i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: china's best—known political prisoner, the nobel peace prize holder liu xiaobo, has died of cancer after eight years in jail. the nobel committee says china bears a heavy responsibility for his premature death. fellow democracy activists pay tribute. chinese society has certainly lost one varied grave human rights defender. —— lost one very brave. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme, a trip to paris and a hint from donald trump that he could change his position on the paris climate change agreement. and a unique piece of space history goes up for auction. a bag that brought moondust back to earth. good morning.

it's 1:00am in london and 8:00am in singapore — and also in beijing, where one of china's most prominent political dissidents, liu xiaobo, has died of cancer a month after he was moved from prison to hospital. he was 61. he'd been serving an 11—year sentence for "inciting subversion of state power." liu xiaobo won the nobel peace prize in 2010 for his pursuit of democracy in china. the leader of the norwegian nobel committee said the government in beijing bore a heavy responsibility for his death. 0ur china editor carrie gracie reports. liu xiaobo in happier times. and liu xiaobo last week. reunited with his wife only at the end.

and still, under the watchful eye of the state. two foreign doctors were allowed to visit his bedside. the pictures released abroad to support the government's claim that it had done what it could. along with videos to deflect the charge that his cancer was neglected until too late. but he was denied his dying wish — to leave china. we have been through these kind of cases one after another, but it has still come as a big shock. because, not only because i know him, but also because he has been such a symbol for china's human rights, or democratic movement. liu xiaobo's course was set in 1989. the tiananmen square democracy protests. he tried to secure students safe passage out. before the army moved into kill unknown numbers.

many gave up, but he stood firm. in and out ofjail, for demanding political freedoms. translation: as a survivor of the tiananmen square democracy movement, ifeel i have a duty to uphold justice for those who died in that event. in 2010 he won the nobel peace prize, but he was back in prison for subversion. "empty chair" became a banned expression on china's internet. his once irrepressible wife, lui xia, was placed under house arrest, where she fell victim to depression. it was only two weeks‘ ago the world learned of liu xiaobo's illness. hong kong, the one place in china citizens could call for his release. chinese censorship is formidable,

and few here know of liu xiaobo's life, his death or his nobel peace prize. many chinese see the one party state as an unavoidable fact of life, and under the strong arm rule of president xijinping it has become even more dangerous to challenge that. liu xiaobo once warned, "if you want to enter hell, don't complain of the dark." he felt no ill—will toward his jailers. he said he'd committed no crime, but had no complaints. i've been speaking to jared genser. he is the lawyer who provided legal counsel both to liu xiaobo and his wife, liu xia. he has not been heard by the world

since he was sentenced to prison. i began working on his behalf in may of 2010, and a few months later i spoke to him about what might happen if he won the nobel peace prize. his wife decided to stay in china with her husband. from the moment he won the prize the security cord and came down around her, and she has spent the last seven years under house arrest without charge or trial, cut off from the outside world. —— security cordon. the last few weeks have been no different. neither of them were able to see family friends who wanted to save their farewells. there was even a chinese security guard in their hospital room, 21w. they couldn't even have privacy as husband and wife before he died. it was absolutely terrible and tragic.

there have been calls to lifts at —— lift restrictions on his wife. she has been subject to surveillance which is said to be so suffocating that she has mental and physical ill—health. is this where your focus will turn, to her? absolutely. today iam demanding will turn, to her? absolutely. today i am demanding that he international committee be given access to her. we have lobbied on their behalf at the united nations, which found that they were being held in violation of international law. the chinese government said that she was under "no legal restriction". that is an inaccurate statement in a bizarre sense. there is no law that allows for house arrest in china, so she was being illegally held. liu xia is never been charged with a crime so she should be able to get a passport and leave the country immediately. and i very much want the wishes for

the burial of her husband to be honoured. she should be allowed to go wherever she wants. china, in recent weeks and days, was really at pains to show that it did all that it could for liu xiaobo in the last few days, even inviting an american and german doctor to examine him. do you believe that they did all they could? of course not. how is it possible that the most famous political prisoner, out of nowhere, was diagnosed with stage for terminal level cancer? why was he not getting regular medical treatment and checkups at his prison? they had exclusive authority over him. he was held in solitary for rate years —— eight years. they did not give him regular medical treatments, and they just learned that he has medical —— has terminal cancer out of nowhere. in the last few weeks of his life the american and german doctors concluded there we re and german doctors concluded there were better treat and is available abroad that could have extended his life by up to three weeks, and in addition, that palliative care measures which could have enabled

him to suffer less. the chinese government refused under any circumstances to let him leave. my view is that the chinese government will fully and intentionally hastened his death, they didn'tjust failed to provide him with appropriate medical care. strong words from jarrad jansen, who provided liu xiaobo with legal counsel. —— jared provided liu xiaobo with legal counsel. ——jared genser. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. president trump's on a two—day visit to paris to meet his french counterpart. it comes amid tension — though you wouldn't think it from these shots — over the us pulling out of the paris climate accord. speaking alongside emmanuel macron, mr trump hinted he could change his position, while the french president said it was important to focus on their shared values. translation: on climate we know our differences, we've shared and expressed them on several occasions, and i think it is important to see how we can make progress on that matter. i respect president trump's decision. he'll work on implementing his campaign promises. and as far as i'm concerned, i remain attached to the paris agreement an will make sure that

step—by—step we can do everything that is in the agreement. something could happen with respect to the paris accord, we will see what happens but we will talk about that over the coming period of time, and if it happens that will be wonderful and if it does not, that will be ok too, but we will see what happens. but we did discuss many things today, including the ceasefire in syria, we discussed the ukraine and we discussed a lot of different topics and we briefly hit on the paris accord and we will see what happens. also making news today. the uk government says it has taken a major step in withdrawing the country from the european union. it has published a parliamentary bill which would convert thousands of european laws and regulations into british law to help ensure life continues as normally as possible once separation occurs. it's introducing the repeal bill to parliament, which will convert

45 years of european legislation into british law. a moscow military court has sentenced the ringleader of a chechen gang to 20 years in prison for killing the russian opposition politician, boris nemtsov. zaur dadayev, is a former member of an elite military unit under the command of chechnya's strongman, ramzan kadyrov. his four accomplices received sentences ranging from 11 to 19 years. a congressional committee in brazil has voted not to send corruption charges against president michel temer to the supreme court. the charges will now be debated by the whole of congress, but it is increasingly unlikely that mr temer will face prosecution. it comes a day after the former president was convicted for corruption. now, there's nothing worse than a backseat driver! these fantastic pictures are of the world famous red arrows, the aerobatic team of the royal air force. but sat behind the nine british pilots are their american

counterparts, the thunderbirds. to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the united states air force, the thunderbirds have been invited to perform at the 2017 royal international air tattoo this coming weekend. the american pilots checking out the moves of the red arrows from close quarters. you are watching you stay on the bbc. -- you are watching you stay on the bbc. —— newsday. still to come on the programme, we'll talk to our beijing reporter about how the death of liu xiaobo is seen in the country he wanted to change. also on the programme, the remarkable story of the elephant who went for a swim and found itself in very deep water off the coast of sri lanka. the flamboyant italian fashion designer gianni versace has been

shot dead in florida. the multimillionaire was gunned down in his home in the exclusive south beach district of miami. emergency services in central europe have stepped up efforts to contain the worst floods this century. nearly 100 people have been killed. broadway is traditionally called the great white way by americans but tonight it is completely blacked out. it's a timely reminder of all americans about the problems the energy crisis has brought them. 200 years ago today a huge parisian crowd stormed the bastille prison, the first act of the revolution which was to topple the french monarchy. today hundreds of thousands thronged the champs—elysees for the traditional military parade. finally, fairy penguins have been staggering ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on a huge shoal of their favourite food, pilchards. some had eaten so much they could barely stand. you're watching newsday on the bbc.

i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: the nobel committee says china bears a heavy responsibility for the death of the peace prize winner, the jailed chinese dissident liu xiaobo. donald trump has hinted he might reconsider his position on the climate change agreement, after meeting france's president macron in paris. and these pictures of a couple having a bit of a mishap as they practised their traditional first dance for their wedding is proving popular on bbc.com. andy and sharon price hoped to recreate a lift move from the film dirty dancing, only to run straight into each other, and both end up unconscious. they didn't suffer any serious harm, but they say they're now downgrading their plans to a simple slow dance when their big day comes around. lets get more on the news

of the death of china's nobel peace laureate, liu xiaoboa. 0ur correspondent steve mcdonnell is in beijing. it is fascinating to hear that a noble peace prize laureate was relatively unknown in china? we have not even heard from the chinese government at this stage mind you, nor would we expect to hear from them about the death of liu xiaobo recalls they could possibly think it was mission accomplished. he has beenin was mission accomplished. he has been in prison all these years and 110w been in prison all these years and now he is dead and most people in china, apart from not hearing about his death would not have heard his name spoken. this is in stark

contrast to the international criticism. this comment from the un high commissioner for human criticism. this comment from the un high commissionerfor human rights who says liu xiaobo was the definition of courage and human dignity. a poet and intellectual who wa nted dignity. a poet and intellectual who wanted and strove for a better future for his country. a man who despite all he suffered continued to expel the politics of peace. he has and will continue to be an inspiration and an exam will for all human rights. for the chinese government are supposed that is water off a ducks back but despite the criticism they will plan to ride it out and move other issues. the criticism they will plan to ride it out and move other issueslj the criticism they will plan to ride it out and move other issues. i can appreciate authorities have not said anything but there was international concern and it's about his wife lui xia. the us government has reiterated his call for liu xiaobo's

wife, lui xia, to be free from house arrest. she was allowed to visit her dying husband in hospital but it remains unclear what happens to her 110w. remains unclear what happens to her now. will she go back to house arrest? will they be able to have a funeral? will it be public? there have been reports that have been lent on to have a cremation instead ofa lent on to have a cremation instead of a burial because they do not want to create a shrine that in the future people calling for democracy will visit. she's out of contact from the outside world but that is not unusual because she has been living under house arrest by many yea rs. living under house arrest by many years. a difficult situation indeed. we heard him talk about how little liu xiaobo is that the chinese. not

much in the papers? that's right. no mention of liu xiaobo's death on the front page of the china daily. instead it reports on what it calls a drastic drop in imports from north korea as customs officials strictly abide by un resolutions on the country. the gulf news shows members of the afghanistan robotics team going to pick up their us visas. they were told donald trump personally intervened after they were denied the documents by new us laws. and over in the uk, the front page of the daily mail laments johanna konta being knocked out of wimbledon. it says her hopes of being the first british female winner in forty years were dashed by "genius" venus williams. now, what stories are sparking discussions online? these pictures of an elephant in sri lanka are trending after it had a miraculous escape after it was swept out to sea. it was spotted by the sri lankan

navy as it struggled to stay afloat. it seemed to be using its trunk as a snorkel to breathe. divers and wildlife officials launched a 12—hour rescue operation and managed to gently tow the elephant back to more shallow waters. let's get more now on the news of the death of china's nobel peace laureate, liu xiaoboa. 0ur correspondent cindy sui is in taiwan. we have heard a lot of international condemnation from various leaders and the taiwanese president no exception? i should first say that after hearing the report earlier, taiwan is the only chinese democracy

in the world openly reporting about liu xiaobo cancer and hospital stay and the refusal of the chinese to let him leave the country for medical treatment. he is death is in all the papers and tv stations. this is the democracy realised in taiwan which liu xiaobo wanted to see in china. a strong statement issued last night not criticising the chinese government but encouraging them to move towards our path of democracy. what the president said was that it should notjust be about mightand was that it should notjust be about might and power but about liu xiaobo's dream. the chinesejim should include the dream of liu xiaobo, the impotent asian of

democracy so that every chinese person should have freedom and dignity and that is what makes china a great country. she went on to say that taiwan will provide the necessary assistance in realising that dream in china. the reaction from taiwan on the death of chinese dissident liu xiaobo. just over a month since the fire that swept through a tower block in east london. last week the british government announced amnesty for illegal immigrants living inside the green felt power. —— grenfell tower. the number of people not registered is unknown. 0ne the number of people not registered is unknown. one of them has now come forward. she is from the philippines and has been speaking exclusively to

the bbc. we may never know how many illegal immigrants lived in grenfell tower, how many died and how many survived. but one of them has come forward. she spoke to me today. she agreed to speak to us on the condition that we don't show herface. what support have you received since the night of the fire? they did not recognise me as a victim. investigators believe that around 350 people were living inside the tower. but illegal residents were not registered and it isn't known how many were in the same situation and whether they are among those who perished that night. ido i do believe that it is much higher than the one published. why? some of them are undocumented, like

my case. some were sleeping in the stairs. last week, the home office granted a 12 month deportation amnesty for survivors like her, but with a young son in the uk and family to support in the philippines, she still fears about the future. after 12 months, i am not sure if i can renew my visa or they are going to deport me. that is what i am afraid. i want to stay here and support my kids. to give them a better future. herfriend and her daughter both managed to escape from the 21st floor and have since been discharged from hospital. but the ordeal has deeply affected her. how have you coped with the trauma of surviving something as horrific as the grenfell tower fire? iam i am trying to move on, talking to

friends about what is inside because it is really haunting me. my friend, when i was talking to her, was grateful i survived. but i will carry a lot of guilt. next week will see the 48th anniversary of what is arguably humanity's greatest achievement — our firstjourney to the moon. now an auction is taking place in new york that contains a unique memento from that trip, as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. (music playing). it may not look all that special but is bags go this is really rather important. this was in the bag used to bring the first

sample is back from the lunar surface. traces are still in bed and in its material. it is an outer decontamination bag, used to protect sample is from contamination from ta na rd sample is from contamination from tanard earth sample is from contamination from ta na rd earth but sample is from contamination from tanard earth but also to protect the spacecraft. that is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. neil armstrong and buzz aldrin spent a day on the surface but it was a day that made history. half a century later, space still fascinate. it does not matter your religion, where you are from, what language you speak, what education what age, everybody gets excited about it. we have a common experience of staring up at the sky and wondering what is going on.

experience of staring up at the sky and wondering what is going onm is expected to fetch 3— $5 million but it is not the only item up the sales. the flight plan from apollo 13, maps, even astronaut snoopy is, the mascot of apollo ten. proof that mankind is one giant leap still ca ptu res mankind is one giant leap still captures the imagination. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. shopping for talent. we will be following rakuten, japan's biggest online shopping network, which has scored a four—year sponsorship deal with barcelona football club. and we'll leave you with a big change at the famous natural history museum right here in london. visitors are going to be greeted by a new sight from friday. a 25 metre long skeleton of a blue whale, the biggest creature inhabiting the earth, has been suspended from the ceiling in the entrance hall. it replaces the skeleton of dippy the diplo—dycus, which will now go on tour around britain before being cast as a statue to stand in the grounds of the museum.

hello, there. with the weekend fast approaching, please don't make this the last forecast you will see. we'll be fine tuning the detail and we'll have some weather fronts around. it won't be as hot as it has been in spain. on thursday we had record—breaking heat. friday looks just as hot. although then the temperatures may ease a little, the heat will be sustained. the day ahead looks mainly dry and will feel quite warm. sunshine as well. a weather front has made its way southwards at eastwards overnight. tending to fizzle out, but there is initially heavy rain on it. although that means it will be another comfortable night, not as chilly to start this morning as it was yesterday morning. there could still be the odd light passing shower around. you can see those in the northern isles, for example one or two in the north—west. feeling a little bit fresher here. quite cool in the glens of scotland. good spells of sunshine, as there will be in northern ireland. with lighter winds the temperatures will respond through the day. still quite a breeze.

still the odd passing shower in the south, with quite a bit of cloud first thing. it may well be that compared with yesterday we see the best of the sunshine through the afternoon, as the weather system clears out of the way we get the brisk north—westerly coming down behind it. it feels fresher and we have good spells of sunshine coming through most of mainland uk, until later when we have the next weather front knocking on the door of northern ireland and western scotland. feeling warmerfor some in the north, especially compared to yesterday, and it looks set fairfor wimbledon. a lot of cloud initially first thing. but it's the men's semi—final day and we should get a mostly dry day. very unlucky to catch a passing shower here. through the evening and overnight we can see the first pulse of rain coming in. the steady south—westerly keeps throwing these further wriggles on our weather front, if you like, further enhancements of the rain across the north and west into saturday. with the influence of high pressure in the south we won't have much rain but more cloud and an increasingly humid feel on saturday. many areas have quite a bit of rain initially and it keeps going across western upslopes of scotland and northern ireland.

elsewhere, brighter skies into the afternoon. feeling warm in the brightness. through saturday evening and overnight the weather front starts to meander southwards and as it does it fizzles out. that means more cloud. to the south we could have really warm sunshine breaking through and a brighter day to the north as well, with just the odd passing blustery showers. again, quite a bit of cloud. bye— bye. hello. this is bbc world news. our top story. the nobel committee says china bears heavy responsibility for the death of nobel peace prize winner liu xiaobo. the dissident died in hospital in china from cancer after being transferred from prison. a number of western governments have expressed their support and are calling on the chinese authorities to allow his pa rent chinese authorities to allow his parent —— is family to move around freely. donald trump has hinted he might change his position on the

paris climate accord. he withdrew the us from the agreement, but says after meeting president micron in paris that something could happen. this video is trending on bbc.com. this video is trending on bbc.com. this elephant was swept out to sea off the coast of sri lanka. it was rescued by the navy. it used its trunk as a snorkel. it took the same as 12 it to shore. that is all from me. stay with us on bbc world news. 0ur our top 0urtop uk our top uk stories. the government is preparing a