haiti's capital closes down as the government tries to enforce a state of emergency after armed gangs stormed a prison, freeing thousands of dangerous criminals. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. broadcasting to viewers we begin in beijing, where china's most high—profile political gathering is due to get under way in the next few hours. the meeting will lay out the government's vision for the year ahead and will be closely watched. our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, is in tiananmen square and gave me his analysis ahead of the national people's congress. well, on a bleak old day in beijing, i'm sure you can tell there's icy, light snow falling down, the national people's congress opens at a time of great pressure on the

chinese economy. now, normally, this is a kind of rubber—stamp session where pre—approved decisions are cleared and made official. but that said, because it's so organised and because we already know, or at least the government already knows, what it's going to announce, then we can get an idea of what they're thinking. and people are going to want to know what the plan is for the economy. there's huge pressure on the real estate sector, local government debt, university graduates are looking for good jobs — all these bread and butter issues, just like in other countries. and even though this is a kind of turgid, rubber—stamp mass gathering, people will nevertheless be looking for some concrete solutions to come out of it. and just elaborate, if you could, a bit more about the issues or the biggest issues that are on the minds

of people you've spoken to. yeah, it's economy, economy, economy this year... i mean, sure, there'll be, you know, talk of relations with taiwan and the us and the environment, renewable energy, all this sort of stuff, but this year, you know, there is a lot of concern about what's going to happen with the chinese economy. i mean, this once seemingly unassailable giant of powerhouse of growth has been spluttering along, especially with the real estate sector. you know, you've got households that have put all their savings into flats which have never been delivered, you know, people coming out of university who have paid all this money, have used all these years to study and can't get a good job. so these are the issues that will be the most important at this session. basically, it'll be going for the next week or so, snd so there'll be various press conferences and the like from the head of the reserve bank.

and it's not only from the most senior people that we get sort of press conferences from, but today, for example, the government work report, it's kind of like a state of the union speech, where the first half of it is where china has been going over the last year. and then the second half is what we plan to do, and that's where they'll be, for example, announcing the gdp projected growth rate for this year. and so this is why all eyes are on the great hall of the people today, certainly in china. with me is ben hofman from the east asia institute at the national university of singapore. thanks so much forjoining me today. firstly, as we heard from stephen, talking about the bread—and—butter issues that are very much in peoples minds, is that how you see it as well? the economy is definitely at the forefront and the key

question is, what growth rate is the government going to announce at this meeting? the prime minister is going to read out the government work report, which is to say the union address —— the state of the union address, which stephen said. the question is, how high do the government see growth happening this year? the expectation is it will be about 5%, so nothing different from last year. it does imply a change in policy, could weather is good to be stiffness coming out of this meeting, on the fiscal side, out of this meeting, on the fiscalside, more out of this meeting, on the fiscal side, more proactive, out of this meeting, on the fiscalside, more proactive, on the monetary side, that had basically been set. they are risk—averse on the monetary side. also there is not that many people who want to borrow. on the housing issue, it is essential element to the whole economy. stabilising the housing sector at a much lower level than before. it is now only 60% of

whatever it was. that should be about the level the government targets. about the level the government tar: ets. , about the level the government taraets. , , . targets. help us connect the dots with — targets. help us connect the dots with the _ targets. help us connect the dots with the she _ targets. help us connect the dots with the she dp - targets. help us connect the l dots with the she dp number, which could be about 5%, and how that impacts housing, jobs? —— the how that impacts housing, jobs? -- the gdp how that impacts housing, jobs? —— the gdp number. that how that impacts housing, “obs? -- the gdp numbnfi -- the gdp number. that comes down to the _ -- the gdp number. that comes down to the specific _ -- the gdp number. that comes down to the specific measures. l down to the specific measures. some measures will be taken to support some of the property developers, to make sure people get their housing, they have already paid for, on the job site, it is by and large keeping growth going. therefore, new graduates could that employment. it is a bit of a tricky issue, because a general stemless would treat the jobs for but the government is really much more focused on the high—quality development, on the new productive forces —— general stimulus would create jobs for everybody. quite a bit of people are not educated for that. how that translates into resolving the issue of youth

unemployment, remains to be seen. ., , ., seen. the long-term goals and immediate _ seen. the long-term goals and immediate concerns _ seen. the long-term goals and immediate concerns they - seen. the long-term goals and immediate concerns they have | seen. the long-term goals and l immediate concerns they have to address as well. i want to get your thoughts on the political side of things. the prime minister not going to be speaking to depressed this year, is a first for a premier cannot speak. what do you make of that? it cannot speak. what do you make of that? ., , ., , cannot speak. what do you make of that? . , ., , ., of that? it was a bit of a surprise- _ of that? it was a bit of a surprise. it _ of that? it was a bit of a surprise. it is _ of that? it was a bit of a surprise. it is a - of that? it was a bit of a surprise. it is a pity - of that? it was a bit of a - surprise. it is a pity because i always enjoyed the press conference. he gave one last year. but then he already said, look, my main purpose here is to infonet whatever the central committee of the ie the party, is telling me to do. this is a further evolution of that, not that much need, because everything is already clear from party decisions and therefore this interaction with therefore this interaction with the press mayjust suggest there might be a difference of thinking between him and president xijinping, and president xi jinping, and that's president xijinping, and that's what the party wants to avoid. �* ., ~ , that's what the party wants to avoid. �* . ~', ,., that's what the party wants to avoid. �* . . ., avoid. bert, thanks so much for cominu avoid. bert, thanks so much for coming in _ avoid. bert, thanks so much for coming in and _ avoid. bert, thanks so much for coming in and putting _ avoid. bert, thanks so much for coming in and putting that - avoid. bert, thanks so much for

coming in and putting that into| coming in and putting that into context for us, from the national university of singapore. on two other news. the white house says vice president kamala harris has expressed deep concern over the humanitarian situation in gaza during talks with the israeli war cabinet member benny gantz. ms harris's office said she urged israel to let more aid into gaza, while calling on hamas to accept terms for a ceasefire. mr gantz�*s visit has been criticised by some in benjamin netanyahu's government, who've said any commitments he might make would not be binding. the bbc is currently unable to report from inside gaza. our fergal keane sent this update from jersualem, and i should warn you that his report contains some distressing images. a grief so calamitous it is deaf to the rumours of peace. this is the 150th day of war. and each day, the images of the grieving and of the dead

are beamed to the world. this woman was sheltering with 45 family members when a rocket struck. seven were killed, including two children. a ceasefire might save the living. it won't bring back the dead. nawaf zre'y has lived and worked among the dead since the war began. he is a shrouder. he cleans and wraps the dead for burial — hundreds of them. "yes, but their families don't yet know they're dead."

30,000 deaths have created many widows and orphans. near rafah, they stay together, in a camp of the widows, within a larger camp. new structures are being built. the un estimates 3,000 women have been widowed by war. zahra al—ras, aged 26, has four children. one of them is disabled. another suffered severe burns. her husband, mahmoud, was killed when he went to find food for the family a month ago. zahra found him dying in hospital.

often these days, there is nothing to eat. like the bereaved of all wars, this family clings to fragments of a world broken beyond repair. the children are zahra's life now, the living world she holds in her arms. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. un experts say there's convincing information that hamas carried out rape and other forms of sexual violence when it attacked israel in october. they said the hostages it holds could still be

subjected to abuse. hamas has consistently rejected allegations of sexual violence. here's pramila patten, the un's envoy for sexual violence in conflict. with regard to the hostages taken to gaza, we found a clear and convincing information that sexual violence, including rape, sexualised order, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, has been committed against captives. and we also have reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may still be ongoing against those still held in captivity. i pause and must add that i am of the strong opinion that this finding does not in any way legitimise further violence but actually reinforces the need for an urgent cease—fire. here's our north america correspondent nada tawfik with more. we've had this visit from pramila patten to israel and the west bank.

it was not investigative in nature, but it was there to kind of gather information on these allegations out there and to verify the allegations. and she's come back and said that they met with the israeli national institutions, security forces, they reviewed photos and footage of the october 7th attacks by hamas militants, conducted interviews with survivors, and while they were told there are a small number of reported victims still getting treatment for trauma, they weren't able to interview any. but she said, based on the information gathered, that they did find clear and convincing information that sexual violence, including rape, had been committed against hostages and also that there were reasonable grounds to believe that conflict—related sexual violence occurred in multiple locations on october 7th. to the us now, where the supreme court has ruled that donald trump can stand as a republican presidential candidate in colorado. voters there and in more than a dozen other states are preparing to go to the polls in what some commentators call super tuesday to pick their party's presidential nominee.

mr trump had originally been struck off the ballot under a ruling which had held him accountable for the attack on the capitol on 6january in 2021 by his supporters. here's our north america correspondent, gary o'donoghue. nine supreme courtjustices, one unanimous decision, clearing the way for donald trump to remain on the presidential ballot now and for november's general election. following hard on the heels of last week's decision by the court to intervene in a criminal case over his part in the capitol riots, the former president was today singing the court's praises. i have great respect for the supreme court and i want to just thank them for working so quickly and so diligently and so brilliantly and again, this is a unifying factor. several states had tried to exclude the former president in their primaries, citing a provision in the constitution — passed after the civil war —

barring insurrectionists from holding national office. while the nine justices took no view on whether he had engaged in insurrection, they said the states had no power under the constitution to enforce the provision with respect to federal offices, and congress alone could do that. while donald trump's legal problems have taken a turn for the better, he still faces a criminal trial later this month in new york over hush money payments to a porn star, and a federal trial, possibly in the summer, over his retention of classified documents after he left office. he has also been hit by fines and compensation payments of well over $400 million following his defeat in two civil trials. all these legal difficulties have in fact been a double—edged sword for the former president. he has managed to raise huge amounts of money off the back of them and by politicising the court cases, he has motivated his own supporters.

but the polls still show that some voters in those key swing states won't vote for him if he becomes a convicted felon before the election. despite all his legal problems, the former president looks set to sweep the board tomorrow when 15 states vote in the republican primary. his nomination for the candidacy is all but secure, his legal worries still far from over. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. bbc news — bringing you different stories| from across the uk. this all—terrain wheelchair has changed josh's life. 25 years ago was the last time i came up here, when i used to be able to walk, and i got this chair a year and a half ago and it was kind of all those childhood memories started coming back. this is what the chair is capable of doing, is giving people that freedom and independence that they lost because of the condition. although he's had a muscle—wasting condition since childhood, josh isn't a man who likes

to take it easy. ijust knew snowdon would be a challenge and i knew that there was a route that was potentially accessible. i saw another chap go up in a powered chair and i thought, "if he can do it, then i can." injune, he'll be racing to the top of mount snowdon against someone with the same condition, raising money to help buy more off—road wheelchairs. not many people know these chairs exist, and this is part of the reason of kind of raising awareness that these chairs are out there. for more stories . from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. a "transparent attempt to split the west" — that's how the white house has described an alleged russian leak of audio appearing to show german air force officials discussing giving ukraine long range missiles. in the 38—minute leaked recording, they are heard discussing how taurus long range cruise missiles could be used by ukraine. the breach has sparked major concerns about germany's security among its allies,

including france and the uk. here's some of the alleged recording as voiced by a producer at the bbc. let me start with what could be the most critical thing that might happen given the current discussions. if the chancellor does provide us with the taurus missiles, one aspect is the timing of this. we would say, "that's great, but it will take another "eight we would say, "that's great, but it will take another eight months until you can use it." secondly, there's no way of speeding up the process because of the danger of mishaps and the missile going down on a nursery causing civilian victims. they were talking there about germany's potential military support for ukraine. that's provoked a response from russia, who say this is evidence of direct western involvement in the war in ukraine. this suggests that within germany's armed forces plans for striking the territory of the russian federation are being discussed substantively and specifically. but germany's defence minister described this so—called leak as a part of a disinformation attack by moscow.

translation: no-one seriously believes that it was _ a coincidence that at the end of a week, just before - the weekend, the day. after the funeral service for navalny, after new- revelations about the wirecard scandal, this recording is now being published by chance. i germany is a member of nato, so this has sparked questions of whether their involvement could trigger russia's war in ukraine to escalate further afield. nato countries do already send ammunition to ukraine, but why has the mention of these particular missiles provoked such a reaction? on that, here's the russia editor for bbc monitoring. ukraine, as we have heard many times over the past weeks, is quite simply running out of western—supplied ammunition, and if it were to obtain such long—range missiles, it would be able to target really important russian facilities, which is also the reason why germany is reluctant to supply

these missiles. but germany's chancellor says he has made it clear that he does not want to escalate the conflict by sending these missiles to ukraine. here's what he said earlier. translation: if you want to have control and that is only | possible if german soldiers are involved, that is out of the question for me. and i have made this statement very clear. i am the chancellor, and therefore that applies. in the last few hours, an air national guard member has pleaded guilty to posting dozens of classified documents online. it's one of highest profile intelligence leaks in recent years involving maps, satellite images and intelligence on us allies. while working at an air national guard base, jack teixeira posted documents to discord, a platform popular with gamers. mr teixeira was questioned by fellow users of the social media platform about whether what he was posting was classified information.

he readily admitted that it was. and he said that he didn't care and that he wouldn't get caught. well, mr teixeira grossly underestimated the investigative powers of the fbi and the department ofjustice. a 72—hour state of emergency has been declared in the capital of the caribbean island haiti after two mass jailbreaks. gang leaders say they want to force haiti's prime minister to resign — he had been out of the country, on a visit to kenya. james landale has the latest. gunfire haiti has long been lawless and violent, but now it's getting worse. in the capital, port—au—prince, people ran for their lives as what law and order there was broke down. thousands have fled their homes. powerful armed gangs already control much of the city, but yesterday they overran two prisons, freeing — it's estimated — about 4,000 inmates. some stayed behind to avoid the shooting.

translation: the riot in the prison put our lives at risk. i we hid because there was a lot of firing. we were afraid for our lives. the government declared a state of emergency in the capital, with curfews in place, but they may be hard to enforce. the gangs, which so often fight each other, have come together to try to oust the prime minister, ariel henry. he was in nairobi trying to persuade kenya's president to send him police officers as part of a un security force. he is thought to be returning to haiti now. but a notorious gang leader known as "barbeque" said the armed groups were united against the prime minister. translation: we ask - the haitian national police and the military to take responsibility and arrest ariel henry. haiti has long experience of dictatorship... i have been elected for president for life. ..but recent years have been particularly bloody. in 2021, the president was assassinated, leaving

a political vacuum, largely filled with the gangs. killing, rape and kidnap are widespread. elections have been promised but not held, and it seems the gangs are losing patience. james landale, bbc news. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the uk government suffers five defeats in the house of lords on its rwanda bill, as peers vote for the new act to comply with uk and international law. three years after sarah everard was murdered by a serving police officer, the detective who led the murder inquiry has spoken to the bbc about her shock at finding out their chief suspect worked for the metropolitan police. last week, an independent inquiry found chances to stop wayne couzens were repeatedly missed. george galloway has been sworn in as rochdale's new member of parliament.

the controversial politician is representing the workers party of britain. his by election campaign tapped into public anger over the war in gaza, and lobbied against israeli military action. the prime minister called his victory "beyond alarming". now, how long would you wait for a lost item to be returned to you? it's probably not the best part of three decades — that's how long a former fi driver has waited for his rare ferrari to be found and returned, as grace harbage reports. this is former fi star gerhard berger, who in april 1995 finished third at the san marino grand prix in imola. it was also when the austrian�*s red 512 m ferrari were stolen. 28 years later, police in london have recovered the rare car, thought to be worth around £350,000. the met police's vehicle crime unit and the national crime agency discovered the car had been injapan up until late last year, when it was brought back to the uk. ferrari alerted the police back in january after the car

was purchased by a us buyer. pc mike pilbeam said... it was one of two ferraris stolen in 1995. the other one is still missing. only 501 of the 512 models were made between 1992 and 1996. the owners include french actor alain delon, eltonjohn and michaeljordan. the police have said the investigation has been painstaking and that no—one has been arrested, and mr berger, still heavily involved in formula 1 and seen here at the bahrain grand prix at the weekend, is also yet to comment. a reminder of our top story — china's most high—profile political gathering is due to get under way shortly. the government will be presenting its vision

for the main issues facing the country, including the economy and housing. a short while ago we heard that china plans to raise his defence spending. we will be bringing you all the latest on the event as it unfolds. hello. there may be the odd hiccup along the way, but by and large, for the rest of this week, it's looking better than it has done in recent weeks, with the tendency for most of us to be a good deal drier. things will become windier again as we go through the week, and that's because we're stuck in a bit of a tussle between high pressure building across scandinavia — high generally means dry weather — and low pressure out in the atlantic. and, whilst they try to get closer, high pressure will be the dominant feature. tuesday, however, will be a bit of a transition day of sorts. now, we start with a bit of frost across central,

western england and wales, certainly frost free towards the east — and that's because we've got a weather frontier which has become stranded as we go into the start of the day. cloud, outbreaks of rain, quite misty around hills and coasts, too. it'll sit there all day long around some coastal districts. it may brighten up a touch inland, chance of a few heavier showers and a rumble of thunder towards the far southeast, and some showers in the morning in northern ireland will work through into western scotland. elsewhere, most of you will be dry — the odd shower can't be ruled out, but it'll be quite pleasant in the sunny spells that develop. now, as we go through into tuesday night, that weather front is still there in some form. so plenty of clouds, still the chance of some light rain or drizzle, and a bit of a breeze blowing across the north and east of scotland, as we'll see through tuesday itself. but into wednesday morning, it's a case of the frost will be quite extensive again in western parts of england and wales, as well as western scotland, and maybe a bit in northern ireland. it's here we start wednesday with the sunshine. a few showers maybe towards the far west of cornwall later on. always more cloud in northeastern england, eastern scotland, with the tendency for some drizzle on the hills.

a brighter day and drier day for some other parts of eastern england, and temperatures creeping a little bit above where we should be for this stage in the year. now, as we go into wednesday night and thursday, high pressure builds a bit more and low pressure gets closer. we squeeze the isobars together more, so there'll be more of a breeze by the time we hit thursday. that will bring a bit more cloud across northern and eastern areas — the greater chance of 1—2 showers drifting in, as well. many, though, to the south and west will stay dry — and because that wind coming in from the south easterly direction, it's these areas most favoured for the best of the sunshine. feeling a little bit cooler, especially in the cloudier spots, compared with wednesday. into friday and the weekend — a lot of dry weather to begin with, but there's a greater chance of a bit of rain developing here and there as we go into saturday and sunday. take care.

china's national people's congress kicks off today, with premier li qiang set to outline key measures to get the world's number—two economy back on track. and more trouble for elon musk — the boss of x is being sued over unpaid severance by former twitter employees. hello, and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai.

we begin in beijing — where china's national people's congress will get under way in a few hours. the annual session of parliament sets the political agenda for the year. it is mostly a political performance in which rubber—stamped decisions by the communist party are already made behind closed doors. beijing officials say the world's second economy grew by 5.2% last year. but it is facing several headwinds, including a property bubble that's burst and weak domestic spending. i spoke to china expert louise loo, from oxford economics, who weighed in on how beijing is likely to prop up the economy. i think one, it's really about stabilising. policymakers will be using this platform as a way to anchor confidence. so whatever they've announced, you'll be mindful of how the markets will perceive that. so i think we have a confidence crisis stemming from the property sector, which is obvious to correcting. but in order to really overcome that

economy now is important to anchor confidence. in