our correspondent, hywel griffith, is outside melbourne magistrates court, and joins me now.l us about this case, extremely high profile and controversial? absolutely. cardinal pell arrived with dozens of cameras trained on him as he went into the court, he needed a police escort to make it through the doors. he isn'tjust the most senior catholic in australia but one of the most senior in the whole roman catholic church. returned from rome to australia a year ago saying he would come to clear his name —— he returned. it's taken this long for the courts to decide whether or not he should stand trial. the magistrate listen to four weeks of evidence, some of it very harrowing, very detailed and

hywel griffith, bbc news. pressure on consumers. 0ur correspondent vishala sri pathma is here., talk us through the figures. rise by 25% over the past two and a half years. half years. is a rise ofjust over 120 7p, and diesel 120 9p. diesel 120 9p. at $80 per barrel, more than 16% increase of rent crude oil. increase of rent crude oil. leave the us nuclear deal with iran and reimpose sanctions on iran. and reimpose sanctions on iran. impact that would have on energy exports. exports. imposed sanctions on venezuela after the recent re—election. the recent re—election. wholesale price increase considerably. considerably. economists and oil companies have differing views on this. differing views on this. political tensions, it is likely those tensions will be resolved. those tensions will be resolved. the pump could get a lot higher before they go down again. before they go down again. ok, thank you very much indeed. from hawaii's mount kilauea. and toxic gas into the atmosphere. 0ur correspondent chris buckler is on the island. destroyed all in its path. molten rock stands more t

hywel griffith, bbc news.ed out a knife to make sure donald trump left a rolling stones concert. but that didn't seem to put the us president off the band, because he used their track you can't always get what you want at the end of his acceptance speech when he won the election. colin paterson reports. # you can't always get what you want. ..# when donald trump was elected us president, his acceptance speech ended with a blast of you can't always get what you want by the rolling stones. the band had not given their permission. mick jagger says he thought it was a very strange choice. when he finished the speech, he played out on this sort of doomy ballad about drugs in chelsea. it's kind of weird, if you think about it! but he couldn't be persuaded to use something else. it was an odd thing, really odd. keith richards confirmed that he had his own run—in with donald trump back in 1989 when they were playing a show at one of his casinos. when we got to atlantic city, "donald trump presents the rolling stones!

hywel griffith, bbc news, melbourne. 0ur religion editor, martin bashir, is here. is so senior? it is hard to exaggerate how serious the charges are againsta exaggerate how serious the charges are against a man as serious as this within the catholic church. cardinal george pell was personally appointed by pope francis in 2014 to oversee the complex vatican finances. he can legitimately be described as one of the three most senior officials in the three most senior officials in the gully there, his working offices are meters away from the daily environment of pope francis —— most senior officials there. he has denied the charges. but it has been decided, the court has decided, he should stand trial and the church now has to contemplate the possibility that someone as senior as this may have been responsible for crimes against children. thank you. our top story this lunchtime. the government accuses unelected peers of trying to block the will of the british people, after a series of lords defeats on brexit. 2,500 patients in northern ireland are to have their cases r

hywel griffith reports. hywel griffith re powerful, .and detractors we re court. his supporters and detractors were here too. anxious to hear the magistrates decision. during his time in australia, the cardinal was considered the voice of the church, born and bred in the state of victoria he became the archbishop of melbourne. it's during his time here in the 1990s that some of the sexual abuse is alleged to have taken place. other offences are said to have happened in his home city of ballarat, wherein the 1970s, he worked as a priest. for years, ribbons have been placed across the city as a show of support for those who say they were victims of abuse by catholic clergy. in court, the magistrate dismissed some of the most serious allegations against cardinal pell but she said there was enough evidence to put half of the charges before a jury. cardinal pell listened intently as the magistrate read out her ruling for more than an hour. he spoke only once has he was asked to enter a plea. he answered in a loud voice, not guilty. the vatica

hywel griffiths is outside court in melbourne this morning. in australia this morning. absolutely. here in australia and across the catholic world. catholic world. that some of those charges, at least, will go to a trial. least, will go to a trial. charges, she did think george pell had a case to answer. had a case to answer. will stand trial in melbourne for those offences. those offences. tomorrow in order for a date for the trial to be set. trial to be set. cameras will be trained on his every move. the last six years. at the home office? 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth is in westminster. straightaway he is prepared to take a different direction. a different direction. environment towards illegal immigrants. immigrants. language of the prime minister herself. herself. scandal and promised to sort it out at doing that will be pretty tough. at doing that will be pretty tough. hard office to run and sajid javid has a pretty full in trade. has a pretty full in trade. when they met in downing street for their regular get—together. their

hywel griffith, bbc news, melbourne. people around the uk have been marking may day. festival. the revellers enjoyed morris dancing, folk music and choir singing. morris dancers were also up at sunrise in bristol celebrating the day. time for a look at the weather. here's stav. we are all smiling, you are very welcome in this studio with all your good news. and it looks like it will warm up towards the end of the week the bank holiday which is good news, makes a change. gorgeous day for much of england and wales, particularly across the south—east which had a grotty last few days, cold and wet and windy. rain has continued to push into western areas, quite a wet afternoon across northern ireland, it will continue to move east this evening and overnight, heavy bursts, quite windy, particularly around the irish sea coast, it will reach the far south east by the end of the night and then it dries about across parts of scotland and northern ireland. fairly cool but elsewhere under the cloud it will be much more mild than it was last night. bit of a damp and wet start, clo

our correspondent, hywel griffith, is outside melbourne magistrates court, and joins me now.bout this case, extremely high profile and controversial? absolutely. cardinal pell arrived with dozens of cameras trained on him as he went into the court, he needed a police escort to make it through the doors. he isn'tjust the most senior catholic in australia but one of the most senior in the whole roman catholic church. returned from rome to australia a year ago saying he would come to clear his name —— he returned. it's taken this long for the courts to decide whether or not he should stand trial. the magistrate listen to four weeks of evidence, some of it very harrowing, very detailed and stretching back to the 1970s, when he started as a priest in the town of balla rat he started as a priest in the town of ballarat and later in the 1990s was an archbishop here. over the course of 70 minutes she gave her rulings overall of those charges, around half were dismissed, she said there wasn't enough evidence for him to go before a jury. some of the most serious sexual assault charges

the bbc‘s hywell griffith has more.case has drawn a huge amount of media attention. 0nce again, cardinal pell had a police escort to take into the court. the hearing and sight pretty brief, mostly setting out the timetable for what is to come. —— was. they said he should face two separate trials. they talked about his time as a priest in ballarat. it was agreed allegations should form a separate trial the allegations related to his time in melbourne in the 1990s when he was the archbishop. both trials will take five weeks each. in total, ten weeks. we do not yet have a timetable for when they will actually begin. inside court, george pell remained silent and was asked to stand at the end simply to be told to return to court in two weeks where we will learn more about the timetable. clearly, this is a case which will continue to draw huge attention. we were reminded yesterday he is still officially on leave as treasurer for the vatican. what happens in this case will have repercussions throughout the roman catholic churc

joining me now is our correspondent in seoul, hywel griffith. welcome to you. some details are emerging about this meeting, not least, what they had for dinner. what else do we know? we know far more about the food than the actual outcome of this initial discussion. mike pompeo tweeting that they enjoy some steak, corn, and cheese, not saying what they have agreed so far. the key point they have to agree on is the meaning of denuclearisation. the us and mike pompeo —— pompeo have been very clear that what do us expects to come out of any summit is a total, verifiable, denuclearisation. what north korea might want would be something far less tha n might want would be something far less than that, maybe a step towards ora plan less than that, maybe a step towards or a plan for long—term denuclearisation. so the meeting in new york is about trying to get those two such close together so they have enough common ground to go to singapore. it is not the only active conversation going on. meanwhile, on the korean peninsula, in the denuclearisation, there are talks bet

the bbc‘s hywell griffith has more.mount of media attention, once again when cardinal pell arrived at the court there was a police escort to guide him through the cameras into the court. the hearing inside was pretty brief, mostly setting out the timetable for what used to come. 0ne the timetable for what used to come. one key agreement between the prosecution and defence councils is that he should actually faced two separate trials. amongst the allegations, some of them relate to his time as a priest in the 1970s, involving his time in the community and specifically the location of the swimming pool in the town. it was agreed that those allegations should form a separate trial relating to his time in melbourne in the 1990s when he was the archbishop. both trials we understand will take about five weeks each, we don't yet have a timetable for when they will actually begin. inside court, cardinal pell remained silent and was asked to stand at the end simply to be told by the judge to return again in two when we may learn

here's our correspondent hywel griffith in seoul. on the discussions in new york between mike pompeo and north korea's kim yong chol, in the korean peninsula we have learned that the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov has been to visit north korea and has shaken hands with kim jong—un. he has come with a message which is about peace on the korean peninsula but also talking about a much more cautious approach to denuclearisation and vitally saying that sanctions against north korea should be eased before that takes place. translation: we see how compact the problem is and how denuclearisation is tied to the establishment of peace and stability “ we see establishment of peace and stability —— we see how complex. this is equal and indivisible in northeast asia. joining me now is agathe l'homme, asia analyst for the economist. a word about why we saw sergei lavrov going to north korea. the russians have always been involved with north korea, and they want to stay in the game at everybody else can they don't have a lot to offer right

hywel griffith, bbc news.sis with angry parents demanding action. the government has been dragged through the courts over failures to tackle nitrogen dioxide emissions, mainly from vehicles. today's consultation says too little about car pollution for the liking of campaigners. what the strategy fails to do is provide incentives and support to people to move away from just using vehicles. we need cleaner vehicles and fewer vehicles on the road. in fact the government's consultation document today deliberately takes a broad approach to many sorts of pollution. by taking steps both to reduce petrol and diesel cars on our roads but also to deal with everything from wood—burning stoves to the pollution generated by ammonia on agricultural land, we're doing everything we can to ensure the next generation lead healthier lives. that's a welcome relief for the motoring lobby. we welcome michael gove looking at other sources of pollution, what we are looking for is drivers, 37 million of them not getting hit hard in th

the bbc‘s hywel griffith was following proceedings at melbourne magistrates‘ court, where cardinal pell guard. until this time last year, he was the vatican treasurer, thought to be the vatican treasurer, thought to be the third most powerful figure within the catholic church. but he left rome and flew back to a strangely saying he wanted to clear his name against all the charges of historical sexual offences —— flew back to australia. the magistrate has listened carefully to the evidence dating back to his time as a priest in the 19705 and a5 evidence dating back to his time as a priest in the 19705 and as the archbishop of melbourne in the city. today she announced around half of the charges were dismissed including some of the more serious sexual a55ault ones, but for the other half of the charges, multiple accounts of historical sexual offences, he will face trial, he will go before the jury. he has already had to submit his passport, he is not allowed to leave australia. the pope has said he will not comment on the case until it is over. new alcohol pricing laws come into force in

our correspondent hywel griffith has more from sydney.ded on to the police in time. we have heard a lot about this in the evidence to the royal commission here in australia over the last few years. philip wilson's case goes back to the 1970s when he was an assistant parish priest. a 15—year—old boy came to him saying he had been sexually assaulted several times by a paedophile priest in the parish. philip wilson did nothing. instead of going to the police, he simply did not act. we also understand that three other victims came forward, but again he did nothing, and when there are cases were urgently investigated by the police are decades later, again, he did nothing. a magistrate said that he decided, instead of handing over any evidence, to protect the name and reputation of the church. now he has issued a short statement saying he will take in today's decision. he does have the opportunity to appeal, but the next court date for him will be sentencing next month, the prosecution saying that they will look for a jail sentence, and that co

understands several are planning to seek refugee status, in fear of persecution. 0ur correspondent, hywel griffithrch of medals and, for a few, the chance of a new life. eight members of cameroon's team disappeared, some without competing. athletes from the uganda, rwanda and sierra leone are also missing. to stay, they must seek asylum. it's a path simplice ribouem understands after competing for cameroon at the 2006 melbourne games, he walked out of the athlete's village into an uncertain future. we don't know where to go, we don't know how to speak in place, —— to speak english, —— to we do know how to write, nothing at all. i just sleep on the street. what did you do for food? for that three days, nothing. i was just drinking water. simplice now lives in melbourne and represents australia but he says he doesn't know where the latest missing athletes would have gone. i understand the feeling, i understand the pain. i don't even know them particularly because they're all—new. those guys made a decision to leave the village. they are making a huge commitment. australia's home affairs minister is

he is the most senior north korean to visit the us in nearly 20 years. 0ur news correspondent, hywel griffithidence, there is something happening? there is something happening? there is something happened, but we know more about what they ate apart from what they discussed and what they have agreed. shortly after the dinner, the secretary of state said they had enjoyed some states, corn and some cheese. he wouldn't give us any insight into the small talk. because although they met around a table, we think there is a pretty big gap between the us and north korea and what they both understand denuclearisation would mean for the korean province. clearly, the us wa nts korean province. clearly, the us wants something more solid, something irreversible and very visible. north korea may want something more gradual so i think they will be meeting up again possibly over some more steak and cheese to work on those wordings. the clock is ticking if a are to stick to the stated date. i know it is all injeopardy, stick to the stated date. i know it is all in jeopardy, but what is the thinking around that

hywel griffith, bbc news, melbourne.for local elections — with more than 4,000 council seats up for grabs. our political correspondent chris mason explains why they matter. what do you mean, council elections don‘t leave you throbbing with excitement? ok, well, here are some pretty pictures. well, fairly pretty, given it‘s cloudy, up a tall building in london. worth it for their own sake, i hope you agree. but we are up here, at the top of the shard, to peer down on election contests as far as the eye can see. every single council seat, nearly 2,000, are there to be snaffled in all 32 london boroughs. but the gaze of the experts i‘ve brought with me extends beyond the horizon. there is no question, this is a predominantly urban election year. last time, it was counties. last year, it was counties. this year, it‘s london, most of the other metropolitan areas, some unitaries, and there are one or two shire districts as well, but it‘s mostly cities and urban voters where, of course, labour has tended to be stronger in the p