good morning. it's 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 4.30 of into northern ireland by the end of the night. some of this rain on the in the morning in sri lanka, where people have been marking heavy side. that rain will slowly spread eastwards through tuesday and a week since the bomb attacks wednesday, warming up ahead of that which claimed the lives of at least rain band, but behind it it will turn much coolerfor 250 people on easter sunday. rain band, but behind it it will turn much cooler for the end rain band, but behind it it will turn much coolerfor the end of rain band, but behind it it will turn much cooler for the end of the the attackers were islamist week. extremists who targeted christian worshippers in church services i'm sharanjit leyl in as well as people in some of colombo‘s biggest hotels. the sri lankan president has singapore, the headlines: announced that he's using emergency powers to ban any form of face covering in public to ensure national security. sri lankans unite in grief a week after the easter sunday attacks. prayers in the street for the 250 very few church services were held on sunday as a precaution but a nationwide victims of islamist extremists. service was televised. clive myrie reports from colombo. here they are spouse kind humanity. the very notion expressed by the seven days ago, the devout gathered at st anthony's church to mark bombers. aid workers in mozambique say the resurrection of christ. they're struggling to reach thousands affected by cyclone kenneth as floodwaters continue to rise. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: today, they gathered again. but this time with the army and police, a security cordon

chanting. a win for spain's socialists and a sense of fear, but no outright majority. because the sounds of screams filled talks begin to form the church at 8:45 a left—wing coalition but there are gains too for the far right. and an emotional farewell injapan as emperor akihito prepares 00:01:09,956 --> 2147483051:37:19,693 to hand over the throne 2147483051:37:19,693 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 after 30 years. last sunday morning. at 8245 today, bells tolled for the dead. bells toll the bombers may have killed and maimed, but they haven't diminished the devotion of worshippers to venerate their god, even out here on the streets. here they espouse a kind humanity — the very notion dismissed by the bombers. but some have had a crisis of faith. lighting a candle for his own family, this man had just left the church with two of his sons when the suicide bombers struck.

his wife, another son and a baby daughter were still inside. "i believed in god," he told me, "but some in my family have no life. i pray to god he will heal them." meet his four—month—old daughter — her tiny body badly burned. her mother and older brother are in intensive care. three reasons, perhaps, to lose faith. in all, 19 children ended up at this hospital after the bombings. many others died. this child is five years old. her brother and grandmother are dead at the hands of one of the suicide bombers. her throat, badly scarred by the blast, will recover, but how scarred is her mind?

today, we were allowed inside the still damaged st anthony's church. members of the sri lankan navy trying to clean away the stain of violence to restore this house of god. they reckon it will be about a month, maybe two, before this place is handed back to the people for worship. and what happened here is destined to be passed down the ages, along with all the other acts of religious intolerance that blacken history. this country will move on, like others darkened by fanatics. and the fervent hope is that the trauma of one week ago will unite sri lanka rather than divide it. clive myrie, bbc news, in colombo. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. tens of thousands of people in the far north of mozambique are facing the threat of severe flooding, as cyclone kenneth continues to bring torrential rain. rescue workers are struggling to reach remote areas. five people are confirmed to have

died but that figure is expected to rise. the bbc‘s lebo diseko has the latest from the country's capital, maputo. heavy rain is expected to fall in the north of mozambique in the coming days. the programme is telling me that they expect the re m na nts of telling me that they expect the rem na nts of cyclone telling me that they expect the remnants of cyclone kenneth dumping twice as much rain as cyclone idai did. they are receiving a quarter of their yearly rainfall over the next few days. in the province in the north, the united nations have been evacuating people after several houses collapsed and in the neighbouring province, we are not sure of numbers but we are hearing their in the tens of thousands. the

real fear, the areas affected by cyclone kenneth was much more sparsely populated and that affected by cyclone idai and the theories they could be pockets of people, even whole villages, that are in very difficult to reach remote areas. also making news today: indonesian officials say more than 270 polling staff have died because of being overworked during the election earlier this month. the country's election commission says many more fell ill because of fatigue. the latest vote combined two ballots in one day, which meant many hours of counting by hand often outdoors in high temperatures. there've been calls for a change to election procedures. tens of thousands of people in hong kong have taken part in a demonstration against a planned change to extradition laws that could allow suspects to be transferred to mainland china for trial. hong kong's government wants the changes to be approved before july. but opponents see the proposal

as a sign of beijing's increasing influence over the territory and say it will put its freedoms at risk. translation: it basically won't matter whether you travel to the mainland or stay here in hong kong. if they want to extradite you, they will. the most scary thing is on the mainland, they can detain you via an executive order and no crime is needed. canada's prime ministerjustin trudeau has held meetings with japan's prime minister shinzo abe, who's in ottawa for a two—day trip. the leaders discussed the benefits of a pacific trade deal and said it should serve as a model forfuture agreements. mr abe travelled to canada after meeting president trump in washington. more than 40,000 runners have been taking part in the london marathon. the men's race was won by eliud kipchoge from kenya, who crossed the line in the second fastest time ever recorded. a kenyan athlete took

the women's race as well, brigid kosgei tookjust two hours and 18 minutes to reach the finishing line. spain's governing socialist party is on course to win the country's general election but not secure a majority in parliament. with more than 80% of votes counted, they are projected to win 123 of the 350 seats. the bbc‘s katie silver is in madrid where pedro sanchez claimed an early victory. in that speech he declared victory. as you say, it is far from over, we had the latest numbers here. 123 seats went to the socialists. the

magic number is 176 to form a majority for a coalition. they have 123. where they will look to team up with is going to take them up to 165. they are shy of a 2—party coalition, about 11 seats shy. as you say, it is far from over. they will have to engage in conversations and we don't know exactly how long it may take before a government may be declared. where will they be looking for expert! —— extra support. there was a hope that they may have been able to make it with just the two parties and they wouldn't need to buddy up with these separatist parties. but what pedro sanchez will be looking to do is perhaps go to the basque representatives. that means he won't have to pander so much to the cata la n have to pander so much to the catalan separatists. part of his time in power has been marred by

some people in spain who think he is too close to the catalan separatists. the first port of call will be the bask but after that yes, he may continue to walk this fine line where he tries to create an allegiance with the catalan separate tents while not isolating himself from the rest of the spanish. —— basque. it will be interesting to see how he figured this out because this was a highly polarised campaign and issues at the forefront of national identity. that's right. we have heard a lot during this campaign about the far right party vox, the hard right party vox. it's the first time we have had a far right party in power since the 1970s. right party in power since the 19705. they got about 25 seats which was lower than expectations yes, for the left here tonight, they are seeing it as a real win for them.

and — you can keep up to date with the post election coalition talks on the bbc website. you'll also find a feature on whether pedro sanchez will be able to form a government — that's all at bbc.com/new5. sudan's military leaders and the opposition coalition have agreed to share power on a transitional sovereign council. the two sides held positive talks this weekend on the body that will oversee the transition back to civilian rule. it's not clear whether this will be enough to satisfy protester5 who've been demonstrating since president 0mar al—bashir wa5 depo5ed earlier this month. catherine byaru hanga reports from khartoum. a small group of opposition leaders and military personnel have been holding closed—door meetings at the presidential palace here in khartoum ju5t presidential palace here in khartoum just to the right of me. the military council has promised to

hand over power to the civilians. both sides have agreed to form a sovereign council. it will be made up sovereign council. it will be made up of civilians and soldiers. thi5 council will act as the highest level of government with a transitional period leading up to elections in sudan. the civilian power in the transitional period expected to come from a legislative council and an executive or cabinet council and an executive or cabinet council that will run the government here in khartoum. there are also other issues that need to be hammered out. for example, how long will a transition period last and who will take over key mini5tries like finance, security and foreign affairs? but more importantly, how demonstrators going to react to the new negotiated government? you are

watching you on the bbc. still to come on the programme: an emotional farewell in japan, a5 emperor akihito prepares to hand over the throne to his 5on later this week. also on the programme: asia's ta5te for traditional medicine drive5 pangolin poaching to new levels. how one of the world's most threatened creatures is being driven to extinction. 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 protest5. 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. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm ka5ia madera in london. our top stories: sri lanka i5 banning face coverings following the easter sunday attacks that killed at least 250 people. spain's socialists come out on top in the country's election. they are celebrating into the night,

but prime minister pedro sanchez‘5 party faces an uphill struggle to form a government. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we start with the south china morning post, which leads on the largest demonstration in hong kong for five years. 130,000 people protested against legislation that would allow the transfer of criminals to mainland china. arab news has the story that military chiefs in sudan have agreed to share power with civilians. talks are continuing to agree on the exact makeup of a newjoint civilian—military council. and the japan times reports that us president donald trump pre55ed the japanese prime minister

to produce more vehicles in the united states. that is according to an account of the recent meeting between the two world leaders. you are watching you on the bbc. police in california are questioning a 19—year—old man in connection with a shooting in a synagogue near san diego. the attack on saturday killed one woman and wounded three other people. police are checking whether a violently anti—semitic, anti—muslim letter posted on a far—right message board before the attack is genuine. 0ur north america correspondent sophie long sent this report. #we

# we shall overcome. community brought together in pain and multifaith prayers for peace. they came to soothe each other‘s 5adness, and to pray for those suffering. for laurie gilbert, who went to worship ona laurie gilbert, who went to worship on a saturday morning and died hours later in hospital. for a child shot in the leg, and for two men, one a rabbi. i've been going here my entire life, and to see all these wonderful people come together from all these faiths, it's just absolutely amazing. we had one person today, full of hate. 0ne person. and look at them, there's 1000 people here tonight that are full of love. that is what it is about. this is not the first a tightknit community like this one have come together to try to help each other heal the wounds inflicted bya man each other heal the wounds inflicted by a man with a gun. it is unlikely it will be the last. i am hoping

this does not become the new normal. places of worship are sacred, human life is sacred, and just the idea of every time we have to keep responding to acts of hate and acts of terror is really traumatising for the community. police have arrested a 19—year—old, john ernest. they are now investigating what made a young man take an assault rifle, shoot a child, kill a woman, man take an assault rifle, shoot a child, killa woman, and man take an assault rifle, shoot a child, kill a woman, and destroy lives in a place of peace and worship. earlier this month, authorities in singapore seized a massive haul of pangolin scales worth more than $usao million. they were found in a shipping container on its way from nigeria to vietnam. it was the second seizure in singapore in less than a week. experts say the news is deeply alarming and that pangolins, the world's most poached animal, are facing a crisis. pangolin scales are used in some traditional medicine, and their meat is popular in china and vietnam. earlier i spoke to sonja luz, the director of conservation at wildlife reserves singapore.

despite the fact that they are banned from trade at 2016 at a convention, they are still the most heavily trafficked animal in the world. 0ver1 million pangolin have been taken from the wild, poached, killed, to meet the demand which largely comes from vietnam and china. so that means, every 3— five minutes, we are losing a pangolin, and this is incredibly alarming, because this is not a sustainable situation, and we will probably lose these animals very soon unless we can do something about it. they are a threatened species, and we know that singapore is a leader in pangolin protection, and yet it's really the second time a shipment here has been intercepted. so tell us more

here has been intercepted. so tell us more about that. yes, so first of all i think we should congratulate our local authorities for this bust. it is very important that we intervene in these trade routes, and it is devastating, because it really shows that the trade now comes from africa. since 2000, the shift has gone over to africa. before that it was mainly the chinese pangolin being traded. so yes, it is quite a shocking situation that we are in. and so what can we do here in asia to stop so many dreadful deaths? well, first of all we've all got to understand it is a serious crime. it goes alongside all the other big crime such as human trafficking, drugs and weapons. so this has to be taken into consideration when tackling these kinds of issues. you have to come from all sides, meaning you have to strengthen your law

enforcement in the countries of origin of these animals, and punish those that trade, but on the other hand you have to of course demand reduction. that means you have to educate people that there's alternatives to using these animals in traditional medicines, and that this is really driving them to extinction, not just pangolins, this is really driving them to extinction, notjust pangolins, many other species. and briefly, is that being done, you say authorities need to treat this as seriously as they do drug trafficking, human trafficking, but where are you seeing that being done in the region? yes, i think we have to step up region? yes, i think we have to step up quitea region? yes, i think we have to step up quite a bit because these seizures show us that it is still pretty bad out there. so i think there is much more that needs to be done, and! there is much more that needs to be done, and i think everyone of us can ta ke done, and i think everyone of us can take part in this byjust educating ourselves and telling each other what's going on in this world, and really try to put a stop to all of this. for the first time in more than 200 years, a japanese emperor is about to resign. on tuesday afternoon, emperor akihito will enter a ceremonial room in the imperial palace in tokyo and formally give up his throne. under japan's constitution, emperor akihito is not allowed to retire, so the government had to pass a special one—off law to allow him to do so. rupert wingfield—hayes reports from tokyo. ina lush in a lush forest on the western

outskirts of tokyo, the japanese emperor is on a final solemn mission. standing before the vast tomb of his father, 85—year—old emperor akihito has come to tell him that he is relinquishing the throne. 0utside, crowds have gathered with shouts, as the emperor and empress pass. this is one of the very last public appearances that the emperor and empress will make before the abdication, and you can see the huge number of people that have turned turned out this morning, thousands of them, for this last opportunity to see the emperor and empress in public. it gives you a real sense of the genuine love affection and respect that is felt by people here for emperor akihito, and gratitude for emperor akihito, and gratitude for the way that he has carried out this very difficult role over the past 31 years. they do so much good for the country. you see them in the

news, doing this or that for the good of the people, and it really ta kes you good of the people, and it really takes you here. i think that's why. translation: i am takes you here. i think that's why. translation: lam not takes you here. i think that's why. translation: i am not from the generation that experienced the war, but the emperor is the one that has ke pt but the emperor is the one that has kept the peace injapan but the emperor is the one that has kept the peace in japan throughout his reign, so i wanted to come and see him, to show my gratitude. i wanted to tell him thank you. quiet and modest he may be, but in his 31 yea rs on and modest he may be, but in his 31 years on the throne, akihito has revolutionised the japanese monarchy. comforting people in times of disaster and distress, and reaching out to hand of reconciliation to the countries japan invaded and brutalised under his father. akihito is a huge figure, and so he created a new role for the emperor, and that was as the nation's chief emissary for reconciliation, criss—crossing the region, making gestures of atonement and contrition, remarks of remorse,

basically trying to heal the scars of the wartime past. at times, this has brought conflict with right wingers at home. there were violent protests ahead of the emperor's historic visit to china in 1992. his steadfast support for pacifism has put him increasingly at odds with the country's political elite, particularly with prime minister shinzo abe. everything is quite su btle shinzo abe. everything is quite subtle when it comes to the emperor, but clearly emperor akihito and shinzo abe have frosty relations. they totally disagree about the wartime narrative. akihito has, you know, referred to the tragedies of the war, and the need for pacifism. abe is trying to rehabilitate that error and promote a stronger military role for japan error and promote a stronger military role forjapan —— era. error and promote a stronger military role forjapan -- era. at 85, akihito is now increasingly frail. for nearly a decade he has been pushing to hand the throne to

his son. 0n been pushing to hand the throne to his son. on wednesday he will get that wish. crown prince naruhito will become the 126th emperor of japan. we will have a lot more on that story live on newsday this week. and i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with some pictures from hollywood, where the final film in the avengers franchise has made box office history, by taking a record—breaking $1.2 billion in global tickets in its first five days. endgame, made by disney, has become the fastest film ever hello there. a weekend that began with wind and rain ended on a relatively quiet note across most parts of the uk. that is how we start the new working week, with some dry weatherfor start the new working week, with some dry weather for most of us. western areas will see some rain, and that will slowly spread eastwards over the next few days. could be some fog patches to contend with, and for a time, butjust for a time, it will turn a little bit

warmer. this is what's going on. the view from space, the satellite picture from a little bit earlier on. you can see a few strokes of cloud putting in from the west but all these frontal systems making very, very slow progress, so this monday morning really only dragged across the far west of the uk. elsewhere, high pressure in charge, very high winds, hence we have some mist and fog patches around. they should tend to clear through the morning and in most places monday will bring some spells of sunshine. the best of the sunshine likely to be found across scotland, but remember that front in the west still dangling its way down into northern ireland, west wales, the south—west of england, with some patchy rain at times. here, relatively cool, 12 in belfast, 13 degrees in plymouth, but come further east will be up into the mid— teens. maybe 18 or 19 degrees across some parts of scotland. then we go through monday night and will continue to see these areas of cloud and patchy rain in the west, perhaps some heavy rain reaching northern ireland later in the night. elsewhere simply as bells, some mist and fog patches, also some low cloud rolling in from the north sea. most

of us not having a particularly chilly night, mainly parts of eastern england and eastern scotland getting relatively close to freezing. so we get down into tuesday and it is more of the same for all intents and purposes. still some rain in the west, heavy rain for northern ireland, fringing into northern scotland, the far west of wales and cornwall later in the day. further east some spells of sunshine and for many of us tuesday will be the warmest day of the week with ties between 17 and 20 degrees. i say will be the warmest day of the week because that warmth is not going to last. as we move out of tuesday and wednesday, this front which will have been in the west eventually moves its way eastwards, taking cloud and showery rain with it. the rain will be quite sporadic, quite on and off, but there is some uncertainty about how quickly this band of cloud and rain will slide its way eastwards but ahead of this band of cloud and rain, this frontal system, there will still be someone holding on across the south—east

corner, temperate as he could get close to 20 degrees. but behind the weather front, this is close to 20 degrees. but behind the weatherfront, this is where close to 20 degrees. but behind the weather front, this is where things start to change. it turns much cooler and fresher from the north—west. that cooler feel extending to all parts on thursday, and by friday it could potentially feel very chilly indeed, with northerly winds across the uk, and showers for some of us.

i'm kasia madera with bbc world news. our top story: sri lanka is banning face—coverings following the easter sunday attacks that killed at least 250 people. the announcement makes no specific mention of the niqab and burka, worn by muslim women, but says people's faces should be fully visible so they can be identified. spain's governing socialist party have won the most votes in the general election, without securing a majority in parliament. with almost all the votes counted, they've won 122 of 350 seats. and pictures from mozambique are most watched on bbc.com. aid workers in the north say they've not yet been able to reach

many of the people affected by cyclone kenneth, three days after the storm hit. roads have been impassable because of rising floodwaters. that's all.