i'm mariko oi in singapore, the headlines: mark zuckerberg admits facebook made mistakes mishandling data from 50 million users and promises to make changes. the suspect in the texas bombings blows himself up as police close in. but what motivated 23—year—old mark conditt? i'm sharanjit leyl in london. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. also in the programme: out of control and plummeting to earth. china's first space station could crash land any time but no—one knows where. it is magic until you understand it, and thereafter it's mathematics. and we meet a teacher you can really count on, the youtube sensation who's making maths fun! 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 6pm in san francisco, where the founder of facebook, mark zuckerberg, has admitted making mistakes in mishandling data belonging to 50 million users. these are the first public comments he has made since the british firm cambridge analytica was accused of mining information to influence the american presidential election in 2016. on his facebook page he said that the company needed to step up to fix the problems. our business editor simonjack has the latest. facebook founder mark zuckerberg broke his silence tonight on a scandal that has engulfed the social media giant. in a facebook post, he said the company had "a responsibility to protect your data" and admitted

the company had "made mistakes". he described how a british academic had invented an app inviting facebook users to do a personality test. 300,000 people downloaded it, it collected personal information on them and also all of their facebook friends, harvesting data on 50 million users. that data was obtained by a british consultancy, cambridge analytica, in 2014, a move mark zuckerberg described tonight as "a breach of trust", and it was later allegedly used in the trump election campaign. a campaign the company's executives took a lot of credit for when secretly filmed. an apparent shock to the original app designer. never in our wildest dreams did we think anything we did would be used in the donald trump campaign. this is 2014, well before anybody would think mr trump would be a serious candidate. so at the time, like, i didn't know who their clients would be, i didn't know the specific use case. i did know it was going to be used for political purposes, but beyond that, it was well

above my pay grade. should have asked. could this small consultancy really have altered the course of us history? unlikely, says a man who worked on barack obama's 2008 election. data can be misused to increase divisions and stoke fears, as they themselves have said, and that's why it needs to be regulated more carefully and ethical behaviour needs to be enforced, but elections are decided by a whole range of factors and i think cambridge analytica over—claimed their impact. perhaps the biggest change will be our awareness of what we are agreeing to when we hit "i agree". the conversation we should be having is what happens to our data, how much are we comfortable to share? and what do we think about how that is done?

this is a real lightbulb moment, people understanding that it is not just clicking like on facebook, what you're doing is giving data away. facebook‘s value has fallen by more than $50 billion since monday, evidence perhaps of lasting damage on facebook‘s brand and its users‘ trust. simonjack, our technology correspondent dave lee has been talking to asia business report about this story. that'll be on bbc world news in half an hour, so stay tuned for that. now, let's take a look at some of the day's other news. the war of words has increased between london and moscow over the spy poisoning case. at a parliamentary hearing on wednesday, the british foreign secretary was asked if the russian president would use the world cup in the same way that hitler used the 1936 olympics. have a listen. putin is going to use it the way hitler used the 1936 olympics. the

idea of putin handing over the world cup toa idea of putin handing over the world cup to a winning team. the idea that he will use it as a pr exercise, it fills me with horror. first of all, i think that your characterisation of what is going to happen in moscow, in the world cup, yes, i think the comparison with 1936 is certainly right and i think it's an emetic prospect, frankly, to think of putin glorying in this sporting event. borisjohnson there. also making news today: more than 100 nigerian schoolgirls abducted by islamist militants last month in the town of dapchi have been freed. five girls are said to have died in captivity and another, the only christian in the group, has not been released. the government denies paying boko haram a ransom. local media is reporting the girls are exhausted and underfed. at least 31 people have been killed in a suicide bombing

in the afghan capital, kabul. the bomber was apparently heading towards a well—known shrine, where a large crowd had gathered to mark the start of the new year festival. the islamic state group said it carried out the attack. the pilot of the jet that crashed at a british air show in 2015 is to be charged with the manslaughter by gross negligence of the 11 people who died on the ground. andrew hill is also accused of endangering an aircraft, and is due to appear before magistrates next month. a palestinian teenager who was filmed slapping an israeli soldier has accepted a plea deal, that will mean she serves eight months in prison. ahed tamimi agreed to plead guilty to four of the 12 charges she faced, including assault. the 17—year—old was detained after confronting two armed soldiers outside her home in december. let's take a look at these pictures of a new rift in kenya's rift valley,

where geologists are warning that this huge crack is showing signs that the continent is splitting. the earth movements began last week and were exacerbated by heavy rains, tearing apart large sections of the suswa area in south—western kenya. while the continental split could take millions of years, the immediate concern is the safety of road users and people living there. the suspect who's linked to a series of deadly package bombs in austin, texas has died. the man has been identified as 23—year—old mark anthony conditt, and he has detonated an explosive as police closed in on him. experts have removed explosive device components from his home, but they are warning that he may have planted or mailed other bombs. gary o'donoghue is following the story. police closed in on the suspected bomber in the early hours, tracking him down to

a hotel north of austin. while they waited for extra back—up, he drove off and then pulled into a ditch at the side of the road. as the police approached his car, he set off another bomb. as members of the austin police department swat team approached the vehicle, the suspect detonated a bomb inside the vehicle. knocking one of our swat officers back, and one of our swat officers fired at the suspect as well. the suspect is deceased, and has significant injuries from a blast that occurred from detonating a bomb inside his vehicle. cctv in the past couple of days appears to show the man believed to be the suspect dropping off a package at a fedex office in southwest austin. a key piece of evidence that led to the police to the bomber‘s identity.

he has now been named officially as 23—year—old man called mark anthony conditt. he lived in pflugerville, just outside the city. seeing that this is someone who i share memories with even know it's just a little it is crazy to me. i know regardless of his personal reason, it wasn't active evil and it's not excusable. since the beginning of the month there had been six separate bonds, five which exploded. two men have died and half a dozen people have suffered serious injuries, a are still in hospital. —— a number are still in hospital. —— a number are still in hospital. —— a number are still in hospital. some buildings were evacuated and some areas were cordoned off. they questioned both his flatmates,

although neither has been arrested 01’ although neither has been arrested or charged. police still don't know the motive for this bombing spree that terrorised austin for the past three weeks. there are also telling the public they don't know where the suspect has been for the past 2a hours, so there could still be devices out there. gary o'donoghue, bbc news, austin, texas. taiwanese authorities have detained nine taiwanese and 29 foreigners, almost all vietnamese nationals, in a suspected human—trafficking operation. on monday, two vietnamese migrants died when their rubber dinghy capsized in high waves off the coast of taitung. upon further search, coast guards found several others hiding on shore, as well as a larger boat off the beach with more vietnamese migrants waiting to be taken ashore. our correspondent in taipei cindy sue has more on this story. what we're hearing from the authorities is their questioning the nine taiwanese involved on this

human trafficking organisation. normally, like you said, we don't see these types of cases where people have been smuggled in boats to taiwan but human trafficking does exist in taiwan and as you know, taiwan is an island, so there's lots of coastline and this case may be unusual in the sense that there may have been other cases undetected. authorities say they have a good system in place of radar detection and that's how they found the boat on monday off the shore, a speedboat that was trying to arrive into the shore of eastern taiwan, and they believe they will continue to spot any future cases that come up. cindy, we know there are official channels for many migrants to enter taiwan, why would vietnamese nationals in particular try to enter taiwan in this way? it's believed many migrants, especially from vietnam, try to avoid paying the high fees that workers in vietnam and taiwan charge them to help them

find jobs and bring them to taiwan. many people, especially from taiwan, where the visa could be as high as 10,000 us dollars, try to avoid paying the fees by coming here illegally. some come here illegally and then escape from theirjobs and work in the black market illegally. but this is an unusual case where we see 30 something people being brought here in boats potentially to work here illegally, working for very low wages and putting themselves at risk of being exploited. cindy sue, our correspondent in taipei speaking to sharanjit earlier. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: aid agencies call for universal access and warn the poor are most at risk. also on the programme: we'll meet the youtube sensation

bringing numbers to life. let there be no more bloodshed between arabs and israelis. with great regret, the committee has decided south africa should be excluded from the 1970 competition. with great regret, the committee has decided south africa should be excluded from the 1970 competition. streaking across the sky, the white hot wreckage drew gasps from onlookers in fiji. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm marika oi in singapore. and i'm sharanjit leyl in london. our top stories: facebook has admitted making mistakes and breaching trust with its users over a data—harvesting scandal. the suspect in a series of deadly parcel bombs blows himself up as texas police close in on his vehicle. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. singapore's straits times reports on the story of one brave patient who underwent brain surgery while still awake. zhi long gave a thumbs up, even while going under the knife. surgeons managed to remove a cancerous growth from his brain.

the new york times wonders if the film director steven spielberg can still deliver a blockbuster? the question comes as his new science—fiction epic hits cinemas. in the last few years, his serious films that have triumphed at the box office. the front page of the japan times shows pedestrians in tokyo struggling with the snow. the country is marking the spring equinox, but the winter weather shows no sign off slacking off. increasing low pressure is to blame. when china launched its first space station seven years ago,

no one had dreamed that the mission will end up as an embarrassment — out of control, threatening to fall out of space and crash to earth. due to a technical glitch china lost control of the tiangong1 after it was decommissioned in 2013. the 9—tonne station has been spinning out of control ever since and according to some experts — it's on course to crash to earth within days. a short time ago i spoke to an expert on space debris — dr bill ailor, of the aerospace corporation. i asked him how likely it was the chinese space station would fall down on earth. it's very likely it's going to crash down to earth but unlikely it will hurt someone. why do you say that? the last couple of years, we each had the last couple of years, we each ha d eve nts the last couple of years, we each had events roughly the size, objects of this size coming down. i think three and 2016 and four in 2017 so it's not uncommon. it is not the largest object that has ever come down. we have at many things calmed down. we have at many things calmed down. only one person brushed on the shoulder by a small piece of the

breeze so we wouldn't expect anything here. with technology these days, there must be a way you can monitor things like this, space to breathe and predict when and where it might fall. that's true. we do oui’ it might fall. that's true. we do our bestjob of trying to figure out where these things will come down. when the satellite starts getting low to me, the atmosphere is continually changing. we estimate what the density is going to be. that is made more difficult because some activity and some other things, solar storms and so forth, force the atmosphere to change in density and those changes make a difference in the long—term so it's extremely difficult to isolate even what all but something will come down in. we know this project was a big deal but china's space ambitions and launched in 2011 so how much of a blow is

this? how much of an embarrassment is it? it's sad that any entity loses control. but it does happen. when you lose control you can't communicate with the spacecraft, you are out of luck. it will come down when it's ready. will the chinese ta ke when it's ready. will the chinese take responsibility for any damage? basically the entity that launches the satellite is responsible for what happens when it re—enters so if there is damage, it would be their responsibility, yes. it's incredibly easy to take clean water for granted when all you have to do is turn on the tap. but on the 25th world water day, the australian group wateraid is drawing attention to what they are calling "the water gap." they say 60% of the world's population is now living in water—stressed areas. this year's report also includes new data on the gap between rich and poor when it comes to access to water.

it estimates that 8“; million people have no clean water near their homes. earlier, i spoke to rosie wheen, chief executive of wateraid australia. she began by outlining her concerns for access to water. every single day, 800 children die from diarrhoea. and we know that is preventable with access to clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene practices. so we do need to look around the region and see that there are countries that really are falling behind in terms of achieving universal access for everyone. the three worst countries we can see globally are eritrea, papua new guinea, and uganda. we need to focus on those falling behind. we do have some cases in asia where countries have managed to improve the situation quite a lot. what exactly can the government do? you are right.

we are seeing some really good progress. for example, india, where many people still have no access to safe water, but in the 15 years prior, hundreds of millions of people have got access. we can solve this crisis, and there are things governments have to do. there needs to be political leadership, financing, a focus on the capacity and skills needed. we need to really look at how we manage the most precious resource in the world, water, and make sure there is water for agriculture industry and also for domestic and basic need. and of course, we must not forget to focus on the poorest, and make sure that no one is left behind, and make sure everyone gets access to clean water. we also have, of course, countries like singapore which have

turned things around very quickly. but tell us about this water gap. do you feel this gap between rich and poor still exists in many countries? as you said, great knowledge to take from countries like singapore. that is what we are championing. we need to highlight, as you said, the gap between the rich and the poor. there are countries, for example, pakistan, where we look at a national level and it is about 88% of people have access to water that is safe, but if we drill into the numbers, we look at the poorest people, only 79% have access to water, whereas the wealthy people, it is 98% of people who have access. when i talk to people, especially especially women, in papua new guinea, they understand the impact it has on their lives, not having water, the time that is wasted, the heavy burdens they have to carry, it is really holding the progress of individuals, families, and countries back, by not making sure everyone

has access to clean water. australian teacher eddie woo has won fans worldwide with his high—energy maths lessons posted on line. mr woo recently won australia's local hero award and was a finalist for the global teacher prize. he's been explaining his formula for infectious lessons to the bbc in sydney. my name is eddie woo, i'm the head teacher of maths at the cherrybrook school in australia. i am going to put on, to finish my definition, i am going to put on two more words. when i started making these videos, i only did it with one student in mind. he was very sick so he was

missing a lot of class. for this to have gotten around the country, all around the world, for me, it isjust endlessly surprising. i get comments every now and again saying who is this asian guy and what is that accent coming out of his mouth, eddie, congratulations. what i am really aiming for, i guess, is to help people think about mathematics as not a scary subject, not something that is really challenging, only for special people, but i want people to see it is accessible, understandable. i want to get at that sense of wonder of students, that human beings have, that when they see something and think how does this happen? there is a famous saying that it is magic until you understand it. and thereafter, it's mathematics.

how many cards did you get that matched on both sides? i have heard people got eight and eight at four i have heard people got eight and eight and four and four, seven and a seven and six and six. it opens up a whole universe of seeing things in a new way you never could have imagined before. just go outside and pick up a flower, look at the pattern of seeds, the spiral, the shape. there is an unmistakable pattern which can be explained mathematically. mathematics all around us, if only we have eyes to see it. i encourage everyone to look around them and see the patterns around them and wonder, don't stop there, but ask why. go and look up a reason. then you yourself can become a mathematician. eddie woo, an inspiration to students worldwide. i wish my maths teacher had been as engaging when i was in school.

i would have paid attention more. what about you ? i can definitely say maths was not a favourite subject of mine. when i first moved to australia, my favourite subject was history and all my teachers said, your english is not good enough, you should do maths, you are asians so you must be good at it. i did some damage to the reputation of asians being good at maths. you have been watching newsday. the new us federal reserve chairman announces his first interest rate rise. we look at how that could affect people at home and abroad. and before we go, let's take a look at these pictures. —— that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. temperatures have been slowly recovering over the last couple of days after that mini beast from the

east brought us that disruptive snow. in fact, as we head into thursday, a more mild start and a mild afternoon. good spells of sunshine. feeling quite springlike. the atlantic has come back to life, feeding in cloud and mild air. you can see the air mass chart here, the orange colours moving in on thursday. something more fresh pushing in for the end of the week, for friday. mild air neverfar away. sunshine on the weekend and feeling pleasant. as we head into the overnight period, into early thursday, damp weather down the east of the country affecting east anglia and the south—east. elsewhere, largely dry. variable amounts of cloud. a bit more of a breeze further west. but it's going to be a much milder start on thursday.

most places, 4—7 degrees. just oone or two pockets of frost in some very sheltered rural locations, south—west england and maybe north—east scotland. looking good through thursday. losing the cloud from the eastern side of england. some good sunny spells around. a change in northern ireland and western scotland. increasing wind, 45mph, outbreaks of rain. elsewhere, a lovely day in store. on thursday night, that rain band will spread across the country, eventually clear the east inside the country on friday. a fairly good—looking day. showers in the north—west. wintry on the hills. maybe a toucher cooler than what we saw on thursday. into the weekend, not too bad. a typical early spring weekend. sunshine and showers, variable amounts of cloud. it will be generally quite mild, particularly where we get the sunshine. this is how we start saturday morning. a rather cloudy note across central

and southern and eastern parts of the country. the odd spit and spot of rain. skies will brighten up further north and west. wintry on the hills. showers in scotland and northern ireland, especially on the hills. given some sunshine, temperatures around 11 celcius. sunday looks like the better day of the weekend. more widespread sunny spells around. the best of the sunshine across the east. feeling more milder too, top temperatures around 13 celsius. i'm sharanjit leyl with bbc world news. our top story: the founder of facebook has admitted the giant social network made mistakes over the cambridge analytica data scandal. it follows allegations that millions of users' private information was misused by the political consultancy firm. mark zuckerberg also pledged a series of changes, making it harder for apps to harvest user information. police in texas have named the suspect they say carried out a spate of deadly parcel bombs as mark anthony conditt. he was killed after detonating an explosive device as officers pursued him. and this is trending on bbc.com.

lawmakers in kosovo had to be evacuated from parliament after opposition politicians threw tear gas. it's not even the first time they've used tear gas in parliament to stop a vote. that's certainly got people talking. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk: more than a million nhs staff in england are being offered pay