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. there are no charges against him. just because michael cohen made a plea deal does not mean that implicates the president. there are no charges against him. just because michael cohen made a plea deal does not mean that implicates the president. australia's prime minister clings onto power, but for how long? malcolm turnbull faces another leadership challenge. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: from the frontline of a global trade war, us and chinese officials sit down to try and resolve their differences. and the second separation for korean families, briefly reunited after decades apart. live from our studios in singapore

and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday it's 8am in singapore, 1am in london and eight in the evening 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 lengthyjail 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 counsel 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 counsel 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. later on he disputed cohen's claims. 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. they did not come out of the campaign. but that is the reversion to what he told reporters 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. we will have more analysis on the political fallout from that terrible day for donald trump. let's look at what else is making news is out why. —— this out why. —— this hour. embattled australian prime minister malcolm turnbull is now facing a second leadership challenge — with the man who wants his job demanding a liberal party meeting to vote on the issue. former home affairs minister, peter dutton, seen as a hardline conservative, said he was confident he now had the numbers to unseat turnbull, considered a moderate.

our correspondent in canberra, hywel griffith, has an update on the latest leadership spill. a 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 dutton, the challenger then resigned and people thought well, that is that. no. peter dutton has returned for a second attempt. he claims he now has numbers behind him and has publicly, in the last hour or so, been on the steps of parliament saying he wants another vote to be held. however we understand that the prime minister's answer is 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 hisjob. i can imagine him saying that dutton had his chance. as you are just saying,

a number of resignations within the last 2a hours or so. how likely is it that he 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. australian politics in a mess but it is a familiar mass. we have seen this happen 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 what is happening in the parliament behind me.

malcolm turnbull is clinging on at the moment. more details as they come to us. 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. the united nations is warning that more than half a million rohingya refugee children in bangladesh risk becoming a lost generation without immediate investment in their education. unicef says the refugee camps in bangladesh's cox's bazar are cramped, with only the most basic facilities. 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 dollars 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, the chief economist at 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 come in? 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 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 combatants may not have a big hit to their growth that could spill over to other trading countries did in the us imposing —— 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

financing 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. -- ip. so let's say you are a businessman and looking at saying 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 part of the negotiating strategy but i think also adds to the confusion and i think everyone is pulling back. what about the asian consumers? is it hitting 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. we have a good starting point like i said. the equity market

looks good, profits looks good. so we say that growth will slow, we have a rising downside to the outlook but the current macro numbers look good. you are watching you stay on the bbc. still to come on the programme, pray that a away. we take a look at a new film tackling the controversial issue of gay conversion therapy. he is doing a wonderful thing for the country in the world and i cannot find anything wrong with him. wheezes that the republican stronghold of staton island in new york to assess how solid the support is for donald trump.

—— staten island. 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?" this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: he did nothing wrong. berardo charges against him. —— 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. in industry malcolm turnbull faces another leadership challenge. —— in australia. 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. 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. earlier i spoke to our correspondent in washington, david willis, about his thoughts on what may be next. i think it all comes down to one man, and michael cohen, who for more

than a decade was donald trump's fixer, and that the man who says he would take it bullet for the president is singing like a canary. he says he will give evidence if necessary to special counsel robert mueller‘s investigation into alleged russian collusion in the 2016 election. he has also been subpoenaed in a case against the trump foundation, a charitable organisation that is accused of misappropriating campaign finance funding. he's also supposed to have knowledge about computer hacking in the lead up to the election, and also the infamous meeting at trump tower, in which a russian lawyer promised to dig deep dirt on donald trump's rival at the time, in hillary clinton. so interesting times. we'll have to wait and see. but the man who pledged his loyalty to donald trump for so long, now, as

they say, singing like a canary to anyone who will listen to him. as the pressure intensifies on donald trump what impact are these allegations having on his core supporters? 0ur 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. 0n 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. their reunions were joyous, if bitter sweet. their partings were nothing short of heart—breaking. nearly 90 south koreans have been visiting the north for a series of visits with relatives they haven't seen since the end of the korean war, 60 years ago. but those gatherings have come to an end, and they've been separated once again. this report by laura bicker contains flash photography. this is why it some call these

reunions the second separation. after brief moments together, they are once again torn apart. let's meet again when our countries are reunited, she says. but north and south korea are still at war, divided — and look likely to remain so. divided — and look likely to remain so. earlier, the families were given one extra hour over lunch. they have had 12 hours in total together over three days. precious time for this 80 key role to spend with her sisters, or this uncle to teach is this about the family tree. —— this att year old. 0r this about the family tree. —— this att yearold. 0ra this about the family tree. —— this att year old. or a father to hear one last story from his daughter. ——

—— 82—year—old. after this meeting, all further contact will be impossible. it is a moment few thought about when they were first reunited, especially this 92—year—old who flung herself in her estranged son ‘s arms. in the chaos, there were trapped on opposite sides of the wall. 68 years is a long time to be apart. now she is inconsolable. and despite this cry of hope, north korea is usually unwilling to allow more contact between these families. until that changes, these first meetings will also always be their last. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. the controversial issue

of gay conversion therapy, is the subject of a new film, that's already receiving critical acclaim. it's called the miseducation of cameron post, and stars chloe grace moretz. she plays a gay teenager sent away to a christian camp, that uses prayer and therapy to try to change her sexuality. it's a subject that hit home for the actress herself. her two brothers went through a similar experience. she's been speaking to our correspondent chi chi izundu. rick is such an inspiration. you know, he used to struggle with same—sex attractions? really? yeah. legal in 41 states, conversion therapy is the practice of trying to change someone's sexual orientation from homo or bisexual to heterosexual, using psychological and often spiritual interventions. and being brought up in a strict baptist town with two gay brothers, the making of the miseducation of cameron post was very personal for chloe grace moretz. they dealt with a lot of self hate when they came out and they tried

to — which is very common within the community that we grew up in — pray the gay away. and in the town that you grew up in you actually knew of people that went through gay conversion therapy? yeah. so there's. .. well, there's people in our town that had come out and gone to the church and found... you know, they've consulted with the church. and that's the thing with conversion therapy — it takes on many different iterations and a lot of different labels and it can be as simple as therapy. it's as simple as consulting with your church. i know we're throwing a lot at you. how are you feeling? chloe has been acting in hollywood since she was five. she starred in big blockbusters like kick ass, but took some time—out recently to reasses her priorities. try and reconfigure and kind of realise who i am as a young woman and what i want to do with my platform. and the content i'm putting out

isn'tjust entertainment but is also some form of activism and social justice. so this film was really the one that ticked all the boxes. but for now, chloe's hoping her award—winning film does more than just tick the box for those going through conversion therapy. chi chi izundu, bbc news. you have been watching newsday. i'm babita sharma in london. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. and more to come with it is this report. season. —— see you soon.

good morning. the bank holiday 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. a cooler and fresher feel. the reason being is these weather fronts pushing in from the atlantic 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 the greens, the yellows, the warm russets in the south—east, 23 degrees the high, and in the showers we are looking at 1a 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 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, 1a 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 ridge of high pressure that builds overnight saturday into sunday, that's going to allow temperatures to fall away overnight. a chilly start on sunday morning. a touch of frost in sheltered glens of scotland before the next whether front pushes 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. 0ne harvard academic says it's one of the worst foods you can eat. the so—called superfood contains dangerously high levels of unsaturated fatty acids. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: jeremy corbyn is calling for radical reform of the media with a windfall tax levied on tech giants.