i'm babita sharma in london. the headlines: donald trump's son, son—in—law and former campaign manager will testify before congress next week as part of investigations into alleged russian meddling in the us election. pleas from the family of a new zealander who died in a japanese hospital, to improve psychiatric patient care. i'm mariko oi in singapore. also in the programme: plastic, plastic everywhere. scientists say we've manufactured billions of tonnes and showing no signs of slowing down. and a promise from vietnam to save more than a thousand bears from the practice of bile farming. good morning.

it's 1am in london, 8am in singapore and eight in the evening in washington, where it has been confirmed that president trump's son, his son—in—law and his former campaign manager will all testify before senators next week about allegations of collusion with russia meddling in last year's us election. this after details emerged of a long undisclosed meeting between president trump and the russian president at the 620 summit. laura bicker is in washington for us. let's start with what we do know happened within one hour and 20 minutes ago. the news that the family members, donald trump's

family members, donald trump's family members, donald trump's family members will be answering questions nets week. the first thing to say is that they are scheduled to appear. they have been asked to front of congress we are not yet sure whether or not they have accepted that invitation. but you are correct. they are on the witness list for what could be one of the most crucial days of evidence so far into the investigation into whether or not russia tried to meddle in the us presidential election and whether or not they were doing so on behalf of the drum campaign because that is the allegation and that is the reason why this has become such an important issue. donald trumpjunior admits that he took the meeting with admits that he took the meeting with a russian lawyer last june. admits that he took the meeting with a russian lawyer lastjune. during the presidential campaign. it came after a series of females between him and an intermediary. in the e—mail is he was promised a bit of dirt on hillary clinton and his

reply was "i love it". it should have been disclosed, especially since it forwarded the e—mail is to jared kushner and the campaign manager, paul manafort. and when the meeting took place, again he did not disclose it and it was not put on any forms. so what the committee could look at is whether or not campaign laws were broken and was it really a n campaign laws were broken and was it really an by the russian government to influence the us presidential campaign and use of trump associates to do so. any news from the trump family on this? we have had no response yet from the white house, paul manafort or donald trumpjunior as of yet. we spoke about this yesterday, the undisclosed meeting that was reported between donald

trump and president vladimir putin on the sidelines of the g20 summit. what more do we know about that? within the last hour the new york times has published an interview with donald trump in which he said that the meeting of the g20 summit with vladimir putin was undisclosed and only went on for 15 minutes. they're and only went on for 15 minutes. they‘ re mostly and only went on for 15 minutes. they're mostly talked about pleasantries. the they're mostly talked about pleasa ntries. the subject they're mostly talked about pleasantries. the subject of adoptions came up and whether or not americans could adopt children from russia, which has previously been banned under vladimir putin. he is appearing to say that nothing of importance was discussed and certainly not whether or not he meddled in the us presidential election. he had not had a good time with 0bamaca re and election. he had not had a good time with 0bamacare and the repeal and replace of that. he said something bizarre today, telling people to delay their vacation. what is up with that? the problem with

repealing and replacing 0bamacare, a key campaign process made from coast—to—coast across america last year. the problem seems to be for republicans that they can not agree on how to replace this. for those moderates in the party, they believe that the current plan goes too far, too many people will lose health insurance. the other side of the party believes that the whole plan costs too much and they want to bring the cost down. so one party cannot speak with one voice on this healthcare plan. cannot speak with one voice on this healthca re plan. so cannot speak with one voice on this healthcare plan. so president trump today took a meeting with the senators and tried to tell them that they need to come together, they need to keep their promise. he said, look, we can cancel your summer holiday until you get this done. the problem they have is that they voted on getting rid of these healthcare measures several times before and for the last seven years. there may bea for the last seven years. there may be a vote next week to get rid of

the health legislation, repealing the health legislation, repealing the measures. an independent analysis came out tonight that says if they do so, 32 million americans would lose their health—insurance in the next ten years. so, once again, it throws any claims that the republicans come up with into disarray. thank you for your thoughts on this. scientists in the united states have calculated that humanity has manufactured 8.3 billion tons of plastics since the 1950s, enough debris to cover an entire country the size of argentina. the study found that the use of the synthetic material has been accelerating. here's our science correspondent, victoria gill. plastic. it seems to have a million uses. so many, we have manufactured 8.3 billion tons of it since it was first mass produced in the 1950s. the very qualities that make it

so useful, strength, durability, make it almost impossible for natural processes to break it down. even out in the middle of the south pacific, researchers have calculated that there are about 400,000 plastic particles per square kilometre. 18 tons of the stuff floated on the current, littering beaches of this uninhabited island, henderson island. as of 2015, the scientists worked out we had generated 7 billion tons of plastic waste. 9% was recycled, i2% incinerated, and 79% accumulated in the environment. if this carries on, there will be more than 30 billion tons of plastic in the environment by 2050. scientists say we need a new, tailor—made strategy to deal with plastic once we've

finished with it. also this hour — the us supreme court has denied a request by the white house to tighten the travel ban on nationals from six mainly—muslim countries. the justices upheld a ruling made by a district court in hawaii last week to allow grandparents and other close relatives to visit family members in the united states. the us state department has again named iran as the world's main sponsor of terrorism, due in part to its support for the lebanese shia movement hezbollah. in its annual report for 2016, it also said jihadist groups such as islamic state, al-qaeda and the taliban were the leading culprits for terrorist attacks. the bbc has revealed two—thirds of its stars earning more than $200,000 are men, and admitted the corporation has to do more to tackle the gender pay gap. the bbc was compelled to reveal the information under the terms agreed with the uk government. there is also a gap between the pay for white presenters and those from a black,

asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. the world health organization says two—thirds of the global population is now protected by a range of anti—smoking measures, a four—fold increase in ten years. the who says the policies, such as advertising bans and higher tobacco taxes, have saved millions of lives but warns that smoking is still killing 7 million people annually. japan's first mongolian—born oyakata, or sumo master, has taken over one of the most famous sumo stables in japan. the tough training and tradition—bound ways have put off many local youth from the sport, leaving sumo to be dominated by foreign — mainly mongolian — wrestlers. the family of a new zealander who died in a japanese psychiatric hospital have pleaded for the country to improve

its patient care. 27—year—old english teacher kelly savage died of a heart attack after being restrained for ten days. his family spoke out to the media, describing how he died in a japanese psychiatric hospital after being tied to his bed. his family said he was strapped to the bed by the legs, wrists and waist, although he had calmed down. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes has been following the story from tokyo. no, we haven't, not from the hospital, who are still refusing to make a comment, there has also been no response from the japanese government. it is not getting much coverage on domesticjapanese media. that was one of the complaints made by the group set up by a professor, who were with the family yesterday. they said the only reason this was being talked about is because the victim was a foreigner. that is why it is getting more attention from the foreign media.

he said this is a widespread problem in psychiatric care injapan, and it has been highlighted by the tragic death of this young new zealand man. some of the statistics he quoted yesterday, for example, the average lengths of restraint in a psychiatric hospital for patients is 96 days, an extraordinary figure. this young man died after ten days of being restrained, that is three restraints on the waist, wrists and ankles. continuously for ten days. he suffered a heart attack after that. as you mentioned, this case is drawing attention because the victim was a foreigner. this is a widespread problem. you quoted some statistics, how does it compare to the rest of the world? if you look at reports worldwide, using restraints on psychiatric patients in hospitals is very common. in the uk the latest statistics i could

find from 2014, there were 40,000 people having been restrained. in canada, one quarter of all people treated in psychiatric hospitals were restrained. the difference, we were told by this professed, was that in most cases restraints are used as a last resort and for only a number of hours. he alleges in his research that injapan it is common practice, it is used for prolonged periods of time, going up two weeks or even months. just to bring you some breaking news from reuters. disregards the health of the republican senatorjohn mccain. doctors that are treating him at the mayo clinic in phoenix

say that he has been diagnosed with brain cancer. news comes to us from reuters news agency within the last few minutes. doctors say he is recovering well from surgery, amazingly well, and his underlying health is excellent. that is the latest information we are receiving but the republican senator, john mccain, has been diagnosed with a brain tumourand is mccain, has been diagnosed with a brain tumour and is being treated at a clinic in phoenix. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: pictures rather than words. using street art to start a conversation about the global impact of the palm oil industry. also on the programme — how a zoo in the uk isjoining the fight to save the northern white rhino, using ivf. 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 mariko 0i in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories. donald trump's eldest son, his son—in—law and his former campaign manager are expected to testify before congress next week, as part of the investigation into alleged russian meddling in the election. the family of a new zealander who died in a japanese psychiatric hospital is pleading with japan to improve its patient care. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the international edition of the financial times reports on a first major setback for president macron of france. his premiership has been rocked by the resignation of the head of the armed services. it follows a row over a major cut

in defence spending. the china daily features a story about trade between china and america. the chinese government has urged washington to ‘loosen‘ outdated restrictions on the export of high tech products from america into china. beijing argues that this would help alleviate a trade imbalance between the two super—powers. the south china morning post reports on a major new study that reveals the financial cost of crime to the hong kong taxpayer. the research has put the figure at a staggering $380 billion hong kong between 2012 to 2016. detailed maps of the ocean floor taken during the search for missing malaysia airlines flight mh370 have been released by australian authorities.

while the search for the missing plane was unsuccessful, experts say the images gathered during the search could help australian fisheries. they show the ocean floor‘s mountains, rift valleys and shipwrecks in unprecedented detail. professor charitha pattiaratchi is an oceanographer based in perth, western australia, where the search for the missing plane was conducted. he told me more about the significance of this new data. we know very little about our deep ocean. very little, maybe even less than 20% of the ocean has been mapped in detail, so these reveal lots of unknown features and a lot of geological features so what we see in these pictures is not only the area that we actually. . .the search was undertaken, but also mapping of the ships as they moved

in transit between perth and the search area, so it is quite a large area that they have covered. it allows for an amazing suite of features as well as geological features such as the large broken ridge. explain to me more about the information that for you, you're most excited by and you didn't know before. a lot of it, in terms of the presence... although, i mean, it is not hard to say that you did not know, you would sort of guess what is there — this is just confirmation of various things but there is quite a few volcanoes underwater, lots of different mountains which are basically sticking out in one place, what we call seamount and when you are an oceanographer or doing any study in terrestrial system, what you need is an accurate map of the topography, and this is what it gives us, which can be used for most of the ocean modelling et cetera. animal activists have welcomed

the announcement in vietnam that it will transfer more than a thousand bears from farms to sanctuaries by twenty20 in a bid to end the use of bear bile in traditional medicine. bile farming has long been outlawed in vietnam, but farmers used legal loopholes to continue the practice. the bbc‘s report on a story that some viewers may find distressing. a needle has been used to pierce the gall bladder of a bear to extract bile that will be sold in a lucrative market as medicine. the treatment is grim but the conditions are often even worse, leaving bears physically and psychologically wounded for life. under a new agreement, vietnam's government has now promised that it will free 1,000 bears from these farms into sanctuaries.

today the vietnamese government is showning major commitment and insightful leadership to start a realistic process for closing all the farms and helping the remaining 1,000 plus bears still languishing in cages across the country. according to the charity, animals asia, it will cost about $20 million to rescue and build enough sanctuaries. the government there is optimistic. translation: this will be a solid foundation so that forest departments and international organisations, such as animals asia, can work together on a plan of action to bring even more effective results. according to some estimates, there are several thousand bears that are kept in similar farms in neighbouring countries too, but at least for some of these animals in vietnam, their suffering may end soon and the start of a new life in a sanctuary may be

around the corner. the 2015 deadly haze in parts of southeast asia has inspired the work of street artist ernest zacharevic from lithuania. ernest wanted to better understand the impact of the palm oil industry and a cheap farming practice called slash and burn. so he gathered a group of artists to illustrate the issue in the best way they knew how — on buildings in penang in malaysia. a zoo in the uk is taking part in a radical plan, to save the northern white rhino from extinction. there are just three left in the world, but at longleat safari park, the rhino's closest relatives are being drafted in to help. 0ur science correspondent rebecca morelle has this exclusive report. meet ebun, a seven—year—old southern white rhino

who could save a species from extinction. the one—and—a—half tonne animal is sedated. a little agitated at first, but soon she's sound asleep. she's ready to take part in an experimental fertility treatment. scientists are harvesting her eggs to be fertilised in a lab, this is rhino ivf. this procedure is farfrom easy. the team here are keeping an incredibly close eye on this rhino, it's essential she stays under heavy sedation. over the last week or so, she's been given hormone treatment, but what's being done today requires millimetre precision. egg collection is really only a technique that's been perfected over the last year. here's the animal ebun could save, her closest living relative, the northern white rhino. 0nce widespread across central africa, today there are just three left on the planet, but they're unable to breed. back at longleat,

in a makeshift lab, the researchers check for eggs — they find one. they'll take this southern white rhino egg and mix it with sperm from one of the last northern white rhinos, creating a hybrid. the scientists say it's better than losing the species altogether. the last three can die at any time, they're not as old, but anything can happen to them and then all the genetics would be lost. if we had at least 50% of this species preserved in a hybrid embryo, we would preserve at least half of this for future generations. with herjob done, ebun is soon back on her feet. the safari park is proud of the role she'll play. the eggs are now being rushed back to a lab in italy, there's a 20—hour window to prepare them for fertilisation. they could be implanted back into ebun, but with her northern cousins so close to extinction, it's a race against time. rebecca morrell, bbc news.

you have been watching newsday. stay with us. breaking news this hour, the republican senator for arizona, john mccain, has been diagnosed with brain cancer. he had been recovering from surgery after announcing over the weekend that dock as had removed a five centimetre blood clot above his eye. doctors are saying that he is recovering well from the treatment. more on that to come. stay with us. hello there. there was still quite a lot of energy in the atmosphere, during wednesday afternoon some pretty intense thunderstorms broke out across north wales and parts of north—west

england. weather watchers pictures coming through of torrential downpours, and there were reports of flash flooding across the rural area and parts of western lancashire. during the small hours of thursday, those heavy, thundery showers continue to move their way northwards. quite a wet start to thursday across scotland. further south, much of england and wales, it's going to be cloudy with showery outbreaks of rain. the odd heavier burst there too. turning a little bit cool and fresh and pushing to the far west, but quite a humid start again for thursday morning across eastern areas. and it means it will be quite a drab start across many eastern areas through the morning, and outbreaks of rain, the odd heavy outbursts too. eventually clearing out into the north sea, becoming more confined towards the north—east of scotland. but something a bit brighter and drier into the afternoon but with it cooler and fresher air, so you will notice that — highs around 21 and 22 degrees across the southeast. further west, even cooler than that. around the mid—teens celsius, but at least you have the sunshine to compensate. in towards scotland, its central northern areas will see most of the cloud, outbreaks

of rain, the odd heavier burst, particularly across the northern isles. and then into northern ireland, something more showery moving in later on in the day. that is because of this area of low pressure which will become quite a player in our weather through friday, and potentially on into the weekend as well. notice isobars deepening as it continues to move in towards western parts of the uk. so it means quite a windy day for the western half of the country. and a weather front, pretty slow moving, will bring a lots of rain to northern ireland, to wales, particularly into south—west england and maybe in towards the west midlands. whereas further north and east, actually a fine dry day with some sunny spells and temperatures around 20—23 degrees, but cooler further west under that rain. through friday night, the weather front slowly gets a wiggle on, moves its way a little bit further northwards and eastwards but it's still with us though, as we head on into saturday, but a bit of a disappointing start to the weekend, i have to say, across northern and eastern areas —

quite wet, the odd heavier burst there, too. feeling quite cool as well. the south could see the sunshine come out a little bit but then blustery showers will arrive and it will feel fresh. 0n into sunday, the winds ease down a little bit but it doesn't mean any showers that develop through central southern areas could be quite slow—moving so quite a bit of rain falling in a short space of time. further north, it looks like it will remain quite wet. i think the main message is, then, through this weekend, it is going to remain fairly cool and fresh for the time of year, longer spells of rain but more likely showers and sunny spells. i'm babita sharma with bbc world news. our top story: donald trump's son and son—in—law have been called to testify next week before two separate senate committees. they will both be questioned about allegations that russia interfered in the us election and colluded with the trump campaign. news just newsjust in, the republican senator

for arizona, john mccain, has been diagnosed with brain cancer he had been recovering from surgery and is recovering well, according to his doctors. and this is trending on bbc.com — ivf will be used for the first time to try and save one of the world's most endangered species from extinction — the northern white rhinoceros. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. and the top story here in the uk: plans to raise the retirement age to 68 have been brought forward by seven years.