hello, you're watching newsday. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: australia's court of appeal will shortly deliver its ruling on the case of cardinal george pell, the most senior catholic worldwide to be found guilty of sexually abusing children. italy's government in turmoil — the prime minister has quit blaming his deputy, matteo salvini, and his right—wing league party for the coalition‘s collapse. i'm rico hizon in london. also in the programme: we investigate how japan is using migrant labour to help bridge a shortage of workers. and — fancy a trip into space? virgin galactic says they'll be

issuing boarding passes as soon as next year. voiceover: live from our studios in london and singapore, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. it's midnight in london, 7:00am in singapore and 9:00am in melbourne, where the victorian court of appeal is set to deliver its ruling on the case of cardinal george pell, the most senior catholic found guilty of sexually abusing children. a jury found pell guilty last december of the sexual penetration of a child under 16 and four counts of committing an indecent act with a child. he was sentenced to six years in prison, but his lawyers appealed in the hope of having the verdict overturned or a retrial ordered. let's have a look at the outcomes

we could see today. if the panel of three judges decide that there was insufficient evidence for the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt, then the convictions would be quashed and pell would walk free. if the court agrees with pell‘s lawyers that the judge made errors in his handling of the original trial, then the convictions would be overturned and the judges could order a retrial. but, if the court decides to dismiss the appeal, then the 78—year—old would return to prison to continue serving his 6—year term. i spoke to our correspondent phil mercer a short time ago, who is outside the court in melbourne. george court in melbourne. pell, 0nce george court in melbourne. pell, once upon a time, was one george pell, once upon a time, was one of the most powerful coupling figures in the world. he phase two trials last year. the first jury failed to reach a verdict, there was another trial and in december the jury another trial and in december the jury found george pell guilty of

assaulting two choirboys when he was archbishop of melbourne in the late 19905. archbishop of melbourne in the late 1990s. thejudge said in archbishop of melbourne in the late 1990s. the judge said in that case that the offences were a forcible sexual act on two young boys aged 13. so, very shortly cardinal george pell will learn his fate here at the victorian supreme court. the's ride. we know threejudges victorian supreme court. the's ride. we know three judges will be reading out a summary of their decision just a little later today. how common is it for them, for an appeals court to reverse a jury's decision? sansa, it's not very common at all. what we have here is george pell‘s defence tea m have here is george pell‘s defence team saying the convictions against him were flawed because the prosecution's case, the defence has argued, has relied entirely on" uncorroborated evidence of a single

complainant", and also arguing the judge made two errors during the process. the victim in this case was a witness of truth, and the convictions against george pell are unimpeachable, so they say. so both sides of this very complex argument that these appeal court judges sides of this very complex argument that these appeal courtjudges have been wading through. this appeal was heard here injune and in the next short while we will hear whether george pell stay thus makes these in prison or walks free. speaking to sharanjit leyl earlier. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. the eu has categorically rejected british demands to re—open negotiations on its deal to leave the grouping, saying london isn't proposing any realistic alternatives. british prime minister, borisjohnson, had written to eu leaders saying the irish—border backstop in the deal was "anti—democratic" and must be replaced, without specifying other options.

i saw what donald tusk had to say. you know, a sense of optimism. but i think we will get there. i think there is a real sense now that something needs to be done with this backstop. we can't get it through parliament as it is. so i'm going to go at it very... with a lot of oomf, as you would expect and we will make some progress in the next few weeks. but clearly, something that slightly complicates the picture is that our eu friends still clearly think that there is a possibility that parliament will block brexit. as long as they think there is a possibility that parliament will block brexit, they are unlikely to be minded to make the concessions that we need. though it's going to ta ke that we need. though it's going to take a bit of patience. also making news today, syrian pro—government forces have

taken khan sheikhoun in idlib province. it's five years since the government controlled it. jihadist and rebel fighters had left the strategic town, deep into the remaining territory held by opposition groups. rebel forces are also reported to have lost their last territory in the neighbouring province of hama. fires in the amazon rainforest have reached record levels. more than 70,000 have been detected by brazil's environmental centre. there have been almost twice as many than the same period as last year. it coincides with pledges with president bolsonaro to develop the region for mining. jeffrey epstein signed a will two days before killing himself in a new yorkjail, according to us media reports. the financier set up a trust worth more than $500 million in the us virgin islands, for unnamed beneficiaries. epstein‘s alleged victims could now face more difficulty suing his estate.

epstein died while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. hungary has been celebrating a national holiday with a huge fireworks display in the capital of budapest. what a celebration. 26,000 official fireworks were used on and above the river danube. the celebration was to commemorate the founding of the hungarian state. italy's prime minister, giuseppe conte, has offered his resignation to the country's president. it follows his blistering speech in parliament in which he accused the interior minister, matteo salvini, of destroying the ruling coalition for his personal gain. mr conte, who belongs to neither party in the coalition, was brought in a year ago to try to hold the government together. this report by our correspondent

james reynolds contains some flashing images. if you come to bury, not to praise, then the senate in rome is a perfect stage. italy's prime minister, giuseppe conte, aimed his dagger at the man sitting to his right, his coalition partner matteo salvini. translation: mr salvini has been irresponsible in provoking this government crisis. he has followed only his own party interest. the attack generated nothing more than a shrug or two. this coalition has not managed to fix italy's long struggling economy. matteo salvini is moving out because he no longer wants to share power with populist rivals. he believes he can win an outright victory in a snap election.

translation: let's go to an election, no—one knows better than the italian people. they know who's done a good job. matteo salvini is already italy's most influential politician. he works on his man of the people image the way others work on their tans. 0n the beach near rome, we found italians ready to go and vote. "if we need yet another election," this holiday—maker tells me, "so be it." "it's all a mess," this man says, "but i hope there is a vote soon "and i'll be happy to go with matteo salvini again." and it is here at sea that the far right leader has won his support. matteo salvini has made it much harder for migrant rescue boats, including this spanish vessel, to dock in italy. this afternoon, some migrants, tired of waiting off the coast of lampedusa, jumped overboard and tried to swim to shore. and this evening, here in rome, the outgoing prime minister went to see italy's president. the decision to call an early election now rests exclusively with the head of state.

james reynolds, bbc news, rome. carrie lam has announced the immediate establishment for a path forward for dialogue. she also said hong kong's police watchdog has set up hong kong's police watchdog has set upa task hong kong's police watchdog has set up a task force to investigate complaints of police brutality. professor timothy 0'leary is the head of the school of humanities and languages at the university of new south wales and gave me his analysis of the situation. well i think there isa of the situation. well i think there is a great deal of scepticism about the offer in hong kong. people remember a similar event during 0ccu py remember a similar event during 0ccupy in 2014 where during the umbrella movement carrie lam organised a dialogue with the student leaders at the time which was widely seen to be pretty much a waste of time. there was really no genuine movement from the government to discuss the expectations and demands of the protesters. of course, the protesters, professor are saying this is a trap because when carrie lam extended this olive

branch, she didn't even mention the fa ct branch, she didn't even mention the fact that the extradition bill will be withdrawn, one of the demands of the protesters. well, i think that is right. at the very least, one would expect with the government meeting this kind of gesture for discussion, they would be able to ta ke discussion, they would be able to take some measures initially to establish goodwill. formally withdrawing the bill would be one very obvious choice that would go some way to reassuring the protesters that there is a genuine commitment to making some changes. professor, if indeed carrie lam extends — and basically withdraws the extradition bill, and using protesters would be open to dialogue? i think i would be one very important first step. i think it's a minimalfirst very important first step. i think it's a minimal first step. saying the bill is dead and the government won't revive it is not sufficient because in fact, in the legislative council, the government could provide that with very short notice

in any time within the next 12 months. i think that would be the minimum step that the government could make. ithink minimum step that the government could make. i think that point, possibly some community groups and so on might come forward but i think there needs to be much more willingness to take action on some of the demands. what is important to remember is almost 2000 people, 2 million people were on the streets of hong kong protesting the legislation, there is a great deal of dissatisfaction in hong kong society. it isn't just of dissatisfaction in hong kong society. it isn'tjust a small group of adamant protesters and that is what the government has to address. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: how japan's prime minister is using a new law to allow thousands of low—skilled migrants into the country to compensate for a shortage of workers. also on the programme, virgin galactic could take you into space next year

for a mere $250,000. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed i did have a relationship with ms lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today, in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the past ten days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! czechoslovakia must be free! chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we are all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people in his hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us", chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well", joked the pope, "so you want me to desert rome?"

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm rico hizon in london. our top stories. australia's court of appeal will shortly deliver its ruling on the case of cardinal george pell, the most senior catholic wordwide to be found guilty of sexually abusing children. italy's coalition government is in turmoil — the prime minister resigned after attacking his deputy, the populist matteo salvini. the australian batsman steve smith, the top scorer in the ashes so far, has been ruled out thursday's third test after he suffered a concussion. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we start with the straits times which is leading on hong kong's protestors.

they've rejected a new offer to engage in dialogue from carrie lam, the city's chief executive. they claim she has a "bad track record" and they call her proposal a "trap". there were hopes that a return to peaceful protests over the weekend could spark a turning point, but the paper says the protestors' response makes this less likely. the philippine inquirer is also covering protests, but outside the university and polytechnic university of the philippines. students and teachers with umbrellas and banners gathered as you can see here. they're angry about government proposals to deploy soldiers and policemen in state universities. and finally to the japan times and a positive sign for the ongoing dispute betweenjapan and south korea. japan is allowing high tech material exports like these to be shipped to south korea

for the second time, after curbing them in july. the move comes ahead of talks between the two countries aimed at reducing tensions. what stories are sparking discussions online? (wipe t0 london) —— what stories are sparking discussions online? and it's an outdoor movie experience gone wrong in denver colorado. movie goers were expecting to watch a film under the stars from the comfort of a blow up mattress. but as you can see — the weather had a different idea — with an afternoon storm sending more than 150 mattresses flying through the park before anyone had a chance to lie in them and get stuck into their popcorn. super mattresses. around 100 migrants stranded in a rescue boat in the mediterranean for nearly three weeks have docked

at the italian port of lampedusa. italy's interior minister matteo salvini had ordered the open arms ship to be blocked from entering the italian port but an italian prosecutor had ordered the migrants to disembark there. at least 15 of the migrants jumped overboard early on tuesday, in a desperate attempt to get to land. here we can see around a dozen of them jumping into the sea — many without life jackets — in a bid to swim the 800 metres from the boat to the italian island. and these were the pictures at lampedeusa under an hour ago as that spanish charity rescue boat open arms was finally allowed to dock with more than 80 still on board. the head of the mission on the boat had reported terrible conditions aboard the vessel compounded by panic attacks and the post—traumatic stress of its passengers. japan is struggling

with a shortage of workers. to fill that gap, prime minister shinzo abe enacted a law this year to allow 345,000 low—skilled migrants into the country over the next five years. but it has brought into the spotlight another government immigration scheme that has been running since the ‘90s, one that has become notorious for exploitation and abuse, as bbc‘s population reporter stephanie hegarty reports. they were supposed to be interns, coming tojapan to earn they were supposed to be interns, coming to japan to earn money and learn skills. instead, they they we re learn skills. instead, they they were exploited on a government scheme that involves thousands of businesses including some of the country's most famous high—end brands. many of them end up in industrial towns like this in western japan. there is a shelter just near here and it's been taking in migrants from vietnam and china and cambodia and helping them with legal cases against their employers.

some of the migrants have been there forup to some of the migrants have been there for up to two years. jiang came tojapan to give her jiang came to japan to give her some money for a nice wedding. she worked ina money for a nice wedding. she worked in a small company making clothes. she showed me notes she says she took for nearly a year, documenting the hundreds of hours of overtime she says she wasn't paid for. she claims she is owed nearly $50,000. we spoke to two other people, also from china, made similar allegations about working for this company. the company have denied this. they say all employees were paid minimum wage

and that they abide by all employment lawyers including working hours and they maintain: their payslips are accurate. so these are laban ‘s is they onto clothes? this one is for comme day garcons. do you remember this? this one is for barney ‘s new york. we put these allegations to barney ‘s new york and comme day garcons. comme day garcons say they insist on strict conditions with regards to health and safety, for all the factories they work with and this one was hired by a subcontractor without their knowledge or consent. barney ‘s new york city didn't order anything direct from this company and its in the process of investigating. a report byjapan‘s justice ministry in 2017 said that 70% of businesses employing technical interns were breaking the law and working hours and overtime.

but there are much more serious problems, like bullying. and we've spoken to technical interns who worked for other companies who have harrowing stories to tell. she got severely depressed after being bullied at work for being foreign. she spent three months in hospital and has damaged her back. she may not be able to work again. now she's fighting to have the incident recognised as a work lace injury. as it welcomes more immigrants than ever before, japan has to reckon with howard treats the people that are already here. stefanie hegarty, bbc news in japan.

well as india's mission to the moon — successfully enters lunar orbit, an american company is also entering the space race. if successful, the rover will conduct a range of experiments about the evolution of the moon. the new ceo of virgin galactic says they will begin taking people into space on commercial flights, by the end of 2020. the project has not been without its problems — in 2014 a pilot died after crashing during a test flight, and there have been question marks over its environmental impact. the bbc‘s marc cieslak reports from spaceport successful, the rover will conduct a range of experiments about the evolution of the moon. in the united states. 20 miles past the town of truth or consequences in the new mexico desert, we find find spaceport america. we're here to get a rare glimpse inside that.

it bills itself as the world's very first purpose—built commercial spaceport and its home to virgin galactic, sir richard branson‘s company, which is hoping to send fee—paying customers to space. mission control: fire, fire! the spaceport‘s exterior is the product of british architects foster & partners. it's cost £179 million to build, a bill which has been footed by state government and local taxpayers. eventually, five spacecraft will reside in the hangar and it's here passengers will receive three days' training before blasting off into the upper atmosphere. virgin's tickets cost £200,000 for a 90—minute flight. so far, 600 people have signed up. but at a time of increased concerns about the environment, is it responsible to send wealthy people to space for fun? we actually don't have a very big rocket motor in the back,

and so the per—person co2 emissions is for the average flight around that of a business class flight from new york to the uk. there is an awareness of our planet documented scientifically with astronauts — they come back changed, with a greater realisation of the fragility of our ecosystem and ecosphere. the irony of this idea isn't lost on space experts, though. the fact they have to go that far into space above the planet to have that emotion of feeling protective over the world they live in is sort of ridiculous. but you have to put it into perspective of the fact that space travel is very limited in how much it actually contributes to c02 emissions in comparison to aircraft. it is a tiny fraction of what aircraft put out there. there have been setbacks for virgin galactic. in 2014, one of its spacecraft crashed during flight testing, resulting in the death of its co—pilot and serious injuries for the pilot.

0n the spaceport‘s 2—mile long runway, chief pilot dave mckay acknowledges the time that flight testing is taking. it has taken longer than, i guess, we thought it would do initially. with hindsight, i don't think that's at all surprising. virgin galactic is part of a new space race. amazon's founder and ceo jeff bezos' blue 0rigin also have plans to take fee—paying customers into space. the race is on. space could be about to get a lot more crowded — for those that can afford the price of a ticket, that is. marc cieslak, bbc news. you have been watching newsday. i'm rico hizon in londonand i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore .stay with us. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with these pictures of a new exhibition all about british pop star ed sheeran — that's opened this week

in his hometown of ipswich. the ed sheeran made in suffolk exhibition depicts the singer's rise to fame, and is curated by ed's fatherjohn. it features pictures from the singer's childhood and early career. if you are a big ed sheeran fan, you can see the exhibition until may next year. hello there. it looks like we're going to see a return to some summary weather finally. going to see a return to some summary weather finallylj going to see a return to some summary weather finally. i pressure establishing itself over the new continent will send southerly winds our way and will tap into the warmth which will be building over the continent. today, though, it looks like we still have some weather front, weather systems to content with which will bring wet and windy weather, maybe to the north and west the uk. you can see this deep area of low pressure slowly making inroads as the day wears on. we start with higher pressure, plenty of sunshine around this morning. wa nted of sunshine around this morning. wanted to showers that will develop ahead of this rain band, the odd heavier one but it turns wet and windy for northern ireland and much of northern and western scotland. gusts of wind 50, 55 miles per hour

on exposure and a breezy day further south and east. that is the chance of seeing sunshine with 22 or 23 degrees, the hi. during wednesday night, the weather front moves south and east, fizzling out as it does. but she ran across central portions of the uk would blustery showers following on behind, genuinely a clear and dry night across the south and east. double—figure values for all starting thursday morning. warmer than it's been the last few nights. a north—south divide on thursday. low pressure to the north, high—pressure building to the south. that weak weather front will continue to fizzle out that we will see further fronts pushing to northern ireland and the parts of scotla nd northern ireland and the parts of scotland and northern england through the day, thanks to that area of low pressure anger to the north of low pressure anger to the north of scotland. further south and east, better chance of seeing light winds and more sunshine. 24, maybe 25 degrees but the high teens further north. this area of high pressure

sta rts north. this area of high pressure starts to establish itself over the near continent. southerly winds begin to start to push weather fronts to the north of the uk. a gradual process on friday where we will see the cloud spending and breaking in the rain diverted towards the north of scotland. elsewhere, variable cloud but good spells of sunshine and really tapping into the warmth over the near continent. temperatures in the low 20s even further north. into the start of the weekend, it looks like those weather fronts will be away from the uk. dry with variable cloud. a much warmer day for all. the low to mid 20s celsius in the north, perhaps high 20s in the south—east side certainly warming up across the board with temperatures best the south and east. it looks like this fine spell will last for many of us until in next week.

i'm rico hizon with bbc world news.

our top story: australia's court of appeal will shortly deliver a ruling on the case of cardinal george pell, the most senior catholic found guilty of sexually abusing children. the appeal comes after pell was sentenced to six years in december for sex with a child under 16 and four counts of committing an indecent act with a child. the italian prime minister has resigned, but will stay on as head of a caretaker government. he's blamed the collapse of his government on the far—right league party. and this video is trending on bbc.com. some are calling it "the great mattress migration of 2019". this was the unscheduled show at an outdoor air—bed cinema in colorado. strong winds whipped through the event sending dozens of blow up mattresses into the air. that's all.