i‘m rico hizon with bbc world news. our top story: australia‘s court of appeal has dismissed cardinal george pell‘s appeal against his conviction for sexually abusing children. the cardinal is the most senior hello, you're watching newsday. official of the catholic church to be found guilty i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: of child sex abuse. cardinal george pell the italian prime minister has is to remain injail — resigned, but will stay on as head australia's court of appeal of a caretaker government. dismisses the appeal he‘s blamed the collapse of his government on the far—right against his conviction for sexually abusing children. league party. and this video is trending on bbc.com. italy's government in turmoil — some are calling it "the great the prime minister resigns, matress migration of 2019". blaming deputy pm matteo salvini this was the unscheduled show and his right—wing league party at an outdoor air—bed for the coalition‘s collapse. cinema in colorado. strong winds whipped through the event sending dozens of blow up matresses into the air. i'm rico hizon in london. that‘s all. also in the programme: we investigate claims of exploitation and abuse from migrant workers who came to japan under a government—sponsored scheme. 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 singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. it's 1:00am in london, 8:00am in singapore and 10:00am in melbourne, where the victorian court of appeal is delivering 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. joining me from melbourne is our correspondent phil mercer.

now, feel, you were there at the court. just as this appeal was dismissed and read out. what were some of the ground behind it? this has been described as one of the most important legal decisions australia has seen for quite some time. there were parked court rooms and an overspill room here at the victorian court of appeal for the decision. it began at 9:30am local time and within five minutes we had a decision and the court has dismissed george pell‘s appeal and george pell will be returning to present to continue his six—year sentence for abusing two choirboys ina sentence for abusing two choirboys in a cathedral here in melbourne in the late 1990s. george pell‘s lawyers had argued the case against him was flawed and that the

prosecution's has relied on the uncorroborated evidence of a sole witness, the court here has dismissed the appeal. there was one dissenting judge in the 3—judge panel. so this is a two — one decision, and it is unclear of george pell‘s defence team will now be considering taking the case to the highest court in the land, the high court of australia in canberra. but for now, the news is george pell has lost his appeal against his child abuse convictions and will be returning to present to continue that six—year sentence. returning to present to continue that six-year sentence. some strong language is well used by the presiding judge as well, phil, what did you hear? the full reasoning for thejudges' decision is contained in a document that has 300 pages. we've been given a short summary of the judges‘ decision. so it‘s a very

complex case, this appeal of george pell‘s was heard here injune over the course of two days. the judge did say that the vast majority of evidence has been reviewed by the panel and so it‘s come to this decision 2—1 in favour of dismissing george pell‘s appeal. the defence tea m george pell‘s appeal. the defence team had argued against him was flawed but on the other side of the ledger you had the prosecution saying that the victim in this case was a witness of truth and that the convictions against george pell were unimpeachable. so, that is the verdict or the decision from the court of appeal in victoria that george pell will be heading back to prison and will be eligible for pa role prison and will be eligible for parole after serving three years and eight months of his sentence. all right, thank you phil mercer, live outside the victoria court of appeal. let‘s take a look at some of the day‘s other news.

the eu has categorically rejected british demands to reopen 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. 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. wildfires in the amazon rainforest have reached record levels in the first half of this year. more than 70,000 have been detected, by brazil‘s space research centre, and there have been almost twice as many than during the same period last year.

the surge coincides with pledges by president jair bolsonaro to develop the amazon region for mining. 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. the decision to call an early election now rests exclusively with the head of state. james reynolds, bbc news, rome. around 100 migrants have been stranded in a rescue boat in the mediterranean for nearly three weeks. italy‘s interior minister mateo salvini had ordered the open arms ship to be blocked from entering the port of lampedusa but now an italian prosecutor has ordered the migrants to disembark in lampedusa. at least 15 of the migrants jumped overboard this morning, in a desperate attempt to land. 0livia crellin reports.

frustration after 19 days stuck at sea. 15 migrants on the rescue boat operated by spanish charity 0pen armsjumped operated by spanish charity 0pen arms jumped into the sea and tried to make its land. their destination within swimming distance. it was the latest act of desperation from more than 80 migrants still onboard a vessel where conditions and tensions have been steadily worsening. translation: after everything that has happened to them, after risking their lives in a boat in the middle of the sea, after all that, we‘re here for 90 days. we have expensed rough seas, seasickness, anxiety and panic attacks dash experience. people have thrown themselves into the sea out of desperation. what else do you want to happen? what else do you want to happen? what else can happen? i hope you will now ona human else can happen? i hope you will now on a human level. all these people

must disembark in that safe port, 800 metres away. the closest port, so 800 metres away. the closest port, so near, and yet so far. italy‘s fa rate interior minister matteo salvini has continued to refuse to allow migrant rescue vessels to dock as part of its hard—line policies. he is god migrant rescue ships access for people smugglers and set on tuesday that he was proud to defend the borders and security of his country. —— called. translation: i am trying to block these people, if it‘s going to cost me another trial, amen. many mediterranean countries feel disproportionately affected by the steady flow of migrants coming across the sea. spain and malta have also kept their boards close to migrants since december 2018. now

perhaps the tide of opinion is turning. 0n perhaps the tide of opinion is turning. on tuesday, after the open arms had been stranded for almost three weeks, spain deployed a neville patrol boat to pick up the migrants. but they didn‘t have to wait that long, having seen the worsening conditions onboard for himself, an italian prosecutor ordered the migrants be disembarked in lampedusa. the migrants arrived in the dark, but safe stop six european union countries have offered to take the migrants in, but more are on their way. on the same day, permission was given to these migrants to come online, over 100 migrants to come online, over 100 migrants setting out from libya i feared have drowned. —— come on land. it brings the death toll to over 700 this year, making 2019 likely to become the sixth year in a i’ow likely to become the sixth year in a row with more than a thousand death. it's row with more than a thousand death. it‘s a sign that however hostile the reception those who await them, those who attempt this treacherous journey are unlikely to be deterred.

0livia crellin, bbc news. you‘re watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we have a special report on the challenges faced by some migrant workers in japan. 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 has dismissed cardinal george pell‘s appeal against his conviction for sexually abusing children. he is the most senior catholic to be found guilty of the crime. 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 of thursday‘s third test after he suffered a concussion. all 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 between japan 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. now what stories are sparking discussions online? after weeks of furious anti—government protests in hong kong, the territory‘s embattled leader, carrie lam, has announced the immediate establishment of a platform for dialogue — to listen to and address protester‘s anxieties and differences. she also said 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. he gave me his analysis of the situation. willow think there‘s a great deal of scepticism about the offer in hong kong. people remember a similar event during 0ccupy in 2014, during the umbrella movement where carrie lam, chief secretary of hong kong, she organised a dialogue and discussion with the student leaders at the time which was widely seen at the time to have been pretty much a waste of time. there was really no genuine movement from the government to discuss the expectations and demands of the protesters. and of course the protesters, professor, say this is a trap because when carrie lam extended this olive branch, she didn‘t even mention that the extradition bill would be withdrawn, which is one of the demands of the protesters. well, i think that‘s right.

at the very least, one would expect if the government is going to take some measures initially to establish goodwill, formally withdrawing the bill would be one of the very obvious choices. that would go some way to reassure the protesters that there is a genuine commitment to making some change on the part of the government. but professor, if indeed carrie lam extends and basically withdraws the extradition bill, do you think the protesters will be open to dialogue? i think that would be one very important first step, i think it‘s a minimal first step. saying the bill is dead and the government will not revive it is not sufficient because in fact in the legislative council the government could revive it at very short notice at any time within the next 12 months. so i think that would be a minimum step that the government could make.

i think at that point, possibly some community groups and someone might come onboard, but i think there needs be much more than a show of goodwill and willingness to actually listen — and to take action on some of the demands. because what‘s important, remember, you know, almost 2 million people on the streets of hong kong protesting the legislation, there is a great deal of dissatisfaction across hong kong‘s society. it‘s notjust a small group of radical protesters and that‘s really what the government has to address. professor timothy 0‘leary earlier. japan is struggling with a shortage of workers. to fill that gap, prime minister shinzo abe enacted a law this year to allow almost 350 thousand 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. the bbc‘s population reporter stephanie hegarty has this story. they were supposed to be interns, coming tojapan to earn money and learn skills.

instead, they claim were exploited on a government scheme that involves 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‘s a shelterjust 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 for up to two years. zhang came to japan to give her some 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, who 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 labels you sewed onto clothes? this one is for comme des garcons. do you remember seeing this a lot? this one is for barney‘s new york. we put these allegations to barney‘s new york and to comme des garcons. comme des 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 said it didn‘t order anything direct from this company and it‘s in the process of investigating. a report byjapan‘sjustice ministry in 2017 said that 70% of businesses employing technical interns were breaking the law on 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. xie 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 workplace injury. as it welcomes more immigrants than ever before, japan has to reckon with how it treats the people that are already here. stephanie 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. 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 it‘s problems — in 2014 a pilot died after crashing during a test flight, and there have been question marks over it‘s environmental impact. the bbc‘s marc chess—lak reports from spaceport 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 it‘s 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. virgin galactic is part of a new space race. amazon‘s founder and ceo jeff bezos‘ blue 0rigin

and tesla boss elon musk‘s space x 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 london. the finalfrontier! and i‘m sharanjit leyl in singapore. stay with us. coming up — grey matters. we will be seeing why some of the biggest tech companies could be undervaluing the silver workforce in silicon valley. 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. # i‘m in love with the shape of you!# 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. i know a big fan i knowa big fan in i know a big fan in singapore.

sharanjit! i want to hear you sing the rest of macro —— shape of you. i don‘t have time. goodbye for now. hello there. it looks like we‘re going to see a return to some summery weather finally. high pressure establishing itself over the near continent will send southerly winds our way and we‘ll tap into that warmth which will be building over the continent. today, though, it looks like we still have some weather fronts, weather systems to contend with which will bring wet and windy weather, mainly to the north and west the uk. you can see this deep area of low pressure slowly making inroads as the day wears on. but we start, for many of us, with high pressure, plenty of sunshine around this morning. one or two showers will develop ahead of this rain band, the odd heavier one but it turns wet and windy for northern ireland, much of northern and western scotland. gusts of wind 50, maybe 55mph

in exposure and a breezy day further south and east. but better chance of seeing sunshine here with 22 or 23 degrees being the high. during wednesday night, that weather front moves southwards and eastwards, tending to fizzle out as it does. but patchy rain across central portions of the uk wiht blustery showers following on behind, genuinely a clear and dry night across the south and east. you can see double—figure values for all starting thursday morning. so warmer than it‘s been the last few nights. so we‘ve got 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 but we‘ll see further fronts pushing to northern ireland and parts of scotland and northern england through the day, thanks to that area of low pressure anchored to the north of scotland. it will be quite windy here but further south and east, better chance of seeing lighte winds and more sunshine. and we‘ll start to tap into the warmth on the near continent,

24, maybe 25 degrees but the high teens further north. this area of high pressure starts to establish itself over the near continent. southerly winds dig in and start to push weather fronts to the north of the uk. so there‘ll be a gradual process on friday where we will see the clouds thinning and breaking and the rain diverted towards the north of scotland. elsewhere, variable cloud but some good spells of sunshine and we‘re really tapping into the warmth over the near continent. even the low 20s further north. into the start of the weekend, it looks like those weather fronts will be away from the uk. so most places should be dry, with variable cloud. winds coming to the south, south—east. a much warmer day for all. the low to mid 20s celsius in the north, perhaps high 20s in the south—east side so it‘s certainly warming up across the board with temperatures probably best across the south and east. it looks like this fine spell will last, for many of us, 00:28:51,240 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 into next week.