i'm lewis vaughan jones with bbc news. our top story: the long—awaited mueller report into russian intereference in the 2016 us presidential election says there was no collusion with the trump campaign. however it does not exonerate the us president. i'm rico hizon in singapore, the headlines: the heavily redacted report detailed 10 episodes where the president was scrutinised robert mueller‘s long—awaited report for obstruction ofjustice. on russian interference says there was no collusion with russia it also said donald trump tried by the trump campaign to get robert mueller fired. in the 2016 us election. however donald trump said the findings of the report totally exonerated him. he tweeted that it was now "game the heavily redacted report doesn't exonerate him and it also over" for his opponents. raises questions of obstruction of justice. but president trump and this story is trending on bbc.com facebook has banned a dozen british far—right groups, including the british national party says it's "game over". and the english defence league, they are having a good day. i'm having a good day as well. from having any presence on its social media networks. it is called no collusion, it said they violated rules no obstruction. about promoting hate and violence. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. also in the programme. the firefighters who battled the flames at notre dame are thanked by the president at the elysee.

and japan's emperor akihito is on a three day pilgrimage to the grand shrine in centraljapan before his abdication later this month. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 7pm in washington dc, where a redcated version of the mueller report has finally been published. the investigation was probing alleged collusion between the trump election campaign and moscow. after the report was made public, clearing the trump team of collusion, the president was quick to tweet "game over". but the matter is far from over

for democrats after it emerged the president tried to have robert mueller removed from the investigation. our north america editor, jon sopel has the latest. a watershed moment for this president and maybe the presidency itself. the trouble is that the white house meeting wounded warriors today. but for his two—year long battle with robert mueller, he he has emerged unscathed, with reputation intake. he said his guests reputation intake. he said his gu ests we re reputation intake. he said his guests were having a good time. i'm having a good day as well. it was called no pollution, no obstruction. before publication of this long—awaited report, the president tweeted this with its game of thrones styling. his team, confident, putting out this video. no pollution. no collusion. the 400

page report is riveting and dramatic. it describes the fallout from the firing of the fbi director james comey. the then attorney generaljeff sessions goes into see the president to tell him he has decided to appoint a special counsel to investigate russian collusion and obstruction to justice. to investigate russian collusion and obstruction tojustice. donald to investigate russian collusion and obstruction to justice. donald trump is furious and uses strong language. the report conveys an image of a white house in meltdown with the president demanding that robert mueller be fired. john mcgahn is repeatedly told to arrange form mueller to be sacked. mcgahn refuses. of the president ‘s attem pts refuses. of the president ‘s attempts at influence, the reports as they were mostly unsuccessful, largely because the people who surrounded the president declined to carry out orders or exceed to his requests. the new attorney general has weighed in sympathetically, almost saying that the saviour of the president was justified. almost saying that the saviour of the president wasjustified. as almost saying that the saviour of the president was justified. as the special counsel's report acknowledges, there is substantial

evidence to show that the president was frustrated and angered by his sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents and fuelled by illegal leaks. on the other question of whether there was collusion between the trump campaign and the russians, a clean bill of health. the mueller report is being devoured on capitol hill and devoured online. democrats are not buying that the president did nothing wrong. even in its incomplete report —— form, however, incomplete because parties redacted, even in this incomplete form, the mueller report outlines disturbing evidence that president trump engaged in obstruction of justice and other misconduct. donald trump has left washington to travel to florida for the easter weekend. his aides say he is jacked, happy, pumped up. his good thursday before good friday.

let's stay with that story. mark follman is national affairs editor at the magazine ‘mother jones'. he gave this assessment of today's developments. robert mueller found no critical conspiracy to prosecute. this is a historic document we now have, even in this redacted form, and there are profound implications. there is evidence in this report of major misconduct by the trump administration and trump campaign and on obstruction in particular where mueller conspicuously and explicitly did not make a conclusion about whether or not there was obstruction. if you look at the array of evidence there is all kinds of evidence by trump and people around him in his inner circle to try and cover up and obstruct and lie and block this investigation. on those attempt, i founded fascinating and it stuck out to me that this idea that donald trump asked his subordinates to do things, they did not do them and because they did not do them, how did they, in a way,

they saved him. many people are discussing that today and innocence thatis discussing that today and innocence that is true. on the other hand they think it is also worth noting that most of all those people are now gone from the administration which is troubling to consider that these so—called guardrails of the system, people who have respect for the institutions of our government and the rule of law are now out of the administration. what does that say about where headed next? where are we headed next is a big question here. i would like to ask you exactly that. if you are the democrats, what would you do now? the conventional wisdom at this point, politically speaking, is that it is not a great idea to go after presidential impeachment. i think there is a good case that will be quite divisive and further deepen the rancour and bitter part is and divide in the country. if that is the case i think it is also very clear from this report that congress has a serious duty on its hands now

to inform the american public and the electorate as much as humanly possible ahead of the next election, if ultimately the remedy here is the ballot locks, the 2020 vote for president. then the public has a right and needs to know as much as it can about what has happened here. and clearly there is much more that the public is yet to learn. in a couple of sentences, when it comes to the ballot box in 2020 do you think much has changed today? to the ballot box in 2020 do you think much has changed today7m to the ballot box in 2020 do you think much has changed today? it is ha rd to think much has changed today? it is hard to say. if you look at the polling data that we see, the support for trump and approval and relative disapproval has been steady throughout his presidency. i think we're headed into an open question ofan we're headed into an open question of an election again next year and we will have to see what happens. clearly much will transpire around this investigation still. also making news today, the prime minister of libya's un—backed government, fayez al—sarraj, has condemned what he called the international community's silence in response to the deadly attacks on tripoli by the military strongman khalifa haftar.

more than 200 people have been killed in two weeks. a week after sudan's president omar al—bashir was deposed in a coup, tens of thousands of people have protested in the capital, khartoum. they are trying to keep up the pressure on the transitional military council to hand over to a civilian administration. several black footballers in the english premier league are boycotting social media for 24 hours from friday to highlight racism. using the hashtag enough, the campaign organisers say they want social media networks and authorities to do more about racial abuse on and off the pitch. how about this? slovenian politician lojze peterle closed out the last session of the european parliament with a musical rendition of ode tojoy — the european anthem. japanese emperor akihito, along with empress michiko

are on a three—day pilgrimage to the grand shrine of ise in centraljapan. their visit is part of a series of rituals before his abdication later this month. 85—year—old akihito will step down on 30 april — it's the first abdication of a sitting japanese emperor in two centuries. he will be succeeded the next day by his elder son, crown prince naruhito. with me now is the bbc‘s mariko oi. why are there various ceremonies preceding the abdication at the end of april? this whole process of succession takes a long time. it began on march 12 when the emperor held a ceremony to tell his a ncestors held a ceremony to tell his ancestors his desire to abdicate. he then visited the asian grave dedicated to the first ever emperor of japan who is believed to have taken to the throne in 60 six bc.

japan has the world ‘s longest continuous monarchy. this visit to the shrine as part of a dozen ceremonies that take place and it is significant because it honours the sun goddess in the shinto religion. as we saw in the pictures he is bringing the sword as well as another item and a mirror. they are known as the three sacred treasures that he will return when he abdicates later this month. crown prince naruhito will be crowned on may one. what is the public perception with the changing of the guard? whatever your politics, it is fairto guard? whatever your politics, it is fair to say that the current emperor isa fair to say that the current emperor is a well respected and loved, popular figure, is a well respected and loved, popularfigure, the is a well respected and loved, popular figure, the public is a well respected and loved, popularfigure, the public will be sad to see him go. at the same time they express sympathy about his age and health when he said that he wa nted and health when he said that he wanted to abdicate. so there will be a lot of ceremonies and what i have noticed, personally, compared to 31 yea rs noticed, personally, compared to 31 years ago when the current emperor

took to the throne, is that the mood is different. it is a bit more celebratory. a new error will begin on may one and when the name of that error was announced it was a party mood instead of the entire country mourning the death of the previous emperorfull up mourning the death of the previous emperor full up that is something that i have definitely noticed. in terms of the crown prince naruhito, as you mentioned, he will take over as you mentioned, he will take over a one when he inherits the three treasures. and you will be there covering it live. the abdication on april 30 and the crowning of the new emperor on may one. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the heroes of notre dame. the men and women who fought the flames are invited to meet the french president, also on the programme: graphic

images from the netflix documentary that wants us to think about the impact global warming has on the world's habitats. the stars & stripes at half mast outside columbine high. the school sealed off, the bodies of the dead still inside. i never thought that they would actually go through with it. one of the most successful singer songwriters of all time, the american pop star prince has died at the age of 57. he was a great musician and, you know, a genius. for millions of americans, the death of richard nixon in a new york hospital has meant conflict in emotion. a national day of mourning

next wednesday sitting uneasily with the abiding memories of the shame of watergate. and liftoff of the space shuttle discovery with the hubble space telescope, our window on the universe. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. our top stories: robert mueller‘s long awaited report on russian interference says there was no collusion with russia by the trump campaign in the 2016 us election. the heavily redacted report doesn't exonerate him and it also raises questions of obstruction of justice. but president trump says it's game over. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. let's start with singapore's straits times. the paper says that north korea successfully tested a new missile,

and asked for the removal us secretary of state mike pompeo from nuclear talks. the paper goes onto say that the north blasted seoul for holding joint drills with the us despite signing an inter—korea agreement to reduce military tension. onto the international edition of the new york times which reports that comedian volodymyr zelensky scored a spectacular victory in the first round of ukraine's presidential election. the paper says that his win of 30% of the vote can be attributed to ukraine being the country with the least trust in its government. and japan times carries a photo of the emperor on its front page. the paper says that emperor akihito is taking part

in a series of rituals ahead of his abdication. now, lewis, what stories are sparking discussions online? let's looks at what is trending right now. the british water utilities company thames water is saying a ‘concreteberg' — formed by people pouring cement down the sewers — was discovered in a north london sewer. the company says that the blockage was at least 100 metres long and weighed 105 tonnes — as much as a whale. the company says it will take them at least two months to remove the blockage with pneumatic drills. massive, lewis. the french president, emmanuel macron, has met some of the 400 firefighters who saved notre dame cathedral calling their actions ‘exemplary‘. 6o firefighters are still at the cathedral ensuring no new fires break out.

three days after the fire there are still concerns that parts of the building could collapse. president macron said he had spoken to the pope and invited him to come to france — an invitation that had been accepted. notre—dame would have been full this weekend for easter services. instead they've had to be moved elsewhere. lucy williamson reports from paris. today, france saw the faces of its heroes. the firefighters who, on monday night, pitted their bravery against a vast inferno and won, now filing into the gilded rooms of the elysee palace, the secular cathedral of the french state. translation: it is a great joy, a great honour. the paris firefighters are a humble and discreet unit and we are here as a community to honour the individual and collective efforts of our comrades. one firefighter described emerging

from a bell tower and seeing the roof engulfed in flames. "it was only later we understood the risks we had taken", she said. "the hardest thing was that we were so small compared to it." investigators have interviewed 40 people and forensic teams have begun to gather evidence at the site. but the structure of notre—dame is still fragile, damaged by both the fire and the operation to save it. the threat to notre—dame did not die with the fire. several areas of the building have been badly weakened. some of the gables have already been given extra support. scaffolding is being brought in to secure the stonework and a tarpaulin is urgently needed to protect the vaulted ceiling from rain. across the riverfrom notre—dame, outside the town hall, crowds gathered this afternoon for a service of thanks. translation: i feel gratitude to the fire brigade. by risking your lives,

you have saved part of ours. the hymns and prayers of holy week rose from st sulpice tonight, across the riverfrom notre—dame. the cathedral‘s leading cleric and many of its congregation marking the rituals of easter here. the christian message of loss and resurrection, grief and hope, a comfort in the shadow of notre—dame's scorched and roofless walls. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. climate protestors in london have been camping at four major sites around the capital since monday. the extinction rebellion group are demanding that the uk government reduces carbon emissions to zero by 2025. the group say it plans to target heathrow on good friday —— one of its busiest days of the year. the bbc‘s tom symonds is at waterloo bridge. the police attempted to raise the

pace of their attempts to clear these protest camps today. this afternoon about 20 people were arrested within about 30 protesters took their place and as you can see, the bridge is still closed and this man has been playing a cello whether traffic would normally be. it's a problem for the police. they say they can only use reasonable force to clear these protests but this is a peaceful protest so all they can do is remove the protesters one by one. there have been some messages going around today, a fairly well worked out plan to raise the bar and close down heathrow tomorrow. we can't be sure that that will happen but the mayor of london has said if it does, that will be dangerous, illegal and put more pressure on the police. it would certainly be disruptive in the police are under pressure to clear these protests and to reduce the amount of disruption they are causing in the centre of london. many of these protesters say they will stay here for days to

come. a short while ago, our correspondent, steve rosenberg, gave us correspondent, steve rosenberg, gave us the reaction to the mueller report. a stern announcement on russian tv tried to dismiss 400 pages of robert mueller with one sentence. she said two years, and tens of millions of dollars wasted, that's how she summed up the mueller report. i wasn't surprised because for two years, russian officials have batted away every accusation, every piece of evidence that moscow medal in the 2016 us election and we heard vladimir putin's spokesman doing the same today in the mueller report, he said this is not an object of interest for us. we will flick through it and see if there is

anything worthy of analysis. so, pretty dismissive but pretty damning was the conclusion about robert mueller about russia's sweeping interference in the us election. russia had high hopes for donald trump and in 2016, many he hoped it would transform us russian relations and many still do hope but it's wishful thinking because the contents wishful thinking because the co nte nts of wishful thinking because the contents of the mueller report will affect us— russian relations for a long time to come. david attenborough's eight—part documentary series our planet started airing on netflix earlier this month to much acclaim. but dramatic scenes in part two which show walruses falling to their deaths from russian cliffs have been horrifying many viewers. we can show you some stills from the clip now and be warned — it is graphic. the walruses are falling due to exhaustion after having

had to swim long distances to find places to rest because the ice where they would usually sleep on has melted. the netflix series — produced in partnership with the wwf and silverback films — wants us to think about the impact global warming has on the world's habitats. earlier he told me global warming is a problem that needs to be addressed and it should have been done decades ago. we are definitely behind the curve on the climate change issue, especially the arctic ocean which is basically glad —— ground zero for climate change. the arctic ocean has been warming up at a rate three times the global average and with that comes the loss of habitat. this is indeed a very worrisome issue. is

it repairable or direct the book?|j think it repairable or direct the book?” think this becomes an issue of dealing with climate change. people putting pressure on politicians and decision—makers to really adhere to the paris agreement. and apart from the paris agreement. and apart from the walruses that we saw in the documentary, what other species are being affected by climate change and the melting ice sheets? there is a number of species in the ocean that i what we call ice —dependent species and they include polar bears, walruses, and all of these rely on sea ice in one way or another and they all live in a pretty narrow ecological niche so when sea ice crashes, these species are struggling. peter, the warming

of the arctic, how does that compare with the rest of the world and its impact on the arctic habitat. so the rest of the world has risen three celsius and the arctic unfortunately is carrying the brunt of it. that was peter winsor, director of the wwf arctic programme and looking at those pictures earlier, they are really very upsetting and what global warming has really done to the arctic habitat. they are upsetting images and it just struck me, seeing them there, i wonder if they have the same kind of effect. you know we suddenly started seeing pictures of the plastics in the ocean and that really made a difference, people started reducing their plastics, i just difference, people started reducing their plastics, ijust wonder whether the image of that seal sparks that kind of change?

peter mentioned in that interview, we have to have the political will to be able to move forward and solve this very serious issue of climate change and global warming and it should have been done, not yesterday but decades ago. it's always too late but you have to start somewhere, one of the big challenges for our leaders. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. coming up — girl power in dubai. we'll see how women are overtaking men in the fast lane in a supercar club for ladies only. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with these pictures. it's a teenager in new zealand who is attempting to break the world record for non—stop swinging.

charlie o'brien has been swinging in his local park for 33 hours. he has swung through the night, stopping only for five minutes every hours to stretch as legs. good luck to him. hello there. all four nations of the uk, thursday was the warmest day of 2019, so far that is. 23.3 was the top temperature recorded in west sussex but over the easter weekend, those temperatures are set to climb a little further. widely into the 20s but towards the south—east corner on saturday, 25, possibly even 26 degrees and with that, high pressure keeping things predominantly dry and holding these weather fronts at bay on the most part, as i will show you in a moment but good friday, we don't have to worry about those weather fronts. in fa ct after worry about those weather fronts. in fact after any early fog is cleared, most of us are looking at a blue sky day with lots of sunshine. you may

see patches of cloud drifting into northern ireland and western scott but as far as the temperatures go, widely up into the high teens are low 20s celsius, 22 in glasgow and somewhere further south, we could get up to 24 degrees. friday night will be fine for most of us. we will see one 01’ will be fine for most of us. we will see one or two fog patches developing but they do former you are. the fog could be quite dense. also some cloud you will notice, creeping into the far west of northern ireland in north—west scotla nd northern ireland in north—west scotland associated with one of those weather fronts i showed you, front trying to make inroads on saturday, the odd spot of rain in northern ireland, the far north—west of scotland, certainly more cloud here. further south and east, predominantly sunny. we might see fog in north sea coastal areas but in the sunshine on saturday, this is likely to be the warmest day of the week and 20— 24 degrees, maybe 25, 26 in the south—east corner but contrast that with the so—called holiday hotspots of southern spain.

here, what we can to come, persistent heavy rain which could bring flood in —— flooding even further east to the mediterranean where it is drier, northerly breeze in cool weather, 17 degrees in athens, much call of than for many at home in the second half of the weekend, that area of high pressure mostly holds on. these weather fronts will always be there to the north—west, wriggling around and threatening to move in, some uncertainty about the extent to which these funds will make progress, always the chance of some cloud into northern ireland, north—west scotland, may be some rain in the far north—west away from these areas, again, a lot of sunshine on easter sunday and those temperatures well up into the 20s and for easter monday, it is more of the same. more spells of sunshine, more warmth but always the chance of some of that cloud may be a bit of 00:28:50,535 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 rain into the north—west.