i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: iraq's military says islamic state has blown up mosul‘s historic grand al—nuri mosque. one us general describes 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. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: this is the scene live in iowa where president trump is looking to kickstart his agenda after victory for the republicans. and the hug that wasn't. senator marco rubio misses the mark when he tries to embrace ivanka trump. the iraqi military is reporting that so called islamic state have blown

up one of the most famous landmarks in the city of mosul. the announcement came from iraqi forces who were very close to the mosque as they pushed ahead with their offensive to retake the is stronghold. an image of the past. the al—nuri mosque in most all which had stood nearly eight centuries with its famous minarets. from above, drone footage shows it's now flattened one of them old city's most famous historical sites, a shadow of its former self. u.s.—led coalition forces claim: however, is claims us aircraft

destroyed the mosque. but, no matter who is telling the truth, this is a hugely symbolic moment. the mosque is where that in 2014 isis leader abu bakkar al—baghdadi made his only appearance shortly after declaring a caliphate. it comes after this exclusive fitted shop by the bbc shows coalition troops within metres of the site. a few hours ago i was there with counterterrorism forces in iraq, which is the closest we've gone today. just 150 metres away from the mosque, and two hours after we left the place, we heard this bad

news that is destroyed the mosque, 01’ news that is destroyed the mosque, or blew it up. attacking the city from all directions, iraqi commanders say they are in the final chapter of the offensive, but with thousands still trapped in the city and more sacred sites destroyed, the battle for parts of mothers all is farfrom over and battle for parts of mothers all is far from over and nothing battle for parts of mothers all is farfrom over and nothing is over —— for parts of mosul. president trump has taken to the stage at a rally in iowa. there he is, standing with the many hundreds who have gathered to its press their support. pretty jubilant after winning back key congressional seat in georgia yesterday. that seat, so much was said about, the democrats ploughing in millions and millions of dollars to try and secure that seat, but it stayed a republican heartland there, but donald trump, many people looking at this rally, his first

significant rally since becoming president, where there were a lot of people, a lot of critics especially, saying his popularity had plummeted, but if these scenes are anything to go by, looking by what we can see, perhaps that's not the case. let's listen in. applause crowd: usa, usa! thank you, everybody. it is great to be back in the incredible,

beautiful, great state of iowa. home of the greatest wrestlers in the world, including ourfriend, dan gable. some of the great wrestlers of the world, right? we love those wrestlers. it's always terrific to be able to leave that washington swamp and spend time with the truly hard—working people swamp and spend time with the truly ha rd—working people — swamp and spend time with the truly hard—working people — we call them american patriots. amazing people. i wa nt to american patriots. amazing people. i want to also extend our congratulations this evening to karen handel of georgia. and we can't forget ralph norman in south

carolina. he called me and i called him. he said, you know, last nighti felt like the forgotten man, but he won, and he won really beautifully, even though most people, a lot of people didn't show up, because they thought he was going to win by so much. it's always dangerous to have those big leagues, but he won very easily, and he is a terrific guy, and i'll tell you what, karen is going to be really incredible. she is going to bejoining some wonderful people and doing some wonderful people and doing some wonderful work, wonderful people and doing some wonderfulwork, including majortax cuts and healthcare and lots of things. going to be reducing crime, and we are securing the second amendment — i told you about that. that looks like it's in good shape withjudge gorsich. that looks like it's in good shape with judge gorsich. i'd that looks like it's in good shape withjudge gorsich. i'd like to also

ta ke withjudge gorsich. i'd like to also take this moment to send our thoughts and prayers... donald trump speaking live in iowa at one of the big rallies. much has been spoken about him talking their following that republican win at the key congressional stake in atlanta, georgia. within the last 20 minutes 01’ georgia. within the last 20 minutes orso, georgia. within the last 20 minutes or so, president trump has been talking about china and the united states' relationship with it, saying, we have a great relationship with china, and i really like xi jinping, so that coming from donald trump. any more, of course, we will ta ke trump. any more, of course, we will take you to iowa as we get any further developments. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. britain's conservative government has outlined its legislative plans to parliament but after losing its majority after the election. the government put forward no controversial pledges. eight of the 27 bills in the speech read out by queen elizabeth concern britain's withdrawal from the eu. there was no mention of president trump's state visit. a 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 the united kingdom makes a success ensure 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 maintaina fisheries. my government will seek to maintain a deep and special partnership with our european allies and to forge new trading relationships across the globe. also making news: russian hackers targeted election systems in 21 us states during last year's campaign. that's according to a us official, who also told lawmakers that she had confidence in the overall integrity of us electoral systems, and that any attempts to change vote tallies were detectable. uber founder travis kalanik has resigned as chief executive after a series of scandals about the company's business methods.

uber has been gripped by controversy since it was established with claims of sexual harrassment and problems with regulators. the nfl says china will stage a regular—season game in the future as part of its goal of having a more global fan—base. five—time super bowl winner tom brady has been promoting the sport across asia this week, and says it's his dream to play in china. the us secretary of state, rex tillerson, says the us and china are seeking a complete and verifiable de—nuclearisation of the korean peninsula. mr tillerson said beijing had a diplomatic responsibility to exert more pressure on pyongyang. he was speaking after meeting senior chinese officials. we reiterated to china that they

have a diplomatic responsibility to exert much greater economic and diplomatic pressure on the regime if they want to prevent further escalation in the region. whether it is money—laundering, extorting korean expatriates or malicious soviet activity, north korea has engaged in the number of criminal enterprise that have helped fund its nuclear weapons programmes. we must up nuclear weapons programmes. we must up our efforts to curtail these sources of revenue. i spoke to nancy snow, who is professor of diplomacy at kyoto university of foreign studies. she says that curbing north korea's nuclear programme needs more than just china and the united states. we also have to have other parties involved. we are talking here about international banks and other countries that are propping up this regime, so it's notjust us and china. i think, regime, so it's notjust us and china. ithink, too, with president trump in one of his tweets calling

out china as having not been able to succeed with north korea wasn't very helpful, because china is very worried about having a refugee crisis on its burdens, —— its borders if it were to pull out all its support. we know 80 or 90% of the fuel that goes to north korea goads from china. can the chinese truly engage with the north koreans? because we haven't seen much change from the stance north korea shows the world, so is diplomacy even possible with that country? well, you don't want to give up on diplomacy, because the alternative is much worse here, and, with china, too, they have the most influence in north korea, but also regionally we have a newly elected president in south korea talking about all options on the table. but he also has said that he sees a possibility for north and south korea to come

together during the winter olympics and to possibly use some event news there to really bring north korea more into the international system. it's very difficult when you are dealing with the type of leader we have here at the top. now, you served at the state department under president clinton, so you have an insight into how policy towards north korea is formulated. so why haven't any of the previous attempts to engage north korea in negotiation involved any human rights in light of the tragic death of otto wormbier? they have worked in the past, and former presidentjimmy carter was very influential in the past in pushing through a new agreement. what north korea wanted at the time was to have nuclear power plants so it could have electricity, and it was willing to

pull back on its nuclear programme there, and, as you recall with carter, he had a human rights led foreign policy which wasn't a success when he was president, but as an international statesman, it has been more effective. we need somebody like carter, somebody who was high profile — now 91, so perhaps he can't it — but someone else, and other parties, notjust the united states. what's the best case scenario the united states. what's the best case scenario you the united states. what's the best case scenario you would expect out of these talks in washington?” would hope that they would move forward and give some credibility and legitimacy to the position that we have here at the region and to realise that we've got to think creatively here, and notjust go with tough and hard power rhetoric that we are hearing now. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the hug that misfires

as 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. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm 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. two teenagers in germany using toy guns shot toy bullets at the king of thailand. he was not hurt. it is not

clear if the boys knew who they were shooting at. 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 to date. what stories are sparking discussions 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. 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. this is a tweet he sent out... babita, there is a wealth of awkward moments which politicians have experienced in their encounters with others. here's a small selection of them. king solomon has chosen his nephew

to replace him in the throne. he has overseen saudi arabia's war in yemen. john simpson has this assessment of the significance of this appointment. prince mohamed promotion was announced this morning. it was not a huge surprise. he has been groomed for the last couple of years for the number two position. in saudi arabia, politics is that the royal family and the young prince, on the left, did the polite thing and showed respect to his older cousin. now it is assumed mohamed, 31, will become king at some point. he is trying to liberate some point. he is trying to liberate some aspect of saudi life but critics say he is increasing the

repression in the country. last year, he approved the execution of the leading shi'ite cleric which led to demonstrations in shi'ite dominated iran and great attention in the sunni muslim majority. as defence minister, he was often accused of rationalist. two years ago he launched the saudi war on the revels in yemen telling them it would be over quickly. it is still going on. that has deepened the rivalry with iran supports the rebels. the fears of an open confrontation are growing. he is behind the effort to isolate qatar for being too independent and being too close to iran. he's not in a position yet to go to war with iran.

what he will do he will have wars by proxy and at least either israel or the us in potential volatile situations with iraq. very nice people. he has an enthusiastic friend in president trump. i all accou nts friend in president trump. i all accounts the prince sees himself as accounts the prince sees himself as a younger version of donald trump — a younger version of donald trump — a businessman who are hugely wealthy country. he has cultivated the american trump administration intensely and personally. the americans seem to like what he is proposing. for now, his biggest problem is that the war. it is expensive. it has attracted strong accusations of war crimes. and all his weaponry is not enough to win. his firstjob will be to stop the war. in bangladesh, lightning strikes have killed at least twenty—two people in the space of forty—eight 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. well, as you have heard, there has been several dozen fatalities of lightning strikes in the last 48 hours in part of 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 these thunderstorms, very large hail 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. some heavy rain across some parts

of india and especially towards myanmar. crossing into bangladesh, stretching into the north—east of india, here we often see these violent thunderstorms go because we see cooler air moving off the mountains and meeting warmer, moister air coming off the bay of bengal. here we see storms developing, the most severe of which developing in bangladesh. we are keeping a close eye on bangladesh 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. for the first time in 43 years, queen elizabeth ii did not wear her crown to the queens beach, but her hat has had wear her crown to the queens speech, but her hat has had 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 her royal blue hat, its seven yellow flowers, and the stars of the european flag. one confused twitter user wrote... ..said a former great british bake—off presenter... and, from a european journalist in brussels... the queen, as head of state, is politically neutral, and on political matters, she acts upon the advice of her government. but that won't stop many from speculating theories as to whether or not her majesty was sending a coded message or having a bit of fun. back to iowa where us president is holding a rally in front of supporters in cedar rapid. he is

talking to the crowd that have gathered. many hundreds, maybe a thousand or so. our correspondent is there amongst the crowd. so far she has tweeted it is about making america great, america first... in cancers, last night, south carolina... you have been watching newsday. coming up, we will be taking a look at the approaching end of the muslim holy month of ramadan and we look at the business of preparing for the egypt celebration -- eid. this is preparing for the egypt celebration —— eid. this is an aerial view of the sunseekers at an outdoor pool in london. thank you forjoining us.

hello, there. we saw the peak of the hit wave on wednesday afternoon, with temperatures across southern britain soaring into the low to mid—30s celsius. it was 35 degrees recorded at heathrow, which was the warmest day of the year, so far, but also the warmestjune day since 1976. wales also saw its hottest day with 31 degrees recorded in cardiff. further north, though, it is a little bit cooler, and we see a thundery breakdown developing, particularly across northern england and west scotland as we head into wednesday evening. that he will continue to retreat back into the near continent as cooler and fresher conditions push in off the atlantic, with a fair old breeze. this introduction of cooler air into the heat will spark off further thunderstorms through the overnight period. mainly in the northern half of the uk, tending to ease towards thursday morning. we'll have a lot of mist and murk developing across western coastal

areas. it will be a touch fresher, here, but still a warm and muggy start first thing on thursday. it means will be a warm and humid start in the south—east, but we will likely see a line of showers and thunderstorms move through the midlands and in towards the south—east during the morning period, and then clearing away. and then another ripple of showers and thunderstorms pushing in towards northern england and eastern england in the afternoon. so quite a messy picture. there will be some sunshine in the north and west — much cooler and fresher here. cooler and fresher in the south—east, 25 or 26 degrees. mid—20s instead of mid—30s. you will notice that difference. late on thursday, things will turn more unsettled across scotland and northern ireland, that's because this vigorous area of low pressure arrives. this sets the scene for things becoming more unsettled from friday onwards, with cooler and fresher air pushing in off the atlantic. so we'll have some sunshine in the south and east on friday. further north, a band of rain 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 cooler and fresher, as well, with temperatures in the mid to upper

teens celsius, here. we could make 25 degrees in the south east. into saturday, a breezy day, as you can see with these wind arrows. a few showers will develop, mainly across the north and west. top temperatures 20—23 celsius in the south—east, so still feeling cool and fresher. sunday, winds will come down from the north—westerly direction, so it will be a touch cooler still across scotland. further south—east, we could make 21 or 22 degrees. so the main message is it's turning cool over the next few days. certainly over the weekend, it will feel cooler. it will be breezy with a mixture of sunshine and showers. i'm babita sharma with bbc world news. our top story. iraq's military says islamic state militants have blown up mosul‘s historic grand al—nuri mosque. one us general described it as a crime against all the people of iraq. the mosque is where abu bakr al—baghdadi made his only public appearance as the leader of is. america's secretary of state insists china has a responsibility to try to force north korea

to scrap its nuclear weapons. rex tillerson said washington wants complete de—nuclearisation of the korean peninsula. and this story is trending on bbc.com. it was the hug that wasn't. senator marco rubio missed the mark when he tried to embrace president trump's daughter ivanka. the missed hug was caught on camera, uploaded to social media and went viral. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk. the government has set out a range of measures in the queen's speech that it hopes to bring into law over the next two years,