this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: a fire at a shopping centre in siberia has killed nearly a0 people, and dozens more are missing. protests erupt across catalonia after the region's former leader is arrested in germany, at the request of spain. his lawyer says he'll fight the case all the way. translation: the european arrest warrant is being misused for political purposes. it's being used to put political opponents behind bars. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. also in the programme: a crisis in australian cricket, as a scandal over ball tampering sends shockwaves through the world of sport. and tributes pour in forjose abreu, whose music project, el sistema, transformed the lives of thousands of children in venezuela. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news.

it's newsday. glad you could join us. it's 8am in singapore, 1am in london, and 7am in kemerovo in russia, where at least 37 people are now known to have died in a fire that tore through a shopping centre. local emergency officials say up to 30 people are feared missing, and that a high proportion of these could be children. andrew plant reports: a fire on the fourth floor. this shopping centre surrounded by firefighters searching for survivors, trying to reach upperfloor windows, fighting the smoke billowing outside. the fire started here on sunday. dozens were evacuated, but it was clear dozens more were missing, many of them children.

translation: the area of the fire is about 1500 square metres. at this moment, 288 emergency officers are working on site as well as 62 units of equipment and an airbourne grouping are taking part in the search and rescue operation. we are taking all necessary measures to extinguish the fire. the shopping centre has a very complex construction. there is a lot of combustible materials. people gathered to stand and stare as the fire unfolded. witnesses said it trapped people on the upper floors, and said some had jumped from windows to try to escape from the flames. an industrial city of more than half a million, it is one of russia's biggest coal producing regions. more than 2000 kilometres east of moscow. already, there are reports the fire began near a cinema and children's entertainment centre. president putin has a ready sent his condolences to friends and families of the victims. authorities say a criminal

investigation will now begin to try to find out what caused the fire. andrew plant, bbc news. let's take a look now at some of the day's other news. demonstrators have clashed with police on the streets of barcelona, where they are protesting against the arrest of their ousted leader, carles puigdemont. mr puigdemont was arrested in germany, after he crossed from denmark on his way back from finland to belgium, where he's been in self—imposed exile since october. this report is from damien mcguinness in berlin. in barcelona, thousands of people took to the streets in support of former catalan leader, carles puigdemont. they are calling for germany not to extradite him back to spain, where, according to pro—separatist politicians, he would not get a fair trial. translation: this prosecution has no basis. there has never been violence. we remember we are still

the revolution of smiles. for now, mr puigdemont is being held in this prison, and tomorrow he will appear before a german judge, who will decide whether he will remain in custody while the extradition order is being processed. berlin backs madrid's stance that it would be illegalfor catalonia to break away unilaterally. but his lawyer says it is a human rights issue. in spain, there is no more democracy, because they put their political opponents injail. the elected people are put in jail — that's a dictatorship. carles puigdemont became the leader of catalonian in 2016, and led the referendum campaign a year later.

but since then, he has been living in self—imposed exile in belgium. his arrest reignites tensions in catalonia, where most of the independence leaders are now facing legal charges. that has, to a certain extent, undermined the independence movement, but also energised many of those who support it. also making the news today: two lawyers who were due to join donald trump's team, which is handling the special counsel investigation into russian interference in the us elections, will now not take up their places. the president's spokesman said conflicts meant they could no longer be hired. but they added they hoped the legal team would be able to assist mr trump with other matters. more than 100 girls and young women who were kidnapped by islamist militants in north—eastern nigeria, before being released, have been returned to their families. the dapchi girls spent five weeks in captivity. some of their fellow abductees are still missing. a car bomb has exploded at a busyjunction close to somalia's parliament

in the capital, mogadishu. the city's ambulance service says four people were killed, including a suspected suicide bomber. now — if you're one of those people who think bigger is better, then this is the cruise ship for you. it is the symphony of the seas, and it's seen here casting off from the french port of saint nazaire, about to make its first big trip to spain. the ship is 362 metres long, it cost $1.1; billion to build. it has got enough space to accommodate 9,000 passengers and crew. but if you prefer things on dry land... this was an implosion of a building in the centre of austin in texas. it went without a hitch, although the cloud of dust and piles of rubble will take quite some time to clean up. cricket is seen by australians

as their national sport — with, so it is said, the captain of the national team being more important than the prime minister. so it says quite a lot that the prime minister himself, malcolm turnbull, has voiced his concerns that australia's cricket captain, steve smith, was caught cheating during a test match. he and his vice—captain david warner have both given up theirjobs, at least temporarily, after it emerged they were aware of a plan to break the game's laws by having a junior player tamper with the ball. we asked australia's high commissioner to the uk, alexander downer, what damage he thought had been done to his country's sporting image. well, i think it is bad for the national psyche. i think australians are outraged about this national team, which they hold in such high esteem, behaving in this way. it's often said to wear the baggy green cap, which is the cap that the australian test cricketers

wear, is one of the greatest honours any australian can have bestowed on him or her. and for people wearing the baggy green to be behaving like that is just astonishing. so what it's done is it's separated the australian cricket team from the australian public and the team has lost the affection and support of the public at this time. earlier, i spoke to australian sports presenter bill woods about how the scandal is affecting the image of cricket in the country, and what kind of reaction there's been so far. i know in this modern era of social media, we often have a bandwagon effect on issues like this and certainly a lynch mob mentality is not uncommon, but even i was surprised at the level of outrage, the feeling of betrayal from not only cricket fans, but sports fans in general across australia. i think cricket fans particularly, and some have tried to explain their feelings today as this story unfolds in mainstream media,

and they see the cricket team as being an exceptional national team. the prime minister himself said that this team was on a pedestal. personally, i find that a little surprising these days. i would have thought since lance armstrong, all bets were off. but the fact is, in this country, they still believe the cricket team is exceptional and, as you heard there from alexander downer and in your report, the baggy green is held as a very special national icon, so that feeling is still very strong. an interview with the adult film actress at the centre of a sex scandal involving donald trump has aired on an american television network. stormy daniels, whose real name is stephanie clifford, describes the affair she says she had with president trump between 2006 and 2007. mr trump has denied the allegations. let's speak to our correspondent james cook, who is in los angeles. who presumably watched the interview

which is aired, what has she been saying? yes, it is still being broadcast actually at the moment but one thing we now know is that she only alleges that she had sex once with mr trump only alleges that she had sex once with mrtrump and only alleges that she had sex once with mr trump and that was in 2006. she says that the 2007 meeting, there was no sexual encounter, so we now have that claim from stormy daniels, who alleges that that happened at a golf tournament in nevada, when she was 27 years old and mrtrump was nevada, when she was 27 years old and mr trump was 60 years old. she says she was not attracted to him what he offered her a potential place in his reality tv show and they had a consensual sexual encounter. now, after that, they had a consensual sexual encounter. now, afterthat, in they had a consensual sexual encounter. now, after that, in 2011, stormy daniels told her story to a magazine but the magazine did not publish it, there is a suggestion that there is a legal reason for that, and then she says a man approached her in a lossmakers car

park, telling her live trump alone, forget the story, and in front of her daughter hattingh, her young daughter, it would be a as something happened her mum. —— adding. if we fast forward to 2011, stormy daniels signed a nondisclosure agreement, she accepted $250,000, which he categorised as hush money from mr trump's lawyer. some critics have said that that amounted to an illegal campaign contributions, she is now suing to get out of the contract. mr trump's lawyer denies having any threat against stormy daniels, and mrtrump having any threat against stormy daniels, and mr trump himself denies the affairs. james, thank you for bringing us up—to—date with that interview. that is still being broadcast, of course we hope to bring you some clips of that interview as it as it is finished. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme...

the metoo campaign catches on in south korea. in a traditionally male dominated culture, a new movement of women says it's time for change. also on the programme: tributes to the man who provided free music education to thousands of children in venezuela's shantytowns. let there be no more wars or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. i'm so proud of both of you. with great regret, the committee have decided that south africa should be excluded from the 1970 competition. streaking across the sky,

the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. woman: wow! this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. our top stories: at least 37 people have died in a large fire at a shopping mall in the siberian city of kemerovo. another 30 people are missing, many of them children. demonstrators have clashed with police on the streets of catalonia. they came out to protest after the region's former leader was arrested in germany. let's take a look at some front pages,

and the looming trade war between the us and china still making headlines, with top beijing officials saying that the country can handle the shock of a trade war. that's headlining the south china morning post. but china's vice—premier, han zheng, warns that a dispute will hurt everyone. meanwhile, beijing is pledging to open up its economy further, the straits times reports. it is promising to treat domestic and foreign companies as equals, as it transitions to high quality growth. and how about this story in the china daily? chinese consumers‘ thirst for fine wine will see the country replace the uk as the world's second largest consumer market injust three years. now, sharanjit, some

unusual weather has been grabbing attention online? yes, rico, you'd normally expect snow to be white, but in eastern europe, the winter landscape has gone a bit orange. just take a look at these pictures, snapped on the slopes at resorts across russia, romania, bulgaria and ukraine. the phenomeonon, which occurs once every five years, is caused by sand from the sahara desert mixing with moisture as it falls, colouring the snow orange. it poses no risk to the snowboarders and skiers, though it does apparently make the snow a bit grittier than usual. tributes have been paid tojose abreu, the venezuelan musician credited with bringing a love of classical music to millions of under—privileged children. his scheme, known as el sistema, provided free music education in venezuela's shantytowns, and was copied around the world. tiffany sweeney reports. w? if? "if: l157 7.7175777 5 ’ 7

jose abreu's revolutionary music project, bringing mozart, beethoven, tchaikovsk to the poorest areas of venezuela, to make a young generation appreciate them, and escape a life of poverty and crime. el sistema spread across the world, and was used by thousands of students, many from disadvantaged backgrounds. it was heavily promoted by the socialist government of former venezuelan leader hugo chavez, becoming one of the country's best—funded social programmes. but maestro abreu told the bbc in 2009 that he was less interested in politics than helping young people. i think it is important, because it will spread the ideas which constitute a fundamental

project — solidarity, social action through music, and understanding between peoples. tributes have been paid, including venezuelan president nicolas maduro. translation: we are deeply moved by the passing of maestro abreu. he leaves behind a great legacy of morals, ethics and culture, as expressed through the orchestral system. to the simon bolivar 0rchestra, i pass on my condolences. his students included gustavo dudamel, the musical director of the simon bolivar 0rchestra, a renowned venezuelan conductor. he expressed his sadness to his beloved maestro. he was an economist, politician and activist,

but it was as an educator through music that maestro abreu pulled thousands of venezuelan children from crime and poverty. his legacy lives on. tiffany sweeney, bbc news. fake news has become the buzz word of our age, and, coupled with ever—increasing competition for readers and viewers, the online giants have occasionally struggled to keep up with the attempts to mislead the public. google has now launched a global initiative which it hopes will redress the balance and our media editor amol rajan has been to its campus in california's silicon valley to find out more. for the past decade, the news business has had a fractious relationship with the internet. many journalists accuse technology firms of having a free ride at their expense. while thousands of reporters have lost theirjobs and publications closed as the old business model collapsed, google has

grown dizzyingly rich. many news providers today think of themselves as being at conflict with google. they say this company is gobbling up precious advertising revenues and dominates the means of distribution. but here at google's headquarters, they see things rather differently. they say the open web has democratised news and information, making it near—universally available. and that that's a good thing for all of us. at the top of the company there is frustration at being lumped together with facebook and cast as an enemy of media. 0n the contrary, senior executives argue, while facebook pulls back from the news business, google wants to make friends. what we tell publishers is can build a service that is good for your users and that will be good for the web. if you do that, that will end up correlating with all of the signals we develop, not just today, but for the future. hey, good to see you again. crucially, google's official position is that qualityjournalism costs. is it the view of google that

information should be free? no, it should be accessible and it should be as readily accessible as we can make it, but obviously it costs money to produce content. so there have to be the appropriate financial underpinnings to support that. qualityjournalism is hard, it's expensive, particularly if you're doing in—depth investigative reporting, so it needs to be sustained. the old mantra that content must be free saw advertising as the principal source of revenue but as spotify and netflix have shown in their fields too, audiences will pay for content if it's unique, personalised and good enough. the chief executive of the new york times company, who has championed paid content online, welcomes support with subscriptions but wants google to do more. a lot of the news that is going to be consumed on their platform is free to use. both they and we need to find a way of getting some of the value which is expressed in advertising potential, again flowing back into the production of high quality journalism.

and that's the next thing we want to talk to them about. good morning, everybody. the global news initiative launched in new york this week consolidates existing efforts. google's search algorithm will now go further in prioritising high—quality news when a story breaks. the compa ny‘s motivation could be moral, but there's money at stake too. we're really looking forward to the feedback we're getting from the new york times, from mark thompson, from so many other players because remember the google news initiative isn't something we just created ourselves. it was a very close collaboration with dozens and dozens if not hundreds of publishers across the world. some publishers feel they are being offered morsels when google has stolen their lunch. but in that phrase beloved of american journalists, google is certainly reaching out to a news industry that could do with a little help. amol rajan, bbc news. the metoo movement, which has helped highlight sexual harassment and abuse across the world, has swept

through south korea with surprising speed. hundreds of women say it's helped them to find the courage to come forward in a deeply conservative society. from seoul, laura bicker reports. in south korea fighting for a new future. the #metoo movement has taken hold in this socially conservative country and these university students are hoping to see changes in this male dominated society. is it difficult for women in career to speak out?|j society. is it difficult for women in career to speak out? i think it's more difficult in career because there is a traditional criteria that women have to be quiet and, you know, nice and kind and stuff but 110w know, nice and kind and stuff but now there's things changing but we need to change more. protesters

ripped through a poster littered with phrases blaming the victims of abuse. these shows of sorrow that a charity given young women the confidence and courage to come forward with their stories. many fear losing theirjobs and public humiliation if they complain. but there is a pioneer who led the way. this woman complained about a boss at samsung electronic mechanics who harassed her for years, at samsung electronic mechanics who harassed herfor years, she wasn't believed, she was made an outcast and given no work but she eventually w011 and given no work but she eventually won her case and now helps others. translation: i'm very happy when people who come to get advice from the tell me that i'm their role model. then i think it was really worth fighting for. it took four long years of not giving up to big the corporate giant. in the beginning i said, the bigger the fight, the bigger the reward. that applies to all different aspects of

life but in truth the lawsuit was a very lonely and difficult process, however, after going through the hardship and when it all ended well, i realised that it was a fight that i have to do. the days of discrimination and sexual assault are over, they shout. they'll have to keep up the momentum if they want to keep up the momentum if they want to make real change. south korea is ranked one of the worst places for working women amongst the 29th advanced nations. i think most of all the corporate culture should be changing. the south korean corporate culture is characterised by old boys networks, very close connections, so it must be corrected. this new strength is not welcomed by all. some have described it as man hate

and the #metoo movement is a witch—hunt. but there's quiet determination, especially amongst young south koreans, to change what they know is wrong, and sweep away they know is wrong, and sweep away the pillars of this once patriarchal society. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. you've been watching newsday. coming up, asia business report. we'll be looking at whether it's time for india's agriculture industry and infrastructure to have widescale reform. that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. hello once again. i hope at least at some point during the course of the weekend you managed to get to see some sunshine, because it may well be in the forthcoming week that

that is in short supply for some areas, especially the northern parts of scotland. all of us will notice it turning a little bit colder, because initially there's some warmth to be had, especially across the southern half of the british isles. but, as i move you through to around about wednesday, well, those yellows have moved away. we've tapped into some cold air yet again from scandinavia, for the northern half of britain. to the south, well, there's an incursion of milder air, relatively, from the atlantic. but it comes at something of a price, and some of you start paying that as early as monday afternoon, because the cloud and rain begin to push in towards northern ireland, the west of wales, down into the south—west of england. elsewhere, after a chilly old start, the temperatures pick up quite nicely — ten, 11, 12, 13, something of that order. but that may well be the last that you see of those, because from monday night on into tuesday, so we push this low pressure closer to the british isles. that in turn pushes this weather front ever further towards the north and the east. does the rain get away from the eastern side of england during the course of the day?

well, it's a pretty close call, and it's certainly there to be had across the eastern side of scotland, where it's going to be really quite chilly. the last of any semblance of warmth is there to be had across the southern counties of both england and wales. from tuesday on into wednesday, that weather front is stuck across northern parts of scotland. the cold air flooding in, remember, from scandinavia. so we'll see, particularly on the hills, the grampians, the snowfall totals really beginning to mount up. in the south, it willjust push some areas of cloud and rain ever further towards the east, and following on behind, we've got a bright and blustery day. some of the showers really quite sharp, maybe a wee bit of hail in there, as well, as we see the first signs of that colder condition just beginning to seep its way into the southern half of britain. and then, from wednesday on into thursday, that weather front is still there across the eastern side of scotland, so the snowjust keeps on coming to the higher ground. and by this stage, things may well be cooling off enough just to drag

some of that snow to a slightly lower level. further south, a bit of a lull in proceedings, and then we'lljust push another area of low pressure in, with its attendant cloud, and some sharp bursts of rain as well. and at this stage, it really will feel cold and miserable, across the eastern side of scotland particularly. further south, temperatures just about getting to around about ten or 11 degrees, and just in time for the easter weekend, low pressure is very much the dominant feature. take care. i'm sharanjit leyl with bbc news. our top story: a huge fire at a shopping centre in siberia has left nearly a0 people dead. dozens are missing, including many children. there's a big rescue operation underway. the fire is said to have begun in a cinema inside the huge shopping complex, which was packed with people in the middle of the day. more than 200 emergency responders have attended the scene. demonstrators have clashed with police on the streets of catalonia. they came out to protest after the region's former leader

carles puigdemont was arrested in germany. and this story is trending on bbc.com. the ball tampering scandal which has sent shockwaves through the world of cricket. australia's team captain is forced to stand down in the latest test match against south africa. that's all from me now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk: jeremy corbyn has said he's sincerely sorry for the pain caused