welcome to bbc news. our top story: the united nations says the storm that has ravaged parts of southern africa is possibly the worst weather—related disaster ever to hit the southern hemisphere. 1.7 million people were in the direct path of cyclone idai i'm karishma vaswan in singapore. in mozambique, zimbabwe and malawi. the headlines: hundreds of thousands of people are now homeless and in desperate fears that hundreds of thousands need of humanitarian help. are homeless in africa after what the un says might be one the funerals have begun for some of the worst natural disasters of the 50 victims of friday's to hit the southern hemisphere. mosque attacks in christchurch. speaking to schoolchildren in the city, the prime minister said that the stories of those who died need to keep being told. and this video is the really striking thing as you trending on bbc.com. a group of skiers were caught walk through he isjust by surprise as a ridge of snow collapsed under them. the really striking thing as you walk through he is just how exhausted they are. person after fortunately, no—one person has come up to us, asking for was injured in the incident in the austrian alps, help, wondering when aid is going to but the skiers did have arrive. to be rescued. the first funerals begin in christchurch for some of the 50 that's all. people who were killed in the mosque attacks last friday. i'm kasia madera in london. bye— bye. also in the programme: theresa may will write to the eu to ask for a brexit extension, possibly for a few months or maybe now on bbc news, hardtalk. for up to two years. the eu's negotiator sounds unimpressed. and after 18 years, polio returns to papua new guinea. we find out what's being done

to contain the outbreak. good morning. it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london and 2am in mozambique, where a tragedy of immense proportions is developing. the un says cyclone idai could be one of the worst weather—related disasters to hit the southern hemisphere. according to the president of mozambique, which was hardest hit, the death toll could rise to 1,000. it's thought a 30—mile stretch of land is under water after the river buzi burst its banks. the storm made landfall near the port city of beira, north of the capital, with winds of over 100 miles per hour.

it then moved inland, carrying the floodwaters with it to malawi and zimbabwe. 0ur africa editor fergal keane reports from beira, which has been badly damaged. whatever once lay here has been overwhelmed. now, the flooded land is an expanse of questions. what has become of those who lived here? only a silence below, and very occasional moments of reprieve. these survivors landing at beira airport, rescued from high ground near their submerged village. driving into the city, we saw how nature's full, awesome force had ripped through homes and lives. 90% of this city has suffered destruction, and you see it in the ruins, and in faces.

because we were foreign, because we came from a richer world, the people called out to us for help. no food, no water, no place to rest. we heard it again and again. this man led me to his family's battered one—room house. the floodwater soaked their meagre belongings. so how many of you live here? ten — ten peoples. ten people. yes. in this little room? yes. here, his sister, seriously ill with tuberculosis. already marginal lives now made desperate. i have more problems. my house is broken. and in my house, i don't have nothing to eat — nothing, nothing. from morning up to now, we have nothing to eat.

we're getting a few minutes‘ respite now from the rain, because it's been falling non—stop, and just adding to people's misery. the really striking thing as you walk through here is just how exhausted they are. person after person has come up to us, as you have seen, asking for help, wondering when aid is going to arrive. beira is severely damaged, but it is at least reachable, and even here, the warehouses that store food aid have been badly damaged. it is out in the countryside, though, that many are thought to be waiting for rescue. this is a glimpse of what helicopters and courage can do, but there are too few such rescues. some food aid is now being distributed, but the relief effort is still nowhere near what is needed. everything the storm could destroy, it did, and there is an ominous sense that the tragedy we have seen so farforeshadows much worse to come. fergal keane, bbc news, beira.

a little later we will speak to somebody from the world food programme to find outjust how on earth aid agencies cope with such difficult circumstances so stay with us difficult circumstances so stay with us for that. another story that continues to dominate the news here in the uk is brexit. the uk's leaving the european union. britain's prime minister, theresa may, is writing to the eu to formally ask for brexit to be postponed. with just 10 days to go until britain is due to leave the eu, she's now asking for an extension until at least the end ofjune, and possibly much longer. the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, says britain must come up with a concrete plan if it wants a delay. the european council will need to assess what is in the best interest of the eu. extending this uncertainty without a clear plan would add to the economic cost for

oui’ would add to the economic cost for our businesses but could also incur a political cost for the eu. it is for the british government and parliament to decide very quickly what the uk wants to do next. also making news today, the us president, donald trump, is hosting his brazilian counterpart jair bolsonaro at the white house, as the two countries look to strengthen trade and military ties. the two right—wing populist leaders exchanged football tops ahead of a private face—to—face sit—down in the oval house. it's the first official trip abroad for mr bolsonaro since he took office injanuary. he's sometimes called ‘the trump of the tropics‘. kazakhstan‘s president, who has led the country since independence from the soviet union, has announced his resignation. nursultan nazarbayev says he's handing over to the leader of the senate for the remainder of his term, but he'll remain as chair of kazakhstan‘s security council and as head of the country's ruling party.

the first burials of victims of the two mosque attacks in new zealand have been taking place in christchurch. the families have not released their names and have asked for privacy. 50 people died and dozens were injured in the mass shootings, carried out by a lone gunman last friday. meanwhile, the prime minister, jacinda ardern, has arrived in christchurch and has been talking to pupils at cashmere high school, which lost two students and a former pupil in the attack. we have a lot of holes in our gun laws in new zealand and we need to fix that. we also know that there are fix that. we also know that there a re lots of fix that. we also know that there are lots of questions less to answer as well about should we have known more, being able to detect that this individual was planning this terrorist attack? we want an enquiry to do that so we can make sure there is some independence to the way we look at it, so it isn't me standing

up look at it, so it isn't me standing up and giving explanations, the public can hear somebody independently come and look into that as well so we are looking to seek that up very quickly and also there is work around social media that we want to do. let's talk now to our correspondent mariko 0i, who's in christchurch for us. i know you are standing in front of that spontaneous impromptu memorial but has just sort of cropped up there at the botanic gardens, the funerals are under way, what is the mood where are at? as you can imagine, it is a very sombre mood, as you say, many people continue to pay tribute to the victims of friday's attacks and as you mentioned, the funerals are now under way. they are taking place not

too far from under way. they are taking place not too farfrom here. as under way. they are taking place not too far from here. as you under way. they are taking place not too farfrom here. as you know, islamic tradition requires bodies to be buried immediately but of course because of the identification process taking a long time, it has been delayed and some family members have been voicing some frustration about that. we heard from the police commissioner mike bush earlier this morning. he apologised for the delay but emphasised this process is crucial, vital, for the legal case, the criminal case, against the alleged attacker from friday's attack. mariko, on the identification process, i can imagine authorities really wanting to get this right. and possibly that is one of the reasons why this delay has been happening. but what are they explaining? how are they explaining it to the families of those victims because loved ones must be so very desperate to get information about who exactly was affected and killed in the attack. yes, indeed. as you can imagine the family members have been wanting to be reunited with the bodies of their loved ones that they lost in friday's attacks but because so many

people died in such a short amount of time, 50 confirmed dead, and of course many other people are still being treated as well, six coroners have been working around the clock to identify the bodies and we understand 21 bodies have now been released to their families and we understand the majority of bodies will be released by the end of today. thank you, mariko oi, from christchurch. within hours of the attack, the prime ministerjacinda ardern promised to toughen gun laws. since then her government has agreed to measures in principle, but exactly what is changing isn't yet known. this isn't the first time the country has debated gun reforms. back in 2016, the country's police association sent a warning that gun controls were inadequate. earlier, i spoke to kevin clements, a professor at the centre for peace and conflict studies at 0tago university. i started by asking him if he supported a ban on semi—automatic weapons in new zealand.

absolutely time and in fact the proposal, the initial proposal of this was in 1995 with the judge thorpe report on gun control. he recommended the complete ban of military style semiautomatic weapons and pistols. that was never picked up and pistols. that was never picked up by and pistols. that was never picked up by the government at that stage. it has been proposed in other reviews of gun control and the government has avoided it. but i think this time around, they are finding an opportunity for that to come into place and it will put us in consonance with existing legislation in australia and the uk and to some extent canada as well. military style semiautomatic weapons band. what about legislation in the us where they talk about licensing and registering because in new zealand, explained the nuance there because it is licensed, begun, the

people are registered though? that is right, in the new zealand context, we have long been advocating that there needs to be a register of guns and those guns need to be registered to the individuals who are gun license owners. at the moment we don't have this. but without anyone knowing. if there was a register of guns to individuals, we would have known that the murderer in this instance was building upa murderer in this instance was building up a little arsenal and doing the harming hot christchurch. the purchase of high—capacity magazines are then added to semiautomatic rifles to give them the high capacity, it is actually unregulated? completely unregulated and that is exactly what happened. you can purchase an ar 15 within a category license but if you want to add extra magazines and cartridge capacity, you need an e license. the

purchaser of these guns did not have that. he added a 30 magazine capacity and it turned into an extraordinary lethal weapon and that is exactly why we have been opposing these weapons all along. they have no agricultural value or sporting value, and no hunting value. so it is really important i think that these whole categories of weapons be banned. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we find out what's being done to contain papua new guinea's first outbreak of polio in 18 years. also on the programme, visiting a museum that really is for the dogs. we take look at a collection of art where canines reign supreme. today, we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter.

more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision — all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. now, this was an international trophy, and we understand now that the search for it has become an international search. above all, this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm karishma vaswan in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: aid workers in mozambique are warning that 400,000 people there have been made homeless by the cyclone that struck last week. the funerals begin in christchurch for some of the 50 people killed in friday's mosque attacks. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we start with the international edition of the japan times, which is reporting on a new set of laws banning parents from inflicting corporal punishment on their children. they say the proposed changes, okayed by japan's cabinet, have been broadly welcomed by campaigners. meanwhile, in the south china morning post, they are focusing on president

xi jinping's visit to rome this week where he is expected to be seeking a number of deals, opening up italian ports as part of china's belt and road initiative. and the new york times is looking at costa rica leading the charge in going green for the environment. the small south american nation is apparently aiming for a complete move away from all fossil fuels by 2050. let's return to our top story — the aftermath of storm idai. it has triggered a massive disaster in southern africa affecting hundreds of thousands of people. challiss mcdonough is the senior communication 0fficer for the un world food programme, and shejoins us now from washington. the un is estimating that around a million people have been affected by this. how do you cope with such a huge disaster? it really is difficult to imagine. there are homes under water, people have lost their cloud —— crops, their livestock, the roads in and out of the port city are completely underwater, so that critical port city has been completely cut off by

road, and the government estimates that at least 600,000 people are affected, and we have done satellite imagery that indicates that there could be up to 1.7 million people in mozambique alone might have been affected by the storm. it really is affected by the storm. it really is a catastrophe of absolutely mind—boggling proportions and it is going to be an enormous challenge for the people who are on the ground, facing those floodwaters, have climbed into trees on the tops of their houses to escape them, but also for the government and the humanitarian agencies that are trying to get assistance to them because the infrastructure has been decimated. when you have such a huge disaster across so many different countries, how do you start getting aid through and help through to the people on the ground?” aid through and help through to the people on the ground? i think you start with the people you can reach the fastest, and we did have food stocks on ——in beira, our warehouse

was badly affected but there was some food that was usable and we have begun distributing that two people who are sheltering in schools and churches around town. we have also flown in 20 tons of high—energy biscuits which are ready to eat and don't require cooking from the un humanitarian depot in dubai and have discussed — begun distributions of those as well. have teams of experts, people that have been surged into the country to ramp up the response as quickly as possible. we do have people on the ground and we are trying to get out of those remote areas, towns north of beira 01’ remote areas, towns north of beira or people sheltering in remote areas as quickly as possible to try to get them safe from the floodwaters, and to see that they can get food, drinking water, shelter, blankets, kind of support that the humanitarian community can bring to

them, and the basics of life to try to stay alive until the floodwaters recede and we can try to rebuild the infrastructure that has been damaged and rebuild those lives. unimaginably complicated. many thanks, and best of luck for all youraid thanks, and best of luck for all your aid workers on the ground. one of the most expensive vaccination campaigns in the world is taking place in papua new guinea to tackle a virus which was once commonplace, but has come close to being eradicated worldwide. last year, polio returned to papua new guinea after an 18—year absence. it's an incurable virus that can cause paralysis. i spoke to a global affairs analyst who has spent a month in papa new guinea working alongside unicef, and i asked him guinea working alongside unicef, and iasked him how guinea working alongside unicef, and i asked him how concerning this outbreak is. 26 cases last year. that is a very high proportion for such a small country. i think what is happening

isa country. i think what is happening is a perfect storm combination of factors. neglected investment and immunisation. you have security factors as well. there is warfare going on in the highlands and there was an earthquake last year in february that displays a lot of people. a lot of the stability —— instability. it is a tremendous investment in getting the event of the ground but there was criticism that the government was not spending funds on things like this where it is really needed. i think that will be the main messages from the international community who are giving millions and millions to defeat this. the main thing here is for the government to put in a system where routine immunisation happens. when a woman gives birth, she goes to the hospital and the baby she goes to the hospital and the ba by gets she goes to the hospital and the

baby gets routine immunisation. the problem is a lot of women, mothers actually give birth at home. they do not have that early contact with the health system that actually gets them recorded and gets them that vaccination. i know you have travelled extensively through the country. it is very difficult to reach some of these committees that are affected. extremely difficult. seaplane, walking. there are threats to vaccination workers as well. we visited one of the polio victims, a seven—year—old girl. it took a long time. it is sad to see her paralysed for life are not her fault. how much ofan for life are not her fault. how much of an effort is the government currently making to try and address this? it is huge. unicef has secured 14.4 million doses of vaccine, but it is one thing to get it into the country and the other part is to distribute that in a country that is very widely dispersed. convincing

people to take the vaccine is a very big effort. a lot of places in the country do not have facebook, twitter, no telephone service. it seems to be working. the demand is huge and just quickly it is ironic that there is very low vaccination. what happens, what is at stake if these efforts are not successful? more children are going to get polio, more could die and then it could spread. australia is very close, and i think that is a big worry for the international community. yes, it certainly is. this next story's for all the dog lovers among you. there's a new museum in the heart of manhattan dedicated to our four—legged friends. the american kennel club has created a dog haven packed with all things canine. even though puppies aren't allowed, it didn't stopjane 0'brien from sneaking in with her family dog, alfie.

the museum of the dog does exactly what it says on the label. and i have been allowed to bring a very special guest to see it. this is healthy. this is the largest collection of skyline related paintings and objects in the world courtesy of the american kennel club. this is alan. alan fossil is the curator. hisjob is to bridge the curator. hisjob is to bridge thejob the curator. hisjob is to bridge the job between art lovers and dog lovers using art to tell the history of the dog. it is part of the english culture, memorialising your a ncestors. english culture, memorialising your ancestors. it started with people and moved to horses and moved to dogsin and moved to horses and moved to dogs in the victorian era. in fact, it was queen victoria who started the craze for dog portraits and british women in particular were highly influential as breeders and painters. this is a painting called silent sorrow by a great female artist in britain. she painted this

portrait of cesar mourning the death of his owner, king edward vii. here we see after the king has passed away, she has placed caesar on the arm chairof away, she has placed caesar on the arm chair of edward vii and the armchair itself sort of fades into the background. this is also a hall of fame with artworks doubling as historic documents. britain standards began in 1850s but many breeds didn't come into existence into the 1900s. this chart shows the 193 officially recognised breeds. u nfortu nately, 193 officially recognised breeds. unfortunately, alfie being a labral doodle is not on this chart because he isa doodle is not on this chart because he is a designer dog, not a pedigree, but don't tell him. painters often idealise dogs in the same way human portrait painters idealise their patrons, and the aesthetic quality of some of the works here is the same. and then there is an old saying that dogs look like their owners. 0r there is an old saying that dogs look like their owners. or is it the

other way around ? this look like their owners. or is it the other way around? this is fun. what breed do i look like? i look into the camera, it takes my photograph... it does its magic... and...i photograph... it does its magic... and... iama photograph... it does its magic... and... i am a cavalier king charles spaniel, affectionate, gentle and graceful. clearly, there is something in this collection for everyone. what do you think of that, alfie? unless of course you are a cat. 0nly jane would sneak a dog into a museum with high art. that was hilarious. you have been watching newsday. absolutely. she is a real star, isn't she? coming up — we'll be looking at the jet airways crisis —— this volcano is active at the

moment. it is mexico's popocatepetl volcano. yes, it's definitely active at the moment. these explosions lit up the sky on monday evening. lots more coming up. the most noticeable feature of the weather for the next few days will be the feel of it. it will be very mild with temperatures above the seasonal average in fact. it should be largely dry as well with the higher pressure taking control. winds will be late for most away from the far north of the country. the ms is key to how it will feel for the next few days. higher pressure to the south and bringing this warm airon pressure to the south and bringing this warm air on a south—westerly wind. it is very moisture laden, which is why we are seeing quite a lot of cloud around, thick enough to produce light rain and drizzle early on wednesday. there could be a bit of mist and fog as well. a mild start to wednesday in places, and

through this morning we will have quite a lot of cloud around, generally light wind. i am hopeful through the afternoon we could see some good breaks appearing. across the far north—west of the uk, windy with outbreaks of rain for the northwest highlands. we could see temperatures reach the high teens but generally even when you have the cloud it will feel around 13 or 14 degrees. thursday, similar picture. quite a bit of cloud but some good holes breaking particularly to the east of high ground. staying very wet for the north—west of scotland where it will be breezy, temperatures and 11 or 12 degrees. further south, some good spells of sunshine, 16 or 17 celsius. into friday, a developing area of low pressure which will bring a spell of gales and rain to the north of the country. further south, close to the area of higher pressure, largely fine. some sunny spells. it will be breezy across the board, very windy

across parts of scotland with gales, 50 to 60 miles an hour gusts inland. 60 to 70 perhaps for the northern isles and western isles and we will also see rain spinning southwards and eastwards, tending to weaken as it does. another very mild day ahead of it giving some spells of sunshine. through friday evening and night, that band of cloud and rain sinks south—east, introducing cooler air. as few wintry showers pushing to the north of scotland. you can see the blue colours invading from the north—west as we head towards the north—west as we head towards the weekend, but high pressure is still in charge. it should be largely fine and dry with drier, cooler air. we could see more sunshine on saturday and sunday. notice the temperature is a little bit lower and nights will be chilli with a touch of frost in places.