BBC在线收听下载:美国国务卿亚洲之旅首访日本

BBC News with Sue Montgomery.

The head of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker has suggested the chances of a deal on how Britain leaves the EU have increased in recent days. It follows a souring of the mood last month. Adam Fleming reports.

All the officials and everyone seems to be pushing for the whole withdrawal agreement to basically be done by the summit on the 17th of October, which means the whole withdrawal agreement could be done in ten days' time, which is quite an incredible thought, if you've been following every twist and turn of this process, which would mean that November would be a sort of rubber stamping ceremony almost.

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Tokyo on the first leg of a nation tour which is scheduled to include a meeting with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports.

The US Secretary of State has a delicate few days ahead of him. Here in Tokyo, Mike Pompeo must reassure his most important Asian ally that any deal with North Korea will guarantee the removal of Pyongyang's nuclear threat against Japan. When he gets to Pyongyang, he will need to get a clearer commitment from Kim Jong-un that he is on board with getting rid of his nuclear weapons. If he gets that, then he may also agree a time and date for the next Kim-Trump summit. From Pyongyang, he will fly to Seoul where he will find the opposite of Tokyo. President Moon Jae-in wants the opening with Pyongyang to speed up not slow down.

Voting is taking place in Romania in a referendum on the nature of marriage. Almost all political parties and the Orthodox Church have campaigned in support of a change to the constitution that would ensure that a union can only take place between a man and a woman. Gay marriage is not currently permitted in Romania. More details from Nick Thorpe.

The organizers of this referendum, a group called the Coalition for the Family, wants to rewrite the Romanian constitution to ensure that marriage can only take place between a man and a woman. In the current constitution, the word translates as spouses, which can be interpreted as permitting same sex couples. Human rights groups and gay activists say it insets hatred and intolerance and have called for a boycott. To be valid, thirty percent of Romania's 18.7 million registered voters need to take part.

BBC News.