this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: enough is enough! as florida students call for tighter arms controls, president trump says he supports efforts to tighten background checks on gun owners. more than 2.5 million newborn babies around the world die before they're a month old, but most of those deaths are preventable. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. also in the programme: a case has been opened against the russian olympic medalist alexander krushelnitsy after he failed a doping test. and kfc without the c — the fast—food chain closes hundreds of its restaurants across the uk and ireland after running out of chicken. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news.

thanks forjoining us. it's 10am in singapore, 1:00 in the morning in london and 8pm in washington where the white house says president trump is supportive of improved background checks for people who buy guns. mr trump has previously spoken out against gun control, but today's comments follow the high school shooting in parkland florida last week, in which 17 people were killed. week to demand political action. 16—year—old rain valladares will be one of them. she was in class when the shots rang out. now, she wants the president's attention. and ifeel like if he looks me in the eye, and he looks all of us in the eye, he sees the amount of...

just passion and just change that we're calling, we're pleading, we're demanding from him, because he's going to know, he's going to see in our eyes that we're not going to back down, no matter what. we're not going to stop until change has happened, you know, change has — this country changes. we can't — my heart can barely go through this one time and i'm not going to let it happen again. i'm not going to let my heart go through it again, i'm not going to let these families, these victims, you know, end in vain. michael nutter is the former democratic mayor of philadelphia with a history of antagonising the powerful us gun lobby. he's told the bbc he believes that younger people calling for gun control could be game—changers. you would think that a while back we would've actually done something significant, certainly after sandy hook, but there is a different feeling from florida,

i think a lot of it has to do with the voices of the young people speaking out very strongly, very directly and being heard, and i hope that more and more adults, people who are supposed to be adults take their lead, show some guts and actually do even a few things, reasonable things. for more, our correspondent david willis in washington, joined rico a little earlier. today day the president gave to his support behind a bipartisan bill to basically tighten up the criminal background checks that people have to go — undergo here before they can buy a firearm. basically, these are checks carried out under the fbi, but they rely on information from state and federal agencies regarding mental health legion issues, regarding criminal

convictions and so on. and very often, that information isn't sent through. it isn't compiled as part of the database. so this measure would basically tighten that up — at least that's the plan. it wouldn't necessarily, though, prevent the sort of attack that somebody like nikolas cruz could carry out, and, indeed, president trump has focused on the mental health aspect of this whole debate and the fbi letting him slip through the net, as it were, rather than looking at any form of gun control. but there was a lie—in today, about 100 students staged this lie—in in front of the white house, calling for tighter gun control laws, there are plans for a rally in the capital wednesday and a big rally here in the capital, washington, dc, on the 24th of march. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. the court of arbitration for sport has begun proceedings

against the russian 0lympic medallist, alexander krushelnitsky, after he failed a doping test. a sample he provided tested positive for a banned substance, which the bbc understands to be meldonium. alexander krushelnitsky won a bronze medal alongside his wife in the mixed doubles curling event. the ioc may say the alexander krushelnitsky case shows that everything is actually 0k. they might say, why should we be embarrassed? firstly, the procedure is, you know, going ahead, he has still not been found guilty, and secondly, if he is found guilty, we are the ones who caught him so everyone should feel quite good about that as well. mind you, winning that argument in the court of international public opinion is a very different matter. however, this case will

be followed for that reason very closely today. we are not sure when the actual hearing is going to take less, but it could be quite fast. now, imagine, for ordinary russians and for the athletes here especially, this is pretty painfulfor them. they thought these games could represent a thawing of the relations with the ioc. hoping they were going to be welcomed back also making news today: the indonesian authorities have issued their highest—level safety warning after the eruption of a large volcano sent an ash cloud shooting more than 7 kilometres into the air. officials urged individuals to stay out of an exclusion zone around mount sinubung, on indonesia's sumatra island.

after lying dormant for four centuries, mount sinabung has erupted repeatedly since twenty ten, making it one of indonesia's most active volcanoes. the chinese authorities have demanded a severe punishment for a man who's accused of snapping off and stealing the thumb of a terracotta warrior statue on display in the us. the life—size figures of the first emperor's army, which are more than 2,000 years old, are among china's most prized treasures. another three employees of punjab national bank have been arrested in connection with a $1.8 billion fraud case. billionaire jeweller nirav modi and others have been accused of colluding with employees at the bank. the latest arrest includes two bank managers. mr modi has not commented on the case and no charges have been filed. now some amazing pictures from the english seaside town of blackpool. you can see the resort‘s famous tower in the background and in the foreground,

it looks like a black wave is sweeping up the beach. but it's actually a large number of starlings. the mass movement, is known as a murmur—ation with flocks every year, over 2.5 million babies around the world are not survive —— do not survive beyond their first month of life. many deaths are entirely preventable according to a report published by unicef. it says better at first to midwives and basics such as clean water and decent nutrition could dramatically alter the lives of hundreds of thousands of newborns. mortality rates differ hugely between countries. we have reports from india in malawi. first, why the prospects for babies born injapan are so good. this is a beautiful

4—day—old baby girl. in the lottery of birth she has just hit the jackpot. injapan, the chance of a baby dying in its first month of life is the lowest in the world. hello. please come in. it helps that her mum lives in a rich country with excellent healthcare. but there are two things that set japan apart. the first is this little book. every baby injapan gets one. it will trace her development from the womb until she is six years old. second, she gets lots of monthly checks. the first stage, until six months of pregnancy, i go — it's about once in four weeks. after that, i go two

times in a month. and now, i am the last month of pregnancy, and i go once a week. this is a truly remarkable success story forjapan because just 70 years ago, in 1950, japan's infant mortality rate was 50 deaths per thousand live births. today, for the first time, with these new figures being published, japan is the first country ever recorded to go below one death per thousand live births. in india, where a fifth of all the world's babies are born, the chances of survival are much lower than injapan. on average, 60 newborns die in this country every hour. this woman gave birth to a baby girl three weeks ago.

she's been in the specialist unit in bhopal ever since. many babies end up here because their mothers are malnourished and don't get proper medical care during their pregnancy. the situation is worse in remote areas. six hours north, i meet this mother with her young son. last month, she gave birth to his sister. translation: when she was born, she would vomit every time i tried to breast—feed her. one hospital turned us away. another asked for more money. by the time we went back to get the payment, she died. it was the second baby she had lost. access to quality health care is a key factor when it comes to newborn deaths here in india. for many people, it's still simply out of reach. you only have to come to rural areas to see the impact that's having.

doctors say these specialist units are improving survival rates, but in a country where so many babies are born, too many are still dying. this is agnes. being born in malawi means she has a much better chance of survival. newborn deaths have nearly halved in 16 years. simple changes have helped, like discouraging woman from giving birth at home. translation: the difference is huge. here, you are supported. because at home, you could be losing blood. but here, if you are losing blood, they give you an injection and if there are any other problems, the doctor can help. premature babies are especially at risk. here, doctors are teaching mothers the kangaroo method, which helps keep these underweight babies warm using body heat. child marriage and the resulting pregnancies are a particular problem and can lead to early birth. 80% of malawians live in rural areas,

which means if you are going to have your baby in a clinic, you've got to walk. but the bigger picture is things have got better. unicef says it's because malawi has been open to new ideas. and other developing countries may want to follow that path to give newborns a better chance in life. that was lebo diseko ending that report. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: a bbc arabic crew has gained exclusive access into afrin in the north of syria, where the kurds are fighting against turkish forces. also on the programme, lego, the hugely popular toy is notjust for children. we'll be having a look at some of the adults using lego as a building block for their careers. nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan,

the last soviet troops were finally coming home. the withdrawal completed in good order, but the army defeated in the task it had been sent to perform. malcolm was murdered. that has a terrible effect on the morality of the people. i'm terrified of the repercussions in the streets. one wonders who is next. as the airlift got under way, there was no let—up in the eruption itself. lava streams from a vent low in the crater flow down to the sea on the east of the island, away from the town for the time being, but it could start flowing again at any time. the russians heralded their new generation space station with a spectacular night launch. they've called it mir, the russian for peace. this is newsday on the bbc.

welcome back. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. our top stories: us president donald trump supports efforts to improve background checks on gun ownership, the white house says, following the florida school shooting that killed 17 people. a unicef report on global infant mortality has found that many newborn deaths are preventable. around the world, 2.6 million babies die each year before turning one month old. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we start off with the singapore straits times, and the government here is set to raise its goods and services tax by two percentage points — the first such move in a decade. the authorities need to increase

revenue amid surging healthcare, security and infrastructure spending, but the changes won't come into effect until at least 2021. the south china morning post reveals that the new prime minister of nepal wants to restart a chinese—led $2.5 billion hydropower dam project. the project was pulled by the previous government, but the new nepalese prime minister has promised to reverse the decision. and finally, the arab news is leading with a proposed new law that it says will give israel wider powers to strip palestinians of their right to live in eastjerusalem and the golan heights. this follows earlier attempts to remove social security benefits and family reunification rights from palestinians in jerusalem. syrian state media is reporting that pro—government forces are going to enter afrin, in the north of the country, to support kurds fighting turkish forces.

but there's no sign yet that they've been deployed. turkey regards the kurdish fighters, just across its border, as terrorists and launched a big offensive against them last month. a bbc arabic crew are the only international broadcasters to have reached the region, as rami ruhayem reports. inside afrin, the newest frontline in syria's civil war. the city is the focus of an attack by the turkish army. as they vent their anger, protestors carry pictures of abullah ocalan, he's the jailed leader of the pkk, the kurdish group which has wagwd a decades—long war inside turkey. the syrian kurds have been pushing for autonomy and turkey has grown increasingly nervous — invading northern syria was their response. a bbc arabic crew travelled through territory controlled by the syrian army, before arriving here. there was no attempt to stop them. despite its own misgivings about kurdish separatism,

it seems damascus is even more incensed by turkey's actions. it has just announced it will send troops to help repel the invasion. as turkish warplanes attack border villages, civilians flee towards afrin. this dark cellar is all the shelter this woman could find for herself and her children. translation: on that day, there was bombing. the planes came over our village, it bombed the area. we were frightened and we left. my daughter was crying. we came here to this cave. you can see, it's dark and scary. the kurdish fighters are resisting the turkish advance. they have been putting out videos showing their attacks on turkish positions. translation: so far, militarily, the turkish army is in crisis. yes, they have entered

syrian territory, there are clashes in border villages, but they cannot say they have consolidated their presence anywhere. but the turkish military is presenting a very different picture. these shots show a kurdish unit tracked by a turkish drone, and then destroyed. turkey's aim is to prevent the creation of a continuous kurdish region on its southern border. for the moment, the fighting is concentrated around afrin. turkey's next objective is further east, but it's notjust kurdish forces based in manbij, the us is there as well. it supported the kurds in their fight against is, that put a strain on its relationship with turkey. this has pushed it to breaking point. we have always been clear with turkey that the weapons provided to the syrian democratic forces would be limited, mission—specific and provided on an incremental basis,

to achieve military objectives only. as to afrin, we call upon turkey to show restraint in its operation to minimise the casualties to civilians and avoid actions that would escalate tensions in that area. back inside afrin, the conflict was taking its toll. 21 fighters are being laid to rest. help may be on the way, but at a cost. the regime will be fighting to extend its sovereignty, while the kurds will be fighting to defend their dream of self—rule. rami ruhayem, bbc news. the fast food chain kfc has temporarily closed around 600 restaurants across the uk and ireland, after delivery problems meant a shortage of chicken. kfc said it had been let down by a logistics company that took

over its supply chain last week. jon kay has the story. no! when you've been promised kfc as a half—term treat, but there is no chicken. nine—year—old maxine is not happy. angry. sad. and disappointed. and hungry? very hungry! are you more hungry or angry? hungry! it's notjust maxine's local outlet. hundreds across the uk are shut because kf has no 'c". they've run out of chicken. pretty shocking, really, to be fair. pretty shocking. especially when you're hungry, like, do you know what i mean? kfc have blamed teething problems with the new delivery contract. they switched to dhl last week, who say operational issues have disrupted the supply.

it's a chicken place, so they should have enough chicken. they should be able to store it. it's a big chain, so it does seem unbelievable, really. all the chicken... there's farmers, surely there's enough chickens. we tried several outlets across bristol today, but found no fingers being licked. almost every store closed. it's lunchtime. you'd expect these hatches to be really busy at this point but the kitchen‘s empty, the fryers switched off. chicken with fries, please. chicken with fries. it's a far cry from this. tonight, the company is encouraging staff to take holidays until it can meet the demand again. kfc says its own employees will be paid, but the large majority of restaurants are franchises. it just seems amazing. i thought everything was pretty much automated these

days and as they use chicken, more's ordered. so obviously, something has gone seriously wrong. the company says it's working flat out to rectify the problem. but for some, that is little consolation. jon kay, bbc news. what is your dream job? to be a rock star? a racing car driver? or a lego artist? lego, as everyone knows, is a hugely popular toy for children. but for some grownups, the building blocks are the foundation of successful careers as designers and artists, likejeffery kong from singapore. take a look. my name isjeffery kong and i'm a brick artist from singapore. i create art with building bricks. i think the building brick is a very powerful art medium that anybody, young or old, can use

to express themselves, to tell their own story. the local scene is pretty small. we do work together, especially for bigger projects. i also like to hang out with artists who work in other mediums, like, for example, in wood, or graphic artists, because there's so much i can learn from them. i'm still discovering new ways of building, new things, new ideas, every day. if i can put a smile on yourface, i would say i have succeeded. i believe an artist has a responsibility, yeah, to showcase their work and inspire others. to the artist a really great work.

-- it to the artist a really great work. —— it has always been my dream to be a lego artist. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. we will be talking to richard branson, who's planning to build a super speed transport link between two cities in india. now, before we go, let's take a look at some of these pictures from remote mountains in ethiopia, where a christian priest commutes almost two hours a day to his church, which is carved in the side of a cliff. the church is perched above a 250 metre drop, and is traditionally reached without shoes or ropes. and so no one has ever fallen and so no one has everfallen in making the very treacherous journey. once again, ijust want to bring you up to date with how

we see the weather developing right across the british isles in the coming days. and i think there will be something of a transformation for many of us as early as today. a much brighter day for central and western parts compared to monday, simply because monday's weather front slowly but surely is easing its way over towards the north sea but not quite completing the job, and that is quite important because it gives leaden skies for tuesday. the last of the mild air trapped with that weather front, slowly just becoming confined to the east. out towards the west, underneath clear skies, tuesday will start fairly cool. western scotland, northern ireland, parts of wales too. there could be a touch of frost if you're very prone. now, let's see how we're going to do for the school run and the morning commute. as i say, with the weather front making its progress over towards the east, there will be brighter skies. just putting the detail model on here, to show you there's a speckling of showers, particularly over the high ground.

they could be wintry across scotland. but dry to start with to the western side of the pennines, through northern ireland, the west midlands, wales and the south—west of england. but go that bit further east, anywhere really from about yorkshire down to the far south—east, and you're looking at a fair amount of cloud and the prospect of some rain as well, which could, for some, hang around for the greater part of the day. you've got an onshore breeze as well, along these eastern shores. that combination of the cloud, the lack of sunshine and that breeze, 7—9. but further towards the north and the west, where you get some sunshine at last, will push those temperatures up nicely — 10, 11, 12 degrees or so. now, with high pressure building in across that old weather front, we're left with just a residue of cloud which helps to keep the temperatures up as we start the new day on wednesday but either side of it, where the skies are clear, we will end up with a touch of frost and that is the shape of things to come as we move into the latter part of the week and indeed onto the weekend. high pressure trying to build in and starting to connect us to a really cold continent.

we will not be looking to the atlantic, as we have done through monday and tuesday, we will be looking towards the continent and scandinavia. so here is wednesday, with the high—pressure close by to us, keeping the atlantic fronts at bay, but there will be sunshine, yes, there will be a lot of dry weather, but notice the temperatures, after that coolish sort of start - it's 7-9d. no more the 10—12, if indeed you ever saw that. here, we are into thursday and indeed towards the tail—end and of the week, and here is the mechanism that eventually draws that cold air towards the british isles. the high pressure. dry, yes, but the temperatures set to drop quite markedly as we get through to the weekend. i'm sharanjit leyl with bbc news. our top story: students have staged a protest outside the white house, demanding action on gun control. president trump has said he supports efforts to improve background checks on gun buyers in the wake of the florida school shooting that left seventeen people dead.

a unicef report on global infant mortality has found that many newborn deaths are preventable. around the world, 2.6 million babies die each year before turning one month old. and this story is popular on bbc.com. fast food chain kfc has been forced to temporarily close around six hundred of its restaurants across the uk and ireland after delivery problems caused them to run out of their most important ingredient — chicken. kfc said it had been let down by a company that took over its supply chain last week. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk.