welcome to newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko oi in singapore. the headlines: french police say they've killed the gunman who shot dead three people near a christmas market in strasbourg. ready to help but unwilling to renegotiate — that's the message from eu leaders as theresa may warns their brexit deal is at risk. hello. i'm ben bland in london. also in the programme: facing extinction — the maldives and other developing nations warn their survival depends on the world's commitment to tackling global warming. no one seems to be listening to what science is saying. reporter: what does that mean for your country? we will disappear. and pushing the boundaries — pakistan selects its first ever international blind female cricket team. live from our studios in singapore and london,

this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london and 1am in the morning in the french city of strasbourg, where police say they have shot dead the man believed to have attacked a christmas market on tuesday, killing three people and injuring others. cherif chekatt was tracked down to where he lived. our correspondent gavin lee has the latest. sirens. the scene in the suburbs of strasbourg, where the search for the suspected gunman of tuesday's attack ended with the death of 29—year—old cherif chekatt. the french elite antiterrorism unit raid led the operation, ending the 48—hour manhunt. eyewitnesses here say they heard gunfire as the police and military teams moved in. when i left the mcdonald's,

i need to go home, and i see the blocked road, and i heard a few gunshots. it was very strange. 29—year—old cherif chekatt was born in strasbourg from an algerian family. authorities say he was a known criminal, convicted 27 times for petty crime, but was radicalised in prison. and, when released last year, was placed on a security threat list of individuals monitored for possible extremism. it was here at the christmas markets in strasbourg — the oldest and most famous in france — where the attack was carried out. police say cherif chekatt was carrying a pistol and a knife, shooting and stabbing people in the streets as others ran for their lives. chekatt is said to have been confronted by soldiers patrolling the markets, who shot him in the arm. though he escaped by taxi, ordering the driver to take into the neudorf area, 15 minutes drive south of the city. there was a second exchange of gunfire with police, though he escaped and hadn't been seen since. special forces carried out an early raid in neudorf this afternoon, saying they'd found nothing,

and told reporters they were sure he wasn't there. three people were killed in the attack, 12 more were injured. tonight, the city is notably quiet. people living here speak of their fear of the last few days and sheer relief that it appears to have come to an end. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. european leaders have said the brexit deal agreed with theresa may is not up for negotiation. mrs may had travelled to brussels to get assurances that the northern ireland backstop would not become a permanent arrangement. she said clarification over that issue could see the deal voted through by the house of commons. it's getting hard to keep up.

message was, there is still plenty of work to be done. my focus is on ensuring there are these assurances we need to get this deal over the line. i believe it's in the best interest of both sides, the uk and the eu. the text of her appeal released after the evening's talks ended ended with a rather passionate and personal address. let's get this right, she is thought to have told fellow leaders. she stressed no deal brexit was a non—‘s interest. she said they had to change the perception that the irish border backstop was a trap from which no

one could escape. the response was to emphasise the backstop‘s temporary nature but the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, warned westminster was not the only parliament whose approval was required. i would like to tell our british friends but of course we need the yes of the house of commons but we also need the yes of the european parliament. both parliaments are important. one is continental, will the other is insular but the two have the same importance. surfrider is nothing that answers theresa may's all the help of this is not finished yet. —— so help of this is not finished yet. —— so far there is nothing. also making news today. the french car—maker, renault, says an initial audit looking at the pay of its chairman and chief executive, carlos ghosn,

has not found any irregularities. renault‘s board said its lawyers would continue to review allegations against him made by its partner group, nissan, which recently sacked him as its chairman. the executive is currently being detained injapan, where he's been charged with financial misconduct. he's denied under—reporting his pay package at nissan. a woman accused by the us of being a russian agent has pleaded guilty to conspiracy as part of a plea deal at a court in washington. maria butina was accused by prosecutors of trying to infiltrate the national rifle association in order to influence american policy towards russia. the lobby group is closely aligned to republican politicians including president trump. the latest test flight by sir richard branson‘s virgin galactic has reached the edge of space for the first time — well, the edge nearest to us. the aircraft bearing the spaceshiptwo passenger rocket ship took off from the mojave desert in california. the project to take passengers to this height has been delayed by technical problems and a fatal crash 4 years ago. this patient behind me, i don't know

if you can see it, it's attached to a mothership. it is taken up to about 40,000 feet, the spaceship it is then dropped from the mothership, it fires its rocket, it goes from zero to 3000 miles an hour in seven to eight seconds straight up, and we all had the most fantastic view of this happening here from the mojave today. and then, you know, when it's in space, it's suddenly not moving any more, people unbuckle their seats and they float around and they look out of these big windows that are in the spaceship. now you may remember this story — two weeks ago, daniella anthony and john drennan got engaged in new york and on the same day lost their engagement ring down a grate in times square. there was then a worldwide search to find the couple and reunite them with their ring.

i can't believe it. will you be my wife? yes. well, of course she said yes — and not only did they get their flights out to california for free but the show‘s producers also gave them $12,000 to put towards their wedding as well. not bad, eh? australia's foreign minister, marise payne, hasjust ended her 2—day visit to myanmar. during the trip, she met with myanmar‘s de facto leader aung san suu kyi. in october, australia joined the eu and the us in introducing travel and financial sanctions on five top myanmar military officers accused of overseeing brutal violence against rohingya muslims. ms payne had said that australia is committed to work towards a long term and durable solution to the crisis in rakhine state. but how should that be achieved? earlier i wasjoined by thom woodroofe who works for the advisory group independent diplomat.

i think it was very much a familiarisation visit for the new foreign minister, i think very positively included in her visit was a trip to rakhine state, where a lot of australia's aid assistance is flowing, but also where she would have had an opportunity to speak with a number of rohingya people directly about the situation on the ground there. and, of course, she also met with aung san suu kyi in the capital, as you mention. but what's really important now, i think, and what will ultimately be the real sign of success of this visit, is whether the australian foreign minister can really pivot australia's relationship with myanmar onto a little bit more of a firmer footing going forward. for the most part, it's been quite a constructive role that australia has played, with a few

inconsistencies around that, particularly in terms of our support from the military. australia is one of very few countries with a close relationship with the government, and it even offers financial support. the government of course said it is limited to humanitarian assistance and so on, but you don't completely agree with that statement? well, i mean, when you save government, to be very clear, we're talking about the military, and this is a military which the un has found this year likely undertook a campaign of genocide against the rohingya people. now, the australian government gives around $400,000 each year in assistance to that military, most of that arguably is for pretty mundane activities, or pretty innocent activities, in terms of humanitarian assistance, and language training and so forth. the real problem, though, of course, is twofold. one is that we are out of step with all of our allies in this approach, who have taken a much firmerfooting. the us, canada, france, the uk,

the un have all cut ties completely. but, second of all, we do not screen who that assistance is provided to, so that means therefore it is completely possible that someone receiving part of that assistance has of course been involved in some of those atrocities. and for any australian, that is certainly something that is beyond the pale. it took almost a day, but donald trump has finally given his response to the jailing of his former lawyer michael cohen. he was sentenced to three years in prison on wednesday, for breaking campaign finance laws and committing fraud. mr cohen said he was only acting at his former boss's request. the president waited until thursday morning to respond on twitter. he denied directing mr cohen to break the law. and said he should have known what he was doing. mr trump also went on fox news to make his point. let me tell you, i never directed him to do anything wrong.

whatever he did, he did on his own. he's a lawyer — a lawyer who represents his client is supposed to do the right thing. that's why you pay them a lot of money etc. he is a lawyer. he represents a client. i never directed him to do anything incorrect and wrong. so what should we make of all of this? here's our north america reporter anthony zurcher. so, donald trump, in a series of tweets this morning, laid out what essentially could be his defence against the allegations that he participated in a campaign financed crime, one that michael cohen has pleaded guilty to. first of all, he said that he didn't michael cohen to commit a crime, and then he relied on michael cohen as his lawyer to understand what was and wasn't legal. but, all of that aside, even if michael cohen did do this, he may not have committed a crime at all. that a payment, these hush money payments to two women, who alleged had affairs with donald trump, that doesn't constitute a campaign finance contribution, and therefore didn't have to be disclosed. i think what you're going to hear

from prosecutors, the ones who got a guilty plea from michael cohen, that donald trump's shifting stories on this, originally denying it, and then acknowledging the payment, and now saying maybe it wasn't a crime, these shifting stories are indications of a knowledge of wrongdoing. now, donald trump will not necessarily be charged in this. there's no indication at this point that he could face criminal indictment. but he definitely has had the finger pointed at him from prosecutors in this michael cohen plea agreement, stating that he directed michael cohen to make these payments. they also got the national enquirer, the tabloid magazine that made a payment to one of these women, who got them to acknowledge, the prosecutors got them to acknowledge that this was done in order to influence the 2016 presidential election. so donald trump has essentially outlined his criminal defence in the case that he needs it. the question is, will

prosecutors buy that? you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: also on the programme: the ultimate sporting challenge — pakistan prepares its first ever female blind cricket team. after eight months on the run, saddam hussein has been tracked down and captured by american forces. saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes, but they brought a formal end to three and half years of conflict, conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the president's of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details

of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life. the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history, as only the second president ever to be impeached. welcome back. this is newsday on the bbc. iama i am a mariko oi in singapore. i'm ben bland in london. our top stories: french police say they've killed the gunman who shot dead three people near a christmas market in strasbourg. the eu says it won't renegotiate the brexit deal as theresa may seeks assurances in brussels over the controversial backstop plan. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the south china morning post reports

on china's detention of a second canadian citizen, on allegations of harming national security. relations between china and canada have been tense since the arrest of a chinese woman in vancouver, a senior executive at telecoms giant huawei. the gulf news leads on the progress of yemen peace talks. and the momentous ceasefire agreement for the port city of hodeidah. the paper says that food aid may now be able to get into the country and help millions of people on the brink of starvation. the japan times reports on a trade agreement between the eu and japan, which has been dubbed the world's biggest trade deal. the paper calls the deal a victory for europe as a free trade champion, in the face of president trump's protectionism and the uk's decision to leave the eu.

i like that deal‘s nickname, cheese for cars. that was mentioned yesterday. they did not see that. the united nations secretary general has made a dramatic appeal to almost 200 countries to step up their fight against global warming and its impact. antonio guterres said failure to do so would be ‘suicidal‘. as the un meeting in poland comes to a close, one group of nations including the maldives has warned they face extinction if there isn't immediate action to reduce emissions and limit the rise in global temperatures. our science editor, david shukman reports. almost a decade ago an extraordinary publicity stunt, the government of the maldives in diving gear, highlighting the danger of the level of the sea rising. the man who chaired this underwater meeting is here now. governments are not listening. institutions are not listening. no—one seems to be listening to what the science is saying. what does that mean for your country? we will disappear. negotiators here in poland

are frantically trying to head off the worst effects of global warming. the progress of the talks is incredibly slow. a few governments are dragging theirfeet. this is the heart of the process and we have been allowed in for a couple of minutes. what's striking is the sheer scale of the event with nearly 200 governments represented here. they've all brought their own agendas so getting them all to agree on what to do about climate change is a massive challenge. outside the conference, a reminder of why this is hard. burning fuels like coal releases gases that warm the planet. but many countries, including poland, relying on coal. i've seen the manyjobs that depend on it. this man uses coal to heat his home. he's from a mining family. he knows the industry matters here but also that

coal is polluting. you go outside and want to take a deep breath... your throat? biting your throat. yes. my daughter has something like child asthma because here the air is not good for her. 50 years ago this image of our fragile planet raised awareness of potential threats to the environment. now we are seeing where that might lead. pakistan is in the process of creating its first ever international female blind cricket team. only a handful of countries in the world have done the same. the pakistani team is due to play its first match injanuary — in what will only be the second ever international series of women's blind cricket. secunder kermani reports from islamabad. these teenage girls are hoping to be selected for pakistan's first female

international blind cricket team. in blind cricket, a specially adapted ball is used, filled with ballbearings that can be heard rattling, as the ball travels towards the batsmen. teams are made up of a mix of blind, pa rtially—blind and partially—sighted players. translation: when the children reach this level it changes them a lot. they feel shy in the beginning and don't feel comfortable in front of others. but after some time, their body language improves and their feelings changed dramatically. ready, go. the pakistani male blind cricket team has won a number of trophies, but the women's team was only set up in october. translation: i had never played cricket before this, but i always thought there should be a female team, just like there is a male one.

before this, i used to do other sports like running and long jump, so i have competed at international level before. the girls are due to play their first match against nepal in january, and they say they want to send a message to the rest of the country. translation: blind players are capable of doing almost everything sighted players can do. we are no less than the regular team. the government should provide us with the facilities they have given to our national team. many of us have experienced bullying, but for eunbi kim it nearly ended her career. the widely acclaimed pianist was able to overcome the trauma — and she told us about the joy she found in playing again. it really did almost destroy my love for performing,

my love for playing piano and learning music. i had a very tough teacher growing up, but she always believed in me. and when i entered college i had a really terrible experience with one of my professors where i was bullied and it affected me greatly. i used to have so muchjoy performing, but now it became just this paralysing experience. it was meant to be degrading and humiliating and intimidating and very manipulative. i reached a turning point with all the anxiety and depression i had over performing after reading this book, ‘the art of practising' by madeline bruser, and it talked about figuring out

what our intentions are as performers, as artists, and also discovering what the intentions are of the audience. instead of remembering the joy and generosity i felt and wanting to share this beautiful music that i love, i was thinking more about how awful i am if it doesn't go the way it's supposed to go. the thing that really helped bring back my love for performing is trusting and believing in people again. i feel lucky, and that is why i share my experiences and my story so openly because a lot of people have gone through this and it's really tough to quiet the negative voices and being critical of yourself. i grew to love music in a very deep way and a very emotional way, and every intellectual way.

it is like i have entered another dimension, it is kind of like an out of body experience when it is really a great performance. i feel just elevated, like on another plane, like i become one with the music. and the audience gives an energy and i am feeding off that energy. applause. ifi if i had ifihada if i had a p&0 here i would be playing a well—known tune... piano. and you are working. you are meant to be having a day. i was. but rico

called in sick. we will try to get something can be posted to you from london. you have been watching newsday. i'm ben bland in london. and i'm mariko oi in singapore. i'll be back with business news and will be telling you about my favourite movie and why it took 30 yea rs favourite movie and why it took 30 years for this classic japanese favourite movie and why it took 30 years for this classicjapanese and a two debut in china. i will organise a screening session in london for you to go to that. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with these pictures. you might know new zealand actor jason momoa from the game of thrones tv series — well, this is him publicising his new film, aquaman, by leading a haka. that's the traditional maori dance — and it was performed on a special blue carpet. aquaman, by leading a haka. thanks for watching. hello. thursday brought us a cold and a frosty day across many parts of the country, but there was some

blue sky and sunshine. this picture was taken by one of our weather watchers in wiltshire and i think friday morning will dawn on a very similar note. again, it will be a cold and a frosty start to the day with subzero temperatures first thing. plenty of spells of sunshine for many of us through the course of the day to compensate for that fairly chilly start. temperatures fairly widely will be below freezing, won't be quite as cold in the west, particularly for northern ireland where we have more cloud first thing friday morning, keeping temperatures around 4—5 degrees. after that cold, frosty start for many of us it will be a decent, dry looking day, always a bit more cloud for northern ireland with a chance of a few showers at times. a few showers around this exposed eastern coasts, particularly for eastern scotland and north—east england, could even be a wintry flurry towards east anglia and the south—east. for the vast majority, you'll miss those showers and temperatures for most of us around 4—7 degrees. into friday evening we see the cloud bringing more outbreaks of rain parts of northern ireland and the west of scotland too.

eastern areas keeping in that cold air. you can see blue colours later on through friday and then on into saturday. some milder airjust waiting in the wings towards the south—west, that will be drawn in on this weather front. a bit of a change in conditions as we head through into the weekend, as the frontal system works in from the west, it will bring not only the milder air but also outbreaks of rain which will turn to snow. saturday, things are turning pretty wet and windy. some fairly heavy snow and also some ice across scotland and northern england combined with some strong winds too. there could be some travel disruption through the day on saturday as this weather front bumps into that cold air. you can see snow across northern england and scotland too. it could be about 10—20 centimetres across central parts of scotland, even more of the high ground, 2—5 centimetres across parts of northern england. it will turn back to rain further south across the country, where we have got slightly mild air working in but you will really notice the strength of those winds. it will feel around “4 in hull. for northern ireland, slightly mild air moving in so any early snow turning back to rain. some heavy snow across scotland could be quite problematic through the day on saturday.

that rain snow mix slowly easing away towards the east as we head through to the second half of the weekend, but we keep that pretty chilly wind coming in from the west. although things will turn milder through the day on sunday, most of those heavy and wintry showers should ease away too. bye bye. i'm ben bland with bbc news. our top story. the french interior minister has confirmed that police have killed the man who attacked a christmas market in the city of strasbourg on tuesday. cherif chekatt was spotted by police in the neudorf district of the city on thursday evening. when he opened fire on the officers they retaliated, killing him in the short exchange of fire. british prime minister theresa may has urged eu members to help salvage her brexit deal but they say

they won't renegotiate. ms may has been seeking assurances over the controversial irish border backstop after surviving a no—confidence vote earlier this week. the united nations secretary general, antonio guterres, has made a dramatic appeal to delegates from almost 200 countries to step up their efforts to fight global warming and its impact. he said failure to do so would be ‘suicidal‘.