i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: "the president did nothing wrong". defiant words from the white house, despite claims donald trump ordered his former lawyer to make hush payments. thereunder charges against him. just because michael owen made a plea deal does not mean that implicate the president. —— michael cowan. —— cohen. after the most dramatic day of the trump presidency we touch base with some of his staunchest supporters. many people break the law. but he is president of the united states. well, he is a person as well. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: australia's prime minister clings onto power, but for how long? malcolm turnbull faces another leadership challenge. from the frontline of a global trade war, us and chinese officials sit down to try and resolve their differences. live from our studios in singapore

and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. it's 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 7pm in washington where president trump has hit back at claims that he ordered his former personal laywer micheal cohen to break us campaign laws during the 2016 election. michael cohen pleaded guilty yesterday to charges which include paying hush money to women who claim they had affairs with mr trump, saying it was trump who directed him to pay them. our north america editorjon sopel is at the white house. like an episode of 2a, a blockbuster drama played out in a most momentous five minutes that could shake this tumultuous presidency. at a courthouse in new york, donald trump's long—term lawyer and mr fixit, michael cohen,

pleads guilty to a series of crimes and implicates the president. 200 miles south in another federal courtroom, his one—time campaign manager, paul manafort, is found guilty of a series of tax fraud charges. in washington itself, the president is being swept out of the white house to fly to west virginia, rocked by the unfolding events. paul manafort, who ran the campaign in the run—up to the election, faces a lengthy jail sentence. but no doubt the bigger deal is michael cohen because of what he said in court. under oath he said, in effect, the president instructed him to breakfederal law in buying the silence of a porn star and playboy model. what he did was he worked to pay money to silence two women who had information that he believed would be detrimental to the 2016 campaign and the candidate and the campaign. and mr cohen's lawyer is making clear he has more to say

on other issues. he had matters that would be of interest to the special council relating to pre—knowledge of computer hacking by donald trump. which, if true, if true, would constitute knowledge of a crime committed by a foreign government in hacking our computers, which was part of the indictment of 12 russians that the special council has already published. when donald trump arrived in west virginia he did not talk about michael cohen, only his former campaign manager. i feel very badly for paul manafort, he worked for bob dole and ronald reagan, he worked for many people. this is the way it ends up. at the rally, there were familiar chants which seemed a little ironic given the circumstances. "drain the swamp," they chanted. and this from the president.

fake news and the russian witch—hunt, we've got a whole big combination. where is the collusion? they are still looking for a collusion, where is the collusion? find some collusion. this morning he took to twitter, taking aim at michael cohen and defending paul manafort. do you know about the payments? later on, i knew. later on. but what he did — and they weren't taken out of campaign finance. that is a much bigger thing. but that is the reversion to what he told reporters on air force one in april. and at the white house briefing, a weary looking sarah sanders

was left to repeat the same line again and again. as the president said to me he did nothing wrong. the president has done nothing wrong. there are no charges against him. the president did nothing wrong. there are no charges against him. there was no collusion. this has been donald trump's darkest 2a hours. the most serious accusations have been made and his legal difficulties have multiplied. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. much more to come on a turbulent day for donald trump yesterday and the ramifications. we'll be talking about that in a few minutes more. bring you up to date now on other news to do with the australian politics in the revolving door at the top. we know it very well, the number of prime ministers that have been elected in the last ten years or $0 been elected in the last ten years or so to been elected in the last ten years orso toi been elected in the last ten years or so to i think the number is at six or seven. the current australian

prime minister, malcolm turnbull, is now facing a second leadership challenge with the man who once his job, demanding a liberal party meeting to vote on the issue to the web will report on tuesday when malcolm turnbull had survived a leadership contest 48 votes to 35. the former home affairs minister, peter button is seen as a hardline conservative and he has now said that he is confident he has the numbers to unseat mr turnbull. he is considered a moderate, mr turnbull. we have not had a formal response from malcolm turnbull to do however a second leadership challenge has been mounted in the last few hours and we expect a response from canberra with our respondent there and as soon as we get that we will bring it to you. also making news today — the rescue operations may be winding down in kerala in southern india but a huge relief operation continues. almost 400 people died in the worst flooding in the state in a century. it's now thought that about 1.3

million people are sheltering in relief camps. translation: we have reached the final stages. rescue workers are preparing to leave. what we have seen here are superior rescue workers. the people were able to see the extent of their compassion firsthand. the united nations warns that really into refugee children in bangladesh risked becoming a lost generation without immediate investment in education. unicef says the refugee camps are crammed with only the most basic facilities available. hawaii is facing a powerful hurricane posing a major threat to the pacific island chain. officials have warned of possible flash flooding and landslides. the us state is already coping with the three—month eruption of the kilauea volcano on the big island. the author of the book crazy rich asians, which has has been adapted

into a hollywood box office hit, is wanted by singapore for failing to report for military service. the island nation's defence ministry says kevin kwan did not register for obligatory national service in 1990. he could face up to three years in jail if he returns to singapore. the trump administration is due to slap a 25% tariff on $16 billion of chinese imports today, with beijing likely to retaliate in kind. it's the second wave of penalties in an ongoing trade conflict that has seen the two countries hit tens of billions of dollars worth of tariffs on each other. meanwhile us and chinese governement officials are meeting in washington to try to sort out the dispute. paul gruenwald chief economist, s&p global ratings joined me earlier — i asked him if these negotiations would roll back the tariffs. firstly, we have a good starting

point for the economy. the us economy is growing 4%. it will slow down but the starting point is good. the chinese economy is doing well. is tariffs so far have had a small impact on the big macro numbers but we are worried about the sentiment did we see that purchasing manager indices and confident those indicators are starting to soften so we have not seen the big pressure yet. where will the big pressure coming? it is $16 billion right now. the first was $34 billion. the next big one is $200 billion in september. yet. the us is a $20 trillion economy. this is less than 196 trillion economy. this is less than 1% of the us economy. but if it sta rts 1% of the us economy. but if it starts to spill over and firms are saying that they don't know how long this will last or will intensify? will maybe i will pull back on capital expenditure and consumers will pull back on their spending then the gross number starts to sink. then we get the pressure. it

may not have a severe impact on the us economy however on china it would. the other economies around asia that are dependent on the chinese economy. singapore, malaysia, thailand... again, the chinese economy is bigger. 12 or 13 trillion and they are not trade driven any more. we are looking at some of the smaller and medium—sized economies in the region, the tigers such as korea and singapore. they could be the collateral damage in some of this because they are much more trade dependent and rely on exports and global trade for growth. the main combat terms may not have a big hit to their growth that could spill over to other trading countries did in the us imposing major tariffs as well on the turkish economy, this has impacted the turkish leader and that has affected the emerging asian currencies. we are compounding negative shocks. trade war uncertainties and then the additional effect of turbulence on

emerging markets which is pulling finance away from them. you can almost see the risk moving to the downside we have a good starting point for global growth. but what does donald trump want out of this? that is the question many of us are asking. if you look from the outside, and i do not work the government, we see talk about currency manipulation and we look at trade we have national security and it. so let's say you are a businessman and looking at saying well, how long will this last, are well, how long will this last, are we making progress? what is the endgame, either way even measure this? how do i decide whether to make an investment decision? that is pa rt make an investment decision? that is part of the negotiating strategy but i think also adds to the confusion andi i think also adds to the confusion and i think everyone is pulling back. what about the asian consumers? is it heading our wallets ? consumers? is it heading our wallets? we don't see that yet in the numbers. take a look at the us stock market that keeps breaking record highs when it should be a forward—looking indicated. record highs when it should be a forward-looking indicated. we have a good starting point like i said. the

equity market looks good, profits we re equity market looks good, profits were good. so we say that growth will slow, we have a rising downside to the outline stomach outlook but the current macro numbers look good. more now on the news we just heard that a second leadership challenge has been mounted against the current australian prime minister, malcolm turnbull. we're joined australian prime minister, malcolm turnbull. we'rejoined now live from canberra. since we last spoke it is all change. bring us up to date. dramatic start to the day here in canberra and some people have barely eaten breakfast. earlier this week we saw a leadership challenge against the australian prime minister, malcolm turnbull. a vote was held within the liberal party, which is part of the ruling coalition. but the challenge failed. peter dyson, the challenger then resigned and people thought well, thatis resigned and people thought well, that is that. , no. peter dutton has returned from a second straight. he claims he now has numbers behind him

and has publicly, in the last hour we re and has publicly, in the last hour were also, then on the steps of parliament saying he wants another vote to be held. however we understand that the prime minister ‘s is no. we understand that the prime minister ‘sis no. we had a understand that the prime minister ‘s is no. we had a vote understand that the prime minister ‘sis no. we had a vote and go away, get on with life. how tenable as that position? malcolm turnbull clearly wounded and pretty much just holding on by his fingernails to his job. i can imagine him saying that production had his chance. as you arejust production had his chance. as you are just saying, production had his chance. as you arejust saying, a number of resignations within the last 24 hours or so. how likely is it that you will be able to ride this out? if he survives today it will be quite something. if he survives the next few months it will be incredible because the ruling party now have a situation where they have a wounded prime minister who has been publicly challenged by his own

party. that challenger has lost a vote. if it comes to a second vote he may not win. people are talking maybe about a third person having to come in and to front the party for an election within the next 12 months. astray and politics in a mess but it is a familiar mass. we have seen this happened several times over the last decade and peter dutton would be the sixth prime minister within ten years. the australian public do not look very kindly on this type of thing and it is all too familiar to them to see a soapis is all too familiar to them to see a soap is happening in the parliament behind me. yes, malcolm turnbull does know what it is like to mount a challenge, reminiscent of the days of tony abbott. thank you very much. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: is together forever out of fashion? china sees a sharp rise in divorce rates. doing wonderfulfor the

doing wonderful for the country and for the world, and i can't find anything wrong with him. also on the programme: we visit the republican stronghold of staten island in new york to assess how solid support is for president trump. 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 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?" glad you could join us. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. yes, thanks for being with us. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: he did nothing wrong. there are no charges against him. the white house remains defiant, as donald trump rides out one of the most turbulent days of his presidency. the world's two biggest economies talk, but can officials find a solution to the growing trade war? let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. and the straits times features

a story about the spiralling health premiums for government health plans, and says the sector is still under stress. premiums have more than doubled over a five—year period in some cases, as insurers face mounting claims. the south china morning post leads with president xijinping calling for communist party in charge of propaganda and ideology to close ranks around the party core. the paper says beijing is making the move in the face of an escalating trade war with the us. and the new york times looks at donald trump's problems. it has analysis of the court cases involving paul manafort and michael cohen, with speculation the president could face impeachment. and those are the papers.

let's get more now on our top story the political fallout in the us from the two court cases involving president trump's former advisors. joining me now from washington is our north america correspondent, david willis. so, david, isuppose so, david, i suppose everyone is thinking now what happens next, what are donald trump's options, when we talk about the words, as we have seen talk about the words, as we have seenin talk about the words, as we have seen in the paper review, of impeachment? absolutely, babita, and it comes down to one man, michael cullen. for more than a decade he was donald trump's fixer and now the man who said he would take a bullet for the president appears to be singing likea for the president appears to be singing like a canary —— cohen. he said he would give evidence if necessary to robert mueller, the special counsel's investigation into alleged russian collusion in the 2016 residential election. he has also been subpoenaed by the new york state authorities to give evidence

in their case against the trump foundation, which was a charitable organisation that they believe misappropriated campaign finance funding. mrcohen is misappropriated campaign finance funding. mr cohen is also thought to have knowledge about computer hacking in the run—up to the 2016 election and also to the infamous meeting at trump tower in which a russian lawyer promised to dig the dirt on president trump's rival at the time, hillary clinton. so very interesting times. we just have to wait and see. but what a turn for the books. the man who pledged his loyalty to donald trump or so long now as i say singing like a canary to anyone who chooses to listen to him. and a wider investigation of course. robert mueller‘s investigation into what happened during the presidential election. we still have that to come, haven't we? we have indeed and it has been speculation that might be wrapping up. we have heard that a few times before. the suggestion being that if

it isn't finalised, that report, before the end of this month, that the robert mueller team might wait until after november for fear of in some way its way in the mid—term elections, those all—importa nt mid—term elections in november. and that election has been given an additional frisson, that election has been given an additionalfrisson, if you like, babita, that those suggesting that there might be some sort of move to impeach the president over this whole thing would need of course a democratic majority in both houses, the senate and house of representatives, if that's likely, possibly in the house, unlikely i think in both houses, though. something bill clinton escaped, didn't he, when that was facing him. david, thank you so much. as the pressure intensifies on donald trump, what impact are these allegations having on his core supporters? our correspondent nick bryant has been to the republican stronghold of staten island in new york. across the waters from lower manhattan, the trump stronghold

of staten island. the only borough of new york to vote for the hometown presidential candidate. from here you can almost see the court complex where michael cohen made the explosive claim that donald trump directed him to commit a crime. but do people here care? you know, he is what this country needed at this time. local businessmen steve believes donald trump is making america great again, and yesterday's bombshell allegations don't trouble him. so yesterday, donald trump's personal lawyer stood up in court and implicated the president and said, "he told me to break the law." that doesn't worry you? no. the people that hate him are going to use it and that's all you're going to hear for the next six months and through the elections. that's all you're going to hear. the people that like what he's doing, whether or not they like him as a human being, going to care less. on the beaches of staten island, what is widely viewed by donald trump's critics as the darkest day of his presidency casts few shadows.

i think he's great. he's doing wonderful for the country. and for the world. and i can't find anything wrong with him. yesterday his lawyer has said he told him to break the law, does that worry you? no, not really. they all break the law, you know? millions of people break the law here. but he's the president of the united states. well, he's human too. but in these affluent suburbs, we also found lifelong republicans that field donald trump is bringing shame on their party and shame on their country. donald trump is a con artist. he is running the country for himself. he doesn't understand that he is there to serve the people, to serve the american people. you are republican? yes. but do you reject him? of course i reject him. donald trump once claimed he could shoot somebody on 5th ave and his supporters would still vote for him. an extravagant boast maybe, but one that speaks of his unshakeable belief in the unwavering devotion of his loyalists.

nick bryant, bbc news, staten island. in the past five years, the marriage rate in china has begun to fall considerably, with just over three million marriages recorded in the first three months of this year. that's down almost 30% since 2013, when the figure stood at about 4.2 million, according to official numbers. and while the marriage rate is decreasing, the divorce rate is increasing. government figures released in 2016 showed that the divorce rate had doubled over the previous decade — a trend that is on track to repeat itself. but what's behind the changing attitude to marriage? joining me via webcam is drjieyu liu, deputy director of the soas china institute. thank you so much forjoining us. why are divorce rates rising in china? there are several reasons

contributing to this trend. first, young people in china are under great pressure to get married from their peers, parents and the society. as a result, many people get married in their 20s because they get married for the sake of marriage. many of them do end up making a choice they are not entirely sure about. second, women are becoming increasingly independent, and financially equipped. so when they are unhappy about their marriage, they can actually opt out. but, doctor, culturally, the pressure and expectations to be married before the age of 25 has been there for some time, so what has really changed over the past years? another reason is that procedurally it is more easy to get a divorce in recent yea rs. more easy to get a divorce in recent years. for example, one of the interviewees i spoke to told me she

couldn't get the approval from her local court in the 1980s. she only managed to get a divorce in the last decade. so procedurally it has become easier to get a divorce and also it is a matter of changing attitudes. all right, we'll have to leave it there. thank you so much for your insights on marriage, dr jieyu liu, from the soas, joining us from china. you have been watching newsday. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. stay with us. we will of course have much more update for you on the fallout, the political fallout, for donald trump in the states and the news that malcolm turnbull, pm in australia, faces a second leadership challenge. that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. good morning. the bank holiday

weekend fast approaching and there isa weekend fast approaching and there is a change to come with the feel of our weather over the next few days. but just look at what we had yesterday. beautiful blue sky and sunshine in lincolnshire. highs of 27 degrees, 81 fahrenheit. we are not going to see temperatures like that certainly over the bank holiday weekend. ankle and fresh feel. the reason being is these weather fronts pushing in from the atlantic —— a cool and fresh feel. they are introducing slightly fresher air with it. that said first thing this morning in the south—east it will still be quite a humid start to the day with overnight lows still sitting at around 16 or 17 degrees and there will be some rain. further north and west it is already a cooler starting your thursday. let's try and put the detail on it then. behind the second front is when the really cool air starts to push down from the north and west and that is going to move its way across the country. as we push into the bank holiday weekend. so for thursday we start off with some rain that was slowly clear away from the midlands,

the south coast, east anglia, the south—east corner. some brightness behind, a scattering of showers into wales and north—west england and rain pushing into the north—west. so in terms of the temperature profile it is going to feel cooler here with a greens, the yellows, the warm russets in the south—east, 23 degrees the high, and in the showers we are looking at 14 to 16 degrees for much of scotland and northern ireland. now those showers will continue into the north—west overnight, but elsewhere we will see some clearer skies and the cooler air starts to push further south, so it is going to be a much more co mforta ble it is going to be a much more comfortable night for sleeping in, thatis comfortable night for sleeping in, that is certainly the good news. we will see single figures into the north at perhaps around nine to 12 degrees in the south—east corner. now on friday it looks as though we are going to see a rash of showers developing into northern ireland, down through north—west england, anywhere south of the midlands and wales will see dry and bright weather. look at the feel, 14 to 19 degrees the overall high. we start

off the weekend on a dry and sometimes sunny note, but the temperatures will still be set to struggle, 13 to 20 degrees, way down on what we've been used to just recently. a little reach of high pressure that builds overnight saturday into sunday, that's going to allow temperatures to fall away overnight. a chilly start a sunday morning. a touch of frost in sheltered glens of scotland before the next whether front pages in from the next whether front pages in from the atlantic. so it looks likely sunday into bank holiday monday will see some rain around, drying up, but not particularly warm with it. take care. i'm babita sharma with bbc news. our top story: president trump has rejected the suggestion he used election finances for hush money. it's after his former lawyer, michael cohen, told a court mr trump directed him to hand over the money with the purpose of influencing the 2016 presidential election. china and the us meet for trade talks, with the hope of descalating

their dispute over tariffs. and this video is trending on bbc.com. coconut oil's been branded ‘pure poison'. one harvard academic says it's one of the worst food you can eat. the so—called superfood contains dangerously high levels of unsaturated fatty acids. that's all. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, hardtalk‘s shaun ley talks to nury turkel