hello and welcome to 100 days. north korea launches its first intercontinental mobile missile. the global power now face a challenge. after the successful test, president trump blasts beijing for not working to help the white house. in the next hour, the un security council cold an emergency meeting cold by america. it wants tougher action against korea. the new crisis comes as donald trump depart on his second international trip, first for poland and then tough talk that the 620 summit. also qatar comes on for more criticism. the foreign minister says the country will only negotiate through dialogue, not through blockades. qatar has never and will never support any terrorist movement 01’ never support any terrorist movement or will never row terrorism funds to be raised from qatar. and the french president certainly knows how to

make an entrance. his visit to any clear submarine drawing comparisons to james bond. —— clear submarine drawing comparisons tojames bond. —— a clear submarine drawing comparisons to james bond. —— a nuclear. hello. today we have a snapshot of the world in disarray. donald trump is on his way to europe, where he is likely to find that the transatlantic unity of the past has gone. north korea hasjust tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile. but farfrom its first intercontinental ballistic missile. but far from standing shoulder to shoulder with america, the german chancellor has taken the occasion of this week's 620 summit to sharply criticised the us. and as if the rift with europe was not enough, before president trump boarded his plane today, he sent out eight weeks than in china for not doing enough on north korea. it reads, trade between china and north korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. so much for china working

with us. but we had to give it a try. in an hour, the us security council will meet for an emergency session. so far, but russia and china have resisted american pressure. meeting in moscow, the president is called for north korea to suspend its ballistic missile programme. in return, they want a moratorium on military exercises by the united states and south korea. the us responded by doing just the opposite and carried out their own tests on the korean peninsula. so how does britain fit into all of this? the british defence secretary michael fallon heads to washington tomorrow to meet with top defence officials and his us counterpart. a little earlier, he spoke about that trip and the message you will be taken when it comes to north korea. the only thing the americans are talking about at the moment when it comes to security is north korea. the us could never accept a nuclear

armed north korea. do we have to contemplate that at some point the military response might be the only way to stop them? this will obviously be high up on the agenda when i meet the secretary. clearly, the missile launch is illegal. it is provocative. it is dangerous. and it is unacceptable and we need to do something about it. and that means first of all i think looking at further diplomatic pressure which could be brought. there have been security council resolutions before. they probably need to be toughened up. they certainly need to be enforced properly. there may be wea knesses enforced properly. there may be weaknesses in them. so we need to look at all of that. but also i am sure the united states will be looking at the threat to its own basesin looking at the threat to its own bases in japan and looking at the threat to its own bases injapan and indeed to its own seaboard. these missiles can now reach alaska. but where do we stand? are we urging the americans to stick with the diplomacy and find a diplomatic solution or are we also talking about a military option?

well, strategic patience as it was called clearly has not worked. the missile programme continues. so it is clearly something we have got to be considered. we do think there is more diplomacy to be done. first in the united nations work has begun. and looking at the resolutions and whether they are being enforced. but there is also work to be done to continue to bring china even more closely into the game. they have the most influence on north korea. there is more that china can do and needs to do to get the regime to start responding. when it comes to nato, president trump will be in poland tonight and tomorrow. there are europeans, particularly in the east, who are concerned about the american commitment to nato and commit to the article five, an attack on what is an attack on all. it would help that there was a full commitment to article five. well, he has committed

to it. i was at the leader's, 20 did commit to it. he has made clear that he wants some nato companies to get up he wants some nato companies to get up to the 2%. what is encouraging is the movement. they are now spending more. 0verall spending has increased markedly. 202i think of the 29 countries are increasing their defence spending. a number of them have now meant a date by which they will reach 2%. other countries making 2% this year. that is romania. and so nato has responded to his call. and secondly, we are continuing to work with the united states on modernisation. the secretary and i have tabled a paper with nato on how we will pursue the modernisation and reduce bureaucracy. some of the decision—making needs to be speeded up decision—making needs to be speeded up and we want to see that addressed when it comes to the next summit next year. we are committed to this 296 next year. we are committed to this 2% target. you have spoken about it a lot. but there are senior figures

within the military who are concerned about troop numbers. the chief of the general staff says there is almost an unprecedented lack of mass in the army. that is challenging for all three services, to recruit when the economy is growing. increasingly, they are looking for the same specialisms as the rest of the economy. people who are expert in engineering or it. these are highly prized people now and we have to compete for them. we had to find a way to recruit them. the best of every generation. and then to retain them. and we continue to look at the offer and making employment in the army more flexible. we have a bill going through parliament at the moment. and we will continue to do that. has the us expressed any concern about british troop numbers? no, they have not done that with me. we have stepped forward in nato. we are one of the four framework battlegroups, and enhance forward presence. we have deployed troops with the americans in poland. we have

increased our troop numbers in afghanistan. what is the right level for the army? we said in our ma nifesto for the army? we said in our manifesto that we want to maintain the size of the armed forces including andi the size of the armed forces including and i think this is the crucial thing the ability of the army to fight at divisional level, to field a war fighting division, which relatively few countries in the world can do. that is our ambition, to be able to do that. and we can do that. a week ago, you were interviewed on this idea that the syrians were ready to use chemical weapons again. there was a statement from the white house. have you since then seen evidence that indeed there was an attack in the planning? the americans had some evidence that chemical weapons might be used again but i am not going to go into details of that. we work extremely closely with the americans. and i made it very clear that if the americans resorted to pre—emptive strikes to prevent the use of chemical weapons we would support those. what is the endgame in syria?

is there anything that president trump might be able to do at this meeting with president putin this week to bring it about? no, the americans have been committed to the process. we have all been encouraging the moderate parties in syria to come to a new settlement. we wa nt syria to come to a new settlement. we want to see a settlement in syria. we have a settlement in ir. we have a democratic 6overnment syria. we have a settlement in ir. we have a democratic government in iran and we want to see a similar settle m e nt iran and we want to see a similar settlement in syria. we will continue working with the americans and with everybody else to bring the 6eneva process together with the alternative process that we can chart a path to a new political future in syria. michael fallon. so interesting, with so much going on in the world, you spoke about nato, the size of the british army, north korea, syria. it is a really useful time to be able to talk to him and i was interested to hear him say that

he agrees with the white house that the era for strategic patience on north korea is over. i am to still not fully clear what that means and whether the white house has any better options up its sleeve than we re better options up its sleeve than were available under president 0bama. i think two things came out of this for me. 0bviously, 0bama. i think two things came out of this for me. obviously, the focus will shift to hamburger to the meeting between president putin and president trump on friday. but then you have the serious players. the national security adviser in washington and the really experienced men in terms of defence with michael fallon over there who isa with michael fallon over there who is a key figure in the nato framework as well, and they will be looking at all the options around the table. they have already said there has been a military review. but this is a much more dangerous world. it got more dangerous yesterday and so it does focus debate internally as well within the uk about troop numbers. we got some of the best kit and we're spending money on state—of—the—art defence systems after the spending review in

2015. but there has been a lot of criticism here about the troop numbers which slipped just under 80,000. it is the lowest numbers in the army since the 1850s. and you can have as good a kit as you want but you need trained men and well—trained meant that you can retain within the system to operate those systems and that is one of the problems that britain is facing at the moment and other countries and it is obviously that is the thought ofa it is obviously that is the thought of a debate that is going on within european countries at the moment, where they target the money and how much they spend. as we mentioned, the un security council is about to go into that emergency session. it sta rts go into that emergency session. it starts in about an hour. it has been called by the united states. our correspondent is at the united nations for us. we can cross to her now. is there any indication after this latest missile test that there is going to be more unity on the security council about what to do about north korea? well, in terms of unity, i think we will see across

the board condemnation for north korea's latest test but i think that is where it ends. we are actually going to see a bit of diverging s on what to do next between the us on one side and china on the other. president of china got president putin to sign onto a plan where they are calling for a suspension to suspension. they think basically that world powers should start talking to north korea, that they would freeze their nuclear programme if the us and south korea would agree to suspend theirjoint military exercises. i spoke to a us diplomat and asked if that was something that the us would consider. previously, they have said that it was only if north korea would dismantle their programme, that they would consider speaking again. and he told me that is not really where they are going at this point. the us is still concerned about is really pushing for more sanctions and making sure that the sanctions and making sure that the sanctions that have already been passed are actually really being

implemented. so we will likely hear the us ambassador pointed the finger at those who are allowing workers from north korea, which means money being filtered back there. also going after those who are helping economically and militarily and also ignoring some of the sanctions. i was just ignoring some of the sanctions. i wasjust going to ignoring some of the sanctions. i was just going to say very quickly, that issue of strategic patience that issue of strategic patience that michael fallon was talking about, it has worked in the past with china because they wanted this buffer between south korea and their border. but they must be concerned that this is going to quickly, that it is too much even for them. yes, absolutely. we've seen china in the past. last month, they were willing to work with the united states to negotiate, but 1a north korean individuals and two that sanction blacklist of asset freezes and travel bans. 0ver blacklist of asset freezes and travel bans. over the last year, we had to resolutions with the sanctions, for china has been concerned about this. the problem for them as they have to have a delicate balance. they do not want

to destabilise the region too much and have chaos and refugees on their doorstep so they are trying to find that balance. 0k, doorstep so they are trying to find that balance. ok, for the moment, then he very much. the most intriguing part of the 620 summit will be the first meeting between donald trump vladimir putin which is scheduled for friday. the present‘s broader relationship with europe is also under scrutiny. it appear last month did not go to smoothly. funny that you remember that. one place that you remember that. one place that donald trump is guaranteed a friendly reception is in poland. the conservative party their shares his populist agenda but just to conservative party their shares his populist agenda butjust to make sure that the president get a rousing reception, the government is reportedly planning to bus and thousands of people to warsaw to cheer him on. senior vice president for europe at the centre for strategic and international studies this year. you also used to work at the us state department on european affairs. so angela merkel has a welcome president to donald trump to europe. she gives an interview and says we have very different world views, the president thinks that there are winners and losers, we

need to start thinking there are winners and winners. absolutely. not terribly diplomatic. no, but i think now leaders are speaking out very clearly. when president trump arrives in warsaw, you will meet with the government that sees very eye to eye with him, but for its anti—6erman and anti—european union sentiment, it's more nationalistic stance, its views on energy, both from use of call to energy independence from russia. so president trump, like his first trip abroad, when he went to saudi arabia first and then to europe, ye had a great reception at that first stop. i think his advisers think he will ta ke i think his advisers think he will take some comfort from that. he had a major address on the future of the transatlantic relationship. we are all very keen to hear his words because really for the last year both his candid bit and now as president, he has questioned the alliance. he is questioned free trade and everything about the transatlantic relationship. it is interesting listening to angela

merkel and watching what is happening between 6ermany merkel and watching what is happening between germany and china, particularly on issues like climate change. it seems as if the europeans have said to themselves we give you a chance that we listen to you when you came to talk to us last time at the nato alliance but now we have figured out that we have two form our own alliances and you have a host of 620 diplomats and officials being quoted in the press, saying, we believe america is in the retreat and there is not the leadership that we need and we will step out. yes, i think they have spent a lot of time trying to see where they could work with president trump and his administration and the others come to the conclusion that they don't cia to eye. europe cannot walk away from the united states. america is your‘s security guarantor in this world and it is in disarray, as you mentioned earlier. we can't walk away. the united states is the bedrock of the international system. but europe does and has other options. it has others trading relationships. the eu and japan trading relationship will be certainly front and centre of the

620, so free—trade, international multilateral solutions to the climate issue. if the us stepped out, the rest of the world will not wait for hours. that is what president trump does not understand. you can step away but everyone else will keep moving on and that will be a disadvantage to the united states. christian, is this good for america, this position of being in retreat that the president seems to be taking? well, certainly china and 6ermany taking? well, certainly china and germany are looking to fill the gap. i was just germany are looking to fill the gap. i wasjust going germany are looking to fill the gap. i was just going to ask, when it comes to poland, there will be a warm reception, they are bringing in the supporters tomorrow. but there has been some concern about poland and his attitude towards vladimir putin, that there might be some grand bargain where by the eastern europeans might lose out. you are absolutely right. poland is a sta lwa rt absolutely right. poland is a stalwart nato member. there are over 900 us forces in poland to defend nato countries against potential

russian aggression. and this is where the polish 6overnment russian aggression. and this is where the polish government and president trump would disagree fundamentally on russia policy. and it will be very interesting to see what he says in warsaw and then what he will say to president putin when he will say to president putin when he meets with him formally on the margins of the 620 summit. we may have two very different messages coming out of that. are you saying that there may be a coded message and what he says tomorrow in poland that might be aimed at president putin ahead of that meeting?m that might be aimed at president putin ahead of that meeting? it is unclear. we really have never heard president trump clearly talk about russia as a security challenge. why there are us forces in poland as pa rt there are us forces in poland as part of a nato enhanced forward presence on the eastern flank. it will be interesting to see how he ca ptu res will be interesting to see how he captures that. and again, i feel like i'm having deja vu all over again. in brussels last month, we we re again. in brussels last month, we were told he would give the speech and say the magic words on article

five. he gave a very different speech. we are being promised a very forward leaning speech about those article five commitments. we don't know what president trump will say, what speech he will get. who is the author of that speech. but it has been very clear that president trump has eroded fundamentally america plasma credibility in the alliance and it is really hard to rebuild that once that credibility is taken away. it will be fascinating. thank you very much. i did say a few minutes ago that the army needed more men and i was rightfully called out on twitter for not saying men and women and usually you would pick me upfor and women and usually you would pick me up for that. i was just letting you have a free pass. if i take you to task every single time, christian, it is all we would talk about. we would never get through. you are quite right. my apologies. i did mean men and women. it has been three weeks since 6renfell tower was destroyed by fire. at least 80 people are considered dead and now

there is an enquiry which will consider a broad range of evidence. todayis consider a broad range of evidence. today is the deadline to rehouse all of those who were affected by the fire, but at 139 offers made, only 14 fire, but at 139 offers made, only 1a families have actually accepted the new housing. 0ur 1a families have actually accepted the new housing. our special correspondent lucy manning has more. the missing posters have been here for three weeks. they flutter, a painful reminder because time has not brought any answers. now the police search through the 15 tonnes of debris on each floor, still trying to find all the 6renfell victims. this man was at the meeting the police and coroner called last night. his uncle is missing from the 23rd floor. he went over to comfort some young children which, for me, is very heroic, and i want that to stick and stay in the family. we may never know if my uncle is ever going to be found. the family is just broken and there is no way of fixing them. this is something that

can never be fixed and they want to be able to bury their loved ones, pray for their loved ones, say goodbye, in any way, shape or form. it sounds like all we are going to have is debris from his flat, whichjust isn't good enough. the police now say they have recovered all the remains from the building that were visible and 87 recoveries, as they put it, have been made. but they stress, because of the catastrophic damage, that doesn't mean 87 people and they still can't say how many have died. meanwhile, survivors struggle, carrying bags of donated food back to their hotels. three weeks and you will have housing was the promise.

this survivor didn't want to be identified, scared of being seen to criticise the council. i didn't take them up on theiroffer. they were very expensive, the rent. although they have promised they were going to pay for a whole year and i did not have to pay for a year, but after that i said put it in writing. and they said the legal documents are not ready yet. some have preferred to stay within their temporary accommodation in hotels than move into temporary accommodation, so there have only been 1a acceptances so far. with residents feeling scared and let down, the government has now sent in an external task force to run some parts of the council, including housing. the minister overcome. hearing the harrowing accounts of survivors has been the most humbling and moving experience of my life. the families that i have met have been through unimaginable pain.

today at the inquest, 60—year—old vincent was named and 84—year—old sheila smith, described as a truly beautiful person. that is so sad. three weeks on those families not yet rehoused. you will enter into a formal co—operation pa ct enter into a formal co—operation pact with cuba, moving a step closer to the normalisation of relations. the european parliament also approved a resolution calling upon havana to respect human rights. the deal would now be presented to all european member states for ratification and it comes weeks after the us president reimpose american travel and trade restrictions on cuba. president of canada has met queen elizabeth on a visit to scotland. he says he wants to honour the importance of the british sovereign to his country's

history as canada marks its 150th anniversary. talking of young leaders, there are few world leaders who can compete in popularity with justin trudeau, except perhaps emmanuel macron. yesterday, he tweeted a photograph of himself being lowered into a nuclear submarine. it was positioned some 200 miles off the coast of brittany. emmanuel macron was there to highlight his commitment to the nuclear deterrent of france. he described it as the keystone of french security. yes, perhaps channelling his innerjames bond there. quite brave, that. iwould not do it. or maybe the milk tray man, take your pick. not everybody looks good in a harness. you remember this? actually, this is something we spotted a little earlier. he looks a little bit like sean connery in this film, the hunt for the red 0ctober. sean connery in this film, the hunt

for the red october. i think he's definitely channelling that film. we went through these. this was brilliant producer matt who found these. let's show the other picture which is also from that same film and that is the two of them being winched down onto the submarine. can we pull that up? there you go, you see. do we have my example of what not to do in a harness? yes, there we go. a little less james bond and a little more johnny we go. a little less james bond and a little morejohnny english. that is borisjohnson a little morejohnny english. that is boris johnson in a little morejohnny english. that is borisjohnson in 2012. which one would you be? i would definitely be johnny english. that is what i would look like ina johnny english. that is what i would look like in a harness, no doubt. it is amazing. emmanuel macron is a little bit like justin is amazing. emmanuel macron is a little bit likejustin trudeau. he isa little bit likejustin trudeau. he is a total rock star at the moment andi is a total rock star at the moment and i remember when justin is a total rock star at the moment and i remember whenjustin trudeau started it was a little bit like this and he is busy picking these

photo opportunities but eventually, as we have seen in canada, the politics does start to catch up. yes, the submarine and france will be the only country with a nuclear deterrent after britain leads the european union so actually an important policy issues. 6ot european union so actually an important policy issues. got a great visual opportunity for a man who is clearly very conscious of how he looks. more of that sort of stuff to come in the programme. we will have more of that. we will also talk about qatar. all of that coming up. still to come, the gulf is opening wide divisions with qatar. 0ur security correspondent six down with the qatar foreign minister to find out if his country actually does support terrorism. and we will be talking about panda politics as china's international policy arrives in germany. hello. 0nce china's international policy arrives in germany. hello. once again, it seems to be the case that once the temperatures touched 30 celsius, it

really seems to make the headlines. 0ur weather watchers were out in that area to capture the heatwave. you will notice that widely across the south there was plenty of sunshine to be had but across the north east of england, a a lot of cloud. a real dent in the temperatures. certainly for a good pa rt temperatures. certainly for a good part of the day, that is the sort of scene that people were trying to see through their windows. the north—west, we introduce another area of rain and towards the south—east it may well be that we end the night and a sticky one at that with the prospect of some thunderstorm activity. i do not expect to see a lot of water across the carriageways of the south east but i would not pull out the chance of it being a little damp in some areas and you may well here are some thunder. but it will not be torrential downpours at this stage. looking further north and west, a dry and fine prospect, at least for a time. do not be fooled by that. cloudy for northern ireland. more

rain as if it was needed across the western side of scotland after a very damp to stay. some relief on wednesday. this range will be unwelcome in some parts and then gradually working ever further eastwards. through the day, the risk of showers ever further north through east anglia. then there is the potential and i put it no stronger than that of some thunderstorm is breaking out from eastern wales. all a long way from wimbledon. even those early showers should not be a bother four play. but i should stress again that even though i have shown you that is very high temperatures, it will not be like that every word. although some of thursday's warmth will get into the north of england. if the thunderstorms break—out, they will gradually slip away into the north sea overnight. 0n gradually slip away into the north sea overnight. on friday, a lot of hot weather. a fair amount of sunshine to start with and then tending to cloud over to the day. many areas will stay dry and again the highest of the temperatures to be found across the south east.

friday into saturday, another finger of cloud and rain just extending through the borders to the north of england too. the weekend turning fresher. try foremost and there will be some showers. welcome back to 100 days+. i'm katty kay in washington. and i'm christian fraser in london. our top stories — the pentagon says the united states is capable of defending itself against the kind of intercontinental missile north korea tested earlier this week. the united nations will hold emergency meetings in the security council. south korea is calling for tougher sanctions. saudi arabia said today it will not lift its embargo of qatar after the gulf emirate rejected terms to end the blockade. the saudi foreign minister described the decision as "painful" but necessary. he repeated the criticism that qatar supports terrorism.

saudi arabia joined the uae, egypt and bahrain in imposing the embargo. the four countries say qatar doesn't understand the gravity of the dispute. we cannot have a country like qatar that is an ally militarily, and in the 6cc, and in the arab league. and that hosts an airbase from which planes take off to fight isis and al-qaeda, and at the same time, it turns a blind eye to terror financiers who operate openly in qatar, turns a blind eye to extremists who advocate suicide bombings and advocate young men going to fight in war zones. we cannot have it both ways. in response, qatar's foreign minister again said that resolving the dispute would come from dialogue and not a blockade. and the treatment of his country is an insult and clear sign of aggression. he spoke to our security

correspondent, frank 6ardner. first of all, qatar has never and will never support any terrorist movement, or will never allow terrorism funds to be raised from qatar or to be channelled through qatar. and will take whatever measure it takes in order to get rid of them. and therefore, this is qatar moving from a strategic dimension in countering terrorism, and others who are willing to contribute more. we are investing in education in those four other countries. frank 6ardner joins us frank 6ardnerjoins us in the studio. before he went to poland today, donald trump did speak to the egyptian president to see if they could mediate a solution. but it does not look as if it is de—escalating. does not look as if it is de-escalating. no, and egypt could not mediate as an honest broker because egypt and qatar have long had bad relations. when president

mubarak was president of egypt, he finally paid a visit to qatar, and he said he visited aljazeera, and he said he visited aljazeera, and he said, "all this noise from just this room?" he said, "all this noise from just this room? " he he said, "all this noise from just this room?" he could not believe it, and relations have often been very bad. he once accused qatar are having the population of a small hotel. the fact is that this row has really spun out of control. it has got way beyond the level at which i think they can control it. i spend time interviewing the qatar foreign minister, as you saw today, and his view is that the accusations of terrorism are groundless and a smoke screen terrorism are groundless and a smoke screen for what he says saudi arabia and the uae we want to do is to bring qatar's foreign policy in line with beers and make—up subordinated. that is not the view others have. this is a real turning point in the gulf. qatar has been in the black sheep, they are saying, for too long. it has been hosting people

spouting a venomous ideology and it has been supporting islamist groups, violent islamist groups in some cases, they are saying, as far away as libya and syria. qatar does admit that in the early stages of the city and conflict, they did have some unsavoury groups with an unsavoury agenda. but they said they were not alone was about, other people did. they did not names names, but the saudis did as well. when i was in cairo, they were very animated about aljazeera, and cairo, they were very animated about al jazeera, and this cairo, they were very animated about aljazeera, and this is one of the 13 months that they get rid of al jazeera. but the always felt that they were in cahoots with the muslim brotherhood, so it is not an honest broker in this negotiation, egypt. brotherhood, so it is not an honest broker in this negotiation, egyptlj was broker in this negotiation, egypt.” was interested to hear national security people in washington over the last few days. they felt that in this spat, the saudis might have overplayed their hand with the turks getting involved on the qatar res site. what do you think? who has the

upper hand in this one? for the saudis side, the driving force is the new crown prince,, a man who people think might be king before the end of the year if his father abdicates. he is backed by the crown prince of abu dhabi, and certainly i think, they expected qatar to come into line. now, qatar said these demands were so unrealistic as to be an actionable, and they were designed to be rejected, making it a manufactured crisis. i am not sure thatis manufactured crisis. i am not sure that is good for anybody. i asked the ten the mac foreign minister, and he said they had discussed it, they had made preparations, but they hope it does not come to that. qatar has a tiny population, a tiny defence force, and saudi arabia's

national guard wanted to, they would roll across the border. there is not much qatar could do about that. the turks are there, but not very many of them, turkey has a base that can ta ke of them, turkey has a base that can take up to 3000 people. they have reinforced armoured vehicles. it is 2500 kilometres from bangkok to joe hart, so it is vital to the us— led campaign against so—called islamic state. it is from —— it is called the coalition operations centre. from there, they control all operations as far—away as afghanistan. very interesting. thanks, frank, for coming in. the petrol engine could soon be a thing of the past. today volvo became the first major car manufacturer to fully commit to that greener future. it's guaranteeing that all its new models from 2019 will have either electric or hybrid engines. making things more interesting, it's the new chinese owners of the company that are behind this new approach.

but with emissions standards getting tighter and customer demands changing, perhaps they are moving with the times. the bbc‘s richard westcott reports. he drives up in a 1900 model t. the shapes have changed a bit over the years, and thank goodness when it comes to the brown allegro, but all these cars have one thing in common — an internal combustion engine, burning petrol or diesel. we have relied on it for 100 years, but is that about to change? volvo cars is taking a bold step forward, heralding the end of a need for the pure internal combustion engine. heralding the end of an era for the pure internal combustion engine. from 2019, volvo says all its new models will be at least ambitious plans, but experts say it won't be quick. diesel and petrol have a long life in them yet. a lot of people will choose to adopt hydrogen before the call all electric, and during that time, batteries will improve, which will increase the range

of miles you can do, and prices will drop, which will also make them more tenable for people to buy. so it is going to be quite a while yet before we see all electric cars as every car on the road. in fact, sales of alternative engines remain small. injune last year, more than 8,300 electric and hybrid vehicles were registered in the uk last year. that increased to nearly 11,000 this year, but it is still dwarfed by the quarter of a million petrols and diesels people bought. this street sums up one of the big reasons that plug—in cars haven't sold in any great numbers. many of us live in houses like this. we do not have garages, we live in flats. you often can't even park near your house, so how are you supposed to charge your electric car? then there is the problem of topping up mid—journey. certainly, some of the country is better than others. so newcastle and the north—east has quite a lot of charging infrastructure. wales is very poor. but to get from where we are to where we need to be, different parties to have to come forward and put in charging points, be that workplaces.

we will need to see businesses putting them in for their staff, supermarkets, anyone who has got a public car park available. electric cars are getting cheaper with a better range. it will still be some years yet, though, before the internal combustion engine drives off for good. a rather different chinese innovation now. now, for decades china, has been engaged in panda diplomacy, and now two of the cuddly ambassadors have found a new home. a pair are going on display in germany, with chancellor angela merkel and the chinese president xi jinping there for the grand reveal. yes, but their arrival doesn't come cheap. china has loaned the animals to the berlin zoo, which will pay $1 million a year to host them. as jonny dymond reports, it's a chance to forge closer ties between the two countries. they may look friendly, but don't get too close. china's loan off

these three pandas —— to pandas, comes from the global superpower with a price. —— two pandas. it is worth paying attention when 6ermany and china meet these days. 6ermany is europe's undisputed leader. china's surging economic power is turning into global political muscle. the chancellor and the president are meeting before the world's 20 biggest economies get together in berlin. 0nce, world's 20 biggest economies get together in berlin. once, it might have been america around the table, but 6ermany wants chinese help in propping up a world order destabilised by change in washington. and china wants open markets to sell into, and allies it can rely on. translation: this is

pioneering for our relations. we are happy to note that, thanks to mutual effo rts happy to note that, thanks to mutual efforts on both sides, chinese and 6erman relations have reached a new phase in which we are moving on a peak level. the panda special came to britain in the 1970s, as china emerge from decades of isolation. these pandas were gifts, part of an effort to warm frozen relations. panda diplomacy, it became known as. now, the pandas in berlin are making hearts race, but these bamboo guzzlers are on loan, and they do not come cheap. nearly £800,000 a year. for some berliners, at least, they are worth every penny. we have a resident panda expert, and

it is katty. she was the leaflet. you thought this was an excuse to have cuddly pandas on the programme, but serious books have been written about panda diplomacy. chairman mao, realised the advantage of sending pandas... you get the gist. many pandas... you get the gist. many pandas have been sent out over the yea rs by pandas have been sent out over the years by china, and here is the most interesting thing. if you are a panda, if you were born in berlin or here in washington or london, you would to matip we have chinese citizenship. i think that means they are anchor pandas in immigration terms. not many pandas are born in 6ermany terms. not many pandas are born in germany and london, so obviously they get chinese citizenship! they

are also chinese! some readers have been booted out of office after getting pandas, it is known as the panda cars. —— some readers. —— panda cars. —— some readers. —— panda curse. that is all from 100 days+ for today. join us at the same time tomorrow. 6oodbye. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines at 7:45 — the government is to send in a taskforce to take over the running of parts of kensington and chelsea council — after criticism of the way it's handled the aftermath of the 6renfell tower fire. as knife crime becomes one of the greatest challenges facing police forces across the country, officers call for a change in attitudes and behaviour. a disabled refugee who was beaten to death and set on fire outside his home was repeatedly failed by the police — a report finds. an update on the market numbers

for you — here's how london and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states, this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. a lorry driver has been called a hero after his quick thinking saved another man's life. it happened on the a 47 new norwich. norwich police say his actions almost certainly saved lives. russell has been a truck driver for 22 years, delivering agricultural equipment across the country. this drama began saw the driver of a white van in a desperate state. he was collapsed at the wheel, no hands on the wheel,

slumped up against the driver's tour. and still going? and still going. he still had his foot on the throttle. running alongside the barrier. dash cam pictures from another vehicle show a passenger in another vehicle show a passenger in a car running to assist. russell successfully brought the lorry to a halt. first aid is, successfully brought the lorry to a halt. firstaid is, a successfully brought the lorry to a halt. first aid is, a fireman and an off—duty paramedic then arrived to help the driver. this man was on his way back to great yarmouth with a work colleague in the white car seen in the dash cam footage. when i pulled up alongside the vehicle, i could see that the driver had collapsed and was unconscious. our initial thoughts were to get to him and give him some help. what about fossil‘s pa rt and give him some help. what about fossil‘s part in this? and give him some help. what about fossil's part in this? it is fantastic. if it was not for him,

things could have been a lot worse. —— russell's part. his