i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: vladimir putin has won another six years as president of russia. he has also dismissed the suggestion from britain that russia was behind the poisoning of former spy, sergei skripal. i'm babita sharma in london. —— i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme. aung san suu kyi is speaking to the australian government about troubled rakhine state after appealing to southeast asian leaders for humanitarian support, at a regional summit in australia. a breakthrough in the treatment of multiple sclerosis after a medical trial involving stem cell transplants. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning.

it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london and three am in moscow where russia's president vladimir putin has secured a fourth term in office. another six years in power will make him russia's longest serving leader since stalin. counting is still under way, but with 87% of the vote counted, he's already won more than three quarters of the vote. lucy hockings is in moscow. huge crowds showing up to the other side of red square to celebrate. when vladimir putin appeared and he will win his fourth term in office. there were a candidate standing that you would not have known. he was the only one to watch. there was more about questions of voter turnout that we were interested in looking at. it was not really a democratic process that we saw, more a piece of carefully choreographed political

theatre. let's have a look at some of the figures from the night, particularly what we can see right here now which is that vladimir putin with the results counted at at almost 90% now, they are counting quickly, he has won 76.3% of that vote. as i was saying comment he had wa nted vote. as i was saying comment he had wanted 70% of people to show our to vote. he only got 60% of russians coming out, despite an aggressive get out the vote campaign. so he did not seem too worried. he wanted that needed to give the result legitimacy but when he appeared in front of the crowds just a few hours ago he spoke of solidarity, of how this was a tea m of solidarity, of how this was a team effort and about some of the challenges ahead. translation: macs iama challenges ahead. translation: macs i am a member of your team. everyone who voted today is one big team. in

this i can see the recognition of what has been done over the last few yea rs. what has been done over the last few years. i can see trust and hope. hope of our people that we will continue working in the same way with the same rate results. thank you for this wonderful, multi—million member team. success is waiting for us. the scale of this election is massive. the 11 different time zones, 97,000 polling stations and we have been getting reports of quite a few voter irregularities coming in from different towns and cities across russia. having a look at the events of the day. he has been centrestage in russia for the last 18 years. tonight, by the kremlin, vladimir putin thanked his people for re—electing their president.

"we are destined to succeed," he said. russia, russia, they chanted. however, in putin's fourth term, are russia and the west destined for a cold war? later, the president dismissed british accusations that he was behind the nerve agent attack in salisbury. translation: it is rubbish, drivel, nonsense, to think that russia would do something like that ahead of a presidential election and the world cup. president putin's pitch to voters had been to stick with me and russia will be strong. and many russians believe that. he is a genius. putin wants russia to prosper and for us to live in happiness. she says that it is thanks to vladimir putin, russia still exist.

however, critics of the kremlin says that the election was fixed and only those candidates who stood no chance of unseating vladimir putin were allowed to run. the problem with russia is that there is no such thing as russian politics. politics has been eliminated in russia altogether. there is only one political institution in russia and that is the physical body of vladimir putin. which is why vladimir putin was always going to win this vote. this election was not about choosing a new president. it was about reappointing the old one. and although many russians support vladimir putin, crucially, it is the political system he has built in russia that guaranteed him a landslide win. these images are embarrassing, however. caught on cctv, a woman stuffs a ballot box near moscow. suddenly, there are two of them at it. and during a vote count in siberia, balloons are moved to cover the camera. election officials say

they will investigate. but the results will not change. neither will the name of russia's president. i spoke to an election observer tonight who mentioned some of those regularities but he said nothing will change here. the results certainly will not change. i also spoke to a young supporter of president putin. is the only xi has ever known and she says she was smiling from ear to ear. she believes he is the strongman that this country needs to lead it forward despite the fact that we are now seeing russia increasingly isolated once again on the international stage. i really think that the voter turnout will be looked out over the next few days. it is only 60%. it is good for countries in the world that are good for some countries in the world but it is down on the previous election

here in russia. the salt was was it that there was no other candidate and in the bag for vladimir putin or those who support the opposition and are boycotting. i think perhaps that would be the figure that will be contemplated over the next few days here in russia. it is three in the morning out there in russia and 90% of the vote has been counted. 0nce we reach the final tally we will bring it to you. we heard vladimir putin deny any knowledge of the poisoning of a former spy here in the uk. later today, experts from the international chemical weapons body will arrive in the uk to test samples of the nerve agent used to poison a former spy. in a speech following his election victory, mr putin insisted that russia was not responsible for the poisoning of the double agent, sergei skripal, and his daughter, yulia, in britain. he denied that russia was running a chemical weapons programme and said it had no stockpiles of the nerve agent novichok. he also said moscow was ready to co—operate

with the british investigation. translation: in relation to the tragedy you mentioned, i learnt about it from the media and the first thing that came into my mind was that if it was a military operation, people would have died straightaway. this is number one. secondly, russia does not have those weapons, russia has demolished all its chemical weapons under international supervision, unlike some of our partners who haven't done it yet. also making news today. syria's president bashar al—assad has visited soldiers in eastern ghouta outside damascus, an area his forces have been trying to retake from the rebels. these images, published on the syrian presidency‘s facebook page, show him surrounded by troops. a monitoring group has confirmed that government forces and their allies now control some

80% of eastern ghouta. the turkish government says it may move its military on to other kurdish strongholds in syria after successfully seizing the border town of afrin from a local militia. turkish soldiers and their syrian allies say they met little resistance from the kurdish forces when they moved in on sunday. three people have been killed and at least 23 were injured after a fire broke out at a hotel in the philippine capital manila. the blaze began in the morning and raged for over nine hours before it was brought under control. 300 guests were evacuated. the cause of the fire is not yet known. the south korean foreign minister, gang gyung—hwa said she was surprised at the speed at which president trump accepted an invitation from the north korean leader, kimjong—un, to meet. speaking to the us broadcaster cbs, she described the president's decision as "courageous". she also said mr kim had "given his word" to commit to denuclearisation.

facebook has announced a comprehensive internal and external review to determine whether the personal data of 50 million users has been compromised, after reports of misuse by political consultancy company cambridge analytica. the firm's ceo alexander nix has been called back before a committee of mps here in the uk. staff but the fans seemed to enjoy the performance. talks are under way

between the australian government and the visiting mynmar‘s state counsellor aung san suu kyi — amid calls for her to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity following the persecution of the rohingya people in the rakhine state. the issue was raised at this weekend's asean summit in sydney, but the prime minister malcolm turnbull refused to criticise myanmar. 0ur sydney correspondent hywel griffith explained why turnbull chose not to criticise myanmar during the summit. malcolm turnbull is not a member of asean but he was abiding by the protocol to not meddle in another member's business and not to openly criticise them. he had to choose his words carefully at the end of the summit yesterday, talking about the

humanitarian disaster facing the hundreds of thousands of rohingya people who are currently in bangladesh. according to the united nations, they are the victims of ethnic cleansing. today's talks do not take place in asean therefore he does have a little more room to manoeuvre and be a little more direct as he speaks to aung san suu kyi. she was given a ceremonial welcome but i don't think we will see him directly criticise her all the myanmar military government. however he will impress on her, i'm sure, that the world is waiting to see action from myanmar and responsibility because so far it has refused to accept that the state has been part of the persecution of these hundreds of thousands of people. and a group of australian lawyers has sought to prosecute aung san suu kyi? yes. this was an attempt by a group of lawyers when she arrived in australia to put her through the court system while she was on australian soil. the attempt

was on australian soil. the attempt was turned down by the australian attorney general. it is not surprising. may be, that a foreign dignitary was visiting the country would be immune from any such attempt. it does show you the strength of feeling here in australia. we saw demonstrations over the weekend during the asean summit, calling on arran sorry to be prosecuted ought to be made accountable for her part in the suffering of the rohingya. we do not yet know if she will speak publicly today at the end of the bilateral talks. we do know that she is due to give a speech here in sydney tomorrow. at some stage or she will have to publicly give her view and give her reason as to what has happened and what the myanmar government's role has been in the suffering of the rohingya. we will keep the focus on australia because we are getting news of around 70 homes in buildings being destroyed ina large homes in buildings being destroyed in a large bushfire there. 200 people were forced to sleep in an

evacuation centre overnight after leaving behind their properties in the town of tathra. 150 firefighters worked through the night to contain the blaze. residents have been told that as not yet safe for them to return to check on their property. so far there are no reports of injury. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme — a breakthrough in the treatment of multiple sclerosis after a medical trial involving stem cell transplants. also on the programme, saving the world's largest fish — we meet the man who's rescued 500 whale sharks. 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. it 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 everyone. this is

newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. and i'm kasia madera in london. 0ur our top stories: vladimir putin has won another six years as president of russia. he has also dismissed the suggestion from britain that russia was behind the poisoning of former spy, sergei skripal. a london art and textiles tutor has been named the world's best teacher, in an annual competition. andria zafira kou of alperton community school received her $1 million global teacher prize at a ceremony in dubai. that story is popular on bbc.com. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the front pages from around the world. we start with the front page of the philippine daily inquirer and this dramatic picture of a fire at a pavilion hotel and casino in manila.

three people lost their lies in the blaze. the japan times reports that north korea has threatened japan that it may not get a ticket for pyongyang if it continues to put pressure on its nuclear—armed neighbour. the paper quotes the north korean state—run news agency saying that tokyo should "stop useless struggling before it's too late". and finally the front page of the gulf news publication. and it's the story we've just heard about in our headlines — british teacher andria zafiarakou winning the global teacher prize. the award was presented to her by the ruler of dubai, sheikh mohammad, who is the patron of the event. scientists say they've achieved a breakthrough in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, after the results of an international trial involving stem cell transplants. the study showed an improvement in symptoms and the progress of the neurological condition halted. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh explains. so nice to finally get out. it feels

like my diagnosis was just a bad dream. before the transplant, the wii ‘s willetts from robber had severe relapses, attacks of multiple sclerosis. at one point, she was in a wheelchair. —— louise willits. it affected her mind. she struggled to read and have conversations. -- rotherham. sometimes i pinch myself a nasty that is real. will it come back? i don't live in fear any more. —— sometimes a pinch myself and ask if it is real. ms is caused by a fa u lty if it is real. ms is caused by a faulty immune system, attacking the brain and spinal cord. symptoms include balance and muscle problems, fatigue, and loss of vision. the

bbc‘s panorama followed louise's treatment. a high dose of chemotherapy was given to knock out her immune system. then these stem cells ta ke n her immune system. then these stem cells taken from her blood and bone marrow were in views. unaffected by ms, the cells rebuild her immune system. now, more than two years on, she is back at sheffield's royal hallamshire hospital. nice to see you. nice to see. the mri shows there is no disease in her brain. this is really good news. yes, it is. the results of this trial are quite simply stunning. it should mean that many more ms patients are offered a stem cell transplant with the hope of stopping their disease in its tracks. it can fundamentally

altered the course of patients with ms who have resistant and disabling disease. these stem cell transplant involves a i—off cost of £30,000, no more than the yearly fee for some drugs. it is not suitable for all ms patients, but the life changing results with louise and others are plain to see. fergus walsh, bbc news. whale sharks are the world's largest fish. they're endangered, and used to be severely hunted off the coast of west india. the practice is now banned, and fishermen are even encouraged to rescue and release whale sharks that get tangled up in their nets. the bbc went to meet one man who has rescued more than 500 whale sharks. what a brave guy. notjust saving the sharks, but also working against those hunters. incredible. the paralympic winter games have

come to an end in pyeongchang with a dramatic closing ceremony. kate grey was there for us and looks back at some of the most memorable moments. there are a number of standout moments. there were emotional moments. there were emotional moments at the snowboarding as two golds came to a woman who had a cancer removed that was diagnosed just year. she never imagined competing at the games, let alone competing at the games, let alone competing twice over. and a first for many nations and, including for south korea. so great scenes for the hosts. for the next games, china,

the hosts, they won in the curling. and the exciting wheelchair curling tea m and the exciting wheelchair curling team will be the ones to watch in four yea rs' team will be the ones to watch in four years' time. and with that, we in this edition of newsday. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i am getting all my shows mixed up. stay with us, we have a special report on the future of work. we take you to china to find out how it is driving demand for robots, and how this could impact ourjobs for robots, and how this could impact our jobs and for robots, and how this could impact ourjobs and workplaces. please watch out for this special series of reports on the future of work. rico hizon, this is news to a! a usually you have not been changed into a robot? they are taking over the world, as you say. we heard kate

grey to him at the paralympics. she mentioned the closing ceremony. let's have a look at some of the fireworks from the closing ceremony. a spectacular event injohn chang. the paralympic winter games. it paid tribute to stephen hawking. —— pyeongchang. you will remember that the scientist died last week. he was an inspiration to many athletes, being ina an inspiration to many athletes, being in a wheelchair for decades. the president of the paralympic committee called him a genius unhindered by his disability. a fitting tribute to an amazing man. a great way to close the paralympics. hello. after a very wintry weekend, we are heading closer to the spring equinox and the weather will turn milder through this week. but on sunday, he was the scene in york. a

lot bice 0val in northern parts, but the south—west as well. an ample warning from the met office for the heavy snow. it expires at three a.m.. “— heavy snow. it expires at three a.m.. ——a heavy snow. it expires at three a.m.. —— a lot of snow in northern parts. we still have cold easterly winds, and biting wind chill in the south, once again. they would be as strong as we head through monday. that is down to the high pressure thatis that is down to the high pressure that is building. that will bring a lot of high pressure as well. bitterly cold to start monday morning, with —2 or — three degrees in the towns and cities. could be minus eight degrees in south scotland. snow lingering in the south, particularly the channel isles. brittle dry weather to the north. a widespread frost first thing in the morning. —— but a

little dry weather. most places are looking dry. a bitter cloud working in two north—east england and is in scotland as well. a flurry or two of snow under the cloud. temperatures still colder this time of year, with 4- still colder this time of year, with 4— seven degrees, not as cold as the weekend. things will set milder —— turn milder, and after a dry start to the week, some rain developing. temperatures will not too grey for this time of year. some rain showers will come in on tuesday through parts of england. the best research and will be northern ireland, is scotland, and northern england. temperatures 6— nine degrees by tuesday. in the middle part of the week, you will notice yellow colours. this is a milder air mass

thatis colours. this is a milder air mass that is starting to move in from the atlantic, pushing away those cold easterly winds that have been with some time. for wednesday, easterly winds that have been with some time. forwednesday, it easterly winds that have been with some time. for wednesday, it is a north—west, south—east split. some areas dry and bright, with patchy rainfor areas dry and bright, with patchy rain for scotland and the northern pa rt rain for scotland and the northern part of ireland. temperatures cold for this time of year, but back into double figures. that is it for now. goodbye. i'm kasia madera with bbc world news. our top story. vladimir putin has declared victory in russia's presidential election, winning another six years in office. most of the ballots have now been counted, with around three—quarters backing mr. putin. the president's hailed his victory as approval of his policies. at a victory rally in moscow, he also dismissed the suggestion his country was behind the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter in the uk. earlier, britain's foreign secretary, borisjohnson, accused russia of making and stockpiling the nerve agent used

in the attack. and this story is trending on bbc.com — a breakthrough in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. doctors have described an international medical trial involving stem cell transplants as a " for patients with ms. results showed treatment was able to stop the disease and improve symptoms. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news it's time for hardtalk.