hello everyone and welcome. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: president trump's backtracks on his comments about russia. just a slip of the tongue, he now says. my sentence should have been i don't see any reason why it wouldn't be russia. sort of a double negative. with some of the boys from the thai cave about to be released from hospital, a mural thanking their rescuers is revealed. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: shocking footage of another aboriginal deaths in custody. the court sees footage of the victim pinned down and unable to breeze. —— breathe. and from the track to the field. usain bolt is offered the chance to try out for an australian football team. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. glad you could join us.

it's 7am in singapore, midnight in london, and 7pm in washington, where president trump has backtracked in spectacular fashion after his meeting with president vladimir putin. mr trump said he now had no reason not to believe russia meddled in the 2016 election, after suggesting otherwise at a press conference in helsinki on monday. and he expressed faith in the verdict of us intelligence on the matter — another apparent reversal. this all follows heavy criticism in washington for his initial comments. chris buckler reports. with president trump, nothing comes without a little drama. even what some might regard as an apology. i have a full faith in our intelligence agencies. oops, theyjust turned off the light. that must be the

intelligence agencies. after so much outrage, he had little choice but to shed some light on what he said in helsinki, as he appeared to support vladimir putin's claim that russia didn't meddle in america's presidential election. i would like to clarify just in case it wasn't. in a key sentence in my remarks, i said the word ‘would' instead of ‘wouldn‘t‘. the sentence should have been, ‘i don't see any reason why i wouldn't', or ‘why it wouldn't be russia.‘ but what donald trump did yesterday was to betray the women and men of the cia, the fbi and to betray the american public, and that is why i use the term, that this is nothing short of treasonous. former intelligence chiefs, political opponents and even several senior members of his own republican party had lined up to criticise the president, and question his claim that it's better to forget the past when there are real, present—day concerns about russian activities. i understand the desire and the need to have good relations,

that's perfectly reasonable, but russia is a menace that does not share our values. so should president trump be rebuked? i just... that was a question he didn't answer. germany is a captive of russia... but republicans were embarrassed by the stark contrast of the combative trump who angrily challenged old allies at the nato summit, compared to the president who appeared all too cosy with the old enemy and sided with president putin over his own intelligence agencies. with a shower of heavy criticism, president trump has taken cover under the simple claim he misspoke. but voters in virginia seemed more than a little unsure what exactly america's foreign policy is. it's look like we're being friendly with people we shouldn't be, and being unfriendly with the people we should be. i think president trump could have done a betterjob. but also, i realise he is not, you know, he is not a politician.

i feel like we are in the dark on things, and we've been given twists from the president as far as this is true, this is not true. and with investigations still ongoing into allegations of interference and collusion, it's notjust the white house that —— looking to shed light on what russia might have been responsible for. how we as president trump's explanation going down in washington? our correspondent david willis gave details. isa is a seismic u—turn, there is no other way to describe it. he said a slip of the tongue, i said one thing, i meant to say another. he was clearly constructing this very carefully managed damage limitation exercise in the face of the

appropriate that was raining down on him in the light of those remarks in helsinki on monday, and it was not just the misspeaking if you like that has incensed people here and around the world, but also the fact that he referred to president putin as strong and also powerful. —— opprobrium. president trump also went on to say that he had full faith in his intelligence agencies and that his administration would be safeguarding the outcome of elections here but senior republicans are still very much smarting from all this, they have wa nted smarting from all this, they have wanted to make it clear that they wa nt to wanted to make it clear that they want to be tough on russia. indeed, the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said today a lot of us know what happened in 2016, preferring to the russian meddling in the election there, and it had better not happen again. as for the democrats, the senate majority leader chuck schumer called president trump's reversal 2a hours too late. yeah, i mean the damage

limitation exercise is what we saw today from donald trump. do you think that now he is going to be able to put this behind him? you know what, i think that remains to be seen. republicans certainly now turning their attention more and more on russia, was democrats are focusing their attention on the president himself. where this plays with the base, i think lily remains to be seen. there is a lot coming up that will, if you like, control the republicans into a sense of unity if they did have this giving is with president trump's remarks and of course, many of them did. —— corral. i'm talking about a new election to the supreme court, the elections are just around the corner, but after that we could see some real fractures in support for president trump, depending on what goes down between now and then.

also this hour: south africa is marking 100 years since the birth of nelson mandela, and the centrepiece of the celebrations has been a powerful speech by former us president, barack 0bama. mr 0bama was greeted by a crowd of 15,000 in johannesburg. he's made few public appearances since leaving the white house last year, but has often credited mandela for being one of the great inspirations in his life. the two met briefly in 2005. let's have a listen to what he said. 0n nelson mandela's100 birthday, we must stand and process a moment in time in which two very different visions of humanity's future compete for the hearts and the minds of citizens around the world, two different stories, two different narratives about who we are and who we should be. how should we respond?

should we see that wave of hope that we felt with madiba's release from prison, with the berlin wall coming down, should we see that hope that we had as naive and misguided? the uk prime minister has won another crucial brexit vote against mps in her own party. theresa may's government fought off a challenge from a dozen pro—european conservative mps, who demanded the uk stays in a customs union in the event of no deal with the european union. well, the government did lose a separate vote, that will force it to cooperate with the eu on the regulation of medicines after brexit. one of the most expensive films china has ever made has been pulled from cinemas after a dismal opening weekend. the fantasy epic, asura, cost more than $100 million, but tookjust $7 million in its first few days. it's thought the producers are planning to rework the movie, which took six years to make, and release it again. you may have seen plenty of pictures

of kimjong—un looking happy and pointing at things. but have a look at these images we're about to show you. they've been released by north korean media, showing a very different leader. kim jong—un is seen publicly berating officials during visits to project sites across the country. state media says kimjong—un was angry a power plant hadn't been finished. it's taken 17 years under construction, and he was said to be "appalled" bathtubs were "dirtier than fish tanks". you can almost feel the fear of the people standing next to him. analysts say kim wants to be seen as an economic reformer. the 12 thai boys and their coach, who endured 17 days stranded in the darkness of a flooded cave in northern thailand, are to be exposed to the media glare of the outside world later, when they are expected to be discharged from hospital. obviously, there is eager anticipation in thailand to see

the boys out of hospital after spending so long underground, and to hear their story. howard johnson is in chiang rai, where he's been speaking to artists who are working on a mural telling the story of the legendary rescue operation. what we can see behind the local artists putting the finishing touches to this mural of the heroes of rescue operation which saw the 12 boys and their coach freed from the cave. we can see behind this year, feature prominently is saman gunan, the former tyre navy seal diver who tragically lost his life during this operation. earlier, we spoke to some locals came to look at the artwork. -- thai. locals came to look at the artwork. —— thai. she told she was really pleased the boys were being discharged from hospital later, she said it was better than being the lottery. what we've heard is that

the boys will leave the around 1800 local time, and we will see some of the boys, not all of them speak to the boys, not all of them speak to the media for the first time since this ordeal began. they had been vetted, questions have been better to make sure that none of them trigger any sort of ordeal or unhappy memories of what happened while they were in the cave. now after that, they will be able to return home to their friends and family for the first time in nearly a month is ordeal began. —— since this ordeal began. earlier, i spoke to psychological therapist and trauma specialist justin havens, and i asked him what sort of support the boys need now. i think the most important thing, as has already been said, is that any media attention is managed, questions are screened beforehand, and that everything is done to try and that everything is done to try and reintegrate the boys back into

normal life as maps as possible. although there is a massive amount of media interest, they really want to be protected from that and able to be protected from that and able to reintegrate with their families, friends, and to keep the group cohesion that we have seen in the last kind of week with extras of them in hospital together and so on. so how can they be reintegrated into society, especially with all of this media attention? well, i think as i just said, careful management and not exposing them to too many different things, not splitting them up, trying to keep the group together, and the psychological support, hopefully that is the right kind and it will be around kind of watchful waiting and screening for those who may be struggling with some of the classic symptoms of trauma such as avoidance of maybe dark faces and water, hyper arousal, may be dreaming, having disturbed sleep and possibly nightmares. and all that, over a period of four to

six weeks, we would expect those symptoms gradually reduce, but we must be really careful that they may be one or two or three, perhaps even the assistant coach, who may need further support. and there are some very proven and effective therapies that can help completely alleviate any problems. this attention from the media will notjust been a press conference that they will also be followed wherever they go, so the media, justin, really has to be responsible to the boys and the coach ‘s conditions. responsible to the boys and the coach 's conditions. indeed, and i think responsible is the right word. they do not want to do anything to aggravate the situation. of course people are interested to learn what has happened, it is a really important period, the first four to six weeks after the mac experience like this, to allow the natural healing process to happen. and does briefly before you go, what help can the parents give the boys? well,

very much about normalising the experience. they may be experiencing lots of different reactions, they wa nt to lots of different reactions, they want to be encouraged to talk about it, do not hide away from it but to know that there are also some effective treatments, such as eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, we can really accelerate the treatment of any traumatic memories that are left, so that the end result is actually these boys growing through this experience, rather than being diminished by its. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... an australian court investigates the death of an aboriginal man in custody, a case that has shocked the country. also on the programme... the world's fast as nan usain bolt has a goal to win a place on australian football team. —— fast as nan. —— fastest man.

the flamboyant italian fashion designer, gianni versace, has been shot dead in florida. the multimillionaire was gunned down outside his home in the exclusive south beach district of miami. emergency services across central europe are stepping up their efforts to contain the worst floods this century. nearly 100 people have been killed. broadway is traditionally called the great white way by americans, but tonight it's completely blacked out. it's a timely reminder to all americans of the problems the energy crisis has brought to them. 200 years ago today, a huge parisian crowd stormed the bastille prison, the first act of the revolution which was to topple the french monarchy. today, hundreds of thousands thronged the champs—elysee for the traditional military parade. finally, fairy penguins have been staggering ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on huge shoal of their favourite food, pilchards. some had eaten so much they could barely stand. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: president trump has said that he accepts that russia tried to interfere in the 2016 elections, directly contradicting what he said after meeting vladimir putin in helsinki. the 12 boys trapped in a cave complex in northern thailand are expected to be released from hospital later on wednesday. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the gulf news is dominated by american presidents past and present. the picture shows barack 0bama on stage in south africa at an event to honour the memory of nelson mandela. but the lead story covers the backlash caused by president trump, as the newspaper puts it, aligning himself with vladimir putin. the philippine daily inquirer

covers a plan to change the constitution, limiting presidenial terms in office. its main picture splash is mr putin and mr trump — with the headline that us lawmakers have ‘blasted' their summit. for the japan times, the lead story is a bit closer to home. it descibes the massive trade deal between japan and the european union. an inquest is being held into the death of an indigenous australian man who died in custody after being pinned down by guards. as part of the case, shocking video footage has been shown in court of five officers restraining david dungaer. prison officers have denied their actions were excessive. the death of the 26—year—old has reignited long—simmering anger about the deaths of other indigenous australians in custody.

indigenous adults are now 13 times more likely to be incarcerated than non—indigenous australians. i spoke to phil mercer in sydney. he told more about the background of this case. this is a coroner ‘s hearing in syd ney this is a coroner ‘s hearing in sydney into the death of david dungay sydney into the death of david dungaer, he died at sydney's long bayjail in dungaer, he died at sydney's long bay jail in december 2015 dungaer, he died at sydney's long bayjail in december 2015 and that video you refer to is pretty graphic in its content, showing prison guards rushing in to a cell at long bayjail and restraining guards rushing in to a cell at long bay jail and restraining david dungay. he is later transferred to another cell, where he is injected with a sedative and throughout this he says on a dozen occasions that he couldn't breathe and within minutes of being given that sedative he stopped breathing and died and that is the focus of this two—week

inquest here in australia's biggest city. also during that video, he said he couldn't breathe and the prison officers said if you can talk you can breed. they said that they we re you can breed. they said that they were not using excessive force. we said in the introduction that this is reigniting a debate about the treatment of indigenous australians in custody. just give us an idea of how serious that is a problem for australia. the prison guards who have been questioned at this inquest said that it was an excessive to ask a specialist squad to go into the cells. there were concerns that the inmate was eating biscuits that would elevate his blood sugar levels of. he was mentally ill and a diabetic and apparently he was becoming aggressive before the squad went in. as you say, this is highlighting the plight of

indigenous australians in the criminal justice system indigenous australians in the criminaljustice system here in australia. aboriginal australians make open —— make up over a quarter of australia's prison population. generally speaking, they make up about 3% of the national population must clearly they are overrepresented in the criminal justice system and this comes put five years after a royal commission that investigated aboriginal deaths in custody and indigenous leaders in this country say that in that a5, 26 yea rs or this country say that in that a5, 26 years or so since that report, not enough has changed. very briefly, when are we likely to get an outcome of this inquest? —— 25. when are we likely to get an outcome of this inquest? -- 25. this is a two—week hearing before the inquest in sydney. we are expecting to hear more evidence from prison guards as well as other experts too. the whole purpose of this is to try to shed some light on a terrible death in

australia's, one of australia's biggest presence of. —— prisons. eight—time olympic champion usain bolt is in talks for a trial to play football in australia. the jamaican former sprinter is negotiating a six—week stint with the central coast mariners — a deal could see him play for a season in australian football's a—league. world's fastest man says right now his concerns are on how well he plays the and not whom he plays for. —— he plays and not whom he plays for. earlier i spoke to shaun mielekamp, chief executive of the central coast mariners. i asked him if it was a done deal. it is extremely close. we are very confident. we know we may not be the only club in the world looking at usain bolt, but we have every confidence that this has every merit. you say he is not a traditional foot wall, merit. you say he is not a traditionalfoot wall, a sprint king winning so many gold medals on the

0lympics stage, so why have him on the football team when there are much better players than him. that is why we are looking to do a trial to see what level he is at. he has trained some of the biggest teams in the world, so when he comes out here we have also appointed a former assistant coach from manchester united to come over as a sporting director and oversee this programme and if he is up for it, fantastic and if he is up for it, fantastic and if he is up for it, fantastic and if he is not, we will give him a lot of feedback about how he needs to improve. let's give him a chance of. you have done your scouting reports, what have you read and seen so far? how skilled is usain bolt as a football player? every report shows that when he starts training and over the course of time he dramatically improves. feedback has been strong in that aspect. he has a very good left foot which we are excited to seat and with some good coaching and some help, who knows,

he could be absolutely fantastic. the deal is basically a six—week trial, so what will he just be training with the club or will he be given a chance to play a national game? will put him in into some preseason games, so he can deal with the rigours of football. everybody can see how could he is on the he will either pass the trial or we will need to put some or work in. in the first place, how was he able to get into the picture of the league when richey dortmund is part of one of the best leagues in the world? all i can say is that i give full credit to the agent involved, a gentleman who has done an unbelievable effort here working with his management and understanding that this has been

going on for a good four or five months and hopefully it all plays out the way we want. good luck to usain bolt and hopefully he has a career in football. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. facebook, google and twitter face accusations of bias and self—censorship on capital hill. find out more on asia business report. and before we go, let's take a look at these pictures. eight to a boat in hawaii was hit by a volcanic explosion emanating from a volcanic explosion emanating from a volcano. these boats are facing tighter restrictions because it 26 passengers were injured by what has been described as a lava bomb from the volcano, authorities are investigating whether the boat went to close to the molten rock. it is

understood that the boat operators have received special permission to get close to the volcano. it is also understood that one of the passengers broke their leg in that incident. just to highlight how dangerous the situation remains there with the volcano in hawaii. you have been watching you say on the bbc. before we go, bringing you a scene unfolding in washington short time ago. is what is happening outside of the white house at the moment. protests following president trump and the statement he made in helsinki yesterday where he appeared to side with vladimir putin instead of us intelligence services. and banners called the president a liar. more to come, stay with us. hello there. depending on how you look at it, some lucky gardens

receiving rainfall on monday and tuesday but the bus but a repeat of the country on tuesday was dry with plenty of sunshine around and glorious sunset scenes up and down the country. there were 80 showers around across northern scotland, this is a view looking out to the coast of peterhead, with some downfalls cross the water. east showers will continue to fizzle out during the early part of wednesday and then generally speaking most places will end up being dry, some clear spells and quite a warm one across southern areas but across scotla nd across southern areas but across scotland and northern areas, a future we areas. to wednesday, starting off on a larger dry note and for most places it will be a dry afternoon as well. shower clouds will gobble up across northern and western areas, by tuesday some of the heaviest ones could be across parts of scotland debut in the north and the south, a risk of seeing a thundery downpours to pick maybe a few showers for northern ireland and a few across western england into

wales but the vast majority will be dry, plenty of sunny spells with white wind, it is going to feel a little bit warmer than it did on tuesday. across england and wales, 23 to 26 celsius in the south—east, closer to south —— closer to 18 in scotla nd closer to south —— closer to 18 in scotland and northern ireland. 0nto thursday, a dry day, good spells of sunshine and it will feel a bit warmer, but more of a trip brees and cloud picking up across scotland and northern ireland ahead of this weather front moving south eastwards at. notice the deep orange colours building in england and wales, which is significantly higher than at the start of the week, one or two places in the south—east reaching 29 or 30. this is the weather system i was talking about. a tangle of weather fronts next, outbreaks of rain to the north—west slowly sinking its way south eastwards but it will be a weakening feature. more clout across the northern half of the country with outbreaks of patchy rain into northern england and wales, weakening but then we could see

maybe a few heavy showers moving to the south—east, the near continent could be thundery, keep tuned into the forecast. quite warm in the south, fresh across the north, 18— 20 degrees. that weatherfront, a weakening feature towards the south, generally speaking for the weekend it's high—pressure exerting yourself, most leases dry with a few patches of rain around and there should be plenty of sunshine around again. i'm babita sharma with bbc world news. our top story — donald trump has blamed a slip of the tongue for saying moscow did not meddle in american elections. his statement at the helsinki summit triggered outcry among american politicians, but he has now said he has full faith in the us intelligence services' claim of russian interference. the families of the boys trapped in the thai cave are preparing for their homecoming. the boys are expected to be discharged from hospital later on wednesday. and the world's fastest man,

usain bolt, has set himself a new goal — it's to become a professional footballer. he's now been offered a trial by the central coast mariners in australia, and hopes to swap the track for the field permanently. that's all. you're up to date. stay with us here on bbc world news.