this is bbc news, the headlines: president erdogan‘s governing party in turkey has lost control of several big cities in local elections, including the capital ankara. the opposition says it also won the largest city, istanbul. mr erdogan told supporters welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers that the party had lost the hearts in north america and around the globe. of urban voters, and he promised my name is reged ahmad. our top stories: to act on the results. lawyers for the vietnamese woman doan thi huong held big losses for president after the killing of erdogan‘s governing party in local elections across turkey. the half—brother of north korea's the opposition wins in the capital leader, says charges against her have been lowered. ankara for the first time she had been charged with killing in 25 years. kimjong nam at kuala lumpur airport in 2017. the trial of the vietnamese woman a comedian who plays a fictional charged with murdering the north korean leader's half president on tv is on course to win brother, kim jong nam, resumes in malaysia. the first round of ukraine's election. a comedian who plays exit polls give the satirist a president on tv is on course volodymyr zelenskiy a clear lead to win the first round over the incumbent petro poroshenko, by 30% of ukraine's election. japan announces the name to 17%. there's likely to be of the new imperial era. it'll be called reiwa, a run—off in three weeks. and will begin next month.

we start in turkey where president recep tayyip erdogan‘s governing party has lost control of several big cities in local elections, including the capital ankara. it's a poll that's being seen as a referendum on president erdogan‘s leadership. in istanbul, both the opposition and ak party have declared victory with the tally still very close. mark lowen reports from istanbul. there is a saying in turkish — whoever wins istanbul wins turkey. today, the biggest prize in the local elections is too close to call, with fewer than 3,000 votes between the governing ak party and the opposition chp, in a city of 18 million people. while both sides have declared victory, the official tally by the state news agency has stopped, with over i% of votes still to count, which the chp have claimed is the government's way of stealing the result.

in the capital, ankara, the opposition has won back control after a quarter of a century. if it takes istanbul too, it would be an astonishing result, in a country where 90% of the media is pro—government, and president erdogan has branded his opponents terrorists. speaking to supporters in ankara, there was none of the usual triumphalism from the president, but instead a call to wait for official results to be published, and remarks that seemed to be an acceptance of defeat in several parts of the country. translation: i believe the only reason we couldn't get the results we wanted in some cities is that we couldn't express ourselves enough to our nation, and we failed to win their hearts. his usually loyal conservative voters have indeed punished him for a deepening recession, with inflation at 20% and the currency plunging in value. for years, mr erdogan appeared unbeatable, with a moribund opposition. tonight, that image

is beginning to change. the trial of the vietnamese defendant doan thi huong, one of two women charged with murdering the estranged half—brother of north korea's leader, has now resumed. this is her arriving in court a short time ago. malaysia's attorney—general rejected vietnam's request to free her after her indonesian co—defendent was unexpectedly released. hyoong is charged with killing kim jong nam by smearing his face with a nerve agent at kuala lumpur airport in february 2017. what has been happening in court?m is quite dramatic. they asked if

they could letter —— lesson the charge. doan thi huong said she didn't know what she was doing. she has now pleaded guilty to the lesser charge. you can get at sentence for up charge. you can get at sentence for up to ten years in prison for that charge, less serious than the deaf penalty she had faced for the murder charge at her own lawyers believe that having now taking responsibility and admitting to her role in the killing of kimjong—nam, one “— role in the killing of kimjong—nam, one —— kimjong—nam, then thejudge would offer leniency. it is possible that the sole remaining defendant in this remaining case may well be released today once the judge has considered this lesser charge and this lesser plea by herself. it would be an extraordinary development. this trial has been going on for quite some time. as it

suggests that it might be coming to a close? well, if she is freed, that's the end of it all. it does leave a huge question mark over this case. both of these women who were put on trial never looked like players in what was an extraordinary and sinister assassination. when you look at their backgrounds, i don't think anyone, even the prosecution, really believed that they were planners in this assassination. but because doan thi huong was seen in cctv cameras putting her hands over kim jong—nam's face and then a scene going to the bathroom, thejudge believed she had a case to answer because it looked like she knew she had something dangerous on her hands. she has always denied that. if she is released with nobody being

held accountable, the north koreans who were allegedly involved, some of them believed to be senior agents in them believed to be senior agents in the north korean intelligence, these are the only two defendants. another point to bear in mind is today was the day to auntie hong was supposed to testify for the first time. it would be the first time we would have heard from her how she was recruited. —— doan thi huong. we will never hear from anyone who was involved because the indonesian defendant also didn't testify and it would leave a real air of mystery hanging over this assassination. all eyes will be on that court, i am sure. let's get some of the day's other news.

british members of parliament are once again getting ready to vote on monday on alternatives to theresa may's brexit deal. the prime minister has been urged not to ignore them if they back a softer brexit. thejustice secretary david gauke says that wouldn't be sustainable and has advised theresa may to look closely at staying in a customs union with the eu if that's what parliament votes for. mrs may's deal has already been rejected three times. several thousand protesters chanting "dictatorship never again" took to the streets of brazil's biggest cities sunday, on the 55th anniversary of the coup that established more than two decades of military rule. 2,000 people rallied in rio de janeiro, while in sao paulo a few hundred converged to demonstrate against the i96a—i985 dictatorship. the former us vice president, joe biden, has denied claims made by another democrat that he behaved inappropriately towards her. lucy flores said that in 2014, while they were campaigning, he placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed the back of her head — making her feel uncomfortable. mr biden, who is reportedly considering a 2020 presidential run, said he did not think that he'd ever

acted inappropriately. a new government has been formed in algeria after six weeks of mass protests, but the head of the military and the prime minister remain in office. demonstrators have been demanding that president abdelaziz bouteflika and his inner circle be removed. azzedine layachi, an algerian analyst, at the department of government and politics, saintjohn‘s university in new york — believes this reshuffle isn't as significant as it could have been. the key elements are still in place, ie the system itself. president bouteflika is still in place, and the prime minister, that just replaced another one, still part of the system, and of course the military leadership. so for the demonstrators, nothing has changed, and they don't want to fall in the trap of small changes, with a promise of bigger changes later on. it's happened before, and no real changes took place. so the stand—off is

likely to continue. now, we are hearing reports, not confirmed, from a private tv station that president bouteflika might be standing down. he might be set to resign. what do you make of that? that is probably the pressure, notjust from the streets, but also from those around him, especially the military. we know that the military have always played a key role in governing algeria, and they remain the kingmakers in the country. so the pressure on him — i mean, he is physically unable to govern or to rule, so nobody would expect him. but the problem is that he had suggested an extension of his term, fourth term, the current term, until a new system is in place. and of course, the demonstrators saying we cannot play with new rules. we have to have absolutely new rules, including getting rid

of everyone who is in the system now, and putting together a new constitution, and bringing in new faces. so he has to go, and him going out would be definitely a step forward now. but then how do we — where do we go from there? the questions that come to my mind is, is there anyone or any group speaking in the name of the demonstrators? is there anybody able to negotiate the transition with those who hold the real power in algeria, especially the military? i mean, that remains a key question, given the demonstrators want the whole inner circle to go. how realistic is that? shouldn't perhaps abdelaziz bouteflika leaving and new elections be enough? some people might fear the void, of course, the southern void of people who, even if they're not liked, at least they've been around

and they know how to make the state apparatus function in the transition period. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we meet the indonesian rickshaw driver who turned his vehicle into a mobile library for children. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can at worst produce a meltdown. in this case the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine.

the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel, where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: big losses for president erdogan‘s governing party in local elections across turkey. some results are too close to call. the trial of the vietnamese woman charged with murdering the north korean leader's half brother, kim jong—nam, resumes in malaysia. the name of japan's new imperial era, which comes as emperor akihito prepares

to abdicate, has just been revealed — a very solemn moment in the country, which uses the gregorian calendar but also its own imperial calendar. and the new name is reiwa. to provide some insights into the name and its importance tojapan, we can go now to bruce stronack, dean of the japanese campus of temple university in tokyo. a new imperial era is hugely significant forjapanese people. can you explain why? yes. obviously, the emperor is still very much the symbol of the japanese people. and the era name is still used as a date here injapan the era name is still used as a date here in japan along the era name is still used as a date here injapan along with the gregorian calendar. what does it mean practically when there is a new imperial name announced? a whole lot

of new stationery has to be made. in forms, letters, all of this kind of thing, the era name is still quite commonly used so in practical terms, that's what it means. whatever uses it is for the year name. also, i think that spiritually and in terms of the relationship of the nation to the emperor, it also has that obviously significant meaning. the old imperial era was heisei. what does the new era mean? certainly in changing from the previous era which straddled both the prewar and postwar errors, the heisei and the

feeling of peace and prosperity, what is really interesting is that it harks back to the very origins of contemporary japanese history, back to the seventh century, eighth century, beginning of japanese culture. the word re is tying the traditions of japanese culture to the modern concept of peace and also what is a very, very technologically advanced modern society. of course, for the moment, we are seeing shinzo abe speaking on our screen. he is giving a news conference in the wake of the new name being announced. but can you tell us about what goes into choosing the name? there is a lot of secrecy, choosing the name? there is a lot of secrecy, too. the contemporary law for the naming of areas dates only

back to 1979. —— eras. it goes back to when the heisei name was created. there was more private input, particularly academic input. an interesting footnote is they were really good records kept of how the heisei name came to be decided upon and those records won't be revealed until 202a. this time, not only are they more people involved from the private sector, men and women, academics and people from the scientific community and also the business community, there is also much better record keeping this time so much better record keeping this time so when the records are released maybe 30 years from now, people will

have a much better understanding of how this era name came about. and absolutely fascinating insight into japanese culture. thank you so much for your time. the new imperial era is called reiwa. in ukraine, a comedian with no political experience is on course to win the most votes in the presidential election. exit polls suggest volodymyr zelenskiy, who plays the president in a satirical tv show, is expected to beat the incumbent petro poroshenko in the first round of voting on sunday. jonah fisher reports. fact is very quickly catching up with fiction in ukraine. this was the moment that a comedian who plays the president in a tv show found out he was beating the real president by more than ten percentage points. these are just exit polls, but the political establishment here has been shaken.

what's your reaction to these exit polls? great, this is the first fight. i'm very happy. but this is not the final actions. and are you sure you'll win in the second round? i think so. we'll see. we will see. i spent a day with mr zelenskiy during the election campaign. at the time, his grasp of politics was weaker than his understanding of british comedy. benny hill? benny hill, yes. it's more understandable than monty python. for me, monty python is better, i'm sorry. ukrainians feel they know how mr zelenskiy would perform as president because they've seen him star in a television as a teacher called vasiliy goloborodko, who turns into a principled, honest president. this is the man mr zelenskiy looks set to face in the second round.

are you feeling confident, mr president? are you feeling confident? immediately after the voting, thank you. ukraine's real president, petro poroshenko. five years ago, the billionaire was swept to power in the aftermath of a street revolution. but he looks to be paying the price for the slow pace of change. the big loserfrom today looks to be yulia tymoshenko. the darling of revolutions past, this will be the third time she has missed out on the presidency. whoever ultimately wins will be confronted with ukraine's very serious problems, not least relations with russia, and a war in the east that has killed 13,000 people. this election isn't over yet, and there's still a second round to come. but tonight, here in ukraine, it feels like a political earthquake. voters rejecting the old in favour of something new, entertaining, and almost completely undefined.

jonah fisher, bbc news, in kiev. us media is reporting that the grammy—nominated rapper nipsey hussle has been shot and killed in los angeles. hussle had been a figure in the west coast hip—hop scene for more than a decade. it's believed he was gunned down outside a clothing shop in the south of the city. the shooter is thought to be still at large. tributes are already being paid on social media. rihanna tweeted: "this doesn't make any sense! my spirit is shaken by this!" and pharrell williams said: "you inspired millions, millions who will uphold your legacy forever. rest amongst the stars." president donald trump has threatened to close the border with mexico this week, unless more is done to stop illegal immigrants crossing into the united states.

back in february, he declared an emergency, calling for billions of dollars to build a wall. but now, numbers have hit a ten year high. some border posts are so overwhelmed, that asylum seekers — mostly from central america — have been held in temporary facilities out in the open. from el paso in texas, dan johnson reports. behind the barbed wire on a customs station car park, hundreds of asylum seekers settle down for the night. there are men, women, children, and even babies here. they have foil sheets to keep warm. they have portable toilets. but this is the grim reality when their dream of america hits a system said to be under a cascading crisis, a freefall, even according to those in charge. it's an image most wealthy western nations would be ashamed of. at a shelter, on the edge of town, we found lesbia, one of those forced to sleep in the open after two weeks on the road from honduras. translation: the journey

here was hard, but the worst part was arriving. no human should be treated the way we were. we were cold, sleeping on rocks for five days. there are queues for food and medical checks, as details are taken and people are moved on. there is disbelief too, that in america in 2019, it's come to this. but border patrol says this is simply the only way that they can cope with the numbers that they are having to deal with, that there are so many people coming across the border, families with young children, that they have nowhere else to hold these people. they say this is the visual demonstration of the humanitarian crisis that the president has described. and the chief says they're now past breaking point and things will only get worse. with 55,000 families, including 115,000 children expected to enter the process this month, we are doing everything we can to simply avoid a tragedy in a cvp

facility, but with these numbers, with the types of illnesses we're seeing at the border, i fear that it's just a matter of time. and all the time, people keep coming. this is the latest line heading through mexico and that's where president trump has aimed the blame, saying too many are being allowed through. and if they don't stop them, we're closing the border, we'll close it, and we'll keep it closed for a long time. i'm not playing games. mexico has to stop it. these people have been moved on and this holding pen now stands empty, but thousands more are expected every day and what to do with them is the question america seems unable to answer. jakarta is one of the world's busiest and most crowded cities — getting around isn't always easy. once upon a time, you might‘ve used a small, motor—powered rickshaw, but two years ago, they were banned by the indonesian government. now, one former driver has

come up with a new way to use his old vehicle. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. sutino hadi, known as ‘kinong', is a man on a mission. he used to drive passengers around jakarta. now, he's trying to broaden minds. he's turned his old bemo into a mobile library, and it's the minds of the young he really wants to broaden. translation: when i first started, i could never imagine i could inspire that many children, but after a few years of driving around, i began to see the positive benefits. i thought i'm nearing retirement anyway, it's my responsibility to be a good human being and help others. bemos used to be a regular sight injakarta. for decades, they buzzed around the streets, weaving through traffic, but they weren't always safe and they weren't exactly good for the environment, so eventually they were banned. kinong's novel use of his vehicle is just one example of a larger movement, aiming to make indonesians learn to love books.

translation: our challenge is how to instill an interest in reading in children during the age of technology. we believe it is important that our volunteers teach children to understand the importance of learning. from what we have seen, indonesia's education system is moving in a positive direction and we are grateful for that. kinong hopes he can help transform these children's lives and he says this journey has taken him to places he never thought possible. tim allman, bbc news. that is it canal but of course, do not forget we be keeping a close our top story here for you on bbc news, those turkish local elections that have been happening. president

erdogan‘s akp party has not done so well. he is behind on all of the cities, we will keep an eye on that. more information, go to the bbc news website. —— for. hello again. we're going to see some big changes in our weather over the next few days of this week. not much snow on the mountains in scotland at the moment in this weather watch picture, sent to us by colliestun. but you got a sense that that's going to change in a big way for scotland over the next few days as our weather turns significantly colder. now, on the satellite picture, we've got a streak of cloud to the north—west of the uk. and that's a cold front that's working in towards our shores. but if you're heading outside over the next few hours, the only place you're likely to come across rain really is northern ireland, and even here the rain is going to be quite patchy in nature. clear spells further east allowing some frost, so it will be quite a chilly start for a number of us first thing in the morning. there's our area of high pressure slipping away to the continent.

and here comes our cold front, bringing that thickening cloud, and eventually outbreaks of rain. so the rain will turn heavy and steady through the day for western scotland and for northern ireland. but for eastern scotland, for most of england and wales actually, we've got another fine day coming up with some spring sunshine, the best of it across southern counties. it might be april the first, but don't be fooled by those rising temperatures in cardiff, highs up to 16 degrees. there is only one direction of travel for the weather, and that is for things to get much colder. now through monday evening and night—time, we'll see the band of rain, our cold front sinks southwards, taking the rain across northern ireland and scotland, into parts of england and wales through the night. ahead of the front, seven degrees in london. we're starting to get the colder air tucking in across scotland and northern ireland — the shape of things to come. so really from tuesday onwards, it's then that we'll start to see the really cold air digging in. turning colder, rain or showers, be cold enough for some hill snow and some overnight frost as well. this area of low pressure is going to be slipping southwards during tuesday, dragging in cold winds, coming all the way from within the arctic circle.

0ur cold front by this stage will be pushing eastwards, taking the rain with it on tuesday. the colder air following. sunshine and showers — some of the showers heavy with some hailand thunderand, yeah, there will be snow up in the hills as well. now a look at the temperatures. highs of seven degrees in belfast. factor in those strong northerly winds, it really is going to feel quite cold, especially compared with the weather we've seen over recent days. low pressure then stays with us through the rest of the week, really. this area of low pressure in the north sea bringing rain and potentially some significant mountain snow across scotland and perhaps also the pennines as well for a time on wednesday. elsewhere, another day of sunshine and heavy showers. and the thing with the showers is, when they come along, they could drop the temperatures over a short period of time by four orfive degrees, so it is going to feel pretty chilly out and about.