welcome to newsday. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore, the headlines: concerns that moscow is hardening its support for syria. us secretary of state prepares for crisis talks with the russian government. it's clear to all of us that the reign of the assad family is coming to an end, but the question how that endds and the transition itself could be very important. he told a press briefing that adolf hitler didn't use chemical weapons. now there are growing calls for sean spicer to resign. i'm now there are growing calls for sean spicerto resign. i'm babita now there are growing calls for sean spicer to resign. i'm babita sharma in london. one of germany's top football teams have been deliberately targeted, police say they found a letter at the scene following explosions. in hiding and infearfor following explosions. in hiding and in fearfor his following explosions. in hiding and in fear for his life, following explosions. in hiding and in fearfor his life, we meet following explosions. in hiding and in fear for his life, we meet the man who claims to have killed 200 people after president rodrigo duterte‘s war on drugs in the

philippines. live from our studios in singapore and london. this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. at 8am here in singapore, iam in london and 3am in moscow, where the us secretary of state rex tillerson is preparing for talks with vladimir putin, which he hopes may shift the balance of power in the war in syria. but it's a tall order. president putin has hardened his support for the assad regime and accused syrian rebels of planning fa ke accused syrian rebels of planning fake chemical attacks to draw the us into more missile strikes. our internationaljames robbins as this report. a warning, you may find some of these images distressing. is a mission impossible.

america's top diplomat arriving in moscow does not accept that this is a mission impossible. rex tillerson still hopes he can somehow persuade the russians to ditch syria's president assad and he is not mincing his words. "moscow" he said earlier, "bears a heavy responsibility after last week's chemical attack." it is unclear whether russia failed to take this obligation seriously or russia has been incompetent, but this distinction does not much matter to the dead. president vladimir putin is sending mixed signals, meeting the italian president today, the russian leader is apparently hoping for constructive cooperation with washington. but he is still talking up the risk of confrontation, accusing both america and opposition forces of planning further attacks. translation: we have information from various sources, that similar provocations, i can't call them any differently, are being prepared in other parts of syria as well, including the southern suburbs of damascus, where they are preparing to release some sort of substance again. one leading kremlin watcher says mr tillerson must tread very

carefully to do a deal with the russian leader. so, we know putin quite well. putin is a person who can make unexpected moves towards partners and even concessions, but he never does it under pressure, just the opposite. about last week's gas attack, moscow and washington do seem to agree on one thing, there should be a full investigation, but there is plenty of room to dispute who carries it out and when and how. the g7 meeting of america's allies ended in italy today without giving rex tillerson much extra political ammunition. ministers fail to agree any threat of future targeted sanctions on top russian and syrian military offices. borisjohnson had pressed hard for it but insisted no consensus was not defeat. i'm not going to pretend

to you that this is going to be easy, but there are very few or better routes forward that i can see for the russians. this is a way forward for russia and for syria, and in going to make this offer, i think that rex tillerson has, as you can see, overwhelming support. so looking at borisjohnson‘s performance, what is a former conservative foreign secretary make of his gamble over sanctions? putin will be pleased that the g7 was unable to reach agreement, that's good news from his point of view, but he's still got a problem because putin is an opportunist. in the obama years he was able to say, "i can do what i like militarily in syria because the americans will not intervene." the americans have now militarily intervened. they have done so once and they could do so again. rex tillerson did get from g7 allies universal endorsement of trump's missile strikes on syria, but he left here for moscow without the sort of stick

to threaten russia that boris johnson at least would have liked. james robbins, bbc news, lucca. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. there have been calls for donald trump's press secretary to resign after he said that adolf hitler did not use chemical weapons during the second world war. he made the comments while discussing russia's support for the syrian regime. here's our north editorjon sopel. the president's spokesman sean spicer came to the daily briefing determined to talk about the seriousness of last week's sarin attack in syria, which the administration holds bashar al—assad responsible for. but then he drew on history to make this point. we didn't use chemical weapons in world war ii. you know, you had someone as despicable as hitler, who did not even sink to the... to using chemical weapons. but that statement drew an incredulous response

from journalists attending the briefing. i just want to give you an opportunity to clarify something you said that seems to be gaining some traction right now, "hitler didn't even sink to the level of using chemical weapons." what did you mean by that? i think when you come to sarin gas, there was no... he was not using the gas on his own people, the same way that assad is doing. millions of germanjews were gassed during the second world war, in the network of concentration camps, built in what was called the final solution. the director of the anne frank centre condemned the president's spokesman‘s remarks. and on capitol hill too, criticism from senators, congressmen and women, both republican and democrat, disturbed at what they've heard. last night, president trump put out a tweet wishing jews here in america and around the world

a happy passover. today, his press spokesman will have caused offence to many of those people with these comments. mr spicer has since put out a clarification saying, "in no way was i trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the holocaust." but perhaps the lesson is, don't make comparisons with hitler. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. pakistan has criticised a death sentence given to a man they accuse of being an indian spy. the defence minister told the pakistani senate that the country had followed due legal process during the three—month trial. india denies mr yadav, a retired naval officer, is a spy, and if he is hanged it will amount to premeditated murder. a 6.3 magnitude

earthquake has hit the philippines. it struck after 5am local time. an earthquake of this magnitude is considered relatively strong and capable of causing severe damage. the man suspected of carrying out last week's stockholm truck attack told the court he has committed a terrorist crime. he appeared in court for the first time on tuesday and confessed to driving the lorry that killed four and injured 15 others. these pandas have been preparing for theirjourney from china to the netherlands. they are in healthy conditions. we just found out they have arrived safely. they will be living there for the next 15 years. police in germany believed the three explosions that hit a bus carrying borussia dortmund football players

we re borussia dortmund football players were directly targeting the club. the explosives were planted at the roadside and went off as the team we re roadside and went off as the team were driven to their champions league match against monaco and one of the players, marc bartra, suffered a hand injury and has been operated on. jenny hill reports from berlin. an apparent attack at the heart of the national game. three devices using what police described as serious explosives, detonated as the players left the hotel. tonight germany's largest stadium deserted. 65,000 fans told to leave, confusion and fear. translation: we've searched the side of the explosions and found a suspect device. we cannot say any more about its nature. we've also found a letter but i cannot disclose its contents. the devices exploded here

ten kilometres from the stadium. police believe they may have been left in a hedge at the side of the road. in shock, players were helped from the bus, although only one was taken to hospital, marc bartra, a spanish defender, joined dortmund last year. elsewhere police were taking no chances. extra security for leicester city ahead of their game in madrid. tonight a match postponed, questions unanswered. what appears to have been a deliberate attack has left players, fans, a country shaken. jenny hill, bbc news, berlin. a man who says he worked as a hitman for philippines president rodrigo duterte has fled the country. arturo lasanya made the allegations at a senate hearing in february. since then he has turned to the catholic church for protection. the church has been a firm critic of the president's drugs war, which human rights groups say has cost 7000 lives. rebecca henschke went to meet mr lasanya before he fled to singapore.

arturo lascanas says he killed more than 200 people. a member of a death squad, acting on the orders of rodrigo duterte when he was mayor of davao city. he is speaking out now after a spiritual awakening. he's in hiding. the church protecting and counselling him and now telling their followers that the killings are wrong. it's illogical.

it's not the way to solve the problem. we understand the hurt but for us christians, we see that punishment is not vengeance. if they are just looking for a vengeance, they are no longer christians. in return, president duterte has launched a scathing attack on the church. what is your moral ascendancy, religion? what is the meaning of it? now the church, once a powerful political force, is carrying out small acts of rebellion. paying for the funerals of those killed in the drug war. brotherjun spends his weekends attending these burials. when night falls, he picks up his camera and turns into a nightcrawler.

a group of photographers dedicated to documenting every killing. but for now, many filipinos are happy for the killings to continue in order to wipe out the drug trade and make their streets safe. on the frontline, devout catholic policemen try to justify their killings. the church still plays an important role in most people's lives

here but its power over the political process is now being tested in a way it really hasn't before. rebecca henschke, bbc news, manila. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: shaking hands on a huge new oil after ten years of talks, myanmar and china finally reach agreement on an oil pipeline stretching nearly 800 kilometres. also on the programme: 48 hours after the event, united airlines finally apologises for trying to throw this doctor off one of its flights. pol pot, one of the century's greatest mass murderers is reported to have died of natural causes. he and the khmer rouge movement he led were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million cambodians.

there have been violent protests in indonesia where playboy has gone on sale for the first time. traditionalist muslim leaders have expressed disgust. the magazine's offices have been attacked and its editorial staff have gone into hiding. it was clear that paula's only contest was with the clock and as for a sporting legacy, paula radcliffe's competitors will be chasing her new world best time for years to come. quite quietly but quicker and quicker, she seemed just to slide away under the surface and disappear. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore.

i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: the us secretary of state, rex tillerson, is in moscow, to try to persuade russia to abandon its support for syria's president assad. after telling a press briefing that adolf hitler didn't use chemical weapons, white house press secretary sean spice is forced to apologise. there are growing calls for him to resign. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. let's start with here in singapore. the straits times. its main headline is referring to dealing with north korea. it's front page picture is dedicated to the passenger who was violently dragged off a united airlines flight. we'll bring you more on that later in the programme. the financial times world edition also leading with the united airlines story. that's the compa ny‘s chief executive, oscar munoz, who's come under fire. also making the headlines, toshiba and its uncertain future.

the paper says the japanese industrial giant has reported a loss of $4.8 billion for the first quarter of the year. the new york times tackle brexit asking what might happen to the uk when it leaves the european union. and it has a feature about sleep, being the new status symbol and the latest research being developed to help us get a better night's rest. who would not want more of that? president trump has again raised the issue of north korea, in a tweet saying that pyongyang was "looking for trouble." he also urged china, north korea's only real ally, to help deal with its neighbour but added america was not afraid to solve the problem alone. the us has sent a flotilla of naval vessels to the waters off the korean peninsula, angering north korea. our correspondent, steve evans, is in seoul with the latest. the war of words is a cliche but the right one. it is a war of words between washington via tweets and pyongyang.

and reflected in the papers here in south korea, for obvious reasons. the joonang daily says north korea tells us it's ready for the toughest action. so, reflecting on the war of words. the picture is from the uss vinson, from that carrier being sent back to the region. it was here a month ago but was sent back. the big question on everybody‘s mind really is, is there are a serious possibility of a war of words turning into a real war? and there's a lot of reflection on that. the korea herald, blunt question, "how likely is another korea war?" and it basically decides... it talks to a lot of experts and says "officials and experts dismiss the likelihood of conflict." so, there's a lot of discussion about whether mr trump is really that different from mr obama

in terms of doing what mr obama may have contemplated but pulled back from because of the proximity of north korean artillery. the korea times, "concerns of armed conflict overblown." the feeling here is, we have been here before. if you look for google searches of the phrase "rising tensions korea," in 2013, it was much, muich higher. that was the time when pyongyang was saying to foreigners "get out of seoul, there's a real prospect of war". now, we have been here before in terms of this rhetoric. we haven't been here before with this president and we remain to see whether he will do what he threatens to do which is perhaps to take military

action against north korea. now it's been in the works for almost a decade, myanmar and china have agreed to open a pipeline carrying 140,000 tons of crude oil. the deal sealed the first official visit to china by the president of myanmar tin chaw. after an agreement was reached between the two countries, shipments had been held up because of an argument over fees. as you can see here, the pipeline route stretches nearly 800 kilometres across myanmar to kunming in the chinese province of yunnan. so, what does this mean for their relationship moving forward? for more, i spoke earlier to aaron connelly from the lowy institute for international policy. the majority of imports come through the straits of malacca and the foreign navy say the us navy and the conflict situation could use that narrow strait to choke off oil imports to china. this pipeline, when running at full capacity, would supply about 6% of china's current oil imports. it wouldn't solve the dilemma, but it could help them diversify

away from that chokepoint. how does myanmar fit into china's ambitious one road, one belt project, where it's aiming to build roads and infrastructure projects through 60 countries and linking them with china? china's interest in myanmar really proceeds one belt, one road. they gave up power in 2011 and china received a number of a global deals in myanmar. the most controversial one was a deal to dam a river which has almost a spiritual character in myanmar culture. and then send most of that electricity produced by it back to china. as a result chinese investment in myanmar acquired a bad reputation. so this is one of the first steps to really begin to bring online some of those investments that china made during that era, when construction originally began. but it isn't clear that china will welcome a great deal of traditional chinese investment.

the chinese see this as a way to get access through the indian ocean to the bay of bengal. myanmar has a lot of leverage. it's taken 48 hours, but the boss of united airlines has finally issued a full apology to the man who was dragged off a flight in chicago. he also apologised to the passengers who were horrified as they watched him being pulled along the floor by his arms. his apology comes after the company's share price fell sharply today. laura trevelyan reports. oh my god. no! a shocking scene — a man is dragged from a plane in chicago after he refuses to obey officials who have told him they need his seat. screaming oh my god. oh my god. other passengers have apparently left the aircraft when asked because united insisted it needed four seats for crew members. those onboard watch aghast as the man, named locally as david dao, is forcibly ejected from the plane. oh my god!

look at what you're doing to him! they drag him out of his seat, banging his head on an armrest, and then pulled him out of the plane, as if he was less than human. in a further twist, the passenger somehow returns to the aircraft looking bewildered, bloody and dazed, as the horrified passengers carry on recording. tonight he is reported to be in hospital in chicago. on social media there has been an outcry as united airlines is mocked for its ‘fly the friendly skies' motto. "not enough seating? time for a beating!" said one particularly pointed tweet. for united airlines, it's a communications catastrophe. the airline initially described the passenger as disruptive and belligerent before abruptly changing tone. tonight, chief executive oscar munoz said this. as if flying in america wasn't overcrowded and stressful enough,

on top of all that it seems you can be dragged from your seat on an overbooked flight. now the federal transportation department is investigating whether united followed the rules on overbooking. for the long—suffering flying public, this is a new low. yeah, i thought it was pretty horrifying, you know. do you think airlines should be able to drag people off planes? no, no. not because they were overbooked, that's their issue, not the issue of the passengers who are already seated. tonight united insisted they did not remove doctor dao because the flight was oversold, rather it was to accommodate four crewmembers needing seats, a distinction which may be lost on many. performing together with a single united purpose... slick commercials couldn't stop united's shares closing down a little over 1% and the airline faces bumpy skies ahead as it tries to ride this one out. laura trevelyan, bbc news, new york. you have been watching newsday.

stay with us. toshiba warns its very survival is now in doubt after it posted losses of almost $5 billion in its latest results. more on that in a few minutes. and before we go, queen elizabeth and prince philip have been and british dj, paul oakenfeld, has played at the highest point in the world. that attitude sickness. you can onlyjust world. that attitude sickness. you can only just imagine world. that attitude sickness. you can onlyjust imagine it to be he had ten days to reach the point and he described the experience as truly amazing. i bet it was. i'm a big fan. thanks for watching. goodbye. good morning.

cooler, cloudier weather more likely as we head into the easter weekend. there was some sunshine around yesterday. quite warm in the sunshine too. that was in wales. further north, grey and threatening skies we had in stirling, scotland. cloudier and warmer in other parts of the uk. that is slowly pushing southwards. we have a westerly breeze, which is dragging in cloud even across england and wales. so temperatures won't be as low as they were last night. the rain, though, is further north and that will push slowly southwards through wednesday. we start with some rain in the central belt. wetter in glasgow than edinburgh. rain for northern ireland. some heavier rain perhaps over the hills of cumbria and lancashire. by nine o'clock it will rain in liverpool and manchester. that rain is on the weather front, but as it head southwards it's a familiar story. the weather front

weakens considerably. little or no rain on it to the south. a couple of showers, but some brightness. early sunshine before it clouds over in the afternoon. sunny spells following in behind that weather front in the north. a few showers around and a cool breeze blowing in scotland will take the edge off those numbers. ten in glasgow, 16 in london. the weatherfront, no rain on it to help the gardens. it clears away. behind that, for thursday, we are into a cooler north—westerly airflow. it could be a chilly start for many eastern areas of the uk, especially in the countryside first thing. but sunshine in the morning. the tendency for things to cloud over from the west, with gradual moistening up of the air to bring us showers. but a lot of places will be drier further south and east. those temperatures —10—14 degrees. some sunshine and a few showers for scotland on good friday. something drier and warmer to the south—east. in between, a cloudier zone, where we are more likely to catch a few showers from time to time. that sums up the easter weekend. it won't be a washout by any means. when the sun comes out, as it will do, it will feel quite warm. on saturday, we could have some

sunshine and a few showers. we are getting chains of depressions, low pressure pushing our way. for easter day it could be more persistent rain across northern parts of the uk and in between the low pressure easter monday could bring us something a bit drier and brighter. i'm going to leave you with this temperatures comparison. easter day, 10—15 degrees. about average for the time of year. quite a bit cooler than we had on christmas day. you're watching bbc news. i'm babita sharma. our top story: you're watching bbc news. i'm babita sharma. ourtop story: moscow you're watching bbc news. i'm babita sharma. our top story: moscow raises the diplomatic stakes after last week's gas attack on a rebel held town in syria. secretary of state rex tillerson is in moscow to try to persuade russia to drop president assad as a long—term ally. russia has consistently blamed the syrian rebels boardies arian gas attack. the white house press secretary sean spicer has apologised for remarks

suggesting hitler didn't use chemical weapons against his own people, saying his words were inappropriate and insensitive. this video is trending at bbc.com, showing the queen and her husband prince philip at whipsnade zoo outside london and they were feeding the elephants. it's clear one of them loves bananas. you're up to date. stay with us. our top story in the uk: the parents