welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... senior republicans condemn the unprecedented search of former president donald trump's mar—a—lago home. the white house insists it only learned of the fbi's action from media reports. the un says there's growing evidence in myanmar of crimes against humanity committed by the army since it seized power in a coup last year. the heaviest rainfall in 80 years, leave homes and roads submerged in floodwaters in the south korean capital seoul. france is in the grip of its worst drought on record, with crops at risk as the water runs out.

this is the middle of the loire river, but you can see how barren it's become. locals say that the water has never been so low at this time of year. and the iconic japanese fashion designer issey miyake has died at the age of 8a. his innovative collections earned him global acclaim for breaking the boundaries between east and west. live from our studio in singapore... this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. we begin in the us, where senior republicans have condemned the fbi's unprecedented search of donald trump's florida home on monday as an abuse of power. the former vice—president

mike pence called for the us attorney general to give a full public account of why it happened, saying it caused him deep concern. the former president, who was not at mar—a—lago at the time, said a number of agents had occupied the compound and broken into his safe. the white house says president biden learned about the search from media reports. our north america correspondentjohn sudworth reports from washington. save america! the trump bandwagon is fuelled by conspiracy, and news of the search brought supporters to his florida resort even more convinced of their theories of stolen elections in deep—state plots. you feel like you might be in venezuela or china, russia, we feel the fbi's doing a political hitjob on president trump. it's a two—tiered justice system, so we're out here just gathering, showing support. the american people see the state of this country. | they see what's going on. so, yeah, this is all. about stopping trump from running in 2024.

they are views that match the former president's own. in a statement, he spoke of his home being under siege, raided and occupied by the fbi, describing the action as "prosecutorial misconduct" and the weaponisation of thejustice system in an attempt to stop him from running again. there's been no comment from the fbi here, but their search is thought to relate to official records and the possibility that mr trump, who's already been forced to return some documents since leaving office, may have squirrelled away more. but it's worth pointing out, of course, that to execute that, they will have needed to convince and obtain a warrant from a federaljudge. now, the authorisation did not come from the department ofjustice. it came from a lifetime appointee, federaljudge, a third branch of government, and that's the huge difference, and that the checks and balances that we have in our united states constitution that are so important. we are a nation in decline...

but within hours of the search, donald trump released this video. but soon, we will have greatness again. he hasn't yet officially announced a 2024 presidential bid, but this is now a man increasingly looking to be in full campaign mode. we need back—up! as the investigations into his attempt to cling to power continue, there's a danger here a danger here for his opponents. the more serious the congressional committees or criminal inquiries become, the more republicans can claim he's being persecuted. the fbi, when it comes to trump, has lost their way. this unending desire to destroy trump and his family is frustrating. the legal implications are farfrom certain. even if he's charged, it may not bar him from office. the political implications seem clearer, though. if anything, it's galvanising him to run again. john sudworth, bbc news, washington.

earlier, i spoke to retired fbi agent todd hulsey in texas and asked him what process the fbi would have to follow to upturn —— overturn a requirement —— obtain. they voluntarily relinquished ii they voluntarily relinquished 11 boxes of documents. in those boxes were found classified material. in late april or early may, a federal grand jury was convened. they are convened by united states district judges, eithera by united states district judges, either a regular schedule or by request of the federal prosecutor. a federal grand jury was convened to conduct investigation as to whether or not the president improperly removed materials. settler of grant —— the federal

grant can conduct an investigation... this is how federal investigations are often run, particularly big ones like this. the few but —— fbi is not alone after here. the justice department would fbi is not alone after here. thejustice department would be directing this. in terms of the process, the fbi would have to develop probable cause to believe in declassified information was improperly removed, and it was at mar—a—lago. then convince a federaljudge for a search warrant that this is so to cause a federaljudge to believe there is probable cause in this issue. once it's issued, that's... in this issue. once it's issued, that's. . .- in this issue. once it's issued, that's. .. just to “ump in there. i issued, that's. .. just to “ump in there, and i issued, that's. .. just to “ump in there, and i i issued, that's. .. just to jump in there, and i appreciate - issued, that's. .. just to jump j in there, and i appreciate the point that you're making, but we are talking about a former president. how strong with evidence need to have been in orderfor this to happen? trier? order for this to happen? very stronu. order for this to happen? very strong- in _ order for this to happen? very strong. in fact, _ order for this to happen? very strong. in fact, internal- order for this to happen? very strong. in fact, internalto -

strong. infact, internalto both the fbi and thejustice department... the guidelines require that in any case of a public official being investigated, that's from a city councilman from the president, for various levels of approval that have to be reached. the higher the office or the former office held, the higher the approvals. the approvals would've gone at least two the deputy attorney general level before this application was made to accord. likely the attorney general himself gave the go—ahead to make the application to the court. there's a process within the fbi, and once those approvals are met, it goes to thejustice department's processes for ultimate approval. processes for ultimate approval-— processes for ultimate auroval. ., , i, ~ approval. todd hulsey seeking to me are _ approval. todd hulsey seeking to me are there. _ meanwhile, the federal appeals court has ruled a house of representatives committee has the right to see former president trump's tax returns. the three—judge panel rejected mr trump's claims that the request was too

political and unanimously agreed that it complied with the law. the ways and means committee said we expect to receive the tax returns immediately. donald trump is the first us president in a0 years not to release his tax returns. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. vote counting is under way in kenya, where a new president is being chosen to succeed uhuru kenyatta. polling day was largely peaceful. however, voting was suspended in one constituency in the volatile northern region. kenyans are eagerly waiting to find out if the next leader is the former prime minister, raila odinga or the vice president, william ruto. russia has played down a series of explosions at a military airfield on the crimean peninsula, which it annexed from ukraine in 2014. footage filmed nearby shows a fireball and huge plumes of dark smoke rising into the sky near

the saki air base. the russian defence ministry said munitions had exploded in a store and denied that the airfield had come under attack. police in new mexico say they have detained the main suspect in the killings of four muslim men in the state's biggest city, albuquerque. the suspect was the driver of a vehicle they had tracked down as part of their investigation into the deaths, the latest of which took place on friday. two other men have been killed in the past fortnight, the fourth died last november. in what's thought to be one of the largest ever dog rescue efforts in the us, homes are being sought for 4,000 beagles that had been bred for drug experiments. animal rescue organisations are removing the dogs from a virginia facility that's being closed down for animal welfare violations. marine experts have launched an operation to rescue an ailing beluga whale which swam up the seine

river in france. the four—metre whale is now in a lock more than 100 kilometres up—river. rescuers will try and lift the whale onto a refrigerated truck that will take it back to the sea. murder, torture and sexual violence — with women and children targeted. that's what a new report from the un says is happening in myanmar since the army seized power in a coup last year. un investigators say they've gathered growing evidence of crimes against humanity there, and are calling the abuses a systematic attack against a civilian population. )in february last year, the country's military seized power, ousted the civilian government and arrested facto leader, aung san suu kyi. defacto leader, aung san suu kyi. a state of emergency was declared. six months later, thejunta tightened its grip as min aung

hlaing appointed himself prime minister of a caretaker government and repeated a pledge to hold elections by 2023. according to local monitoring groups, more than 2,000 people have been killed and 15,000 arrested. at the beginning of this month, approval was given to extend the state of emergency for a further six months — which came as the un gathered evidence of crimes against humanity. simon adams is ceo of the centre for victims of torture, one of the biggest organisations in the world that works with torture survivors and also carries our human rights advocacy. he started by giving his reaction to the findings of the report. i was appalled, but not surprised. i was obviously sickened by the report, but not at all surprised. i think some of those figures that you mentioned there in your introduction — let's look at the situation since february 2021. more than 2,000 people killed.

i think there's 11,900 people still in detention as of today. more than 100 people have been tortured to death, and recently in the last couple of weeks, we saw four activists hanged for the first time in many years in myanmar. thejunta is waging a war against some of its own people. air strikes in rural areas, scorched earth policy and minority ethnic areas and mass restrictions and killings. so, that's kind of what this un report says. it says this is what's going on, these are crimes against humanity and the perpetrators need to be held accountable, and here's the evidence. and i think that's a positive thing that the report says that. simon, at the risk of the labelling the point, what difference does the report like this actually makes? because it's unlikely that the junta will pay any attention. will the international

community do anything more than what we've seen so far, which, frankly, isn't very much? right. i doubt very much is going to be a part of general min aung hlaing's reading material. he will want to ignore it. but the junta does actually pay attention to what the rest of the world says and it does crave legitimacy, and this report, if nothing else, deprives it of that legitimacy. i think it also should help to increase the pressure on thejunta, keeping in mind that there has not been enough international action, but since the coup, we saw some businesses cut ties with these corrupt, miltary—run conglomerates that kind of ruled the economy in myanmar, saying there could be no business as usual. we have seen some states pose sanctions. there should be more, but some have done so. and some have recognised the national unity government, which is the elective officials rather than ones who the coup simply says are now

the ruling government. that was simon adams. if you want to get in touch with me, i'm on twitter. i'm looking forward to hearing from you. you're watching newsday. so the come — serena williams suggest she's planning to retire from tennis after the us open. the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a huge job of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutal former dictator, has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia, where he'd lived

in exile since being overthrown in 1979. 2 billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millennium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later, when the sun set over the bay of bengal. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines... senior republicans have condemned the unprecedented search of donald trump's mar—a—lago home. the white house insists it only learned of the fbi's action from media reports.

south korea has experienced its heaviest rainfall in 80 years, with floodwaters submerging roads in the capital seoul. at least eight people have died, including three who were living in a basement apartment. our correspondent, jean mackenzie, reports from seoul. flood water cascades down into the heart of seoul, filling the city from the underground up. the rain is relentless, the flooding sudden. streets submerged, then cars and buses. this morning, people struggled to make sense of the destruction that scatters the city, as if part of a film set. but this is the scene of a real tragedy. living underground behind these tiny windows were two sisters and one of their 13—year—old daughters. as water submerged their home, they were trapped and drowned. these semi—basement apartments were made famous by the oscar—winning film

parasite. the lead family tried desperately to funnel water out of their home during a torrential downpour. today's outcome is far worse. this man has lived above the family for ten years. by the time he arrived home last night, their home was covered. translation: i feel devastated about this tragedy. _ if i had come home earlier, perhaps i could have saved them. i have a lot of regrets. earlier, the country's president visited the apartment. it flooded so fast, the residents tell him, injust ten minutes. the fact that south korea's president visited this apartment this morning shows how significant these deaths are. they're a reminder that away from the glitzy and upmarket neighbourhoods nearby, there are still hundreds of koreans who are living in these basement apartments that are not safe. heavy rains are common

during the summer here, but this year, they've lasted longer than usual. the consequence of climate change, its suggested. with more on the way, seoul and its people are vulnerable. jean mckenzie, bbc news. more extreme weather — this time in several parts of europe, where wildfires are burning — and another heatwave is forecast in the coming days. in southern france, 3000 people have been evacuated from an area near toulouse where seven square kilometres of woodland are on fire. and now, there are warnings that france is facing its worst drought on record — as our correspondent mark lowen reports from the loire. the loire valley is called the garden of france, but this garden is wilting. melting under a fourth heatwave, france is gripped by its worst drought ever recorded. vincent favreau's crops which feed 100 families are stunted —

his potato yield down by half amidst a fortnight of hosepipe bans and weeks with no rain. translation: either- the vegetables will die off first or they won't develop enough in this crucial period of growth. the sun is evaporating what little water we have left. i've never seen something like this in my 22 years here. if it doesn't rain within two months, it'll be a disaster. amidst a globalfood crisis from the war in ukraine, another breadbasket, france, is showing worrying signs. its corn production is forecast to drop by 18% with the drought, wheat and animal feed also falling. our planet is not weathering the storm. translation: the ukraine war has shown how countries must l become more independent with their food production. with the conflict and now climate change bringing farming to its knees, there are big questions about how we'll feed our world. today, the bridge almost feels like a throwback to another era

when abundance and high tides meant no picnicking this low down. i shouldn't actually be able to be standing here. this is the middle of the loire river, but you can see how barren it's become. locals say that the water has never been so low at this time of the year. a rich and vital resource for this region is depleting. it's a worry for residents and holiday—makers. their place in the sun under new water restrictions. even though we enjoy the garden, it's a shame not to be able to look after the plants. we are not having any baths, though, we are using the shower all the time so you just use water a bit sparingly, do you know what i mean? if you don't need it, then you don't use it. on the fields of france the water pipes stand idle, helpless as our climate warms and our earth bakes. mark lowen, bbc news,

in the loire valley. the japanese fashion designer issey miyake has died at the age of 84. he was known for his creative use of technical fabrics, and designs driven by technology. miyake developed a new way of pleating fabric by wrapping it between layers of paper in a heat press, leading to his famous �*pleats please' collection. issey miyake was born in hiroshima, where he witnessed the nuclear bombing in 1945. earlier, i heard from dana thomas, author of fashionopolis: the price of fast fashion and the future of clothes. she knew issey miyake for 30 years, and shared herfondest moments. i loved issey san, as i called him. i met him first about 30 years ago as a junior reporter at the new york times,

reporter at the new york times, and i wrote about a fashion show he's had where he cast six women, more than 60 years old. one of them was 91 years old, and i thought that was really cool at a time when fashion was not thinking about inclusivity or diversity. but he was always trying to make fashion more democratic and more accessible, and fashion businesses often and more accessible. and fashion businesses often talk about the democratisation of luxury, and for them, that means putting logos on handbags and selling them for $200 apiece to the middle market consumers, but issey was about taking ideas and translating it into something everyone could wear, like his collection pleats please, which was rooted in ancient greece togas and the fortuity pleaded council of venice, them available for anyone who could buy it. it was pleaded

like ancient greece. amazing creations. real works of art, weren't they, dana? i just want to point to this tweet for our viewers that i think you wrote a little while back, saying you knew him for 30 years. you called him a futurist. and that you will obviously met him —— miss him greatly. i'm interested in that word that you used and indicating i saw him a couple times in tokyo and whenever he came to paris, and he would talk about for him, the most modern and futuristic thing you can do, dress everyone in really beautiful clothes. they shouldn't just be for the elite and the wealthy. tennis star serena williams has announced plans to retire from the sport — she's dominated for much of her career.

in an article for vogue magazine, the american, 23—time grand slam champion, said she didn't like the word �*retirement�*, but would be �*evolving away from tennis' after the us open, which starts later his month. in an instagram post, she said, "there comes a time in life, when we have to decide to move in a different direction." she also went on to say, "now, the countdown has begun. i have to focus on being a mum, my spiritual goals and finally discovering a different, butjust as exciting serena. i'm going to relish these next few weeks." the 40—year—old won her latest match at the toronto open on monday. afterwards she was asked about her motivations to carry on playing. this is how she answered. i don't know, i guess there'sjust a light at the end of the tunnel! she laughs. what is that light? i don't know, i'm getting closer to the light, so... all laugh. yeah, so lately, that's been...

that's been it for me. i can't wait to get to that light. i know you're joking, but can you...? i'm notjoking. ok, so then, explain to me what the light is to you, what the light represents. freedom. serena williams there. how's this for finding your balance? terriblejoke, i know! a man has walked 625 metres across a line suspended between two of the tallest buildings in rotterdam in the netherlands. swaying in the wind, jaan roose sometimes stopped to catch his balance whilst crossing the river maas. the slackline measured 2 centimetres wide — the width of a postage stamp — and at times was at a slope of 24%. he said the start of the crossing was the most difficult in the wind, but the walk was finished in 49 minutes. it does take a real sense of dexterity and courage to find

that kind of balance in life. i don't think i have what it takes! it's time to say goodbye. thanks so much for watching. hello. our spell of largely dry and increasingly hot weather is set to continue for the rest of this week. over the next few days, we see those heatwave conditions building and hardly any rain in the forecast. just the far northwest of scotland, where we see a weather front close by, we'll see a little bit of rain, but for the rest of us, high pressure dominates. as that high pressure shifts its way slightly more towards the east, that will draw in this really hot air from the near continent, so particularly by the time we get to thursday and friday, we'll see those temperatures soaring, particularly across a good part of england and wales. temperatures to start your wednesday morning between about 11—15 in our towns and cities, a touch lower in the countryside first thing. lots of hot sunshine on the cards for wednesday, that weather front bringing a bit more cloud to the far northwest, bit of rain for the western isles, perhaps. but temperatures in england, scotland and northern ireland in the mid—20s, but down

towards the south and southeast, 30—31 degrees pretty widely. then, from thursday onwards, that's when that amber extreme heat warning kicks in across a good part of england and into eastern wales as well. but wherever you are, you can feel the heat and disruption due to the those high temperatures in terms of health problems, potentially transport problems as well. so, thursday, another hot, dry day away from the northwest of scotland, and temperatures widely in the mid—to—high 20s in the north, mid—30s in the south. 34, possibly 35 degrees on thursday, could be even a degree or so harder than that as we head on into friday. again, a bit more cloud and rain for the western isles, highlands, northern isles as well where it's a little bit cooler, but most of us baking in that hot sunshine, so the mid—20s to mid—30s during the course of friday. if we zoom into the hottest spots — probably across parts of central and southern england, just into wales as well —

somewhere here could see 36 degrees on friday. and looking towards the weekend, perhaps a degree or so hotter than that into saturday. so, warm sunshine once again lasting for many of us through the course of the weekend. we are hopeful that things will start to change a little bit later on sunday, particularly overnight into monday. a few thunderstorms developing across france, which could really do with the rainfall, and then they look like they will develop more widely across the uk, but still quite a lot of uncertainty at this stage about exactly when and if those thunderstorms are coming. but we're hopeful that, into next week, things will start to turn cooler with an increasing chance of rain. bye— bye.

welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. according to research in the us and the uk, roughly one in 100 people is transgender. but the fact that the debate about transgender rights has become a political and even health care battleground isn't driven so much by the numbers, but more by conflicting ideologies.