i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: racing against the rain — rescuers step up their efforts to get the trapped boys out of a flooded cave in thailand before the weather closes in. moving towards a trade war? a wide range of chinese exports will be hit by donald trump's 25% tariffs from today. i'm nuala mcgovern in london. also in the programme: police investigating the latest novichok poisoning case in britain say the victims probably picked up something used in the attack on sergei skripal four months ago. it is completely unacceptable for oui’ it is completely unacceptable for our people to be either deliberate or accidental targets, our people to be either deliberate oraccidentaltargets, orfor our people to be either deliberate or accidental targets, orfor our streets, parks, towns to be dumping grounds for poison. and we'll hear from this exhausted—looking man here — he's just become the first person to kayak solo across the tasman sea.

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 6am in chiang rai, in northern thailand, where the authorities are in a race against time to rescue 12 boys and their football coach, who've been trapped in a flooded cave for almost two weeks. the children were found on a rocky ledge around 4 kilometres from the mouth of the cave on monday. the rescuers face many challenges. some parts of the cave are too narrow, and more heavy rain is forecast. the boys are being taught the basics of diving, some need to learn how to swim, but it's feared that option could be too risky.

our south east asia correspondent jonathan head is there. how long will they stay down there? the boys are now getting care and food, but the thai authorities are still debating whether to risk bringing them out quickly or waiting, possibly for months. dozens of volunteers are helping the navy divers. this is an exhausting and sometimes dangerous operation. this television actor is one of them. "water is the main obstacle," he says. "if we can get the water level down, the boys can be brought out." but while a massive pumping effort is reducing it in the first section of caves, it's having less effect deeper in, where the boys are trapped. so, the thai army has been taking

equipment to the other end of the mountains to try and lower the water table here, close to their location. they have a number of ideas they want to try. but their first effort has been to divert the streams which feed the underground pools. we followed them up, alongside pipes that had been laid just in the past few days. this creek has completely dried up. a week ago it was filled with water. so you can see that this project, with all these pipes, is definitely having an impact. higher up, we were shown in newly built dam. work like this is now going on all over these mountains. no—one is sure yet how much they can bring down the water that is blocking the boys‘ escape, or whether they'll win the battle against the imminent monsoon rain. they just know that

they have to try. jonathan head, bbc news, tham luang caves, northern thailand. sophie long joins us from thailand. thank you so much. a compelling, fascinating story. what is the latest you are hearing? thanks. i am just outside the entrance to the cave and it is very quiet, still early, six a.m.. you can probably hear the pumps and generators. this isa hear the pumps and generators. this is a round—the—clock operation. preparation for perhaps a potential rescue effort. they are pumping out the water from the caves. they have been doing that since the boys were found. hundreds of millions of litres have been pumped out. that is changing the conditions inside the caves. last night we saw them feeding in pipes to put more into the chamber. they say that is

because there are more people in there. the boys are being kept company by navy seals and they have medics with them. there are questions also about the help of some of the boys. this has been an issue. they have been given foil bla nkets issue. they have been given foil bla n kets to issue. they have been given foil blankets to keep warm. it is cold and dark and wet. they are trying to keep them warm and keep up their strength. not just that keep them warm and keep up their strength. notjust that but keep them warm and keep up their strength. not just that but also that morale as well and what they are trying to do although we haven't got confirmation that they have achieved it but they are trying to get a fibre optic cable in so the boys can speak to and maybe see their parents. they have been in there now, nuala, 13 days, day 13 today, so the main effort is reducing the water level so that hopefully they will be able to get the boys out the way they came in. we saw them take in swimming gear for the boys last night but i have to say as we stand here now it doesn't feel like any rescue attempt is imminent. they are, though, having said that, fighting the clock. there are cranes, heavy rains, forecast on sunday so they are doing all they can to bring down

the water level so that hopefully a window of opportunity might present itself between now and then. and just briefly, sophie, you mentioned they brought in swimming gear. what sort of swimming gear? swimming gear for the boys and they are trying to teach them how to dive because, as we heard injonathan‘s report there, we heard injonathan‘s report there, we don't know if they will be able to bring about this way. they are bringing down the water levels hopefully so they don't have to do a full scuba—diving operation. remember, many of the boys can't swim and none of them have diving experience. we even heard from the expert cave divers, the two british quys expert cave divers, the two british guys who found them on monday that it was a complicated and problematic dies and they are very deep inside the caves. we heard yesterday from the caves. we heard yesterday from the governor of the province running the governor of the province running the operation that it takes six hours to reach the boys and then five hours back out again —— dives. so long rescue operation ahead. thank you very much. sophie long

updating us from just outside the cave. let's take a look at some of the day's other news: when president trump and xijinping met in november, they were all smiles and handshakes, but a lot can change in a matter of months, and the trade war between the us and china is about to step up. in the next few hours, the us starts imposing tariffs of 25% on $34 billion worth of chinese exports, including industrial machinery and medical devices. china has hit back with tariffs on american agricultural produce. so are the world's two largest economies on the brink of a fully—fledged trade war? here's our china correspondentjohn sudworth. here isjust one here is just one of the products on the us tariff list. 12,000 of these chinese built machines have been shipped to america this year. they trade that is about to be flattened.

translation: an extra 25% tax trade that is about to be flattened. translation: an extra 2596 tax of course affects us very much. it will reduce our potential profits. is cf moto stealing american jobs?“ reduce our potential profits. is cf moto stealing american jobs? if you ta ke moto stealing american jobs? if you take a look at our factory you will realise we have got where we are on oui’ realise we have got where we are on our own strength and by respecting international rules. but such individual protests are now in vain. china's in credible economic success , china's in credible economic success, donald trump argues, has been built on bending the rules. in particular, the large—scale theft of us intellectual property. tariffs he hopes will force china to change its behaviour. china hopes its matching ta riffs behaviour. china hopes its matching tariffs on us imports will force america to back off. if it is not yet a fully fledged trade war, then it is the beginnings of one. mr trump is threatening a massive

escalation, moving beyond the relatively obscure products on the current list to almost everything china produces. for decades, successive us presidents have, or whatever the difficulties and differences, seen trade with china asa differences, seen trade with china as a good thing. not any more. donald trump is doing precisely what he said he would on the campaign trail. taking the fight to factories like this one, where falling orders may very quickly translate into lost jobs. the world's two largest economies are careering into the unknown. there is little sign of meaningful dialogue and no one seems ready to put on the brakes. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. also making news today: at least one person has died, and dozens more are missing, after a boat capsized off the coast of the thai resort town, phuket. the boat was carrying nearly 100 mostly chinese tourists when high winds and large waves caused the boat to overturn.

at least 19 people have been killed and a0 injured after an explosion at a fireworks warehouse in tultepec, central mexico. the dead include at least one child, along with a number of emergency services workers who died trying to rescue those trapped inside. the embattled head of the us environmental protection agency, scott pruitt, has resigned. he's been mired in scandals surrounding his spending, ethics and management while in government. donald trump took to twitter to announce he'd accepted the resignation, saying "scott has done an outstanding job, and i will always be thankful to him." there's been action and upsets at wimbledon today, with kyle edmund booking a meeting centre court against three—time champion novak djokovic. meanwhile, defending champion garbine muguruza is out after a loss to alison van uytvanck. there's more excitement on the way on friday, roger federer taking on germany's jan—lennard struff in the men's singles,

while both venus and serena williams will compete in the third round. and facebook has been forced to apologise after it censored parts of the us declaration of independence. a local paper in texas posted excerpts of the document in the run up to independence day. but facebook‘s algorithms deemed found some parts, including a reference to "merciless indian savages," to be hate speech. facebook‘s now allowing the images to be reposted. the us secretary of state is heading back to north korea again, as the diplomatic dance over the country's nuclear programme continues. but mike pompeo is under pressure to speed things up. he's expected to hold private talks with kim jong—un, and he'll likely be pressing the north korean leader to keep to the agreements made in singapore. the latest trip comes amid accusations that the regime is backsliding on its commitment to denuclearisation.

joining me now from seoul with more details is the bbc‘s mariko 0i. now, mariko, this is mike pompeo's third round of talks with the north koreans. what's expected 7 third round of talks with the north koreans. what's expected? well, sharanjit, as you mentioned, pressure is mounting on mr pompeo to get something more than just words from kim jong—un because as you mentioned when he met that president trump they agree to denuclearisation of the korean peninsular, yet evidence from us intelligence officers seems to suggest that north korea continues to work on its nuclear and missile programmes. mind you, that doesn't violate what mr kim committed to in singapore, but of course experts are starting to doubt how sincere he is and how committed he is in peace talks. the

us, though, at the same time, seems to be softening its approach as well. remember, after the singapore summit, they were talking about com plete summit, they were talking about complete and irreversible, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation, but they have changed that to something more realistic, apparently. the final, fully verified denuclearisation. and that's after south korean officials advised washington that the previous goal was somewhat unachievable. that kim jong—un would probably see himself as more honourable to regime change, so the us has definitely softened their stance as well. but a lot is at stake if mr pompeo can achieve something from this trip. this is his first... this is his third trip as you mentioned. the first since his historic summit in singapore. the first overnight trip as well for mr pompeo. all right. certainly a lot of pressure on him to deliver some results, as you say.

evidence suggests the north koreans are continuing to expand their nuclear programme. so what kind of potential tactics can he use? well, that's a very good question, sharanjit leyl, and whether or not we get any updates, we don't know the answer to that. because during his last, previous visits tojohn —— john yangon, we managed to get some updates during his stay. we don't know whether mr pompeo will be accompanied by any journey less know whether mr pompeo will be accompanied by anyjourney less at this stage so we might have to wait until he gets to tokyo to meet with the japanese and foreign ministers where he will also be holding a press c0 nfe re nce . where he will also be holding a press conference. marie here in britain, the government has accused russia of treating the country as "dumping ground for poison" after a second incident involving a nerve agent. two people from the town of amesbury

in the south of england are critically ill. police say they handled a "contaminated item." they fell ill on saturday just 8 miles from where the former russian spy, sergei skripal, and his daughter were poisoned in march. moscow has denied being involved in either of the incidents. june kelly reports. this is dawn sturgess in a store in salisbury last friday, seen on cctv buying drinks. 2a hours later she was in intensive care. she and charlie rowley fell ill within hours of each other and both remain critical in hospital. like all their family members, charlie rowley‘s brother is just hoping for some positive news. he is my younger brother. i love him to bits. i don't want anything to happen to him. and yet, it has. how would you deal with it? you know? it's heartbreaking. the couple became contaminated when they handled the poison,

according to scotland yard, which is this investigation. counterterrorism officers are working with the local wiltshire force and four months on from the skripal poisoning, police here are trying to reassure the public. our top priority now and always will be the safety of everybody across our communities. to that end, people in amesbury and salisbury will see a significant increase in the amount of police officers and resources that we have here available. charlie rowley was at this church social event on saturday in the hours before he collapsed. he looked a bit out of sorts, you could sense something was not right. one would have assumed it it was possibly alcohol, we don't know for sure. this footage shows him being taken into salisbury district hospital. dawn sturgess had already been admitted — as a friend who didn't want to appear

on screen — described. dawn is a happy, caring, loving person. she looks after everyone, really. i could sit here and talk and dawn and charlie are the ones in hospital and potentially fighting for their lives. in wiltshire, a number of locations where it is believed the couple were before they collapsed are now cordoned off. they fell ill hours apart at charlie's flat in muggleton road in amesbury. also closed is a baptist centre nearby and a local branch of boots the chemist. in salisbury eight miles away, a hostel, john baker house, where dawn sturgess lived, has now been closed. so too have the queen elizabeth gardens in the city. the gardens are close to the malting shopping centre and a bench where sergei and yulia skripal were found collapsed in march. the skripal home is also nearby. the medical team who nursed julia and sergei skripal are now fighting to save these new victims. this is an expanding police

investigation and the biggest questions are where and how were this couple poisoned? you're watching newsday on the bbc. also on the programme: the first man to kayak solo from australia to new zealand tells us how he did it. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly, that was cloned in a laboratory

using a cell from another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit, at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering the record that had stood for 34 years. and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm nuala mcgovern in london. our top stories: rescuers in thailand are stepping up their efforts to get the trapped boys out of a flooded cave in before the weather closes in. police investigating the latest novichok poisoning case in britain say the victims probably picked up something, used in the attack on sergei skripal, four months ago.

let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the china daily has a warning for washington as tariffs take effect, the ministry of commerce saying america is opening fire on the entire world and vowed to fight back by targeting us products. the new york times says art lovers in the big apple could be in for some disappointment because america's largest performing arts complex is struggling. the lincoln centre hall of fame has been postponed as a summer of fame has been postponed as a summer festival has been scrapped. the japan times shows the nation's sporting heroes getting a very warm welcome home. let's take a look at the scene. this was the scene when

the scene. this was the scene when the samurai blues got back from the world cup. hundreds ofjoyous football fa ns world cup. hundreds ofjoyous football fans were on hand to greet them. that brings you up—to—date with some of the papers. what about on line? so many smartphones bear! let's look at what is trending. this is the picture of the bunch. the wild bananas of madagascar are apparently on the brink of extinction with five mature trees left. scientists say the plant may hold the secret to keeping bananas save for the future so keeping bananas save for the future so people on the island nation are keeping their eyes... peeled. and to a woman working at a number's order founded by mother teresa, accused of allegedly selling of founded by mother teresa, accused of allegedly selling 01:14 —day—old baby. it happened in eastern india and although the order has more than 3000 nuns worldwide. the information that we've got,

there has been no comment from the woman accused or the missionaries of charity, the organisation she was involved with. she was working at a women's refuge, a charity were basically young, mostly underage it seems unmarried women who are pregnant could go to have their babies and it seems as though some of those babies were then privately put for adoption. that is illegal, you are supposed to go through the proper government channels and there isa proper government channels and there is a whole process. certainly since the last few years, one of the groups, when the government introduced this, says they didn't wa nt introduced this, says they didn't want any part of it. they stopped formally doing adoptions. their concerns were that some of the people who were adopting the children might be people they didn't feel were appropriate, for example, single mothers or couples who weren't married. they lost control

in the decision—making. actually, because of these changes, is created much more of a demand, our market if you like. that's what seems to have happened in this case, according to police. a new zealand man has become the first to kayak solo from australia to new zealand. it took scott donaldson two months to make the 3,000 kilometre journey across the tasman sea — paddling 16 hours a day — sleeping inside the kayak, wearing a seat belt in case it capsized. 0n the way he had to deal both sharks and six metre waves, and here he is speaking to the bbc after returning to land. there was one particular sharp that was “— there was one particular sharp that was —— shark that was very interested in my rudder and we had a discussion for about half an hour,

40 discussion for about half an hour, a0 minutes, he came in, went away very agitated, probably a bit lonely like me. nothing fragile out their last very long at all. the solo attachments got pounded. there is tons of water that smashed over that boatin tons of water that smashed over that boat in the rough weather. you've got the whole range out there. you saw some amazing stuff and it was anywhere from the millpond, that didn't happen very often, to over six metres, i didn't measure it and some of the solar panels gave way. about four solar panels that got hammered off, basically. just wanted to ta ke hammered off, basically. just wanted to take goes down from seeking the rest of the solar but the integrity of the boat, its carbon fibre, its top grade, top—quality and a cough and really, it's about that size so it's just a case of practice, you get to spend one night in there and cope and then two nights and so on so cope and then two nights and so on so there was a lot of mental skills

going on to learn how to cope with all of that. there was an amazing crowd, a few thousand there, the beach was full which was pretty nice because it was a pretty cold miserable night switch was to see everybody and a little bit of sensory overload for a while. stay with us. social media is a playground for the young but understanding privacy controls is often beyond many adults. and before we go, let's take a look at these rather well—heeled runners. the stilettoed sprinters hit the streets of spanish capital as part of madrid's gay pride celebrations. well, i'm sure you will know what

i'm going to say, we are in for a hot and sunny day, no changes to our weather and in fact the weekend is looking particularly hot across england, which is expected to rise. i will say though there is a chance of one or two storms across south—eastern parts of the country on friday were leased a big downpours. we had that on thursday, tunbridge wells with some flash flooding. a lot of clear whether across the country now, no widespread cloud rain or anything like that but the heat is so intense it has been sparking off some showers. this is a picture from thursday from east sussex where we had some downpours and could see further downpours around sussex in kent and may greater london a bit late on friday afternoon. in the short—term, the early hours of friday look fairly quiet across the uk, no rain out there. temperatures mundy, 17, the starting temperature

in london. the team in newcastle. a bit fresher in rule parts of scotland. as we head through friday morning, into the afternoon, it's basically sunny. a bit of their weather cloud developing so it may not be clear blue skies that its sunny enough in those temperatures will peak at around 30 degrees in london. 30 on thursday, we will get that on friday. to the north, co mforta bly that on friday. to the north, comfortably warm. the low to mid—20s and those showers around kent and sussex at some point. through the weekend, familiar pattern. weather systems away to the north, there could be a frontjust about sneaking into weston, north—western parts of scotla nd into weston, north—western parts of scotland later on in the weekend, sunday, but still a while away. saturday, lots of clear whether around in the morning, lots of sunshine in the afternoon. temperatures will be skyrocketing across the south, up to 31. bertie is not of question in the midlands and in the north of the country, northern ireland scotland, temperatures up into the mid—20s.

come sunday, pete continues to build across many parts of the uk. notice the cold front, a weak cold front, a bit of cloud, some spots of rain, you see the yellow colours so a lot fresher for our friends in the outer hebrides and western isles, around 16, cool north atlantic air but the heat is very much present across parts of england and wales. hot sunday on the way and beyond that, guess what? little change. the heatwave continued. temperatures expected to remain high. i'm nuala mcgovern with bbc world news. our top story: rescuers in thailand are stepping up their efforts to get the trapped boys out of a flooded cave before the weather closes thousands of litres of water have been pumped out of the caves, bringing the flood levels down.

but the window of opportunity for any rescue is not expected to last long, as more rain is expected on sunday. police investigating the latest novichok poisoning case in britain say the victims probably picked up something used in the attack on sergei skripalfour months ago. charlie rowley and dawn sturgess are critically ill in hospital since saturday. and this story is trending on bbc.com: there's concern about these wild banana trees in madagascar, which are on the brink of extinction. scientists say the plants need to be saved, as they may hold the secret to keeping other bananas safe from disease in the future. but there are only five mature trees left in the wild. that's all. stay with bbc world news.