welcome to newsday under bbc. i am sharanjit leyl in singapore. —— on the. the headlines: freed from prison and in hiding, now the lawyer for the pakistani christian woman acquitted of blasphemy tells the bbc she's free to leave the country too. asia bibi can still move anywhere she likes and she not detained in pakistan because of that review condition. the united states authorities say they will block asylum claims by people who illegally enter the country. i'm ben bland in london. also in the programme: a former us marine with suspected mental health problems is named as the gunman who shot and killed 12 people in a bar in california. and none of us are getting any younger — orare we? we meet the dutchman fighting a legal battle to take 20 years off his official age. good morning.

it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london and 5 o'clock in the morning in islamabad where christian woman asia bibi is currently in hiding after being acquitted of blasphemy charges. her release from prison has triggered angry outbursts from hardline islamist groups who have filed a petition calling for the decision to be reversed. until her case is settled, asia bibi's life is at grave risk. her family and supporters from around the world are calling on countries like the uk or us to accept her asylum. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet reports. released in secret in the dead of night from this prison to a secret location. asia bibi, free after eight years on death row. but, still, the most wanted person in pakistan. wanted dead by crowds like this,

who surged into the streets of the capital of islamabad when they heard the news. "hang her," they shout. hardline islamists defying supreme courtjudges who overturned her conviction — a death sentence for blasphemy. let me state clearly that asia bibi remains at a safe place in pakistan. asia bibi is now a free citizen, says thejustice ministry. she is a free woman now. but islamists have mounted a legal challenge to stop her from leaving pakistan. her torment began almost a decade ago in her tiny village. an argument with muslim women over a cup of water turned into accusations. she was arrested and convicted for blasphemy. her husband and five children spoke to the bbc then of their world turned upside down. translation: we miss her so much.

christmas is coming. we wish we could celebrate it with her. and those days of anguish lasted a decade. "we've been waiting ten years," her daughter cries, on a visit to london this month, organised by a christian charity. her mother's plight has galvanised campaigns in pakistan and far beyond, including in britain. it is a major test for pakistan's new prime minister, imran khan. no—one has been hanged for blasphemy, but dozens have been killed by people taking the law into their own hands. asia bibi and herfamily are expected to take up offers of asylum, escaping a place where no—one accused of this

crime is safe. lyse doucet, bbc news. let's bring you some breaking news from the united states. a new regulation to restrict asylum claims by migrants has been published by the us department of homeland security. it will no longer allow people who enter the us illegally to claim asylum. we get the latest iraq responded chris buckler in washington. just hearing about this in the last half hour or hearing about this in the last half hourorso, hearing about this in the last half hour or so, already people are raising questions about the legality of this move. yes. basically what this means now is that those who are entering the us across the border with mexico illegally, that is not going to reform border crossing, they will no longer be eligible to apply for asylum, according to the

us. instead, if they go through a formal border crossing, they will still be able to do it. that is an attempt to cut down those illegally into the country. there are people raising concerns about that. according to the department of home late security, they have the authority to suspend or restrict the entry of aliens into the us if he turns as it to be in the national interest to do so. it is no surprise that many groups disagree with that. they said people have the right to apply for asylum, the matter how to enter the apply for asylum, the matter how to enterthe us, so long apply for asylum, the matter how to enter the us, so long as they do so within a year. and i think we are getting set for what will be a difficult court battle about this. it could be said, chris, that there is, or should, come it could be said, chris, that there is, orshould, come as it could be said, chris, that there is, or should, come as no surprise, given that immigration was mentioned throughout the mid—term election campaign, particularly in light of the caravan of thousands of people making their way through central america, through mexico, towards the border. you are completely right,

then. we saw in rally after rally donald trump show his anger and frustration at immigration policies, feeling it was not tough enough. he still continue to talk about building a wall. what this is an attempt to do is to try to put in its place a system that discourages people from illegally entering into the country. of course we have had the country. of course we have had the family separation policy, which the family separation policy, which the trump administration really move themselves back at. what they are trying to find it is a nuisance study, which ensures that water is a more secure. they believe is a policy that could work out that it will end up in the courts. chris, for the moment, thanks very much. chris buckler in washington. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. the us secretary of state says american sanctions on iran are not designed to hurt the iranian people. mike pompeo has been defending america's decision to re—impose the penalties. in an interview with bbc persian‘s hadi nili in washington, mr pompeo also insisted that iran — and not saudi arabia — is fueling the war in yemen.

the purpose is to stop iran's destabilising influence in the region, assassinating campaigns in europe, work to support lebanese hezbollah which is threatened americans and israelis, and using iranian people's wealth to destabilise the world. this is not what the iranian people want. the aim is not to punish the iranian people, but the opposite. you say that you are not punishing the people, and that the sanctions are not targeting the people, but what if... no they are not. but what of the sanctions that are ready and people? —— iranian. the sanctions that are ready and people? -- iranian. the people leading the iranian are the idle and the radiant leadership. —— are the

ayatolla h the radiant leadership. —— are the ayatollah and the iranian leadership. also making news today toshiba is going to close its nuclear subsidiary business nugen. it's after the japanese engineering giant failed to find a buyer for it. that means it won't now be building a new nuclear power plant in the uk. toshiba says it will also cut 7,000 jobs around the world over the next five years. it's trying to revive its finances after it lost billions of dollars when it bought us nuclearfirm westinghouse which later declared bankruptcy. us supreme court judge ruth bader ginsburg was taken to hospital on thursday after fracturing three ribs in a fall at her office on wednesday night. she is the most senior liberal justice on the court and — at 85 — is also the oldest. she has been admitted for observation and treatment. the court is not back in session until november 26th. at least 47 people have died in the east of zimbabwe after a crash involving two buses. two children were killed and 70 people were injured. an eyewitness has told local media one of the buses was trying to overtake a lorry outside the small town of rusape. a norwegian navy warship has

collided with an oil tanker of the coast of norway. eight people were slightly injured and the warship has been evacuated. the frigate was returning from nato military exercises when it clashed with the maltese—flagged tanker which was slightly damaged. no oil appears to have been spilled. it was not immediately clear what caused the collision. in southern california, 13 people including a police officer and a gunman have died in a shooting incident. it happened late last night in thousand oaks, a city some a0 miles west of los angeles. the gunman has been identified as a 28—year—old former us marine who took his own life. he'd had run ins with the law and a history of mental health problems. 0ur correspondent james cook reports. 0fficer down. for the united states, this is the nightmare that never ends.

it could be las vegas, 0rlando, virginia tech or sandy hook. but, this time, it is thousand oaks at the borderline bar and grill. it was college night and the place was packed with young people enjoying country music and dancing, when the shooting started. i saw the gunmen with his gun drawn at the front where you pay. as soon as we heard a shot, we dropped to the floor. like, i saw the shots go off as well as hearing them. he shot the front desk cashier. and ourfriends got the bar stools and they started to bang them against the window so we could get out. we stayed behind the stage, got out, went through the kitchen, went through the back door. i watched an officer get shot in front of me and i had to help drag him to throw him in the back of the cop car. that officer was sergeant ron helus.

he'd been outside on the phone to his wife when the shooting started. he told her he loved her and ran into the building. the sergeant passed away at the hospital about an hour ago. sergeant helus was on the force for 29 years. he was looking to retire in the next year or so. speaking to people here, you get a sense of shock and a sense of despair, but what's really striking is the absence of surprise. america has come to expect mass shootings. the gunmen was a local man, ian david long, a 28—year—old former marine. he'd had run—ins with police before and they had concerns about his mental health. but although his handgun‘s extended magazine is illegal in california, he'd bought the weapon itself lawfully. why do you think this keeps happening in the united states of america? i don't know. if i knew the answer to that, i'd do something to stop it. this city is ranked

as one of the safest communities in the nation. but no corner of this country is immune from the american plague of gun violence. i just saw the news, he was one of the ii killed last night. his name was cody coffman. my first—born son. james cook, bbc news, thousand oaks in california. fresh from their election victory in the house, democrats are demanding emergency hearings into the firing of attorney generaljeff sessions and warning of a constitutional crisis. donald trump has put the country's top legal department in control of a man who has already expressed a lot of scepticism about the special counsel investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 election. the bbc‘s north america editorjon sopel reports. jeff sessions, until last night, donald trump's attorney

general and punchbag. after months of public abuse, the president finally moved from ridiculing his senior law officer to firing him. and it was a glassy—eyed jeff sessions who bade farewell to staff. sessions' crime in the president's eyes had been to step aside from overseeing the russia investigation into whether there was collusion between the trump campaign and moscow. no wonder could be surprised thatjeff sessions was made to walk the plank. he was living on borrowed time. what has raised eyebrows and caused concern is the man who is now the acting attorney general. he has been openly hostile to the mueller investigation and that leaves a burning question. is donald trump planning to axe the inquiry altogether? in the short term, the man now running the justice department is matthew whitaker, a trump loyalist. so, i can see a scenario wherejeff sessions is replaced with a recess appointment and that attorney general does not fire

bob mueller but he just reduces his budget so low that his investigation grinds almost to a halt. to dwindle his resources. and he wrote this... investigating donald trump's finances or his family's finances goes beyond the scope of the appointment of the special counsel. it is time for rosenstein, who is the acting attorney general for the purposes of this investigation, to order mueller to limit the scope of his investigation. democrats are suspicious. protecting mueller and his investigation is paramount. it would create a constitutional crisis if this were a prelude to ending all greatly limiting the mueller investigation. but what is the fuss about, says the white house. the mueller investigation has gone forward using your tax dollars. we have not impeded it at all. we had an attorney general

who was recused from it. we now don't have an acting attorney general who is recused from it. nobody wants to prolong it. we have done everything that we have been asked to do. a breaking point where donald trump goes nuclear and fires robert mueller has long been anticipated. it hasn't happened yet. it doesn't mean it won't happen. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: this sunday marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war. i'll be talking the author of the world war i in southeast asia. also coming up in the programme: age no object. we hear about the dutchman fighting a legal battle to become 20 years younger. the israeli prime minister, yitzhak rabin, the architect of the middle east peace process, has been assassinated.

a 27—year—old jewish man has been arrested and an extremist jewish organisation has claimed responsibility for the killing. at polling booths throughout the country, they voted on a historic day for australia. as the results came in, it was clear — the monarchy would survive. of the american hostages, there was no sign. they are being held somewhere inside the compound and student leaders have threatened that, should the americans attempt rescue, they will all die. this mission has surpassed all expectations. voyager one is now the most distant man—made object anywhere in the universe, and itjust seems to keep on going. tonight, we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm sharanjit leyl, in singapore. i'm ben bland, in london. our top stories: freed from prison — now the lawyer for asia bibi, the pakistani christian woman acquitted of blasphemy, has told the bbc she's free to leave the country too. the united states authorities say they will prevent people who illegally enter the country from claiming asylum. a virtual newsreader from china. xinhua news says it can read text as well as a real person... though not eve ryo ne well as a real person... though not everyone would agree. certainly, not me and ben. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world: the front page of the straits times has a story on singapore's desire for a smooth political transition

as the country moves to its fourth—generation leadership. prime minister lee hsien loong said the current leaders are doing everything they can for a "sure—footed" change of the guard. the new york times features an article about italy's loosening gun laws. according to the report, the politician behind the push is matteo salvini, the most powerful figure in italy's populist government. and dominating the front page of the japan times is a terrific photo from the trampoline gymnastics world championships, held in russia. the young japanese athlete, hikaru mori — seen here mid—air — is competing in a qualification round. now, what stories are sparking discussions online? let's look at what's trending right now.

a 13—year—old boy from china has broken a world record for the fastest time to complete three rubik's cubes at the same time with his hands and feet. quu jian—yu broke the record in a time of 1 minute and 36.39 seconds. this weekend there will be commemorations around the world marking the end of the first world war. millions of people died during the conflict and it had everlasting fracture for all countries involved. conflicts also raged in asia as well as europe. with me from boston is heather streets—salter, the author of world war i in southeast asia. most people think of world war i as

a european conflict. there were many soldiers involved from south asia, australia and new zealand. what about other bought impacted south east asia? i like to put it like this. even though south east asia did not significantly shaped the course and outcome of the war, the ball shaped southeast asia and also asia in multiple and also profound ways, depending on where you look. what are some of these ways?” ways, depending on where you look. what are some of these ways? i write a lot about representatives of central powers from germany and austria and also from the ottoman empire, also working with revolutionaries, worked actively to try to undermine allied authority

wherever it was manifested, british malaya, indochina and india as well. the neutral countries that were surrounding the colonies were crucial. because germans were able to work with antique colonial revolutionaries as a basis to co—ordinate anti— british. —— anticolonial. the japanese occupation and world war two still leave scars. how did it world war i effect the relationship between china andjapan? effect the relationship between china and japan? world war i was actually very important forjapanese influence in east and south east asia. the british and french had to

did vote asia. the british and french had to d id vote resources asia. the british and french had to did vote resources and related japanese to provide water and the british asked the japanese to take a german territory in china on shandong caniggia and shandong. —— peninsula. they wanted control by november seven 1914. 104 years ago. you write a lot about the military, diplomatic and intelligence collaboration during that time but tell us about the relationships of these countries, the instance britain working closely with the french? in order to try and control the anti— revolutionary networks happening throughout the war, the british developed a new agency, the

far eastern intelligence agency, specifically designed to monitor indian revolutionaries. the french already had the secret exterior police in indochina at that became more sophisticated in the war and then the french agency and the british agency began sharing information during that while and this became really important after the war to fight communism. a look at world war i and the impact here in southeast asia. thank you for joining us. thank you for having me. plenty of coverage commemorating the first world war over the coming days and in particular over the weekend. age is just a number, so they say. well, a 69—year—old dutchman is going to court to try and legally lower his age to 49. emile ratelband thinks it might improve his chances with women on the dating app tinder. the positivity trainer says,

with his face, and a younger age, he'll be in a "luxurious position." anna holligan reports. emile ratelband is positive the speaker at a motivational guru. there are people here who are saying he is having a laugh but actually the 69—year—old is entirely serious and he has gone to court to amend his age to 49 because he believes it would improve his life chances and he says he has been discriminated against on the basis of his age. he believes it would be easier to him to fight work, get a new house, a new car, a warm and if he was 20 yea rs new car, a warm and if he was 20 years younger. in the netherlands, he points out people can go to court to change their names and gender so why should he not be able to change his age? he talked about the dog is

who say he has the body of a 45—year—old —— doctors. this would be the first case of its kind if he wins but thejudges have been pretty sceptical, asking what happens to the first 20 years of his life, should that beat you raise? he says he isa should that beat you raise? he says he is a pioneer in many fields so why not this one. he promises to revoke his state pension saying it is more about the women and the life chances than the money. the judges are expected to rule in about four weeks' time. you have been watching newsday. i'm ben bland, in london. and i'm sharanjit leyl, in singapore stay with us. the world's biggest shopping day of the year is almost here. rain and stronger winds on the

western areas. this is the weather front going through on thursday. this is really going to bring some very poor weather to northern ireland, scotland and the irish sea coast, wales and south—western england as well. we still have the rain in the early hours in western areas, the left over from thursday. this next weather system is piling in. some strong winds with this weather front. before that arrives, a bit ofa weather front. before that arrives, a bit of a calm for some of us. in fa ct, a bit of a calm for some of us. in fact, starting fairly bright in central and eastern areas of the uk. friday morning, a lot of isobars, pressure line indicating strong winds and they can be quite

destructive. heavy rain and gales that across western and south—western parts of the country. also central and southern england will be feeling the effects. for friday morning onwards, initially the weather is not too bad across central and eastern areas, even the south coast will have some sunshine. the very quickly the weather will go downhill by the time we get to the middle part of the afternoon. the south—west of england, wales, heavy rain. this is what it looks like at three o'clock. the dark blue indicates heavy rain. within this band of rain some strong gusts of winds, in excess of 60 miles per hourin winds, in excess of 60 miles per hour in some coasts. enough to cause some destruction and damage to trees potentially. when bit further to the east. even if you do not get the rain, the winds are picking up. friday night into saturday, the band

is sweeping across the country. the worst in the west. by the time we get to saturday morning, it is out of the way and we are left with a day of sunshine and showers. still quite preset but nowhere near as windy. remembrance day, sunday. we have sunshine and showers on the clouds. many of us should have a decent day. i'm ben bland with bbc world news. our top story: the pakisani christian woman asia bibi is in hiding after being acquitted of blasphemy charges. her release from prison has triggered angry outbursts from hardline islamist groups who have filed a petition calling for the decision to be reversed. but her lawyer has told the bbc she is free to leave the country. the trump administration says it will restrict the ability of illegal migrants to seek asylum on the southern us border, in a move previewed

by the president last week. and this video is trending on bbc.com: models have been gracing the catwalk in beirut. nothing really out of the ordinary you'd say, but look closer — these dresses are made with chocolate. they are the creations of 13 lebanese designers and 13 pastry chefs. that's all. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, sarah montague speaks to general stanley mcchrystal, former commander of us forces in afghanistan,