i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: donald trump's plans in disarray. the president falls short of votes in the senate to repeal and replace obamacare. ican i can tell you the republicans are not going to own it. we will let obamacare fail, and then the democrats are going to come to us, and they are going to say how do we fix it? how do we fix it? more trouble for the trump family, as the president's eldest son could be called to testify in congress over allegations of russian interference in the 2016 election. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: the philippines president, rodrigo duterte, asks for martial law to be extended in mindanao so he can crush a rebel uprising. and how a singaporean artist has to tread a fine line with his graphic novel about the city state's political past. anything that is inaccurate or

libellous, then you can get in trouble, get sued in court or something. good morning. it is 7:00am in singapore, midnight in london, and 7:00pm in washington, where donald trump's latest attempt to deliver on a key election pledge has collapsed — the repeal and replacement of america's affordable care act, more commonly known as 0bamacare. this latest failure represents a major setback for the white house. despite holding both houses of congress, the republicans have been unable to agree on what new legislation should be put forward. few cities paid more attention to the healthcare debate

than donald trump's hometown, where one in five new yorkers stood to lose their coverage, had 0bamacare been repealed. you're going to repeal something that millions of americans need. i laughed, ijust totally laughed. donna leslie suffers from asthma, sleep apnoea, and an injured knee. she is delighted the republicans failed to dismantle 0bamacare. her life would be unbearable without it. if you take it away, oh... i couldn't even imagine the disaster that would be. kentucky, a trump stronghold, was once seen as a success story of 0bamacare, because it brought about such a sharp drop in the number of people without health insurance. how has the breathing being doing? but insurance companies here have been pulling out of the health marketplace that 0bamacare created, partly because of the uncertainty about its future.

in some states, the system is in danger of collapse, and dr van breeding is fed up with the politics. other countries have done it, they set the groundwork for us. we won't be a pioneer, but we can take what they have done and use it and build it to make it the best programme in the world. that's why the united states is as strong as it is. we've taken things and made them better. why can't we take healthcare and make it better, instead of fighting over it? back in the spring, donald trump presented himself as the maestro when the house of representatives voted to repeal and replace 0bamacare. this is a repeal and replace of 0bamacare, make no mistake about it. but the fist—pumps and hugs were premature. divisions between right—wing and moderate republicans meant he could not get the measure through the senate. and so, today, a stony—faced president tried to distance himself

from this embarrassing defeat. we will let 0bamacare fail. we're not going to own it, i can tell you the republicans are not going to own it. we will let 0bamacare fail, and the democrats will come to us and say, how do we fix it, or how do we come up with a new plan? this debacle says a lot about the health of american democracy, and the paralysis of the body politic. for much of the 0bama administration, it was because of divided government. the democrats had the white house, the republicans blocked them on capitol hill but now the republicans control the white house, the senate, the house of representatives. it was their disunity which led to this failure. donald trump claimed it would take an outsider to fix america's broken politics. but, six months into his presidency, he can't yet claim a landmark legislative success. 0ne one other development from washington, the leaders of committees investigating links between russia and the trump campaign want to talk to the president's sun, donald trump junior. senator dianne feinstein

said that the senator overseeing the investigation had no objection to her proposal. donald trump's former campaign manager paul manafort will also be invited. and we will have more on that live from washington in about ten minutes from now. south korean intelligence officials are investigating whether a prominent defectorfrom are investigating whether a prominent defector from the north has been kidnapped back to pyongyang. this is the woman in question. she fled to south korea in 2014, where she became a popular tv personality. however, it is this propaganda video which appeared on sunday in the north korean capital with a woman who resembled her. the former art student come tv personality was better known by her alias in south korea as limji—hyun. she defected in 2014 and became

something of a personality here, engaging in panel discussions, but also a reality show which pitted men and women from north and south korea together in a light—hearted way as a kind of dating competition. nevertheless, she has now appeared in what looks like a north korean propaganda site. in it, she is seen to be interviewed, in which she says that she was lured by the fantasy of being able to make money in south korea, and that she was forced when she was here to slander her leader. it has been taken seriously by the intelligence services here in south korea because of concerns that she may have been kidnapped. just to give you some perspective, since 1998, some 30,000 north koreans have defected here to south korea. but over the past five years, just 25 have returned. and, staying with north korea, a senior us military officer has said that a north korean missile strike would not be able to hit the united states with any degree of accuracy. general paul selva told a senate committee that, while pyongyang's missiles have the range to reach the us,

they don't appear to have the necessary capability to reliably hit their targets. the final report into decades of abuse at a german catholic choir has found that more than 500 boys may have been abused. the inquiry details 67 cases of sexual abuse and 500 other cases of physical violence. many former choirboys have compared the school to prison, hell, or a concentration camp. translation: these are not 547 cases where an individual was affected once. rather, this was an ongoing practice over decades. the 547 children were tormented, abused, mistreated and socially harmed. they are severely traumatised to this very day. this upsets me. i thought i got over it after a 17 year battle, but in fact, this greatly

u psets battle, but in fact, this greatly upsets me today. a massive hailstorm has struck japan in tokyo. the downtown neighbourhood of ikebukuro was hit especially hard by hailstones, heavy rain and accompanying winds, which came on suddenly, leaving huge pieces of ice along the ground. many took to social media, uploading images of the rather dramatic storm. this is taiwan's parliament, where debating was replaced by scuffles that broke out as the opposition party, the kmt, opposed an infrastructure bill put forward by the ruling party, the dpp. it might surprise some, but fights are commonplace in the taiwanese parliament, with the opposition using fighting as the only way to prevent legislation they don't agree with. philippine president rodrigo duterte has asked congress to extend martial law in the south of the country until the end of the year. duterte had imposed a military rule for 60 days in the mindanao region to defeat so—called islamic state militants, who invaded marawi city

on 23 may. more than 500 people were killed in the violence that followed, but critics are concerned the country is sliding into dictatorship. earlier i spoke to carmela fonbuena, a reporterfor the online newspaper rappler. for the court to extend martial law is not unexpected because of the continuing situation in marawi. it is really the timeframe that surprised us. because he is asking for five surprised us. because he is asking forfive more months of surprised us. because he is asking for five more months of martial law. and in mindanao, it is about a third of the entire country, has been under martial law for nearly five months, and the president is asking for five months, and the president is asking forfive more months of extension. and it seems that he will get that extension, based on statements of his allies in the senate and house

of representatives. now, we know that martial law is a very sensitive issue in the philippines. 0f that martial law is a very sensitive issue in the philippines. of course, it reminds many people of 19705 rule of the late dictator ferdinand marcos, and many of duterte's top critics have said this is a whimsical u5e critics have said this is a whimsical use of power. so how can president duterte ju5tify whimsical use of power. so how can president duterte justify it? does he think this will actually take ca re of he think this will actually take care of the problem? he declared martial law after the clashes in marawi, and people were... becau5e martial law after the clashes in marawi, and people were... because i 5uppo5e marawi, and people were... because i suppose people marawi, and people were... because i 5uppo5e people were so marawi, and people were... because i suppose people were so afraid, and people didn't know what they would expect from the clashes there, with home—grown terrorist groups linked with isi5, so there was not exactly an effective opposition. there were petitions filed before the supreme court, and they discussed whether martial law is necessary in marawi and outside marawi. and the big question in the supreme court is whether the situation outside marawi

require5 martial law. but president duterte i5 require5 martial law. but president duterte is the first president from mindanao, and it seems that he is going to get the support for this extension of the martial law, based on public pronouncements of his allie5, on public pronouncements of his allies, and based on his public approval ratings. just this week, or last week, the survey came out, and it showed him at 82%... with 82% approval rating. and in mindanao, where there is martial law, he got 95%. yes, we know that conflict has been raging in mindanao now four years. how different is it now that the5e militants, a5 years. how different is it now that the5e militants, as you say, are pledging allegiance to the so—called islamic state? the terror groups in mindanao have always flirted with international terrorist groups, al qaeda, jamar i5 international terrorist groups, al qaeda, jamar is linear, but we know that isi5 i5 qaeda, jamar is linear, but we know that isi5 is a more radical version of these groups. —— islamia. before

we we re of these groups. —— islamia. before we were talking about economic tra n5fer5. we were talking about economic transfers. they don't have the funds in the philippines, to send bomb trainers to the philippines. everything is spreading so fast because of social media, and that is the concern. and of course, the clashes in marawi have been against the backdrop of isi5 losing territory in the middle east. there i5a territory in the middle east. there is a real security threat there. there is fear that the asian fighter5 there is fear that the asian fighters in the middle east are bound to come back home and seek refuge here. so there is that. that i5 refuge here. so there is that. that is how they are justifying martial law in mindanao. at the same time, for me, i think, as you mentioned, it is the lack of effective opposition that is quite interesting and concerning for me, because, again, we are a country that is paranoid of martial law, because of oui’ paranoid of martial law, because of our history with martial law. and history of widespread human rights violations. the archbishop of canterbury,

justin welby, has urged the british government to use its leverage with saudi arabia to prevent the possible execution of 14 men, including twojuveniles and a disabled man. their execution is said to be imminent. he raised the issue in the house of lords in london. surely the depth of our relationship with saudi arabia, in trade, and finance, in the presence of many saudi arabians in this country, the long—standing way in which we have been together through war and peace, would indicate that we have the options for significantly more leveraged than mere condemnation. and i wonder what other measures the government is taking which involved action as well as condemnation, particularly over this question. staying with saudi arabia, and a story we brought you yesterday of a video posted by a woman wearing a miniskirt walking through a historic site. well, the latest development is that saudi police have arrested the woman

after her videos went viral, causing controversy in saudi arabia, where an ultraconservative dress code for women is enforced. the case has now reportedly been referred to the public prosecutor's office. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: how the largest of madagascar‘s unique lemur species is under threat from an illegal mining rush. we will have a special report from the island. the flamboyant italian fashion designer gianni versace has been shot dead in florida. the multi—millionaire was gunned down outside his home in the exclusive south beach district of miami. emergency services across central europe are stepping up their efforts to contain the worse 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 is a timely reminder to all americans of the problems

that the energy crisis has brought to 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 throng 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. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl, in singapore. i'm babita sharma, in london. our top stories: president trump's healthcare plans stall in the senate, as he fails to get enough votes to repeal and replace 0bamacare. more trouble for the trump family as

the president's elder son could be called to testify in congress over allegations of russian interference in the 2016 election. and an impossibly cute drone from japan has photograped life on the international space station. the so—called internal ball camera drone was sent to take pictures and video of the work of the astronauts and japan's space agency has released the first images. that story is popular on bbc.com let's take a look at what's making headlines in newspapers from around the world. new us sanctions against iran feature widely on the front pages, including that of gulf news. it says tehran's parliament retaliated by voting for extra funding for its missile programme, a move described by the speaker ali larijani as showing the americans that iran "will resist them with all its power".

the japan times covers the rise of abandoned babies in south korea and says it's because of new child protection laws that include stopping adoption agencies taking in undocumented newborns. and the china daily highlights president xi jinping's support for a palestinian sovereign state, based on borders dating back to 1967, with jerusalem as its capital. it came as president xi held talks with the palestinian president mahmoud abbas at the great hall of the people in beijing. let's get more on the news that us senate committee members investigating contacts between russia and the trump campaign want to talk to the president's son, donald trump junior. the bbc‘s suzanne kianpour is in washington. tell us how this has come about and

whether we are likely to see donald trump junior testify? if donald trump junior testify? if donald trump junior testify? if donald trump junior were to be trump junior testify? if donald trumpjunior were to be subpoenaed he would have to appear in front of the judiciary review and that would be very significant because he would need the highest member of resident from's in a circle to testify with regards to the russia investigation. it is unclear whether will —— when that will happen and whether it will be in public and also whether or not he chooses to invoke the fifth amendment, which allows him to not a nswer amendment, which allows him to not answer questions. remember there are multiple congressional investigations into the trump campaign's ties to russia and so the intelligence committee also wants to speak to everybody involved in that 110w speak to everybody involved in that now very controversial meeting between donald trump junior and now very controversial meeting between donald trumpjunior and the campaign manager and the russian lawyer, the top democrat mark warner

has said this is all very disturbing and wants to know why it has taken so and wants to know why it has taken so long for information to come out. it seems every day there is some new revelation. we have to wait and see whether we will get an official date for this account by the president's son. ijust for this account by the president's son. i just wanted for this account by the president's son. ijust wanted to ask for this account by the president's son. i just wanted to ask you for this account by the president's son. ijust wanted to ask you about some information that's come to light within the last 20 minutes or so, aboutan light within the last 20 minutes or so, about an undisclosed meeting between president trump and president putin on the sidelines of the g20 summit. what do we know? widow and are very much in an official capacity yet. a political international consultant first broke the story on this and said that mr trump and mr putin met at a dinner for heads of state, just the two of them, and president putin's translator, so president trump didn't have anyone within, he said

it lasted about one hour. the white house has anonymously confirmed that this meeting took a spot the big issueis this meeting took a spot the big issue is that president trump didn't have anybody with him, it was only putin's translator and democrats are 110w putin's translator and democrats are now calling that national security breach of protocol. anti- very much for that. —— thank you very much. a singaporean artist's graphic novel has topped the list of nominations for the eisners, the oscars of the comic book world. sonny liew‘s book, called the art of charlie chan hock chye, is about singapore's turbulent political past. though freely available in singapore, it has been criticised by the government for "potentially undermining" their authority. mr liew tells the bbc the challenges he faced in making the book. theart of charlie chan hock chye is

essentially... the reason why i wa nted essentially... the reason why i wanted to do this book is because singapore has been essentially ruled by one party since the independence in 1965. because of that we've had the mainstream narrative of our history that is told through the eyes of the ruling party. the book does challenge some of the myths of oui’ does challenge some of the myths of our history. —— mainstream narrative, so any challenge to that narrative, so any challenge to that narrative they don't take lightly. in other countries you always have competing narratives going on. when the ruling parties dominant you have to push harder to get people to beware of alternative narratives. anything that is inaccurate or

libellous to, you can get sued in court, for example. i had to make sure that anything i put in the book was a potentially liable. this could bea was a potentially liable. this could be a good thing. you could see that those constraints could push you towards being more accurate. lemurs are unique to madagascar, but illegal sapphire mining on the island is threatening the largest of the species, the indri. in the forests of madagascar, there isa in the forests of madagascar, there is a sound of men working. poor men who want to get rich. they are here because of the biggest rush in madagascar for because of the biggest rush in madagascarfor more because of the biggest rush in madagascar for more than 20 years. tens of thousands of people have moved here to clear the land and dig

for gems. 0nce virgin rainforest, felled and burned. now, look, m i nes hafts felled and burned. now, look, mineshafts and spoil heaps stretch across the valley. meet bruno and his sapphires. he has travelled 1000 miles invest invested all his money, this. each morning the work takes him down into the dark. the pits are deep. very deep. thejob is cramped, but breaking and dangerous. the mines are illegal, but the work goes on unchecked. eating slowly into the rainforest. see the damage

it causes. threatening the habitat of one of the world's rarest animals, the indri lemur. they spend their lives in the trees eating leaves and fruit and breeding only once every three years. there may be as few as 2000 left in the wild. jonah is a world authority on the indri and is horrified by the effects of the mining. thousands of people. when people buy sapphires they kill indri. i am telling you, stop buying precious stones from illegal mining from madagascar. but how can buyers know? the gems go from there the capital city, i cut and polished in backstreet workshops before being exported to dealers

abroad. illegally mined sapphires are then anonymous and completely untraceable. so, for now, the miners keep working. great riches lie beneath the soil. unique wildlife in the trees above. but how does madagascar extra ct trees above. but how does madagascar extract one without destroying the other? you have been watching newsday. stay with us. and before we go, the uk has a new £10 note. it features a portrait of jane austen. the bank of england revealed the design, on the 200th anniversary of the celebrated author's death. the new polymer note will go into circulation in september. stay with bbc world news. back with the headlines next. hello, there.

i've got the thunderstorm glow behind me because huge thunderstorms broke out across the south of the uk during the latter part of tuesday. but that was after quite a glorious day on tuesday afternoon. plenty of sunshine up and down the uk. pretty decent temperatures. 26— 28 was tuesday afternoon's high. lots of sunshine in the north. hazy in the south. then thunderstorms broke out, initially in the south—west of england and then spreading into southern and south—eastern counties. torrential downpours. flash floods reported. also strong and gusty winds and large hail. likely to be further disruption and more thunderstorms overnight and into wednesday morning. keep tuned to your bbc local radio for the latest updates. thunderstorms continue to battle on across england and wales threw the overnight period. if you catch one it could be severe and it might be disruptive. up all areas we will get them and have another muddy start to wednesday. wednesday

morning dose thunderstorms and showers will trundle northwards into scotland. we will see further thunder we showers pushing into northern ireland and then into wales and north—west england into the afternoon. for england and wales for the majority it will be a fine afternoon. the sunshine will come out, it will feel humid and temperatures will be 29— 30, maybe even 31 across east anglia and towards the east midlands. but the west it will be cooler, cloudier and showers and thunderstorms will make inroads into wales, north—west england and eventually into northern ireland and western parts of scotland. but even ahead of it we could have found we showers breaking out in scotland. that's how it is looking to wednesday afternoon. into the evening period and overnight, those showers continue to trundle northwards and eastwards. potentially severe ones. we could have flash flooding in places. the risk of hail and gusty winds. behind it it starts to turn cooler and fresher, with clearing skies from northern ireland and far western

britain. ahead of it another warm and muggy night to convert the showers and thunderstorms. 0r thursday again it will be quite a warm and humid start in central and eastern areas. showers and thunderstorms continue in the morning and into the afternoon they should eventually clear. something brighter pushing on and something fresher. temperatures reaching17— 23 celsius in the south—east. that will be feeling much cooler than the last few days. into friday and saturday we have the cooler regime. westerly winds bringing sunshine and showers off the atlantic. temperatures 18— 20 selfies —— celsius. this is bbc world news. our top story: donald trump says he is disappointed after the collapse of his latest attempt to deliver on a key election pledge, the repeal and replacement of 0bamacare. despite holding both houses of congress, the republican party were unable to agree

on what new legislation should be put forward to replace it. the philippine president, rodrigo duterte, has asked congress to extend martial law in mindanao until the end of the year so that he can crush a rebel uprising in the region. and this video is trending on bbc.com: life on the international space station has been photographed by an impossibly cute drone from japan. the first images from the so—called internal ball camera drone have just been released. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news it is time for hardtalk.