images distributed i'm samantha simmonds with bbc news. by iran press show fire and smoke our top story. billowing from a tanker said to have the united states has accused iran been attacked in the waters of carrying out attacks on two of the gulf of oman. tankers in the gulf of oman on a vitally important shipping that's all for now. route for oil exports. stay with bbc world news. disturbing you hello, this is newsday. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the crews of both tankers were forced to abandon ship, the headlines: and one was left on fire. iran says it had nothing to do hello. iran has denied any involvement, as the flooding and disruption and blamed the attacks on those with the attacks on two oil tankers. continues, particularly across parts who want to damage its relations but the united states of england, some spots have had three months worth ofjune rainfall and the uk think otherwise and just a week, over 150 with the rest of the world. it is the assessment millimetres in the wettest places. of the united states government president trump tweeted that the islamic republic of iran still rain in the forecast but not that his press secretary is responsible for the attacks that necessarily the same areas, sarah sanders will leave herjob occurred in the gulf of oman today. at the end of the month. as low pressure adopts a new position to the north—west she has been a fierce of the uk in the coming days, defender of the president. means showers are most frequent and this story is trending on bbc.com. and its another tweet in the north and the west. from the us president. and there is, as friday starts, this time he said he had met a fresh area of rain affecting parts the "prince of whales", of england and wales, misspelling the country's after a controversial name as the mammal. and difficult two years also rain in north—west scotland. he quickly corrected the mistake in the white house, press fairly chilly for the clearer parts but social media had a field day secretary sarah sanders of scotland and northern ireland confirms she's quitting as the day begins. with the image. but where you start the day at the end of the month. with rain, things should improve as we go through the day, i'm samantha simmons in london. also in the programme. it should brighten up and it will be calm descends on hong kong an afternoon of as government offices sunshine and showers. in the financial district stay shut here's a look at things at 8:00 in the morning. following the worst violence so you're in the rain in north—west scotland,

in the city for decades. especially into the western isles, a photo exhibition by the wife of one of china's most famous one or two showers elsewhere, dissidents, gives a rare but where you have got the clear skies and here insight into her life into northern ireland, too, your temperature could be around the mid single figures live from our studios as the day first starts. in singapore and london, but you can see the outbreaks this is bbc world news. it's newsday. of rain from northern england, the midlands into wales, perhaps affecting parts of south—west england, good morning. perhaps the odd showery burst it's 8am in singapore, 1 o'clock in the morning in london towards the south—east. and 4am in the gulf of oman, where two oil tankers were hit by explosions on thursday. but the further south—east you are, the us secretary of state mike pompeo has accused iran of carrying out the attacks. may well be seeing some sunshine a us navy destroyer is now heading to the scene. as the day begins. tehran has denied having anything to do with the incidents. here's our chief international so on through the day then, you can pick out the two areas of rainfall but they are slowly easing and things start to brighten up. more widely so by the afternoon, it is sunshine, showers, correspondent lyse doucet. may be heavy and thundery, very few for east anglia and south—east england, perhaps up to 20 celsius here.

for most of us here it will feel a bit warmer, an hour later, another tanker, especially where you've had japanese owned, also days stuck in the rain. hit by an explosion. going through friday evening, it's still not clear what caused we'll see another area of rain, these latest attacks in one of the world's this time pushing into northern ireland, and then feeding on towards south—west scotland, wales and western england as saturday starts. ahead of that, it will be mainly busiest shipping lanes. clear bar the odd shower. that takes us on to the weekend, the big picture has low pressure here to the north—west of us, today in washington, unequivocal condemnation of iran. it will be feeding in weather these unprovoked attacks disturbances from the west this present a clear threat to international peace and security, time, and this is the first one a blatant assault on the freedom we are contending with of navigation and an unacceptable on saturday morning. campaign of escalating so it will be an area of cloud, tension by iran. the attacks took place close some showery rain out of that, slowly moving further east as the day goes on. to the strategic strait of hormuz, ahead of it, sunny spells, maybe a shower. behind it, sunny spells vital to world trade, and the chance of catching a shower. where tensions have been mounting on a fairly breezy day for months between regional rivals. with temperatures topping out in the mid to high teens. on one side there are arab states now, part two of the weekend including key us allies in the gulf. on sunday, if anything, it looks a little bit breezier, on the other side is iran. and it will be another day at its narrowest point, of sunshine and showers. now the showers most frequent in the north and west where again it the strait of hormuz could be heavy and possibly thundery, some though, will push a little bit further east on the breeze during the day. is just 21 miles wide, and there are two lanes for tankers showers — not everybody to pass in opposite directions. will catch one. and again, temperatures mostly in the mid—to high teens. a fifth of the world's oil exports, that's your latest forecast. 00:02:59,301 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 i'll see you soon. almost 19 million barrels

a day, passes through. so attacks on tankers can threaten oil supplies, drive up prices and fuel the tensions many worry could tumble towards war. this was meant to be a week of diplomacy. japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, is in tehran, hoping to help ease tensions, only to see them escalate. today he met iran's top leader, ayatollah khamenei. iran calls the timing of these attacks are suspicious, and rejects any responsibility. iran is also blamed for this. an attack yesterday on an airport in saudi arabia, 26 injured. yemen's houthi rebels, aligned to iran, say this was their work. two weeks ago, king salman called arab and muslim leaders to mecca, islam's holiest site, urging them to condemn iran. saudi officials told me then they don't want a war, but some sources spoke of a proportionate response. so what's next?

last month the us moved an aircraft carrier and bombers to the gulf. president trump says he wants to talk to iran. they won't, not while he imposes crippling economic sanctions. everyone says they don't want a war, but everyone is on edge. lyse doucet, bbc news. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. us president donald trump has announced that white house press secretary sarah sanders will be leaving her post at the end of this month. just hours earlier a government watchdog said another white house aide kellyanne conway should be fired. our correspondent in washington, chris buckler, has more details about mrs sander‘s departure. sarah sanders has been the face of the white house at times and the voice of the president. and sometimes that can be a difficult role, given that president trump can be more vocal and outspoken than many of his predecessors and there have been times when you've seen her at the podium during those white house press briefings, they were once more common than they are now, standing there and struggling

with what she needed to say, like that time there was the family separation policy for immigrants coming to the border and parents being separated from their children. she did struggle with that at times. and during the mueller report, it was said that she admitted to lying at one stage whenever she suggested that fbi agents had supported the white house and had been phoning the white house to support the president in his action in removing the fbi directorjames comey. but she says she is leaving to pursue other roles outside of the white house and to spend some time with her own children and actually the president has been very supportive of her, describing her as a warrior. while she is going, someone else is staying despite being a pretty controversial figure as well. kellyanne conway, who's been another spokesperson for the white house and advisor to the president has been found to breach the hatch act by a government watchdog known as the office of the special counsel, however the president and the white house is dismissing that, despite the fact that she has been partisan on occasions, according to that white house.

also making news today. australian man brenton tarrant has pleaded not guilty to all charges related to a mass shooting at two mosques in christchurch, new zealand. 51 people were killed and dozens more wounded in the march attack. tarrant is facing 51 counts of murder, a0 of attempted murder and engaging in a terrorist act. a trial will be held in may next year. cyclone vayu has changed course, sparing india's western state of gujarat. authorities said the region would remain on high alert as strong winds and heavy rain lashed coastal areas. hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from the area as a precaution. tourism officials in nepal say post—mortems, carried out on climbers killed this year on mount everest, suggest their deaths were not the result of over—crowding on the mountain.

instead, they died of altitude sickness, physical weakness or exposure to severe weather. as many as eleven climbers are thought to have died on everest this year. the former british foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has taken a commanding early lead in the contest to become the uk's next prime minister. in the first round of voting by conservative mps to choose the party's new leader, mrjohnson received more than a—hundred votes. further votes next week will whittle the field down to two candidates. )an ancient tower in the afghan city of ghazni has collapsed, raising questions over the government's ability to protect the country's artefacts. footage from social media shows a fort in the old city crumbling. the tower was one of dozens already destroyed in the city. officials blamed heavy rain, but some critics accuse the government of negligence. ghazni's islamic and pre—islamic architecture is widely admired although war has taken its toll. let's turn now to hong kong, where after days of protests — a pause, in the fight over the proposed

extradition bill. as of thursday evening, 81 people have been injured and 11 others arrested. but what next for the extradition bill? the president of hong kong's legislative council, andrew leung kwan—yuen, had said that he wanted the extradition bill to be passed by 20th june. but with the debates postponed, that is looking very unlikely. legislators are also due to begin their summer recess around mid—july. if the bill isn't passed by then, it will have to be brought up again after the recess, giving protesters the entire summer to organise further opposition against it. so for now — a waiting game. let's turn now to our correspondent sharanjit leyl who's in hong kong. there seems to be a lull in the protests a nd there seems to be a lull in the protests and life in hong kong is back to normal? you wouldn't believe it by looking at the streets. we had 24 it by looking at the streets. we had 2a hours ago and what a difference a

day makes. we were here yesterday, the streets were shut. it was strewn with debris and rubbish left over from the thousands of protesters who'd been here. people blockading the streets. those buildings over there behind me, they were essentially trying to have lawmakers debating that controversial bill. a day later, the traffic is moving, the streets are clean, all that rubbish has been removed. these are barricades, quite literally forced from the pavement from the sheer numbers of protesters and people who we re numbers of protesters and people who were here who could not quite contain them. as you say, there has been a lull in protests but the police force is still very much out there. we've seen evidence around. they remain shut. the hong kong chief executive carrie lam still

wa nts chief executive carrie lam still wants the bill to be passed as soon as possible. our moore street protests being planned? that is right. on sunday, we are told organisers are planning more protests year. sunday will be a week on. a million people filled the streets according to organisers. the difference this sunday is, a lot of those people taking part i still angry at the extradition bill, and they say it is a sign of china's growing interference in hong kong. they will have seen the footage. still a sense of shock from that. it's the worst violence. police firing, rubber bullets, tear gas. people have been arrested by the authorities. they are saying that they were involved in organised riots. that's something that can entail a 10— year sentence. emotions

continue to run high. we've been talking to some students. they were volunteer medics. they say they feel a sense of rage, frustration and disappointment for allowing this to happen. china's ambassador to the uk has been speaking to the bbc. they said was an extradition bill that hong kong had wanted. a sense of disappointment, rage and anger amongst many segments of society in hong kong so the mood still very tense. thank you forjoining us from hong kong. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the wife of china's most famous dissident spent years under house arrest: now an exhibition of her photos show how she suffered also on the programme: some of the oldest trees in the world are dying — researchers are trying

to understand why. the day the british liberated the falklands. and by tonight, british troops had begun the task of disarming the enemy. in the heart of the west german capital, this was gorby—mania at its height. the crowd packed to see the man who for them, has raised great hopes for an end to the division of europe. michaeljackson was not guilty on all charges.

the screams of the crowd, a testament to his popularity and their faith in his innocence. as long as they'll pay to go see me, i'll get out there and kick 'em down the hill. what does it feel like to be the first man to go across the channel by your own power? it feels pretty neat. feels marvellous, really. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm samantha simmonds in london. our top stories: iran denies it but the united states blames tehran for the attacks on two oil tankers. one of donald trump's closest allies is leaving the white house, and another is staying put despite advice that she should be fired. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the hong kong—based south china morning post is focusing on this week's demonstrations against the extradition bill. its front page features comments from the city's commissioner of police, who outlines the extent of the violence and the lengths his officers went to in order to control it. the london—based financial times

is looking at the impact of the tanker attacks on the markets. as this graph shows, the incidents pushed the price of brent oil up by as much as 4.5%. and the japan times is looking at the meeting in tehran between japanese prime minister shinzo abe and iranian president hassan rouhani. abe is the first leader of his country to visit iran in 41 years. now, what stories are sparking discussions online? rico, you will like this one. president donald trump has caused a splash on twitter after he tweeted to say he had met the "prince of whales" — misspelling the country's name as the mammal.

mrtrump was intending to refer to prince charles, and subsequently deleted the tweet, before correcting his mistake. let's return to our main story — the explosions on two oil tankers in the gulf of oman. geneive abdo is a resident scholar at the arabia foundation where she specialises in iranian geopolitics. so is us secretary of state mike pompeo right when he points his finger squarely at iran? well, think that it has to be expected because, let's not forget, they have been several attacks now that are not necessarily aimed at the united states directly, but are basically believed to be initiated by iran or its proxies. as much as the united states, the trump administration, does not want to go to warand trump administration, does not want to go to war and trump has said this very specifically, at the same time they cannot just allow these attacks to continue. iran has been very insistent that it was not behind

this attack. who might have reason to provoke or instigate this kind of thing to try to cause conflict between the two countries? well, i'd do think that there isn't absolute evidence at this point, but we can assume the most likely suspects, which is probably hardline elements inside iran or those operating outside that want to make sure that there are not negotiations that are renewed between the united states and iran. and it is nota coincidence that mr abe was in tehran when this incident happened. he came there, of course, somewhat on the behest of president trump to try to upstart these negotiations again. something the hardline elements inside iran and outside do not want to happen. they do not want the negotiations to continue. they do not want the situation to

escalate. if it is proved that iran, albeit the hardliners or government organisation was behind this attack, what do you think happens next?|j think what do you think happens next?” think that the united states will try to apply more pressure, if that is possible, without any sort of military confrontation. and it is important to note that the secretaries statements did not focus ona secretaries statements did not focus on a military confrontation. that's not something the united states wa nts. not something the united states wants. it's highly unlikely that the united states would ever create direct conflict with iran, country to country. there is a military plan in place. for example, if us civilians are injured or us interests are targeted and destroyed, then we are at a different ball game. that is the game changer. so think that the united states will continue its pressure. it's clear that there are

elements that are trying to sabotage any initiative for negotiations again that might include broader issues that are outside the nuclear deal. and this is something that the conservatives inside iran do not wa nt to conservatives inside iran do not want to happen. so i think we will see an escalation of the conflict continue, but unless us interests are specifically targeted, they don't anticipate that the united states will have any sort of military intervention. ten years ago, researchers in california launched a long—term project to track the life histories of some of the world's oldest trees. they wanted to find out why some of the giant species in yosemite national park are dying out. the first decade of this ambitious plan has already seen dramatic changes in the forest, with wildfires and drought taking their toll. peter bowes reports from yosemite. this is yosemite national park,

a vast expanse of forest land and some really breathtaking views. when i came here ten years ago i met with a group of scientists just embarking on a long—term project to track the life histories of these trees, some of the oldest and tallest in the world. we have understood from previous research that the number of large diameter trees is less than it used to be. what we would like to do is investigate why that is. i've come back to see how things have changed. it's right down there, isn't it? just a kilometre away are the 35,000 trees. shall we go have a look? let's do it. let's go. the tree right over there is the same tree that we filmed. so, here we can see the tag. the same tag, it was fresh ten years ago and we can see the discolouration by the heat of the fire. the park embraces science and the role of fire to manage the forest year round.

five years into the project, in 2013, we experienced a fire. a backfire that the national park service lit to check the advance of the rim—fire, at the time the largest fire in the sierra nevada of california. today my role is to remeasure all of the trees that are alive, to compare it to the measurements we took after the fire. 0.24 metres. the year after the fire, my first year here, a lot of the trees died, especially the small ones as a direct result of the fire. now, we are starting to see some more delayed fire effects. the fire did not immediately kill any of the larger trees. following the fire we had two very, very strong drought years — very, very dry. we had a beetle outbreak of several species of beetles, which successfully killed a lot of the trees, and it's really this combination of factors that provide a situation that the trees can't resist well.

even in the ten years we have already been studying, we still don't know enough to track the reasons why those rates of tree deaths might be changing. we are just starting to be able to understand drought effects. we're just starting to understand how the beetles kill trees in patches. we've had very promising early results but it's still an ongoing process. if you were to come in and look at things for a couple of years, you really wouldn't be able to get the whole picture. our goal is nothing less than to understand how this forest works. this long—term science project is still in its infancy. the researchers plan to return as long as they are able, gradually handing over the study to the forest ecologists of the future. peter bowes, bbc news, in yosemite national park.

stunning trees though. liu xiaobo is one of china's most famous dissidents. he won the nobel peace prize but died in 2017 while in prison. his wife liu xia was kept under house arrest for nearly 10 years and was only allowed to leave china last year. she rarely speaks to the public, but instead takes photos to express her views. a selection of those photos are being exhibited in taipei — we went to take a look. translation: when a person is persecuted, subjected to violence by one's government, you must get beyond this. only then will you have freedom and dignity. i think she has been able to do this. without these dolls she would not have had the strength. these dolls opened another wild for her.

translation: these dolls are shown screaming, in pain, distorted, lonely, and helpless. they also show a strong strength to break free from an environment.

a really powerful and moving photo exhibition. you have been watching newsday. i'm samantha simmonds in london. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. stay with us. as the us and iran trade barbs over the gulf tanker attacks, we look at what it all means for oil prices.

and before we go, a recap of the top story: the united states has accused iran of carrying out attacks on two tankers in the gulf of oman on a vitally important shipping route for oil exports. but iranian mission to the un said "iran categorically rejects the us unfounded claim with regard to 13 june oil tanker incidents and condemns it in the strongest possible terms." the british foreign secretaryjeremy hunt said, "we are taking this extremely seriously and my message to iran is that if they have been involved it is a deeply unwise escalation which poses a real danger 00:25:25,457 --> 2147483051:49:27,443 to the prospects of peace 2147483051:49:27,443 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 and stability in the region."