australia. welcome to viewers around the world and to thosejoining us in the uk. it's eight in the morning in singapore, one am in london and two in the morning in brussels, where a suspected terrorist has been shot dead, after an attempted attack at the city's main rail station. witnesses say they heard him shout allahu akbar, god is great, before there was a small explosion. this report from frankie mccamley. brussels central station evacuated shortly after police say a man triggered a small explosion. eyewitnesses say they heard gunfire and multiple explosions. just minutes later smoke can be seen inside. outside, people gathered together, making their way to safety. translation: i went down the stairs to go back to the platform where i had to go and they i heard someone shouting and then at one point he shouted "allahu akbar" and blew up the suitcase he had. ijust carried on down, trying to get as many people to evacuate as possible. and there he was, just behind me, two metres away from the stairs, and he still had the belt on him. the country's military, which is already on high alert, as the station was evacuated flames we re as the station was evacuated flames were seen him inside the station.” saw the man. he came towards me so i began to panic. luckily he turned around and went away. i then evacuated the people from the station. the country's military, which is already on high alert was on the scene within minutes, shooting dead the suspect. elton prosecutors now say this is being treated as a terrorist attack. —— belgian prosecutors. at about 8:30, there has been a small explosion in the central station here in brussels. the suspect has been neutralised by the military that were present at the scene immediately after the explosion. there were no other victims. this incident is considered as a terrorist attack. the attack follows a series of attacks last year, when three suicide bombers targeted the city's airport and an underground station. an area popular with tourists enjoying the evening sunshine now on edge, surrounded by police and military personnel. frankie mccamley, bbc news. our other top story — a coroner in ohio has been asked not to perform an autopsy on the american student otto warmbier. the request came from the 22—year—old's family. otto died at home on monday, after being released from a north korean prison last week. the us state department says north korea is directly responsible for his death and president trump — repeated his criticism of the regime. otto warmbier had been sentenced to 15 years' hard labour for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster. governor bill richardson, who helped negotiate his release, told the bbc that north korea failed to tell him the student was ill. i met with the north koreans 20 times in the last year. i'd sent the delegation there to try to get otto out in exchange for humanitarian assistance. so i learned a year later, after he was in a coma. this was a crime of humanity, what the north koreans did. they've done a gross human rights violation, a cover—up. this botulism excuse, sleeping pill, he might have been tortured, he might have been abused. this is wrong and there should be some kind of punishment to the north koreans. also making news this hour — the chancellor, phillip hammond, has said he wants the uk to leave the eu in a way that prioritises british jobs and prosperity. in a speech in london, he also said immigration would be managed, rather than "shut down". the international trade minister, liam fox welcomed mr hammond's speech but said that people who wanted to put immigration policy ahead of economic policy were losing the argument. have a balance that is in the best interests of the country. clearly we want to ensure that business gets access to the labour that it needs but there is also a strong worry amongst people in britain that people are coming to united kingdom and using our public services who may not be contributing to our national wealth. that is the problem that our government will deal with and will deal with that in a reasonable way over a period of time. voting in the most expensive election in the history of the us house of representatives has just finished. parties have spent around $55 million in the battle for a traditionally republican area of the state of georgia. it's being seen as a test of the party's strength under the trump administration and a sign of whether it can keep its majority in next yea r‘s mid—term election. oj simpson, the former american football star and film actor, could be given a prison release date next month. a parole court will consider whether to free simpson, who's served nine years for robbing and kidnapping a group of sports memorabilia dealers. simpson was famously acquitted of the murder of his ex—wife and her friend — although he was subsequently found liable by a civil court. the actor daniel day lewis is to retire. his spokesman said the actor was immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences, but would no longer be working as an actor. the three time oscar—winner — famous for such films as movies like gangs of new york and there will be blood — will make his final screen appearance in fashion drama phantom indonesian police are still searching for quattro foreign prisoners who escaped from jail on the resort island of bali. the men from bulgaria malaysia india and australia crawled through a narrow tunnel dug under the walls. the bbc spoke to a correspondent injakarta. well, they had prison terms ranging from about two years to 15 years. interestingly, shaun davidson, the australian, had just a few months left on his term for he would have been released. he was running a boxing programme inside. we've been told by prison officials that all of them were well behaved inmates. there was no indication that they were planning something together. and the indian inmate, mohammed sayed, was quite religious. he was involved in the ramadan celebrations taking place. what does this say about the indonesian prison system? because jailbreaks are now common in the country, where most prisons are overcrowded. that's right. prison breaks aren't unusual. and the manner under which this was done, the fact that the tunnel was dug, has caught a lot of attention here because of the way indonesia is carrying this out. prison breaks aren't unusual. earlier we saw a time when a wall collapsed in a prison and all the inmates could run freely out before they had to be rounded up and caught. interestingly under indonesian law inmates aren't given extensions of their sentences and are not punished for escaping, so if these men are caught they will come back and serve their time. but there is an investigation taking place into why this could happen. there was no guard standing at the control tower next to the tunnel the day they escaped. let's return our top story and that attack in brussels. earlier i spoke to an adviser of the european parliament who was in the area at the station in brussels when the situation unfolded. i had been out to dinner as most people had, and there were alerts on my phone. i had concerned children backin my phone. i had concerned children back in the united kingdom asking what had happened and where i stay is next door to the station so i came back to a cordon of police fear and they let me back in but i could not come back out again. so that situation we were in fairly recently the cordon seems to have been lifted recently but not before we saw, we will put back away from the window of the hotel i am in so the person could be taken away but, clearly, the authorities were taking away the person who was shot dead. that's what the journalists are saying. that was rather disturbing, to put it mildly. martin, were you aware of what was happening inside the railway station? only by the alerts that i received from iphone because i was half a mile away in a restau ra nt. i was half a mile away in a restaurant. obviously coming back into this area and finding the whole place cordoned off i was wondering whether i would get back into the hotel at all but the police were wonderful. i do have to press the authorities here are the way in which they handled this will stop and that was an adviser to a member of the european parliament speaking earlier to london. you are watching newsday on the bbc. live from singapore and london still to come in the programme, the new hong kong leader says she will be unable to guarantee of freedom of speech and the territorian. also ahead, songs from the first opera ever written by and for indigenous australians. there was a bomb in the city centre. a code word known to be one used by the ira was given. army bomb experts were examining a suspect van when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing the population registration act, which for a0 years forcibly classified each citizen according to race. germany's parliament, the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat of government from bonn to berlin. berliners celebrated into the night but the decision was greeted with shock in bonn. just a day old and the royal baby is tonight sleeping in his cot at home. early this evening, the new prince was taken by his mother and father to their apartments in kensington palace. the real focus of attention today was valentina tereshkova, the world's first woman cosmonaut. what do you think of the russian woman in space? i think it's a wonderful achievement and i think we might be able to persuade the wife it would be a good idea if i could to get her to go up there for a little while. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. in belgium there's been an attempted terrorist attack in the central station of brussels. there was a small explosion in the main train station. the attacker is dead but nobody else was hurt. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the daily telegraph in the uk among many leading with brexit, as theresa may puts the hot topic at the heart of the queens speech. the guardian highlights the increasing pressure on the prime minister as she fails to secure a deal with the democratic unionist party. we've just seen her speaking to the bbc‘s carrie gracie. well, carrie lam is also featured on a number of asia newspapers including the china daily hong kong's incoming chief executive, says she has high hopes for the city's future. that it will take full advantage of china's increasing economic power to seek new momentum for its own long term prosperity and stability. and from the new york times — becoming chelsea manning. the us solider, freed from prison, talks about why she disclosed thousands of classified documents and the isolation that followed. in indonesia police authorities are still searching for four prisoners who escaped from jail in bali. the incoming leader of hong kong has told the bbc she cannot guarantee that freedom of speech will protect those who call for independence. carrie lam is the chief executive elect which is about to mark 20 years since the uk handed it back to mainland china. in 2014, protests paralysed the city and some have begun to call for independence. in other parts of china, such calls are treated as a crime. next week carrie lam will be sworn into office by the chinese president. her predecessors have been accused of being beijing's puppet. can she escape the charge? she spoke to our china editor, carrie gracie. 20 years since hong kong returned to china, and its leaders are often accused of being beijing's puppets. they're chosen not by the public, but by an establishment committee, carrie lam won 777 votes. how can you claim to represent all the people of hong kong with only that number? well, i don't think it is a question of a number. the question is about legitimacy. i know perception is important, but to say that i am just a puppet, i won this election because of pro—beijing forces is, sort of, a failure to acknowledge what i have done in hong kong over the last 36 years. i have pledged that, as part of my governance style, i will be engaging all sectors of the community, especially the young people. three years ago young people made their own effort to engage with a massive democracy protest that brought the heart of hong kong to a standstill for months. they won nothing, and now some say the only way to get democracy is independence from china. beijing sees such calls as a threat to national security. i think hong kong is an inseparable part of the people's republic of china. you think so, what if other hong kong citizens disagree? what if they wanted to call for independence? they disagree in the form of being an expression of personal opinion, then everybody could have a view. you could condemn him and so on. but whether that expressing a view constitutes an offence, then we'll have to look at what the law says. what's the answer? we'll have to look at what the law says. can you promise the people of hong kong that never in your tenure will someone go to jail for calling for autonomy, self—determination or independence? well, i can promise the people of hong kong that we will abide by the rule of law. so that's a no, you can't make the promise? no. how can you promise when you don't know the actual situation, when you don't know the actual legislation in hong kong and to give a, sort of, perpetual situation answer, i don't think that is a very fair question to ask. china's influence in hong kong is growing — some of it open, some of it not. last year there was public outrage over the suspected abductions of publishers whose books were critical of chinese leaders. they were held on the mainland and forced to make televised confessions. even after their return to hong kong, most have stayed silent about what happened. the hong kong police force have been working on this case and trying to collect evidence and come to a view. but unfortunately, without the co—operation of the people involved, it's just not possible. so do you think it's possible that those hong kong citizens are afraid to speak up about what happened to them, do you think that's a possibility? i don't know. so how many hong kong citizens need to disappear before you start to draw any conclusions about what might be happening to them? i think that is not a fair question. we are not here to quantify that sort of allegation, but if there are worries that have been undue interference into hong kong affairs, which should come under a high degree of autonomy, then the chief executive has to reflect those sentiments and speak up on behalf of the people. yes. so would it be fair to imagine that you might have a conversation with president xi which goes — please, make sure that no security services from the mainland operate undercover on hong kong soil? will you be having that conversation? i will be very honoured to have a conversation with president xi on occasions, hopefully on the istjuly. carrie lam, thank you so much forjoining us. pleasure. now rico, you are about to hit the high notes songs from the first opera ever written by and for indigenous australians are being performed here in singapore on wednesday. in the first collaboration of its kind, singaporean singers will perform songs in the yorta yorta language from the opera pecan summer. the production tells the story of australia's stolen generation as it follows the attempts of an 11—year old aboriginal girl to try to avoid being taken from her parents by the authorities. with me is the writer, composer and artistic director of pecan summer, deborah cheetham, who is herself a celebrated opera singer. why did you write this opera? principally wanted to provide a platform for indigenous singers to find their way into the world of classical music. i have been singing for 20 years and i have never once shared the stage with an aboriginal opera singer wanted to encourage aboriginal singers. you said art is not just their two entertain. aboriginal singers. you said art is notjust their two entertain. what is the message of pecan summer?m is the message of pecan summer?m is important, not just for indigenous people, but art has carriage knowledge. opera is a large genre, something that can be really powerful. with pecan summer, wanted to show story from australian history with australians so they could have a deeper understanding of the shared history between non— indigenous and indigenous australians. how did the opera pecan summer help you reconnect with your story? it is quite remarkable, i was researching events that the place in 1949 which form the basis of this story, and i discovered that my aboriginal grandparents were part of the story i was writing the opera about. it was a remarkable discovery. a moment in history when the yorta yorta people took destiny into their hands and protested about the treatment that they suffered. the performance of pecan summer started in 2010 but this is a first for asia. an aria will be performed here in singapore. two scenes tonight with three wonderful singers from singapore. a baritone, a tanner and a mezzosoprano. for us from singapore. a baritone, a tanner and a mezzosoprano. for us it is a first to collaborate with national is from another country and, more importantly, to share an aboriginal language with them for the first time and they have done an incredible job. i am sure everyone is looking forward. to that performance. in a moment, we're going to hear deborah sing, but first let me just give you a taster of the original opera pecan summer — this is from a recent performance in sydney. (singing) well now for a real treat, deborah cheetham will sing us her song by—aami creation to the break. thanks for being with us. (sings) hello, once again. as has been the case in recent days, tuesday brought 30 degrees widely across the southern half of the british isles and as they say on the bbc other heatwaves are available. if we get to 3a on wednesday that will put us well up the table. not quite into pole position compared to 1976, but certainly up there. of course wednesday is the summer solstice. for some the real start of summer and it will certainly feel that way, starting with 20 degrees in the south of wales and into the west country, down into the south—west of england. once the sun is up the temperatures are set to soar. that's not quite the whole story. there will be a fair amount of cloud coming in across the northern half of britain and in the afternoon we may see pretty violent thunderstorms breaking out in the far north of wales and to the north of england, maybe the scottish borders as well. the story in the south will undoubtedly be about the heat, especially if we get to that mark of 3a celsius, but it's notjust a south—eastern problem because it extends yet again into the west country, to the south—west of england, into wales, the heart of the midlands and up towards the north—west of england. further north there is a somewhat cooler feel to the weather. even some of these temperatures, for example 22 in belfast, is above average for the time of year. as you'll see, we get further north it does look very much more unsettled. those storms will rumble on during the course of the evening. and later on we will see the first signs of somewhat cooler conditions trying to move in from the atlantic. once we start putting that moisture into the mix of all of the heat that we've had of late, well, that could be quite explosive. if you catch some of these thunderstorms as they rumble from west to east, right through the heart of the british isles, will certainly know all about it. it could be gusty winds, damaging hail and there will be a lot of water very quickly, so driving conditions will be treacherous. but at least they herald the arrival of cooler and fresher weather. that will not feel the case across east anglia and the south—east, where temperatures still well on into the 20s in a couple of locations. to the latter half of the week and towards the weekend low pressure is the dominant feature. weather fronts coming in from the atlantic. all the while introducing the cooler and fresher conditions from the atlantic rather than the air from the continent that we've experienced of late. hence that sort of temperature profile will take us into a cooler weekend.

Related Keywords

New York , United States , Georgia , Malaysia , Australia , Germany , Beijing , China , Indonesia , Russia , Bonn , Nordrhein Westfalen , Brussels , Bruxelles Capitale , Belgium , London , City Of , United Kingdom , Sydney , New South Wales , British Isles , United Kingdom General , Hong Kong , Bali , Jawa Timur , North Korea , Ohio , Belfast , Singapore , South Africa , Australian , Singaporean , Chinese , Indonesian , Russian , North Koreans , Australians , Britain , Belgian , South African , American , Daniel Daylewis , Shaun Davidson , Liam Fox , Carrie Gracie , Phillip Hammond , Allahu Akbar , Carrie Lam , Chelsea Manning , Deborah Cheetham , Mohammed Sayed , Valentina Tereshkova ,