i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: aretha franklin, known as the queen of american soul music, has died at the age of 76. bushfires in winter. australia's ongoing drought leads to dozens of wildfires in new south wales. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: italian rescuers say efforts to find survivors from the collapsed road bridge will continue for two more days. and one of india's most influential leaders, former prime minister atal bihari vajpayee, has died. he was 93. good morning.

it is 8:00am in singapore, 1:00am in london, and 8:00pm in the evening in detroit, michigan, where the soul singer aretha franklin has died at the age of 76. she was diagnosed with cancer eight years ago, but only retired from performing last year. aretha franklin began singing as a child with a gospel choir. she went on to become a global star, selling more than 75 million records. aleem maqbool is in detroit and sent this report. # all i'm asking... # is for a little respect. # i'm about to give you all of my money...# aretha franklin was peerless, with a voice so stunning it could lift spirits, and so powerful it could, and often did, move those

who heard her to tears. at the church where she first started singing, people who grew up in the same street as her have already started coming to pay tribute. i was born and raised in detroit. born, you know, on her music, raised on her music. oh, yeah, it's a sad day. i'm going to miss her. i'm going to miss seeing her in concert. but i still got her music to the bone, so i'm good. long as i can hear her, i'm good. # you make me feel...# she had...the best voice. and when she sang, you could feel it in your soul, and she always sang something positive and nice. i remember as a kid growing up back in the '505 and '605, and you hate for her to go.

she feels like family. well, this is the very stage where i suppose aretha franklin started to become a star. in fact, many say they were drawn to this church because they heard there was a young singer here, the daughter of the preacher, who had the kind of voice that only came along once in a generation. # i say a little prayerfor you... for all the moulds she broke as a singer, as a successful black woman, aretha franklin came to symbolise more than just a sensational voice. # i say a little prayerfor you...# she became heavily involved in the civil rights movement, with activists like her long—time friend reverend jesse jackson. if you are going to summarise what aretha franklin meant to you, to this country, what would you say? a singer whose music impacted the world, whose sense of social

justice was global. she also fought for dr king. she fought for nelson mandela. she fought for barack 0bama. her sense of community service was as broad—based as her music. aretha sang at the funeral of martin luther king after the civil rights leader's assassination, but she provided the soundtrack to african—american history and progress long after that. # my country, ‘tis of thee... being the most straightforward of choices for barack 0bama to sing at his inauguration, as she had done at two previous presidential inaugurations. he today paid tribute to the woman he says managed to convey in her voice all the power and the pain of the american experience. people in her home city feel they have lost a family member, one who was generous, and who helped give them a sense of worth. she released her final album just last year, and it was clear that, just as she had influenced countless musicians, she still allowed them to influence her, too. # we almost had it all...

but the world has lost a musical giant, who made it to the top in the toughest of times. aretha franklin, the queen of soul. # you make me feel like... stars like paul mccartney, eltonjohn and diana ross have been paying tribute to the soul singer. denise thimes is a jazz vocalist in chicago. she met aretha franklin numerous times as a child and went on to sing at one of her birthday parties. she told me what it was like performing in front of the queen of soul. with a lot of nerves in your stomach, and just a lot of confidence that, you know, you'd take out of the opportunity. but she was just like

singing to family. i mean, it was like singing to my big sister. she made me feel very comfortable. what an experience. and your father knew her, so you as a little girl met her on numerous occasions. what was it like meeting such a person, as a little girl growing up in the united states in the late ‘60s? at nine years old, i thought she was the most beautiful person i had ever seen. i had never seen a person that looked so beautiful, in hair rollers and a scarf. and, at that time, she was just being casual. she came over for breakfast, to have breakfast with my mum and my dad. and we were young, and what have you, and she had come a couple of times. and then to make it full circle, to sing for her 71st birthday party at the ritz carlton, it was just wonderful. i get goosebumps even talking about it now. and, as a singer, you know

what the industry is like. it is tough, it is cutthroat. what was she like? as aretha, the personal aretha, from what i could see, she was a very sweet, giving, loving, caring woman, and that came out in her music. but there was also a side of her that was very business, and you have to be business, as a woman in this business. and so she did not play. she was very by the book. she crossed her ts and she dotted her is, and she was very serious about the business aspect of the music industry. so not only was she phenomenal as a singer but she was a phenomenal businesswoman. and how important is it to have that kind of role model? it's — i can't even express how important it is, but more so how wonderful it was to experience it firsthand, as a woman today, in this business. and so i — you don't get a chance to see all of the stuff that happens

behind the scenes. you just only admire and adore the singers and the musicians. but there's a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that would make you appreciate someone like aretha even more so. also making news today: one of india's best—known politicians, the former prime minister atal bihari vajpayee, has died. he was 93. seen by many as the moderate face of the hindu nationalist party, the bjp, mr vajpayee played a key role in indian politics for decades, serving three terms in the top job. we will have more on mr vajpayee later on newsday. officials in the southern indian state of kerala say at least 100 people have died in the worst floods there for a century. the armed forces are using boats and helicopters to reach those stranded by floodwaters. they are distributing food

and drinking water to tens of thousands of people who fled to higher ground. the united nations fears that workers hired to clean up the damaged fukushima nuclear power station in japan are at risk of exploitation. three independent specialists say exposure to radiation is still a major hazard at the plant. fukushima was hit by a tsunami in 2011, causing the most serious nuclear accident since chernobyl. police in bangladesh say they have arrested nearly 100 people in connection with a series of student protests. dhaka and other cities were paralysed for more than a week by tens of thousands of demonstrators demanding better road safety. police say they had detained people for instigating violence and for spreading rumours on social media. a prominent award—winning photographer, shahidul alam, is also still in custody on similar charges, despite calls by international human rights groups for his release. let me bring you some developing

news from south america, where four planes have been forced to make emergency landings in chile and peru over bomb threats. this latam passenger plane, which departed for chile, was forced to land in southern peru's pisco airport. the chilean aviation authority says the threats were made by an anonyous phone call, but appear to be false at this time. the planes have undergone checks of passengers, baggage and their cabins and holds by police and airport security. the australian state of new south wales is not only in the grip of one of its worst droughts in years. firefighters are now battling more than 80 bush and grass fires which have destroyed several homes and threatened many more. authorities say the fires are unseasonal and have been made worse by the dry, windy conditions. a short while ago rob rogers, the deputy commissioner of the new south wales rural fire service, gave me the latest on the firefighting effort. look, there's been a number that

have been contained this week. we've still got more than 30 of these fires that aren't contained, though, and other fires people fires that aren't contained, though, and otherfires people are fires that aren't contained, though, and other fires people are working to get containment. the weather is a little easier today, but the weather is deteriorating again on saturday and sunday, so it's a race against time to try and get as much containment on these fires before the weather turns poor again at the weekend, and we will get new fires as well as the fires we have already got. and mr rogers, this is the driest start to a year in new south wales in 1965. how are your firefighter colleagues coping? yes, look, that's a really good point, because the entire state is drought declared. there's a lot of dams that are going quite empty now, and obviously we have to be very careful of taking water from dams for firefighting because the farmers

need it, because they are doing it very tough. it is not even very warm, that the project is 20 degrees. it's just very dry and very gusty winds. if you add the heat, when we get in the summer, and you start getting 35, 40—degree days, then if we don't get meaningful rain, then we'll be in serious trouble in summer. and mr rogers, it is wintertime in new south wales. can you tell us which areas continue to burn out of control, and what are the challenges to put these blazes out? said the areas that we have mostly got the concentrated fire have been in the southern part of the state, that borders victoria, and is well in the northern part of the state water in queensland. so they are the ones that... they are the areas that we have predominantly got fire at the moment. as you say, we are still in winter. we will move into spring next month, but we've got a long way to even get to summer, let alone get

through the summer. so we are bracing for a very long and hot summer. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: imran khan becomes pakistan's prime minister this weekend. one of his closest friends tells the bbc that he is a man with a plan. also on the programme: tributes are being paid to one of india's most influential leaders, atal bihari vajpayee, who has died at the age of 93. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed, i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today, in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last 1ten days, 500 have died. over the last ten

days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we're all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people, in his hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us," chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me to desert rome?" welcome back. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: there has been an outpouring of tributes to the soul singer, aretha franklin, who has died at her home in detroit, aged 76. the drought affecting large

parts of australia is fuelling unseasonal winter bushfires and is expected to get worse. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the south china morning post reports on the ongoing trade war between china and america. a delegation of chinese officials is being sent to the us later this month, but analysts think the chances of a major breakthrough are slim. india's business standard newspaper has a photo of former prime minister atal bihari vajpayee, who's died at the age of 93. the paper describes him as a beloved leader and extraordinary orator. and the international edition of the new york times looks at the political challenges facing imran khan, who's due to be sworn in as pakistani prime minister on saturday. they include a balance

of payments crisis, and how to establish security, with terrorism an ongoing problem. those are the papers. about 600 people in the italian city of genoa living near a bridge which collapsed two days ago have been moved from their homes because of safety fears. 38 people are known to have died and officials believe up to 20 could still be buried under the motorway viaduct. they say the chances of finding survivors are slim. james reynolds has more. in genoa, a single terrifying moment is now frozen. more than two days on, these vehicles are stuck in the exact positions which they were abandoned when the rest of this bridge collapsed. nearest the edge is the basko food company truck. its driver, luigi, had the narrowest of escapes. the sampierdarena neighbourhood is right underneath the structure.

relief workers have cleared the area. the homes may be knocked down. this morning, locals queued up to collect some of their possessions. these residents are prepared to wait patiently, but they also want answers. many say they always believed that the bridge was unsafe. translation: it's been years that we have been saying this bridge was dangerous. we talked about it almost every day. grazia di benedetto and her husband carlo were desperate to get home. translation: they're not letting us in, i need to pick up my medicines. this is awful. she took a moment to recover. it's too early to say what caused the collapse. among the factors that investigators will consider are: the quality of the concrete

in the towers and supports and whether this had weakened. the diagonal cables that carried the road, known as stays. these were encased in concrete, making it hard for accurate checks to be carried out. and the metal connections that anchored the stays to the platform. the private company which operated the bridge, autostrada, has insisted it followed all safety procedures, but this doesn't satisfy italy's government. translation: we must ensure that everything is done according to standards, and i declare that, in this story, autostrade per l‘italia cannot reassure us of anything. here, at the scene of the collapse, rescuers continue to search for bodies. amid all the arguments, italy doesn't yet know exactly how many deaths it will be investigating.

james reynolds, bbc news, genoa. let's get more now on the death of the former indian prime minister, atal behari vajpayee, at the age of 93. he was being treated for age—related illnesses at a hospital in delhi. our correspondent nick beake looks back at his political career. india conducted three underground nuclear tests. the highpoint in the career of atal bihari vajpayee came in 1998 with india securing its status as a nuclear power. there was jubilation and pride across the country at a second successful test which confirmed india's membership of the nuclear club. but a year later they were deadly clashes between vajpayee's india and pakistan in disputed kashmir. for the first time in a generation india launched airstrikes against militants — a time of tough talk

from the prime minister. we are not waiting, we are fighting and the other determined to throw them out. despite the bloodshed of the war, prime minister vajpayee was determined to improve relations with pakistan, meeting successive cou nterpa rts pakistan, meeting successive counterparts in the hope of reaching a deal over kashmir but in the end it failed. the religious violence in gujarat state during which 300 people died, mostly muslims. as a teenager atal bihari vajpayee was briefly put in prison for opposing british colonial rule but rose to the highest office in the land. he will be remembered by many as a moderate face of hindu nationalism, a charismatic performer who wrote his own poetry and ultimately his own history. now to neighbouring pakistan, where one of imran khan's closest friends says mr khan is a man with a plan when it comes to sorting out the country's problems after he becomes prime

minister this weekend. hamza ali abbasi is one of pakistan's leading actors, and was with the former cricketer on the night that he won the election. he spoke to the bbc‘s haroon rashid. it was a celebration, yes, but it wasn't dominated by celebration. it wasn't dominated by a sense of victory that "yes, we've won, its over now!" no. imran khan was very sober, he had that sense of the possibility —— imran khan was very sober, he had that sense of responsibility and right after he did the whole tv thing, he came out and talked to all of us and said, "the struggle is over, but the hard work isjust beginning." he prayed to allah and he prayed to god, he made us all pray, "please give us the strength and the expertise to get over successfully these mammoth challenges that are in front of pakistan right now." is he at all nervous?

because what we've seen on tv is this very confident man who is very much in control of what he's talking about, but on a more personal level, is he nervous at all about the scale of what is set out in front of him? not at all. he is a man who has a plan. they said he wouldn't be able to fix his bowling action, he did. they said he wouldn't be the best all—rounder in the world, he became the best all—rounder in the world. they said he wouldn't be able to win the world cup, he did. they said he wouldn't be a successful politician, he is a successful politician. they said he can never be the prime minister, he is the prime minister. so he's a man with a plan. i remember him saying, "do your hard work right now, believing this is the first and last time we have gotten this opportunity to fix pakistan. there will not be a second chance." so he has that sense of urgency. what about the accusations that he is too conservative? those are accusations you faced yourself at some point, and you come from one of the most liberal industries in the country, the entertainment industry. unfortunately, in pakistan, there are two extremes. there's the conservative

extreme, and then there's the liberal extreme. so when you say anything which these two extremes don't agree with, they immediately brand you as the other extreme. when i spoke against the item numbers, they said, "ah, you're a mullah." when i spoke about ahmadiyya rights, they said, "ah, you're a liberal." so, no, me or imran khan, we are not in those two extremes. and that was imran khan's good friend atal bihari vajpayee speaking to the bbc. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. the film, crazy rich asians, is making waves across the world, but who are the real crazy rich asians? we'll look at some of the biggest spenders in this region and where they're putting their hard—earned yen, yuan and singapore dollars. and, at kasia, a big loss indeed to the music industry, aretha franklin,

who passed away. i am a big fan of hers. i have her vinyls. i can't even begin to think of what my favourite was, but what was fascinating was denise talking about what a businesswoman she was, that was really insightful, she was an incredible musician, phenomenal vocalist and also a businesswoman. let's remind ourselves, and in this edition of newsday with a tribute to the queen of soul aretha franklin who has died at the age of 76. let's have a look at some of her incredible performances. # looking out on the morning rain. # i used to feel so uninspired. # and when i knew i had to face another day. # lord, it made me feel so tired. # now i'm no longer doubtful of what i'm living for.

# and if i make you happy, i don't need to do more. # 'cause you make me feel. # you make me feel. # you make me feel like a natural woman. # awoman!# hello there. well, we should get off to a pretty sunny start across eastern areas of the country before things

generally turn cloudier later today, and that cloud will hang around into the weekend as well. weather front brought the rain yesterday. that's clearing out into europe, clearer skies following but then we've got this next wodge of cloud. this weather front, this warm front, that's going to bring warm airacross the uk, yes, but also we'll have outbreaks of rain spreading in as well. so, the forecast in a bit more detail. for the early risers, clear skies to start the day across england and wales, but further north and west, the clouds that bit thicker and there'll be a few showers for western scotland and northern ireland. for the early risers, temperatures just in double figures, but in the countryside, single figures, so there will be a certain chill in the airfirst thing in the morning. now, quite quickly, england and wales and should get off to a sunny start on friday before the cloud tends to thicken. it will stay bright across eastern areas, mind you, but later in the afternoon the cloud probably thick enough in southern parts into the bristol channel to give us some

light rain or drizzle. further north and west, we've got some wet weather moving into northern ireland. the rain quite heavy here at times. that wet weather spreads to western scotland, north—west england and north—west wales through the day. the temperatures, high teens to low twenties. into the weekend, we'll continue to have this feed of pretty warm air across southern parts of the uk. so even though we won't see much in the way of sunshine, temperatures still widely into the low—to—mid 20s. fresher conditions across the north of the uk. this low pressure bringing some strong winds as well. so, we get off to a blustery start to the weekend. into scotland, exposed coasts and hills could have gusts of wind of 50mph, maybe even 60mph. but it is quite a blowy start wherever you are. a lot of cloud around. some limited brighter spells possible. the best of these probably heading into eastern england and also the far north—east of scotland, but in between we've got a weather front, a weak one at that, that will bring the thickest cloud across northern ireland, parts of northern england and southern scotland, where we could continue to see occasional spits of light rain or drizzle. and then for the second half of the weekend, we're taking a look at this. this is subtropical storm ernesto, and it's going to be bringing some heavy rain to the united

kingdom on sunday. now, probably the worst of the rain getting away across northern ireland, northern england and in across scotland for the first part of sunday should tend to clear through. in the south, cloud tending to thicken up, so we might well see some spots of rain, but not really amounting to too much. look at the temperatures, mild, quite humid in the south, we've got the fresher air across more northern parts. so, to sum up the weekend, we are expecting it to be quite cloudy, and it will be quite wet at times, particularly in the north—west. i'm kasia madera with bbc news. our top story: the american soul singer aretha franklin has died at the age of 76. she had a huge international following and sold more than 75 million records. tributes have been flooding in from the world of music and beyond. barack obama said her music had helped define the american experience. in italy, authorities are extending the search operation for possible survivors of the collapsed bridge in genoa

for another 48 hours. 38 people are known to have died. and this story is trending online: one of india's best—known politicians, the former prime minister atal behari vajpayee, has died. he was 93. he was seen by many as the moderate face of the hindu nationalist party, the bjp. that's all. stay with bbc world news. our top uk story: exam boards say the number of a level students receiving a and a* has risen slightly on last year.