we've seen changes at this level almost in every administration this early on. people are just getting their feet wet and establishing themselves and some jobs just don't fit. anthony scaramucci will have a tough job being a communicator and a communications dog in a white house that's extremely fluid, more fluid and less organised than probably any modern presidency. but also the timing of appointing him just before this week that's coming up, with the president's son—in—law due to give testimony to a committee — potentially his own son giving testimony to a co

gavin hewitt, bbc news, 0ttawa.the british & irish lions have become the first side to beat the all blacks on home soil since 2009. the 24 points to 21 victory levelled the series ahead of next saturday's third test. 0ur sports correspondent katie gornall reports from wellington. many said it could not be done — not against the world champions and certainly not here on home turf. but they have pulled off one of the great wins in history and kept the series alive. when sonny bill williams was sent off in the first half for a shoulder charge on antony watson, he wasn't just the first all black to be sent off in 50 years, but he gave the lions hope. however, a man advantage is no guarantee against the all blacks. ill disciplined cred into their game and bowden barrett was able to kick them to lead. they had an 8—9 lead. hope was beginning to fade but the lions sprang into life. first, a crash over the corner and then a converted try brought them level. with minutes remaining, 0wen farrell held his nerve to kick the lio

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.spondent, david willis, gave me the latest updates in washington, on reports of how trumpjunior‘s links and meetings with the russian lawyer were formed. this story is moving, another development. the new york times, which broke the story of this meeting on sunday, is now reporting that donald trump junior was informed by e—mail that the compromising information he was to receive about hillary clinton from this russian lawyer was all part of a russian government attempt to basically assist the donald trump candidacy. it has been seen by three people and information was passed on to the new york times. that report is unconfirmed at this time. the e—mail is said to have come from a man called rob goldsten. it was he who brokered the meeting between donald trump junior and the russian lawyer, according to the new york times, a former publicist and tabloid journalist. it is clear this e—mail would be of interest to congressional investigators. today, both democrat and republican senators c

gavin hewitt, bbc news, canada.en seeing a ceremony where carrie lam has been sworn in. she is giving a speech at the moment. the chinese president has been attending. it is his first visit to hong kong since becoming president and he is believed to be leaving shortly after the ceremony. there is going to be a day of lavish celebrations because hong kong is marking 20 years since the colony was handed over to china asa the colony was handed over to china as a territory. the deal was that one country, two systems and there has been much controversy over how much china has stuck to that deal and how much autonomy hong kong has. there is a lot to come there. well, saturday does not look bad at all across most of the uk. we're certainly in for some sunshine and some warm weather. there is a little bit of rainfall on the way in the north—west, but it shouldn't be too heavy. now, in the short term, actually a fair bit of cloud out there, and some light rain. damp weather just across east anglia in the south—east to end th

gavin hewitt, bbc news, 0ttawa.taken part in gay pride events across the world. a parade of 52 floats took the celebrations through the spanish capital madrid. the rally was led by all of spain's major political parties. behind them came people decked out in rainbow flags and colourful outfits. the massive outdoor gathering was the highlight of the 10—day world pride 2017 festival, which wraps up on sunday. let's catch up with the sports news. we start with rugby union, and the british and irish lions have become the first side to beat the all blacks on home soil since 2009. the 2a points to 21 victory levelled the series ahead of next saturday's third test. 0ur sports correspondent katie gornall reports from wellington. many said it could not be done. not against the world champions and certainly not here on home turf. but they have pulled off one of the great wins in history and kept the series alive. when sonny bill williams was sent off in the first half for a shoulder charge, he wasn't just the first all black

gavin hewitt bbc news washington. and a brief time ago i spoke with alexi simmons inga white house correspondent for real quick politics. good to have you with us alexis how much of a surprise blows shown spices resignation. well you know i think of those of us who were in the white house. almost every day were not that surprised bought one of the reasons that we weren't surprised has to do with what you are describing in the set up to this matter is that. the president has had a rocky communications and i kind of a. lack of confidence in sean spicer from the very beginning. but in this particular case we also knew that he was close friends with anthony scaramucci had known him for a long period time he's friendly scaramucci is with. donald trumps children. and the he had been seen in the white house and the president been looking for an opportunity to give him a job. for quite some time so we had seen. some of the makings of the search for the replacement and lots and lots of run up to why the president was so frustr

gavin hewitt bbc news canad. now you may not have realized this but today is wait for it. troy day marking the anniversary of the biggest recorded impacts on earth in nineteen oh eight and asteroid exploded over siberia flattening a forest the size of a large city. neither hasn't been anything like it since but many scientists say it's only a matter of time. well earlier i spoke to doctor carrie corrigan a geologist at the national museum of natural history here in washington. carrie thanks for coming in wire asteroid so important what do they tell us when as meteorites they for to us. so actually each of these is a piece of a relief. much bigger puzzle about how the asteroids formed how our solar system formed and then in turn how the earth forme. we have four in front of us can i touch any of them you can touch this one. until we do we know where this came from we don't know exactly which after that came from no it fell in russia. but it's part of the core of an asteroid it's the metal inside of an asteroid that that differentiated through the layers like the earth so mu

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.st hour, he has given his first interview to fox news while the president publicly thanked his former press secretary on twitter. he said this. our north america correspondent is in los angeles for us now. correspondent is in los angeles for us now. what did sean spicer stay in this interview? it is clear he is determined to be loyal until the end. his former boss, the president, president trump, he is still staying in the role, and said he would help bring a smooth transition. he said it was a privilege to serve the president. on fox news he said he believes he is leaving the job in capable hands, the woman who was his secretary. he says he wants to be supportive. he said he wants to give the president a clean slate. he did not want any dissent at all, which is not the story being told by certain media outlets in the united states tha n certain media outlets in the united states than he resigned from hisjob because he was unhappy with the appointment of the new communications chief. o

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.ments and private organisations have pledged more than $2 billion to make contraception more widely available. donors at a conference in london included the bill & melinda gates foundation. let me be really clear. a milestone is not a finish—line. we have a lot of work ahead of us. 0ur advocacy is needed now more than ever in this community. this is a difficult political climate for family planning, and i am deeply troubled, as i am sure you are, by the trump administration's proposed budget cuts. if empowering women is more than just rhetoric for the president, he'll prove it by funding family planning. also making news: a day after iraq declared it had driven islamic state from its stronghold of mosul, the syrian 0bservatory for human rights has claimed the is leader, abu bakral—baghdadi, is dead. the 0bservatory says it has obtained the information from is commanders, but the us—led coalition says it can't verify al—baghdadi's death. there's been a lot of media interest in the where

gavin, start us off. oh, poetry, please for $200. gavin. -what is "jabberwocky"? -yes.

all chief correspondent gavin hewitt reports. tonight we have donald trump junior with donald trump psalm out defending himself. after revelations from emails that last year he met a russian julia who he believed would offer him. incriminating information on hillary clinton and i think in retrospect. i probably done things a little differently. again this is before the russian mania this is before they were building it up in the press. for me this was opposition research in his and. he had referred them. is father. it was such a nothing. there's nothing to tell. now i wouldn't even remember that until we start scouring through the stuff it was it was literally just a wasted twenty minutes which was a shame. president trump was quick to praise his son's television performance treating the donald junior was open transparent and innocent. this is the greatest witch hunt in political history sad he said. so who are the key players involved in a meeting last year. the initial approach to donald trump junia about a potential russian me

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.the former brazilian president, lula da silva, has been sentenced to nine and a half years in prison after being convicted of corruption. he was found guilty of accepting bribes worth over a million dollars linked to the secret renovation of a beach resort. our correspondent in rio dejaneiro, katy watson, has more details. this is a nine and a half year sentence for corruption and money—laundering and it relates to a beachside apartment that he allegedly received and it was in return for bribes of more than $1 million from a construction company in exchange for some contracts, and again it relates to the state—owned oil company, petrobras. this is all part of a bigger operation car wash, the country's biggest ever corruption investigation that started just over three years ago. it's really spread its tentacles far and wide and a lot of politicians and businessmen have been implicated in brazil and it shows how endemic bribery and corruption is in brazilian politics. also this hour: chi

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.n killed by israel's security forces and three israelis have been stabbed to death in a west bank settlement. the latest violence has erupted following the introduction of new security measures at a key jerusalem holy site. palestinian president mahmoud abbas has said he's freezing all official contacts with israel. translation: on the half of the palestinian leadership, i announced the freezing of all contacts with the occupying country at all levels until israel repeals all the measures carried out against our palestinian people in general, and injerusalem and at the al—aqsa mosque in particular. we reject the electronic gates as these are political measures wrapped in security pretext. let's take a look at some of the other stories making making the news. the emir of qatar has called for negotiations in his country's dispute with four arab neighbours. in his first public address since the crisis erupted, the emir said any solution must respect qatar's sovereignty. saudi arabia, the

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.now to our correspondent david willis. the story is still moving, bring us up the story is still moving, bring us up to date. there have been reverberations around the day. there have been calls from democratic and republican senators for donald trump junior to testify before the senate intelligence committee, which is looking into alleged trump campaign ties to russia, one of a number of congressional investigations into that subject and of course there's the enquiry being led by the special counsel, the former fbi director robert muller, as well. donald trump jrfor his part has said he robert muller, as well. donald trump jr for his part has said he would robert muller, as well. donald trump jrfor his part has said he would be willing to testify before the senate intelligence committee. he's said the meeting with the russian lawyer, as he put it on twitter today, went nowhere. he also made the point that it was quite normal for people to receive information about an opponent during a

this from the bbc‘s gavin hewitt.early six months, there has been a shadow over the trump administration, with the allegation that the trump campaign last year somehow colluded with the russians. but today, a series of highly damaging e—mails were published, suggesting that russian officials were actively trying to help the trump campaign. congratulations, dad. we love you! donald trumer was at the heart of his father's election campaign. today, he embarked on a high—risk strategy. fearing more revelations about a meeting at trump tower with a russian lawyer in june of last year, he decided to disclose the e—mails between himself and the publicist who arranged the meeting. the e—mails raise serious and disturbing questions. the four pages of e—mails reveal exchanges between trumer and a british publicist, rob goldstone. in one e—mail, mr goldstone offers to put him in contact with a lawyer linked to high—level russian officials, who are promising official documents and information that would incriminate hillary clinto

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.ington a few hours ago, leaving the storm behind him as he heads for paris to celebrate france's bastille day on friday as president macron‘s guest of honour. our correspondent, david willis, gave me this update on the situation in washington. there is word from the white house that the whole administration, if you like, is in a state of paralysis. president trump is said to be furious and frustrated with the fact the russia probe seems to be dominating the headlines and just won't go away. according to news channels, he has been holed up in the white house virtually since returning from the g20 trying to figure out what to do about all of this that, of course, has stalled the domestic agenda, including moves to revise and replace obamacare. there is a feeling that he really cannot work out how to move the agenda on from this. now, he is currently on his way to france for a meeting with a —— the president of france. tomorrow there will be the first chance for journalists to france. tom

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.nce of children as young as nine being groomed on the live streaming app periscope. launched just two years ago, the app allows its millions of users to broadcast live from their phones and can reveal their location. but our team found children streaming video live from their classrooms and even their bedrooms, and clearly being groomed for sexual abuse. despite this, twitter — which owns the app — claims it has "zero tolerance" for this kind of conduct. angus crawford investigates. not learning, but broadcasting. live from the back of a lesson. viewers send her direct messages. another school, another class. more questions from total strangers. but this isn'tjust an innocent chat. are you in high school? yes. we found pupils live streaming across the country. and they've all been using this, periscope, an app owned by twitter, which allows users to broadcast live from anywhere. and our investigation from children using it in their own bedrooms and being groomed in front of our eyes. t

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.ater, a self—confessed ira bomb maker admits being part of the group that killed 21 people in the birmingham pub bombings — we'll have a special programme at 11:30. a conservative mp is suspended from the party after a recording emerged of her using a racially—offensive term. the judge hearing the case of the terminally ill baby charlie gard, says he'll need dramatic and new evidence to change his mind and allow experimental treatment in america. let's have a quick look at some of tomorrow mornings front pages. the telegraph leads with a warning from teaching bodies of a risk to the education system, following the government's announcement that the 1% pay cap will stay for teachers. the metro's front page has the suspension of the mp anne marie morris from the conservative party, for using a racially offensive word. the ft shows an image of the russian lawyer who is reported to have met with president donald trump's son. drinking coffee could lead to a healthier life, says the daily ex

gavin hewitt, bbc news, canada.f canada. indigenous writer and community organiser erica violet lee from saskatchewan told me more. so canada is propagating this myth that it is only 150 years old. and while that may be true for canada as a colony, our nation, those indigenous nations, have been here for much, much longer. and the 150 years, that marker is a marker meant to erase and further subjugate indigenous peoples on our own lands. so what should canada be doing, then? should they not be celebrating the 150—year mark, or celebrate in a different way? i think that most canadians think about canada day as a time to be patriotic, as a time to go and watch fireworks. but the indigenous people that i know, my family and friends, are doing things like occupying a teepee on parliament hill grounds, currently. a bunch of indigenous students have set up a tepee, and they were actually faced with police brutalityjust for trying to put up a teepee, one of our homes, on our own lands. so what we're doing is trying to say

gavin hewitt, bbc news, canada.d his title when the tour de france begins later today. he is hoping to complete his third straight win, and a fourth victory in five years, but he faces stiff competition from some the world's leading cyclists. the race begins in dusseldorf, in germany, from where richard conway reports. chris froome becomes the first briton to retain the tour de france title... chris froome knows what it takes to win the tour de france. tomorrow, he starts his quest for a fourth victory in this famous race. media interest is always sky—high, but this year, froome's team roll off the start line the subject of an ongoing doping investigation, and with questions looming over their leader's credibility. i've been involved in this sport a long time, and i've tried to do it absolutely the way that i've always thought it should be done. and i'm proud of what we've achieved in this sport, and i'm proud of this team. evidence from sir dave brailsford and other team sky officials to mps earlier this year revea

gavin hewitt bbc news washington. and for more on the state of us russian relations of these revelations about donald trump junia come to light. my colleague candy canes spoke earlier with richard holmes. he's the president of the council on foreign relations an offer a wild in disarray. richard has how serious. is this latest. reporting that donald trump son had a meeting with the russian operative does it look bad for the president. well it looks bad and it opens up. the argument that they were interested in receiving material that they ought not to be have been interested in and receiving. but as i read the piece i didn't see any transfer of information. so it. i'm not sure actually how much substance legally eh it has butter reinforces the sense that people were. motivated to do things they ought not to have been motivated to do. does it account for the fact that this president has been reluctant to be hauled shown in russia and president putin to think. hehe i think that that's that's still a mystery for which we

gavin hewitt.canada's declaration of independence was drafted — not in north america — but here in the uk. the venue — highclere castle, where the british tv series downton abbey is filmed. ben moore explains. the libraries of england's grand houses harbour many secrets. but amongst the 8,000 books at highclere, better known to billions as downton abbey, was a corker. this was the birthplace of a nation. at the bottom of this page are three names, which i didn't really know. john macdonald, ge cartier, and galt. so i did a bit of research, and within one second realised what i was about to find. john a macdonald became the first prime minister of canada, and led this delegation hosted by the fourth earl. over the year, they drafted the british north america act. actually, quite a bit of the constitution was written here in this library. perhaps they discussed it around this dining room table, perhaps they stood by the saloon fire on a cold, wintry day. and i feel so lucky. i discovered it all by ch

gavin hewitt reports. this is donald trump's eldest son. i'm donald trump jr.astjune, after his father's nomination, he met with a russian lawyer who promised damaging material on hillary clinton's campaign. the meeting was here at trump tower in new york. until this weekend, trump jr hadn't mentioned it, but it wasn't a casual encounter, he brought along trump's campaign manager and his son—in—law. then his story has changed. on saturday he said, "we primarily discussed a programme about the adoption of russian children." by the following day he said, "the woman lawyer stated that she had information that individuals connected to russia were funding the democratic national committee and supporting mrs clinton." he was told there would be information that may be helpful to the campaign. there was no such information. but, again i want to ask you a question, if we are going to use the word collusion, where is the evidence of collusion? trump jr pushed back sarcastically on twitter today to say, "obviously i'm the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.sday, the former football star and actor, oj simpson, learned he'd been granted parole and is expected to be released from prison in october after serving nine years of a 33—year—sentence for armed robbery. the victim of the armed robbery told us the victim of the armed robbery told us why he should be freed. when they came in the room, the first people in the room, the first quy first people in the room, the first guy came in and hit me in the arm. the second guy that came in the room was armed. he put a gun in my face. he saidi was armed. he put a gun in my face. he said i will shoot you. i don't wa nt to he said i will shoot you. i don't want to use the exact words he used, but he threatened to kill me.” want to use the exact words he used, but he threatened to kill me. i know it was not oj simpson who put that gun in yourface, but he was it was not oj simpson who put that gun in your face, but he was there, and you spoke in his favour at his pa role and you spoke in his favour at h

gavin hewitt, bbc news, 0ttawa.ceremonies marking 20 years since britain handed over hong kong to china. with the official events now behind us, to wrap up our coverage on a different note, we thought we'd introduce you to the territory's answer to one direction. this boy band wants nothing less than to empower hong kong's young generation. here's their story in their own words. i hope one day all the people of hong kong can live peacefully happily, without any inequality. we are worried about our homeland we are worried about our homeland we are worried about what has happened in hong kong. so we hope to create a political sense. let's catch up with the sports news. we start with rugby union, and the british and irish lions have become the first side to beat the all blacks on home soil since 2009. the 2a points to 21 victory levelled the series ahead of next saturday's third test. 0ur sports correspondent katie gornall reports from wellington. many said it could not be done. not against the world champions and cert

from 0ttawa, our chief correspondent gavin hewitt reports.al canadian mounted police through the capital, 0ttawa, as the country celebrated its 150th anniversary. he was representing the queen, who remains canadian head of state. the canadian prime minister, justin trudeau, introduced prince charles to his children. there was recognition that the celebrations were taking place on the ancestral lands of the algonquin people — indigenous canadians. also among the performers was bono, with his own message. when others build walls, you open doors. it was a message expanded on by prime minister trudeau. we don't care where you are from or what religion you practice or who you love. you are all welcome in canada. cheering and applause. justin trudeau defined canada as a country built on diversity, of welcoming refugees. a country where tackling climate change was an obligation, not an option. prince charles didn't mention canada's british ties but he paid tribute to canadian values. around the world, canada is recognised as a champion of human righ

gavin lee, bbc news, lesbos.rean leader kim jong—un have appeared at the malaysian high court for pre—trial hereings. vietnamese dwahn doan thi huong and indonesian siti aisyah are accused of smearing kim jong—nam's face with the vx nerve agent. their trial is due to begin on october second. sport now and england and spain qualified for the quarter—finals of the women's european football championship after the last round of group matches. england beat portugal to book a place in the last eight. they would have beenjoined by scotland if the scots had managed to score another goal in their 1—0 defeat of spain, but instead spain go through. they'll play austria in sunday‘s quarter—finals, with england up against france, a country they've never beaten in a competitive match. we've played them plenty of times now. we've played them in big matches, a world cup quarter—final before and other fixtures. you know, we are excited to play them. they have a couple of suspensions, which will be a massive blow to them. we've re

gavin hewitt bbc news washington. and a brief time ago i spoke with veteran diplomats and former us ambassador to russia thomas pickering. let began by asking him if he agrees with the white house official he described the meeting with vladimir putin. it's perfectly normal. i would think that it is more normal than the press. in the united states to tumble amid is allowing mr trump to convince us. but perhaps a little unusual in the sense that. he used only the translation services of the russian side but up moving around is a very big new york habit. even if it isn't much and diplomacy. are and opportunities that heads of state have often. to do what we would call pulled asides or stop buys are is something that's not so unusual that it doesn't happen at all. now and i would suspect that in some ways this is a little bit overblown on that side. and perhaps a little bit under blown on the side that. the president didn't seem to have any help there. and one wonders in fact whether the russian interpreter will be though

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. couple of hours, mr spicer has given his first interview to us television while the president took to twitter to publicly thank his now former press secretary. he said "sean spicer is a wonderful person who took tremendous abuse from the fake news media — but his future is bright!" our north america correspondent peter bowes was watching spicer‘s interview and gave me his analysis from los angeles a little earlier. it is very clear that he is determined to at least publicly be loyal to the very end to his former boss, the president, president trump. in fact, boss, the president, president trump. infact, he is boss, the president, president trump. in fact, he is staying on any role for another few weeks, he says to enable a smooth transition. he said it had been an honour and a privileged to serve the president. the tenor of the conversation we heard on fox news is that he believes he is leaving the job in capable hands, essentially to the woman who has been his deputy, sarah huckaby c