welcome to newsday. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: president trump warns russia to get ready for missile strikes against syria, in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack on civilians. an algerian military plane crashes near the capital, killing 257 people on board. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: the boss of facebook admits to us lawmakers that his own personal data was compromised in the cambridge analytica breach. and despite strict new rules, it's still happening. we report on the illegal trade of blood in china. good morning.

it's 8am in singapore, 1 am in london and 8pm in washington, where president trump has warned russia to "get ready" for missile strikes against syria, in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack on civilians. it's not clear when the military action might take place. and now britain's prime minister theresa may is expected to ask her cabinet to approve uk participation in action led by the us and france. the white house press secretary said all options are still on the table. here's our north america editorjon sopel. they're getting out of harm's way. from surviving the hell of eastern ghouta and the alleged chemical weapons attack, these refugees have buses to take them away, but to a still uncertain future. translation: we lived through very difficult times in eastern ghouta, especially the final three days in douma, when the regime carried out its attacks on civilian neighbourhoods and used chlorine gas, which caused suffocation among civilians. and it's notjust refugees.

according to many accounts, syrian soldiers are on the move as well, temporarily abandoning barracks ahead of any us—led attack. the threat of military action brought this warning from one of russia's most senior diplomats in the region. translation: if there is a strike by the americans, then we point to the declarations made by president vladimir putin and the russian military leadership that the missiles will be downed, and even the sources from which the missiles were fired. but those comments have the effect of goading the president, and this incendiary tweet. and at the defence department, they're preparing for all eventualities. we're still assessing the intelligence, ourselves and our allies, we're still working on this. we stand ready to provide military options if they're appropriate as the president determines. although a slightly more conciliatory tone later

from the president, when he said... a year ago, the us military launched a one—off cruise missile attack on a syrian airfield. it seems as though the us is preparing for something more extensive and more sustained this time, and with other nations involved. the ayes to the right, 272, the noes to the left, 285. five years ago, when barack obama was president, plans for military action by the us fell apart after the british parliament voted against such a move. but it looks as though this time around, theresa may is giving her american counterpart the nod there'll be no such impediments. all the indications are that the syrian regime was responsible, and we will be working with our closest allies on how we can ensure that those responsible are held to account, and how we can prevent and deter the humanitarian catastrophe coming from the use of chemical weapons in the future.

the strident language we're hearing from both sides is, frankly, more akin to two heavyweight boxers trash talking at the weigh—in before a bout. but leaving the words to one side, there are the wider strategic questions. what is american policy now toward syria? does it support regime change? does it want further involvement or to pull out? on those questions, we're none the wiser. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. paul ryan — the speaker of the us house of representatives — and the third most powerful republican — has announced he will not run for re—election in november. his departure follows a wave of retirements of republican members of the house, which throws the contest wide open for a number of seats in the upcoming mid—term elections. here's jane o'brien. paul ryan is probably one of the few people who says when he wants to spend more time with his family,

most people do believe him. that does not alter the fact that the timing of this announcement is absolutely terrible for republicans because not only does it leave wisconsin wide—open for a democratic challenge, it also risks sending the strongest signal yet that the republicans are in real danger of losing the house to the democrats. if that happens, then president trump could be in deep trouble because they have already accused him of obstruction ofjustice and that could strengthen their hand if they choose to go down the road of starting the political process of impeachment. also this hour, yulia skripal — the russian woman who was poisoned together with her father in the uk last month — has issued a statement saying she does not currently wish to meet russian officials. ms skripal said she wanted to stress that nobody was speaking for her, orfor herfather, who remains seriously ill in hospital. prosecutors in los angeles are reviewing a sexual assault

case against the actor kevin spacey following an investigation by the sheriff's department. more than 30 men have made allegations against spacey. a spokeswoman for the actor has declined to comment on the matter. the us attorney general has taken a tough line on immigration enforcement, as he visited a border sheriffs' conference in new mexico. jeff sessions called for a crackdown on drug smuggling from mexico to the us. his remarks come less than a week after president trump ordered national guard troops to protect the border. the prime minister of bangladesh, sheikh hasina, has abolished job quotas for government posts following nationwide protests, led largely by university students. the protesters had argued the quota system was prejudiced. the protests gained momentum on sunday when police used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up a big rally. a memorial service has taken place in south africa for the anti—apartheid campaigner winnie mandela, who died earlier this month at the age of 81. the service, which was open to all south africans, attracted thousands of people to orlando stadium in soweto. winnie mandela was one

of the leaders in the fight against white minority rule, when her husband nelson mandela was in prison. a state funeral will be held on saturday. gillian ayres, one of britain's leading abstract painters of the last 60 years, has died at the age of 88. she was at the forefront of the british contemporary art scene from the 1950s, and became known for paintings filled with vibrant shapes and colours. take a look at this. it's a bronze water vessel, a 2,000 year—old antique that was taken when british and french troops looted the emperors‘ summer palace in 1860. it has just been sold at auction for nearly $600,000, despite a plea from the chinese government for the sale not to go ahead. more than 200 people on board a military aircraft have died, after the plane crashed in algeria. state television said that it came down shortly after take off, near the capital algiers. there are reports some people were killed on the ground.

sophie long reports. the burnt—out fuselage of the ilyushin military transport plane that had been carrying more than 250 people. it had been bound for bechar, a town in south—west algeria close to the border with morocco. but shortly after take—off, something caused it to plummet and to crash into a field. translation: we heard a big explosion, and my neighbour and i drove here. there was very heavy smoke, then we realised it was an aeroplane accident. when we arrived at the spot itself, we found piles of bodies. it's a disaster, an absolute disaster. among those who lost their lives were the plane's ten crew. most of the passengers were military personnel. but algeria's defence ministry said some of the soldiers‘ families had been travelling with them.

there have been no reports of any survivors. algeria's army chief has ordered an urgent investigation to find out what happened, what caused this military plane to crash with such catastrophic consequences. sophie long, bbc news. the lawyer representing two reuters journalists detained in myanmar says he's still confident they'll be released. on wednesday a judge rejected an appeal for charges to be dropped against the pair, who face 1a years in prison if they are convicted of receiving secret documents from police officers. they were investigating killings carried out by the burmese army at the time of their arrest. 0ur myanmar correspondent nick beake has been following the case in yangon. this is the place where the reuters journalists‘ ordeal began. they first appeared in court here back in december and they have been held in prison ever since. we now know that they will be back again for more appearances, because the judge has thrown out the latest effort to have

them set free. now while wa lone and kyaw soe 0o protested their innocence, as they were driven away they appealed for justice. the soldiers they were investigating have now been sentenced to ten years each in prison for the murder of rohingya men in rakhine. the journalists still face 1a years in jail under a colonial era law. as you can imagine, their wives and family were distraught. they were hoping to their release. what are the chances of freedom now? i managed to speak to one of the lawyers for the journalists. do you think your clients will be freed? in my opinion i took this case because i believe in them. so i firmly believe that they will be released. if there is a fair trial. will there be a fair trial?

i cannot say anything about this. many people are sceptical that this is a fair process. many believe it is journalism in the dock, notjust these two young burmese reporters. it was particularly poignant that yesterday was that wa lone‘s 32nd birthday. friends bought him a cake and they were hoping to see him at home and a free man. but there was no celebration. instead, he and his colleague spend another night in prison with no obvious end in sight to their ordeal. the founder of facebook, mark zuckerberg, has revealed he was among the millions of users, whose data was shared with the british firm cambridge analytica. he made the disclosure during his second day of questioning by law makers in washington. he also rejected claims that users don‘t have enough control over their data, on the world‘s largest social media network. here‘s our media editor amol rajan. seconds out, round two.

mark zuckerberg‘s second testimony in as many days promised to make amends for the first. yesterday, meandering questions and blatant ignorance about how facebook actually works led to a poor show by congress. today had to be better, and there were flash points. let me ask you. is it true that facebook offered to provide what i guess you refer to as dedicated campaign embeds to both of the presidential campaigns? congressman, i can quickly respond to the first point... were there embeds? were there embeds in the two campaigns? congressman... yes or no? time and again, the rigid structure inhibited lawmakers. with just four minutes each, they often overlapped and failed to pin him down. where does privacy rank as a corporate value for facebook? congresswoman, giving people control

of their information and how they want to set their privacy is foundational to the whole service. it's not just an add—on feature or something we have to comply with. the reality is, if you have a photo... if you just think about this in your day—to—day life... no, i can‘t let you filibuster right now. the attacks grew more pointed and personal. the 33—year—old billionaire was accused repeatedly of being, in effect, a spy. you‘re collecting medical data, correct, on people that on are on the internet whether they are facebook users or not, right? congresswoman, yes, we collected some data... and you‘re collecting, you watch where we go. facebook also gathers the data about where we travel. isn‘t that correct? congresswoman, everyone has control over how that works. i‘m going to get to that, but yes, you are. would you just acknowledge that yes, facebook is? that‘s the business you‘re in, gathering data and aggregating the data? congresswoman, i disagree with that characterisation. then came a revelation. was your data included in the data

sold to the malicious third parties? your personal data? yes. it was. for now, the significance of any mistakes zuckerberg made remains unclear. through nearly ten hours of grilling, he kept his composure. i don‘t suppose you want to hang around for another round of questions? just kidding. zuckerberg‘s interrogation generated over $17 billion for shareholders. that‘s around one and a half billion dollars an hour, not bad, even for silicon valley. the past 48 hours were a missed opportunity for american lawmakers that showed why global governance for the tech giants is so hard. regulators are inherently parochial, whereas the companies are international. and frankly, there is often a generation gap that is between politicians and the precocious entrepreneurs of silicon valley. gridlock in congress means new data laws coming from brussels next month rather than washington. that should worry zuckerberg most. but he‘ll sleep easier tonight. you‘re watching newsday on the bbc.

still to come on the programme: after a notorious illegalfishing boat was seized in indonesia, we speak to the country‘s fishing minister about the threat these vessels pose. also on the programme: we look at the illegal blood trade in china, despite strict new regulations, it appears to be continuing. 25 years of hatred and rage as theyjump up on the statue. pol pot is reported to have died of natural causes. there is more responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million cambodians. there have been violent protests in indonesia were playboy has clients of the first time. traditionalist was limited as have expressed disgust. the magazine

staff have been attacked. it was clear that paul‘s contest was with the clock and as for a sporting but investors will be chasing her new time for years to come. quietly but quicker and quicker, she seemed just too slight alarm service in this —— surface and disappear. this is newsday on the bbc. i‘m sharanjit leyl in singapore. and i‘m babita sharma in london. our top stories: president trump has tweeted a warning to syria that missiles are coming in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack on civilians. a military plane has

crashed in algeria, killing 257 people on board. the holders of the european cup, real madrid, have qualified for the last four of this year‘s champions league competition with a dramatic goal in the final minute of their quarter final. what stories are sparking discussions online? the south china morning post reports on the rise of the robots in the local banking sector at least. apparently a completely unstaffed branch has opened in shanghai. it uses artificial intelligence and virtual reality to serve clients. the arab news has a story about themselves on the front page. which they‘re calling another milestone. they want to become the first gender—balanced newsroom in saudi arabia.

they‘ve given themselves two years to achieve the goal. the china daily includes a very fishy prediction about the so called ‘food of the czars‘. the world‘s largest caviar producer is based in zhejiang province. and they believe these delicacies will be a major hit on chinese dinner plates. that‘s it for the papers. now, what stories are sparking discussions online? yes — this happened on bbc breakfast in the uk on wednesday morning. congratulations. i didn‘t see the step. sorry about that! presenter mike bushell was attempting to interview english swimmers at the commonwealth games on australia‘s gold coast but he had to abandon the interview after his microphone and sound pack stopped working properly after he stumbled on a step — that clip and his comedy of errors has gone viral.

not something you would want to happen to you. following a high sea chase, indonesia seized a notorious illegal fishing boat this week. it was carrying 600 illegal gillnets that can sweep up to 30 square kilometers of the ocean. indonesia has declared war on illegalfishing and has blown up hundreds of boats that have entered their waters. the bbc‘s indonesia editor rebecca henschke has been speaking to the country‘s fishing minister — who says she believes there are many similar boats still out there. is one out of thousands out there. it is not even just 1000, is one out of thousands out there. it is not evenjust1000, not is one out of thousands out there. it is not even just 1000, not even just 10,000, maybe more than that. they have been caught in dalian port and managed to walk away and then they got caught again and managed to

walk away. i hope they will never walk away. i hope they will never walk away. i hope they will never walk away from indonesia. and what message does that send about indonesia? it's a warning for any other fishing vessel that continues to pick up or even fishing illegally in our waters. its transnational organised crime. they are very well organised. you see the crew on board from russia and indonesia. the first report, though the report ten indonesians so there are another ten who tried to hide. also with the indonesians, there are suggestions they weren‘t paid for months, they we re they weren‘t paid for months, they were in fact victims of trafficking. is that the case? from what we had experienced and investigations into several fishing vessels, many of them don‘t have documents at all or fa ke them don‘t have documents at all or fake documents and they don‘t get paid. so is it clear at this stage

whether these men on this ship were trafficking? there are still ongoing investigations so we did not know yet. you said you believe this to be a transnational crime. who should be held responsible? to see just a flag, the boat is selling from one country to another country‘s territorial, that‘s why are sent in legal and unregulated fishing should be fought by every state because we have a start paying off ocean rights to protect our high seas. not enough people donate blood in china — and for decades, there‘s been a black market in the illegal trade of blood. new rules which were introduced at the end of march are supposed to put an end to a system which allows people to give blood

for friends or relatives. but as our china correspondent robin brant reports, the buying and selling of blood seems to be continuing. this is how much medicine you have at home when you are 31 and recovering from cancer. gao‘s immune system is weak after chemotherapy to fight leukaemia, but that wasn‘t her only battle. she had to find blood. china has a chronic blood shortage, and even though she had donated in the past, which should have given her a guarantee of blood, the hospital had none. so gao had to buy it. in fact, it was her mum

who went out to do the deal. she was emotional as she described the last few years. it is not hard to find blood traders in china. the bbc spoke to this man outside a donor centre in shanghai. he told us he pays people to donate, then he sells their certificates to needy patients, which they exchange for blood. it is illegal, and the government banned it last month. it is almost two weeks now since the rules changed, so we came back to the same blood centre in shanghai, and we‘ve been driving around for half an hour. and look who we‘ve seen hanging around outside — the same man, this time in red, in the same place. the era of blood traders outside

centres doing deals is supposed to be over but there is still a problem inside and it‘s a big problem. there is not enough of this. only about 1% of chinese give blood. china had a reciprocal system. people could donate, they earn credit, they could give that to friends and family. but that‘s what gave rise to the blood traders, so the government banned it last month. in a village on the edge of beijing this month, that is good news. zaozao has a rare blood type, which she discovered when she was pregnant. she wants better regulation and advertising. she thinks an end to people shopping around for blood will encourage more donations. but that requires a change in culture, and gao doesn‘t have

time to wait for that. she wants the old system back, because she says friends, family, even the blood traders, kept her alive. you have been watching newsday. coming up. we‘ll be taking a look at china‘s ride hailing app didi chuxing which could be on the streets of mexico very soon. and before we go, take a look at these dramatic pictures from tignes in the french alps — an area popular with skiers. this avalanche shows sheets of snow sliding down from a mountain onto the road below and they were captured by a somewhat alarmed passer—by who stayed put to film it. thankfully there were no injuries. that‘s all for now — stay with bbc world news. there is a change on the way, something brighter and significantly warmer in ourforecasts.

but that change will be slow, will be gradual. so on thursday, for many, it‘s going to be another cloudy day. mostly dry, though. you can see from the satellite picture what‘s going on. we‘ve got an area of low pressure down here to the south, areas of cloud being flung around it, and this little area of slightly thicker cloud here has been producing some outbreaks of patchy rain and drizzle, which will continue to drift northwards and westwards during thursday morning. generally we start the day with a lot of cloud, some mist, and murk, and drizzle, some hill fog, and most places will stay disappointingly grey as the day goes on. but there will be exceptions. here‘s a closer look at thursday afternoon. the north—west of scotland should do very nicely for sunshine, could well get to 12 degrees there in stornoway. more cloud lapping onto the coast of aberdeenshire and down into north—east england, with some spots of rain and drizzle. northern ireland likely to stay quite cloudy, as will much of north—west england, the midlands and wales. but, for the south—west of wales,

certainly the south—west of england, should see something a bit brighter. and things may brighten up a little bit towards the south—east, as well, later in the day. and then, during thursday evening, some showers are likely to trundle in towards the south—east of england. could be the odd rumble of thunder with these. they will then edge northwards as we go through the night into the early hours of friday, with all that cloud around, and the misty, murky, drizzly conditions. it is not going to get cold — 5—9 degrees the overnight lows. now, friday‘s weather setup is essentially the same one that we‘ve had for much of this week — high pressure anchored across scandinavia, low pressure to the south, throwing this frontal system northwards. we‘re going to see some showery rain across northern england and scotland during friday. something drierfollowing on from the south, albeit generally quite cloudy, although if the skies do brighten across southern england and south wales later in the day, that could just spark off the odd hefty shower later on. those temperatures, if anything, beginning to climb a little. could get to 15 there in london, and not quite as chilly by this stage along those north sea coasts, and that trend of things getting slowly but surely warmer continues

as we go on through the weekend. it won‘t be wall—to—wall sunshine, but there will be some brighter spells. equally, a little bit of showery rain at times. so, for the weekend, then, warming up slowly but surely. some sunshine, equally the chance for some showers, but let me show you what happens next week. because we develop this southerly wind, and that is expected to waft some warm air in our direction. we could get into the low to possibly mid—20s. that will feel like spring. i‘m babita sharma with bbc news. our top story: president trump warns russia to "get ready" for missile strikes against syria. it follows a suspected chemical attack on civilians. mr trump called the syrian president a "gas killing animal". britain‘s theresa may has summoned her cabinet for a special meeting to discuss uk participation alongside the us. more than 250 people have been killed in a military plane crash in algeria. most of the dead are military personnel and their family members. and the boss of facebook tells us lawmakers that his own personal data was compromised in the cambridge analytica breach.

mark zuckerberg apologised for failing to check that cambridge analytica had deleted information gathered about millions of facebook users in 2015. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk: a high courtjudge has endorsed a plan by specialists to withdraw