to kasia madeira and bbc news. but top story, president trump's former fixer michael cohen has made a series of explosive claims about his ex—boss, labelling him a conman, cheat and racist. he testified that donald trump knew beforehand that his democratic party's opponents's e—mails were being hacked. he also said that he signed the cheques used michael cohen tells a packed hearing to pay off stormy daniels. it is on capitol hill he's ashamed of the ten years he spent working for mr trump. he is a racist, he is a conman, brought that donald trump and kim and he is a cheat. jong—un will consider a roadmap to getting rid of nuclear weapons in under oath, he testifies that the korean peninsula. and this story donald trump knew his oponents‘ is trending on the bbc news website. emails were being hacked, and produced the cheque he says was used to pay off the porn star a five—month—old baby has left stormy daniels. hospital after six months in the president of the united states intensive care. when he was first thus wrote a personal cheque for the payment of hush money born, he could be held injust two as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws. cupped hands, that he is doing well

and i'm sharanjit leyl in hanoi, which is where president trump is right now, for his second summit with the leader of north korea. president trump's promising north korea a bright economic future if they can reach a deal. after a brief formal dinnner last night, the main business of the summit is about to begin. and tensions over the disputed region of kashmir remain high, as india demands the return of a captured pilot whose fighter jet was shot down by pakistan. this is bbc world news. it's newsday. hello and programme, it is 1am on the morning here in london, atm in hanoi and 8pm pm in washington, where president trump's former loyal

michael cohen has given explosive testimony to the house of representatives oversight committee. michael cohen told the committee that the president was a racist, cheat, and the conman. the white house says mr cohen is convicted liar who should not be believed. michael cohen once said he'd take a bullet for donald trump. but on capitol hill today, the president's former lawyer, his personal mr fixit, carried out a political hitjob on his one—time boss. i know what mr trump is. he is a racist. he is a con man. and he is a cheat. one of his most explosive allegations concerned this man, roger stone, a trump ally and self—styled political dirty trickster, recently indicted by the special counsel robert mueller. during the 2016 presidential campaign, he claimed donald trump was told ahead of time that wikileaks and its founder, julian assange, were about to leak e—mails that would hurt hillary clinton.

those e—mails were hacked by the russians. mr stone told mr trump that he had just gotten off the phone withjulian assange and that mr assange told mr stone that within a couple of days, there would be a massive dump of e—mails that would damage hillary clinton's campaign. mr trump responded by stating to the effect, "wouldn't that be great?" michael cohen also claims mr trump told him to pay hush money to the porn star stormy daniels to cover up an affair with the billionaire, in violation of campaign finance laws. he showed the committee the personally signed cheque the president had sent him in reimbursement. the president of the united states thus wrote a personal cheque for the payment of hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws. so what of the burning question of whether there was collusion between the trump

campaign and the kremlin? questions have been raised about whether i know of direct evidence that mr trump or his campaign colluded with russia. i do not, and i want to be clear. but i have my suspicions. he's going to be an amazing president... on the eve of the hearing, the republicans released video showing michael cohen lavishing praise on donald trump. the words the media should be using to describe mr trump are generous, compassionate, principled... and today they tried to trash the reputation of this convicted fraudster found guilty of lying to congress, even displaying visual aids to make the point. there's no truth with you whatsoever. that's why that's important to you, to look up here and look at the old adage that our mums taught us — liar, liar, pants on fire. no—one should ever listen to you and give you credibility. it's sad. president trump is half

a planet away in vietnam, for a nuclear summit with the north korean leader, kim jong—un. on camera, he remained tight—lipped about the fire and fury coming from his former lawyer back home. mr president, do you have any reaction to michael cohen and his testimony? but on twitter, he claimed mr cohen was lying to reduce his prison term. i wish i can go back in time... michael cohen admitted tea rfully that he can't rewrite history. the question for americans watching his dramatic testimony — did he present a truthful version of it today? nick bryant, bbc news, washington. washington correspondent chris buckler says that the committee's chairman believes that president trump may have committed a crime while in office. he was not specifically whether he believed judging by the testimony of the president —— that the president had committed a crime, and his answer was based upon what had been said in that hearing by michael cohen and by some other evidence, he believed he had. but he also said that was not

for him tojudge, that had. but he also said that was not for him to judge, that they will be investigations going forward, including that investigation by the special counsel michael to and he is investigation into allegations of russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. —— robert mueller. he said it would be up to the likes of robert mueller to investigate and certainly, we got the indication from michael cohen's testimony today that there is plenty to look at. indicated that there are some things that eastern creek would not talk about because federal prosecutors are now looking at them themselves in relation to president trump. he did not specify what they were, but it does seem to be an extension of this investigation that is taking place by the southern district of new york and the claims and investigations about trump organisation and some of mr trump's business dealings, and it gives you the sense that there is real focus on the president and particularly what is organisations and campaign tea m what is organisations and campaign team were doing. extraordinary day, we did not exactly get a smoking gun

in terms of proof of collusion between the trump campaign and the kremlin, but break it down for us, what did we get? yeah comic you break it down in the three words, it was sex, lies and wikileaks, because we did hearfrom michael cohen that he said that donald trump was very involved with this hush money payments, two women who said they had had affairs with donald trump. also, we learned that he believes donald trump implicitly encouraged injuly to donald trump implicitly encouraged in july to congress donald trump implicitly encouraged injuly to congress about donald trump implicitly encouraged in july to congress about the president's business dealings in russia, specifically as relating to the building of this project that was a one—time proposed, this trump tower in moscow, and then there was the big issue, the one about wikileaks. this suggestion that donald trump knew that wikileaks we re donald trump knew that wikileaks were planning to release details of democratic e— mails that had been found by hackers, suggestions that he was told beforehand by roger

stone, this long—time political ally and a one—time strategist for donald trump, that the e—mails were going to be released as a tranche. that contradicts some of what donald trump is already said on record, it gives you a sense that that is something robert mueller himself would be interested in that truthfully, more than anything else, this was incredible political theatre. this was republicans and democrats at times making political speeches rather than questioning michael cohen, about the middle of it all, a man who is going to jail, the democrats clearly believe has information about the president, but at the same time, republicans kept on pointing out is a convicted liar and according to them, someone who is looking for a book and film deal beyond anything else. that was chris buckler speaking to kasia madeira a little earlier and while all that drama unfolded on capitol hill, we know president trump is half the planned away here in hanoi for his two—day summit with north korea's leader. he has given mixed messages

over what he expects from the meeting and is unclear what progress be made. the two have of course already have dinner together and face—to—face chat at the real work begins today, on thursday, at the hotel, they are due to meet in just about an hour from hotel, they are due to meet in just about an hourfrom now, in fact, you can see some live pictures, of course they have been lots of roadblocks here in hanoi in preparation of that. president trump we are told will be leaving about 20 or so from his hotel to make his way down there to the sofitel metropole, where he will meet kim jong—un and where he will meet kim jong—un and where they will begin these substantive talks but for more than that now, we can go to a report from here. hanoi's not seen anything like this. the city centre at a standstill, as two motorcades descend on a hotel where two men are meeting for dinner. and then in a scene reminiscent

of lastjune in singapore, they were together again — the us president and the north korean dictator. i think it is a very successful relationship. i think it will be very successful. "we've been able to overcome all the obstacles", he says, "and here we are, 261 days after singapore. a lot of patience was needed, and that gives us hope." i think that your country has tremendous economic potential — unbelievable, unlimited. and i think that you will have a tremendous future with your country, and a great leader. and i look forward to watching it happen and helping it to happen, and we will help it to happen. donald trump is holding kimjong—un in a warm embrace, calling him "my friend", and he says that, with denuclearisation, north korea could become like vietnam, "one of the most thriving places on earth", he calls it.

the dinner at which president trump and chairman kim werejoined by key officials was pretty brief. afterwards, it was back to their respective hotels, and for donald trump, a chance for some last—minute preparation on the complex issues, or more likely, watching in fury as his former lawyer michael cohen, and now bitter enemy, goes to congress to put the boot in. the attention of hanoi may be on donald trump, but the attention of donald trump is on washington. jon sopel, bbc news, hanoi. joining me from washington now years the nuclear safety hello. her research focuses on nuclear safety issues in the region, especially north korea. let's begin with what has been going on where you are in washington, dc, that testimony by president trump's former lawyer, it

has been obviously capturing the imagination there, so tell us just how badly do is president trump need a foreign policy win here in norway to deflect what is going on at home? well, it is difficult to predict how this will impact on president trump, but i think we can say that the us north korea diplomacy that we have seen since last year has been a leadership driven process and it continues to be so. the good news is the two leaders have a good personal relationship. whether we will see change from the singapore summit in june, the leadership process continues, by president trump is under pressure to produce results in hanol under pressure to produce results in hanoi, so we will see. that is right, and many experts now,

including yourself, suggest that the most realistic process towards north korea's denuclearisation is really a step by step process, so if that does indeed happen today, what did he needs to be prioritised? -- what do you think? well, denuclearisation isa do you think? well, denuclearisation is a political term, so the two countries, the united states and north korea, at sea denuclearisation differently. when united states says that, it means north korea's denuclearisation, north korea has said that it will denuclearise if the united states and moves, eliminates us nuclear threats to north korea and the entire region. —— sees. but that is not the only path we have to figure out, so the term demonisation has to be politically define. what i mean by

thatis,it politically define. what i mean by that is, it would probably mean, common sense tells you that you have two, north korea has to get rid of nuclear weapons, but there are questions, such as will they be able to retain civilian nuclear energy facilities, for example? so this has to be defined and is going to take a long time. —— declunearisation. to be defined and is going to take a long time. -- declunearisation. very complex indeed, thank you so much for joining complex indeed, thank you so much forjoining us there. we will continue our coverage here in hanoi injusta continue our coverage here in hanoi injust a few continue our coverage here in hanoi in just a few minutes's time, we know that president trump will be en route to that hotel, where he is due to meet his counterpart, kim jong—un. we will capture every moment of it and also, i know you'll be back with some of the local papers there. now let's bring up—to—date with some of the day's other news stories because mps in britain have voted to endorse theresa may's latest brexit move after she made concessions which could result in a delay to the uk's

departure from the european union. a large majority voted in favour of a motion that would give mps a vote on delaying brexit if both her deal with the eu and a no deal are rejected by parliament next month. mrs may has promised mps a meaningful boat on her deal by the 12th of march, which is just 17 days before the uk is set to leave the eu. in other news, at least 20 people have been killed and dozens more have been injured when a train smash through the buffers and burst into fla m es smash through the buffers and burst into flames at cairo's main railway station. egyptian prime minister visited the scene and promised the disaster will be thoroughly investigated and said that those responsible will be punished. just a day after we first brought you news ofa day after we first brought you news of a collapsed gold mine in indonesia, rescue workers are still trying to reach more than 60 people who are feared trapped by landslides. more than a dozen people have been rescued so far from this

illegal mind. a spokesperson said that the board supporting the mineshaft suddenly gave way. now, let's have some good news. this little boy is thought to be the smallest newborn in the world has finally left hospital after being borne by caesarian section last august. he weighed just 268g borne by caesarian section last august. he weighed just 268 g when he first arrived and he was so small that he could be fitted into a pair of cupped hands. amazing, he spent five months in intensive care and i built say that he now weighs in at a healthy 3.2 kilos, around the weight ofan healthy 3.2 kilos, around the weight of an average newborn child and i am pleased to say not only is he gorgeous, use speeding well. —— he is feeding well. you're watching a special edition of a newsday from hanoi. join us after the break when i look at how events are being reported right here in as well as around the world. we will

also have other news. on the programme will be talking about how pakistani is talking about how it has shot down two indian military jets as relations between the two are deteriorating. prince charles has chosen his bride. the prince proposed to lady diana spencer three weeks ago. she accepted, she says, without hesitation. as revolutions go, this had its fair share of bullets. a climax in the night outside the gates of mr marcos's sanctuary, malacanang — the name itself symbolising one of the cruellest regimes of modern asia. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly using a cell from another sheep. citizens are trying to come to grips with their new freedom. though there is joy and relief today, the scars are everywhere. not for 20 years have locusts been seen in such numbers in this part of africa.

some of the swarms have been ten miles long. this is the last time the public will see this pope. very soon, for the sake of the credibility and authority of the next pope, benedict xvi will, in his own words, "be hidden from the world for the rest of his life." welcome back. you are watching newsday on the bbc. i am sharanjit leyl live in hanoi. welcome. i am passionate era in london. our top story this hour, donald trump's former picks up testifies that he is a liar, a cheat, and a racist. and he produces the cheque that he says the president used to pay off a porn star. and the summit in hanoi, president trump and north korea's kim jong—un president trump and north korea's kimjong—un are president trump and north korea's kim jong—un are expected to discuss

a roadmap for taking nuclear weapons out of the korean peninsula. well, before all those talks kick off this morning, we know the front pages are full of it here in vietnam. you can see this is the main vietnamese english paper. the main headline, "give peace a chance". that is what eve ryo ne "give peace a chance". that is what everyone has been saying. i can't help but walk around the streets, there are t—shirts saying ‘peace'. that is the overwhelming message. we have been reporting on other events around the world here in vietnam, this is the main thing. this is the man “— this is the main thing. this is the man —— main vietnamese paper. they keep showing that handshake in most of these papers. a lot of the experts i have been talking to say we need a series of more than just handshakes between the two leaders. that a lot of the substantive negotiations need to take place.

this is another vietnamese paper showing the personal chemistry the two lea d e rs showing the personal chemistry the two leaders have. this is their dinner last night at the metropole hotel. abbott headed their very shortly. president trump will be heading back in this motorcade. we might even hear it. there is a major street next to me where this motorcade goes past. they have already shut the stressed out. here will be meeting kimjong—un already shut the stressed out. here will be meeting kim jong—un there. at the top of the hour, nine o'clock local time. we will be bringing you all of that as soon as it happens. that is how the local papers have been reporting the event. we'll come to you as and when that happens. there has been a major escalation in tensions between the nuclear powers and pakistan. after theirfighterjets nuclear powers and pakistan. after their fighter jets klass in nuclear powers and pakistan. after theirfighterjets klass in the skies over the disputed region of kashmir. that may clash. an indian pilot was captured. here was responding to an airstrike by the pakistani air force. this

responding to an airstrike by the pakistani airforce. this is the most serious violence in decades between the two neighbours. they have a long history of clashes over this area of kashmir which both india and pakistan claim as their own. secunder kermani reports. these are pakistani soldiers apparently leading away a downed indian pilot with an angry crowd behind them. the pakistani military says his plane was shot down as india scrambled to respond to pakistani strikes across the border in the disputed region of kashmir. pakistani prime minister imran khan said the military force was a response to earlier indian aggression, but also called for a dialogue between the nuclear—armed neighbours. translation: my question to the indian government is, given the arms that we both have, can we afford any miscalculation? we should be thinking that, if this escalates, where will it lead? this is the most dangerous confrontation between the two countries in nearly 20 years.

it began two weeks ago when a pakistan—based militant group kills a0 indian soldiers. pakistan insisted the attack had nothing to do with them. but indian jets crossed into pakistan, targeting indian officials, claim a militant training camp. local residents say they only hit a forest. pakistan struck back with an air raid in india, shooting down at least one indian fighterjet responding to it. at a press conference by the pakistani military, i asked if their actions were bringing the countries to the brink of war. we engaged a nearby open space where there was no human life or no military post, meaning thereby that we deliberately avoided escalation. indian officials, though, held their own press conference, making their own claims. the pakistan air force was detected and the indian air force responded instantly.

in that aerial engagement, one pakistan air force fighter aircraft was shot down. there are have already been a number of casualties as a result of cross—border shelling, and the fear is the violence could now escalate further. secunder kermani, bbc news, islamabad. well, a little earlier i was joined in the studio by sajjan gohel, a south asian politics expert from the london school of economics and political signs clinical history department. he told me the severity of this situation should not be downplayed —— political signs. there's some irony that president trump is negotiating with kimjong—un from north korea on nuclear de—escalation, and you have two nuclear rivals facing off against each other in south asia. the us, in the past, was always involved when tensions flared up, following the parliament attack in india 2001, and then also the mumbai attacks in 2008. this time there doesn't seem to be any intervention that may take place in the near future.

of course, crucial to stress that these are two nuclear powers, but, realistically, given that they are neighbours, will nuclear weapons be used, do you think? there's always been this concern in the west that because india and pakistan have nuclear weapons that it could escalate into a nuclear conflict. i would be doubtful of that. certainly in the past, pakistan has used the nuclear card almost in the form of blackmail that, if they are pushed, they could react. the indian government, in the past, previously spoke about how they would never have the first use of nuclear weapons. under the modi government, it has changed. they have taken aggressive tone against actions from pakistan. but i do believe any country would use nuclear weapons against each other because of close proximity, they would hurt each other, even if they used it against one of their rivals. how do you de—escalate the situation? obviously a elections coming up in india. how do you bring this back down?

it will be difficult, because we could still see more tensions flare up, more skirmishes taking place. one thing that would be important is the indian air force pilot that pakistan claims to have captured, they could potentially return that individual, instead of using him like some sort of trophy that they have put him on display, wich seems to contravene the geneva conventions, because of the fact that he was broadcast on tv, his face was bloodied. it sends out wrong optics. especially if pakistan talk about the escalating tensions, they need to go in the right direction, which is perhaps to try to find a way that could actually prevent tensions from flaring up. interesting dad that my guest were saying it is ironic, in fact, that normally a us president would be trying to de— escalate tensions between india and pakistan. but donald trump is not anywhere there, he is in hanoi. he is indeed. half the planet away from capitol hill as well, where you are reporting all

about testimony is happening with michael cohen. there are light pictures. president trump is about to leave his hotel to make his way to leave his hotel to make his way to the hotel with kim jong—un. to leave his hotel to make his way to the hotel with kimjong—un. stay with us. hello there. the setting sun on wednesday marked the end of this balmy, warm spell for february, which has brought record—breaking temperatures. and we are returning to something back to near normal, with something wet and windy this weekend. the big area of high pressure ebbs away, the high pressure which brought the southerly winds and we see the influence coming back in the atlantic, areas of low pressure developing with weather fronts, and as they hurtle towards our shores and also drag in some cooler air from the north atlantic, right across the country, as you can see here. so we start to see the change early this morning taking place across the south—west corner of england into wales,

increasing breeze, more cloud with showery burts of rain but elsewhere largely dry start to thursday, low cloud, mist, and fog and quite a chilly start. so we could start off with a little bit of early brightness this morning, some low cloud, mist and fog, but quickly conditions go downhill across much of england and wales as showery burts of rain moving, strong winds as well, in fact it will be windy across the south coast into the south—west. the best of dry and bright weather across scotland but notice the temperatures, 8—13 degrees, much cooler than we've been used to but still above seasonal average. for friday, not a bad day, we are in between weather systems, high pressure will bring a fine dry day, variable cloud, some spells of sunshine but the next weather front will bring some wet weather to northern ireland later in the day. and again those temperatures, low teens celsius at best, that band of rain moves through during friday night and into the weekend for the first of a series of low pressure systems which will bring some wet and windy weather to our shores this weekend. it will feel cooler as well for all, particularly because of the strength of the wind and the rain that we are seeing. saturday, then, start off dry with some brightness around by the winds will it continue to increase,

quite a wet afternoon i think for many of some of the rain could be quite heavy across the north and west. something a bit brighter later on for northern ireland and we could even start to see something a little bit wintry on the tops of the mountains of scotland. those temperatures again ranging 9— 1a degrees. above average. sunday's chart shows the feature to the north and the south. uncertainty as to how far north of the rain will be but it looks like some southern areas could be windy and wet throughout sunday. further north, wet and windy with some snow over the higher ground scotland. in between there could be a slice of slightly drier weather, but you will have to keep tuned to the weather forecast for this. will feel much cooler.