welcome to newsday. i'm babita sharma in london. the headlines: britain prime minister theresa may's deputy, damian green, has been sacked over allegations of inappropriate behaviour. donald trump gets his first major legislative win, after republicans approve the biggest tax overhaul in a generation. i'm rico hizon in singapore. also in newsday: help preserve our beautiful islands. the government of palau is asking visitors to sign a pledge not to harm the environment. fans gather to pay their respects at the funeral of south korea's k—pop star, kim jong—hyun. live from our studios in london and singapore, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. welcome to the programme.

it's 9am in singapore and 1am in the morning here in london, where one of the british prime minister's key allies has been sacked. damian green, who was deputy to the prime minister, theresa may, was found to have made misleading statements about pornography found on a computer in his office. he was also being investigated over claims he'd behaved inappropriately towards a female journalist. he has denied wrongdoing. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. sharing a joke, right by her side, only hours ago. prime minister... damian green, until this afternoon the second—most powerful politician in the country, his old friend theresa may's deputy in government. not anymore. is it right that downing street investigate you? all the allegations are completely false. thank you. he's always denied doing anything wrong, but number ten asked for an investigation into him after claims from a female journalist that he'd behaved inappropriately to her,

and allegations he'd downloaded porn on his computer in parliament. he still denies he had anything to do with the porn that police found when they raided his office in 2008. but the inquiry found, and he accepts, that he wasn't honest when he said he knew nothing about it, admitting his lawyers had been told in 2008, and it was raised again in a phone call in 2013. he wrote tonight... and, on kate maltby‘s belief that he made unwanted advances, the report found it impossible to reach a definitive conclusion. she wouldn't comment tonight, but her family said they were proud of her for speaking out. but mr green wrote... it's not just about the end

of his ministerial career, but his closeness to the prime minister. a friend since university, an ally for a leader who keeps a close circle tight. as first secretary of state, my overall — one of my overall responsibilities is for the oversight of intergovernmental relations within. .. and, as a minister on brexit and other issues, his unofficialjob was keeping the show on the road. the prime minister in black and white tonight, clearly sorry to see him go. she wrote... those affectionate words do not make this an elegant departure. many of his colleagues will be furious on his behalf, but damian green himself has accepted that he was misleading, so the prime minister has lost one of the few politicians she could trust to watch her back.

we'll have more on damian green's resignation later on newsday. our other top story — donald trump's overhaul of the us tax system has been formally approved by both houses of congress. the president wasjoined by his republican colleagues to celebrate what's being seen as his biggest legislative success since taking office. here's how mr trump summed up the tax bill. we are bringing the entrepreneur back into this country. we are getting rid of all the knots and all the ties, and you're going to see what happens. and ultimately, what does it mean? it meansjobs. jobs, jobs, jobs. but democrats have called the tax bill a "heist". the leader of the party in the senate said there was nothing in the bill for most americans to celebrate. now, we know they're popping

champagne down pennsylvania avenue. there are only two places where america is popping champagne — the white house, and the corporate boardrooms, including trump tower. 0therwise, americans have a lot to regret. donald trump was also making news for another reason, after he threatened to cut off american financial aid to any country which backs a united nations resolution opposing the recognition ofjerusalem as the capital of israel. mr trump told reporters the us "would save a lot" if any recipient of american aid voted against his decision to move his country's embassy to jerusalem. the then we're the woman shot dead

by police in united states earlier this year, said the official investigation into what happened has not been properly carried out. —— the family of justine not been properly carried out. —— the family ofjustine damond. she was shot after she called police to report suspected assault. the new leader of south africa's governing anc, cyril ramaphosa, has closed his party's conference with a promise to pursue a policy of radical economic transformation. speaking far later than scheduled, mr ramaphosa said the fight against corruption must be an urgent priority for the party. the un's investigator into human rights in myanmar has been barred from entering the country. yanghee lee had been due to visit in january to investigate alleged attacks on rohingya muslims in rakhine state. the government said it had banned her because she was "not impartial and objective while conducting her work".

a female television news presenter has quit herjob, after learning that her male co—host was being paid almost twice as much. catt sadler, who was a presenter on the e! network, said that once she learned about the pay gap, she asked for what she deserved but was repeatedly denied. ms sadler said she was resigning to make a stand for all women about what was fair and just. and now, here is a new way of finding a solution to delhi's smog problems. a anti—smog cannon has been designed to fire tiny droplets into the sky, which then attach themselves to pollution particles and remove them from the atmosphere as they fall to the ground. the group behind the scheme admits it's only a temporary solution, but they say that if trials go well, they hope to have machines all over delhi in the coming weeks. let's return now to our main news this hour — and that's the resignation of the british deputy prime minister, damian green, after he was found to have misled the police over

pornographic material on a house of commons computer. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth is in westminster. his resignation followed a long—running inquiry into two different elements, the first that damian green had made inappropriate advances towards a conservative activist, the second concerning allegations that pornography was found on his computer. now, he's consistently denied any wrongdoing when it comes to the substance of those allegations, and the inquiry hasn't reached a conclusion on either. what this is about is whether or not damian green was misleading when he said he wasn't told about those allegations of pornography. the inquiry found he was, and he's apologised for it and so resigned. now, this is important because he's a very close ally of the prime minister, theresa may. they went to university together, they're very good friends, so her decision—making in this process was being very closely watched. and what we're hearing tonight, the reaction really is that theresa may is getting a lot of support from mps, mps in her own party,

who say the fact that she has asked such a close friend and ally to resign is a show of strength, rather than a show of weakness. now, you may expect them to say that, because they are her own mps. but there is also some anger among some at what they see as the way this inquiry was handled by the police, so i think the reaction is going to develop over the course of coming days. but at this point, despite the fact that there have been questions over the stability of theresa may's government throughout the last few months, really, this particular resignation doesn't seem to have dented her in that respect, so far. have we heard anything, alex, from downing street? well, downing street issued the letter that the prime minister, theresa may, wrote to damian green. it is a very long letter, and in it the prime minister expresses her extreme sadness at having asked him to resign. she pays tribute to the work that he did in government, and the tone of the letter — really you can telljust how deeply she feels, both personally

and politically, the loss of such a close ally around the cabinet table. and damian green himself says it is with regret that he was asked to resign, so clearly this was an unhappy moment for senior figures in the uk government. but, so far, conservative mps seem to be saying that it was a brave decision by theresa may, as prime minister, to choose to effectively sack one of her closest friends. the question now will be what theresa may decides to do next, in terms of a possible replacement. because the other element of this was that damian green was one of those around the cabinet table who was a big fan of the uk remaining in the eu, pre—referendum, so there will be a question about the balance between the brexiteers and the remainers around the cabinet table. fans have been paying their respects

to south korea's k—pop star kim jong—hyun, who died earlier this week. his death has triggered an outpouring of grief from fans around the world and three days of mourning have been under way since tuesday. it's thought the singer took his own life. a note said to have been written by him revealed he had been struggling with depression. his body left the hospital here in seoul, in a stretch black limousine. and there were hundreds of his young fans who are gathered. they came here since very early this morning, and stood respectfully, in silence, to pay their last respects to their idol. now, he is a member, he was the lead singer, of shinee, one of korea's biggest boy bands. four other members of the band were inside the hospital. there was no hysteria here, it was a moment of great sadness. they stood in silence until the moment when the car carrying his body drove

past, and then there was a huge outpouring of emotion. now, his body has been lying at rest here at the hospital in seoul for the last few days and it's estimated some 10,000 people have come here to pay their respects. the numbers so huge, in fact, that the hospital was forced to send some teenage girls, many of whom had queued for hours in sub—zero temperatures to pay their respects, home. and they came back the next day, many of them standing here today questioning what caused this successful young pop star, he was just 27 years of age, to take his own life. and sophie, has there been any statement from any of his fellow members from shinee, regarding his death? well, the band, when they heard of his death, posted a message on their official twitter account saying no—one loved music more thanjong—hyun, and he would be remembered forever. you mentioned depression in your opening, and that's something that people are really focusing on here. because, just after his death, another member of a k—pop band, posted a note that jong—hyun sent to her,

her name is nine, in which he spoke about how he felt broken on the inside, and how the depression that was devouring him had at last consumed him. so a lot of questions here today about how mental health is handled in this country, and the level of pressure that young celebrities in these k—pop bands, which are now huge — they've always been big here in korea, but in the last few years, k—pop has really led the korean wave, the export of korean culture, of music and culture, across asia and beyond. there'll be lots of young people in london, injapan, in the united states — shinee, his band, conducted theirfirst us tour earlier this year. but the level of fame, it seems, mightjust have been too much forjong—hyun. he was seen by his fans as a sensitive young man, who didn't really embrace the hedonism that often goes along with stardom. you're watching newsday on the bbc.

still to come in the programme... we'll reveal how a chinese company is hoping to clean up after inventing a new and rather unlikely use for panda poo. also on the programme: our very own battle of the christmas lights. will it be britain or the philippines which shines brightest? after eight months on the run, saddam hussein has been tracked down and captured by american forces. saddam hussein is finished, because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict, conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of serbia, bosnia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and silent today.

romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house, to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories. britain's deputy prime minister damien green is sacked over misleading statements about porn found on his office computer. sweeping tax changes have been approved by congress. donald trump says it will boost the us economy. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the international new york times leads on the trump administration's visa policy.

the article says that, due to new restrictions, many tech companies are considering moving to canada. the south china morning post reports on the housing emergency in hong kong. the paper says the government is sticking to the plan of building 280,000 new flats, but experts say there's no more space. the straits times reports on tributes for south korea's k—pop star, kim jong y—hun. the papers carries this picture of thousands of fans at a memorial for the pop star in singapore. now, babita, an unlikely use for something panda—related is sparking discussion online. now, if you're heading to the pacific island of palau, you'll be signing up to a new pledge. from this month, all travellers will be asked to sign an agreement not to harm the environment. palau is an archipelago of over 500 islands and has seen firsthand the impact of global warming.

so now, the government is asking all visitors to help preserve the stunningly beautiful islands and "explore lightly. " i spoke to the president of palau, tommy remengesau, and asked him if, at this early stage, there was any evidence that tourists were behaving differently having signed the pledge. as you know, the ocean is like a sick person so we do have to partner in the challenge to not only restores the damages but really to prevent the environment from being further destroyed or damaged. and to do this, we have to do a partnership with the tourists and visitors to palau and therefore we are asking them to please ensure

that the environment will not be harmed, that we can maintain the beauty and pristinity of the environment for yourselves and for the children of palau in the future. but, your exellency, are you already seeing, at this early stage, tourists are behaving differently after having signed the pledge? definitely, rico. the awareness level is very high. we have been monitoring of the airports and surveying the feedback from them and everyone is saying we did not know that this information or these fact were there before and now we know it, we can conduct ourselves better. but more importantly, they're saying they're going to also help spread the message to their fellow travellers and children.

do you think that this message will be spread to other countries? you are the first country to do this, do you think that other countries will do this as well? we certainly hope so, rico. this is something that we hope that we start in palau but the whole concept is that we need to partner, whether you're form one country or visiting that country for the first time or subsequently, we all need to put our efforts together into this. so it is notjust the children of a particular country that we need to think of, it's the children of the world, the people of that country, and the visitors to that country. a north korean soldier has defected to south korea. it occurred on thursday. it is the second to none defection from north korea in five

weeks. 0fficials defection from north korea in five weeks. officials said the low ranking soldier defected across the heavy demilitarised border between north and south korea at eight o'clock in the morning. no shots we re o'clock in the morning. no shots were fired. another suffered critical injuries in a shuffle on the 13th of november for the same reason. the government of taiwan has announced funding to help its comic book industry. the art is wildly popular, but it hasn't always won approval from the authorities, with strict censorship during the martial law years from the 1960s to the 80s. we've been speaking to one of taiwan's best known comic book artists, hsu mau—sung, and here's his story. you are getting in the christmas spirit! christmas is just four days away, and that got us thinking here on newsday, which country does it best? every day is christmas when i am working with you. well, the uk is full of everything christmassy, secret santas, amazing christmas lights, mince pies and music. you can't beat a christmas in the uk.

not so fast, babita, we also take things extremely seriously in the philippines. just take a look at this report from our correspondent in manila, howard johnson, who went to see something rather special in cainta. so, this is the extravagant christmas house in cainta, on the outskirts of the philippine capital, manila. it takes about an hour to get here from the capital. and i'm told that this year is the biggest yet. it's got around i million lightbulbs lighting up this place. it's been going on 10 years and at weekends, this place can get so busy that around 1,000 people turn up to see it. now, the process for planning and constructing and putting it all together takes around six months, normally starting around august, the whole family get involved, and behind it is the cruz family. now, here is xavier cruz, his father was the guy who started this project.

now, tell us, how did it come about? um, maybe actually because our family also came from humble beginnings before, so we are giving back to the community and to the people. this is just our simple way of sharing what the spirit of christmas is. now, around a million lightbulbs. it must be a huge electricity bill? yeah, actually, just to share with you, my father used to work also for the biggest electric company here in the philippines. so, kidding aside, this isjust him giving back the scholarship that he got from that electric company. now, i've heard it gets pretty busy around here weekends and that some of the neighbours aren't too happy about it? yeah, some are because of the privacy issues but, actually, because we also are developing a community mall nearby, so we are actually planning on moving it out there, so it will be in a public area already. thank you very much, xavier.

so, this is open to the public until the first week of february. it's free of charge, so you can come along if you are in manila. but don't worry if you miss it. remmeber, this country celebrates christmas from as early as september, and actually, the lights here go on again in november. so, there you go, babita. the phillippines has it. nothing to rival that house with a million light blubs! yeah, well, rico, one thing we are famous for around the world is our christmas lights. and i think this year's lights on oxford street are the best they have ever been! looks lovely. hi there. the cold weather that we had during the first half of december is a long way behind us, and, really, for the run—up to christmas,

including christmas day, the weather looks pretty mild. at the moment we've got a weather front wiggling its way across central areas of the uk. extensive cloud being wafted across the uk on westerly winds — those winds are fairly light. and we've got some mist and fog patches around the coast and the hills across england and wales. some patches of light rain and drizzle to start the day as well. a risk of that for northern ireland, for england and wales. slightly drier weather for scotland although the far north again could see a bit of rain. so one way or another, as we start off thursday morning, it's going to be a murky start to the day with fog around the coast of wales and south—west england. up over the hills of the downs and chiltons, a few patches of light rain or drizzle tending ease away quite quickly during thursday morning. some damp weather as well, there or thereabouts in northern ireland. but further north in scotland, for many areas, it's a dry and bright start to the day. high cloud in the sky and there should be some hazey sunshine coming through that across many areas.

through the rest of thursday, this wiggling weather front is going to push its way a little bit further northwards and eastwards. it's just going to stay cloudy for most of us. the cloud perhaps thinning a little bit through the afternoon, to allow brighter spells in the east. but always, the thicker cloud across wales, north—west england, northern ireland, threatening some spots of rain. the brightest weather across scotland but this is where we've got the slightly cooler air. temperatures 6 or 7 degrees in the north. otherwise, for most of us, it's a day of double—figure temperatures. and those mild conditions continue through thursday night and on into the first part of friday morning. the cloud though is going to thicken up then through thursday night. with a bit of rain working in again across wales and southern counties of england, on into the midlands for a time, too. cooler across the far north—east of scotland. then for friday, again, it's a rather disappointingly cloudy kind of weather picture. weather becomes drier and brighter for most of us through the afternoon. with a bit more in the way of wind blowing across the mountains of scotland, it is probably the eastern side of scotland that will have the best of any limited breaks in the cloud. for many of us it's

a mild one, though. temperatures, what, 10, 11, 12 degrees celsius across western areas. that mild theme set to continue as we head into the weekend and indeed for christmas day, with the winds generally coming in from the west or the south—west. to start off the weekend, again, it's a lot of cloud around for most of us. thick enough to give us a few spots of light rain across western coasts and hills. perhaps something a little bit more wet across the north—west of scotland. slightly stronger winds, so again a better chance of seeing some cloud breaks for eastern scotland, running into eastern england and then, right up to christmas day itself, it stays mild, but often cloudy perhaps a little bit brighter for most of us for christmas day itself. you're watching bbc world news. i'm babita sharma. our top story. the british prime minister's deputy, damian green, has been sacked after making misleading statements about pornography found on his office computer. the british prime minister, theresa may, said it was with deep regret that she had asked him to resign. he has denied wrongdoing. donald trump's overhaul of the us tax system has been formally approved by both houses of congress. the president wasjoined by his republican colleagues to celebrate what's being seen as his biggest legislative success since taking office.

and this story is trending at bbc.com. fans are gathering in seoul at the funeral of kim jong—hyun, to say goodbye to the south korean k—pop star. his death has triggered an outpouring of grief from fans all around the world. stay with bbc news. and our other headline here in the uk: following the collapse of two rape cases in a week,