this is the newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: north korea promises to close a key missile test site. the us says it hopes for complete denuclearisation, within the next three years. the us senate gives the woman who accuses supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault until friday to decide if she will testify. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: a mental health crisis among refugee children on nauru island. we investigate reports of self harm and suicide attempts. and election time injapan. we look shinzo abe's chances of becoming japan's longest—serving prime minister. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news — it's newsday. good morning.

it's 7am in singapore, midnight, in london and seven in the evening in washington where the united states has welcomed a deal between the leaders of north and south korea, saying it hopes to achieve an agreement on denuclearisation within the next three years. at a summit in pyongyang, north korean leader kimjong—un promised to permanently close a missile launch facility — overseen by international experts. mr kim also expressed a readiness to close a nuclear weapons site , but in return for concessions from the us too. from seoul, laura bicker has the latest. pyongyang's mass games are meant to awe and inspire. usually it's because of their elaborate routines. but tonight, a special guest from the south earned the applause. president moonjae—in, the son of north korean refugees,

has spent decades dreaming of this moment. translation: we have lived together for 5,000 years and been separated for 70 years. i propose that we should completely end the past 70 years of hostility and take a big stride of peace, to become one again. cheering and applause the visit has brought a bit of a breakthrough. north korea has agreed to let experts watch a missile launch site being dismantled. mr kim said he would do more if the us also made concessions. translation: we have agreed to make the korean peninsula a land of peace that is free from nuclear weapons and nuclear threats. applause but the deal doesn't go

as far as the us had hoped. it doesn't mention the north's current nuclear arsenal, or if they'll even stop building weapons. but he may have done enough to persuade president trump to offer this peninsula a peace deal. "we'll meet again", sing the north koreans to this leader from the south. kim jong—un has said he'll visit seoul later this year, another first. this careful choreography has been designed to dazzle their visitor. he can only hope this show of warmth is not a smoke screen to hide the north's nuclear ambitions. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. we will have more on the two koreas coming up in the programme. and there's plenty more on the bbc news website, with a special section on the korean peninsula and coverage of this summit from our team on the ground — that's at bbc.com/news.

let's take a look at some of the day's other news. the woman who's accused donald trump's supreme court nominee of sexual assault has been given a deadline of 10am on friday to say whether she will give evidence to the senatejudiciary committee next monday. christine blasey ford says she was attacked by brett kavanaugh at a party in the 1980s. mr kavanaugh denies the claim. katty kay has more. christine blasey ford so she has received death threats and has had to move house since the allegations against brad kavanagh were made public on sunday. mr tom's simply seem to be more would be accused, then the accuser. as you know, mr kavanaugh has been treated very badly. her lawyers have written to the senate judiciary

saying that she does not want to appear in front of the judge. that refusal to testify. if doctor ford doesn't appear. 0ne refusal to testify. if doctor ford doesn't appear. one other important voice is recommending a pause. anita hill went through similar hearings in 1991 hill went through similar hearings in1991 and hill went through similar hearings in 1991 and was widely seen to be treated badly. my advice is to push the pause button on this hearing, get the information together, bring in the experts, and put together a hearing that is fair, that is impartial, that is not biased by politics or by men. the memory of that hearing looms large. and there is clearly frustration among some women in the senate. is clearly frustration among some women in the senatelj is clearly frustration among some women in the senate. i want to say to be men of this country, just shut up to be men of this country, just shut up and step up. do the right thing. there is political peril on both sides. and no goodwill between

democrats and republicans, which means that truth and fairness will be hard to find. katty kay, bbc news, washington. us president trump has been to visit north and south carolina to show his support for the victims of hurricane florence. he spent some time with volunteers handing out meals to residents of new bern, a town particularly badly affected by the storm. 36 people were killed by the hurricane, and 15,000 people are still unable to return to their homes. the number of people who died during typhoon mangkhut in the philippines has risen to 81. it's feared that figure could increase as search teams dig through a landslide where dozens of people are missing. the typhoon swamped farm fields in the nation's agricultural north when it tore through with violent winds and heavy rains at the weekend. the former pakistani prime minister, nawaz sharif has been released from prison in rawalpindi along with his daughter and son—in—law. the decision was greeted with cheers from his supporters at the high court in islamabad. the suspended prison sentences were imposed on members of the sharif family for corruption convictions linked to their ownership of luxury flats in london. malaysian officials have

confirmed that the former prime minister najib razak has been arrested in connection with alleged embezzlement after more than $600 million linked to the state investment fund 1mdb were allegedly found in his bank accounts. he's expected to appear in court on thursday afternoon. now take a close look at this person. it's actuallyjustin bieber! trust me — have a listen. he surprised fans by serenading partner hailey baldwin outside buckingham palace in london. baldwin watched alongside star—struck fans and did what most fans would do and filmed it on her phone. let's get more on the efforts

at denuclearisation coming out of the meeting between the south korean president and the north korean leader in pyongyang. earlier, i spoke with tom collina from ploughshare funds, a global security foundation in washington, dc, and asked whether he believes denuclearisation is back on track. we are cautiously optimistic that things are back on track. a month ago president trump cancelled pompeo's trip to north korea say not enough progress would be made. 0nce again, south korea and president moon stepped in to fix the situation and bring everybody back together. it looks like it was a very successful summit between president moon and chairman kim in north korea, just this past two days. and chairman kim, from the north, made a very important proposal to put on the table the closure of his main

nuclear facilities. the table the closure of his main nuclearfacilities. that the table the closure of his main nuclear facilities. that seems to be enough for president trump and secretary pompeo to want to put the talks back on again. so it looks like we are back on. back and denuclearising north korea by 2021, 110w denuclearising north korea by 2021, now looking more realistic —— back on. i would say the talks are back on, towards that goal. i would be ha rd on, towards that goal. i would be hard pressed to say it is likely they could achieve that by early 2021, that is a mere two years away. there is a lot to do. but let's get on with. every step is a step in the right direction. absolutely. you mentioned about kim jong—un promising to down two main sites, in your view, was kim generous with these offerings or should he have done more? look, of course we want

more to happen, we always want things to move faster. but what the trump administration seemed to be looking for was a concrete proposal, a concrete offering from north korea on how they were going to reduce their nuclear programme. the next key step was the facilities to produce nuclear material will stop you remember of course the north has already agreed to stop nuclear testing and stop missile testing. but they have still been free to produce the materials for nuclear weapons. if they close the nuclear facility, they will go a long way to stopping the production of nuclear materials. and therefore could not increase their arsenal. that would bea increase their arsenal. that would be a significant step. we could a lwa ys be a significant step. we could always wa nt be a significant step. we could always want more, but it is a great step forward. and how much should president moon be credited for revising this process?” president moon be credited for revising this process? i think president moon and south korea deserve a huge amount of credit. they are the ones who really started

this process from the beginning. from earlier this year with the 0lympics until now everytime the negotiations have run into trouble has been president moon that has stepped in to fix it. i give a huge amount of credit to president moon. but also to chairman kim and north korea. clearly the energy for this process is coming from the bilateral relationship between south korea and north korea. they are moving this process forward and it looks like they have revived this process from a dead—end process to one that now has some hope again. tom collina speaking to recode a little earlier. speaking at an informal summit, mrs may and again rejected the proposal that northern ireland should remain temporarily in the european union's customs union. with just six temporarily in the european union's customs union. withjust six months ago, time is running out to get a

deal in place. laura kuenssberg is at the summit. stuck, looking for a way out. the prime minister and other leaders have eight weeks to agree what happens to northern ireland after we leave. her plan says... it is the only credible and negotiable plan on the table that delivers no hard border in northern ireland and also delivers on the vote of the british people. but what we cannot accept is seeing northern ireland carved away from the united kingdom customs territory. but the eu club's plan is very different. they say northern ireland might have to follow eu rules if the big brexit deal can't be done. i don't think we are any closer to the withdrawal agreements than we were in march. so i can't report any progress at this stage unfortunately, but we'll keep on working on it. what if the eu doesn't budge

on brexit border issue in ireland? well then united kingdom shall have to. leaders landed to hear the prime minister explained as proposals for how we leave. the so—called chequers deal. they don't like how parts of our economy would stay closely tied to the eu to disrupt against disruption and avoid going back to an old—fashioned border in ireland, like those of years ago. these talks were always going to be complicated, but at summit, after summit, the biggest obstacle always becomes what happens 1000 miles away or so from here. when we leave the european union, the border between northern ireland and the rest of the island will become the line between europe's huge trading club and another country, the uk, on the outside. the two sides in the talks have very different ideas over how to handle that change. and despite lots of chatter about tweaks from the eu negotiator, or tucks at home, there's no question, the tussle over the irish border is a very real block on progress. some of prime minister may's

proposals from chequers indicate a positive evolution in the uk's approach, as well as a will to minimise the negative effects of brexit. on other issues, the uk's proposals will need to be reworked and further negotiated. today, there is perhaps more hope, but there is surely less and less time. the prime minister hopes by asking her peers directly, they will budge. they believe, in time, she will realise she has to move, but with a time set for deal day, something, or someone, will have to give. laura kuennsburg, bbc news, salzburg. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme:

could shinzo abe becomejapan‘s longest—serving prime minister? also on the programme: what's wrong with this picture? airline cathay pacific has owned up to making a big mistake. 30 hours after the earthquake that devastated mexico city, rescue teams still have no idea just how many people have died. well, there is people alive and there is people not alive. we just can help and give them whatever we've got. it looked as though they had come to fight a war, but their mission is to bring peace to east timor, and nowhere on earth needs it more badly. the government's case is being forcefully presented by monsieur badinter, the justice minister.

he's campaigned vigorously for abolition, having once witnessed one of his clients being executed. elizabeth seton spent much of her time at this grotto, and every year, hundreds of pilgrimages are made here. now that she's become a saint, it's expected that this area will be inundated with tourists. the mayor and local businessmen regard the anticipated boom as yet another blessing of st elizabeth. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: north korea promises to close a key missile test site, the us says it's ready to restart negotiations on completely denuclearising north korea. the us senate gives the woman who accuses supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault until friday to decide if she will testify. and the hunt for the final resting

place of captainjames cook's hms endeavour may soon be over, in time for the 250th anniversary of her voyage to new zealand and australia. following a 25—year archaeological study of the area, the search has been narrowed to just one or two sites. more on that story on our website. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the straits times leads with the koreas summit in pyongyang, it reports president moonjae—in offering the north to permanently dismantle its main nuclear test site if the us takes corresponding measures. the philippine star once again has typhoon mangkhut on its front page. —— typhoon mangkhut.

it says the presidential palace wants the mayors who were missing in action when the typhoon ravaged their towns to be fired. the government is investigating the absent mayors. the international edition of the new york times carries a story about low—paid home workers in italy who make luxury garments forfashion brands. the report says thousands of workers have no contract or insurance, and quotes a lawyer saying part of the problem is employees agreeing to forgo their rights in order to work. and those are the papers. we are going to take you to pyongyang, these pictures came in a short time ago, where it approaching 8:20am. as you can see, the president of south korea, moon jae—in, greeting the crowds. a short time ago we saw pictures we couldn't show you be long motorcade going

through the streets of central pyongyang. this is day three of the summit of the leaders of both north and south korea, and, of course, our main story this hour is the news that the north korean leader, kim jong—un, has agreed to dismantle a nuclear test site... a missile site in fact. that is something the us has welcomed with their aim is that they're calling for north korea to com pletely they're calling for north korea to completely denuclearise within the next three years. adding to that, president moonjae—in has called for concerted efforts to end what he called 70 years of hostility and division on the korean peninsula. that was a speech he made earlier. also saying this is an opportunity to reconcile differences. day three of the north korean pyongyang summit. more on that to come. australia's off—shore refugee processing centre on the island of nauru has been a controversial issue for many years and has brought much criticism

towards the australian government. but now, groups working with migrant families on nauru say about 15 children have either made repeated suicide attempts or are regularly self—harming. the latest figures supplied by australian authorities say from the end ofjuly 189 people were living in the nauru processing centre. the australian government denies children are being mistreated. doctor barri phata rfod, president of doctors4refugees, has not been allowed to visit nauru but receives referrals from advocates for assessment and advice. she told me more about the mental health of the refugee children. i've used a variety of means to harm themselves. —— vave. in the latest case we saw a young girl who was 12 yea rs old case we saw a young girl who was 12 years old who actually tried to set fire to herself. this isn't the first person on nauru who's tried to set fire to herself, two or three

adults have beforehand. as you know, young children copy adults‘ behaviours. this particular girl, this is the fourth or fifth time she‘s tried to take her own life. in the past she‘s swallowed items, drunk bleach, swallowed razorblades. it's drunk bleach, swallowed razorblades. it‘s quite a hideous situation that is happening in nauru, especially with young children. what are the conditions like for them that you‘re hearing for them on nauru island? well, the conditions are horrific. first of all, they‘ve been trapped there for five years. now, they‘re trapped there without any sense of hope. they see no future. now, with young jo verrent, what sets young children apart is their sense of the future. —— young children. children have dreams and hopes, they have to rios the tee, they ask questions, none of that happens on nauru —— have curiosity. there‘s an indefinite detention, they see no way of the island, especially if

they‘ve been rejected or their family has been rejected for the usa deal, which has only taken 270 people of the promised a50 off both nauru and manus island. they live in overcrowded, mouldy tense. these tens have a toxic level of mould, so much so that even the staffers who don‘t live in those tens have experienced what‘s known as nauru long. virtually all the children and most of the adults will have chronic respiratory conditions. —— long. sexual abuse and sexual assault on the island is right, we‘ve seen children as young as three years old showing inappropriate sexual behaviour —— is right. showing inappropriate sexual behaviour -- is right. i wonder if i can read to you this statement if i can, doctor, that we as the bbc approached the australian gun and for comment on this story —— is rife. they said they take seriously their role to ensure children are

protected from abuse, neglect or exploitation. range of care, welfare and support arrangements are in place to provide for the needs of children and young people‘s. what is your reaction? well, they're not doing a very good job. they may well try... the other thing i should point out is a lot of the reports we‘ve received from the doctors who have been contracted and the social workers and the nursing staff have all been perfectly in line with what we would consider appropriate recommendations, but the australian border force overrides recommendations made by any of the health professionals. so why are they may be getting appropriate levels of management there and then at times, and the staff provide it, who are contracted, do provide the very best services they can, but when those services are overridden by non—medical departmental officials to essentially satisfy a political agenda, then the end

results of that care just cannot be assessed. that was doctor barri phatarfod, the president of doctorsarefugees, speaking earlier to babita. japan‘s prime minister shinzo abe faces an election today, but it‘s not the country he needs to win over. rather, it‘s the membership of his own liberal democratic party, who are voting in the three—yearly contest to choose their leader. mariko 0i explains. japan used to be known for having a bit of a revolving door when it came to prime ministers. now, shinzo abe has managed to hang on for a good forjapan six years, but it‘s time forjapan six years, but it‘s time for his party, the liberal democratic party, to hold its once every three years leadership election, and that could see mr abe being given the boot. his popularity among voters fell after his wife was linked to this guy, yasser nucor glory, who wanted to build a nationalistic primary school and he

and his wife were sold a port of government land way below market price —— plot. mr abe denies any involvement but he is being challenged by a former minister of defence and agriculture. he is calling are they‘s political style into question by campaigning on a platform of honesty and fairness, and promising to regain public trust in politics —— abe. mr abe is widely expected to win the ruling party leadership vote and if he completes his third term, he will become the country‘s longest ever serving prime minister and one of the things he really wa nts minister and one of the things he really wants to do is to devise the post—war pacifist constitution to allow the defence force to be armed. it's allow the defence force to be armed. it‘s a controversial move at home and with asian neighbours. hello. storm ali brought damaging

winds across parts of the uk on wednesday. wind gusts of more than 90 mph for parts of northern ireland. you can see this book of cloud on the satellite picture, that‘s the storm pushing off towards scandinavia but that doesn‘t mean things will be quiet over the next couple of days, far from it. things will be quiet over the next couple of days, farfrom it. on thursday we have this wriggling frontal system bringing pulses of moisture from the atlantic, so through the day ahead we are going to see heavy rain at times and still the potential for strong winds. to see heavy rain at times and still the potentialfor strong winds. a windy start across northern scotland, heavy showers here and rain across wales, the midlands and parts of eastern england, fizzling for a time before returning with a vengeance for a time before returning with a vengeance from the west as we get on into the afternoon. as the day gets on the winds will ease a bit across northern scotland, but still hefty showers blowing in on the breeze. sunshine as well, 15 in aberdeen. in northern ireland,, sunshine as well, 15 in aberdeen. in northern ireland, , than sunshine as well, 15 in aberdeen. in northern ireland,, than wednesday but still breezy with a fair amount

of cloud but look at the afternoon in north—west england, the midlands and into wales, very heavy bursts with the risk of disruption and localised flooding. windy to the south of that but warm as well, 21 01’ south of that but warm as well, 21 or 22 south of that but warm as well, 21 or22 in the south of that but warm as well, 21 or 22 in the south—east where we may stick with some sunshine. going through thursday evening into the night, we take this wet weather across northern england, wales and the south—west, we go eastwards and with that the wind is strengthening across the southern and particularly south—eastern areas with gusts of a0, 50 or maybe 60 mph or even a touch more in these southern areas. if you have travel plans over the next 2a hours or so through thursday on into friday, heavy rain, gales at times and there‘s the potential for destruction. your bbc local radio station will keep you up to date. friday starting windy in southern and eastern areas. this area of low

pressure responsible will slide to the east, and in its wake it will leave us all with some much cooler air, which is going to be coming from a long way not. a messy start to the day, outbreaks of rain windy down the east coast as we go through friday. the worst of the rain will ease, the winds will ease as well and then we‘ll be left with sunshine and then we‘ll be left with sunshine and heavy showers and a cool feel. 11 in aberdeen, perhaps 18 or maybe 19 in parts of the south—east. the weekend very mixed. yes, some sunshine, but rain at times, most especially in the south. i‘m babita sharma with bbc world news. our top story. the us has welcomed a deal on denuclearlisation between the leaders of north and south korea. is there for their latest pictures, showing the motorcade of president moon. at a summit in pyongyang, north leader kim jong—un promised to close a missile launch facility, overseen by international experts.

the us senate has given the woman who accused supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault until friday to decide if she will testify at a senate hearing. christine blasey ford says she wants the fbi to investigate the alleged assault. and this story is on bbc.com. the hunt for the final resting place of captainjames cook‘s ship hms endeavour may soon be over — in time for the 250th anniversary of its voyage to australia. after a 25—year archaeological study of the area, the search has been narrowed to just "one or two" sites.