i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: a special investigation by the bbc reveals how muslim children in china, some as young as two, are being systematically separated from theirfamilies. we uncover evidence of boarding schools surrounded by barbed wire housing children from the minority uighur community. families of victims of the boeing plane crash in ethiopia speak exclusively to the bbc about their search for justice. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. also in the programme: he promised a show of a lifetime and a display of tanks.

now president trump's being accused of politicising the 4th ofjuly. and as we gear up for this weekend's final, we'll be asking if the women's world cup has become a game—changer for sponsorship and equal pay. announcer: live from our studios in singapore and london. this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 7am in xinjiang in the far west of china, in xinjiang in the far west of china, where the bbc has uncovered disturbing evidence that muslim children are being systematically separated from their families. official documents show that large numbers of state boarding schools have been built to house

children as young as two. our correspondent john sudworth nowjoins me from beijing. john, tell us, what is happening in xinjiang? well, ricoh, it's long been known that the mass incarceration of hundreds of thousands of adults in that part of china is likely to have an effect on wider society and on children in particular. our investigation quantifies it. we looked at publicly available government documents on the internet and we carried out dozens the internet and we carried out d oze ns of the internet and we carried out dozens of interviews with families based overseas. what we found is evidence the campaign against muslim adults is having a powerful effect on children's faith and family. in account after account, gathered

ina in account after account, gathered in a meeting hall in istanbul, muslims from xinjiang speak again and again of the immeasurable reef of separation from their children stop who is looking after the children? -- grief. -- from their children. who is looking after the children? back home, china's been sweeping xinjiang's uighurs, kazakhs and other minorities who have their own language and culture into giant camps, where they‘ re language and culture into giant camps, where they're taught chinese and to love the communist party. this man moved to turkey in 2013. three years ago, his wife and children went back to xinjiang for a short trip and vanished. but then he

found this, a video posted online of his son in a boarding school speaking not in uyghur, his mother tongue, but in chinese. alongside the camps, china has been building something else. giant new schools, many with huge dormitories. this kindergarten sleeps hundreds. we film at one, while the adults are kept here, their children are in this nearby school. and this kindergarten has barbed wire, cameras and signs that say only chinese should be spoken. can you

imagine, though, can you imagine... this man from xinjiang's propaganda bureau denies that large numbers of children have been left without pa rents. but such cases are not hard to find. amina, who now runs a clothes shop in turkey, recently found this picture of her step daughter on social media. it's a sign her close relatives are in the camps. her stepdaughter in a boarding school and wearing traditional chinese costu me. if you could send a message to amina today, what would you tell her? —— akida.

research of online documents commissioned by the bbc shows only an 8% increase in kindergarten places for china as a whole, but in xinjiang, as the camps have been built, there's been an 82%. and in some uyghur majority areas, numbers have shot up even further. the xinjiang government is attempting to give full control over the young generation, to literally raise a new generation, to literally raise a new generation that's been cut off from original roots, from religious beliefs, from cultural knowledge, even from their own language. i believe the evidence really points at what we must call cultural genocide. this woman has moved to kazakhstan, but when she heard that the chinese camps had left her 1a grandchildren without parents, she phoned the village official.

we try to look for her missing relatives. the family home is locked and deserted. we call the village official. but he hangs up on us too. we find only the signs of a giant vanishing, and the shattering of cou ntless vanishing, and the shattering of countless homes. rico, everything china says it is doing in xinjiang it says it's to combat radical, violent extremism and it's holding it up as an example to the international community, finding common cause with the western rhetoric and the fight

against global terror. but what's interesting is when you go to turkey and you speak to some of those adults, you find many had good jobs in xinjiang, professionaljobs, many had government positions. these were loyal chinese citizens, not anymore. what our reporting has shown, i think, is the scale and the of what's happening in that part of the world. it may be a distant part of the world but it is vitally important. china says it is fighting for its stability and security, but critics say it tells us an important lesson about what can happen in places where there are no fundamental rights or protections of legal freedoms. thank you so much, john sudworth, with that exclusive report on the uyghur community in xinjiang. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. this is the moment an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 struck in southern california. these pictures show the newsroom at a local tv station kcbs shaking as the quake hit.

it's the largest to strike the region in two decades and was felt as far away as los angeles and los vegas. and was felt as far away as los angeles and las vegas. there are no reports of injuries or deaths. also making news today: russia's president, vladimir putin, has met the pope during a one—day visit to italy. their meeting could potentially pave the way for a papal visit to russia. mr putin also met both the italian president and prime ministerfor a news conference, where they discussed russia's relationship with the european union. chunks of red meat from the first whales caught injapan‘s return to commercial whaling have been fetching high prices at auctions across the country. some cuts sold for up to $140 per kilogram. japan made a controversial return to commercial whaling earlier this month after a moratorium lasting more than 30 years. it plans on hunting more than 200 whales for their meat between now and december. a new study says there's enough

space around the world to re—plant trees across an area the size of the united states. the study, published in thejournal science, says this could reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 25%. a 3,000—year—old bust of tutankhamun has been sold at auction forjust under $6 million. egypt's foreign ministry had called on auction house christie's to cancel the sale, claiming it was probably stolen from a temple in the 1970s. but christie's says egypt has not expressed concern about the bust before despite it being on public display. families of 157 people who were killed when a plane crashed in ethiopia, believe the aircraft manufacturer boeing's commercial motivation led to the death of their relatives. speaking exclusively to the bbc, bereaved families believe criminal charges should be brought if wrongdoing is revealed by investigators. simon browning reports.

everywhere we look, there's a blank where she should be. struggling with their loss. nadia michael's daughter was on a boeing plane that crashed in ethiopian. sam is right here. she was one of 157 people on board. how did those first couple of hours involved? i learn standing right over there involved? i learn standing right overthere in involved? i learn standing right over there in the laundry room. it was 3am and ijust started physically shaking. like, i couldn't stop my body from shaking and then i just thought i can't tell other people in the house. it was the second identical boeing jet crash in five months. initial reports say they happen for the same reason, a

fa u lty they happen for the same reason, a faulty flight control system. the 737 max has been grounded ever since. critics say the development and launch of the jets were rushed and launch of the jets were rushed and boeing cut corners at the expense of safety. definitely my daughter died for the profit of boeing andl daughter died for the profit of boeing and i don't want anyone else to die for that reason. i want these planes to be safe and invest in the company and the hardware and the infrastructure to make our aviation syste m infrastructure to make our aviation system safe. nadia and michael want to know why their daughter died, and theirfight has to know why their daughter died, and their fight has taken them to the top of the american government. they're now representing families from across north america. when it crashed there were passengers from more than 30 countries on board. the highest proportion of those were from kenya because the flight was bound to nairobi, but the second highest amount was from here in canada and families from toronto are starting to want answers as to why their loved ones were killed.|j

starting to want answers as to why their loved ones were killed. i lost my wife, carol, my three children, ryan, kelly and ruby, and i also lost my mum. i feel so lonely. i look at people, i see them with their children playing outside and i know i cannot have my children. their children playing outside and i knowl cannot have my children. paul njororge lost his entire family. he believes they would still be alive if boeing had grounded the planes earlier. the crash of ethiopian airlines flight 302 was preventable. these individuals knew they would not be held criminally liable, they would not face years in prison, but if they knew they would face years in prison, then they would have grounded those planes. we asked boeing for an interview and they declined stop the in a statement, they said: —— they declined. in a

statement, they said: but for the families, life is changed forever. their resolve now, finding the truth. simon browning, bbc news, in toronto. you're watching newsday on the bbc. live from singapore and london. still to come on the programme: is the president playing politics orjust a patriot? we'll have the latest on donald trump's version of the 11th ofjuly. also on the programme: it's the women's world cup final this weeked, wrapping a hugely succesful tournament. so should female players be paid and treated the same as the men? china marked its first day of rule in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin,

said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell of another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering a record that had stood for 34 years. and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. our top stories: a special investigation by the bbc reveals how china is systematically separating muslim uighur children from theirfamilies. speaking exclusively to the bbc, families of victims of the boeing plane crash in ethiopia tell us those responsible must be held to account. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the straits times reports on the row over hong kong and says it's threatening diplomatic ties between china and britain. the uk foreign office summoned the chinese ambassador after he called a rare news conference on wednesday and attacked the british foreign secretary for backing violent protests in hong kong. it's accusing the uk government

of meddling in its internal affairs. in hong kong's south china morning post, the paper says huawei will be a key focus when us negotiators visit beijing next week to revive stalled trade talks. leaders from both countries agreed to a tentative truce at last week's g20 summit injapan. and finally, the financial times newspaper and it reports on the british royal marines seizing a tanker suspected of smuggling iranian oil to syria and violating eu sanctions. following the raid off gibraltar, iran summoned the british ambassador in tehran and called the seizure "illegal". the ambassador said it was about enforcing sanctions on syria, and not iran. those are the papers. it's independence day in the usa and donald trump has been promising

the "show of a lifetime" in washington. in a departure from tradition, this year's fourth ofjuly extravaganza in the capital is due to feature tanks on the national mall and a flyover of militaryjets. there'll also be a speech by the president, who has been accused of politicising independence day. let's go to the rainy and soggy linking memorial —— lincoln memorial in washington. chris buckler, what has president trump said touring his speech? yeah, the rain isn't going to stop me and it hasn't stopped president trump. blunder and lightening is potentially for customer this evening as well and they continue to play on with this event which is being called salute to america. there have been flyers firm each of the different branches of the armed forces with president trump on his speech focusing on patriotism, not on politics. that is

what the white house has missed. there were concerns, given we are going into an election year in 2020, this could be used as something of a rally. at the same time, this feels very much like a made—for—tv event. this is intended to get publicity for president trump. he has put himself right at the centre of events himself right at the centre of eve nts o n himself right at the centre of events on the fourth ofjuly and thatis events on the fourth ofjuly and that is going to cause some controversy. apart from critics saying he is politicising this fourth ofjuly celebration, opponents are also saying he's wasting taxpayers' money with this elaborate celebration? he's tried to play that down. there were two things, first of all, he believes very strongly that it is appropriate to celebrate america's armed forces. it's something he's wanted to do very very long time, ever since he attended the bastille parade in france. he feels this is an

appropriate use of funds and he claims it's not going to cost that much. but the key things were critics is we don't know how much it is costing, we know that two and half million dollars has been diverted from funds that usually go to national parks here in the usa, that should be used to try and improve those parks, for people who enter those parks. there is some concern from the likes of the democrat, afraid that this is really going to politicise in some ways the armed forces and certainly, if you talk to some trump supporters who have gathered in this rain, this pouring rain, they will say that president trump believes that — that he is representing them, standing up for the armed forces and they believe in him as well as those who represent the us abroad. thank you for joining represent the us abroad. thank you forjoining us and updating us on the fourth ofjuly celebration at lincoln memorial, washington, dc. the bbc‘s washington correspondent,

chris eichler. this weekend the us and the netherlands take to the football field for the women's world cup final. it's set to be a fierce match but there's another battle being fought on the sidelines. with audience figures increasing and sponsors clamouring to get involved, female football players are demanding to be paid — and treated — the same as their male counterparts. fifa estimates that over 30 million women play football worldwide and the number of amateur players has increased by more than 15% over the past decade. but there are big financial discrepancies between the men's and women's games. the winners on sunday will receive $4 million in prize money. that's half of what the men's teams got last summer, if they exited at the last 16 stage. and the highest—paid female player, norway's ada hegerberg, earns 325 times less than barcelona superstar lionel messi according to france football magazine. but could this spectacular world cup be a turning point for women's football?

well, i ask an expert in all things women's football and football finance from australia to get her opinion on what the impact of this world cup will be. i think it's going to be a big turning point. you just need to look at the ratings to see the tournament has really inspired a lot of people around the world to tune in. and there's reasons for that. the tournament, the world cup, is being shown in a lot of countries on free to air platforms. it's being shown, televised or re— televised in prime—time, and of course the women's game has grown a lot in professionalism. so you get to see a really fa ntastic world —class professionalism. so you get to see a really fantastic world—class game and women's sport, as you rightly pointed out is on the rise. another factor of course is patriotism. when your team's playing, of course you

wa nt to your team's playing, of course you want to tune in. all of those factors have played into really push the world cup up into the ratings and it's experiencing some of the best ratings, not only for sporting tournaments, but for broadcasters across their suite of programmes. louise, part of the problem for women's football is that the men's game is so huge. the sums of money involved are so vast, the business, the sponsorship, the audiences, the women's game by comparison will never get, or will it ever get to that scale? and therefore the players being paid the same as the men? it certainly -- it is certainly getting there, as you point out, the disparity is huge. there is a lot of movement on at the moment. the women in the us are in the final, they are in court at the moment taking their sporting federation to court over pay parity and then just arguing for money, they are arguing for all those other things that male athletes take for granted. sport

medicine support, access to training facilities, access to good equipment, support in the administration and the promotion of the games. all of those markers, not just pay, but all those other markers and things they are arguing for. and the world's best layer, ada hegerberg from norway, you mentioned before, she isn't even out the world cup. she hasn't played for our country, her federation since 2017. the reason for that is pay. and, what's your goals, respect. so there's a lot of movement around a lot of protest and there is court action. there is also political action. there is also political action because the world cup is on, people are engaged, people are watching, the politicians coming in and saying this isn't good enough, why are the women being paid so less ? why are the women being paid so less? why are they being treated so poorly? the people who are watching, too, mums and dads, if they have a

fantastic little football player in theirfamily, they fantastic little football player in their family, they want career pathways for her, they want a living wage for her. so they are also on—board. so there's a push from the grassroots write up the politicians who pushing for a change. hoping there would be more pay equality after this women's world cup, lewis, but who do you think will win? the european champions league the defending world cup champions? since i'm based in europe, i'm going to have to go for the netherlands, although america has a good shot. you have been watching newsday. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. well, we hope the us will win, maybe they will make it. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. stay with us. coming up india's new budget.we will be following the country's first female finance minister in almost half a century as she delivers her debut budget. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with these pictures. this is a hindu chariot festival in 0disha in india.

thousands of the vote is taking to the streets. stay with us. hello there. if you are looking for sunshine today, your best bet is to look further south. the further south you went, the blue the skies remained. this is from a weather watcher in central london. a bit of wispy cloud, but essentially a beautiful day. have a look there. if you spent your day in north—west scotland, there was cloud, mist and drizzle and temperatures got no higher than 13 degrees. keep that cloudy, damp and murky weather across northern areas tonight. further south, if you are across england and wales,

we hold onto some clear spells. one or two spots out in the countryside might get down into single digits, but for most it's a pretty mild night —11—15 degrees. so, we get on into tomorrow and really the same rules apply. the brightest of the weather will be found across southern areas, always more cloud further north and outbreaks of patchy rain and that rain likely to turn heavier across northern ireland and western scotland by the end of the day. so, let's take a closer look across the channel islands, the south—west, wales, the midlands, east anglia, all these areas enjoy plenty of sunshine. 23 degrees for plymouth, 24 in cardiff, maybe 27 again in the london area. for north wales and north—west england, a bit more cloud creeping in. north—east england should hold onto some brightness, grey and damp, i think, for northern ireland — rain pepping up through the afternoon across western scotland. but for eastern scotland, aberdeen, down to edinburgh, a little bit of shelter from the mountains. you should keep a few brighter glimpses and i don't think you will see too much in the way of wet weather. then we go through this evening — tomorrow evening and tomorrow night i should say, this band of cloud and rain does eventually start to move. it's been plaguing northern areas for the last couple of days but it's starts to shift its way southwards as we go into the start of the weekend.

the band of cloud of rain associated with this weather front — it's a cold front, as the name suggests, the air turns cooler behind it. but it does look like that front is going to drag its heels to some extent, so east anglia, the midlands, wales on saturday look likely to be quite cloudy, maybe the odd spot of drizzle. coversely, to the south coast of engladnd, holding onto some warm sunshine all day long. north of our weather front we'll see some sunny spells but those temperatures dipping away. it will turn cooler and fresher. and as we get into sunday that front will have cleared away from all parts, so we'll all be in the cooler, fresher air. some fairly large slabs of cloud floating around the sky, sunny spells, just a small chance for a shower. and those temperatures, 13 degrees in aberdeen, perhaps a high of 22 in cardiff. so another warm day in the south tomorrow, it will turn cooler for all of us as we head to the weekend. that's all from me, good night.

i'm lewis vaughan jones with bbc news.

our top story: a bbc special investigation has revealed how muslim children in china are being systematically separated from their families official documents show that large numbers of boarding schools have been built to house children as young as two. critics of china's government say it's a deliberate policy targetting the minority uighur population. families of victims of the boeing crash in ethiopia in march tell the bbc that criminal charges should be brought against those found to be responsible. and this story is getting a lot of attention on bbc.com. events to mark us independence day are taking place in washington, where president trump is hosting an event dubbed ‘salute to america.‘ in a change to the usual 4th ofjuly celebrations, military vehicles are on display. that's all. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, stephen sackur speaks to us republican senator rick scott on hardtalk.