welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines — piling on the pressure — president biden urges andrew cuomo to resign as governor of new york after an investigation found he'd sexually harassed women while in office. afghanistan's defence minister survives a suicide bomb and gun attack on his home in kabul as the taliban's insurgency continues. the olympic sprinter refusing to go home to belarus tells the bbc that she asked poland for protection because of serious concerns for her safety. translation: i can't go back to belarus now, of course. - it's definitely not safe for me. i have no idea when i can go back.

it may be five or ten years. i'm sarah mulkerrins in tokyo, where day 12 is getting under way with the women's swimming marathon here below me on odaiba beach. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's 7am in the morning in singapore and 7pm in washington, where president biden has said that andrew cuomo should stand down as governor of new york after an investigation found that he had sexually harassed women while in office. mr cuomo has denied allegations that he harassed 11 women, many of them young, by engaging in what the investigation described as unwanted groping, kisses, hugging and inappropriate comments. mr biden said he had not read the details

of the investigation, but he said he stood by his comments from earlier this year that if the investigation found against mr cuomo, then the governor should go. back in march, you said if the investigation confirmed the allegations against governor cuomo, then he should resign. so, will you now call on him to resign given the investigator said the 11 women were credible? i stand by that statement. are you now calling on him to resign? yes. and if he doesn't resign, do you believe he should be impeached and removed from office? let's take one thing at a time here. i think he should resign. i understand that the state legislature may decide to impeach. i don't know that for a fact. i've not read all that data. this is what mr cuomo had to say in response to the report. i want you to know directly. from me that i never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances. |

i am 63 years old. i have lived my entire adult life in public view. - that isjust not who| i am, and that's not who i have ever been. our correspondent barbara plett usher examines whether governor cuomo can survive. his senior democratic allies have all called on him to resign, including the house speaker, including the senate majority leader and now you have president biden adding his voice to that. he had stayed out as much as he could of this controversy, these allegations of sexual harassment had been swirling for many months until the investigation started five months ago. at that time, mr biden said there should be an independent investigation, if it finds against him, he should go. as you heard today, he said, yes, the investigation concluded that,

so he should go. that is a very strong vote against mr cuomo. also the leader of the state assembly has said that he should not really stay in office under the circumstances. this is the man who would call for an impeachment if one were to be had, and he said he will conduct an impeachment inquiry. so, what we heard there from mr cuomo in his comments defending himself suggested that he was not planning to go, that he was going to fight on. but it may be that he will have to do so in an impeachment inquiry if he does not step down. it's worth reminding audiences, of course, barbara, that this is about democrats calling on another democrat to resign, not political point—scoring by another party. mr cuomo is denying the allegations. what are the next steps from here? well, there are three avenues.

there's the criminal avenue, the civil action avenue and impeachment. i've already mentioned the political avenue that he could possibly face an impeachment investigation. criminally, the attorney general did not call on the state prosecutor to launch a criminal investigation, but there's a lot of information in this report. its 165 pages, 179 witnesses interviewed and it took place over five months, and the investigators concluded there was a pattern of behaviour against these nearly one dozen women that showed a toxic workplace that was against state and federal laws. so, there is ammunition there. he could also... so, that kind of information could be used authorities to bring their own cases, and the women could also launch civil cases as well. one of them has said she is going to sue for emotional damage. we don't have any concrete steps to talk about right now, but those are the three avenues where mr cuomo could face a lot of pressure. much more about this on our website, including details about the report and analysis of governor cuomo's prospects for

re—election next year. just log to bbc.com/news or download the bbc app. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. wildfires fuelled by high temperatures and strong winds are sweeping parts of greece, turkey and lebanon, forcing thousands of people to leave their homes. nearly 60 forest fires have broken out in western greece in the last 2a hours, with officials blaming a record heatwave linked to climate change. authorities in the chinese city of wuhan will begin testing its entire population of 11 million people after seven locally transmitted coronavirus cases were detected there. they're the first local infections in more than a year. china is currently seeing one of its biggest outbreaks in months, with 300 cases detected in ten days. there have been reports of a tanker being hijacked by armed men off the coast of the united arab emirates and ordered to sail to iran. the uk's maritime trade agency

said the incident is taking place not far from the city of fujairah. iran has denied any involvement. krystina simanovskaya, the sprinterfrom belarus, has told the bbc that her country is not safe and she might not be able to go home for many years. she has left the polish embassy injapan and is thought to be on her way to the airport to get a flight to warsaw after officials from belarus tried to send her home early from the olympics. 0ur correspondent sarah rainsford in in minsk. she's a young athlete thrust into a political row she never sought. when sprinter krystina timanovskaya publicly criticised her coaches at the olympics, they tried to force her back to belarus. she refused. speaking to the bbc from tokyo, she said she was now scared for herself and for her family. translation: i can't go back to belarus now, of course. -

it's definitely not safe for me. i have no idea when i can go back. it may be five or ten years. and today came another reminder of the danger for dissidents. in kyiv, a young belarusian activist was found hanging in a park, but his friends don't believe it was suicide. vitaly shishov fled to ukraine last year to avoid arrest. he'd been helping a flood of other opposition supporters who followed. the opposition leader, sviatlana tsikhanovskaya, is in forced exile herself. she's been in london, part of a tour seeking international support. she wants tougher measures, more sanctions against alexander lukashenko, the man she tried to topple as president. this is our pain, belarusian pain. we think that much more can be done, much more pressure, much more assistance, braver decisions, stronger actions.

since the disputed elections, the mood in minsk has changed dramatically. alexander lukashenko now firmly back in control. a year ago, this entire square and all the streets around it were crammed full of protesters. it was opposition to president alexander lukashenko on a scale like he'd never seen before. but now there's no public sign at all of that challenge because so many people have been arrested since then that the others have been scared into silence. maria kolesnikov was one of the faces of the protests. touring the country, rallying mass crowds. tomorrow, she goes on trial accused of trying to overthrow the authorities. i met maria's father outside her old flat. alexander hasn't been allowed to see her since her arrest last september, but maria writes from her cell every

day to reassure him. translation: i know my daughter is not guilty, and she's _ so brave that i can't be anything but positive. i she told me, "whatever sentence i get, i'm ready for that." - she writes to me all the time| that we'll meet against soon, that everything will be ok. but belarus today feels anything but ok. even our meeting is being monitored from the shadows. sarah rainsford, bbc news, minsk. this is the scene live at narita airport in tokyo. here are pictures we understand of the fact that the belarusian

sprinter krystina timanovskaya left the polish embassy early. she is going to come onto the polish embassy in tokyo after she sought protection after refusing her team's orders to return home. we will bring you the latest on that story as and when we get it. time to concentrate on what's been happening in the sport at the games. live to tokyo and sarah mulkerrins. sarah, talk us through the emotional return to competition of simone biles. yes, everybody was waiting for that moment after it simone biles confirmed that she would take part in the being final. that was on last night here in tokyo, and we know everything that she has talked about over the last week about mental health issues and also struggling with what we call the twisties in the sport of gymnastics. but she was able to feel comfortable enough to take part in this being final, and she was able to walk away with

a metal, a bronze medalfor simone biles. she said afterwards she was so proud of her cell. she said she put no expectation on herself going in if she did not know but she would get a medal or not and this was one of the proudest days for her that she was able to come for the last week that she has and be able to walk away with a medal and also hold her head up high and be able to kind of work your way through the things that she has been dealing with. there was a much more for her in the arena. simone biles herself if she had been sitting at events have been sitting at events have been there to be gone all her team—mates, and they in return were able to do that for simone biles. so, a really nice and, i think, and a positive note for some about to be able to in these olympic games on. absolutely, some really heart—warming stuff there. but play more to come. 22 medals awarded today. what else is in store for day 12?— store for day 12? yes, there certainly — store for day 12? yes, there certainly is- _ store for day 12? yes, there certainly is. we _ store for day 12? yes, there certainly is. we are - store for day 12? yes, there certainly is. we are into - store for day 12? yes, there certainly is. we are into thei certainly is. we are into the final week of the olympics, and those metals have been snapped up. we will have one down below

us in the next while because the women's open water swimming marathon, the ten km swim and they are having to go through, thatis they are having to go through, that is under way early the morning. we also have one of the skateboarding events take place. we have the part of it in that. we had the street at the start but now it is the turn of the park event. we have the women's golf getting under way in the park of south korea one gold back in rio in 2016. so there is so much and of course the track and field will take centre stage as it always does. the man's 200 metres final is on in the evening session. so many big names there but i'm delighted to say that we are joined now in our live position by a couple of athletes who have been competing at these olympics. i'm joined now byjonah harris from nauru and karalo maibuca from tuvalu. lovely to talk to you both. firstly, jonah, taught me through the experience of

getting to the olympic games for you because it was quite a journey to actually get to tokyo. journey to actually get to to 0. , ., ., .,~ journey to actually get to to 0. , ., ., ., tokyo. yes, we had to take a charter flight _ tokyo. yes, we had to take a charter flight and _ tokyo. yes, we had to take a charter flight and come - tokyo. yes, we had to take a charter flight and come to . charter flight and come to tokyo _ charter flight and come to to 0. �* , ., charter flight and come to to 0. �* ., charter flight and come to to o.�* ., ., charter flight and come to to 0. ., ., charter flight and come to to o.�* ., ., tokyo. and you had to hop off and ick tokyo. and you had to hop off and pick peeple _ tokyo. and you had to hop off and pick people up _ tokyo. and you had to hop off and pick people up along - tokyo. and you had to hop off and pick people up along the l and pick people up along the way as you were collecting people. way as you were collecting eo - le. ~ way as you were collecting --eole. ~ , . ~ way as you were collecting --eole.~ ,~ , way as you were collecting neale, . , , ., people. we did pick up the team from two blue _ people. we did pick up the team from two blue and _ people. we did pick up the team from two blue and the _ people. we did pick up the team from two blue and the samoan l from two blue and the samoan team — from two blue and the samoan team. so — from two blue and the samoan team, from two blue and the samoan team. , , team. so you were picked up alon: team. so you were picked up along the _ team. so you were picked up along the way. _ team. so you were picked up along the way. how - team. so you were picked up along the way. how has - team. so you were picked up i along the way. how has journey been for you? it'd take you a while to adjust once you arrived equipment i was actually with fiji so i came along with the fijian team so i came along with their flight from fiji to japan. have you both found the experience of being at these olympic games? it is not a normal one, is equipment is a big thing. indeed. in equipment is a big thing. indeed. , ., ., indeed. in terms of how you were spending _ indeed. in terms of how you were spending your - indeed. in terms of how you were spending your time - indeed. in terms of how you were spending your time it, | indeed. in terms of how you i were spending your time it, is it difficult? we

were spending your time it, is it difficult?— it difficult? we have been 'ust t in: to it difficult? we have been 'ust trying to keep i it difficult? we have been 'ust trying to keep ourselves h it difficult? we have been just trying to keep ourselves busy| trying to keep ourselves busy with— trying to keep ourselves busy with making our own entertainment, like karaoke with— entertainment, like karaoke with a — entertainment, like karaoke with a team, the oceania teams. very— with a team, the oceania teams. very good — with a team, the oceania teams. very good. what are some favourite songs? laughter. no favourite _ favourite songs? laughter. no favourite songs? - favourite songs? laughter. no favourite songs? you - favourite songs? laughter. no favourite songs? you willj no favourite songs? you will not reveal your secrets. well, some country _ not reveal your secrets. well, some country songs - not reveal your secrets. well, some country songs and - not reveal your secrets. well, some country songs and all i some country songs and all those — some country songs and all those things. _ some country songs and all those things.— some country songs and all those things. are you going to live us a those things. are you going to give us a bar? _ those things. are you going to give us a bar? go _ those things. are you going to give us a bar? go on. - those things. are you going to give us a bar? go on. he - give us a bar? go on. he sings in own language. it is important because you were able to not go out and about and there is so much the athletes are trying to deal with than competing on the track. how important is it the people you have around you here? i important is it the people you have around you here? i think it's very important _ have around you here? i think it's very important that - have around you here? i think| it's very important that people around — it's very important that people around you and you can be yourself _ around you and you can be yourself and keep yourself busy _ yourself and keep yourself bus . ~ . . �*

yourself and keep yourself bus. ., ., ~ ., busy. we all are. and you are both competing _ busy. we all are. and you are both competing in _ busy. we all are. and you are both competing in the - busy. we all are. and you are both competing in the 100 . both competing in the 100 metres, and we have seen a lot of the action on the track. jonah, you first. what did you make of how you perform here at the games? i make of how you perform here at the games?— the games? i think he performed it m best the games? i think he performed it my best despite _ the games? i think he performed it my best despite the _ the games? i think he performed it my best despite the covid-19 i it my best despite the covid—19 lockdowns and a lack of facilities back home. but i performed my best, yeah. and it was a big event _ performed my best, yeah. and it was a big event for— performed my best, yeah. and it was a big event for me _ performed my best, yeah. and it was a big event for me and - was a big event for me and i was — was a big event for me and i was a — was a big event for me and i was a hit _ was a big event for me and i was a bit scared _ was a big event for me and i was a bit scared at - was a big event for me and i was a bit scared at first, - was a big event for me and i was a bit scared at first, butj was a bit scared at first, but after— was a bit scared at first, but after all— was a bit scared at first, but after all when _ was a bit scared at first, but after all when i _ was a bit scared at first, but after all when i started, - was a bit scared at first, but i after all when i started, there was a — after all when i started, there was a confidence _ after all when i started, there was a confidence about - after all when i started, therel was a confidence about myself and i_ was a confidence about myself and i managed _ was a confidence about myself and i managed to— was a confidence about myself and i managed to get- was a confidence about myself and i managed to get throughl was a confidence about myself. and i managed to get through it and i managed to get through it and i_ and i managed to get through it and i think— and i managed to get through it and i think i'm _ and i managed to get through it and i think i'm happy— and i managed to get through it and i think i'm happy with- and i managed to get through it and i think i'm happy with the l and i think i'm happy with the lime — and i think i'm happy with the time i— and i think i'm happy with the time i gave _ and i think i'm happy with the time i gave-— time i gave. and that track looks past _ time i gave. and that track looks past as _ time i gave. and that track looks past as well. - time i gave. and that track looks past as well. did - time i gave. and that track looks past as well. did youj looks past as well. did you feel it running fast? it looks past as well. did you feel it running fast?- feel it running fast? it is uuite feel it running fast? it is quite fast. _ feel it running fast? it is quite fast. certainly - feel it running fast? it is i quite fast. certainly giving feel it running fast? it is - quite fast. certainly giving us a ureat quite fast. certainly giving us a great time. _ quite fast. certainly giving us a great time. great _ quite fast. certainly giving us a great time. great to - quite fast. certainly giving us a great time. great to get. quite fast. certainly giving us i a great time. great to get your thoughts on it. thank you for joining us here are newsday. no doubt fans of that athletics track that is giving us so many fast times. would record it yesterday and the men's border

metres hurdles and then jamaica's elaine thompson herat did the double—double going gold in rio and back that up in tokyo with gold in the 100 and 200 metres again. so a great evening forjamaica last night here in tokyo. mil evening forjamaica last night here in tokyo.— evening forjamaica last night here in tokyo. all around and a valiant effort _ here in tokyo. all around and a valiant effort in _ here in tokyo. all around and a valiant effort in trying - here in tokyo. all around and a valiant effort in trying to - here in tokyo. all around and a valiant effort in trying to get i valiant effort in trying to get them to sing. before you leave tokyo, i'm going to get you to sing a few bars yourself. thank you for all the sporting action there from tokyo. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come, there's concern for the survival of chimpanzees in sierra leone — the population in africa is disappearing due to deforestation and other human activity. we'll have a special report. the question was whether we wanted to save our people and japanese as well and win the war, or whether we wanted to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men.

the invasion began at two o'clock this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. we call for the immediate i and unconditional withdrawal of all iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigour, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she's achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines —

piling on the pressure — president biden urges andrew cuomo to resign as governor of new york after an investigation found he'd sexually harassed women while in office. the un says at least a0 afghan civilians have been killed in intense fighting in the past 2a hours as the taliban and government forces battle for control of helmand's provincial capital. it said thousands of people in lashkar gah have been displaced. the un also highlighted concerns about peoples' homes being occupied by fighters. in another incident, the afghan defence minister survived an armed attack on his home in kabul. the general commanding the afghan forces in lashkar gar had this warning for the city's residents. we are hearing that they will put people at risk as we, you know, push back and clear the houses, so i had to make a call and ask the people, specifically in some areas that the enemy is taking shelter in their houses, i have respectfully asked them

to leave their houses and the surrounding area. and i apologise for the action if they may feel that they're being displaced, and i'm with them, but this is good for them, that they're safe and they can come back to their houses when the outskirts of lashkar gar is cleared from the terrorists. let's get the latest from our chief international correspondent lyse doucet, who is in kabul. as this night began, a senior military source said the skies are clear tonight. in other words, now is the time to unleash an operation to clear taliban from the provincial capital lashkar gah in a campaign led by a ferocious bombing by afghan forces, still backed up by us air power as well as drones. and that is why the commanding officer in helmand, the british—educated general, urged residents to leave the city.

but these are terrifying times for the residents of lashkar gah. in fact, all of helmand province, where people have been hiding in their homes. nowhere else to go, nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape the gunfire. these are deeply uncertain times right across afghanistan, including here in kabul, where a powerful car bomb exploded outside the home of the defence minister right next to the highly protected enclave which houses most of the embassies and government officials. the attackers moved into his villa, provoking a gun battle lasting more than three hours. so, tonight, kabulwas shattered by the sounds of suicide vests exploding, small arms gunfire, and it was competing with another event that afghans had been taking to their rooftops to shout allahu akbar in support of the afghan government forces. but every day, this war changes shape and gets worse. in another show of defiance, dozens took to the streets

of kabul to cheer in support of the afghan government. people marched around the city after dark waving afghan flags and shouting "god is great". now to the fate of chimpanzees in sierra leone. they're under threat across africa because the trees where they live are fast disappearing due to deforestation and other human activity. but now sierra leone has become the first country to give the chimpanzee the status of a national animal, the emblem of the country, as it tries to reverse the trend. umaru fofana has been to one of the continent's largest chimpanzee sanctuaries, just outside the capital freetown. the race against extinction. baby chimps left motherless by poachers. if they are lucky, like celia is, they are rescued and brought to this sanctuary. this woman, who has grandchildren of her own, carries out the task of a chimp mother.

she says, as a grandmother, it breaks her heart to see what the baby chimps have to go through. translation: | take care| of orphaned chimps whose parents have been killed in the wild. i like working with animals, like celia who came here when she was two months old. toothless, she couldn't even sit by herself. when they grow older and stronger and can move on their own, they learn how to jump within this perimeter fence before they are released to join the 100 others that now call this place their home. they are part of an estimated nationwide chimp population of around 6000, believed to have gone down fivefolds from 30 years ago. that dwindling number is in part due to the disappearing forest cover across the country. to reverse the trend, this man who founded tacugama chimp sanctuary 26 years ago, has

embarked on a mission. international union for conservation and nature, they announced two years ago that the western chimpanzee, that is the subspecies we have in sierra leone, is extremely threatened and endangered. and that means these chimps can disappear in our lifetime, and you're talking about the next 20, 30 years. so, if we don't address this issue as these three nations, i think we have all the chance of watching them disappear right before our eyes. there has been no national forest inventory in sierra leone for more than a0 years, but some estimate about a quarter of the rainforest here is gone. campaigners are concerned that the rain cover is dwindling alarmingly fast. one of the surviving areas is here at this chimp sanctuary. right. good, you made it.

so, you can see what has been protected, what has been preserved. this is 26 years of work to make sure that nothing is damaged in this area. this canopy at the sanctuary is one to behold. not a common sight these days on the freetown peninsula. if urgent measures are not taken, this place will cease being home for these primates. umaru fofana, bbc news, freetown. i want to take you back to that scene at the airport in tokyo. these are life pictures right now. but we understand of course is that the belarusian sprinter krystina timanovskaya left the polish embassy in tokyo in the early hours of this morning where she had been seeking protection after that dramatic diplomatic twist at the tokyo olympics. we

understand that she is on her way to the airport right now to at this point understand that she may will be trying to get on a plane back. that is it for us. thanks for watching. hello. the weather midweek isn't looking too bad at all for most of us. wednesday is going to bring lengthy sunny spells, skies will probably look a little bit like this. but we're expecting heavy showers, too. let's have a look at the big picture first, and here's the jet stream. everywhere south of that is warm. everywhere north of that is generally cool and quiet showery. and you can see a large chunk of the continent experiencing this relatively cool and showery summertime weather. so, at the moment, its quiet on the weatherfront. clear first thing in the morning with lots of sunshine. temperatures around ten in glasgow, 13 in liverpool, 12 in london. notice a bit more cloud in the morning here out towards the north west,

and actually it will be quite cloudy through the day. in the western isles and northern ireland, showers here. but showers also breaking out across parts of the highlands, the pennines and a few scattered around the midlands and the south, too. but coastal areas probably staying dry and sunny all through the course of the afternoon. winds'll be light. it'll feel warm enough, too, 22 degrees quite widely. even on the north sea coast, in excess of 20 celsius. you'll notice that some of these showers, some heavy and maybe thundery ones, will last through the afternoon and into the evening hours as well on wednesday. now, here's the weather map for thursday. this current of wind, that's the jet stream pushing a low pressure towards us for the end of the week, so that means the weather is turning unsettled. and here's thursday. out towards the west comes the low pressure. you can see the increasing winds, up to near gale—force around some coasts. outbreaks of rain, too. for a time at least, eastern parts of the country shouldn't be too bad at all on thursday. i think that rain and wind

will probably reach you later in the day, and temperatures hence getting up to around 22 in the afternoon in hull. but the low pressure is slap bang over us on friday, and it'll be a slow—mover. so, that means all the heavy showers that'll be churning away, they'll be sitting on top of us for quite some time. i think on friday particularly heavy. the met office is highlighting across scotland, northern ireland and the north of england heavy and thundery and prolonged. in the south, there'll be showers too. and remember, very breezy weather as well, so brollies at the ready.

this is bbc news. we will have all the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hard talk. welcome to hardtalk i'm stephen sackur. canada's treatment of its indigenous people over hundreds of years is a dark and spreading stain on the country's reputation. in the last few months, the unmarked graves of hundreds of indigenous children have been discovered in the grounds of residential schools, which became notorious

for racism, neglect and abuse. my guest is roseanne archibald, newly elected chief