i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: the diplomatic push is on. britain's ambassador to the us says efforts are ramping up to change president trump's mind about the iran nuclear deal. we think we're making progress, we haven't got there yet. we have a few days left to see if we can find a way through. pakistan's interior minister survives an assassination attempt. ahsan iqbal was shot in the arm at a political rally. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: the extraordinary comeback. malaysia's 92—year—old former prime minister returns to contest the country's general election. some of football's biggest names show their support for manchester united's sir alex ferguson, who is recovering from a brain haemorrhage. it is 8:00am in singapore,

1:00am in london, and 8:00pm in the evening in washington, where britain's ambassador to the us, sir kim darroch, says work is underway on proposals that might ease president trump's concerns about the nuclear deal with iran. mr trump has been scathingly critical of the agreement, and he may announce that he is scrapping it later this week. sir kim said the uk, france and germany had been working for weeks on what has been described as a plan b. here he is speaking on cbs's face the nation. 0n those issues, we have ideas. we think that we can find some language,

produce some action, that meets the president's concerns. this week — you're ready to close that side agreement this week? we have been talking at senior official level with our french and german colleagues for several weeks now. we think we're making progress. we haven't got there yet. we have a few days days left to see if we can find a way through. earlier iran's president, hassan rouhani, appeared on state tv with this warning. translation: if the united states leaves the nuclear agreement, you will soon see that they will regret it like never before in history. the british foreign secretary, borisjohnson, is in washington to try and persuade donald trump to stay in the nuclear deal. 0ur correspondent is chris buckler. of course, he's not the first to go with these concerns about america walking away from this deal. we have seen the french president here, we've seen the german

chancellor, now it is the turn of borisjohnson, the british foreign secretary. and he's actually written a whole opinion piece in the new york times, which has just been published. and that is intended to grab the attention of president trump himself. in it, he talks about potentially new scenarios of abandoning this deal. he says it will be like lifting handcuffs off iran, and that it will be worse for the world. he said, in fact, the only country could possibly benefit would be iran. so you're hearing this argument playing out, and he wants to take it directly to the white house. his biggest problem is that at the moment he's not speaking directly to donald trump himself. he is speaking to vice president mike pence and a whole range of other white house senior officials. it's probably why he has arranged an appearance on the fox and friends programme, the morning news programme that donald trump regularly watches and tweets about.

it might be borisjohnson‘s best chance to speak directly to the president. what can change the mind of donald trump? that is a very good question, rico. i think, if you or i knew the answer to that, we would end up being paid an awful lot of money. the truth is that donald trump has made clear, time and time again, that he regards this as a bad deal. now, historically, barack 0bama regarded this as being one of the high points of foreign policy in his presidency, managing to get this agreement arranged. but president trump simply feels it is too lenient, and there's a whole range of issues for that. first of all, there's sunset clause, for 2025, which basically lifts some of the restrictions. also, he has concerns about the fact that it does not place some restrictions on missiles, and he is also worried about the inspections regime. what the uk, germany, and france are trying to do at the moment is to try to come up with an alternative, something that would not see them walk away from this deal, but rather try to improve the deal. it has to be said, though, you played that interview

of kim darroch, the british ambassador to the us. he did also make clear that they were working on a plan b, that is continuing with the deal or trying to continue with the deal, even if america was to walk away. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. pakistan's interior minister has been been shot in a suspected assassination attempt. ahsan iqbal was hit by a bullet in his arm, but officials say he is out of danger. this incident comes ahead of general elections expected injuly. here is secunder kermani on a possible motive. there's been speculation in pakistan that perhaps this attacker is linked to a group of hardline islamist protesters who had been angry at the ruling party, the pmln, to whom ahsan iqbal belongs, because they said

they were trying to change an electoral oath that muslim members of parliament sway when they become elected. and they saw these changes as being tantamount to blasphemy. now, these changes were pretty much immediately reversed, but some of that anger in this small segment of society has remained. also making news today: north korea said the united states is wrong to suggest that pyongyang has agreed to talks on its nuclear programme because of international sanctions. in a statement, the foreign ministry accused washington of misleading public opinion, and said pyongyang's actions should not be seen as a sign of weakness. the us has accused china of 0rwellian nonsense for trying to force international airlines to change the way they refer to taiwan, hong kong and macau. china has written to dozens of carriers asking them to make it clear that these places are all part of china. hong kong and macau are under chinese administration, but taiwan is a self—governing island that china claims. donald trump's newly appointed personal lawyer,

rudy giuliani, has said the president could plead the fifth amendment if he appears before the inquiry into russian election meddling. by doing this, he would invoke the constitutional right not to answer questions that would incriminate him. when malaysians go to the polls in their country's 14th general election on wednesday, they will be presented with an extraordinary alternative to the governing coalition that has ruled the country since independence. dr mahathir mohamad, who was prime minister for 22 years in the 1980s and ‘90s, has come back aged 92 to contest the election as leader of the opposition. jonathan head reports. has there ever been such a bold political gamble by someone of this

age? hardly showing his 92 years, he has captivated this campaign, asking malaysian voters, many of whom were alive when he last took office, to give him another chance. he castigates the current prime minister and his wife for greed and corruption. in a slick and sentimental campaign video, the vetera n sentimental campaign video, the veteran leader explains to a young girland boy veteran leader explains to a young girl and boy that he has had to come back to fix the problems caused by his successors. the issue opposition activists are hoping will fire up the voters is this. imdb, a government linked investment body from which billions of dollars were allegedly stolen, the subject of investigations around the world. the man they are trying to unseat, the

prime minister, actually owes his job to past support from doctor mahathir now he is using the promise of government largess to keep it, here promising more money for this low—cost public housing estate. and a boost to the minimum wage. it also helps that, in this and other constituencies, the boundaries have recently been adjusted in a way that favours the government. the entry of doctor mahathir has certainly electrified this election contest and given the opposition leader of unrivalled stature. but, for all of his complaints of corruption and mismanagement against the government, for most malaysians it is more prosaic issues like the rising cost of food that really matter, and it is hard to convince them that a man who for so long was pa rt them that a man who for so long was part of the ruling machinery is now the solution to the ills he says that it has inflicted on the country. they came from the same

route, that is my opinion. came from the same route. for them to come in, it might take some time. but there is no rest happening. their hesitation is understandable. until two years ago, doctor mahathir was a member of the ruling party, backing the government, which now challenges his legacy. i think we are putting forward a government for the future, looking forward to the next 30 yea rs, looking forward to the next 30 years, 2050. or looking forward to the next 30 years, 2050. 0rdo looking forward to the next 30 years, 2050. or do you want to turn back the clock? go back to a time of repression, go back to a time of crony capitalism, go back to a time when all of these institutional reforms which he promises to date need to be done because of the damage is because when he was prime minister. there is a huge reservoir of respect and affection for the man they call the father of modernisation in malaysia. but can they deliver enough votes to ove i’co m e they deliver enough votes to overcome a political system shaped largely by him, which until now has

never allowed an opposition movement to win? there has been another day of violence in indian—administered kashmir. at least ten people, including five suspected militants, have been killed in clashes with the security forces. an operation against the militants has sparked widespread protests in the region. the bbc‘s south asia editor anbarasan ethirajan reports. afamiliar a familiar sight afamiliarsight in a familiar sight in indian administered kashmir. security forces in a firefight with militants. this time in the summer capital. at least eight suspected separatist rebels have been killed in similar clashes in the past two days. the deaths have triggered a wave of protests in other parts of the region. there were pitched battles between the two side. officials have shut down mobile

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