i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: 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". they are having a good day. i'm having a good day as well. it is called no collusion, no obstruction. 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 8am in singapore, 1am in london and 8pm in washington dc, where a redacted version of the mueller report has finally been published. the investigation probed 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. hail to the chief plays a watershed moment for this president and maybe the presidency itself. donald trump was at the white house today, meeting wounded warriors. but from his two—year long battle with robert mueller, he feels he has emerged unscathed with reputation intake. he said his guests were having a good time. i'm having a good day as well. it was called no collusion, 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 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 the president to tell him he has decided to appoint a special counsel to investigate russian collusion and obstruction of 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. don mcgahn is repeatedly told to arrange for mueller to be sacked. mcgahn refuses. of the president's attempts at influence, the reports says, they were mostly unsuccessful, largely because the people who surrounded the president declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests. the new attorney general has weighed in sympathetically, almost saying the behaviour 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 debated online. democrats are not buying that the president did nothing wrong. even in its incomplete form however, incomplete because part is redacted, even in this incomplete form, the mueller report outlines disturbing evidence that president trump engaged in obstruction ofjustice 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 all kinds of 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 efforts 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 attempts, 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 in a sense that is true. on the other hand i 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 we are 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 partisan 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 box, 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? 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 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. authorities say three top professional climbers are presumed dead in an avalanche in the canadian rockies. the trio were attempting to scale howse peak and failed to check in on time. the men have been named as david lama and hansjoerg auer from austria, and jess roskelley, from the us. several black footballers in the english premier league are boycotting social media for 2h 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 imperial succession takes a long time. this visit to the grand shrine in ise is one of those that take place. it began on march 12 when the emperor held a ceremony to tell his ancestors his desire to abdicate. he then visited the ancient grave dedicated to the first ever emperor ofjapan, emperorjimmu, who is believed to have taken to the throne in 660bc. japan has the world's longest continuous monarchy. then he visits, as you mentioned, the shrine in ise from wednesday. this visit to the shrine honours amaterasu, the sun goddess in

the shinto religion. as we saw in the pictures he is bringing the sword, the jewel and a mirror. they are known as the three sacred treasures that he will return when he abdicates later this month. the emperor is loved by the people but his son will be taking his throne on may one. how is this perceived by the public? it is fair to say that whatever your politics, the current emperor is very well respected and popular so the public will be sad to see him go. at the same time, when he cited his age, he is 85 years old, and his health, when he said he wanted to abdicate, the public expressed some sympathy. what i also notice compared to 31 yea rs what i also notice compared to 31 years ago when he became emperor, the mood is very different. because the mood is very different. because the country is not mourning the death of the previous emperor. japan has a different calendar system so when the name reiwa was in announced, which will become the new error, the mood was very

celebratory. —— become the new era. the world will be watching on may one and you will be there updating it for us all. facebook has banned a dozen british far—right groups including the british national party and the english defence league from having any presence on its social media networks saying they violated rules about promoting hate and violence. the banned groups have been removed from both facebook and instagram. it also means people who use the sites will no longer be allowed to show support or praise for them. our media editor, amol rajan reports. masters of modern communication they may be, but, according to facebook at least, these members of britain's hard right groups and organisations often spread hate or promote violence. the full list includes the british national party and its former leader, nick griffin. britain first, its leader paul golding and former deputy leaderjayda fransen. the english defence league and its founding member paul ray. knights templar international, a militant christian group, and its promoter, jim dowson. national front and its leader, tony martin, and jack renshaw, a convicted neo—nazi who plotted

to murder a labour mp. but how exactly did they violate facebook‘s rules? facebook, who declined to be interviewed, says simply that they:. posts endorsing these individuals or groups will also now be banned. it is good that the police have actually taken action finally. the hard right have been stirring on and off—line for years, so why is this happening now? upcoming european elections, amid a rising tide of populism across the continent. there's also been a recent spike in activity on the platform by the hard right. and the drip, drip, drip of scandal around the company in recent years must be taking its toll. i think that what will happen is that yes, they will still have a space, yes, they will still have those supporters. but it is about stopping it from going to the mainstream, and i think that that is really where the key issue is here. 0h, tommy, tommy! in february, facebook banned stephen yaxley—lennon,

better known as tommy robinson. the social media reach of the hard right is unclear because the tech giants don't always release the figures. thank you, every single one of you... but millions across the world and many in the united kingdom like and enjoy access to views that they don't see on traditional media. we don't need the media to report that, because we are the media! facebook is being dragged into uncomfortable terrain. the company wants to be impartial, but there's no getting around the fact that today saw a californian corporation, whose upper echelons are liberal, clamping down on parts of the british hard right. and the company says it is not in the truth business, but today's decision was based on the application of subjective criteria to public opinion. there is an old—fashioned word for that — it's journalism. wary of accusations of censorship, the danger is that global tech giants end up creating national martyrs who simply congregate elsewhere. amol rajan, bbc news.

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 and 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 conflicting emotions. a national day of mourning next wednesday sitting somehow 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. i'm lewis vaughanjones, in london. 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 ofjustice. 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. on the 30th of april with the crowning of the new emperor on the first of may, that of the crown prince. now, lewis, what stories are sparking discussions online? yes, let's looks at what is trending right now. british water utilities company, thames water, is saying that 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. let's get more now on our top story. the mueller report is very clear that there was russian involvement in the 2016 us presidential election. our moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg gave us the reaction from russia. 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 meddled in the 2016 us election and we heard vladimir putin's spokesman doing the same today with 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 by robert mueller about russia's sweeping interference in the us election. russia had high hopes for donald trump and in 2016, many here hoped it would transform us—russian relations and many still do hope, but it's wishful thinking because the contents of the mueller report will affect us—russian relations for a long time to come. the french president emmanuel macron has met some of the 400 firefighters who saved notre—dame cathedral calling their actions "exemplary". most of the a 50—year—old brick work

remains intact. —— 850. 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 a0 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. sir 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. peter winsor is director of wwf‘s arctic programme. earlier he told me global warming ia problem that needed tobe earlier he told me global warming is a problem that needed tobe addressed decades ago. we are definitely behind the curve on the climate change issue, especially the arctic ocean which is basically 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 reparable or irreperable? i 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 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 are 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 3 degrees celsius and the arctic unfortunately is carrying the brunt of it.

you have been watching newsday. stay with us. hello there. for all four nations of the uk, thursday was the warmest day of 2019 — so far, that is. 23.3 was the top temperature, that was 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 in the atlantic for the most part, as i will show you in a moment but for good friday, we don't have to worry about those weather fronts. in fact, after any early fog has cleared, most of us are looking at a blue sky day with lots of sunshine. we may see patches of cloud drifting into northern ireland and western scotland as far

as the temperatures go, widely up into the high teens or low 20s celsius, 22 in glasgow, for example. somewhere further south, we could get up to 2a degrees. friday night will be fine for most of us. we may see one or two fog patches developing but isolated but if they do form where you ara, the fog could be quite dense. also some cloud you will notice, creeping into the far west of northern ireland in north—west scotland associated with one of those weather fronts i showed you. the fronts trying to make inroads on saturday, the odd spot of rain in northern ireland, the far north—west of scotland, certainly more cloud here. come further south and east, predominantly sunny. we may see fog patches lapping onto north sea coastal areas but in the sunshine on saturday, this is likely to be the warmest day of the week and 20—211 degrees, maybe 25, 26 in the south—east corner. contrast that with the so—called holiday hotspots of southern spain.

here, a wet weekend to come, persistent heavy rain which could bring flooding and even further east to the mediterranean where it is drier, northerly breeze in cool weather, 17 degrees in athens, much cooler than for many of us at home and 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 fronts will make progress, always the chance of some cloud into northern ireland, north—west scotland, may some rain in the far north—west but away from these areas, again, a lot of sunshine on easter sunday. again, 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 and maybe a bit of rain into the far north—west.

i'm lewis vaughn 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. the heavily redacted report detailed 10 episodes where the president was scrutinised for obstruction ofjustice. it also said donald trump tried to get robert mueller fired. however, donald trump said the findings of the report totally exonerated him. he tweeted that it was now "game over" for his opponents. and this story is trending on bbc.com: facebook has banned a dozen british far—right groups including the british national party and the english defence league from having any presence on its social media networks. it said they violated rules about promoting hate and violence. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk — a fourth day of climate

protests in london —