i'm rico hizon in singapore, the headlines — president trump defends his decision to fire the director of the fbi. he said james comey had lost his confidence. will why did you fire him? because he wasn't doing a good job, very simply. he was not doing a good job. south korea's new president, moonjae—in, vows to tackle the crisis in the north. hong kong protesters say their demonstration has been blocked due to president xi's visit. and a bride without a wedding. we meet the woman with terminal cancer fulfilling a lifelong dream. it's 8am in singapore and 8pm in washington where donald trump has been defending his decision to fire the head of domestic intelligence.

the move to sack fbi chief james comey has caused huge controversy. donald trump claims he's lost confidence in mr comey and the bureau needs new leadership. but opposition politicians say it's an attempt to block the fbi's investigation into the possible links between the trump campaign and russia. here's our north america editorjon sopel this is a fox news alert. fbi directorjames comey has been fired by the president of the united states. the term breaking news is bandied around with abandon. last night, it was justified. because, at fbi offices, the first they knew that their director had been fired was when it flashed up on their tv screens. and james comey, who was in los angeles addressing staff, knew nothing about it either until an aide handed him a note and the letter sent by president trump was brutal. at least they left him

the governmentjet to fly back to the east coast, a private citizen, a turbulent career cut short. and today the president was unrepentant. reporter: why did you fire director comey? because he wasn't doing a good job, very simply. he was not doing a good job. james comey, the 68" tall fbi director, was the person who confirmed in bombshell testimony in march that the trump campaign was under investigation for its links to russia during the election. the fbi, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. the president has railed consistently that it's fake news and there has been no improper contact. last night, he fired the man heading the inquiry. it's caused fury and dismay among some republicans and all democrats. we know director comey was leading an investigation

in whether the trump campaign colluded with the russians, a serious offence. were those investigations getting too close to home for the president? the dismissal of director comey establishes a very troubling pattern. and democrats have wasted no time in drawing parallels with the dark days of the nixon presidency, when richard nixon, in 1973, fired the special prosecutor investigating him over the break—in at the watergate building. it was known as the saturday night massacre. a year later, nixon would resign. for special prosecutor then, insert fbi director today. it was brazen. one of the most staggering, stunning acts of a president compromising an investigation since the saturday night massacre involving richard nixon. in fact, it was a nixonion act and reminds us all

about the importance of the rule of law, which evidently donald trump does not respect. but the white house is seeking to persuade people that the decision to fire comey had nothing to do with russia or the fbi investigation. it was time for a fresh start at the fbi. and i think the president did, as he's done in so many other cases, he took decisive action, he provided strong leadership and to act on the recommendation of the deputy attorney general. the white house says the loss of confidence stems from james comey‘s investigation into hillary clinton's use of a private e—mail server from when she was secretary of state. i made a mistake using a private e—mail. he decided lastjuly there would be no prosecution, just a rap on the knuckles. republicans were furious. then, stunningly, he reopened his inquiry 11 days before polling. it took guts for director comey to make the move that he made. but if it really is all about the way the fbi conducted

the hillary clinton investigation, why sack him now? why this intervention? why not do it when donald trump first came to office? and how do you reconcile it with the praise that was heaped upon james comey? whatever, it's left the fbi feeling very sore about the way their director's been treated. and into the washington maelstrom who should arrive today for his first visit to see the trump administration? why, none other than sergey lavrov, the russian foreign minister, injokey mood. was he fired? you are kidding! he then went to meet donald trump at the white house but curiously for the camera—loving president, the press was kept away. this feels like house of cards on steroids. our washington correspondent laura bicker has more details on mr comey‘s removal. well, the question that everybody

has been asking is why now? we remove the fbi director, the man in charge of the investigation into whether or not russia colluded with the trump campaign during a presidential election. that has been the big question all day. as we heard from the white house, they believe it was time for a fresh start at the fbi. they say that the timing was due to an assessment by the deputy attorney general who said and,i the deputy attorney general who said and, iquote, the deputy attorney general who said and, i quote, that tony had circumvented the chain of command, that he had made serious mistakes and due to this report —— thatjames comey had circumvented the chain of command. donald trump decided to terminate the contract. democrats say, however, you have spent the campaign, and three occasions during

the campaign where you praised the fbi director and said he was doing a good job. so why this change of heart? they are pushing now offer a special prosecutor, an independent prosecutor to take charge of the russia investigation. in the last hour we have heard from the senior republican in congress. he has said that he opposes any move for a special prosecutor and he is now, that the republican party seemed to be rallying behind donald trump saying that he has done the right thing by firing james comey. also making news today, us—backed fighters in northern syria have captured the strategically important city of tabqa from islamic state militants, as well as a nearby dam. an alliance of local kurdish, arab and christian militias has been battling to take the area for weeks, supported by us—led coalition special forces and air strikes. the former brazilian president, luiz inacio lula da silva,

has arrived at a courthouse in the southern city of curitiba to give testimony before the country's top anti—corruption judge, in the first of five cases against him. he has denied any wrongdoing. foreign ministers from the eight countries with territory in the arctic circle are meeting in alaska. it comes amid confusion about the us government's policy on climate change. the effects of a warming climate are being felt particularly keenly in the arctic, and they are eager to learn what us policy on climate change will be. a rare form of ice known as ‘dragon skin' or ‘dragon scale' ice has been spotted in antarctica for the first time since 2007. these images were filmed by a researcher from the university of tasmania, on an expedition to the region. "dragon skin ice" forms when intense winds continually lift the surface ice and reveal the water underneath. the water then freezes and produces

a scale—like pattern. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. south korea's new president moon jae—in has been congratulated in a phone call by donald trump who's also invited him to washington. the leaders agreed on "close cooperation" in dealing with north korea nuclear weapons programme. president moon jae—in immediately promised to deal with the thorny issue of north korea, as well as soothing tensions with the us and china. translation: i will have serious discussions with the united states and china for the resolution of issues. strong security is made possible with mighty defence. the government will also strive to further enhance self—reliant defence capabilities. it will also lay the foundation for the resolution of the north korean nuclear problem. earlier our correspondent in seoul, steve evans, told me how a possible review of the anti—missile

system might play out. i think it will play out particularly on the economy. there are signs already that the chinese's unhappiness with south korea is having an impact on the economy. the number of chinese tourists is down and the company who owns the land used for the missile, they give it to the americans, they are having difficulties in china now. the economy will start to come to the fore now in this election. mr moon in his inauguration yesterday said that above all i will take care of job creation. so the missile system

and north korea are the big consideration and within south korea, it is domestic, the economy thatis korea, it is domestic, the economy that is getting people going. and he was elected on this, really. he said he would create 810,000 public sector jobs he would create 810,000 public sectorjobs and get the economy going faster, particularly for young people. that is what they will now look at him and say, ok, you made these promises, made a lovely speech, what will you do? indeed the use unemployment rate is high in south korea, in the high double digits and there is also promise of reforms in the conglomerates. what he has promised there, everybody says more transparency, but what he wa nts to says more transparency, but what he wants to do is give minority shareholders much more power. he had

a situation with samsung, for example, last year where there was a minority shareholder that was pushing through, trying to push through a restructure of the conglomerate. the ruling family fought against it vigorously and ultimately won. this economy is a fabulous economy and it is a fabulous economy and it is a fabulous economy and it is a fabulous economy with some very, very strong global brands. they are clearly doing something right. but there are many people who say that ina much there are many people who say that in a much hotter competitive environment that kind of family dominated structure has to change. so mr moon's ‘s suggestion is to give other shareholders much more power. it will be far harder to tackle that than to promise so, again, we will wait to see what has been done. 0n thejob proposal there isa been done. 0n thejob proposal there is a concrete suggestion? democratic

public spending, keynesian public spending. it is a culture that needs changing, if it needs changing, and changing, if it needs changing, and changing a culture by legislation is quite difficult. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: a beautiful voice, that she can't even hear. how this deaf musician has overcome her disability and returned to the stage. the pope was shot and the pope will live. that was the essence of the news from rome. the man they called the butcher or went on trial today in the french town where he was in

the second world war. winnie mandela did not look like a woman sentenced to jail. the judge told her there was no indication she felt even the slightest horse. an all-out effort has been called for to help victims. the computer deep blue has denied triumphant over the world chess champion. it is the first time a machine has defeated a reigning world champion. the first legal same—sex marriages have been taking place in massachusetts. god bless america! this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. our top stories: president trump has defended his decision to sack the head of the fbi. the white house said the president had been considering firing mr comey

since taking office. the new president of south korea, moonjae—in, has said he will work for peace, and would, if conditions were right, be prepared to visit pyongyang. one of japan's most famous rock stars, drummer yoshiki, has had to quit playing because of damage to his neck from all that thumping. that story is popular on bbc.com. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we start with the japan times, whose front page is dominated by the election of south korea's new president. it looks at one of moonjae—in's key campaign promises, re—engaging with north korea. it reports that tokyo is worried what a new ‘sunshine policy‘ might mean forjapan‘s efforts to apply maximum pressure on pyongyang. let‘s have a look at the straits times here in singapore,

where the authorities have called for an end to aggressive marketing by formula milk manufacturers. it follows the competition watchdog‘s finding that companies are paying private hospitals to distribute formula to newborns. and a tribute to china‘s former foreign minister and vice—premier qian qichen leads the south china morning post. it looks at the career of the man who it says played a critical role in handling the return of hong kong and macau to chinese sovereignty. he died on tuesday, aged 90. 0 may chen is a 28—year—old taiwanese woman who is battling late stage breast cancer. she has always dreamt of getting married and decided she wasn‘t going to let her bleak prognosis stand in her way. despite not having a groom, she went ahead and arranged her own bridal photo shoot. this is her story.

iadmire her i admire her positive view on life. the organisers of hong kong‘s biggest annual pro—democracy march on the first ofjuly say their application to protest this year has been rejected. the civil human rights front said the decision was taken by the management of victoria park, the venue of the rally. but they say it‘s connected to an expected visit by chinese president xi jinping. i spoke with our hong kong correspondentjuliana liu, who told me why this year‘s march was so important. as you know, this year is hugely significant for hong kong because the first ofjuly marks 20 years since the city was returned to china after more than 150 years as a british colony, and as part of the proposed celebrations, the planned celebrations for the first ofjuly, xi jinping is widely expected to be visiting. he is also expected to be swearing in the incoming chief executive, carrie lam. these events tend to happen on the first ofjuly, on the morning, which is a public holiday, and in the afternoon, for years now, people gather in victoria park to start a march

throughout the city to demand greater democratic rights. this march has been happening really than 20 years, and as part of those preparations, the organisers of the rally normally apply for permission to start the rally at victoria park, specifically on the football pitches in the park that can handle huge numbers of people, and the organisers have said to reporters in a press release that, for the first time, that rejection by the management of the park has been rejected in favour, they say, of a pro—beijing group. apparently this is the first time their application has been rejected in all the years they have been organising this rally. at the moment i‘m waiting for response from the management the park. jiuliana liu in hong kong. mandy harvey is an american singer and song—writer who always knew she wanted to be a musician. but, as an 18—year old university

student, tragedy struck. she lost her hearing due to a connective tissue disorder, and with it, potentially, her career. now, a decade later, she has three albums under her belt, and tours with a band. how does she do it? the bbc went to find out. # calm, walk, my friend, with me # calm, walk, my friend, with me #toa # calm, walk, my friend, with me # to a place we always dream... music is an expression of the soul. it is like a painting. it is all the memories and stories, and the emotions that you felt at that time, or something you long to feel. i went to college for a vocal music education. i wanted to teach vocaljazz, and in that first year i lost my residual hearing,

and was struck from the programme. and to describe it really as anything other than watching myself die, i — i don‘t feel has enough weight to it. i died, i died that day. but i picked up music again, and now i have been performing professionally for about eight years. i‘m not the same person i was. my dreams are not the same, and i have come to peace with that. i feel a lot of music, so when i‘m playing with a band, i play with my shoes off, and i can feel the rhythm through the floor. and you can feel, like, a lot. when it gets really loud, you can feel a tingle on your skin. and everything is visual communication. so, if this person‘s going to play a solo, i look at them, they look at me,

they acknowledge they‘re taking it, and they go. and then when they‘re done, they look right up back at me. i look at them, i acknowledge it as mine again, and i start singing. # can‘t explain the mess that we made # 0h, release me. not being able to hear other music, it allows me the ability to not be necessarily pushed into sounding like somebody else. i sound like myself, and i will consistently sound like myself. i seem to encourage other people. that‘s what makes me happy. i‘ve made it through a really, horribly difficult time in my life. so my passion, the whole reason why i sing, is so that i can say, hey, this is what i‘ve done.

i really hope that i can encourage you to do the same. and inspiring story of courage and overcoming hurdles in life. as the world celebrates the birthday of lord buddha, a 13—metre long sand art sculpture of buddha has been created in the sri lankan capital, colombo. it was made by the indian sand artist sudarshan pattnaik and claims to be a world record. sri lanka is hosting the 2017 international vesak day celebrations on thursday. this year indian prime minister narendra modi will attend. you have been watching newsday. we will be hearing more about those earning results from snap, the pa rent earning results from snap, the parent company of snapchat. david

mayo huge loss and shares have been tumbling. —— they have made. hello there. after the dry weather that we have been experiencing for days and weeks now, there is finally a change on the way, courtesy of these lumps of cloud, which have been bringing some quite vicious thunderstorms across spain and portugal, now on the march northwards. so many of us will see some showery rain and perhaps some thunderstorms over the next couple of days, and with that, a feed of warm, southerly winds, some humid air moving in our direction for the end of the week. so yes, those temperatures climbing. quite a muggy feel to the weather, with the risk of some thunderstorms. in fact, there could be the odd flash of lightning as some showers approach the far south through the first part of thursday morning. so, down towards the south coast, one or two showers to start the day. further north, for the likes of london, east anglia, should be a fine and sunny start. could be one or two thundery showers across the channel islands, into the south—west of england.

not expecting huge amounts of rain at this stage, but could just be a few sprinkles, and the odd flash of lightning overhead, some of that getting into the south of wales. but north wales, the west midlands, north—west england, starting the day with some sunshine, and actually a relatively chilly start to the day here. a fine start for northern ireland and much of scotland, but some extra cloud across caithness and sutherland, fringing into parts of aberdeenshire, certainly across the northern isles, where there will be the odd spot of rain. much of northern england seeing some fine weather, with some sunshine to start of the day. now, as we go through the day, there will be a lot of dry weather once again. some spells of sunshine, but we will see this very patchy, showery rain moving its way northwards, and then into the afternoon the chance that we could spark off some really quite vicious downpours and thunderstorms. not everywhere, but if you catch one, well, you will know about it, a lot of rain in a short space of time. temperatures in the south up as high as 22, maybe 23 degrees. a little bit cooler, still, further north. but, as we go through thursday night into the early hours of friday, that humid air continues

to trundle northwards. some hit—and—miss, showery rain, and it will be a much, much less chilly night than we have had recently. eight to 13 degrees, those are the minimum temperatures. friday, well, a bit of a mishmash, really. yes, there will be some spells of sunshine. there will also be some of these showers drifting northwards. still the potential for the odd rumble of thunder, flash of lightning, and still feeling pretty humid for many. 19 degrees there in london, something cooler holding on across the far north of scotland. saturday another fairly humid and showery day, some sunny spells between the downpours. but then, through saturday night, a change. a weather front moves its way in. behind that, some fresher air pushing in from the west. so temperatures on sunday will be a little bit lower. a fresher feel to the weather, with a mix of sunshine and showers. this is bbc world news. i‘m greg dawson. the headlines — president trump has defended his decision to fire the director of the fbi. donald trump says he‘s lost confidence in james comey and the bureau needs new leadership. but opposition politicians claim it‘s an attempt to block the fbi‘s

investigation into the possible links between the trump campaign and russia. south korea‘s new president moon jae—in has been congratulated in a phone call by donald trump who‘s also invited him to washington. the leaders agreed on "close cooperation" in dealing with north korea‘s nuclear weapons programme. and news about snapchat‘s share prices are trending on bbc.com. the parent company of the messaging app have tumbled by about 20%, after disappointing results. the number of users grew by only 5% over three months to 158 million. that‘s the latest. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk —