i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. welcome to newsday. the headlines: donald trump says he has not ruled out military action against north korea after another missile tests. many people tried to take his power away, whether it was his uncle or anyone else. obviously, he is a smart cookie. tributes to one of the world's most famous and celebrated climbers, ueli steck, who's died in an accident on mount everest. hello, i'm tom donkin in london. also in the programme: tornadoes hit texas, leaving nine dead and 50 in hospital. emergency services fear the death toll may rise. and he's had an impressive run in the world snooker championship, how ding junhui has found success is winning over millions of new chinese fans. live from our studios in singapore and london. this is bbc world news.

it's newsday. good morning. it's 8am in singapore, 1am in london and 8pm in the evening in washington, where president donald trump has been singing the praises of china in sharp contrast to his campaign rhetoric. in an interview with the american cbs network, the us president said he was in constant touch with president xijinping, and believed he was putting pressure on north korea to reign in its leader kimjung—un‘s nuclear ambitions. the relationship i've had with china, it's been already acclaimed as being something very special, something very different to what we've already had. on north korea, mr trump warned that a conflict with the country could kill millions of people.

but he had some surprising words of praise for supreme leader kim kim jong—un. dealing with obviously very tough people, in particular the generals and others, and at a very young age he was able to assume power. a lot of people i'm sure tried to take that power away, whether it was his uncle or anybody else. and he was able to do it. so, obviously, he's a pretty smart cookie. i've been speaking tojohn sopel our north america editor about that interview and the possibility of a new special relationship with china. the one thing you have to accept is with donald trump you can go in and out of favour quite fast. i mean, during the campaign, president xi was responsible for the terrible trade deals hitting america, he was responsible for manipulating chinese currency to the disadvantage of the americans, but now, he is seen as a needed ally in the attempts to rein in north korea and their nuclear programme. and so you're seeing lavish praise

being heaped upon president xi from donald trump. i thought also something else came out of the weekend that i thought was really interesting, he put out a tweet saying kim jong—un had shown disrespect to president xi by trying to hold another missile test, and i thought that all spoke to one thing, i want to hold president xi very close because any success in north korea has to go through china. it was very interesting, that interview on us tv, he even appeared to show a bit of empathy for the north korean leader. i kind of think that donald trump respects people who are strong, who shown themselves to be resilient. i think he looks at kimjong—un, this young man who came to power when presumably there were an awful lot of generals jockeying for position and, you know what, he's a pretty smart cookie. i think he's also hoping that one day maybe he will be able to negotiate with kim jong—un. so maybe there was a bit of flattery

there, maybe he was offering something kimjong—un might bite on as a way of de—escalating the tensions that are in the korean peninsula at the moment. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. ueli steck, one of the most famous and fastest climbers in the world, has died on mount everest. the 41—year—old is believed to have slipped and fallen from a rock—face. he's best known for his record breaking speed climbs of alpine peaks. the explorer ranulph fiennes has been among those paying tributes today. the climbing world will be sorry. he broke amazing records by a mixture of modesty, humility, and great ability, on top of athleticism of the most amazing type. also making news today:

surveillance camera footage from beijing has revealed the horrifying moment when an suv lost control in an underground car park in beijing, killing one security guard and injuring two other workers. the deadly accident occurred last wednesday. the driver of the car had allegedly pushed the accelerator rather than the brake pedal while trying to stop her car. southeast asian leaders took a softer stance on the south china sea dispute during their weekend summit in manila. a statement was released after the summit ended, dropping references to land reclamation and militarization. those references had been included in the text during last year's meeting. china is extremely sensitive to comments about its activities in spratly islands. 36 members of the yazidi group held as slaves in the islamic state have been freed in iraq according to the un. it included men, women, and children in captivity for three yea rs. children in captivity for three years. 1500 women and girls are still being held, they believe. the former billionaire eike batista,

who was once one of the world's richest men, has left prison in brazil for house arrest ahead of a corruption trial. batista, was worth more than $30 billion five years ago, but has lost much of his empire. he's been accused of bribery and hiding illegalfunds offshore. indonesia's president, joko widodo, has been greeted with a mix of protest and celebration during a visit to hong kong, where thousands of indonesians work as domestic helpers. ahead of the visit, president widodo said he aimed to improve his country's economy and workforce so that one day no—one would need to work abroad. over recent years, there's been concern about the treatment of foreign maids in hong kong. one of the key power—brokers in the world of sport has resigned from all of his football roles, after being linked to a corruption scandal. sheikh ahmad al fahad al sa bah of kuwait, also said he would not stand for re—election next month to the ruling council of football's governing body fifa. he has denied any wrongdoing. and finally, take a look at this.

it's the first passenger vessel to sail through the newly expanded locks of the panama canal. the disney wonder liner is the first of 18 cruise ships destined to make the journey during the 2017 and 2018 season. this journey represents something of a milestone. the old lock system stopped many modern cruisers from fitting through. but the new lock is 21 metres wider and six metres deeper. at least five people have been killed and around 50 injured after tornados struck the us state of texas. emergency services are searching for missing people and say they fear the death toll may rise. as david campanale now reports, the american midwest has been affected by an intensive weather system that has caused damage across several states. it is texas, and this region of the

united states is known as tornado alley for its incredible storms. twisters like these are not uncommon, but there are massive capacity for death and destruction are always unwelcome. homes in the state have been flattened, trees uprooted, and cars overturned. at least one powerful storm hit the city of ca ntan, least one powerful storm hit the city of cantan, 80 kilometres east of dallas. more have been reported in other areas. there is a tornado crossing the road in front of us. blocked roads have hindered emergency responders who have tried to get out to people calling for help. they are still coming in. we are talking about maybe five casualties. that number may go up. we are going to deploy search and rescue and recovery right now. that number may go up and hopefully it does not. we have a number of

fatalities. heavy rains and damaging winds have struck a broad swathes of the us foreign. downpours that began on friday have been so intense the ground has been unable to absorb the rainfall, causing widespread flooding and prompting evacuations. missouri and oklahoma have declared states of emergency due to flooding and the damage caused to power supplies and structures. the massive storm system has also delayed thousands of flights. colorado and wyoming further north have been struck by snowstorms. heavy rain in the midwest is expected to continue until the end of the weekend, along with wind gusts of 90 kilometres per hour. david campa nale, with wind gusts of 90 kilometres per hour. david campanale, bbc news. let's go back to our top story, and what seems to be an improvement in relations between president donald trump and china. stephen tsang is from london's school of oriental and african studies. earlier, i asked him whether the us and china were really on the same page when it comes to north korea.

well, the two countries on the same page in terms of not really wanting the korean peninsular situation to slide into a war. but whether the chinese president will be able to or is willing to deliver in the way that president trump wants, i think that remains an open question. anything that china does in relation to north korea, any economic squeeze they might put on pyongyang, that's surelyjust down to trade with the us and not down to any personal relationship donald trump may have developed with president xi? i think you put your fingers on it. i think from the chinese government's perspective, the single most important issue in the relationship between china and the united states is the trade relationship and the so—called 100 days of negotiation to a trade deal. but then in order to get president trump to back off and ease

pressure on china with trade, the chinese will have to deliver something of a north korea. what's your take on this, donald trump speaks very flowery about the relationship with president xi, saying it something the us and china hasn't seen before. is that your reading of the situation? clearly, president trump is putting on a particular gloss for a reason. it would appear that he has been advised by his military advisers that the use of force is really not a good option. and that being the case, he will need china to get north korea to do some kind of deal. and therefore he's being very complimentary to president xi and therefore put pressure on president xi to do something about it. he is also being very complimentary to young mr kim in order to open a door to potentially some kind of diplomatic activities. how would the chinese leadership react to that kind of complimentary

flattery if you like. surely the chinese leadership is more shrewd than that? the chinese leadership absolutely as you say is much more shrewd about that sort of thing. but on the other hand they also want to have a good working relationship with president trump, so they're not going to say anything to contradict him. what they will try to do is to do what they can, and not necessarily everything they can possibly do, in order to try to ease the tensions over north korea and therefore avoid being sucked into a confrontation that they don't want. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: as bike—sharing schemes take off in china, we look at how they're providing a timely boost for bicycle manufacturers. you're watching newsday on the bbc.

still to come on the programme. first day in his newjob. after seeing off dozens of applicants, austria's hermit on a hillside starts work. 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 7am 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. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. and i'm tom donkin in london with our top stories. president trump says the north korean leader kimjong—un is a pretty smart cookie, while also warning that a conflict involving pyongyang could kill millions of people. the climbing world pays tribute to ueli steck, one of the world's best known mountaineers is killed in an accident on mount everest. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we start with the south china morning post, on the front page that story we were hearing about earlier of indonesia's presidentjoko widodo

on a visit to hong kong, apparently getting the rock star treatment from those attending his talk. the paper says security at the event was high. the financial times says mexico is urging president trump to reuse parts of the aborted trans pacific partnership agreement to create a manufacturing powerhouse between the us, mexico and canada that could rival china. and in thejapan times, this photo of 600 blue carp streamers put up in memory of the children killed injapan‘s earthquake—triggered tsunami in march 2011. now, tom, what stories are sparking discussions online? well, sharanjit, it was hard to miss the glitz and glamour of that big night on the american social calendar. this is the dinner that donald trump opted to miss on saturday night.

it's the annual white house correspondents dinner attended by the great and good of american political circles. and some of the speakers used mr trump's absence to have some fun at his expense. he knocked out five time world champion ronnie o'sullivan in a thrilling quarterfinal match, but then succumbed to the might of a three time world champion in the semi—finals. china's ding junhui maybe out of this year's snooker world championships, but the sport's popularity continues to grow as snooker is now one of the most watched sports in china with tens of millions of viewers tuning in and even more wanting to play. earlier i spoke to windy xu, a snooker promoter in beijing who's been working with ronnie o'sullivan for the past four years. she's also a close friend of ding junhui's family and joined me from the uk city of sheffield. is all the chinese bones, snooker

people, are watching and excited that he can win. —— most of our chinese bands. they‘ re that he can win. —— most of our chinese bands. they're disappointed he didn't make it. he did a very good job and his performance they are so good job and his performance they are so proud of, they are so proud of his performance that day. you say there's a great deal of pride in his performance, how popular now is snooker in china and are there many fa ns snooker in china and are there many fans of ding as well as of the game in china? sure, sure. snooker in china is growing much more bigger than before. we have to say it is because of ding, his performance and his achievements to promote this business into such a big one right now. we saw the game becoming very popular when ding junhui first hit

the scene a number of years ago, but now he's had a bit of a setback. do you think the game will continue in such popularity in china? definitely it will. actually more and more young people, young guys are involved in this sport in china. most of them are huge fans of ding himself, so that's why i'm thinking... the business is growing up thinking... the business is growing up very well right now. obviously you were saying earlier he is still fairly young. do you think he will get there eventually as a snooker world champion? definitely he will. we are all expecting that. actually the year before last year, and last year into this year we were all expecting that but he's really trying. i believe that not very far away, may be in the next couple of yea rs, away, may be in the next couple of years, he will make it. a man chosen from dozens of competitors to take up a job as a hermit in austria has now received the keys to his new home.

there was also a mass to welcome the new resident. it's part of a 350—year—old tradition in the town of saalfelden, as bethany bell reports. saalfelden has a new hermit. stan vanuytrecht, a divorced catholic deacon from belgium, has moved into the hermitage, cut into the cliffs. there's been a hermit here for more than 350 years. but this is the first time a non—austrian has ta ken up residence. the key was handed over at a mass in the neighbouring chapel of st george. he'll live alone hear from april to november each year. but it's not entirely solitary existence. the home it is also expected to greet hikers and visitors, something the hermit welcomes.

translation: i wanted to enter the monastery because i need silence and contemplation to pray. i was planning to enter one, but then i thought here in the hermitage, i can get both. in the mornings and evenings, silence and time to reflect and contemplate, and during the day, i see many people who i can talk to. it will be a simple life. the hermitage has no electricity or running water. but it does have a spectacular view of the alps. bethany bell, bbc news. until very recently, bicycle manufacturers in china were struggling for survival amidst the seemingly endless rise of the motor car. but that could be changing and it's all thanks to the rise of bike share schemes. harvey biggs reports. air pollution is notorious in china's major cities, a problem the country's government is waging a high profile war against.

one of the driving factors behind the smog has been cars. but it hasn't always been that way. china was once regarded as the kingdom of bicycles, and for decades, two wheels dominated the streets. but as the country began opening up to the world in the ‘80s and ‘90s, cars began to take over. today, less than 12% of commuters cycle to work, but the wheels of change are turning, once again. at this factory in tianjing, a new bicycle is produced every 15 seconds, 2,000 bikes per day. the first time in decades, china is producing large numbers of bikes of the same model, colour and size. and these won't be bought by individuals, but willjoin the ranks of one of a number of growing bike share schemes. the simple concept isn't a new one,

driving an industry were struggling for survivaljust months go. translation: back in 2015, we realised that this new model could have an impact. but the speed of growth has been beyond imagination. with china intent on dramatically reducing its air pollution levels, the change is a welcome one. a target of 80% of people riding to work by 2020 should help keep producers like this one on the track to grow. harvey biggs, bbc news. priceless egyptian artefacts that were badly damaged during the second world war are finally going on show. they're part of an exhibition here in the uk at liverpool's world museum. lindsey prosser reports. from the everyday to the beautifully

decorative. these objects reflect the rise and fall of ancient egyptian society. it's our most ambitious exhibition we've done for egypt. we've got a whole range of a rtefa cts . egypt. we've got a whole range of artefacts. we've also got a range of stone vases and stone tools, right through to christianity in egypt, we've got these beautiful leather slippers that people would wear in life and also be buried in. when the museum was bombed during the second world war, part of its priceless collection was badly damaged. we had two granite statues of the goddess separate, a human form with a lioness head and they were both shattered and the fire damaged the two pieces, they were intact before them and it wasn't until recently that we restore them, pieced them back together and put them back on display for the first time with the rest of the egyptian collection. the

challenge for this team is to move the statues into the gallery without breaking them. at the same time, mummies who were also fire damaged are being installed. we keep the objects not because they looked stunning or because they look beautiful, it's because of the information they hold. so part of what we do is unlocking the stories that they hold and revealing their hidden histories. we have two romano period mummies here and they are both quite young, one is a teenager, we have wandered in the past if they we re we have wandered in the past if they were associated with each other. so they could be sisters? you never know, they could be. this display at liverpool's world museum is now the largest entrant egyptian gallery outside london. lindsey prosser, bbc news. a chance discovery by a pre—school

child has saved a family of owls. three large eggs were found in a sawdust bucket next to a compost toilet at a forest school near winchester in southern england. at first, they weren't quite sure what type of bird it was until they saw this fly from the outdoor toilet. they are now a month old. the pair have been called twit and twoo and they have been tagged by wildlife experts. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. as australia tightens up its visa rules for skilled foreign workers we'll be looking at the reaction from india. and before we go, let's take you to chengdu city in sichuan province, where a panda cub called fush—un has been caught on camera enjoying taking it very easy indeed. fush—un does look quite comfortable on a tree branch. that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. hello there. good morning. we saw some big contrasts

across the uk on sunday. the southern half of the uk has seen some cloud and some rain. this is the view from one of our weather watchers mid—afternoon on sunday. but at the same time, the northern half of the country was pretty different. dry, bright, a bit breezy as well. this is the view on the shores of the moray firth. and i think we will keep similar contrast through bank holiday monday, because this area of low pressure is parked across the south of the uk. that'll be the focus for some wetter weather. further north, it should be dry, but breezy. the breeze overnight will keep the temperatures up. temperatures probably at the lowest in western scotland. but here will see some of the highest into the afternoon. we might see one or two early showers in northern england, but they tend to fade away. generally speaking, northern england and northwards will be dry, bright, and breezy. the southern half of the uk will see cloud and outbreaks of rain, possibly some showers. heavy at times, with the odd rumble of thunder. but a little sunshine coming and going. not overly warm. 11,12 or 13 degrees.

temparature contrast across northern england. coastal areas will see ten or 11 degrees. on the other side, 1a or 15 in carlisle. six in 17 parts of northern ireland. eight degrees in the eastern side of scotland. could go as high as 18 in the sunshine on the western side. now, through the evening, those showers could be heavy and thundery across that central sway of england, working ever southwards, eventually clearing away. by dawn on tuesday, most places will be dry. a fair bit of low cloud coming into that eastern side of the uk. may be some mist and fog as well. temperatures at about seven, eight, or nine degrees in major cities. a little lower in rural spots. through tuesday, the low pressure system will drift to the south, allowing a low pressure system in scandinavia to become the driving force of our weather. and that will be with us for a good few days. an easterly wind on tuesday drags in a lot of low cloud to the eastern side. it will be cool here as well. further west, much brighter skies,

and we'll see some high temperatures, as well. 15,16,17 degrees in some places. some rain to go with the cloud perhaps further east. cloudy in the southern half the uk on wednesday. still that easterly breeze and still quite cool along the eastern coast. further west, especially to the north and west, it should be a lovely day with sunshine and temperatures in the upper teens here. then towards the end of the week, a lot of fine and dry weather to be had. still a little bit cloudy up and down the eastern side. a little cooler there. it will be warmer to the upper west, particularly in the north—west. this is bbc world news. our top story: donald trump has been speaking highly of the north korean leader kimjong—un, calling him "a pretty smart cookie." but mr trump said he won't rule out military action against north korea, if the country pursues its nuclear programme, and warned that a conflict with the country could kill millions of people. tributes have been paid to ueli steck, one of the most famous climbers in the world, who's died on mount everest.

the 41—year—old is believed to have fallen from a rock—face while spending time acclimatising at altitude. and this story is trending on bbc.com. these deadly tornadoes in the us state of texas. at least three struck the city of canton, killing four people, and causing widespread destruction. winds flipped over cars, snapped trees, and left fallen power lines on roads. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. and the top story here in the uk: theresa may has ruled out increasing vat for the next five years