welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm steven lai. the headlines: several western countries accused china of military cyber attacks. china because the allegations malicious letters. the uk has already imposed sanctions for cyber threat posed by jonathan sanctions for cyber threat posed byjonathan head actors is real and serious. but posed by jonathan head actors is real and serious.— is real and serious. but it is more than _ is real and serious. but it is more than by _ is real and serious. but it is more than by other- is real and serious. but it is - more than by other termination and resolve to resist it. fix, and resolve to resist it. a dramatic moment at the united nations. forthe dramatic moment at the united nations. for the first time security council votes for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. israel criticises the move cancels this delegation planned visit to the us. donald trump will stand trial next month

over hush money he's accused of paying an adult film star — the first former us president to face a criminal trial. president putin blames islamist extremists for the moscow concert hall attack as four of the gunmen are charged with terrorism. again ali amarni, co—ordinated rates by law enforcement on houses belonging to musician sean dilley combs. voice—over: 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. we begin in the us, where thejustice department and fbi say that online accounts for millions of americans have been caught up in a chinese hacking plot that targeted us officials. seven chinese nationals have been charged with enacting a widespread cyberattack campaign.

the charges come as governments in new zealand and australia have also expressed concerns about malicious cyber activity by chinese state—backed actors. and in the uk, the government has accused china of being responsible for "malicious cyber campaigns" targeting the country's electoral commission and politicians. diplomats at the chinese embassy in london said it "strongly opposes" the accusations, calling them "completely fabricated and malicious slanders". our political editor, chris mason, has more details. who is watching? who is listening? china, an economic powerhouse, a one—party state, a world view a world away from our own. right honourable oliver dowden... beijing spying and meddling, a cyberattack on the elections watchdog — the electoral commission. this is the latest in a clear pattern of hostile activity originating in china. two people and a company linked

to the chinese state are to face sanctions, banned from travelling to the uk and their assets here frozen. we will support the government in efforts to counter attempts by china or any other state to interfere with or undermine the democratic process. america is accusing china of a vast and brash illegal hacking operation. it's bringing criminal charges against seven chinese nationals. and from beijing? dripping contempt. translation: one should not pin the blame on some - certain countries- without any factual basis. don't let's politicise this issue. - back in westminster, a campaign group gathers. the chinese state media says this alliance, which has members in more than 30 countries, is sinister, extremist. this is a challenge to the very way that we live our lives,

to our belief in democracy, human rights, freedom of expression, freedom of worship. sir iain reckons the uk's still too soft on china, and plenty of mps on all sides agree. things have changed though. look at this! it's less than 10 years since the now foreign secretary, david cameron, was swigging a pint with the chinese president in buckinghamshire. there is much more scepticism now but there was one key question i wanted to ask for you, when i spoke to this former secret service official. i wonder how worried we should be as individuals, maybe scared even, about china? the overwhelming majority of the british people probably have nothing to be worried about, but if you are engaged in politics or in areas such as human rights promotion then you can safely assume that china is going to want to be on your case. cybercrime in the shadows, the world's newest superpower — dealing with china, one

of the challenges of our age. chris mason, bbc news. professor of cyber security from the university of auckland, giovanni russello, told me he's not surprised by the timing of these cyber attacks. i'm not really surprise about what's going on here. i mean, it's basically quite normal that especially in a network, the environment that that people try to find vulnerabilities. i mean, this is something that it's not only kind of humans nowadays doing it, but with the ai machine that do it by themselves. so my main concern is from, as a citizen point of view, is how much my government or government, the uk, us or whatever, i mean, they are doing in order to protect my data that is up there? so, you know, in business world, we usually have people coming in and doing

like penetration testing to find vulnerabilities. so what's happening here is that whatever actors behind these kind of attacks have found that there is a problem within the government electoral basically commission there, or the infrastructure. and so basically, i would like to see more response of how seriously people are taking these kind of threats and how much are investing in cybersecurity. because at the end of the day, i believe that there is a bit of a lack of foresight here. so cybersecurity always seems like a place where you put the money, but you don't see a kind of a returns except when a situation like this happens. so it would be really good if a government organisation would be able to more upfront with, you know, providing a proper support for their cybersecurity teams in order to kind of protect their digital infrastructure.

and at the end of the day, is our data that is out there. and giovanni, can you give us a sense of how sophisticated cyberattacks are getting, and how ai is playing a part? you mentioned it earlier. yeah. i mean, so kenko is a basic case trying to find the known vulnerabilities, but also it can be much more sophisticated that and consider that a human hacker has to sleep, has to eat, so machines don't have that kind of problem. so you can imagine that are becoming so sophisticated. there is a continuous kind of assault to our digital infrastructure. so from, you know, you cannot control bad actors to do bad things, but from your side of the organisation, what you can do is to try to invest in cybersecurity personnel and technology in order to bring up your defence.

so, yeah, the threats are very, very serious and very sophisticated. and we are only considering machines to machines here, right? because when you bring in humans in the loop, then things get even more complicated. professor of cyber security from the university of auckland giovanni russello. the 15 countries which make up the un security council have for the first time backed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. they also called for the release of all israeli hostages. israel's main ally, the us, changed its position and abstained from the vote rather than blocking it — leading israel to accuse america of "abandoning its policy in the un." it also cancelled a scheduled trip to the white house this week. here'sjohn sudworth. please raise their hand. this time, for the first time, none of the five permanent security council members used their power of veto. abstention? instead, the us only abstained.

after multiple failed attempts, a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire was finally passed. the draft resolution has been adopted. israel responded with anger. while the resolution does call for the release of hostages, it argues that should be made a prior condition for any ceasefire. your demand for a ceasefire without conditioning it on the release of the hostages not only is not helpful, but it undermines — undermines — the efforts to secure their release. palestine's representative at the un on the other hand welcomed the vote. this must lead to saving lives on the ground. - this must signal the end of this i assault of atrocities against our people. j the us decision to abstain, thereby allowing the resolution to pass, is another sign of its growing frustration over the way israel is prosecuting the war.

and it's a rift that is only deepening. in response, the israeli government has announced the cancellation of a high—level delegation due to visit the white house this week. john sudworth, bbc news, new york. donald trump is to face a criminal trial on 15 april — the first—ever criminal trial of a former or current us president. mr trump is alleged to have paid hush money to a porn star, stormy daniels, over a sexual relationship which he denies. here's our north america editor, sarah smith. it is a spectacle every time the trump cavalcade rolls up for another court date. today's journey was to try to delay his first criminal trialfor making illegal hush money payments to an adult film star who claimed to have had an affairwith him, saying it will interfere with his election campaign. we're going through this weaponisation of our government to try and knock out somebody�*s political opponent. and so far, based on the polls, it's not working at all. the people understand it. we have a man who just ruled he'd like the trial the start

in 21 days or something. and i don't know how you're going to have a trial that's going on right in the middle of an election. not fair. donald trump had hoped to delay all four of his criminal trials until after the presidential election in november. he's not at all happy that this case will start in just three weeks. but he did get better news out of a different new york court, which gave him more time to pay an enormous fine that was due today. mr trump had feared that his beloved trump tower could be seized and his bank accounts frozen as he couldn't pay the m64 million fine. in the nick of time, an appeal court gave him another ten days and reduced the sum to 175 million, an amount he says he can afford and that he'll pay the money very quickly. victory messages went out to supporters saying, "trump tower remains mine", but he is still asking them to send money, claiming the political persecution continues. sarah smith, bbc news, new york.

los angeles dodgers player shohei ohtani has denied betting on sports, saying his former interpreter ippei mizuhura had stolen money from his account to fuel a gambling habit. the dodgers fired translator mizuhara last week after claims of "massive theft" emerged. at least $4.5 million was reportedly transferred from ohtani's bank account to a bookmaker. ohtani says he found out about the alleged theft in a meeting last week. homeland security rudan saraid of the los angeles home of music mogul sean �*diddy�* combs in connection with the sex trafficking investigation. last year the r&b singer cassie sued the founder of bad boy, alleging years of abuse with the parent agreeing on a settlement the following day. —— the pair. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you're live with bbc news. president putin has conceded for the first time

that the deadly attack on a concert hall in moscow on friday was carried out by islamist extremists — but he maintained that it was likely that ukraine was behind the it — an accusation kyiv describes as absurd. at least 137 people were killed in the atrocity our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports now from moscow. in court, the men russia says committed mass murder. four suspects. battered. blooded. and, in one case, barely conscious. all four were charged with terrorism. just days after this. islamic state had been quick to claim it was behind the attack on the crocus city hall concert hall. tonight, russia's president said radical islamists had carried out out the mass shooting. but he still tried to link it to ukraine. translation: we must, of course. _ answer the question why was it ukraine that the terrorists

tried to go to after their crime? who was waiting for them there? it's clear that those that support the kyiv regime don't want to be accessories of terror and sponsors of terrorism, but there are many questions. same message in the russian media. "ukraine is to blame," but no evidence. so this paper says it believes that ukraine carried out the attack, without providing any evidence for that. it writes, "there are some basic truths, fire burns, "the wind blows and the kyiv of regime are murderers "and terrorists." and in this paper, a russian mp says, "russia needs "to take kyiv and crush the terrorist beast." which raises the question, will russia try to use the devastating attack on the concert hall to try to justify a future escalation in its war on ukraine? concern too, that moscow may use this moment to increase repression at home.

that's what happens with the kgb state. the kbb state uses any opportunity, when there is some crisis or a threat, to make sure that it hammers all the nails into the coffin of freedom. so, in other words, a further crackdown coming? i actually would even bet on that. and as russians reflect on the horror that unfolded here, what is the mood in moscow? there is no sense of panic, but people are worried. "things don't feel right," alexandra says. "i don't feel safe." i felt fear going outside, - and i had to go to the store, and when i left my home, i ijust thought that i should hurry and come back to my flat, because it is the only place - where i can be safe. and that is what the gunmen wanted. notjust to kill, but to leave a nation in fear. steve rosenberg,

bbc news, moscow. greg barton, who is a professor in global islamic politics at deakin university, explained more about the men in custody and why russia was attacked. there's four tajik nationals that at least they don't appear to speak russian. they do appear to be tajik. they're speaking through a tajiki interpreter. tajikistan, of course, is the country in central asia, along the northern border of afghanistan and islamic state khorasan, which was formed in 2015 in afghanistan. khorasan refers to the area to the east, including central asia, afghanistan, pakistan, iran. islamic state khorasan appears to be the group behind this. we know that islamic state khorasan isk has many tajik and other central asian members. we know that there are possibly several million central asians working, some documented, some undocumented in russia playing a vital role, by the way, in the war economy, working in factories

where russian nationals are off serving, fighting in ukraine or suffering from — recovering from their injuries. so putin wanted to have a victory in terms of catching the gunmen, appears to have that. this seems credible. and now he's in a dilemma. if he cracks down too hard on central asians, it's counterproductive to his war efforts. he wants to try and seize this moment and deflect anger towards ukraine. so there's this sort of vaguely plausible, but from putin's point of view, a very sensible allegation that somehow the ukrainians must have facilitated this attack. and why do you think that putin disregarded earlier warnings from the us about this possible attack and how is this playing out for him domestically? well, the warnings, of course, came in the context of his so—called election campaign. and, you know, relations with america and europe have broken down to a historically low level in the past. there's been good ct cooperation. so foolishly, putin came out and said that these allegations, these friendly warnings, are a form of blackmail and they are despoiling the reputation of russia.

now, he looks rather silly now. so he's trying to pivot, not saying the americans were right, but saying it was the ukrainians. and anyway, we've got these awful terrorists and ukraine will pay the price. so he's trying to sidestep the whole embarrassment. it was an intelligence failure, partly driven by hubris and partly driven by distraction with what's going on in ukraine and partly, of course, distraction with the so—called election. and how do you expect putin then and the kremlin to respond to this attack? well, there's putin and the kremlin, but there's also ultranationalists that have been unleashed in russia. i mean, putin himself wasn't historically an ultra nationalist. he's tilted that way because of circumstances. so when you bring these four men, one barely alive, into the courtroom, televised live, clearly beaten to a pulp, it sends a signal to ultranationalist militia vigilante forces to go out and hunt down central asians. i mean, that's very likely the repercussions. so whether or not the kremlin has to do it directly

or whether it's done through proxies, which of course is a favourite way of the kremlin working anyway, it's likely this is going to lead to a cycle of violence against central asians in russia. and we're talking hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people who may be vulnerable to that. and you mentioned a cycle of violence. should we expect more of such attacks in russia and perhaps even in other parts of europe? yeah. one thing we know about isis—k and isis generally and other terror groups is they keep on trying and they mostly fail. but when they do succeed, for them, it's a spectacular success. so isis—k apparently was involved in 21 plots last year and eight the year before. it's ramping up its efforts and apparently its capacity. of course, it was successful injanuary in kerman, in iran, the terrible suicide bombing, the worst terror attack in iran in decades. it attacked a year before the russian embassy in kabul. so it does have some successes. it's now focusing on international attacks and it will be emboldened, its brand will be strengthened.

it'll be easier for recruiters and mobilises to put together further attacks. most of them hopefully will be thwarted and will likely fail. but there's a fair chance a successful attack will occur in russia or in europe. france has just put their nation on the highest security level three months out of the olympics. it must be extremely concerning for them. greg barton, of deakin university, detained in relation to appropriate case in may last year, the chinese, suspected 31—year—old korean international of accepting bribes and a crackdown on corruption and match fixing in chinese football. scientists and europe's sent of a subtropical polymer is separately $120 million fund for ghost particles which may exist but have not yet been found. 95% of particles that

make up the universe remained hidden and new experiments hope to find out why. boeing's chief executive is to step down by the end of the year as part of a huge shakeup of the firm's top management after a recent safety crisis. the us plane maker has faced heavy scrutiny after two fatal crashes in the past six years followed by a boeing 737 max 9's landor flowing after this year. we will have more in our business coverage later today. a theme park based on the japanese animation franchise dragon ball is set to be built not injapan, but in saudi arabia. the qiddiya investment company — which is wholly owned by the saudi arabian government's investment fund — have announced the park will cover more than 500,000 square metres and feature a 70—metre dragon at its centre. it comes just weeks after the death of akira toriyama, who created the franchise and has drawn some criticism from fans unhappy with the decision to base the park in saudi arabia.

dr filippo cervelli is a lecturer of modern japanese literature and pop culture at soas university of london. i asked him why dragon ball is so popular. so it is the japanese form of comics that traditionally are read from right to left. and then it was very popular in japan and in other countries. and of course, its popularity was boosted immensely by its adaptation to an animated tv series which aired in the whole world and took the world by storm, especially from the late �*90s onwards. dragon ball started off as a comedic manga with fighting scenes, but then it took on a more combat focused stance and mixed elements of chinese folklore, japanese humour, and for many in across generations, it's almost synonymous with manga injapan.

so, filippo, why have saudi arabia decided to build a theme park dedicated to it? they obviously think they're tapping on to a big enough market. yes. so this this news comes, as you said, not many weeks after the announcement of the death of toriyama. so one question remains asked in the whole world, which is, "how far was toriyama himself involved"? definitely, this park initiative comes as a collaboration between saudi arabia and toei animation, which owns the rights to dragon ball animation. and it is meant to make saudi arabia a hub of entertainment culture. and the people behind this plan said that there are almost 80% of the people they surveyed in saudi arabia have watched anime, and almost half of them know dragon ball. so there are many reasons

possibly and also are some of them are matters of speculation. one can be that since the park is meant to be so, so big and covers such a big area with massive statue, there are plans for a 70—metre tall statue of the dragon god that only saudi arabia or countries like that have the economic resources and the space to build something like that, something that is also to tourism. but however, there are some comments injapan, some debates that are not really that favourable to the decision. they could be up to 30 rides but saudi arabia has faced criticism, similar to that of its proposed football world cup

in 2034. its proposed football world cup in 203a. that's its proposed football world cup in 2034. that's it its proposed football world cup in 203a. that's it from us on bbc news. thank you forjoining us. hello. an area of low pressure is going to sit around on top of the uk over the next few days, and that will drive some very heavy downpours of rain, with some flashes of lightning, some rumbles of thunder, some of the showers over high ground will be wintry, and we will often have some strong and gusty winds. so here is our area of low pressure. you can think of this as the engine room of the weather, driving things over the next few days. a couple of different slow—moving fronts. one which has been bringing some rain and snow across scotland, that tending to pull away eastwards but leaving a residue of cloud across southern scotland, northern england, northern ireland, some quite murky conditions, damp and drizzly, too. and then another weather front�*s just bringing some rain northwards across central southern england, into parts of the midlands, the southeast eventually getting into parts of wales, something a little bit brighter into the south—west of england, also brighter but with some wintry showers in northern scotland, highs of six to 12 degrees.

now, during tuesday night, we'll see this rain band journeying northwards and then bumping into cold air across scotland with some snow, especially over high ground, but to relatively low levels in the northern half of scotland. behind that, some clear spells, but bands of showers pushing in from the west, some of which will be heavy with some hail and thunder. that theme continues on into wednesday. you can see one band of heavy thundery rain here moving its way northwards and eastwards. plenty of showers following on behind. it's going to be a windy day for just about all of us. and our area of rain and snow still affecting the far north of scotland. temperatures struggling a little bit, 6—12 degrees. our area of low pressure still with us through wednesday night and into thursday. further bands of very heavy rain circulating around the lows. so expect more intense downpours on thursday with some hail, some thunder, could be some wintriness over higher ground, gales likely through the english channel and quite windy elsewhere, particularly across eastern and north—eastern parts. and those temperatures, again,

between eight and 12 degrees. now, as we move into good friday, there are some signs that this area of low pressure will loosen its grip a little. each so not as many showers on friday, more in the way of sunshine and actually a decent amount of dry weather on saturday as well. so drierfor a time over the easter weekend. it's certainly going to turn a little bit warmer, but it does look like rain will return through sunday and monday.

more turbulence for boeing as its ceo announces his exit from the company. and we look at the chinese company that has emerged as a frontrunner in the global electric vehicle market. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. let's begin in the us, where planemaker boeing has announced a mass shake—up in leadership. chief executive dave calhoun, the chairman of its board, and another top executive have all said they will leave the firm, that is facing a safety crisis. he has been under pleasure since the panel on boeing plane blew off in mid—january. two other senior executives are also leaving the company. theo leggett has more.

a terrifying moment for passengers