i'm ben bland in london. the headlines: and there is liftoff of the soyuz ms... russia launches a criminal investigation after the crew of a soyuz rocket were forced to make an emergency landing. a trail of destruction left by one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the united states. and should it be renamed the kanye west wing? donald trump hosts the rap star, who appears to be his biggest fan. it was something about when i put this hat on. it made me feel like superman. you made a superman, that's my favourite superhero. it is 1:00am here in london and 6:00am the morning at the baikonur cosmodrome in kazakhstan, where officials are investigating how a space

capsule launch went badly wrong. the mission taking crew members to the international space station came falling back to earth when the soyuz rocket malfunctioned. both of the men on board survived unharmed, but it has raised questions over whether the soviet—era design is still safe for carrying people into orbit. from moscow, sarah rainsford reports. and there is liftoff of the soyuz ms—10... a burst of fire and noise, as a soyuz rocket lifted its crew into orbit. at first, this was a routine launch to the international space station. then came this. less than three minutes into the flight, the commander, alexey ovchinin, reported an emergency. the booster system had failed. the launch had to be aborted. moments later, the two men

were plunging back to earth in their tiny capsule. the crew did train for this nightmare scenario, the gruelling g—force their bodies would have to endure. but russia's soyuz rocket hasn't failed on launch in over three decades. for american nick hague, it was an abrupt end to his first ever mission. he was due to spend six months in orbit. ever since yuri gagarin launched into orbit, russia has been immensely proud of its space programme. this accident, then, will be a major blow. but it is notjust a matter of prestige. russian rockets are currently the only way up to the international space station. what happens now, then, is a big question. rescuers were quick to reach the remote landing site, hugely relieved, too, that the crew emerged unharmed, even walking. but all soyuz flights have now been suspended as an investigation is launched. the safety measures of this space —

of this launcher are very good, and the two astronauts are well, they are in good shape. so therefore i think we should investigate the case, and as soon as possible fly again. tonight, the astronauts were reunited with their families. for them, it was a moment ofjoy. for russia, though, a time of tough questions over what exactly went so wrong here. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. let's take a look at some of the day's other news: the devastation caused by hurricane michael in northern florida has become clear. the 155 mph winds, that is 250 km/h, smashed thousands of homes. six people are known to have died. weather experts say michael was the third most powerful storm on record to hit the us mainland. gary 0'donoghue reports. two days ago, this was an orderly beachfront community, home to around 1,200 people.

but, street after street, michael tore through this town, uprooting and smashing everything in its path. this is what the federal emergency director is calling ground zero, mexico beach, where hurricane michael came ashore yesterday with those winds of 155 mph. it has completely devastated this street, down to the sea, just two houses left standing, and people's things all over the street — microwaves, mattresses, kitchen sinks, you name it. the stuff of everyday life turned into detritus in a matter of hours. around the town, friends and neighbours are doing their best to console one another — hard to do when your dream retirement home has ended up like this. 30 miles west of mexico beach, the hurricane‘s aftermath proved a temptation some couldn't resist. but, for the time being, the priority is seeking out anyone who might need urgent help, as the rescuers make their way

to some of the more isolated communities. life will not be back to normal here any time soon. also making news today: ajudge in new york has dismissed one of the six sexual assault allegations against the disgraced hollywood mogul harvey weinstein. the dismissal relates to lucia evans, who accused the movie producer of forcing her to perform a sexual act. weinstein‘s lawyer has told reporters that this development taints the whole case against his client. what happened here is harvey weinstein was so vilified that he was considered to be low hanging fruit. you just indict him and you worry about convicting later. and, you know, what has happened is that iam drilling you know, what has happened is that i am drilling down on some of these allegations and the district attorney's officers drilling down on these allegations, this case is not what it was cracked up to be when it

was first announced. at least five people have been killed by a cyclone in the east of india. the category 2 storm caused flooding in low lying areas of 0disha and andhra pradesh states. officials say 500,000 people have lost their power supplies. there have been more big falls in the value of us stock markets. the dowjones ended the day lower by more than 2%. the nasdaq and s&p indexes also fell. attention will now turn to the asian markets, which have just opened, and we will have more on this in asia business report. a singapore airlines plane is currently in the air for what the carrier says will be the longest non—stop passenger flight on record. it is currently about eight hours into the i9—hourjourney from singapore directly to new york. tickets aren't cheap on the airbus a350. there is no economy class on board. it is due to land just after 10:30 gmt on friday. let's get more on our top story,

that amazing emergency landing of the soyuz rocket. i was joined from from paris by the director general of the european space agency, jan woerner, and from houston by the former nasa astronaut terry virts, who has been inside a soyuz capsule. well, first of all, i want to say it was a very good ending to a very bad day. the russian mission control and survival rescue forces did a greatjob getting them back quickly. but the men were going through a normal launch. they had been planning on spending six months at the international space station. they were reporting that everything was normal. ground was telling them everything was fine. and then all of a sudden, and we're not exactly sure what happened, that investigation is going to come, but somewhere when the boosters came off, there was some vibrations, and they suddenly got an alarm

that the main engine had shut down. they reported that they were weightless, and they went from "everything's normal, i'm going to space," to "my rocket just failed, and we're going through this emergency, first ever of its kind, abort." it was a pretty, i'm sure, shocking turn of events for them. but there must be training for all sorts of eventualities. is this the sort of scenario that they would have simulated beforehand? absolutely. in fact, today i dusted off my old checklist from when i was flying the soyuz, to reread all the procedures. and as i was going through the procedures, i could hear alexey 0vchinin, the commander cosmonaut, calling off each step. he sounded like he was just taking a walk in the park. he sounded so cool and calm and collected, but he was riding a rocket that had just failed, and he had to do a ballistic emergency. so they had practised it. the g—forces were pretty high. they got up to almost seven gs, from what i heard. as an f—i6 pilot, we did nine gs.

but still, seven gs is pretty heavy. but they only had that for a few seconds, and then they were under parachute, and landed in the desert uneventfully. the russian forces were actually waiting for them before the capsule landed. the russians had helicopters on the site already. let's bring injan woerner, who is in paris. jan, as terry mentioned, fortunately the situation concluded with no—one being harmed. but i just wonder what this means for the future of soyuz missions, and specifically, what about those who are currently at the space station, who presumably were awaiting supplies to be delivered 7 no, so this is — the ones who are in the space station right now, for them it's no issue at all. i had already contact to alexander guest, who is a european astronaut with a german passport on board the iss. they have everything that they need,

so this is no issue. the transport to the international space station is normally made by a japanese htv transfer vehicle, or from some american suppliers, so this is no issue. and of course, this mishap of the soyuz is not a good thing. but, on the other side, it shows that the system as such is very safe, because in each and every moment of the launch, you can return. this is a very good message, and so therefore i think it's still a reliable launch. of course, we have to look what was the problem. i've had some contact to our american colleagues, i had some contact also to our russian colleagues, because we would like to send, again, european astronauts with that launcher. so do i take that, from what you said just there, that you don't see this as perhaps signalling a rolling back of human missions, especially considering that now artificial

intelligence and robotics can actually achieve so much? no, i think the soyuz is a reliable launcher. but it shows also that to have two systems available, we call it redundancy as engineers, is something which is very good. so i tried to convince, also, the europeans some years ago to go ahead with a european transport system. i could not succeed, but it's very clear, if we have more than one system available, it's a good thing. and, therefore, we're also looking forward that the americans are ready to launch again humans in the near future. terry, let's bring you back in, because ijust keep trying to put myself in the shoes of those two men who were in the capsule. how much of it comes down to their decision—making, in seconds and split seconds, and how much are they reallyjust relying on others back at mission control to make the crucial decisions? well, actually, it's more

the computers on board itself. the soyuz is very automated. during launch, especially, most things happen automatically. there were a few steps that alexey had to take, and they commanded ballistic entry. but the abort, the separation, and getting the parachute out, all those types of things, the soyuz is mostly automated. search and rescue efforts in indonesia are coming to an end today following the devastating earthquake and tsunami. more than 2,000 people are known to have died and around 5,000 are still feared missing. we can bring you now the story of a man who survived notjust the palu tsunami, but also the one which struck in december 200a. just one remarkable story there. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: find out why this korean pop video was watched 45 million times in the first 2a hours since it was released. parts of san francisco least affected by the earthquake

are returning to life. but in the marina area, where most of the damage was done, they're more conscious than ever of how much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last here, he's gone from being a little—known revolutionary to an experienced and successful diplomatic operator. it was a 20lb bomb which exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the front of the building. this government will not weaken. democracy will prevail. it fills me with humility and gratitude to know that i have been chosen as the recipient of this foremost of eartlhy honours. this catholic nation held its breath for the men they call the 33. and then... bells toll bells tolled nationwide to announce the first rescue, and chile let out an almighty roar. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm ben bland in london. our top stories: russian officials say they have begun a criminal investigation into a failed space mission which forced two crew members to perform an emergency landing in kazakhstan. a trail of destruction left by one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the united states. a look at what is in the papers. the south china morning post reports on a turbulent day on the world markets ahead of the opening bell. hong kong's stock market had its worst day in 17 months yesterday and shanghai shares sank to their lowest in four years, as fears over trade wars and slowing economies spooked investors. the japan times front page features the brand new toyosu fish market. the opening of the 40—hectare state—of—the—art seafood marketplace was bittersweet for many

fishmongers, after the closing of the 83—year—old tsukiji market on saturday. and the philippine star says 40,000 bags of rice have been seized by authorities following an intensified campaign against illegal rice trading. according to the government, the contribution of rice to inflation multiplied tenfold this year, amid issues on supply and importation. ajunior minister in the indian government is facing calls to resign over multiple allegations of harassment and sexual assault. he's yet to respond, but the claims come as india is in the midst of a #metoo storm. yogita limaye reports from mumbai. just some of the hundreds of stories india's women have shared over the past few days. on twitter and facebook, there's been a torrent of allegations made against men from the media

and entertainment industries. many have even been named. the most high profile, mj akbar, india's junior foreign minister and a former newspaper editor. he's not responded so far. there are serious allegations levelled at mr mj... his boss, india's foreign minister, sushma swaraj, chose not to comment when asked about the issue. the harassment reached such an extreme point that... but the whole movement started with this woman. a former actor, tanushree dutta recently spoke out again about the sexual harassment she allegedly faced on a movie set ten years ago. tanushree says she filed a police complaint back in 2008, but she got no justice, and it forced her to leave the profession. this is something i loved. i loved dancing, i loved movies, i loved acting, it was just taken away from me. i had movie offers all these years, but every time a movie offer would come, i would break into a sweat, my heart would start racing, and i would figure out some

excuse to not sign a film. the actor she's accused, nana patekar, has denied the allegations, saying there were dozens of people on set. he also said he'll see what legal options he has. india consistently ranks among the worst countries in the world to be a woman, so it's hardly surprising the kind of stories we're hearing. but, for the first time, not only are women choosing to name their alleged harassers, but we're also seeing action being taken, enquiries being initiated, some people being forced to resign, entertainment shows being dropped and contracts being cancelled. rutuja shinde is one of the lawyers who's offered legal counsel to the women who've come out with their stories. the response has been overwhelming to be honest. they don't just want to, you know what i mean, have the social media platform, they want to take it forward, file complaints and see a logical end to this. on an average, i'd say i get 8—10

women who contact me every day. in recent years, tough sexual harassment laws have been introduced in the country, but many are hoping this will be the moment that makes india's workplaces a bit more safe for its women. yogita limaye, bbc news, mumbai. it was one of donald trump's most anticipated meetings, creating almost as much hype as his face—to—face talks with north korean leader kom jong—un. rapper kanye west was invited into the white house for a chat with the us president. here's ka nye, giving the president a hug, as you can see, he's wearing his red ‘make america great again‘ cap, which he said made him feel like a super hero when he put it on. clearly he's a big fan. the event was an unusual one foertrump — in that he sat at his oval office deskjust listening while kanye west spoke for more than eight minutes. emily heil is a reporter for the washington post. i asked her what she made of this celebrity visit and the monologue

from kanye that left even donald trump speechless. you've hit on two things that are quite different about this bizarre spectacle. the first being that a celebrity came to the white house. that's something that's obviously happened for many previous administrations, would have celebrities coming through for whatever reason, pressing their causes, coming to events, doing concerts, whatever. of course, that hit quite a high water mark in the 0bama years. the 0bamas attracted tremendous celebrity of visitors, and they deployed celebrities in different ways, whether to sell the healthcare bill or during the presidential campaigns. now, trump has really been kryptonite to celebrities. you know, save for a few one—off celebrities, kid rock being one of them, who was again at the white house today, just not lot of interest from celebrities, performers, to come to the trump white house. so first of all that was unusual. and yes, you also hit on the fact that donald trump was rendered speechless, which we don't hear a lot of here, and it took kanye west to do that. emily, i want to get your thoughts

on the political angle of all this, here we have a black american giving a ringing endorsement, saying wearing the trademark donald trump baseball cap made him feel like a superhero. do you think this will help the president's relations at all with the african—american community given all the problems he's had with picking those twitter fights with certain celebrities, and the nfl protests and the comments he's made about the charlottesville white supremacist rally, do you think this will make any difference at all? i don't think it will. i don't think that kanye west has the ability to move the needle in that way. i don't think that his endorsement and his embrace of president trump is something that, you know, people of colour are going to look at and say, "huh, maybe there's something more here." i think this is kanye west doing things that kanye west does,

which arejust, call attention to himself, say something bizarre, say something very astonishing so people stop and they, kind of, stare at him. i don't think this is something that people say, "oh, this is a thoughtful person who maybe now i should go back and give this a second look." ijust don't think he has that cachet within his own community that way. certainly he has a tremendous amount of fame, but it's a different sort of fame. so i don't think this does what president trump thinks it might. the south korean boyband bts is one of the world's most influential groups on social media. they've just finished a run of sold out concerts at london's 02 arena — and they're more than just a craze. their success has brought k—pop — south korean pop music — to a global audience, showcasing the country's unique culture. here's sophie van brugen. hey, london! meet bts, global pop superstars, and they sing almost exclusively in korean. the band have had a record—breaking year so far.

they're the first k—pop band to break into the us and uk charts. this video, idol, was watched 45 million times in the first 2a hours, a new world record. they've even been asked to speak at the un. today, i am who i am with all of my faults and my mistakes. tomorrow, i might be a tiny bit wiser. it's the message of self empowerment to the fans and their relationship with them that's given them this global appeal. actually they are helping us get over our hardships and keep trying to find a way to love ourselves. i think that's the best way to be happy. of course, psi and gangnam style was a breakthrough for k—pop, but this is different. groups like the beatles,

they were global once, but we've never seen it again, especially from an asian group. they're more than just a new band, it's a sign of how the centre of gravity in the world of pop is shifting east. sophie van brugen, bbc news. and before we go, let's take a look at these pictures of ethiopia's prime minister, abiy ahmed, doing press—ups with soldiers who had marched into his office in addis ababa to demand a pay rise. he ordered them to do ten press—ups and, judging by all the smiles, defused the situation. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello there. storm callum is approaching, and it is set to bring us some pretty wet and windy weather over the next few days. on thursday, it was a breezy day with a few showers around. this was the picture as we ended the day, taken by one of our weather watchers in reading, and now our attention turns to the west and this is storm callum, this developing area low pressure. as it moves in on friday

and lingering into saturday, it will bring particularly windy and wet weather on the cards too. the rainfall totals could be mounting up, particularly in parts of south wales, where we've got an amber warning for the heavy rain, 40—60 millimetres of rain, could be even more over high ground, up to 100 over the two days. so this is how friday is looking then. let's focus in on the regional detail. on friday morning, look at the wind speeds, 50 or 60mph, maybe a bit more than that on exposed irish sea coasts, and heavy rain in the south—west of england, wales and the midlands. northern ireland will have seen the worst of the wet weather by sam friday morning, but very windy here and wet and pretty windy conditions in the bulk of scotland and northern england too, with those strong gusty winds. so particularly windy in the north and west too, but wherever you are, you'll notice the strength of the winds. down towards the south—east of england and east anglia, you're more likely to stay dry for a good part of the day, and still pretty warm, temperatures once again up to 22 or so in the south—east.

cooler further north and west, but actually mild wherever you are, but we've got strong winds and heavy rain to contend with too. so this area of rain becomes quite slow—moving through friday evening and into saturday morning, especially heavy in wales. and remember, we've got that amber warning in force for heavy rain in south wales, maybe flooding and disruption to transport as well. as we move through the weekend then, the trailing weather front from storm callum stays put through the day on saturday. it's just slowly edging a bit further eastwards. again, parts of scotland, northern ireland, northern england, wales and the south—west of england seeing the bulk of that heavy rain. strong winds again, especially down towards the midlands and the south—east of england. with that mild air in charge, in the sunshine, we could see temperatures up to 24, well above average for this time of year. as we move into the second half of the weekend, we'll see the rain edging its way further eastwards. perhaps a soggy start for london and the south—east. some rain and even snow over the mountains of scotland. when the rain and hill snow clears to the east, an improved today in much of the country but temperatures

will be almost 10 degrees cooler on sunday than they are on saturday. into next week then, still pretty unsettled and breezy, with some showery rain at times. bye— bye. i'm ben bland with bbc news. our top story: russian officials begin a criminal investigation into a failed space mission, which forced two crew members to perform an emergency landing in kazakhstan. russia has suspended manned flights to the international space station. shortly after take—off, the crew reported a problem with the rocket‘s booster. they ejected their capsule from the booster and began a ballistic descent. the number of people known to have died in the devastation caused by hurricane michael in the united states has risen to six. it's now weakened to a tropical storm. and this video is trending on bbc.com. rapper kanye west was invited into the white house for lunch and a chat with the us president and certainly stole the show when he embarked on a monologue so long that he left donald trump speechless. that's all.

stay with bbc news. and the top story in the uk: the women's clothing chain coast has gone into administration, putting 300 jobs at risk.