jeremy bowen, jon sopel and yolande knell, thank you all.ent situation and the impact of the us embassy's move on the bbc news website. the head of m15 has accused russia of "criminal thuggery" and "bare—faced lying". andrew parker condemned moscow for the salisbury nerve agent attack as well as for backing the use of chemical weapons in syria and annexing crimea. in his speech in berlin, mr parker also revealed that since last year, the security services are thwarting, on average, one terror attack a month in the uk. 0ur security correspondent, gordon corera, reports. more than two months after the poisonings in salisbury, signs today that the investigation is still underway. but across europe, in berlin, the head of m15 today told a meeting of security officials that the evidence pointing the finger at russia was stronger than ever. and andrew parker was outspoken about the threat european democracies face from moscow. the russian state's now well—practised doctrine of blending media manipulation, social media disinformation and distortion

our north america editor jon sopel has more. jon: it is an annual event and eachear it upsets the north. a military training maneuver involving 100 warplanes from the u.s. and south korea last night, pyongyang engaged in their own live fire exercise with the threat to shoot down xt month's summit. if this was provocation, donald trs doing his best not to react. his comments in the oval office were conspicuously muted. pres. trump: we haven't seenwe anythingaven't heard anything. we will see what happens. jon: though in the hubbub, he was asked if he is still insisting on north korting rid of its nuclear program. yes, he said. bue.this is the thorniest is denuclearization means one thing to the u. and something different to the north. the u.s. natiol security adviser said disarmament must be complete, verifiableand irreversible. he says it shoulde at colonel qaddafi did in libya. mr. bolton: we are looking at the libya model of 2003, 2004. we're looking awhat north korea itself committed to previously. n: look what happened to col

thitbbc's north america jon sopel sent us this report. jon: as the north koreans set charges to their only known test site, it seems all of the summit -- all hopes of the summit went up in smoke about the same these buildings blasted to smithereens. the explosions taking place just as donald trump was pulling the plug on his planned meeting with kim jong-un, citing north korea's tremendous anger and open hostility. that in turn provoked very open hostility towards the u.s. president in south korea. ct that was a whole 24 hours ago, and a lot cannge in that time. overnight, the north koreans issued a conciliatory statement saying "the unilateral announcement to cancel the wesummit is unexpected, an cannot but feel great regret for it. we have the intent to sit with the u.s. side to solve problems regardless at any time." that was musico donald trump's ears. you remember the summit that was off? it might now be back on. pres. trump: we will see what happens. we are talking to them now. eyery much want to do it. we would like to do it. we are

jon sopel in washington. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news.ishment 5—star movement and the far—right league have put forward law professor giuseppe conte as their candidate for prime minister. the two parties are seeking permission from the president to form a coalition government more than two months after winning the most seats in general elections. the syrian army says it's retaken full control of the capital damascus and its surrounding areas for the first time since the civil war began. the army made the announcement after capturing the last small enclave still held by the islamic state group. it's a significant milestone in the country's seven—year civil war. a multi—billion—dollar bid for sky from us telecoms giant comcast may not be referred to the competition authorities in the uk. the decision could be seen as a blow for 21st century fox, which is also trying to buy sky. the public inquiry into the grenfell tower fire has opened, and it began with a poignant 72—second silence to commemorate those who died. over the coming days the in

our north america editor jon sopel has the story.istoric would—it—wouldn‘t—it happen singapore summit had hit the buffers, as many doubters had predicted. donald trump's extraordinary letter to kim jong—un the expression of it. in it, he wrote: his letter also spoke about the power of the us nuclear arsenal and that the meeting was kim's idea, not his. at the white house, a sombre president trump had this to say. based on the recent statement of north korea, i've decided to terminate the planned summit in singapore onjune the 12th. while many things can happen, and a great opportunity lies ahead potentially, i believe that this is a tremendous setback for north korea, and indeed, a setback for the world. hopefully, positive things will be taking place with respect to the future of north korea. but if they don't, we are more ready than we have ever been before. the legwork for it was being done by the president's secretary of state, mike pompeo. there were gasps around the world when it emerged he travelled to pyongyang in total secre

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the united nations bill richardson — who has been on multiple diplomatic missions to north korea — said he thought the summit would go ahead at some point in the future. there has to be a compromise. the north koreans think denuclearisation means freezing their nuclear capabilities, their missiles, there done that curling their use. the united states as you had to destroy all your nuclear weapons. that make their missiles, curbing their use. —— their missiles. certainly, a seller could reduce tensions. that is what we want. the peninsula has been fraught with enormous danger and national security problems. dutch prime minister mark rutte says russia is responsible for the downing of malaysia airlines flight mh17 over ukraine. mr rutte is demanding that moscow acknowledge its role. dutch prosecutors say a russian military unit fired a missile hitting the aircraft on its journey from amsterdam to kuala lumpur in 2014. anna holligan has more from the hague. a black page in history is how

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.t wingfield hayes has more details on the response from north korea. we've had a surprisingly conciliatory response from north korea so far, no angry words in response, rather than leaving the door open to dialogue. a statement from the north korean news agency said we express our willingness to sit down face to face with the us and resolve issues any time in any format, and it went on to say, "our commitment to do our best for peace and stability in the world and the korean peninsula remains unchanged. a mixture of both being conciliatory but also i think the regime in pyongyang certainly trying to cast president trump and the us administration as the intransigent ones, the ones who are walking away from this summit, and that it is not north korea that wants to pull out. we appear to be in a slightly strange situation, rupert, where north korea seems to be trying to grasp the moral high ground. yeah, i think so. certainly north korea will want to play this to its advantage with its al

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.is year's local elections in england. there are nearly 4,400 seats up for grabs across 150 local authorities — as well as six mayoral elections. it is the first test for the political parties since last year's general election. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg is in westminster for us. nine minutes ago, ballot boxes will have been sealed, counters will be anticipating a long night and day ahead tomorrow as voters in towns and cities in england have the chance to have their say. it is important to remember the last time these seats were up for grabs was in 2014, a different political universe with david cameron still prime minister and ed miliband leading the labour party and nick clegg leading the lib dems and ukip and nigel farage were at a high point. where will vote rs farage were at a high point. where will voters go this time? labour is certain of making big chunks of advancesin certain of making big chunks of advances in london and consolidating their position in urban centr

laura bicker live in seoul and jon sopel, thanks to you in washington.s for the murders of four children in an arson attack in greater manchester last december. they were asleep in their beds when zak bolland and david worrall targeted their home with petrol bombs. judith moritz reports from manchester crown court. this is the view from a fire engine racing towards the pearson house. as it turns the corner the scale of the blaze is obvious. flames shooting out of every window. neighbours standing in the street, powerless to help. brandon and lacie pearson were inside with their mother. also inside, their sisters, teenager demi and toddler lia. all four children were murdered. in daylight the burned out shell of the house shows how fierce the fire had been. it took hold so quickly the family had no chance to get out of their bedrooms and down the stairs. 0ur lives are just not the same without them. i was a nanna of ii, now i'm on nanna of seven. we will never again hear their voices shouting out "nanna" or "grandad". that thought leaves us numb. zak boll

in other words, refundable fares. jon sopel, thank you very much.n our puddings, biscuits and chocolate bars. that's according to new figures, which show the food industry has failed to meet a sugar reduction target set by the government. sugar levels were meant to be cut by 5% by last august. the target was set to help tackle the childhood obesity crisis. here's our health editor, hugh pym. it's an attempt to cut the amount of sugar we eat, making companies reduce the sugar content of their products by changing recipes or reducing portion sizes. but it hasn't made a big impact so far. i guess if the recipe is going to change the taste drastically, you're going to lose a lot of customers. so i think i can understand why some companies still haven't been able to cut sugar and actually comply to the policy. do you think it's a good policy? not really, because i have quite a lot of sugar. it would target me quite a lot. but maybe in the long run it would be. the idea of the policy, driven by public health officials, was to get retailers and manufacture

here's our north america editor, jon sopel. explosions.charges to their only known nuclear test site, it seemed that all hopes of a summit went up in smoke at about the same time that these buildings were blasted to smithereens. the explosions taking place just as donald trump was pulling the plug on his planned meeting with kim jong—un, citing north korea's tremendous anger and open hostility. and that in turn provoked some open hostility towards the us president in south korea. but that was a whole 2a hours ago and a lot can change in that time. overnight the north koreans issued a consolatory statement saying, the unilateral announcement to cancel the summit is unexpected and we cannot but feel great regret for it. and that was music to donald trump's ears. you remember the summit that was off? well, it might nowjust be back on. we will see what happens. it could even be the 12th. we are talking to them now. they very much want to do it. we would like to do it, we will see what happens. at the pentagon, the defence secretary, far from r

with south korea in protest at the joint military exercises with the us. 0ur north america editor jon sopeltails. it is an annual event, and each year it upsets the north. a military training manoeuvre involving 100 warplanes from the us and south korea. and last night, pyongyang engaged in their own live—fire exercise, with a threat to shoot down next month's planned summit. but, if this was provocation, donald trump was doing his best not to react. his comments in the oval office were conspicuously muted. we haven't seen anything, we haven't heard anything, we will see what happens. though, in the hubbub, he was asked whether he was still insisting on north korea getting rid of its nuclear programme. yes, he says, but this is the thorniest issue. denuclearisation means one thing to the us, and something completely different to the north. the us national security adviser has said disarmament must be complete, verifiable and irreversible. he says it should be what colonel gaddafi did in libya. i think we're looking at the libyan model of 2003—200a. we're also looking at what north korea its

here's our north america editor, jon sopel. explosions.nuclear test site, it seemed that all hopes of a summit went up in smoke at about the same time that these buildings were blasted to smithereens. the explosions taking place just as donald trump was pulling the plug on his planned meeting with kim jong—un, citing north korea's "tremendous anger and open hostility. " and that in turn provoked some open hostility towards the us president in south korea. but that was a whole 2a hours ago, and a lot can change in that time. 0vernight the north koreans issued a conciliatory statement saying: and that was music to donald trump's ears. you remember the summit that was off? well, it might nowjust be back on. we will see what happens. it could even be the 12th. we are talking to them now. they very much want to do it. we would like to do it, we will see what happens. at the pentagon, the defence secretary, far from rattling sabres, was talking up the possibility, too. there is possibly some good news on the korea summit, if our diplomats can pu

the orc's north america ed jon sopel begins our coverage. jon: this is the story of the porn star, president, and the president's personal lawyer. stormy daniels clas she had a one-night fling with donald trump in 2006 and was paid $130,000 10 years later, just coincidentally weeks before the presidential election, to buy her silence. the man was handed over by thisc man,hael cohen, theen pre's mr. fix-it, who said he paid her the cash out of a esrsonal account and was never reimbursed by the ent. donald trump has always denied the affair and has maintained he knew nothing of the payment. as asked about it on air force one four weeks ago. >> did you know about the $130,000 payment? president trump: no. >> why did michael cohen make it? president trump:ou'll have to ask michael cohen. miael is my attorney, and you will have to ask michael cohen. jon: now that story has been flatly contradicted by former new yo mayor rudy giuliani, who joined the trumpm legal t two weeks ago, and said the presidenthe has paid the money. mr. giuliani: he was def

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. jane: for more on these developments, spoke of britain earlier -- i spoke a bit earlier bce klingner, former division chief now at the heritage foundation. where do we go from here? are we back to "little rocket man" and who has the biggest nuclear button, or is there ace chor diplomacy? bruce: the wording of the letter and the subsequent statement seemed to leave it open for a summit. it had phrases -- if you want to get back together -- don 't thik totally close the door. if northorea comes with a non-apology apology, as they do , we could get back to discussions and perhaps ations or even a summit. but really, the ball is in north korea's court now. if they go back to the usual provocations -- missile tests, nuclear tests io then the teis going to rise. jane: do you think north korean miscalculated with the recent statements? bruce: very much s have been a great deal o optimism, particularly in south korea. i think a bit of irrational ceexubern south korea. but things seemed to be

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. rajini: a brief time ago i discussed these revelations with a criminal defense attorney. good to have you with us. there are a lot of things that still don't add up about this story. we have been hearing thathe white house press secretary sarah sanders did not know about the payments until she saw rudyl giulianiabout it. is this part of a strategy that giuliani is bringing in?th why would he d? >> it certainly seems inexplicable, and i agree that the only logical explanation would have to be that he is getting out in front of bad facts. i personally think that the raid on michael cohen's office and hotel room scared the white house. giuliani and trump likely know that there will be bad facts getting out there and they want to get ahead of it, prepare the public forhe pr strategy. perhaps it is better coming from giuliani to hannity that night as opposed to looking flabbergasted or looking more guilty, having the facts come t as they were. but you are right, giuliani did no favors to h

our north america editor jon sopel reports.istoric would it, wouldn't it happen singapore summit had hit the buffers, as many had predicted. donald trump's letter to kimjong—un, in it he wrote sadly that tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your latest statement, it's an appropriate to have a long planned meeting. his letter spoke about the power of the us nuclear arsenal and that the meeting was kim's idea, not his. at the white house a sombre president trump had this to say. based on the recent statement of north korea, i have decided to terminate the planned summit in singapore onjune the 12th. while many things can happen and a great opportunity lies ahead potentially, i believe that this is a tremendous setback for north korea and indeed a setback for the world. hopefully positive things will be taking place with respect to the future of north korea, but if they don't we are more ready than we have ever been before. the legwork for it was being done by the president's secretary of state mike pompeo. there were

described the abandonment of the talks as a truly sad moment in history. 0ur north america editor jon sopelr once, the breaking news strap really was worth the flushes, the historic wood it wouldn't it singapore summit had hit in this, he ”2 mgiiiz; ,, evidence, and sought to what had changed the explain what had changed the president's mind. over the past many days, we have endeavoured to put preparation teams together to begin to prepare for the summit and we received no response to our inquiries. the president's letter coincided with the north koreans playing host to a group of western journalists invited to witness the destruction of a nuclear test site. but there was fury in washington when pyongyang put out a statement last night describing mike pence as ignorant and stupid, and there seemed to be a threat. at the heart of this is the demand for the denuclearisation of the korean peninsular, a phrase that sounds simple but is open to vastly different interpretations. this might have been a historic summit in seeing these two leaders sit down at a table together, but as time went on it

if the us continued to push for an end to its nuclear weapons programme. 0ur north america editor jon sopel, and each year it upsets the north — a military training manoeuvre involving 100 warplanes from the us and south korea. and last night, pyongyang engaged in their own live—fire exercise, with a threat to shoot down next month's planned summit. but, if this was provocation, donald trump was doing his best not to react. his comments in the oval office were conspicuously muted. we haven't seen anything, we haven't heard anything. we will see what happens. though, in the hubbub, he was asked whether he was still insisting on north korea getting rid of its nuclear programme. yes, he says, but this is the thorniest issue. denuclearisation means one thing to the us, and something completely different to the north. the us national security adviser has said disarmament must be complete, verifiable and irreversible. he says it should be what colonel gaddafi did in libya. i think we're looking at the libya model of 2003—200a. we're also looking at what north korea itself has committed to previou

jon sopel in washington.quiry into the grenfell tower fire has opened and it began with a poignant 72—second silence to commemorate those who died. over the coming days the inquiry will examine the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fire. but the first testimony has come from relatives paying harrowing and heartbreaking tribute to their lost loved ones. our special correspondent lucy manning reports. so many killed, so many lives cut short. none more so than logan gomes, not even born when he died after grenfell. his family shared pictures with the enquiry, heartbreaking ones of their tiny, stillborn son, so loved. they prayed he would open his eyes. he looked like he wasjust sleeping... ..as babies do. at that moment... ..we felt like our hearts had broken. and they had. but at least we were able to... to hold him. and to be with him. the joy of the baby shower, decorating the nursery, choosing a name, all destroyed. you never know what you are made of until you're broken. mohamed neda, known as

our north america editor, jon sopel, is in washington.t decision, this cancellation?” what do we make of this latest decision, this cancellation? i think the americans have been caught com pletely the americans have been caught completely by surprise. the statement came in the middle of the night, korean time. there is some scrambling to figure out what it means. state department was giving a briefing at the time. they are still planning for the summit to go ahead. the pentagon has stressed this is a defensive exercise, not offensive and they thought they had the agreement of kim jong—un that this should go ahead if you look at the language used by the north koreans, it says the us will have to undertake careful deliberations about the fate of the planned north korea — us summit in light of the rockers. it is not that extreme but it sounds like it is a warning shot, a bit careful about the way you proceed from that maybe it is north korea flexing their muscles. did we really expect this summit between these two extraordinary men would go

here's our north america editor, jon sopel. the president and the president's personal lawyer. stormy daniels claimed she had a one night fling with donald trump in 2006 but was paid $130,000, ten years later, and just coincidentally, weeks before the presidential election, to buy her silence. the money was handed over by this man, michael cohen, the president's mr fix it, who says he paid her the cash out of a personal account and was never reimbursed by the president. donald trump has always denied the affair and has maintained he knew nothing of the payment. he was asked about it on air force one four weeks ago. but now, that story has been flatly contradicted by former new york mayor rudy giuliani who joined the trump legal team two weeks ago and says the president has paid michael cohen the money. but now, that story has been flatly contradicted by former new york mayor rudy giuliani who joined the trump legal team two weeks ago and says the president has paid michael cohen the money. he was definitely reimbursed. there is

with south korea in protest at thejoint military exercises with the us. 0ur north america editor jon sopelal event, and each year it upsets the north. a military training manoeuvre involving 100 warplanes from the us and south korea. last night pyongyang engaged in their own live fire exercise with a threat to shoot down next month's planned summit. but if this was provocation, donald trump was doing his best not to react. his comments in the oval office work conspicuously muted. we haven't seen anything, we haven't heard anything, we will see what happens. in the hubbub he was asked if he was still insisting on north korea getting rid of its nuclear programme. yes, he says. but this is the thorniest issue. denuclearisation means one thing to the us and something completely different to the north. the us national security adviser has said disarmament must be complete, verifiable and irreversible. he says it should be what colonel gaddafi did in libya. we are looking at the libyan model of 2003/4 we are looking at the libyan model of 2003/11 and looking at what north korea itself has commit

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.e gone on trial, accused of plotting to kill pupils and teachers at a school in north yorkshire. the prosecution says the boys wanted to re—enact the columbine high school massacre in the united states, and were planning to use guns and explosives at the school in their hometown of northallerton. dan johnson is outside leeds crown court. tell us more about what happened in court. two things have really stood out today from the opening to the prosecution's case. first, the young ages of these two boys. they were both just 1a when they started allegedly plotting this attack. what also stood out with the violent nature of exactly what they were planning according to the prosecution. the jury has planning according to the prosecution. thejury has heard planning according to the prosecution. the jury has heard they we re prosecution. the jury has heard they were both fascinated, obsessed by the killers behind the columbine high school massacre in the united states. that was a school shootin

our north america editor jon sopel reports. this is cnn breaking news... once, the breaking news strap was really worth all the whoops and the flashes. the historic would—it—wouldn‘t—it happen singapore summit had hit the buffers as many doubters had predicted. donald trump's extraordinairy message to kim jong—un, the expression of it. in it, he wrote: sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayedfor trade in your most recent statement, i feel it's inappropriate at this time to have this long planned meeting meeting. his letter also spoke about the power of the us nuclear arsenal, and that the meeting was kim's idea, not his. at the white house a short time ago, a sombre president trump had this to say. based on the recent statement of north korea, i've decided to terminate the planned summit in singapore on june 12th. while many things can happen and a great opportunity lies ahead potentially, i believe that this is a tremendous setback for north korea and indeed a setback for the world. hopefully, positive things will be taking place

but first, let's cross to bbc‘s north america editor, jon sopel, who is in washington.t to 30,000 feet and asked,is let's zoom out to 30,000 feet and asked, is the world safer less safe because of action donald trump took today by calling office nuclear summit? i suspect the world will feel a little less safe because of it. there were micro issues, like the insults, whether there was a threat in the statement last night. but the biggest issue was denuclearization. what happened? and as time went on, it became clear that what the americans saw as being necessary and what the north koreans we re necessary and what the north koreans were ready to give for two slightly different things. it was clear the americans had a model in mind, which was libya, and unsurprisingly the north koreans were not so keen on that, given what happened to the colonel gadhafi. i think what has happened overall is that you have a president of the united states who was determined to have a summit with kimjong—un, and was determined to have a summit with kim jong—un, and to try and do a deal face—t

here's our north america editor, jon sopel.s said charges to their only known nuclear test site, it seemed that all hopes of a summit went up in smoke at about the same time that these buildings were blasted to smithereens. the explosions taking place just as donald trump was pulling the plug on his planned meeting with kim jong—un, citing north korea's a tremendous anger and open hostility. thatin tremendous anger and open hostility. that in turn provoked some fairly open hostility towards the us president in south korea. but that was a whole 2a hours ago, and a lot can change in that time. 0vernight, the north koreans if it two offered a conciliatory statement, saying... and that was music to donald trump's yea rs. and that was music to donald trump's years. you remember the summit that was off? well, it mightjust now be back on. wheel see what happened. it could even be that well. we are talking to them now. they very much wa nt to talking to them now. they very much want to do it, we want to do it, we'll see what happens. a