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's remembered as a patriot, a statesman and a loving father. he valued character over pedigree, and he was no cynic. he looked for the good in each person, and he usually found it. 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 once again. good morning.

it's 9am in singapore, 1am in london and 5pm in vancouver, where the 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 and the chinese embassy issued a statement demanding her immediate release. our technology correspondent, dave lee, told me what's likley to happen next. their is going to be a hearing on friday in canada and that would potentially see meng wanzhou extradited to the us, where it is

understood she faces charges 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 or detail about anything that they potentially may have found. i think that will become more clear at that hearing on friday. huawei saying they have had very little information, they have said that as far as they are aware, meng wanzhou hasn't done any wrongdoing and added ina hasn't done any wrongdoing and added in a statement earlier that it complies with all sanctions in the markets that it operates. this move, of course, will heighten tensions between the us and china, because as cfo of huawei, she is one of the senior business figures in china. will be interesting to see the fallout this creates. this could enhance tensions between the us and china, just as the two countries

appeared to have reached a trade cruise. indeed, something of a truce on that. there is an interesting precedent to look at, particularly when it comes to the issue with iran. in 2017, another chinese technology company, not quite as big as huawei, was fined $1.2 billion by the us for breaking trade sanctions with iran and north korea. they acknowledged the fine, they apologised and said they wouldn't do it again. and enormous fine for the company at the breaking those sanctions and people are looking at situation now with huawei and wondering if the same kind of threat could face that company as well. wondering if the same kind of threat could face that company as wellm has been about 2k hours or the chinese technology giant? —— for. has been about 2k hours or the chinese technology giant? —— fonm has, absolutely. this threat of

having, the accusations at least, that it has broken sanctions on this matter will cause a concern because huawei is a firm that does not see itself as a chinese technology company, but one that wants to have a global influence. further at a field, there are questions and outputs close ties to the communist ruled china, particularly if it opens the door to surveillance. in the uk, we have seen a report from the uk, we have seen a report from the cabinet office and they said they only had limited assurances are that having huawei so deeply embedded in the telecoms equipment in the uk that it wasn't a threat to national security. plenty of this. we will have more on this developing story, interesting to see how the asian markets respond and those technology stocks as well. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. authorities are searching for six us military personnel, after two aircraft collided off the coast of japan.

so far, one marine has been rescued. marine corps officials have confirmed the incident, labelling it a "mishap" during a training exercise. the aircraft had set off from the marine corps air station at iwakuni in the country's south west. also making news today — 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 previous released extracts from. concerns about the security implications of a no—deal brexit were addressed by the home secretary. an unplanned, no—deal brexit would mean an immediate and probably indefinite loss of some security 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 firsthand 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.

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 were being tortured ? psychologically, correct. now, we've seen pictures of dogs running onto a football pitch before, but this one was actually better than the goalkeeper! take a look. this was a 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're "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 then tariffs won't come back in. so all of this sense mixed messages, the investors took fright. and it is really only now that we're hearing from the chinese leaders and sort of government talking today, saying that they're moving to implement things from this, and they're 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 enough job.

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. 0ur 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.

the body of the former president has been flown to texas and this is the scene live in washington. at the church, for the internment today at the library in college station in houston, texas is the big —— texas. you're 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's an old tradition that's been delighting malays for centuries. the miniature wooden sailboats known asjongs 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: 0ur breaking news this hour, the global chief financial officer of chinese tech giant huawei has been arrested in canada and facing extradition to the us. there are unconfirmed reports that the arrest of meng wanzhou, is related to violations of us sanctions. a state funeral has been held in washington forformer president george bush senior, who was remembered as a patriot, a statesman and a loving father. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the international edition of the new york times leads with a report on china's role in the decline of animal populations around the world.

the paper warns that china needs to become a leader in combatting the illegal wildlife trade, or a number of species could face extinction. the south china morning post reports on a controversy in mainland china over disputed exam results. two officials have been fired and two more are under investigation in zhejiang province amid accusations that college entrance exam grades were manipulated. finally, the straits times reports on an autonomous robot being used to patrol hougang metro station in singapore. the 1.6m—tall robot is equipped with seven cameras that give it a 360—degree view of its environment. those are the papers.

now, what stories are sparking discussions online? recoat. .. —— —— recoat... —— —— rico. an incredible story from brazil that marks a breakthrough in fertility treatment. doctors in brazil 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. the operation, detailed in the lancet medicaljournal, was carried out two years ago. 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. vijay sappani has set up a canabis start up business in toronto. and manu caddie is the founder of the first new zealand company to get a government licence to cultivate medicinal cannabis. we know we are creating jobs in a part the country which has high unemployment, and a lot of skill base in growing the plant. we supply the rest of the country variety and it's really great to be able to now offer realjobs in a legal industry. there's still a few loopholes though in new zealand to go through. we're going to find out in a few hours' time if this legislation will be passed to make it easier for patients to access cannabis. if it goes through, can you describe to viewers how significant you believe that will be? it is huge. one of the changes that it does is it creates an opportunity

for commercial production. up to now we have only had research and development allowed. so there's going to be a lot ofjobs. potentially new zealand has already got a great brand internationally called clean green trusted products and we are really confident that we are going to be able to deliver to the world as well well as to our domestic patients who are looking for cheaper product than what they can get at the moment. what do you say to the critics that argue that legalising it is one thing but regulating it is distribution in the right hands is going to be incredibly difficult in the long—term? the data shows that the first thing is that legalisation in many jurisdictions has shown that crime has dropped, drug abuse and drug overdose has dropped. there's not been any significant increase, in fact, in manyjurisdictions, teen use of cannabis has reduced. now, if you take the united states by itself, more than 30 states have legalised medical cannabis and many more will be joining them. i think it is a matter of time for not just us federally but many

otherjurisdictions around the world, including many in asia, will be legalising it for medical and recreational purpose. there's an issue in terms of the two distinctions between recreational use and also use of cannabis for medicinal purposes and there has been an argument that medicinal purposes can help alleviate many conditions and a number of illnesses but for recreational use, it is not deemed as important for people to have that access? we have a referendum injust over 18 months in new zealand for legalisation and we will see what the details for that are. but certainly at this stage there is a lot of support for medical from both sides of the house in parliament. everybody wants to see it happen as quickly as possible so that peopel can can get access to what is turning out to be a really important plant and the products that can come and the science is evolving every day. are you concerned that recreational marijuana might be out of hand? out of hand?

um, i think what we see when jurisdictions go recreational is that there's a peak and people want access to it but quickly it shifts back to medical wher epeople want to know what it can do for them. so it may not be pharmaceutical grade or level trials but people increasingly are more sophisticated and the kind of product that they are looking for they want the science behind the stuff that they're putting into their bodies. we will see a shift back again to functional foods and nutritional supplements that have some good evidence attached to them. the un conference is taking place in vienna. a number of countries who are still very sceptical about legalising it. you both come from two countries that are on the way to the progress that you want to see. what would you say to the countries, for example in south east asia, where you have vested interest in terms of business, why they should turn things around? there are a few reasons.

especially in south east asia. asia in general have been used to alternative medicine. cannabis was not illegal until the imperialists europerans came in there. so in a country like india cannabis was not illegal untill1986. some of it is traditional, cultural values but some of it is lack of awareness and knowledge. two of the biggest tobacco and alcohol cost hundreds of billions of dollars in terms of health issues. cannabis, even thoug hdata is very minimal, it does not create as harmful affects as alcohol does. 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 because once

you let go of the jong, it will just sail by itself, as accordingto the wind speed. you don't have the remote control. all you have is your knowledge and your mastering of reading the environment and the wind. there are several different types of jongs. different designs have evolved. everyjong has their own unique name. i named myjong semut merah.

it means red ants. do you like red ants? not really but my cousin says it can bring you luck. we spent half a day or one full day under the sun. the young generation wouldn't want to do that. so wonderful to see that ancient tradition back in action. you've been watching newsday. i'm babita sharma in london. i want to see those jongs, babita. i'm rico hizon in singapore.

a reminder of our breaking news this hour, the 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. huawei said it was not aware of any wrongdoing by ms meng. more on that to come. stay with us. us authorities are investigating their activities in april. in a statement while we said they weren't aware of any wrongdoing by maine —— huawei. —— maine. aware of any wrongdoing by maine —— huawei. -- maine. more on that to come. stay with us. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with these pictures. a group of london architects, engingeers and designers have banded together to create a model city made entirely of edible gingerbread. the fully lit construction features a cable car made of liquorice, cycle lanes made entirely of sugar

and a pavillion that was built by a robot. the exhibition is based on the idea of a sustainable and inclusive city that's all for now, stay with bbc world news. hello. whilst wednesday brought a mild day to the southern half of the uk, across scotland it did remain very chilly. today we're going to even out the temperatures somewhat, but along with that change we will bring in quite a few showers for a time and a blustery wind to boot. the reason for the change, this area of low pressure approaching from the atlantic. and by the end of the night it will already be starting to try and push some milder airfurther north into scotland. there mayjust be a few icy patches in the far north—east. so for first thing, out temperatures to the south in double figures already and the milder air will continue to work its way further north as the morning goes on.

it will though be a blustery rush hour. and as you can see, underneath this rain here behind me is scotland. many areas seeing a pretty wet picture at 8am. some heavier downpours pushing through the borders. quite a wet story across northern ireland too. ahead of that rain, well, a dry but cloudy picture for northern england, the midlands, east anglia and the south—east. but the showers already starting to approach the south—west of england and wales. in the white arrows there we saw your sustained windspeed but the gusts will be higher and overall we're shaping up for a blustery day from top to tail across the uk. scotland should see skies clearing for the afternoon. some sunshine possible here. and certainly a milder day than we had on wednesday, temperatures into double figures for glasgow and edingburgh. to the south more clouds and showers and highs of 13 or 1a degrees. so 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 and things start to get very lively once again. 0vernight thursday into friday, this beast starts to swing in from the atlantic. it wil bring a spell of heavy rain.

but that is not the biggest problem. the rain actually for many will clip out of the way very quickly first thing friday. aside from scotland, where you, unfortunately, get the worst of both worlds. you will still have the heavy rain first thing on friday but you will also though have some very strong winds, gusting 60 to 70 miles per hour. perhaps in the odd spot of exposure up to 80 miles per hour. that will be enough to cause some disruption. and the rian keeps pushing in here during the day and, yes, white on the chart across the mountains, we are likely to see some snow. further south, some scattered showers towards the west, but many eastern areas windy, yes, but mild and perhaps more in the way of sunshine than we will do on thursday. 0nto the weekend, and the prospects are of things to gradually becoming dry, the winds will start to ease also and change direction. turning chillier by the time we get to next week. i'm babita sharma with 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 forformer president george bush senior, who was remembered as a patriot, a statesman and a loving father. 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. and the top story in the uk —