you are watching newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: as afg hanistan‘s presidential election gets underway, the trump administration says it will start withdrawing american troops by the end of next year. more than 50 prisoners are killed in fighting between rival gangs in a brazilianjail. i'm samantha simmonds in london. also in the programme. a day after sending his ministers out to talk up a ‘no deal‘ brexit, britain's prime minister says he'll go an extra thousand miles to get a deal. these indigenous people are fighting for their land in the deadliest place on earth to be an environmental defender — it's the philippines.

live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 8 am in singapore, 1 am in london and eight o'clock in the evening in washington where the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, says the government plans to start withdrawing troops from afghanistan before next year's presidential election. our north america correspondent, peter bowes, has more details on donald trump's reaction to this long war. i think this shows that president trump is becoming increasingly frustrated over afghanistan. relatively little progress over the last few years. he once referred to his gut instincts which would have been to probably pull troops out of afghanistan some time ago.

and now with mr pompeo being asked a specific question about whether it was the intention of the united states to withdraw troops by the next presidential election, which is november of next year. he said that that was the specific directive from the president. inserting into that phrase the presidential election suggests a political motive here to some extent that this is something that donald trump has long since promised. he often talked about wanting to end all the endless war and this is the ultimate endless war, referring to the billions of dollars that stationing troops in afghanistan costs the us. and it seems the president is increasingly keen to see some progress by the time he goes to the american public and asks for a second term in office. and that timeline, pulling them out by the time the election kicks off

next year is interesting. we know the pulling troops out comes with a series of risk. and it is a sensitive delicate time with more talks planned between envoys and the taliban later this week. it looks as if negotiations are reaching a point where they could potentially have a deal. some people suggest that essentially showing its hand and the us saying it intends to withdraw troops indicates a weakness in terms of negotiations. it may make the taliban more inclined to reach a deal with that expectation. but what about all the detail necessary for that deal to make a meaningful difference? and not the least, of course, the taliban's relationship with the afghan government. it has no relationship at the moment. there is a lot of important details to be gotten right in this negotiation.

yes, the suggestion that perhaps with america showing its hand it could be putting itself on the back step, if you like. it could be giving the taliban and an advantage in those talks. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. we start in brazil, where at least 52 prisoners have been killed in fighting between rival gang factions inajailat altamira in the north of the country. reports say 16 of the victims were decapitated during the violence, and many were asphyxiated by smoke when the building was set alight. the deadly riot, which took place in the prison of para state, is the latest unrest in latin america's notoriously overcrowded jails. our reporter, julia carneiro, has more. this riot lasted for five hours and it began in the early hours of the morning when breakfast

was happening in the prison. prisoners managed to invade an area where inmates from a rival criminal faction were detained. they held two prison wardens hostage and the riots started. they decapitated 16 prisoners and set fire to whatever they could find. the smoke from the fire asphyxiated the other prisoners who were locked inside. it is a shocking case. we are hearing a response now from the government. there was a meeting held just now between the minister ofjustice and other local authorities and they decided to transfer ten inmates who were carrying out these attacks to maximum—security prisons in other states of brazil where they are kept isolated. it is important to understand that in brazilian prisons you have criminal factions who still manage to exert control and give out orders. when they are transferred to maximum—security units, that is an attempt to shut them down and make them quiet,

as would be expected of them in prison. also making news today: china's top internet regulator says social media users who spread rumours could soon be placed on an official blacklist and banned from posting online for up to three years. while many on social media seem to welcome the regulation, others are voicing concern about how they will be monitored. the proposal — which is still in draft form — is open for public consultation for another three weeks. south korea is to release three north koreans who crossed into its waters at the weekend. north korean fishing boats often breach the inter—korean maritime frontier, but south korean authorities towed the ship because a white towel was tied to its mast — a sign that those on board might want to defect. but during questioning the north koreans on the vessel said they wanted to return home. internet users in cuba have been allowed to run private wi—fi networks on the island

for the first time ever — after the communist—run government decided to relax its tight restrictions. critics say the changes still don't go far enough and the price of getting online in cuba is still too expensive for most people. thousands of football fans in south korea are threatening to sue match organisers because they didn't see one of the world's greatest footballers, cristiano ronaldo, in action. they were left disappointed when he didn't come off the bench during last friday's friendly between the k—league all stars and juventus. china has refused to say whether it will intervene militarily in hong kong — which has seen weeks of violent protests and running battles with the police. the authorities in beijing have called for the demonstrators to be swiftly punished and reiterated their strong support for the territory's chief executive, carrie lam. here's celia hatton in beijing. the hong kong and macau affairs office gave its first press

conference and spoke directly to journalists for the first time since the hong kong handover in 1997. really to give beijing's viewpoint on the ongoing turmoil on the streets of hong kong. it tried to explain the violence on the streets and blamed it on a small number, it said, of radical protesters who had been influenced by overseas forces. however it also tried to keep a distance from day—to—day events in hong kong, reaffirming its trust in authorities, support for the chief executive carrie lam and also, crucially, its ongoing respect for the hong kong police. the hong kong police have come under a lot of criticism for the use of force against unarmed protesters but the authorities did not seem to give any indication that they were unhappy about that. also, really, the underlying message is that beijing is not ready nor

considering the idea of going in itself, sending the chinese military into hong kong at this moment. it was the one question during the press conference that the spokespeople did not seem to want to answer. they simply gave a terse reply, telling reporters to look at the relevant law. the relevant law is article 14 of the hong kong basic law and it says that, yes, the chinese military can go in to assist hong kong authorities in times of natural disaster or in case of social unrest. the one carrot that the beijing authorities did seem to dangle in front of the people of hong kong is the idea that hong kong needs more economic development. they did acknowledge that young people in hong kong are frustrated with the lack of affordable housing, frustrated with rising unemployment and they said that something needed to be done about that but they said those problems are complex and they will take a long time to sort out.

the british prime minister borisjohnson has pledged to, as he put it, "hold out the hand" and "go the extra thousand miles" to strike a new brexit deal. during a visit to scotland, he said the existing withdrawal agreement negotiated with european leaders was "dead" and had "got to go". after their meeting, scotland's first minister said she believed he was pursuing a ‘dangerous path‘ to no—deal. sarah smith reports. for borisjohnson, coming here to the scottish first minister's visiting a vanguard class nuclear submarine on the clyde, borisjohnson wants the eu to know he is ready to go to battle to try and get a brand—new brexit deal. he has ordered the turbocharging of no deal preparations but also seem to contradict cabinet colleagues who suggested that no deal is the likely outcome. michael gove says the government's working assumption has to be that there will be no deal. is that your assumption? absolutely not.

my assumption is that we can get a new deal and we are aiming for a new deal. michael is absolutely right that it is responsible for any government to prepare for no deal. we should go for a deal and there is every chance we can get a deal. with goodwill and with common sense, that is what we will achieve. so are the odds stilli million to one that we leave with no deal? provided there is sufficient goodwill and common sense on the part of our partners, that is exactly where i will put the odds. booing. it may not sound like a warm welcome but this visit to scotland, coming to the first minister's official residence just days after becoming prime minister was designed to demonstrate his commitment to the united kingdom. but borisjohnson meeting nicola sturgeon face—to—face will not help them see eye to eye over brexit. not even close. the first minister says no deal

brexit will be unconscionable and she was not convinced during the meeting that he can find an agreement. the government and the path it is pursuing is, i think, dangerous. it became clear to me that this government, the new prime minister has said the uk on an almost inevitable path to a no deal brexit with the position it has taken. it makes it difficult to see how any deal could be struck with the eu and i think that would be catastrophic for scotland and the whole of the uk. the scottish tory leader clashed with mrjohnson in the brexit debate during the eu referendum three years ago and they still do not agree on europe. she said she will not support no deal and told mrjohnson that when they met today. i said that i wanted to see the same level of energy and vigor that is going into no deal planning going into trying to get a deal. i want to see this sort of diplomacy required if we are to see changes brought back to the house of commons and i received the assurances

i was looking for. mrjohnson has some fans in scotland. yet he found himself slipping out the back door after his meeting with nicola sturgeon. he wanted this visit to renew the ties that bind the united kingdom. the snp are confident it will actually increase the appetite for scottish independence. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: russia's best—known opposition the philippines is the deadliest country for environmental defenders. 30 people would build last during conflicts over land. also ahead, the duchess of sussex takes the chair foran duchess of sussex takes the chair for an addition of british vogue. she does not put herself on the cover, but women who are breaking barriers around the world.

cheering the us space agency, nasa, has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol in south armagh. once an everyday part of the soldiers' lot, drudgery and danger, now no more after almost four decades. if one is on one's own, in a private house, not doing any harm to anyone, i don't really see why people should wander in and say, you're doing something wrong. six rare white lion cubs are on the prowl at worcestershire park and, already, they have been met with a roar of approval from visitors. they're lovely, yeah. really sweet. yeah, they were cute.

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm samantha simmonds in london. our top stories: a day after the start of afg hanistan‘s presidential election campaign, the trump administration has said it intends to begin withdrawing american troops from the country by the end of next year. more than 50 prisoners have been killed in fighting between rival gang factions in a jail in northern brazil. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the south china morning post has a front page splash on the press conference by the mainland—china—administered hong kong and macau affairs office. the most striking moment for the paper was when the office expressed solidarity with hong kong police,

who have been heavily criticised in recent weeks for their crackdown on protestors. the japan times leads with the deteriorating relationship between south korea and japan. busan and several other south korean cities have suspended exchange programmes with japanese municipalities. until the countries‘ relationship improves, officials from those cities will cease to visit japan. south korean airlines have also cancelled flights to regional japanese cities. and finally, front and centre of the straits times is the winner of the first ever fortnite world cup finals. 16—year—old gamer kyle giersdorf, who goes by the gaming name "bugha" won a staggering $3 million in the tournament. runner up, "psalm" won $1.8 million in what is being considered the biggest e—sports tournament to date.

that tournament to date. brings you up to date with sor of that brings you up to date with some of the newspapers. the police chief of the californian town of gilroy has said the speedy reaction of officers prevented greater bloodshed at a food festival on sunday. three people, including two children, were shot dead by a gunman. he was also killed. the bbc‘s dave lee is in gilroy, california. what‘s going on?! as the shots rang out there was confusion at first and then panic. and then eventually disbelief. they‘re shooting! for most of the weekend, this was the scene of a happy popular food festival with 80,000 people in attendance. by sunday evening it became the latest american mass shooting, the 246th in this country, this year alone. wejust heard pop, pop, pop and we just went behind some

tents and took cover. and we knew right away when we saw a lot of people just running away from there. we thought it was a firecracker and then when i looked to the side, we knew it wasn't. we both turned at the same exact time and saw him standing right there. he was within, what, ten feet of us? yeah, he shot one shot. he was just going back and forth. and then he put the clip in and he started moving back and forth, walking towards our tent because that's where most of the people were in that area, and he just started shooting. police said they took less than a minute to shoot dead the man once he opened fire, but even with that rapid response, the gunman was able to cause carnage. police said he used an ak—47 like rifle. there would have been more bloodshed, i believe. even the number of people in the small area they were in, i think it is very fortunate that they were able to engage him as quickly as they did. six—year—old stephen romero was the first victim identified. he had been visiting with his mother and grandmother who were both wounded. also among the dead,

a man in his 20s and a girl aged 13. police confirmed the killer as sa ntino legan, a man who evaded security by cutting through the perimeter fence. he also avoided californian gun laws, the strictest in the country, by travelling to nevada to purchase the weapon. dave lee, bbc news, in gilroy, california. the philippines is the deadliest place on earth to be an environmental defender. that‘s according to a new report from campaign group global witness, which says 30 activists were killed there in 2018. globally, more than 3 campaigners died every week last year while defending their land from industries like mining, logging and agribusiness. joining me now here in the studio is ben leather, a senior campaigner for the ngo global witness, which works to expose corruption and environmental abuse.

thank you very much for coming in. what does it mean when you say environmental defenders and act as, who are we talking about? they are ordinary people who are standing up for their land rights and for our environment, for the future of the planet. it may be a mother concerned because her child has gotten sick from a can terminated river. she decides to protest. it may be a family who refuses to be a big did to make way for a sugar plantation 01’ to make way for a sugar plantation oran to make way for a sugar plantation or an indigenous leader fighting against deforestation in the amazon. the point is that when they stand up for their rights, they are being threatened and even killed so that is nice and corrupt government can turn profit. wisely philippines the worst place in the world for these attacks? 30 killings last year means it suffered more environmentalists murdered than anywhere else in it is concerning but not new. the

philippines has traditionally been one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a landslide activist down to historic land right issues we re down to historic land right issues were indigenous communities are marginalised and militarised and business is allowed to carry out their practices without being held accountable. president, when he took office, promised to tackle corruption, to protect the environment and stand up to business and at the moment these killings are continuing, as usual, and the government needs to take a stand. if they do not think companies need to make sure that their practices are not associated with these murders. you mentioned indigenous people. it does seem to be disproportionately affected. massively so. a quarter of the killings were commended last year we re the killings were commended last year were of indigenous leaders to they are traditionally marginalised in many of the countries where they live but also it is part of a phenomenon in which with the growing

global population there is growing demand for goods that need timber, minerals and agricultural goods and that means companies are going into new areas to take land and to get these natural resources. often indigenous people are the last frontier. we are talking about the numbers killed here but there are many who suffer other faiths, not death. tell us about those. it is an important point and we are getting increasing amounts of information from activists on the ground who say they suffer from a range of threats, many of which often are not documented. things like death threats to them, to their children, sexual harassment, rape, we‘re talking about people being locked up, laws being used against people to clampdown on activism. and this is something that we see around the world, whether it is indigenous activist in what imola or anti— fracking protesters in the uk

getting an unduly long sentence for their protest. briefly, latin america consistently ranks as the worst affected continent. why is that? a number of reasons. it is a continent with high levels of corruption. and violence and high numbers of indigenous people suffering in —— marginalisation. and they have been on the front lines of situations of risk. but this is the tip of the iceberg and as we know there are many more people being killed globally and in other continents perhaps there is not as much documentation but there is an equal level of danger. thank you for telling us more about the report. she‘s a royal duchess, a mother — and now guest editor of the fashion magazine british vogue. meghan markle takes on that role for the september edition — considered the most important one of the year. the front cover features 15 women,

who the duchess calls changemakers. here‘s sophie raworth. these are the women chosen by the duchess of sussex to grace the cover of british vogue. from the new zealand prime minister to the teenage climate change campaigner greta thunberg. she described them as fearless in breaking barriers. my force for change is yara shadidi. for me, i think chimamanda is inspiring. the september issue of the magazine is widely considered the magazine is widely considered the years biggest and most important. meghan markle chose not to grace the cover herself saying it would be boastful. instead she selected the 15 women, each championing the cause, and asked what change they wanted to see in the world. one change that i have noticed over the course of my career is just how polarised the world is 110w. is just how polarised the world is now. i do think the situation is ultimately us returning to the

humanity we all share. the duchess said the last seven months working with the british vogue editor—in—chief had been rewarding and she said she hoped the collaboration would steer the fashion magazine‘s focus onto and causes represented by the women. thank you very much for watching newsday. i‘m samantha simmonds in london. and i‘m sharanjit leyl in singapore. stay with us. coming up — food for thought. we‘ll see why some social media influencers are making a fortune out of eating online. and before we go, we‘d like to leave you with these pictures. 11—year—old brazilian rayssa leal has won a leg of the street league skateboarding world tour. her win in los angeles sees her become the youngest skater to claim a victory in the competition. she‘s already targetting bigger things — a spot in the tokyo olympics at the tender age of 12! that‘s all for now —

stay with bbc world news. the heatwave of last week seems a distant memory now but i want to draw your attention to the provisional 38.7dc recorded at cambridge university botanic gardens. the met office confirmed this on monday as being genuine so this stands as the new top temperature ever recorded in the uk. the next few days will feel more like autumn than summer because of this area of low pressure, a deep feature for this time of year bringing strong wind and plenty of heavy showers. some showers are likely to be torrential in places with the risk of localised flooding. and the wind is very gusty especially across england and wales. this morning, those strong winds and heavy showers

will be affecting south wales and south england, moving northwards and eastwards as the day moves on. you can see the bright colours indicating torrential downpours in wales, england‘s south—west and the midlands and parts of northern england. those winds gusting to 50 mile—per—hour along the south coast, 30—110 in other areas. it may bring some branches down as the trees are in full leaf. temperature wise, not that great, cooler than monday, temperatures reaching 19 to maybe 20 or 23 degrees. best of the sunshine across the north and east but as we head into tuesday evening and overnight the showers will continue to move northwards and eastwards and some will be heading to places that are still windy. but a cold night but drawing up some warm airfrom the near continent. that area of low pressure pushes on towards the eastern side of the country, still windy but not as bad as we expected to see today. the focus of the showers will shift northwards

affecting parts of scotland into northern england, perhaps towards the east of england and maybe the east midlands as well whereas for northern ireland, wales and the south—western southern whereas for northern ireland, wales and the south—west southern england, better and a drier day here, perhaps a little warmer. cooler further north where the showers are. low pressure system then moves out into the north sea on thursday, still affecting the eastern side of the country and the wind will be lighter as well so where the showers turn up, and across parts of scotland and northern eastern england there will be snow moving into areas where you can see a bit of rain in a short period of time. the dry weather across the southern and western areas with light winds and temperatures a little higher, may in the mid—20 celsius. still high teens in the north. starts to dry up a little bit as high pressure builds in for friday and the start of the weekend. it will feel a little warmer as well.

our top story: a day after the start of the afghan presidential election campaign, the trump administration has said a us troop withdrawal could begin by the end of next year the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, says washington plans to start withdrawing troops from afghanistan before next year‘s presidential election. he described his directive from president trump as "unambiguous — end the endless wars". more than fifty prisoners being held at a jail in northern brazil have been killed in fighting between gangs of rival inmates. this is 11—year old brazilian skateboarder rayssa lay—all winning one of her sport‘s biggest prizes. her mix ofjumps and spins gave her first place in the women‘s final of the street skateboarding league world tour event in los

angeles.