sisi, he has done a fantasticjob and a very difficult situation. also today — there will be no armada heading to gibraltar. the british prime minister restores some calm, laughing off the diplomatic row over the rock, which would always be resolved through dialogue. jared kushner arrives in iraq. the president's envoy and son in law is quickly becoming one of the president most trusted lieutenants. i'm katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london. today we start in russia, ten people have been killed in an explosion between two underground stations in st petersburg. president vladimir putin said all causes, especially terrorism, were being investigated. the head of russia's national anti—terrorist committee says another explosive device was later found and made safe at ploshchad vosstaniya station. st petersburg metro system sees more than two million passengers travel on the system each day — this is the first time it's been targeted. richard galpin has the latest. in the immediate aftermath, passengers turned to the dead in the immediate aftermath, passengers tend to the dead and injured who have been laid out on the station platform, while others mill around the scene, smoke from the blast hanging above them. it's reported the explosion happened as the train was travelling between two stations. and this is the damage it caused at 2:40pm local time this afternoon, once again, people trying to do what they can to help. this is the first incident of its kind on the metro system of russia' second city, st petersburg. of russia's second city, st petersburg. and it happened as president vladimir putin was in the city, holding a meeting with the leader of belarus. translation: i want to express my sincere condolences to those close to the dead and injured. the law enforcement agencies and the special services are working and doing everything to find out the causes of what has happened, and to completely evaluate what happened, and the city authorities and the federal ones, too, are taking all necessary measures to support the families of our citizens who have been killed and injured. the emergency services have ferried dozens of injured people to local hospitals, some in a serious condition. the entire metro system has been closed down, with investigators finding an explosive device at another station. what has happened in the city today has in the last hour been described by a top government minister as an act of terrorism. let's go to st petersburg, where we can speak to sarah rainsford. —— let's go to moscow. tell us a little bit about the moscow system in st petersburg, what sort of system in st petersburg, what sort of syste m d o in st petersburg, what sort of system do they have? it is relatively secure, or as secure as an underground target can be. relatively secure, or as secure as an underground target can hem relatively secure, or as secure as an underground target can be. it is an underground target can be. it is a soft target, we always say that whenever a underground transit system is hit by what looks like it certainly was a terrorist attack. there are metal detectors, and police, a fairly heavy police presence in the metro, and that is reinforced for big days. of course, it is not possible to detect everything and it looks like summary managed to get a couple of home—made, as we're told, explosive devices through onto the metro. one was found on a station platform and the other one went off inside a carriage, as it was between two stations, causing the devastation you have just seen stations, causing the devastation you havejust seen in stations, causing the devastation you have just seen in that report by richard. the russian authorities say they have opened a criminal investigation, they are looking at all options, including and especially terrorism. what can you tell us about the state of the investigation so far? the investigators are obviously going through all the cctv footage, they will be looking for any suspects to see if anyone was behaving suspiciously, or if anyone was seen planting any devices, particularly you would assume that second one, which was discovered late in the day and made safe at a second metro station. there were reports earlier in the day that some suspect had been identified. other reports suggesting two arrest warrants had been issued but there has been no further confirmation of that. at the moment very broad words, simply saying a criminal case has been opened under the title of terrorism but that other possibilities are still being investigated. but certainly, as i say, two explosive devices and the suggestion from any officials, including the prime minister, they are using the language, talking about a terrorist attack. sarah, for the moment, thank very much. when president trump meets xijinping in florida later this week, north korea will be high on the agenda. in an interview with the financial times published today, mr trump says "if china is not going to solve north korea, we will. that is all that i am telling you." but what are the options open to the white house? william cohen was secretary of defence under president bill clinton, and is now a bbc world affairs analyst. he isjust back from china. when the white house and president trump talk about all options available to north korea, what are the ones that have not been available so far? they could certainly decide on shutting off the korean banking system as such, and try to wring about a collapse of the regime. that is one of the options, saying that if the regime is not going to change its course, then we intend to engage in regime change. they could try to bring that about several ways, one would be to go at the heart of the financial heart, what remains of it, in north korea, to try to bring about a collapse. second, the ultimate thing would be using a military strike or a cyber strike against north korea. that entails a lot of risk. we have 800,000 north koreans not very far from downtown seoul. they have lots of artillery pieces that could destroy seoul, and the consequences ofa destroy seoul, and the consequences of a military strike could be quite severe, both china and for the south koreans. so it would be the last option one should look to. we have seen a option one should look to. we have seen a pick—up in the number of missile launchers and test from the north koreans. how much more serious is this thread becoming, and how much more seriously are they taking it in china, where you have just come back from? i think they are climbing up this ladder of provocation to the point where they might not be offered to climb back down again. that's a problem. that's the problem. one of the reasons i think it is important for president xijinping to meet with president trump, and when i was in china i thought that the united states wasn't ready, i thought president xi jinping was ready but not the united states because we don't have the tea m fully states because we don't have the team fully in place. but each day that goes by is more danger, so i am happy they are meeting sooner rather than later. then president trump can weigh upon the president of china, saying please do more, because if you don't then we have few options and they are not very good. the former secretary of defence said he had to work up a plan for president obama, and that plans daily —— clearly still exists. if there was a military implication —— intervention, what with the implications be in the region. questionable one, what would china be doing. number two, questionable one, what would china be doing. numbertwo, how questionable one, what would china be doing. number two, how would you be doing. number two, how would you be able to contain the escalation of the conflict as such will stop number three, how many millions would be fleeing into china, how many would—be fleeing into south korea and what would be the of engagement? would this be south koreans welcoming the influx of several million people and the same for the chinese? the consequences there are quite good. they are convex and they are serious. the president's interview with the financial times is fascinating, and one of the things they seem to be suggesting in the white house is that they see the prospect of a grand bargain in china, which would include the issue of north korea but also trade conflicts. do you think this white house has the capacity to reach some kind of bargain with china that has not been reached before? i think it has the capacity to do so. the question i have is is this premature? i think it is important that they establish a relationship so they can talk to one another, president trump and president xijinping, another, president trump and president xi jinping, and another, president trump and president xijinping, and the similar is of their meeting and hopefully shaking hands would send a very calming signal to the rest of the world, especially that part of the world, especially that part of the world. the third thing would be can he strike a big bargain, yes. this would be the prelude to that, and it would be an important one but i don't think you can do that in one meeting. it will be a process and it will have to take some time and planning, and it needs to have the full state department, secretary of state tillerson needs a deputy, he needs the staff to help fill out all of the things that needs to be done. one final point, the chinese are very eager to work with the united states, they are eager for their president to come and sit down and start talking of ways to reduce the trade imbalance, and how to establish a modus vivendi for the united states and china to move forward. everyone hoping that there is not some kind of crisis that intervenes in the meantime. thank you forjoining us. neil gorsuch is getting one step closer to being america's next supreme courtjustice. mr trump's nominee is being debated by the senatejudiciary committee — he then gets voted on by the full senate on friday — and that's where it is going to get tricky. the democrats now look set to do what's called a filibuster — which would force the republicans to find 60 senators to get gorsuch confirmed. as things stand they only have 59 — including a few democrats and independents who will vote for gorsuch. it's not enough. which means republicans will go for the nuclear option — they will change the rules to override the filibuster for a supreme court pick so they will only need a simple majority‘ of 51 votes. confused? that's understandable — it's complicated. the bottom line however is that trump will get his nominee confirmed and senate rules will have been changed in the process — which could have a huge impact on the nature of future supreme court picks. so are the democrats doing the right thing to filibuster? that is the first thing. there are political questions and long—term questions. the political question is for democrats in conservative states, do they want to be seen to reject a nominee who is generally regarded in the mainstream of conservative thinking? that could cause them problems electorally at home, but this business of changing the rules is important because it will mean that if president trump gets a future pick, and some of the supreme court justices, as we future pick, and some of the supreme courtjustices, as we have pointed out before, are elderly and frail, then he only needs 50 votes to get that person chosen, and that could mean he goes outside of the mainstream ofjudicial thinking. mean he goes outside of the mainstream of judicial thinking. so it has a long—term impact. mainstream of judicial thinking. so it has a long-term impact. so you have a conservative for a conservative peer, which surely the democrats is not a huge problem. the problem comes down the line, if you get a more liberal member at the bench replaced by a republican. but here is a thought, if you don't get bipartisan agreement on a supreme court pick, the reason there are bipartisan agreements is because the level set much higher, you need some agreement from both sides of the house, but if you don't have that, then the court becomes more political, and surely people then lose faith in it? the court has a lwa ys lose faith in it? the court has always been political, ever since george washington started with his own supporters back in the 1700s. so i think the idea that the american supreme court, which is clearly divided and has been for a long time, five to four republican democrat, is not political, is slightly fanciful. you are probably too young to remember this, but back in 2000, the supreme court decided in the election race on al gore against bush. it was a totally political decision. it could mean you get summary more extreme nominated next amara nth you get summary more extreme nominated next amaranth and stop lots of supreme courtjustices have only been confirmed with 5253 votes. not a lot of bipartisanship on that court. but you are right, america is becoming more stream, i suspect. court. but you are right, america is becoming more stream, i suspectm was the chads. i remember that. —— more stream. you would think that all of these issues like north korea, and what else have we got on our plate, she's in pain visiting, al sisi is here and the supreme court justice, that might al sisi is here and the supreme courtjustice, that might be what the president trump was tweeting about but not so much. this is what he tweeted out this morning. he won! why is he still going on about hillary clinton?! rather than thinking about all those other things. the problem with this of course, christian, it means he is focused on theseissues christian, it means he is focused on these issues and attention focuses on these issues and we carry on talking about these issues, not the kind of things we should be talking about. doesn't speak about his character? there are one or two editorials about today that say it does. i think it reveals something, these tweets, the idea that he can't let some thing go, like the fact of hillary clinton, and whether she was under surveillance and the whole election. he won, like you say. you think you would be able to let that go and rise above it. the surveillance issue and how that irritates him, that he is running into problems with that. i feel the tweets are a reflection of his early—morning id, which this morning was not very happy. talking about rising above it, it takes us nicely to the issue of gibraltar. to the relief of many, the prime minister theresa may has today confirmed the uk will not be going to war with nato ally, spain, overthe uk will not be going to war with nato ally, spain, over the british territory of gibraltar. she confirmed their approach the brexit negotiations was definitelyjawjaw, rather than war war, in her words. this led to this reaction from the former conservative leader, michael howard. another woman by minister sent a task force halfway across the world to protect another small group of british people against another spanish—speaking company, hashtag country, and i am absolutely clear that our current woman prime minister will show the same resolve in relation to gibraltar as her predecessor did. either he knew his maths or he had come well—prepared for that interview. today, prime minister theresa may was asked about it and this is what she had to say. my focus will be to get the best trade deal for the uk and for gibraltar. we will be working closely with the gibraltar government as we have been over re ce nt government as we have been over recent months. we will continue to do that to ensure that we get a result from these talks that is in both our interests. so are you running out war? we are focusing on talking with the rest of the eu, starting a formal negotiations and ensuring that at the end of them we see a result that will be in the interests of the uk and in the interests of the uk and in the interests of the uk and in the interests of gibraltar. but actually i think will be in the interests of the 27 member states of the european union as well. so not many people think we are going to go to war with spain over gibraltar but five days after article 50 was triggered, it does not bode well for the tone of negotiations, does it?|j does not bode well for the tone of negotiations, does it? i will score them both, the eu and outside a degraded for diplomacy. it is a hugely important issue to the people of gibraltar that the government has made it abundantly clear that if they want to stay british, then they are not going to have any compromise on sovereignty. i can tell you, though, that i spoke to someone very close to the fco today and they are incandescent about michael howard's interference in this. apoplectic was the word used in the conversation i had. it doesn't make it very easy for the prime minister. how does she make concessions to the european union during the course of an of this is how people will respond from her own side? both sides have to be pretty sensible because there are issues where both sides will get pretty animated. the point to make is that there are other areas that share land borders with the uk. northern ireland, the military bases in cyprus, and just looking what they said about their is, they said we need imaginative solutions to northern ireland and cyprus, but they did not apply the same to gibraltar, and you can only imagine thatis gibraltar, and you can only imagine that is because they shovelled in this line at the behest of the spanish at the last minute, which was probably a bit of a silly move. let's move back to president obama, who was not a particularly good friend to egypt by the way. he broadly supported the 201! revolution. he turned a blind eye to a military coup the years later that opposed the muslim brotherhood, but then seemed somewhat indifferent to then seemed somewhat indifferent to the new president alcacer. you could never understood —— decide whether he was a strategic partner or a brutal dictator and perhaps in the end the administration treated him as both. president al sisi is the first arab leader to be invited to the white house. com came to repost a crucial middle east relationship but what does that entail? first, what some of the us president had to say. ijust want to let everybody know in case there was any doubt that we are very much behind president alcacer. he has done a fantastic job behind president alcacer. he has done a fantasticjob in a very difficult situation. we are very much behind egypt and the people of egypt, and the united states has backing, and we have strong backing. we have very much, as you and i will soon be talking, we are building up our military that will be the highest probably that we have ever had. president trump speaking to mr al sisi. joining me now is michelle gun. she is now the carnegie endowment for international peace. they queue for coming, how different will be the russian should between the trump white house and egypt and the trump white house and egypt and the obama won? actually at the beginning of the obama white house, president obama himself pushed the reset button with egypt, feeling that his predecessor george bush was too hard on mubarak. it is ironic, ina way too hard on mubarak. it is ironic, in a way president trump is doing the same thing with al sisi. it is true that later on in the obama presidency, he saw that the degree of human rights abuses, political repression, economic mismanagement, and an economy very much donated by the egyptian military, were really problematic and made egypt in some ways a less useful ally for the united states. there was real concern in the obama white house, andi concern in the obama white house, and i think there will be eventually in the trump white house as well, that what was going on inside egypt was actually fuelling radicalisation, and in a way fuelling terrorism. although for the moment this white house has made it clear it will not raise the issue of human rights, at least in public or in meetings like this one. they will prefer in meetings like this one. they will p refer to in meetings like this one. they will prefer to do it in other ways. what could mr trump get from the egyptians that mr obama didn't? notably there are no egyptian planes flying over raqqa and supporting the coalition against isis, for example. that is true, but not because president al sisi was upset with president al sisi was upset with president obama and with help that. there are two reasons for that, first of all egypt has its own insurgency based in the sinai. it is an indigenous egyptian group and affiliated itself with isis. the egyptian military is tied up with fighting it and terrorism problem andi fighting it and terrorism problem and i have to say not doing it very effectively. secondly i think there is really a question as to whether the egyptian air force would be able to operate in theatres like that, in syria or iraq. frankly it is not as capable as some of the other air forces, even the other arab air forces, even the other arab air forces such as thejordanian or the uae airforces. forces such as thejordanian or the uae air forces. the truth is as well since america really stepped away from egypt during the obama years, egypt stepped closer to russia and thatis egypt stepped closer to russia and that is a problem, isn't it, for the white house, because you have russian control in syria, you have the iranians closer to the russians and then you have egypt, you know, in theirquarteras and then you have egypt, you know, in their quarter as well. that is not something they would like. in their quarter as well. that is not something they would likelj think not something they would like.” think it is the case that al sisi has grown closer to russia and putin. i don't think it was because of the relationship with obama. al sisi and putin of a much birds of a feather, they see things in a similar way, both in terms of seeing islamic terrorism as a major threat and believing in applying a good deal of domestic repression. and al sisi also likes to really lay one foreign power off another. he has done this with the saudis and others as well. so i think that whether trump gets very close to sec, as we see him doing today, or not, we are still going to see a close al sisi — putin relationship. thank you for joining us in the studio. christian, you were in egypt as the bbc correspond and before you went to paris and stop this issue that the show was talking about about the economic situation in egypt, that only seems to be deteriorating under the current egyptian administration, doesn't it? there is a reform programme which many people would welcome but the currency has been hugely devalued. when i was there backin hugely devalued. when i was there back in 2008— 09, it was five egyptian pounds to the dollar. it is now 18. that is pretty good for the economy in some ways. i understand that over the christmas period, the hotels in aswan and luxor were full, 100% occupancy, which boosts the economy, and it brings an investment because it is cheaper to be in egypt. but the problem is there are so egypt. but the problem is there are so much poverty in egypt, and it is such an informal economy that when you devalue the currency, you get inflation as well, so it is very ha rd inflation as well, so it is very hard for them. the one thing you always have to remember about egypt is that a quarter of the population is that a quarter of the population is under the age of 30, and half of them are very poor. that population growth is picking up again, so the economy has to pick up at the same rate. so the best thing that the americans can do, and i don't know if we are in that sort of situation where america invest outside the country at the moment, is that they start pouring money into egypt. youth bulge and high under climate is not a great combination. egypt has both of them. they want dollars and they want american companies. you are watching 100 days from bbc news. stay with us, much more coming up. for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news, we have a bbc panorama special with new information about the french presidential candidate marine le pen, and the funding she has for her election campaign. as the chinese president is up for a meeting with donald trump, we will hear the thoughts of asian americans on trump is like attitude to asia. that is all still to come on 100 days from bbc news. hello, good evening. we saw quite a variety of weather across the uk early on today to stop 18 degrees in the sunshine towards the south—eastern corner but we also saw quite high tree pollen levels. with tree pollen levels and the temperature is coming down a bit over the next day, because towards the north and west we have a weather front moving in, which will move through and eventually we will see some fresh atlantic air coming in behind it. it has been quite cloudy and wept in some parts of northern ireland, western scotland. as you can see, all moving its way ever is the woods, and that process continues overnight tonight. it was his rain forcing england and wales stop things should dry up in wales. it would be down to five or 6 degrees in major towns and cities by the end of the night. for england and wales, in places seeing temperatures not lower than eight or 9 degrees. there will be the deulofeu across wales on the south—west into the morning. not much rain left over but a lot of lay —— low cloud, great, further east as well with our chance of some rain in the south—eastern corner and some parts of east anglia as well. further north, still a lot of low cloud around. not much rain. it brightens up as you head into southern and eastern scotland, some parts of northern ireland since some morning sunshine. —— seeing some morning sunshine. —— seeing some morning sunshine. —— seeing some morning sunshine. blowing gales towards the northern isles. elsewhere, things will brighten up in wales and the south—western in winter the afternoon but it stays pretty great for east anglia and the south—east, still in the afternoon some rain to be had so a bit dull and damp. temperatures down a notch or two on today. tuesday night into wednesday, this big area of high pressure continues the building across the uk and it will be with us for a good few days, a lwa ys will be with us for a good few days, always creating this north—westerly breeze across the north and east of the uk, so quite breezy for some. quite a bit of cloud around as well. maybe a shower or two in the west of scotla nd maybe a shower or two in the west of scotland but most places will be fine and dry. in spite of a lot of cloud, something a bit brighter at times. in the south—west with winds, a little bit of sunshine, shouldn't feel too bad. tom temperatures about 13 or 11; on wednesday afternoon. the expert is through thursday and friday. a fair bit of cloud, a bit ofa friday. a fair bit of cloud, a bit of a breeze for some but also a few brea ks of a breeze for some but also a few breaks in that cloud. a little bit of sunshine. if we want nuclear power, it is so expensive that, actually, government has to put money into it. it is a classic case of market failure. has to put money into it. it is a classic case of market failurem the private sector would pay for it, doesn't that mean it is not economically viable? there will be a debate about its own systems. welcome back to one hundred days with me katty kay in washington and christian fraser in london. a reminder of our top story today: an explosion on a metro train in st petersburg has killed ten people and injured dozens more. the chinese president is on his way as the courts issue. we hear the from asian americans in new york. the bbc programme panorama is set to disclose new information about how the french presidential candidate marine le pen is funding her election campaign. with less than three week to go, le pen is front runner to win the first round of voting. gabriel gatehouse, the reporter of tonight's panorama, joins me in the studio. you have been focusing principally on the relationship between marine le pen and president putin. that is right. with just a few weeks to go until the election, marine le pen suddenly appeared in moscow, meeting feuding in the kremlin. it was unexpected and we scrambled to get out there. vladimir putin himself voiced one of the concerns that was on the minds of many people, saying we don't want to interfere in your election. that could be something that will ring a bell with people in the united states. marine le pen said she would drop eu sanctions against russia. there was a bit of a love in. there have been financial links between different rationale and russia. the front nationale got to loans from russian sources with links to the kremlin. people were asking for these loans a quid pro quo for her support for the annexation of crimea? they said that this was the first time that they had met. i heard something different from two sources. one of them being marine le pen's father, the founder of the national front. marine le pen's father, the founder of the nationalfront. he marine le pen's father, the founder of the national front. he said they had met before. another adviser to me that she had said the met before. i spoke to one of marine le pen's advisers who brokered one of those russian loans and credit to him that she had certainly claimed she met putin before. she did meet putin. this is a secret. what can i say? did she tell you that she met putin? i don't know. it is a secret. murky and murkier. he talked about the relationship going back several yea rs. relationship going back several years. what about your father? he was the guiding figure for many yea rs. was the guiding figure for many years. marine the pen makes the point that she hasn't been influenced by russian mother because —— money because the pro—russian sta nce —— money because the pro—russian stance has been consistent as far back as when her father was in charge. he would russia russia as soon as charge. he would russia russia as soon as the soviet union collapsed and started making connections with what were then fringe nationalist fire rate movements. now the kremlin has co—opted these nationalist anti—western views. the front nationale was once marginal and now less so. the kremlin sees russian nationalists and the front nationale as an ally in their quest to break up as an ally in their quest to break up the unity of the european union and nato. those financial links are fascinating. what else did you learn while making the programme? we heard about this thing called the secret cabinet. marine le pen has been trying to detoxify the party. she expeued trying to detoxify the party. she expelled her own father because of his associations with racism and anti—semitism, but she is having a problem. she has got a secret cabinet, centred around one and number. we looked into him. we saw his police fired from the 1990s when it said he had links for associate it said he had links for associate it with former nazis, links to skinhead groups and insiders in the party told us that he is central to the financing of the party now. he is always in all the key meetings and around marine le pen. they told us and around marine le pen. they told us that he has nothing to do with the party, he runs a company that supplies posters and leaflets for the party, but these insiders have been telling us this man is very central to the financing and running of the party. despite all this talk of the party. despite all this talk of detoxify the brand, if this is true, one of marine the pen's key moneymen is true, one of marine the pen's key moneymen is someone true, one of marine the pen's key moneymen is someone linked to skinheads and former nazis. for the moment, thank you very much. some news just coming moment, thank you very much. some newsjust coming in moment, thank you very much. some news just coming in from the us. moment, thank you very much. some newsjust coming in from the us. we we re newsjust coming in from the us. we were speaking about the core switch in the programme. the us senate judiciary committee committee has voted and devoted 11—9 to approve the supreme court nominee. that felt entirely on party lines. we get three days of debate now, is that right? yes. should we talk about jerod kushner? he has arrived in iraq today. he will meet iraqi leaders this week to hear first—hand how the battle against so—called islamic state is progressing. how manyjobs does islamic state is progressing. how many jobs does mr islamic state is progressing. how manyjobs does mr kushner have now? he's like george osborne. he has morejobs than he's like george osborne. he has more jobs than those of the week. he is looking after middle east peace, looking after the china visit, the nafta stuff and he has this other office in the white house. tell us about that. as if most of the world was not enough for him, this 36—year—old who, along the way has made several billion dollars in illicit deals and is married to mr trump's. , mr kushneralso illicit deals and is married to mr trump's. , mr kushner also has the job of reorganising the american government. not a smalljob. he is an extraordinary man. clean cut. there he is in iraq with general dunford. he is very close to president trump. he was the factor chairman of the current campaign and you could say that blood is thicker than water because he is one of the most influential people in the white house. he has a massive portfolio and you hear stories about whether he is upset. he is meant to be a smart 56—year—old, but that is an awful lot. he clearly likes and he is clearly a smart guy. he has his own company. we have seen information the assets that he and ivanka trump have. they were in the papers over the weekend. is he still running the company day—to—day? papers over the weekend. is he still running the company day-to-day? no, he separated himself from his companies as other people in the trumpfamily companies as other people in the trump family have had to do. i was speaking to someone who worked for him. he was owner of the new york observer and he said he is an impressive mid—30s guy, but he also has a pretty thin skin and he can be rude and brusque, was how he was described to me. perhaps a lot like his father in law. that is what you hear about his father in law. a key person in the white house with a huge amount to do. how much have you donein huge amount to do. how much have you done in a0 years? huge amount to do. how much have you done in 40 years? not as much as that. i'm not running an account like ears. i need to up my game. look at some of the other stories we are following. french authorities have tightened security around public transport in paris following today's attack on a st petersburg metro tunnel. the french interior ministry says the boost is a precautionary measure amid an extremely high terrorism threat. the british prime minister theresa may has held talks with jordanian prime minister hani mulqi during a three day visit to the middle east. trade and increased military cooperation were expected to be top of the agenda in the meeting. ms may was also due to announce britain will send military trainers tojordan to help the country's air force fight so—called islamic state. eu foreign ministers are meeting in luxembourg to discuss the future role of the block in post—conflict syria. the meeting questioned the place of president assad in any future government but said ultimately it was up to the people of syria to choose who should lead them. scotland's first minister is expected to sign a joint agreement with the governor of california on tackling climate change during her visit to the united states this week. nicola sturgeon will meet governorjerry brown and give a speech at stanford university on scotland's place in the world before travelling on to new york. returning now to the high stakes meeting between presidents trump and xi jinping later this week. the bbc has been asking asian americans living in new york what they make of trump's attitude to asia. iam i am hopeful. iam hopeful. i i am hopeful. i am optimistic. i think his relationship isjust u nsettled think his relationship isjust unsettled in the beginning. in the past almost two months, trump has been gradually becoming mellower. i heard he is going to his resort on thursday because it is important to get the same sort of treatment as the japanese prime minister. is that right? yes. juggling asian sensibilities, is a ticking down there and having the photo opportunity. he played golf with the japanese premier. i am not hearing that xijinping will japanese premier. i am not hearing that xi jinping will be hitting the links. he stopped golf in china. he didn't like some of the politburo playing golf. our more attentive viewers will have noticed that kathy was not your street. she was on holiday. it wasn't for pleasure because she was hoovering up how people think about donald trump in this presidency. he sent me an e—mail this morning so i can tell you what i'll think about president trump. come on, tell us. i could hope to go there and buried my head firmly in the snows of utah but i didn't quite manage because i love that and the front page of the salt la ke that and the front page of the salt lake paper, the salt lake tribune, heard the news that a majority of people in utah view trump favourably, which is interesting because approval ratings for donald trump in the state of utah have risen, which puts them at the polar opposite of the rest of the country. 54% of people in utah support donald trump, upfrom 54% of people in utah support donald trump, up from election day. what is that down to? he didn't actually do terribly well in utah during the 2016 campaign. lots of mormons living utah, they tend to be better edge —— educated, have higher incomes than the national average. these are not, white working—class people who are sticking firmly by donald trump. they are looking at what he is doing and they are simply like the fact he is delivering on his promises. did of you to go on holiday and find that out for us. i've missed you terribly. it is good you are back. we will be back at the same time tomorrow. hello. this is bbc news, the headlines at 19.45: an explosion on the metro in st petersburg has killed at least nine people and injured dozens more. the russian prime minister says it was a terror attack. seven people have been charged in connection with an attack on a teenage asylum—seeker in south london, who was badly beaten. president trump says america will solve north korea's nuclear threat, with or without china's help. an update on the market numbers for you, here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. the ftse and the dax both the roundabout have a point. coming up to those of the day and trading in the streets down. the dow and nasdaq with unsightly as well. donald trump has said the united states will solve the threat posed by north korea's nuclear programme. in an interview with the financial times, the president said the us would act alone if china wouldn't intervene. he made his comments ahead of a visit to the us by the chinese president this week. i'm joined from our leeds studio by dr adam cathcart, an expert in china—north korea relations. it is good to see you. thank you for being with us. do you see any deal between america and north korea that doesn't involve china ? between america and north korea that doesn't involve china? it is very ha rd to doesn't involve china? it is very hard to imagine one and china has been essential to any unification of the korean peninsula since the seventh century and before. donald trump asa seventh century and before. donald trump as a hard time avoiding these kinds of trends and continuities in the region and the korean war, you can recall that the united states ended up fighting china for the survival of north korea. there are lots of reasons why it cannot be avoided. also, the underlying tone of the comments from the president that all options are on the table, potentially, in dealing with this. that carries its own problems, doesn't it? bearing in mind there are so many doesn't it? bearing in mind there are so many missiles that pyongyang has trained on south korea and could even hit japan. i am glad you mentioned japan because that is a lwa ys mentioned japan because that is always a player and the united states has had a long security relationship with japan that would reinforce nervousness about north korea. in terms of the messaging the trump administration, the trump himself, that all options are on the table, but have two disaggregate what is strange and novel from what is continuous in us policy. harry truman put the nuclear bomb on the table and it has always been there. truman and trump are so