i'm rico hizon in singapore, the headlines: james comey reveals that president trump asked for his loyalty a few months before firing him. the former fbi director gives evidence to congress later. iran says the attackers who killed 12 people tehran were iranians who'd joined so—called islamic state. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: an anxious wait on the ground — the search for a burmese military plane with more than 120 people continues more tributes to the victims of the london bridge attack — eight people are now known to have died and police have made more arrests. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news — it's newsday. it's 8am in singapore, 1am in london and 8pm in washington

where president trump is under new pressure over the sacking of james comey. the former fbi director will give evidence to senators on thursday about whether he was pressured to drop an inquiry into links between a senior white house official and russia. ahead of that hearing, written testimony has been released from mr comey. in it, he says he believes the president trump asked him to drop the investigation into general michael flynn. here are the key lines from james comey‘s statement... our washington correspondent david willis says mr comey‘s evidence is eagerly anticipated. they are saying that this could be bigger box office as far as capital

hill is concerned and the clinton impeachment and indeed, watergate. we had this opening statement released on the senate intelligence committee website revealing, amongst other things, that president trump called for this pledge of loyalty for the man he later sacked, james comey, and he called for the investigation into michael flynn drop. what it all amounts to? it is certainly an orthodox. does it constitute grounds for impeachment? not on the face of it. in the last few minutes president trump said he feels completely and utterly vindicated by what has been put out today. will this be one senate hearing or a series of hearings?”

think we will get a lot of hearings going forward and it will not be the senate intelligence committee. there are other committees on congress looking into this matter of alleged links between the trump administration and the russians. this is something that will go on and on. we have had a lot of links up and on. we have had a lot of links up to now and there was an frankly a great deal that was particularly surprising that came out from this statement. much of this had been linked in advance to the new york times and the washington post, not least because james comey is a man who is glad to have taken many notes throughout his interactions with president trump, something he had not done under president obama. you can watch live coverage of the

hearing here on bbc world news. gunmen and suicide bombers have attacked iran's parliament — and the shrine of its revolutionary leader, ayatollah khomeini, leaving 12 people dead and many more injured. the group calling itself islamic state said it was responsible for one of the worst terror attacks iran has suffered in decades. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale reports. gunfire. it is the middle of the morning, and iran's parliament is under attack as never before. four gunmen, some reportedly dressed as women, have burst in, armed with grenades and explosive vests. security forces surround the parliamentary complex, as those inside, including children, try to escape. incredibly, as the attack continues, some mps in the chamber carry on with their parliamentary business. the group that calls itself islamic state claims the gunmen are theirs. is is fighting iranian backed militias in syria and iraq,

but this is the first time the sunni jihadis have struck in the heart of shia iran. as the attack progresses, is posts a video supposedly from inside. one gunman says, "hold on", in english, another shouts in arabic, "we're staying forever." afterfive hours, the attackers are dead, leaving 11 people killed and many more injured. and there's more. a second, almost simultaneous attack a few miles away, another suicide bomb, at the shrine of the ayatollah khomeini, the founder of the iranian republic. there can be few more symbolic targets. one man is dead and others wounded. iran's powerful revolutionary guard has accused saudi arabia and the us of being involved and promised revenge, deepening even further the long—standing tensions between shia iran and sunni arab states. james landale, bbc news.

also making news this hour: south korea's military says north korea has fired a number of missiles off its east coast. it's believed the tests, fired from the coastal city of wonsan, were of land—to—ship missiles. they are the latest in a series of tests pyongyang has carried out in defiance of un sanctions. injapan, four workers at a nuclear research facility have been accidentally exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. the accident occurred when workers at the facility north of tokyo were checking on the storage of radioactive materials, and a bag containing radioactive dust split open. the workers are thought to have inhaled plutonium dust despite wearing protective clothing. a teenager has been killed during opposition protests against the government of president nicolas maduro in the venezuelan capital, caracas. witnesses said the seventeen year old was hit in the chest by a tear gas canister fired by a policeman at point blank range. britain's andy murray reached his fourth consecutive

french open semi—final with a four—set win over the japanese eighth seed kei nishikori in paris. murray now faces swiss third seed stan wawrinka, who beat marin cilic in three straight sets. nine—time champion rafael nadal will take on dominic thiem. in the second semi—final, after the austrian knocked out defending champion novak djokovic disabled dogs at an animal shelter in taiwan's southern city of tainan, can now walk and run again, thanks to wheelchairs designed for them by a pet enthusiast. the home—made chairs use plastic water pipes and the material costs less than one third of the price of commercially available models. debris has been found in the sea near where a myanmar military plane went missing with more than 100 soldiers and their families on board the aircraft disappeared over the andaman sea. ships and aircraft are searching for the plane, which apparently took

off in good weather. we can now speak to our correspondentjonah fisher in yangon. what more can you tell us about the de preez found in the sea? it is just that, a report, it has not been confirmed by the bernie ‘s military leading the search for this aircraft. they have had planes flying over this part of the andaman sea and also ships have been deployed to that area. these reports in the local media yesterday evening, also reports of a small number of survivors might have been found. it should be pointed out, the blurb is military put out a

statement condemning these all is unconfirmed rumours, pouring cold water on it all. we are pretty much at the same stage as we were yesterday. with every passing hour, it is looking more likely that this was a plane crash and the chances of any survivors is pretty slim. what do we know about what happened to? it isa do we know about what happened to? it is a military aircraft built by the chinese applying from the south of the country. it flew for about half an hour across the andaman sea and then lost contact with air traffic control and that is what led to the search beginning in the andaman sea. as to who is on board, it isa andaman sea. as to who is on board, it is a military plane so you could not have bought a ticket to go on board. we are told people were

primarily military people and the crew and family. we believe over 100 people were on board the plane. thank you forjoining us. eight people are now known to have died in the london bridge attack on saturday night. police searching for a frenchman who went missing during the attack have found a body in the river thames. xavier thomas who was 45 had been in london with his girlfriend for the weekend. and within the last hour: three men have been arrested in connection with the london bridge terror attack. ed thomas has this report. in the most darkest moments... returning to london bridge. the police officers who were the first to face the london attackers, and comfort the injured, here to lay flowers and remember those who died, in a city grateful for the bravery of officers like pc green. it is really important to have that

support from the public and, you know, obviously, our thoughts are more so with the casualties and everything that happened here. and today, police searching for xavier thomas from france say they recovered a body from the thames. he was on holiday in london and his girlfriend. she's now in hospital seriously injured. and confirmed dead today, ignacio echeverria from spain, last seenjumping off his bike to help a woman being stabbed. also named, australian, sara zelenak. she was 21 and working as an au pair. her family said she was a beautiful daughter and sister. in france, the family of sebastien belanger confirmed he was also killed. it brings the total number of deaths to eight. while police continue

to look for evidence, today, this family home in ilford was raided, as offices pieced together more about the killers. khuram butt, a known islamist extremist, rachid redouane, a moroccan libyan who once lived in dublin, and italian moroccan youssef zaghba. police in italy suspected he wanted to join so—called islamic state and say they told british intelligence agencies. today, his mother spoke anonymously. translation: he was closely followed when he was in italy, but he wasn't at all in the uk it seems. i was very happy with the work the italian police did. from what i read, it seems in the uk they knew nothing, they weren't pursuing anything. this investigation now reaches towards morocco, italy and ireland, but the focus has always been here, east london, and those unanswered questions of how all three men met and planned their attack.

men known to british security services who went on to kill. police insist there was no intelligence an attack was being planned. and we pray for those in our hospitals nearby... this afternoon, prayers from all faiths on london bridge. a message from a city to those who caused so much pain. ed thomas, bbc news, east london. you are watching newsday. still to come: plastic pollution — the un says a truckload of synthetic waste has been dumped into the ocean every minute. also on the programme... re—writing the history of evolution.

why fossils discovered in morocco could date our species further back the queen and her husband began their royal progress to westminster. the moment of crowning, in accordance with the order of service, by a signal given by the great guns of the tower. tanks and troops are patrolling the streets of central peking after the bloody operation to crush student—led protests, and the violence has continued, the army firing on civilians throughout the following day and night. over there you can see its mighty tail — the only sign left, almost, that an aircraft had been here. uefa imposes an indefinite ban on english clubs playing in europe. today is the 20th anniversary of the release of the beatles' album sgt pepper's lonely hearts club band, a record described as the album of the century. welcome back ever wrong. this is

newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. yes, welcome back. i'm babita sharma here in london. our top stories this hour: former fbi directorjames comey has said donald trump asked him to drop an investigation into a top white house official‘s links with russia. an anxious wait on the ground — after a burmese military plane with more than 100 people onboard disappears. japanese media said that a criminal has been arrested over a murder that

occurred many years ago. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. as we've been hearing it's election day in the uk. polls open at 7am local time. the metro newspaper shows all the main party leaders on its front page. the philippine daily inquirer leads on the conflict in marawi. the paper has this picture of militants, who it says are among those fighting the army in the south of the country. it believes their knowledge of the local terrain is making it increasingly difficult for government forces to re—take the city. the china daily puts president xijinping on its front page. he's in kazakhstan for a security summit. but it's this picture that really caught our eye. it's a student getting a supportive hug from a teacher before taking the national college exam. over 9 million students are taking the test this year, and if you're one of them we wish you the very best of luck. what is spoken discussions online,

babita sharma? well rico, a lawyer in singapore is using the headteacher of a prestigious school for confiscating his son's mobile phone. —— suing. the secondary school has banned students from using phones during school hours. the lawyer is now claiming damages arguing the school has infringed personal property rights. june 8 marks world oceans day, but a new report is sounding the alarm overjust how much plastic is polluting the ocean, warning that plastic could outweigh fish by the year 2050. the ellen macarthur foundation is calling on governments and individuals to change the way plastic rubbish is dealt with — and be more cautious about how much we throw away. the un says a truckload of plastic is being dumped into the ocean every minute. for more on this i spoke to ecosystem management researcher barbara bollard breen, who says that the magnitude of the problem requires

collective solutions. this plastic issue is a global issue. and we need a global solution to resolve it. i have heard that it is comparable to climate change. really, this is quite frightening. and, barbara, give us a sense of how much plastic we are talking about. we were just talking before about as you mentioned a truck load of rubbish, plastic rubbish, is dumped into the sea every day. that is a good statistic. it is what is happening. it is frightening. billions of tons of being dumped every year. this is not ok. plastic is not biodegrade. it takes thousands of years to break down a plastic bottle. it is frightening.

the estimate is between 4.4 and 12 million metric tons dumped into the ocean million metric tons dumped into the ocea n every million metric tons dumped into the ocean every year. what can be done, barbara, to tackle this huge problem? it is a huge problem. i just want to share a little story of my own experience. i work in antarctica in some of the most dramatic locations in the world. even in antarctica, in a bay where no one had been since 1967, ifound plastic rubbish on the beach. this is scary. this is of global proportions, and it is frightened. so how can we make a difference? well, we need to, and it starts with individuals but also the globe. we need drive and incentives to actually stop using plastic. indeed. political will is needed to stop the issue. but an international court, but we are seen with the paris climate deal, is it a possibility? is enforceable? could happen?m

climate deal, is it a possibility? is enforceable? could happen? it is any good. but it will take lots of governments to do this. we have lots of plastic out in the sea. —— could it happen. we need our governments and individuals and scientists to speak up about this issue and make oui’ speak up about this issue and make our government and make this enforcea ble. our government and make this enforceable. there are ways to do this. we are binding international agreement. and we can make it happen. fossils discovered in north africa have cast new light on how modern humans evolved. they reveal that homo sapiens existed a 100,000 years earlier than previously thought. and they were present all across africa — notjust the east — which was previously thought to be the cradle of humanity. pallab ghosh reports. this is the face of one of the very first of our kind. and more casts of bone fragments of the earliest known

homo sapiens. the discovery of these fossils were presented at a news conference in paris. they've completely changed the theory of how modern humans evolved. the common wisdom that there is probably some sort of garden of eden in sub—saharan africa a million years ago, what our works have shown is that we have to push back in time much further the age of the origin of our species. human remains in ethiopia, kenya, and tanzania, suggested that east africa was a cradle from which the species emerged, 200,000 years ago. the discovery of 300,000—year—old human remains in morocco show humans began to emerge much earlier. and not just there. stone tools found across the continent suggest homo sapiens were all over africa at the time. this is a scale of the earliest known human of our species.

—— skull. and this is a modern human. you can see the faces are practically the same aside from the slightly pronounced brow region. and there's another difference. the earliest human has a slightly smaller brain. scans of the skull, published in thejournal nature, show that we did not emerge rapidly, but over hundreds of thousands of years. it took longer to make homo sapiens in evolution terms than we thought. it was complex. different parts of africa probably evolved differently. some evolved in southern africa, some in east africa. there was no single place where homo sapiens became us. the search is on to find perhaps even older remains.

the past of humanity has now been rewritten. pallab ghosh, bbc news. now, if breathtaking scenery, fresh alpine air, and unparalleled peace and quiet sounds appealing, you may be interested in a new hotel opening tomorrow in switzerland. andy beatt reports. it isa it is a room with a view, but not much else. just over $300, guests can book into the zero star hotel and enjoy it unobstructed this is flower meadows and majestic mountains. —— zero star hotel. what it lacks in posing as an creature comforts, it hopes to make up for in alfresco charm. and it is proving popular. translation: we have had requests from all over the world. the beds are almost 80% booked up. people are

coming from america, australia, africa, australia, iraq. everybody, young and old. intrepid travellers receive a drink on arrival, organic practice, and the services of a butler, typically a farmer in rubber boots. less appealing perhaps is the three—minute walk to the bathroom, in an alpine hut that also serves as a backup in bad weather. it is not just a place to stay. the greater say their room aims to explode traditional approaches to hospitality, challenging our ties to the property market. and while local hoteliers are not great sense of the project, some 1300 people already are, already paying out for a night out under the stars. i like this hotel, babita sharma. you have been watching newsday on the bbc. i am rico hizon in singapore. in a few hours, votes will be had for deep

dish general election. i'll be reporting live from newcastle for the bbc. it is the scene of a race to announce the first results. what all the action here on bbc world news just before 2100 gmt. most of us saw sunshine yesterday. today it will be hard to come by. it will be cloudy for most. the cloud is thick enough to bring rain for some of us. the relatively clear weather working out of the north sea replaced by this lump of cloud. the low spinning around there sending south—westerlies across the uk. the cloud will be thick enough for us

to get wet weather. the wettest of it is in wales and north—west england. low cloud and mist and fog. a mild start to the day. 13—14 degrees. something like that. cooler in the north of scotland. at least some morning sunshine. gusty to start the day across wales and south—west england. gusts come in at 40 miles an hour. the same in east anglia and east england. dry weather. the occasional spit of rain just about possible. that working in across england. misty in the pennines. it will get across northern ireland first thing in the morning. edging across scotland. the north will stay dry with some early morning sunshine. going on through the rest of the day, uncertainty about the northward spread of this rain. it could get further north that we are showing, perhaps threatening northern scotland into the afternoon. returning to northern ireland later in the day. some showers in wales and south—west england and moving into the midlands. south—east england, trying to get bright late in the day.

thursday night, showers pushing across the uk. the weather turning lighter. still coming in from the south—west to pick another mild start for friday. a better kind of day on friday. fewer showers. more in the way of sunshine. showers limited to scotland into the afternoon. with sunshine and lighter winds, it will feel warmer. 19 in belfast. not bad at all. 22 in london. pleasant in the lighter winds. a finer evening to follow. showers continuing to affect parts of scotland. the weekend. rain lurking behind. that is tying in with another area of low pressure bringing wet and fairly windy weather to start the weekend across many areas of the uk. brace ourselves for a soggy start to the weekend. not all of it is bad news. the rain will clear through. it will be a drier day. highs of 23 in london. and that's your weather. this is bbc news.

our top story: a former fbi director says president trump pressured him to drop an inquiry into links with russia. james comey issued a statement ahead of a senate hearing in which he said the president demanded his loyalty and asked him to lay off investigating the former national security advisor, michael flynn. a big search operation is continuing for a burmese military plane with more than 120 people on board which went missing over the andaman sea. most of the passengers were soldiers and their families. and this video is trending on bbc.com

these fossils discovered in morocco suggest humans evolved 100,000 years earlier than previously thought. the find also suggests humans evolved across all of africa rather than in the east of the continent. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk: after a seven—week battle, the political parties have stopped campaigning as britons head to polls in the next few hours.