welcome to newsday. i'm babita sharma in london. the headlines: the escape of islamic state — a secret deal that let hundreds of is fighters leave the city of raqqa. the deal to get out of here is the deal that no one wants to talk about — it is raqqa's dirty secret. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. sounds of harmony as the asean summit. finally progress on the disputed south china sea? and when news anchors go crazy — we talk to breaking bad star bryan cra nston. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. welcome and thanks forjoining us.

it's 1am here in london, 9am in singapore, and 3am in raqqa, syria, where the bbc has uncovered details of a secret deal that followed the defeat of islamic state in the city. the agreement allowed hundreds of islamic state fighters and their families to escape, including notorious criminals. the big question now is where are they, and what sort of a threat to they pose? our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville has this exclusive report from raqqa. even at peace, with the so—called islamic state gone, raqqa is still deadly dangerous. few of its roads have been cleared. the fighting stopped here a month

ago, but there are still mines and booby traps everywhere. most of the city is a no—go zone. hardly anyone has been allowed to return. but we made it inside, searching for a trail through the debris, looking for clues to the islamic state's escape route. the city hospital was their last refuge, and it's here where ourjourney begins. the group's final defeat came thanks not to a battle, but to a bus ride. the convoy left from here, the city hospital. they'd been holed up inside for months. on it were is fighters, their families and their hostages, but we're told their mood wasn't dejected, they weren't defeated. they were defiant. it was here that they realised that they might live to fight another day. the deal to get them out of here is the deal that no one wants to talk about.

it's raqqa's dirty secret. so did kurds, arabs and the western coalition get together and agree a deal that not only allowed is to escape from raqqa, but also allowed its fiercest fighters to roam far and wide from the confines of this city? they left the city lonely, empty and in ruins. the hunt begins here in raqqa, but would take us across northern syria and beyond. the deal started with a media blackout. the islamic state's escape was not to be televised. but, thanks to amateur footage, we see this was a convoy and a deal too large to hide. the world was told only a few dozen local fighters were being let go. no foreigners and not weapons. but the trucks were crammed full of fighters, some wearing suicide belts.

all were heavily armed. after days of searching, we picked up the trail at a truck stop on the outskirts of tabqa. here we discovered the drivers, all civilians, who drove is to freedom. they'd been hired by the kurdish—led syrian democratic forces. it was the longest journey of their lives. their trucks were rigged with is bombs, in case the deal collapsed. they'd been told they were picking up only a few hundred civilians, that it would be a quickjob. they ended up driving day and night for three days. everybody‘s been saying only a couple of hundred, at the absolute maximum, is fighters left raqqa. you took them out, tell us how many you transported. translation: we were 47 trucks and 13 buses, and is militants took their own vehicles, as well. our convoy was 6—7 kilometres long.

we took out around 4000 people, including women and children. tell me about the foreigners that were on the trucks, where were they from? translation: france, turkey, azerbaijan, pakistan, yemen, saudi, china, tunisia, egypt. there was a huge number of foreigners. this couldn't look like the islamic state's escape to victory, so the sdf insisted there would be no flags and no banners. instead, is fighters sat boldly on top of the trucks. the axle on one lorry broke, it was so overloaded with is weaponry. some of those who escaped have already made it here to turkey. raqqa was their capital, but it was also a cage. there they were trapped.

the deal brought peace to the city, but it also allowed some of the most battle—hardened is fighters to escape notjust raqqa, but also syria, and arrive here on europe's doorstep. the winds have carried news of the islamic state's defeat, but they bring with them a warning and a threat — the caliphate is gone, but the islamic state is still out there. quentin sommerville, bbc news, istanbul. our other top story: it's day two of the asean summit in manila and leaders of south—east asian nations have agreed with china to begin developing a code of conduct for the disputed south china sea. china, vietnam, the philippines, taiwan, malaysia and brunei all have competing claims to the territory. joining us from manila is the bbc‘s howard johnson. so what's expected on the agenda today? it is hot and sunny. this is the

last day of donald trump's tour of asia. here in manila, he will be attending the east asia summit, the most important event here at the asean 50th anniversary summit. he will be talking about issues with regional leaders and dialogue partners like america. he will be talking about security issues in this region. the big issues, of course, north korea, missile threats, talk of islamic state in southeast asia but most importantly of all, as you suggested, the south china sea debate. we've seen in previous asean summit that they've been pushing towards a binding code of conduct and in the past, they wa nted of conduct and in the past, they wanted that to be legally binding to

make sure there was a set of rules to govern these disputed waters, to make sure that people knew who could move where and what. we see trillions of dollars' worth of trade coming through here. lots of oil potentially out there to be explored. china lays claim to 80% of the sandbags and the territories that exist within the waters and what we've seen the last year or so is the philippines has taken a softer stance, they would like a gentleman ‘s agreement, non—binding, non— legally binding code of conduct so non— legally binding code of conduct so today we will see how that plays out, will the philippines take the lead on this and suggest to other countries in the region that they should push for this gentleman ‘s agreement with china? let's see what happens. indeed, and we are seeing some live pictures of day to the asean summit. we just saw president jokowi of indonesia walk and other dignitaries arriving as well. in terms of the success of this summit,

as you say, howard, still watching to see what happens in terms of the south china sea and the code of conduct but what are some of the other issues that have dominated? the biggest issue, of course, has been a meeting between donald trump and the philippine president rodrigo duterte. the big issue at the moment is human rights in the region. president duterte has had this year— long war on drugs at the moment where we have seen thousands of people killed, human rights groups say in there have been extrajudicial killings, people with hands bound behind their backs, bullet wounds in their heads so people are looking for leaders of this region to come forward and make a statement about this. nothing has come forward yet. even a meeting between donald trump and president duterte, he brought up theissue and president duterte, he brought up the issue briefly and donald trump

just nodded when he was told about the war on drugs you so human rights, another big issue but will we see anything said about it today? let's see. thank you, howard johnson in manila. and as howard was talking, we just saw prime minister shinzo abe of japan talking, we just saw prime minister shinzo abe ofjapan are right. also this hour: a vast relief effort is continuing after a powerful earthquake struck in the mountainous border region between iran and iraq. the 7.3 magnitude quake was the deadliest in the world this year. at least a50 people were killed and at least 7,000 are injured. our correspondent rami ruhayem reports from darbandikhan in iraq. this area is one of the hardest hit in iraq by sunday's earthquake. we are told seven people were inside this home when it collapsed. two of them were killed, and others were injured. several other buildings suffered similar damage to this one. fortunately, they seem to be the exception rather than the rule. and most of the other homes in the region managed to withstand the impact of the earthquake.

myanmar‘s military has tried to absolve itself of any wrongdoing against the country's muslim rohingya population. 600,000 rohingyas have fled to neighbouring bangladesh with many stories of abuse carried out by the army. but the military‘s own investigation concludes that no soldier has shot an innocent civilian or engaged in sexual violence. britain's chief brexit negotiator, david davis, has promised that parliament will get a binding vote on the terms of any settlement with the european union but not on brexit itself. he told parliament that if mps rejected the settlement, britain would leave with no deal. one pro—eu mp said the apparent concession looked like a sham. now, injust the past two hours, we have the world number one in tennis, rafael nadal, who you can see on screen, he has announced he is pulling out of the atp tour finals because of a knee injury.

he has been struggling with the injury at the hands of david goffin. he pulled out of the paris masters earlier this month and appeared to be in pain at the end of his opening match at the 02 and arena in london. and to continue with sport, a real shocker here if you're italian, or a football fan ofany kind. italy, shown here in training, has failed to qualify for the world cup. that's the first time that's happened since 1958. they could only manage a draw against sweden, who will make the tournament in russia. asylu m asylum seekers in papua and new guinea are claiming they are being forced out. the men have refused to move to other facilities despite having water and electricity cut off. they say the authorities have

started draining water tanks and dismantling fences. the initial deadline for the mentally by saturday was not imposed on the threat of force to make them leave was listed —— lifted as well. this remains a position for the monday deadline. police and the authorities turned up at the camp with buses as well however no men were forced to leave, the authorities talking about volu nta ry tra nsfer. leave, the authorities talking about voluntary transfer. one thing they did was continue to dismantle the fences around the camp and also disrupt the water supplies. over the last two weeks, the men have been gathering rainwater and digging wells and that has been disrupted so it's making it more and more difficult for them to stay. the 400 oi’ difficult for them to stay. the 400 or $0 men say difficult for them to stay. the 400 or so men say they feel unsafe about the offer of going to be other transit camps on manus island. they

are transit camps on manus island. they a re clearly transit camps on manus island. they are clearly aware that the eyes of the world on them at the moment and are calling for international assistance. they claim they don't wa nt to assistance. they claim they don't want to go from one prison to another on manus island. they want international assistance —— persistence and refugee status in another country. that will not be australia, the country that sent them there, the government sticking to the line that they will never set foot here. they have also closed off an offerfrom foot here. they have also closed off an offer from new zealand to take 150 people. at the moment, it is difficult to see how the situation will end. authorities from png who are responsible for the men say the best course of action for them is to leave the centre and go to the new centres they have set up. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: breaking bad star bryan cranston on his latest role. berliners from both east and west linked hands and danced round their liberated territory.

and, with nobody to stop them, it wasn't long before the first attempts were made to destroy the structure itself. it's keeping the candidate's name always in the public eye that counts. success or failure depends not only on public display but on the local campaign headquarters and the heavy routine work of their women volunteers. yasser arafat, who dominated the palestinian cause for so long, has died. the palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning for the leader who symbolised his people's hopes for independent statehood. in the wake of the colombian volcano disaster, rescue teams are trying to reach thousands of survivors who managed to clamber onto rooftops and trees above the sea of mud. after 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy. women ministers who'd long felt only grudgingly accepted amongst the ranks of clergy suddenly felt welcomed. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: a bbc investigation has revealed a deal to allow so—called is fighters to escape the syrian city of raqqa. asian leaders edge towards a deal on the disputed south china sea at the asean summit in the philippines. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the japan times leads on the asean summit, making the point donald trump prioritised trade deals over human rights after he declined to comment on the philippine drug war, which has killed thousands of people. the main photo shows the us president linking arms with rodrigo duterte during the opening ceremony. meanwhile, the state—run newspaper the china daily has more on beijing beginning talks with members of asean on a code of conduct in the south china sea.

the paper claims beijing aims to peacefully resolving the issue. china claims almost all of the south china sea. the south china morning post reports pro—independence groups across hong kong are reviving a drive to promote the city's separation from mainland china. student leaders have vowed more activism after an earlier campaign fizzled out. back to our top story and our special report on the thousands of is fighters and family members who are believed to have escaped raqqa through a deal brokered by us—backed syrian partners on the ground. robert ford is the former us ambassador to syria. he says he is fighters heading to europe present a real risk. some of them were trying to get to germany, some made it to north—western syria to another rebel safe haven from which they could more easily cross into turkey. absolutely there will be a risk that some of these foreign fighters will trickle into europe in the months ahead. what is your assessment that this was done under the watch of a

deal brokered by us backed syrian partners on the ground? the report is very clear that the american backed syrian democratic forces negotiated with the islamic state to remove these fighters from raqqa. i would simply add that this is not the first time the american backed syrian democratic forces negotiated the withdrawal of isis fighters, they did so as well last may, may 2017, during fighting for the topka dam there the town of 2—0 this major —— town of topka near this major dam. iraqis on the ground have reacted incredibly angry to these reports, many people spared no mercy

at the hands of isis, how badly will this mean relations turn out the tween for example the us and iraq?|j think tween for example the us and iraq?” think us iraqi relations have a variety of common interests and common projects they work on, including the american pledge to continue building iraqi security forces. i don't think of this report, as unpleasant as it will be for the americans, i don't think it's going to buy itself destroy the american iraqi bilateral relationship. what this report will do for sure is give anti—american elements inside iraq, such as pro— iranian militia groups and their political leaders, it will give them ammunition to use against american influence in iraq and against iraqi

allies and friends of the united states inside iraq, including prime minister abedi and other pro— american elements inside iraq. about a fifth of the world's population is without a legal identity according to the united nations they are stateless. they're cut off from accessing basic services and rights, without evidence of their existence. without that, many are left vulnerable to human trafficking, sexual slavery, and child abuse. now, one organisation is seeking to change all that through the use of blockchain technology. so what is blockchain? the technology will sound familiar to those who use the crypto—currency bitcoin. modern technology allows users to send messages to each other and share information directly from a to b. but when it comes to money or other official documents, people have to trust a third—party to complete the information flow. blockchain challenges this notion by removing the third party and storing data in an open,

de—centralised database. when money and data go through a transaction, the authenticity of the record can be verified by an entire community. it is like having an editable document open by two people as opposed to one person having to send it to the other and then wait for a reply. it is hoped that this technology will allow people, refugees and immigrants to always have a persistent and secure identity. humanized internet is an organisation tackling the identity crisis of stateless people through the use of this technology. its co—founder monique morrow earlier explained to me how they will use blockchain. it's about restoring humanity to the internet. there are 10 million people who are stateless, and rohingyas are in that category. the whole notion is — when i came up here,

i had to produce a passport. and, if i did not have that passport, or an identity, i don't have anything, even though you have your own sense of identity. so how do you prove provenance of your birth, how do you prove provenance of your education, how do you prove provenance of your medical certificates, and so on. so this is the promise, if you will, of the humanized internet. now, it can be a cut throat world here in television news, but in the america of the 1970s, the competition for ratings was even more intense. a new play has opened here in london that satirises the era. its star, bryan cranston from the cult television series breaking bad, has been speaking to our arts editor, will gompertz, about his concerns of the impact social media has on news and the current climate in hollywood. a very interesting perspective. because i've never sat out here, looking that way. it's quite an impressive set, though, isn't it? you were an overnight success, you could argue. i was. at 50-ish. although they may look the same... bryan cra nston became an international superstar

in the hit tv show breaking bad, playing walter white, a chemistry teacher who becomes a drug—dealing criminal. breaking bad was a phenomenal experience for me. it changed my life completely. and here he is, in another life—changing role. i'm as mad as hell, and i'm not going to take it anymore! in the national theatre's stage adaptation of the 1970s film network, in which his character, howard beale, loses it on air and becomes a ratings sensation. in the ‘70s, it was clearly a satire. network in 2017 is no longer a satire. it is — it is profound, and it is what we're living in. this inundation of information — that our children can access not only horrific acts of real violence on their cellphone, but pornography, and anything and everything is accessible now.

it's not good for society. it's starting to feel like a dark age in hollywood. is there a way back for the weinsteins and spaceys of this world? if they were to show us that they put the work in and are truly sorry, and making amends, and not defending their actions, but asking for forgiveness, then maybe down the road there is room for that. character transformation is becoming a seam of bryan cranston's late career as a star of stage and screen. from crystal meth—cooking teachers to mad—as—hell newscasters. will gompertz, bbc news. you're certainly not going to see

any bad behaviour on newsday from me 01’ any bad behaviour on newsday from me or babita. stay with us. that's all for now, stay with bbc world news. hi there. yesterday was a pretty chilly day, with temperatures between five and seven celsius. it was even cold enough for a bit of snow in scotland. i know many of us go nuts for snow, but these scenes are likely to be short—lived, because the air is going to be turning a little bit milder today. the cold weather we had yesterday was due to these northerly winds moving down across the uk. but we've had a change of wind direction over the last 12 hours orso, dragging in much milder conditions. a weak weather front lying across central portions of the uk will thicken the cloud up,

to bring us some spots of light rain or drizzle. but still, for most of us it is a cloudier, milder kind of day. now, first thing in the morning, these are the kind of temperatures you'll be contending with as you head outside the door, typically around 6—10 degrees. a little bit colder than that around rural parts of england, and perhaps cold enough for a touch of frost in sheltered parts of northern scotland first thing. but, for most of us, it is quite a mild start to the day. it is mild because it is cloudy, so cloudy skies for england and wales. notice that cloud thick enough to give us some bursts of rain, particularly across wales, but also some dampness at times getting across the midlands and into east anglia. north—east england, particularly over the pennines, also pretty grey. a lot of cloud first thing for northern ireland. 10 degrees in belfast, mild conditions here. best of the early—morning sunshine will be across much of scotland, although there will be a few showers in the far north. through the rest of the day, slow changes overall. it will brighten up, though, for north—east england. the best of the sunshine continues to be in scotland. otherwise, a lot of cloud

for northern ireland, england and wales, continuing to be thick enough for occasional patches of rain, not really amounting to too much. temperatures up on those of yesterday, still a little on the cool side to the north and east of scotland. now, for tuesday night, if we see some cloud breaks, you may well see things turning rather foggy. otherwise, it stays cloudy for england and wales, and that cloud will help keep temperatures up. 8—11 degrees, the colder conditions there in scotland, again, with a frost, and probably coming a little bit sharper, as well. bear in mind, though, for wednesday, some of us may well start off with some dense patches of fog. the thickness of the fog will depend on the length of those overnight cloud breaks. but, even if it doesn't start off foggy where you are, across england and wales, it will be grey — fog or cloud being the order of the day. further west, after a bright start in scotland, we will see a band of rain moving into western areas. still quite cool for north—eastern parts of scotland, but otherwise temperatures around about where they should be, really, for this time of year. on thursday, we keep cloudy conditions for much of the country. a band of rain slips southwards.

cooler, fresher conditions for the north—west. that's your latest weather, bye for now. this is bbc world news. our top story. the bbc uncovers details of a secret deal that let hundreds of is fighters escape from raqqa when it fell to us—backed forces last month. hundreds of so—called islamic state fighters and their families escaped in exchange for hostages. some of those who left included is‘s most notorious criminals. president trump wraps up his foreign tour in the philippines — boasting of his great relationship with rodrigo duterte and leaving open how much human rights were discussed. and this video is trending on bbc.com. the moment these children got a lucky escape in norway. a lorry head straight for them — but thankfully the quick—witted driver braked just in time. nobody was hurt. that's all from me for now.

stay with bbc news.