welcome to newsday. i'm sharanjit leyl, in singapore. the headlines: a surge in military spending and an overhaul of healthcare — expected highlights of president trump's first speech to congress shortly. the de facto boss of samsung is charged with bribery and south korea's corruption crisis widens. i'm karin giannone, in london. after a damning verdict on the response to the 2015 beach hotel attack — tunisian authorities say their resorts are now 100% safe. after the murder of kim jong—un‘s half brother in malaysia, north korea flatly denies having chemical weapons. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news — it's newsday. good morning.

it's 9am in singapore, 1am in london and 8pm in washington, where injust an hour donald trump will address a joint session of the us congress for the first time. it's a much anticipated event with ramifications for policy and politics. barbara plett—usher is at the national statuary hall, where mr trump is due to speak. great anticipation for this particular speech. what are we expecting? you are right, there is anticipation. it is the president first chance to dress congress and the american people. —— address. he has that a couple of tough weeks and people are expecting him to turn it

around. present himself as someone in control of the situation, with policy ideas. we have been told he is going to talk about the achievements so far, the promises made in the campaign that he has kept. that he is a man of action. we are told he will have a more optimistic tone to the one on his in all rural speech. this time he will be talking about a renewed american spirit. the republicans in the house, from the senate, will be wanting to hear about what he has to say on the big ticket issues they deal with. changing, repealing say on the big ticket issues they dealwith. changing, repealing and making a new healthcare policy. that is one of their signature efforts. also what he wants to do with tax reform is. law and order. increased

spending for the military. we expected to cover these issues and also the economy, creating jobs for americans but how much in the towel he will go into we're not quite sure. republicans would like to hear from him a steady hand on the tiller. and something they can work on. finally, they will be looking at how democrats will respond. a number boycotted his inaugural address. i do not think they will do that today but we will be watching at their response. is congress likely to support many of these plans, these policies? there are a number of things there, on the two key issues

that congress has started working on — tax and health reforms, the party is divided. there are different ideas. they all want to carry these policies out but they are quite complicated and they have not received much guidance rob the president because he has been vague and sometimes contradictory —— from the president. democrats certainly oppose the idea of repealing president obama's healthca re oppose the idea of repealing president obama's healthcare law and they have made that a signature part of their response to president trump and congress. the response the speech will focus on the healthcare act and how it has benefited millions and millions of people. act and how it has benefited millions and millions of peoplem isa millions and millions of peoplem is a very noisy statutory hall where mrtrump is due is a very noisy statutory hall where mr trump is due to speak shortly.

let's look and some of the day's other news: russia and china have vetoed a western backed attempt at the un to impose sanctions on the syrian government. the us and others want to punish damascus for alleged use of chemical weapons in attacks on rebel held areas. the us ambassador to the un nicky haydon the accused russia and china of putting their friends in the assad regime ahead of global security. russia and china made an outrageous and indefensible choice today, they refused to hold bashar al—assad's regime accountable for the use of chemical weapons. they turned away from defenceless men, women and children who died grasping for breath when assad's forces dropped their poisonous gas. also making the news: the french president francois hollande was giving a speech in france when this happened. (gunshot)

mr hollande looks a bit concerned, breaks off his speech and what happened was his police sharp shooter on the route accidentally fired his weapon. it passed through the thigh of a waiter and lodged in a colleague's leg. south africa's sports minister says the host city durban may not be able to stage the 2022 commonwealth games because of financial pressures. south africa has been unable to reach an agreement with the commonwealth games federation over the operational budget. scientists in britain have confirmed that there is a strong link between obesity and cancer. the study found that being obese increased the risk of getting eleven cancers. the researchers say maintaining a healthy weight is the single most important way to reduce the risk of cancer after not smoking. some stunning pictures to show you from mount etna in sicily, interrupting for the

first time this year. errupting for the first time this year. it's one of the most active in the world but it's been largely dormant for two years and it started erupting on tuesday morning. the corruption scandal rocking south korea has widened beyond politics. the future of the country's biggest business, samsung, is in question after prosecutors said its air is to be charged with bribery and embezzlement. the scandal has led to the impeachment of the country's president, park geun—hye. in a moment we will hear about the potential impact on samsung but first jamie mitchell looks at the background to the charges. leej young, billionaire vice—chairman of samsung, the world's biggest maker of mobile devices. since his father suffered a heart attack in 2014 he has been de facto boss of not only the electronics giant but also

the entire family run samsung group conglomerate. now he is accused of directing some $36 million of donations to organisations controlled by this woman. choi soon—sil. she herself faces charges including abuse of authority and attempted fraud. she was a confidant of the president, who has been stripped of her powers while the country's constitutional court considers her impeachment. samsun‘s donations are alleged to have been made in exchange for government backing of a restructuring which would cement the family's control of the group. it's the latest blow to samsung as it struggles to recover from last year's recall crisis over its galaxy note 7 smart phone. mr li now faces trial and up to 20 years in prison if convicted. samsung denies any wrongdoing. but the indictment also raises

broader questions about the future of giant family run groups or chapels in south korea. a country sometimes referred to as the republic of samsung by its citizens. jamie mitchell, bbc news. i asked a reporter from the wall streetjournal how much the case might impact samsung as a business. at the moment samsung faces a leadership vacuum and this is going to put a brake on a lot of samsung's plans. we've already seen some of this unfold. just last week samsung announced it would be delaying its position to nominate an expert board member to the samsung electronics board. the company had cited uncertainty generated by the current circumstances here. if you look at his role as the vice—chairman of samsung electronics, while his responsibilities don't really include a two day management of the company, he does play a pivotal role

in overseeing the company's future business we're going to see daily activities at samsung not affected immediately but we'll see repercussions in the long run for samsung. you say in the long run but what will the impact be on the brand, especially when you take into account the problems samsung electronics had with its smart phone, the galaxy note 7, late last year with the exploding batteries. it's hard to tell at this point how this will affect the samsung brand. as you said, this is a daunting development that comes after samsung announced a few months ago that it would be recalling 3 million of its galaxy note 7 smart phones.

having said this, though, this isn't the first time that samsung is going through such a corruption scandal. in 2008 his father was convicted of embezzlement and tax evasion. at the time, although he wasn't detained, this has caused quite a shock wave in south korea and we saw samsung's brand whether through that. times have changed since then and public sentiment has grown stronger against these family run conglomerates. also at the same time, samsung is airing its dirty laundry with more global attention and we will have to see how this plays out in different markets. hong kong's government is moving towards disqualifying for pro—democracy lawmakers from their positions in parliament. the government argues

the oafs the four took when sworn in were invalid. this comes after two pro—democracy demonstrators were disqualified after they insulted china. most of the group were part of a new wave of democracy activists elected in december following the umbrella protest. we can go tojuliana liu in hong kong. the story really goes back to september during the last legislative council election. at this time an unprecedented number of young first—time lawmakers swept into power and many were affiliated with the pro—democracy protests of 2014 and it seemed clear voters were looking for fresh faces and in some cases they wanted the pro—democracy lawmakers to take a more confrontational line against the hong kong and chinese governments. the issue started during the oath taking ceremony, the ceremonial wear the issue started during the oath taking ceremony, the ceremonial

where lawmakers all read out their oaths before taking office. two pro independence lawmakers in the list with terms considered widely derogatory to china so they were disqualified, that was controversial but what became more controversial was in december the government decided they wanted to move to disqualify for other or moderate decided they wanted to move to disqualify four other or moderate lawmakers, including nathan law, who has been in parliament for a long time as well as to others. their lawyer said this was a case with tremendous public interest implications and they wanted more time to prepare and that's what leads us to today. how do they go about this process of disqualification and what do the lawmakers themselves say about it? that's right. what the government has done is it has filed a judicial review at the hong kong high court so this hearing will get started in just under two hours.

the lawyers for the government will be presenting their case for disqualification for lawmakers and their lawyers will present the case for them to keep their seats. this is a process that is expected to take a few days. juliana liu in hong kong. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: shock in indonesia as the family of one of the women accused of killing the half brother of north korean find themselves at the centre of a media storm. also on the programme: from george washington to george w bush, we take a look at the us tradition of set piece speeches to congress. first the plates slipped gently off the restaurant tables. then suddenly the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards and it was a matter

of seconds before the ferry lurched onto her side. the hydrogen bomb on a remote pacific atoll. the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier and so my heart went bang and bang. the constitutional rights of these marchers have their rights as citizens of the united states and they should be protected even in the right to test them out so they don't get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy, i know you don't want to say too much about it, but does it worry you it's going to boil up when you get to the stage? well, it worries me, yeah. but everything will be all right in the end as they say. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm karin giannone in london. our top stories: in his first speech to congress, president trump is expected to set out his plans for a surge in military spending and an overhaul of healthcare.

south korean special prosecutors have indicted samsung's de facto boss on bribery, embezzlement and other charges linked to a political scandal that has toppled president park. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the two kim jong—nam suspects dominate the front page of the financial times. but it's the samsung boss being charged with corruption in south korea that's the main story. it says the company's leaderless as the release of the next galaxy phone nears. let's turn to the times newspaper from the uk. it's looking at the inquests into the 30 britons who died in a terror attack in tunisia. it quotes a former tunisian minister who's been criticised for saying tunisia suffered more because tourism in the country's plunged after the attack two years ago.

and finally, let's take a look at the front page of the china daily. it shows a mock—up of the spacex rocket that's set to take two paying passengers around the moon next year. that's all the updates from the papers. now, karin, what stories are sparking discussions online? yes, well, take a look at this. senior white house adviser, kellyanne conway, has become the subject of a social media storm about decorum after pictures emerged of her kneeling on the sofa in the oval office with her shoes on. you can see ms conway clutching her phone as president trump poses with leaders of traditionally black colleges and universities to discuss his administration's support for the schools. twitter users accused her of disrespect for the office. some also suggested ms conway's body language shows that she was not taking the meeting seriously. let's cross live to the magistrate's court in the malaysian district

of sepang, where two women are expected to be charged over the death of the brother of north korean leader kimjong—un. it's alleged kim jong—nam died in mid—february after the two women smeared a deadly chemical over his face at a malaysian airport. they are expected to be charged under section 302 of the penal code, which is which is a murder charge with a mandatory death sentence if found guilty. city ayeeshia says she is innocent. this village is not used to this kind of attention.

but this is siti aisyah's house, one of the best in the village. it is now receiving a lot of visitors from the government and also the media. but the family inside are now refusing to speak. the local government here to provide comfort to herfather, and offering to pay for him to visit her in jail. translation: he is not strong enough to answer the questions again and again. we need to respect how he's feeling. he is very confused. try to imagine how he is feeling. it is an awful situation he is in. the courts will now decide his daughter's fate. malaysian police say that she and another woman wiped kim jong—nam's face with a deadly chemical. she has told indonesian officials that she thought she was taking part in a tv prank and the liquid was baby oil. like thousands of indonesians, siti aisyah was an illegal worker, going in and out of malaysia for years.

migrant rights workers said made her vulnerable. translation: we strongly believe she is a victim. it is very similar to what has happened to many other migrants before her, who have been used by drug syndicates. they are caught and viewed as criminals, but they really are victims. she is concerned that siti aisyah will not get a fair trial. indonesian officials are watching the legal process carefully. we expect and we hope that she will be given a fair trial. we understand that the law should be... that she should be proven guilty, and she's innocent until proven guilty. siti aisyah finished her education here, at this primary school down the road from her house. like millions of women unable to find work closer to home, she went overseas. now her migrant dream has turned into a nightmare. rebecca henschke, bbc news, west java.

i asked paul french, who is the author of north korea: state of paranoia:, if we knew of any reasons north korea might have been behind the attack? we don't. they're obviously denying it. the malaysians will obviously be able to prove who is two women were indicated in the murder but why random young indonesian woman and a random young indonesian woman and a random young indonesian woman and a random young malaysians woman would go to malaysia to kill kim jong—un‘s brother. what are the diplomatic states, malaysian a few arias, south korea suggesting today north korea should lose its seat at the un. south korea will always like to stir it with north korea, they have their own propaganda war going on. the malaysians are angry at interference from the north koreans but the most angry will be the chinese who will

be fuming the north koreans have turned up to shout at them about cattle and coal imports, this is a real theatrical outrage from the north koreans. the fact that the use of vx nerve agent was in this crime, how much did that change? it pointed a finger at a state operator, it couldn't be the work of someone knocking up a chemical in their bedroom. north korea is going to deny this until the day it dies but it's a clear message by using that agent that can be identified, this is an assassination, he didn't have a heart attack or food poisoning from the night before, he was killed. he could have been told in a number of ways but the choice of vx was deliberate. it sends a message this is an assassination, do not mistake it for anything else. staying with the presidential address which donald trump will be delivering shortly. historically these speeches have set the themes and tone for the year ahead. the bbc‘s katty kay has been taking a look through the archives at some of the more memorable moments of past speeches.

it is the centrepiece of america's political calendar, in trying in the constitution. since george washington delivered the first annual message to dress in 1790, what has come to be known as the state of the union has evolved from a simple statement on the health of the nation to a political call to arms, a presidential rallying cry. from 1801 for a century the political update was simply delivered in writing from the white house to the capital. it was woodrow wilson who, in 1913, took to the floor, transforming it into a blueprint for the president's legislative agenda. his successors have used the opportunity to showcase leadership, frame a new direction orjust lift the spirit of the nation during difficult times. it is my firm belief that the only

thing we have to fear is fear itself. there have been watershed moments. in 1823, presidentjames munro used the address to articulate a new foreign policy doctrine, warning european powers not to meddle in the western hemisphere. during his state of the union in 1964, lyndonjohnson during his state of the union in 1964, lyndon johnson first during his state of the union in 1964, lyndonjohnson first proposed legislation that would come to be known as the war on poverty, paving the way for a range of welfare programmes. and this administration today here and now declares unconditional war on poverty in america. mr speaker... the president of the united states. applause one of the united states. applause one of the united states. applause one of the most memorable phrases ever uttered in the state of the union came in president george w bush's 2002 address, which warned iran, iraq and north korea threatened the peace of the world. it marked the birth of the

controversial war on terror. states like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil arming to threaten the peace of the world. tonight's speech, a statement of purpose, is likely to e mr trump's defiant and uncompromising inaugural address. a promise to put america first and to transfer power back to the people watching. memorable stuff! you have been watching newsday. let's show you the live scene at the white house, there is the president's car, the beast, waiting for donald trump at the white house to ta ke for donald trump at the white house to take him to capitol hill to take him to his first set piece speech, his address to a joint session of congress. stay tuned for coverage of that. hello.

there was bright enough start to the day across eastern parts of the british isles on tuesday, but it didn't last, did it, because we were driving belts of weather down from the western side of scotland ever further towards the south and east. low pressure very much the dominant feature, and there's obviously something waiting in the wings, just to the west of us. and that doesn't arrive just in time for the temperatures dribbling away again, it'll be a chilly start for wednesday. some wintry showers across the north of scotland, watch out for some ice, as well. but if you can avoid the showers, there is plenty of sunshine to be had across the north of britain, things changing quite markedly, though, into the afternoon, across the southern parts of both england and wales, where it is turning increasingly wet, and eventually, really very windy indeed. so some detail to the middle part of the afternoon. there is that combinations of sunny spells and showers. quite a noticeable wind, but unlike tuesday, coming from the west, rather than the north. so it might feel a tad milder, but not much.

temperatures five, six, or seven degrees. plenty of sunshine there, with a showers across the north of england, clouding up eventually across the southern and western parts of northern ireland. the midlands hanging on to some sunshine. i'm afraid that will not be the case across southern england and wales, where that band of cloud that i showed you eventually rocks up, producing some heavy rain. but it is the strength of the wind that may cause some real concerns. some of those gusts at least to gale—force, i would have thought, across the exposed parts of both southern england and wales. and as we push that belt of rain and it moves into higher ground, well, you know, the intensity of the snow might cause a problem across the highest ground and across the high—level routes. so that combination could cause some disruption to your travel plans overnight. come thursday, less in the way of rain to speak of, initially, with the old weather front driving its way a little further to the north. a little bit of sunshine around until late in the day. some uncertainty about this feature, but we suspect that something will run in on that noticeable wind into the western side of wales. some rain, and some hill snow, yet again.

but a half decent day on thursday. oh that that were the case on friday. it probably won't be in the south again, as this area of low pressure will throw its weather fronts ever further towards the north. again, the pace of advance open to some conjecture at the moment. but we think that will be the major player of the weekend, sitting very close by to the british isles through saturday, and, indeed, on into sunday. and it will be perhaps the northern part of scotland and the northern parts of ireland at times that will see the best of the weather. but the general theme of the weekend is a bit of cloud around and a few spells of rain. take care. i'm karin giannone with bbc world news. our top story: after 40 days in office, donald trump is about to give his first set—piece speech to both houses of the us congress. he's expected to flesh out his plans for increasing military spending and replacing 0bamacare. the heir to the giant samsung electronics firm is charged with bribery and embezzlement,

putting the future of south korea's biggest company into question. the corruption scandal has already led to the impeachment of the country's president, park geun—hye. and this video is trending on bbc.com it shows the amazing burgeoning friendship between an owl and a husky puppy. how often do you see two animals getting on quite as well as this? long may it last. that's all from me now, stay with bbc world news. and the top story here in the uk: the former owner of british home stores, sir philip green, is to put £363 million into its pension fund.