welcome to newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: the mystery of the saudi journalist — now turkish investigators enter the consulate where he was allegedly killed. uk prime minister theresa may calls for calm ahead of crucial brexit negotiations but concerns in her party are growing. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: australia welcomes the expectant royal couple meghan and harry. we're live in sydney with the latest. and introducing the keruru — new zealand's alcohol—loving bird of the year. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning.

it's 8am in singapore, 1am in london and 3am in istanbul, turkey where a team of investigators has been searching the consulate of saudi arabia. they're looking for evidence the journalist jamal khashoggi was killed there. the saudis have officially denied the allegation. but there are claims in us media that riyadh is preparing to admit that khashoggi died in an interrogation that went wrong. mark lowen reports. they entered the door where jamal khashoggi disappeared. those tasked with finding the truth. saudi investigators, part of a joint enquiry with turkey, beginning today. it's almost two weeks since the journalist was last seen arriving at the saudi consulate. claims he was killed and dismembered have piled pressure on riyadh for answers. donald trump has finally spoken to his close ally, king salman, who rejected the allegations, and maybe raised an idea that can shift the blame.

the king firmly denied any knowledge of it. he didn't really know. maybe... i don't want to get into his mind, but it sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. who knows? we're going to try getting to the bottom of it very soon. the secretary of state, mike pompeo, is off to riyadh in a sign the us is engaging more. though washington says arms deals between the two won't end. tonight, turkish police arrived at the consulate to join the saudi team. riyadh is starting its own investigation too, worried as foreign businesses rethink their ties. after all their blanket denials, the saudis are being pushed into a corner by a growing international outrage. their allies are demanding answers and big companies are pulling out of the riyadh investment conference. the saudis are being forced to co—operate, to limit what is becoming a pr crisis. but on saudi tv, the line is to hit out. one analyst calling it fake news by enemies of the country that must pay a price.

a murder enquiry site, yes, but the saudis still chose to call in the cleaners before investigators arrived. it makes you wonder how much here is for show, and if this dark story will ever be solved. mark lowen, bbc news, istanbul. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. stay with us. we have more developments coming up with analysis from our correspondent in la peter bowes in a few minutes‘ time. you may have heard, the duke and duchess of sussex, harry and meghan, are expecting a baby in spring next year. they are live at taronga zoo in sydney. this is the first part of their morning in sydney, the capital, on a 16 day trip down

under, including new zealand and fiji as well. but as you can see, smiles for the crowds that have covered. all attention of course on the couple after making a special announcement, they expect a baby in spring next year. all i is of course on meghan markle, the dutch —— de chess of sussex. she is wearing a dress made by a designerfrom australia. and many are wondering whether she has a bump. i will leave that to you to decide whether she is showing. we think she is 12 or 13 weeks pregnant. already the couple have been to admiralty house in syd ney have been to admiralty house in sydney meeting with the australian governor—general, where they were given gifts including a cuddly toy, a kangaroo in fact, and we expect they will see the real variety here at the zoo. watching all of this

with me is hywell griffith. we are following these pictures of them arriving at the zoo. it is the second part of their morning trip so far. yes, a trip to the zoo is a classic on the tourist itinerary of sydney. they won the opera house, the bridge and taronga zoo. “— opera house, the bridge and taronga zoo. —— day one. we expect at some point a cute koala will be stroked affectionately. later on they will ci’oss affectionately. later on they will cross the water and the harbour behind me. a visit to the opera house and possibly what more people here expect, the opportunity to meet and greet people outside the opera house. people have been queueing for several hours, hoping for a glimpse, maybe a selfie and a chance to meet the couple and congratulate the too on the news they announced in the last 2a hours that they expect a baby next spring. we will listen in,

if we can, to what is happening as meghan markle is about to cut the ribbon. this is a big day for all of us. ribbon. this is a big day for all of us. fantastic. applause. thank you so much. and now, sir, would you like to unveil the plaque for us? with such panache! thank you. what did you think of what you saw inside? absolutely amazing. you have summed it up perfectly. zoos saw inside? absolutely amazing. you have summed it up perfectly. 2005 in the 215t century have to modernise with everything else that is going oi'i with everything else that is going on at the moment. taronga zoo seems to be leading the way. and i think zoos across to be leading the way. and i think zoos across the world, those that are still going, which still have funding, have a lot to learn from a place like this. to see the dedicated staff is absolutely

fantastic. i think a round of applause. to all the staff at taronga, yeah. and, as we know, it is sir‘s second visit and last time when we chatted you said it was your first zoo visit. yes. we are very proud that this is your first zoo visit. i will talk about the preschool... the duchess of sussex and the duke opening part of taronga zoo, unveiling a plaque for the crowds that have gathered as they continue their 16 day trip down under and hywell griffith is with us still. before you go ijust want to know the choreography for the rest of the day to day? yes, well, now they have officially opened the institute of life sciences at the zoo, as

institute of life sciences at the zoo, as you institute of life sciences at the zoo, as you heard, it is an attempt to modernise and talk about conservation simply rather than displaying animals. next stop across the water to the opera house. they will go in and meet some dancers who have been preparing in a rehearsal studio. and then a moment outside where the queue has been all morning. the last appointment for the day back to admiralty house to meet more dignitaries and that is where they are staying. so after a few hours' tourism they will put up their feet. tomorrow it is an early flight their feet. tomorrow it is an early flight to dubbo, in new south wales, one airee hit in the recent drought, so one airee hit in the recent drought, so they will meet first hand some farmers —— one area hit in the recent drought. and plenty more local people. and i dare say it more cuddly local people. and i dare say it more cu d d ly toys local people. and i dare say it more cuddly toys and plenty of congratulations on the baby news. cuddly toys and plenty of congratulations on the baby newslj think we will take account of that. we are up to about one. we at one? one, buti we are up to about one. we at one? one, but i reckon 16 days, ten

cuddly one, but i reckon 16 days, ten cu d d ly toys one, but i reckon 16 days, ten cuddly toys per day, at a couple of suitcases on the way home. it is a generation game, that populous it come, thank you hywell. more on that to come. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. the european council president, donald tusk, has told eu leaders it is more likely than ever that britain will leave the eu next march without a deal. two days ahead of a vital eu summit, he said preparing for a no deal must not lead them away from making every effort to reach the best agreement possible. our europe editor katya adler has the latest from berlin. well, compared to all of that heat that we are hearing about in westminster, berlin, like brussels, is choosing to sport more of a laid—back approach. brexit negotiators haven't broken up altogether, they're just on a mini break, i'm told. they haven't gone off in a huff, they've gone off into separate huddles in the uk and the eu to work out what room for manoeuvre sides have over the key irish border issue that we have been hearing about.

but for now it's "move over, technocrats in brussels," because political leaders are going to take centre stage this week. theresa may will meet angela merkel and other eu leaders at a dinner on wednesday night. everyone hoping this goes a lot more smoothly than it did the last time they dined together a few weeks ago. but angela merkel‘s and others' message to the prime minister is, "you're among friends, not enemies, we want to have a brexit deal with you this autumn." also making news today: president trump has been in florida to meet survivors of hurricane michael and to inspect the damage. mr trump said food and housing were the top priorities for those affected. at least 18 people died in four states when the hurricane crashed ashore last week. most urban districts of beijing and other parts of northern china have been hit by smog. the pollution is expected to reach its peak on monday. it is the third day in a row that the region has been blanketed with smog. billionaire paul allen, who co—founded microsoft with bill gates in the 1970s, has died at the age of 65. he'd been suffering from cancer. allen, who had a $20 billion fortune, was also a major benefactor, funding everything

from libraries and universities to brain research. bill gates has said he is heartbroken by the passing of one of his oldest and dearest friends. a chinese social media star has been detained for five days for insulting the country's national anthem. 20—year—old yang kaili had appeared on camera singing the anthem while flailing her arms around. the live—streaming platform, huya, had earlier taken down her video and banned her channel. ms yang, who is also known as li ge, has since publicly apologised. belgium has elected a black mayorfor the first time. he's the father of international football star, vincent kompa ny. pierre kompany arrived in belgium in 1975 as a refugee from what is now the democratic republic of congo and became active in politics in 2006 as a councillor. he took a seat in the brussels regional parliament in 2014. back to our top story: earlier,

i spoke to our north america correspondent, peter bowes, who gave me an update on the missing saudi journalist, jamal khashoggi. yes, reports both from the us media and from the british media now suggesting, as you say, that the saudis are preparing to admit that he died during an interrogation, perhaps an interrogation that went wrong, and one suggestion that the original intention might have been to abduct him. now, president trump has said that he is aware of these reports, although pointing out that nobody, as he puts it, knows if it's an official report, but clearly the president watching the situation closely. having earlier said that it was a possibility that rogue killers were responsible, and this was after a call

with king salman in which they discussed what had happened, and king salman had told him, according to the president, that he knew nothing of it and that there was no responsible — responsibility lying at the hands of the saudi authorities. so that is where we are in terms of this investigation from the us side. the secretary of state, mike pompeo, is heading to saudi arabia, we understand. he will then go onto turkey, and he has been tasked by the president to find out what happened. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come: a boozy bird, why the green and bronze wood pigeon with a taste for femented fruit is new zealand's favourite. parts of san francisco least affected by the earthquake are returning to life. but in the marina area, where most of the damage was done, they're more conscious than ever of how much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last

here, he's gone from being a little—known revolutionary to an experienced and successful diplomatic operator. it was a 20lb bomb which exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the front of the building. this government will not weaken. democracy will prevail. it fills me with humility and gratitude to know that i have been chosen as the recipient of this foremost of earthly honours. this catholic nation held its breath for the men they call the 33. and then... bells toll ..bells tolled nationwide to announce the first rescue, and chile let out an almighty roar. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore.

i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: nearly two weeks after a saudi journalist disappeared in istanbul, turkish investigators gain access to the saudi consulate. prime minister theresa may calls for calm ahead of crucial brexit negotiations despite differences over the future of the irish border. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the financial times is leading with us on the disappearance of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi and president trump's comments from earlier today that rogue killers could be behind the attack. the south china morning post looks ahead to the g20 summit in buenos aires next month and whether a meeting between president trump and xijinping could ease tensions between china and the us.

the straits times leads on former deputy anwar ibrahim's return to malaysian politics and his comments that he has no plans to take up a cabinet post. in the news: —— in other news: an investigation by the bbc is shedding new light on the scale of use of chemical weapons in the war in syria. bbc arabic and the panorama programme have determined there is enough evidence to be confident that at least 106 chemical attacks have taken place in the country since september 2013. as nawal al—maghafi reports, it appears these attacks have been crucial to president assad's victory in the conflict. a warning that her report contains distressing images. another airstrike. this attack told the world that not all of syria's chemical weapons had been destroyed. abdul hamed yousseff witnessed it.

translation: i heard the planes, i woke up, the first form was at 6:30am. abdul left the house with his wife and twins, unaware of what was about to unfold. translation: this is where i left them. i ran to help people over there. it was a chemical attack. sarin is 26 times more deadly than cyanide. abdul‘s neighbours were dying in the streets. more than 80 were killed and nearly 300 wounded. abdul was taken to hospital after losing consciousness. translation: when i woke up, people asked me, we are rather twins and your wife? minutes later, they brought them to me, dead. president assad had denied responsibility, but international

evidence gathered approved the chemical used belonged to the government. the bbc looked at 164 reports of chemical attacks. we wanted to find the truth. the cross—checked each report with experts and specialist researchers. we were left with 106 chemical attacks. we are confident they took place. 51 of them launched from the hour. there is no evidence the opposition has the capacity to carry out air attacks, so it appears the government must be responsible. aleppo, a chlorine strike over the city. the battle here lasted four years. reca pturing the city was a turning point in the war for the syrian government. the bbc‘s research shows there were 11 chlorine attacks, five of them in the last few days of the siege. all of them came from the air. translation: when we told people

to grow up because chlorine down, they were confused. if they go up, they get bombed, if they go down, they get killed by chlorine. the people were hysterical. the pattern we are witnessing is the regime uses chemical weapons in areas it regards as strategic, areas besieged for a while and the final stage of taking these areas back seems to be using chemical weapons to make the local population flee. aleppo's an example of this strategy. in the last weeks of the assault, over 120,000 civilians left, many to idlib, the final rebel stronghold. there are now 3 million people kept all here. a truce holds for now but this man worries that can break on any minute. translation: we may to shelter in 2012 when the regime began bombing. the tunnel is a shelter

from conventional bombs but not from a chemical attack. translation: i am fearful for women and children so i make these masks. we are scared of chemical attacks by the regime. our research is beyond reasonable doubt that president assad has fought a chemical war against his own people, one that so far the west has failed to prevent. the while al mccarthy, bbc news. south korea's president moonjae—in is currently in paris meeting his french counterpart emmanuel macron. he hopes to get help in easing economic restrictions on pyongyang. the bbc‘s reality check has been investigating how north korea has tried to evade these sanctions. north korea has been called out for breaking un sanctions. they've been imposed to pressure kim jong—un‘s government

over its nuclear weapons programme. but north korea has been finding ways to trade key resources, such as coal and oil. we continued to see illegal imports of refined petroleum using using ship—to—ship transfers, which are prohibited under un resolution. we must all be accountable for cutting off north korea's illegal coal exports which go directly to its wmd programmes. so how is north korea evading sanctions? a lot of this is happening out at sea, and it requires foreign partners willing to trade illegally. aun a un report says there's been a big increase in transfers of petroleum products and coal... this enables north korea to effectively import these resources restricted under international sanctions. more than 20 north korean ships have already been blacklisted by the un for smuggling fuel. ships conceal their activities by turning a tracking systems

or masking the vessel's true identity. north korea has also been observed shipping weapons. in 2016, 30,000 rocket—propelled grenades were bound for the suez canal. the ship under a cambodian flag was crewed by north koreans. the consignment was forced the labelled assembly parts for underwater pumps. now the us and others want to expose the companies involved in sanctions violations. but north korea says it can withstand pressure from the international community. the perception that sanctions can bring us on our knees is a pipe dream of the people who are ignorant of us. so can the impact of these sanctions be measured? it's estimated sanctions imposed in 2017 cost north korea $1 billion in lost revenue but the un has estimated that north korea earned $200 million from illegal trade.

talks with north korea's leader, kim jong—un, have raised the possibility of lifting future sanctions in a deal to end the country's nuclear ambitions but for now, north korea continues to seek ways to survive under tough international sanctions. a native green and bronze wood pigeon with a taste for femented fruit has been named the 2018 bird of the year in new zealand. although quiet and reclusive by nature, kereru have earned a reputation as the drunkest bird in new zealand. earlier, i spoke with new zealand green party mp chloe swarbrick, who has been a campaigner for the kereu. she explained why the bird is so popular. i think the draw for the kereru as bird of the year,

i've been involved for two years running, the competition is run by forest and bird, an ngo in new zealand which focuses on awareness and education for new zealanders about native birds and their importance to our forests and native flora and fauna so the draw for the kereru in particular is that it's a particular meme—worthy bird, the virality of it when we put it in meme format across new zealand, it stirred up conversation. we know new zealand has a lot of unique and endangered birds. they face many threats. but the kereru is fairly endemic, not endangered. why did it win? well, i guess it's one of the birds that new zealanders are pretty familiar with. last year, we had the pretty critically endangered kea winning, which is another mischevious native bird in new zealand that's known for stealing the likes of road cones and other private property, but the kereru, i guess, just as a clumsy, and as you referred to,

gorging itself on berries and often finds itself falling out of trees drunk, for lack of a better term, is soemthing i guess people could find interesting and comical. you have been watching newsday. i'm babita sharma in london. and i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm sure, like many of us, you've been illegal to —— eager to see the royal couple after the announcement they made that they're expecting to see a baby come along in spring next year. the duke and duchess of sussex. here they are in sydney a couple of hours ago, they are at taronga zoo, part of a 15 day trip down under. more on that to come. us. —— more on that to come. stay

with us. hello there. it was a lovely day on monday across scotland and northern ireland, with plenty of sunshine, but a different story for england and wales, rather cloudy skies for most with some mist and murk and a few spots of drizzle. reason is, this weatherfront here which will still be there on tuesday morning. this weather system will bring a change to scotland and northern ireland through the course of tuesday but for the start of tuesday, it looks like we will hold on to this cloud across england and wales. mist and fog developing too across this north—west corner. these are the temperatures to start this morning. single—figure values in the north, just about making double figures further south. a grey start up and down this country. winds picking up across the north—west corner of scotland, some gales. 50—60mph gusts. rain pushing in here in england and wales, a much better day than monday with the clouds breaking up, plenty of sunshine developing particularly across the south—east, we could make 21—23 degrees. even further north, despite the wind and the showers, pretty pleasant temperatures around the seasonal average. on into wednesday, a bit more of a complicated picture.

a tanlge of weather fronts moving in from the north—west, one of them grinding to a halt across parts of england. wednesday, could see cloud down from the midlands and lincolnshire, into the south—west. some patchy rain on it. to the north and the west, a bit cooler, fresher, sunshine and one of two showers. a pleasant enough day. in the far south—east, after a foggy start, we should see some sunshine there. temperatures 15—18 celsius, pretty average for the time of year orjust above. into thursday, a ridge of high pressure building in. some cool air associated with this. a cold start to thursday, particularly the northern half of the country, a touch of frost. mist and fog patches pretty much anywhere. but because of that ridge of high pressure, it's going to be a fine day. light winds, plenty of sunshine up and down the country. a bit of fair weather cloud further south. most places should stay dry. temperatures ranging from 12, maybe 17 degrees across the south—east. it's a similar sort of picture on into friday, although this weather system begins to push in towards the north—west corner of the country. downhill there, whereas high

pressure holds on across england and wales. a windy day for scotland and northern ireland, showers or longer spells of rain particularly the north and west of scotland. further south, again under the ridge of high pressure, once we lose any mist and fog patches in the morning, and more news is going to be another fine day. plenty of sunshine around. those temperatures range from 12 to maybe 17 degrees. i'm babita sharma with bbc news. our top story: turkish officials have arrived to search the saudi consulate in istanbul where they believe the journalist jamal khashoggi was murdered. president trump is sending his secretary of state to meet the saudi king. he also suggested that ‘rogue killers' could be responsible for the journalist's disappearance. saudi leaders have denied any knowledge of what might have occured. a bbc investigation has revealed the extent of chemical weapon attacks in syria. there have been more than a hundred

over the last five years — most attacks were carried out by president assad's forces. the duke and duchess of sussex — harry and meghan — have begun their 16 day australia tour. the couple were presented with a few gifts after announcing they are expecting a baby in spring next year. and the top story in the uk. two days ahead of a vital eu summit,