i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. the headlines: the power of pop. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, attends a concert by south korean pop stars — another sign of the countries' improving relations. falling back to earth. china's defunct space station is expected to re—enter the atmosphere in the next few hours. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: people return to the philippine city of marawi a year after much of it was destroyed in battles between the army and islamic state—allied fighters. japan could be preparing to execute the cult members responsible for the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack on the tokyo subway. good morning.

it is 8:00am in singapore, 1:00am in london and 8.30am in pyongyang, where north korea's leader, kim jong—un, has attended a ground—breaking pop concert featuring south korean stars. the event is the latest in a series of conciliatory gestures that appear to mark a thaw in relations between the two sides. the leaders of the two koreas are due to hold a summit on the border later this month. this report by james waterhouse contains some flashing images. the sight of kim jong—un waving to enthusiastic applause might not be anything new, but south korean reports say he is now the first north korean leader ever to go to a performance by an artistic group from the south. nearly 200 singers, dancers and technicians are in the capital for two concerts.

south korean ministers say he showed much interest in the show, and asked about the songs and lyrics. the spectators were treated to performances of korean pop, also known as k—pop. including the group red velvet, who made their intentions clear before leaving south korea. translation: it is our great honour to perform with veteran singers, as we are the youngest singers, we'll do our best to deliver bright energy to the north korean people. it is hoped this will serve as a peace gesture ahead of a meeting between the leaders of north and south korea. the south's taekwondo athletes also performed for an audience ahead of a joint display of their

martial art on monday. beyond the concerts, south korea and the us have begun their annual joint military exercises. the pentagon says they will be on a similar scale to previous yea rs — 300,000 troops will take part. but the drill will be a month shorter than usual, and won't involve nuclear submarines. but the drills have angered north korea. kim jong—un met the chinese president xi jinping last week and he has offered to have a face—to—face meeting with donald trump. no date yet, but it is expected before the end of may. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. an out—of control chinese space station is hurtling towards earth, and it is set to make impact in the next few hours.

china lost control of the spacecraft after it was decommissioned in 2013. but luckily, most of the space station is expected to burn up in the atmosphere. earlier i spoke to an expert on space debris, ted muelhaupt of the aerospace corporation. i asked him why we are concerned about this particular crash. well, it's unusual in that it's a manned object, and so because it featured in a major movie, we thought there would be interest. it is going to put down a fairly substantial amount of debris in terms of mass. it's not unusual in that respect, but it's big enough that we do want to pay attention. we'd like to be able to warn people if it were coming down on their heads, but it's not likely. at this point, we're looking at it coming down in the middle of the pacific, off the coast of chile. and if we're wrong by a little bit, most of that orbit track takes it

over water or desert, or pretty uninhabited areas. it is nine tonnes. how much of it will actually go through the atmosphere, and how much willjust disintegrate as it comes through the atmosphere? well, it wasn't designed for re—entry, and so without having the specifics of how it's constructed, it's difficult to estimate. but typically, you will see somewhere between 10% and as much as a0%, so it could be as much as three tons that survives. in what form, without having the structural details, you know, i don't really want to speculate. but what we often see with objects this size is something on the order of two or three tons. now, you were talking about the unlikeliness of it reaching a populated area, so it is unlikely to hurt anyone, hopefully. but when it comes to looking at what then reaches the earth, how important is it to get hold of that?

is it even possible to get hold of that, once we finally know where it lands? in terms of the objects that survive, i mean, some of them will be substantial size, depending... in other spacecraft re—entries, some of them have contained hazardous materials in the past. we don't think that's likely with this particular one. but generally, when debris falls, it's pretty benign stuff that survives, it's just that you don't know that in advance. this will land most probably in the ocean, and i don't think anyone is going to bother to look for it. oh, really? and so in terms of tracking it, of course it is difficult to know exactly where it is going to land. but are people — will they be able to follow it? how does that work, with something like this? well, the us airforce maintains

what is known as a space surveillance network, that consists of radars and telescopes that are scattered around the world, and we use observations from those, there's an organisation known asjstor that does this. and we're using some of their data, and we make our own independent predictions based on it. most of the community does something very similar. they use the best data they've got, they use their own models, and make their own predictions. and it really depends on the final orbit as to when you're going to get a good track. we are continuing to monitor that, and once it does land we will let you know. myanmar‘s de facto leader, aung san suu kyi, has told her country it must listen to the international community if it wants to be accepted as a responsible nation. in an address marking two years in government, ms suu kyi spoke of humanitarian problems in rakhine state.

but the nobel peace prize winner again omitted any mention of the military campaign that has forced out 700,000 rohingya muslims. translation: acknowledging that it is important to be able to stand responsibly among the world's community, and while also in line with our country, we need to respect the vision and the intention of the international community. not only rakhine, which the world is focusing on right now, but the whole community. let's try hard with the strength of unity. also making news today: islamist militants have launched a gun and bomb attack on an african union base in somalia. al—shabaab fighters detonated two car bombs outside the base in the town, south—west

of mogadishu. it is unclear exactly how many people died. both sides say they killed dozens. a kuwaiti court has reportedly sentenced a married couple to death for killing a filipina maid. joanna demafelis‘s body was found in an abandoned apartment more than a year after her death. a lebanese man and his syrian wife were convicted in absentia of the killing. at least 20 people have been killed in clashes between government forces and militants in indian—administered kashmir. at least three indian soldiers are among the dead. more than 70 people are wounded. 0fficials there say it is the worst loss of life in a single day in recent years. china has announced a round of tariffs. in retaliation for president trump's decision to impose tariff increases

on steel and aluminium imports. more than 120 us products including scrap aluminium, pork, nuts and wine will face increases in duties ranging from 15 to 25 percent. after fleeing for their lives almost a year ago, thousands of residents of the besieged philppine city of marawi have returned home for the first time. parts of the southern city were destroyed in five months of fighting between government troops and jihadists loyal to the so—called islamic state. president duterte declared victory in october, but the threat of unexploded bombs remains. rylee carlson reports. after fleeing for their lives nearly a year ago, residents of marawi are now clogging the streets, trying to make their way back in. some 7,000 people were told they could return on sunday — back to homes that were abandoned amid fierce fighting with militants loyal to the so—called islamic state. the destruction here looks like images out of iraq and syria. this is where those jihadis were trying to set up an is base

in south—east asia. a reminder of why this woman was forced to flee is spray—painted across the wall of what was her bridal shop. translation: i wept with pain, anger and frustration, because both my house and boutique, which i worked hard to pay for in saudi arabia for 16 years, are now destroyed. there are stories like these all over marawi. those who desperately wanted to come back have found there is not much left. we have no more residence to live. translation: i tried and failed to come back, but now our home is gone. it's so painful. this is our house. i cannot explain. translation: we worked hard for this house. we racked up debts paying to build this house. we've been paying off

the debts — we'd not even finished paying them. president roderigo duterte declared victory here in marawi back in october, after a destructive five—month battle. but, even now, residents who come back are doing so at great risk. explosive disposal teams working in the area say they can only be 80%—90% sure that the area is clear. translation: the reason is because the other bombs are buried into the ground. the others have been embedded in the buildings, and the structures have already collapsed. with great caution, over the course of the next month, even more people will be going back, returning to marawi in groups for up to three days each. but it is not a homecoming. instead, it is a salvage mission, and there is much work to be done before the rebuilding starts. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: after 23 years behind bars for a deadly nerve gas attack, could members of a japanese cult now be executed ?

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, pubs 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 in karishma vaswani singapore. and i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: more signs of a diplomatic thaw. north korea's leader has attends a pop concert in pyongyang featuring some of south korea's brightest stars. thousands of residents have been allowed back in to the philippine city of marawi, nearly a year after it became a battleground for the army and jihadists. let's ta ke let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the new york times takes its lead from the latest developments

in syria, where government forces continue to push out rebel fighters from enclaves near the capital damascus. the paper says a motley mix of fleeing civilians, defeated rebels and hard—line jihadists are being transported to towns in the north of the country. meanwhile, the japan times looks at the big economic talks betweenjapan and china set for later this month. according to diplomatic sources, the meetings will take place in tokyo and they're the first to happen in more than seven years. and finally, the south china morning post front page features a story on the battle againstjewellery shop heists in hong kong. the paper says a popularjewellery chain has upgraded security at its stores after several smash—and—grab robberies across the city. now, what stories are sparking discussions online? karishma, if like me, you can't imagine climbing everest once, then 21 ascents seems impossible. but nepali climber, kami rita sherpa, has now officially set off in an attempt to do just that.

22 is the record, and sunday morning after his prayers he began another journey to the top. a successful summit could cement his place as the world's most experienced everest climber. he first climbed everest in 1994 and completed his most recent ascent last may. good luck to him. the world's busiest subway was brought to a standstill in march 1995 as a mysterious substance was released across tokyo's underground system. it turned out to be the deadly nerve gas sarin. 13 people died in the attack and thousands more were affected. it was was carried out by the aum shinrikyo cult, 13 members were found guilty and there's now speculation that the government is preparing to execute some of them. rupert wingfield—hayes reports from tokyo. it is a spring morning in 1995 and panic has struck the tokyo

metro. people are collapsing and struggling for breath. five trains have been hit by a mass attack using a deadly nerve agent called sarin. the sarin gas has been made by followers of this man, shoko asahara, the leader of a religious cult called aum shinrikyo. this woman's husband was on duty at the station when the gas was released. he rushed to help people, was overcome, and collapsed on the platform. translation: my husband had no idea it was sarin gas, he was in the middle of a terrorist attack. by the time they realised, my husband was already down. he started to have a convulsion and seizures. mrs takahashi's husband

was one of 13 who died. 6000 others suffered varying degrees of poisoning. in 2004, shoko asahara and 12 of his followers were sentenced to death for planning and carrying out the attack. now the final barrier to the executions has been removed. this behind me is the tokyo detention house and this is where shoko asahara and the other senior aum leaders have been held for the last 13 years. but in the last few years, several of the aum leaders have been moved it to other high security prisons injapan, suggesting the japanese government is now preparing for the executions and that those executions could be carried out on the same day. was it very packed, a lot of people on the train? yes, suddenly... the attack left this woman

with permanent nerve damage and partial loss of vision. 23 years later the trauma of that day comes rushing back at the mention of shoko asahara's name. i hope he... never to... shoko asahara still has followers. the religious cult he founded still exists — albeit under a new name. some fear the execution could turn asahara into a saint. after 23 years it appears it will now happen. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. more now on the apparent show of togetherness between north

and south korea. but is it genuine, or is pyongyang just playing a game? i put that question to evans revere, former principal deputy assistant secretary of state in the us government. for the north koreans, there are some interesting tactical moves. and certainly for the north koreans, one of the key targets is the legitimisation of north korea in the international community, and behind that is a desire to gain aceptance of north korea as a de facto nuclear weapons state. and towards that end i think the north koreans are willing to invest a bit in their relationship with the south, as well as their relationship with the united states, and i think that's what we see playing out here. but if the rest of the international

community wants to see denuclearisation in the north, can kind of dialogue this even take place given that the north seems insistent on having those nuclear weapons? well, the north is insisting on having those nuclears weapons and as we will probably soon discover, both in the north—south summit and if the north us summit takes place, north korea's position going in will be a firm determination to keep its nuclear status, even if it is willing to freeze parts of its production programme or parts of its testing programme, and there is the rub. these talks are going to be extremely complicated and part of the north korean gameplan is to try to put in place a very long and perhaps tortured negotiation, that will allow it to buy time. that is the approach that the north took in the 90s and the 2000s, and i believe that is the approach

that the north koreans will be taking even when they meet with president trump. childhood obesity is a serious and growing health risk around the world, and nowhere more so than here in asia which is home to nearly half the world's obese children. the world health organisation has labelled it an alarming trend that requires "high—level action." but in amsterdam, they've had some success in tackling the problem. health officials there have joined forces with schools, doctors and neighbourhood groups to promote a healthier lifestyle. the "healthy weight programme" has seen a 12% drop in overweight and obese children. jeremy cooke reports from amsterdam. meet tyrell — a typical nine—year—old but struggling with weight, caught up in the global childhood obesity crisis. with one in five of its children overweight, amsterdam is determined to help kids like tyrell. you want to feel fit, and your condition has to be ok, so i try to make him aware already, like just think about your health. the amsterdam initiative means every child is put through their paces — weighed but also tested for strength, endurance and balance — to see who needs help. for tyrell, that means regular home

visits from dieticians advising on healthy eating. and then there's the gym — free sessions twice a week with other children on the programme. they're having fun, getting fit and, crucially, losing pounds. the amsterdam mission is to educate kids and their parents to the benefits of exercise, the dangers of unhealthy food. and its targeted help. is it a healthy option? it's a little bit healthy. a little bit. a little bit healthy, yeah. it looks delicious. yeah. there's a special push to reach families in the low—income parts of town with large immigrant populations. in some middle eastern communities, almost 30% of kids are overweight — much higher than the national average. so they're coming together to share ways to improve their children's diets. in my shopping list, i have only healthy things. when i come home they say, "mum, it's only green, everything is green!" the children of amsterdam are on the move — on the ice, burning calories.

it's free entry here and in other cities sports facilities. exercise helping to force obesity rates down. there's nothing more important than the future of our children, not only all political parties but also sports organisations, schools, shop owners, everyone is helping, and that creates an environment in which you can change. all schools in this programme banned junk food, and break time means eating only fruit, drinking only water. most parents are enthusiastic supporters, but of course there have been challenges. there has been some protest, yeah, some people think that we should not be sitting in their parenting chair and telling them how to raise their children. elements of what they're doing here in amsterdam have been tried elsewhere — including,

of course, in the uk — but with limited success. what seems to be different here is that there is consistent consensus, a joined—up approach, meaning that these kids are getting the same message from city hall, through their classrooms, and into the family kitchen. in amsterdam, it's all about the children. lessons here perhaps for other cities hoping to build a better, leaner future. jeremy cooke, bbc news, amsterdam. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. before we go, our regular viewers will know how we're fascinated by robots here on newsday. so here's a robot doing a "gangnam style" dance. it also has a serious purpose, to teach some 23 languages to children. it's called elias and it's being tested at a school in finland. that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. hello there.

easter sunday was a little bit disappoointing across many areas. it was rather cloudy, cool. the best of the sunshine was reser4ved across the north anfd the west of scotland. now we look to the south, to the next area of low pressure, which is going to bring disruptive weather for easter monday. it is an area of rain, sleet, and snow, fairly strong winds as well, continuing to push northwards during the early hours of easter monday with some snowfall likely across the higher ground of wales into central and northern england and even into northern ireland by early parts of easter monday. particularly across scotland, where we'll have clear skies and widespread frost. for easter monday morning there could be travel disruption across northern ireland into central, southern scotland and northern england. widespread heavy wet, snow, could see up to 10—15 centimetres over the north pennines and into the southern uplands. some drifting of that so because of the strong east to south—easterly wind. down to lower levels as well.

a mixture of severe weather for the easter monday morning. further south, mainly rain. for england and wales milder air moving in. there will be a few sunny spells, one or two showers, temperatures in double figures, 10—13 degrees. cold and dry across the northern half of scotland with one or two wintry showers. if you are on the move easter monday bear in mind that there is snow across central northern areas that could cause problems. keep tuned to the radio and subsequent weather forecast. a big area of low pressure will be close to the uk as we head into the latter part of monday and into tuesday. one thing it will be doing is dragging up some very mild air from spain and from france. initially across england and wales and pushing on into southern scotland and northern ireland through tuesday. there is the remnants of the sleet and snow across the northern half of scotland, heavy snow, drifting. strong easterly wind. further south, outbreaks of rain. for england and wales we will see sunny spells. a few heavy, maybe thundery april showers. look at those temperatures. that mild air, 13 maybe 15 celsius. much milder than what we have been used to.

low pressure still with us tuesday into wednesday. eastern areas will see the milder air. cold air pouring in behind this area of low pressure. outbreaks of rain for scotland, northern ireland, turning wintry over the higher ground of scotland, maybe down to the lower levels. elsewhere for england and wales it is another day of heavy april, maybe thundery showers and sunny spells. again, feeling quite mild, temperatures in double figures. i'm kasia madera with bbc news. our top story: it's pop music diplomacy. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, has attended a concert in pyongyang by internationally famous k—pop stars from south korea. the concert is being seen as another sign of the improving relations on the korea peninsula. later this month the two korean leaders will meet, and a meeting between kimjong—un and president trump could take place after that.

they are returning to ruins. thousands of residents of the battle—scarred philippine city of marawi have been allowed home for the first time. and this story is trending on bbc.com: falling back to earth. china's defunct space station is expected to re—enter the atmosphere in the next few hours. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk: britain's biggest teaching union says thousands of children