i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: after kim jong—un's secret trip to beijing, chinese officials head to south korea for key talks. poisoned at home, uk police reveal a deadly nerve agent was on the former spy‘s front door. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. also in the programme: facebook cuts links with data brokers and overhauls its privacy settings, but is it enough? and pakistan's christian community prepares to celebrate easter and adopts some muslilm traditions. live from our studios in singapore and london. this is bbc world news. it's newsday. hello, welcome to the programme.

it's 8am in singapore and 1am in london. top officials from pyongyang and seoul are due to meet in the demilitarized zone to discuss preparations for a summit between president moonjae—in and kimjong—un, which will be held at the end of april. it comes after confirmation that the north korean leader did indeed make a surprise trip to china earlier this week. also later, a chinese envoy is being sent to seoul to brief the government on the talks in beijing between kimjong—un and xijinping. our correspondent in seoul, laura bicker, says north korea could be opening its doors to diplomacy. well, here you have kimjong—un stepping outside the hermit kingdom and onto the global stage. but there are a number of cautious tones coming out of analysts because although he may be giving this impression that he's willing

to talk, what is he actually willing to talk about? what does he mean when he says both to the chinese and the south koreans that he's willing to de—nuclearise. by aligning himself with china, it is clear that the two countries want the same thing. they want us troops out of south korea and out ofjapan, off this peninsula. but that's something that south korea and japan and the us don't want at this stage. what these allies really need to think about is, what are they prepared to offer kim jong—un, if anything, to get him to give up his nuclear weapons? meanwhile, the south koreans are on their way to the demilitarised zone to meet with their counterparts. this will all lay the framework for this summit planned between both leaders.

that's right. we're just that's right. we'rejust weeks that's right. we're just weeks away but still nothing specific on the agenda, no venue and no date. we do have a venue. we know the talks between president moon and kim jong—un will take place at the dmz but we are waiting for a date. when the delegates meet later today, that is one thing they will talk about, as well as setting the agenda. what are these two leaders going to discuss in that historic meeting? when kim jong—un meets president moon, he will do so on south korean soil, making him the first north korean leader ever to set foot in south korea so there are a number of firsts happening, especially this new young north korean leader. what the international community is waiting to see, there is cautious optimism from the white house. they are waiting to see exactly what he wants in terms of denuclearisation if he is serious about that at all.

more on korea in a moment. now some of the day's other news, and the social media giant, facebook, has announced a major overhaul of the way users can keep their accounts private. the revamp comes after it emerged that data on around 50 million users had been harvested and passed on to a political consultancy. facebook says it was already planning to make the changes. here's our technology correspondent, chris foxx. what will that mean? is facebook going to stop gobbling up our data and selling advertisements to us? no, of course not. but what it is going to do is make it simpler to see your privacy settings in one place. on the mobile app, you have to go to up to 20 different screens to find all the privacy settings, location privacy and so on and they will have it all in one long list on one screen so you can scroll through and see everything at a glance and turn things on or off. also making news today: the lawyer representing stormy daniels has asked a federal

judge to order president trump to be forced to answer questions about his relationship with the adult film actress, one that mr trump denies ever took place. at issue is what mr trump knew about a payment stormy daniels received less than two weeks before his presidential election victory. here's ms daniels‘ lawyer, michael avenatti. what we want is we want the truth. i mean, we want the truth about what the president knew, when he knew it and what he did about it. as it relates to this agreement, we're gonna test the veracity or truthfulness of mr cohen's, his attorney's, statements and we're confident, gail, that when we get to the bottom of this we will prove to the american people that they have been told a bucket of lies. the nobel peace prize winner and education rights activist malala yousafzai is making herfirst visit to pakistan since she was attacked and almost killed by the taliban nearly six years ago. now 20 years old and a student at oxford university, malala will be attending a ceremony and meeting

the prime minister shahid kha—qan abbasi. the taliban said they had attacked her for her pro—peace, anti—taliban and secular agenda. ecuador says it has cut off julian assange's ability to communicate with the outside world from its embassy in london. the wikileaks founder took refuge in the building in 2012 to avoid extradition procedures which he feared could see eventually him sent to the us. the ecuadorian government says it wants to stop him from interfering in the affairs of other countries. and now a story with a happy ending for a cat with a bit of a problem. this is gipsy, a pet from phoenix in arizona, who was stuck on top of this power line for three days. eventually some rescue attempts were put into motion, but as you can see, gipsy refused tojump into the bucket and be brought back down to earth, so this brave rescuer climbed all the way up to pick up the cat and return it safely to earth. gipsy was eventually

re—united with his owners, apparently safe and well despite the ordeal. more now on our main news this hour, america's cautious welcome of the talks between the chinese president xi jinping and north korea's leader kim jong—un. later on thursday, a chinese special envoy will travel to seoul to update the south korean president, moonjae—in. earlier i wasjoined from beijing by miha hribernik, a senior asia analyst at global risk consultancy verisk maplecroft, and i asked him if this shuttle diplomacy was paving the way to iron out the details for the kim—trump meeting in may. absolutely. this is all part of that process. you mentioned the visit by the envoy, another thing to highlight today,

it's already thursday here in beijing, north and south korea will be holding a high—level meeting to discuss the moon—kim summit in april and that will give us an indication of what might happen for the upcoming kim—trump summit. this will be a process. the time is quite compressed compared to what we would usually expect in terms of preparation for high—level meetings so we are keeping a close eye on what happens later today. apart from denuclearisation, what you think also be on the agenda for the kim—trump meeting? of course, ideally, we would like to see a deal of pragmatism from both sides. was saying earlier, our consistent assessment of denuclearisation as the us sees it is off the table. it is not plausible that north korea would give up its nuclear deterrent after having spent a0 years in vast

amounts of money to build it up. it simply won't happen, not at least in the terms the international community is hoping for. what we would expect and ideally like to see, but that is by no means guaranteed, is a deal going on, seeing if both sides can put forward some goodwill gestures, the resumption of high—level dialogue, maybe more long—term freeze in nuclear and ballistic missile testing on the part of north korea in exchange for a freeze in military exercises by south korea and the us. however, with the current stance in the white house, especially following the appointment ofjohn bolton as national security adviser, the likelihood of that pragmatism prevailing in talks is very slim as it looks right now. police in the uk have announced what could be a major

development in the investigation into the poisoning of the russian double agent, sergei skripal, and his daughter in the english town of salisbury. in a statement released just a few hours ago, they say they've identified the highest concentration of the deadly substance found so far on sergei's front door. they add that they now believe it was at the home address that the two victims were first poisoned. our reporter caroline rigby gave me the latest well, this is a huge investigation involving around 250 counterterrorism officers. of course, the former spy and his daughterfell ill on a park bench and were found unconscious about three weeks and they were found to be suffering, they remain critically ill, they were found to be suffering from the effects of the nerve agent novichok, a russian—made nerve agent. now, traces have been found around the town of salisbury in england at various locations where they visited,

from a restaurant, a bench, a cemetery. crucially tonight, police have said that the highest concentration of that nerve agent was actually found on the front door of their house. that changes the investigation because it could suggest that was the first place they were poisoned and as they went into town, they left traces in various other locations. we saw that bench that the skripals were first discovered cordoned off for weeks and eventually removed and now we're told this front door holds the highest concentration of this agent. how are police reassuring folks in the neighbourhood, postal workers, deliverymen perhaps, who might have been exposed to this? it could be a very frightening time for people living there but the police say the risk to them remains extremely low. they've said precautionary searches will continue for several months to come, potentially, but they're now focusing their investigation around this house where the highest concentration was found and the forensic investigations at other locations are starting to wind down now. obviously we'are hearing

from the british foreign secretary. the british foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has been talking tonight and there's been a massive... as well as the police investigation, a huge political response to this attack on the spy and his daughter. this has led to the expulsion of numerous russian diplomats from around 20 countries around the world because britain says russia is behind the attack, something russia denies, and tonight britain's foreign secretary, borisjohnson, says that he underestimated the international response to this and i quote him, he says, "these expulsions represent a moment when a feeling has suddenly crystallised and across the world, countries are willing to say, enough is enough." as i say, russia denied that they are behind the attack and they have threatened retaliation to those expulsions but to what extent, we don't yet know. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme:

a fusion of faiths. why christians in pakistan are fasting during lent. also on the programme: the protestor who took the black lives matter movement right to the heart of californian democracy. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can, at worse, produce a meltdown. in this case, the precautions worked but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, clubs or restaurants will face a heavy fine.

the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. a hundred years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. our top stories: kim jong—un‘s secret trip to beijing sparks a fresh wave of diplomacy, as chinese officials head to south korea to brief its president. police investigating the uk nerve agent attack say the victims first came into contact with the poison at their home,

possibly on the handle of theirfront door. let's now take a look at some front pages from around the world. we start off with the the international edition of the financial times. it reports on the tech companies whose stocks fell even further on wednesday. it features facebook, twitter and google saying regulatory scrutiny has left them out of favour. amazon's shares are believed to have dropped after reports that the us president wants to halt its growth. turning now to the china daily, kim jong—un‘s visit to beijing. the paper says the chinese president held a welcome banquet for mr kim and his wife, ri sol—ju, before they all watched an art performance together. and finally, the international new york times reports on cosmetic surgery for a pet fish. well, the paper has interviewed a surgeon from singapore who performs eyelifts on asian arowanas. it is one of the world's most expensive aquarium fish, but apparently suffers droopy eyes.

now, what story is sparking discussions online? this is a protest at a council meeting in the californian city of sacramento and has created headlines across the us. the brother of stephon clark, who was shot dead by police earlier this month, he walked into the chamber, shouting his brother's name. stephon clark died after police opened fire on him as he was entering the back yard of his grandparents‘ house. it's since emerged that he was unarmed. the parliament in myanmar has elected a new president. u win myint is a longstanding ally of aung san suu kyi and was widely expected to be chosen. the role of president has been largely ceremonial in the past two years, with ms suu kyi effectively leading the government in the role of state counsellor. the bbc‘s nick beake is in yangon in myanmar. what do we know about this new

president, aside from the fact that he isa president, aside from the fact that he is a key ally of aung san suu kyi's? yeah, good morning. lots of profile pieces being written here in yang on it. we know that he is a 64—year—old former lawyer, he was a prisonerfor a time as 64—year—old former lawyer, he was a prisoner for a time as he fought to get democracy in this country. as people put together these profiles often, at there is a story about a time when he was in detention, his son was ill, and the military said to him that, it can visit your son in hospital if you announce politics, you give up politics. it is not to, he gave up that offer and sadly his son died. now we see him coming to the top job, nominally, sadly his son died. now we see him coming to the topjob, nominally, in politics in myanmar, we know of course that he is a loyalist to aung

san suu kyi and she cannot technically take the top job, she has really been calling the shots. in terms of the sort of influence or power that the new man will have, we will have to see what pans out there. of course, we know that the headlines in recent times have been dominated by the rohingya crisis, do we have any idea how he will deal with this? we don't really, part of the reason for that is that this all happened within a week so that the burmese people do not really know about his thoughts on how to deal with the rohingya crisis. crucially, over 600,000 people have been forced to flee to bangladesh, they also dealing with diplomatic fallout from this and i think on issues such as this, which has attracted such international condemnation, it will be aung san suu kyi, who is also foreign minister here, who will continue to dictate response to this. we know that she has drawn

widespread criticism for not speaking up for the rohingya, for not speaking out against the myanmar military in their actions in rakhine state, which has been described as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing by the un. i think that it is pretty unlikely at the moment. or race, thank you. —— all right. in russia, funerals have started for the victims of a fire that ripped through a shopping mall in the siberian town of kemerovo. 64 people, including 41 children, were killed in the blaze on sunday. investigators say the alarm was broken and exits were blocked when the fire broke out. president vladmir putin says it was criminal negligence. sarah rainsford reports from kemerovo. they're desperate not to let go. a couple cling to the coffin of their ten—year—old daughter. masha's little brother and their grandma were also killed in the kemerovo fire, on a day out at the cinema. for those left behind, saying goodbye is too

much to bear. wailing "save their souls, take them to paradise," natalia begs as her children are lowered into a shared grave. and then she cries out their names. they are three of the 64 who were trapped in a burning shopping centre, where no fire alarm went off and emergency doors were blocked. sergei wants to know why. translation: someone has to answer for this. this can't be allowed. it's so hard to understand why those trying to escape didn't make it out. this is just one of many burials here today, and there are many still to come. this city is plunged in grief, and for the families that pain is even fiercer because they know this tragedy could have been avoided. this giant burned carcass is now the focus of a criminal investigation.

though vladimir putin has already blamed negligence and corruption. so today, the first suspect appeared in court. a security guard accused of turning the alarms off. he claimed the system has been faulty for years and said he had reported that. but this city feels numb now, more than angry. everybody knows the victims. they're friends, friends' children or neighbours or... just relatives. it's... we feel like a family now. everybody is talking only about this disaster. and yet russians know the causes of this disaster run deep, and so they wonder how much will really change even after all this. sarah rainsford, bbc news, kemerovo. thursday is the end of the christian festival of lent, which for many means giving up something —

often chocolate or meat. but christians in pakistan take their devotion a step further, by copying the muslim practise of fasting. it's something which they feel helps them build links with their islamic neighbours, as secunder kermani reports from rawalpindi. fridays and sundays at st mary's church are always busy during lent. there are over 3 million christians in pakistan, around half of whom are catholic, half of whom are protestant. many from both groups fast throughout lent, eating just once a day. fasting is referred to in the bible, but this is a particularly local practice. it's the local speciality because of the influence of islam and hinduism, but the spirituality we draw from the holy bible and from the life ofjesus christ. translation: it's not compulsory.

it's not a sin not to fast. but if you do fast, you will be devoted. at the david household, they're preparing to break their fast. translation: we start eating at six, but the thing we really crave is a cup of tea. we don't cook anything special, just what we would normally eat. the fast ends at sunset with a prayer. muslims break their fast during the holy month of ramadan at around the same time, and the shared traditions can at times bring the communities closer together. translation: when my muslim friends start fasting in ramadan, i eat at the same time as them. i even fast like them sometimes because i spend most of my time with them. when it comes to lent, they arrange food for me. the christian community in pakistan has faced violent attacks by militants. but the way they commemorate lent is a reminder of how rooted in local

culture they are. secunder kermani, bbc news, rawalpindi. well, if you've been watching newsday for the last two months, you'll have noticed that sharanjit has been presenting from london, many are more used to seeing her here in singapore. we have missed you, there have been people processed your comeback. i miss you too, but i seriously doubt there have been people protesting. you know why? they are hoping you will bring some fish and chips with you when you come back. i will be so pleased to come back to singapore for a bit of that slightly warmer weather because it has been incredibly cold here in the uk since

i have been here but thoroughly enjoyed it, of course. babita sharma will be back next week. i will tell you, when you come back here, the weather has been quite cool the last few days so i am sure the transition will be quite good. perfect, so looking forward to that and of course, it had been watching newsday. stay with us. —— you've been watching newsday. coming up, we'll be looking at how a high—tech approach to matching customers with crops is revolutionising farming in india. before i go, let's look at these pictures. it's the team of nasa scientists doing some checks on the parker solar probe, which is due to launch injuly on a mission to investigate the sun. it will start orbiting our star in 2023, and will be exposed to extreme temperatures over 1,000 degrees celsius. it's hoped it will help us understand more about the solar storms. hello again, good morning.

the easter weekend will not be a washout but very mixed weather on the way, as we saw yesterday, the rain in england and wales eventually clearing away to give a little more sunshine. over the easter weekend, we will see some spells of sunshine around. however, there will also be some spells of rain, that could be heavy at times and cold enough for snow over the northern hills. chiefly scotland. temperatures are disappointing for this time of year. weather starting to come in from the south—west — where the pressure is lower in this area will remain dry. an all—weather front is sitting to the north—east of scotland between a frosty start and clear skies, it will be a bright and sunny start, but this weather is pushing up and moving north and east across england and wales. a few showers breaking out ahead of that but sunshine as well. still cool and damp in the north—east of scotland. some snow over the high ground.

heavier rain further south will work its way northwards during the evening and overnight. then it sort of stops, really, around the borders of northern england into northern ireland. the rain tending to peter out. not as cold on friday morning but there is more rain arriving perhaps into the far south—west right at the end of the night. it may move to northwards more slowly, but we are looking at some wet weather again to drive up across england and wales. brighter skies further north and once the earlier rain or drizzle and hills now tends to peter out, that lets the sunshine in because the winds are coming in from the east. never a good direction as you saw, 7—9 degrees, nothing good at all. the weather front will move northwards and peter out. this low pressure area moves away. on saturday, it should be a drier day for wales, the midlands and southern england. there'll still be rain and drizzle and hill snow in scotland. mainly for eastern areas. should tend to peter out more through the day but there will be a lot of cloud around and again, temperatures struggling to 5—6

in northern scotland and southern parts of england. not much sunshine as we head into easter sunday. we are between the weather systems so this is probably the quietest day of the next few and there will not be much rain around. it will still probably be a lot of cloud, mind you. north—west scotland see some sunshine, perhaps across southern counties but generally dry, cloudy and generally disappointing temperatures again, so we can't even make double figures through the central belt of scotland. as we head into monday, where we have some strengthening winds, rain coming in from the south—west followed by showers on tuesday. i'm sharanjit leyl with bbc world news. our top story: officials from north and south korea are set to stage key talks, the latest sign that pyongyang wants to talk about its nuclear programme. it follows kim jong—un‘s secret trip to beijing earlier this week. a chinese envoy has also been sent to seoul to brief the south korean government. british police say they've found

a high concentration of a nerve agent on the front door of the former russian spy sergei skripal. they now think he and his daughter may have been poisoned at home. and this video is trending on bbc.com. it's the tale of gipsy the cat, who spent three days stuck on top of a power cable in phoenix in arizona. the pet resisted all attempts to entice it back down to earth, before eventually a volunteer climbed up the pole to rescue it. gipsy was then re—united with its family and some much—needed food! that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk: the controversial decision by the parole board to release the serial sex offenderjohn worboys has been overturned by the high court.