evers i'm babita sharma with bbc world news. —— our top story: the british prime minister, theresa may, will ask the eu for a further delay to brexit. welcome to newsday. i'm babita sharma in london. in a change of direction, mrs may said she will also try to reach agreement the headlines: with the opposition labour party on how to end the crisis. crowds are celebrating in algeria seven hours of talks with a divided at the news that the country's president, abdelaziz bouteflika, is to step down after cabinet. theresa may says she will ask for another brexit delay in weeks of protests. office to consult the opposition. this debate, this division cannot drag on much longer. it is putting the 82—year—old has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke six years ago. and this story is members of parliament and everyone trending at bbc.com. else under immense pressure. we need one of prince harry's biggest fans in australia, 99—year—old daphne dunne, has passed away. to ensure that parliament has an she died just days after getting a birthday card from harry opportunity to vote on proposals and his wife, meghan. that prevent us crashing out of the she said she'd had "a very special eu in the end of next week. friendship" with the prince. you're up to date. celebrations in algeria as president abdelaziz bouteflika resigns after 20 years in power, going to weeks of stay with us. now on bbc news, pressure and protest. stephen sackur talks

to the writer angie thomas on hardtalk. —— bowing. i'm rico hizon in singapore. also in the programme: accused of stealing billions of dollars, the corruption trial of malaysia's former prime minister gets under way within hours. widespread condemnation as brunei makes gay sex in the country punishable by death. this is bbc world news. it's newsday. thanks forjoining us. it's 7am in singapore and midnight here in london, where the british prime minister theresa may has announced she will ask the eu for another extension to the brexit deadline, in the hope of breaking the deadlock. after eight hours of cabinet discussions, mrs may also said she wanted to explore a way forward with the opposition labour leader, jeremy corbyn, to try find

a solution both parties can support. to say that won't be easy is an understatement. john pienaar begins our coverage. after two failed attempts at brexit, and a big split in cabinet, the prime minister finally felt forced to consider compromise, her announcement in downing street a dramatic change of direction. i know there are some who are so fed up with delay and endless arguments that they would like to leave with no deal next week. i've always been clear that we could make a success of no—deal in the long—term, but leaving with a deal is the best solution. so we will need a further extension of article 50, one that is as short as possible, and which ends when we pass a deal. i'm offering to sit down with the leader of the opposition and to try to agree a plan, that we would both stick to, to ensure that we leave the european union and that we do so with a deal. if we cannot agree on a single unified approach, then we would instead agree a number of options for the future

relationship, that we could put to the house in a series of votes to determine which course to pursue. crucially, the government stands ready to abide by the decision of the house. but, to make this process work, the opposition would need to agree to this too. senior ministers emerged after a grinding seven hours at the table. brexiteers didn't like theresa may's plan and said so, although one, more supportive of mrs may, tried to keep a lid on dissent. i think everyone recognises that it would have been preferable if we'd secured support for the withdrawal agreement last week. sadly, we didn't command a majority in the house of commons, and we now need to ensure that we can get a majority for us leaving the european union. the labour leader, invited now to offer his ideas for brexit, again spelt them out. we've put forward our proposals, which are to ensure there is a customs union with the european union,

that there is access to those markets, and above all, there's protections of our standards of consumer, environmental and of course, workers's rights. and we'll ensure that those are there, on the table, so that there is no danger of crashing out. but at westminster, most mps lean towards a so—called softer brexit, potentially closer to the eu than that on offer by mrs may. conservative brexiteers are angry, and the thought of building bridges withjeremy corbyn, or trying to, has gone down badly, especially with one who is a likely contender for mrs may's job. the result will almost certainly, be, if corbyn gets his way, that we remain in the customs union, so that we can't control our trade policy, the huge areas of lawmaking we can't control, and brexit is becoming soft to the point of disintegration. senior mps, who've been pushing for compromise, have welcomed the possibility of brexit by consensus, but weren't taking it on trust.

after 2.75 years, she's now said she wants to reach out. but we have been here before. and the net result was the prime minister listened politely, but her mind remained closed. and she really needs to give, i think, parliament an indication that she is winning to move. —— willing to move. brexit has strained trust in politics, and torn the fabric of labour and the tories. mrs may has accelerated a reckoning in her party that may have been unavoidable. her talks withjeremy corbyn and the coming votes in parliament will frame any consensus that's possible. the eu will then decide whether to grant britain a brexit delay. but if mrs may does buy more time, it's time that'll be used by her critics and potential successors, who are keen to end her time in number ten, and carry on brexit under new management. john pienaar, bbc news, downing street. so what does this mean for the way forward? here's the bbc‘s political correspondent naomi grimley, who has been watching developments from westminster. it isa it is a pivot, it is a change of

direction from a prime minister who mostly has been can sound with keeping the right of her party on—side and also the democratic unionist, who pop—up administration in government, and now it seems that she is prepared to discard them or at least marginalise them and look instead because the aisle in the house of commons, to the opposition. at that will mean she will have to discard some of her redlines and watered—down some of the principles which she has so cherish our cherished in the last few months and yea rs. cherished in the last few months and years. -- but. we had something quite extraordinary from the opposition leaderjeremy corbyn, he said that he only really heard about this invitation to chart from the prime minister by watching statement on television himself stop by reading into that, what can we make the break down of communication between the opposition leader here? i think we can discern that a lot of being made up on the hoof, theresa

may is a woman who has been fighting for her political life really four weeks if not months, now she has often confounded her critics and prove them wrong. she has, for example, survived a vote of no—confidence 15 ministerial resignations, but the time is running out. —— and 15. reckoning is within because it just running out. —— and 15. reckoning is within because itjust does not look possible that she can keep both wings of her cabinets on—side and thatis wings of her cabinets on—side and that is really why this is a last flow of the dice, to some extent. i hope thatjeremy corbyn and his labour mps hope thatjeremy corbyn and his labourmps can hope thatjeremy corbyn and his labour mps can really be bound into any final decision on a compromise deal. just talk us through the logistics of what we can expect on wednesday in westminster. well, we're told these talks will take place quickly, so they will be chatting face to face and trying to work out where the common ground is,

can theresa may, for example, now stomach britain staying in the customs union, as labour has suggested? there were also in parliament tomorrow be a bill that some backbenchers are trying to push through to take the no deal scenario off the table. it is a very small bill but no mps are worried that time is ticking on, because a member, amidst all this, we have a new deadline looming for britain to fall out of the eu, that is the 12th of april. it is a matter of days now and that is why all of a sudden, there is frantic activity as theresa may tries to avoid that happening. it is certainly not something she wa nts to it is certainly not something she wants to see as prime minister. we will keep across the brexit developments. there is a lot to keep across. full analysis for you on the bbc news website from our analysts

and ourteam in bbc news website from our analysts and our team in westminster. thank you. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. algerian media is reporting that the algerian media is reporting that the algerian president abdelaziz bouteflika has resigned. he has been facing weeks of protest. he has been in powerfor a0 years. facing weeks of protest. he has been in power for 40 years. a radical overhaul of the entire ruling class in algeria because they think that some of those people around the president are taking advantage of the system and getting also some advantage for themselves, which they should not be getting. now, this was supported today by the army chief, who said that this gang, that is his own words, who are milking algeria's resources . own words, who are milking algeria's resources. in canada, prime minister justin trudeau has announced that

former attorney general wilson—raybould old and jane philpott are no longer part of the liberal caucus. he said that wilson—raybould old secretly recorded phone call. both members of the cabinet quit, saying they had been under pressure not to prosecute a mining construction company. there is thick air pollution blanketing a region in northern thailand. over the last few weeks, northern thailand has been one of the most polluted places on the planet. the haze has been called by farmers burning fields to clear their land. and we have some sad news from australia. prince harry's superfan daphne dunne from australia has died aged 99.

she died just days after getting a birthday card from prince harry and his wife, meghan. she met him on all of his trips to the country and said she had a very special relationship with the prince. in the small asian nation of brunei, they have just made gay sex punishable by death. it became the first country in the region to adopt sharia law despite widespread condemnation. the united nations has called the punishments "cruel and inhumane" and celebrities like george clooney and eltonjohn are calling for a boycott of hotels owned by the country. a statement from the office of brunei's prime minister justifies the new laws, it reads... and sharia law...

chiara sangiorgio from amnesty international is a critic of the new law. she joined me a short time ago. we at amnesty international are gravely concerned about the coming into force of this new penal code in brunei. just to give you two examples, on one hand we see the cruel punishments that you mentioned, amputation, flogging and stoning to death being illegal punishment in brunei, and on the other hand we also see behaviours that should not be considered crimes at all, for example, consensual sexual relations between people of the same or of the opposite sex, being criminalised in brunei. we have been calling on the authorities of the country to immediately refrain from lamenting this new penal code and to take steps to

bring their legislation in line with international human rights law and standard. are you aware of how people from the lgbt community are treated in brunei and how significant the number is there? we not aware of the moment of any cases, as you mentioned, the new penal code is coming into placejust today in brunei. we have seen widespread concern, both from activists in the country but also from the lg bt activists in the country but also from the lgbt eye community more widely. —— lgbtqi community. from the lgbt eye community more widely. -- lgbtqi community. what can you do? i mean that was going to be my question, widespread condemnation that we keep hearing from and from celebrities like george clooney, what can you do there with laws that you say should

not be there? we have been trying to document the change in the law but also, we have been engaging with authorities. we have written to them to relay our concerns, we have mobilised ourfriends to relay our concerns, we have mobilised our friends and supporters from around the world to deliver our concerns to authorities. we have also seen an astonishing reaction from the international community just over the past week. we have seen several people denouncing these archaic and draconian laws on social media. the un high commissionerfor human rights have also astonishingly and very strongly denounce these laws. we believe that each person has their choice in how they want to communicate the message, but we are amazed to see there has been so much concern and it will allow even more people tojoin in.

the corruption trial of the former malaysian prime minister najib razak will get underway later today, he's accused of stealing billions of dollars from the country's sovereign wealth fund 1mdb. the current prime minister mahathir mohamad reopened investigations after defeating mr najib in elections last may. iamjoint by i am joint byjonathan head for more on this. does makejoint. what is likely to happen in today's proceedings? rico, today is the first of what is likely to be a marathon on a series of trail hearings stretching out probably four years. there is a total of 42 charges against mr najib. today we have the first trial, which relates toa have the first trial, which relates to a company called src, that was a one—time subsidiary of 1mdb. they borrowed huge sums of money from the civil servants' pension borrowed huge sums of money from the civil serva nts' pension fund borrowed huge sums of money from the civil servants' pension fund and mr najib is alleged to have received

funds by various routes in three tranches into his bank accounts at the end of 2014, beginning of 2015. he has been charged today with what they call a criminal breach of trust, money laundering, and corruption. but this trial itself, we're going to hearing the prosecution lay out their case today. the attorney general will lay out the case. possibly some of the 60 prosecution witnesses. thejudge has put aside 30 pre—trial hearing days for this trial to be heard. this is just the first of a series possibly up to five we're not sure how many in total. this is a very big process. and for malaysians who supported the change of government, this 1mdb scandal was a very big factor in the defeat of mr najib last may. been very anxiously waiting for this process to start. but the government has been very keen that it is as transparent and

detailed a process as possible. they wa nt to detailed a process as possible. they want to be able to show thatjustice is being done to mr najib. this trial indeed will be watched very closely by many malaysians. how is the government planning to recover the government planning to recover the money he has been accused of stealing? well, it is looking into every possible way. i mean, the numbers are extraordinary. us department ofjustice says $4.5 billion was misappropriated. this was authorities suggest it might be even more than that. they are targeting the banker goldman sachs, which underwrote three massive bond issues that helped 1mdb borrow money. they charge very high fees, nearly $600 million. the government is hoping to recover that. it is also hoping that some of the assets sequestered by the united states, the us has sequestered, confiscated $1.7 billion worth of assets, including apartments, luxury goods,

things like that, that were purchased by this flamboyant financier are known as purchased by this flamboyant financier are known atho low, who isa financier are known atho low, who is a fugitive. the proceeds of that may come back to malaysia. but the likelihood is that malaise will never recover the bulk of what has gone missing. jonathan head in kuala lumpur. we'll be watching this throughout the day. thank you so much forjoining us. theresa may asks for mortimer brexit. eight years old and he has millions of fans online in china. we will explain all. 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 newsday on the bbc. i am rico hizon in singapore. we are glad you are staying with us. i babita sharma in london. after seven hours of talks with the divided company, theresa may has said she will ask for another brexit delay and has also offered to consult the opposition. there have been celebrations in the algerian capital after president bouteflika resigned, bowing two weeks of pressure. let us look at some of the front pages from around the world. the japan times has a feature on reiwa — which is the name of japan's new imperial era, announced on monday. the paper notes that the characters chosen for the name were for the first time taken from japanese literature, not chinese literature. the south china morning post looks at china's offer to help in the case of a us chinese—american scholar wang xiyue serving a 10—year prison

sentence in iran. the paper reports mr wang was detained in iran in 2016 and had travelled to the country to carry out research. and the financial times leads on the greek prime minister's visit to the republic of north macedonia. it marks the first official trip by a greek leader to the country — after decades of strained relations over the country's name. those are the papers. and now, the story of an eight—year—old boy from minneapolis, who has become an internet sensation in china. gavin thomas is the face of several popular reaction memes in the country, after videos of him making amusing expressions went viral. gavin's "fake smile" meme is often used by chinese social media users who are sometimes too polite to say what they really think. take a look.

hi, guys, i'm gavin thomas. i am eight years old. and peace. this is me. this is what i look like. laughter. thanks male body. a lot of people have said over the years that gavin's face is pretty relatable. people are able to see themselves in gavin. —— fake smile boy. people are able to see themselves in gavin. -- fake smile boy. they say we love you, gavin. and can i take, like, a picture of you.

people love kids on vine. my uncle mixed up to vine. there is a lizard. people started taking screenshots of those and making them into gifs. people think it is a fake a lot, i don't know why. is your smile fake or real? real. ithink it don't know why. is your smile fake or real? real. i think it comes to my husband's side of the family. i always tell my husband to smile and he says i can't smile. it is all about this mail. not so much to smile about when it comes to uk politics at the moment. —— the smile. it's not just about what the uk wants, the other 27 members of the eu have to agree too. president macron of france declared that although the eu is willing to help theresa may,

it can't be held hostage to britain's ‘political crisis'. here's our europe editor, katya adler. here in brussels eu decision—makers listen very closely to the prime minister's statement this afternoon and they want to be glass half full about it, although there is a certain dose of scepticism in there. they like her intention to look for compromise and for national unity around brexit, but then those that i speak to say they have seen very little evidence of it so far, either in government or in parliament. the french foreign minister this evening said "let me know if anything changes". so the mood has lightened slightly. but eu demands on the uk have not changed at all. basically, the uk has up until next week, remember the eu leaders brexit summit on the 10th of april, to either get the withdrawl agreement past parliament or leave the eu without a deal or ask for a longer

brexit delay. now the prime minister says that she will do that, but if and when she does eu leaders have some pretty strict conditions attached. first and foremost, they will demand that the uk prepares to ta ke will demand that the uk prepares to take part in european parliamentary elections at the end of may. they don't believe that she will be able to get her brexit house in order before then. there is also talk now of trying to get the uk to commit to being a constructive eu member, as long as it stays inside the european union, so as long as it delays brexit. of course that does me because there are concerns, for example, it could block the eu budget that needs approval in the coming weeks and months. and that is a key concern in brussels. katya adler in brussels. rico, it just goes on and on and on. lots of uncertainty. you have been watching newsday. i'm babita sharma in london. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. stay with us headlines on the way next and of course more brexit coming up.

hello there. good morning. at the moment it feels like winter has made a comeback. we have had everything thrown at us in the last 24 hours. lots of whether what are pictures of big hailstorms affecting the uk stop of course the sunshine coming out in between has led to some lovely rainbow pictures as well. we are seeing a short sharp burst of really cold and that has come down from the arctic. you can see how that cold air has plunged southwards and with all those shower clouds. the cloud thatis all those shower clouds. the cloud that is in the north sea is coming back into scotland and northern england, which is why we are seeing some sleet and some snow. this quite slippery over some roots. icy patches around the temperatures in many places close to orjust below freezing. a concert start really adding to wednesday. pretty miserable morning across the far north of england and scotland. some

rain, sleet snow across the hills. that m clears away from northern england, clears into northern ireland, mostly rain. some heavy showers in the south—east and east anglia. some hail and thunder possible. many central and eastern parts it should not be too windy. the shoah should hang around a bit. it will be windy in the north and west of the uk. strong to gale force winds. here are the temperatures, 7-9d. winds. here are the temperatures, 7—9d. cold in the winter. especially northern and western scotland, the father south—west of england, and the channel islands, nearer to 2—4d. that is how it will fill in the winter. low pressure dominating the weather at the moment. it is why we are seeing all these downpours. it is cutting off that supply of cold as on thursday. that weather front wrapped around the low. that is the focus of more persistent rain at this stage across northern scotland. somewhat or whether telling back into south—west england, moving into wales, and into the west country,

too. a few heavy showers elsewhere. afair bit too. a few heavy showers elsewhere. a fair bit of sunshine around. not a bad day for northern england, southern scotland, and those temperatures are creeping up to around nine or 10 degrees. as we had was the end of the week and into the weekend, it is an improving sort of story. it will feel warmer. many places will be dry. and there will be sargen around as well. we've got oui’ be sargen around as well. we've got our lopressor from thursday into friday, still anchored to the south—west of the uk. but instead of a northerly wind that were getting at the moment, we will find more of at the moment, we will find more of a south or south wind. that means the temperatures will get a boost. we still have the threat of them up was in the south—west of england, wales, perhaps into north—west of england. eastern scotland and eastern england probably having a dry day on friday, with some sunshine at times. as temperatures continuing to climb up to 13 or even 14 celsius.