you not i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. this is newsday. the headlines: serving up a thanksgiving surprise in afghanistan. president trump tells us troops the taliban's pushing for a ceasefire. the taliban wants to make a deal — we'll see if they want to make a deal — it's got to be a real deal but we'll see, but they want to make a deal and they only want to make a deal because you're doing a greatjob. that's the only reason they want to make a deal. anger at australia's bushfire crisis. after six deaths and widespread destruction — calls for the government to take climate change seriously. i'm nuala mcgovern in london.

also in the programme. shame and suicide in south korea. claims the law is failing victims of spy camera crime. the footage from this can be updated from your phone in seconds, then can be on the internet. and — a race against time in the philippines. delays and corruption claims overshadow saturday's opening of the southeast asian games. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news — it's newsday. good morning. it's 9am in singapore, one o'clock in london and 5.30 in the morning in afghanistan where president trump has made an unannounced trip to visit american troops. in his first trip to afghanistan since taking office,

he said washington was substantially reducing troop numbers in the country — although he did not provide specific numbers. the visit comes a week after a prisoner swap with the taliban aimed at restarting talks with the group. chris buckler reports from washington. donald trump arrived in afghanistan on a trip surrounded by secrecy and a huge amount of security. the white house said the visit was intended to show support for troops during america's thanksgiving holiday, and he made a point of serving food to soldiers who are thousands of miles away from theirfamilies. but while officials insisted the visit was not connected with peace talks with the taliban, it comes just a week after afghanistan freed three talibna members as part of a prisoner swap for two western academics. and as mr trump met afghanistan's president, ashraf ghani, he confirmed that peace talks had restarted with the group, just a couple of months after they appeared to collapse. the taliban wants to make a deal — we'll see if they want to make a deal —

it's got to be a real deal but we'll see, but they want to make a deal and they only want to make a deal because you're doing a greatjob. that's the only reason they want to make a deal. this was the us president's second visit to an active conflict zone since taking office. last christmas he flew to iraq and, while mr trump has praised the work of american troops in the middle east, he has made no secret of his desire for them to leave, and his resolve seems to have been hardened by the recent death of islamic state leader, abu bakr al—baghdadi. he is dead, his second is dead, his third we have to say so i think the third does not want the job. with this overseas trip, mr trump has again emphasised that the soldiers he was visiting should be going home but, while the president stated that the us would be substantially reducing its presence in afghanistan, he did not give numbers or any sort of timeframe. chrios buckler, bbc news, washington. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. more than 30 people have been killed in iraq on one of the bloodiest days

since anti—government protests began last month. iraqis have been taking to the streets to demand more jobs, an end to corruption and better public services. martin patience reports in iraq, the security forces are firing on their own people. the government calls this "restoring order". here in the southern city of nasiriyah, many protesters paid with their lives. iraq's younger generation are fighting back. they wantjobs, government services and, despite the dangers, they are putting their bodies on the line. the government is cracking down hard but two months on, the demonstrators are still on the streets. here in the capital, baghdad, they are choking on teargas. but the rage is being felt

across the country. in the southern city of najaf, protesters set the iranian consulate on fire. they blame iran for interfering in iraq's affairs. young protesters want a new iraq, a country that works for them. martin patience, bbc news, beirut. also making news today. the police commander in charge on the day of britain's worst sporting disaster — at the hillsborough football stadium thirty years ago — has been cleared of the gross negligence manslaughter of ninety five liverpool fans. the jury returned a not guilty verdict at the retrial of david duckenfield, months after the original trialjury failed to reach a verdict.

north korea's state media says that its leader kim jong un oversaw a "successful test" of a super—large multiple launch rocket system and expressed "great satisfaction". south korea's military said north korea fired two short—range projectiles into the sea off its east coast on thursday. kim jong un has set an end—year deadline to kick—start the denuclearisation talks with washington. gordon sondland, the us ambassador to the eu, has been accused by three women of sexual misconduct. mr sondland was a star witness in the impeachment inquiry into the us president. all three women allege mr sondland retaliated against them professionally after they rejected his advances. he denies this, arguing the accusations are politically motivated. researchers in brazil say smoke from burning forests in the amazon can intensify the melting of glaciers, threatening water supplies to millions of people. the scientists studied the movement of smoke particles and their effect on andean glaciers. they found evidence that snow and ice was being "darkened", accelerating the rate of melting.

in football, the owners of the english premier league champions, manchester city, have agreed a deal to buy a majority stake in the indian side, mumbai city. it means the club's parent company, city football group, now has stakes in eight teams around the world. the first funerals have been held in vietnam for some of the 39 people found dead in a refrigerated lorry in britain last month. families of 16 of the victims have held services. the bodies of the other people who died are expected to be returned to vietnam from the uk this weekend. a single drum sounded as two young cousins were laid to rest in a cemetery in rural vietnam. nguyen van hung was 33, hoang van tiep just 18. they died together in the back of a lorry trailer crossing the english channel to britain.

hoang van tiep‘s grieving father says he is now glad his son is home. in all, 39 people died in the trailer, the first 16 bodies were flown back yesterday... and driven out to their villages in vietnam's poorer provinces. the cousins' funeral was the first. the priest using it to warn young people of the dangers of leaving their homeland to seek greater wealth overseas. in the village of dien thinh it was the largest funeral anyone can remember. for two young cousins who left with high hopes, but died locked in the back of a trailer in a way that nobody wants to imagine. daniel sandford, bbc news.

a climate sit—in is under way in sydney. these are the pictures live from sydney. the theme is bushfire response. why? because of the fires which have devastated large parts of new south wales and queensland. the fires have taken away lives and homes, and sent haze into sydney, australia's largest city. the bbc‘s phil mercer is there. demonstrations have been occurring in towns and cities. they are saying that climate change is making the wires more intense. much of the anger is directed towards the prime minister scott morrison. doing too little while the country burdens. earlier we spoke to a young woman from northern new south wales who

lost her home in a bush fire. over 40 lost her home in a bush fire. over a0 metres high wall of flames fire, spitting embers, amber attacks, balls of fire, it wasn't just a bush fire, it was a firestorm. 0ver balls of fire, it wasn't just a bush fire, it was a firestorm. over 80 houses have been lost in my community. this is climate change, this is the climate crisis, we are feeling the impacts from it right now. we need desperate and drastic climate action. the mood here is one of defiance and also a mood of angen of defiance and also a mood of anger, frustration and despair, especially among the young. many teenagers taking the day off school tojoin the rally in teenagers taking the day off school to join the rally in sydney. teenagers taking the day off school tojoin the rally in sydney. in those feelings best summed up by one of the teenage speakers. the bushfires are definitely linked to climate change. you canjust bushfires are definitely linked to climate change. you can just see with a prolonged drought with had in australia, it's just with a prolonged drought with had in australia, it'sjust made with a prolonged drought with had in australia, it's just made the bushfires so much worse in the bushfires so much worse in the bushfire season is getting earlier

and earlier and it's getting stronger and stronger as well. it's something we have not seen before. the bushfire emergency has claimed six lives in almost 700 homes have been destroyed. protesters want australia to phase out the use of fossil fuels. coal continues to generate most of australia's electricity in the country's prime ministers says his government is meeting its international emissions targets however many protesters say the prime minister needs to grow up and listen to the science of climate change. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: calls in south korea for tougher penalties for spy camera offenders following the suicide of k—pop superstar goo hara.

also on the programme: will the philippines be ready for the southeast asian games, due to open on saturday? complaints mount about a lack of transport and unfinished facilities. president kennedy was shot down and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world, the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number 10 to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor, easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot—air balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes, but nobody seemed to mind very much.

as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air we need, it's hard cash." cuba has declared nine days of mourning following the death of fidel castro at the age of 90. castro developed close ties with the soviet union in the 1960s. it was an alliance that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war with the cuban missile crisis. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm nuala mcgovern in london. our top stories: president trump has made an unannounced trip to afghanistan, telling us troops he believes the taliban are open to ceasefire. as australia's bushfire crisis continues, protestors in sydney have demanded the government takes climate change seriously. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we start with singapore's straits times, which is reporting that beijing has summoned the us ambassador over a new law supporting

the pro—democracy movement in hong kong. the ambassador has been told that washington must stop interfering in china's internal affairs. the financial times has an interview with the former chief executive of nissan, who says the company has been damaged by japanese nationalists. hiroto saikawa says there some who wanted to unwind nissan's 20 year alliance with french car maker renault. and the front page of the japan times features this balloon created by the 90—year—old japanese contemporary artist yayoi kusama for macy's thanksgiving parade in new york. the three—storey high inflatable is called love flies up to the sky. the philippines is hosting the southeast asian games sporting event, but has been widely criticised for a messy build—up to saturday's opening ceremony. reports have surfaced of unfinished construction, transport delays, complaints about

food and poor media facilities. so, what is the truth in reality and what might it mean for the philippines‘ image? with me for more on this is our philippines correspondent howard johnson, who's outside the main stadium in new clark city. that stadium looks nice and ready behind you, howard, but the criticisms suggest that the organisation around this has been awful and some athletes have been complaining as well. so give us a sense of just how complaining as well. so give us a sense ofjust how much damage this is doing to the philippines‘ image? yeah, it has been a war of words this week about whether the philippines has been ready to hold these games. so rather than cut the noise on social media we decided to look around for ourselves. we went to the memorial football stadium with a football tournament has begun already, those games begin before the official ceremony tomorrow. we had a look around the stadium before the myanmar— philippines game and we saw construction work was still going on. they were tracking down a

carpet, there was drilling going on, some of the bathrooms weren‘t ready there. stadium itself, that it looked fine. athletics day was a different story, inside is a world —class different story, inside is a world—class facility, it looks tiptop, great for athletics, same with the aquatics centre over there. yesterday we had a look around the athletics village and the athletes village and we spoke to some of the athletes who were there. they say they are happy with the conditions. the ones we spoke with stop further towards the end of the village we saw three blocks that had not been completed, there is construction work there. we spoke to construction workers, they said yes, three blocks have not been finished in the athletes village. and i can see the cauldron behind you, there were criticisms the money should have been spent on other areas? yes, it

p°p5 up been spent on other areas? yes, it pops up from time to time, should they spend big when the country needs schooling, more classrooms, the opposition is that it would be better to spend this approximately $1 million on 52 classrooms. the chairman said, well, this is nonsense, this is a work of art that represents the philippines. he said there are no issues with the spending on this cauldron. now, we will see this being lit tomorrow when the opening ceremony begins here in the philippines. and also, howard, you mentioned a bit around the media and the war that has been going on there. 0bviously you‘ve heard a lot about how there has been fa ke heard a lot about how there has been fake news and this is the chairman of the organising committee calling a lot of the reports on the unpreparedness a lot of the reports on the unprepa redness fa ke news. a lot of the reports on the unpreparedness fake news. does he have a point? yeah, this country has a well—known, well—established troll factory that tackles big issues in the country. this week we‘ve seen a

lot of troll behaviour online, there has been a lot of talk of fake news as well that has been referred to some journalists‘ posts that they said was dubious. the argument has been going back and forth. to debunk it, what the organising committee say is they will have an investigation once again had finished, not only into the delays and teething problems but into those opposed to what they call fake news to see whether journalists opposed to what they call fake news to see whetherjournalists were telling the truth when they posted these images of work that hadn‘t been completed or athletes are sleeping on the floor, waiting to go to their hotels because of logistics delays. thank you. fans of the k—pop superstar goo hara are calling for more to be done to help the victims of so—called spy camera crimes in south korea. the singer and actress took her own life earlier this week. she‘d spent the last year in a public court battle claiming her ex—boyfriend had

threatened to release a sex tape of the couple. 0ur seoul correspondent laura bicker has this report. 28—year—old eun—ju lee took her own life just weeks afterfinding out a male colleague had secretly filmed her in the nurses‘ changing room. she suffered from frequent nightmares. she felt he was still watching her. translation: you can still kill someone without using weapons. the impact of this crime can differ from person to person. some might be able to pull through. others, like my daughter, might not. eun—ju‘s parents are furious that the culprit was sentenced to ten months in prison. translation: people don't take it seriously. even me, i used to think something like this can be manageable. but, when it became my issue, it felt huge. translation: the

sentencing is so weak. tens of thousands of fans of k—pop superstar goo hara agree with them. the singer and actress took her own life earlier this week. she had spent a year battling a high—profile case, claiming her ex—boyfriend was threatening to release a sex tape. he was given a suspended sentence. her supporters started a petition calling for tougher penalties for all offenders. illicit filming or so—called spy cam claims are endemic in south korea. most of those found guilty just receive a fine. translation: yes, the sentencing is too lenient. it‘s because there are just too many cases. because it is so prevalent, the courts don‘t take it seriously, and also because men do not experience it. so we have come to this motel room

to show you just how easy it is to hide a spy camera. it‘s this, right on top of the television. this one has been made to look like a shirt button. they come in all shapes and sizes. the footage from this can be uploaded onto your phone in seconds, and within minutes, it‘s on the internet. campaigners say only tougher sentences will act as a real deterrent, but there is hope that things are changing. this is the hope of eun—ju‘s parents, as they prepare for a battle in court. translation: i'm going to go till the end, all the way to the supreme court. british scientists are creating a blueprint for bands and pop stars so they can continue to perform live music without contributing

to climate change. the tyndall centre for climate change research is using tour data donated by the group massive attack. laura foster reports. # teardrop on the fire. # fearless on my breath... since they broke out onto the global music scene in the ‘90s, massive attack have sold millions of albums and toured the world. but, after spending time with the environmental campaign group extinction rebellion, they have become more aware of the damage that live music can cause the planet. they could have decided to never tour again, but instead wanted to help solve the problem by teaming up with scientists who will look at every aspect of their tour and help them reduce their carbon emissions to zero, or as close to zero as possible. whenever a sort of celebrity, if you like, dares to say that they want system change to tackle climate change, people often line up to say this is very hypocritical, because they‘re part of a very high—carbon sector. and what‘s really exciting

about this project is saying, well, yeah, it is a high—carbon sector, and we need to try and tackle that, because every sector has to be part of the transition to a low—carbon economy. # i hear jerusalem bells are ringing... it is not the first time musicians have spoken out about this issue. last week, coldplay announced it was why they wouldn‘t go on tour with their latest album. and fans of billie eilish can earn free concert tickets by fighting climate change. # really hurt me, baby. # really cut me, baby. # how can you have a day without a night? given fans tend to idolise their favourite bands and artists, it is hoped that if more musicians are seen to be acting sustainably, it will encourage more of us to do the same. laura foster, bbc news.

a climate city and is under way in sydney. let‘s take a look. we heard from phil mercer earlier in the programme. these pictures are coming live from sydney. you can see a lot of young people there. it‘s called the bushfire response, responding to the bushfire response, responding to the bushfires that have devastated parts of new south wales and queensland. they believe climate change has contributed to those bushfires. it is 2a minutes past noonin bushfires. it is 2a minutes past noon in sydney as those people gathered to protest. millions of people have been sitting down to their turkey dinner as they celebrate thanksgiving and us astronauts on the international space station won‘t be missing out. we‘ve got vegetables of course, green beans and potatoes that wield warm—up. green beans and potatoes that wield warm-up. here is the winner, the turkey. and of course, smoked turkey

ina turkey. and of course, smoked turkey in a pouch. that is the crew onboard showing off their perhaps less than slap up meal they will have today. we‘ve seen plenty of celebrations already across the states. the giant balloons in the annual macy‘s thanksgiving day parade were given the all—clear to fly after fears that strong winds could ground them. thousands of onlookers lined the city‘s streets to watch the parade, which is in it‘s 93 year. elsewhere, the weather made the best efforts to ruin things. dangerous storms and heavy snow are moving across the states from the west coast to the midwest with about 21 million people in areas affected by the bad weather. the result of these conditions is travel chaos, thanksgiving is a very busy period for airlines and the storms have caused huge delays. away from the weather, however, here is an example of how not to deep—fry your thanksgiving turkey. the phoenix fire department have filmed this video of them placing a frozen turkey in a vat of boiling oil. you can see there are pretty spectacular. the dip from them —

don‘t do it. the dip from me, roast it instead. —— tip from me. you have been watching newsday. i‘m nuala mcgovern in london. and i‘m sharanjit leyl in singapore. stay with us. hello there. yesterday we had much brighter weather push into northern areas of the uk, so through the afternoon in scotland, we had skies like these — a bit of sunshine coming through. that was one of our weather watch pictures from around about the fort william area in the highlands. the sunnier skies were associated with the colder air, and that colder air is pushing southwards. and so it is going to bring a change in our weather, a change to drier weather, with more sunshine to go around. but cold by day and by night, with some sharp overnight frosts just around the corner. indeed, for those of you getting up early on friday, we‘re looking at a cold start to the day, a risk of a few icy stretches as rain clears and temperatures drop away. showers continue to affect northern and eastern scotland, and some of our eastern coastal

counties of england. but across inland areas, particularly for the northern half of the uk, it‘s a cold start to the day, with a touch of frost outside. now, through friday morning, there will be plenty of sunshine for the vast majority of the country. but again, some patchy cloud coming and going across northern scotland, and running down these eastern coastal areas of scotland and england as well, bringing plenty of showers to these coastal areas. inland, though, plenty of sunshine. but through the afternoon, temperatures struggling — just 3—7 degrees celsius, something like that. and then, as we head through friday evening and overnight, we keep those clear skies. could be a few mist and fog patches forming, but it‘s going to be a cold night, with a widespread and sharp frost developing for most areas of the country. well, that takes us into the weekend, and high pressure‘s still with us for the most part, bringing a continuation of the dry, settled, sunny story. but this low pressure gets close enough to the south—west to threaten a bit of rain into south—west england. certainly there‘ll be more cloud across these south—western areas, and a cold wind will develop as well. elsewhere, a few mist and fog

patches to start the day, slow to clear, but for most of us, more in the way of sunshine again. there will be a few showers coming and going for northern areas of scotland. now, through saturday evening, that rain could extend a little bit further eastwards to threaten dorset, perhaps into the isle of wight for a time, before pulling back southwards as the low pressure moves south into france. high pressure then takes over. could have this little weather front across northern scotland bring some slightly thicker cloud here on sunday, and a greater number of showers moving in across the far north. a change in the wind direction brings showers into the thames estuary, so it‘ll likely be quite wet at times into the north—west of kent. but, away from these areas, plenty of sunshine again. after a cold and frosty start, temperatures a—7 degrees celsius, and we keep the cold weather for the first half of the new week. it gets milder towards the end of next week. that‘s your weather.

this is bbc world news.

i‘m nuala mcgovern. our top story. president trump has made a surprise thanksgiving appearance in afghanistan to visit us troops, his first trip to the country as president. mr trump told them he believed the taliban would agree to a ceasfire and their efforts — and those of afghan soldiers — had led to the insurgents wanting to make a deal. as australia‘s bushfire crisis continues — protestors in sydney have demanded the government takes climate change seriously. fires have killed at least six people and devastated parts of new south wales and queensland. and these pictures are trending. they‘re of an 18,000—year—old puppy, found in siberia, though scientists have been unable to determine whether it‘s a dog or a wolf. the animal has been remarkably preserved in the snow and ice, with its fur and teeth all intact. that‘s all.