welcome to newsday. i'm babita sharma in london. the headlines: despite stinging criticism, and a string of resignations, the british prime minister says she'll see her brexit deal through. i believe with every fibre of my being that the course i have set out is the right one for our country and all our people. mass protests delay the repatriation of rohingya muslims from bangladesh to myanmar. i'm rico hizon in singapore. also in the programme: president trump is to travel to california to meet victims of the wildfires that have killed at least 59 people. and genocide verdicts against two former leaders of cambodia's khmer are due to be delivered shortly. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. welcome to newsday.

it's 8am in singapore and 1am here in london, where it's been a day of brexit turbulence and it shows no sign of ending anytime soon. the british prime minister theresa may has insisted she is determined to carry on with her plan to take britain out of the european union. but some within her own party don't sign up to it. there have been seven resignations so far and it's not clear yet whether it's done enough to quell rumours of a leadership contest. our political editor laura kunessberg begins our coverage from westminster. there seems to be a certain interest in today's proceedings. on exactly the spot where theresa may took on the job of prime minister... jeering ..the march of the brexiteers trying to walk her to the exit. what we need is a leader who will say to the european union, it is impossible to divide

up the united kingdom, it is impossible to agree to a situation where we have a perpetual customs union. those who still back her, exasperated. stop rocking the boat, stop wrecking, otherwise this will prove a historically disastrous period, notjust for the conservative party and the government, but for the country. hope dashed by this man, the brexit secretary who quit and didn't make the journey to work today. but she is still there, even with resignations and open revolt. can she stay? she'll try. serving in high office is an honour and privilege. it is also a heavy responsibility. that is true at any time, but especially when the stakes are so high. prime minister, is it not the case now that you are in office but you are not really in power? i'm going to do myjob of getting the best deal for britain. i'm going to do myjob

of getting a deal that is in the national interest. when the vote becomes before the house of commons, mps will be doing theirjob, and am i going to see this through? yes. she makes it plain she wants to stay but she may have to go. with colleagues revolting or departing, some are organising to try and shoved her from office. this decision is not theresa may's alone. this could be a gale that sweeps through in a couple of days or a storm that brings a prime minister and her government down. and she can't ignore this. listen to the now departed brexit secretary condemning the deal. dozens and dozens of his colleagues hold this view. i fought very hard to get this deal, a deal that i could in good conscience take to the country and my colleagues. if you look at what's being proposed now, it's not only in my view damaging to the economy, but it's impossible to reconcile to the promises we made at the last election. statement, the prime minister. and beyond departed colleagues, is it realistic to expect theresa may can get her version of brexit through parliament?

i do not pretend that this has been a comfortable process, or that either we or the eu are entirely happy with all of the arrangements that have been included within it. mr speaker, when i first became prime minister in 2016, there was no ready—made blueprint for brexit. many people said it could simply not be done. i've never accepted that. but watch her colleagues, half of them cheering, half of them arms crossed, not knowing where to look. then 57 minutes of bitter complaint after bitter complaint. the government must now withdraw this half baked deal which it clear does not have the backing of the cabinet, this parliament or the country as a whole. but, like it or not, it is in a circus that the government's future will be decided. has it done it again?

in a moment of the absurd, theresa may cracking a joke at a moment of intense crisis. the prime minister at the mercy of others but still in place. that was laura kuenssberg reporting from westminster. let's take a look at how the markets have been reacting. in currencies: the pound remains weak in early trade, after british ministers resigned in protest, as you heard just now. it's rekindled fears of a chaotic departure for britain from the european union in just a few months. investors really want certainty and all they want is a deal rather than no—deal at all. japan for example employs 140,000 people in the uk and has about $60 billion invested there. asian companies operating in the uk to gain access to the eu markets

are now reassessing their strategy. 0verall, asian markets are in positive territory because of the positive territory because of the positive flows from wall street overnight. let's look at some of the day's other news. sri lanka's parliament has descended into chaos with members throwing punches at each other after the speaker declared there was no government. 0ne legislator was hospitalised, and several injured. turmoil began when president maithripala sirisena fired the incumbent prime minister and replaced him with mahinda raja pa ksa. north korean leader kimjong—un has supervised the test of a new high—tech strategic weapon according to the country's state media. it's the first time in a year that kim jong—un has inspected a weapons test site. the korean central news agency described the test as a success but gave no details on the type of weapon. saudi arabia's public prosecutor is seeking the death penalty for five out of the ii suspects

charged in the murder ofjournalist jamal khashoggi. an official told reporters that khashoggi was killed in the country's istanbul consulate by lethal injection and that his body was dismembered and removed from the building. exams in korea are like no other country. 600,000 students sat the national university entrance test, and the entire country got behind them. all flights were grounded for an hour to avoid distracting aeroplane noise. businesses and government offices opened late and candidates who got held up could even get a police escort. mass protests by rohingya muslims have stalled their planned repatriation from bangladesh to myanmar.

the government of bangladesh has said they are prepared to begin sending refugees across the border, but they would not force anyone to go. the bbc‘s yogita limaye reports from cox's bazar. there was chaos in the camps. "we don't want to go back," shouted thousands of rohingya refugees. it was a response to an announcement by the bangladeshi government. "arrangements were in place," they said, "if anyone wanted to return to myanmar." the answer was clear. translation: they shot and killed my parents and set my house on fire! until we getjustice, we won't go. translation: they are trying to convince us to go there, but, if we do, we'll be slaughtered. over the past week, this camp has been rife with rumours, with hushed conversations,

about the list of people who might be asked to return to myanmar, about who will be asked to go. today those voices have grown louder, and they've come out here very emphatically saying they don't want to return. since repatriation plans were announced, fear has been growing in the camps. 60—year—old del mohammed was so scared he tried to kill himself. a landlord in myanmar, he now lives in a small hut. two of his nephews were shot dead but he managed to escape with his wife and sons. translation: all the memories of how they tortured us came back to me. they killed our people and threw children in the fire. they even burnt down our homes. on my way here, i saw so many horrific things. i'm so worried. like him, hundreds of thousands of rohingya muslims fled violence

in myanmar last year and have been living in these camps in bangladesh since then. two months ago, the countries agreed on a plan to start repatriating refugees. the un says it's too soon. we think that, at this point now, the situation is not conducive for the return of the rohingya to myanmar. the bangladeshi government has said it won't force anyone to return. what if you don't find anyone who is willing to go? we will follow the principle of voluntary repatriation. thank you. it's unclear if the government will try to convince people here again but it's unlikely to succeed any time soon. the judges at the khmer rouge tribunal in cambodia are about to deliver a verdict on the genocide charges against the two leaders of khmer rouge, nuon chea and khieu samphan. they are accused of carrying out a policy of targeting and eliminating two ethnic minorities in the country. earlier i spoke tojonathan head in bangkok about whether these are likely to be the last ever verdicts against them. yes, they are, the end of a very

long process that has lasted well over a decade of hearings, and much longer than that, if you think about the first negotiations to hold this international tribunal. these two leaders have already been convicted and sentenced to prison for life for crimes against humanity. that's related to the mass deaths and killings of cambodians under the extreme rule of the khmer rouge. this is a far more specific charge of genocide, and it doesn't relate to the killings of cambodians because of the definition of genocide, it relates to specific minorities, including the vietnamese community. the khmer rouge was notably anti—vietnamese. in many ways, it will be a slightly anticlimactic verdict, whichever way it goes. these two men are the only senior khmer rouge leaders to have been convicted. two others who were charged died

before they were able to get to the verdict. so in a way this is just charges being piled on people who have already been sentenced to prison for life. but it is a moment, once these verdicts are in, for everyone to reflect on the value of these international hybrid tribunals, and on whether in fact any kind ofjustice has been served in looking into the atrocities under the khmer rouge. briefly, nearly $300 million has been spent in these trials, and only three convictions. have they really been worth it? that's a question, i think, that is currently being debated, and will continue to be debated for a long time. this has been in many ways an unsatisfactory process. it's a hybrid system where cambodia ultimately has a veto, and the current leadership has restricted the legal processes to just a few senior leaders. on the other hand, the immense amount of documentation

of what happened is a very valuable and important historical record for those who suffered so much under the khmer rouge and future generations, and i suspect for some of those who did suffer really badly, there has been some form of closure, albeit a very incomplete one. and will this end the book? is this the end of the chapter of the khmer rouge? well, it is, really. it's so many years ago now, younger cambodians don't have any experience of that. it's not talked about much in cambodia. there are very different political challenges today, but the fact that record exists, and usually, in a part of the world, southeast asia, where history is often not well documented or remembered, at least for those who care about what happened under the khmer rouge, the record is now there. jonathan head reporting. the director of the us emergency agency says that paradise, the town in california ravaged by wildfires, will take years to rebuild.

he described the destruction as "one of the worst disasters" he had ever seen. so far, 59 people have died and 130 more are still missing. our correspondent dan johnson has more. these are the teams that must answer the painful questions that hang in this acrid air. where is my family member? what happened to my loved one? how many more people are dead? team five starting search on location. house after house, street after street, the ashes of this community are slowly revealing the lives once lived here. this work is difficult and the conditions can be dangerous and the scale of the task is almost impossible to comprehend. more than 10,000 properties ruined, and more than 100 people still missing. there is no good news here, no positive outcome. only another name to add to the list of lives lost. they sift through the rubble with respect. and they are trying

to preserve some dignity. they're special people. i don't think humans are intended to see this stuff to be honest with you. but i think everybody that does this, they come in with the intent of trying to provide closure to the families. because right now they are missing. so there's still more for them to do, and as they look further, it only gets worse. danjohnson, bbc news, paradise. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. china has some of the tightest controls on information in the world — so why are its authorities so worried about fake news? also on the programme. rico gets a schooling from singapore's gold medal—winning swimmer. benazir bhutto has claimed victory

in pakistan's general election. she has asked pakistan's president to name her as prime minister. jackson's been released on bail of $3 million after turning himself into police in santa barbara. it was the biggest demonstration so far of the fast—growing european antinuclear movement. the south african government has announced that it's opening the country's remaining whites only beaches to people of all races. this will lead to a black majority government in this country and the destruction of the white civilisation. part of the centuries—old windsor castle, one of the queen's residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds worth of damage. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. despite stinging criticism — and a string of ministerial resignations — the british prime minister has promised to see her brexit deal through. president donald trump will travel to california on saturday to meet with victims of the wildfires that have killed at least 59 people. the us food and drug administration is to ban the sale of flavoured e—cigarettes in traditional retail outlets. the fda commissioner says he's taking action because of a 78% rise in the number of high school students using e—cigarettes over the past year. more on that story at bbc.com. let's take a look at some front

pages from around the world, and no surprises it's awash with brexit headlines. look at how the new york times has summed it up with this headline: brexit deal has arrived, hello chaos. the opinion piece says the next few weeks will be an exercise in brinkmanship. the financial times is also leading with brexit. it's reporting on the eurosceptics calling for a no—confidence vote, and the drop in the sterling, while theresa may remains defiant. and a change of pace with the international edition of the japan times, which says 12 flights operated by japan airlines were delayed over the past 15 months because pilots failed to pass alcohol tests. all this week on bbc world news, we've been looking at how the issue

of fake news is affecting countries around the globe. in china, the state exercises great control over the media — but the government there is still concerned that false information is being spread. some say, they're using the problem as an excuse to increase censorship. professor maria repnikova is a specialist in chinese media at georgia state university in atlanta. i asked her whether china is doing the right thing to fight fake news and misinformation. china is taking a lot more steps than any other country in the world to fight fake news, which includes restrictive legislation, large scale campaigns, and investigations of social media companies. however, the result been somewhat ambivalent, with fake news continuing to rise. so, if you look at the results and effectiveness of these campaigns, it's not clear whether china has managed to battle

fake news entirely. so you're saying that fake news is still on the rise, despite all of these measures being implemented by the government. what should they do, then, to be able to battle and combat fake news? so, fake news, in any country, but especially in china, is rooted in deeper societal issues, including social insecurity. so people are concerned with the pollution crisis, all sorts of societal issues of the day. that is what they are speculating about online. the best thing the government can do is be transparent about these hard social issues, to inform the public and respond to their concerns. but also, arguably, the rumour spreading is part of self—expression. people want to express their opinions and ideas. so, further crackdown and more censorship doesn't result in less disinformation. so it means, then, it would be difficult for the major western social media platforms to get into china? well, western social media platforms have had a hard time getting into china for quite sometime, but i think there are many political reasons attached to that, including the protection of local

social media giants. fake news expert maria repnikova. back to our top story now and one of the biggest disputes of brexit has been the future of the border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland — which would be uk's only land border with the eu after brexit. it's a dispute that's resonated both north and south of the border, as our ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. who is scoring here? it was a goalless draw as northern ireland took on the irish republic in dublin tonight. but theresa may has been trying to present the draft brexit deal as a win for both sides. it is not really dublin's problem so yeah, they could sit and watch it all unfold in westminster. the best case scenario for northern ireland would be the hong kong of the uk, a place to do business if you want to do business with europe easily, but at the same time without feeling like you have difficulties actually

within the united kingdom. the brexit deal could keep northern ireland more closely tied to eu rules so trade can flow freely between the north and south of this island. some northern ireland businesses believe that is a benefit. from first impressions we thought it was business friendly. we welcomed the fact that we had open access to but the gb and the europe markets. one of theresa may's closest allies came to rally support for plan. when people actually sit down and go through the detail and it is incredibly technical detail and base the safeguards that have been put in place and see the way that the people of northern ireland have been put at the heart of this, they will see this is the right deal for the united kingdom. but she is not cheering, the dup leader arlene foster believes the draft deal severs the united kingdom itself. and the decision to sign off on the irish backstop has led to a political crisis at westminster. today player after player in theresa may's team have been quitting their positions. many saying it's those arrangements for the irish border that they can no longer support.

it is a relationship between these two sides that is continuing to define brexit. emma vardy, bbc news. many of you will have heard ofjoseph schooling, who won singapore's first—ever olympic medal in swimming in 2016 — beating his childhood idol michael phelps. he's about to compete in the world championships in singapore, but managed to squeeze in time to talk to me at the pool. i'm here withjoseph schooling, one of the fastest swimmers in the world, and, you know what, we will be finding out if he can

answer questions as fast as he can swim. ready, set, go. your favourite pre—competition song. what are your goals for the tokyo olympics? best times. your favourite movie of all time? ghosts of girlfriendspast. char siu or texas barbecue? texas barbecue. how many hours per day do you train? five hours per day. what is your guilty pleasure? local food that i shouldn't be having because it makes me fat. favourite junk food you are not allowed to have? mcdonald's. will you go into politics? never say never, maybe. what do you hate about training? jumping in the cold pool early in the morning. singapore or texas? singapore. so wait... did he meet the time? one minute and five seconds. i'm sorry, i'm sorry, joseph. you'll have to jump into the pool.

i will have to take you with me. oh, my goodness. oh, no! i love the fact that you have time to ta ke i love the fact that you have time to take your glasses off. i love the fact that you have time to take your glasses offlj i love the fact that you have time to take your glasses off. i can't believe it. joseph jumped into to take your glasses off. i can't believe it. josephjumped into the pool believe it. josephjumped into the pool, i won, believe it. josephjumped into the pool, iwon, i caught believe it. josephjumped into the pool, i won, i caught him.|j believe it. josephjumped into the pool, iwon, i caught him. i didn't see a lot of swimming in that, i have to say. well done. stay with us. we will be looking at how the markets are reacting to the brexit developments on asia business report. we will take a look at the markets and how they are reacting to brexit. that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. hello, there.

we started this week with some drenching downpours. we end the week on a much quieter note. albeit quite a murky one. some cloud, some mist and fog to start friday. i'm hopeful that things will brighten up a little bit later on. but sunshine amounts will vary, depending on where you are. most of us starting off grey and murky with some mist and hill fog. but, as we go on through the day, that cloud will tend to break up. northern scotland should see some sunshine even in the morning. and then, into the afternoon, a few other places willjoin in, mostly where you get a bit of shelter from high ground in the south, north cornwall, north devon, western and northern wales, a decent chance of seeing a little sunshine. elsewhere, the cloud should thin and break a little bit to reveal some brightness. temperatures generally around 13 or 1a degrees. northern ireland, perhaps cumbria, the northern half of scotland, these areas likely to see some spells of sunshine with those temperatures again up to 13 or 1a degrees. but, as we go through friday night, most places will turn quite cloudy, the cloud lowering down onto the hills. it will be quite murky, some patches of mist. as a consequence, not a cold night, minimum temperatures between six to 12 degrees. a mild start to saturday morning. quite grey as well. some changes to come. high—pressure sitting here across the near continent.

the winds around high pressure flow in a clockwise direction, and that's going to start to bring us more of a south—easterly flow. we'll tap into some dry air and so this cloud is going to retreat. we're going to peel it back from the map and will see increasing amounts of sunshine. after that grey start, things should tend to brighten up. by saturday afternoon, most of us should have blue skies overhead. those temperatures, 10, 11, 12 degrees, won't feel too bad, although it will be quite breezy. for sunday, quite a cold start, actually. a touch of frost around, then a lot of sunshine to take us through the day. still quite breezy and not especially warm. temperatures around 9—12 degrees. those temperatures are only going to head in one direction as we head to the start of next week, and that is downwards. we're going to start to import some much colder air from the near continent, and so temperatures are going to take a tumble. at the same time, we are going to bring in more in the way of cloud. so, largely grey skies as we go into monday and tuesday. it will still be quite breezy, and temperatures for many stuck in single digits. you're watching bbc news. i'm babita sharma.

our top story: after several high—profile resignations, the british prime minister has appealed to her party to get behind her brexit deal. theresa may had been forced to defend her plan following a day of stinging criticism inside and outside parliament, including from the man who set up the deal, the brexit secretary, dominic raab. a planned repatriation of rohingya muslims from bangladesh to myanmar has been delayed after a mass protest. more than 700,000 rohingyas fled myanmar last year to escape violence and military operations which targeted them. and brexit is trending on bbc.com. and this story is trending on bbc.com. one of the greatest works by the british painter, david hockney, has set a new record at the new york auction house, christie's. portrait of an artist — pool with two figures fetched $80 million. you are up—to—date. stay with us. and here in the uk: nhs england is reviewing cancer screening programmes