i'm marika oi in singapore. the headlines: two men due in court, in sydney, accused of plotting to bring down an etihad plane. more pressure on president trump as a grand jury is set up to investigate allegations of russian interference in last year's collections. i'm alpa patel in london. also in the programme: one of the world's tallest building , the torch tower in dubai, is engulfed in flames for the second time in two years. and you're never too old to rock ‘n‘ roll, meet singapore's grandma mary as she prepares for the gig of her life. i'm 81 years old this year and i am rocking at singapore national daprarade. live from our studios in singapore and london,

this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 8am in singapore, 1am in london and 10:00 in the morning in sydney where two men arrested on suspicion of plotting to bring down an etihad airways flight. the bbc‘s hywel griffiths is there. the police have been speaking to the press. what do we know more about their alleged plot. we have been given a lot more detail about the australian federal police who are

talking about different stages, an aborted attempt to take an improvised explosive device onto a flight improvised explosive device onto a flight out of sydney on etihad airways and they allege these two men planned to take an ied onto that plane but for whatever reason, they say they don't know why, it never made it beyond check—in so the bag was never checked in. what followed, they allege, was part of that device we re they allege, was part of that device were taken to try and assemble some type of poisonous gas bomb which would emit poisonous hydrogen sulphide, a stink bomb, which would have been deadly to any passengers however they stressed that that secondary plot was not as advanced. they had not been able to complete it. all of this was under the direction of a senior is fighter who might be related to one of the two,

connected to someone in syria. you told us these two men were two of the four arrested last weekend. to we know more about them? they still haven't appeared formally. they will appear via video link in the next few hours in a busy court in parramatta. they may be related father and son and that will need to be substantiated. they are two of four. a third person is still being detained. police say they will use their powers of questioning right up to the wire, 2a hours. the fourth person picked up in a series of raids across sydney has been released without charge. the latest on our port security? a big impact initially. people had to add one hour on journey initially. people had to add one hour onjourney times, lines initially. people had to add one hour on journey times, lines out the door at sydney airport. things are returning to normal. the police and prime minister are stressing the port has been completely disrupted.

that threat is at an end so more normal check—in times will apply however an extra layer of security has been imposed and naturally, people here in australia are again looking at what measures are in place and how much needs to be done to try and stop any future risk. the investigation into claims of russian interference in last year's presidential election has taken a significant turn in the last few hours. american media is reporting that special counsel robert mueller has assembled a grand jury in washington. it is a sign the inquiry is intensifying. earlier i spoke with our correspondent laura bicker to get the latest on this from washington. well, grand juries are a way of investigators finding out whether or not there is enough evidence to bring criminal charges. now, they have the power to demand witness statements. they have the power to demand documents. we're already hearing that they may have been at work for a few weeks.

we're hearing from us media that they also have issued subpoenas with regards to a meeting that took place between donald trumer and a russian lawyer. now, you might remember this meeting, because there was an e—mail chain published by donald trumer himself, where he appears to accept the meeting because he wants incriminating evidence about hillary clinton that this russian lawyer offered. now, we're hearing that this grand jury has asked for documents, and they have issued subpoenas with regards to that meeting. and, when it comes to this kind of development, what this means is that the investigation is stepping up, it is intensifying. it's a significant development, although it's the next step for robert mueller, if he wants to look and take this investigation seriously, this is exactly what he should be doing. the white house has reacted.

remember, donald trump has in the past described this enquiry as a witch—hunt. the special counsel for the white house has said it was committed to cooperating fully with mr mueller and wants to help to accelerate this conclusion of his work fairly. if we can return to the other story in washington today, the leaks from the conversations between donald trump and world leaders, and a particularly interesting one with the australian prime minister. well, you might remember at the time, back injanuary, that there were those saying that this call between donald trump and malcolm turnbull, the very first call, was slightly testy. well, certainly when you see the transcripts, it really went downhill rather rapidly. so, when they got to discussing whether or not the us should accept refugees in australian detention centres, a deal that was struck

between malcolm turnbull and president 0bama, donald trump gets rather angry. he goes onto say that he hates those people and guarantees they are bad. he said that he told mr turnbull that the conversation then was the worst he had ever had, and he notes that one exchange that day had gone well. he said, "i had a pleasant call with vladimir putin". also making news today: one of the world's tallest residential buildings, the torch tower in dubai, has been engulfed in flames for the second time in two years. the authorities in the city say the building has been evacuated successfully. 0riginally originally the top of the building was out of control and they had that dealt with. in the centre of the building caught fire and you can still see the remnants of that now. these were the scenes in tokyo

when the world's largest fish market was engulfed in flames. the outer area of the market, which is crowded with small shops and restaurants, was worst affected. there are no reports of any injuries. an air france plane carrying more than 330 passengers may have come as close as 100 kilometres to an intercontinental ballistic missile, which was launched by north korea last week. air france is extending its no—fly zone around north korea as a precaution. and just take a look at this. they are from hamburg zoo in germany, four siberian tiger cubs. here are some of them making the their first public outing and the keepers there say all the animals doing well. the british computer expert who

stopped hacking attack early this year has been arrested. the charges are not related to the so—called wannacry worm. he was hailed a hero when he found a way to stop the virus which attracted thousands of computed in 150 countries. marcus hutchins was hailed as a hero for stopping an attack which crippled the nhs and spread to tens of thousands of computers in 150 countries. his arrest is not related to his role in neutralising the so—called wannacry ransomware, which he discussed in this recent bbc interview. i checked the message board, there were maybe 16, 17 reports of different nhs organisations being hit, and that was the point where i decided "my holiday‘s over, i've got to look into this". in the past week, mr hutchins had been in las vegas for the defcon cybersecurity conference.

he was apparently arrested at the airport minutes before he was due to fly home. better known as malware tech, his most recent tweets were prescient... "priority boarding so you can add to the time you're sat on a plane that is nowhere near ready to fly", he wrote. we've now obtained a copy of the indictment against marcus hutchins and another unnamed defendant. it reveals they are facing charges in the us state of wisconsin. they're accused of creating and selling a programme to harvest online banking data and credit card details. prosecutors say the arrest here in las vegas came at the end of a two year long investigation. cybersecurity remains a top priority for the fbi, says the special agent in charge. marcus hutchins may now face his biggest challenge yet in an american courtroom. james cook, bbc news. in a record breaking deal that's bound to make your eyes water, football club paris saint—germain

has signed brazillian footballer neymar for a transfer fee of $263 million. that doubles the previous record. the 25—year—old is now set to earn more than a million dollars every week. richard conway has more on how that deal came about from paris. it's been the transfer saga of the summer. now officially at an end. neymar is a paris st—germain player. and what a pursuit it has been. this club has wanted neymar for a number of months, even a number of years. but in the last few weeks they have really accelerated their chase. it required a world record sum of money. $260 million, 222 million euros, £200 million, it doesn't matter what currency you call it, it's a megadeal, the likes of which has never been seen before. now, the machinations to get to this point, there were a few to it, and the road to get them to this point where he has signed for them. la liga, spanish league officials,

didn't want anything to do with the deal, telling neymar‘s lawyers that they didn't want their money, they wouldn't take the release clause sum of money. instead, they had to go to barcelona, that cleared the obstacles in the road and allowed neymar to become a paris st germain player. now, we will see him unveiled in due course. that is said to be some event, because psg are delighted that they've finally got their man and they're ready to tell the world about it. still to come. big and beautiful. the catwalk show that sparked debate about overweight models in australia. the question was whether we wanted to save our people, and the japanese as well, and win the war, or whether we wanted to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. invasion began at 2:00am this morning.

mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. and we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces. 100 years old, and still full of vigor, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she has achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko 0i, in singapore. i'm alpa patel, in london.

our top stories: two men are due in court in sydney over an alleged plot to bring down an etihad airways plane. president trump faces more pressure as a grand jury is set up to investigate allegations of russian interference in last year's elections. and hyperloop one has carried out its latest test of a futuristic high—speed transport system in america's nevada desert. the creators hope to carry passengers at speeds of up to 650mph in vacuum propelled pods. that story is popular on bbc.com. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. first to the japan times and prime minster shinzo abe's new cabinet line up is on the front page. the paper calls a number of appointments of veteran politicians "a gamble", given the wave of gaffes

and scandals over the last few months. next the china daily, which says the country's commerce ministry is urging the world trade 0rgansiation members to respect the rules of the pact. that comes as president trump threatens to launch a broad investigation into alleged chinese intellectual property and trade abuses. and the south china morning post features a department of health report, which says there's been a sharp rise of toddlers under the age of one in hong kong given smartphones and tablet computers to play with. it says the devices could affect their physical development and social skills. now, mariko, which stories are sparking discussions online? lots of people are wondering exactly why this man has announced he won't be buried next to his wife when the time comes. there's speculation it's

because the 83—year—old has never been happy being named as prince rather than king. a woman in the united states who encouraged her teenage boyfriend to kill himself in a series of text messages has been sentenced to two—and—a—half years in prison. a judge in massachusetts ordered that michelle carter, who was 17 when her boyfriend conrad roy died should serve at least 15 months of the sentence. this was a very controversial and distressing case. in that trial she was convicted last month and the judge decided she was guilty of as you say on voluntary manslaughter, in terms of encouraging her boyfriend conrad roy's suicide. the court was presented with dozens of text messages she said. in one of them she said, came yourself, jump

offa building, them she said, came yourself, jump off a building, stab yourself, i don't know, there's lots of ways. in another one she asked, how hard are you going to try? ultimately she was oi'i you going to try? ultimately she was on the phone to conrad roy when he was ina on the phone to conrad roy when he was in a car park and trying to poison himself with carbon monoxide. he was having second thoughts and he phoned michelle carter and she encouraged him, despite him having second thoughts. he died after that. today his father spoke before the courts during that sentencing hearing, describing his son as his best friend. his father said that michelle carter exploited my son's wea kness michelle carter exploited my son's weakness and used him as a pawn in her own well—being. the judge did say that she was a bright lady, mindful of her actions and that's why he decided to sentence her to 2.5 years. she only has to serve if the months of those in prison and she will be getting some rehabilitation. but the family of conrad roy did want her to get

between seven and 12 years in prison. new study suggests many people living in south asia face a deadly threat from heat and humidity driven by global warming. it is warned that most of india, pakistan and bangladesh will experience temperatures close to the limits of survivability by 2100 if emissions are reduced. we spoke to people about how they are coping with current levels. as schoolchildren reduced to wear sweaters in winter. now we don't really need to wear them. the maximum temperature seems to be going up. earlier we could manage without an air conditioner, 110w manage without an air conditioner, now we are getting more dependent on them and we need it because it is so hot. basically it is very difficult to travel. in the trains it is very hot, when you get down to wait in autorickshaw lines it is very hot.

it is so sticky. it is really bad for us. it is easy for people who can for us. it is easy for people who ca n afford for us. it is easy for people who can afford to sit in a sea at it isn't easy for people who can't afford it. —— ac. it will be really ha rd afford it. —— ac. it will be really hard for them to deal with the humidity. a catwalk show in the united states has sparked a debate about overweight models in australia. these pictures from the event led one health expert to warn it promoted a dangerous message about health. an opinion article in sydney's daily telegraph criticised the use of larger models as "irresponsible". of course there are plenty of people who believe the catwalk should represent all body shapes. earlier i spoke to plus size model, stefania ferrario, who told me more about the row. the thing is, plus size models start

ata us the thing is, plus size models start at a us size for, an australian size eight, so anyone of that size is considered plus size. so many women in that size felt they were in a perfectly healthy weight range, so it's a very misleading title. so many of us, we are not obese or overweight. when it comes to models who are considered overweight or are obese, the thing is that there are consumers who are that size spending money on fashion, who deserve to see themselves represented in the fashion industry and there should be models of that size. the thing is we shouldn't necessarily be focusing on models that size all the time, there should be a healthy balance and the focus should primarily be on the middle ground. because critics are even saying that it encourages people to make unhealthy choices. would you agree? i don't think so. i think if the focus is put on models are worried the healthy middleground

i don't think that's promoting an unhealthy habit and i think that having a few models that are overweight or are obese is not in any way glorifying obesity. plus size models have been getting quite a bit of attention lately, but as a model how did you feel when you were first ruled as such, as a plus size model? surely that puts a lot of pressure on models like yourself?” was very surprised when i was first labelled as plus size, but i thought, the industry is a bit odd, i will take it as it is. but then when i had people say things like mark how can you be plus size? what does that make me? and the public was confused. i thought, wait a minute, there's something wrong with this label. this implies are not slim enough to fit what the fashion industry wants. do you think the fa ct industry wants. do you think the fact that these debates are taking place now is proof that the fashion industry is changing?” place now is proof that the fashion industry is changing? i think we've seen so industry is changing? i think we've seen so much change in the past five yea rs

seen so much change in the past five years and i think we should keep on having debates and these topics should be brought up. there are health concerns abound being overweight and obese and they should be spoken about —— around. yes, keep the debate going. that will create more change and encourage more to happen in the modelling industry. because there's got to be a balance, not to slim, not to obese, someone of the average size? yes, i think have a range of women who are in the healthy weight range so to speak and that's where the focus should be. but obviously there are consumers who are very slim and consumers who are quite it, they should still be represented as well. but what happening in the fashion modelling industry, i seem to find, is we have these two paula extremes, these opposites. either very slim models 01’ opposites. either very slim models or visually large models and we are missing the middle ground and a lot of models are forced, the in between models, are asked to put on weight

01’ models, are asked to put on weight or lose weight to work, which is appalling and the folk should be brought back to the middle. now to another glamorous and feisty lady. she is known as grandma mary. she is 81 and loves playing the electric guitar. she's about to take stage for the gig of her life. she's been telling us all about it. iam mary, i am mary, am 81 this year and i am going to rock at the singapore national daily parade. when i play guitar, i'm just my own. ifeel so relaxed and beautiful and so happy because i'm learning what i want to. i want to play, it's my fashion. —— passion. i was 16 when i started the guitar.

i bought i was 16 when i started the guitar. iboughtan i was 16 when i started the guitar. i bought an acoustic guitar and learnt by myself. then i started to learnt by myself. then i started to learn the electric guitar when i was about 65. it was very difficult for me because, as i said, i can't read notes and i have no experience in holding guitars and all that. i practise and practice and make it good and perfect, until my hand bled. so for several days i can't play because i got all the bandage. finally, when it healed, i started playing again. this tune is completely new to me

andi this tune is completely new to me and i did put in quite a lot of work on it, but i tell myself that i'm well prepared and i'm going to put ona well prepared and i'm going to put on a good show. you have been watching newsday. before we go, here is a record—breaking giant panda for you. shejust had twins, record—breaking giant panda for you. she just had twins, which record—breaking giant panda for you. shejust had twins, which is something worth celebrating at any time, but she is 23, which makes her the oldest ever to give birth. that's it from me and mariko. goodbye for now. hello, once again.

this sphere is beginning to get a bit overworked. it has been one of those weeks. the reason? that area of low pressure has been thereabouts across the british isles for much of the past week. there are signs of a change, but it's going to be oh so slow. feeling that way across northern scotland from the word go. showers, if not longer spells of rain. that's not the only area. coming away to the opposite end of the country, showers running in up the bristol channel, getting up to the northern half of devon and cornwall, up to bristol. another feed coming in from the channel itself, away towards the kent and sussex coasts. further north, some dry weather across east midlands and east anglia, and the rest of the south—east, but generally speaking, the further north you go, the cloud fills in and some of those showers become ever more persistent. that will be the way of it for a good part of the morning across the north—east of scotland.

even here, that cloud beginning to break into lunchtime and the early afternoon. and the wind is not as much of a feature across the british isles through friday, as was the case for some of you on thursday. with that combination, less breeze, more in the way of sunshine and showers, 22—23. we won't get to those lofty heights and i don't think anyone will see another 64 at kingsbarn. the rain will not be persistent, but it could be heavy at times, as it could be over the eastern borders and the north—east of england. some of those showers in the afternoon are punchy. through the evening and overnight, keeping the showers going across northern and western parts. the driest perhaps through central and eastern areas. here we are into the weekend. the low pressure dominant over scandinavia. a little ridge of high pressure trying to settle things down, and it will do across the southern counties of england and wales. further north, east anglia, lincolnshire, there will be showers again.

again, not too much in the way of a breeze, but it will be noticeable. temperatures nothing spectacular for this time of year. that little ridge of high pressure will kill off some but not all of the showers and will make for a chilly start to sunday underneath clear skies. which, sadly, will fill in rapidly across western scotland and northern ireland too, with rain here moving in for the afternoon. the further south and east you are, the drier your day will be. eventually, come monday, what is left of that front will gradually start to move to the south—eastern quarter of the british isles. i'm alpa patel with bbc world news. two men are due in court in sydney over an alleged plot to bring down an etihad airways plane. both men were detained on saturday in a series of raids across. australian federal police say they constructed a device, using military grade explosives sent to them by the so—called islamic state.

more pressure on president trump as a grand jury is set up to investigate allegations of russian interference in last year's elections. the special counsel is reported to have begun his inquiry in recent weeks and this video is trending on bbc.com. hyperloop one has carried out its latest test of a futuristic high—speed transport system in the nevada desert. it hopes to carry passengers at speeds of up to 650mph in vacuum—propelled pods.