this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: more than 20 countries say they're expelling russian diplomats in response to the nerve agent attack against a former russian spy in britain. australia is the latest country to announce the punitive measures. officials investigating a deadly fire in a shopping centre in siberia say the building's alarm system was switched off and fire exits were blocked. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. also in the programme: the crisis in cricket — what next for australia in the ball—tampering row? and a month after speaking to the bbc about his search for his estranged father, the hong kong actor anthony wong chau sang has an emotional reunion with two of his half—brothers. live from our studios in singapore, and london, this is bbc world news.

it is newsday. thanks forjoining us. it's 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 7pm in washington, where the white house says it's expelling 60 russian diplomats in response to the poisoning of a former spy in the uk. donald trump's administration says the move will reduce russia's ability to carry out covert operations and threaten america's national security. 16 eu member states are taking similar action. 23 countries in total are ejecting diplomats, the largest collective expulsion of russian intelligence history. moscow has promised to respond. james robbins has the latest.

sometimes, size really does matter, and his diplomatic action against russia by western democracies is unprecedented in its scale. on their own, the american expulsions are remarkable, 60 russians being ordered out by the white house — a new record in the post—cold war world. france, germany and poland each kicking four russians out, top the list of european government action. more than half all eu states are expelling, backing britain with action, notjust words. nato ally canada is also clearing out some russians, as is one of president putin's largest victims, ukraine. and the list may get longer. the prime minister could hardly have hoped for more. she told the commons it was the largest collective expulsion of russian intelligence officers in history. i have found great solidarity from ourfriends and partners in the eu, north america, nato and beyond, over the past three weeks, as we have confronted the aftermath of the salisbury incident. together, we have sent a message that we will not tolerate russia's continued attempts to flout international law and undermine our values. three weeks

after the salisbury attack, as the investigation goes on, and warnings to those who were in the area at the time remain in place, the diplomatic heat on president putin is being turned up again. in brussels, the president of the european council, donald tusk, said today's eu action could even be extended quite quickly. additional measures, including further expulsions within the common eu framework, are not to be excluded in the coming days and weeks. today's action has its roots in years of alleged russian misbehaviour. from president putin's annexation of crimea, judged illegal by most of the outside world, through armed intervention in eastern ukraine to destabilise the country, to accusations of kremlin fingerprints on a catalogue of cyber attacks against the west, combined with abuse of social media

and plots to undermine elections and democracy in europe and the united states. russia's immediate reaction? translation: what the united states of america are doing today is destroying what little remains in terms of russian—american relations. i'd like to add that the entire responsibility for the consequences of that destruction lies on america. tonight, i asked the foreign secretary why so many countries had been willing to act together. the reason why you've seen this outpouring of revulsion at what russia ave done is because so many other countries in the last ten years have now experienced provocations of one kind or another. they've had destruction of the elections, cyber warfare, all kinds of russian aggression and malign behaviour. are you braced for whatever retaliation russia chooses? they might go, mightn‘t

they, to cyber warfare. well, let's be very clear. it's notjust we who are obviously racing, we have every possible protection and precaution that we've taken, but it's our friends and partners knowing that they probably will face now some kind of retaliation from russia, and that, for me, is all the more impressive, that they've chosen to do it nonetheless. moscow is sticking with denial. russian retaliation is inevitable. the crisis triggered by attempted murder in salisbury continues to grow at a startling pace. james robbins, bbc news. for more on australia's announcement that it's expelling two russian diplomats, let's cross live to hywel griffith in sydney. prime minister malcolm turnbulljust made the announcement moments ago. what did he say about it? with the movie in solidarity with the uk? we havejust issued this

last statement in the last hour. the australian government said this attack by russia it claims that a pa rt attack by russia it claims that a part of a reckless and deliberate conduct that they have seen from the russian state which is part of a growing threat to international security. they talk directly about the claims of using a nerve agent in the claims of using a nerve agent in the uk, so, yes, this is solidarity with the uk and the other countries such as the us and european nations have expelled diplomats who have expeued have expelled diplomats who have expelled diplomats in the past week. the russian —— two russian diplomats have me next world. in that statement from the high minister, we re statement from the high minister, were names named? no, it can be refers to them as two undeclared intelligence officers who were here, who are here currently in australia, but under a mother, working under a given visa. they, under the geneva,

the vienna conventions can be expeued the vienna conventions can be expelled because they are working here under a false permit and they have been given seven days to leave the country. the russian ambassador here in australia had already warned ahead of this that if australia were to ta ke ahead of this that if australia were to take actions, there could be repercussions. australia and russia are big trading partners when people talk about espionage and intrigue, they tend to think more about china. but the australian government has for a few months talked about eating up for a few months talked about eating up its laws on intelligence and integrity, protecting integrity of australian politics, and while a lot of focus has been on china, some of the focus will now fall on russian people here, working here and what exactly they are doing here, and this of course could result in some tit—for—tat measures like we may see some australian expulsions from russia at the end of it. apart from australia, we also have many eu

member countries also expelling russian diplomats. together with the united states, who made a major announcement overnight. yes, and as you saw from the item earlier, it is likely to end with retaliation. i think the uk will take heart that a lot of international partners are coming in behind it. we should see this in —— we shouldn't see this in isolation. australia has against russia than in factions in factions in the ukraine since 2014. this has maybe been smouldering and this latest attack on software has been the cricket issue for them to actually expelled people. i think this is farfrom over, we are likely to make the repercussions coming from russia potentially the situation escalating again. australia expelling two russian diplomats. thank you for the update. also making news today: a senior government figure in myanmar says that international allegations of human rights abuses

in rakhine state by the military are difficult to prove. but dr aung tun thet, chief coordinator of resettlement and development in rakhine, said action would be taken against anyone who crossed the line of their normal duties. we do have established norms, use of engagement by the armed forces, and we are very clear that the armed forces will follow these guidelines. if there are any individuals who have gone against these guidelines, action will be taken. the indian prime minister, narendra modi, has been criticised after reports that his official mobile app, downloaded by millions of people, automatically sends personal user data to a us company without the user's consent. the governing bjp has denied that the information went to a third party. the us federal trade commission has confirmed

it's investigating facebook‘s privacy policies after revelations that a political consulting company, cambridge analytica, had been given access to users' personal data. facebook, which was subject to an ftc inquiry in 2011, said it welcomed the opportunity to answer the regulator's questions. malaysia has proposed making it a criminal offence to publish fake news — offenders could face up to 10 years in prison. opposition groups say the government is trying to silence debate about a corruption scandal involving the prime minister, najib razak, ahead of a a general election. the proposed legislation defines fake news as any report, information or data that is wholly or partially false. more than 60 people, many of them children, have died in a large fire at a busy shopping centre in siberia. emergency services in russia say they're struggling to recover bodies from inside the complex

in the industrial city of kemerovo. now, scientists say they've discovered the main reason why whales are so big. it's apparently to retain body heat in chilly ocean waters. a us study found that once land mammals take to the water, they evolve very quickly to a much larger size. now, officials from australian cricket's governing body are in cape town to start their investigation into what exactly went on when members of the australian side tampered with the ball during the third test against south africa. today, australia's captain, steve smith, stepped down as the skipper of an indian premier league cricket team after admitting his part in the scandal. the scandal is having far—reaching financial implications too with sponsors now expressing their disappointment over the scandal.

sarah kelly is an associate professor in sports marketing and sports law at the university of queensland. shejoins us via webcam from brisbane. welcome to the programme. we know the players involved are facing a huge backlash at the moment. qantas, they are a sponsor saying they may potentially pull out, they are disappointed by this behaviour. just how damaging has the scandal team and will they pull out? yes, it obviously had had far reaching consequences here in australia, among the australian public. i would say across the world, we are obviously seeing it has made headlines. it has been a huge fallout, it is i suppose a high watermark of what could go wrong in sport and sponsorship relationships. when it is cheating, when it

involves integrity of the sport, the gravity of what is being done really does resonate with sponsors and sponsor does resonate with sponsors and sponsor brands who really are sponsor sponsor brands who really are sponsor ring the value than the brand image with the sponsoring, whether it eat cricket australia or whether it eat cricket australia or whether it eat cricket australia or whether it be an individual player concerned. this is something you have studied of course. you do a lot of research into sports and branding. we know that sports sponsorship is a massive business, billions of dollars involved. however, there is some growing evidence that perhaps money spent on sports sponsorship isn't necessarily effective. what is your experience? it isa effective. what is your experience? it is a very complex question, to be honest, and the metrics or sponsorship measurement and investment are definitely involved in becoming more sophisticated. whether things like social and community impact measures in addition to traditional measurements

which link to advertising around awareness and brand preference in sales. there is no reason that sponsorship of sport or the culture in the arts for that matter can be ineffective. it can be very effective if the brand's line this very well, the sponsorship around that relationship is done in a genuine sense, consumers are becoming more aware of whether the connection is in fact genuine purely commercial. if all these things alone, it can really pay off to still sponsor sport, there is no doubt. and there is a huge opportunity in growth markets such as women's sport, grassroots sport as women's sport, grassroots sport as well, development, e sports is another area that is paying for sponsors. thank you so much for joining us. you're watching newwday on the bbc. live from singapore and london. still to come on the programme: we'll be speaking to the scientist

who's led the first asian team to win a prestigious american cancer research award. also on the programme: the hong kong actor anthony wong has an emotional reunion with two long—lost half brothers. let there be no more wars or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. i'm so proud of you both. with great regret, the committee have decided that south africa should be excluded from the 1970 competition. chanting

streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. woman: wow! this is newday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. our top stories: more than 20 countries have announced they're expelling more than one hundred russian diplomats in response to the nerve agent attack against a former russian spy in britain. australian cricket's governing body is investigating the ball—tampering scandal and says it hopes to share results in the next 24 hours. let's take a look at some front pages

from around the world. the china daily reports that president xi jinping wrote to russian president vladimir putin to express his condolences over the fire in the siberian city of kemerovo. the paper says xi mourned the dead on behalf of the chinese government and expressed sympathy to the bereaved families and the injured. the straits times here in singapore is reporting on the story that the ride—hailing firm grab is acquiring rival uber‘s south—east asian business. but the times says that it will not be allowed a monopoly on singapore's roads. regulators will step in if they see competition being eroded. and the japan times reports on the cherry blossom season in tokyo. a beautifulfront page picture

shows how local people are taking part in hanami, blossom viewing, in a moat around the imperial palace in the capital. those are the top stories. now, sharan, what stories are sparking discussions online? it's still stormy and trump? the adult film actress, stormy daniels, is suing donald trump's lawyer for defamation, after he denied that the president had an affair with her in 2006. ms daniels also says she was threatened and intimidated to keep quiet about the sexual relationship she says she had with donald trump. ms daniels said in a televised interview that she'd had unprotected sex with mr trump on a single occasion, at his hotel after a celebrity golf tournament in 2006. donald trump has denied the claims. for the first time, an asian team of cancer researchers

have won the prestigious american association for cancer research's team science award. the international team led by singaporean scientists have focused their research on common cancers in asia that are less studied in the west. but, with asia contributing to over half of all cancer deaths around the world, such cancers constitute a major global healthcare burden. earlier i caught up with professor patrick tan from duke—nus medical school, who's the leader of the team that got the award. i began by asking him to tell us more about his research into cancers that are found more in asian countries than in the west. when we started this programme ten yea rs when we started this programme ten years ago, when we started this programme ten yea rs when we started this programme ten years ago, we when we started this programme ten yea rs when we started this programme ten years ago, we realised when we started this programme ten yea rs when we started this programme ten years ago, we realised that when we started this programme ten yea rs when we started this programme ten years ago, we realised that there we re years ago, we realised that there were several cancers that were more in asian countries that were not

seen in asian countries that were not seenin in asian countries that were not seen in the west which were poorly understood. these included stomach cancers, liver cancer and in places like the north—east of thailand, different types and some kind of kidney cancers in taiwan. what have you found out in your research about these cancers? one thing that links all these cancers in asia is they are caused by very specific environmental exposures. stomach can be caused by bacterial infections. bile duct cancers in thailand are caused by the liver fluke parasite that lives in the freshwater and in taiwan, the kidney cancers are caused by exposures to a constituent in certain herbal medicines. stomach, liver and other kidney cancers only found in asia. why are generally overlooked? by global research is? in general, these cancers, because they have been rarely seen in the west, have

traditionally not been focused on by western scientists at in asia, and as he said, in asia, there are many cancer cases, it is our obligation to study these cancers and now we have acquired the knowledge and expertise to be able to understand these cancers better and contribute toa these cancers better and contribute to a worldwide knowledge. are these cancers mostly found in asia treatable? unfortunately, many of these cancers, when they are diagnosed late, are actually very, very deadly because there are no good treatment options so our research has been able to identify new targets to which new drugs can be added in clinical trials. these are now being clinically evaluated but more importantly, a lot of our resort which points to the fact that once we understand the cause, we can prevent the cancer from happening.

in the case of herbal medicine related acids, some of these exposures, it is renewed interest by regulatory agencies to combat the introduction of these toxins into the environment. last month here on newsday, we spoke to the hong kong actor anthony wong chau—sang. he'd had no contact with his british father since he was a child, except for the odd letter. but the bbc‘s report on his mission to find out more about his father led to an unexpected meeting with two long—lost half—brothers. this is the story so far. i'mjohn perry

i'm john perry and this i'mjohn perry and this is my brother david. we live in australia. there was a picture in that report showing my father holding anthony as a baby, with anthony's mother. we we re a baby, with anthony's mother. we were quite amazed about the whole thing. he never mentioned anthony at all, ever. we had no idea. we don't know why. he might have been embarrassed about it, i don't know. he might have thought we would get upset. after picking myself up off the floor, we talked about it and then we decided, we've got to come over and see him. amazing, impossible, miracle.

we didn't know anything about anthony. we started delving on you tube and found movies. it didn't make us feel any different but he was an actor, a famous actor in hong kong. amazing, a wonderful brotherly reunion. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. we'll take you to india, to find out why farmers have been protesting, and why forgiving their debts has not been easy. and before we go, let's take a look at these pictures. this sleepy neighbourhood in california had an unexpected visitor in the shape of a mountain lion. the animal was discovered roaming

the neighborhood early in the morning on monday. officials warned neighbours to stay inside until they could subdue the animal. the animal was tranquilized and ta ken away. the weather is looking fairly mixed during the remainder of this week. some sunshine around the many of us. in fact, this picture comes from one of our weather watchers. we start with quite a lot of cloud that should clear and things turned white and bash lighter later in the day. we have this frontal system moving its way from west to east across the country through the day on tuesday. tuesday morning, a lot

of cloud. some snow on the mountains of cloud. some snow on the mountains of scotland. most of that rain clears often we see brighter skies with sunny spells. temperatures range between a roundabout 5— 14 degrees. later on, on tuesday, we will keep the outbreaks of rain and hill snow for a time across scotland and further south, clearer skies. temperatures to most of us, frost free to start the day on wednesday. on wednesday, the wind turns to a more north—westerly direction. temperatures colder by the time we

get to wednesday. around about six or seven degrees. probably the coolest day of the week. looking ahead towards thursday, low pressure towards the north—west of the uk and another frontal system moves in towards the north—west of the uk and anotherfrontal system moves in from the south—west is like a largely dry start to the day on thursday, some showers pushing into wales, south—west england, making their way further north and east mainly for england and wales. for scotland and northern ireland, dry. an isolated shower during the afternoon and temperatures on the cool side, around about nine or 10 degrees. what about the outlook towards easter? it starts off on that fairly cool theme but things will gradually turn milder and a bit of rain at times but also some sunshine to be enjoyed as well. — r. i'm sharanjit leyl

with bbc world news. our top story — more than 20 countries are expelling a total of over 100 russian diplomats in response to the nerve agent attack against a former russian agent in britain. russia's foreign ministry calls it unfriendly and provocative, é say the alarm system maximums“; and this video is trending on bbc.com. the adult film actress stormy daniels is suing donald trump's lawyer for defamation after he denied that the president had an affair with her in 2006. she's also accusing michael cohen of violating campaign law by negotiating a hush agreementjust before the presidential election. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news.

now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.