welcome to newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. the headlines: president trump refuses to back down over his racist remarks about four democratic congresswomen. you can say what you want, but get a list of all of the statements they've made. and all i'm saying is that if they're not happy here, they can leave. despite the occupant of the white house's attempts to marginalise us and to silence us, please know that we are more than four people. the twins from pakistan born joined at the head. we have exclusive access as surgeons in london start to separate the sisters. i'm rico hizon in singapore. also on the programme: floodwaters force millions

from their homes across northern india after days of heavy monsoon rains. as we count down to the moon landing 50 years ago, we talk live to a former nasa astronaut. what's it really like to be up in space? live from our studios in london and singapore. this is bbc world news. it's newsday. hello. a warm welcome to the programme. it's midnight here in london, 7am in the morning in singapore and 7pm in washington, where the four democratic congresswomen told to go back to where from they came from by president trump have accused him of openly violating his oaths and american values. the four women said mr trump had

been openly racist towards them and that his attacks were the agenda of white nationalists. despite the occupant of the white house's attempts to marginalise us and to silence us, please know that we are more than four people. we ran on a mandate to represent those left out and left behind. our squad is big. our squad includes any person committed to build a more equitable and just world, and that is the world we want to give back to. and given the size of this squad and this great nation, we cannot, we will not be silenced. in the past hour or so, the president added more fuel to the fire, taking to twitter again, saying, "if you are not happy here, you can leave! it is your choice, and your choice alone.

this is about love for america." earlier in the day, president trump accused the congresswomen of hating the united states. if you're happy here, you can leave, and that's what i say all the time. as far as as faras i'm as far as i'm concerned, if you hate oui’ as far as i'm concerned, if you hate our country, you can leave. that's what i say all the time. that's what i said in a tweet, which i guess some people think is controversial, but a lot of people loved by the way. a lot of people love it. but if you're happy in the us, if you're complaining all the time, very simply, you can leave. you can leave right now. david willis is in washington. he is monitoring the twists and turns. the president saying lots of people love it but a lot don't, there's been a lot of reaction from both camps of the political spectrum in the states. there has indeed, kasia, and at that press conference,

ilhan omar, said... she was the only one of the four born outside the us, she was born in somalia, and she said, " the agenda of white nationalism has reached the white house, " and she called for the impeachment of donald trump. another of the women, alexandria cassio cortez, recalled a conversation with her father when she was a small girl, they went to washington, dc and they overlooked the reflecting pool and he said that this country belongs to everyone. only moments before donald trump doubled down on his comments, basically saying if you're happy here then you can leave. that comment addressed to those four women and he said certain people hate our country, they are anti—israel and pro—al qaeda. the house speaker, nancy pelosi, a democrat, so she will introduce a resolution condemning donald trump

for his remarks. interesting to see how that vote goes. it will be a test for some republicans who have been fairly muted in their condemnation today. we've heard from senator susan collins, a moderate republican, saying she believes donald trump should delete those tweets that he put out yesterday. we've heard from senator tim scott and congressman will heard. they're the only republican african—americans in the senate and house of representatives respectively, and they've both called president donald trump's remarks racist. it's not the first time donald trump's remarks have been called racist, is it? it's not, kasia. this is the man that led the so—called further movement, questioning the birthplace of his predecessor, barack questioning the birthplace of his predecessor, ba rack obama questioning the birthplace of his predecessor, barack obama —— birther movement. he has described people

from haiti, el salvador and african countries as coming from s hole countries, i will let you fill in the gap, and also questioning the impartiality of a spanish judge overseeing a lawsuit around the now—defunct trump university. this isa now—defunct trump university. this is a president who hasn't been afraid in the past two weapon eyes theissue afraid in the past two weapon eyes the issue of race to basically appeal to his base if you like. —— two weapon eyes. david, thanks for covering that for us. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. more than 100 people have died in heavy rains across south asia, with more than three million people forced out of their homes in parts of india. at least 14 indian soldiers died after a four—storey building collapsed on a hillside in himachal pradesh, trapping people who'd gathered for a party. in neighbouring nepal and low—lying bangladesh, more than 70 people have died in severe weather as officials struggle to reach communities cut off from floods and landslides.

the bbc nepali's surendra phuyal in kathmandu reports. the nepal lead police say at least 30 people are still missing and many more have been injured. several highways and roads have also been damaged, impacting vital supplies. nearly 1500 have been rescued and over 16,000 are displaced. meteorologists say this week's rainfall exceeded the monthly average for nepal due to what they call a monsoon trough, which remains active across the area. while several hill districts suffered landslides and flash floods, part of the area bordering india still remain submerged. surendra phuyal reporting from kathmandu. south africa's former president jacob zuma has told an inquiry that allegations of corruption against him were a "conspiracy" aimed at removing him from the political scene. the inquiry is investigating

allegations that mr zuma oversaw a web of corruption during his term in office. the former south african president has denied breaking the law. anti—terrorism police in northern italy have seized an air—to—air missile and other sophisticated weapons during raids on far—right extremist groups. neo—nazi propaganda was also seized in the raids. three people have been arrested. the raids were part of an investigation into italian far—right help for russian—backed separatist forces in eastern ukraine. and finally, this video of a huge waterspout was captured by a local resident off the coast of the french island of corsica. waterspouts are relatively common near corsica and the island was placed on orange alert for storms and rainfall on monday.

the significance of iran's breaches of the international nuclear accord have been played down by the european union's top diplomat. speaking in brussels, federica mogherini says the eu doesn't want to take steps that might lead to the agreement‘s collapse. last year, the us abandoned the nuclear accord and imposed sweeping sanctions on iran, prompting iran to begin reneging on the agreement. iran's foreign minister mohammad javad zarif has been speaking to bbc hardtalk‘s zeinab badawi about the tensions in the region. he warns there's a risk his country could stumble into war. of course there is a possibility of accident, but we cannot leave our own neighbourhood. those who have come from outside have to decide why are they in that neighbourhood, and whether their presence in that neighbourhood is helping stability and security in that neighbourhood. how high do you think the possibility is of accidental war? as

donald trump has said, we were ten minutes away from war because had they taken measures against iran, donald trump had been told that iran would be taking measures in self defence. what kind of measures would you have ta ken? defence. what kind of measures would you have taken? i'm not a military man, so i'll leave that to the military. the philippines has declared its first ever national dengue alert following a 85% increase in new cases this year. health authorities have reported more than 400 dengue—related deaths. the rise comes two years after a government—run vaccination programme was suspended over safety concerns. the bbc‘s howard johnson joins us from manila. howard, how serious is the dengue infection in the country? well, rico, serious enough to declare a nationwide alert. that's not a national effort ma, so not every pa rt national effort ma, so not every part of the country is suffering

from dengue at the moment, but at the moment five or six regions are suffering from dengue —— national emergency. you suffering from dengue —— national emergency. you can see suffering from dengue —— national emergency. you can see out of the window, it is rain rainy season and between june and october window, it is rain rainy season and betweenjune and october lots of rains come through the region and thatis rains come through the region and that is perfect for the mosquitoes that is perfect for the mosquitoes that caused the disease. it causes terrible fever and headaches and pains in thejoints and terrible fever and headaches and pains in the joints and what the government is doing is raising awareness to make sure people cover themselves and use spray in these parts to ward off mosquitoes. let's not forget, this is a country that invested heavily in a dengue vaccine but in 2017 the creator came forward and said this is dangerous for people who haven't had dengue before so people who haven't had dengue before so they cancelled this nationwide programme to vaccinate children. now

we're seeing a big debate in this country about the previous administration of aquila was liable for the deaths of children. that hasn't been scientifically proven that this vaccine caused that issue, and this vaccine has also been approved by the european union for use there, but in this country it's a big debate and a hot topic, was this vaccine safe or not? it rumbles on here, but in the meantime people are taking precautions to make sure this dengue national situation, this alert that's been raised, that people have awareness to cover and protect when they go outside. thank you for that dengue health update from manila, the bbc health correspondent howard johnson. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we follow doctors in london as they separate twins safa and marwa from northern pakistan who were born joined at the head.

also on the programme: the wartime codebreaker once prosecuted for being gay is to become the face of the bank of england's new £50 note. after months of talks and missed deadlines, a deal has been struck to keep greece within the eurozone. the immediate prospect of greece going bust, in the worst crisis to hit the eurozone, has been averted. emergency services across central europe are stepping up their efforts to contain the worse floods this century. nearly 100 people have been killed. broadway is traditionally called the great white way by americans, but tonight it's completely blacked out. it's a timely reminder to all americans of the problems that the energy crisis has brought to them. leaders meet in paris for a summit on pollution, inflation and third world debt. this morning, theyjoined the revolution celebrations for a show of military might on the champs—elysees. finally, wildlife officials in australia have been coping with a penguin problem. fairy penguins have been staggering

ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on a huge shoal of their favourite food — pilchards. some had eaten so much they could barely stand. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: president trump isn't backing down over his racist remarks about four democratic congresswomen, accusing them of being un—american. floodwaters force millions of people from their homes across northern india after days of heavy monsoon rains. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the straits times reports on the latest growth figures from china. the counry‘s economic growth slumped

to a 27—year low in the second quarter of this year, amid its trade war with the us. the south china morning post leads with chief executive carrie lam's show of solidarity for the territory's police force. the hong kong based paper shows ms lam visiting a hospital where several officers who were injured in the latest protests are being treated. the paper reports many police are at breaking point as they try to contain the violence. and finally, the daily telegraph is one of many papers in britain and around the world reporting on england's cricket world cup victory over new zealand on sunday. they have been celebrating their win in london, while cricket fans have been recovering from the nail—biting match that has being described as the best ever played. two years ago, twin sisters safa and marwa were born in pakistan, joined at the head. it is an incredibly rare condition, but now, surgeons at great ormond street hospital

here in london have successfully separated the girls. the surgery was so complex it was performed over several stages, totalling more than 50 hours and involving a huge team. in the first of three reports this week on conjoined twins, our medical correspondent fergus walsh has had exclusive access to the family and the surgery. this report, which includes pictures of the operation on the girls, contains some flashing images. so we have one case for the list today, safa and marwa, two kids. they are in this journey together. in order for one of them to do well, they have both got to do well. joined at the head, safa and marwa have never seen each other. this is the start of an incredible journey aimed at giving them independence. it is october 2018 at great ormond street hospital.

their mum has been praying for this day for nearly two years. safa and marwa are what is known as craniopagus twins. their scale is one long tube. it is incredibly rare. they have separate brains, but they are misshapen. the surgery is so complex, it will happen in three stages over several months. the twins won't be physically separate until the final operation. so we can see the artery, but to do anything to it, we'll use the microscope. each twin is supplying the other‘s brain with blood. cutting these connections is dangerous, and will take two operations to complete. the artery has been clamped. the twins have been in theatre now

for more than seven hours, and there is still seven hours of the operation to go. so far, everything is going to plan, and both girls are doing well. this central segment will be our rigid keel, to hold the head together. a frame is made from pieces of the twins' skull, which can be detached in later operations. being older, they're pretty active, and so whatever we do really has to be strong enough to resist the twisting and bending forces that they're putting on their heads. the twins are from pakistan. ideally the surgery should have been done a year earlier, when healing ability is strongest, but there were delays finding a donor to pay the medical costs. despite the risks, the family and doctors believe it is right to go ahead. it's clearly very difficult to go through life when you're joined together like that.

so it does make a persuasive case in favour of attempting to do the separation, and the family are very clear on that. if we felt there wasn't a high chance we could do it safely, we would be thinking carefully about whether we should do it or not. i think the whole team feel there's an excellent chance of a successful separation here. models of the twins' brains and shared skull have been created using a 3d printer. for surgeons, it's massively helpful. so actually being able to touch and hold things makes so much difference to understanding how things are. this hemisphere, the right hemisphere of the brain, is standing up. and so this is actually projecting into the other child's skull. what we need to achieve is on twist the brains, and that's pretty difficult to do just on your head. and this is surgery without scalpels.

absolutely incredible — this is exactly what we wanted. using virtual reality. it works, it really works. now we can see a whole lot more information and level of detail we haven't been able to access previously. this is the way of the future. a month after the first operation, the twins are back in theatre. surgeons have to finish separating their shared blood vessels. there is something deep down there i can't see at the moment. but marwa's heart begins to fail. they fear losing her. we aren't stable, but we are less unstable. good enough for me. the crisis passes. because marwa is the weaker twin, the surgeons give her a major blood vessel, to increase her chances of survival. but it disadvantages safa. shortly after the 20—hour

operation, she has a stroke. we were very close to losing her. she stayed in that critical state for a8, 72 hours after surgery. it was a very difficult time for the girls, their families, and the entire team looking after them. but, after a lengthy time in intensive care, both twins pulled through. the last two months after their last operation on the brain has been a little bit of a stormy time for safa and marwa. but they're hanging in there, and are both reasonably well. the next challenge will be to separate the girls. fergus walsh, bbc news. and you can see the second part of fergus's report, as the twins are finally separated, at this time tomorrow. 50 years ago, american astronauts neil armstrong, michael collins and edwin aldrin were spending their last night on earth before blasting off to the moon. it is hard to imagine, half a century on, what the three men were feeling in those final hours.

i spoke with former nasa astronaut nicole stott, who went on two space flights and spent 104 days living in space, about what it feels like to float above the earth. it's one of those things, i think, you know, very difficult to describe, of course. you know, floating and flying that way, seeing the earth from space, very liberating, i would say. this freeing kind of feeling, and really great that you are up there doing good work for all of us down here on earth as well. and how long did it ta ke earth as well. and how long did it take for you to train to be up in space? well, for my first flight, which is what we call the long duration mission on the space station, that was about three year training flow, where over 50% of my time was spent out of the us, training in russia, and europe, and japan, and canada, at all of our partner facilities. well, amazing,

but it took such a long time to train to get up to space. but tell us, it has been 50 years now since that apollo 11 mission. how did it influence your decision to pursue a career in space? you know, i think it was in the back of my mind all the time. i have a very vivid memory asa the time. i have a very vivid memory as a child, about 6.5 years old, watching the black—and—white tv with my family, eating a grilled cheese sandwich, and at that same time and throughout my life i was discovering this love of flying, and while i think, for the longest time, until i was quite old, i always thought astronaut was one of those jobs that only other special people get to do, so only other special people get to do, so it took me a little while to decide to even apply to the process, andi decide to even apply to the process, and i had people that i considered to be mentors who were very active during the apollo missions, that encouraged me to apply, and i'm very

thankful to them. all right, but of course, it's also been 50 years since amanda landed and stepped on the moon. should we go back to the moon, or should we discover other places, other planets?” moon, or should we discover other places, other planets? ithink moon, or should we discover other places, other planets? i think yes to both of those, but i think we should go back to the moon, because, for one reason, i think it's the place that allows us to discover those other planets. notjust our own, like we did when we went to the moon before. you know, one of the legacies, i think, moon before. you know, one of the legacies, ithink, of moon before. you know, one of the legacies, i think, of the apollo missions is that we went there with this idea that we were going to learn all about the moon, and we rediscovered ourselves as a people travelling on one planet in space together. nicole stott speaking to rico. the wartime enigma codebreaker alan turing is to be pictured on the new bank of england £50 note.

the mathematician and pioneer of computer science took his own life after his prosecution for a gay affair. benedict cumberbatch became a big admirer of turing after playing him in the film the imitation game. this is what he told us earlier. lest we forget we live in a time where gay men and women are being persecuted, it's not something that's gone away. so yes, for him now, i suppose this is a great moment of validation, and i hope that by this we should move towards something which is as enlightened totally at this moment is, and recognising that and moving toward something more tolerant and kind. you have been watching newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. stay with us. it looks like meat, it bleeds like meat, but how does it taste? we put plant—based alternatives to the test, to find out if they really are the future of food. and rico, let's end this edition of newsday with more celebrations from england's world cup cricket champions. they were hosted by britain's prime minister,

theresa may, at a reception at ten downing street after their most extraordinary win against new zealand on sunday. earlier in the day they met fans, young and old, at the oval ground in south london. hello there. it's going to be a bright start to the day for many of us. bright start to the day for many of us. the day have sunny spells developing, but also some scattered showers. now, at the moment, we've got a weather front, this line of cloud, working into western areas. it is bumping into higher pressure all the time, so it's a weak front that we will have, but it that that is providing the rather cloudy skies. the cloud, though, quite thin, quite high up, so it be a bright start to the day. watch out, though, for some showers were northern ireland and scotland, and also if you getting into north—west england and wales. might be worth taking an umbrella with you for these areas over the next few hours if you are heading outside. beyond that, some dry weather for extending with and also eastern areas of

scotland. showers, though, will continue on and off through morning for northern ireland and scotland stop and later on through the days of your showers probably popping up across north england, wales, and perhaps the north of england as well. the highest temperatures towards south—east england, where it will feel humid and rather sticky. but otherwise temperatures running into the low to mid 20s. we will see further changes in the weather picture as we head to the middle pa rt picture as we head to the middle part of the week. low pressure moves close to the uk, pushing weather fronts into the north—west. so rain arriving quite quickly and northern ireland, turning wet through wednesday morning in western scotland. eastern scotland, england and wales having a dry and sunny start to the day. but it will tend to turn cloudier, with rain dribbling into western areas later on. now, where it stays cloudy and wet, temperatures just the on. now, where it stays cloudy and wet, temperaturesjust the high teens, but we will still have some warm sunshine affecting eastern scotland, central and eastern parts of england. temperatures for some still into the mid 20s. as we head into 30, though, the cold front works its way across the country ——

thursday. and that will tend to ease the humidity, so it will feel fresher. outbreaks of rain will tend to clear england and wales, followed by some sunny weather through thursday. at the same time, for scotland, northern ireland and probably northern england as well, we're looking at a day of sunny spells and heavy, potentially thundery showers. it will be quite a windy day as well, those showers, quite gusty winds. and temperatures 18 to 2a. quite gusty winds. and temperatures 18 to 24. looking at the weather picture towards the end of the week, another area of low pressure on the charts, but there is a lot of uncertainty where this one is going. some models take it into north, some steer it further either way, it looks like towards friday and saturday for some of us there will be some fairly wet weather to come. the rain followed by showers. that your latest weather. goodbye for now.

i'm kasia madera

with bbc world news. our top story: president trump is refusing to back down over racist comments he made about four democrats. mr trump accused the four congress—women of being anti—american and said if they weren't happy, they should leave the country. more than 100 people have died after days of heavy rains across south asia, with more than three million people forced out of their homes in parts of india. the state of bihar is worst affected with almost two million people displaced. and many of you are looking at this story on bbc.com. surgeons in london have successfully separated twin girls from pakistan who were born joined at the head. the surgery was so complex it was staged over three major operations lasting nearly 50 hours. the twins are now recovering. that's all. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news,

zeinab badawi speaks to the mayor of istanbul,