i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: trouble for chinese tech giant huawei. its chief financial officer is arrested in canada and faces extradition to the us. a state funeral in washington for former president george bush sr. he is remembered as a patriot, a statesman, and a loving father. he valued character of the pedigree, and he was nursing. he looked for the good in each person, and he usually found at —— character over pedigree. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: mixed messages over the trade deal struck between the us and china, but the truce still stands for now. and second wind for an ancient tradition, as miniature wooden boats set sail from singapore once again. good morning.

it is 8:00am in singapore, midnight in london and ii:00pm in vancouver, where canadian authorities have arrested huawei's global chief financial officer. meng wanzhou is facing extradition to the united states on suspicion she violated us sanctions against iran. huawei said it was not aware of any wrongdoing by ms meng. our technology correspondent dave lee is in san francisco. dave, what more do we know about the arrest of meng wanzhou? yes, well, we know ms meng was arrested on sunday, on december one, there is going to be a hearing on friday in canada, and that will potentially see ms meng extradited to the us. we

understand she faces charges that she violated sanctions, us sanctions with iran. we have known for some time that the us department of justice has been looking into huawei and its activities in relation to iran, but we haven't had any more detail about anything that they potentially may have found, although i think that is potentially going to become more clear at that hearing on friday. huawei saying they have had very little information. they have said as faras very little information. they have said as far as they are aware, ms meng hasn't done any kind of wrongdoing, and it added in a statement earlier that it complies with all sanctions in the markets that it operates. but this move, of course, is going to heighten tensions between the us and china, because the cfo of huawei, ms meng, is one of the biggest figures in china. so it will be interesting to see the fallout this creates. indeed, this could increase tensions

between the united states and china, just as the two countries appear to have reached a trade truce. yes, indeed, something of a truce on that, although i think there is an interesting precedent here to look at, particularly when it comes to this issue of iran. in 2017 another chinese technology company, zte, not quite as big as huawei but influential all the same, zte was fined 1.2 billion dollars by the us for breaking trade sanctions with iran and north korea. zte acknowledged the fine, said they apologised and that they wouldn't do it again. that is an enormous fine for the company over breaking those sanctions, and i think many people are looking at this situation now, with huawei, and wondering if the same kind of threat could face that company as well. and it has been a bad 2a hours for the chinese technology giant, dave. yes, it has,

absolutely, rico. i mean, this threat of having the accusation at least that it has broken sanctions on this matter, i think, will cause great concern. because of course huawei is a firm that has seen itself not as a chinese technology company but one that wants to have a global impact, not least here in the us. further afield, in global impact, not least here in the us. furtherafield, in different parts of the world, there is scrutiny about its close ties to china's ruling communist party, particularly whether it opens the door to surveillance in some markets. in the uk we have seen a report from the uk's cabinet office, and they said they had only had limited assurances that having huawei so deeply embedded in the telecoms equipment in the uk wasn't a threat to national security. so plenty of scrutiny on this firm. and we will have more on that story later in the programme in asia business report. let's take a look at some of the day's other news: the british parliament has continued to debate the proposed brexit deal. after losing key votes on tuesday, the government of theresa may

published in full the legal advise that they only previously released extracts from. concerns about the security implications of a no—deal brexit were addressed by the home secretary. and unplanned, no deal brexit would mean an immediate and probably indefinite loss of some security capability, which despite our best effo rts capability, which despite our best efforts would likely cause some operational disruption when we leave. and as home secretary, i know which option i would prefer. i've seen first hand how important it is to have a strong security partnership with our european allies, and i've seen the potential dangers that kind of cooperation prevents, and the security and the safety that it ensures. also making news today: the french government is abandoning plans to increase fuel taxes, that prompted violent demonstrations in which four people died. after suspending the measure temporarily, the prime minister has announced that it will be dropped altogether from legislation in next year's budget.

he says the government is ready for dialogue. in his first broadcast interview, the british academic who was jailed in the united arab emirates for spying has told the bbc he contemplated suicide while suffering psychological torture during his detention. matthew hedges says he was forced to sign a confession under duress. he was given a life sentence, but was later pardoned, and returned to the uk last week. there was no light. i wasn't allowed to do anything to try and distract myself. you couldn't listen to a radio, or anything of that sort? not until i had started the court case, and my mental health had deteriorated quite substantially. then, i was allowed some form of distraction. where you shackled at all? yes, i was. i — whenever i had to go to the bathroom, or to,

on occasion, use the shower, i would be escorted by four guards and i would wear ankle cuffs. did you feel you are being tortured? psychologically, correct. now, we have seen pictures of dogs running onto a football pitch before, but this one was actually better than the goalkeeper. take a look. this was an argentine third—division game in cordoba. the keeper lost possession of the ball on the edge of his area, but the dog came to his rescue with a goal—line clearance. a trade truce with the us and china is still, holding despite a barrage of mixed messages. chinese officials say they are confident in implementing trade commitments made to the us as soon as possible. but on wednesday, china accused the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, of going against the spirit of the meeting by calling beijing a bad actor. our business correspondent michelle fleury has this assessment: all of these sort of mixed signals,

you've got donald trump tweeting that he was a tariff man, that if a deal can be reached in tariffs would come back in. so all of this sense mixed messages, the investors took fright, and it is really only now that we are hearing from the chinese leaders and sort of government talking today, saying that they are moving to implement things from this, and they are confident a deal can be reached. donald trump tweeted also, basically expressing his confidence in the process. so clearly they are trying to get things back on track. the markets are closed today, we will have to wait until tomorrow to see if they have done a good enoughjob. world leaders including president trump and four of his predecessors have paid their respects at the state funeral of the late president george hw bush sr, who served as the 41st president of the united states. he died last week at the age of 94, and will buried in his home state of texas on thursday. the congregation at the national cathedral in washington heard tributes to his sense of duty and public service.

our north america editor jon sopel reports. a nation prepares to bid farewell to the last of the greatest generation, those political leaders who had fought in the second world war, and then served their country with distinction. the extended bush family looked on as his flag—draped coffin was moved to the national cathedral. among the mourners — prince charles, representing the queen, and sirjohn major, prime minister during the first gulf war and close friend of george hw bush. the german chancellor, angela merkel, had come, ever grateful for the role that president bush had played in the reunification of her country. and, in the front pew, all the living former us presidents were there. and of course, the serving president, donald trump,

too, who until george hw bush's death had been so disdainful of the bush family. but, on this day of national mourning, it was also a rare day of national unity for a divided country. unity there may have been, warmth there wasn't, the body language as chilly as the december day outside. the eulogy was delivered by his son, the former president george w bush. it was pitch—perfect, mixing humour and pathos. i said, "dad, i love you, and you've been a wonderful father". and the last words he would ever say on earth were, "i love you, too". to us, he was close to perfect. but not totally perfect. his short game was lousy. chuckles. he wasn't exactly fred astaire on the dance floor. the man couldn't stomach vegetables. chuckles. especially broccoli. and, by the way, he passed these

genetic defects along to us. and finally, an emotional farewell from a son to his father. so, through our tears, let us know the blessings of knowing and loving you, a great and noble man, the best father a son or daughter could have. and in our grief, let us smile, knowing that dad is hugging robin and holding mum's hand again. as president, george hw bush had said he wanted to see a kinder, gentler nation, something not at the forefront in 2018. the end of an era indeed. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. australian police have arrested the husband of a woman whose disappearance more than 30 years ago has been the subject of a popular crime podcast. police say chris dawson will be charged with the murder of lynette dawson.

she went missing in sydney in 1982 and her body has never been found. a podcast called "the teacher's pet" brought global attention to the case this year. earlier i spoke to hywel griffith in sydney about the latest developments, and what new evidence police may have. they say they are extremely confident. they say they have been working on this case, again, for the last three years. as you said, so much more attention has come in 2018 thanks to that pod casts, which has been downloaded more than 70 million times around the world. now, if you are not familiar with the history of the case, lynette dawson disappeared in1982, the case, lynette dawson disappeared in 1982, left no trace at all, left behind two young children and her husband, chris dawson. the very next day his teenage lover moved into the house, so suspicion has always hung over him. two different inquest into her disappearance and death concluded that she had been murdered and cited chris dawson as the person

of interest. he has always denied any involvement in her death, saying she walked out, she left the family, abandoned them. now he, a 70—year—old man, yesterday was arrested. he has been extradited and has actually in the last hour landed here in sydney, where he will go before the court this afternoon. and this case has really gripped the australian public, didn't it? yes, absolutely, this genre of true life crime tv and pod cast. some argue it is more of a hindrance than a help to the police forces. certainly what it has done in this case, we understand, is bring forward new witnesses. now, we don't know yet, we may learn more during the court appearances, who those witnesses are, whether potentially they would have included the woman who was the teenage lover of chris dawson at the time, whether she said anything more to the police that may have convinced them and the prosecutors that there is a case here for chris

dawson to answer to. for his part, his family have released a statement saying that they are certain that he is not guilty, there is no evidence that he murdered lynette dawson, and in fact they claimed there was evidence that she was alive for a long time after leaving the family home. it will be an intriguing case, if and when it finally comes to trial, but the first step will be his court appearance and charging later on, well, in the next few hours. it has taken 30 years before all of this has been uncovered. yes, indeed. i mean, there were as i said two separate inquests. and it is the case that over the decades they have been revisited here in australia. one of the difficulties of course for the police is how much time has passed, and the fact there is nobody. lynette dawson disappeared without trace. there was a dig just couple of months ago at their former home up in the northern beaches, and they actually dug beneath the swimming pool. now, that got a lot of attention, but there was no trace of attention, but there was no trace of her there either. so the fact that so many years have passed has made it difficult for the police, but they have said that they are

confident that there is a case here, they are confident that they have got their man. we will have to see 110w got their man. we will have to see now whether it proceeds through the courts. for his part, the defence saying it will be very hard for him to have a fair trial considering how much global attention there has been on this case. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: is the world ready to relax about marijuana ? a major un cannabis conference gets underway in vienna. also on the programme: it is an old tradition that has been delighting malays for centuries — the miniature wooden sailboats known as jongs, that are used for racing. 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 am feeling so helpless that the children are dying

in front of me and i can't do anything. charles manson is the mystical leader of the hippie 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 number from dover. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon, in singapore. i'm babita sharma, in london. our top stories:

the chief financial officer of chinese tech giant huawei is arrested in canada and facing extradition to the us. there are unconfirmed reports the arrest of meng wanzhou is related to violation of us sanctions. a state funeral has been held in washington for former president george bush senior who was remembered as a patriot, a statesman and a loving father. a major cannabis conference is under way in vienna as the un undertakes its first ever review of marijuana's status under international law. industry leaders say international regulations are now outdated as more countries around the world relax their cannabis policies. two months ago canada made history by becoming the first industrialised nation to legalise recreational marijuana. and on thursday, new zealand is expected to pass new legislation that'll make it easier to grow and export medicinal cannabis. earlier, i spoke with

representatives from the industry in both canada and new zealand. from toronto, vijay sappani who has a start up business. and manu caddie, the founder of the first new zealand company to get a government licence to cultivate medicinal cannabis plants. we are creating jobs in part the country which has high unemployment and there is a skill base in growing the plants. we are supplying variety to the rest of the country. we are delighted to offer realjobs in a legal industry. still a few loopholes to go through in new zealand. we will find out if legislation will be passed to make it easierfor patients legislation will be passed to make it easier for patients to access cannabis. how significant will it be if it goes through? it is huge. it

creates an opportunity for commercial production. up to now we have only had research and development. potentially new zealand has a great brand internationally and we are confident we will be able to deliver to the world as well as domestic patients who are looking for cheaper products. what do you say to the critics that argue that legalising it is one thing but regulating it is distributing it will be difficult in the long—term? the first thing is that legalisation in manyjurisdictions the first thing is that legalisation in many jurisdictions has the first thing is that legalisation in manyjurisdictions has shown that crime has dropped, drug abuse and overdose has dropped. in many jurisdictions, teen use of cannabis has reduced. more than 30 states in the us have legalised that and many more willjoin them. it is a matter

of time for manyjurisdictions around the world, including many in asia, will be legalising it for medical and recreational use. the use of cannabis for recreation and medicinal purposes that there has been an argument that medicinal purposes can alleviate many conditions but for recreational use, it is not deemed as important to have that access? we have a referendum injust have that access? we have a referendum in just over 18 have that access? we have a referendum injust over 18 months for legalisation and we will see the details. at this stage there is support for medical from both sides of parliament. people want to see it happen as quickly as possible for what is turning out to be an important plank in the science. are you concerned that recreational

marijuana might get out of hand? out of hand? i think what we see when it jurisdictions go recreational is that the recent peak and people want access to it but quickly it shifts to medical and see what it can do. pharmaceutical levels and trials because people want a more sophisticated product and they want the science behind it. we will see a shift back again to functional foods and nutritional supplements. the un conference is taking place in vienna. a number of countries still very sceptical about legalising it. you both come from two countries which are on the way to the progress you want to see. what would you say to the countries, for example in south east asia, where you have a

business interest, why they should turnit business interest, why they should turn it around? there are a few reasons. asia in general have been used to alternative medicine. cannabis was not illegal until the imperialists arrived. some of it is traditional, culturalvalues imperialists arrived. some of it is traditional, cultural values and sometimes it is lack of knowledge. tobacco and alcohol cost hundreds of millions of dollars in terms of health issues. cannabis does not create as harmful and affect as alcohol. for centuries the malays in south east asia have been racing miniature wooden sailboats, known locally as jongs. the sport has been dying out in recent years, but some volunteers are determined to keep their tradition alive. it is quite unique records once you

let go of the boat, it willjust sailed by itself. all you have is your knowledge and knowing how to read the environment and the wind in the situation. there are several different types of jongs, at different designs have

evolved. every jong is jongs, at different designs have evolved. everyjong is unique. i named myjong. evolved. everyjong is unique. i named my jong. it evolved. everyjong is unique. i named myjong. it means red ants. do you like red ants? not really but my cousin says it brings good luck. we spent half a day or one fall day under the sun. —— the sun. you have been watching newsday.

i'm babita sharma, in london. and i'm rico hizon, in singapore. a reminder of the breaking news — huawei's chief financial officer is facing extradition to the us on suspicion of violating us sanctions. stay with us, more to come on that developing story. while wednesday brought a mild day

to the southern half of the uk, it remained chilly in scotland. to date we will even out the temperature is a somewhat but with the change we will bring in quite a few showers and a blustery wind to boot. the reason for the change, this area of low pressure from the atlantic. by the end of the night it will already be starting to push mild at further north into scotland. maybe a few icy patches in the far north—east. temperatures to the south in double figures. milder air temperatures to the south in double figures. milderair continuing temperatures to the south in double figures. milder air continuing to work further north as the morning goes on. it will be blustery. underneath the rain is scotland. many areas seeing a pretty wet picture. heavier downpours pushing through the borders. the wet story across northern ireland as well. ahead of that rain, a cloudy picture for middle —— east anglia. sustained

winds were the white arrows are. overall, a blustery date from top to tail across the uk. scotland should see sky is clear with sunshine possible. a milder day than wednesday with double figures. to the south will clouds. very much on the south will clouds. very much on the mild side once again. through thursday evening, most of the rain subsides but then we tip over into the early hours of friday at things start to get very lively once again. overnight thursday in the friday, it sta rts overnight thursday in the friday, it starts to swing in from the atlantic ringing a spell of heavy rain. but thatis ringing a spell of heavy rain. but that is not the biggest problem. the rain will actually clip over very quickly. but scotland, you will have the heavy rain first thing on friday but also some very strong wins—up to

70 miles per hour. in places 80 miles per hour. that will be enough to cause some destruction. across the mountains, you are likely to see some snow. further south, scattered showers in the west, eastern areas and windy but mild and perhaps more in the way of sunshine than on thursday. on to the weekend, and the prospects are offered things to gradually become dry, the winds will start to ease also and change direction. turning chillier by the time we get to next week. you are watching bbc news. our top story: a senior executive of the chinese tech giant huawei has been arrested in canada at the request of the us. the canadian justice department said wanzhou meng would face an extradition hearing on friday after being arrested in vancouver, but gave no details of the charges. a full state funeral has been held in washington for former president

george bush sr, who was remembered as a patriot, a statesman, and a loving father. and trending on bbc.com: an incredible story from brazil marking a breakthrough in fertility treatment. doctors have revealed that, for the first time, a healthy baby girl has been born to a woman using a womb transplanted from a dead donor. the woman who received the transplant gave birth to a baby girl two years ago. that's all. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, it is hardtalk, with stephen sackur.