hello. i'm rico hizon, in singapore. this is newsday. the headlines: "blame on both sides" — president trump says anti—fascist protesters were partly responsible for the lethal violence in virginia. i think there's blame on both sides. you look at both sides, i think there's blame on both sides and i have no doubt about it. tensions ease in guam, as north korea says it may not test fire missiles into the nearby ocean. i'm babita sharma, in london. also in the programme: 400 now confirmed dead in sierra leone and rescuers fear many more still lie buried under the mudslide. it's a0 years since the death of elvis presley, but the king's legacy lives on, not least in asia. we talk to a philippine music icon. live from studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday.

glad you could join us. it's 8am in singapore, 1am in london and 8pm in new york, where donald trump has made a fiery and at times angry defence of his reaction to the clashes in charlottesville over the weekend. he had been hoping to talk about his plans for america's infrastructure, but instead was drawn into a series of exchanges with journalists on why he had not issued an immediate condemnation of racist and neo—nazi groups. in response, he seemed to hold civil rights groups equally to blame for the violence. we had a grip on one side of the group on the other and they came out themselves with clubs and it was vicious and horrible. but there was another side. there was a group on this side, you can call them the left, you've just called them the left, that came violently

attacking the other group. so you can say what you want, but that's the way it is. reporter: on both sides, sir? you said there was hatred and violence on both sides? i do think there's blame, yes. i think there's blame on both sides. you look at both sides, i think there's blame on both sides and i have no doubt about it and you don't doubt it either. mr trump there holding both sides to blame. and when asked about his delay in speaking out against neo—nazis and white supremecists by name, this was the president's response. here's the thing. when i make a statement, i like to be correct. i want the facts. this event just happened. in fact, a lot of the events didn't even happen yet as we were speaking. this event just happened. before i make a statement, i need the facts. so i don't want to rush into a statement. so making the statement when i made it was excellent. donald trump, speaking from new york.

i asked our washington correspondent rajini vaidya nathan if president trump is under pressure. what we have now was really a tale of two press conferences in a way because yesterday we saw the president at the white house speaking in front of a teleprompter, delivering very prepared remarks where he denounced neo—nazis, the kkk and white supremacists. having failed to do that explicitly at the weekend and then today we saw him at trump tower, his first visit since when he took office and he was unscripted and off—the—cuff and delivered a rambling kind of defence, saying as we heard just now that both sides were culpable and many people were saying, this is false equivalency. he didn't come out and reaffirm his condemnation of neo—nazis and white supremacists and that certainly is concerning for many people. we thought yesterday...

do you think things have gotten worse for him? that's definitely the case. we are starting to see a reaction coming from notjust democrats but republicans as well who are condemning what he said. people like senator marco rubio and others, really criticising the president for a lack of clarity. but one of the things that really interesting to note is a tweet that came out from the former grand wizard of the kkk who said" thank you for your honesty and courage". that's the concern in america, that by not being direct and forceful in his condemnation of white supremacists, he is playing into the hands of people like david duke will hold a very dangerous ideology. among a number of the key players we've heard in the manufacturing industry, they've pulled away from donald trump. talk us through that. we saw more people from the

president's manufacturing council decide to leave today because of the president was a failure to decisively condemn white supremacy at the weekend. the president did talk about that and he said they weren't taking jobs seriously, but i think now the calculation for many people who remain on that business council is it in their interests to stay on the council? the negative public city they might get, given what the president has now said. so we might see more people deciding that it actually isn't a good idea to stay on that council. thank you very much. our other top story. a desperate search is still under way in sierra leone for survivors of the mud slides and floods that killed nearly 400 people. pa rt part of the mountain collapsed on monday morning and thousands have been left homeless. the mortuaries are now full. this report from the scene. i've just

are now full. this report from the scene. i'vejust been are now full. this report from the scene. i've just been inside the central hospital and there are many corpses around. the hospital says it is completely overstressed. they're been trying to sort the corpses out and more are being brought in from different parts of the city. this is a disaster. the head of this mortuary who's been doing this for decades says it compares to nothing with the ebola outbreak or the civil war. he says he has never seen anything like this. corpses piled up just behind this wall. the more dreary is full. —— mortuary. they are being sorted right now. there is an ultimate goal similar to the current free—trade agreement. a

senior eu figure has dismissed this as fantasy. a veteran democracy campaigner in hong kong who said last week that he had been kidnapped and tortured by suspected mainland chinese agents has been arrested. howard lam is accused by police of providing misleading information. police say that he voluntarily left the area of hong kong from which he said he was abducted. a falling tree has killed at least 13 people and injured 50 more at a roman catholic festival on the portuguese island of madeira. in a video, the tree is shown to have crashed on a crowded square in the suburb of the main town, funchal. this is how one of the worshippers described how the events unfolded. we heard a noise. i looked up, i had my son by my side. i only saw the tree falling so i called my son and ran away. i heard a big bang. a lot of people were in a panic. there we re of people were in a panic. there

were a lot of people down there. a student activist in thailand has been jailed after he shared a bbc online profile of the king. the activist has been given a prison term of two—and—a—half years on charges of defaming the monarchy. he was arrested last december for using facebook to post a profile by the bbc thai service. here are people getting involved in an interesting event that takes place every gear. hundreds of them head to a town in belgium where they feast on a traditional giant omelette. here it is. it is made with 10,000 eggs. tradition has lasted some 20 years and the ongoing 999 lasted some 20 years and the ongoing egg contamination scandal didn't put a dampener on this parade. inaudible. there's cautious relief on guam, after north korea appeared to step back from its threat to fire

ballistic missiles into waters around the us pacific island. north korean media quoted kim jong—un as saying he would now wait and watch what the us does, before taking any further action. in an interview with the bbc, guam's governor says it shows the tough stance taken by president trump towards north korea is working. in a moment we'll get the latest with robin brant in seoul, but first let's cross live to guam and rupert wingfield—hayes. what is the latest? there is obviously relief here this morning at the noises coming out of north korea yesterday, that they are now going to wait and watch and they aren't going to carry out this plan that they threatened to fire missiles in this direction. there's also a feeling that this is temporary reprieve and this island is really now the new frontline between the united states and north korea in what will be an ongoing and

long—term confrontation over north korea's nuclear weapons. people here we've spoken to say they just korea's nuclear weapons. people here we've spoken to say theyjust have to a cce pt we've spoken to say theyjust have to accept that now as a matter of life and they need to be prepared. if war comes to guam, joey lopezjr is ready. today, joey and his brother are out hunting for wild pig. but if an attack comes, he says he's ready to turn his guns to defending this tiny pacific island. patriotism here runs deep here. per capita, guam sends more of its sons and daughters to the military than anywhere else in the united states. this is an island of warriors. god forbid something happened to this island, do not be surprised that you see local men taking to militia style... you know, taking up arms,

protecting their homes and family. in north korea there are signs that kimjong—un is pulling back from the brink. these pictures show him studying plans for a strike on guam. but kim jong—un says he will now watch a little more first the foolish and stupid conduct of the yankees. the islands governor told me that kim's words show that president trump's tough stance is working. how do you deal with boys? first of all, you've got to do it with strength and clarity. when the head of state is very aggressive and strong, kimjong—un may be reconsidering doing testing. we have gotten some good word that at least for today he hasn't made a decision to test. there is obvious relief, but not everyone agrees with the governor, that it is because of the tough rhetoric of president trump. there are some here who are furious about what they see

as president trump's casual disregard of their security. we want to continue to live here for generations to come! cheering these protesters say it is time for washington to stop playing games with their lives. they live on the frontline, but can't even vote for the us president. 0ur islands have been used for wars for so long and have been caught in wars for so long. it's time for our people to examine why. it's always a war not of our making and it's time that we used this moment and this attention to let the people of the world know that we should no longer be a colony. but this is the new reality. america's confrontation with north korea will be long, arduous and at times frightening. so you can even here in guam residents are deeply divided on how they view president trump's behaviour and how they view this

conflict with north korea. there's one other thing. people are really concerned not just in one other thing. people are really concerned notjust in this crisis but in the long—term about how it will affect the economy because this island is hugely dependent on tourism from asia and they don't wa nt tourism from asia and they don't want the tourists to be scared away. thank you so much forjoining us. 0ur correspondent robin brant joins us now from seoul. as we have been hearing they are prepared, seoul of course is prepared, seoul of course is prepared too. what's the situation like today there? yesterday was a national holiday, liberation day, and we heard from south korea's relatively newly elect the president and his message is a far more conciliatory one than recent predecessors and he spoke yesterday about trying to expand south korea's diplomatic efforts to finally bring peace to the korean peninsula. as

rupert was reflecting, this decision from kim jong—un gives space at the moment but i think the most informed view is that it is brief and possibly temporary and it is now up to the us, maybe china and maybe north korea to think about what they wa nt to north korea to think about what they want to do next. it appears kim jong—un is holding back from the threat of a launch of missiles. rex tillerson has mentioned again that the us is interested in diplomatic efforts, but the key thing now is what happens next week when we have this annual military exercises between south korea and the us. they are between south korea and the us. they a re key between south korea and the us. they are key military allies. it is the huge exercise and it shows the strength and might they have, but it also antagonises north korea on an annual basis and we will see what north korea does next week. if there are no further test in the weeks to combat clearly will a positive sign.

0utside combat clearly will a positive sign. outside of the political war of words at the moment, what are the people like that you've come across? what are they saying and feeling and thinking about the situation? there was a protest yesterday on this country's annual event, led by peace activists and antimilitary, anti—us protesters. clearly lots of people we re protesters. clearly lots of people were waving their flags and playing their drums were waving their flags and playing theirdrums in the were waving their flags and playing their drums in the rain and they think us intervention over the years hasn't been good for the country and they are especially concerned about president trump and his rhetoric. they think he is a destabilising force. but there are obviously many others who think the us is hugely important, perhaps the reason kim jong—un is holding back is because he knows what the answer from the us would be and we heard the defence secretary james mattis talk about the prospect of war. citing there is relief, but in the last few days

i've said people have lived with the conflict for a long time and itjust continues. still to come on the programme. celebrating the king: across asia, fans of elvis presley mark the 40th anniversary of pop icon's death. also ahead on the programme, how washington is taking on global food with a pinch of homemade flavour. the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutalformer dictator, has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia,

where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. 2 billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millenium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later when the sun set over the bay of bengal. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. and i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: president trump has defended his response to deadly protests in charlottesville, again stating that both sides were to blame. the american secretary of state has said it is up to north korea

to decide if it wants to talk to the united states about its missile and nuclear weapons programmes. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the financial times picks up on a warning from the international monetary fund about what it calls china's "dangerous" levels of debt. the paper says beijing has tolerated a rapid increase in debt in order to meet its target of doubling the size of the chinese economy between 2010 and 2020. the front page of gulf news highlights reported plans by saudi arabia and iraq to reopen the arar border for trade after 27 years of closure. the crossing was shut when the two neighbours cut diplomatic ties following the iraqi invasion of kuwait in 1990. the south china morning post casts doubt on a hong kong democracy activist‘s story about being kidnapped and tortured by mainland

chinese agents. the paper claims there are more "damning discrepancies" in howard lam's story, following his arrest on suspicion of misleading police. now, babita, what stories are sparking discussions online? well rico, there's been an outpouring of sympathy on social media for the stu ntwoman joi sj harris who died in a motorcycle accident whilst filming deadpool 2. joi sj harris was reportedly the first licensed female african—american road racer in the us. the actor of the movie deadpool 2, ryan reynolds, said he was "heartbroken, shocked and devastated" at her death. today marks 40 years since elvis presley died. there will be commemorations at his former home, graceland, in memphis, tennessee, where thousands are expected to attend a candle—lit vigil in few hours time. earlier i wasjoined by radio station owner and philippine music icon ramon ‘rj' jacinto to talk

about the enduring legacy of elvis in asia. well, elvis was the complete package. he could move, he could sing, and he — he — he broke the barrier. if you remember, it was frank — bing crosby, frank sinatra, big bang music, and then rock ‘n' roll came about. and elvis translated — sort of translated black music, crossed over to the white guys — and the whole world. i canjust see, rj — you're about to sing a song — i can see behind you magazines of elvis in asia. growing up in the philippines, rj, why did you and your friends gravitate towards this american icon? there is no other like him. even the beatles idolised him. and we are going to have the first elvis of asia contest on saturday, august 19. august 19, with the prize

trip to graceland. about 30 elvises will come. and we'll have limitations round in the morning, then finals at nights. wow. there are competitions taking place even today, even today, after elvis passed away 40 years ago. his legend lives on... yes. ..especially in the philippines! yep. and — and my radio station has been playing elvis all these years. rj fm 100.3. it's nationwide. as a matter of fact, we're — we're also correspondents of bbc radio here. and i can see, rj, you're ready to play a favourite song of yours by elvis presley. and i know one of them is blue suede shoes. you want to hear it? # blue suede shoes #

all right! wow, fantastic. there are still so many impersonators of elvis presley in asia. and notjust his rock songs, but many people also love to sing his love songs. right. especially love me tender. maybe you could sing us a few lines here? of love me tender? (sings love me tender) i love elvis presley. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday, ramon ‘rj' jacinto, an elvis impersonator and big fan of elvis presley. here is another love song i love

from elvis presley. wise men say only fools rush in but i can't help falling in love with you. with eve ryo ne falling in love with you. with everyone on newsday. i am sure you area big everyone on newsday. i am sure you are a big fan of elvis presley, babita. i'm sorry, rico? rico? i'm sorry, a beautiful rendition of elvis. we will cut him off. in washington, we went into the kitchen to find out more about what this restaurant is doing for refugees. we hire immigrant refugee chefs,

and we give the refugees space to prepare and sell their home recipes direct to customer. it started with my mum. she came to this country as a refugee, didn't speak the language, she had limited education. we're creating space for people like my mum, who probably couldn't open a restaurant, or afford all, like, the things that went along with starting a business. that idea of, like, refugees, or immigrants not feeling welcome, we are showing, like, that's not right — it's the exact opposite. because i think what's neat about america is the way the immigrant refugee

communities in la are different to ones here in dc. incredible efforts by the team in washington. rico, we cut you off while you were in your prime. why don't you sing us out of the programme? wise men say only falls rush in but i can't help falling in love with all our newsday viewers. thanks for watching newsday. i didn't have to do that. well, we've got a bit of rain on the way on wednesday, particularly across western areas of the uk.

but at the moment out there, it is dry. a lot of clear weather. and also quite nippy, particularly across northern areas of the uk. in the countryside code temperatures will be down to the single figures. perhaps 5—6. even on the south coast, about 8—9. but that is in the countryside. here is wednesday's weather map. here is a low pressure approaching. that is going to upset western areas. but the morning could look sunny for many of us in the east, in england and scotland. south wales will be decent enough too. through the morning, rain does increase and the winds, too. things will get greyer and greyer and then there will be outbreaks of rain. rain getting to cornwall, northern parts of wales, northern ireland, certainly into the afternoon. but it will be fine and bright in many parts of england, especially in the east. 20 in newcastle, low 20s in london. wednesday night, the rain moves through. some of it might be heavy, but it is out of the way by the time we get to wednesday —

thursday morning, that is. early on thursday, still a bit of rain around. then it clears out into the north sea. thursday afternoon is looking bright. fairly brisk. some showers around — most will be across the north—west. hit and miss rain. temperatures will get to 24 in london. 21 degrees in newcastle. to get into friday, low pressure is close to our neighbourhood, essentially spelling further showers on the way. so not much change to our weather pattern. still a bit of a breeze out there. most showers will be across the northern half of the uk. so anywhere along the south coast will have a mostly dry day. and then saturday is looking quite breezy. there will be some sunshine and showers. and interesting things happening in the atlantic at the moment. right now, there is hurricane gert, which is churning off the eastern seaboard of the united states. what is going to happen with this storm system, it is going to accelerate

into the north atlantic. it will get mixed up with our normal weather patterns, and then that mess will come our way. we will get wet and windy weather at times. so i think a blustery weekend on the way. and before i go, a quick look at the weather across europe on wednesday. and there's a lot of hot sunshine out there across the mediterranean. temperatures in some spots will be around about 40 degrees or so, and some thunderstorms rumbling through central europe, as well. i'm babita sharma with bbc news. our top story: president trump has lashed out atjournalists at a news conference in new york over media criticism of his response to the violence in cha rlottesville. mr trump said both sides were to blame for the violence and he insisted he was right not to speak out until the full facts were known. the us secretary of state rex tillerson says america is still interested in dialogue with north korea, but that's a decision kim jong—un

will have to take. state media in pyongyang said plans to test fire missiles towards guam had been delayed. and this story is trending on bbc.com. there's been a huge outpouring of sympathy for a stuntwoman joi sj harris who died in a motorcycle accident while filming the movie deadpool 2. you're up to date. stay with us. and the top story here in the uk: the government has released a document detailing how it sees the future of the border between northern ireland