live from london. this is bbc news. a warm welcome on the tarmac — amid concern in the us over the deepening ties between the two nuclear armed countries. the british billionaire john caudwell who donated half a million to the conservatives at the last election tells the bbc he's voting labour for the first time. police release a mugshot ofjustin timberlake — after the singer was arrested on suspicion of driving while drunk. hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones. russia's president putin hasjust arrived in north korea — on his first visit to the secretive state for 2h years. he landed in pyongyang a short time ago ahead of talks with north korea's leader kim jong—un. the visit underlines the growing relationship between the two nuclear armed countries particularly since russia's invasion of ukraine. and it comes amid accusations from the united states that north korea has been supplying arms to russia for use in its war with ukraine — something pyongyang denies. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reflects on the deepening relationship. vladimir putin's first trip to pyongyang in almost a quarter of a century — a measure of this relationship's growing importance. a warm welcome from the north korean leader, two men shunned by much of the world, united in defiance of the west, each bearing a shopping list, their embrace a source of deep anxiety in washington. deepening cooperation between russia and the dprk is a trend which should be of great concern to anyone interested in maintaining peace and stability in the korean peninsula, upholding the global nonproliferation regime, abiding by the un security council resolutions and supporting the people of ukraine as they defend their freedom and independence. for vladimir putin, it's all about the war in ukraine. the russian economy may already be on a war footing, but mr putin leads on a war footing, but mr putin needs every artillery shell and rocket it can get. north korea is a willing supplier, helping russia to outgun ukraine. before arriving, is to kim jong—un for firmly supporting the war. north korea, the regime, shows little regard for human life, even the lives of its own people. so i would not be surprised if putin and kim work out a deal for north korea to sent into russia, not only labourers, but also technicians and perhaps even combat troops in the months to come. the two leaders are drawing ever closer, this their meeting closer, this their second meeting in less than a year. what's in it for mr kim? like russia his country is under strict international sanctions. the two men pariahs in arms. but the north korean leader as his own ambitious plans, for nuclear weapons and space technology. a recent spy satellite failed, russia for its limitations can still offer vital assistance. north korean tv has firmly set the mood for this high—profile visit. russian martial music conjuring the sort of patriotic fervour audiences in pyongyang are used to. and video screens making the agenda abundantly clear. these are two men under pressure, keen to demonstrate they still have allies and options and to show the west that, for all its sanctions and condemnation, this is a mutually beneficial relationship. our correspondent shaimaa khalil will be following mr putin's visit to north korea from south korea. she gave me the view from seoul. this trip a significant not only because it is the first trip of putin in more than 20 years but i think it is also seen as yet another grand gesture between the two pariahs states. at the scene as a sign of appreciation by putin in a way obliging to the invitation by kim jong—un and appreciating kimjong—un's appreciating kim jong—un's unwavering support for the appreciating kimjong—un's unwavering support for the russian war in ukraine since the beginning. the russian president has arrived quite late pyongyang time but has quite late pyongyang time but has quite the itinerary ahead of him expecting to attend into a concert and expected to visit the only orthodox church in pyongyang. but crucially, these are all chances for the two men to again give the optics and the picture of unity that they still have friends that they can rely on and also to see what they can offer each other. each one knows the other has something that they want. north korea needs food, fuel, money. it also needs technology that russia can offer. especially satellite technology after it failed to launch inside —— spy satellite in may. russian needs to replenish its depleting stockpile as the war in ukraine goes on and north korea can supply that because north korean weaponry is based on soviet era technology. despite the denials by both pyongyang and moscow, we know from the us and even here from south korea, that russia has used north korean weapons in the war in ukraine. they're going to be limits to what each man can offer the other, what moscow can offer pyongyang, but this is another chance of them exploring this deepening relationship. in the last few minutes, north korea's official news agency has reported some of the early meetings between mr kim and mr putin. it says they had a friendly chat, and that they exchanged pent—up innermost thoughts and opened their minds. we'll have more on the visit in the coming days, here on bbc news. there's just over two weeks to go until the election — but it's the last day to register to vote. the deadline is at midnight — less than an hour away. there are an estimated a5 million younger voters not registered. a social media campaign involving celebrities, influencers and sports stars has been launched to encourage more to sign—up. earlier i spoke to head of policy at the electoral commission, tom hawthorn. it's been going very well so far. so far since the election was announced a couple of weeks ago, we've seen more than 2.5 million people register to vote. today is obviously the last day for people to register to vote and it's been very busy today so far. we've seen since 9:00 this morning, on average, about 500 applications being submitted every minute. and how does that compare to previous elections? so in previous elections, last time we voted in a general election here in the uk, there were about 3.8 million applications put in just in the period between the election being announced and polling day. so we may be slightly behind that this year around, but the biggest problem, we think, is the number of people who aren't correctly registered to vote. so some research we carried out last year found that there could be as many as 8 million people who aren't registered to vote in the right place where they're living at the moment. so what does that mean? they've registered previously at an old address or while they were studying and does that mean if they haven't got it up to date, they won't be able to vote? that's absolutely right. so some people just aren't registered to vote at all. some people will have moved houses since they last registered. so we know that the kinds of people, the groups of people who are less likely to be properly registered, correctly registered at their current address includes young people, includes people who are living in private rented accommodation, and it includes people who've moved home recently, particularly in the last year. so it's really important to make sure that you're up to date and to get that application in online before midnight tonight. let's take a look at what tomorrow might bring on the campaign trail. live to westminster and our political correspondent harry farley. hello. one of the parties planning for tomorrow?— for tomorrow? tomorrow really is overshadowed — for tomorrow? tomorrow really is overshadowed in _ for tomorrow? tomorrow really is overshadowed in many _ for tomorrow? tomorrow really is overshadowed in many ways - for tomorrow? tomorrow really is overshadowed in many ways by i for tomorrow? tomorrow really is l overshadowed in many ways by the latest inflation figures that we are expecting first thing in the morning. if you remember prime minister rishi sunak called this general election off the back of a full and inflation and his argument then was the economy turned a corner so that the voters should back his plan for the economy and he is remediating that message. tomorrow the conservatives arguing they have a moral mission to cap tax and highlighting the plans and their manifesto to cut more than £70 billion of tax. labour, for their part, linking their announcement or the fair release for tomorrow links to that inflation figure, taking about —— talking about taking money off of energy bills and highlighting the analysis they have done, the labour party, saying the price of an annual supermarket bill has gone up by £1000 and since the last general election. we should say that those kinds of things, supermarket bills, will be affected by global prices as well. i suppose those two main parties focusing their messages around that inflation figures that we are expecting first thing in the morning. liberal democrats in both the snp and highlighting their pledge to spend £8 billion on crumbling hospitals and the snp at their manifesto out tomorrow, they are releasing that and highlighting that they are asking for £1 billion to fix health service in wales and scotland. �* ., .. . to fix health service in wales and scotland. �* ., . scotland. and on candidates? so in the last few — scotland. and on candidates? so in the last few minutes _ scotland. and on candidates? so in the last few minutes labour- scotland. and on candidates? so in the last few minutes labour party | the last few minutes labour party have said that they have withdrawn support and have suspended their candidate andy brown in aberdeen north. it candidate andy brown in aberdeen north. . ., , candidate andy brown in aberdeen north. , . north. it comes after it emerged that he had _ north. it comes after it emerged that he had come _ north. it comes after it emerged that he had come out _ north. it comes after it emerged that he had come out doubting l north. it comes after it emerged i that he had come out doubting the russian role —— russian president's role in that poisoning and refusing to... we got a statement from labour and saying that he has been administratively suspended from the party, they have drums support from the candidate and it says that keir starmer has changed the labour party and every candidate and he would operate to the highest standard. so if he had one but election on the 4th ofjuly he would stand as independent. as well as labour reform uk have also had difficulty with candidates who have a story up on the bbc going up now about a reform uk candidate who asked when they would support the hannah abbott. this had that in 2018. he also alleged that migrants are bringing in diseases —— diane abbott. perform for their part saying their candidates are not political zombies and they are free to speak their views even if they are not shared by their party colleagues and say it is ultimately up colleagues and say it is ultimately up to the electorate whether they are voted in. so both parties, two parties there, reform uk and labour having some challenges and some of the candidates that fielded. the british billionaire entrepreneur and businessman, john caudwell, who gave the conservatives half a million pounds before the last general election has told the bbc he will vote labour for the first time in his life next month. the founder of the phones au business invited our political editor chris mason to his house this afternoon here's what happened. in mayfair, it's obvious pretty quickly why it is the price is spot on the monopoly board. quickly why it is the price there are the cars, houses, even the flowers. no, i've no idea how many bulbs there are in those chandeliers either. mayfair and the labour party are not words that often feature in the same sentence, but the party wants to show off their new supporter, and invited me to interview him. the last general election, you gave £500,000 to the conservatives. you are now saying, "back labour." why? well, the reason, of course, for backing the conservatives was we couldn't possibly stand a corbyn government, and i am still of the exactly same view there, but what i've witnessed, especially over the last couple of years is a complete change, getting rid of what i would call the loony left, with extreme socialist policies, rather than creating a wealthy britain. what i see is a labour party committed to gdp growth, committed to the environment, and they are my hot buttons because, without grows, you can't look after social services and, without focusing on the environment, there will be no world to look after. tell me about the courtship between the billionaire and the socialist, between you and keir starmer. i don't know whether i'd call it a courtship, to be honest. i did go to dinner with tony blair and keir injanuary. up to two or three months ago, my thoughts on labour historically were very negative. my thoughts on labour historically were very negative, and what i've seen now, the more and more i've looked at labour, is a transformation. is this going to be the first time you'll have voted labour? first time in 51 years, yes, and honestly it took a lot of me soul—searching. because i guess you voted for the conservatives a lot in the past, is that right? yes, and it wasn't really because it was the conservative party, it's conservative principles i believe in. i believe in wealth creation, protecting the poor but by making money within the uk, because we can't create money out of thin air, we can't tax rich people in order to help the poor because they will go off to monaco and other places. we have to create real, genuine wealth. what, in your view, has gone wrong for the conservatives? is rishi sunak a dud? oh, absolute dud. if you go back to his chancellor, everything he did in covid was wrong. he would argue he gave people lots of money when they needed it. all the criticisms that i made of rishi during his chancellorship, i think, were pretty much evidenced in the d—day situation, a complete lack ofjudgment. are you going tojoin the labour party? will you consider giving money to them in the way you have to the conservatives in the past? the labour party, in my estimation, as much i disagree with some of the policies, are the absolute very best for britain going forward. it's quite possible i might support them financially if they needed it next time round, if i think they have done an amazing job. nice to talk to you, and thanks for having us. the parents of the murdered black teenager stephen lawence have strongly criticised a decision by the crown prosecution service not to bring criminal charges against four retired detectives who led the original investigation into his death in 1993. the 18—year—old was murdered by a racist gang in south london. only two of his five or six killers have been brought tojustice. stephen's mother baroness doreen lawrence said the decision marked a new low in the way her family have been treated by the criminaljustice system over the past 30 years. daniel de simone reports. the racist murder of teenager stephen lawrence took place 31 years ago at a south london bus stop. what do we want? justice! when do we want it? now! the failed first investigation is widely seen as one of the biggest disasters in the history of the metropolitan police. today, an official review has concluded that four senior retired officers who ran the first inquiry should not be charged with misconduct in a public office for their investigative failures. stephen's father says he is saddened by the decision. i am really disappointed about that, because i felt that there was enough evidence there, from early, to suggest that these people weren't doing theirjobs in the right and proper way. two of the four retired officers were bill ilsley and ian crampton — seen here after being criticised by a landmark public inquiry 25 years ago. the others were brian weeden and ben bullock. prosecutions for misconduct in a public office in historic cases like this are rare. the evidential bar for criminal charges is high but even the met itself now accepts the first murder investigation was a failure, the effects of which are still being felt. last year, the bbc publicly identified a sixth suspect in the murder, matthew white, who died in 2021, and exposed a series of failures relating to him, but these were not part of the case against any of the four retired officers. stephen's mother, baroness doreen lawrence, said in a statement this showed a shallow inquiry had taken place and the many failings were unforgivable. "i am bewildered, disappointed and angry at the decision," she said. two of the prime suspects were eventually convicted of murder in 2012, but others responsible remain free. in april, following the bbc�*s investigations, an official review by another force of the closed murder investigation was ordered. the breadth of that review is being worked out, but it means there remains a prospect of furtherjustice for stephen lawrence. an independent accountant brought in by the post office to investigate its horizon it system more than a decade ago has told the inquiry that he had felt he was dealing with a cover up and possibly a criminal conspiracy. ian henderson was sacked alongside another forensic accountant in 2015 — he says he believes it was because they were getting too close to the truth in their investigation. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. for many, these two are among the heroes of this story. we've been waiting 12 years for this. ron warmington and ian henderson, the forensic accountants brought in to investigate horizon, but were later sacked. in the tv drama, they were played byjust one character, called bob. documents that i found in the post office files were beyond belief. care to tell me more? i do solemnly... they had plenty to tell the inquiry today. the people at the top knew that they were dealing with an existential issue. he said the post office went from sharing their commitment of seeking the truth to the worst corporate behaviour he'd ever come across. it was awfuljust dealing with people who were notjust seemingly failing to understand just about everything we said, but were in a sort of cabal that was colluding to thwart every move that we made. his partner said he believed the post office felt it was above the law and that decisions were driven by pr. post office senior management were very concerned about the public perception, the brand image. i mean, paula vennells in meetings was very open about it. mr henderson looked atjo hamilton's case, one of the first files he picked up. to think we didn't trust them in the beginning, j but they are amazing. i haven't got that money! here she is in the drama, the losses are piling up, accused of stealing. the post office said they'd drop the theft charge if she pleaded guilty to false accounting. she did but second sight found out there was no evidence of theft. and today, we heard how the post office did not want the document to be revealed. it is shocking, isn't it? it doesn't get much worse. and then they have the i document, which wasn't privileged at the time, and they slap privilege on it and, you - know... it disappeared. in his evidence, ian henderson said former post office boss paula vennells consistently attempted to steer them away from investigating potential miscarriages ofjustice. they had various legal threats and were gagged but in the end, their work helped uncover the scandal. emma simpson, bbc news, at the post office inquiry. the singerjustin timberlake has appeared in court in new york state, charged with driving while intoxicated. officials have released this image of his mugshot, taken after he was arrested. police say he was pulled over in the early hours of tuesday — in sag harbour — which is in the upmarket hamptons area of long island. he was released without bail after being formally charged, our correspondent in new york nada tawfik has more. justin timberlake was out for the night on monday in the hamptons, a wealthy new york beach destination popular with celebrities in the summer. he was out with friends when he was arrested by police in the early hours of tuesday for driving while intoxicated. now, the suffolk county district attorney's office provided no further comment, but court documents detail that he was stopped just after 1230 in the morning. after he drove through a stop sign, an officer pulled him over and noted that his eyes were bloodshot and glassy, that his breath smelled strongly of alcohol, and that he also performed poorly on all standard field sobriety tests. now, the officer said that the pop star told him that he had one martini and was following his friends home. and the tmz website about celebrity gossip included reporting that timberlake's friends allegedly tried to convince officers to let him go, that timberlake refused a breathalyser test and was ultimately taken away in handcuffs. now, penalties for drunk driving in the hamptons town of sag harbour include a fine of up to $1,000, suspended driving privileges and a maximum, though not mandatory, one year in jail. now, the 43—year—old who first rose to fame with the boy band nsync, has spoken about his struggle with excessive drinking and overcoming addiction and he is currently on tour and is due to perform in chicago this week and here in new york at madison square garden next week. let's take a look at some of tomorrow's newspaper front pages. the times says that borisjohnson is no longer expected to campaign for the conservatives — because of the likelihood of the party losing many of the red—wall seats won when he was leader in 2019. it also says that keir starmer will pose a tax threat to people who can afford to save. the daily telegraph also says there's a tax raid fear because of the way sir keir starmer defines working people — which would not include those who can afford to save money. it also says britain is 20 years behind europe on cancer care. the daily mail also claims labour is planning secret tax rises. and the express also goes with a conservative claim that labour will tax savings. the daily mirror attacks conservative policy — saying that rishi sunak is all at sea, while the chancellor jeremy hunt is deluded for claiming that the government has done a greatjob. the financial times also has a picture of rishi sunak campaigning on the sea in devon. it says that members of his own party are jockeying for position, for the potential opportunity to succeed him as party leader and the guardian says labour would introduce a policy where the nhs will buy beds in care homes, to cut hospital waiting times. now it's time for a look at the weather with elizabeth rizzini. hello there, good evening. a few heavy, thundery downpours around for some today, but some brighter spells in between. cloudier towards the south than we saw yesterday, so the temperatures not quite as high. but still some long, sunny spells around for many spots, including in lancashire — and that really sets the scene for the rest of the week, when it will feel a lot more like summer than it has been of late. drier, a little warmerfor most, but not completely dry. still the chance of some showers, and indeed, some longer spells of rain. but on wednesday, it does look mostly dry — and that's because high pressure continues to build in from the azores — chance of an isolated shower or two, a front moves into the far northwest of scotland. but overnight tonight, well, the showers from today will just continue to fade away. long, clear spells, some areas of cloud at times. locally, across parts of scotland, we could see lows of around 3—4 celsius — so a little chilly here, but further south, we'll see temperatures stay in double figures. lots of sunshine to start the day on wednesday, a bit more fairweather cloud bubbling up through the afternoon — and that cloud will thicken across northwest scotland, eventually bringing some splashes of rain, perhaps spilling more clouds across northern ireland, too. still chilly for the far north of scotland, elsewhere, the high teens — the low 20s in celsius as temperatures reacting to the sunshine, along with the pollen levels, too. and where we've got the best of the sunshine, those pollen levels will be high or very high — of course, the grass pollen season has begun. now thursday marks the summer solstice, a few changes — have to keep an eye on this area of low pressure over the continent, could produce a few showers towards the far southeast of england, and our weather front continues to sink southwards and eastwards. more cloud over the north west or northern ireland and for much of scotland. perhaps a few outbreaks of rain here and there at times — it may not be completely dry. but the best of the brightness and the dry weather will probably be for eastern areas of england — and here, temperatures away from any showers will rise to around 22 celsius. and then, we look out towards the atlantic to find our weather for the rest of the week. now, these weather fronts will be approaching, bringing outbreaks of rain into northwest scotland, northern ireland on friday morning. and then, that rain will continue to track further eastwards as we head through friday afternoon and into the evening. but lots of dry weather developing over the weekend — it will be feeling warmer, and there'll be plenty of sunshine, too. this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. hello, chris. hi. so last week we christened the week mani—festival or the many—festival or manifestonbury because there was so many party manifestos being launched. i like manifestonbury. yeah, it's sort of festive, isn't it? yeah. you can imagine, like there being like an overpriced burger truck near. yes. what should we call this week? well, we're not quite done with the manifestos yet because we're awaiting the scottish national party on wednesday. but last week did have the feel of manifesto week. certainly as far as conservatives, labour, lib dems and greens for england and wales were concerned. we now, ifeel like, adam, were in a sort of a slightly odd kind of... ..eye to eye before the storm. is it middle of...well, we're sort of between manifestos and then what will be the hurtle towards polling day. that's like the eye of the hurricane, where it's all like... ..and then it's quiet and then again. yeah, i think it's a i think it is a bit of that because now obviously, you know, events nearby and all of that. but you know, if you're one of the political parties that has already put out their manifesto, you can't really start to say, "ah—ha, we've got a new policy. "let's announce that. " because was it not in that pamphlet you put out last week? yeah. and you can't start saying we're going to charge around the country 24/7 for the next fortnight because, you know, even political campaigns would realise that everyone ends up in a heap after a while. yeah. and you know, we're counting down towards the question time that's happening on the bbc a bit later this week on thursday, there's that head to head sort of prime ministerial debate also on the bbc, a week on a week tomorrow, a week on wednesday.