this is bbc world news. our top story: the report by the us special counsel robert mueller says there is no evidence that president trump or his campaign team colluded with russia welcome to newsday, i'm babita sharma in london. to influence the 2016 election. the headlines: the mueller report says there's no evidence the trump campaign colluded however, the report stops short with russia over of completely exonorating the 2016 us election. the president on accusations the president claims victory. of "obstruction ofjustice", stressing that the special counsel is not drawing conclusions "one way or another." a pro—military political party in thailand has performed better than predicted in the country's first election since the army took power five years ago. official results are not there was no collusion with russia. expected until later. there was no collusion with russia. there was no obstruction, none and this story is whatsoever. and it was a complete trending on bbc.com. and total exoneration. as calls grow for the release a cruise ship at the centre of the entire report, of a major rescue operation off a senior democrat says president trump still the norwegian coast faces serious questions. has safely reached port. stay with bbc world news. this report does not amount to a

so—called total exoneration. robert mueller says that this is not a total exoneration of the president. i'm sharanjit leyl in bangkok, where in the next few hours, we expect the first official results from thailand's elections. a pro—military political party performs better than expected in the country's first election since the army took power five years ago. in the next few hours we will have the official results in these historic elections. we will bring them to you live here from bangkok. it's midnight here in london, and 8:00pm in washington, where more details have been released of the long—awaited mueller report into russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. a letter summarising the report has been handed to us congressional leaders.

it says there's no evidence that president trump or his campaign team colluded with russia to influence the 2016 election. it also says the report did not draw a conclusion as to whether mr trump illegally obstructed justice. chris buckler is in washington. chris, give us more reaction to this, it is big news for donald trump. it certainly is, and i think this is a good day for the president. when you look at the report, it says clearly that the special council believes that russia did interfere in the 2016 us presidential election, but it is also clear in saying that as far as he is concerned he has found no evidence of a conspiracy or collusion involving the trump campaign. mrtrump will use

collusion involving the trump campaign. mr trump will use that to save time and time again that he was right in suggesting that this enquiry was a witch hunt and a hoax. however, robert mueller has been less clear—cut on the question of obstruction of justice. less clear—cut on the question of obstruction ofjustice. whether the president tried to obstructjustice. as he mentioned, he said he was drawing no conclusions. to quote the special council himself, he said "while this report does not conclude that the prime president committed a crime, it also does not ensure that he didn't". there is a suggestion that there still casts a cloud of the president, but he is sticking to the president, but he is sticking to the line that this means there was no collusion. it is clear that he believes he has been vindicated. no collusion. it is clear that he believes he has been vindicatedm wasjust believes he has been vindicatedm was just announced there was no collusion with russia, the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard. there was no collusion with russia, there was no obstruction and none

whatsoever, and it was a complete and total exoneration. it's a shame that our country had to go through this. to be honest, it is a shame that your president has had to go through this before i even got elected it began, and it began illegally and hopefully somebody is going to look at the other side. this was an illegal takedown that failed, and hopefully somebody is going to be looking at the other side, so it is a complete exoneration, no collusion, no obstruction, thank you very much, thank you. as you were saying, that was donald trump a few hours ago. jerry nadler says that this does not conclude the president committed a

crime but it does not exonerate him. let's have a listen to what was said. i take from this letter three points. first, president trump is wrong, this report does not amount toa wrong, this report does not amount to a so—called total exoneration. special council robert mueller says that this does not exonerate the president. exonerated, not exonerated, this will be the line of things to come, won't it? low as you can imagine, democrats are already demanding the full report. notjust the full summary, but the full details of what special council robert mueller has found and compiled during the investigation. there are suggestions that they have been using congressional committees to try to find out more. there is also comments coming from the

democrats towards attorney general william barr, who says that the evidence gathered does not amount to collusion by the president. attorney general william barr has said that robert mueller handed him the report and said it was up to him to decide ifa and said it was up to him to decide if a crime was committed. and it is attorney general william barr who has said that there are no crimes to prosecute. nancy pelosi and chuck schumer had said they are worried that william barr has proven in past state m e nts that william barr has proven in past statements that he is biased against the special council enquiry, and he was also appointed by donald trump. you get a sense that in some ways donald trump is claiming victory, but at the same time there are plenty more questions and plenty

more investigations to come. on that point, chris. what happens next? there will be so many people in the trump administration who want to really draw a line under this. absolutely, they will be celebrating and saying, as far as we're concerned this is done and dusted. but there is more information to come, and william barr has made that clear. he says he recognises there isa clear. he says he recognises there is a public interest in all of this and he has worked hard this weekend to get the summary out, but he says he wants to release as much of the information from the report as he possibly can. he says there are legal issues with that, potentially bits of information that are confidential, they could even be subject to executive privilege. but he does want to get more of the report out. and that does leave open the potential of more bits of information drip feeding that big battle between the democrats and

republicans, even as we look towards next yea r‘s republicans, even as we look towards next year's presidential election. thank you, chris buckler. good morning from bangkok where in just a few hours' time, we expect the official results in thailand's first election since a military takeover five years ago. we are expecting preliminary results injusta we are expecting preliminary results injust a few we are expecting preliminary results in just a few hours. what has emerged as a bit of a surprise. the paramilitary party has done better than expected, getting a better share of the votes and other parties. ahead of these elections it had been predicted they would come ina poorthird. it was a day that had been promised, and then repeatedly postponed. thai

people by and large participated keenly, despite an electoral system that tilts the odds heavily in the favour of the military government. the man who deposed the last elected government in a coup and has run thailand ever since cast his vote early. general prayuth is bidding to keep hisjob as prime minister, but many younger voters, 7 million of them eligible to vote for the first time, looking for something different. i am happy there is a voting at last, we have been waiting for the selection for some time and i hope it brings good things for the country. we need some younger or newer generations in the government to bring a more modern party, less corruption, a cleaner government. that hungerfor corruption, a cleaner government. that hunger for fresh faces has driven a ground swell of support for a brand—new and radical party, future forward, under the leadership ofa future forward, under the leadership of a young businessman. as the polls closed and voting began, many thai people gathered around the polling

stations, eager to ensure the transparency of the tally. here at the headquarters of the largest opposition party, pheu thai, they cheered every result going their way. they were part of the party hoping for a coup, they were part of the comeback. but then it took a surprising turn. general prayuth's party, which had aroused little enthusiasm during the campaign, went ahead in the popular vote. future forward was also polling strongly. but thailand's oldest and once governing party the democrats, had been wiped out in bangkok. its leader of been wiped out in bangkok. its leader 01:14 years forced to resign. and, the pheu thai vote, once the largest, had fallen sharply. a situation compounded when the announcement of the final result was

postponed until monday. so what are we to make of these preliminary results. many thai people will want to know how this party had done so well, and why the pre—tax party performed relatively poorly. but the questions asked about this vote would be whether it would be helped to move on from the political conflict of the last few years. and at this stage it is easy to see how this flawed and highly political election could do that —— thaksin. with me is political scientist thitinan pongsudhirak from chulalongkorn university in bangkok. welcome to the programme. let's start with some of those questions thatjonathan start with some of those questions that jonathan poses.

start with some of those questions thatjonathan poses. how was the military party doing so well, it was predicted they weren't going to do so predicted they weren't going to do so well, so what is the significance in that? sometimes elections are decided in the last hours. general prayuth's party had a late surge, and succeeded in sending a message about order and stability. if you wa nt about order and stability. if you want order and stability you vote for a party like we have had for the last five years, instead of... at the same time, a lot of people voted for other parties, so i think general prayuth has succeeded as a strongman, a lot of people are worried about tha ksin, strongman, a lot of people are worried about thaksin, many people are worried about him coming back, so are worried about him coming back, so they cast their votes behind general prayuth. obviously, the head of the democrat party had to resign,

and they did remarkably poorly in these polls. speaking of thaksin, these polls. speaking of thaksin, the fact that he continues to have an influence, the pheu thai party still did relatively well, according to the preliminary polls we are getting back. what does that suggest about thailand, is it ready to move on from beyond the shadow of thaksin? the divide around thaksin is still deep, and i think it is structural. the vote in the end became thaksin or general prayuth. he has won election since 2001, 2005, 2007, 2011, and this time we will see the final numbers. if they come in second it will be the first time they haven't come in first. i am hopeful that there is now a third alternative in the future forward party. it is extraordinary but we are still stuck with a divide around

thaksin, but also around the military and its opponents, and hopefully we can push out of this... you mentioned this new inspirational force, called the future forward party, they came out of nowhere led by an intelligent young billionaire. is that a potential hint of where thailand is headed next? as i said people were afraid of thaksin coming back, so they voted for prayuth. but many people tired of the polarisation voted for future forward. new constitutions, protests and so on, they were frightened about tha ksin and so on, they were frightened about thaksin coming back but they voted for future forward. a lot of people have been growing up, people who are 25 and under, they have seen

their future being squandered away, with the conflict of recent years, so with the conflict of recent years, soi with the conflict of recent years, so i think many have taken the future into their hands, and future forward has provided that platform for them to do that. it is unbelievable how many seats they have one. what happens next? we are expecting the coronation of the king in may, what comes next? it will be a drawnout process. i think the momentum is with the military side, because it is notjust rouen palang pracha rath, there has been a lot of horse trading with the other parties bringing them in, because otherwise they can form a government but only

with a majority in the lower house. thank you very much forjoining us. i will have more from bangkok later in the show. you're watching newsday on the bbc. we'll be back live in bangkok in a few minutes. and we'll have more analysis on the mueller investigation, which found the trump campaign did not conspire with moscow during the 2016 election. let there be no more war or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. very good. applause so proud of both of you. applause

with great regret, the committee have decided south africa should be excluded from the 1970 competition. chants streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. onlooker: wow! this is newsday on the bbc. i'm babita sharma, in london. the headlines: the investigation into alleged links between donald trump's election campaign and russia has cleared the president and his team of colluding with moscow. the military government

in thailand appears to have tightened its grip on power, with preliminary election results showing a pro—military party in the lead. more on our top story now. the findings from the mueller investigation that says president trump did not collude with russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. professorjoseph uscinski, a political scientist at the university of miami, joins me now. thank you professor for being here. what is your reaction to the news that the mueller investigation finds president trump did not collude with russia? it is not that shocking to me. it is going to be very shocking from the left, the democrats, where they have been in a media bubble which showed that the president was

upon from vladimir putin, a manchurian candidate, but that has beenin manchurian candidate, but that has been in the tanner of the news on the left for two years and anyone outside of that bubble could see that the evidence for those contentions, while they should have been investigated, the evidence was never very strong been investigated, the evidence was never very strong and finally we have the report out that says there is just no evidence of this. have the report out that says there isjust no evidence of this. the legal team for donald trump says it isa legal team for donald trump says it is a complete and total exoneration for the president. the president is probably guilty of many things but conspiring with russia to rig the elections does not seem to be one. perhaps we can get back to talking about actual policy and maybe the actual things that president trump

has done that can and should be criticised. what about on the point of any legal obstruction of justice. what is your view without regard and how do you think questions will be solved? donald trump is going to have a strong hand to play because if there isn't an underlying crime, which was the collusion with russia to rig the election, it is going to be really tough for democrats to make a case there should be investigations into members of trump's team for obstructing justice, for a crime that wasn't really committed so congress may wa nt to really committed so congress may want to push forward with that, the state of new york may push forward with that but it does not look like it is going to have that much behind it is going to have that much behind it because, once the underlying crime is gone, it is illegal to obstruct justice but it

crime is gone, it is illegal to obstructjustice but it sounds like the evidence is not so strong and without an underlying crime, it is going to be a tough sell to any jury. with that in mind, how much of a major hurdle has the president cleared today in terms of looking for a second term as president? presidential elections still come down to the fundamentals. people vote based on the economy and partisanship. the economy is still pretty good and if it is still good two years from now, he's probably going to win. if the economy tanks, he will have a tougher time of staying office. a year and a half from now a lot of this will largely be forgotten unless democrats continue to beat the dead horse. or if donald trump tells us he has been exonerated again and again. thank you so much forjoining us.

in other news: reports in the british media say the prime minister theresa may is considering whether to hold indicative votes in parliament on possible ways to break the brexit deadlock. members of her cabinet have been publicly expressing their loyalty, after intense speculation that senior ministers want her to resign. it's not the time to change the captain of the ship. i think what we need to do is to chart the right course, and the prime minister has charted that right course by making sure that we have a deal which honours the referendum mandate. and allows us to to live in a way that strengthens our economy. ido i do not have any wish to take over from the pm. she is doing a fantasticjob. from the pm. she is doing a fantastic job. one think from the pm. she is doing a fantasticjob. 0ne think that working closely with the prime minister does...

we will be following that closely on bbc world news. let's go back now to sharanjit, in bangkok. within the next few hours we should get the official results from the first elections since the military coup. that's right. at about ten o'clock local time we will be having a press conference where they will be made official, in a way. we know that 90% official, in a way. we know that 90% of the count is already done but they want to make sure they can present a united front with what these results will be. ahead of that, we arejoined again by michael. with me now is michael vatikiotis, asia regional director at the centre for humanitarian dialogue. a much lower voter turnout than expected. the surprise the paramilitary party did so well but

the low voter turnout, five years since the government took over. expectations that they would be over 7 million young voters. why do you think that is? it is quite possible, and something i noticed, there was not a great deal of excitement in the general public who, after so many years, all they really wanted was stability and a good economic husbandry. the sense that people felt we are fine as we. having said that, they are a large number of votes invalidated, a high level of absentee voting, a high level of early voting so it does not quite match the fact that there was this low turnout. the other thing is, of course, low turnout. the other thing is, of course , many low turnout. the other thing is, of course, many people are going to be looking at this government which almost certainly laying is going to

be led by general prayuth chan—ocha. the people have gotten used to a kind of light military government that does keep the lid on free expression and there was a strong disappointment about use of social media and people do not really want to be told how to run their lives. however, what people do want is that they want to see the economy doing well, they want to see tyler doing well. there will be monitored for accountability. — — thailand well. there will be monitored for accountability. —— thailand doing well. the need for more accountability and, we are expecting these preliminary results over the next few hours. a bit more of a clear indication of what these elections mean. the first in five yea rs elections mean. the first in five years since the military government took over. i will be keeping you up—to—date.

took over. i will be keeping you up-to-date. more on the mueller live from washington. stay with us. hello. we saw mixed fortunes of the weather on sunday. further south unbroken sunshine. the windy showering conditions across the north of the country attributed to this area of low pressure continuing to push out into the confident. the high level of pressure allowed in. windy for the early hours of monday. perhaps a few showers. elsewhere lighter winds and lengthy clear skies. the chilly start of the day with low single figures and a touch of frost across more northern areas. a chilly start to monday but at

least largely dry and bright with plenty of sunshine. the winds will be light also because high pressure will be dominating. across scotland and northern ireland, with skies turning claudia with pushing of the atlantic, blotting out of the sunshine. showery rain across the north and west. for england and wales, down into the channel islands a glorious afternoon with widespread sunshine, light winds and temperatures around 30 degrees after a cold start. high pressure dominates the scene for the week ahead. ——13. some dry airfrom within our continent and that is why we should see cloud and quite a bit of sunshine. looking pretty good for the rest of the week. mainly dry. warm by day but night continuing to be chilly with a touch of mist and fog. 0n

be chilly with a touch of mist and fog. on tuesday, chilly start. the mist clearing away quickly and then plenty of sunshine. fairweather cloud in the afternoon. north of scotland, a frontal system bringing outbreaks of rain, mainly to the northern isles. quite breezy. a nice smile day. a similar picture on wednesday. starting quite cool, mist and fog clearing quickly. lots of sunshine through the afternoon and a bit of fairweather cloud building up here and there. the best of the sunshine across england and wales. former on wednesday. —— warmer. we could be looking at maybe 19 degrees by the end of the week in the south east. warm by day but still chilly at night.