this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: survivors of last week's high school massacre rally in florida — and visit the white house. i can't feel comfortable in my country knowing that people have, will have, are ever gonna feel like this. i want to feel safe at school. a monstrous campaign of annihilation. the un human rights chief accuses the syrian government of gross abuses in its assault on eastern ghouta. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. also in the programme: the hong kong pop star denise ho tells the bbc she's been stopped from performing in malaysia because of her views on gay rights. scientists try to bring nasa's efforts to grow crops in space back down to earth. thanks tojoining

thanks to joining us. it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london, and 7pm in the eastern united states where the campaign for gun controls, in response to the florida school shooting, has produced some extraordinary scenes. in tallahassee, the state capitol, students gathered to demand ‘never again‘ and tough restrictions on weapons sales. then at the white house, president trump convened a televised listening session where survivors and their families spoke of their anguish. jon sopel reports from tallahassee. a school trip like no other. these students from marjory stoneman douglas high school have not come to the florida state capitol to listen, they have come to speak and demand change after 17 of their classmates and teachers

were killed last week. and they are determined to be heard. no—one needs these weapons that are taking children's lives. they should ban them because all they are used for is destruction and they are just not needed. you should go to school feeling safe and be confident you are there for an education and a bright future, not worry about getting shot. chanting: never again! chanting: neveragain! neveragain! the students werejoined by thousands of others from across the state, noisy, determined and emboldened. chanting: the nra has got to go! the streets are literally echoing to the sound of these young people demanding gun control. but last night, state legislators voted against even opening a debate on semiautomatic weapons. the fight for gun control is going to be an uphill struggle. chanting: this is what democracy

looks like! but that decision not even to debate guns in the state assembly has infuriated pupils, teachers and community leaders alike. i have buried in the last four days, three kids from my congregation. i watched a father want to climb into the mausoleum with his son. i watched a mother curled into a ball and refusing to come out for the family. then they have the gall not even to discuss the issue, i am very upset. from the white house, small but significant signs of movement and the president has been meeting students and teachers, notjust from florida, but from other shootings as well. we want to be strong on background checks, very strong emphasis on the mental health of somebody, and we are going to do plenty of other things. this heartfelt plea from one of the parents. justin was texting me

hiding in a closet saying, "if something happens, i love you. if something happens, i love you." you cannot imagine what that is like as a parent. it is not political, it is a human issue, people are dying. we have to stop this. if he is not old enough to go and buy a drink, he shouldn't be able to buy a gun at 18. these students have captured public attention with their demand for change, but it is a tough journey and winning support is a different thing to winning reform. jon sopel there. more on that story in a moment. first, some of the day's other news. the un secretary general has demanded an immediate end to fighting in the syrian rebel—enclave of eastern ghouta, describing it as a "hell on earth". more than 300 people have died there since sunday in government—led air strikes. here is some strong reaction from the office of the high commissioner for human rights. the high commissioner four

the high commissionerfour humanises tokamac is being a monstrous campaign of annihilation in eastern goutha will stop having more children dying to we have to see? kelley moore hospitals bombed? to we have to see before the international community can come together with one voice and come together with resolute action in the violence in syria? also making news today: in nigeria, more than 100 schoolgirls are still missing after an attack by the islamist militant group boko haram on monday. pupils and staff at a school in yobe state fled into bushland during the raid. it has drawn comparisons to the mass abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls in chibok four years ago by boko haram. a singaporean man convicted in a high profile fraud case has been caught trying to flee the country — one day before his prison sentence is due to start. chew eng han was found in a small boat heading towards malaysia. he and five others were convicted of misappropriating millions of dollars from the city harvest church in 2015. security experts have warned

of the risk of artificial intelligence being exploited by rogue states, criminals and terrorists. a report, entitled the malicious use of artificial intelligence, warns of scenarios such as drones using face recognition to attack individuals and hackers manipulating autonomous cars. let's take a look at these truly magnificent pictures. a very soft form of frost, known as rime, has given an aura of fairytale to the landscape of mountjiu—hua, in east china's anhui province. it's caused by a combination of high humidity and very low temperatures. ice crystals coated the tree tops, while a sea of clouds shrouded the mountain. let's get more on our main story now. president trump has been meeting survivors of last week's school shooting in florida.

earlier i asked our correspondent in washington, david willis, if anything has come out of these meetings. no concrete results, but a loss of discussion and a lot of passion as you can imagine —— a lot of of. we have heard from survivors from the shooting in florida last week and one teenager, an 18—year—old, who lost his best friend in the attack carried out by nikolas cruz last wednesday. basically said how can somebody go in and buy a weapon of war, summary somebody go in and buy a weapon of war, summary of that age, he talked of australia, where regulations were introduced back in 1999 and said that since then they have been precisely zero in the way of mass shootings of this kind. a variety of

ideas put forward, a loss of sadness there in the west wing of the white house, as you can imagine —— a lot of of. on the part of these parents and students. iis—year—old said simply "i want to feel safe at school" —— one 15—year—old. simply "i want to feel safe at school" -- one 15-year-old. one idea is to have teachers and staff carrying firearms in school campuses. absolutely. the solution president trump believes may lie not with fewer guns, but with more guns. he said he was endorsing the idea of teachers and others in schools being armed if they had special training, as he put it. he called for an end to garner free zones. he said that having so—called concealed carry, which means teachers would have weapons hidden about their person, could deter the sort of situation that took less in florida last week

—— gunfree that took less in florida last week —— gun free zones. the father of a young child who died in the sandy hook massacre a few years ago countered that. he said his own wife isa countered that. he said his own wife is a teacher, he said teachers have enough to do in the classroom, as well as acting as part—time vigilantes, and he said the last time —— last thing anyone wants to see if a shootout at school, as he put it. david willis earlier. the hong kong pop star denise ho has told the bbc she has been denied a performance permit in malaysia over her views on gay rights. homosexuality is illegal in the country and a minister has said artists have to comply with what he called local values. kathryn armstrong reports. denise ho has never been afraid of standing up her beliefs. she was once one of the bigger stars in hong kong, but everything changed when she became one of the faces of the

2014 pro—democracy protests. trent bouu 2014 pro—democracy protests. trent boult and saw her blacklisted in mainland china, with some major brands pulling out of promotional projects with. now she has been barred from holding a concert in late this aprilfor a barred from holding a concert in late this april for a different reason. we received a call from alco organise in malaysia and they told us organise in malaysia and they told us that our visa was denied and my visa was denied, and the reason that the person from the government gave was that because i was an active supporter of the lg btqi was that because i was an active supporter of the lgbtqi community. the malaysian government minister has not confirmed the ho ab visa was denied. but the communications are multi— media minister said that they welcome anyone who... homosexual activity is illegal in malaysia and a recent crackdown on the lgbt community has been seen by some as an attempt by the ruling party to appease religious hardliners ahead of election in the

coming months. ho, became a publicly asa coming months. ho, became a publicly as a lesbian in 2012, said she is disappointed by the decision is not a complete surprise. were several cases where people had been denied visas for concerts and also a year ago, joshua wong, of hong kong, was also denied entry because of his support in the umbrella movement, and so! support in the umbrella movement, and so i guess, because of my double to boo identity, because i was also a supporter of the umbrella movement and pro—democracy, somehow we have guessed that maybe i would be denied access. ho said viletta's decision when hold back and has vowed to continue fighting for the rights of the lgbt continue fighting for the rights of the lg bt committee continue fighting for the rights of the lgbt committee —— malaysia's decision. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we meet the south korean rescue team battling one of the highest suicide rates in the world. also on the programme: is speed

breeding the future? scientists try to bring nasa's efforts to grow crops in space back down to earth. nine years and 15,000 deaths after going in to 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 morale of the people. i'm terrified of the repercussions in the streets. one wonders who is next. as the airlift got underway, 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. i'm rico hizon, in singapore. i'm sharanjit leyl, in london. our top stories: president trump has promised to introduce strong background checks on people purchasing firearms, following the recent deadly shooting at a school in florida the un human rights chief has accused the syrian government of carrying out a monstrous campaign of annihilation in eastern ghouta. and is she or isn't she? according to south korean media,

the sister of north korean leader kim jong—un, told officials she was pregnant during a recent visit to the winter olympics. there has been no confirmation of the comments, but speculation highlights the fascination with the north's opaque power structures. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we'll start with the japan times which leads with the news that the japanese prime minister shinzo abe has called for immigration reform. it says the government aims to draw up a plan, by summer, to allow more skilled foreign workers entry to japan. the philippines daily inquirer focusses on a report by the us intelligence committee branding president duterte a threat to democracy and human rights. the paper quotes the philippine presidential palace's denial saying, "mr duterte has no autocratic tendencies."

and the china daily features this photograph of a mass of travellers leaving beijing railway station on wednesday. they're returning from family visits and vacations on the last day of the spring festival holiday. it says around 11 million passenger trips were made on china's rail network on wednesday. what stories are sparking discussions online? and if you've been following the winter olympics, you'll know how the sport of curling has captured the imagination. so much so in fact that some people have been having their own go at the sport — and posting the results online. floor mops, robot vacuum cleaners — anything lying around can be pressed into service!

iam sure i am sure there is a leading to a lot of very clean floors! experiments by nasa to grow wheat in space are inspiring scientists in australia to see if it'll work on earth. by changing how much light plants get, they can speed up crop cycles by over 50%. it's of massive importance since the world has to produce up to 80% more food by 2050. to feed 9 billion people. nasa experiments to grow wheat in space were the inspiration for university of queensland scientists to develop the world's first ‘speed breeding‘ procedures here on planet earth. uq queensland alliance for agriculture and food innovation senior research fellow dr lee hickey said the nasa experiments involved using continuous light on wheat which triggered early reproduction in the plants. we were originally inspired by nasser who are trying to grow wheat in outer space as food supply for astronauts but they were exposing

the week plans to continue as light so the plant did not sleep any trick them into producing seed very quickly, much faster than normal and we thought what a cool tool this could be to speed up the rate of improvement of our props here on planet earth. can you describe this technology and is it something that any farmer can use? well, it is certainly a tool for land breeders who are developing these improved crops forfarmers to who are developing these improved crops for farmers to grow because we need crops to be more productive, in the face of climate change, warmer temperatures, more frequent droughts, rapidly evolving diseases and making them more nutritious. the way it works, we exposed the planned to 22 hours of light and it can go from seed to sit in eight weeks, thatis from seed to sit in eight weeks, that is four weeks and it works for

other crops like chickpeas and bali. this technique can allow us to exceed six generations of crops per year is that ofjust one. you say you are exposing these plants for 22 hours of light so how about the health of these plants? doesn‘t interfere with the natural process? would damage them somehow? actually, interestingly, when we first proposed this very radical idea to some of our colleagues, they were very sceptical. if we stress that plans out they would be weedy and produce only a couple of seeds but, in actual reality, the opposite occurred and the planned to resemble the ones in the field or stop very live and some of our experiments demonstrate the plant often grow

under speed breeding are offered more productive so this is very promising not only for plant breeding but also, we suspect, there are some big implications for peace in productivity in indoor, vertical farming. we're not seeing the sun 's energy being utilised but a lot of led lights so this will take up a of electricity? that is certainly one of the main challenges. the people to adopt it, they need the infrastructure and controlled climatic conditions but there are huge advancements in terms of lighting technology. leds which admit special wavelengths are being used at the moment. it is saving a ton energy when it comes to cooling all make hitting the environment as

well. dr hickey thank you for joining us. south korea‘s in the news for lots of positive reasons at the moment but, like anywhere, it has its social problems. the country has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. the problem is so severe there‘s a special rescue team. here‘s more about what they do. a suicide rescue team in south korea. any christian wherever they are in the world, will have heard of billy graham, the evangelist who‘s died at the age of 99. he invented a certain kind of stadium preaching and influenced millions from american presidents to the british queen. 0ur religious affairs editor martin bashir looks back on his life and work. the problems that face us tonight that never be solved unless we bring them to the lord jesus christ. charismatic and handsome, billy graham preached a simple message that he took around the world, speaking to more than 220 million people, in 185 countries. london first felt the force

of his evangelism in 1954. we‘ve come here at the invitation of these churches to help lead you in a crusade to win into jesus christ. i want you to get up out you have your seat right now. he would lead 417 crusades, often in major sporting stadiums, from new york to nigeria. i don‘t believe anybody is here by accident. he was god. he was also man. it was at an earl‘s court rally, in1966, that cliff richard publicly declared his christianity. # he‘ll do foryou...#. he was also a pastor to presidents, from nixon to clinton, but he never took sides. he was even invited to preach before the queen and other members of the royal family at sandringham, in 1984, and said afterwards that he did not change his message, but simply pointed to jesus. i don‘t actually think we‘ve had

somebody who simply says the bible says, the bible says, the bible says and doesn‘t intrude his own ideas into the message. so he‘s being real on message and i don‘t think we‘ve seen anybody of that character, apart from saint paul. his son franklin graham, who‘s also an evangelist, described a recent conversation. i said, "daddy, what do you want on your tombstone?" he thought, he said, "just preacher. " that‘s it. that's it. god loves you. unlike so many american preachers, billy graham was never caught up in any kind of scandal and insisted that his financial affairs were transparent and audited by others. it was the simplicity of his message and the sincerity of his life that will be his legacy. the american preacher, billy graham, who‘s died at the age of 99 you have been watching newsday. stay with us. investing in businesses is always

a gamble but we will be seeing how one one global tech consultancy is predicting winners by the turn ofa card. and before we go, let‘s take a look at these pictures from the winter olympics. this is a display by drones, flying over a medal ceremony. the pilot—less aircraft first appeared over the opening ceremony, but are still in use for special occasions. as you can see, they can make plenty of synchronised shapes, and add some colour to the night sky. a very cold spell of weather is on the way but it is too early to say whether it will be particularly exceptional for the end of february

and early march but one thing the shore, it looks like temperatures could struggle to get above freezing. snow but uncertain exactly how deep and wet. the high pressure continues to build from scandinavia across western parts of europe. the easterly wind starting to strengthen and they will keep strengthening over the next few days. by the end of the night, early thursday morning, not to cold. temperatures in towns and cities above zero. 0utside in towns and cities above zero. outside of town a good frost on the way. where we get an area of high pressure, there is always a cloud floating so not everybody will get the sunny skies but on balance a bright day for most of us and it is starting to feel a bit colder now. struggling in the east. most of the day lower than that. relatively mild in belfast. this is thursday‘s

forecast across europe. minus ten in moscow with a big freeze. not quite across western parts of europe. still in a relatively mild air but the wind will start to feel colder and stronger towards the weekend. a southerly maybe around sutherland but that is pretty much it. temperatures will keep on dropping away by a degree or so. as we go through the weekend, the high—pressure continues to strengthen and the winds around and strengthen and the winds around and strengthen as well an they keep pushing the colder air straight out of russia. i suspect even if these values could be a couple of degrees above freezing. the high—pressure gets eve n above freezing. the high—pressure gets even more intense and there are snow showers developing. effecting almost any part of the country. the

big freeze is on the way, it is too early to say where the coldest of the air is going to go. it could sink to more southern parts of europe or it could go straight over ours all it ending golf the whole of europe. it is go to be cold next week with widespread frost, but the wind and snow for sure. this is bbc world news. our top story: president trump has heard emotional appeals for gun control during a televised listening session at the white house. the meeting brought together young survivors of school shootings and their family members. mr trump heard from students who said they simply wanted to feel safe at school. the un security council is being urged to consider a resolution which calls for a 30—day ceasefire in syria. the move comes as international concern grows over the syrian government bombardment of a rebel—held area on the outskirts of damascus. and this video is trending on bbc.com.

you‘ve been following the winter 0lympics, you‘ll know how the sport of curling has captured the imagination. so here‘s a few people trying it at home. they look like they‘re having fun! that‘s all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news it‘s time for hardtalk