i'm maura fogarty in singapore. the headlines: an extraordinary political comeback: malaysia's former prime minister, 92—year—old mahathir mohamad, wins the election and promises to get back to business. but there will be no holiday for the winners. that's the trouble with winning, we have to work. us secretary of state mike pompeo, flies home three citizens detained in north korea ahead of historic talks between donald trump and kim jong—un. i'm kasis madera in london. also in the programme: from yorkshire to yangon. leeds united play in myanmar, in a tour criticised by human rights groups. her royal likeness! madame tussauds reveals their meghan markle waxwork, which will be displayed next to prince harry before the royal wedding. good morning.

it's 6am in singapore and kuala lumpur, where the new day brings a dramatic comeback for the former malaysian prime minister, mahathir mohamad. his alliance of opposition parties has won a majority in the general election, defeating the governing barisan national which has been in power for more than 60 years. 92—year—old dr mahathir came out of retirement to take on his former protege, najib razak, and the party he led for years. here he is addressing his supporters shortly before the official results were announced. the chief secretary will announce

that there will be a holiday tomorrow and the day after. cheering. and also saturday and sunday. so you will have four days holiday. but there will be no holiday for the winners. that's the trouble with winning. we have to work. our correspondentjonathan head who's in kuala lumpur was watching the results as they came in. these opposition supporters have been gathered outside the headquarters of one of the opposition parties for hours now listening to the results being tallied by their own leaders. there have been shouts ofjubilation, a real sense of change being possible, and they just had real sense of change being possible, and theyjust had their own leader, doctor mahathir mohamad, the 92—year—old former prime minister, who has transformed this election

campaign, telling them they now have enough seats to form a government. against the odds, they have built up enough support. the same time, there isa enough support. the same time, there is a great deal of fear and suspicion that some doubt if the votes had gone their way that the government might be able to the result for them. if it does happen, this is new territory for malaysia. there has never before been a tra nsfer of there has never before been a transfer of power in this country since independence. they might actually achieve this historic change, it has given an incredible atmosphere, one of real excitement and tension and anticipation. we will return. we will get more analysis on the significance of the historic election result in malaysia. another major story we're covering is the release of three american citizens who were being detained in north korea. this is kim dong—chul, one of the three men flying home with the us secretary of state, mike pompeo.

they're expected to land at andrews air force base, just outside washington, later today. and the president has tweeted that he will be there to meet them. our correspondent, stephen mcdonell, gave us this update from seoul. well it seems like they are in quite good health, according to the reports from donald trump via his twitter account. on the way back the plane stopped in japan twitter account. on the way back the plane stopped injapan and doctors have examined the three detainees, if we corbyn, the korean americans being held in north korea. it is a stark contrast to the case of otto warmbier, people remember the american student being held in north korea and who ended up dying on his return to the united states. when

they get there, i my calculation in about eight hours, donald trump says he will be there to welcome the plane. it seems like, if his tweets are anything to go by, he is really going to try and make as much political milage out of this as possible. he will be there to greet the plane, to meet them, he has thanked his counterpart in north korea, kim jong—un, for letting these men go. he has also said that these men go. he has also said that the us secretary of state has finalised the detail of the meeting and we can actually expect within the coming days the announcement of the coming days the announcement of the place and location of the kim jong—un donald trump summit. the place and location of the kim jong-un donald trump summit. stephen donald there. the white house said the release of these three americans is a positive gesture of goodwill ahead of a planned summit between president trump and the north's leader, kimjong—un. the president has indicated that the time and place for this summit has been agreed, but we don't we do know that it will not take place in the demilitarized zone that divides the peninsula. the president has been teasing the media, saying that details of the meeting will be announced

within three days time. president trump added he's confident about the outcome. i believe that we have, both sides wa nt to i believe that we have, both sides want to negotiate a deal. i think it will be a very successful deal. i think we have a good shot at making it successful. but lots of things can happen. of course, you will be the first to know about it, if it does. but i think we have a religious to make a great deal for the world. thank you very. donald trump's nominee to lead the central intelligence agency has promised not to restart the post—9/ii harsh interrogation program. gina haspel oversaw a secret detention centre in thailand, where al-qaeda suspects were water—boarded to extract information.

i would never ever takes the aa back to an interrogation programme. first see a eight follows the law. we followed the law then, we support the law now —— cia. i will tell you this, i would the law now —— cia. i will tell you this, iwould not the law now —— cia. i will tell you this, i would not put cia offices at risk by asking them to undertake risking controversial actor began —— risky. residents of hawaii's big island are being warned of further explosive eruptions from the kilauea volcano in the coming weeks. for the last few days rivers of lava have run through residential areas and forced the evacuation of thousands of people. the us geological survey warns that more violent eruptions could shoot out so—called ballistic blocks weighing up to several tons. the former manchester united manager sir alex ferguson is out of intensive care following surgery on a brain haemorrhage. a club statement said the 76—year—old is to continue his rehabilitation in hospital near manchester. ferguson retired as united's manager in 2013 after winning 38 trophies during 26 years in charge.

this father and son have been paraded by police in their home made space suits after allegedly trying to trick businessmen out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in new delhi. they claimed to be able to sell fake magical plates to nasa. the plates were meant to generate electricity from thunderbolts. let's get more now on our top story, the dramatic election victory for malaysia's veteran leader mahathir mohammad, who at the age of 92, has defied all odds to become the country's prime minister. we can speak now to tricia yeoh from the institute for democracy and economic

affairs in kuala lumpur. i guess the first question is, nobody expected this results, all the pulses and pundits said it would bea win the pulses and pundits said it would be a win for the ruling party. what exactly happens? thank you for having me on. good morning. it has been a long and sleepless night for myself and many malaysians anxious to look at the results. the results did not come in untiljust a few hours ago. the election commission took its time to announce. yes, none of the pulses and pundits predicted this. you basically saw the opposition coalition sweep parliamentary seats, state seats throughout the country, defeating the incumbents barisan national, that has been in powerfor more than 60 years. that is a very long time. their dominance over the malaysian

political scene has always been seen oi’ political scene has always been seen or considered to be underfeasible. this is the time when the citizens actually rose up and spoke up against what they felt to be a corrupt government is, a compromise through many huge scandals, use basically 222 parliament being slapped. they took more than 120 seats, if you count the various opposition parties that are going into coalition against barisan national... if i could interrupt very quickly, the odds were stacked against the opposition alliance. they would have been in malaysia late couldn't —— elections, especially with the redrawing boundaries recently, how was the opposition able to pull this off? you are right. the recent regulation conducted by the electoral

commission, which was largely seem to be in favour of the barisan national ruling coalition, what affected even more, i think what the opposition was able to do was to change this despite the deila nation that took place. several factors would have to be examined as we look less into the numbers. the first of which was the way dr mahathir came back from retirement to head the opposition coalition. his presence alone was a huge determinants. he managed to entice some of the biggest names of the old guard to support the opposition for the very first time and also convince many of the malay muslim voters and perhaps more establishment thai voters to switch their allegiance at the last minute —— type voters. the second i suppose would be the huge corruption

scandal that is najib razak has been involved in allegedly involved in in the last two years. it is being investigated by multiple countries around the world, including the us department ofjustice. that gain traction, especially in the urban seats. -- gained traction. thank you very much for that. tricia yeoh, in kuala lumpur. let's get more on another of our top stories. the three american citizens are now on their way home with mike pompeo. a statement has been released saying they would like to express their deep appreciation to the united states government and they describe america as the greatest nation on earth, in the world. kim jong—un agreed to release the men ahead of historic talks with donald trump. balbina hwang, a visiting professor who specialises in east asian security

at georgetown university, joins us from washington. she served as senior special advisor to ambassador christopher hill, assistant secretary for east asian and pacific affairs at the us state department. shejoins us live from washington. you served as a senior special advisor at the us state department. the white house is describing this as very positive, a goodwill gesture. what is your reading, initially, about the release of the three men? most certainly it is. it is certainly an important prelude to the historic summit, if it occurs, between president trump and the leader of north korea. most certainly it is a necessary step to such a certainly it is a necessary step to sucha summit certainly it is a necessary step to such a summit occurring. you say if it occurs. by all sounds it seems it will be occurring. we hear that we have the place the date, we just haven't been given the details yet. yes, of course. it is being cautious for necessary reasons. because we all know that these things can go

wrong. i think it is important to be cautious. we never know, for any sorts of reasons, why these things might not occur. it is important to be cautious. we saw donald trump initially saying that if things would not go the way he wanted them he would walk out. is this going to bea summit, he would walk out. is this going to be a summit, a meeting, what can we expect as a result of it?|j be a summit, a meeting, what can we expect as a result of it? i think it is important to understand is that the release of these detainees was an important prelude, but, understandably, it is also because expectations now are very high. north korea did this for important reasons. it is a diplomatic success, but now expectations are that much higher. now the expectations are higher. now the expectations are high on the north korean side. but also of the world. now president trump will have to deliver. this means that now the united states will have to deliver on everything.

that is, really now, the united states will have to do deliver on everything else that north korea will expect on a piece, on removing all the sanctions, on providing the peace treaty that north korea expects, the removal of us troops, probably, ending the alliance is probably, ending the alliance is probably what north korea expects. —— ona probably what north korea expects. —— on a piece. this is very high expectations. the americans, are they giving away too much? we haven't given north korea anything yet. this is exactly where the problem lies in the future. balbina hwang. fascinating to speak with you. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: why this visit to myanmar by the english football club leeds united continues to divide opinion. also on the programme:

a view of the future from the world of art. from the world of art. we explore a new exhibit at london's victoria & albert museum. i, nelson rolihlahla mandela, do hereby swear to be faithful to the republic of south africa. after six years of construction and numerous delays, the channel tunnel has been formally opened by the queen and president mitterrand. but the tunnel is still not yet ready for passengers and freight services to begin. for centuries, christianity and islam struggled for supremacy. now, the pope's visit symbolises their willingness to coexist. roger bannister became the first man in the world to run a mile in underfour minutes. memories of victory, as the ve celebrations reach their climax. this night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom.

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm maura fogarty in singapore. i'm kasia medera in london. our top stories: in a dramatic comeback, the former malaysian prime minister, mahathir mohamad, has won a majority in the general election, defeating the governing party which has been in powerfor more than 60 years the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, is flying home with three citizens, detained in north korea ahead of historic talks between donald trump and kim jong—un. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the straits times is leading on the historic malaysian general election.

its front page says opposition party pakatan harapan has won enough seats to form a majority government, with the result confirmed by the election commission. the south china morning post reports on a new hotline being set up between china and japan. the paper says it's part of efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries and help prevent military clashes at sea and in the air. and finally, it's to "russia with love" according to the arab news. it says youngsters in the middle east and north africa now believe russia is their biggest non—arab ally, replacing the united states which has fallen out of the top five for the first time since the survey started a decade ago. the italian multi—millionaire owner of the english football team, leeds united, has told the bbc he doesn't regret taking the club on a controversial trip to myanmar.

the team has faced widespread criticism for travelling to a country whose military is accused of ethnic cleansing of rohingya muslims. andrea radrizanni denied he was putting his business interests over the reputation of the club. our myanmar correspondent, nick beake, spoke to him in yangon. yorkshire came to yangon. a hard—core of lead united fans made the 5000 milejourney hard—core of lead united fans made the 5000 mile journey to myanmar. a choice of destination which plunged the club into a political row in light of the country's persecution of muslims. undeterred, the visitors posed at one of buddhism's holiest sites. the club's owner, andrea radrizanni, claims the trip is about using football to bring communities

together and not just helping football to bring communities together and notjust helping his commercial companies. what do you say to people who say you're more interested in making money than the reputation age of your football club? we're not making money out of this game. you have this, business ventures in myanmar? with other companies, but i spoke with the personal federation and we are starting a project with different yea rs starting a project with different years in the football pitch as well with the media and we're happy to visit our friends. leads have been given a warm welcome by excited burmese fans unaware of the controversy. with the match now under way, but what happens now tonight on the pitch doesn't really matter. the more significant outcome is to the reputation of leeds united football club. for the record, an all—star myanmar side beat this inexperienced leeds team, but many questioned the wisdom of walking into such a politically sensitive arena in the first place. nick

beake, bbc news, yangon. maura, the countdown is on, we are just nine days away from the royal wedding taking place here in the uk. prince harry will marry the actress meghan markle at windsor castle on saturday the 19th of may. as part of the build—up, we received a rather special visit at our studios in london. you mind if i do that? you mind ifi do that? that's perfectly fine. very few people get away with that. oh, yes! i write, 0k! -- oh, away with that. oh, yes! i write, 0k! —— oh, right, 0k! imagine a future where intelligent robots help with your laundry and provide company in our often isolated worlds and cryogenics is a reality. our arts editor, will gompertz, went to explore the future at a new exhibition at london's v&a museum. this is breakfast a robot at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence research. the idea is

he's supposed to do all the household chores that we can't be bothered to do, except he's not very good at them, and that's the opening message of this exhibition, that intelligent robots are coming but they are still a long way off. but that's not stopping designers from making technology that they will hope will elicit from us a human type emotional response. meetjebo. hey, jebo. type emotional response. meetjebo. hey, jebo. i want to give you this flower. can you tell me a drug? sure. i've got one. that's an old joke. can you take my photograph please? -- can you tell me a joke. jebo is designed notjust give you information but to manipulate your feelings, whereas this piece of technology over here is designed to manipulate your body. you strap on these muscles into an area where you feel a bit weaker and it actually gives you extra strength. and so this exhibition asked is, as we

integrate technology more and more into our daily lives, does it change what it actually means to be human? in fact this show asks more questions about the future than it provides answers. take this state—of—the—art driverless car for example. are we happy to delegate those life—and—death decisions that have to be made on the road to what is basically a computer? and maybe even bigger than that, are we happy to give away liberties that we fought forfour to give away liberties that we fought for four generations to technology? and then of course there's the biggest question of them all, what chance is there of eternal life? that's a question this part of the exhibition seeks to explore with anti—ageing pills and brain scanners all hopeful and optimistic that perhaps this is the most realistic option at the moment. the cryonics institute. the kit you need for a shot at immortality, it has to be applied by someone else obviously. there's a drug that gets placed in the heart, there's an ice bath and a

cpr machine and then you get placed in this white casket and sent off to this deep freeze. then at some moment, maybe a millennia away, this body can out, the thawed and who knows, ba sentience human being. when all the future described in this exhibition is the past. —— be thawed —— be a sentience human being. —— sentience. you've been watching newsday. stay with us, walmart is betting big on india, taking a controlling stake in the country's biggest online retailer. we'll tell you why. and before we go, let me just show you some pictures of an amazing discovery inside a statue of buddha at a temple in the japanese city of nara. when researchers took a series of x—rays of the statue they found at least 180 items inside, including some 30 scrolls. the content must have sat there undisturbed for 700 year as there is no sign the statue has ever been opened. who knows what secrets of ancient japan might lie inside! that's all for now, stay

with bbc world news. hello. once the early rain clears easternmost parts of england as thursday begins, what follows will bea thursday begins, what follows will be a lot of fine and dry weather. here's the weather front, it's going to drag its heels a little while on thursday morning across eastern england and elsewhere you can see some fine weather but a hint of showers following towards the north—west. while many will have a fine day with some sunshine, there is the chance of catching a shower. more especially into parts of scotland, maybe one or two for northern ireland, northern england and north wales. for early risers, these are the temperatures on the double figures for the cloud and rain into eastern england and elsewhere into mid single figures for some spots to begin the day but again, away from eastern england, a fairamount of again, away from eastern england, a fair amount of sunshine and dry weather to begin with. but those showers will push into scotland through the morning and if you catch

one it could be heavy, maybe a rumble of thunder, one or two for northern ireland, northern england, north wales. by the end of the morning the last of the rain is cleared away from eastern parts of england so looking dry for the rest of eastern england. some holes in the cloud allowing sunshine to come through and these temperatures across—the—board now are pretty close to the average for the time of year so no particular warmth out there. heading out and about on thursday evening or coming back from wherever you've been, still a few showers in north—eastern area of scotla nd showers in north—eastern area of scotland and into the northern isles but they will continue to fade and elsewhere what showers have built up are continuing to fade away and the cloud that's developed is going as well so a lot of dry and sunny weather to end the day. under clear skies thursday night into friday morning with a ridge of high pressure temperatures drop away even further, low single figures for some on friday morning and the ridge of high pressure not staying around too long as this weather front pushes it out of the way on friday and it

means strengthening wind across the uk, particularly close to this rain band coming into northern ireland and feeding outbreaks of rain into west of scotland, parts of wales and south—west england. very slow—moving weather system, though. ahead of that, although some cloud will increase, there will be sunny spells but there will be that strengthening south south—easterly wind. the weather front pushes through friday night into saturday, by saturday may be lingering into north—east scotla nd be lingering into north—east scotland with rain at times and may be showers in eastern england, dry weather elsewhere but further showers pushing into the south and south—west and south—west england, wales and northern england, catch one of these and it could be heavy and thundery. temperatures haven't changed much but by sunday they could go down a little bit further. goodbye. i'm kasia madera with bbc world news. our top story: malaysia's former prime minister, mahathir mohamad, makes an extraordinary comeback. the 92—year—old, who defeated the governing coalition, came out of retirement to take on the party he himself led for years.

the results are being described as a political earthquake. three americans released by north korea are flying home with the us secretary of state, mike pompeo. the white house said their release was a positive gesture of goodwill ahead of a planned summit between president trump and the north's leader, kimjong—un. and this video is trending on bbc.com. her royal likeness! madame tussauds reveals their meghan markle waxwork, which will be displayed next to prince harry before the royal wedding on the 19th of may that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news it's time for hardtalk.