welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: georgia's republican candidate karen handel wins a congressional election in what's seen as a referendum on donald trump. belgian soldiers shoot dead a suspected suicide bomber after an explosion at brussels train station. the new leader of hong kong says she'll not be able to guarantee freedom of speech in the territory. also in the programme, why barbie‘s boyfriend ken has been given a 21st century makeover. ina way, in a way, i suppose we shouldn't be surprised republican wins a seat in georgia. it is a solidly republican state and it should never have been this close? yes, as you say, it was a lwa ys this close? yes, as you say, it was always a very safe seat for the republicans. at this was no award marray election. a tremendous amount of money, more than $50 million, was

thrown in by both sides. it was seen as more of a national referendum on donald trump's element and administration, since being elected last november, as it was a local election. certainly the local republicans wanted it to be about local issues, but the emma kratz set their hearts on winning this seat, too embarrassed donald trump. —— of the democrats. to make him angry, as some of them were saying. it was not to be. the republicans have taken this seat. it will be a sigh of relief for many republicans in congress. and indeed in the senate, with important decisions coming up over the next couple of weeks, especially in the senate, regarding healthcare and the reform of healthcare. donald healthcare and the reform of healthca re. donald trump healthcare and the reform of healthcare. donald trump clearly expressing his delight in a tweet a few moments ago, saying "congratulations to karen handel on her big win in georgia six. fantasticjob, we are all very proud

of you". as we were seeing, it is the most expensive congressional race in us history so far. is it possible to see how the huge amounts of money spent factored in here? well, yes, certainly in terms of the national attention that is this race has garnered. normally a congressional race like this would really receive very little coverage. but it has certainly focused minds, especially those of the democrats, who certainly looking at social media reaction in the past few minutes must the extremely disappointed. i think what it does this signal is quite a long slog ahead for the democrats as they head towards the mid—term elections next year. if they want any chance of taking the house back from the republicans may have a lot of work to do. they need to win 2a seats from the republicans if they are to

make any sort of political dent in congress. that is what they want to do, that is what they have to do. they are looking further ahead, trying to defeat donald trump and three and half years time. the us state department has said north korea is directly responsible for the death of american student 0tto warmbier. it's pushing pyongyang to free three other american who are held there. he returned home last week in a coma, and died yesterday. he'd been sentenced to 15 years' hard labor, accused of stealing a propaganda poster and attempting to overthrow the state. president trump spoke again about his case at the white house today. it's a total disgrace what happened to otto. it should never ever have been allowed to happen and, frankly, if he had been brought sooner, i think the result would have been a lot different. he should have been brought home that same day.

the result would have been a lot different. but what happened to 0tto is a disgrace. belgian soldiers have shot a suspected suicide bomber after an explosion rocked the central train station in brussels. police say the man was wearing what appeared to be a bomb vest and triggered a small explosion. he later died. prosecutors are treating the incident as a terrorist attack. this report from frankie mccamley. brussels central station evacuated shortly after police say a man triggered a small explosion. eyewitnesses say they heard gunfire and multiple explosions. just minutes later, smoke can be seen inside. as the station was evacuated, flames were caught on camera inside. translation: i went down the stairs to go back to the platform where i had to go and they i heard someone shouting and then at one was on the scene within minutes, shooting dead the suspect. bomb disposal units were also sent in to make sure the area was safe. belgian prosecutors now say this is being treated as a terrorist attack. at about 8:30, there has been a small explosion

in the central station here in brussels. the suspect has been neutralised by the military that were present at the scene immediately after the explosion. there were no other victims. this incident is considered as a terrorist attack. the attack follows a series of attacks last year, when three suicide bombers targeted the city's airport and an underground station. an area popular with tourists enjoying the evening sunshine now on edge, surrounded by police and military personnel. frankie mccamley, bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the parents of the black teenager, michael brown, have reached an undisclosed settlement with city authorities in ferguson, missouri, over his fatal shooting three years ago. the killing by officer darren wilson, who was not prosecuted, sparked months of protests that grew into the black lives matter movement. oj simpson may get a prison release date next month. a parole court will consider

whether to free simpson, who's served nine years for robbing and kidnapping a group of sports memorabilia dealers. he was famously acquitted of murdering his ex—wife and herfriend, although he was laterfound liable by a civil court. venezuela's president has replaced four top military commanders, amid accusations that security forces have been using live bullets on demonstrators. 75 people have died in protests since april. video has emerged showing at least three members of the national guard apparently firing on demonstrators. here in london, police are still questioning a man in connection with the attack on muslim worshippers in north london on monday. nine people were taken to hospital and one man, who fell ill before the attack, died at the scene. daniel sandford reports. you have to lift the van! the chaos caused by the attack on sunday night was captured in these dramatic new pictures acquired by the bbc. a hired van had apparently deliberately ploughed into a group

of people marking the holy muslim month of ramadan. nine ended up in hospital and one man died. amongst the crowd were abdul matin choudhury and his 13—year—old son. today they were recovering at home in their garden. abdul injured his soldier and his son narrowly escaped injury. because abdul has little english, his son spoke for both of them. i saw an angry driver in the van, in a company van. he looked at the muslims. he drove through and hit seven or eight people. one was underneath a van. my dad got hit on his shoulder and next to his legs. my best friend got hit on the stomach.

witnesses have told us that the van came down the road at speed, turning into this cul—de—sac and knocking down the worshippers as it came through. it then came to a rest between those two bollards. the bollard that it hit has been removed and when it came to a stop, a young man was trapped underneath the van although he has survived. today, with north london in shock, the head of one of the affected mosques called for calm. islamophobia is on the rise and so is hate crime and we need to stop this madness. this cycle of violence will get us nowhere. after police investigations were completed, the was taken away yesterday evening and a suspected driver was arrested at the scene. darren 0sborne is still in custody, being held on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and of reparation and commission of terrorist acts. daniel sandford, bbc news.

the incoming leader of hong kong has told the bbc she cannot guarantee that freedom of speech will protect those who call for independence. it's almost 20 years since the uk handed hong kong back to mainland china. in 2014, protests paralysed the city and some have begun to call for independence. carrie lam is chief executive—elect. next week she'll be sworn into office by the chinese president. her predecessors were accused of being "beijing puppets." can she escape that charge? she spoke to our china editor, carrie gracie. 20 years since hong kong returned to china, and its leaders are often accused of being beijing's puppets. they're chosen not by the public, but by an establishment committee, carrie lam won 777 votes. how can you claim to represent all the people of hong kong with only that number? well, i don't think

it is a question of a number. the question is about legitimacy. i know perception is important, but to say that i am just a puppet, i won this election because of pro—beijing forces is, sort of, a failure to acknowledge what i have done in hong kong over the last 36 years. i have pledged that, as part of my governance style, i will be engaging all sectors of the community, especially the young people. three years ago young people made their own effort to engage with a massive democracy protest that brought the heart of hong kong to a standstill for months. they won nothing, and now some say the only way to get democracy is independence from china. beijing sees such calls as a threat to national security. i think hong kong is an inseparable part of the people's republic of china.

you think so, what if other hong kong citizens disagree? what if they wanted to call for independence? they disagree in the form of being an expression of personal opinion, then everybody could have a view. you could condemn him and so on. but whether that expressing a view constitutes an offence, then we'll have to look at what the law says. what's the answer? we'll have to look at what the law says. can you promise the people of hong kong that never in your tenure will someone go to jail for calling for autonomy, self—determination or independence? well, i can promise the people of hong kong that we will abide by the rule of law. so that's a no, you can't make the promise?

no. how can you promise when you don't know the actual situation, when you don't know the actual legislation in hong kong and to give a, sort of, perpetual situation answer, i don't think that is a very fair question to ask. china's influence in hong kong is growing — some of it open, some of it not. last year there was public outrage over the suspected abductions of publishers whose books were critical of chinese leaders. they were held on the mainland and forced to make televised confessions. even after their return to hong kong, most have stayed silent about what happened. the hong kong police force have been working on this case and trying to collect evidence and come to a view. but unfortunately, without the co—operation of the people involved, it's just not possible. so do you think it's possible that those hong kong citizens are afraid to speak up about what happened to them, do you think that's a possibility? i don't know. so how many hong kong citizens need to disappear before you start to draw any conclusions about what might be happening to them? i think that is not a fair question. we are not here to quantify

that sort of allegation, but if there are worries that have been undue interference into hong kong affairs, which should come under a high degree of autonomy, then the chief executive has to reflect those sentiments and speak up on behalf of the people. yes. so would it be fair to imagine that you might have a conversation with president xi which goes — please, make sure that no security services from the mainland operate undercover on hong kong soil? will you be having that conversation? i will be very honoured to have a conversation with president xi on occasions, hopefully on the istjuly. carrie lam, thank you so much forjoining us. pleasure. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, highlighting the refugee crisis — supermodel malek is raising awareness for child refugees in her home country. there was a bomb in the city centre. a code word known to be one used by the ira was given. army bomb experts were examining

a suspect van when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing the population registration act, which for a0 years forcibly classified each citizen according to race. germany's parliament, the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat of government from bonn to berlin. berliners celebrated into the night but the decision was greeted with shock in bonn. just a day old and the royal baby is tonight sleeping in his cot at home. early this evening, the new prince was taken by his mother and father to their apartments in kensington palace. the real focus of attention today was valentina tereshkova, the world's first woman cosmonaut. what do you think of the russian woman in space? i think it's a wonderful achievement and i think we might be able to persuade the wife it would be a good idea if i could to get her to go up there for a little while. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: georgia's republican candidate karen handel wins a congressional election in what's seen as a referendum on donald trump. police in brussels have shot dead a suspected suicide bomber as he triggered a small explosion at the capital's main railway station. in portugal, a water—bombing plane has crashed as it battled forest fires. no word on casualties from the aircraft, but at least 64 people have died in the fires since saturday. the government has declared a state of emergency north—east of the capital, lisbon. this from the bbc‘s james reynolds. this afternoon, portugal despatched more planes to fight its forest fires. the government is yet to make this region safe. the relief effort is too late for the village of varzeas, it's lost one in five of its residents. sisile tina told me

she knew all the victims. she tried to count the dead. "two lived here", she said. "three, four, five and more." on saturday afternoon, the village watched the forest catch fire. "there was a massive noise", amal told us, "and then we saw the flames." "we'd never seen anything like it", said valdemar, "it all happened in just a few seconds." residents were then forced to take an immediate, terrifying decision — stay here and risk getting caught by the flames or drive off in search of safety. many drove. it proved to be a fatal mistake.

on this road, flames engulfed many in their cars. mario pinhal told portuguese tv that his family tried to escape in two vehicles. his wife suzanna and their daughters joanna and margarita drove ahead, but they died in the fire. translation: i regret leaving home. everyone has been kind, but i just want my wife and my daughters back. mario and his parents barely escaped in the car behind. "we should have died", mario mother's cries, "nobody would miss us." mario pinhal‘s home remains standing, it is a shattering monument to his family's decision to flee. if they'd simply stayed put, they would have all survived.

james reynolds, bbc news, central portugal. world refugee day is highlighting the plight of more than 65 million people who've been forced from their homes. more than half are under the age of 18. mari malek, who was born in south sudan, came to the us as a child refugee. her family, fleeing civil war, settled in new jersey. now she is a supermodel and advocate for children in her home country. where i come from, south sudan, we are very strong and resilient. we've been going through war for over four decades and we are still sticking to it and still surviving and still living and still making things. so that is in my blood. we lived in the projects.

i was just the awkward child, tall, black. "where did she come from? who is she?" i couldn't express myself because i didn't know how to speak english. when you do become a model it doesn't mean you get a contract and then you become rich and famous and everything is awesome. it is hard work. and i am probably one of the few black women in the industry. i wish i could help all of them. but i can't. and it hurts my heart to see children, you know... suffering like this.

everything that i'm doing connects, because if i am deejaying, modelling or acting i always have to be doing it for a purpose and connecting it back to the story of where i come from. this is why i do this, to inspire refugee kids, to inspire anybody who is facing difficulties and think they cannot get out of it, yes, you can. you can do it. to be strong, resilient, never give up on myself — that's how i've made it this far. the british actor daniel day lewis has announced he is to retire. he will make his final screen appearance in the fashion drama phantom thread — just a warning

there are flashing images coming up. in a statement, he's said he's immensely grateful to all his collaborators and audiences — but will no longer be working as an actor. he's won the best actor 0scar three times for my left foot, there will be blood and lincoln. the american toy—maker mattel has given barbie's companion ken a wide—ranging makeover. it's releasing fifteen new dolls of varying body sizes and skin tones. ken's hairstyles now include the ‘corn row‘ and a ‘man bun‘. tim allman reports. barbie, the famous teenage fashion model dolls by mattel, felt this was to be a special night, and then it happened, she met ken. once upon a time, when the world existed only in black and white, ken was the clean—cut all—american boy next door. the love of barbie's life —

conventional, reliable, solid. # walk like a man, talk like a man. but it's 2017 now and ken looks a little bit different. there's a lot of different kens for a start, different skin colours, different hairstyles, different body types — tall, slim, not so slim — ken is now supposed to represent the modern world. there is a need both in popular culture, like, again, fashion or media, to see representation of everybody, so it's not isolating people for being different but it's really just celebrating all types. # i'm a barbie girl in a barbie world. this comes hot on the heels of barbie's own makeover last year. she was redesigned with different body types now including tall, curvy and petite. the age—old criticism

was that the doll led to unrealistic expectations. young girls aspiring to a body type that was simply unachievable. it is not clear how successful this will be, but life in plastic will be fantastic. everyone knows that elephants never forget but pachyderms could also be the most protective parents around. footage from a south korean zoo shows the moment a baby elephant got in a little over his head in the pool. luckily both parents were on hand and sprung into action. they rushed into the pool and pulled the distressed calf to safety. the rescue has now been viewed thousands of times online. hello, once again.

as has been the case in recent days, tuesday brought 30 degrees quite widely across the southern half of the british isles and, as they say on the bbc, other heatwaves are available. if we get to 3a on wednesday that will put us well up the league table. not quite into pole position compared to 1976, but certainly up there. of course, wednesday is the summer solstice. for some, the real start of summer. and it will certainly feel that way, starting with 20 degrees in the south of wales and into the west country, down into the south—west of england. once the sun is up and we're off and running the temperatures are set to soar. that's not quite the whole story about the day's weather. there will be a fair amount of cloud coming in across the northern half of britain and come the afternoon we may see pretty violent thunderstorms breaking out in the far north of wales and to the north of england, maybe the scottish borders as well. the story in the south will undoubtedly be about the heat, especially if we get

to that mark of 3a celsius, but it's notjust a south—eastern problem, because it extends yet again into the west country, to the south—west of england, into wales, the heart of the midlands and up towards the north—west of england. further north than that there is a somewhat cooler feel to the weather. but even some of these temperatures, for example 22 in belfast, is above average for the time of year. as you'll see, as you get that wee bit further north it does look very much more unsettled. those storms will rumble on during the course of the evening. and later on we will see the first signs of somewhat cooler conditions trying to move in from the atlantic. once we start putting that moisture into the mix of all of the heat that we've had of late, well, that could be really quite explosive. if you catch some of these thunderstorms as they rumble their way from west to east, right through the heart of the british isles, you will certainly know all about it. there could be some very gusty winds, damaging hail and there will be a lot of water very quickly, so driving conditions

will be treacherous. but at least they herald the arrival for many of cooler, fresher weather. that will not feel the case across east anglia and the south—east, where temperatures still well on into the 20s in one or two locations. to the latter half of the week and on towards the weekend, low pressure very much the dominant feature. weather fronts coming in from the atlantic. all the while introducing the cooler and fresher conditions from the atlantic rather than the air from the continent that we've experienced of late. hence that sort of temperature profile will take us on into a cooler weekend. this is bbc news, the headlines: republican candidate karen handel has won the congressional election in georgia, in what many saw as a referendum on donald trump's presidency. with about 83% of votes counted, handel has a five—point lead over democratic challenger, jon 0ssoff. hit has conceded. —— he.

belgian soldiers have shot a suspected suicide bomber in brussels central station. police said the man was wearing what appeared to be a bomb vest and triggered a small explosion. he died later. no one else was hurt. the incoming leader of hong kong has told the bbc she cannot guarantee that freedom of speech will protect those who call for independence. carrie lam is the chief executive—elect of the former british colony, which is about to mark 20 years since its handover to china. now it's time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. when it comes to populist messages delivered with menace,