welcomed the news days on the bbc. —— welcome to newsday on the. i'm mariko oi in singapore. the headlines: a bridge collapses in the american city of miami. at least four people are confirmed to have died. a rescue operation is under way to help those who are still trapped. president trump joins the international chorus in blaming moscow for the poisoning of a russian spy in the uk. it isa it is a very sad situation. it certainly looks like the russians russians were behind it. it is something that should never, ever happen. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme. fresh evidence from inside china of the impact of new regulations on religion, including the destruction of this christian mural. thousands of young people will be gathering across the uk to call for world peace. we'll hear from some of them. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday.

good morning. it's 9am in singapore, 1am in london, and 9pm in miami, florida, where police have confirmed that at least four people died when a pedestrian bridge collapsed onto a highway. emergency services are working to rescue those still trapped in vehicles under the bridge. according to local media, the 950—ton structure was only installed last saturday. gary o'donoghue reports. scrambling to rescue the trapped and injured after 950 tons of the newly installed pedestrian bridge crash down. a number of vehicles were crushed as the bridge came down shortly before 2pm. emergency services, dashing to help those

pinned under the concrete. the footbridge had onlyjust been completed, designed to take students from the florida international university safely across a six lane hwy to accommodation. it was soon to become an iconic link between the city and university and it has turned into a national tragedy. our hearts extends to those who survived and may not have. the collapsed section of the bridge was only put in place last saturday using a method used as advanced bridge construction, designed to be fast and cause the least disruption possible to traffic. the national transportation safety board says it is sending investigators to the scene and the building company that put up the bridge, mcm, says it will co—operate fully. a short while ago, we were told the

rescue investigation is complex and will take time. it will be a long, long process, because to get through that the rubble and the pieces of concrete, it will not be an easy task. so we will be depending on the fire department to help us get through that process so that we can recover whatever deceased individuals may be under that bridge, and obviously we know what it is leading towards. at that point, we will continue to advise you as we get information as to the number of victims underneath that rubble. if there is anyone alive that can be rescued, you will be the first to know, obviously. we also heard from the governor of florida, rick scott, who promised a full enquiry into the tragedy. there will be an investigation to find out exactly what happened and why it has

happened. and we will hold anyone accountable if anyone has done anything wrong. but the most important thing we can do right now is pray for individuals that ended up is pray for individuals that ended up in the hospitalfor theirfull recovery, pray for the family members who have lost loved ones. but i know we all want to do our best to find out exactly what happened here, and we will do that ina happened here, and we will do that in a transparent manner. again, if anyone has done anything wrong, we will hold them accountable. florida governor rick scott. we will monitor it as it continues. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the day's other news. the us has imposed sanctions on 19 russian individuals and five groups, accusing them of meddling in the 2016 presidential election and cyber attacks. washington says its aim is to counter russia's "continuing destabilising activities." one of the individuals targeted is known as "putin's chef," and has direct links to the president. from washington, chris buckler, told us more about putin's chef.

the individual you were just talking about, it is alleged he was running that agency. he is an oligarch close to vladimir putin. he is one of the individuals named in the sanctions. he has also been named in the robert mueller investigation into allegations of russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. there is a crossover between robert mueller‘s investigation taking place into that and also some wider cyber—attacks. those include alleged attacks on infrastructure in the us, including the electricity grid, something that they take very seriously indeed. and sometimes, some of the critics of president trump had said this administration has not been strong in terms of language against russia. certainly, this is strong action. certainly

there is something which has come shortly after the attack in england in which a former spy, of course, was attacked with this poison. and this has been something completely separate. but it does follow strong state m e nts separate. but it does follow strong statements about that from america. you are getting strong words, but also action. i have to say, from his point of view, he says he is not concerned and this has happened to him before and he has the interests of america. we will have more on that story in a moment. first, otherstories making the news. more than 12,000 people have been fleeing syria's rebel—held area of eastern ghouta, as government forces advance. men, women, and children were seen leaving the town of hamouria, near damascus. it's the first medical evacuation since a massive assault began nearly a month ago. a law has come into effect in indonesia making it illegal to criticise the country's parliament or the politicians who work there. the indonesian president,

joko widodo, refused to sign the legislation, but was unable to veto it. hsbc says its female staff in the uk earned nearly 60% less last year than their male colleagues. the gender pay gap is the largest reported by a british bank. hsbc says there's a high percentage of women injunior or part—time positions, while under a quarter of senior roles are filled by females. it's apparently been raining gold in russia. this is a runway covered in gold bars. silver too. the precious metal fell out of an aircraft while it was taking off. around 200 gold and silver bars scattered across the tarmac at yakutsk airport in siberia, when the plane's loading hatch broke off. bad news for treasure hunters, all of the cargo was recovered. australia is holding the association of southeast asian nations,

the so—called asean summit, in sydney, this weekend. prime minister malcolm turnbull will host regional leaders, including the controversial cambodian prime minister hoon sen and myanmar‘s aung san suu kyi. rights groups are urging australia to raise issues of human rights abuses, notjust focus on trade and counter—terrorism. jawat kabir is from the burmese rohingya community in australia. he says he plans to join demonstrations against aung san suu kyi. i asked him what he hoped to achieve. we are hoping australia... we are hoping australia will negotiate disagreement with her actions, and disagreement does not mean disengagement. australia can still disengage.

but her action, silence, the ignorance, australia can focus on this. how desperate in your view is the situation of the rohingya minority? do you still have friends and relatives trying to flee the violence? umm, the members, the community members, they're stuck. they‘ re not peacefully living in the state. they're still desperate to cross the border because they do not feel safe, they do not feel they belong to there any more. i was talking with one of my community members who recently went to bangladesh and he was telling me about the situation in bangladesh, as well as in burma. the other state. what is your view on aung san suu kyi? because, of course, she was once

a champion of human rights but now she has been heavily criticised by the international community for a lack of actions. as you know, our community, our rohingyan community, has been suffering for decades. aung san suu kyi said she was the last hope for our community, for our people, for hoping she was going to give us the same rights as other burmese people, other communities, other ethnicities, but it has turned out not to be totally the case. she has lost that hope. not only from the rohingya, but the international community, she lost all hope, all the respect. president trump hasjoined france, germany and the united kingdom today in issuing a joint statement laying

the blame for the nerve agent attack in the english city of salisbury firmly on russia. crucially the statement said that the first offensive use of a nerve agent in europe since world war two was "an assault on british sovereignty" and there was "no plausible alternative expla nation" other than that russia was responsible. today, british prime minister, theresa may, went to salisbury and spoke to the police officer who's still seriously ill in hospital after trying to help sergei and yulia skripal. russia continues to deny any involvement. james landale reports. this was theresa may's first visit to salisbury since the nerve agent attack. a chance to be briefed by the police and public health experts, but also a chance to meet members of the public, to chat, to reassure. she visited the scene of the attack on the former russian intelligence officer sergei skripal and his daughter 11 days ago. the restaurant where they ate. the park bench, under a tent, where they were found. the prime minister thanked some of the police officers who first responded to the call. well, thank you. because what you did

is what the police do day in and day out. you go to a routine call, as you say, you don't know what you'll find, what's there. and then, at the local hospital, she met and thanked detective sergeant nick bailey, who's still recovering from exposure to the nerve agent. russia, she said, was guilty of a brazen and despicable attack. she had expelled all 23 of its diplomats, but was prepared to do more. there are other measures that we will be looking at. and if we face further provocation from russia, then there are further measures that we can deploy. but what is important in the international arena, and we have taken this into nato, into the united nations, we will be taking it into the european union, is that allies are standing alongside us. and saying this is part of a pattern of behaviour that we have seen from russia. that came in a joint statement from the leaders of britain, france, germany and the us, blaming russia for what they called "an assault on uk sovereignty." i spoke with the prime minister and we are in deep discussions.

a very sad situation. it certainly looks like the russians were behind it. something that should never, ever happen. and we're taking it very seriously, as i think are many others. thejoint statement is significant because it shows that the foreign office and downing street are convincing is set to get more funding. it will also provide a sample to the chemical watchdog. it is diplomacy not extending to russia. if you are a nation and another nation has launched a chemical attack on your people, then you have every right to tell russia to shut up and go away. meanwhile, this afternoon near salisbury, the investigation continued, with the army recovering a carfrom a village near the home of ds bailey. james landale, bbc news. you're watching newsday on the bbc.

still to come on the programme: cultural vandalism or clamping down on extremism? how china's new rules on religion are restricting freedom of worship. today, we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, fainting, headaches and the dimming of vision, all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. now, this was an international trophy and we understand now that the search for it has become an international search. above all, this was a triumph

for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted. welcome back. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko 0i in singapore. and i'm kasia madera in london. our top story this hour: a pedestrian bridge has collapsed onto a busy motorway in the american city of miami, killing four people. emergency crews are working to reach those still trapped under the rubble. president trump hasjoined france, germany and the united kingdom in issuing a joint statement, laying the blame for the nerve agent attack in the english city of salisbury firmly on russia. and an elderly woman who has chosen

a life of backpacking in her retirement has won millions of fans on chinese social media. that story is doing well on bbc.com. and let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. and we start with the arab news, which takes a look at the woman donald trump wants to see take over the cia. gina haspel has been nominated for thejob, but the article talks about the controversy surrounding her involvement in a secret thai prison during the administration of president george w bush. meanwhile, on the front of the south china morning post is an idea on how to tackle the housing shortage in hong kong. authorities are looking at imposing a tax on property developers who are hanging on to empty flats. and bad news for drivers in singapore. the gulf news are reporting not only

is it the most expensive place to live, but if you want to buy a very basic car, you'll need to spend more than $70,000. those are the papers. to talk to the? —— what are people talking about online? i will tell you what, that fits into what is trending. people are really keen to find out what is the happiest country in the world. i can tell you it's finland in europe. the country has overtaken norway as the happiest nation on earth, according to the un's latest world happiness report. denmark, iceland and switzerland are also in the top five. the annual ranking asks residents in 156 countries to rate their lives. it also looks at factors like economic strength, life expectancy, and perceived corruption. yes, you can check that out on our

website. that story is very popular on the internet. "it feels like another cultural revolution." those are the words of members of china's churches about the renewed clampdown on their activities that started six weeks ago. on february first, new regulations for religious affairs, approved by the party congress, started to be applied. they forbid religious organisations from using religion to "harm national security or disrupt social order". as david campanale now reports, the authorities are demolishing some churches and removing crosses from many others. this is what happens to churches that are seen as a threat to china's ruling communist party.

the golden lampstand church in linfen, in shanxi province, was blown up by dynamite injanuary and then finished off by bulldozers. an eyewitness told the bbc that numerous police prevented some of the 50,000 congregation from approaching. state media quoted an unidentified official as saying the evangelical church had been secretly constructed without proper permits. exclusive pictures sent to the bbc show christian murals being destroyed in the clampdown. crosses have also been removed from church buildings. china watchers blame new regulations limiting freedom of worship, approved at last yea r‘s party congress. it shows this is a new kind of new cultural revolution is happening under the emperor xi and really, the religious persecution

has never been seen, you know, such — worse since the end of a cultural religion. christians meeting in unregistered locations risk heavy fines. in some provinces, notices have been issued, banning children from attending worship services or going to sunday school. despite the clampdown, there are more christians in china than communist party members, up to 100 million believers are expected at services to celebrate easter in a few weeks' time. david campanale, bbc news. earlier this week, thousands of us students staged school walkouts to protest against gun violence. in the uk this weekend, 6000 young people will gather in three cities to show their solidarity. the event is called generation hope, and ‘global network for peace' is a documentary

specially commissioned for the gathering. earlier, i wasjoined by two people who are participating in the gathering — sanya rajpal, who features in the documentary, which is asking for peace, and josie parkhouse, who has spoken at the un on nuclear disarmament. sa nya explained how they are mobilising people to stand up for peace. i think it really comes down to having dialogue and really inspiring young people particularly that they can get up and change society in a way that they need to to create a society that they deserve. and you have been very active in that path, you have spoken at the un. yes, as i have spoken at the un. i represent a youth organisation and my central message was that, we are hopeful about the future and we want change, and we do not want a future with nuclear war, will want a peaceful future, a great, peaceful future. and global network of peace is a

documentary specially commissioned for this occasion. you feature in it, just tell us a little bit about what the message is of the documentary? so the documentary is, among other things, a collection of young people sharing their personal experiences of how they have really gone out of their way to transform whatever is stopping them, and through that, going out into society and having a real impact. so personally, from somebody who did not feel like they had a voice or could not really see how they could communicate effectively with others, was able to kind of communicate and work with thousands of young people and speak in parliament about how young people's education can be created in a way that will really make them the centre of society. and the documentary, just to explain, it had elements of japan the documentary, just to explain, it had elements ofjapan post hiroshima. 0f had elements ofjapan post hiroshima. of course, that is something you are looking for,

denuclearisation. the documentary looks at war on how to achieve peace, it is a big ask. it is a big ask but i think at the end of the day, as movements, we really focus the individual. we're not talking the individual. we're not talking the united nations, we are at talking one—on—one, we are spreading this message of hope and peace. it seems that the big ask but when you look at small, daily, day by day talking withjust your look at small, daily, day by day talking with just your friends and family about is, then it seems a bit more manageable, i suppose. use a little things about the talking about 6000 young people gathering in these three locations across the uk, thatis these three locations across the uk, that is not the little thing. what can you expect if you join those gatherings? so i think it is going to bea gatherings? so i think it is going to be a number of personal experiences of young people overcoming anxiety, depression, illness, bullying. they are going to

be some wonderful cultural performances, dance, music, spoken word and a dj. so it is really focused that young people, helping them to create a better society together. how important is the religious aspect in this?” together. how important is the religious aspect in this? i think that the religious aspect is really quite central. as much as we respect the dignity of the individual, and i think the aim of this event is to say that every individual that is attending should feel that respect, and be able to transform their life in whatever way suits them really. just explaining a little bit more about those big events that will be taking place across the uk over the weekend. 6000 young people gathering to call for peace. now, do not go away because we have lots more coming up in a few minutes. thanks for watching, bye. hello.

some of us will escape with a fine friday, even mild in some places but by the weekend it's much colder. you won't have a fine friday close to this weather front, north—east england into eastern scotland, cloudy, wet, outbreaks of rain, some snow in the scottish hills and that snow level lowering later in the day. this is your cloudy, wet zone throughout the day. also got this area of cloud and rain nudging northwards from the midlands, wales, into parts of north—west england and fringing into northern ireland. to the south of that we see some sunshine coming through, but you may catch a shower, could be heavy and possibly thundery, not everybody will. it's here you have temperatures in double figures but it is a turning colder day through eastern scotland and north—east england, going into the evening and night, that snow level lowering and maybe into lower levels you could see a light covering into places going into saturday morning and a few of these wintry showers drifting westwards overnight and a developing and getting

stronger eastern wind. a much colder start on saturday morning and temperatures are not going up very far on saturday. throughout the weekend, we have got high pressure in scandinavia pumping bitterly cold air our way and a strong wind too, so wind chill will be a factor and on that flow of air, some snow around too. some snow scattered about eastern parts of the uk through saturday, there will be some accumulations in places. many north and western areas could avoid them and stay dry, some with sunny spells. it is all about the feel of the weather, though. significantly colder compared with friday and i have mentioned the strength of the wind, making it feel like it is well below freezing for many of us on saturday into sunday. it's going to be a bit of a shock to the system after what we have had in recent days. watching saturday night, we could see a longer spell of snow into sunday morning and again that risk of disruption, ice in places with a

frosty start on sunday. that gradually edges away westwards, we see a risk of further snow showers coming into eastern parts, not everybody will see those and still, that brisk and very cold easterly wind making for a significant wind chill as well. so winter is roaring back this weekend. gradually turning milder again next week. but for the weekend, much colder, that bitter wind with a significant wind chill and yes, some of us will see some snow and there will be some disruption in places because of it too. our top story. a pedestrian bridge collapses in the american city of miami killing four people. officials say a rescue operation is under way. a number of people are thought to be trapped in eight vehicles beneath the bridge. president trump hasjoined france, germany, and the united kingdom in issuing a joint statement laying the blame for the nerve agent attack in the english city of salisbury firmly on russia.

and trending on bbc.com is a story about the happiest place on earth. this year, finland has taken the title, toppling norway from the top spot. the annual world happiness report measures how happy people feel they are and why. it looks at factors like economic strength, life expectancy, and perceived corruption. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk. tests on a fire door from grenfell tower have shown that it was far less flame—resistant than it was claimed to be.