you're watching newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: india's governing party bjp welcomes the latest exit polls, suggesting narendra modi is on track for a second term as pm. a dramatic escalation in us tensions with chinese tech firms as google suspends some business with huawei. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. also in the programme: how good is that win? well done. with final votes being counted in australia, prime minister scott morrison is one seat away from an outright majority. and we hearfrom one

of bollywood's upcoming stars — radhika — and hertake on film censorship. what we need is more sex education, not banning things. everything is available, you can go watch whatever you want. what you need is sex education, not the other way around. low from our studios in singapore and london. —— live. this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 8:00am in singapore, 1:00 am in london and approaching 6:00am in delhi, where narendra modi's party says it is on course for a win in the country's mammoth general election. exit polls are pointing to the bjp increasing its majority of seats in parliament. here's how the parties

have responded. translation: the country will once again get the rent remotely as prime minister. exit polls have shown the people of the country wanted modi to form government again. transition back to the issues on the ground are different to issues on tv and his exit polls are not exact polls. not exact polls, according to the congress party there. the exit polls in indian elections have been wrong before, it's true, perhaps no suprise in a country where 900 million people are eligible to vote. it'll be the actual count that counts and that's not until thursday. here's sangita myska in delhi. the way in which exit polls are conducted in this country

is literally someone standing outside a polling booth and asking people who have voted which party they have chosen. as you know, this is not entirely reliable. having said that, the four biggest exit polls, three of them show that narendra modi and his bjp party will be returned to government with a majority. back in 2014, mr modi achieved that, it was the first time in 30 years that any party in india had won an absolute majority. the question is — can he do it again in 2019? well, of course, thursday is the day that the votes are actually counted and then for sure in our elections — in our election special here on bbc world we will be bringing you that final result. just to remind you, the bjp, mr modi is a hindu nationalist. and what his critics will say is over the last five years in power he has not delivered on policy, instead, he has played identity politics, that india is more divided than ever along hindu caste lines, along religious lines. but his supporters will come back vehemently and tell you that he is the only man who will be able to deliver sustained development here in india

and the only person who has taken solid steps towards dealing with corruption. as i say, the results will be out on thursday, we will be bringing those to you. sangita myska reporting. so there's still a few days to go until we find out the result in india. but you can join us for our special live coverage from delhi throughout the day on thursday, my colleague karin giannone will be among those bringing you all the news as the results come in. well from india to australia where another prime minister has reason to be cheerful. ‘scomo', the australian pm scott morrison is edging towards a majority as the final votes are counted after saturday's election. there he is celebrating away. his conservative coalition is currentlyjust one seat short of a majority. that's a surprise outcome because polls there were predicting a narrow win for the opposition labor party.

i'm a is outside parliament in canberra. good morning. so scott morrison has been out celebrating? absolutely. he called the result is a miracle. he was watching the cronulla sharks earlier, they didn't win, but he did. the australian called him the messiah from the shire. the latest figures predict the government will have a majority. there are hundred and 51 seats in the house of representatives behind me, they think they might have 77, not yet confirmed, they are on 75, slightly under what they need. another for slightly under what they need. anotherfor a minority slightly under what they need. another for a minority government, certainly enough to do deals with the independence to get them across

the independence to get them across the line, but it looks like according to the latest count they could be as high as 77. really underlining the extent of scott morrison's surprise victory. very interesting, those numbers. could we be seeing a period of relative stability in australian politics, or ami stability in australian politics, or am i being ambitious there? wouldn't that be a thing. australian politics we re that be a thing. australian politics were known for everyone trying to work out who the next leader might be. certainly this is scott morrison's victory, certainly not the liberal coalition‘s victory because many of his cabinet collea g u es because many of his cabinet colleagues were pushed to the sidelines. it was all about him and the australian public trusting in him. he has a personal mandate that should put all rivals far, far behind him. but of course labor who lost the selection, it was that it was unreasonable, they made it usable. they have to find a new leader now. bill shorten offered his own head on saturday night and quit

as labor leader so there is a race on there stop you never really have full stability in australian politics, but i think in terms of who is prime minister, i think you can count on scott morrison reaching the end of 2019. let's see what else is making news today. it's reported that google has suspended some business with the chinese mobile phone giant huawei, potentially cutting off its android devices from updates to popular google apps and services used around the world. the move comes several days after the us commerce department announced it was blacklisting huawei over concerns that its equipment could be used by the chinese government to spy on american networks. more on that in asia business report in about twenty minutes. 17 people have been injured in an explosion that hit a tourist bus in egypt's capital, cairo. the blast went off close to a prestigious new museum, near the pyramids. the bus was carrying a party of south african tourists. it's not known who was behind

the bombing, but tourists have been targetted by islamist militants in egypt in the recent past. president trump has issued a stern warning to iran not to threaten american interests. in a tweet, he said that if iran wanted to fight, that would be the end of the country. mr trump's warning came as tensions have been rising over the deployment of a us carrier group and long—range bombers to the gulf. rescuers have helped hundreds of hikers who were stuck overnight on a mountain onjapan‘s yakushima island because of heavy rainfall. around 12 centimetres of rain hit the area on saturday, with flooding and mudslides blocking roads. officials say 314 people were stranded. some were forced to sleep out on the mountainside, but most took shelter in their vehicles. in russia, these fans of game of thrones have been dressing up as their favourite characters to while away the wait for the show‘s finale.

as you can see some of them posing for photos at a cosplay event in moscow. some of them look pretty realistic, pretty good, don't they? after thrilling viewers for eight series, the show‘s final episode will be broadcast in just under one hour's time. let's go back now to the australian elections: earlier i wasjoined by former australian labor prime minister kevin rudd and i asked him for this thoughts on the result. it's also disappointing for the future of progressive politics in my own country, australia, as well. and i think one of the things missing from the national and global commentary on this most

recent australian election is the overwhelming force of the murdoch media's campaign against the labor party in australia. this is notjust the london sun, notjust fox news in america. mr murdoch control 70% of the print readership in australia. for the last six years, his empire in australia have run an ideological campaign against the labor party, fully supported at the same time of successive conservative governments, making it difficult for the australian labor party to punch a message through. alright. media aside, mr rudd, we know there have been no rule changes in terms of policies, rule changes within the party. that means whoever wins, and of course scott morrison looks like he is slated to, he will be the first leader since 2007 to serve a full term. what do you make of that? well, we will see what happens with the future of the liberal party

leadership. people are assuming this is a miraculous conservative party win in australia, they will barely just fall across the line, that is the reality. this party for six years has had a very big history of internal personality divisions and ideological divisions between a far right and a more moderate, but declining wing of the party. so let's see what it actually produces. but, you said before, leaving media questions to one side, and i know why public broadcasters do that, this is a central debate for the future of australian democracy. and that is the ability to get a message through when officially you have a coalition between conservative parties and the murdoch party, which doesn't run as a news organisation, it effectively runs as a hard—right ideological movement. let's take a look at that message. you know there have been big four leadership challenges since 2014. so stability has been a big issue in australian politics.

there have been so many leaders. you were very much part of that churn as well of leaders in australia. so why in australian politics — why does it seem so dysfunctional to outside viewers? well, we did have a series of very sharp internal debates and disagreements within the australian labor party. but my own precondition for returning to the party's leadership and prime ministership in 2013 was to change the rules. so that now, if you wish to become the leader of the labor party, the bottom line is it is now a complex process involving a vote of 50% from the parliamentary members of the party, 50% from the entire national membership of the party. the result of that is that it prevents any as it were, midnight parliamentary coups against parliamentary leadership. as a result of that for six years we have had one political leader,

mr shorten, and he's worked very hard in getting labor's message out to the community. the conservatives have belatedly said they should adopt a similar rule because they have decapitated three as it were of their own leaders in that period of time. given the division amongst voters and parties, will there be any cohesive polities that we will see out of the government there? what is fascinating about the election is that the labor party, despite the fact that it lost, ran a comprehensive policy programme for the future. the conservatives ran because they have deduced it works politically, a fear—based campaign about labor as an alternative manager of the economy. so i'm somewhat skeptical of where the policy agenda of this government will go. the challenge for australia

is the driest continent on earth and the world in what we have seen recently on the future of biodiversity in the un. what will the re—elected government now do on climate change and our obligations under the paris treaty. right. this conservative government has been as bad as president trump on this question. that was kevin rudd there speaking to mea that was kevin rudd there speaking to me a little earlier. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: bollywood star radhika speaks to the bbc — about film censorship in india. this morning an indian air force plane carrying mr gandhi's body landed in delhi. the president of india walked to the plane to solemnly witness mr gandhi's final return from the political battlefield. ireland has voted overwhelmingly in favour of gay marriage. in doing so it has become the first country in the world to approve the change in a national referendum. it was a remarkable climax to what was surely

the most extraordinary funeral ever given to a pop singer. it has been a peaceful funeral demonstration so far but suddenly the police are tear gassing the crowd. we don't yet know why. the pre—launch ritual is well established here. helen was said to be in good spirits butjust a little apprehensive. in the last hour, east timor has become the world's newest nation. it was a bloody birth for a poor country and the challenges ahead are daunting. but for now, at least, it is time to celebrate. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm lewis vaughan jones in london. our top stories: exit polls in india suggest prime minister modi is on course to win the general election, his bjp party welcomes the predictions.

google is cutting huawei from using some of its mobile services — days after the us announced it was blacklisting the chinese tech firm. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we start with the south china morning post, which says it has an exclusive story about the american chamber of commerce in hong kong. the group is anxious to shield hong kong's special trading status from any damage caused by the brewing trade war between china and the us. the japan times front page looks forward to the forthcoming summit between donald trump and prime minister shinzo abe. it says the two leaders may not issue a joint statement after their tokyo meeting, to avoid exposing differences over north korea and trade issues. finally, a heartwarming story from the straits times. a tibetan buddhist temple has marked vesak day by holding an adoption drive for stray dogs.

the animals were blessed with holy water before being found new homes. us president donald trump has come out with a clear pro—life statement on abortion, amid controversy surrounding changes to the law in several states. this year alone, eight have voted to either ban abortions — or further restrict the time limits on when they can take place. 0ur washington correspondent chris buckler reports. my body! in state after state, america's laws are being challenged in a battle over what many women regard as their right to abortion. and with court challenges planned and an election looming, it's one of the most divisive issues in a country already ripped apart by politics. two decades ago, president trump was quoted as calling himself pro—choice, but his position

was very different by the time he reached the campaign trail in 2016. many of his supporters were and remain christian evangelicals, and as he ran for the presidency, his position aligned with theirs. do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no? the answer is that there has to be some form of punishment. for the woman? yeah, there has to be some form. however, in a tweet, donald trump has now clarified that he is strongly pro—life with three exceptions — rape, incest and protecting the life of the mother. that's a more liberal position than the laws some in his party have been voting for. should a child, a life inside a mother's womb, be killed due to the actions of its parents? in the last week alone, two republican—led states, missouri and alabama, passed new, stricter legislation. neither of the bills had exceptions for cases where the mother had been the victim of rape or incest. the fact that donald trump is marking his view out as different

might be a sign that he's worried about how some voters will react, particularly women, ahead of next year's presidential election. certainly, the democrats seem determined to make abortion a key issue in 2020. this is happening across the country, and people need to know what's going on here. this is a violation of civil rights. republicans seem determined to push this issue in individual states in an attempt to get america's abortion laws challenged here at the us supreme court. more than 45 years ago, the famous case roe v wade established a woman's right to choose an abortion. but donald trump has appointed newjustices that have given this court a conservative majority. what they're going to do is, they're not going to outlaw abortion, but they're going to make it so difficult to get. ahead of 2020, on abortion and so much else, these states could hardly be less united. chris buckler, bbc news, washington.

let's return to our top story now: india's governing bjp party says narendra modi is on course to serve another term as prime minister, following the first exit polls in the country's general election. sumit ganguly, an expert in indian politics at indiana university, gives us his take on the mammoth election process. this has been an intense election and there has been mudslinging on the part of the bjp but the principal opposition party is not to be out done, though clearly the bjp took the lead in the matter and there were a number of issues under discussion, the congress highlighted blue rural distress, they highlighted the lack of employment, they highlighted the failure of democratisation. narendra modi primarily focused on muscular foreign policy,

toughness towards pakistan and a series of nationalist appeals to large sections of the population. you mentioned his muscularforeign policy among other things. we know he is an incredibly divisive figure. how will his potential win go down with the international community? it depends who wants talking to on the international community? 0ther populist authoritarian leaders will not bat an eyelid at his win. in fact, they will welcome it. perhaps in western europe, the reaction will be somewhat more cautious, somewhat more circumspect but ultimately, other national leaders will eventually say look, this is the will of the indian people and we have to respect the will of the indian people and consequently, we need to work with modi. know we this election is conducted in seven phases,

a mammoth task considering it involves nearly a billion eligible voters. what will this result mean? once again, it means who one talks to. 0bviously for supporters of the indian national congress and various regional parties which may not fare very well, if the exit polls are to be believed, then for them, this will be a source of considerable distress and a source of considerable concern. 0n the other hand, for modi's supporters, they will be jubilant. one of india's most acclaimed modern actors says the country needs better sex education, rather than banning films with explicit content. bbc asian network's haroon rashid met radhika aptay in london. radhika aptay is fast becoming one

of the most recognised indian actresses globally after having starred in three netflix originals in 2018. sacred games was the first netflix original series from india. how different was that filmmaking experience compared to other bollywood productions you've been part of? first of all, it's challenging, it's nicer because you are doing something, you're not worried about words or certain content, you are open and openly expressing. i do feel that this freedom is very, very, very important so i think that's one aspect and i just think that the benefit of marketing and doing publicity, netflix was very well organised. there was a lot of violence and use of expletives in sacred games and love stories had a lot of sexual content. such content would normally face censorship issues in india. what has your experience been like with the country's certification board? i don't think there should be the censore board in this sense.

i understand a and u but i don't understand these bans on censorship. what we need is more sex education, not banning things. everything is available, you can go watch whatever you want. what you need is sex education, not the other way around. one of your films, parched, did tremendously well on the festival circuit but not so well at the indian box office. has netflix or amazon prime or other services such as that given those kind of films a different distribution model? i know when you have a film or a series on a digital platform, the reach is to a different kind of audience. it reaches the world extremely fast and the kind of people, the audience that watches it, it's a little different. it's not necessarily completely different — it's not exclusive but it's a different kind of audience. radhika also starred in two hit bollywood

films last year, including padman, the first mainstream hindi film to tackle menstrual health in the country. haroon rashid, bbc news. you have been watching newsday. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. and i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. stay with us. coming up we'll have more on australia's election result. we'll see how fears about the economy helped the conservatives hold onto power. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with these pictures from vietnam of a giant buddha statue that's being built in western hanoi. the towering statue is 72 metres tall and once completed, will be the biggest such effigy in all of southeast asia. on saturday, hundreds of worshippers gathered there to mark vesak day, the most important holiday in the buddhist calendar. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news.

the weather is looking reasonable over the next few days, a bit of cloud around, sunny intervals but some passing showers. the temperatures on the one side really for the time of year over the next few days. taking a look back to what happened with the weather yesterday, the showers are formed in a line from dorset across the midlands into they consumer. a form because the winds bash together to make this convergence with the air force to rise, some big downpours of a slow—moving in nature. 0ne rise, some big downpours of a slow—moving in nature. one of those was spotted in warwickshire with the rain coming down so heavily it was bouncing off the roads of pavement.

yesterday's weather, we have a similar set yesterday's weather, we have a similarset upfor yesterday's weather, we have a similar set up for later on today. 0ver similar set up for later on today. over the next few hours you are heading out, expect to see murky conditions across lincolnshire, north—east england and scotland with some mist and fog patches. showers continuing for western scotland and northern ireland but it is a mild start today. tempers 8—12. it is pretty cloudy. as we go through the day, the crowd with it and break up as it did yesterday. sunshine coming through but also some heavy showers and again they will line up in convergence owns, that is across eastern scotland and another zone in eastern scotland and another zone in eastern england, that is where you are most likely to see heavy, slow—moving showers that could become thundery, although they might well be a few showers elsewhere, northern ireland and wales, that should be scattered in nature. in between these showers, there will be sunshine with temperatures into the high teens, low 20s. it is going to feel very pleasant. the tutors

focused, weak weather front across the north of scotland, pressure building across the western side of the country, subtle changes in the weather. we should symbol in the way of dry weather, more sunshine coming through, and across most eastern parts of england and eastern scotland, risk a few showers coming up, temperatures up to 22 degrees in london and for wednesday, a lot of dry weather for northern ireland, england and wales with sunshine, feeling pleasant and warm. but the north we have the cloud working in with outbreaks of rain, the best of such an further south again, highs running into the low 20s. that is your weather.

i'm lewis vaughan jones, with bbc news. our top story: exit polls from india's general election suggest the current prime minister, narendra modi, is set to win a second term in office. mr modi's bjp party has welcomed the predictions, pointing to their increased majority of seats in parliament. the official count doesn't begin until thursday. google is cutting huawei from using some of its mobile services. the block would mean the chinese tech firm losing security updates and technical support. and this video is trending on bbc.com... harry and meghan have released new photos on instagram, to mark the first anniversary of their marriage last year. the royal couple thanked their followers for "all the love and support from so many". that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: