i'm babita in singapore, the headlines: james comey speaks to the bbc. the former director of the fbi says he'd think twice about sharing intelligence with mr trump. you have to think about it in a way you probably wouldn't have with other presidents. after six decades there's a new leader in miguel kaczur diaz is the new leader —— miguel diaz canstar is the new leader. drowning in plastic. how the world's waterways are being clogged by bags and bottles which will never disintegrate. i'm in indonesia, where there's so much plastic waste choking the rivers that the army has been called in to help. and acting the baddie in korea. why foreign actors are looking to south korean soap operas for their big break. live from our studios in singapore

and london. this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 7pm in new york, where james comey, the former director of the fbi, continues to spill the beans on his dealings with president donald trump. in an interview for the bbc newsnight‘s james comey, who was fired by mr trump, says he actually feels sorry for the president. here's some of that interview with emily maitliss. if you were still the director of the fbi? would you be saying, there is stuff i don't want to share with the us president right now, because he will lead it, and that's too dangerous for national security? potentially. you'd have to be very careful, because you have an obligation under the constitution and the structure of our government to make sure the president has the information the president needs, so it's hard to answer that in the abstract, but you'd have to think about it in a way you probably wouldn't have with other presidents.

our correspondent in this is the latest in a series of james comey interviews in which the political has certainly given way to the personal. there's a realfeeling from james comey as he relates his experiences of dealing with donald trump that he does not respect the man. like, that's another question, he said it wasn't a case of disliking him, it was a case of disliking him, it was a case of disliking his actions and fundamentally in this interview with newsnight he focused time and time again on the question of donald trump's behaviour, raising concerns that it was, in his words," corrosive", it was staining, it did damage to those people around him, all things that are pretty extraordinary and given james all things that are pretty extraordinary and givenjames comey has been saying these kind of things, it's worth remembering it's pretty extraordinary to have a former head of the fbi is saying that about a serving us president. yes, he was fired, but he says he still has concerns about donald trump's behaviour, including his postings on twitter when he wakes up in the morning. i wake in the morning. iwake up in the morning. i wake up some mornings and read the president is demanding the jailing

of private citizens, occasionally me, and so that's one of the reasons i'm confident the answer is there are not adequate people around him to stop impulsive behaviour. we've actually become numb to it in the united states. our president calling for the imprisonment of private citizens. he's been doing the rounds, hasn't he? i wonder what your assessment is now of what happens to him after this is? from james comey‘s point of view, what we certainly saw in this particular interview is a step away from wanting to be personal about donald trump. he's trying to make this a lot more about a question of leadership, a question of politics and a question of how a president should act. in previous interviews, for example, he's talked about donald trump's tan and hands and hair, which is, i have to say, in his book as well, but a small section of the book. he is trying to

look at donald trump's leadership. there's also the thorny issue of robert mueller, the special counsel investigation, which continues to go on as we have these interviews out there and i suppose there is a very careful tightrope for james there and i suppose there is a very careful tightrope forjames comey to walk here, and that is to make his own presence felt, to say what he has concerns about, but not to interfere with that investigation taking place by the special counsel. he's already made clear in some other interviews that there are things he cannot say, for example, and it's worth remembering that even at thisjuncture, and it's worth remembering that even at this juncture, donald trump and it's worth remembering that even at thisjuncture, donald trump is still being asked questions. for example, he was asked questions just yesterday about whether or not he would fire robert mueller, for example, questions which he's not answering directly. although it's worth saying that here in america, the washington post is reporting that rudy giuliani, the former new york mayor, has now been appointed to donald trump's own personal legal

tea m to donald trump's own personal legal team and in an interview with the washington post rudy giuliani said in his view he was there to try to bring to an end the mueller investigation. it doesn't look like it's going end and certainly the questions about donald trump aren't either. thanks to chris buckler for that and let's have a look at some of the day's other news. cuba has a new president, and for the first time in six decades, he's not one of the castro family. miguel diaz—canel was sworn in at the national assembly a few hours ago. he's a stanch ally of the out—going president raul castro and he says he has a mandate to continue the cuban revolution. as our correspondent in havana will grant explains relations with the us have deteriorated, since donald trump came to power. miguel miguel inherits an island thatis miguel miguel inherits an island that is so far removed on one level than the place that was in a very good relationship between president obama and president raul castro, that has almost been forgotten now it is so rocky, we know that the

embassy here has been all but closed. it is still open, so there so us diplomats with various ailments that they say were health attacks that may or may not have been carried out by the cubans, the cu ba ns been carried out by the cubans, the cubans roundly deny that. things are ata cubans roundly deny that. things are at a very low ebb. what we do know is president trump made reference to the new president here when he was asked about him, he said we love cuba and we want to help them. what exactly that means we don't know of course, and quite what mr diaz—canel intends to do with washington is also very murky still. thanks to will for that. also making news today: international experts have still to enter the syrian town of douma to investigate a suspected chemical weapons attack there. their mission was delayed on tuesday when an advance un team said it came under small arms fire. the us defence secretary has suggested the syrian regime may have brought about the delays on purpose in order to tamper with evidence a minnesota prosecutor has said there isn't enough evidence to bring

criminal charges against anyone over the death of the musician, prince. the singer died two years ago from an opioid overdose at his paisley park complex near minneapolis. the official cause of death was a self—administered overdose of the painkiller fentanyl, but no prescriptions were found. humans are able to adapt genetically to make them better deep sea divers that's according to scientists studying nomadic seafarers in indonesia. they found that the bajau people have developed spleens 50% bigger than those of their neighbours who live on land. it means that they have more oxygen in their bodies, allowing them to dive to depths of around seventy metres and hold their breath for up to thirteen minutes underwater. now, if you've ever moved home and struggled to put together your new furniture, take a look at this. it's a robot, developed at a university in singapore and its inventors claim it can put together an ikea dining chair in under nine minutes. they haven't said how long it takes the average human to put the same chair together.

it's probably a little bit longer! now, you may not know it, but the asia—pacific region has the second highest prevalence of hiv in the world. get ready for some staggering images. plastic bags and bottles are cheap, convenient and durable. in fact, they're virtually indestructible and that's giving the world a big headache. more than eight million tonnes of plastic enter the sea every year. in indonesia, pollution is so bad that the government has deployed the army to deal with the problem. our science editor, david shukman, reports. soldiers hack away at a dense mass of plastic waste. it's hard to believe, but this is actually a river, and they're trying to clear it up. you can just see the water, underneath all the bags, containers and bottles. this is bandung, one of many indonesian cities choking on so much waste that the army has been called in.

for the military, plastic is a new and strange kind of enemy. this looks like a rubbish dump, it certainly smells like one, but what's striking is that this massive accumulation of plastic is happening on indonesia's rivers, despite the country making a huge effort for several years now to tackle it. itjust shows you the staggering scale of the problem. all the time that the soldiers are at work, the flow of the river brings yet more more plastic waste. it's a constant struggle for the officials in charge. do you think you are winning this battle against the plastic? i think so. yeah, we have to win. if not it is dangerous for our lives. but, how long will it take you? i'm sure within ten years. within ten years you could clear everything up? yes.

while we are filming the soldiers realise they don't have enough trucks to carry away the waste, so they use a diggerjust to push it downstream. it's not exactly a long—term solution, and the plastic floats away to become someone else's problem. and part of that problem is that this landfill site is the only one bandung has. the convoys of rubbish trucks collect just a fraction of the waste generated by several million people in the city. a new load is dumped, flies swarm in the tropical heat. people rush to be first to search the rubbish. it's incredibly risky, dodging an excavator. someone died here recently, but ironically they are after the very things that most people want to get rid of — a plastic bottle. little by little the message is spreading that recycling can

create an income. in a village outside the city, the scheme is tiny, but it's one of many. and separating the different types of plastic earns a higher price. experts say that a culture ofjust throwing things away is now changing. i think particularly the young people here are very much aware of that they don't want to be part of this problem, and they want to have a future that is at least a plastic—free environment. they're working hard for that. but a view from the air reveals just how massive the challenge is. plastic dumped close to the river soon finds its way into the water and then downstream. and down at the coast, a fishing village looks like it's drowning in plastic. the children here are growing up surrounded by the stuff. it's depressing evidence ofjust how much still needs to be done to clear it up. so what begins as a local problem

of failing to handle waste turns into a global one as the oceans fill with plastic. david shukman, bbc news, indonesia. really something, those pictures! in the last couple of hours queen elizabeth has been hosting a banquet at buckingham palace for the leaders of the, while. she's been presiding over the leaders' two yearly meeting i over the leaders' two yearly meeting ——, while. she made the case for her son, prince charles, to take over as the next head of the commonwealth —— commonwealth. that's when the time comes. it is my sincere wish that the commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity for future generations. i will decide that one day the prince of wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1949. by

started by my father in 1949. by continuing to treasure and reinvigorate our associations and activities, i believe we will secure activities, i believe we will secure a safer, more prosperous and sustainable world for those who follow us. you're watching newsday on the bbc. live from singapore and london from the bbc. still to come on the programme: a foreign actors heading to south korea as the country's tv soap opera industry explodes onto the world stage. also on the programme: and australian diving team finds a surprise when it finds an unknown shipwrecked off the coast of western australia. ash an australian diving team. —— an australian diving team. call the stars and stripes at half—mast outside columbine high, the school sealed off and the bodies of the dead still inside. i never thought that they would actually go through with it. some places and have already

had nearly as much rain as they would normally expect in an entire year. for millions of americans, the death of richard nixon in a new york hospital has meant conflicting emotions. a national day of mourning, next wednesday, sitting somehow uneasily with the abiding memories of the shame of watergate. and lift off of the space shuttle discovery with the hubble space telescope — our window on the universe. this is newsday on the bbc. our top stories. former fbi director, james comey speaks to the bbc and says he'd think twice sharing

sensitive information with president trump. there's a new president in cuba and he says communism will continue after six decades of the castro's. the african nation that was known as swaziland has a new name. the country's king declaring it will now be called the kingdom of eswatini. it comes on the 50th anniversary of swazi independence. that story is popular on bbc.com let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we begin with the japan times, which is leading with the two—day meeting between us president trump and japan's prime minister shinzo abe. it says while abe is plagued with scandals back home, at least he had some success

in the united states, with the two countries agreeing to keep maximum pressure on north korea to denuclearize. over to the gulf news, which is focusing on a long—awaited military arms exports deal. the us has rolled out a new policy aimed at boosting arms sales to its allies and cutting the time it takes to approve arms deals. france, le figaro is talking about president emmanuel macron‘s controversial labour reforms. it has this photo of the president being confronted by railway workers, pensioners and angry citizens in vosges. he was there to try and explain the reforms to locals. a mapping team has made a surprise discovery of a shipwreck off the coast of western australia. scientists had a shock when a large mystery structure appeared on their screen as they were mapping the ocean floor with sonar. they sent a camera down to investigate and — lo and behold — it was a sunken ship. the wreck is thought to date from after 1900, but more than that no—one knows. the western australia museum — which specialises in shipwrecks—

is now trying to identify it. (pres) miles parsons is one of the research scientists who was there at the moment when the shipwreck was discovered — we we re we were out mapping the habitat with a sonar system on the boat and literally out of the blue, a structure appear on screen that we weren't expecting. and i mentioned briefly it was a shipwreck. can you mention anything more about where it might have come from or what it might have come from or what it might have come from or what it might have looked like? it's pretty much intact. certain parts of the superstructure are still there. apart from that, it is at 37 metres vessel and between six and seven

metres wide. we have passed on all of the details to the wa museum which will take it further in terms of identification. so what happens, does it stay down there? it will stay down there, depending on what the outcome is from the wa museum. if it turns out to be a historic wreck, lee will take further action but they will take it from there anyway. the australian maritime society will decide as to what indication needs to be given to mariners. this particular area, when you get into western australia, particularly outside perth, there have been a number of shipwrecks found. yes, and there is likely to beafairfew found. yes, and there is likely to be a fair few out there, ranging from the expedition is coming over here, the dutch officials and —— the

dutch vessels in the 1600s. it's a fairly unusual find for me. you were trying to look for something else, map the ocean floor. did that research go by the wayside when you got into the details of that shipwreck? no, we had a team from the test australian institute of marine science and kurt in university mapping the seafloor. we had just finished doing an underwater video of one area and with full backup and were travelling on to the next area and as i mentioned, it popped up so we stopped for a couple of hours to have a look and confirm what was down there and then we had to move on and make sure we were meeting our objectives. 0h, on and make sure we were meeting our objectives. oh, my goodness. how anticlimactic, having to go back to work. there are fish that are swimming around it. it may become some sort of brief if it's swimming around it. it may become some sort of brief if its left their. well, obviously it's been

there for quite a while. there were quite a few fish around, yes. very exciting, a good day of work. that is miles parsons speaking to us from perth. south korean tv soap operas have taken the world by storm. but how easy is it for foreign actors to make it big in the k—drama industry? we've been speaking to some foreign actors in south korea, to find out. asa as a foreign actor, if you think you are going tojust as a foreign actor, if you think you are going to just stand out automatically in korea, you are absolutely wrong. i feel like a night cast or not included. —— like lam night cast or not included. —— like iaman night cast or not included. —— like i am an outcast.

lam carson i am carson allen, i'm 22 years old andl i am carson allen, i'm 22 years old and i am an aspiring foreign in korea. the first korean drama i watched was boys over flowers. i wanted to follow a passion i have for acting but in a korean drama. unfortunately a lot of times ask foreigners are put into a stereotype that we can only be an english teacher or in a business meeting or at that particular character went abroad and they are filming as it was another country, that is the only time we will be used. thanks again, buy. we filmed through the night and

filming pools here in korea and in the end, you probably didn't see me. iam i am leaving my country, passport in hand, these are in hand and i'm going to a place where i don't speak the language, no one looks like me. this is the most nerve racking thing i have ever done. being a foreign actor in korea is extremely fulfilling however it is a lot of work. i've done an american representative, a tourist husband, i've played a bug. it's been all over the map for me here in korea and has been because of my image, of

how i presented myself. like this. because that's where you get your present, that's what. asian faces all around you and you're not going to just stand out just all around you and you're not going to just stand outjust because you're the foreigner, you've got to do something unique. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. we'll give you a taste of the high life enjoyed by members of an exclusive club. i understand there is a heatwave there in the uk. here in singapore, every day is sunny and there is a heatwave here pretty much all the time. but you know what it is like in london. 0nce but you know what it is like in london. once it goes over 20 celsius, all bets are off, shall we say. you begin to see people on the streets taking over the parks or any

place there might be a bit of water. let's ta ke place there might be a bit of water. let's take a look at some of the pictures from this heatwave, as we are calling it here in the uk today. these are some that are coming out of london. as you can see, people's t—shirts were off. i was taking a little walk around today. the bikinis were out. and people were so ready for a little feel of summer after such a long winter that there has been in the uk. it also changes i think very much the atmosphere of this city. it's a place where perhaps people wouldn't be too friendly, but people were grinning at one another as they walked around the streets, whether they decided to go to the lido, where you can go swimming in london, or dust off their barbecue and be in the park. the london marathon is on sunday so

i feel for the londoners because they won't have been training at this so maybe another advantage for the canyons that may be at the top of the pack. that is all from me, from me and the beta now. stay with us on from me and the beta now. stay with us on bbc world news. —— babita. hello again. yesterday proved to be a real scorcher. temperatures of up to 29.1dc in london's stjames's park, making it the warmer staple dates are nearly 70 years. you have to go all the way back to 1949 to find a warm a full day. many of us, sunny skies like this all day. for the early rises this morning, some mist and four patches to watch out for, particularly western wales and through the bristol channel. there will be some changes in our weather

today. the area of high pressure is there that it's drifting a little further eastwards. the warmest across east anglia and south—east england but the air is increasingly blowing in from the atlantic and that will bring cooler conditions to the uk. weatherwise the early mist and fog patches should clear out of the weight widely in most areas will see lots of sunshine again. they will blow be a few showers for western scotland and most of these will be across the western islands at the northern half of the uk, temperatures a few degrees down. still feeling pleasant out and about in the sunshine but it is more limited to east anglia and south—east england. highs of 27 in london but i wouldn't mind betting that somewhere like in gravesend it might be warmer than that, 28 or 29. friday night, we do it all again. a few mist and fog patches forming but it will be a cooler night across scotland, northern ireland and northern england, quite chilly at the end of the night. cabbages around 46 degrees. still in double

figures further south. weekend, further changes in the weather. some warm sunshine around but increasingly, we will see some thundery downpours. particularly in the north—west. ahead of the front, we go to see some thundery showers. 0n we go to see some thundery showers. on saturday, we start today out and about and we will see some showers moving up. in the rain might not be too heavy but it will come down on big drops. later in the day, as the showers become more extensive across the midlands, western england and wales, the showers will be heavy and thundery, temperatures reaching a peak of around 23 so you will notice the drop in temperatures and that will continue. saturday evening and overnight, the showers and thunderstorms become more extensive, the cold front ‘s wings its way eastwards a cross the cold front ‘s wings its way eastwards across the country introducing colder and fresh air is

by sunday, temperatures at best into the low 20s. i'm nuala mcgovern with bbc world news. our top story: the former fbi director sacked by donald trump tells the bbc he'd think twice about sharing sensitive information with the president. james comey told the bbc‘s newsnight program president trump has dangerous impulses and lacks the people to keep him in check. cuba's new president has declares that communist rule will continue. miguel diaz—canel steps in as the country's leader after six decades of castro's at the helm. decades of castros at the helm. and, you might be familiar with the african county of swaziland ? well, the nation's king has declared his country will now instead be known as the kingdom of eswatini. the announcement was made as the country celebrated 50 years of independence from british rule. the story's very popular on the bbc website. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news it's

time for hardtalk.