i'm rico hizon in singapore, the headlines: officials in sri lanka revise down the death toll from the easter suicide attacks by a hundred — 253 people are now believed to have lost their lives. joe biden announces his bid for the us presidency and says it's a battle for the soul of the nation. if we give donald trump eight years in the white house, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation. that's why today i'm announcing my candidacy for president of the united states. i'm kasia madera in london.

also in the programme: the leaders of north korea and russia toast their first ever summit — kimjong—un describes the talks as "meaningful". and the upcoming abdication of japan's emperor akihito reignites the debate over the country's male—only succession rule. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 7am in singapore and 4:30 in the morning in sri lanka, where the government has sharply lowered the number of people it says were killed in sunday's suicide bombings. the health ministry now says 253 people were killed — more than a hundred fewer than the previous figure. the ministry has blamed a calculation error for the original death toll. and the country's defence minister has resigned — saying sri lanka's security institutions failed to do theirjob. nick beake is in

the capital colombo. clearly these have been devastating attacks for sri lanka and they are continuing to bury their dead but there has been tonight a significant announcement from the health ministry and they have drastically provide —— revised downward the number of people killed. we were told initially 359 but now, 253 people lost their lives. the funerals continue nonetheless and this is a country that remains in a state of emergency. there is a cu rfew state of emergency. there is a curfew once again overnight for the fifth night running and we are told around 7000 soldiers are part of a nationwide security operation and the priority is to try and track down any remaining members of this cell which is already brought great devastation. worrying signs today,

more arrest in particular. three people were picked up and i have with them hand grenades and also swords. there was a blast as well in this city, colombo, this morning, to the east of the city. no—one was injured in the last but it took place near a court so that has been a cause for concern as well. all these things being put together by these things being put together by the british intelligence, that's led them to make the decision this evening, telling all their citizens, british citizens, to stay away from sri lanka unless it's absolutely necessary so sri lanka unless it's absolutely necessary so the security investigation continues, they desperately are trying to piece together who the suspects may be. this is a nationwide operation in sri lankans who are trying to grieve and very their loved ones, they are faced by this ongoing terror threat. nick beake in colombo. and rico will be speaking to sri lanka's permanent representative

to the un on newsday a little later. but first let's take a look at some of the day's other news. cyclone kenneth has reached northern mozambique, with winds expected to exceed two hundred kilometres an hour. last month, cyclone idai caused hundreds of deaths in the region. forecasters predict catastrophic flooding and storm surges of up to five metres. mozambique's national institute of disaster management said 30,000 people had been evacuated from vulnerable areas. also making news today, world leaders are gathering in beijing for a summit on china's belt and road initiative which aims to expand global trade links. the project has funded trains, roads, and ports in many countries, but has left some saddled with debt. chinese officials have tried to address concerns surrounding the project, which is expected to involve more than i trillion dollars in investments. the former nissan chairman, carlos ghosn, has leftjail after posting nearly

$5 million in bail. the 65—year—old is facing four charges of financial misconduct, over allegations he concealed part of his salary and syphoned off nissan funds for personal use. mr ghosn denies the charges. and 007 fans are abuzz after details of the 25th official james bond film were unveiled today, with the 0scar—winning actor rami malek to play the villain. the cast and creative team gathered at a launch event injamaica. however the movie, to be released next april, is still yet to receive an official title. watch this space. returning to our top story — sri lanka's health ministry has made a radical revision to the number of people killed in the deadly bomb attacks on easter sunday. the revised death toll is around 253 — that's more than 100 fewer than originally thought to have been killed.

a little earlier i spoke to dr amrith rohan perera, sri lanka's permanent representative to the un. of course, there is much concern being expressed out here in new york and this is one of the most... tragic events that has taken place in recent times on one of the most sacred days, not only to the christians or the catholic churches that were attacked but on a holy day affecting all faiths, all religions. basically cherishing human values in a multi— religious society. basically cherishing human values in a multi- religious society. my deepest sympathies indeed to all the limbs that were killed and to the

families in the bombings on sunday but what do you say, dr perera, to the families of the victims about this colossal failure of intelligence, if there was enough intelligence, if there was enough intelligence to avoid this incident? this is a matter this is receiving attention of the highest levels of government. investigations are ongoing. matters have been looked into in order to address the lapses that have now been reported. the defence minister is saying there was a failure defence minister is saying there was afailure in defence minister is saying there was a failure in the institutions, and now there is a new report that the health ministry has miscalculated the death toll by 100, from 353 to 253. yes, in the event of a tragedy

of this magnitude, there will always be miscalculations. but as the dust settles down, and things begin to emerge with greater clarity, there would always be revisions. so dr perera, how does a country go about restoring itself and its people after such a devastating attack? sri la nka after such a devastating attack? sri lanka has faced numerous challenges of this nature, we'vejust lanka has faced numerous challenges of this nature, we've just come out of this nature, we've just come out ofa 30— of this nature, we've just come out of a 30— your conflict and with each experience, we have come out with strength and this is no different. what is happening is in the immediate aftermath, there was a tremendous response by way of humanitarian gestures, a large turnout of people to donate blood.

the response of the international community, the world leaders, the secretary general of the united nations, has been tremendous. speaking for new york city, for the last few days, i've been very busy attending a number of multifaith religious observances and these have been held in churches, in buddhist temples, in muslim mosques. i have just concluded a special multireligious mission for sri lanka to the united nations yesterday, the biggest ever attendance of ambassadors and other well—wishers of sri lanka. the common message is that it of sri lanka. the common message is thatitis of sri lanka. the common message is that it is through multifaith observations of this nature that we can inculcate the values, the human values which will discourage this type about break. that was sri lanka's permanent

representative to the united nations, dr amrith rohan perera,, speaking to rico. it had long been rumoured, but now it's official, joe biden is running for us president. the former us vice president has launched his bid for the democratic party's nomination in 2020. it's the third time he's tried to get the top job, over the course of a long political career, as katty kay explains. joe biden became a politician in 1972. put that in context, in america was still at war with vietnam. i, richard millhouse nixon... and richard nixon was the country's resident. he has known his fairshare of country's resident. he has known his fair share of tragedy, losing his first wife and infant daughter in a car crash. how are you? in his many yea rs car crash. how are you? in his many years in politics, he became a champion of working people, and advocate for gun control... champion of working people, and advocate for gun control. . ij advocate for gun control. . .i refused advocate for gun control. . i refused to give up, we refuse to give up stop it took me seven years

to get the first band put in place. more controversially, biden led to the anita hill hearings and was noticeably tough on a woman accusing a supreme court nominee of sexual harassment. the next president of the united states, joe biden. harassment. the next president of the united states, joe biden. in 1988, he made his first one for the presidency. 20 years later, he tried and failed again. his consolation prize was eight years as vice president to barack 0bama. the two are still friends. i'm announcing my candidacy for president of the united states. today, joe biden is running again. we have to remember who we are. this is america. he is 76 years old. that makes him a year younger than bernie sanders and just a little older than donald trump. evenif a little older than donald trump. even if 70 is the new 60, that still makes a bunch of old white men three

frontrunners for the next president the united states. i spoke to jane 0'brien in washington for more. they were indeed but as we said earlier, it is still a game—changer because joe earlier, it is still a game—changer becausejoe biden earlier, it is still a game—changer because joe biden is earlier, it is still a game—changer becausejoe biden is the big name in this very diverse and now very lengthy democratic league table of would—be nominees. so he enters the race already in a commanding position. is topping the polls. he has this extraordinary name recognition that is gained after almost half a century in politics. so he's got a lot of advantages. but the perceived disadvantage for a party that is moving aggressively left is his age and the fact that he isa left is his age and the fact that he is a white man in this area of the me too movement and a party that is

trying to embrace more diversity and more women, that could be of dublin but was more interesting is given the ideological push from the democrats, what they want most of all is somebody who can beat donald trump and a lot of them believe that joe biden could be it. trump and a lot of them believe that joe biden could be it. his official video when he came out with this, the fact that he is standing, was very much targeting it to donald trump. it was almost speaking directly to him. he really isn't taking on his rivals at this point and there are 19 of them. he is taking aimed directly at the white house, the president incumbent, drawing a contrast between the direction that donald trump is taken america and the direction thatjoe biden to a certain extent already represents, eight years as vice president under the 0bama administration. people know what his values are, they know what the country could look like under him. he doesn't actually have to sell

much of a vision at this point. it's really, can he consolidate his name recognition, the support that he would receive in those critical for states where he needs to win and thatis states where he needs to win and that is iowa, pennsylvania, 0hio states where he needs to win and that is iowa, pennsylvania, ohio and florida. can he also bring enough of those younger voters, and those more progressive democrats on side in order to secure first of all the nomination and in the white house? jane o'brien speaking there earlier to kasia. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the north korean leader and the russian president toast their first ever summit — kim jong—un describes their talks as "meaningful". also on the programme: controversy injapan over the male—only succession rule. is it a threat to the imperial family?

nothing, it seems, was too big to withstand the force of the tornado. the extent of the devastation will lead to renewed calls for government to build better government housing. internationally, there have already been protests. sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians at first denied anything had gone wrong. only when radioactivity levels began to increase outside russia were they forced to admit the accident. for the mujahideen, the mood here is of great celebration. this is the end of a 12—year war for them. they've taken the capital, which they've been fighting for for so long. it was 7 o'clock in the morning, the day when power began to pass from the minority to the majority, when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony.

welcome back, everyone. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. yes, welcome. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: officials in sri lanka revise down the death toll from the easter sunday suicide attacks by a hundred. 253 people are now believed to have lost their lives. joe biden announces his bid for the us presidency and says, it's a battle for the soul of the nation. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the south china morning post leads on the summit on china's belt and road initiative being held in beijing. the sweeping infrastructure project aims to expand global trade links, but it's been met with growing criticism. the straits times leads on the sexual misconduct scandal engulfing the national

university of singapore. the university has vowed to set up a victim support unit and improve campus security. and the international edition of the new york times speaks to notre dame's three organists who feared that their beloved instrument was lost in the fire. luckily it survived — and they tell the paper that they can't wait to play it again. it is good to hear that. kimjong—un has told north korea's state media that peace and security in the korean peninsula will depend entirely on the future attitude of the united states. his warning comes as the first ever talks between him and russia's president putin have now come to an end. the issue of denuclearisation on the korean peninsula was top of the agenda. this summit, in the far—eastern russian city of vladivostok, comes two months after

president trump's summit with kimjong—un broke down in a nuclear stalemate. earlier, i spoke with our correspondent laura bicker in seoul about the latest state media reports. causing —— quoting kimjong—un as saying washington came to the door in hanoi with unilateral attitude and acted in bad faith and blamed that for the breakup of the tall and then both of those leaders walking away without a deal. we went on to say that it would have to be a change of attitude from washington if things were to get back to negotiation table. i think when it comes to exactly what kim jong—un has wanted from these talks with vladimir putin, he has kind of got it. he has managed to get out a global message that he believes that he is being reasonable, but he's coming to the talks with the right attitude. it was interesting to hear what vladimir putin had to say also.

he talked about how it was a case of north korea, yes, disarming or taking certain disarmament steps, but needing security guarantees in return. in those counties would have to come from washington and would probably include the kind of things like the basis of us troops based on this peninsula. i know it is impossible to say, but briefly if you would, going forward, what happens next? will we see a kim— trump summit mark three?i happens next? will we see a kim— trump summit mark three? i think when it comes to kim and trump and another summit, the united states has said they are willing to engage. whether or not the timing is right. think it will take quite a lot of or a change of the original deal for kim jong—un a change of the original deal for kimjong—un and a change of the original deal for kim jong—un and donald trump to have to sit down again. laura bicker verreynne speaking earlier to kasia madera. the coming abdication of japanese emperor akihito next week has reignited debate

on the country's male—only succession rule. although princess aiko is the only child of japan's crown prince naruhito, she will not ascend the throne because she is female. the bbc‘s mariko 0i explains how the future of japan's imperial family, one of the oldest in the world, may be in doubt if the rule isn't changed. japan's about to get a new emperor, naruhito. he is the eldest son of the outgoing emperor. at this person, naruhito's only child, isn't it next in line. it is his younger brother and then his nephew. that is because japan actually has a law where a woman can't be on the throne. and that's a problem for them, because the imperialfamily is running out of male as. recent polls have shown many japanese are fine with a female emperor. and there have been women on the throne in the

past. in fact, there have been eight female emperors, the last one rolled about 215 years ago. so why doesn't japan change this rule? well, the same family has been on the throne for 2500 years. the emperor was either worshipped as a god and soldiers would dive him. the monarchy has also been central to japanese identity. traditionalists believe that only a man can preserve this lineage. in 1889, japan's government put into a constitution that only a man can be on the throne. this was the start of a big problem for the imperial family. why? because after world war ii japan introduced another law, saying the emperor could only come from this specific branch of the family. and that family just kept this specific branch of the family. and that familyjust kept having girls. by the mid to thousands there

we re girls. by the mid to thousands there were no male as in the youngest generation. so the japanese government sat down and prepared to change the law. but then this happened. prince hisahito was born. u nless happened. prince hisahito was born. unless he gets married and has a son of japan will run unless he gets married and has a son ofjapan will run out of emperors. the current government is pretty conservative, so it is unlikely to change the laws. but in a few decades japan might not have a choice. mariko 0i reporting there. the duke of cambridge has begun the second day of his visit to new zealand by meeting the hospital medics who helped save lives in the aftermath of the christchurch mosque attacks. prince william went on to visit masjid al noor, the christchurch mosque at which 42 people died during the terrorist attack.

the message from christchurch and the message from the mosques could not be more clear. the global ideology of hate will fail to divide us. ideology of hate will fail to divide us. and just as new zealand is taking swift action to ban physical tools of violence, we must unite to reform the social technology that allowed hateful propaganda to inspire the motor of innocence. we're joined now by the bbc‘s phil mercer who is in christchurch. he focused on extremism and in all its forms and must be defeated. yes. also prince william tapping into the innate optimism, as he was describing it, of the new zealand people. prince william saying that the atrocity perpetrated here six weeks ago was an act of unspeakable hate. and he also said that the gunman responsible wanted to spread

fear and mistrust in this country. and that was something that new zealand had not done and had avoided. so prince william's words will be of great comfort to the 160 people inside the mosque. inside we also heard from the imam and one of the survivors, in a wheelchair, one of the many survivors of the al noor mosque attack. you have to remember, exactly six weeks ago 50 people were murdered in this city. 42 of them in the al noor mosque behind me. so a very poignant time for prince william to visit this city. he also talked about mental health and that first responders must be talking to each other. absolutely. he arrived in christchurch after a visit to an anzac day service in the city of

auckland. and prince william visited those first responders, those paramedics, those police officers who had to confront the grim aftermath of the attacks here at the al noor mosque and also at the linwood mosque a few minutes' drive away. taking particular interest in their mental health, how they were coping with what they had seen, how they were coping with what they had to do to save lives. and, according to do to save lives. and, according toa to do to save lives. and, according to a senior police officer, prince william's visit was overwhelming for some of those first responders. so prince william has been offering some comfort and support to those people at the very sharp end of this atrocity perpetrated here a month and a half ago. phil mercer in christchurch. thank you so much forjoining us. prince william speaking very personally and talking about his own personal deep grief there. so a little comfort for the people of christchurch after

that horrific attack. you have been watching newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. hello there. after the warminster weather that we saw last weekend it been turning gradually cool up and more unsettled over the past couple of days. that unsettled them continues for the next two days, too. this amazing picture was taken as the sunset on thursday evening in sa lfo rd. as the sunset on thursday evening in salford. you can see the big shower clouds, the abidal balls. a similar picture on friday. there will be some sunshine around, equally heavy showers in the forecast. this will start to feel cold over the next few days. you can see the blue colours, thatis days. you can see the blue colours, that is a cold air mass building in from the north—west. the warm weather that has been with us is pushing further east across europe. friday morning we have got some clear skies for many eastern areas to start of the day. more cloud in

the west was yarri rate for northern ireland, wales, the south—west of england through the morning. they should put eastwards into south of scotland, northern england, before the next bands of showers arrived from the west later in the afternoon. temperatures for the likes of belfast and cardiff, 11—12, but we could still see 17 degrees or so across but we could still see 17 degrees or so across eastern parts of england. heavy showers almost anywhere on and off through the day. into friday evening and saturday, that is when things turn particularly stormy. storm hanna moving on from the atlantic. that will be quite a troublemaker, i think, atlantic. that will be quite a troublemaker, ithink, wringing atlantic. that will be quite a troublemaker, i think, wringing a wet and particularly windy start to saturday, wherever you are. let us look at storm hanna. it is moving on from the atlantic through friday night and into the early hours of saturday. this developing area has a lot of isobars associated with it, particularly on the southern edge. it will be across ireland we see the strong winds, they will put into wales in the south—west of england. widespread gales likely on saturday with winds gusting to 60—70 mph. not

just the strength of the wind, but some really heavy salary rain for many areas through the day on saturday. the heaviest of the sales and the strongest of the winds putting us with through the day across central and eastern parts of england. so dry up for northern ireland, north of scotland, the south—west of england later in the day. it will feel colder temperatures generally around 10—12 on saturday, when you add on the windchill it will feel pretty chilly and we could see some disruption due to the strength of the wind. is that area of low pressure klister the east into sunday we see a smaller range of high—pressure moving in. sunday the quite a day of the weekend. not wall—to—wall sunshine, quite a lot of cloud around, apps one 01’ quite a lot of cloud around, apps one or two quite a lot of cloud around, apps one 01’ two showers quite a lot of cloud around, apps one or two showers lingering in the east, and then more salary rain moving on from the west later in the day. not as cold as saturday, for most of us around 13— a0 degrees. bye for now. "11; ——1a degrees.

i'm kasia madera with bbc news. our top story: the sri lankan government has sharply lowered the number of people it says were killed in easter sunday's attacks. it now says 253 people died, that's more than a hundred fewer than the previous figure. the defence minister has resigned, saying the country's security institutions had failed to do theirjob. the uk has warned against all but essential travel to sri lanka. the former us vice presidentjoe biden has confirmed that he'll seek to run for the democratic party against donald trump in the 2020 presidential election. and this story is trending on bbc.com the cast of the 25th james bond film, has been announced. daniel craig will play 007 for the fifth time. the 0scar—winning star of bohemian rhapsody, rami malek, will play the villain. that's all.