hello and a very good morning from singapore. i'm rico hizon. the american secretary of state is in seoul, saying there's a lot of work left to do on the deal with north korea. saudi—led forces attack the main rebel—held port in yemen, threatening vital aid supplies for millions. a new study says antarctica lost three—trillion tons of ice because of global warming in the past quarter—century. and around the world in five years. we meet the youngest man to visit every country on earth. this is bbc world news. it's newsday. thanks forjoining us.

it's 8am in singapore and 8pm in washington, where president trump has declared there is no longer a nuclear threat from north korea. he's arrived back in the united states, from the summit in singapore, and said his meeting with kim jong—un was a truly historic event. his secretary of state, mike pompeo, is travelling to south korea to begin talks about the details of the process of denuclearisation, as our correspondent john sudworth reports. there is flash photography in this report. in north korea, most of the information—starved masses had heard nothing about the summit until today. it is, of course, being sold to them as a great victory. "donald trump is halting the us south korean joint military exercises," the newsreader says. the suspension of the drills, for so long such a key feature of america's alliance with south korea, appears to have

taken many in the region by surprise. not least south korea itself. the japanese defence minister made his concern clear today. translation: the drills and the us military stationed in south korea play a vital role in east asia's security. but back on the ground after his flight home from the singapore summit, donald trump was on twitter again. "there is no longer a nuclear threat from north korea," he said. and yet, having criticised his predecessors for being outplayed, the deal mr trump has signed isjust as vague as any that have gone before and he appears to have given up so much more. across asia and beyond, there's a sense of people wondering on earth just happened.

rather than concern, though, here in beijing, the surprise is one of delight. china has long argued for a suspension of those military exercises, although you have to wonder whether it ever thought it would get it. at a stroke, the old geopolitical certainties have been turned upside down. in the south korean capital, there are those who back donald trump's faith in kimjong—un. "we need to show trust and believe in him," this woman says. the us secretary of state has now arrived in south korea before heading to china. some in this region will want a lot more detail before they are convinced this really is a formula for peace. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. there are warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe in yemen after pro—government forces,

backed by saudi arabia, launched an attack on a key port held by rebel fighters. it's the main entry point for aid into the war—torn country. the coastal city of hudaydah has been held by the iranian—backed houthi rebels for more than three years. the united nations says 8.4 million yemenis are on the verge of famine, and for most the port is the only route for food supplies. our security correspondent frank gardner reports from yemen. trained and equipped by the uae and saudi arabia, yemeni government forces have been advancing on the red sea port of hudaydah. facing them are yemen's houthi rebels, who have reportedly fanned out across the city of half a million. diplomats have been scrambling to prevent a bloodbath, but the uae — which is leading much of the ground force — says its patience with diplomacy has run out. we have waited for over a year

in order to secure hudaydah out of the houthi hands into a third—party hand. there's been a lot of diplomatic work based on that and it has come really to nothing because the houthis have not been very clear, not been very honest, in all these efforts. the houthis, who control the port of hudaydah, say the coalition are invaders and that the un is biased against them. they accuse the saudis of bombing the port's cranes, making it harder to off—load vital supplies. translation: the battle in hudaydah will lead to a humanitarian disaster in terms of food supplies. hudaydah is a city full of civilians and it holds the main artery for all yemenis in the north and south. 70% of all humanitarian aid comes through the port. therefore, this aid will stop. aid agencies fear up to a quarter of a million people's lives could be

at risk in the fighting. yemen is the country with the worst food aid situation in the world. more than 17 million people here have no idea where their next meal is coming from. most of those people live in hudaydah, they only have one meal a day. and with this complex, with this escalation of the conflict and the level of violence that's happening right now in hudaydah, it means that many of those people will lose that one meal. yemenis have already suffered over three years of disease, food shortages, coalition air strikes and shelling by houthis. what happens now in hudaydah will decide the course of this war. yemen has reached a turning point in the three—year war that has ravaged this mountainous, isolated country. the un—backed government and its coalition partners say they had no choice but to drive the houthi rebels out of the port of hudaydah, so as not to prolong the war, but international aid agencies say this assault risks a humanitarian catastrophe.

frank gardner, bbc news, in yemen. the football world cup starts on thursday, with hosts russia taking on saudi arabia. the us team failed to qualify this year, but the country has another reason to celebrate. with mexico and canada it's been jointly awarded the right to host the 2026 world cup. their bid overwhelming beat morocco in the vote. the bbc‘s rajini vaidyanathan has more. the opposing bid from morocco wasn't seen as strong enough. what fifa did was evaluate the two countries' bids, or the two bids, and it gave morocco a grading of 2.7 out of five, whereas the united bid got four out of five, that was based on things like infrastructure, accommodation, hotels, and there were concerns about how lgbtq people might be treated. because of morocco's policy towards

lg btq because of morocco's policy towards lgbtq people. also making news today: aid agencies are warning of a potential humanitarian crisis in bangladesh. several rohingya refugees have died, with the arrival of monsoon rains. as many as 200,000 refugees could be at risk from flooding and landslides. german prosecutors have fined volkswagen more than a billion dollars over its cheating on diesel emissions tests. the public prosecutor found vw had sold more than ten million cars with emissions—test—cheating software. japan is bringing the threshold of adulthood down from 20 to 18. eighteen—year—olds will be able to marry and obtain passports without parental consent. the move, that'll take effect in 2022, aims to revitalise an ageing society. the uk space industry has suffered a blow in negotiations concerning the european satellite navigation system, galileo because of brexit. british companies have, in effect,

been excluded from working on future satellite contracts. that's because other members of the european space agency have refused to delay their next order. the uk has spent more than a billion pounds helping to develop the technology. look closely and you'll see a racoon climbing up the edge of this building in minnesota. it caused quite a star in the city of st paul by climbing up — and up — a 25 storey building. crowds watched anxiously, and local media even streamed his perilous climb. after a short break on the 17th floor, the raccoon reached the roof, where a trap of tempting cat—food had been set. let's return to our top story — andray abrahamian is from the australian think tank the griffith asia institute. he's currently in the south korean

capital seoul, where the visiting us secretary of state mike pompeo has been talking about hopes for a major north korean disarmament by the end of 2020. i asked andray for his assessment. i think some sort of major moves could be made by 2020. i think it is interesting that he has backed off from complete and verifiable and irreversible by that date. really, he is in town today to explain, firstly, what was said behind the scenes and what the north koreans told the americans might be possible, but also to explain donald trump's statement that joint exercises would be ceased. which i think has caught people here off guard. you talked about ceasing military exercises, these so—called wargames, was this a significant concession, do you think, to north korea? and was china behind it? well, it is and it isn't

a significant concession. 0n the one hand it is something that the north korean have always wanted. the military exercises always cause great consternation in pyongyang. 0n the other hand, it is something that can be easily undone. if the process begins to fail, at any point, it is something the americans and south koreans can very easily put back into motion. in a sense it is a chip that can be put on and taken off the table at any time. as for china, it is in their interest to see that happen. i don't think they were behind it as much as they will be pleased to have heard donald trump say it. in your view, was there enough in this four point declaration between donald trump and kim jong—un that eases the geopolitical risk in the korean peninsula? it certainly eased the risk on the peninsula.

i would have liked to have seen more, i would have liked to have seen concrete steps and some sort of plan for action to action laid out. i think it would have been really good to promulgate a timeline and perhaps we will see that in the coming weeks and months. for now, at least, on the upside there is a direct connection between kim jong—un and donald trump. and that means that if this process begins to fail, if problems arise, they can get a hold of each other relatively easily and have at least a rapport and a way of communicating that should help mitigate some of the problems that will almost certainly arise as this process goes forward. in your view, andray, what is next? what is the most important next step over the next few weeks after the summit? that is the big question. they certainly left it extremely vague. president trump said it was concrete, but, in fact, it wasn't. it was just a statement of intent.

what the details will be, that is what we need to be looking for in the coming weeks. i would like to see specific sanctions removed for specific actions taken by north korea and with specific dates put down by both sides and agreed to. so that the process has a structure and if problems arise they can point to that structure and hopefully resolve it in a way that provides clarity for everybody. andray abrahamian, from the australian think tank, the griffith asia institute, speaking to me from seoul. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: she was the first astronaut of iranian descent and the first muslim woman in space. she's also one of the world's few space tourists. we meet a woman who's out of this world. the day the british liberated

the falklands, and by tonight, british troops had begun the task of disarming the enemy. in the heart of the west german capital, this was gorbymania at its height. the crowd packed to see the man who, for them, has raised great hopes for an end for the division of europe. michaeljackson was not guilty on all charges, the screams of the crowd testament to his popularity and their faith in his innocence. as long as they'll pay to go see me, i'll get out there and kick 'em down the hill. what does it feel like to be the first man to go across the channel by your own power? it's pretty neat. feels marvellous, really. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm rico hizon in singapore. our top stories: the american secretary of state, on a visit to seoul, has said he hopes there will be major disarmament of north korea within two and a half years. the saudi—led coalition in yemen has launched a major offensive on the rebel—held port of hudaydah, through which almost all aid supplies enter the country where millions face malnutrition. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. in the south china morning post, there are more details of us secretary of state's trip to asia. it says developments on the korean peninsula could help ease tensions between washington and beijing. the world cup kicks off in a few hours, and there's plenty of coverage in the straits times on the front page,

a football fan in serbia, who's got football on his mind. and lionel messi on his head! and in thejapan times, a story why the country's adults are getting younger. as we reported earlier, the official age of adulthood is being lowered. but the paper highlights the concerns of some in the kimono industry. there are fears that fewer people will go to coming of age ceremonies where kimonos are traditionally worn. the antarctic ice sheet has lost about three trillion tons of ice since 1992, according the most complete, satellite study of the continent ever undertaken. an international team of polar scientists say antarctic ice losses have increased global sea levels by almost 8mm since 1992, and the melting is speeding up.

0ur science correspondent, victoria gill, looks at the findings. up close, it's a pristine, frozen wilderness. but viewed from space, antarctica is changing rapidly. this study combined 2a analyses into the best picture ever of this ice sheet. it revealed ice loss at the bottom of our planet is speeding up over time. the continent now sheds almost 200 billion tons of ice per year. we used to think the earth's polar ice sheets were slumbering giants that were not responsive to climate change, but that's clearly not the case. the ice loss we see today is because the ice sheet is melting due to warm ocean around the continent. the concern is how much sea level rise the ice sheet might contribute in the future. globally, sea levels are already

rising by about three millimetres per year, and this study estimates as much as 0.6 millimetres of that comes from antarctic ice loss. it's a result that could shift the forecast of how our planet will respond to climate change. at the moment, we have projections going through to 2100, which is sort of on a lifetime of what we can envisage, and the sea level rise we will see is 50—60 centimetres probably, and that is not only going to impact people who live close to the coasts, but actually when we have repeated major storm surges and flooding events, it's going to be exacerbated because of the sealevel rise. satellite—based studies continue to be a critical part of the effort to monitor antarctica as the changes in this remote wilderness begin to flow into the rest of the world. victoria gill, bbc news. now, it's that time of year when many of us are thinking

of a summer or a winter break, depending on which part of the world you live in. but when you have literally visited every single country on the planet where on earth do you go next? earlier, i spoke with dustin pfundheller, an american dentist based in singapore, who is the youngest verified person in the world to visit all 193 united nation sovereign nations. it's been an amazing adventure. it never started out that way, to visit every country, i just came to singapore five years ago and i love travelling. one of the best parts about being in singapore is how convenient and easy it is to travel and get out of a plane really easy and see the world. how were you able to see the world, 236 of them, in five years? that was another thing, while being in singapore i worked weekends, iworked holidays, i put in 12 hour shifts so basically i did a shift on and a shift off, i did two to three weeks of 12 hour days and i took two to three weeks off for five years continuously. it was rough but well worth it. on tuesday we had an historic summit between north korea and the united states,

i'm sure you've visited north korea, what kind of memories did you have there? i was really surprised. i think a lot of times north korea doesn't always have the best image, as we both know. did you have difficulty moving around? not at all, i did have to have a guide with me the whole time. it was actually quite fun visiting there. i remember we were at a bar once and i have left my phone and i had gone to get a drink and i started panicking i couldn't even see my phone, and one of the north koreans basically made a joke about why was i worried, because their point is north korea is that safe you don't have to worry about anyone taking your stuff. an unforgettable visit to north korea, but, i'm sure, one unforgettable one was when you travelled to one country, you got jailed! yes, yes! what happened ? i was in burundi. when i travel i always want to stay with locals so one of my experiences, i was staying with an african family which was in a little

bit rougher area. the authorities just couldn't understand why there would be a caucasian man in this poor village. they ended up arresting me. briefly, before we let you go, out of those 236 countries, name your top five countries you would like to visit again? i love south africa, thailand, i would say mexico, brazil. it is hard because so many countries i love when i visited. that was dustin pfundheller, an american dentist based in singapore, who is the youngest verified person in the world to visit all countries in the world. staying with a travel theme, anousheh ansari is one of the few tourists who's been to space. in 2006, she blasted off for an eight—day expedition aboard the international space station and captured headlines around the world as the first female private space explorer. she was also the first astronaut of iranian descent, the first muslim woman in space

and a technology entrepreneur. sharanjit leyl asked what advice she has for other women who aspire to do the same. i come from the middle east, iran, and in asia, in the middle east, culturally, as we are raised as young girls, sometimes our society, our culture, sometimes our parents even tell us there are things we should or shouldn't do, certain things that are appropriate for girls, and certain things that are not. they create these fears in us that we can't do some things, we're not good enough, we are not capable, we're not smart enough, and i'm here to tell you, all those beliefs are false. if anything, i think we can do things much better. i've seen it happen over and over again. what about some of the challenges of being out in space, the practicalities of having to go to the toilet,

for instance, this is a huge challenge, as you say, only 50—odd women have been up there? absolutely. living in space is very different. you do everything different from brushing your teeth, going to the toilet, how you prepare your food. 0n the space station there are no refrigeration, no showers. it is different but one thing i have learned being in space is your bobby reid lee adapts quickly. after a few days you learn how to fly around instead of walking around. the environment you ayim is like a laboratory, you do a lot of research. part of the research is about how the human body changes, for example, i grew two inches taller when i was in space so that provides extra height, which i liked, being up there, but i lost it when i came down. but also it puts a strain on your back. in order for us as humans to be able to travel to other parts

of our universe, or in the solar system, we need to learn how space affects our body and part of being in the space station gives us that information. any advice for would—be astronauts out there? a lot of preparation goes into any trip to the space station or into space, part of it is building a healthy body. you don't need to be strong, of course, because in microgravity everything is weightless, but you have to build stamina and be able to do prolonged activities, especially if you're in a space suit, and staying healthy, because there are no doctors or hospitals either. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. comcast makes a $65 billion bid for the 21st century fox company, upending an earlier proposal from the walt disney company. you have been watching newsday.

before we go, take a look at this. meet achilles, one of the cats that lives at the world famous hermitage museum in st petersburg. he's been officially revealed as the oracle for the 2018 world cup in russia. and he's predicted, as you can see, that russian will beat saudi arabia in the opening game. achilles, who was born deaf, is expected to pick all the winners at russia 2018 by choosing between two bowls of food with the flags of each team attached. he's been on a strict diet to be in a shape for world cup. this, in case you don't know is the now traditional 'psychic‘ animal that will predict the results at the world cup, following the exploits of paul the octopus at south africa 2010 and big head the sea turtle in brazilfour years ago. hello once again.

i know it's the second week injune, but i have to start this particular show by reminding you we've got a named storm on our hands, and there's an amber warning from the met office for gusts of wind on thursday morning which could, in extremis, get up to around 60mph if not 70 mph. where's all that coming from? this great lump of cloud hurtling towards us and deepening all the while and as it does so, quite a vigorous area of low pressure for the time of year. it's got into the wrong place in the atmosphere and it's been deepening all the while in recent hours. such that as we get on through the day, we will find a real squeeze in those isobars initially working its way through northern ireland, but then on through exposed parts of scotland and through the north of england as well. but, with all the cloud and the wind around, it won't be a cold start to the new day on thursday, but it will certainly be a wet one for some and certainly a very windy one as well. i'll show you now the strength of the gusts, and there you are,

in the central belt of scotland, some of those gusts could be up at around 60mph, as i say, if not 70 mph. gales and severe gales quite widely across northern britain. travel disruption is distinctly possible, bbc local radio will be all over that, i assure you. even further south, it will be a noticeably windy day after a fairly quiet spell of weather. even here, as the weather front tumbles its way ever further to the south and east, we'll find a little bit of rain. there's no doubt about it the bulk of rain will be found in scotland but i think rain becomes less and less of a problem and slowly, slowly, oh so slowly, especially in the northern half of britain, does the strength of the wind. with the sun coming out in the afternoon for many of us, we'll push the temperatures into the low 20s at the very best. friday thankfully a quieter day across the british isles, but notice the prospect of rain in the northern ireland and the possibility of downpours in dumfries and galloway, ayrshire and the western end of the central belt. what news of the weekend?

none too promising to start with. look at this, another little bit of area of low pressure bringing cloud, wind and rain towards particularly initially the western side of the british isles, maybe spreading north and east through time as we get on through saturday. perhaps the best of the sunshine up into the north—eastern corner of scotland. not a complete write—off, i assure you, because sunday looks a drier and finer day as we finish off the weekend. take care. this is bbc world news, the headlines. the headlines: the us secretary of state is in asia for talks after this week's summit between donald trump and kim jong—un. speaking in south korea, mike pompeo said the us expects major north korean disarmament by the end of 2020. he travels to beijing later. the un security council will meet laterfor urgent talks on the situation in yemen. saudi—led forces have launched a major offensive on the port of hodeidah, leading to fears humanitarian supplies

could be disrupted. aid agencies are warning of an emerging crisis in bangladesh, with the arrival of monsoon rains. several rohingya refugees have died and as many as 200,000 more could be at risk from flooding and landslides. scientists are warning that antarctica is shedding ice at an accelerating rate. a satellite study indicates that some 200 billion tonnes a year are now being lost to the ocean as a result of melting, pushing up global sea levels. and the top story here in the uk.