i'm rico hizon in singapore, the headlines. smiles at the closing ceremony — but a reported offer of talks from north korea is pushed back by washington. it comes as the winter olympics, which mixed sport and politics right from the start, draws to a spectacular close. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. also in the programme: two murders as tensions rise at a rohingya refugee camp in bangladesh. we have a special report. the complainants are growing in number. fights between neighbours overfood number. fights between neighbours over food and shelter sees aid arriving almost daily. and tributes for the bollywood superstar sridevi kapoor, who's died of a heart attack aged 5a. live from studios in singapore and

london. this is bbc world news. good morning. it's 9am in singapore, 1 in the morning in london and 8pm in washington, where the us has given a cool response to a reported offer of talks from north korea. the us state department says any talks would have to lead to the end of the regime's nuclear programme. south korea claimed pyongyang had signalled its willingness to hold talks with the us, after a meeting between a north korean general and south korea's president before the closing ceremony of the winter olympics. laura bicker now reports from pyeongyang on a games in which politics played as much of a role as the sporting action this is the confident side of south korea.

it does seem to yong yang is ready to talk to the us, a vidic rory for the president. unlike the opening ceremony, the country's their own colours, highlighting the division, despite the diplomacy. critics think the north have been given too much a platform at these games. the minister responsible for talks between the two koreas says pyongyang is being pushed on its nuclear weapons. we did convey the message to the north koreans, multiple times that it's necessary that north korea and the us talk each other to solve this in a

peaceful manner. but at the end of this olympic revelry, there could be a dose of reality. this show of harmony has given south korea some breathing space, but tension still lurks in the background. unfortunately it's not going to last. north koreans are entirely separating, and we've seen it from the first meeting, and the nuclear issue has nothing to do with the cooperation between the two koreas and in this olympic games. these games are ending just as they began with a major diplomatic break through. north korea says it is willing to talk to the us, but there is still the huge problem of its nuclear weapons programme. but this is the first progress made on this peninsulas in years. let's get more now on washington's response to the reported offer of talks by north korea. i've been talking to our correspondent —

david willis — about the message coming from the white house about the prospects of dialogue: in response to the reports that north korea is apparently now willing to talk, the white house has been playing hard ball, willing to talk, the white house has been playing hardball, you might say, issuing a statement saying that north korea's abandonment of its nuclear programme must be the result of any nuclear programme must be the result ofany us nuclear programme must be the result of any us dialogue with north korea. there are those that would argue thatis there are those that would argue that is not the us closing the door com pletely that is not the us closing the door completely to any notion of talks with north korea, it'sjust basically making the point that denuclearisation has to be a central issue going into those talks. it's pretty clear, i think that talks may or may not happen, but sanctions remain, as faras or may not happen, but sanctions remain, as far as the us concern all the time, until north korea goes ahead and scrapped its nuclear weapons, something it has long vowed it will not do. that's right, and we

know that the offer of talks comes just after the north koreans accused the us of an act of war with press sanctions on friday. —— fresh sanctions. many see this as an attempt by north korea to drive a wedge between south korea and the us. do you think that is what is happening? yes, lots of suggestions along those lines and i think with all of this, the north koreans do seem to be acknowledging that in orderfor them to have seem to be acknowledging that in order for them to have significant progress with the south, and in orderfor there to be peace on progress with the south, and in order for there to be peace on the korean peninsulas, they need to engage with the united states. they have been on this sort of charm offensive with the south for the duration of the winter olympics, sending cheerleaders and athletes to the games. the north korean leader's sister attended the opening

ceremony, of course, and that has beenin ceremony, of course, and that has been in stark contrast to the relationship between north korea and the united states. there was a planned meeting between the us vice president mike pence, the day after the opening ceremony of those games, but that was scrapped at the last minute, and of course, last friday, president trump announced new sanctions against north korea said by him to be the heaviest ever. david willey speaking to me from washington. —— david willis speaking to me. china's ruling communist party has announced plans for a rule change which would allow president xi to extend his time in office, perhaps indefinitely. president xi is due to step down in 2023 but the change would allow him to serve longer than the ten years, or two five—year terms, permitted by the current rules. we'll have more on that story later in the programme. italy's former prime minister silvio berlusconi has been out on the campaign trail, a week ahead of a general election in which his right—wing coalition is expected to win the most votes. mr berlusconi himself is banned from public office

because of criminal convictions for tax fraud. addressing a rally of his party in milan, the 81—year—old put immigration at the forefront of his campaign: nigeria says 110 girls remain unaccounted for, following an attack on a school in the northeastern nigerian state of yohbay. islamist militants stormed the school in the town of dapchi on monday. nigerian troops and the air force have been brought in to help search for the girls. the yobe state governor is blaming the abductions on the recent withdrawal of the military from the area. four people are in a critical condition in hospital in england after an explosion and fire which destroyed a shop in the city of leicester. police declared a major incident following the blast but said there is no indication of terrorism. a silver medal for the south korean women's curling

team has sparked a countrywide fever for the sport. the so—called "garlic girls" were beaten by sweden in the final. amateur clubs have seen a surge in interest with thousands of new members signing up. and a curling board game is proving a hit in the country's top shops, with sales up ten—fold in the past few days. fighting is continuing in the damascus suburb of eastern ghouta, a day after the un security council passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire to be implemented. there are reports of a chemical attack on the district, which the syrian government is trying to retake from rebels, some of who are linked to extremist groups. our middle east editorjeremy bowen has this report. you may find some of it distressing. this was inside eastern ghouta. in almost seven years of war in syria,

real ceasefires have been rare, ineffective and short. the un couldn't agree on a start time for the ceasefire. the best they could do was to say, without delay. that's elastic enough to wreck this ceasefire's chances. today is the first day of the ceasefire resolution. still there's warplanes in the atmosphere, there is still shelling. it's less dark than before. civilians are still being killed. civil defence workers dug a badly injured baby out of this bomb sight. already the russians say jaysh al—islam, the main armed group the enclave, has broken the ceasefire. it says it is forced to fight back. translation: when the regime is not

abiding by the un resolution i cannot stand still and watch and not defend myself and ourfamilies in ghouta. this boy and the men with him are, we are told, victims of a chlorine attack. when it's weaponised, chlorine is banned under international law. the russians claim this is fake, part of a plan to discredit the syrian army. whether you believe these pictures or the russians, it's another bad sign for the ceasefire. the syrian army is dug in around eastern ghouta, reported to be pushing forward. ceasefire or not, it can sense victory. six months after the military crackdown in myanmar which triggered

a massive exodus of refugees, rohingya muslims are still pouring across the border into bangladesh. they're arriving at already overcrowded camps, where, with repatriation on hold, tensions are simmering. two rohingya elders have been murdered in the camps in the past few weeks. bbc hindi's nitin srivastava has travelled to cox's bazaar to investigate why they were killed. mohammed usman and his father used to pray at this makeshift mosque. his father gave the morning call to prayer, but was stabbed to death on his way there one morning. we fled after my cousins were killed. my father, a 60—year—old god—fearing and religious man, had no enemies. he always wanted to go back to our homeland. after his murder my mother hasn't been speaking at all and we all fear for our lives.

nobody knows why he was killed. aid workers and local people told me that traditional rohingya hierarchies are breaking down in the refugee camps in bangladesh, which is leading to violence. yusuf also wanted to become a community leader. his death shook the camp as only a few days beforehand another rohingya leader was killed at his home by masked men. they arrived on bikes and started firing at my pa rents. they were speaking rohingya language and shot my mother also who got hit on the wrist. being a camp leader, my father was only compiling a list of all of the refugees who wanted to register for the repatriation process. why did they kill him? as a camp leader you control access to aid, which is a powerful position, especially

when so many have so little. the complaints are growing in number. fights between neighbours overfood and shelter, intracamp rivalries over aid, which is arriving almost daily. the biggest reason perhaps appears to be the hundreds of thousands of people living out here in these camps without any work at all. the camps have grown bigger and so have the needs and priorities of people. the authorities say they are tightening security and have set up five police stations within the camp. both men who died were in favour of returning home to myanmar. it is unclear whether this was a factor in their deaths. the repatriation deal between bangladesh and myanmar has stalled, but has led to disputes among rohingya. you're watching newsday on the bbc.

still to come on the programme. india mourns the movie star sridevi — who blazed a trailfor women in bollywood. prince charles has chosen his bride. he proposed to lady diana spencer six weeks ago and she accepted without hesitation. as relevant lotions go this had its fair share of bullets. outside the gates, the name itself symbolising one of the cruellest regimes of modern asia. the world's first clone has been produced an mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly from a cell of another

sheep. citizens are trying to come to grips with their new freedom. although there is joy and relief today, the scars are everywhere. not for 20 years have locusts been seen in such numbers in this part of africa. some of the swarms have been ten miles long. this is the last time the public will see this pope. for the credibility and authority of the next pope, benedict xvi will, in his own words, be hidden from the world for the rest of his life. this is newsday on the bbc. our top stories. smiles at the closing ceremony, but a reported offer of talks from north korea is pushed back by washington there have been two murders in the past few weeks as tensions rise at a rohingya refugee camp in bangladesh. and japanese police are questioning an american man

after the discovery of a woman's severed head at his rented holiday apartment in osaka. the head, found inside a suitcase, is believed to belong to a missing 27—year—old japanese woman. that story is popular on bbc.com across asia. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. they're all olympic—tastic today! first here's the japan times. it says japan has enjoyed its best olympics since 1998 winning 13 medals total — including four golds. it features this photo of the women's curling squad who beat great britain to win the nation's ever bronze medal in the sport. the china daily looks ahead to the beijing olympics 2022 saying that, along with their nine medals from pyeongchang, china

are also bringing home piles of notes, video footage and extensive know—how about the winter games operation, to be ready to facilitate their own delivery of the games in four years time. and the straits times features this photo of the us president's daughter ivanka trump standing near to north korean general, kim yong chol at the pyeongchang closing ceremony on sunday. the paper says that they did not appear to interact. the indian actress sridevi, who starred in nearly 300 bollywood films, has died of a heart attack at the age of 5a. she started acting in childhood and went on to be one of the first female stars to command box office success whether or not she had a prominent male co—star. rajini vaidya nathan looks back at her life. for decades, she was bollywood's leading lady. sridevi captivated audiences with her charisma and comic timing. in a male—dominated film

industry, she was one of the first woman to become a megastar in her own right. you know, the audience just wants a good film. that's what matters. whether it is a heroine—oriented or hero—oriented film. sridevi was attending a family wedding with her husband and daughter in dubai when she suffered a heart attack late on saturday night. as news of her death broke, crowds gathered outside her house in mumbai. across india, fans paid tribute. it is a loss to our country, to the film industry. she was such a role model to all women across the country. now we've got a lot of famous leading ladies in bollywood. back then, in the 805 and early 905, there weren't too many of them. she was one of the first. india is mourning the loss of one of its brightest stars. one film producer described the impact of sridevi's death,

saying she was a pioneer, who put the early cracks of the glass ceiling of bollywood and paved the way for today's female film stars. sridevi will be remembered for the way she lit up the screen. she left the world of bollywood way too soon but her legacy is enduring. more now on an expected move by china's ruling communist party to abandon a rule limiting the time a president can serve in office. that would see the current leader xijinping staying on indefinitely. the bbc‘s china correspondent robin brant reports. this was xijinping a few months ago. with china communist party pomp at its finest as he was confirmed for a second term as party chief and president. behind him were his two immediate predecessors, both of whom served ten years, then stepped aside. now there is fresh sign

that he wants to eclipse them. the ruling communist party wants to ditch the rule that the president should serve no more than two consecutive terms. in just those eight words lies the biggest change to china's leadership in 30 years. so why now? the overall consensus in china by most people is that president xi jinping has really done a very good job and has become a truly outstanding leader by the chinese standard. his fight against corruption, his bold and audacious initiative to promote the one belt, one road initiative, for example. but to some here it looks like the current leader wants to become more like this one, communist china's founding father. xi is now referred to by the same term as chairman mao. both have had their thought written into the constitution, and critics see a growing cult around xi as well.

except this man, shown here holding hands with his mother released last week is in charge of what is now the world's second—biggest economy. china under xijinping has looked to increase its influence in this part of the world, particularly in the south china sea, way beyond its coastline. it has expanded its trade relationship to the west towards europe as well. there is no doubt that more xijinping means a china that wants more of a presence on the world stage and more of an influence. i want to thank you for the very warm welcome. my feeling toward you is an incredibly warm one. president trump has described his chinese counterpart as a friend, but xijinping has plans to challenge the us, with an expanding navy in the pacific and beyond, and electric vehicles.

the longer xi stays in power, the stronger the challenge could be. hong kong's ng on yee is set to be named the top female snooker player in the world later today. she replaces noi reanne evans, of england. ng will be the first woman from asia to hold the top ranking and shejoins me now from hong kong. congratulations. we are proud of you. hello. rank you. thanks for having me today. tell us, what does it feel like to be the first asian woman to be ranked number one in the world 7 woman to be ranked number one in the world? it's definitely the best chinese new year gift for me, and a surprise, because i did not know until i got to the quarterfinals of

the british open, and my coach knew that before, but he was very considerate and did not tell me, some it will not affect my game. also, i have always said that the results today belong to the team. my family, my coaches, wayne, allen, david, and also the team members, and the people in hong kong who support me. last year was definitely my best year so far but a lot of people have asked me whether this defines the peak of my career, but quite the opposite. i believe this is only the beginning of my career. absolutely. you are only 27 years old and you are already number one in the world. tell us some background about how you started in snooker. when i was young and my father started to teach me snooker,

around 13 years old, i did not study. we were using snooker tournaments. i realised i loved this andi tournaments. i realised i loved this and i asked my father to teach me how to play. you really have a nice spectacles, and you started playing at the age of 13. how hard do you work on this game and how hard do you practice? i practice every day, maybe once a day, every week and every week i practice around five hours every day. snooker tournaments a lwa ys hours every day. snooker tournaments always have been lasting for a long time, soi always have been lasting for a long time, so i do this as well. thank you forjoining us, and we wish you all the best, and we hope you stay at the top, number one in the world, a very, long time. female snooker‘s

world number one, from hong kong. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. we will be looking at the possible impact the latest changes will have on the north america free trade agreement, and it's definitely food for thought. and before we go, just as a blast of icy siberian weather engulfs much of europe, russians in the baltic sea enclave of kaliningrad have been showing just how to embrace it. dozens of ice swimmers, aged from 11 to 70, have been competing in an outdoor pool in temperatures of around minus 10 degrees celsius. very brave people indeed. we have got some very cold, wintry

weather on the cards to see at the end of february and into the start of march. this week, the weather will be particularly disruptive with heavy snow combined with bitter wins, a lot of frost and nice, some wintry sunshine as well, but the temperatures will be very low, because we have got the air coming in from siberia from the easterly airflow pushing across the uk, so through this week temperatures are well below where we would expect them to be. we start monday morning with a few snow showers towards the east but it is a cold and frosty start to a new working week, and there will be scattered snow showers and there could be a couple of centimetres accumulating and the cloud will push further west through the day and there could be snow through the midland, wales, and although temperatures are above freezing, it will feel cold when you add on the effect of the wind chill with the cold, easterly winds, so it

might feel no warmer than five —— minus five celsius. bitterly cold, and overnight into tuesday, more persistent and heavy snow showers from the north sea across eastern scotla nd from the north sea across eastern scotland and eastern england. temperatures well below freezing to start tuesday and it won't warm up ina hurry start tuesday and it won't warm up in a hurry because we have cold, easterly winds. heavy snowfall and the met office have issued a amber warning for disruptive snow on tuesday and we could see disruption to travel, school closures, power cuts, as the heavy snow showers continue working on the brisk easterly wind. some of the snow showers reaching wales towards the south—west, but it will be eastern areas that see the heaviest and most persistent snow showers. a bit of sunshine and dry weather, but northern ireland and western scotla nd northern ireland and western scotland will only see that. on wednesday, a similar picture, a mix of sunshine and heavy snow drifting

from east to west across many parts of the country. temperatures will be below freezing all day for many of us through the course of wednesday ”ff. “mush ”15 “nee “if agfiflgéh§§ it ff: “mush ”15 “nf; “if agfifi75h5§ it will ff “mush ”15 murff “f fffhfffff it will feel cold ff fhrnuah ”15 ffufff ff ffffhfffff it will feel cold and snow ff fhrf‘fah ”15 ffffff ff ffffhfffff it will feel cold and snow will so it will feel cold and snow will accumulate quickly. we could see ten or 20 centimetres of snow ball many areas, many more over the higher ground but not as much in terms of snow amounts further west but it looks like we could see the area of low pressure bringing heavy and widespread snow from the south across much of the country by thursday. our top story. the us has said it won't enter talks with north korea unless it gives up its nuclear programme. south korea claimed pyongyang had signalled its willingness to hold talks with the us at a meeting before the winter olympics closing ceremony. there's been a suspected chemical attack in syria. activists say these pictures are from a hospital in eastern ghouta, an area under intense attack for a week. and this video is trending on bbc.com. the winter olympics,

which saw such a mix of politics and sport, has ended with a spectacular ceremony watched by athletes and sports fans. norway finished top of the medal table, overtaking germany in the final event. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk. six people have been taken to hospital after an explosion destroyed a shop in leicester.