and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 6am in singapore, ”pm in london, and 5pm in the us city of houston, where tropical storm harvey has brought heavy rains and massive floods. weather forecasters have called the situation unprecedented. hospitals have been evacuated, airports shut, and many residents are trapped in their homes as waters continue to rise. at least two people have died. the state governor says the rainfall in some areas could reach an all—time record. president trump will visit texas on tuesday. 0ur correspondent, james cook, is in houston and sent this report. harvey arrived in houston with a vengeance, no longer packing the full force of a hurricane, but still deadly. forecasters say it will dump more than 50 inches in texas, making this the strongest storm on record. for the fourth largest city in the united states, the results are devastating. this appears to be either the worst or one of the worst floods houston has ever had. we are it measuring not in inches but in feet. hundreds of recuers have taken to the water in boats large and small. but the waters are hard to navigate. the currents are swift and treacherous. in these conditions, making the wrong turning can quickly become a matter of life and death. we just... we prayed a lot. we just praised god and we were rescued. so we are very thankful. houston has ground to a halt. and with the rain still coming down, the waters keep on rising. police are urging people not to venture out, not to risk their lives. and this is why. pedro told us he was almost swept away. i have to walk all the way there. there is a rescue boat. yeah. rescues are happening just up there? yeah. the storm has crippled transport and left people struggling to go about their lives. right now it is hard to believe that this is the richest nation on earth. you get a sense ofjust how quickly the situation is unfolding. the flooding clearly caught these drivers by surprise. and still the rains are coming down with no sign of it stopping. the authorities are struggling to cope. they're calling for more boats to be sent in. 2,000 people in need of rescue have called the emergency services. the mayor of the city is trying to stem a sense of panic. we are coming to you. if you are there and there is a need, we will get you. i will simply ask that you remain calm and a little patient. we will get to you. tonight, this city and its bedraggled citizens are increasingly isolated. getting in and out is becoming harder and harder. and with nightfall approaching and the waters rising, this is a disaster in the making. jason carey is a houston resident who lives in a neighbourhood that has several hospitals. from the balcony of his high rise apartment he was able to capture air ambulances rescuing patients on stretchers. he told me what he saw. the area that i live in is near the hospitals. in the neighbourhood, a number of people have had to be evacuated from neighbouring complexes. talk us through what you saw when the helicopters came down to rescue residents. there was a lot of wind and rain. people are in bad situations. i don't think we knew what was coming. people did not understand the level of flooding we would get. right now my apartment complex is flooded by water so we could not leave if we wanted to. are you getting any help at the moment? no. no help specifically, although one of the national guards walked through the apartment complex to make sure there was no one in need of dire help and evacuation. we prepared for the storm. we have buckets of water and food. convenience stores were out of water before we arrived. that was a challenge. how are you feeling about what might happen next? well, i am originally from the bahamas. i have gone through dozens of hurricanes in my life. i have never seen anything like this. with an eight—month—old in my household, i kind of worry about just how long this in my household, i kind of worry aboutjust how long this will persist considering that this can go on until wednesday. it is difficult to predict. jason carey in texas. texas isn't the only place experiencing strong winds and heavy rains. tropical storm pakhar hit hong kong and macau on sunday. both cities issued weather warnings early in the day as winds intensified, churning up rough seas and flood alerts. it comes just days after one of the strongest typhoons on record, hato, caused serious damage in the area, killing 12 people. anti—american protests have broken out in pakistan in response to a speech by the us president last week in which he accused islamabad of prolonging the war in afghanistan. pakistan has now postponed a visit by a us official that was scheduled for monday. people have been warned to stay away from beaches on part of england's south coast, and to keep doors and windows closed, after a suspected chemical leak. police said there was an "unknown haze" coming from the sea. more than 200 people have been treated in hospital. some of the eight people killed in a crash on britain's mi motorway have been named. they include several visitors from india, who were travelling in the minibus that collided with two trucks. the drivers of the trucks have been charged with causing death by dangerous driving. the annual notting hill carnival has been taking place in london. the event has been held in west london since 1966, with the colourful processions and great tunes. this year the community fell silent to remember the eighty people who died at grenfell tower fire which is close to the carnival route. dozens of white doves were released at the opening ceremony. the top story. the devastation and damage brought on by tropical storm harvey in texas. we will cross now toa harvey in texas. we will cross now to a correspondent in houston. thank you forjoining us. the waters have reached your knees. how serious is the situation? officials are calling the situation? officials are calling the flooding in houston catastrophic. epic and catastrophic. that is what they are calling this. just to give you some perspective of where we are, we are in the downtown houston area. this is buffalo. it typically floods with heavy rains but nothing like what we are seeing now. between the area and me is a park that is completely flooded. behind me is a parkway. and this is an underpass director behind me that is 20 feet deep and able to accommodate tractors and trailers. that is field to the brim. this is just one corner of the city, but it isa just one corner of the city, but it is a representation of what we have seenin is a representation of what we have seen in the last few hours. there have been hundreds if not thousands of rescues both by boat and air. people have left homes. a number of them have sought shelter. there has been an emergency shelter opened at the convention centre to accommodate thousands who have left homes with nothing but the shirts on their back. donald trump travels to texas on thursday to survey the damage and give hope. that is what we are hearing. he tweeted out earlier this morning that this was a very significant event, but that he was going to give it time before he visited because he did not want his visited because he did not want his visit to houston to be disruptive or distracting to the ongoing search and rescue efforts in response is going on right now. it appears the schedule is the next week when the president will come and see the damage for himself. right now officials are not even clear the extent of this damage in the rain event is not over yet. we are supposed to get another 25 inches of rain on top of the two feet we have right now. thank you so much for the update and please stay safe. thousands of people have left their homes after two days of violence in a deepening crisis in myanmar‘s rakhine state. people from the muslim rohingya minority have escaped to the border with bangladesh. but border guards are turning them away and non—muslim villagers have been evacuated. 0ur south asia editor, ethirajan anbarasan, reports. life in the open. these rohingya muslims are adjusting to the new reality. all these years they have been demonised and discriminated against in myanmar. but they survived. life was danger. they had no other choice but to flee across the border into bangladesh. they accuse the myanmar army of indiscriminately targeting civilians. but the government of myanmar, run by aung san suu kyi, denies the charges. translation: myanmar, run by aung san suu kyi, denies the charges. translationzlj came here alone by myself. i don't know where my four sons or grandchildren us. allah knows what will happen now. civilians are caught in the middle. the myanmar government says rohingyas are legal migrants from bangladesh. bangladesh does not accept either. they say they are being systematically driven out of myanmar. more than 400,000 rohingya refugees authority crossed into bangladesh. 0n rohingya refugees authority crossed into bangladesh. on sunday, the plight of the rohingyas echoed in rome. pope francis appealed for an end to their suffering. translation: sad news has arrived of the persecution of the religious minority, our watcher three brothers. i want to ask the lord to save them and help them and give them full rights. they are our brothers. for now, they face an uncertain future, but they cannot live in the open forever. rohingyas feel they are an abandoned community. bbc news. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. the largest internet market in the world. what's driving china's tech sector? we'll find out. he is the first african—american to win the presidential nomination of a major party, and he accepts 45 years ago to the day that martin luther king declared, "i have a dream." as darkness falls tonight, an unfamiliar light will appear in the south—eastern sky. an orange, glowing disc that is brighter than anything save the moon — our neighbouring planet mars. there is no doubt that this election is an important milestone in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. it will take months, and billions of dollars, to re pair what katrina achieved injust hours. three weeks is the longest the great clock has been off duty in 117 years, so it was with great satisfaction that clockmaker john vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories. 2,000 people are rescued from rising floodwaters in houston as a huge storm hits the us state of texas. thousands of rohingya muslims escape fighting in myanmar, only to be turned back by bangladeshi border guards. and in cricket — india have clinched a one—day international series win in sri lanka, but the match was marred by crowd trouble after fans started throwing bottles, halting the match for 35 minutes. that story is popular on bbc.com across asia. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the china daily leads on the opening of the 13th chinese games on sunday. beside a picture of the opening ceremony‘s dragon boat race, it says president xi is urging what he calls a saturation in sports to make china a great sporting nation, fitter and better prepared for the next 0lympics. singapore's straits times also focuses on a sporting theme. this is a picture of 17—year—old figure skater yu shuran, who's made it into the history books by winning singapore's first ever winter sports gold medal. and japan times reports on saturday's huge 0magari fireworks contest in daisen. below the tag line "chase the clouds away", in a reference to the recent rains which could have stopped it all happening — it features a spectacular picture of the thousands of fireworks lighting up the night sky. now, what stories are sparking discussions online? can you do that figure skating move? is actually just can you do that figure skating move? is actuallyjust missed it, ijust did it. —— you actuallyjust missed it. this video is getting a lot of attention online. it shows an old building being blown up in germany. 130 holes were filled up with dynamite in preparation. two of the pillars took half an hour to finally topple over. there are fears of further violence in india as the self—styled guru, gurmeet ram rahim singh, is sentenced for rape on monday. his conviction triggered an explosion of unrest at the weekend, 38 people were killed and more than 200 injured. thousands of police and troops have been sent to the town of rohtak, where the cult leader is being held. 0ur south asia correspondent, justin rowlatt, sent this report from the north indian city of sirsa where he's based. behind this wall is the vast temple complex that is the headquarters of the sect run by the man who became known as the guru of bling. as well as this cinema, there is a hospital, hotel and a vast auditorium. but today, his followers were in no mood to welcome visitors. 0therjournalists have been attacked and their vehicles burnt. guru ram rahim is a flamboyant and controversial figure who stars in his own movies but he commands extraordinary support. his claim that he has 60 million followers worldwide, may be an exaggeration, but one army officer told me he thinks there are at least 40,000 devotees inside the compound at the moment. driving away from the temple complex, you get a sense of how tense the atmosphere is. the local town has been under a strict lock down for days. the shops are closed and there are many roadblocks. we were turned back when we asked for permission to pass. guru ram rahim is due to be sentenced on monday in a town about two hours drive from here. the fear is, it could spark yet more violence. all day, there has been a steady stream of devotees leaving the complex. translation: we knew they would make a victim, the court forced them to do it. we all love him, god has gifted him with special powers. these guys have all left the compound. they are heading away, getting into vehicles and heading out of town. i asked them if they are going to the town where the sentencing of the guru will be held? they said no, but whether it is true or not, i don't know. local people have retreated into their homes, and with good reason. there is a huge military presence. the authorities have ordered the guru's assets, including the temple complex, be seized. but the devotees don't look ready to give it up without a fight, leaving a very dangerous stand—off. with it's massive population, china is the largest internet market in the world. despite government restrictions, the internet in china is used by a staggering 751 million people. ninety five % are getting online access through their smart phones and perhaps its no surprise the majority are between the ages of ten and 39. so what is driving internet trends in china? edith yeung has released a report and i asked her to break it down for us. in addition to smart phones being so popular and basically doubling the size of the us population, over 750 million people are online. it is exciting, the number one service is messaging. this is the only way in china i can find messaging. this is the only way in china i canfind my messaging. this is the only way in china i can find my family, co—workers, and most chinese people use this. over 6 million people use weechat every day. also, crypto currency is used very frequently. they have increased 40 times in value in the last four months. also, live streaming. normal people can perform, sing and dance, and make money from receiving virtual flowers. 0ver money from receiving virtual flowers. over $1 billion has been made like this. based on -- those numbers are staggering. it feels like many other countries are being left behind, and china is leading the way. why do you think that is?|j think the way. why do you think that is?” think for a long time china did not go through the technological revolution, web 2.0. we did everything on desktop. those communications were really bad. now, everything they have developed, a lot of these things, for the first time they are on smart phones, and thatis time they are on smart phones, and that is why they are so advanced, because they don't have to worry about legacy systems. the market is so big in china, do they need to think about what is happening outside of the country? will they just consider continuing business inside? most chinese entrepreneurs are focused on just the china market. even overseas, there is maybe one third or half of the potential uses they would get in china. why would they go outside of china? a determined team of young women from india are trying to change attitudes towards sailing — and they're undertaking a big challenge to do it. in just a matter of days, they will begin their attempt to circumnavigate the globe. and if they manage to complete their goal, they'll be making waves in more ways than one. we have been training for the last two years as a team. when we started, there could have been initial hiccups in building the team. we have now reached a stage where we can say, ok, we are 18. we are where we can say, ok, we are 18. we a re pretty where we can say, ok, we are 18. we are pretty much excited, presently our preparations are on track for the long voyage. you would ask why a sailing is not so you would ask why a sailing is not so popular in india, it is because it is very expensive. we have a very long maritime history in terms of sailing, but we don't have good infrastructure. maybe people will change their reconceived notions about women and probably have more faith, maybe that will give women some confidence. we are normal people, if we can do it, so can you. are normal people, if we can do it, so can you. good luck, ladies, you can do it. and before we go, here's more from the opening ceremony of the china national games in tianjin, known as china's mini 0lympics. stay with us. hello. temperatures are coming down in the week ahead, make the most of any warm sunshiny hub on monday. the bulk will be across parts of england and wales, for scotland and northern ireland, weather fronts close by. winds picking up and some wet weather to come. this band of rain pushing south during the day. not too much wet weather into eastern scotland. with it, windy, some cloud increasing. north—west england into wales. for the pennines and east wales, very warm sunshine. 0nce wales. for the pennines and east wales, very warm sunshine. once this green band has pushed through northern ireland in scotland, especially in the evening, brightening up again from the north. 0ne brightening up again from the north. one or two showers, a spell of rain for a glasgow and fringing into edinburgh through the afternoon. to the south, staying dry for the bulk of the day across northern england. venturing into the lake district in snowdonia, low cloud and drizzle around. for eastern wales across the midlands, east anglia, southern england, long and sunny spells. for some, unbroken sunshine. that allows temperatures to head higher than sunday. across parts of south—east england, 28— 29, even a chance of 30. it could be the warmest bank holiday on record. monday night, this band of cloud and rain across northern england and the midlands by tuesday morning. cool feel behind that across northern ireland, might be into east anglia in south—east england. warm and sunny spells before cloud increasing in east anglia in south—east england. not much rain on this area of cloud, sinking south. to the north, cool and fresh feeling. some sunny spells across wales, northern ireland and scotland. some areas of northern scotla nd scotland. some areas of northern scotland will see showers. they could be heavy. complicated picture on wednesday. low pressure threatening england and wales. 0n thursday, high—pressure building in across the uk. 0n thursday, high—pressure building in across the uk. on wednesday, england and wales could see some rain. 0ne or two of those continuing on thursday. for thursday into friday at the weekend, high—pressure settling things down. the outlook this week, warm, even very warm start for some. turning cooler as the week goes on. a bit of rain, monday, wednesday. high—pressure settling things down later in the week. i'm with bbc world news. our top story. tropical storm harvey has brought massive flooding across much of texas. houston has been badly hit. more than 2,000 people have been rescued as the waters continue to rise. president trump is due to visit texas on tuesday. thousands of rohingya muslims are stranded on the bangladeshi border, after escaping two days of violence in myanmar‘s rakhine state. it's the latest in a deepening crisis in the region. and this story is trending on bbc.com. there's a heavy security presence in northern india, ahead of the sentencing of a controversial guru convicted of rape. 38 people died during protests after gurmeet ram rahim singh was found guilty. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.

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