this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: donald trump lashes out at robert mueller 3 day after the former special counsel refused to clear the president of obstructing justice. the whole thing is a scam, it's a giant presidential harassment. no, russia did not help me get elected. you know who got me elected? i got me elected. russia didn't help me at all. the captain of a boat that collided with another on the river danube in hungary is arrested. we report from syria as the un warns that tens of thousands of children are still at risk. and r kelly has been charged with more sexual offences — he's pleaded not guilty.

president trump has launched a particularly fierce and personal attack, without giving any evidence, on former special counsel robert mueller. mr mueller made headlines this week with a rare public statement, reiterating that his long inquiry did not clear the president of obstructing justice. mr trump spoke today about russian election interference and moves by the democrats to impeach him, before laying into robert mueller. there wasn't much change. i never got into it, i never thought that would be possible to be using that would be possible to be using that word. to me, it is a dirty word, the word impeach. it is a

dirty, filthy, disgusting word. i think mueller is a true never —trumper. he didn't get a job he requested and despite that, despite $40 million, 18 mike trump haters, including people who work for hillary clinton and some of the worst human being on earth, they got nothing, it is amazing. ———— trump haters. live now to washington and our correspondent chris buckler. he is now staring like that make sounding like a man who is seriously rattled. yes, and it was in direct response to robert mueller. we have

had time and time again from president trump he had been exonerated. robert mueller stood up and said actually that is not the case and i expect the words that have been ringing in the president's is, that phrase, if we were confident that he didn't commit a crime, we would have said though does said so. they did not say that about the president, there are still questions to be asked and of course, growing question — make pressure from congress to ask those questions. potentially what he referred to their is a dirty word of impeachment. it is also worth pointing out, robert mueller, if he was erecting the record, was also speaking about the us attorney general william barr you might became out and gave his own summary of the report and they seemed to be some frustration by robert mueller about just how he some frustration by robert mueller aboutjust how he interpreted it and the way to put out first. we have had a response from william barr as well. the us attorney general has been speaking to cbs and as far as he is concerned, robert mueller is

not right in saying he couldn't have drawn a conclusion because of the policy that you can't indict a sitting president. i think he could have reached a decision. in your view? yes, he could have reached an opinion. he couldn't indict a president while he is in office but he could reach a decision about whether it was criminal activity but he had his reasons for not doing it which he explained and i'm not going to argue about those reasons but what —— when he didn't make a decision, the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, and i, felt it was necessary for us rosenstein, and i, felt it was necessary for us as rosenstein, and i, felt it was necessary for us as the heads of the department, to reach that decision. and that decision or conclusion was about the issue of whether or not president trump had tried to obstruct justice. president trump had tried to obstructjustice. something which robert mueller looked at in detail of his report. some ten instances

where it may have happened and that is what congress is looking at now. but as i mentioned before, make democrats, some within congress, are pushing for the start of impeachment proceedings but actually, the democratic leadership very wary of that and there are concerns it could backfire politically, that it could actually fire up some of president trump's support ahead of the 2020 election campaign. and certainly, you got the indication from the way but the president responded today that he is prepared to fight. chris, thank you very much indeed for that. a little later in the programme, we will have more analysis on this, particularly on the assertions of president trump has been making about robert mueller. let's get some of the day's other news. president trump is saying he will impose tariffs on all goods from mexico in an attempt to force the country to crack down on illegal migration to the us. he says the five per cent tariff will come into effect next month and will gradually increase. the saudi monarch has claimed iran is a threat to global security. king salman told an emergency arab summit that gulf states and other world powers should contain what he described as iran's criminal

activities and interference. the government in tehran denies saudi and american accusations that it recently attacked oil tankers and a saudi pipeline. the german chancellor has used an address to american scholars to warn of the dangers of nationalism. angela merkel urged graduating students at harvard to reject isolation, and not to confuse truth with lies. india's prime minister, narendra modi, has begun his second term, taking an oath in front of thousands of supporters in delhi. 57 members of his cabinet were sworn in too. the bjp won the election with an even bigger majority than in 2014. the captain of a cruise ship which was involved in a crash on the river danube, in budapest, has been arrested by hungarian police. seven people are known to have died — 21 are missing. police are questioning

the captain — who's ukrainian. gareth barlow has the latest. ina in a split second, the disaster unfolded. injust in a split second, the disaster unfolded. in just seven seconds, the mermaid sank. the 40 ton boat, forced into the water, no match for the thousand ton viking. the front of the viking hit the back of the little boat and it turned broadside in front of the boat and it just rolled over and then the whole p°pped rolled over and then the whole normed up rolled over and then the whole popped up on the opposite side of the ship, you know, just a few seconds later, and then it sunk. more than 24 hours on, the search continues for those still missing but hopes of fading of finding anyone alive. the danube is flowing into full force, its waters just 10 celsius, offering little chance of survival. the focus now for the authorities, to find out what went so authorities, to find out what went so terribly wrong. the vikings captain has been arrested, suspected of serious misconduct leading to

casualties. translation: what we can see on the cctv is the small boat, the mermaid, is sailing north. as is the mermaid, is sailing north. as is the bigger vessel, the viking. when they reach the pillars of the margaret bridge, mermaid turns in front of the viking, for some reason. there was a collision. the mermaid got turned on its side and within seven seconds, it sank. in south korea, they joined within seven seconds, it sank. in south korea, theyjoined search teams on a flight to budapest. rescuers prepared to raise the sunken vessel and candles mark the place where a happy holiday became a tragedy. united nations officials are warning that tens of thousands of children are at immediate risk of being killed or forced to flee for their lives because of intense fighting in northern syria. presidents assad's army is closing in on the last strongold of opposition forces. the un says civilians are facing indiscriminate bombing and shelling — acts which may amount to war crimes. it's estimated as many as half a million people have lost their lives since syria collapsed into civil war 8 years ago.

syrian government troops, backed by russian air power, are attacking idlib province where rebel islamist fighters are making a last stand. 0ur middle east editor jeremy bowen reports. this is life and death in idlib, the last province in syria controlled by rebels. civil defence workers the white helmets are digging the victims out of buildings, destroyed, it seems certain, by attacks from the regime side. this boy survived. his three siblings did not. unicef, the un children's agency, says tens of thousands of children are in danger as, once again, syria's war escalates. this should be no surprise to the world. syria's slow death

follows a pattern. injanuary 2017, i walked through the ruins of al-quds hospital, in east aleppo, the rebel enclave that had just fallen to the regime and its russian and iranian allies. thousands of casualties were treated here during the siege. the medics had left in a hurry after shells hit the building. this whole area is damaged. hospitals, civilian buildings, are protected under international humanitarian law, so there are major questions to be answered about whether war crimes were committed. wars are less chaotic than they appear. pain and death are inflicted on someone's orders. and wars have laws. some are supposed to protect civilians. in syria, they've mostly been ignored. hamza al khataeb, one of the doctors, says he witnessed war crimes every day,

that killed and maimed civilians. two years on, in london, he'd like to see the perpetrators in court. the syrian regime and the russians. no—one else has the aeroplanes to make the sky rain cluster bombs, explosive barrels and chlorine gas. no—one else can do that. what would you like to have happen to them? justice, just justice. syria's war has destroyed a country, killed perhaps 500,000 people, and let overwhelming evidence of war crimes by all sides, according to un investigators. all the countries involved in syria's multi—layered war have questions to answer. this is raqqa, once the beating heart of the jihadist islamic state.

the americans, helped by the british, levelled it. amnesty, the human rights group, condemned them for not acknowledging how many civilians they'd killed. rebels, now mainlyjihadist extremists, continue their fight out of idlib, but the president's side has almost won the war. was this recent regime airstrikea warcrime? possibly. it buried this child and killed another. but turning evidence into prosecutions is difficult. syria's wounds would have a better chance to heal if war criminals faced the law. but victors' justice tends to apply when the fighting stops, so it looks as if the regime and its allies, for now at least, will be safe. jeremy bowen, bbc news. and you can keep up to date all with the latest developments

in syria on the bbc website. you'll also find a feature on the most powerful groups left facing president assad. that's all at bbc.com/news — or download the bbc news app. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: how do you spell success? students are vying for the top prize but even parents have problems with some of those words. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletics events to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers of star wars hope will be thousands of queues started forming at 7am. taunting which led to scuffles, scuffles to fighting, fighting to full—scale riot, as the liverpool fans broke out of their area and into the juve ntus enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. the whole world will mourn the tragic death of mr nehru today. he was the father of the indian

people from the day of independence. the oprah winfrey show comes to an end after 25 years and more than 4,500 episodes. the chat show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. geri halliwell, otherwise known as ginger spice, has announced she has left the spice girls. ah, i don't believe it! she's the one with the bounce, the go, the girl power. not geri. why? this is bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump lashes out at robert mueller a day after the former special counsel refused to clear the president of obstructing justice. the united nations is warning that tens of thousands of children are at immediate risk of being killed or forced to flee for their lives because of intense fighting in northern syria.

let's return to our top story — us president donald trump has launched a fierce personal attack on former special counsel robert mueller after he reiterated that his inquiry did not exonerate mr trump of obstruction ofjustice. we can speak now two cutler, i think, a freelance journalist. we can speak now two cutler, i think, a freelancejournalist. —— temp two —— to max kutner. think, a freelancejournalist. —— temp two -- to max kutner. president trump has raised this allegedly co nflict—of— i nterest trump has raised this allegedly conflict—of—interest a couple of times before, i think three orfour times, it hasn't really gained traction until today. a lot of a nalysts a re traction until today. a lot of analysts are re— tweeting it, looking into it, basically, jumpers saying because he interviewed robert mueller to the place james comey as fbi director there are —— director, he shouldn't have been made special

counsel the very next day. it does seem a little too late. robert mueller designed the mark resigned from special counsel, so i'm not really sure why president trump is still talking about this, clearly it wasn't a conscious, co nflict—of— i nterest wasn't a conscious, conflict—of—interest and so it would bea conflict—of—interest and so it would be a conflict of interest now. but clearly the special counsel's statement, a very wrong the macro statement, a very wrong the macro statement rub the —— a very rare statement rub the —— a very rare statement rub the president the wrong way. putting it plainly, it's not true? it's true that robert mueller was interviewed for the fbi director position. president jumpers saying that mother was begging for the position and that president turned him down. that i haven't seen verified —— muelller. i spoke with the white house source that told me what happened during the meeting was that the president gave some sort of indication that muelller would not be becoming director, not that route, but still it's a bit of a

biased source. my other reporting tells me that muelllerjust went biased source. my other reporting tells me that muelller just went to the meeting out of courtesy for the president, if the president asks you to go, you go to the oval office. but muelller had no intention of taking this position that he had previously served in. even the amount of time he had served, i'm not sure he would have been eligible for the position, would he? what about this description by president trump of the muelller team as some of the worst humans on earth. how does that play with his base and other voters? we've seen that message catch on with his base —— that kind of language. the probe was going on for two years, now it is over, but it's interesting to see the timeline of how this unfolded. trump allies and white house surrogates outside the white house using that sort of language, using the witch—hunt language, but it really has gained traction with his base and you can't help but think

that there is a lot ofjump supporters out there who are hearing this and thinking, well, this report did exonerate trump. he did show indeed that there was no evidence of co—ordination between russia and the trump campaign. i happen to think thatis trump campaign. i happen to think that is going to helpjump in 2020. that said, the tweed today can't verify that that is what happened with muelller in his fbi director interview. thank you very much indeed, max kutner. r kelly has been charged with eleven more counts of sexual assault and abuse by prosecutors in chicago. he's pleaded not guilty and has been released on bail. earlier this year, the singer was accused of ten offences involving four women — three of therm were underaged at the time of the alleged events a decade ago. mounting charges for the disgraced singer. r kelly is now accused of 21 cou nts singer. r kelly is now accused of 21 counts of sexual abuse and assault.

in february, he was accused of ten cou nts in february, he was accused of ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. he pleaded not guilty and was released on bail. he was accused of abusing four women, be of whom were underage at the time of the alleged offences. the new charges are believed to be linked to one of those women. they include counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and abuse of a victim aged between 13 and 16. the singer's lawyer said the charges change nothing since they apply to an existing case. in march, r kelly went on us tv to strongly deny the charges he was then facing. in a tearful, and sometimes combative interview, he said the allegations against him we re said the allegations against him were all lies. how stupid would it be for me to — with my — crazy past and what i've been through, oh, right now i think i'm going to be a monster and hold girls against my will, chain them up in my basement! r kelly is due in court next

thursday to answer the charges. peter bowes, bbc news. attacks on unhealthy foods is being considered to help tackle childhood obesity. giving children every chance of leading a healthy life, that's what policymakers are grappling with is the search for new measures encouraging exercise is one thing, but a bold proposal on diet is now being considered. including attacks on high high sugarfood. the chief medical officer telling me she would look seriously at experts how it might work. if you provide a healthy product on supermarket shelves, that will come in cheap. if it's unhealthy, there's a levy put on top of it, which is equivalent to a tax. so parents are then noticed

to by the healthy version because it is cheaper and they can see it's healthy. if adopted, the levy would ta ke healthy. if adopted, the levy would take in what is known as ultra processed foods, products with multiple ingredients which have been through industrial processing. and today, two studies highlighted again, the health risks of eating them include heart disease. the top tip for reducing the amount of ultra processed food in your diet and making it more healthy for your cardiovascular system is to eat more fruit and vegetables. those were about some of your package snacks that you might have during the day and have an apple, a banana, and orange... ministers they do levy on soft drinks has been a success, but plans in england is a crackdown on tv advertising on supermarket promotions ofjunk tv advertising on supermarket promotions of junk food were tv advertising on supermarket promotions ofjunk food were delayed in 2016. then, finally, published last year but still not yet lamented. i should have worked harder to get it put in faster. but this is a political system and a democracy. so we have to move at the

pace that the politicians and the democratic process of consulting allows. myself, as an independent advisor, do wish we could do things faster. the scottish government is also planning restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy foods in supermarkets and close to schools. tackling obesity is a tough challenge, that's why bold and brave measures to shift people towards your diets have been called for today. austria has appointed the country's first woman chancellor, following the vote of no—confidence in the government of sebastian kurz. the head of the constitutional court, brigitte bierlein, will serve as interim chancellor until fresh elections are held in september. she promised to rebuild trust following last week's government crisis over a video sting. a baby born weighing just 240g — thought to be the smallest on record to survive a premature birth — has been discharged from hospital in the us. saybie weighed the same as a large

apple when she was born at 23 weeks and three days in december last year. despite the slim chances of survival, she has now left hospital and is now healthy. i have some words for you. horripilation, kentledge and pa rochialism — just three of the words facing children competing in this year's national spelling bee in maryland. can their parents do any better? cani? we asked those brave enough to try — and also got some tips from the 2018 champion. so the first word is her revelation —— horripilation, horripilation, ok? horripilation? iam the i am the 2018 spelling bee champion.

parochialism. what's? parochialism —— what? i don't know. yes? (buzzer sounds wrong)

you have to work really hard, you have to work efficiently. i was studying for about 35—36 hours a week. eyes that he'd by typing. i type those words in a spreadsheet so just using that muscle memory, it just using that muscle memory, it just help me, like, recollect. wow. hard enough to say them, let alone spell them. before we go, we like to leave you with these pictures. these ringtail members we re pictures. these ringtail members were born in the rooms do, they are native to madagascar and are an

invented species —— rooms do. much more to come on bbc news, thank you for watching. —— rome zoo. well, you may have heard by now that it's turning a lot warmer, but the forecast isn't quite so straightforward. in fact, it's not going to be turning hot everywhere, and in fact, some areas are still in for some rain. but i think the main message is that yes, broadly speaking, we are all in for at least some warmth. but a lot of cloud out there right now. it's very muggy — a very muggy night, with temperatures in the mid—teens across some southern areas of the uk. but rain, too. this is what it looks like the early hours of friday, so some bits and pieces of rain around western scotland, some in northern ireland, a scattering of rain across parts of the lake district, and the temperatures 14 early in london

on friday, but a lot fresher there in the far north, in lerwick, only five degrees. so here is the forecast for friday, moist south—westerly winds dragging in a lot of cloud, mist and murk around the coast. rain in northern ireland, in parts of western scotland. by the time this weather front is through, we will have seen about 40—50 millimetres of rain. that's a lot, a couple of inches of rain. the warmest and brightest of the weather will be across central and southern areas. temperatures reaching 22, but not clear, blue skies. there will be a fair amount of cloud around during the course of friday. so on saturday, the orange is the warm air spreading across much of europe. in fact, the near continent, temperatures will be approaching 30 degrees. we will get some of that warmth, it will be reaching towards southern and central areas. so this portion of the uk will probably see temperatures in the mid 20s, maybe the high 20s in one or two spots. but further north, it's

a case of more cloud. even a few spits and spots of rain. only 17 in belfast, squeezing 19 there in newcastle. and then it's all change, because on sunday, a low pressure comes in off the atlantic, brings some showers almost anywhere, really. there will be some sunshine too, but it does sort of spoil the second half of the weekend a little bit, and it will turn fresher. in fact, temperatures will start to drop away into the low 20s across the southern and eastern areas. so that 27—28 degrees on saturday is just a one—day wonder. in fact, the low pressure is with us during the course of monday and tuesday. you can see there it's anchored just to the north of scotland. so that does mean that, after that brief spell of very warm weather on saturday, from sunday onwards and into next week, it will be turning cooler and more unsettled.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

president trump has launched a fierce personal attack on robert mueller. it comes a day after the former special counsel refused to exonerate the president of obstruction of justice. mr trump described mr mueller as "totally conflicted". the united nations is warning that tens of thousands of children are at immediate risk of being killed or forced to flee for their lives because of intense fighting in northern syria. the ukrainian captain of a cruise ship which was involved in a crash on the river danube, in the hungarian capital budapest, has been arrested. seven people are known to have died — 21 are missing. rescuers have said there is little hope now are finding anyone alive.