i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: donald trump is coming to asia for a five—country visit. his message? "time is running out for dealing with north korea." protests as spain holds eight members in the catalan government injail on charges of rebellion and sedition. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: detainees who refuse to leave the camp in manus say they have to dig for water after australia closes the centre. just discovered but already endangered. a new species of orangutan is found in indonesia's remote sumatra jungles. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning.

it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london, and 8pm in washington dc, where president trump is preparing to leave on his first official trip to asia. it's a busy schedule, the longest trip to the region by a us president in decades. he will be away for a week, stopping first in hawaii before arriving injapan on sunday morning local time. from there, it's on to south korea, followed by beijing, then vietnam, before rounding things off with a visit to the philippines and a meeting with president rodrigo duterte. on the agenda is trade, but also the thorny problem of north korea's nuclear ambitions. "time is running out," the white house says. what exactly does he mean by that and what else does he expect his asia hosts to do? mariko oi joins us live from tokyo. tell us a little bit about what is

anticipated from this visit. as you said, not surprisingly, north korea will be the main topic the leaders will be the main topic the leaders will discuss during his stay. president trump is scheduled to meet someone president trump is scheduled to meet someone abducted by a north korean agent in the late 1970s at the age of 13. there are other issues like trade. the us has of course pulled out of the trans—pacific partnership. it might be that donald trump starts negotiating bilateral trade with tokyo while he is here. it is widely expected he and shinzo abe will focus more on their strong friendship and unity. not so much disunity over trade. it will not all be business. he and the prime minister will play golf. they have done so before, but they will be

joined by hideki matsuyama, one of the best players in the world. he will also be meeting with the emperor as well. in the lead-up to the weekend, it is not so much donald trump people are looking forward to seeing, but ivanka, who has given a speech about women in a meeting organised by the japanese government. she landed yesterday. i was watching tv at home. several networks were showing the empty escalator to make sure they could catch her arriving live on television. i was just watching some networks here. at least two networks we re networks here. at least two networks were focusing on what she has been doing since her arrival. so, there isa doing since her arrival. so, there is a lot of excitement and attention, it is fair to say. i picked up a fashion magazine which had a big feature and focus on how to be like ivanka trump. perfashion line has got a lot more orders and enquiries from japanese fans, at

least japanese women. the japanese public seem to be more excited about her than her father. going back to her than her father. going back to her father, what have the press and people been seen in anticipation of his arrival on sunday? if you look ata his arrival on sunday? if you look at a survey, it does show that the japanese public is a bit sceptical of president trump's style. he is very unconventional in terms of tweeting, etc. but the fact that he is meeting with the parent of the abductee and actually mention her in his speech at the united nations backin his speech at the united nations back in september, that got quite a lot of attention. i think it is also fairto lot of attention. i think it is also fair to say there is a bit of nervousness about what he might say or do when he meets with the japanese emperor. if you remember when the former president barack 0bama visited, the angle of his bow

became huge, whether he bowed deeply or not deeply enough. thank you very much for that. live from tokyo talking about the upcoming visit of president trump to japan. we will get more on that in a little while. but first, more news stories. eight members of the catalan government fired last week for declaring independence have been remanded in custody by a spanish court. protestors gathered in barcelona to call for their release. james reynolds sent us this report from the scene. these pro—independence campaigners have come out to protest against the remanding into custody of eight former ministers. "libertad, libertad," they chant in catalan. "freedom, freedom." bear in mind, just a few days ago, these ministers were working in this, the headquarters of the catalan government, the generalitat. but now the reversal has been stunning. in a matter of a few days, those ministers declared independence, then madrid took over this region, and now all the ministers who work there are now in exile, on bail, or now in prison.

and the town hall has reacted. in catalan there, there's a sign you mightjust be able to read, "freedom to the political prisoners." and that will be a strong feeling among the pro—independence camp here in catalonia. the anti—independence camp might simply say that spain is now following the law. there will be plenty more demonstrations, probably from both sides, in the next few weeks and months. also making news today. president trump has nominated jerome powell to succeed janet yellen as chair of the us central bank, the federal reserve. announcing the nomination of mr powell, who's an investment banker and current federal reserve governor, president trump described him as strong, committed and smart. the decision needs to be confirmed by the us senate. more than 700 civilians died

in "execution—style killings" by islamic state militants during the battle for the iraqi city of mosul, according to the un. the group also allegedly used citizens as human shields. the un says they must be held accountable and also called for an investigation into alleged violations by iraqi forces. women will have to wait 217 years before they earn as much as men and have equal representation in the workplace, according to new research. women are paid and achieve just over half as much as men in the workplace, according to the world economic forum, which reported an economic gap of 58% between the sexes. this trove of artworks which was hoarded by the son of hitler's art dealer have gone on public display at the museum of fine arts in switzerland. the collection had been in the hands of cornelius gurlitt, whose father, hildebrand, sold works that had been stolen from jews under the nazi regime.

the pieces were discovered in 2012 after gurlitt‘s apartment was searched in a tax inquiry. let's return to president trump's first official trip to asia. he's due to visitjapan, south korea and china, before attending a regional summit in vietnam. the agenda will be dominated by north korea's nuclear weapons programme. that crisis highlights an underlying struggle for strategic dominance in asia, between the united states and china, as our china editor carrie gracie reports. a game where the past is america but the future maybe china. big stars are moving here for the money and the eyeballs. there are almost as many chinese shooting hoops

as there are americans on the planet. translation: the united states is still the one to beat, and it will take china time to catch up, but basketball is our national sport now and you can play anywhere. the rules of basketball are one thing, but the rules of the global power club are another. china's resisted american lectures on open markets and democracy. it's winning its own way. "america first," warned candidate trump. we can't continue to allow china to rape our country... but when president trump played host in april, he needed china's help on north korea. there were no trade sanctions. he called president xi a good friend. we're going to have a very, very great relationship and i look

very much forward to it. xijinping has lots of friends, though. party comrades applauding his promise that china will build a first—class military and move to centre stage. this is the generation who will have to make that dream come true. explaining the map of asia from a chinese point of view. since world war ii, the us navy's patrolled these contested seas, but china's pressing its claim. and rivalry is growing. i think president xi and president trump should better communicate and try to compromise, so, maybe in this case, lots of the security problems can be solved or at least decreased. i do think there will be more rivalry but there will also be more opportunities. artificial intelligence and many high—tech areas that need the co—operation between china

and the united states. i do not completely agree with you. if we look back to history, we will see that a lot of wars have originated from economic conflicts. china's history has seen many great powers rise and fall. and it builds its us strategy brick by careful brick. president trump's visit is an important moment for china. the host will do nothing to antagonise his guest, but he has less reason than any recent chinese leader to bow to american demands. president xi believes the united states is in steep decline, and china, rising, in a power game to define our century. carrie gracie, bbc news, on the great wall of china. detainees who are refusing to leave an australian off—shore detention centre in papua new guinea say they're digging into the ground to find water. the camp on manus island officially closed two days ago and there's now

no running water. but the 600 men there say they are afraid they will attacked if they leave the camp. i spoke to phil mercer in sydney, who filled us in on what conditions in the detention centre were like. well, according to refugees that we have spoken to, conditions inside the manus island facility are getting pretty grim. the electricity has been turned off, water supplies and food supplies are dwindling, and refugees and asylum seekers inside the compound say that physically they are drained, mentally, they are exhausted, yet still, they remain determined to stay inside the facility that closed down almost three days ago. papua new guinea authorities say there are no imminent plans to seize back control of the facility, and at the moment, australia and papua new guinea both

say that it is each other‘s responsibility to look after these men. so, it is an in—house, a deadlock, that seems to continue, certainly for the coming days, u nless certainly for the coming days, unless there is a breakthrough in court proceedings. —— impasse. the refugees are asking the supreme court in papua new guinea do reopen the facility as a short—term solution to this crisis. new zealand has offered to accept a small number, not all of them, a small number, not all of them, a small number, but australia refused that. why is that? welcome new zealand has been offering to take about 150 refugees from australia's offshore processing centres on manus island and another on nauru. now, australia has not agreed to that. part of the thinking could well be that australia doesn't want any of these refugees ending up in australia through the backdoor, if you like. if these refugees were to go to new

zealand and be granted new zealand citizenship, they could be allowed to come to australia. and all the way through this crisis, canberra has insisted these refugees on manus island and nauru will never be allowed to set foot in australia. so, this will be a point of discussion when the new prime minister of new zealand, jacinta arden, meets her counterpart in australia, malcolm turnbull, on thursday. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: after the man arrested for tuesday's attack in new york is charged, we speak to the british tourist who spent an hour in his cab last week. also on the programme: scientists have discovered a new species of great ape. we'll tell you all about the orangutan that's already under threat. the israeli prime minister, yitzhak rabin, the architect of the middle east peace process,

has been assassinated. a 27—year—old jewish man has been arrested, and an extremistjewish organisation has claimed responsibility for the killing. at polling booths throughout the country, they voted on a historic day for australia. as the results came in, it was clear. the monarchy would survive. of the american hostages, there was no sign. they are being held somewhere inside the compound, and student leaders have threatened that should the americans attempt rescue, they will all die. this mission has surpassed all expectations. voyager one is now the most distant man—made object anywhere in the universe, and itjust seems to keep on going. tonight, we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of ourarms, or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm sharanjit leyl, in singapore. i'm kasia madera, in london. our top stories: donald trump is heading to asia on his first official tour as president. he's set to visit five countries, with tensions over north korea's nuclear ambitions set to be high on the agenda. spain is holding eight members of the catalan government in jail on charges of rebellion and sedition. prosecutors are also seeking an arrest warrant for the ousted leader, carles puidgemont. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world: the japan times is reporting that more than 30,000 drivers in the country are showing signs of dementia. drivers who are 75 or older are required to take a cognitive test when they apply to renew their licenses. the state run newspaper china daily is positive about president donald trump's first state visit to the country.

they say the visit is expected to yield positive results for bilateral ties, with a number of major business deals due to be signed. the international edition of the new york times has a story on higher prices for imports in the wake of brexit. it says one way the impact can be measured is by the rising costs of pineapples. now, what stories are sparking discussions online? president macron is the youngest leader france has had in a century, and it turns out, he is also a bit of a poet. when 13—year—old british schoolgirl, sophie, visited paris this year she was so enchanted by the eiffel tower she wrote this poem, and sent it to the elysee palace. the president has found time to respond, in the language of the famous monument. the french embassy admitted

they had translated it from the original french. very sweet. myanmar‘s de facto leader, aung san suu kyi, has visited the south—east state of rakhine for the first time since violence erupted there in late august. her brief trip allowed her only short stops in areas affected by the military operation against rohingya militants. the nobel peace prize winner has been criticised around the world for not stopping the military crackdown, amid allegations of ethnic cleansing. 0liver slow, chief of staff at frontier myanmar magazine in yangonjoins us now. this was a brief trip, an unannounced trip. do win at who she spoke to? did she speak to any of the remaining rohingya bass according to media, she visited a number of villages north, where most

of the violence took place and she met some of the rohingya community. she went to some villages where the government said those they would be able to resettle. did she see any of the 200 villages that had been torched? according to state media she visited some areas, near the bangladesh border, where the government said they will resettle some of those returning. this is hugely sensitive. why was it not announced, the visit? it was only released yesterday. she kept it quite secret. this morning, on the front pages of the state—run media. it is quite unusual it was not

announced beforehand. she set up a committee to repatriate the rohingya back to their homes but unless the situation with their ethnicity is recognise, it is an impossible situation? absolutely. the government said they will allow these people to return but there are number of factors that will make it very difficult. many rohingya have disappeared. and people wanting to return, villages are no longer there and many are too scared to return. there is a lot of fear and obstacles to ove rco m e there is a lot of fear and obstacles to overcome if people are to return. aung san suu kyi has been criticised for not doing more and speaking out against the military. what options does she really have? not a great deal. as it has been well

publicised, she does not have direct control of the military and this visit, while it is late in the day, it is one positive step to be taking. there is so much more to be done. she has a more positive approach. it is unlikely we will see her speak out and condemn the military crackdown. she seems to be taking a positive approach on this issue. thank you for your thoughts. the man suspected of carrying out the truck attack in new york on tuesday, which left eight dead, has appeared in court charged with terrorism offences. president trump has called for the death sentence. when police released an image of 29 year old say—fullo sai—pov just hours after the attack, a british tourist immediately recognised him. damian erskine had been in new york last week and realised that saipov tuesday afternoon and lower

manhattan became the scene of the worst terror attack on us soil since 9/11. in the hours that followed as details emerged of what had happened, damian erskine watched carefully. then a moment of realisation and horror that he spent more than an hour in his company. it's a cliche but i went cold. i was like no, he does look familiar but no, surely not. itjust makes you feel sick really. as he drove from newark to newjersey, damien said saipov was friendly. he was very polite, rushed to help with our backs. he said goodbye and then drove off. he spoke about america and jobs he had here. he was asking aboutjobs in the uk

arm and he wanted to know how much an engineer would earn every month. after the initial shock, reflection. the experience hasn't put him off travelling to the states. i love new york. it is one of the best places in the world i think. i would be back in a heartbeat. i cannot change my opinion on a country of that size or any country. it is just one person out of a million. he says he is helping the fbi with the inquiries, as us authorities try to piece together the movements of sayfullo saipov. in the dense forests of indonesia, a new species of great ape has been discovered by a team of international scientists. it's the tapanuli orangutan, and there are just 800 of them left which makes them the most endangered great ape in the world. 0ur science reporter victoria gill has the story. the remote mountain forests of sumatra are home to some of our closest ape relatives. and a small population here,

first discovered just 20 years ago, has been hiding a scientific secret. this is the tapanuli orangutan, a species new to science. until now, it was thought that there were just two distinct species of orangutan, sumatran and bornean, like this big male here. but this new study shows that there are actually three — a tiny population has been hidden away and isolated by hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. early dna analysis suggested these animals were peculiar compared to the other sumatran apes. so, scientists embarked on a detailed study examining what they ate, and their unique calls. years of painstaking genetic comparisons enabled scientists to reconstruct the animals' evolutionary history. the final piece of the puzzle, though, was tiny but consistent differences between the sumatran and this, the tapanuli orangutan's skull.

it's an amazing breakthrough, i think. there's only seven, if we exclude ourselves, great ape species. so, adding one to that very small list is spectacular. withjust 800 known individuals, this species will go straight onto the critically endangered list. logging, mining and plans for a hydroelectric damn already pose a threat to its habitat. the hope is that adding this ape to the biology textbooks will help to ensure its survival. victoria gill, bbc news. what extraordinary apes. you've been watching newsday. that's all for now, stay with bbc world news. it looks as though friday will start

onafairly it looks as though friday will start on a fairly cool note across the british isles despite the fact that much of the breezes coming in from the south and south—west and there isa the south and south—west and there is a lot of cloud to be had. my greatest concern about the first pa rt greatest concern about the first part of the day is howard and an extensive the fog is going to be. widely across the southern county of england for the rush hour. bbc local radio will keep you updated. the eastern side of devon through the west cou ntry eastern side of devon through the west country and england —— central southern england is the central area of concern. a lot of dry weather around, and cloud so a fairly dull start to serve day. further west into scotland, renewed bouts of cloud, wind and rain. eventually it

may reach the north—west of northern ireland. 0nce may reach the north—west of northern ireland. once the fog is gone, a half decent date. some sunshine around, fleetingly perhaps. we see significant developments in the weather as we get through friday night into the wee small hours of saturday. the rain becoming extensive saturday. the rain becoming exte ns ive a cross saturday. the rain becoming extensive across england and wales. the odd moderate burst in there. dragging the cloud down to the borders area and tending the merger with the new area of rain across england and wales. the weekend turning colderfor all. for england and wales. the weekend turning colder for all. for the greater part of england and wales, at the start of the weekend, these we re at the start of the weekend, these were the front close by and that is rain. quite persistent rain. titles are getting up to around 30 millimetres perhaps. the not hold me to the final clearance of the rain

getting to the eastern shores till the afternoon. it could be a fraction earlier or a little bit later. the day will be one of sunny spells at here. especially the scotla nd spells at here. especially the scotland and northern ireland. and the case will all of us as we get on in the sunday with the high rather cool 11. i'm kasia madera with bbc news. donald trump is heading to asia for his first official visit as president. he's set to visit five countries as part of the tour. the white house national security advisor said that time was running out to deal with pyongyang, and the president would push other countries to do more to resolve the crisis. there have been protests in barcelona following the arrest of eight members of the catalan government. prosecutors are also seeking a european arrest warrant for ousted leader carles puigdemont. and this story is trending on bbc.com. scientists have identified a totally new species of great ape,

deep in the forests of sumatra. but the orangutan is so rare that it's gone straight onto the endangered species list. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk