i'm kasia madera with bbc news: our top story: venezuela's opposition leader juan guaido has returned to a superstar welcome in his country. he told the crowds who awaited his i'm rico hizon in return at an anti—government protest that it was up to them to achieve singapore, the headlines: regime change in venezuela. developments on the huawei case are causing major new tensions venezuela's opposition leader makes a triumphant return to the capital, between canada, the us and china. caracas, and calls for more protests china accuses two canadians of spying, as a senior huawei executive sues canada against president maduro. over her arrest. and this video is trending on bbc.com: translation: they threaten all of jacob easton and his dad were driving in colorado us, including me, with jail, death, when they saw an avalanche rushing towards the highway. but we're not going to up fighting. there are avalanche warnings we are stronger and more united than in place across the state. ever. tit—for—tat — china accuses two canadians of spying as a senior huawei executive sues that's all. stay with bbc news. canada over her arrest. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: a trail of destruction in america's

deep south and fears more bodies will be found after tornadoes kill and the top story in the uk: at least 23 people in alabama. and as bushfires rage theresa may has vowed to tackle on across several australian states, we talk to a prominent winemaker on the economic impact. good morning. it's 9am in singapore, i am in london, and 9pm in the capital of venezuela, caracas, where thousands of people have welcomed the return of the man who claims to be the country's interim president. opposition leaderjuan guaido had been visiting countries in the region to get support for his bid to replace the current president nicolas maduro. but now mr guaido could face arrest, as the bbc‘s will grant reports from caracas.

juan guaido could have been arrested the moment he stepped off the flight. instead, he breezed back onto venezuelan soil, and into the arms of his supporters. for those who see him as their president, his return is an important step on the road to removing nicolas maduro from power. and, if the goal was to maintain their momentum, this was what greeted mr guaido‘s return. at the height of carnival, his appearance in caracas has lifted the spirits of his faithful. translation: they threatened all of us, including me, with jail, death, but we're not going to give up fighting. we are stronger and more united than ever. translation: the arrival of guaido to this country represents the awakening of hope among the venezuelan people. we've been waiting for this call.

this is exactly the reaction that mr guaido's supporters wanted to see from him — notjust returning to venezuela, but through the front door, and thumbing his nose at mr maduro and the travel ban on his way in. president maduro, meanwhile, spent the day insisting all was well, admiring the country's tourism infrastructure over the extended holiday. he sastuan guaido has acted illegally, and is trying to stage a coup. but he knows arresting him would bring an instant reaction, both on the streets of venezuela and from abroad. the trump administration has made no bones about its support for mr guaido. the national security adviser, john bolton, warned president maduro of swift retribution should anything happen to him. so the lines of the venezuelan conflict are drawn. now, the question most venezuelans are asking is if mr maduro will accept his opponent's return, or arrest him in the coming days. will grant, bbc news, caracas.

let's take a look at some of the day's other news. we will hear from the new york times reporter based in caracas a little later in the day. the chinese authorities say that two canadian citizens detained in december were engaged in stealing state secrets and that the authorities are to startjudicial proceedings against them. they were arrested shortly after canada acted on a us request to detain a top executive from the chinese telecom giant huawei. meng wanzhou is now suing the canadian authorities in relation to her arrest at vancouver airport last year. she faces charges linked to the alleged violation of us sanctions against iran, which she denies. china has condemned her arrest. translation: the us and canada abused their bilateral extradition treaties to arbitrarily take coercive measures on chinese citizens. we once again urge the us to immediately withdraw the arrest warrant and extradition request.

also making news today: president trump is under pressure from a democrat—led congressional commitee which has demanded documents from dozens of people, including his son, donald junior, to examine allegations that the president obstructed justice and abused his powers. mr trump denies any wrongdoing. in the last hour, china has said it will increase defence spending for the year ahead, but it's a smaller rise than last year. a budget report is being announced at the country's annual meeting of parliament in beijing right now. at the same time, china has lowered its growth targets for 2019. we'll have more reaction on this, in asia business report, shortly. 200 foreign is fighters have surrendered to the us—backed kurdish—led syrian democratic forces in eastern syria. the group surrendered in the north of baghuz after the sdf announced a pause in the fighting to allow civilians to leave the area and any is fighters to surrender.

police in the philippines have seized more than one and a half thousand live turtles and tortoises found wrapped in duct tape at manila airport. the reptiles, found in four unclaimed pieces of luggage, could have sold for more than $85,000. police believe the bags were abandoned after the carrier found out about the harsh penalties for illegal wildlife trafficking. the storms came with little warning and left destruction in their path. officials say 23 people are confirmed dead, and many remain missing, a day after a series of tornadoes hit the american states of alabama and georgia with winds topping 250 kilometres—per—hour. eyewitness have called the scenes on the ground catastrophic and like a war zone. the bbc‘s chris buckler was granted access to see the damage himself, and has this report.

in this corner of alabama, the landscape is scarred by debris for as far as the eye can see. the tornadoes that struck here cut through homes and communities, leaving paths of destruction that are miles long and up to half a mile wide. looks almost as if someone took a giant knife and just scraped the ground. there are slabs where homes formerly stood. it is only when you are here where the tornado struck that you can see the force of it. everything that you can see lying just in front of me, this was inside a trailer on the other side of the road. but it has been thrown across the road, and everything that was inside is now lying outside, even mattresses. and behind me, there are hundreds and hundreds of trees, all uprooted and lying on their side. a series of tornadoes instantly

darkened the skies on sunday afternoon across georgia, south carolina and florida, but it was alabama that was struck hardest. the tearing, swirling winds reached speeds of 165 mph, ripping roofs from houses. some people had only minutes of warning, and not everyone had the chance to escape. oh, that's a sweet reunion, isn't it, right there. granny's 0k. tornadoes are not uncommon in this part of the us, but the number of people killed by this storm stands out, particularly here in beauregard. this is a small community which has been ripped apart. there are children among the dead. this hurts my heart. i love this county, and it's extremely upsetting to me to see these people hurting like this. today, teams are still searching through the remains of buildings, all too aware that there is a real

possibility of finding more bodies. let's return to the situation in venezuela. the opposition leaderjuan guaido's has returned to caracas. i spoke to ana vanessa herrero, a new york times reporter in the capital and i asked her what was likely to happen next, given that mr guaido been threatened with jail, on his return. actually, the government of nicolas maduro said it since last week. because the head of the constituent assembly said on a weekly show he anchors, and also nicolas maduro had already threatened juan guaido with that, as well as the vice president. but this didn't happen. actually, what happened was that juan guaido came to the country through the main airport of venezuela in a commercial flight from panama, with the help of the president of panama, and he was greeted as a chief of state inside of the airport — the airport that is actually controlled by military, by the national police.

and he said over — in his speech today that it was because of this military and the police and the security forces who allowed him in. i mean, it was them who allowed him to get into the country. in saying that, you know, they were ok with the fact that he was interim president. mr maduro is under incredible pressure to resign. what do you think his next move will be? we are waiting to see exactly that. i mean, we're waiting to see what the next move is going to be, because usually when the opposition calls for a rally, the government, nicolas maduro's government, immediately jumps and calls for a rally also.

but the thing that happened on sunday was that it was so fast, it was so quickly announced and so not prepared, that the government didn't have time to call the supporters that they still have with them. butjuan guaido already called for another demonstration this saturday. we're hoping, or we're waiting to see, if the government is also going to call for another demonstration the same day. new york times reporter anna parreira herero, speaking earlier. this week the bbc is launching a new series, crossing divides, examining the causes of polarization and fragmentation in the 21st century. among the biggest debates in today's society is whether social media is a cause of division or a force for good. 0ur media editor, amol rajan, has been looking at the link between digital media and social divides. a common assumption about modern media is that it has

created filter bubbles. zhu is online experiences that confirm our prejudices, rather than challenge them. whether they are racist themselves or not, it doesn't matter. the effect is the same... 0ne collective of students intent on breaking out of echo chambers is called the cabinet. it started as a facebook group, but now has 21,000 members, many of them whom meet up in real life. this is an arena for civilised debate. especially on facebook, you have what you call echo chambers, these big groups where everyone will be only left—wing or only right—wing, or only this or that. and the fact that we have got this big giant group where everyone has different views but we can all still be friends and have like 30—a0 people turn up and all drink together, and not a fight break out, like, i think it's great. honestly, i love it. not for them the toxicity and trolling that is the daily bread of much social media. if we only see people as the ideas they represent, then how are we ever going to be civil and friendly with them if they oppose us? these clever students make social media live up to its name. none of them are particularly rich, or knew each other before.

they're from very different places, geographically, culturally and politically. but social media allowed them to cross those divides, establishing exciting if tenuous digital relationships, before getting to know each other properly in real life. what do you say to those critics, and there are many, who say that social media platforms like facebook don't bring people together, they drive them apart? across the whole of europe, a0 million people are part of groups on facebook, and those groups are set up around a passion. and then we find they start to talk about other things, they start to talk about politics and things that matter to them. and that discourse, it's called cross—cutting political discourse, studied by academics, actually means that they start to talk about those things in a way that is very civil, because they respect the people that come together, and it means they see views from lots of different places, because it's not their normal set of friends. for millions of users, social media is a cesspit of anger. yet the latest research shows there is more to it than that. you can find a relationship between social media and political polarisation if you look

only at social media. but, in a complex multimedia environment, you find people interacting with others who have varying points of view, changing their minds, encountering contradictory information. 0nline relationships will never match the depth of trust and reciprocity of offline relationships. but, by allowing disparate factions to connect with one another, social media can cross divides, as well as create them. amol rajan, bbc news. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: is this the last we're seeing of this village? as climate change raises water levels, an island in india is at risk of sinking. also on the programme: we talk to a prominent australian winemaker on the financial impact of wildfires on agriculture.

first, the plates slid gently off the restaurant tables. then suddenly, the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards, and it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched onto her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier, and so my heart went bang, bang, bang! the constitutional rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the united states, and they should be protected even in the right to test them out, so that they don't get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy — i know you don't want to say too much about it — but does it worry you it's going to boil up when you get to the states? well, it worries me, yeah.

i hope everything will be all right in the end, as they say. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. welcome. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories this hour: venezuela's 0pposition leader makes a triumphant return to the capital, caracas, butjuan guaido risks arrest by returning to his homeland. developments on the huawei case are causing major new tensions between canada, the us and china. china accuses two canadians of spying as a senior huawei executive sues canada over her arrest. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the south china morning post leads on the huawei dispute and says a senior chinese official has accused the united states

of violating the rules of the world trade organisation. the official said the us interfered politically in the activity of the chinese company when it requested that huawei's cfo, meng wanzhou, was arrested in canada. the japan times reports that the lawyer for carlos ghosn —— the japan times reports that the lawyer for carlos ghosn is confident that the ex—nissan chairman will soon be granted bail. mr ghosn has been in detention since 19 november and has already been denied bail twice. he denies allegations of financial misconduct. those are the papers. many thanks for that. the american actor luke perry has died at the age of 52, days after suffering a massive stroke. his publicist said the star of the television series beverly hills 90210 was surrounded by family and friends. the bbc‘s tim allman looks back

at his life and career. the early 1990s, and a television show full of pretty girls and tricky boys. —— pretty boys. the prettiest boys. —— pretty boys. the prettiest boys of them all was luke perry. please don't leave. you are scaring the! he was the bad guy who was really a good guy. his james dean looks combined with a certain brooding intensity made him a heartthrob for a generation of viewers. i never particularly cared about fitting in with certain groups oi’ about fitting in with certain groups or whatever. i just tried about fitting in with certain groups or whatever. ijust tried to do my own thing a little bit and try to find things out for myself. i am a curious person. lolling the announcement of his death, reaction was flooding in social media. his co—star tweeted:

born in ohio in 1966, he moved to la after finishing born in ohio in 1966, he moved to la afterfinishing high born in ohio in 1966, he moved to la after finishing high school to become an actor. he appeared in a couple of daytime soaps before hitting the big time with beverly hills 90210. although he would never really match that success , he would never really match that success, he worked steadily throughout his career at pretty much up throughout his career at pretty much up until the day he died. 0ne executive said of luke perry he was incredibly caring, a consummate professional with a giant heart and a true friend to all.

remembering the actor luke perry who's died at the age of 52. now to australia, where the country's hottest summer on record, together with floods and fires in some states are hitting farmers hard. wine makers are also being hurt. fires in the state of victoria this week have completely destroyed some vineyards, while other growers in south australia and new south wales are struggling amid soaring temperatures at the start of harvest. ian riggs is chief winemaker and managing director for brokenwood wines, which operates in the hunter valley in new south wales. he's been telling me more about the situation and how farmers are coping. yes, it is always a conundrum, isn't it. wine is a very social product, but at the end of the day, we are just farmers and we have the vagaries of the weather and this year really has tested everyone's patience. you are rolling with the punches, so how are winemakers like yourself coping? well, production is down this year.

we are still harvesting at a region nearby us and we are only getting half the tons that we expected to get, less production, the grapes cannot be found elsewhere, so we are going into low production this year across australia. customers will probably get a bit of a price rise coming through in a couple of years' time and we just hope that the weather does come back in our favour. so the outlook, you are saying, is looking bleak for 2019? bleak only in terms of the tonnage in some areas. australia is a very large place, and some regions are having a fantastic vintage, the hunter valley, for instance, margaret river, but the quality will be high because you have less juice, you have lots of concentration of flavours, so lower yield does not mean lower quality,

quite often lower yield means very high quality. and a dry year, ian, could also be awful for growers, birds pick drying fruits, even kangaroos come in to eat crops, but a dry year can also be good for growres and good for winemakers. can you explain a bit more about that? yeah, that's very true. when we have a drought, a dry year, there is no grass for the kangaroos to feed on. of course, a vineyard is nice and green and then better still, you get some sweet berries. there are years when we get kangaroos moving into the vineyards and actually decemating the whole vineyard. let's take you now to a tiny island in the bay of bengal. the island of ghoramara on the east coast of india is on the brink of sinking. climate change is causing water levels to rise rapidly here, and soon, ghoramara could vanish completely, as the bbc‘s devina gupta reports from the island. trapped by the waters that are taking away his livelihood and home.

for this 43—year—old, there is no escaping the effects of climate change. he could be the last of his generation to live on this island of ghoramara in india. he knows it is sinking. translation: there are more floods now and the water level is rising. my farmland is all under water. i have to catch fish to survive. more than 50% of the land here has disappeared underwater in the last 20 years. scientists say global warming is melting snowcaps in the himalayan region and more water is coming from the rivers there when they enter the bay of bengal. this is how bad the situation is. just three months back,

there was land here with five families living in the huts, but all that is left is that submerged tree. locals have told me it was 30 feet tall. that is about a 2—storey building, and this is how fast the water is moving in. there's little those living here can do to stem the rising tide. this man was once a rich farmer, but now he says the river water which once nourished his crops of betel leaves are ruining them every year. as more water rushes down from the mountains, they are also bringing more soil and sediment water to the area. "there is nothing left for me here," he tells me. those who can are leaving. more than half the island's population have fled the rising waters in the last decade. it is devastating for those left behind, especially for the young. translation: teachers do not want to come and stay here. i want to be a doctor, but how can

i study without good teachers? this man left after floods destroyed his home, but safety has a steep price. he lives in a government—run resettlement colony on the other side of the river, but refuses to call it his home. translation: this is not my birthplace, this is not where i belong. i was owner of my land. now i have to work hard to make ends meet. but now, until the government finds a more permanent solution, for the almost 5,000 people still stuck on the sinking island, their future could soon be washed away. you have been watching newsday. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. many bank is watching. from us, much

more on our website —— many things for watching. —— thanks. hello there. last tuesday brought some exceptional winter warmth. this tuesday, a very different story, quite a chilly start to the day and it remains unsettled. we'll see some rain and snow over high ground in the north, some sunny spells to be had as well. a lot going on on this satellite picture. there's one swell here, an area of low pressure pushing away across europe. another one in the atlantic. that one will be approaching from the south—west as we go through the day. this first area of low pressure, feeding some showers in across northern ireland, northern england and scotland. quite a chilly start, particularly in eastern and north—eastern parts of the uk. temperatures for some spots down below freezing. so, as you go through the day,

we will see the showery rain across northern england and northern ireland, some snow over higher ground in scotland. here's our next batch of wet weather approaching from the south—west. there will be some rain in between, some sunny skies in the tuesday afternoon. but outbreaks of rain, sleet and hill snow moving northwards across central and southern parts of scotland, still a few showers across northern england and perhaps northern ireland. a zone of sunnier weather into the north midlands, east anglia, the south—east. although that sunshine will tend to turn quite hazy as cloud invades from the south—west ahead of this frontal system, bringing outbreaks of rain and a strengthening wind. as we go through tuesday night, we could well see gusts of 50 to perhaps 60 miles an hour in exposed spots in the south—west, heavy rain driving its way northwards, but snow developing almost on the northern edge across higher ground in scotland. a chilly night in aberdeen, freezing. 10 degrees in plymouth, something milder spreading across parts of the south, but low pressure firmly

in charge on wednesday. and as the wet weather meets some cold weather, we will once again see some wintry weather, plenty of showers eastwards over northern ireland, wales, into england with some sunny spells in between. but single figures definitely across north—western parts of the uk, and actually, that colder air will dig its way southwards during thursday. it will be quite windy as well across parts of scotland, some wintry showers falling to increasingly low levels here. rain showers further south. those temperatures ranging from around 6 to 11 degrees and it stays unsettled as we head towards the weekend, we will see some showers at times, some of those wintry over higher ground, and it will generally feel a bit chilly.