i'm rico hizon in singapore, the headlines. more questions about us naval operations in the pacific after the commander of the seventh fleet is sacked. on terror alert in rotterdam — a rock concert is cancelled, police seize a van containing gas canisters near the venue. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme. tackling sectarian tensions in myanmar‘s rakhine state — a commission headed by kofi annan prepares to deliver its report. a controversial auction of rare rhino horns for the chinese and vietnamese market in south africa — but will it encourage poaching? it's 8am in singapore

and 1am in london. the us navy is facing increased pressure over whether it's been stretched too thin, after the commander of the seventh fleet was relieved of his post following a series of collisions. in the latest, the ussjohn s mccain struck an oil tanker in the waters off singapore. as many as ten sailors are feared dead. rupert wingfield—hayes reports from singapore. these are the faces that have lost the us seventh fleet commander his job. they are the seven young sailors who died aboard the uss fitzgerald when it was struck off the coast ofjapan injune. now there are almost certainly ten more faces to be added to these,

the victims of the latest collision of the ussjohn mccain, off the coast of singapore. vice admiraljoseph aucoin was due to retire next month, instead he's been very publicly sacked. this is the man who today fired him, the us pacific commander admiral scott swift. he said he had "lost confidence" in his ability to command. for 70 years, the uss seventh fleet has been the embodiment of american military might in this region, a reassurance to america's allies from korea to japan to here in singapore and a warning to america's potential foes, but seeing these two destroyers, run down by cargo ships, barely limping back in to port with massive holes until their sides, right now the seventh fleet looks anything but invisible. —— invincible.

but is the reason poor command or a us navy that is stretched to breaking point? over the last 30 years, it has shrunk from nearly 600 ships to just 276 today. it's a question i put to admiral swift. is there an issue of negligence here or is itjust that your men and women are exhausted from overwork? i was on mccain this morning, looking at the eyes of those sailors, even after their heroic efforts yesterday, i didn't see exhaustion. so that view is not a view that i see reflected to me by the 140,000 sailors that man the pacific fleet. admiral swift will need to move fast to restore credibility. china is already saying these accidents show us power is declining here. america's allies are looking on anxiously. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in singapore. dutch police have ordered the last minute cancellation of a rock concert in rotterdam after a tip—off from spanish officers. the city's mayor said they'd been

warned that an attack was being planned on a concert by an american band. he said police then stopped a spanish—registered van containing gas canisters near the venue. tim allman has more. once again, armed police on the streets of a european city. a local music venue called off, people being told to go home. a concert that was cancelled after a warning of a potential terror attack. translation: the information we received from spanish police suggested there was an attack planned on a concert by an american band. the information was so serious that the police consulted with the owners. two options were considered. let the event go ahead with increased security or possibly cancelling it. they thought it was justified to cancel the concert. the band who were supposed to perform are called the allah—las. they come from california and have had some controversy over their name and use of the arabic name for god. they were escorted away

by police while concert—goers were turned away. translation: we're from around here so it's not a big problem. it's a bummer for those who came from afar. they basically came here for nothing. i'm curious to hear the reason for the cancellation. i'd like to know exactly what's going on. what information this decision was based on. not far away, a van was found with spanish number plates containing gas canisters. it's not clear if this was linked to the cancellation of the concert but the van is being examined and the driver, also believed to be spanish, is being questioned by police. this may have been a tragedy averted, this may have all been a false alarm, but it's now being reported this incident is not linked to last week's terror attacks in and around barcelona. tim allman, bbc news. also making the news —

the authorities in egypt say they have broken upa criminal gang who were trafficking human organs. police have shut down a medical centre near cairo that specialised in kidney transplants, and have arrested twelve people, including medical staff. the doctors are alleged to have removed organs for use by wealthy egyptian and foreign patients. charges have been withdrawn against a bbcjournalist in a criminal defamation case in thailand. the bbc‘s south east asia correspondentjonathan head, faced up to five years in jail if he had been convicted. danish police say that a headless torso found in waters off denmark has been identified as that of a missing swedishjournalist, kim wall. she was last seen alive on august 10th, leaving on a trip with submarine inventor peter madsen, who's now been charged with manslaughter and could face life in prison. england's record goal—scorer, wayne rooney, has announced

his retirement from international football. the 31—year—old has scored 53 goals for england in a career that has lasted 14 years. he's also the country's most capped player, with 119 appearances. and here are two pampered cats — they've just inherited $300,000 after their wealthy owner died in new york. the bequest formed part of a $3 million estate left by ellen frey—wouter which included her home in the bronx. two carers who used to look after the elderly widow are now caring for the cats and all grooming and pampering will be paid for out of their trust fund. a maximum category ten storm has made landfall on the southern coast of china's guangdong province. typhoon hatt—oh has brought

hurricane force winds and downpours. earlier hatt—oh hit hong kong and neighbouring macau, where it was classed as the worst typhoon in five years. five people died in macau, and one in hong kong. juliana liu is in hong kong, and she's been following the typhoon for us. the typhoon battered hong kong, but now it is in china? that's right. the latest according to a news agency there is that the storm is centred in south—west china, bringing lots of wind and rain to that region. every day life has been disrupted, certainly in terms of transport and business. we understand about the storm on a whole has weakened since making la ndfall whole has weakened since making landfall in china. it counted hong kong, macau and the city in mainland china before sweeping west. this was the most powerful storm to hit his

entire region in five years. there have been a number of fatalities, at least five people died as a result of the storm in macau and four ian guangdong prominence. there was a question as to whether there was a fatality in guangdong province. a man fell into the sea, however they said it was a suicide case and it was intentional and not directly related to the storm —— in. at least nine people have died and numbers may go up as we get more information from macau and china. let mejust share with you how this story is being covered in newspapers here in hong kong. this is the south china morning post, the main broadsheet english—language publications sold in the city. you can see a photo of the waves on the central

harbourfront, lots of water sweeping —— morning. we saw a lot of flooding. this is the apple daily, a big photograph splashed across the top. we saw user generated content of this yesterday, a platform suspended outside which was swaying and hitting a lot of windows windspeeds picked up. that is how the story is being covered here in hong kong. thank you very much for the update. a commission led by the former un chief kofi annan will unveil its report shortly on how to tackle sectarian tensions in myanmar‘s rakhine state. the country's muslim rohingya minority face widespread discrimination in the state. a year ago, myanmar leader aung san suu kyi asked the six—member panel to look for solutions. joining me from yangon

is the bbc‘s ali fowle. how did this report, about? in september last year, aung san suu kyiasked september last year, aung san suu kyi asked kofi annan two head this advisory commission. it came soon after criticism for her silence on this issue. the ongoing crisis in the state. the aim of the crisis was to find a way of resolving this crisis, the ongoing tensions since violence flared up in 2012. hundreds and thousands of people, tens of thousands were displaced. there has been ongoing tensions in them. the forming of the commission was welcomed by some. there was a backlash from nationalists who did

not see any reason for foreigners to be getting involved in a very local and complicated situation. what has made it more complicated is that since the commission was started, the situation in rakhine has changed dramatically. in october last year, very soon after the commission was started, there was an attack on the ninth of towbar on a border police post. the beginnings of what we now know to be an insurgency. conflict broke out in october and since then, there have been massive security operation is by the army in northern rakhine state. of the back of those security operations and clearances have been accusations of widespread

human rights abuses and violence. that includes extrajudicial killings, torture and sexual assault and rape —— off. the commission has been very clear about sticking to their mandate. that is not to investigate this violence, not to investigate this violence, not to investigate this violence, not to investigate this conflict. it is to tackle long—standing obstacles to peace and development. they have distanced themselves from those accusations. they have been criticised by some human rights groups for downplaying the seriousness of that. and some on some aung san suu kyi has been

very clear about her position. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: controversy in south africa as it holds an online auction of rhino horns. and we meet the man who has amassed a huge collection of propaganda posters from one of the world's most secretive nations. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed, i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today, in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last ten days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia

must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we're all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people, in his hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us," chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me to desert rome?" this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: there have been more questions about us naval operations in the pacific after the commander of the seventh fleet was sacked following a series of accidents. on terror alert in rotterdam — a rock concert is cancelled.

police seize a van containing gas canisters near the venue. and the mediterranean island of sardinia has hit back at holidaymakers who have been pinching sand from its glorious beaches. under a law that came into force this month, four tourists have been fined over $1,000 for trying to take sand, stones or seashells home. that story is popular on bbc.com. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the south china morning post leads with this image of waves slamming into hong kong's central harbour—front and a story about the destruction caused by typhoon hato. it describes the cleanup operation now under way. five people were killed in macau when it struck there. the japan times is covering that dismissal of the commander of the us seventh fleet following collisions between american warships in asia.

before the most recent collision, seven sailors were killed when the uss fitzgerald collided with a container ship in japanese waters. and the financial times details a bad mistake by the british government, while delicate brexit talks continue in brussels. about 100 eu nationals were recently sent letters in error by the agency telling them that a decision had been taken to remove you from the united kingdom. those are the top stories around the world. it's time now for trending stories. you are going to love this. rico, a beautiful sight in northern chile is getting a lot of attention. parts of the usually arid atacama desert have turned into a carpet of flowers after an intense burst of rain.

the phenomenon usually occurs every five to seven years, but this flowering desert comes just two years after a particularly colourful bloom. south africa is holding its first online auction of rhino horns, despite strong opposition from some conservationists, who fear it will further encourage poaching. hundreds of horns, which can fetch tens of thousands of dollars a kilo, are up for sale, though they cannot be exported because of a long—standing global ban on the international trade. nomsa maseko reports from johannesburg. south africa's environmental affairs department was ordered by the court to allow 264 rhino horns to be auctioned off, starting today. this comes after a high court ruling set aside a moratorium on the domestic trade of rhino horn. in 2009, before south africa hosted the football world cup, the government issued a temporary moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horn, due to international pressure by conservationists. they are also walking up

towards the feeding ground... in 2015, a rhino farmer approached the court to set aside the moratorium, arguing that it had been in place for too long. and the court ruled in his favour, to once again allow domestic trade in rhino horn. i firmly believe that this is the way to save rhinos from extinction. to breed them better, to protect them better. one of the ways to protect them better is not to make the horn completely unavailable to everybody. before 2009, when you could buy horn legally in this country, there was virtually no poaching. after 2009, it has escalated out of control. the poaching is out of control in this country. the government is still in the process of finalising

policies for the domestic trade in rhino horn. this means they could potentially issue export permits under the personal effects provision. the auction has been organised by the biggest rhino owner in south africa, and his website says the auction will take place over three days. potential buyers have to pay a refundable deposit, after which they still need to apply for a government permit. mr hume says he hopes to target the 400,000 south african chinese population. but conservationists are against this auction. according to the convention, there is no legal international trade in rhino horn for commercial purposes. that means that this auction can only be done within the borders of south africa, this trade. however, as far as we are aware, there is very little demand for rhino horn in south africa. it is also published in chinese and vietnamese, and it does appear as if it has been angled for some kind of exporting trade. since the beginning of this year,

more than 500 rhinos have been poached in the country, and all eyes will be on this auction, to see what effect it will have on rhino conservation. the defeated us presidential candidate, hillary clinton, says donald trump made her skin crawl during a televised debate last year. the debate took place soon after a recording emerged of mr trump boasting that he could grope women with impunity because of his celebrity status. mrs clinton made the revelations in her new book. hillary clinton there on her latest revelations regarding donald trump. propaganda is a key tool for kimjong—un keeping power in north korea. information in the country is highly controlled, and propaganda posters are a common sight. getting posters out of the country

is a process fraught with difficulty, but the bbc met a south korean who has one of the biggest collections in the world. i collect north korean art. my name is choi sangkyun. i have been in pyongyang about 20 times. i've been collecting about 300 propaganda art. the message is peace is possible only by fighting. the dove stands for peace, i think. the children are very happy with the rifle, kalashnikov gun. i think, first of all,

the posters like this, these are the real remnant or real history of what is going on now, today, in recent times, in north korea. well, in pyongyang, there are many creative artist groups, and they own their own shop. they are known to the army. they are more focused on propaganda art. the fine art painting is part of the — a very strong tool to achieve socialistic revolution. on the way to the paradise named communism, the painting is a powerful tool for them. so it does work.

you have been watching newsday. thanks so much forjoining us. see you soon. goodbye. hello there. as we head towards the bank holiday weekend, there is some much quieter weather on the way, which is just as well, after all the heavy rain and flooding that we had in northern ireland, and here in north yorkshire, too. that rain, on the last of the muggy air that swept across the uk. behind it, fresher conditions followed, and we saw the cloud breaking, and some sunshine. and over the next few days there'll be some more sunshine. there'll be a few showers around, more particularly towards the north—west of the uk. now, the wet weather came on that weather front there. that has long gone out into the north sea. still dawdling, perhaps, towards the northern isles for a while. lower pressure towards the north—west, this is where we will see most of the showers.

higher pressures towards the south. not a big high pressure, but higher pressure. hence the drier weather here. a sunny start across the midlands, east anglia and the south—east of england, and some sunshine further west, as well, across the south—east of england and wales. just the chance of a little bit more cloud, and maybe one or two light showers. the odd shower coming into the north—west of england, as well. much of north—east england, and indeed eastern scotland, starting dry and sunny. still some rain up towards shetland, and a few showers arriving towards the highlands. most of northern ireland starting the day dry. but i think we will see some showers, or even longer spells of rain, pushing in closer to that area of low pressure in the north—west, and turning wetter again in western fringes of scotland. a few sharp showers in the north—east of scotland, and possibly towards the north—east of england. most of england and wales in the afternoon, though, will be fine and dry, with some sunshine. pleasant enough, with light wind for the most part, and temperatures at the norm for this time of year. it will turn chilly, though, in the evening, especially across much of england and wales, where we'll have clearer skies.

up towards the north—west, a bit more of a breeze, perhaps, and still the chance of more cloud and some rain. temperatures will be a bit lower than they have been recently. into friday, lots of sunshine, probably more sunshine on friday for southern england, midlands, east anglia and lincolnshire. bit more cloud bubbling up further north, a few showers for scotland. some of these could be rather heavy, and some longer spells of rain arriving into northern ireland, as well. temperatures are lower, but warming up towards the south—east, with more sunshine, probably getting into the mid—20s. towards the north—west, though, we've got that area of low pressure as we head into the weekend, threatening to bring the more showery rain here. this area of low pressure in biscay could bring the risk of the odd shower to southern and eastern england, particularly on saturday night. but on the whole, it looks like it will be dry for much of england and wales. some sunshine, and feeling pleasantly warm in the sunshine, with light winds, too. further north, some showers, most of the showers for scotland and also across northern ireland. goodbye.

i'm babita sharma with bbc news. our top story. more questions are being asked about us naval operations in the pacific after the commander of the seventh fleet is fired. concerns that the us navy could be overstretched in the region come as ten us sailors are missing presumed dead after a collision between a destroyer and an oil tanker near singapore. dutch police have ordered the last minute cancellation of a rock concert in rotterdam after a tip off from spanish police. they later seized a van containing gas canisters near the venue. and this story is trending on bbc.com. famed for its pristine beaches, the mediterranean island of sardinia has hit back at holidaymakers who have been pinching its sand — issuing fines of 1,000 euros for trying take sand, stones or seashells home. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk. theresa may promises the european court ofjustice will not have a direct say over british affairs post brexit.