i'm kasia madera in london. the headlines: the duke of edinburgh, the queen's husband, is involved in a car crash. he's said to be shaken but not injured. one of north korea's top diplomats arrives in washington, fuelling speculation of a second summit betweem kim jong—un and donald trump. i'm rico hizon in singapore. also in the programme: asia is the new hotbed for persecution of christians, according to a new report. and the international arrest warrant that means this basket ball star is staying in the big apple and notjoining his knicks teammates in london. no, welcome to the programme. ——

hello. it's 1am here in london, where a few hours ago it was confirmed that the duke of edinburgh, the husband of queen elizabeth, had been involved in a road traffic accident. buckingham palace said the 97—year—old was not hurt. prince philip was driving at the time, and the car landed on its side after the collision near sandringham, the queen's estate in the east of england. caroline rigby reports. smashed glass and a broken wing mirror discarded on the road. evidence of the crash which happened shortly after three o'clock on thursday afternoon. the duke had been at the wheel when his land rover rolled over on to the driver's side. he was helped out of the vehicle by passers—by will stop according to one witness he was conscious, but very shocked. the range rover was on its side on the driver's side, his sight on the pavement, as it were. there was quite a bit of broken glass and part

of the car in the hedge. six or eight ordinary cars around helping. the accident happened on a busy road close to the queen's sandringham estate in norfolk. it is understood the duke was pulling out of a private driveway onto the road when the collision occurred. emergency services were on the scene quickly. two women in the other vehicle were treated for minor injuries in hospitals but have since been discharged. buckingham palace says the duke was checked over by a doctor who had confirmed he escaped unhurt. norfolk police says it is policy to breath test drivers involved in collision. both have provided negative reading. the last time the duke and the queen were seen together at a formal occasion was in october at the wedding of princess eugenie. it is 18 months since the duke retired from public life, though he has remained active, spending most of his time either at windsor castle or sandringham. both

he and the queen enjoy driving on their private estates. in april 2016 at the age of 95, the duke drove the van us president barack obama and his wife michelle to windsor castle. —— the then us president. his wife michelle to windsor castle. —— the then us presidentlj his wife michelle to windsor castle. -- the then us president. i have to say i have never been driven by the duke of edinburgh before. and i can report that it was very smooth riding. but today's accident is bound to raise questions about whether it is wise for someone who is five months short of his 98 birthday to be driving on public roads. we have much more on that on the website. lets turn to our other main story of the day: a senior north korean negotiator has arrived in the united states as the two sides try to arrange a second summit between kim jong—un and donald trump. south korean reports say kim yong—chol is carrying a letter from the north korean leader to mr trump, and is expected to meet the us secretary of state and the president on friday. who is kim yong—chol?

our correspondent in seoul laura bicker has more details. well, kim yong—chol is pyongyang's former spymaster. in fact, it's thought that he ordered the torpedoing of a south korean warship, which killed 44 sailors, so he's quite a controversial figure, but he is a top aide of kim jong—un and he does seem to have taken the position of chief negotiator when it comes to these talks over denuclearisation. remember last time he went to washington with that extremely large letterfrom kim jong—un to donald trump, so we're wondering what message carrying this time. now what does signify is that after a near seven—month stalemate, it does seem that finally there are talks happening about future talks. we have got some kind of movement then, but we have not had much

movement when it comes to the actual denuclearisation on the part of north korea? no, there has been a stalemate in the has been a stalemate for a reason. basically, north korea wants the us to act first. it says it wants sanctions or some kind of concession. united states says no, none of that is happening until north korea starts looking as if it is making concrete moves to start giving up its nuclear weapons, so that is why we have had this stalemate. the problem is the only two people who really want to talk to one another are donald trump and kimjong—un, there are no other talks happening at lower levels, so that is why it seems that preparations are under way at four a second summit, and we think, kasia, that one of the possible venues might be vietnam. we're hearing from our colleagues in reuters that vietnam is being considered as a state visit for kimjong—un, it might be hanoi. it looks like kimjong—un might be preparing to give a statement

in vietnam, so that might be a clue as to where the second summit might be. also making news today: president trump has refused to grant the use of a military plane for the speaker of the house of representatives, effectively cancelling an overseas trip for his chief political opponent. mr trump said that the democrat nancy pelosi should stay in washington because of the government shutdown. mrs pelosi had planned to visit us troops in afghanistan and meet with nato allies. a car bomb has exploded at the national police academy in the colombian capital, bogota, killing nine people. local media say at least fifty more have been injured. initial reports indicate the car was driven at speed through the gates and then exploded in a car park. the driver is believed to have been killed. president trump has announced plans to expand america's missile defence programme, including the creation of a layer of sensors in space. he said his administration's goal was to shield every city in the united states from all types of missile attacks.

we will terminate any missile launchers from hostile powers or even from powers that make a mistake, it won't happen, regardless of the missile type, or geographic origins of the attack. two people have been killed by security forces using live ammunition to supress a demonstration in the sudanese capital, khartoum. police also used tear gas and beat protestors who took to the streets demanding the resignation of president omar al—bashir. multiple arrests have been made. the united nations high commissioner for human rights has criticised the authorities' repressive response to the protests, which began over rising commodity prices. and look at these incredible pictures from the swiss alps,

and something called race the face. two skiiers climbed up this extremely steep mountain face with ice axes and crampons and raced 400 metres back down again. rather them than me. top to bottom tookjust 27 seconds. amazing, but very dangerous, and please don't do this. the highly anticipated tv debate between indonesian president joko widodo and his election rival prabowo subianto has left many viewers disappointed. the two went head to head in the first of five live events scheduled to take place between now and the vote in april, but many indonesians are taking to social media accusing the pair of not challenging each other enough and seemingly repeating parts of old speeches. our correspondent rebecca henschke can bring us reaction from the capital jakarta. if we take a look at major

publications and the headlines, it said heated exchanges, trading barbs, but it looks like social media is saying otherwise. that is right, they are very critical, quite disappointed of this first debate. the questions were given to both teams and head of time for the first time in this election, and that meant that candidates were very well prepared, and at times it felt like they were reading from a script instead of really debating these issues. the topics last night, terrorism, corruption, law enforcement. presidentjoko widodo really resting on his record. he said he offered optimism and that they were on the right track in terms of tackling corruption and counterterrorism. general prabowo savings that corruption was still a huge issue in the country and said that the low wages of police and judges was a key issue that he would tackle. but no stark differences in

the policies, and at the end where they were offered time to say something nice about each other, both declined. and this widodo prabowo face off is a repeat of the 2014 presidential race. what are the latest survey is saying about this latest survey is saying about this latest presidential faceoff? well, the latest poll released this week still shows that presidentjoko widodo still has a healthy double—digit lead on his opponent that, as you said, was the same as last time, general prabowo, but general prabowo's team is running a very slick campaign. his vice candidate is quite savvy and that gap is closing. these debates, as we will see the rollout, could play a key pa rt will see the rollout, could play a key part in swinging many undecided voters. all right. so what are we likely to expect over the next few

months before the elections, rebecca? well, a lot of the focus is really on these vice candidates. presidentjoko widodo has chosen a man called marif amin, a 75—year—old isla nick preacher, he was selected to sort of beef upjoko's credentials but last night the social media chat has been about him because he was quite silent during the debate. so in the coming weeks in the campaign there will be a lot of pressure on him to really step up and bea of pressure on him to really step up and be a strong vice candidate —— islamic. otherwise presidentjoko widodo might suffer at the polls. on the other side, general prabowo really needs to prove that he is offering something different from last time, when he lost the election. he of course has a chequered human rights record. in the past as a general under president suharto, so he has issues in the past. he needs to show that he is offering something fresh to

young indonesian voters. thank you so young indonesian voters. thank you so much for that update on the indonesian presidential election. there is little respite from a national heatwave taking place in australia. we have had record—breaking temperatures. eastern australia is currently experiencing the brunt of this weather. let's cross live to sydney to phil mercer. we have experienced incredible record—breaking temperatures. friday is being seen as even hotter than that. well, 2018 was australia's third warmest year on record and this year is shaping up to be a scorcher as well. parts of new south wales are enduring the of the heat. there is a small community called white cliff, this is about 1000 kilometres from sydney, and the people there, it is a town of about 150 residents, have endured temperatures of 48 celsius,

thatis endured temperatures of 48 celsius, that is about 118 fahrenheit. here in sydney today, friday, we expect parts of australia's biggest city to swelter through temperatures of 45 celsius. now are we expecting some sort of weather change at some point? hallelujah, yes, we are. we are told by the weather bureau that there will be some respite of about five to 10 degrees over the weekend. there is more heat expected next week. this is of course a land used to nature's extremes. it is worth pointing out that heatwaves are australia's biggest natural hazard. the health authorities this week have been at pains to point out that people in those very hot parts of the country at certain times of the date simply shouldn't go outside and limit physical activity. there was good news for one distressed here in new south wales. it was seen in a pretty poor state by a police officer. he strapped into his patrol carand officer. he strapped into his patrol car and managed to recover in the

comfort of his air—conditioning to be returned to its owner. so at least some creatures here in eastern australia have managed to escape this oppressive heap. it is good to hear about that sheep. now of course as you say australia is used to high temperatures. but climate change is really pushing them up to the extremes. when you speak to the weather bureau here in australia, they say that no individual heatwave can be directly attributed to climate change, but what they do say more broadly speaking is that climate change will make heatwaves in this country more severe and more frequent. we are not only in the grip ofa frequent. we are not only in the grip of a serious heatwave, especially here in eastern australia, it is pretty warm in the west as well, you have to remember that part of this country are in the grip ofa that part of this country are in the grip of a very serious drought, and of course with the hot, dry conditions comes in that other menace, the annual menace of bushfires. and the bushfire alert here in eastern australia are pretty

high as well. yes, serious stuff. thank you. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: billed as the largest peaceful gathering in the world, we will be visiting india to take a look at the hindu donald trump is now the 45th president of the united states. he was sworn in before several hundred thousand people on the steps of capitol hill in washington. it's going to be only america first — america first. cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they call him the butcher of lyon.

klaus altmann is being held here on fraud charges in bolivia. —4- committed in wartime 4- a tiderefrhumanity that's—believed broken all records. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: the duke of edinburgh is uninjured after being involved in a car crash near the queen's sandringham estate. and one of north korea's top diplomats arrives in washington, fuelling speculation of a second summit betweem kim jong—un and donald trump.

iam sure i am sure the british papers will have much more on the duke of edinburgh's crash. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the international edition of the new york times has a story about the al—shabaab militant attack on a luxury hotel in nairobi. it has a picture of men praying at the grave of one of the victims who was among the 21 people killed in the attack. passing on memories and lessons. the japan times remembers the 24th anniversary of the great hanshin earthquake. people lit candles in kobe on thursday to mark the event, in which more than 6,000 people were killed. and the south china morning post has a story about illegal villas in the city ofjinan. it has a picture of a luxury villa in the shandong province which is being demolished after the local government started a campaign against such structures. now, rico, the partial government shutdown in the us is contuning

to have repercussions. president trump has postponed house speaker nancy pelosi's upcoming trip to brussels, afghanistan and egypt, and the reason, he says, is the partial us government shutdown. in a letter to ms pelosi, mr trump said, "i am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate". mrs pelosi had urged the president to postpone his state of the union address given the political deadlock. asia is a new hotbed for persecution against christians, according to a new report. the christian advocacy group open doors describes persecution in north korea, india, pakistan and afghanistan as extreme, and says it is getting much worse in china. the report says that, globally, 245 million christians will face high levels of persecution this

year, including one in three christians in asia. some church leaders say persecution in china is at its worst level since the cultural revolution began, more than 50 years ago. nina shea is an international human rights lawyer who advocates for people persecuted for their religious beliefs. shejoined me earlier from washington. well, persecution can be a range of ways of oppressing and suppressing religious belief. so it could be brutal methods such as killing, torture, imprisonment, and it can be more economic measures, discriminatory measures. it can be high—tech measures, like surveillance and cyber attacks. so it's a whole range now.

so why is china now among the worst offenders in this report? well, in the last two years, we've seen a real turning point in china, where it was on the trajectory of being home to the largest christian community in the world. and now i fear that it's going to be very hard to perpetuate the faith and to pass it on, because the control of christianity has been given over to the communist party, which is itself avowedly atheistic. and they are cracking down, closing the biggest churches, censoring the bible, and hand—picking pastors. they've begun doing this. so nina, is china forcing christians into this so—called north korean model — weak, small and invisible, in the deep underground? yes, i believe that's true. they are moving in that direction. they have already closed some large underground churches. they're closing churches,

even those recognised by the government, who are — which are considered too small. so it is a squeeze, a vise, that they're trying to eliminate those churches they cannot control because they're too small or they're not registered. and they're trying to replace the content of the churches they do recognise, for example, by censoring the bible, by having certain topics, whether it's the death penalty or migration, off—limits, it's illegal, by banning those under 18 years old from entering a church at all, cutting off pensions of some seniors, and replacing the picture ofjesus christ in some of the altars with president xi himself. all right, this is a problem not only in china but in other countries in asia like indonesia and pakistan. so how can inclusivity and religious

tolerance he encouraged? well, one example would be to champion the case of asia bibi in pakistan. she is the simple, really the face of christian persecution in pakistan. she has been on death row for eight yea rs. she has been on death row for eight years. she was charged with blasphemy against is lame. she is an illiterate field hand, a mother of several children, and there is no evidence against her, because that itself would be another act of blasphemy. so she has been acquitted at the supreme court after all these yea rs, at the supreme court after all these years, and yet she is still not free. she is a virtual prisoner, under house arrest, in pakistan. and she need asylum. children have already left. in the last two days we found out that they are in canada, but she needs asylum too. tens of millions of people coming together for the hindu festival -5 -ll ;' a. 95; "use , , mm ,, 77 ,

in an election year, and when india's famed naked sages take a dip, many from hundreds of miles away. the water is freezing, the wind is cold, but it is faith that brings them here. translation: we feel very good. we believe that mother ganges blesses us and fulfils all our wishes. my daughter got a job because of her. translation: i have come here several times.

i get a lot of peace. translation: i have come because i heard that all our sins can be washed off by bathing here. this time, the festival comes just months before a national election, and so it has got much more of a political colour than usual. all around this zone there are lots of posters aesgfign}%n£ fags—”— —————— leads right up to the banks of the river, cutouts of prime minister narendra modi. for the hindu nationalist bjp, such a large gathering of people from the religion presents a political opportunity. there is no overt campaigning here, but the message seems clear. earlier, the involvement was organising, but they were not in full front. no, they were organising, but this time they're owning it. this is their festival, this is their festival. so they are saying clearly, we are the people who are good to manage these kind of hindu

festivals, and we give importance to hindu festivals. the space given to the festival is nearly two times the last one, held six years ago. the money spent has more than doubled, and the city's muslim name has been changed to one from ancient hindu texts. but the bjp denies a political agenda. translation: it'sjust a coincidence that this has come close to the election. our leaders made the festival a priority because of people's faith in it. of course, when they experience the good festivities we provided, people will want the same government back. over the next few weeks, more than 100 million are expected to bathe here. the largest gathering of people on earth, just a fraction of india. thank you for watching, goodbye. hello there, good morning. the cold weather has arrived, and it looks like it's

going to stick around for quite some time. and it's really cold and frosty in many places right now. not everywhere, because we've got a weather front coming in, bringing in more cloud, bringing some rain. but it's moving into the cold air, so there will be a bit of sleet and snow, mainly over the hills. but ahead of that, still some icy patches, following those earlier showers on the northerly wind. widespread frost, and we could be down as low as minus seven celsius. but there's more cloud coming into northern ireland, into wales and the south—west, bringing with it some rain, a bit of sleet and snow over the welsh hills, then over the cumbrian fells, the pennines, the southern uplands as well. but there may be even a little bit of sleet and snow at lower levels through the midlands, the west country too. temperatures in the west will recover a bit later on, but for the eastern side of the uk, where it's going to be dry but nowhere near as sunny as it was on thursday, it's another cold day. but at least we don't have the northerly wind, and it's not set to return this weekend either. it will stay cold, mind you, although a lot of places will be dry, particularly on sunday.

now, this area of low pressure is bringing in that band of cloud and patchy wet weather. and it tends to weaken and stall as we head into saturday, now, it won't be as cold and frosty in the morning, because there'll be more cloud around. there'll be some showers, as well, mostly of rain, but a bit of sleet and snow in those, particularly if they head further north across england towards northern ireland as well. here, it's probably going to be a dull day for the most part, the best of the sunshine across northern parts of scotland. but temperatures struggling — four, five or six degrees generally across the uk. now, as we move into sunday, pressure starts to rise a bit more. so that will tend to push away the showers, break up the cloud a little bit, and into that, we've got a weak weather front arriving from the norttfwestt more frost ahead of that. not as cold as it is right now, minus one or minus two, but some more sunshine across the uk on sunday. we've got that weak weather front bringing a little bit of rain,

maybe some sleet and snow over the hills, nothing very much, and behind it, a north—westerly wind pushing in the sunshine back into scotland and northern ireland. but again, it's quite a cold day, with temperatures about six degrees or so. let's look ahead into the beginning of next week, and another frost to come as we move into monday morning. then we get these weather fronts coming in from the atlantic, and at some point they're going to stop, and that means we run for a while. but an easterly wind may pick up as the week goes on,