welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm mariko oi. the headlines... on patrol with the afghan vice & virtue inspectors, the officials ensuring strict enforcement of the taliban's rules like wearing face veils in public. in the first war crimes trial in ukraine, a russian soldier has pleaded guilty to shooting dead a 62—year—old ukrainian in the first few days of the war. i'm karishma vaswani live from sydney — australia — where voters will head to the polls on saturday to decide who'll be the country's next prime minister. it's a contest between the incumbent scott morrison — and his rival — anthony albanese — who is vying to form the first

labour government in nine years. experts warn record—breaking heatwaves in india and pakistan — are a hundred times more likely because of climate change. live from our studio in singapore... this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's 6am in singapore, and 2.30am in afghanistan — where the number of restrictions imposed on women under taliban rule is growing. the ministry for preventing vice and promoting virtue has been behind a raft of new, hard—line laws, and among them — ordering afghan women to wear the islamic face veil. our correspondent secunder kermani has been given exclusive access to a team of "inspectors" from the ministry,

and begins our programme. we're joining the inspectors of the ministry of vice and virtue. they are remoulding afghanistan to fit in with the taliban's hardline beliefs. and how often do you do this? every day. every day? morning and afternoon? first stop, a shopping centre. bystanders and shopkeepers are given a lecture on the importance of saying your prayers and growing a beard, though it's all framed as brotherly advice. you haven't been talking about women, what they should wear? that's what your ministry is most known for at the moment. translation: we have already given advice to the owner - of the shopping centre, and put up some posters, but we can't stop a woman and ask her, "why are you not wearing the correct hijab?" if a woman is completely crossing the limits without any modesty, we will try to find her male guardian. before the taliban takeover, you saw more women out and about in kabul.

even then, many covered their faces, but others just covered their hair. this is how the taliban say women should be dressing now. what right does your ministry have to tell them how they should practice their religion, how they should dress? translation: it is not. the decree of the ministry, it is the decree of god. the real cause of moral corruption is the face. if the face is not covered, then what is the point of hijab? next up, a bus stop. the inspectors ensuring men don't get too close to female passengers. certainly in front of us, these vice and virtue inspectors are behaving politely, gently with the public. is that always the case when cameras are not around, for teams all across the country? leila is an activist who was on board a bus stopped by vice and virtue inspectors.

translation: some women i had their faces covered, others, like me, were wearing black gowns and facemasks. i said to the inspector, "there is no one without hijab here." he became very angry but wouldn't even look at me. he said, "you are very shameless, woman. "you cannot do whatever you want any more." the taliban initially appeared more flexible than many expected, but they are becoming increasingly hardline. despite an economic crisis, tightening social restrictions seems their priority. secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul. for more on this, i am joined now by afghan activist sahar ferat, who works for human right�*s watch. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday. firstly, this orderfor women to cover their faces in public, some say it is a way for the

taliban to grab the world's attention. what do you make of this new order? . ~ attention. what do you make of this new order? ., ~ , ., attention. what do you make of this new order?— attention. what do you make of this new order? ., ~ , ., ., ., new order? thank you for having me. i think there — new order? thank you for having me. i think there are _ new order? thank you for having me. i think there are many _ new order? thank you for having me. i think there are many ways - new order? thank you for having me. i think there are many ways to - new order? thank you for having me. i think there are many ways to read i i think there are many ways to read this order. one of them is accepting and understanding that taliban as they are. the taliban and are deeply inherently misogynistic group. they inherently misogynistic group. they in the past have a record of abusing women, of restricting women's rights and against education, employment and against education, employment and also against within�*s visibility work and, you know, acceptance in their society. the other way of reading it is that the taliban are pushing the bar so low that it's almost nonexistent. so no one can hold the taliban and accountable. if, for example, with girls

education, if on march 23 girls went back to school, now we would be talking about the quality of education. we but have been asking for more discussion, but because the bar is pushed so low and we don't expect anything, we are in a position to not ask questions, no accountability from the taliban, and i think that strategy from the taliban side as well. you talked about girls _ taliban side as well. you talked about girls education. - taliban side as well. you talked about girls education. so - taliban side as well. you talked about girls education. so do - taliban side as well. you talked| about girls education. so do you taliban side as well. you talked - about girls education. so do you not to believe that girls secondary school will be reopened? and also the bbc has been reporting about those secret schools which have happened in the 90s as well. how dangerous is that in your view? first of all, about the taliban and their promise of reopening the schools, that taliban said the same thing in the 90s, they never said they were against girls education committee i said they are not prepared and that they need time. by

now, we should all know that it's the strategy of killing time for that taliban. we all know there is a time limit, an age limits you you lose time and every day afghan girls are losing, there is a profound loss for afghan girls right now. they are losing the best years of their lives where they can get education to the politics of the taliban, and the way that taliban went to use that against them all. but the underground schools, this is not the first time this is happening. in the 90s, there were many women who made their kitchens and basement schools for girls and boys, so that shows they cannot stop afghan women, but it is so unfortunate that in 2022, we have to go through the same thing. it's risky, it has been risky in the past. it sends a message to the world of how much afghan girls

want education, how much they are fighting on their own for education. i am so sorry to interrupt, but i'm afraid we run out of time. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday this morning. a russian soldier has pleaded guilty to killing an unarmed civilian, in the first war crimes trial in ukraine, since the russian invasion began. appearing in court in kyiv, the 21—year—old admitted shooting dead a ukrainian man, as he pushed a bicycle on the road. our correspondent sarah rainsford sent this report. this was a major moment for ukraine, the first russian soldier accused of a war crime already up in court. vadim shishimarin is a russian tank commander. he's on trial for shooting and killing a civilian. all the time, the widow of the man killed was just the other side of the glass. the soldier seemed nervous and said little, until the words that mattered...

asked whether he admitted his guilt, vadim shishimarin told the judge, "yes, completely. " it was the very start of this war, as russian tanks rolled south through sumy. vadim shishimarin�*s unit came under attack then and were forced into retreat. in the chaos, he and four others ended up fleeing in a stolen car. kateryna described seeing the russians through her gate, but her husband was out in the street. she laterfound his body lying here. the soldiers had seen him on his phone and vadim shishimarin had killed him. alexander was 62. he was shot four times in the head. this was the first time his widow had seen the man responsible, so i asked how she coped. "i feel very sorry for him," kateryna told me, "but this crime, i can't forgive." ukraine knows most of those it

accuses of war crimes may never be prosecuted, the suspects sheltered by russia. but this soldier surrendered, his only defence that he was following orders. those in moscow who sent him to this war have not even made contact with his lawyer. the prosecutor is asking for a life sentence, so i asked him how fair this trial could be. translation: we follow - all the laws and all the norms. the trial is open. if there was any violation by us, shishimarin could have said so. he has all the rights accorded to him by ukrainian and international law. this trial is taking place extremely quickly and, of course, it's happening in the middle of a war, but everyone here knows that they're under scrutiny, they know they have to be transparent. and what ukraine says is that it's not looking for scapegoats. this is not a show trial. they want justice. sarah rainsford, bbc news, kyiv.

in the uk, inflation has hit a a0 year high. live in frankfurt, thousands celebrate. they beat rangers 5—4 on penalties, it's theirfirst celebrate. they beat rangers 5—4 on penalties, it's their first european trophy in 42 years. congratulations to them. us media, as we were reporting —— us media is reporting that the china eastern airlines plane that came down in march may have been crashed intentionally. according to the wall street journal, us investigators say that flight data suggests the boeing 737 was deliberately put into a near vertical descent, a nosedive. for more on this i am joined now by micah maidenberg from the wall streetjournal who first reported the story. thank you so much forjoining us on

newsday. rated this information come from and what else do you know? fiur from and what else do you know? our re ”ortin from and what else do you know? oi" reporting indicates that from and what else do you know? qij' reporting indicates that people who are familiar with how us officials are familiar with how us officials are at least initially assessing what led to the accident believe that there were inputs into the controls of the plane that resulted in this nosedive. that's... the chinese authorities who are leading the investigation of the crash, they haven't commented about anything as far as the cause of that, this is sort of an initial vila that we reported on. iq sort of an initial vila that we reported om— sort of an initial vila that we reorted on. �* , , ., ., reported on. ia size state owned rlobal reported on. ia size state owned global times somewhat - reported on. ia size state owned i global times somewhat responding reported on. ia size state owned - global times somewhat responding to it, but has there been any official response from the chinese authorities given this new information? flit authorities given this new information?— authorities given this new information? . ., , j information? of course, we reached out to, information? of course, we reached

out to. you — information? of course, we reached out to. you know. — information? of course, we reached out to, you know, a _ information? of course, we reached out to, you know, a flight _ information? of course, we reached out to, you know, a flight safety - out to, you know, a flight safety regulator and investigators in china, excuse me, the flightsafety agency of china, that is, leading the investigation. they didn't come in for a story, an ongoing investigation into the accident under international aviation rules. didn't weigh—in for our peace. again, you know, our story is sort of based on the understanding that people have some of our officials are at these primarily assessing what led to the crash.— are at these primarily assessing what led to the crash. thank you so much forjoining — what led to the crash. thank you so much forjoining us _ what led to the crash. thank you so much forjoining us this _ what led to the crash. thank you so much forjoining us this morning . what led to the crash. thank you so much forjoining us this morning onj much for “oining us this morning on newsda . ., ~ much for “oining us this morning on newsda . ., ,, , ., you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... australians will head to the polls on saturday in an election that pits incumbent

prime minister scott morrison against labour leader anthony albanese. this morning, an indian air force plane carrying mr gandhi's body landed in delhi. the president of india walked to the plane to solemnly witness mr gandhi's final return from the political battlefield. ireland has voted overwhelmingly in favour of gay marriage, in doing so, it's become the first country in the world to approve the change in a national referendum. it was a remarkable climax to what was surely the most extraordinary funeral ever get into a pop singer. it's been a peaceful funeral demonstration so far, - but police are tear gassing - the crowd, we don't yet know why. the prelaunch ritual is well established here. helen was said to be in good spirits butjust a little apprehensive. in the last hour, east timor has become the world's newest nation.

it was a bloody birth for a poor country and the challenges ahead are daunting. but for now, at least, it has time to celebrate. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko oi in singapore. our headlines... the bbc films — patrols by afghanistan's department of vice and virtue enforcing new, strict, islamic laws. lets turn to australia, which is three days out from a national election to decide who will be the next prime minister, karishma vaswani is in sydney for us. what is the mood a few days ahead of the elections?

election fever is really hitting australia. i'm coming to you this morning from a very windy but stale beautiful sydney. it's a gorgeous morning here out in sydney australia. ahead of the election come as you are saying, millions of people heading to the polls this saturday to choose their next prime minister, their next government, and while climate change has necessarily been at the top of the political debates, it has certainly been on the top of the minds of many australian voters here. now, as you well know, this country is no stranger to the effects of a warming planet, from deadly bushfires to devastating floods. he any discussion about reducing emissions can be public —— quite politically toxic as my colleague has found. australians have been through so much since the last federal election. one natural disaster after another, dozens of lives lost in fires and floods. climate scientists warn australia will see much more of this unless the country plays its part to cut carbon emissions and help

limit global warming. with so much at stake, you would think climate action would be central to this election, but here in central queens land, an area with deep economic ties to fossilfuels, this is what campaigning looks like. this is the real stuff, this is what is paying for education, our health. is a lot of rubbish out there that the labour party don't support the mining sector, and what i can tell you... despite the government's commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, both major parties here are throwing their weight behind a lucrative but heavily polluting industry. the coal shipped from the port here in gladstone have helped make australia the second biggest exporter on the planet. it's contributed massively to global carbon emissions, but also to the national economy, creating jobs and providing many families with a good standard of living. gladstone's aluminium factory has pledged to move away from call as renewables get cheaper. —— gladstone's aluminium factory has

pledged to move away from coal as renewables get cheaper. for workers here, the realfear is getting left behind. is an industry comes here, we need to make sure that we're going to get our workforce that are here now trained to actually fit these roles, because if this is going to replace something, it's got to replace pay packets. just outside gladstone, a factory is being built to make equipment for producing hydrogen from renewables. but those working with local government and industry on the energy from the future say politicians continuing to support coal isn't helpful. i'm really worried that if we can't send clearer signals to each other, but to the rest of the world, around having serious targets around decarbonisation, that we are going to miss out on a whole lot of international investment that is poised at the moment. it's a different picture in bigger cities. some independent candidates are making climate change a defining campaign issue. and that's making them a real threat

to previously safe government seats in sydney and melbourne. a change in the balance of power in this election could mean a change in the country's climate policy and its attitude towards fossil fuels. shaimaa khalil, bbc news. that was one of the election issues we spoke about. here with me is dr sarah cameron, a political scientist from the university of sydney. great to have you on the programme today with us. let's start with some of those name election issues, shall he? what are some of the big ones in this election?— this election? some of the main issues in this _ this election? some of the main issues in this election _ this election? some of the main issues in this election include i issues in this election include cost—of—living concerns, health, management of the economy, housing affordability, political integrity as well as climate change. and we are seeing different parties focus

on different issue priorities. more broadly, though, this election has become about whether voters want to see change or more of the same. the liberal national coalition has been in government for almost ten years now, the current prime minister scott morrison in that role for the previous four years. so voters can look back at the performance of the government and its time in office and assess whether they have been sufficiently satisfied to give the government another term. sufficiently satisfied to give the governmentanotherterm. in sufficiently satisfied to give the government another term. in deed, and looking — government another term. in deed, and looking at _ government another term. in deed, and looking at the _ government another term. in deed, and looking at the track _ government another term. in deed, and looking at the track record - government another term. in deed, and looking at the track record of i and looking at the track record of the liberal national coalition going with the one seat majority, how have they done on some of these big issues that you have been talking about? ,, �* , , , about? self, it's been 'ust three ears about? self, it's been 'ust three years fl about? self, it's been 'ust three years since the h about? self, it's been 'ust three years since the last _ about? self, it's been just three years since the last election - years since the last election because we have quite short election cycles in australia. if you issues in particular have defined this previous term of government. of course, there has been the covid—i9 pandemic like elsewhere around the world, and the government had a huge

boost in support at the beginning of the pandemic, as people rallied around governments at a time of crisis. on other issues, though, the government has been criticised for not taking responsibility, so, back in 2019, we had a major bushfire crisis and criticised for taking a holiday in hawaii at that time. that's been a broader criticism of his leadership that he hasn't taken sufficient responsibility for major issues facing australian. so sufficient responsibility for ma'or issues facing australian.i issues facing australian. so does that mean the _ issues facing australian. so does that mean the opposition - issues facing australian. so does that mean the opposition labour| that mean the opposition labour party certainly on the polls at least in the lead up to the election appears to be doing quite well is antony behind that appeal? 50. i antony behind that appeal? so, i believe part _ antony behind that appeal? so, i believe part of _ antony behind that appeal? so, i believe part of the _ antony behind that appeal? so, i believe part of the reason - antony behind that appeal? srr, i believe part of the reason that labour is in the lead in the polls is less to do with labour and more to do with the current government, and many people have become dissatisfied with the current

government and the current prime minister in particular. that said, labour has done some things differently in this campaign in their effort to win the election. they have been less ambitious on policy and this time around to avoid making themselves a target and have sought to strengthen the appeal of anthony as leader after they where led by a particularly unpopular leader when they went to the last election in 2019. doctor cameron from sydney _ election in 2019. doctor cameron from sydney university, - election in 2019. doctor cameron from sydney university, thank. election in 2019. doctor cameron l from sydney university, thank you election in 2019. doctor cameron - from sydney university, thank you so much forjoining us on newsday. lots of issues to talk about their as you have seen and we will be discussing lots more of these issues throughout the day here on bbc news ahead of those elections on saturday right here in australia. that's it from me and the team here, but back to you. caress my welljoin us throughout the later editions of newsday later today, so dojoin the later editions of newsday later today, so do join us for that as

well. well, we know australia isn't alone in feeling the effects of climate change. according to a new british study, record—breaking heatwaves in northwest india and pakistan are a hundred times more likely, because of climate change. the two countries have suffered extremely high temperatures recently, as our south asia correspondent yogita limaye reports. outdoors in northern india is like the inside of an oven. this work is never easy, but during a heatwave it can be life—threatening. dozens have died of heat stroke across india, but millions of workers cannot afford to stop. this man has travelled 800 miles from home for thisjob. "we face a lot of problems. "the skin all over our body burns and sometimes we feel

"like we might faint," he says. "but we have no choice, we have to work to earn." heatwaves are not uncommon in south asia, but this year they started earlier than usual and have been more harsh and frequent. in pakistan, temperatures are touching 50 degrees in some parts. this area of punjab province is facing a severe drought, putting lives and livelihoods at risk. this man has moved away from his village to find food climate change could cause such extreme weather once every three years instead of 300, experts have warned. barely any part of the region has been spared from these changes in weather patterns. here in the west of india, not only are we seeing higher temperatures during the summer, but during the rainy season for the past few years we have seen cyclones hitting this coast, which is extremely unusual,

and many climate experts say that is because surface temperatures of the sea are rising. hundreds of miles from the coast, this is the indian state of assam. heavy rains arrived early, and with more ferocity than normal. people used to seeing floods each year found themselves unprepared. river waters are expected to rise further. this country has a lot of experience saving people from natural disasters, but it now finds itself battling on too many fronts. yogita limaye, bbc news, india. and eintracht frankfurt are the 2022 europa league champions. this is how fans german fans reacted to their win in frankfurt — their team beat the rangers 5—4 on penalties. it's their first european trophy in 42 years. huge congratulations for them.

that's it for this edition of newsday. thank you so much for watching. hello, again. there's a few big thunderstorms to watch out for over the next few hours — particularly of concern is across parts of central, southern england, southeast england, and into areas of east anglia, as well. but on into thursday's forecast, they'll all be out of the way and we're looking at some warm spells of sunshine. so take a look at those storms — when they first developed across the channel islands, and in the first hour that they existed, there had already been over 10,000 lightning strikes, these storms here. now, what'll happen over the next several hours is they'll work in probably around hampshire, sussex, surrey, greater london, moving into east anglia. they could bring some localised flash flooding — 25 millimetres of rain in some of them falling in just one hour. some large hail is a possibility, as well as some very strong

gusts of wind locally. eventually it will become drier and quieter — and temperatures, as we start thursday morning, around 10—14 celsius, so it is going to be mild. now, there could be an odd shower left over across the far southeast of england, but otherwise, largely fine morning with spells of sunshine. there'll be a bit of high cloud in the sky, that'll make the sunshine a little hazy at times. and through the afternoon, could see a few passing showers for northern ireland and northwest scotland, but even here, not many. most of you feeling warm in the sunshine — i9 celsius in aberdeen, 23 towards london and southeast england. it won't be quite so warm, though, on friday — the wind'll pick up, and we've got this band of rain that'll be pushing its way eastwards off the atlantic. now, there could be another batch of thunderstorms coming in from europe that gets very close to southeast england, so we'll have to keep a close eye on that. but otherwise, there'll be a gap between the showers and the more general rain across the north and the west, so could be some areas

that just about stay dry. but whether you stay dry or not, temperatures will be a little bit lower, 15—18 celsius. now the weekend starts off with some sunshine, showers mostly confined to the northwest, and after that sunny starts, things tend to turn a little bit cloudier through the afternoon, but still with some sunny spells coming through from time to time. temperatures on saturday in any sunshine should reach the low 20s, but across the north and west, not much sunshine — a bit of rain, 14—15 celsius here. sunday and monday, again, there could be 1—2 showers, mostly across the northwest of the uk, but otherwise some pleasant spells of sunshine. that's the latest weather, bye—bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the bbc has filmed patrols by afghanistan's department of vice and virtue enforcing strict new islamic laws, many targeting women. only recently, they announced the face veil will be compulsory in public. in the first war crimes trial in ukraine, a russian soldier has pleaded guilty to shooting dead a 62—year—old ukrainian at the start of the conflict. he faces life in prison. eintracht frankfurt beat glasgow rangers 5—4 on penalties to win the europa league in seville, after the game finished 1—1 after extra time. it's their first european trophy in 42 years. inflation in the uk has hit a a0 year high. official figures show prices jumped to 9% in april —

driven by soaring energy costs and rising food prices.