i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: zimbabwe's president for nearly a0 years, now under house arrest. the african union says robert mugabe's detention and the army's takeover seems like a coup. nearly a million rohingya refugees have fled to bangladesh from myanmar. we report from the mega—camp that just keeps growing. just look at it — there are now more people living here than in washington, dc. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme. back from asia, donald trump says he achieved his main aim — uniting the region against north korea. and gasps as leonard da vinci's 500—year—old masterpiece dubbed the ‘male mona lisa' goes under the hammer.

live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 9am in singapore, one in the morning in london and 3am in zimbabwe's capital, harare, where around twenty—four hours after the military mobilised to seize power, there have been mixed reactions to the intervention. zimba bwe‘s long—standing leader, robert mugabe, is still president, but is believed to be under house arrest. the whereabouts of his wife grace, who was bidding to succeed him as president, are not clear: there are unconfirmed reports that she's fled to namibia. our correspondent in zimbabwe, shingai nyoka, has sent this report. this is what zimbabweans woke

up to this morning — tanks on the streets of their capital city, something that has never happened in nearly a0 years of independence, followed by a statement from the military on state tv, saying the mugabe family was safe and that this was not a coup. what the zimbabwe defence forces is doing is to pacify a degenerating political, social and economic situation in our country, which, if not addressed, may result in a violent conflict. overnight, president mugabe, the world's oldest leader, lost control of the country he has led for 37 years. and though the generals say he remains president, he is clearly no longer calling the shots. the presence of the military is being felt here on the streets of harare and some parts of the city are in lockdown.

now, this is as close as we can get to some of the military tanks that have stationed themselves in strategic positions. one, as you can see here, has blocked off access to the president's office. there's another that has blocked off access to parliament. the president still has his supporters, especially in the rural areas, but here in harare, it is a different story. translation: we're going to have a good life now. we're looking forward to christmas because of what has happened. we want to thank those who organised this and we want them to remain until our problems are resolved. translation: i want to thank the general for removing this tyrant. he was ruling the country as if it belonged to his family. much now depends on how zimbabwe's neighbours react to this situation, especially south africa. its president, jacob zuma, spoke on the phone to mr mugabe earlier and has now sent south africa's defence minister to assess the situation first—hand. i am hoping that the defence force

will not move and do more damage, that they will be able to respect the constitution of zimbabwe as well as the people of zimbabwe. but ultimately, this takeover is down to a power struggle within zimbabwe's ruling zanu—pf. last week, emmerson mnangagwa was sacked as vice president. a loyal ally, he was, like mugabe, a veteran of the country's struggle for independence. but in recent years, he's found himself up against this woman, grace mugabe, the president's young, ambitious and some would say ruthless wife, a one—time typist and now one of the most powerful political figures in the country, with plans to take over as vice president. she remains a divisive figure among party supporters. just last week, she was met with boos while attending a rally. i don't care!

since the takeover, the military has begun to arrest those close to her and the british foreign office issued a warning to british nationals in the city. stay at home. stay in your hotel room. wait until things settle down a little bit. tonight, the city remains in relative calm. so far, a bloodless military takeover, but it leaves those inside the country wondering what lies ahead. change is under way but whether it's the change zimbabweans have been yearning for is far from clear. shingai nkoya, bbc news, zimbabwe. our other top story — president trump has been speaking for the first time since returning from his tour of asia. he said the united states was "confident again about the future" and that the days of other countries taking advantage of the us on trade were over. he described how one of the main goals of his trip was uniting the world against the

threat of north korea. we will not allow this twisted dictatorship to hold the world hostage to nuclear blackmail. i cold one every nation, including china and russia, to unite in isolating the north korean regime, cutting off all ties of trade and commerce until it stops its dangerous provocation on... and this is the key to what we are doing... on denuclearisation. we have to take away north korea's nuclear weapons. we have ended the failed strategy of strategic patience and as a result we have already seen important progress including tough new sanctions from the un council. we have a security council that has been with us and just about with us from the beginning. also this hour — the greek prime minister, alexis tsipras, has announced a state of national mourning for those killed by flash flooding that's killed at least fifteen

people near athens. local officials say the floods, which brought torrents of british —— mud flowing through three towns, are unprecedented. homes have been inundated and roads destroyed. three very sheepish—looking us athletes have returned to the us after being arrested in china for shoplifting. the ucla basketball players were caught stealing sunglasses from a high—end shopping centre in china. they were in the country taking part in a college match. mr trump reportedly spoke to his chinese counterpart while on tour in asia. he later tweeted that the sportsmen were heading for a lengthy prison term had he not intervened. take a good look at this planet, because it's the closest that astronomers have found so far, to a twin for planet earth. it's got a relatively mild climate which it's believed might possibly harbour life. it's called ross i28b and temperatures range from minus 60 to a perfectly bearable 20 celsius. just one catch — it's 11 light years away from our solar system. the us secretary of state rex

tillerson has called for a credible and independent investigation into myanmar‘s rohingya crisis. he's been in myanmar, to meet the head of its military and its de facto leader, aung sang suu kyi. over the past few months, hundreds of thousands of rohingya refugees have fled myanmar because of what's been described as "textbook ethnic cleansing". our correspondent justin rowlatt has been to what's rapidly becoming — the world's biggest refugee camp in the port city of cox's bazar. a bangladeshi army speedboat patrols the river that marks the border with myanmar. from the boat, you can see tens and hundreds of people trapped on the beaches. they are desperate to escape. so desperate they will take incredible risks. some 60 people arrived on this raft made of

plastic containers, lashed together with rope. one big wave could have broken it apart. yet babies and grandparents made the journey. they tell the same, now—familiar stories of violence and horror. "they kept us on a beach for a month and a half," she says. "we had so little food. the army shot my husband, blinding him in one eye." like many new arrivals, they are in terrible shape. noor is two and half years old and severely malnourished. if she doesn't receive nutritious foods soon it could affect her development for life. one in four children are now malnourished. we actually expect the situation to deteriorate before it improves. we have a nutrition crisis here, now. 12,000 people will be given

food at this one feeding station today. it is basic nutrition — just rice, lentils, and a little oil, but it is enough to keep you alive. there are now more than 800,000 rohingya refugees here. no wonder they are calling this the mega camp. just look at it — there are now more people living here than in washington, dc. and every day, it grows and grows. things are getting more orderly. the mega camp is getting roads and bridges. thousands of toilets have been dug in just the last few weeks. geophysicists use drones to find aquifers deep underground. the blues, those are our clays and shells. and the reds are aquifers — clean water. so that's telling you where to drill.

how important is clean water in a situation like this? it is fundamental to everything here. without that, we will have outbreaks of disease — cholera, typhus within days or a few weeks or months. but the truth is this is still basically a giant, open—air prison. soldiers guard the roads out of the camp. refugees aren't allowed to leave, and they can't go back to myanmar. despite all the evidence of atrocities, earlier this week, the myanmar government issued a report that exonerated its army from any blame. justin rowlatt, bbc news, bangladesh. a little earlier i spoke to lynn kuok, a myanmar expert from the brookings institute who's also written a book about promoting peace in myanmar. she explained why the timing of the us secretary of state's announcement was important. the first thing to point out is that rex tillerson‘s call for an independent and impartial investigation is a significant one. particularly because it comes in the wake of a myanmar military reportjust two days ago,

where the myanmar military acted as judge and jury and declared itself exonerated and clear of any blame for the extrajudicial killings — the torture, rape, arson, and looting that has happened in rohingya villages. i'm not sure that the objective of his trip was entirely to shape — to shape the military — the military government overnight. i think what he did highlight was the repercussions if the military government continued to — sorry, if the military continued to ignore calls from the international community to stop — uh, to stop flagrant human rights abuses against the rohingya community. in this respect, he did highlight the fact that he was open to targeted sanctions against individuals and the military who were found responsible for acts considered unacceptable by the united states government. news just

newsjust in. the painting by leonardo da vinci has sold for a record making $400 million in new york. this is the moment. the 500—year—old masterpiece went under the hammer at christie ‘s auction house in new york in a nailbiting contest which lasted 18 minutes after being billed as the greatest artistic rediscovery of the 20th century. the so—called lost leonardo was rediscovered in 2005, found hidden under layers of paint. it brea ks hidden under layers of paint. it breaks the previous record by $240 million. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... fears grow for the safety of the british explorer benedict allen, missing weeks after venturing into the most dangerous and remote corner of papua new guinea. also on the programme...

on the brink of extinction: the international mission to save the world's rarest macaws. 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: zimbabwe's army take over the country and place robert mugabe under house arrest, but the generals claim it's not a coup. and donald trump, declares his tour of asia a success, claiming the united states is "confident again about the future." let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the front page of china daily is dominated by the military takeover in zimbabwe. as zimbabwe's close friend, china is it's biggest trading partner, and the paper says it's

urged all parties to keep restraint in interests of zimbabwe. the international edition of new york times reports on america's worry about recent strong actions of the saudi's crown prince. mohamed bin salman has detained some of saudi's royals and business elite. the news paper says washington is worried that saudi's impulsive actions could destabilise the region. french daily, le figaro, has a picture of hollywood mogul harvey weinstein and his wife. it's carries an in—depth report on how, after the fall of weinstein, cascading new revelations on sexual abuses are tarnishing the image of the mythical dream factory. and that brings you up—to—date with the papers. let's return to our top story, the takeover in zimbabwe. there have been mixed reactions to the intervention.

supporters of zimba bwe‘s long—standing leader, robert mugabe, insist this is not a coup, and that he is still president. president mugabe is still in power, he's the man in charge of zimbabwe officially right. he is still in power even though he is locked in his own house? even though he is at home, protected by the army. why does he need to be protected by the army? he's always rotected by the army, with a full presidential guard, which is responsible for looking after the president. are you telling me today that nothing has happened? that it is not dysfunctional to have the television station, the state broadcaster taken over by the army, to have tanks on the street, to have a president locked in his own home? emily, a lot has happened, right? but what has not happened is a coup. so, is this or is this not a coup? zanu pf‘s representative says "no." i put the same question

to fungayi mabhunu an anti—mugabe campaigner here in london. from what the army is saying, they're saying that it is not a military takeover. they're saying they're trying to put things right. you know, they've realised that mugabe and grace, to be more precise, was surrounded by a lot of thugs, so they say they want to get rid of the thugs. but what is surprising is the announcement that they made on tv and we heard from our friends and collegues back home, the army is in charge. what is your assessment of what's going on? it's the army taking over, it's the army forcing mugabe to step down. we are hearing reports that may be tomorrow that will make an announcement but we are all in the dark. all we know is what was said by general sibusiso moyo and what was said by general constantine chiwenga on radio. we have been hearing a lot from zanu pf talknig to the bbc about what this is really about and, for them, they said the party is still very much in control. what would you say to that? no, i think they are daydreaming because, from what we have seen, there were two factions

inside zanu pf. one for vice president emmerson mnangagwa — the lacoste — and one for grace mugabe — the g40 — and the party was split. so on the lines of succession, i think the army and the war veterans think that grace was getting the nod so they decided to act. this is a kind of squable within zanu pf, it is not a national issue, it is a party issue. zanu pf, they are trying to resolve their problem. we introduced to as an anti—mugabe campaigner. you have been campaigning for his removalfor years now. at this point, where we stand today, do you think this is it to him? we are not sure. we do not trust zanu pf. we will only trust until when we

have the inclusive transition. what we want is a transition that is all—inclusive of all the opposition parties. but did you ever think we would get to this stage, unprecedented scenes? for now we don't know. as far as we're concerned, this is a zanu pf issue and nothing to do with the national crisis so until the time when there is a transition government or until we have free and fair, credible elections that are internationally monitored, that's when we say that zimbabweans can go in the streets and celebrate but as for now it is just speculation and we do not know. a search has been launched in papua new guinea for a british explorer who'd been trying to make contact with a remote jungle tribe. benedict allen hasn't been heard from for the past three weeks and has missed his flight home. tom donkin reports. benedict allen has made a career surviving the wilderness.

he's overcome malaria in the amazon, crossed the gobi desert on foot, but he has vanished from his latest exhibition, and his family are fearing the worst. he was air—dropped and took off alone in a remote part of papua new guinea last month. benedict was hoping to find a reclusive tribe he first met here 30 years ago. back then he was met with hostility but was eventually accepted. that was the entrance. we marched in through here, into this arena... while the dangers are obvious, his friend and bbc correspondent, frank gardner, who made a documentary with benedict in papua new guines last year, is staying optimistic. he's going on his own, with no mobile phone, he was dropped by helicopter in a place called bisorio, already a pretty depressed place where missionaries had abandoned it and there's a lot of malnutrion there. so he's entered quite a dangerous part of papua new guines.

but he is a resourceful, tough guy who absolutely loves this kind of thing. he will be in his own little paradise doing this. so i really hope he's fine. chances are he will be, but until he makes contact, i think a lot of people will be very worried. benedict allen has missed all his schedule flights home and he is missing in of the world few know or understand. a fact he himself knows best and re—enforced in this tweet posted just before he left. he writes... with that in mind, those who know him best are left hoping. my home is on the other side of the planet, with my family. that man who spent his lifetime getting lost will soon be found. tom donkin, bbc news. with their beautiful blue plumage, the spix's macaw is a critically endangered species of brazilian parrot.

it's so rare that some experts now believe it may already be extinct in the wild. but six blue macaws, some spix's and some lears, have arrived in singapore for some tlc. experts hope they'll eventually be able to reintroduce them into the wild. we are waiting to the arrival of two very important passengers, two spix's macaw. they are making their way from berlin. it is an 18—hour flight and we hope they're fine upon arrival. we make sure they are exported from countries that are free

from bird flew and they have also have to comply with our import conditions which make sure they are healthy, free from diseases and they also have to undergo tests to make sure they are free from bird flew. the first morning they are here in singapore. so far, frieda, our spix's macaw is already eating and happily interacting with the staff. the lears macaw is wendangered now. the spix's macaw is possibly extinct in the wild. the spix macaw is one step away from extension. extension is forever. if nothing is done to save these birds now, these birds will disappearfrom

the face of the earth. absolutely beautiful. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. coming up: the united arab emirates has unveiled an ambitious space programme. we'll see why dubai plans to grow palm trees and lettuce on mars. and we've leave you with the pope and a lamborghini. it's an unusal pairing, but pope francis autographed the special edition white lamborghini huracan in rome. the $230,000 supercar is being auctioned at the request of the pope with the proceeds going to three of his favoured charities. hi there.

for many of us it is going to be another pretty cloudy start to the day on thursday, but there will be some significant weather changes, because this cold front is going to be sliding its way southwards as we go on through the day and behind that we're going to see the skies turning much brighter with much more in the way of sunshine. before we get there, though, for the early rises, we've got a few fog patches knocking around, across south—east england, this morning. a lot of cloud too. there's the band of rain affecting northern ireland and scotland first thing. this band of rain, remember, will clear southward and then it's going to brighten up with sunshine. so let's see how things progress through the morning. that band of rain will be moving away from northern ireland, but heading in across wales, where it will turn wet through thursday morning.

there will be some brighter spells, perhaps across south—west england, maybe across the midlands as well. but for east anglia and south—east england, probably quite a grey start to the day, either with low cloud or with fog first thing in the morning. the rain across northern england could be quite heavy for a time during the morning. behind that, the skies brighten up significantly but it's not completely dry in scotland. here there will be a number of showers, particularly across north—western areas of the country, blustery winds setting in here as well. through the rest of thursday, our band of rain pushes southwards. now there could be a few breaks in the clouds ahead of that band of rain. and in any case, as the rain band works towards south—east england, probably arriving in the london area around four o'clock in the afternoon, you can see there's barely any rain left on it. to the north, as the sunshine comes out, down go the temperatures. 6—9 degree celsius in those sunnier moment in the north of the uk. during thursday evening, the band of rain finally clears away from south—east england.

with clear skies, it's going to be a cold night. towns and cities temperatures getting down to three degrees or so, in london. out into the countryside, the lowest temperatures could get down to —5, in the very coldest spots. i think there will be a fairly widespread frost in the country, perhaps not so in scotland because here there's going to be fairly brisk winds. and those winds will be with us on into friday as well. bringing plenty of blustery showers across northern and western areas. but for most of us, friday is a decent end to the week, really, with plenty of sunshine around. temperatures a little below par for the time of the year. we're looking at highs between 7—10 celsius. the weekend weather prospects not looking too bad. that's your latest weather. bye for now. i'm babita sharma with bbc world news. our top story. zimbabwe's army take over the country, and detain the president. the military‘s takeover of power, and the house arrest of robert mugabe has been likened by many to a coup. but it's a claim denied by the army. president trump has used his first address since returning from asia to list what he considers to be his foreign policy

achievements, saying the united states was "confident again about the future". and this video is trending on bbc.com — a painting of christ by leonardo da vinci has sold at auction in new york for $400 million. that's the highest price ever paid for a work of art. salvator mundi — or ‘saviour of the world' has been dubbed the ‘male mona lisa'. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk: scotland's set to become the first country in the world to introduce a minimum price per unit of alcohol. the supreme court ruled that it was a ‘proportionate means‘