i'm rico hizon in singapore, the headlines the bbc has been told that donald trump's personal lawyer got a secret payment to arrange talks between the ukrainian president and the president. mr cohen denies receiving the payment and president poroshenko‘s office calls the claim a flagrant lie. with doubt still surrounding president trump's summit with kimjong—un, china tells the us that "now is the time" to make a peace deal with north korea. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: yulia skripal, who along with her father, was poisoned by a nerve agent in england, has made her first televised statement since the attack. translation: we are so lucky to have both survived this attempted assassination. i don't want to describe the details, but the clinical treatment was invasive, painful and depressing. piano music plays piano is definitely his forte!

meet the 14 year—old indonesian musician who's already been nominated for a grammy three times. good morning. it's 8:00am in singapore, 1:00am in london and 8:00pm in the evening in washington, where it's alleged donald trump's personal lawyer michael cohen, received a secret payment of at least $400,000 to arrange talks between the ukrainian president and president trump. that is the claim made by those with direct knowledge of the process, who've spoken to the bbc. they say the money was sent to mr cohen by intermediaries, acting for the ukrainian leader, petro poroshenko. the ukrainian government has denied the claims.

mr cohen, his partner felix sater and the two intermediaries also deny involvement, as our correspondent paul wood reports. donald trump's run for the us presidency was watched with alarm by ukraine's government, dismayed by his apparently pro—russian rhetoric. then trump had a setback. his campaign manager, paul manafort, was forced to resign, accused of getting millions of dollars from russian interests in the ukraine. the leak that brought manafort down came from the very top of the ukrainian government, according to sources here and outside the ukraine. if that's true, the ukrainians badly miscalculated backing the losing side in the us election. so, in early 2017, president poroshenko was desperate to get talks with donald trump. he was being offered little more

than a white house photo opp. according to a senior official here, who has direct knowledge of what happened, poroshenko instructed two close associates to open a back channel. that back channel, our source says, was president trump's personal lawyer and trusted fixer, michael cohen. the senior official says cohen was paid $400,000. a second source says it was more. there is no suggestion that trump knew of this. we are told that cohen got help from felix sater, a convicted former mobster once in business with trump. cohen is under investigation for paying hush money to porn actress stormy daniels on trump's behalf. her lawyers says cohen's bank records show he took money from us companies for access to the president. i think it's pretty obvious at this point that michael cohen took

substantial amounts of money, and was selling access to the highest office in the land, namely to the us president. we have every reason to believe there are additional payments that have not been reported yet from those with ukrainian interests. poroshenko could not hide his delight at meeting trump, and before russia's vladimir putin. how many minutes he would get was still being negotiated as he flew from kiev. but this was more than just a photo opp. after poroshenko went home, ukraine's enquiry into trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort, was steadily wound down. "there was never a direct order to stop the manafort enquiry," a special prosecutor in kiev tells me. "but," he says, "from the way the investigation progressed, it was clear that our superiors were trying to create obstacles." did president trump's lawyer ask the ukrainians to stall their enquiry?

perhaps he didn't need to. poroshenko knew that to do otherwise, said one source, would be like spitting in trump's face. the us is continuing its own investigation into paul manafort and russian influence in the american election. but without help from ukraine. paul wood reporting. well let's keep the focus on the us president, because a new yorkjudge has ruled that donald trump may not "block" twitter users based on their political beliefs because it would be a violation of the right to free speech. users who are blocked cannot see or respond to tweets from the accounts that have blocked them. 0ur north america technology reporter dave lee told me more about the case. this is the case that has big implications i think, i think, for not only how president trump conducts himself on twitter, but

also public officials across the us. they're all being guided now by new recommendations by the judge in new york. what she said was that blocking people on twitter would impinge their rights to have a free and open discussion with those accounts. so for example if someone disagreed with president trump but was blocked by president trump, they wouldn't be able to reply to his tweets and nor would they be able to quote his tweets and therefore the judge ruled that was in violation of the first amendment. what the president and other officials can still do is mute people. so while the first amendment protects people's right to speak at the president, that same amendment doesn't force the president or other public officials to listen to what is being said. right now, president trump follows only around 50 people on twitter, made up mostly of his family, staff and several fox news presenters, so the accusation he is living in an echo chamber on the social network is still something he will face from here. but what this does mean

is he will no longer be able to completely block other users from seeing what's being said by the president and other elected officials on twitter from now on. also making news today, the united states has withdrawn an invitation to china to participate in a major international military exercise in the pacific ocean next month because of its activities in the south china sea. a pentagon spokesman said beijing's continued militarisation of disputed islands in the south china sea was destabilising the region and inconsistent with the purpose of thejoint drill. the chinese foreign minister said most of the building in the south china sea was for civilian use and on chinese territory. the us secretary of state says medical teams are on their way to the southern chinese city of gwan—joe after an american to the southern chinese city of guangzhou after an american

government employee there suffered a mild brain injury after reporting hearing strange sounds. mike pompeo said the employee's symptoms were similar to those experienced by us diplomats in cuba last year, which were blamed on mysterious "sonic attacks". the italian president sergio mattarella has asked a little known law professor, giuseppe conte, to form a government, ending a stalemate since inconclusive elections in march. mr conte will lead a coalition of the populist five star movement and the right wing populist league party. he said italy's place was in the european union, where he would defend the interests of its people. translation: i am also aware of the need to confirm italy's international and european role. the government will be put to the test from the very beginning from the current negotiations on the european budget. the reform of the asylum law and the completion of the banking union. spanish football star, andres iniesta, will play in japan next season after ending his career—long

association with boyhood club barcelona. iniesta, who scored the winning goal in the world cup final in 2010, has enjoyed a glittering 22—year career in catalonia. but the 34—year—old has now confirmed he will be starting a new life in japan. china has told the united states that "now is the time" to make history by reaching a peace deal with north korea. the chinese foreign minister, wang yi, who is in washington, told his american counterpart, mike pompeo, that he hoped the summit between the us and north korean leaders would go ahead as planned. translation: we look forward to seeing the meeting take place and being successful. we believe president trump and kimjong—un are able and they have the wisdom to make the right decision and bring peace to the korean peninsula and bring

good news to the world. for more on this i've been speaking to our correspondent in seoul, rupert wingfield—hayes. i began by asking him why the us—north korea summit is so important to china. fundamentally, because china's main interest when it comes to north korea is stability, stability on its border. china's nightmare is renewed conflict on the korean peninsula or the implosion of the north korean regime and the falling apart of north korea. so i think the chinese government was deeply concerned as things got really bad last year. very upset with north korea for testing missiles provocatively across japan and threatening the united states. but concerned about us threats of military action against north korea. what they want to see is a rationing down of the tensions, which we are seeing, but also in the medium to long—term,

coming to some sort of political solution to this conflict which will maintain north korea as an entity and maintain stability on china's border. but this summit in singapore is hanging in the balance because of the issue of denuclearisation, what is the sentiment in south korea, will it happen or not? everything appears to be slightly up in the air after president trump's comments when he met with president moonjae—in yesterday, suggesting he might not go. but the comments from the secretary of state to me thinks it will go ahead. he said a bad deal was not an option and the american people are counting on us to get it right. if the right deal is not on the table, we will respectfully walk away. that suggests to me that mike pompeo is expecting the president to go

to singapore and negotiate but walk away if he doesn't get what he wants from kim jong—un. yulia skripal, one of the two russians targeted in the salisbury chemical attack, has said she is "lucky to be alive". she and her father, sergei, were exposed to a nerve agent in early march. in her first filmed public statement ms skripal said she wanted to return to russia "in the longer term" but rejected an offer of help from the russian embassy. now the embassy has demanded direct access to ms skripal to make sure she was not being held against her will. daniel sandford has more detail. after weeks of being at the centre of a huge diplomatic crisis, suddenly there she was. yulia skripal was poisoned with a nerve agent in salisbury on march 4th. but today, she was well enough to beat a prepared statement. translation: i still find it difficult to come to terms

with the fact that both of us were attacked in such a way. the fact that a nerve agent was used to do this is shocking. we are so lucky we both survived this attempted assassination. the clinical treatment was invasive, painful and depressing. police believe she and her father were poisoned by a russian designed novichok nerve agent smeared on the door handle of his home. it led to surreal scenes in salisbury as the police and the army tried to control contamination. today it was clear that yulia skripal has been left with a scar on her neck from a tracheotomy. translation: my life has been turned upside down as i try to come to terms with the devastating changes both physically and emotionally. i want to help care for my father until his full recovery. in the longer term i hope to return home to my country. yulia skripal prepared signed handwritten copies of her statement in russian and english,

wanting to show there were her words. the russian ambassador has repeatedly suggested she might be being held against her will, and demanded access to her. translation: i'm grateful for the offers of assistance from the russian embassy but at the moment i do not wish to avail myself of their services. also, i want to reiterate what i said in my earlier statement, that no one speaks for me or my father but ourselves. while yulia skripal was in a coma, dozens of diplomats were expelled from the united states, russia and europe. she is a russian citizen who lived in russia where herfather is regarded as a traitor. and tonight, it is still not clear where they will live next. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme...

we'll have the latest from southern india on the outbreak of the rare, but deadly, nipah virus, carried by fruit bats. also on the programme... piano music plays. we meet the young indonesian pianist who taught himself to play jazz at the age of six by listening to his father's classic albums. this morning an indian air force plane carrying mr gandhi's body landed in delhi. the president of india walked to the plane to solemnly witness mr gandhi's final return from the political battlefield. ireland has voted overwhelmingly in favour of gay marriage. in doing so it's become the first country in the world to approve the change in a national referendum. it was a remarkable climax to what was surely the most extraordinary funeral for a pop singer.

it's been a peacefulfuneral demonstration so far, but suddenly the police are tear gassing the crowd. we don't yet know why. the prelaunch ritual is well—established here. helen was said to be in good spirits, butjust a little apprehensive. in the last hour, east timor has become the world's newest nation. it was a bloody birth for a poor country and the challenges ahead are daunting. but for now at least, it's time to celebrate. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm in singapore i'm in london. our top stories: ukraine's president poroshenko has denounced as "a flagrant lie" claims that his meeting last year with president trump was arranged after a big payment to donald trump's personal lawyer. china tells the us "now

is the time" to reach a peace deal with north korea, as president trump continues to express doubts whether his meeting with kim jong—un will take place. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. let's start with the straits times, which takes a look at the first meeting held by malaysia's new cabinet. it features a photo from that meeting, alongside the news that each minister will take a 10% salary cut, and nine government agencies will shut down, in a move to curb government spending. the south china morning post reports on how bosses in hong kong won't have to pay their workers overtime wages. in a bid to find a consensus on standardising working hours the government has settled on guidelines, which means bosses won't be legally required to compensate low—income workers

for the extra hours they do. and finally, the japan times has an eye—capturing image of fire—flies performing a synchronised mating ritual. they created a spectacular display lighting up senri ryokuchi park in osaka. the image was captured by super—imposing photographs taken at is—second intervals. now, kasia, what stories are sparking discussions online? if you live in the hotel of mum and dad then here's a tale of caution — an american couple have won their legalfight to have their 30—year—old son evicted from their home. michael rotondo has been living with his parents for eight years after he lost his job but they say he had not contributed to household expenses or with doing the chores.

they took him to court after he ignored multiple written notices to leave, starting in february, they even gave him $1100 to leave. but mr rotondo said he needed more time before he could move out and is planning to appeal the decision. travellers in southern india are being warned to avoid parts of the state of kerala, after the outbreak of the neepah virus, which has killed ten people. earlier this week, a young nurse became the latest to die after becoming infected with the rare but often fatal virus, which is carried by fruit bats. dr roshan radha—krishnan joins us live from kerala.

you are not in one of those districts affected, but explain where you are? it is in north kerala. we got the first hint there was something like this on the 19th of may. even before the first diagnosis game because all the other doctors were alerted across the district and they held emergency meetings. they were extremely well—prepared meetings. they were extremely well—prepa red and that meetings. they were extremely well—prepared and that might have ended up saving a lot of lives. what are you looking for? some patients mightjust have a cough and cold.

they might be the lucky ones, but they could end up being carriers. there were then end up having a severe respiratory infection, which will make it difficult to breathe. then it will go to the brain and the patients will become disorientated and have mental confusion. then it will end up being fatal in the end. that is what has happened to ten people so far. it is carried by fruit bats, how is it spread? in this outbreak, the primary cause is found to be fruit bats. it spreads by direct contact with the infected bat, or the fruit bat eat the fruit and then a person needs that fruit.

this is the primary cause. then the problem is that once the patient has been transferred to the hospital, the doctors, nurses and hospital staff are at immediate risk. that is what happened to the sister who passed away. there is a lot of concern because the mortality rate is high and currently there is no vaccine? in the outbreaks of nipah virus the mortality rate has been 70%. in the second case, we were able to detect the virus. usually it would have been ten or 15 patients before somebody considered it was a bad thing. thank you for taking time out on what is a busy day, to tell us out on what is a busy day, to tell us about this nipah virus. thank you

very much for having me. many musicians dream of being nominated for a grammy. but one indonesian jazz pianist has been up for the award three times and he's only 1a years old. the musical prodigy‘s fourth album was released earlier this month. we caught up with him while he was on tour in southeast asia. i never really dream of being a musician. i love music. there wasn't that much jazz in bali. i didn't really have any formal training, that is why i am mostly self—taught. but my dad helped me grow my music ability,

even though he was also self—taught. for me, the records i listen to are my teachers, louis armstrong, of course miles davis. i believe it is music, so there is no age, it is not how young you are or where you come from. it is my goal to make people happy, to see how they enjoy my music, me and my friends, when we play. you have been watching newsday.

and before we go, let's take a look at these pictures. this is quite a special moment for a couple of one—year—old armenian bear cubs. they're being released into the wild after being rescued when their mother was killed a year ago. it's the work of an international animal rescue charity based here in britain. they've been fitted with gps collars, so the charity can track their movements. hello.

plenty more spring sunshine in the forecast over the next few days. feeling warm in the sunshine as well. it isn't quite that simple because in southern areas, in particular, there is a risk of thundery showers. we see those on thursday. courtesy of this weather front that has been sneaking its way from the near continent. it doesn't look like much but it introduces an extra kick of energy the atmosphere needs to generate these showers and storms. hit and miss but they drift westwards as we go through the day. in eastern scotland and north—east england, low cloud and fog that it burns towards the coast, brightening as the day goes on. here is how it looks on our high—resolution weather model, in parts of england we see these showers and thunderstorms drifting westwards. it should brighten by the afternoon, in the south—east and in much of the midlands. northern england, northern ireland

and scotland with long spells of sunshine. some mist and low cloud on the north sea coastline as we go through the day. consequently, temperatures in aberdeen and newcastle down to about 15 degrees. elsewhere, real warmth, the best of the sunshine with highs of 22 or 23. on thursday night, we have thunderstorms drifting up from the near continent. moving up from the north at this stage, scotland holding the coastal mist and fog, rolling further inland as the day moves on. temperatures generally at eight to 1a degrees. during the day on friday, we have further pulses of wet weather, thunderstorms drifting in, at northern england at that stage, and in the south it will be cloudy for much of the time. muggy, 19 degrees and in cardiff, 20 in the sunshine in belfast. temperatures set to climb as we move through the weekend.

we tap into this warm air across the near continent. it moves up in our direction. but what we bring up from the south are further areas of thundery rain, and particularly towards the south—west of the uk, with high—pressure as an influence. some dry weather and sunshine for the south. sunshine further south. some real warmth as well. but there is a risk of some thunderstorms. i'm kasia madera with bbc news. our top story... there are claims that michael cohen, donald trump's personal lawyer, received a secret payment to fix talks between the ukrainian and us presidents. talks between the ukrainian but ukraine's president poroshenko's office has called the claims a flagrant lie, adding that they are part of a campaign to discredit relations between the two countries. with doubt still surrounding president trump's summit with kimjong un, china tells the us that "now is the time" to make a peace deal with north korea.

and this story is trending on bbc.com... a new york couple have won their bid to have their 30—year—old son evicted from their home. michael rotondo has been living with his parents for eight years after he lost his job but they say he had not contributed to household expenses or with doing the chores. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk... yulia skripal, who — together with her father — was poisoned by a nerve agent in salisbury — has said she believes