welcome to newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: the deep freeze. cities in america's midwest grind to a halt as temperatures hit record lows. substantial progress, say american negotiators, but no agreement yet in the us—china trade war. we never really had a trade deal with china and now we are going to have a great trade deal with china if it all works out. it will be great for both. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: the murder that shocked myanmar. we hear from the muslim lawyer's family still fighting for justice two years on. he can sacrifice everything for his beliefs. and for his what we call truth. so this is the man. for me, he is a very great man, and he is a very great man.

and 2a olympic golds, but at what cost? the me too campaign rocks the sport of speed skating in south korea. good morning. it's 9am in singapore, 1am in london and 7pm in the american mid—west, which is continuing to shiver in the grip of its most severe cold spell in decades. 90 million people, a third of the us, have seen temperatures of —17 celsius or below. a student found dead outside an iowa college building is among the eight victims. from chicago, chris buckler reports. chicago stands surrounded by ice and snow. people here are used to cold weather but these are temperatures seen only

once in a generation. to try to keep the city's trains running, the tracks have had to be set on fire and boats have been attempting to break through the solid sheets of ice that cover the chicago river. the windy city has become the wind chill city. my fingertips have been frozen twice and had to take a pit stop twice. toes frozen twice. so i made two stops. it's brutally cold, bitterly cold. you can actually see frost on your eyelashes. what does it feel like? it's a little cold. they froze and closed a couple of times. across america's midwest, temperatures have dropped far below freezing. a huge part of the us caught in what's known as the polar vortex. it's pushed arctic air down from the north pole and left many places colder than the antarctic. from the air, lake michigan now looks more like land than water. people have been doing their own small science experiments to see

for themselves just how cold it is, including this. i've got boiling water in this flask and you'll see, as soon as i throw it into the cold air, it just simply freezes. further north, even parts of the mighty niagara falls have been frozen. this is a deadly cold and people have been killed in accidents on the icy roads and in some cases from just being exposed to these extreme elements. for another evening, centres have been opened to keep the homeless warm and safe. there is no shelter on the streets from these kind of conditions and the frozen beauty of this weather can't be allowed to distract from its dangers. chris buckler, bbc news, chicago. and chris buckler has the latest on how people are dealing with those freezing temperatures in chicago.

people are getting layered up with as much clothing as possible and trying to keep others off the streets. here in chicago it has been pretty quiet in what is normally a bustling city. that is because so many businesses, so many schools and colleges have simply been closed. that is true right throughout the midwest. because these conditions are frankly painful. i've got my hood down at the moment and i'm close to shelter, but the truth is we are try to keep as warm as possible, because your extremities, yourfingers, your toes, my ears, in particular, are really painful today standing out in this. that is true for everyone else. of course, some people have died as a result of these cold, cold temperatures. some of them have just been exposed to it. the truth is, you talk to some meteorologists and they tell you about ten minutes in the temperatures chicago has experienced in the past 2a hours could give you frostbite.

the hospitals here have been dealing with people who have been suffering from frostbite. we have been doing our best to give people an idea of how cold it is. one of the things we have been doing is to use a t—shirt. we wet this t—shirt and brought it out of our hotel a short time ago. within 60 seconds it froze completely. that is a t—shirt that was just wet, and a cotton piece of clothing that has frozen in around 60 seconds as a result of the cold there is still here in chicago. at the moment it is around —20 celsius. that feels even colder with the wind chill. something around —27 celsius. we will look further at the weather extremes in america and australia later for you extremes in america and australia laterfor you on extremes in america and australia later for you on the extremes in america and australia laterfor you on the programme. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. president trump has met with the chinese vice premier liu he in the oval office at the end of two days of high stakes trade talks.

the us trade representative said that substantial progress has been made in solving the ongoing trade war between the world's two largest economies. mr trump said that no deal would be made until he meets with the chinese leader xi jinping later in the year but that relations have never been better. i think the relationship that we have right now with china has never been so advanced. i don't think it's ever been better. but i can tell you for a fact it's never been so advanced. and certainly a deal has never been so advanced. because essentially we don't have a deal. we never had a trade deal. we're going to have a great trade deal. but we never really had a trade deal with china and now we're gonna but we never really had a trade deal with china and now we're going to have a great trade deal with china if it all works out. and we look forward to it. it's going to be great for both countries. and we'll be hearing from a long—time advisor to the chinese government for more on that in a few minutes. also this hour: venezuela's opposition leaderjuan guaido says his family has been threatened. mr guaido, who has declared himself president amid growing political unrest, said police had visited his family home looking for his wife.

the us, which is among over 20 countries to recognise mr guaido as interim president, has warned of serious consequences if he is harmed. the us envoy for north korea says pyongyang has promised to dismantle and destroy all of its uranium and plutonium enrichment facilities. stephen biegun said the north korean leader, kim jong—un, made the commitment both to the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, and south korean leaders. mr biegun said the us required expert access to monitor the removal or destruction of weapons of mass destruction. and take a look at this. it's the tomb of ancient egypt's boy king, tutankhamun, after a nine—year make—over. experts painstakingly repaired scratches and abrasions on the wall paintings in the 3,000—year—old burial chamber. the project, including a new lighting and ventilation system, aims to protect the tomb from the humidity and dust brought in by the masses of visitors to the historic site. well, let's get more on those

us—china trade talks mentioned by babita a moment ago. the us president said he was confident the two sides could strike the biggest deal ever made, with mr trump suggesting he could soon meet with president xijinping. i spoke earlier to long—time chinese government advisor robert lawrence kuhn, who said now is the time for both sides of this trade war to come together. both president xi and president trump need to do this deal, for very different reasons. president xi is facing what he calls substantial risks, just had a big meeting with senior leaders about risk, political risk, financial risk. he has made a commitment to the chinese people to eliminate all extreme poverty in china by 2020 and anti—pollution is one of his themes. he does not need a trade war even

getting worse with 25% tariffs on even more chinese goods. president trump looks at the stock market as his bellwether of success. he is going into an election cycle. he has many domestic issues and personal issues that he is dealing with. he needs a so—called win on china. so there is great pressure on both men to get a deal done. that said, the people around trump are not going to let a deal get done unless it really addresses fundamental issues. and there are really five issues that, from an american point of view, need to get done. opening markets, intellectual property protection, dealing with cyber espionage, cyber theft, forced technology transfer and joint ventures, and chinese subsidies to new technologies or state—owned companies. china is making substantial progress in a few of them but more needs to be done. more needs to be done and in fact you had that long list of requirements. president trump said he welcomes china's moves to buy lots more us products, for instance some 5

million tons of soy beans. but, as you mentioned, those fundamental areas, technology transfers, industrial subsidies, they are the real crux of the matter, and do you think the chinese will make these concessions? well, first of all, the soy beans, buying from the farmers, that is all great, but economists realise that that just makes good headlines. that is not really substantive. it does not really help america in the long run. we need more fundamental aspects. if we look at those five areas, chinese making progress on some of them anyway. and they need to do it for their own economy. it was a public assassination that shocked myanmar. two years ago, the prominent muslim lawyer ko ni was murdered at yangon airport. it was a killing many believe was ordered by the military, because he was fighting for ethnic minority rights. some of the men accused of his killing are back in court, but there are grave doubts justice will be delivered. ko ni's family have been talking to our myanmar correspondent nick beake.

this haunting photo captures the assassination. the victim, holding his grandson, has no chance. the gunman then flees, having robbed a family of a grandfather and myanmar of a great hope for a fairer future. ko ni was a muslim lawyer in a mainly buddhist country. silenced as he tried to loosen the military‘s grip on myanmar. for me he is a hero and he can sacrifice everything for his belief and for his, what we call, truth. so this is the man. he is for me a very great man and he is a very brave man. the assassination of ko ni here in yangon airport, in such a busy and public place, stunned myanmar. the military continues to deny it was behind the murder, but many burmese people believe it was a chilling message

that the army is still in control, can do what it likes, and get away with it. the country's civilian leader, aung san suu kyi, has said little about the murder of her friend, who was also a legal advisor to her nld party. today, the alleged gunman is back in court, along with three other suspects, all with army links. but the suspected mastermind has not been caught. justice means punishment according to the law. just the same punishment, not more or not less. it is important for our image of our country, for rule of law. i still hope to have justice. but, for me, a little bit losing hope. not so much hope. ko ni's grandson remarkably survived the assassination and now grows up in a country where justice seems increasingly elusive. nick beake, bbc news, yangon. you're watching newsday on the bbc.

still to come on the programme: while the us suffers in a polar vortex, australians are suffering the opposite. drought, heatwaves and bush fires. is the world's weather getting more extreme and is climate change to blame? also on the programme: the abuse allegations which have rocked the elite sport of speed skating in south korea. we'll hear from one of the victims who wants her abuser to suffer. this is the moment that millions in iran had been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled

in the history of apartheid. and the anc leader, nelson mandela, is to be set free unconditionally. ..four, three, two, one... a countdown to a critical moment. the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 of its engines at once. and, apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket, slashing the cost of a launch, that makes this a breakthrough in the business of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it a piece of cake. thousands of people have given the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth, after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world non—stop. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl, in singapore. i'm babita sharma, in london.

our top stories: millions of people in the american midwest have been trapped in their homes by an extreme polar vortex — with temperatures below minus thirty celsius. president trump has said us—china trade talks made "tremendous progress" but there is still no agreement on ending the two sides‘ dispute. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the japan times leads with the japan—eu trade deal, which enters into force on friday. the deal will create a free trade area that covers about a third of the world's economy. the south china morning post looks at a construction scandal surrounding hong kong's most expensive railway project. the company involved, the mtr corporation, has admitted that the contractor working on the project was doing so without the required certification. the international edition of the new york times leads

on the ongoing political crisis in venezuela, looking at president maduro's crackdown on dissent in the country. and finally, gulf news leads on the pope's upcoming visit to the uae, which will mark the first ever trip by a pope to the arabian peninsula. south korea has launched its biggest ever sex abuse investigation after numerous athletes came forward saying they were physically and sexually abused by their coaches. one of them has told her story to the bbc‘s correspondent in seoul, laura bicker. the world of elite speed skating here in south korea has been rocked by allegations of physical and sexual abuse. this is a country that has won 2a olympic gold medals, but now the standards, the quality of the coaching, is being brought into question.

five women have come forward and raised their voices. we have been speaking to one of them anonymously. i was in my first year at high school, 16 years old, i was at a public space at an ice rink. my coach hugged me and kissed me. he would call me into a separate room alone and touch me. he texted me "i love you" and asked me to go to the movies with him or have dinner. it lasted for two years and then i left the team. what did you think then? what was going through your brain? i felt dirty, but i couldn't say no to his face because i thought my life as an athlete would end if i left him or said no to him. the pressure was harsh. i was beaten heavily in elementary school, beaten by badminton rackets or the plastic cover for skate blades. honestly, sexual harassment is a problem, but violence is a bigger problem. what do you want to see happen to the man involved? i tried not to blame him,

but looking back i realise i quit skating because of him. he's badmouthing me now, while continuing his normal life. i want him to suffer as much as i do. it all started last year when medallist shim suk—hee came forward. she said she had been beaten by her coach. now ms shim has come forward to say she was sexually abused, and she's not the only one. stars from the world ofjudo, from the world tennis and football have all come forward to say that they too were physically or sexually abused. now, seoul and south korea might look glitzy and dynamic, but it remains a patriarchal society. it is difficult for women to question especially men in power. but things are beginning to change. the me too movement is taking hold, and that is because a brave few women have decided to come

forward with their stories. there might be other women watching who've suffered like you have. what message would you give them? i would like to tell them that we shouldn't think that it is our fault. we should seek help. let others know and report on it. don't suffer alone. well, as the severe cold snap in the us takes hold in australia large parts of the country are experiencing drought, with bushfires in the south, as well as floods in the north. earlier i spoke to ailie gallant, a senior research fellow with the school of earth atmosphere and environment at melbourne's monash university. i asked her whether these extreme weather conditions are connected as a result of climate change. look, there's certainly been some weird and strange weather happening. i have to say, the timing of the events, the fact that they have kind of happened in the last couple of weeks,

and that is extreme heat and dry in southern australia, and this polar vortex in the united states, is coincident. after all, it's the height of summer here and it's the height of winter in the northern hemisphere. but, interestingly, the question comes up, as you say, anthropogenic climate change — human induced climate change — is that what's causing these things? and in terms of the hot weather, we have certainly seen a lot — a lot — of record—breaking hot temperatures both here in australia and abroad in the last few years. in terms of the polar vortex, interestingly, there might be a climate change connection there as well, which does sound counterintuitive, but it's something which scientists are looking into. talk us through that, because what exactly is causing the extreme weather in america at the moment? so, this thing called the polar vortex — what usually happens is, in the middle of winter, we normally have this pool of cold air sitting over the arctic, and we usually have these very fast—flowing rivers of wind,

that we call jet streams, that exist high in the atmosphere and they float around and basically act like a dam wall keeping this cold air up over the arctic. but what's happened over the last few weeks is we have had this very sudden warming in the arctic and that warming acts to basically weakened these jet streams, weaken these rivers of air, slow them down, so this kind of breaks the dam wall and allows that cold air to then search southwards, in this case over the midwest of the united states. are we likely to see more of a frequency in terms of these extreme weather conditions like we are talking about in america and australia? yeah, so, in terms of what's happening in the united states, as i said, it was a sudden warming over the arctic a couple of weeks ago that weakened these jet streams and caused the cold surge that we're seeing in the last couple of days. and, in terms of human

induced climate change, if we have more warming over the arctic, there is some evidence that that in winter that could weaken these jet streams over time, and so these cold surges would become more likely. and, of course, hot temperatures like we are experiencing here in australia and like the northern hemisphere experienced there last summer, those are definitely on the rise and have been attributed many times to human induced climate change. well, that was ailie gallant, speaking with babita a little earlier. thailand's prime minister says he could consider drastic actions, including limiting the use of vehicles, in a bid to tackle pollution problems currently affecting the capital, bangkok. more than 400 schools remain closed due to hazardous levels of smog. local authorities have been warned that they face punishment if they fail to control pollution. our south—east asia correspondent, jonathan head, reports from bangkok. most mornings this year, people in bangkok have woken to see their city shrouded in a toxic smog.

it has happened before here, but not over such a long period, and they're worried. face masks are becoming part of the uniform, outdoor activities have stopped, and schools have now been ordered to close. translation: i'm really worried, because my child is so young and children are more vulnerable. from the news, it seems to be getting worse and worse every day and the government isn't solving it. translation: i am a little bit worried, because my children will be affected by this. so i have to give her some kind of protection. bangkok's legendary traffic is an obvious culprit, but industry and power plants may also be to blame, along with uncontrolled burning in fields outside the city. well, you don'tjust have to look at the traffic and the hazy skies

to know how bad the air pollution is. there are now multiple websites and apps like this one giving detailed readings of the most dangerous particles. but that raises the question whether in fact the air quality is actually much worse than it was before, or whether we've simply come up with much better ways of measuring it. rising awareness of the dangers of hazardous pollution, thinks this environmental scientist, is the real reason for the panic over smog this year. so, comparing to my previous studies, it's not that worst comparing to, you know, our previous results, but normally people — seeing is believing, and smelling is believing. they can see it's like a haze everywhere, so people start thinking about the quality problems seriously. public anxiety has forced the government to act.

but is this really the solution? giant agricultural drones, normally used to spray pesticide, gathered outside bangkok city hall by the mayor to demonstrate his resolve. each can carry only ten litres of water — a drop in the ocean over a city this peak. a drop in the ocean over a city this big. but short of revolutionising bangkok's transport, they don't have any other answers, until the weather breaks, and the rain brings some relief. you have been watching newsday. i'm babita sharma, in london. and i'm sharanjit leyl, in singapore. thank you for watching. hello.

there is more snow to come in this forecast as we head into friday. the main focus is the zone, say, from south wales across east anglia and anywhere south of here. all driven by this area of low pressure, which stays close by as we go into friday. now, whilst the earlier amber warning from the met office has expired, we still have yellow warnings in place for both snow and ice. so, slippery surfaces, tricky travelling conditions. stay up—to—date with the latest travel news on your bbc local radio station. by friday morning, we are likely to see perhaps 5—10 centimetres of snow across parts of wales, south—west england, particularly over the higher ground, up towards the chilterns and the cotswolds. at least a couple of centimetres elsewhere. and we will start to see further sleet and snow showers piling into north—east england. some of those may well get further south and westwards, perhaps down towards the midlands. should be a fine start to the day across northern ireland, but cold and frosty. and a really cold start again across scotland, although not quite as cold as the nightjust gone. and, once again, frequent snow showers piling into north scotland, the highlands and also the northern ireland. so, as the day wears on on friday,

we will keep our zone of snow showers across central and southern england. it will become more fragmented and increasingly sleety through the day. still further snow showers piling into north—east england, across the north york moors. as i mentioned, some of those may just get across the pennines and down towards parts of the midlands. it will be a breezy day in places, particularly the further south you are, so that's just going to exacerbate the cold feel. and, for most, temperatures are not going to get much above three or four celsius. but we should at least see them above freezing across parts of northern england and scotland, where we struggled through thursday with the fog. as we go through friday night and into saturday, we still keep this feed of showers, mainly down eastern and some western coasts. and we start to lose the sleet and snow from south—east england. but a cloudier night here, so temperatures will stay above freezing. elsewhere, further west, under clear skies, getting down to —i or minus two celsius. still “4 —5 across the highlands of scotland. then we start the weekend, and our area of low pressure moves away into france and germany, and for a brief time

through the weekend things are looking drier and quieter. now, with a northerly wind, we are still going to pick up some wintry showers down some eastern coasts. a few mayjust clip some western coast, but for most on saturday it's a dry date, with some crisp winter sunshine. after a frosty start, temperatures getting up to between 3—5 celsius, perhaps 6—7 across south—west england. so, to sum up the weekend, it's going to stay cold, there will be some sunshine, further wintry showers and perhaps we could see some rain later on sunday, with some snow across scotland. bye— bye. i'm babita sharma with bbc news. our top story: america's midwest is shivering in record low temperatures, as a polar vortex takes hold. in america's third largest city, chicago, temperatures of —32 celsius are being forecast. people are being warned about the dangers of frostbite. president trump has welcomed progress after two days of trade talks with china. american negotiators will travel to beijing for further talks soon. and this video is

trending on bbc.com: a canadian woman who'd ordered a pet food dish from the online giant amazon was perplexed to find she'd been sent pepper spray and a stun gun instead. amazon says it's working to correct the mistake, which was the result of a bar—code error. the customer has handed the items into her local police station, as they're both illegal in canada. you're up to date. and the top story in the uk: heavy snowfall has hit much of southern england and wales, leaving hundreds of people trapped in their cars.