theses newsday on the bbc. the top stories: as us senators are given a classified briefing on north korea, washington signals tighter sanctions and more diplomacy to deal with pyongyang. as president trump and secretary matters have made clear, all options are on the table. we wa nt to all options are on the table. we want to ring kim jong—un to his senses and not his knees. the largest tax—cut in american history. it could save the lives of thousands of new mothers and a japanese invention that has finally been released 50 years on. how gay couples are getting around australian laws to get married with the help of the british. live from studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's

newsday. glad you could join us. it is 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 7pm in washington, dc, where the administration has given new details about its plans on how to deal with north korea. the us state department said the president aims to put pressure on pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear and lipstick programmes. in an unusual move, all us senators we re in an unusual move, all us senators were given a classified briefing on the strategy. —— ballistic missile programmes. one us senator called the briefing sobering. this isn't for real but it looks terrifyingly like it. a live fire exercise conducted by 2000 us and south korean troops, just miles from the north korean border at a time of extraordinary tension. it's a show of force,

and a show of unity. a military exercise with an unmistakable message to the south's unpredictable northern neighbour — we want peace, but we are ready for all eventualities. in washington this morning, the head of us pacific command put it like this. as president trump and secretary mattis have made clear, all options are on the table. we want to bring kim jong—un to his senses, not to his knees. and he said the us wanted to take the north koreans at their word. i believe that we have to look at north korea as if kimjong—un would do what he says. and what he threatens to the united states, that is one level, but when he threatens the united states with the capability of realising that threat, that is a different place. from the capital today, an unprecedented event. the whole senate decamping to the white house, though some seemed little

lost on where to go, to be given a classified briefing on the north korean situation from the president and all his key national security staff. a fleet of two buses taking republican and democrat senators on their day trip. i think the symbolism of going to the white house, where the commander—in—chief lives, to hear from the commander—in—chief and his team about what we need to do or be prepared to do with north korea gives a sense of how serious this is. and after the meeting this was the reaction. it was a sobering briefing, in which it was clearjust how much thought and planning has been going into preparing military actions, if called for, and a diplomatic strategy that seems to be a clear one and well proportioned to the threat. overnight, the us moved in a missile defence system called thad, which will be operational in the next few days. something that has not only caused unease in the north

but in china too. for the military exercises, a grandstand was built so that south koreans could watch. this woman says that kim jong—un would see in these drills how strong we are, and he will never dare to attack us. but this man comments, "i'm certainly more worried than before. kim jong—un is not the type of person to be pushed around". and the north korean leader has also ordered military exercises. nervousness seems to be the one thing that is shared on both sides of the border, and in the region as a whole. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. let's keep the focus on president trump because the trump administration has announced plans to slash the corporate tax rate from 35 to just 15%. to slash the corporate tax rate from 35 tojust 15%. some to slash the corporate tax rate from 35 to just 15%. some economists have criticised this move, saying it will increase the budget deficit. but the treasury secretary insisted it would help economic growth. our objective

is to make us business is the most competitive in the world. right now we have a 35% corporate rate on worldwide income and deferral. it is perhaps the most complicated and uncompetitive business rate in the world. not a surprise that companies leave trillions of dollars offshore. under the trump planned, we will have a massive tax cut for businesses and massive tax reform in simplification. as the president said during the campaign, we will lower the business rate to 15%. rico will take a longer look into those proposed cuts on asia business report, right after newsday. also making news today, moonjae—in, the man expected to be south korea's next president, has come under fire after making anti—gay comments during a live tv debate.

he declared he doesn't like homosexuality and has no intentions to legalise same—sex marriage if elected as the south korean president on may the 9th. mr moon's comments prompted gay—rights activists to gatecrash one of his campaign events on wednesday. a 21 year—old taiwanese trekker has been found alive in the himalayas, 47 days after he and his girlfriend went missing. rescuers believe the pair slid off a slippery trail and became trapped in a cave—like formation. sadly, his 19 year—old girlfriend died three days before the rescuers reached them. hollywood directorjonathan demme has died at the age of 73. he is best known as the director behind the 1991 film silence of the lambs. the film won best picture that year, while demee took the best director award. he'd been suffering from cancer. venezuela will withdraw from the organisation of american states saying the group is interfering with the country's domestic affairs.

the regional organisation voted to hold an emergency meeting of foreign ministers to discuss the crisis in venezuela amid ongoing protests in the country. president nicholas maduro had threatened to pull out of the oas before the meeting took place. two english league football clubs have been raided by tax officials over suspected fraud. officials say they've arrested several men from west ham and newcastle united football clubs. they seized documents, computers and mobile phones. the bbc understands the suspected income tax and national insurance fraud amounts to more than $6 million. finally, what you're seeing here is an illustrated depiction of cassini's final dive through the rings of saturn. nasa's probe has been making the first of 22 dives, through the narrow gap between saturn and its spectacular rings. scientists are waiting for what promises to be unparalleled pictures, as well as hoping

for information to unlock some of the mysteries of this gas—giant world. let's return to our top story, that classified full us senate briefing on north korea that has taken place at the white house. earlier i spoke with laura bicker who has been following events in washington. first of all, if you listen to some of the language the senators have used as they've left this meeting, complicated, unstable, dangerous, unpredictable, all to describe the situation with north korea. by bussing them to the white house was almost a piece of political theatre, to try to ensure that senators and anyone watching would understand the

seriousness of the situation with north korea. we are told that the current status quo, us possession of strategic patience, is off the table. they want all other options on the table. that includes imposing more sanctions and in order to do that they are talking about reinstating north korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. that would allow the us to impose further sanctions. also the issue of china's sanctions. also the issue of china's sanctions was discussed and how close the us is working with china to try to force north korea to come to try to force north korea to come to some kind of negotiating table. when it comes to the goal here, we can take some of the language from the secretary of state rex tillerson. they want a path to dialogue. the endgame seems to get kim jong—un to talk about ending his missile operations. if that doesn't work, they are moving some military

options around to try to show some military strength the us has in the region. in the past you have had us presidents also imposing sanctions, trying to work on the diplomatic road. but it never really worked. so the big question is, will these new options really help the us, china, work with the north koreans? options really help the us, china, work with the north koreans7|j options really help the us, china, work with the north koreans? i think the difference this time around is the difference this time around is the seriousness with which the administration is taking it. when president obama handed over to donald trump, the one thing he made clear was to watch the situation in north korea and donald trump seems to be taking that very seriously. not only did he make that clear to the chinese president when he was here, china has acted by stopping the imports of coal from here, china has acted by stopping the imports of coalfrom north korea and there are discussions about whether not they would hold more

sanctions. the difference also is that the us is collecting its military muscle as it has not before. that position of moving around the missile defence system. today you heard from the secretary of the end is, whether or not they could put interceptors in hawaii. these are all options that the us is putting on the table to say, look, we are prepared to use it. didn't wa nt to we are prepared to use it. didn't want to but we are prepared to use them. come to the table and come talk to us. every year, tens of thousands of women die around the world from blood loss after childbirth. but now new research conducted in london has found a cheap and widely available drug that can cut those numbers by about a third. that drug has been around for half a century. it was discovered by a japanese couple who couldn't convince doctors to use it at the time. the bbc‘s global health correspondent tulip mazumdar picks up the story. having a baby can be extremely

dangerous here in pakistan. for every 100 thousand births in the country in 2015, 178 mothers died. in the uk, that figure was nine. the leading cause of death, severe blood loss. a machine gave birth to a little girl two days ago. —— this woman gave birth. she is lucky to be alive. translation: iwas woman gave birth. she is lucky to be alive. translation: i was bleeding so much i felt like i was going to die. i was given 41 bottles of blood. the doctor had to remove my uterus to save my life. but there could be another lifeline to mothers like her. this hospital was part of a major international study which found that the cheap and easily accessible drug which helps with blood clotting could prevent a third of deaths from what is called postpa rtu m of deaths from what is called postpartum haemorrhage. of deaths from what is called

postpartum haemorrhagem of deaths from what is called postpartum haemorrhage. it is being used for things like heavy menstrual bleeding, it is being used for surgeries where bleeding is a little more. it is being used for trauma patients. but it hasn't really been used for postpartum. any drug which can produce it by 5%, 20%, whatever, would be very welcome. hundreds of women die from preventable causes in pregnancy and childbirth every day around the world. sierra leone has the highest mortality rates, more than 1300 mothers died per 100,000 births in 2015. that compares with countries like colombia, where it was 64 deaths. and, in parts of europe, including greece, poland and finland, it was three deaths. researchers hope this drug could now be used more widely to help stop so many women die in childbirth. nobody

should lead to death after childbirth in the 21st century. the drug is cheap, safe, effective as a treatment and can save thousands of lives worldwide. txa we sometimes used as a last resort for haemorrhaging new mothers. the who says it is now updating that advice, but this discovery could easily not have happened. txa was actually invented 50 yea rs have happened. txa was actually invented 50 years ago when the husband and wife duo in post—war japan. but they couldn't convince local doctors to run a clinical trial for postpartum haemorrhage. local doctors to run a clinical trialfor postpartum haemorrhage. it is only now after their deaths that their life—saving erie has been proven and there are hopes that more mothers will live to see their babies grow because of the drug may finally be realised. this is newsday on the bbc live from

london and singapore. still to come. the world health organization warns that many infants are at risk from deadly diseases in asia because they don't have access to routine vaccinations. we are looking at how the british are helping gay couples in australia get around the law preventing them from getting married. nothing, it seems, was too big to withstand the force of the tornado. the extent of the devastation will lead to renewed calls for government to build better government housing. internationally, there have already been protests. sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians at first denied anything had gone wrong. only when radioactivity levels began to increase outside russia were they forced to admit the accident. for the mujahideen, the mood here is of great celebration.

this is the end of a 12—year war for them. they've taken the capital, which they've been fighting for for so long. it was 7:00am in the morning, the day when power began to pass from the minority to the majority, when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony. welcome back, everyone. you are watching newsday on the bbc. i am rico hizon in singapore. i am kasia madera. the white house has briefed the us senate on the strategy with korea, saying it used diplomacy and sanctions to pressure pyongyang into dismantling its nuclear programmes.

the donald administration has revealed plans for what it is describing as the largest tax cart in american history. united air lines is investigating the death of a giant rabbit like this one. —— united airlines. it was found dead in the cargo hold on a flight to chicago. that story is popular on line. the front pages from around the world. the japan times. rising tensions over north korea could mean that security bonds between the us andjapan are that security bonds between the us and japan are growing closer. it says the current us— japan naval drills signalled the start of what it calls a new normal. the china daily. a big splash over the company's daily. a big splash over the compa ny‘s first domestically daily. a big splash over the company's first domestically built aircraft carrier. a detailed graphics of the flight deck. it says the ship, look at this, the largest

sophisticated surface vessel china has ever built. and orangutans are on the front page of the new york times with controversy over refuge for them in borneo. money for the sanctuary has come from a company they say has been destroying the orangutans' they say has been destroying the oranguta ns' natural habitat. they say has been destroying the orangutans' natural habitat. those are the headlines from key publications around the world. you may be surprised to hear that 19.4 million infants around the world still don't have access to routine vaccinations. those could protect them from deadly diseases. this is a challenge the world health organization is highlighting as part of their week focusing on world immunisation. 60% in four countries. four of which are in asia. i asked

them why. the philippines is a country where there are challenges with providing health services to the population. with vaccines, a couple of years ago there was a stockout, health clinics ran out of the vaccines that are needed to give every child. that caused a dip in the immunisation rate, a significant one. the philippines also had other challenges. they have large populations living, densely populated, i should say, areas, where it is difficult to get... there is a much access to health services. that means people are not getting to the clinics to get vaccines. sometimes it may be that there are no necessary follow—ups in place. there are towns in the philippines, i should say, that the government is very committed to addressing. just this week the

government has launched a very big and new campaign encouraging people to get back to the clinics to get children vaccinated. among the top—10 list i mentioned, four asian countries, they also include indonesia, india, pakistan... why is the percentage so high in asian countries? i think there are a couple of challenges. as you said, there are a number of large countries, popular countries, large countries, popular countries, large countries with large populations, where the immunisation rate is not as high as it should be. that is because of a range of reasons. with respect to the philippines, it could be there are not health services where they live. there are no vaccines where they live. in some cases there are mobile populations, groups of people who move around, migrant workers, for example. they don't have regular contact with the

health system, so it is hard to track these people and remind the pa rents to track these people and remind the parents to bring the children back m, parents to bring the children back in, not only for the first vaccination, but for the second and third shots in a vaccination schedule, to make sure that the child is vaccinated against a particular disease. in some of the countries you talk about, the re m ote ness countries you talk about, the remoteness of the country, some populations live a long way away from health services, that can be a challenge, getting vaccines to where people live. and finally, in some of these cases, there is not strong enough awareness among parents, for example, about just how enough awareness among parents, for example, aboutjust how important vaccination is, the power of vaccines to save the lives of children. there are a combination of factors going on, and that is why we are seeing in an —— immunisation rates not as high as they should be. a christian lobby group in australia

has called for britain to keep out of the long—running debate on same—sex marriage. couples cannot get married if they get in australia, but hundreds of weddings have taken place since 2014 using british law with the help of the british law with the help of the british high commission. we report. walking down the ireland into life. ben and simon exchange vows and rings with a loophole. they will be legally wed in britain and not australia is invests embassy. this ceremony is taking place under uk law. it only happens because ben has a british passport. once they leave the stately grounds, they will not be legally recognised on australian

soil. this is honoured by the queen, god damn it! who is more important? these relationships are strong as anybody's. canberra is at the centre of the struggle with same—sex marriage in australia. polls suggest public support, but politicians in parliament cannot agree on the best way forward. a nationwide vote plans earlier this year was scrapped because of fears it would stoke homophobic hatred. the purpose of marriage is to produce offspring... those campaigning against same—sex marriage claimed their views are being is committed against and they prefer countries like britain keep out of the debate. —— discriminated. just because britain does this does not mean we should. we are seeing

negative impacts in britain because of this. it is up to australia to do this. husband and husband. there marriage means there have now been 380 under british law in australia. a few have taken place in other countries as well, from azerbaijan to vietnam. is britain trying to exert some soft power? we would never seek to enforce our values in other countries, especially not one like australia with which we have such close and respectful relations. this is more about the services, but also a celebration of our own values. for ben and simon, today is about their future together, but they had the time will soon come when all of australia will embrace their marriage. bbc news, canberra. you have been watching newsday on

the bbc, i am rico hizon in singapore. stay with us. we will ta ke singapore. stay with us. we will take a more in—depth look at the tax reform proposed a president trump. it would slash taxes for us companies and wealthy americans. but what does it really mean for business? and we will leave you with pictures of california. the us state. you have never seen this before. there has been an explosion of wildflowers on an unprecedented scale. it is so vivid it can actually be seen from space. a whole new floral and stunning white with which to see the state. —— light. thank you for watching. hello again. the weather is set to

turn more mild over the next few days, quiet ending down in many respects. before that, thunderstorms. pale in west hamstead thanks to this weather watcher. —— hail. you can see the extent of the showers. they have tended to die away overnight. one or two left over. by and large, today we are looking at a cloudy weather picture for many of us. some showers knocking around as well. a look at how the weather starts off in the morning. a lot of cloud around. showers from the word go in north—western areas. the south of england and wales, this is where the clearest weather will be. a cold start to the day. patches of frost. temperatures at —3. a cold start to the morning. reasonably bright. it will not last. look a quick we will see areas of the comedown from the north. that will tend to trap cold

air. temperatures will be slow to write. northern england, northern ireland, scotland, a cloudy start to the days. occasional bright spells. showers from the word go. read the in northern scotland as well. through the rest of the day, showers will go south. it will turn cloudier and cloudy as the day goes by. showers in east anglia and the east of england. late in the day, the far north of england will brighten up. temperatures generally about 11 degrees. the weather picture through the night. showers will continue to go south. quite a bit of cloud initially. then the showers go away. that will allow things to get chilly. pockets of frost developing by the time we get to friday morning in parts of scotland and the far north of england in the countryside. this is the weather picture on

friday. a few showers. most in eastern parts of scotland and eastern parts of scotland and eastern england. for many of us, a dry and bright kind of day with cloud coming and going through the day. temperatures rising a little bit. 11-14 day. temperatures rising a little bit. 11—14 degrees. feeling more pleasant. that goes on into the weekend. saturday, by and large a dry day with sunny spells. western areas will have a little bit of rain. but mostly quiet. 12— 15 degrees. not bad for the start of the weekend. and that is your weather forecast. goodbye for now. this is bbc world news. the top story: the us wants tighter sanctions and more diplomacy, as the full senate is summoned to the white house for a security briefing on north korea. top commanders is deploying an advanced missile defence system in —— is to bring the north korean leader to his senses and not his knees. the trump

administration revealed plans for what it describes as the largest tax cut in american history. it plans to/ tax to just 15%. and another pr disaster for united airlines, which is investigating the death of a giant rabbit, a little like this one, who was found dead in the cargo hold during a flight from chicago to new york. now it's time for hardtalk.