i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: this is newsday. president trump's former lawyer michael cohen pleads guilty to lying to congress over mr trump's business interests in russia. he's a weak person, and what he's trying to do is get a reduced sentence. so he's lying about a project that everybody knew about. as president xijinping arrives for the 620 summit in argentina, can china and the us thrash out their differences over trade? i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: in the philippines, three police officers are jailed over a drug war killing that caused national outrage. and we'll find out if holidays without any homework are actually better for children. live from our studios in london and singapore. this is bbc world news.

it's newsday. good morning. glad you could join us. it's 9am in singapore, 1am in london and 8pm in washington, which is reeling from another dramatic development in the investigation about whether president trump's 2016 election campaign colluded with russia. michael cohen, mr trump's former personal lawyer, has pleaded guilty to misleading a congressional inquiry. he's admitted making false statements about a project to build a trump organization skyscraper in moscow. he said he lied out of loyalty to the president. mr trump has responded by calling michael cohen a very weak man who was lying to get a reduced sentence. our north america correspondent, nick bryant, reports. michael cohen was donald trump's mr fix—it — a centralfigure in

the billionaire‘s business empire. but the lawyer who used to make mr trump's problems go away now potentially poses a huge problem himself for the president. mr cohen has cooperated. mr cohen will continue to co—operate. sentencing is set for december 12. but the fast—talking new york attorney remained tight—lipped outside court. those words from his lawyer are a startling new development. it means he's sharing information with the russian collusion investigation. up until now, michael cohen has been prosecuted by investigators based here in new york. but what makes this so significant is that it's the first time he's been charged by and entered into a plea agreement with robert mueller, the special counsel looking into allegations of collusion between the trump presidential campaign and the kremlin. inside court, he pleaded guilty to making false statements to congress about a real estate project that would have altered

the skyline of moscow — a proposed trump tower in the russian capital. talks about the project had continued well into 2016, he admitted, the year of the presidential election. donald trump had been more extensively involved. he'd also been in contact about the project with a key figure in the kremlin — the spokesman for vladimir putin. speaking in court, cohen said he'd made these misstatements out of loyalty to a figure described as "individual 1". "individual 1" is president donald trump, who today trashed his former right—hand man. he's a weak person, and what he's trying to do is get a reduced sentence. so he's lying about a project that everybody knew about. i mean, we were very open with it. last week, donald trump provided a series of written answers to robert mueller. and the president's legal team said tonight his responses about building a trump tower in moscow lined up with what michael cohen said in court. the president has intensified his

attacks on robert mueller — "a rogue prosecutor", he says, "leading a mccarthy—style witch—hunt." individual but one thing mr trump might ponder on the long—haul flight to the g20 summit in argentina is how today's legal developments have made it much more difficult to fire him. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. ajapanese pilot has been jailed for being around nine times over the legal alcohol limit when about to fly a passenger jet at heathrow. the court heard that katsutoshi jitsukawa was stopped by security staff last month in the cockpit of the japan airlines flight to tokyo. he was sentenced to ten months in prison. laura westbrook has more from the court in west london. mrjitsukawa appeared via video link in court today and did not speak when a sentence of ten months was read out loud. last month, he had been due

to co—pilot a flight from heathrow to tokyo, when a security manager thought he smelled alcohol on his breath. mrjitsukawa made it into the cockpit before he was removed, and police said that he appeared nervous and his eyes were glazed. he failed a breathalyser test, and later a blood test showed that he was more than nine times over the legal limit for a pilot. when judge mathews read out his sentence, he said it was this kind of case that undermined the public‘s confidence. laura bessbrook there reporting from outside the court in west london. -- laura —— laura westbrook. also making news today: an imprisoned murderer is being investigated after confessing to 90 killings across four decades in the us. samuel little is currently serving life in prison after being sentenced in 2014 for the murders of three women. the fbi believe the 78—year—old may be among the most prolific serial killers in us criminal history. south korea's highest court has ruled that a second japanese company must pay compensation to koreans employed as forced labour

during the second world war. mitsubishi heavy industries was ordered to pay more than $70,000 apiece to 28 victims, including five women. the japanese foreign minister called the ruling unacceptable. laura bicker has more from seoul. there were around 150,000 koreans taken from here and brought to japan as part of this war effort. now, the cases were brought forward, the first one came about last month and it was two japanese firms who argued that actually these cases should not be brought to court because of the 1965 treaty which normalised ties between seoul and tokyo. however, the court here in seoul ruled that the japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945 was illegal, and that means that these workers

are entitled to compensation. the world health organization has warned of a global resurgence of measles. an estimated 110,000 deaths last year were linked to the highly contagious disease. it blames a lower uptake of childhood immunisation caused by failing health services in some countries, and unfounded fears of vaccination. it's going to be one of the showbiz weddings of the year. bollywood actress priyanka chopra and american singer nickjonas have arrived injodhpur, india. the superstar couple waved and smiled at photographers as they left the airport in the blue city, where they will tie the knot in a series of lavish ceremonies this weekend. china says it hopes the g20 group maintains its opposition to protectionism at the summit in argentina. there've been reports that initial

drafts of the meetings declaration omit all mention of the need to lower trade barriers. the chinese president, xijinping, is expected to meet president trump on the sidelines of the summit to discuss the trade war between their countries. tim willcox is in buenos aires. many world leaders here wanting to know what is going to happen following that discussion, that dinner meeting between president trump and xijinping. will the trade war... will there be a truce declared on that or will that continue? donald trump, a few hours ago, said maybe they were moving closer towards a deal, but did he really want to do a deal anyway because he quite liked things the way they were now. chinese officials we know are wanting to avoid, though, that next raft of tariffs being put on chinese goods, which are due to kick in onjanuary1. tim wilcox in buenos aires.

earlier, i spoke to andrew reeves thompson, a visiting public policy expert at the national university of singapore. i asked him on what to be expected from trump—xi meeting. well, the us and chinese sides have been having discussions in the run—up to this meeting, but so far no details have emerged. it will be up to donald trump and xi jinping as to whether or not they can chart a way ahead. does the american president really wa nt does the american president really want a deal? from this meeting? clearly he does, the question is whether he can get a good deal. the chinese have made offers, they haven't been satisfied. what does president xi bring to the table? surely that's what everyone's looking out for, particularly investors, businesses and of course eve ryo ne investors, businesses and of course everyone is definitely looking forward to this bilateral meeting between the two leaders if a deal will indeed go through. because it's

not only about trade, but there are also other issues that the americans wa nt to also other issues that the americans want to basically discuss with the chinese, particularly intellectual theft, immigration, opioids and north korea. 0h, theft, immigration, opioids and north korea. oh, you see. it's a conference of agenda and every time the us and china sit down they have to talk about the full extent of the relationship and i'm sure taiwan will be raised by president xi as well —— oh, yeah. will be raised by president xi as well -- oh, yeah. is using ping, who has just arrived in well -- oh, yeah. is using ping, who hasjust arrived in buenos well -- oh, yeah. is using ping, who has just arrived in buenos aires, what will he want to discuss with president trump? —— xijingping. what will he want to discuss with president trump? -- xijingping. he will raise concerns about us support for taiwan's security. this is a long—standing conversation and the contours again haven't changed that much, so this is a perfunctory part. the meat of this discussion is going to be about trade. during the asean and east asian summit that took place here in singapore, a lot of discussion about the south china

see. will this be in the crux of discussions between the two leaders? —— south china see. i don't know how much the south trialer c will be involved but bilateral issues need to be addressed. the us forward deployed military presence is very robust. you have active operations going on that concern the chinese, so going on that concern the chinese, so that's a point of discussion, but the us position has been made clear about its intent to continue to fly, sale and operate wherever international law allows. imagine never having to do any homework. well, it might not be such an unimagineable concept. giving students a homework—free holiday in which they can do their own learning can actually make them more confident in their abilities. that's according to a new study released in hong kong. it found the academic performance of pupils was better if they hadn't been given homework over a long break. professor vicky tam from hong kong baptist university is one of the lead author of this study.

we're not asking childrenjust to sit back and relax or play mobile games all day during the holidays, but instead we ask them to do something that is meaningful to them. we let them choose what they'd like to do, and i think that's a very important part of how we'd like to encourage meaningful activities for the holidays. now, anyone with parents knows that if you give a child a choice, they will go for something that potentially will not be nurturing. so how do you encourage them not to go for the videogames or whatever else it is that they like doing, and actually choose something that is academically beneficial? right. i think many parents may be surprised that when children are given choices, i think play is part of what they want, but they can also be aiming for something like playing forfun something that they really like to do, if they get more time to work on it. so i actually work with an ngo, and we have social workers go into the school to help the kids start up a plan about what to do over the holidays.

so you would be surprised by the kind of activities that they chose. it's, like, learning how to play football or learning how to twist balloons through youtube. they are very creative and many of them certainly know what they want to do. when it comes to homework, though, i was speaking with my editor earlier on and he was saying that some schools actually encourage homework because it encourages parents to get involved, and you can keep up—to—date with what your child is doing. is there no... do you not agree that there is some benefit to that formal homework at home? 0h, certainly. i think the chinese people believe in hard working, and i think homework really epitomises everything about hard work. so we're still supporting homework and all the functions it serves, but we're saying wait a minute, do we really want children to do that much homework? can we have some spare time over the holidays so that they can

have a break and focus on nonacademic domains of their development?" thank goodness, kasia, my son loves to do his homework! professor vicki tam from hong kong baptist university speaking to kasia from hong kong. you're watching newdsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: three philippine police officers are found guilty of the murder of a teenager, the first such convictions since president duterte's war on drugs began. also on the programme: how these medical students are learning about human anatomy with the help of a 3d printer. it's quite clear that the worst victims of this disaster are the poor people living in the slums, which have sprung up around the factory. i'm feeling so helpless that the children are dying in front of me and i can't do anything. charles manson is that mystical

leader of the hippy cult suspected of killing sharon tate and at least six other people, in los angeles. at 11am this morning, just half a metre of rock separated britain from continental europe. it took the drills just a few moments to cut through the final obstacle. then philippe cozette, a minerfrom calais was shaking hands and exchanging flags with robert fagg, his opposite numberfrom dover. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: donald trump's former lawyer, michael cohen, has pleaded guilty to lying to congress

about contacts with russia. china's president xijinping has just arrived in argentina for the g20 summit of world leaders. he's due to meet us president trump on the sidelines to try and resolve their trade war. and this in trending online, a british mp has told parliament he is hiv positive. lloyd russell moyle said he wanted to encourage people to get tested ahead of world aids day. bbc.com/news is our website. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the philippine star has a story that we'll be looking at more closely in a moment. three police officers have been found guilty of the murder of a 17—year—old teeenager in 2017. next, the south china morning post, which looks ahead to the meeting

of the us and chinese leaders at the g20 in buenos aires. it calls the encounter "high—stakes" because of the trade war between the two countries, and says that its' unlikely to end with a joint statement. and in thejapan times, south korea's top court has ordered mitsubishi heavy industries limited to compensate koreans it used as forced labour in world war ii. it's going to have to pay $133,000. now kasia, what stories are sparking discussions online? this is proving very popular online, and bob marley would no doubt approve. reggae music has been declared a global treasure. unesco, the cultural agency of the united nations, made the ruling. and representatives from jamaica, where this genre of music originated, were visibly thrilled. reggae was born in the poor

neighbourhoods of kingston in the 1960s. it reflected hard times and struggle, but could also be joyous. it spread across the world with its calls for social justice, peace and love. three police officers in the philippines have been found guilty of the murder of a seventeen—year—old student during an anti—drug operation in manila last year. it's the first conviction for an extra—judicial killing carried out as part of president rodrigo duterte's controversial war on drugs. howard johnson has the details from manila. this was a controversial case because the night when 17—year—old highschool student, kian delos santos, was killed, police officers said he fought back and shot at them during a drug operation, so that they fired back and killed him in self defence. but eyewitnesses and cctv footage said otherwise. they said that he had been dragged across a basketball court,

taken to an alleyway, where he was given a gun, told to fire it and to run. another eyewitness said he begged for his life before police officers killed him. this story caused outrage in the country mainly because a lot of people could relate to it. kian‘s mother is an overseas worker, an 0fw, an 0verseas filipino worker, she works in saudi arabia, sends money back to the familiy here in the philippines. many people here are in similar situations. they have relatives which are 0fws and president duterte was really elected modelling himself as the father—like figure who would look after 0fws' children while they were overseas. now, today, a cabinet secretary, a department ofjustice secretary has come forward and said that this verdict actually debunks the myth that there is a culture of impunity in his country. but human rights watch have come out today and said that this is just one case, that there are thousands

of drug war killings that still need to be investigated by an independent commissions and that they look forward to the international criminal court going through its preliminary examination of this drug war to see if there are indeed crimes against humanity cause by president rodrigo duterte and this war on drugs. earlier i spoke jan carlo punongbayan from the university of the philippines, who has written a column on duterte's war on drugs. i aksed him if the campaign is causing social problems. well, it is a very welcome development actually, a breath of fresh air amid president duterte's drug war, which for the past 28 months has infact been unchallenged by the courts. but we have to remember that the conviction isjust for the killing of kian, who is but one of the minors who have been killed in the course of the drug war. for example, we have two pending cases involving two other teenagers who were killed shortly after kian.

one group actually estimated that around more than 7o minors have been killed in total... this verdict is indeed very monumental but could this decision at least dent the war on drugs policy of president duterte? president duterte is very popular and, in fact, some people have observed that in the past two years or so such popularity has not been dented but many are hopeful that with the conviction yesterday this might change and, in fact, we are coming into middle elections next year and this could very well be one of the key election issues that will come up. a if you were to advise president right now about his war on drugs

policy, what should be his next step? what should he do with the conviction of these three policemen? actually, we have to go back to the basics and ask whether drug wars actually work... does it work? the international evidence and the academic studies has shown repeatedly that drug wars do not work. in many other countries they have focussed on demand site intervention rather than supply set intervention so at its core, president duterte's drug war is inherently unwinnable and many people are clamouring for it to stop. to the aries, where a force one has landed and we are just waiting the president of the united states and first lady to make their arrival. they have had a 10—hour flight from the united states sport about

michael dell and before he boarded therefore —— boarded air force one. —— michael cohen. they will spend 2a hours in buenos aires before the g20 summitand we hours in buenos aires before the g20 summit and we have heard how the sta kes a re summit and we have heard how the stakes are high at this week ‘s summit. we are expecting president trump to meet xi jinping summit. we are expecting president trump to meet xijinping and real hopes that the meetings on the sideline of this summit could have a resolution in the deal in trades between the two countries which have been undermined by threats by the us president. the first lady and the president. the first lady and the president had that 10—hour flight, president. the first lady and the president had that 10—hourflight, a little fa ct president had that 10—hourflight, a little fact for you, they were tweeting from the flight. if any of you follow the president or the first lady on twitter, they were tweeting from the flight and they will be spending around 48 hours in buenos aires for the g20 summit and a crucial meeting with president xi

jinping. 0nly days before the summit in argentina, the president said that the current tariff levels on chinese imports of would rise as planned. this stage an escalation of the trade war between the two nations. and absolutely crucial track meeting due to take place on the sidelines. here on bbc world news we will bring you every single than that and any outcomes from it. we heard the president speakjust before he boarded air force one, about ten hours ago, he spoke about his former lawyer, michael cohen, who has pleaded guilty to lying to congress about donald trump was that is this meeting interest in russia. the president and first lady making their descent from air force one.

there had been a meeting planned from the president following meetings taking place in ukraine, that meeting has now been cancelled. we now expect a crucial, high—stakes meeting with china's president xi jinping. have had a 10—hourflight, tweaking on the flight. —— tweaking. —— tweeting. they have a busy 2a hours ahead of them in argentina, lots of different meetings set up. that all important meetings set up. that all important meeting with xijinping. china saying it hopes this g20 group maintains its opposition to protectionism at the summit in argentina. live pictures from buenos aires, you have been watching newsday. the president and first lady arriving for the g20 summit.

hello there. yesterday was a really dramatic day of large and crashing waves and some very strong gusts of wind. the top gust was recorded on the western edge of the isle of wight, at the needles — a gust of 82 miles an hour recorded here. 72 in plymouth, 72 as well in capel curig, in conwy in north—west wales. there were a number of sites that got into the 60s too. the area of low pressure that brought those strong winds was this one just heading to the western side of norway at the moment. the main parent low was still to the north—west of scotland and that is what is continuing to bring these strong winds. at the moment we are seeing a number of heavy showers flowing in to the western side of scotland and it will stay very windy here.

eindy too for northern ireland, north—west england, even further south. the winds are noticeably brisk, although continuing to gradually ease down. there's s till some showers coming in to southern wales and southern counties of england. not entirely dry but, if you're heading outside over the next hour or two, it's not particularly cold. temperatures between 4 and 7 degrees for many of us. those strong winds will continue to push in across scotland, particularly the northern isles, actually, where i think we could gussts as strong as 50—60 miles per hour, perhaps even a touch stronger than that in the northern isles, for a time. band of rain pushes through here, followed by plenty of showers. so that's how things will start off, with those brisk winds continuing to blow the showers in for much of the day. good news though, with those strong winds is the downpours do not last too long, they move across the sky pretty quickly, with some brighter spells interspersed. showers continuing for wales, north—west england. still a few across southern counties of england, although these will probably get a bit rarer as we head into the afternoon, the weather becoming a bit drier. mild for most. temperatures reaching a high of 12 degrees towards the south. and then we'll take a look on into

the all—important weekend forecast. we're looking at this next area of low pressure bringing another bout of rain across england and wales. that rain is going to be very slow to clear its way eastwards. across east anglia, south—east england, it will be raining for much of the day. the rain quite slow to ease up as well, across northern counties of england, once its set in here. further north, for scotland and northern ireland, there will be some sunshine around but we are into the cooler air here. temperatures between 6 and 8 degrees celsius. still pretty mild though further south reaching a high of around 13 degrees. more rain in the forecast for sunday. clearing away quickly across eastern areas with some sunshine following. it will be very windy. uncertainty at how far north this band of rain will reach. could push well into scotland as we head into sunday so there could be some rain around at times. temperatures on the mild side, looking at highs of around 111—15 degrees. that's your latest weather. bye for now. i'm rico hizon with bbc news. i'm kasia madera with bbc world news. our top story: president trump's former lawyer michael cohen pleads guilty to lying to congress over mr trump's business interests in russia. michael cohen admitted making false

state m e nts michael cohen admitted making false statements about a project to build a trump organisation skyscraper in moscow. president trump and his chinese counterpart are in argentina for the g20 summit. the world is watching to see if they can thrash out their differences over trade. and this video is trending on bbc.com. a british politician reveals he has been hiv positive for 10 years in an emotional address in parliament. lloyd russell moyle said he wanted to encourage people to get tested ahead of world aids date. —— world aids day. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: in shropshire, the head of a much—criticised nhs trust resists calls to resign.