glad you could join us. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: italy declares a state of emergency in genoa after the motorway bridge collapse kills at least 39 people, but some amazing stories of escape. people were running, screaming in italian, "run, out!" "out, cars, out, cars!" "cars!" so we just literally... "kids, run, run," because we didn't know what was happening. in afghanistan, a suicide attack at an educational centre near kabul kills at least 48 people, most of them teenagers. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: who killed the half brother of north korea's leader? two women charged with his murder discover if their trial will continue. and crazy rich asians, it's the first hollywood movie in 25 years to be led by an all—asian cast. live from our studios in singapore and london. this is bbc world news.

it's newsday. good morning. it's 8am in singapore, 1am in london and 2am in the italian city of genoa, where a state of emergency has been declared following tuesday's bridge disaster. prime minister giuseppe conte also said he would make five million euros available from central funds following the collapse, which left 39 people dead and dozens injured. our correspondent, james reynolds, sent this report from genoa. can there be anyone left underneath all this? to find out, rescuers will have to search under every broken concrete slab. but signs of life from beneath the rubble have now died away. translation: we haven't heard any cries since yesterday afternoon,

but we may still find survivors. looking up, you can see that some vehicles have been abandoned right on the edges of the section which is still standing, just ahead of the collapse. a few more seconds, and those drivers would have crashed to the ground. they were all incredibly lucky to survive. nicola and lisa henton—mitchell from oxfordshire were here on holiday with their two kids. they told me they were driving towards the bridge when they saw a commotion up ahead. people started shouting, waving their arms to reverse out the windows. and tooting horns and everything like that. and so we tried to reverse, and we couldn't go anywhere. and the car in front hit the front of our car, and then people were running, screaming in italian, "run, out!" "out, cars, out, cars!" " ca rs! " so we just literally... "kids, run, run," because we didn't know what was happening. we made our sonjust run, and we sort of grabbed our daughter's hand and started running. but we couldn't pick her up because all the car doors were flying away, people everywhere, torrential

rain's coming down. screaming, and our daughter took her shoes off because she was just going to sleep before. she hasn't got her glasses. we left everything in the car, and we just ran for our lives. they took shelter in a motorway tunnel and waited for help. many other drivers ahead of them lost their lives. the victims include roberto robbiano, his wife, ersilia piccinino, and their seven—year—old son samuele. andrea cerulli was 48. he had a young son. he was killed on his way to work. 35—year—old father—of—four, luigi matti altadonna, was driving his work van. matteo bertonati, giovanni battiloro, gerardo esposito and antonio stanzione were all in their 20s, and on their way to spain. they had originally planned to fly,

but they ended up hiring a car instead. the country's prime minister, giuseppe conte, in just his third month as italy's leader, promises immediate steps. translation: these are unacceptable tragedies that should not happen in modern society. this government will do everything to prevent such tragedies from happening again. but this has been promised before. yet for years, successive governments failed to fix italy's crumbling infrastructure. many italians will ask why this new administration should be any different. earlier, james gave us an update on the efforts to find out why the bridge came down. the public prosecutor's office here in genoa will begin a criminal investigation. the prime minister says he wants anyone responsible to be

held to account. mr conte now has access to special funds which will allow him to try to make this area safe, but beyond all that, italy faces wider questions. how has this country perpetuated, over so many years, a culture which has allowed its infrastructure to degrade? italy spends less money on its bridges and roads than other similarly sized european countries, and even when it does spend that money, it's often wasted on corruption or mismanagement. one engineer said about this bridge when it was standing that it was more expensive to maintain it than it would have been to simply knock it down and start all over again. so italy may have to consider having to change the way its country works. james reynolds reporting there. of course, much more on the website,

website. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. the closing arguments have started in the case against president trump's former campaign chairman, paul manafort, who's on trial forfinancialfraud. the case is the first to arise from special counsel robert mueller‘s investigation into alleged russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. here's our washington correspondent, chris buckler. it all dates back to when he worked for pro—russian parties in the ukraine, and it's not in anyway associated with the trump campaign. nonetheless, the white house has been watching this closely, not least because it's been brought by the special counsel, robert mueller, who's of course investigating allegations of russian interference in the 2016 election. now, again, it's nothing to do with that or those claims of collusion but there's been a real political focus on it and the trial itself is taking place just outside washington, but inside washington, they're watching this extremely closely. also making news today: president trump has revoked the security clearance of former cia directorjohn brennan. in a statement, he accused mr brennan of using his access to sensitive information to make

unfounded allegations against the administration. mr brennan said the move was part of president trump's broader effort to suppress freedom of speech and punish critics. police investigating an incident in which a car crashed into barriers outside the houses of parliament have been given more time to question a 29—year—old man. salih khater, who came to britain from sudan, was held on a terrorism charge, and has since been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. new zealand's parliament has banned many foreigners from buying existing homes in the country. the move is aimed at making properties more affordable, and it only applies to non—residents. australians and singaporeans are exempt because of free—trade deals. briony sowden has more. new zealand is attractive for a number of reasons. it's become a sort of sanctuary for the world's rich.

james cameron actually owns a propertyjust outside of wellington in a place called wairarapa, and queenstown, which many people know as a tourist hotspot, has a new resident, peter thiel, the paypal founder from america. he actually gained new zealand citizenship quite controversially after eight days in the country. these post bags contain eight years' worth of mail which israel had been blocking from being delivered to the west bank. the ten tonnes of letters and parcels had been building up in jordan since 2010. israel has released the mail under a one—time agreement. palestinian postal staff injericho say the mail is likely to take a fortnight to sort and deliver. 48 people have been killed and 67 injured in a bomb explosion at an education centre

in the afghan capital, kabul. many of those killed are believed to be teenagers who were getting extra tuition as they prepared for university entrance exams. the taliban has denied involvement. 0ur reporter, shoaib sharifi, has been to the scene of the kabul attack and sent this update. the police say the suicide bomber was on foot and entered through this centre into this very big classroom, housing at least up to 100 students, boys and girls, most of them youngs preparing for university entrance exam. the suicide bomber, according to eyewitnesses, reached here and detonated his explosives, smashing everything, including the ceiling here. unfortunately the casualties were very a lot. we can say, it is not the exact, but it is almost more than 120 boys... here? yes. two of them were injured,

as i have seen, but most of them, u nfortu nately, they have been killed. all the walls of this classroom is stained with blood of students. eyewitnesses say more than what has been reported were killed and wounded in this incident. the taliban were quick to say they were not behind this attack, but in the recent past attacks on shi'ite centres like this in west of kabul have been claimed by the so—called islamic state, daesh. from the scene of that attack there in kabul. the judge in the trial of two women charged with killing kim jong—nam, the half—brother of north korea's leader, is expected to rule later on thursday about whether or not to proceed with the case against them. indonesian national siti aisyah and doan thi huong, who's from vietnam, are accused

of smearing the lethal nerve agent vx over the face of mr kim at kuala lumpur international airport last year. the pair claim they believed they were playing roles in a prank television show. 0ur correspondent, jonathan head, is outside the court in the malaysian capital, kuala lumpur, and joins me now. we are to hear about whether the judge thinks there's simply enough evidence against these two women? this is really the pivotal moment in this quite extraordinary trial, which is after hearing six months of evidence from the prosecution, more than 30 witnesses, more than 200 pieces of evidence, the judge than 30 witnesses, more than 200 pieces of evidence, thejudge has than 30 witnesses, more than 200 pieces of evidence, the judge has to decide at this stage whether there is actually a case against the two women. the prosecution have argued that the two women were culpable in what they described as a professional assassination plot. they've also charged four north

korean men who fled the country on the day kim kimjong—nam was killed last year but very little has been said about north korea's involvement in this trial. the prosecution has focused almost solely about these two very poor women who have been caught up in this and try to argue that they were in their own words professional assassins for the death of kimjong—nam. the defence have argued all along that the two women we re argued all along that the two women were essentially is sucked into an elaborate plan by north korean officials were they believe they we re officials were they believe they were carrying out essentially pranks, they've pointed out lots of practice beforehand, payments made to the women who were recruited in entertainment places here in kuala lumpar. they've also pointed out the failure of the police and the government to pursue the north koreans, who is they say are the masterminds, leaving this case very, very weak. the judge masterminds, leaving this case very, very weak. thejudge must masterminds, leaving this case very, very weak. the judge must decide whether to access the case, push it

forward , whether to access the case, push it forward, in which case we will for the first time here from the two women themselves and from many other witnesses, they face execution by hanging if they're found of culpable murder, or thejudge could dismiss the case, that in itself would be extraordinary. it would mean there would be nobody at all held accountable for this quite bizarre crime, or it's possible he may decide to downgrade the charge and said they weren't responsible for murder, they didn't know what they we re murder, they didn't know what they were doing but perhaps they have some responsibility for his death. that verdict will come through in the next few hours and after that we'll know how malaysia's going to pursue this case. all the way through this, malaysia has downgraded relations with north korea but it hasn't severed limb. it's quite clear a political decision has been made by the previous government and maintained by this government to retain ties and restore them with north korea. there appears no will in the malaysian establishment to pursue north korea's role in this even though everything we've seen so far

suggests that this was a north korean plot and these two women had at best a very minor role in it. lots of interest in it, we saw live images as you were speaking from outside the court. jonathan head from outside the court. thank you so much. an australian politician has refused to apologise for his use of the term final solution during a speech about immigration. the term was a euphemism used by the nazis to refer to their annihilation of the jewish people. senator fraser anning also suggested banning all muslim migrants from entering the country. kristina harazim has more. i believe that the reason for ending all further muslim immigration... fraser anning hasn't yet served a year in australian politics, and already he's making headlines for all the wrong reasons. we have black african muslim gangs terrorising melbourne. we have isis—sympathising muslims trying to go overseas to fight for isis. and while all muslims are not terrorists, certainly all terrorists these days are muslims. senator anning, who's

from the regional city of gladstone in the country's north, was elected to the upper house of parliament earlier this year. a day after making the statement, and he refused to back down or apologise. talk to the people of australia that i do in bars and in cribhuts and places, and you'll find most of them would like to back exactly what i said. mr anning is the sole senator representing katter‘s australian party, a minor party led by fellow queenslander, bob katter. this was his first speech to the senate and what he said next sparked global outrage. the final solution to the immigration problem, of course, is a popular vote. senator anning's remarks are appalling. i condemn them and i reject them in their entirety. i have relatives who went through the holocaust. his comment about the final solution to immigration is insensitive, was ignorant, was divisive and was hurtful. but mr anning denies his words

were a reference to the holocaust. it was two words used. it's the thought police who believe it's an inflammatory comment. party leader bob katter is one of his few supporters. he described mr anning's speech as solid gold. we, as a race of people, we australians, are being buried by a mass migration programme. immigration remains a hot topic in australia, amid concerns aboutjobs and overcrowding in major cities, even as migration numbers continue to fall. kristina harazim, bbc news. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: a preview of crazy rich asians, the first hollywood movie in 25 years to be led by an all—asian cast.

also on the programme: are you hungry? stay with us, because we'll be finding out which countries offer the most delicious food according to a top travel guide. the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutalformer dictator, has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia, where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. two billion people around the world

have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millennium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later, when the sun set over the bay of bengal. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: italy declares a state of emergency in genoa after the motorway bridge collapse that killed at least 39 people. in afghanistan, a suicide attack at an educational centre near kabul kills at least 48 people. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world.

one of the main stories in the gulf news is about pakistan's preparations for the appointment of the country's next prime minister, who is expected to the former cricket star imran khan. the new york times' focus is about the impacts of the trade battle between the us and china. the paper reports that, in recent days, officials in china have summoned exporters to ask about plans to lay off workers or shift supply chains to other countries. and in the strait times, japan's emperor akihito have responding enthusiastically, vieweing it as validating. i've lived here my entire life, although i was born in china, i've never seen a film that has an asian cast, and has them portrayed in such diverse ways, and so glamourously. crazy rich asians stands in stark contrast to most hollywood films, where there is a dearth of asian stories and characters. 0ne survey has found, among top recent hollywood films, asians represented less than around one in 20 of all speaking characters. don't you want nick to be happy? i know you're not what nick needs. and often the asian characters that do appear on screen

reinforce negative stereotypes. crazy rich asians tries to deliver more rounded, authentic depictions of asian men and women. ever since i can remember, my family has been my whole life. crazy rich asians has been the target of some protest, there were complaints that the leading man who has a white british father and malaysian mother, wasn't asian enough for this asian—led film. there has also been some complaint over the representation of singapore in the film, that the local malay and indian populations have been ignored. for the criticism when it comes to the film, there is not a lot of brown figures or actors or people from malaysia or india in the film. absolutely there isn't enough. there should be more of these films, to be able to represent everybody.

but, again, this is a step in the right direction. clearly there is a lot riding on crazy rich asians. its performance at the box office is going to be closely watched. its success at the box office will sort of pave the way or open doors for other films waiting in queue to be greenlighted, for production companies to distribute or to be funded. rachel, these people aren'tjust rich. they're crazy rich. the release of crazy rich asians has been described as a watershed moment for asian representation. right now, the portents look good. the film has been getting strong media exposure, and it has been earning some very positive reviews. tom brook, bbc news, new york. and regular viewers of bbc news will of course recognise henry golding, asa of course recognise henry golding, as a presenter of the travel show. and now he is a hollywood star, and the last hollywood all asian cast movie was back in 1993. i have

already booked my tickets for next week. from crazy rich asians to crazy rich asian food. when you go on holiday, you might be tempted to pick a country which has a cuisine that appeals to you. now, travel writers at lonely planet have compiled a list of the best 500 foodie experiences. three out of the top five come from asia, including malaysian curry, laksa soup in kuala lumpur, japanese sushi in tokyo, and thai som tum green papaya salad in bangkok. earlier i spoke to food writer evelyn chen and asked her what she made of the list. well, it is a fairly good list. very interesting, and asia is indeed coming out very strongly as a destination for food. however, coming out very strongly as a destination forfood. however, i wouldn't necessarily eat som tum destination forfood. however, i wouldn't necessarily eat som turn in bangkok or laksa in kuala lumpur, because we have very good laksa in singapore as well. chilli crab is in

this list, in the top ten. singapore doesn't get enough credit for that, we do doesn't get enough credit for that, wedoa doesn't get enough credit for that, we do a really good job. so what is about the food experience, evelyn, that gets them so high in the rankings? well, i think asia as a region has been getting a lot of attention, because of the growing income, growing population, and we have an array of very interesting cultures and traditions. so when you juxtapose them together, i think it gives us an juxtapose them together, i think it gives us an array juxtapose them together, i think it gives us an array of very interesting food products. this is quite a different kind of list, because it is the food experience. there is always the top 50 or the top 100 best restaurants in asia, so what would be a better list here? top 100 best restaurants in asia, so what would be a better list here7m terms of? in terms of quality of food. perhaps we need to highlight where to eat. because, for example, if we say that chicken rice is one of our signature dishes in singapore, it would help...

that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. hello there. we're looking at quite a changeable spell of weather, really, over the next few days, with some rain around. we'll certainly get some rain as we go on through the next 24 hours. the satellite picture shows a band of cloud pushing in across the united kingdom for today, and this is rain—bearing cloud. now, we have seen three bands of rain that will tend to merge together into one as it moves its way in across england and wales as we go on through the next few hours. so there is some rain on the way to some of us. if you're out early in the morning, a lot of cloud for england and wales, with bursts of heavy rain swinging across western wales, and on towards the midlands and central and southern england. a lot of cloud added to that, and it will feel humid, a fresher feel to the weather in the north—west. a lot of cloud and widespread, frequent heavy thundery showers as we go through thursday morning. so, the forecast through thursday.

0ur band of rain that will spread into east anglia and south—east england, as it pushes that bit further eastwards, it will tend to weaken at times. the rain becomes a little bit lighter as it swings into kent. further north and west, a cloudy morning coming up for scotland and northern ireland, with widespread heavy and at times and at times thundery showers. it will be quite a breezy kind of day as well. sunny spells between those showers as we head through the afternoon, less widespread in northern ireland and a bit of sunshine for wales and south—west england later in the day too. for friday's chart, we've got another area of low pressure i'm kasia madera with bbc news. our top story — the italian government has declared a state of emergency in genoa after the motorway bridge collapse. five million euros will be freed from central funds following the disaster, which left 39 people dead. rescuers say around 15 vehicles are still under the rubble, but there's little hope of finding more survivors. in afghanistan, there's been a suicide attack at an educational centre just west

of the capital kabul. at least 48 people have been killed, scores of students were injured. and this story is popular on bbc.com. scientists beleive they've discovered why some vegetables, including cabbage, broccoli and kale, can reduce the risk of bowel cancers. they say anti—cancer chemicals are produced as the vegetables are digested. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk — police have been given more time to question salih khater. he was held on a terrorism charge, and suspicion of attempted murder,