welcome to newsday, on the bbc. i'm rico hizon, in singapore, the headlines: two journalists investigating reports of attrocities in myanmar will find out within the next few hours whether they've been convicted of breaching the country's official secrets law. the un warns migrants crossing the mediterranean sea to europe face an ever more deadlyjourney. i'm babita sharma, in london. also in the programme: australia's population soars to 25 million people, hitting the milestone a quarter of a century earlier than predicted. and in singapore, the government comes up with a novel way of tackling its low birth rate — subsidised—speed dating. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news — it's newsday. good morning.

it's 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 5:30 in the morning in myanmar, where within the next few hours, two journalists are expected to hear whether they've been convicted of breaching the country's official secrets law. the pair, kyaw soe go and wa lone, had been investigating reports of a massacre of ten rohingya men in rakhine state, allegedly at the hands of buddhist villagers and the army. if convicted, they could face up to m years injail. our correspondent nick beake has more from yangon: at the heart of this case are too young journalist who say their only crime is doing theirjob. plenty in the international community believe it is free journalism in the dock. kyaw soe oo it is free journalism in the dock. kyaw soe go and wa lone have been

accused of possessing secret documents. they always said they have been framed because they were investigating a massacre of rohingya men. these reporters have been in prison and, if convicted, they face up prison and, if convicted, they face up to m years. the un says that the courts in myanmar are not free and independent. they are overseen by a government department overseen by the military. people tell us the role of journalism in the military. people tell us the role ofjournalism in aung san suu kyi's myanmar. the top military officers in myanmar should face crimes according to some. it is in the contest of this corresponding to national condemnation that the courts and authorities will be able

to send their message later today. our other top story this hour: migrants and asylum seekers crossing the mediterranean face an ever more deadlyjourney, according to a new report by the un refugee agency. the un is calling on europe to do more to try to save lives, by providing safe, legal routes for refugees. imogen foulkes has more from geneva. thousands of people have died crossing the mediterranean, over 1600 so far this year alone. the un refugee agency says the journey is becoming ever more dangerous. the fatality rate has risen from one in 42 to one in a team. europe should focus less on managing numbers and trying to find more on the humanity to save lives. to help refugees join family members are ready in europe, increasing settlement places and

providing safe, legal alternatives to the deadly voyage across the mediterranean. imogen foulkes reporting from geneva there. also making news today: the us navy blue angels have performed an aerial salute to senatorjohn mccain, after his body arrived at the us naval academy, in annapolis. four aircraft roared across the skies before one broke formation in a vertical maneuver, known as the missing man formation. china has evacuated more than 125,000 people in the southern province of guangdong due to heavy rains. the rains and flooding have affected more than 1.2 million residents, and have left two people dead and two missing. firefighters are battling a huge blaze at a landmark building in the city of liverpool in the north west of britain. the fire quickly spread upwards from the first floor of the littlewoods pools building. there are no reports of any injuries. the five—storey art deco structure was built in 1938. authorities in south korea's capital seoul have pledged to undertake daily checks of public toilets across the city to ensure cameras have not been hidden in them.

the cameras are mostly used to spy on women. in july, tens of thousands of women held a protest to express their anger at being secretly filmed. many recordings are uploaded onto the internet. pres) and finally, if you've ever done a spot of horse—riding, take a look at this. this is the opening ceremony of the nomad games in kyrgistan, where thousands of athletes are showingoff their skills in a variety of sports including archery, wrestling and of course horse—riding. eighty countries are taking part and among the vip spectators was the president of turkey, recep tayyip erdogan. we all know that spending too much time staring at a computer screen does your eyesight no good at all. in china, there's been a big rise in short—sightedness, or myopia. the authorities say online gaming is partly to blame, and now they're trying to restrict the amount of time youngsters spend on gaming. it isa

it is a comment eye problem. it is prevalent especially in urban cities. a person cannot see far very well. i cannot see far, can it be corrected wearing glasses? yes. is it connected to video gaming? myopia connected to any visual activity close—up which includes reading and writing and may include computer games and video games. especially 110w games and video games. especially now when kids play their video games, it is really up close to the monitor and now they are notjust rectangular but they are huge and applied. it is true. -- wide. went into the symptoms start to show?

myopia 0ccurs in a very early age, especially in urban cities. in singapore the average pay is his eight and singapore the average pay is his eightand a singapore the average pay is his eight and a half. china is a special situation where the rates of myopia have increased very quickly. in other places they have been high for the past 30 years. myopia it's prevalent in the region. 80- 9096 in urban cities of many countries. prevalent in the region. 80- 9096 in urban cities of many countriesm is really growing and this situation... what should be done to be able to stop this increase in myopia cases? the main recommendation is to ask children to go outside because, if you spend more time outside, that may improve

on the myopia. kids like being at home, they do not like socialising and go out with their parents but they like to be front of computer screens playing with friends on line and it also hampers interpersonal relationship. that's right. going forward , relationship. that's right. going forward, is there any kind of medication or any type of issue that needs to be addressed? if the child is not myopia yet, they should go outside, but there are also special types of contact lenses, or eyedrops that date can use. —— that they can use. the eu's chief brexit negotiator michel barnier says he is strongly opposed to key parts of the british prime minister's proposals for a brexit trade deal. he suggested a common rulebook for goods would kill the european project.

well, theresa may has insisted she won't be forced into watering down her plans, and insisted there will be no second referendum on britain's membership of the european union. ben wright reports. the time for talking is nearly up. theresa may is banking her hopes of a brexit deal on the plan hammered out at chequers in the summer, which is meant to keep the trade in goods moving freely after brexit. today, she insisted she would not be pushed into accepting compromises that are not in our national interest. but the fighting talk does not impress the former brexit secretary david davis, who quit the cabinet over chequers. in my view the chequers proposal — it's not a deal, we shouldn't call it the chequers deal, it's a proposal — is actually almost worse than being in. i mean, we would be under the rule of the european union with respect to all of our manufactured goods and agri—foods. worse than being in the eu? that is a startling statement from a leading brexiteer. but his contempt for the chequers

plan is shared by dozens of tory mps. 0ther brexiteers remain in the cabinet, but today, liam fox scoffed recent warnings by the chancellor that the economy would be hammered and borrowing would rise if no deal was reached with the eu. can you think back on all your time in politics of where the treasury have made predictions that were correct 15 years out? i can't. they didn't predict the financial crisis that happened. no—one could. so this idea that we can predict what our borrowing would be 15 years in advance is just a bit hard to swallow. theresa may needs to convince the eu her post—brexit trade plan is workable. but today the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, said he strongly opposed some elements of it, in his most explicit criticism of the plan so far. and all this leaves theresa may in a very difficult position. she is trying to keep the tory party together, bridge differences within her cabinet, and sell her chequers proposal to a sceptical eu.

today, theresa may tried to reassure her critics in the conservative party by dismissing calls for a second referendum on the final brexit deal as a gross betrayal of democracy. but today, a tory donor and former rolls—royce chairman joined the campaign for another brexit vote, and there are now mps from all the main parties who back the idea. well, she is rattled. until recently, she didn't talk about having a referendum on the final deal. she now knows that opinion is moving in favour of it. theresa may insists the chequers plan is the only one on the table. but, with the eu and parliament sceptical, it may struggle to survive the autumn. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the story of entrepreneur marian shaar and her life inside a palestinian refugee camp. we hear from the director

of a new film. also on the programme: subsidised—speed dating to tackle the low birth rate, we report on singapore's effort to encourage young love. she received the nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and the dying in india's slums. the head of the catholic church said mother teresa was a wonderful example of how to help people in need. we have to identify the bodies then arrange the coffins and take them back home. parents are waiting and wives are waiting, so... hostages appeared, some carried, some running, trying to escape the nightmare behind them. britain lost a princess today,

described by all to whom she reached out as irreplaceable. an early—morning car crash in a paris underpass ended a life with more than its share of pain and courage, warmth and compassion. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: two journalists investigating reports of atrocities in myanmar are to find out in the next few hours whether they've been convicted of breaching the country's official secrets law. the official secrets law. un warns migrants crossing th mediterranean the un warns migrants crossing the mediterranean c2c europe face and ever more dangerous journey. ——

mediterranean sea to. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we start with the straits times leading with the closing ceremony of the 18th asian games injakarta. it has this stunning image of a young performer rising above the crowd with the announcement of hangzhou as the host of the 2022 games. the philippines enquirer leads on president duterte eyeing up an arms deal with israel to lessen its dependency on washington for weapons. this colourful image shows a mall in the philippines already packed with christmas ornaments and decorations, and it's onlyjust september. and the international new york times says us envoys in embassies in china and cuba may have been attacked with microwaves. scientists say these unconventional weapons may have caused the baffling symptoms and ailments that hit american diplomats and their families there. that's the way the papers are looking this morning. rico. thank you so much, babita.

another story which is very interesting for all of us. mariam shaar is an unlikely but intrepid entrepreneur. she was born and raised in burj al—barajneh, a palestinian refugee camp in lebanon, and herfamily has been living there for 70 years. and even though there aren't many opportunities inside the camp, she's found a way to set up her own business. it's a food truck, and it employs and empowers women. her story has been made into a documentary which premiered in singapore at the weekend. to find out more about mariam's story,

let's bring in myrna atalla, the executive director of alfanar, a social investor which helped soufra to get off the ground. great to have you on the programme. what is it about her and her through drug that made you invest in this project? alfanar is the first investment here in the arabic region —— we know she will carry the project through the end to the challenges that inevitably come up. absolutely, just looking at that documentary, a lot of challenges for her but how important was it that mariam and her team members were all women and were able to earn a living

and be self—sufficient. women and were able to earn a living and be self-sufficient. this concept for us is one of the, if you will, primary reasons we get invested because we're looking at how to empower in the long—term vulnerable women and children. what makes it challenging for them is that they are ina challenging for them is that they are in a refugee camp. absolutely, it's a very unlikely place but what we find is the power of social enterprise exists in the most unlikely places. there are markets within the camp. there's capacity within the camp. there's capacity within the camp. there's capacity within the refugees. so we look for these types of people to invest and then we help them actually build up their business plans and stay accountable. how do you come across accountable. how do you come across a film project, the producers susan sarandon and thomas morgan, and be pa rt sarandon and thomas morgan, and be part of a film, and basically tell the world about mariam and her through drug? sometimes it isjust human coincidence really. i had the

fortune of meeting thomas, and we're going to talk about a potential film project in libya, and sadly the situation became untenable. when this particular situation came up, the soufra food truck, refugees running and owning their own business, thomas became interested. has this film changed the spectrum is about women and also muslims and refugees —— changed perspective the. that's the idea of the documentary film, to shed light on the fact that our preconceived notions of those that are vulnerable are often wrong —— changed perspective. there's good and bad in all situations. if we pull together our resources to back those unlikely voices, we can bring together examples of hope for this community. indeed, we can learn so much from mariam and her food truck business. yes, we have lots to learn about self—sufficiency, how to rely on

ourselves, how to set plans and really how to show the future generation what it means to... often times we give fish in this situation, actually to teach people how to fish as much longer lasting power. thank you so much forjoining us on power. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday and congratulations on the movie and your investment in the soufra food truck —— has much longer lasting power. send our regards to mariam. myrna atalla, who invested in the food truck soufra, from investment company alca nar. australia's population has reached 25 million for the first time, according to official estimates. over the past three years, australia has grown by about 400,000 people a year, a rise fulled mostly by immigration. australia is a large country, but its population is mostly clustered in the fertile southeast. phil mercer reports. baby mawson is one of the newest australians. he was born in sydney the week the nation's population hit

25 million. mum, pippa pepper, from britain, hopes he'll have a life of opportunity in an increasingly crowded world, but she does worry. we've been here just over crowded world, but she does worry. we've been herejust over six crowded world, but she does worry. we've been here just over six years and it's gone, got way more congested. we don't know what's going to happen. it's hard to know where you're going to be, even over ten years. we thought we might go to new zealand to get more space. ten years. we thought we might go to new zealand to get more spacem was more, the debate about population is divisive. there's argument that immigration has made australian cities congested and housing unaffordable. then there's the view that migrants re—invigorate the view that migrants re—invigorate the nation. the population of australia as one extra person every 83 seconds. this boom in people is mostly being fuelled by immigration. —— adds one. the biggest are coming from china and india. the government says more people are good for the economy. 0thers believe, however,

that australia simply can't cope with a rapidly growing population. there's no doubt population growth does... selling his message down the pub, the leader of the sustainable australia party argues that the country is already too crowded. that's got tremendous ramifications on planning and infrastructure, on the environment, on wages growth and on housing affordability and we're seeing those things deteriorate at great rates in part because population is growing too quickly. most new settlers are skilled workers who boost productivity. the majority had to sydney or melbourne, but perhaps in the future, they'll help to colonise areas that are currently uninhabitable. in ten, 20, 30, 40 years, is there going to be the technology to take some of the interior of australia, which is obviously in many parts largely desert and very arid, is it possible to irrigate that in a way or develop that in a way that will make it possible for us to have a

much larger population? the latest official position is the number of people here will double to almost 50 million over the next 40 years. australia's great challenges to maintain its prosperity and help new generations live more sustainably. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney —— great challenge is. well, staying with population, singapore has the lowest birth rate in the world. its government is so concerned, that it's paying for people to date. katie silver reports. young singaporeans enjoying a night out. all the table tags, guys, do me a favour, when you rotate... speed dating is all the rage but here it's being subsidised by the government as a way to get young people to meet. the government really wants to get guys and girls to get together to form families. coming here, i hope to, like, expand my social network, i'm coming to make friends and hopefully i can meet someone who is suitable. these dating nights are just want

of a number of solutions including tax breaks, baby bonuses and preferential housing that the government is using to combat the country's low birth rate. morning, doctor. ivy and her husband are in their fourth cycle of ivf and half the costs were subsidised by the state. ijust get emotional. ijust start crying for no reason. it's also financially difficult. if we don't have a subsidy, we would not think of going to ivf. despite years of intervention, there is little progress in getting the country's birth rate up. it's partly down to women marrying later, but the increasing cost of living here and cultural expectations that women will take care of ageing parents are also putting them off. it's these sacrifices that mean women like boon siew, who received government—subsidised ivf, are still unlikely to have more than one child. i'm the sole caregiver of this baby. it's not easy for me, and i'm really content with one. in just 18 years, singapore

will shrink from having six workers for each elderly person down to just two and the consequences of this for the country's future are dire. fewer people of working age makes it harder for the economy to grow, and they'll face the increasing burden of having to pay for a growing number of elderly people. 0ne population expert says the reason government interventions aren't working is they don't get to the heart the problem. in singapore, you have about 17—18% of young people never married, so that's one of the highest probably in the world in terms of singleness rates. you really need to think about why people are not getting married. but time is running out. policymakers are now targeting the other end of the age spectrum, getting older people to work longer. katie silver, bbc news, singapore. that was katie silver speed dating

before leaving singapore back to london, babita. indeed! you've been watching newsday. i'm babita sharma in london. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. we'll see why one investor is buying up heritage buildings in singapore's booming property market. and before we go, we'll leave you with the scenes injakarta for the closing ceremony for the 18th asian games, which finished a few hours ago. despite the rain, the stunning firework display did not disappoint. 11,000 athletes from 45 countries took part in the games, with china topping the medal table. stay with us, we'll be back with the headlines next. hello. that wasn't bad for the first

weekend of september. summer warmth continuing for many of us, especially where you had the sunshine. temperatures into the mid—20s in the warmest places but it's turning cooler this week as this weather front, a it's turning cooler this week as this weatherfront, a cold it's turning cooler this week as this weather front, a cold front pushes south across the country in the next 48 hours. already as monday begins, northern ireland and north—west scotland in the cooler airand under north—west scotland in the cooler air and under clearer skies some spots will be four or five degrees. also a few single figure temperatures in east anglia and south—east england with one or two mist and fog patches to start the day and because skies have been clear here overnight. 0ur weather front has cloud from south—west england, wales, west midlands, north england, wales, west midlands, north england and eastern scotland. patchy rain and heavy bursts to start the day inside the scotland, clearing, any rain on the front turning lighter in the afternoon and showery. north and north—west scotla nd showery. north and north—west scotland have sunny spells and northern ireland, lighter winds than the weekend so cooler but still pleasa nt the weekend so cooler but still pleasant in the sun. much cooler in

eastern scotland, north—east england we re eastern scotland, north—east england were some patchy rain continues into the afternoon. compared with weekend. sunny spells developing in western counties of wales, the east midlands, east anglia and south—east england with sunny spells and you're on the one side of the weather front so temperatures here still in the low and in some spots mid—twenties. 0ur weather front monday night into tuesday, this area of cloud barely budge is. hardly any rain on it, though, underneath it temperatures are holding into double figures but in most of scotland and northern ireland, on the colder side of the front, temperatures regularly dipping down into single figures under clear skies into tuesday morning. 0n under clear skies into tuesday morning. on tuesday, here's our weather front, still barely budging from england and wales, still hardly any rain on it. in the far south—east may be sunny spells two be had, low 20s, but most, the mid to upper teens. tuesday is a fairly quiet day and wednesday for many

too, maybe some rain in two parts of northern ireland and west of scotland, though. but deeper into the week, increasingly likely that our weather will be in fact it by low pressure, but there's a lot of uncertainty about where the area of low pressure is going to sit. this is thursday into friday and because there is uncertainty about where it's going to be, there is uncertainty about who will see the rain from it so keep watching for the detail. but we know turning cooler and there's the chance of rain both early in the week and then later in the week as low pressure moves in. and that's your forecast. i'm babita sharma, with bbc news. our top story: two journalists charged with breaking myanmar‘s official secrets law are due to hear the verdict in their case. the reutersjournalists had bee investigating reports of a massacre of ten rohingya men, allegedly at the hands of buddhist villagers and the army. the un says migrants crossing the mediterranean sea face an increasingly deadlyjourney and calls on europe to do more to try to save lives.

and there's another twist in the uk's brexit negotiations. the european union's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, says he strongly opposes parts of the british government's plan for the country's future relationship with the eu. britain's prime minister says she will not compromise. that's all. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.