hello, this is newsday on the bbc. i'm ben bland, in london. the headlines: it's a boy! the prince harry and his wife, meghan, celebrate the birth of theirfirst child. the news broken by a proud father. mother and baby are doing incredibly well. it has been the most amazing experience i could ever possibly have imagined. how any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension but we are both absolutely thrilled. no name yet but the official announcement of the new royal baby appears on a ceremonial easel at buckingham palace. i'm rico hizon, in singapore. also on newsday: the pentagon says a credible threat from iran led to the us deploying an aircraft

carrier to the middle east. three dogs from australia, with a very particular set of skills they can sniff out and find endangered insects. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news — it's newsday. hello. it is at 8am in singapore and 1:00 here in london where the duchess of sussex has given birth to a boy. the baby, seventh in line to the british throne, was born at 5:26am local time, weighing three and a quarter kilograms. prince harry was present for the birth and said it had been the most amazing experience. both mother and baby, he said, are doing incredibly well.

our royal correspondent nicolas witchell begins our coverage. on the forecourt of buckingham palace, the orthodox way of doing things — a short written statement on a gilt easel announcing a royal birth. but the sussexes have been at pains to do things their way. cue a beaming father, eager to share their news. i'm very excited to announce that meghan and myself had a baby boy early this morning, a very healthy boy. mother and baby are doing incredibly well. it's been the most amazing experience i could ever have possibly imagined. how any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension, but we're both absolutely thrilled. i haven't been at many births. this is definitely my first birth, but it was amazing,

absolutely incredible, and as i said, i'm so incredibly proud of my wife. as every father and parent would ever say, your baby is absolutely amazing, but this little thing is absolutely to die for, so i'm just over the moon. it is thought the birth took place at their new home, frogmore cottage in windsor, just as meghan had wanted. the birth at 5:26am this morning was a few days overdue. for both of them, it is the fulfilment of their wish to start a family. harry has seen the happiness william and catherine have found in their young children, and he has made little secret of his wish to emulate them. but harry and meghan are free of the responsibility of producing a child in direct line to the throne. it has given them much greater latitude, planning a home birth with a medical team of their choice. so no photo call on the hospital steps, instead sharing the news on their instagram account. the manner in which this birth has been handled is a measure of, in particular, harry's determination to control the way in which his family is presented.

he and meghan clearly recognise the level of international interest. but it is their determination to manage things, as much as possible, their way. baby sussex will be seventh in line to the throne. he won't automatically be styled his royal highness, or designated a prince. but such things will be of little account tonight as his parents, harry and meghan, marvel at the safe delivery of their son. it is thought the baby was born at the couple's home at frogmore cottage. it is a boy and the bubbles of flowing into the streets around windsor castle. a grey afternoon transformed into a celebration, almost a year after harry and

meghan‘s wedding. he may only be seventh in line to the throne but try telling them that. we have champagne. carole, where is the champagne? cani champagne. carole, where is the champagne? can i borrow your champagne, please stop we have had one bottle already. we're very happy. we were here on the their wedding. here we are with the really good news. are you just as excited? iam,i good news. are you just as excited? iam, i hope good news. are you just as excited? i am, i hope they name him after me, matthew, it is a very good name. the atmosphere is electric. windsor really is the place to be. if you have a message to the couple, what would it be? lots of luck and getting up into the night... . that they will have to do that. news has trickled through and all eyes are now fixed on frogmore cottage couple

lived. the baby is notjust british loyalty, that royalty, it is also american. we continued to follow breaking news from across the pond and it is good news. it is official, it isa and it is good news. it is official, it is a boy. and congratulations to the duchess in her former hometown of los angeles. i know it is a boy. i'm excited. i want to know his name. i'm sure some people here in america are celebrating. the global media circus is once again fixated on the british royal family and, with the first official photos due on wednesday, the excitement in windsor is not likely to come down anytime soon. we will have much more on the royal baby later on newsday. let's first take a look at some of the other news: the us acting defence secretary says

he authorised the pentagon's deployment of an aircraft carrier battle group to the middle east in response to a credible threat from iran. but patrick shanahan gave no details as to the nature of the threat. also making new today: democrats in the us house of representatives have pushed the attorney general william barr one step closer to facing contempt proceedings over the mueller report. they want him to publish an uncensored version of the investigation into russian interference in the last presidential election. the move comes after a second deadline to produce the report expired last week. us treasury secretary steven mnuchin has denied a request from congress to see president trump's tax returns, setting the stage for a further battle in the courts between lawmakers and the trump admnistration. the house ways and means committee has asked for six years of trump's individual and business tax returns but mnuchin said the democrat—controlled committee lacked a legitimate legislative purpose.

tu rkey‘s turkey's election commission has ordered a rerun of the vote for mayor of istanbul one in march by the opposition candidate. president recep tayyip erdogan akp party alleged fraud. protests broke out. the parliament said the credibility of democratic procedure in turkey had ended. thailand has celebrated the third and final day of the coronation of king maha vajiralongkorn. the king met foreign diplomats and greeted thousands of well—wishers from the balcony of his palace. coronation proceedings started on saturday after a period of official mourning for the king of‘s father who died in 2016 having reigned for 70 years.

let's return to our top story. prince harry and meghan‘s baby is the first royal to be born with african american heritage. i spoke to civil rights leader, reverend jesse jackson. hejoined me via reverend jesse jackson. he joined me via skype from chicago. i began by asking him how he felt about the significance of this royal birth. rejoice at the fact that there is no barrier known as royalty anymore. that is a good thing in the long run. what sort of influences from meghan‘s background, her african—american heritage in particular, what will play the most key role in the way that they bring up in the way that they bring up their baby boy? what meghan brings to the situation is a sense of character and intellect. people know that we care

and the fact that meghan cares so deeply is important. people feel her caring, it is infectious. it is felt around the world. they should be no more barriers to different people. love will find a way. 0bviously love will find a way. obviously the birth of a new child isa obviously the birth of a new child is a moment of hope and optimism and renewal. looking ahead, in what ways do you think the lives of african—americans will change during this child's lifetime? 50 yea rs 50 years ago we marched for the right to vote in america. barack 0bama ba rack 0bama was the first african—american president, there are now three blacks running for president. we live in a global village. technology and science

has dwarfed time. that is the model that the prince and duchess have set for us today. reverend jesse jackson speaking from chicago. in sri lanka secondary officials have reopened the security after the sunday bombings in which more than 250 people died. the country's president has told the bbc he believes the islamic state group amounted the attacks to remind the world it still exists. police fan out across the grounds of one of sri lanka's most prestigious schools before pupils return to their classrooms. meanwhile, parents are briefed about plans for them to guard the gates every day. the devastating series of attacks two weeks ago,

claimed by the islamic state group, have rattled this society. we are talking about suicide bombers, 0k? so in case of that, how many personnel from forces have you involved in the security plans with weapons? we are parents, we don't have weapons, we don't know how to use them. speaking to the bbc, sri lanka's president admitted is had caught the country off guard. translation: i'm shocked and can't understand why they chose sri lanka for this attack. i do question if it's because they do not have the ability to go head—to—head with the world's powerful nations, so they chose a country that had recently established peace to make the statement that is still exist. but there were repeated warnings in the lead—up to the attack about the possibility of bombings taking place. not acting on them was a huge failure, wasn't it?

translation: it's clear information had been received by those occupying top positions in the intelligence services. however, i was not apprised of this information. they neglected their duties, which is why i have taken action against them. these persons have been removed from their offices. don't you think you should be considering your own position here? translation: i believe my duty right now is to take the necessary action to face this challenge. restoring faith in the country's security forces will be key in reassuring tourists it's still safe to visit. at the moment, normally bustling beaches across the country lie empty. translation: there has been a 70% decline in tourism. in order to bring tourists back, we need to eliminate terrorism. back at the school gates, it seems many parents have decided to keep their children at home again.

translation: even if our children are at home doing nothing, at least they are safe. a country that suffered decades of violent ethnic tensions is now afraid of a new threat. secunder kermani, bbc news, colombo. you are watching newsday live from singapore and london. still to come colin congratulations for the new royal baby pouring in. we will be crossing to meghan markle's hometown. and how a superior sense of smell is used to find protected insects. i, nelson rolihlahla mandela, do hereby swear to be faithful to the republic of south africa.

after six years of construction and numerous delays, the channel tunnel has been formally opened by the queen and president mitterand. but the tunnel is still not yet ready for passengers and freight services to begin. for centuries, christianity and islam struggled for supremacy. now, the pope's visit symbolises their willingness to coexist. roger bannister became the first man in the world to run a mile in under four minutes. memories of victory as the ve celebrations reach their climax. this night is dedicated to everyone who believes in the future of peace and freedom. welcome back, everyone. you are watching newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm ben bland in london.

prince harry and meghan markle have given birth to a baby boy. prince harry has said mother and baby are doing incredibly well. the pentagon says a credible threat from iran led to the us deploying an aircraft carrier to the middle east. looking at the front pages from around the world, starting with the gulf news, in dubai, which reports that the united states has deployed an aircraft carrier to the middle east. us national security adviser john bolton says it is to send a clear and unmistakable message to iran. the south china morning post has more news about the us, this time about the trade talks with china. a delegation is heading to washington from beijing, despite more threats from donald trump to increase tariffs on chinese goods. here in the uk, take a guess

what is on the front pages. it is, of course, about the baby. prince harry is quoted as saying this little thing is absolutely to die for. the uk is not the only place celebrating the royal birth. the duchess of sussex is a california native, and our correspondent sophie long went to a british pub in la, where the locals swapped out the health foods for some good old—fashioned english fare. yeah, no wheatgrass smoothies being served here today. we have instead victoria sponge and glasses of fizz, because people here are very happy, of course. because it's notjust a royal baby, it's an anglo—american baby, and its notjust an anglo—american baby, it is meghan markle's baby, who of course grew up in los angeles. and one of the owners of this pub, the cat & fiddle in hollywood, actually went to school with meghan markle, and she has recently had a baby herself. lots of very happy

people here today. i'm joined in the bar by marlise boland, who runs the anglophile channel. welcome, thanks for being with us today. it is a lovely day. how excited do you think people are here in los angeles? i think everyone's excited, especially people that follow the royal family, and especially meghan markle. i mean, this is a local girl that's given birth to a royal baby, so it's exciting news. and do you think people here are very excited, despite the fact that this baby, we don't yet know his name, will be seventh in line to the throne? it's very unlikely he's ever going to be king. it is unlikely, but this has been a special union. we almost feel like it's the joining of the two countries, the us and the uk. this has been a fantastic union, and so i think the world's eye is on britain right now for a positive reason, and it'sjust so, so exciting, especially seeing harry give the birth announcement today, coming out and just being such the proud father. we absolutely loved sharing in that moment with him. he was bursting with happiness, wasn't he? we've seen a beaming father. we know that mother and baby are doing very well. of course, the next thing that people are speculating about is the name.

now, we hear it might be an unusual name — something that unites both britain and the united states. have you got any thoughts? i don't have any thoughts. i wonder if there's something back in her history, in her family, that there's a cherished family name, and something in harry's side that is meaningful to them, maybe charles will be part of the name. don't know. and what about the way this has all been handled, because it's been slightly less traditional, as you would expect, from meghan and harry. they like to do things differently. do you think it's affected the way that people here have engaged in this? no, i absolutely think people are still interested. yeah, when i first heard that she's not going to come out with the baby, i thought, oh, we felt cheated out of that moment. but then i looked and thought, well, it makes sense, it's not necessary, you know, she hasn't given birth to the next king of england and i think in time we're all going get a little glimpse of their life and we are all looking

forward to it. thanks for being with us. so yes, we wait and see the face and the name of the new royal baby, but here, people are quite happy to wait and celebrate for the time being. sophie long in los angeles. 15 time major golf winner tiger woods has been presented with the medal of freedom by donald trump in a ceremony at the white house. the accolade is america's highest civilian honour, granted for contributions to national security, world peace or other cultural achievements. president trump announced that woods would be the fourth golfer to receive the award after receiving his first major title in ii after receiving his first major title in 11 years. speaking in the rose garden, stitch up praised woods's contribution to the sport. your spectacular achievement, your triumph over physical adversity, and your relentless will to win, win, win. these qualities embody the american spirit of pushing boundaries, defying limits, and a lwa ys

boundaries, defying limits, and always striving for greatness. that's what he does. congratulations again on your amazing comeback and your amazing life. a landmark report from the un is saying that humans are rapidly destroying the natural world. in the largest study of its kind, un experts found thati million land and animal species face extinction, including a quarter of all mammals. another species under threat is the alpine stone fly, but researchers in australia have developed a rather unique way to track their numbers. they have trained dogs to sniff them out in the wild. earlier i spoke to nick rutter from la trobe university, who led a team who trained these dogs, and he told me more. yeah, so all of our training techniques are based around positive reinforcement methods. so that means that every time the dog does something we want them to do, they get a reward. so be it a food reward, a ball game, some pats,

it's a fun experience for them. the training involves the dogs giving passive indication. and so, when they find what they're looking for, this insect species, they point with it with their nose from a bit of a distance, so they're not actually interacting with the insects. so nick, why did you choose the dog to do this job? yeah, it's a good question. dogs have a fantastic sense of smell, like 10,000—100,000 times better than people. it's like smelling a teaspoon of sugar into an olympic—sized swimming pool, so really sensitive. and dogs have been used internationally to find all sorts of different insect species, and other species, like mammals, including bears and rhinos, even whales. a really useful tool. and the insect species we're finding has a scent we know of, so we can train dogs to find it and certainly they're a really useful tool as we've been seeing. so can any dog, nick, be trained to do this job? we're working with pet dogs and volunteers, and so these are citizen scientists that have been training with us once a week.

and all of our dogs are a broad array of breeds. we've got different types of handlers and all dogs have a fantastic sense of smell. what makes a good conservation and detection dog, which is what these dogs are, is that they are eager to work with their handler and safe to operate in that environment and they love doing this game which is find the smell, which is a fantastic experience for them, and they really enjoy it. all right, the dog has a fantastic sense of smell. but could any animal, nick, perhaps birds, be an alternative? i've not heard of a detection bird before. one of the things that makes dogs really good is that they're really motivated to work with people. a bird might be interested in finding an insect, but perhaps then eat it, or not show a person as well as a dog does where that insect is. and so dogs are really cut out for a job like this. how important is what you're doing right now, doing for our planet? that's a good question.

so alpine stoneflies are really a top predator in that ecosystem. they might not look like it, but they're kind of like the lions of the savanna in the alpine environments. and so regulating the ecosystem health is something they're really good at doing. but also they're an indicator species, and so what that means is they have a good position in the environment where they can tell us more about the whole ecosystem. so things like climate change, which are going to be affecting all sorts of environments throughout the world, particularly alpine environments, are going to be changing, and by monitoring how these stoneflies are doing, can tell us more about... and briefly, nick, how many endangered insects are there in the world? there's millions of insect species, and a lot of them are going to be coming under different pressures because of climate changes. there are four species of alpine stoneflies in australia and they're currently all threatened or endangered. sta rs stars are arriving at the metropolitan museum of art for the most glamorous party of the year,

the met gala. lady gaga got changed four times on her way up the red carpet. the night's other hosts, serena williams, anna wintour and harry styles also wowed audiences. it raises money for the costume institute. i'm ben bland in london. i wouldn't go to the gala, it is $35,000 for a ticket. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. we sit down with the man credited with helping leicester city win the english premier league in 2016, to find out how artificial intelligence is transforming the business of sport. and we couldn't not show you these pictures of landmarks in england taking part in long—standing royal baby traditions, celebrating the birth of baby sussex.

you can see the famous london eye turned red, white and blue, and the bt tower displayed a celebratory message. thank you for watching. hello, good morning. early bank holiday monday last year, the temperature was a record 29 degrees. this time round, 1a celsius at best. and that was in the south—west of england, where we did see some sunshine. and whilst we'll see temperatures recovering a little bit across more southern parts of the uk, it is going to be staying on the chilly side. and there's some more rain to come, as well, and most of it will be coming from this area of cloud that will bring some wetter, windier weather overnight into wednesday. we've got a lot of cloud on the scene for many places at the moment, still some bursts of rain here and there. skies are a little bit clearer in scotland and here we have colder

air, so there may well be a touch of frost. further south, we may see some showers developing through the midlands and east anglia, too. for scotland, it really is a case of sunshine and showers. we'll find those showers a bit wintry over the tops of the mountains. the air is going to be cold enough for temperatures no better than single figures in most places. wetter weather for southernmost parts of scotland, northern ireland, northern england, and those showers also affecting north wales into the midlands and east anglia. dry for most of the day down the south and some sunshine may lift the temperatures to 15 or 16 degrees. this is where the low pressure and all that cloud is overnight and into wednesday. these weatherfronts pushing rain northwards and eastwards across the uk, so for many places, it's a bit of a wet start, i suspect. this rain will pivot and push its way slowly northwards,

getting stuck across central, southern scotland, northern ireland and northern england. after the rain, a clearance to sunshine, but some heavy, thundery showers. easterly winds for eastern scotland and north—east england. together with the rain will make it feel quite cold. temperatures 6—8 degrees at best. further south, some warmth in the sunshine, but those showers are going to be heavy, accompanied by some gusty winds too. almost more of the same as we move from wednesday into thursday. low pressure just drifting slowly across the uk, and those weather fronts stuck across the northern areas. patchy, lighter rain at this stage. further south, some sunshine. again, some heavy and thundery showers. this time they're more likely to be across east anglia and the south—east of england. temperatures on thursday much like those on wednesday, again below average for this time of year. goodbye.

this is bbc news. the duke and duchess of sussex are celebrating the birth of their first child. the baby boy is seventh in line. prince harry said it had been an amazing experience and that mother and baby are both doing well. street protests in istanbul after a rerun of the city mayoral election has been called. the mayor has called it a treacherous move. secondary schools entry languor have reopened with tight security. —— sri lanka. many pa rents tight security. —— sri lanka. many parents have kept their children at home because they are worried of more attacks from islamist militants. stay with us, much more to come.