welcome to newsday. the headlines: the iraqi military says is has blown up the iraqi military says is has blown up mosul‘s allberry mosque and one muslim says it is a crime against iraq. and historical dome was destroyed a few hours ago. the american secretary of state says china has a responsibility to force north korea to scrap its nuclear weapons. also coming up on the programme — it is a victory for republicans after winning a special election in georgia. president trump heads to iowa to kickstart his agenda. and that hug that wasn't. marco rubio misses the mark when he tries to embrace the president's daughter. good morning. it is 7am in singapore

and 2am in the iraqi city of mosul where the great mosque of al—nuri has been destroyed by the so—called islamic state. the announcement came from iraqi forces close to the mosque as they pushed ahead with the offensive to retake the ias stronghold. the us general called it a crime against the people of muscle and all of iraq. let me show you some of the pictures taken by a bbc cameraman just about an hour before the mosque was hit. you can see the famous leaning minaret, with the city nickname, the hunchback. in 2014 the eye as leader made his only

public appearance there. —— the is leader. these images were taken soon after the mosque was destroyed and you can see it is hardly recognisable. a little while ago our correspondent in mosul spoke with my colleague and gave the latest. it is confirmed that the mosque and the historical dome was destroyed a couple of hours ago. i was there in the evening with the counterterrorism force in iraq, which advanced to just 150 metres away from the mosque where i was filming the pictures are sent to the bbc. they were very excited. they we re bbc. they were very excited. they were ready to cross the dozens of metres to storm the mosque in the next few hours. and two hours after

we left the place we heard the news that is destroyed the mosque, blew it up. now is says that he coalition struck the mosque, which couldn't be true because of the situation in the ground. the forces were... some of the iraqi fighters were just a few metres, not just hundred the iraqi fighters were just a few metres, notjust hundred metres, i am talking 20 or 30 metres from the mosque. it is impossible to strike from the air. put this into context for us if you will. what does it say for us if you will. what does it say for the overall battle for mosul? now the forces from three directions are advancing towards the old city where the mosque is and they are advancing from the north, east and west. the west, the counterterrorism force are advancing, they were very close to the mosque. the iraqi hoped

to announce that the worst part of mosul was liberated from is. the battle for mosul started nine months ago. they hope that the old city would be finished before that. ago. they hope that the old city would be finished before thatm ago. they hope that the old city would be finished before that. it is so would be finished before that. it is so memorable that back in 2014 the islamic state group leader abu bakr al—baghdadi gave a speech inside is very mosque. why would they destroy it? it is the same reason. it is very simple for them. they know, from the media and unofficial media, the iraqi army want this, to destroy the iraqi army want this, to destroy the idea of the caliphate which announced from the mosque. this is very important for them. if they stormed the mosque and they finished the placed where abu bakr al—baghdadi appears in front of the

people publicly, it means that the caliphate will be finished and the idea of the caliphate will be destroyed completely. then they will lose mosul and finish isis's assistance in any big city in iraq. let's have a look at some of the other news for you. the conservative government in britain has outlined plans to parliament. after losing the majority in the election, the government put forward no controversial pledges. eight of the 27 bills in the speech read out by queen elisabeth concern the withdrawal from the eu. queen elisabeth concern the withdrawalfrom the eu. there queen elisabeth concern the withdrawal from the eu. there was queen elisabeth concern the withdrawalfrom the eu. there was no mention of the president trump state visit. the bill will be introduced to repeal the european communities act and provide certainty for individuals and businesses. this will be complemented by legislation to ensure that the united kingdom

makes a success of brexit, establishing new national policies on immigration, international sanctions, nuclear safeguards, agriculture and fisheries. my government will seek to maintain a deep and special partnership with european allies and to forge new trading relationships across the globe. also making news — russian hackers targeted at elections in 21 us states according to a us official who also told us lawmakers she had confidence in the overall integrity of the us electoral system. any attem pts of the us electoral system. any atte m pts to of the us electoral system. any attempts to change vote tallies were detectable. the founder of uber has resigned as chief executive after a series of scandals about the company is this method. uber has been in controversy since it was established with claims of sexual harassment. the queen's husband prince philip

will spend a second night in hospital as he receives treatment for infection relating to a pre—existing condition. he is to retire from public duties in august. the nfl says china will stage a regular—season game in the future as pa rt regular—season game in the future as part of having more of a global fan base. the five—time super bowl winner tom brady has been promoting the sport across asia this week and says it is his dream to play in china. the us secretary of state rex tillerson says the us and china are seeking a complete and verifiable denuclearisation of the korean peninsular. beijing has a diplomatic responsibility to put pressure on pyongyang. we reiterated to china they have a

diplomatic responsibility to exert much greater economic and diplomatic pressure of the regime if they want to prevent further escalation in the region. whether it is money laundering, extorting korean ex— patriots or malicious site activity, north korea has engaged in a number of criminal enterprises to help fund its weapon programmes. we must step up its weapon programmes. we must step up efforts to help to curtail these sources of revenue. joining me from seoul is stephen eva ns. joining me from seoul is stephen evans. as you have heard, some big amounts from rex tillerson. speaking after meeting with the chinese. you are in seoul. is there a sense the south koreans should be more involved in these talks, and they feel slightly left out? there is a sense that the us perhaps doesn't recognise its role. there was a

tetchy exchange between president moon at a us journalist who implied a softer line from seoul didn't have the permission of the us president. president moon, the president here, said we don't need permission to engage with north korea. we are trying to work out what the policy is. the clip, the words you played a moment ago, you could have played that clip anytime over the last ten yea rs. that clip anytime over the last ten years. the us saying china should do more. a couple of days ago president trump tweeted that china had done... had tried... we know that china has tried. president trump seems to be recognising that china is doing more bad it hasn't done the job —— recognising that china is doing more bad it hasn't done thejob —— but. president trump has been in office for five months. you president trump has been in office forfive months. you might think that five months isn't long for a policy to work out. but you do

wonder whether president trump and the administration in washington is discovering that simply getting china to do more isn't going to do thejob china to do more isn't going to do the job because ultimately china won't bring down that regime. if thatis won't bring down that regime. if that is so, that then prompts the question, what is the us going to do? previous presidents have said, we work and lots of complicated ways to try and solve this problem, but war is not one of them. what we do not know with president trump is whether he has ruled out that option in his own mind, if not publicly. moving a way from that a little bit and back to south korea where you are, president moon was known for his sunshine policy, his conservatory approach to north korea but the last couple of days since the death of the american otto warmbier, he has taken a hardline

stance, so is it a warmbier, he has taken a hardline stance, so is ita in warmbier, he has taken a hardline stance, so is it a in attitude? -- is ita stance, so is it a in attitude? -- is it a change in attitude? well, we don't quite know what the attitude of this administration is. one of his advisers have suggested that if... that south korea and the us should maybe it is up on these military exercises which every year... coincides military exercises which every year. .. coincides with military exercises which every year... coincides with a raising of tension. north korea objects very, very strenuously to them. one of president moon's advisers has suggested, well, maybe south korea could ease up on that in return for some sort of paws on the nuclear testing in the north. now, that isn't president moon's position at at the moment —— pause. you wonder if there is a little bit of, two boxers dancing about each other,

well, maybe we will ease up on the exercises if you halt nuclear testing. one interesting point is that north korea has not engaged in a sixth nuclear test and there has been an expectation that it would. is it holding off in the hope of change, or maybe fear of more with america? thank you forjoining. evans in seoul. king salman of saudi arabia has redrawn the kingdom's line of succession, replacing his nephew with his son as the air to the throne. he has been driving major reforms of the country's economic policies and has overseen the war in yemen. john simpson has this assessment of the significance of this appointment. prince muhamed's promotion was announced on saudi tv this morning. it wasn't a huge surprise. he has been groomed for the position for the last couple of years. in saudi

arabia politics is the royalfamily and the young pushy prince muhamed on the left did the polite thing and showed respect to his much older cousin, prince mohammed bin naye, who he is replacing and it is presumed now that prince mohammed bin salman will become king at some point. he is trained to liberalise aspects of saudi life but critics say he is increasing the repression in the country. last year he approved the execution of a leading shi'ite cleric, which led to demonstrations in shi'ite dominated inrun and great attention in saudi arabia between the shi'ites and the majority sunni muslims. macro to is prepared to do things on the spur of the moment —— prince mohammed is prepared to do things on the star of

the moment. two years ago he launched a walk on the saudi rebels in yemen, telling the king it would be over quickly. it is still going on. that has deepened the angry rivalry with iran which supports the rebels. the fears of open confrontation are growing and prince mohammed has been behind the effort to isolate the gulf state of qatar for being a bit too independent and for being a bit too independent and for getting too close to iran. he is not ina for getting too close to iran. he is not in a position yet to go to war with iran. what he will do isjust have wars by proxy and also try to enlist either israel or the united states in a potential volatile situation with iraq. very nice people is by weight and prince mohammed has an enthusiastic friend in president trump. by all accounts he sees himself as a younger version of donald trump, a businessman who runs a hugely wealthy countries. he is someone who has cultivated the

american trump administration intensely and personally with visits. the americans seem to like what he is proposing. for now his biggest problem is the war he started in yemen. it is expensive, it has attracted strong accusations of war crimes and all his weaponry from britain and elsewhere isn't enough to win. his firstjob will be to stop the war. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme:: after stalling badly can donald trump hold his political agenda? also coming up: the hug that misfires, senator marco rubio doesn't quite get to ivanka trump as planned. 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 40 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. welcome back. your watching newsday

on the bbc. adam sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories. iraq's military says islamic state has blown up mosul‘s historic grand al—nuri mosque — one general described it as a crime against all the people of iraq. america's secretary of state insists china has a responsibility to try to force north korea to scrap its nuclear weapons. and shots have been fired by two teenagers in germany targeting the king of thailand. the king, who spends much of his time in germany, was cycling late at night with his entourage near munich airport. that story is popular on bbc.com. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the front pages from around the world, now. the japan times is reporting on the electronics giant toshiba, which is due to sell its computer memory chip business. it's chosen a japanese government—led conglomerate formed ofjapanese, south korean and us

investors as the preferred bidder for the sale which the paper says will quell fears of technology being leaked to china. more on uberfrom the financial times, saying the company is facing a leadership vacuum after the departure of travis kalanic. the newspaper reports the move has divided investors after it left the tech group with its top three executive posts vacant. and the south china morning post says beijing is courting ivanka trump and her husband jared kushner to build closer ties with the united states. analysts say the likelihood of the couple being invited a head of president donald trump's trip was higher, given their influence on his foreign policy. and that brings you up foreign policy. and that brings you up to date. but babita sharma, what are some of the stories making it online? yes well we've probably all done it — gone in for a hug or a handshake, and it not be reciprocated —

leaving that awkward moment. rico hizon has had quite a few of those moments. well, that's exactly what appeared to happen to senator marco rubio when he went to embrace the president's daughter ivanka trump. he was probably hoping that no one had noticed, except of course it was caught on camera, uploaded to social media and went viral. luckily, the republican senator saw the funny side. he said it was being investigated and will be resolved soon. that's right, babita — there is a wealth of awkward moments which politicians have experienced in their encounters with others. here's a small selection of them. the never ending handshake, yes. let's had to iowa now. our north america correspondent, rajini vaidyanathan, is in iowa. it does feel like a step back in time, somewhat, because the stage looks the same. the posters are almost the same. and the playlist as

we wait for the president arrived is the same, as well. this looks and feels like a campaign rally, except donald trump is now president trump. —— stepped. hundreds of people have been lining up to get here, even if his approval ratings seem to have fallen. it does not feel like that here. amongst supporters i spoken to, some have been sleeping outside on the pavement overnight, to get the front seat. one woman says she was here from 6pm the day before to ensure that she could get a good seatin ensure that she could get a good seat in the rally. on the stage, there are signs that say promises made and promises kept. and that might give us an idea of what the tone of the night's speech. he will try to consolidate with his supporters things that he has done in his first six months in office. and perhaps even make some reference to the victory in georgia, where the republicans managed to hold on to that congressional seat. let's talk about that little bit, because that

would have given them a huge boost. the democrats threw a lot of money that failed to win the prize. that is right. the most expensive house race in us history, and the democrats did still not win the race. but it is worth noting, babita sharma, that the republic on the seat to vacate it because he got a seat to vacate it because he got a seatin seat to vacate it because he got a seat in donald trump's cabinet. so it is yet a victory for the democrats in that they tighten the race, but the republicans held onto it. donald trump has tweeted that he is happy about that, and it is likely that will be mentioned in note as well. the local paper he wrote a letter to donald trump said that he needs to focus on governing and selling his policies instead of

holding these kind of events. in bangladesh, lightning strikes have killed at least 22 people in the space of 48 hours. the latest deaths come as storms have been sweeping across the country after a week of monsoon rains which have triggered a series of deadly landslides — the worst on record. 150 people died last week. every year the country experiences weeks of lightning strikes during the monsoon season, resulting in high death tolls. so what causes lightning in this region and will we expect more extreme lightning storms? here's the bbc weatherman, stav danaos, with an explanation. as you have heard, there has been several dozen fatalities of lightning strikes in the last 48 hours in bangladesh. lightning is not uncommon in this part of the world before and during the course of the monsoons. we also had torrential rain with this thunderstorms, very large tail as well. and some flooding and mudslides, around 600 — 800

millimetres falling in some areas. the south—west monsoon is in full swing at the moment, as you can see on the satellite picture. heavy rain across some parts of india and towards myanmar. crossing into bangladesh, stretching into the north—east of india, here we often see these violent thunderstorms go because we see call a moving off the mountains. —— cooler air moving. the most severe storms the developer can be in bangladesh. we will be across that for you. earlier, we told you about the queen's speech in westminster, when she discusses the 37 bills that will form the government's agenda, next year. but it was her hat that was getting a lot of attention on social media. julia macfarlane explains why. the first time in 43 years, queen elizabeth ii did not wear her crown to the queens beach, but had has everybody talking. my lords and members of the house of commons... look familiar? as her majesty

outlined the 27 bills that will form the government's two year agenda, users talk to twitter to note the striking resemblance of a hat to the flag of the european union. one can choose —— confused user wrote... and, for a european journalists choose —— confused user wrote... and, for a europeanjournalists in brussels, . .. and, for a europeanjournalists in brussels,... —— journalist. and, for a europeanjournalists in brussels, . .. —— journalist. the queen, as head of state, is politically neutral, and acts upon the advice of a government. but that would stop many from spectating theories as to whether or not her majesty was sending a coded message or having a bit of fun. some debate there are over a hat. uarbry watching newsday. stay with us. uarbry watching newsday. stay with us. plenty more to come. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. and the

headlines will be out next stop but we have a record today. the hottest june day on record since 1976, with 34.4dc recorded in london. see you soon. 34.4dc recorded in london. see you soon. hello. we saw the peak of the hit wavell wednesday afternoon, with temperatures across southern britain scoring into the low to mid— 30s celsius. it was 35 degrees at heathrow, the warmest day of the year so far, but also the warmest june day on record since 1976. wales also saw its hottest day with 31 degrees recorded in cardiff. further north, cooler, and a thundery brea kd owns north, cooler, and a thundery breakdowns developing, typically across northern england and was scotla nd across northern england and was scotland as we head into wednesday evening. that he will continue to retreat back into the near continent as cool and fresher conditions pushing off the atlantic, with a fair breeze. this induction of cooler air into their heat will spark off further thunderstorms

overnight. mainly in the northern half of the uk. they tend to ease towards thursday morning. mist an mepal develop across western coastal areas. it will be a touch fresher, here, but still a warm and muggy start first thing on thursday. it will be a warm and humid start in the south—east, but a liner showers and thunderstorms will move through the midlands and towards the south—east during the morning period, and then clearing away. and then another ripple of showers and thunderstorms putting towards northern england and eastern england in the afternoon. sunshine in the north and west. call and fresher here. cooler and fresher in the south—east, 25 or 26 degrees. mid-205 south—east, 25 or 26 degrees. mid—20s and of mid— 30s. you will notice a difference. late on thursday, things will turn more u nsettled thursday, things will turn more unsettled across scotland and northern ireland, because this is the biggest area of low pressure arise. —— this vigorous area of low

pressure rise. sunshine in the south—east and east on friday. are we moving through and some of it will be quite heavy. the scotland and northern ireland, a breezy and windy day as that low pressure sweeps through. it will feel cool and fresh with temperatures in the mid to upper teens celsius. 35 degrees across the south east. saturday, every day, as you is eager with these wind arrows. a few showers will develop, mainly across the north and west. top temperatures will be about 20 or 23 celsius in the south—east, so still feeling cool and fresher. winds will come down from the north—westerly direction, and it will be cooler across scotland. the south—east, we could make 21 or 22 degrees. sprinkle over the next few days. certainly over the weekend, it will feel cooler. it will be breezy with a mixture of sunshine and showers. you're watching bbc world news.

iraq's military says islamic state has blown up the grand al—nuri mosque. it is where abu bakr al—baghdadi made his only public appearance as the leader of is after proclaiming a caliphate three years ago. the american secretary of state says china has a responsibility to force north korea to scrap its nuclear weapons. rex tillerson said washington wants complete denuclearisation of the korean peninsular. this storing is trending on bbc .com — the hug that wasn't when senator marco rubio tried to embrace ivanka trump. it was caught on camera, uploaded and went viral. you are up—to—date. stay with us. now on bbc news, it is time for hardtalk.