i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: can they find common ground? the global challenges stack up as world leaders begin their crucial 620 summit injapan. seconds out, round two. the next batch of democratic politicians go head—to—head in a debate for the presidential nomination. i'm ben bland in london. also in the programme: after the death of oscar martinez and his daughter valeria, we report from america's southern border on the migrants still risking their lives in hope of a better future. and we visit western china, where communities are using green

power to try to hold back the desert sands. good morning. it is 8:00am in singapore, 1:00am in london, and 9:00am in osaka, where leaders of the world's biggest economies have gathered for the 620 summit. in just a few hours‘ time, they will gather for the official family photo which will get the summit underway. trade wars, iran and climate change are all topics that are likely to dominate. for more on this, i am joined now by our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes in osaka. as we speak, shinzo abe and donald

trump are having their bilateral ‘s. what is on their agenda? that's right, the meetings have begun here, even before that family photo takes place —— bileraterals. and the host, shinzo abe, we saw in the last few minutes welcoming president donald trump. both smiling, both claim to be close friends and allies, but this is a difficult relationship and i think this is a difficult relationship and ithinkjapan this is a difficult relationship and i thinkjapan is finding it particularly difficult at the moment, notjust because president trump has threatened tariffs against japanese products, as he has already imposed on china, but also because in the last week or so there have been a number of stories suggesting that president trump is perhaps not fully committed to the military alliance with japan. a story on bloomberg suggesting that mr trump wa nts bloomberg suggesting that mr trump wants japan to pay a lot more money for us troops based here injapan, perhaps as much as what is called cost plus 50, that means the full

cost plus 50, that means the full cost of basing troops here, plus 50%. that has been denied by the white house, but on his way over here, mrtrump white house, but on his way over here, mr trump tweeted about the alliance, saying that if the us went to war, japan would not come to help, it would sit at home watching it on help, it would sit at home watching itona help, it would sit at home watching it on a sony tv. so that has not reassured japan or prime minister abe about president trump's commitment to japan's security. another meeting that the world is watching is the bileraterals between xijinping and watching is the bileraterals between xi jinping and donald watching is the bileraterals between xijinping and donald trump, and there is a lot of speculation if it will be a trade truce or a showdown. that's right, that's really the meeting that everyone's waiting to see, and it is the issue that is overshadowing the whole of this 620 meeting, because this trade war between the united states and china has now been going on for many months. president trump is threatening to impose further ta riffs threatening to impose further tariffs on chinese products, up to

$325 billion worth of chinese products, if he doesn't get his way, if china doesn't back down and give him what he wants in these trade negotiations. the chinese are standing firm. the chinese foreign ministry spokesman said it will not give into these bullying tactics by us government. so this meeting tomorrow between the two leaders is seen as absolutely crucial to reassure the world that the trade war is not going to get worse, and that at least they can come to some sort of temporary truce while negotiations continue. will the escalating tensions between iran and the us, brexit and climate change, also be talked about by the 620 leaders? yes, absolutely. there are a whole host of issues on the agenda here for this summit. iran, in the meetings between the united states, china and of course russia, president putin is here as well, thatis president putin is here as well, that is going to be something that they are going to want to discuss, because russia and china both have

considerable influence and close ties to the iranian government. exit will be talked about, but theresa may is on her way out. japan saying it doesn't want to know deal brexit, very clearly the foreign minister saying it to us, the bbc, yesterday. and the issue of climate change should be on the agenda as well, but of course, not much us commitment to the paris climate accords, and that has upset the french president in particular. a busy day for 620 leaders. thank you so much for joining us from outside the summit venue. let's take a look at some of the day's other news: us president trump says he is seeking a possible delay to the 2020 us census. this is after the supreme court blocked his administration from adding a question about citizenship. mr trump tweeted that it was ridiculous that the government could not ask for citizenship information, but human rights groups claim a citizenship question could deter immigrant households from taking part in the census

also making news today: the islamic state group said it carried out two suicide bomb attacks in the tunisian capital, tunis. 0ne police officer was killed. several other people were injured. the attacks came as officials announced that the country's 92—year—old president, beji essebsi, had been taken to hospital after suffering a severe health crisis. indonesia's constitutional court has confirmed the victory of presidentjoko widodo in april's presidential election. it dismissed accusations of cheating made by rival prabowo subianto. thousands came out in support of the defeated presidential candidate, protesting peacefully outside the court. but the panel ofjudges upheld president widodo's victory, when he won 55.5% of the vote. in turkey, istanbul's new mayor, ekrem imamoglu, has celebrated with thousands of his supporters after officially being elected to the city's top job. he is a member of the main opposition republican people's party, and won decisively against president erdogan's party in the re—rerun of the mayoral

elections on sunday. england are heading to the women's football world cup semi—final after beating norway 3—0. the lionesses took the lead just three minutes in, and dominated possession. they will face either france or the united states in lyon on tuesday. 0n newsday yesterday, we brought you the tragic story of oscar and valeria ramirez, the father and daughter who drowned while trying to cross into the united states from mexico. their deaths add to the rising number of migrants killed trying to make the journey. 0ur correspondent chris buckler reports from the border, where he has been speaking to other people hoping to get to america. behind the barriers, just across the rio 6rande, are the families searching notjust for a home,

but a country. every day they gather here, just on the edge of america, in the searing heat, waiting for the opportunity to cross the border and make their case for asylum. but that can take months, and they know many, including president trump, want to reduce the number of immigrants entering the us. he says, as central americans, we are asking the president to understand we fled our country because it's becoming communist, and we are being politically persecuted. this family have travelled from honduras, and they spent time here with 0scar ramirez and his daughter valeria in the days before they drowned trying to cross the river into texas. translation: she was with us. my children had been spoiling the baby. they were here, right next to me. the baby was so cute. he says, i told them

they had to be patient, that they shouldn't be taking a decision that could jeopardise their lives. officials from el salvador have arranged for oscar and valeria's bodies to be returned to their home country. lawyers here have also been arranging for practical and psychological help for his wife, tania vanessa. how is she? she's — well, i cannot tell you she's good, because she's not. and she's too young. she's pretty... i don't know how to describe her shape. everyone here is relying on help, and it is at meal times you get a sense of the numbers needing that support. this is just one small part of matamoros, a sprawling city that is now full of people who have ended up stranded. they can't cross this border bridge, and they can't fulfil their american dream. this boy from central america wants to be an architect.

he says he would like to build a community of houses, because it is very painful to see people living on the streets. but everyone can't have a home in the united states, and it is not only president trump who says these borders need to be defended. from the other side of this river, many families will only ever be able to look and hope. the united states house of representatives has approved $4.6 billion in emergency aid to ease the migrant crisis on the nation's southern border. it comes a day after the senate passed the measure. the democrats had wanted additional language to ensure better protection of migrant children, but conceded to the republicans. the bill will now be sent to president trump to be signed into law. the second group of ten democratic party presidential hopefuls are about to go head—to—head in a televised debate

in the united states. on wednesday, millions watched as the first ten contenders to take on donald trump in 2020 debated live on tv. key frontrunners joe biden and bernie sanders are up shortly, but let's take a look at some highlights from the first debate. when people come to this country, they do not leave their human rights at the border. all the american citizens out there who feel you are falling behind, or feel the american dream is not working for you, the immigrants didn't do that to you. the big corporations did that to you. healthcare is a basic human right, and i will fight for basic human rights. we're going to free ourselves from a dependence on fossil fuels, and we're going to put farmers and ranchers in the driver's seat. we are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, and we are the last that can do something about it. this president is literally, every single day, ten minutes away from going to war, one tweet away from going to war.

jane o'brien is in miami for us, where the second debate begins at the top of the hour. jane, really interesting when you look at the lineup for this one, because it is almost like they have saved the real big hitters, the ones who are out in front in the polls, to be on that stage altogether.m does look like that, but the organisers actually say that these selections, these two debates, were drawn randomly and it was just chance that it turned out that way. you are right, which is why tonight is really the big one. everybody is looking to see whetherjoe biden can sustain his lead in the polls, whether bernie sanders can push the democratic party more to the left, whether pete buttigieg, one of the youngest candidates, can show his youth and inspire voters to take a chance on a fresh face for the party, or whether candidates that people haven't really heard much

about, like andrew yang, who is the only asian—american on the panel, and there is a lot of buzz about him because he represents one of the fastest—growing demographics of america, whether he can have a breakout moment and start to gain more traction in the polls, and therefore more money. because don't forget, this is only the beginning of the debates. all eyes are on miami tonight, but the debates will continue over the next several months. but to stay in them, these candidates need to prove that they candidates need to prove that they can gain traction in the polls and they can still attract donors. that's really, really important. they need millions of dollars to come anywhere close to waging a campaign that could oust donald trump from the oval office. and it will be interesting to note, i suppose, jane, to see whether they resist the urge to try and land

blows on each other during the debate. because it seems not entirely good—natu red, but debate. because it seems not entirely good—natured, but it certainly wasn't nasty, the tone of it yesterday. no, it wasn't, because they are worried that, if they start to undermine each other at this stage, then they will damage the eventual candidates so badly that whoever it is won't have a chance against donald trump. they will be just too much baggage to be carried asa just too much baggage to be carried as a result of these debates. they also don't want to say anything themselves that could come back to haunt them later on in the campaign. so there is a very fine balancing act here between trying to stand out and show their differences, without actually going after their rivals. because they are all agreed that the enemy here is donald trump. where they disagree is how best to attack him. thank you very much. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the desert frontline. how communities in remote western china are fighting back against the sands of time.

members of the neo—nazi resistance movement stormed the world trade centre armed with pistols and shotguns. we believe that, according to international law, that we have a rightful claim in certain parts of this country as ourland. i take pride in the words "ich bin ein berliner." cheering chapman, prison—pale and slightly chubby, said not a single word in open court. it was left to his lawyer to explain his decision to plead guilty to murdering john lennon. he believes that on june 8th, god told him to plead guilty and that was the end of it. the medical research council have now advised the government that the great increase in lung cancer is due mainly to smoking tobacco. it was closing time for checkpoint charlie, which, for 29 years, has stood on the border as a mark of allied determination

to defend the city. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm ben bland in london. our top stories: world leaders have been arriving ahead of the 620 summit injapan. trade wars, iran and climate change are all topics likely to dominate the meeting. the second democratic presidential debate will get under way within the hour. ten candidates will go head to head in miami. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. let's start with hong kong's south china morning post, where all eyes are on the us and chinese presidents' meeeting at the 620 summit in osaka, japan. it reports on both countries tentatively agreeing to a truce in their trade war, but a source

questions the reality of this. to the international edition of the new york times, which looks at the alleged crimes of the former president of 6ambia, yahya jammeh. human rights advocates are collecting firsthand accounts of abuses so that he can be brought to trial. and finally, the front page of the philippine daily enquirer tells us the government has bought in new legislation that will enable students in manila to travel for free at certain hours of the day. those are the papers. let's look at what is trending right now. british designerjony ive, who's credited with helping to turn apple into the world's most valuable company over two decades, is leaving to set up his own business. mr ive, who designed the apple mac, ipod and iphone, will leave later this year to start a creative company called lovefrom, with apple as its first client.

this comes at a time when investors have been worried about falling iphone sales. as we heard earlier, leaders from the 620 nations are meeting, but the summit is being overshadowed by tensions between two of its biggest members. the us—china trade spat has dominated headlines in recent weeks. donald trump and chinese president xi jinping are due to meet on saturday. the big question is — will it be a showdown or a truce? i've been speaking to risk and behavioural scientist sweta chakraborty. she'll be watching the interactions between these two leaders at the summit. so the world is watching their interactions very carefully. i think ultimately what's going to be most interesting is to see what the joint statements will be coming out of their meeting on saturday. if you remember from their last 620 meeting in buenos aires,

the two statements that were released were inconsistent. one of the things the us expected from china was agricultural products would be bought and imported. that was missing from the chinese statement. the consistency will be crucial following their meeting on saturday. of course, there are a lot of industries being impacted here with this ongoing global trade war between two of the world's biggest economies, and it has major real—world implications. that's exactly right. there are real world implications as we watch the spectacle between these two leaders. we often forget the farmers, the beginning of the chain, and the consumers are the ones

really being impacted and the ones who are really suffering from this. in the us, the last 620 summit meeting and the tariffs imposed resulted in a $16 billion buyout for us farmers. there were some unexpected positive consequences that came out of that. a lot of the food surpluses, the perishable food items, were able to be bought out and spread to food banks and those in low income areas in the united states that would really benefit from that additional food. that said, the opposite happened in china. so those most influenced by increasing food prices really suffered from the price of an apple doubling, for example. that in addition to a lot of pest and diseases like swine flu impacting animal agriculture in china is resulting in real suffering in these populations. also sweta, this has consequences on food security with hundreds of millions of people undernourished. we have enough food production for the current global population to be fed but despite that, 800 million people go undernourished annually.

that is a food distribution issue. when you have trade wars like this, the ripple effects are increased distribution issues on a problem that is already severe. so as you can imagine, the impact of these trade wars are going to continue to exacerbate that very significant issue that impacts a global, very interconnected global supply chain. this is going to be made that much worse as we think about how the planet is warming. climate change is very much on the agenda and it's being discussed at the two biggest looters that are meeting at this 620 summit — the us, president donald trump, and president xi, are not having the really necessary conversation around how these two regional hegemons are going to address the issue of food production, agricultural production and a future where it's going to be increasingly more difficult to do so.

sweta cha kra borty speaking earlier to rico. the deserts in china are constantly spreading, partly due to human activity. the cutting down of forests, pushing too much livestock over fragile land, climate change and overuse of water are making the problem worse, with sandstorms engulfing beijing and even travelling across the water to south korea. now, people living acros northern china are trying to hold back the desert — and it seems to be working. the bbc‘s china correspondent stephen mcdonell travelled to western china's 6ansu province. china's vast deserts are constantly spreading. deforestation, overgrazing and climate change have all made the situation worse. throughout china's arid north, there's evidence of human beings struggling against the moving sands and losing. this sand dune is threatening these ancient ruins of a community long since abandoned. there are people who still live in this area, and we've come to see how they're faring.

huang shin—ju and her husband lee yu moved here from an even more inhospitable place, where everyone has now abandoned their old village. they‘ re growing grapes to become raisins. the chinese government has thrown massive resources into helping communities put in green buffers, replacing trees and grass cleared by past generations. in the early stages, mistakes included choosing the wrong species or only one type of tree. some plants used too much water.

but in recent times, they're having much more success. out here, you get an idea of the size of the challenge for people who want to live in this area, with this wind blowing the tops off these mountains of sand. and yet, some scientists say that it's human interaction which exacerbated these problems in the first place, and they're now questioning whether or not, in some of china's most harsh regions, maybe the time has come to have less people in order to take the pressure off the environment. fewer buildings, fewer farm animals and fewer people would draw on less precious water and ease the load.

with the right balance, communities could still thrive here. stephen mcdonell, 6ansu province, western china. this is newsday on the bbc. thanks for watching. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm ben bland in london. the world's most important powers come together, the 620, is a truce on the agenda? all that coming up on asia business report. and before we go, take a listen to this. it's not your average pop song. yes, it's catchy, but this girl band is is made up entirely of grannies, average age — 66. they dance through the streets of osaka. there pretty good at it too, aren't

they? the group called obachaan made the video to welcome the leaders of the group of 20 nations to their home city. rico is getting the hang of it and getting into the swing. 6o rico is getting the hang of it and getting into the swing. go on, do it, take it away! the grandpa dance! amazing grannies! hello there. thursday was a warm and a sunny day for most of us away from the east coast. but for scotland, wales, northern ireland, you saw your warmest day of the year so far. and today's looking pretty similar — another dry and sunny one with the highest temperatures across the west. that's because we've got high pressure across the country drawing up this hot air from france across western areas. but for the east, you'll notice the yellow colourss there, that's because we've still got more of an onshore breeze, but not as windy as it was on thursday either. we've got a bit of a grey start across the east of the country, that cloud will burn back to the coast and most places will be

dry and sunny. and the sun will have strength to it. very high uv levels across most of the country, but especially across england and wales. and temperatures — east—west divide. it's going to be hot across western scotland. we could see one or two places reaching 30 degrees across the west, but 15 degrees or so across north sea coasts. the same too for wales, western england, a little bit fresher, though, further east with a bit more of an onshore breeze there. not as windy as it was across the south—west. also worth noting, pollen levels will be high across the country, especially for england and wales. now, as we head through friday night into saturday morning, it stays largely dry and i think the low cloud across the east will be kept at bay because we all start to pick up more of a southerly wind so that temperatures will rise further, and what will be noticeable is the humidity will rise. so that sets the scene for saturday. it's going to be a hot and a humid one for many, but in particular across england, and eastern england as well. now, if we look at the european heat wave, its expected to reach its peak this weekend across parts of spain, france and again into 6ermany. we'll be tapping into that heat, with temperatures perhaps reaching highs around 33 or 3a celsius across the south—east,

mainly for the london area. so southerly winds drawing this heat up. plenty of sunshine across the eastern half of england. a weather front moving into scotland, northern ireland and around irish sea coasts will bring a drop in temperature and also the chance of a a few showers or thunderstorms. so a bit cooler here but very hot for england and wales. highs of 32 degrees in london, but we could see 33 or 3a celsius, like i mentioned. during saturday night, this cold front spreads across the country. we lose those red hues and see something a little bit cooler and fresher pushing in off the atlantic. so temperatures could be 10 degrees down across south—eastern areas compared to what we see on saturday, and there'll be plenty of showers across the north—west corner of the country. some of these will be quite heavy, but plenty of sunshine too, with temperatures around the seasonal average — that's the high teens in the north, and closer to mid—20s further south.

i'm ben bland with bbc news. our top story: world leaders are due to begin their first full day at the 620 summit injapan. it is likely to be one of the most crucial meetings in years, with the us—china trade war, climate change and iranian sanctions on the agenda. donald trump is due to meet china's president xi on saturday. the second democratic presidential debate is due to begin in the us city of miami in the next hour. another ten candidates will be taking part, including frontrunnerjoe biden. and this story is doing well on bbc.com. england have won a place in the semi—finals of the women's world cup with a 3—0 victory over norway. they will play either france or the defending champions, the united states, on tuesday. that's all, stay with bbc news.

and the top story in the uk: