welcome to newsday, i'm mariko oi live from singapore. and i'm karishma vaswani coming to you live from sydney, australia. it's the day before australians decide who will be their next prime minister — incubent scott morisson or his rival labor leader anthony albanese. australia was once nicknamed the lucky country but is the rising cost of living and climate change making australia unliveable? also coming up in the programme: presidentjoe biden is on his way to south korea and japan on his first asian trip as us leader.

yays, 86, nays11 and the bill is passed. the us senate approves nearly $40 billion in aid to ukraine — the largest aid package since russia invaded. and the man behind film scores that mesmerised millions. composer vangelis has died at the age of 79. this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello and welcome to newsday, broadcasting live to you today from sydney, australia. just in front of the sydney harbour bridge. a bit of an overcase day but an iconic image.

australia has been in the global headlines. we have a special guest coming up. but first, we'll look at some of the main issues injust a moment — the liberal—national coalition has been in power since 2013 and is seeking another three—year term. going up against them are the opposition labor party, minor parties and independent candidates. all 151 seats in the lower house of the house of representatives will be up for grabs. the party or coalition holding a majority in the lower house will form a government. voting is compulsory for all australians who must register when they turn 18. if you don't do that, then you face a fine of about us$15, or a$20. and while you don't vote directly for a prime minister in australia, voting for the party instead, based on which party wins, the leader becomes the prime minister. and this election it's a choice between two men who are very familiar to australian voters — the incumbent scott morrison, or �*scomo�*, as he is sometimes called here, and anthony albanese — who, in keeping with australia's affection

for nicknames ending with 0, is sometimes known as �*albo�*. joining me is nick bryant — senior policy fellow at the university of sydney. and a familiar face of course to many bbc news viewers. it's wonderful to have you back on the bbc in the programme. i know you've written extensively about some of the key issues in the selection but i want to pick up on how you feel the media has covered this particular election and what you think of that? it particular election and what you think of that?— particular election and what you think of that? it is lovely to see you — you think of that? it is lovely to see you in _ you think of that? it is lovely to see you in sydney - you think of that? it is lovely i to see you in sydney karishma and lovely to be back on the bbc. yes, this gotcha line of questioning as it's become tenon, this trivial pursuit style questioning has become a feature of the campaign at. the start of the campaign, anthony albanese he was asked about the employment figure, he couldn't come up with that but it's set

the tone and now every press availability has become a memory test. anthony albanese he has had a bit of stage fright and the press pack is sniffed blood but it's had a disfiguring effect on this campaign and what is a small target campaign has become even smaller. there is a lack of big ideas in the journalists would say on the lack of big ideas, we will go with this gotcha line of questioning but as a journalist myself who attended some of these press conferences, i saw something you really see, it was the public tackling the press and i think many voters think the press in this instance has gone too far. when ou look instance has gone too far. when you look at _ instance has gone too far. when you look at some _ instance has gone too far. when you look at some of _ instance has gone too far. when you look at some of the - you look at some of the commentary coming out of the election, i've seen it described as a contest between character and experience and when people talk about character, they are specifically talking about these yrsl —— teal candidates, independent candidates coming to the election of the promise of integrity and political change.

of integrity and political chance. ~ ., of integrity and political chance. ~ . of integrity and political chance.~ . , change. what impact can they have? there _ change. what impact can they have? there is _ change. what impact can they have? there is a _ change. what impact can they have? there is a level- change. what impact can they have? there is a level of- have? there is a level of disaffection with the two major parties. what we might see as the two name —— two major parties, liberaland labour parties, liberal and labour getting parties, liberaland labour getting a smaller share than they have in postwar history. some of these independents are called teal because that is the colour of their election pamphlets and posters which are awash in certain constituencies. i live in bondl constituencies. i live in bondi, i am very lucky to do that and might constituency, wentworth, you just can't move for teal, this colour is everywhere and it's sick mills a "none of the above" feel when it comes to scott morrison and anthony albanese he. a lot of people don't like scott morrison but a lot of people don't think maybe anthony albanese he has the statute thanks statute to be prime minister, that he has been over promoted, not quite ready for the big job. that —— stature. that is why many have turned towards these independents. do

they stand a chance? they could because what they could do is make this a hung parliament, nobody emerges with a clear majority and they will actually be the powerbrokers, so to form a government, anthony albanese your scott morrison will have to persuade them to support them. it may be the liberal coalition wins a clear—cut victory and labour wins a clear—cut brief but there is a possibility of this hung parliament scenario in which these teal independence could wield a lot of power.— wield a lot of power. previous ostin: wield a lot of power. previous posting you — wield a lot of power. previous posting you had _ wield a lot of power. previous posting you had before - wield a lot of power. previous posting you had before you i wield a lot of power. previous i posting you had before you came back to australia was the united states course, the bbc and i know you have commented or remarked on some of the americanisation you've noticed, the signals out here in australia.— the signals out here in australia. ., , australia. one of the first thin i australia. one of the first thing i noticed _ australia. one of the first thing i noticed is - australia. one of the first thing i noticed is where l australia. one of the first - thing i noticed is where these anti— lockdown protests, and people were carrying trumpet flags. in melbourne, you had a gallows paraded through the streets of melbourne which felt a little bit january six. streets of melbourne which felt a little bitjanuary six. use or protest is urinating on the shrine of remembrance. that is

the war memorial there, there is ajanuary the war memorial there, there is a january six feel to that. what's been noticeable is a street trumpism around covid lockdowns and its also possible to identify a small—t trumpism in canberra. many look at scott morrison is a serial liar and truth twister, maybe australia's first post truth prime minister, a lot of cultural issues pushed. even saw the liberal party trying to enact voter id laws. many people were worried that was a worrying americanism. australian politics has become more culturally charged, more aggressive, or part even in areas where there is bipartisanship and that's why think it's possible to identify and americanisation of the politics here.— politics here. just briefly, what does _ politics here. just briefly, what does that _ politics here. just briefly, what does that tell - politics here. just briefly, what does that tell you i politics here. just briefly, what does that tell you of politics here. just briefly, i what does that tell you of the future about how australian elections might be fought? i think after this is over, the

media had to have a bit of a rethink about how they cover political campaigns. i think the political parties may need to do that as well. the model at the moment, i really worry about the health of democracy the world over. and i've come to australia, which should be a global exemplar and i'm seeing signs of decline. i think that's something the country needs to think about.- needs to think about. really wor in: needs to think about. really worrying trends _ needs to think about. really worrying trends you've i worrying trends you've described there. thank you so much forjoining us with your thoughts on newsday. lots more on the australian election, lots of things nick was talking about on the bbc website so do go and have a look at that. there is lots of in—depth analysis including. and don't forget you can follow all the election coverage on our website, including this story from frances mao. that's it from us. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. britain's prime minister boris johnson will face no further penalties for breaking his government's own covid lockdown rules.

police in london have now closed their investigation, having handed out a total of 126 fines. mrjohnson was fined last month over a party at his office. israeli police say dozens of extremist ultra—orthodox jews have broken through security barriers at an annual religious festival where forty five people were killed in a stampede last year. police have limited numbers to this year's event at mount meron to prevent a repeat of the disaster. some security cameras and equipment were sabotaged as worshippers stormed the venue. sri lanka has defaulted on its debt for the first time in history, as the country struggles with the worst financial crisis in more than 70 years. the central bank governor says the country is now

in a "pre—emptive default". the 18—year—old white man accused of killing 10 people in a livestreamed shooting in a black neighbourhood in buffalo, new york, has appeared in court for the first time. the hearing lasted just a few minutes and the suspect payton gendron was ordered to remain in custody without bail. the shooting happened at a supermarket last saturday. canada has banned the chinese telecommunications giant huawei from working on its domestic 56 wireless networks. the government's decision has long been expected and puts canada in line with the us and other key allies, who have expressed concerns about the national security implications of giving the chinese company access to key infrastructure. joe biden is on his way to asia — his first trip to the region as us president. his first stop is south korea where he'll meet the new president yoon suk—yeol. he then heads to tokyo

to meetjapan's prime minister fumio kishida. and he'll hold a summit with the quad — that's the us, japan, australia and india. i spoke to niels graham, assistant director with the atlantic council who's has been keeping up with developements. what message is president biden likely to send to the region? from my perspective, biden's trip to asia has these messages, to reaffirm american alliances in the region and partnerships and demonstrate to the region that despite the crisis in the ukraine, the indo pacific is a laser focus for american strategic interests. secondly and through the launch of the indo pacific economic framework of the administration wants to show that in addition to long standing security commitments in the region the us is still interested and willing to engage with the region on economic issues and work with them to set rules and standards around issues of trade and climate and other policy focus areas. {iii

trade and climate and other policy focus areas. of course, china will _ policy focus areas. of course, china will be _ policy focus areas. of course, china will be closely - policy focus areas. of course, china will be closely watching j china will be closely watching his trip to the region. have we heard from beijing responding to this trip already?— to this trip already? yes, we have. to this trip already? yes, we have- the — to this trip already? yes, we have. the foreign _ to this trip already? yes, we have. the foreign minister. to this trip already? yes, we| have. the foreign minister is gone and basically said that they don't see a purpose for they don't see a purpose for the framework or the trip and really it's now the administration's purview to demonstrate this deal does have much weight to it, a lot of positives for the region and the meat on the bones it puts onto the deal, but the region is interested in engaging with the us overall. {iii is interested in engaging with the us overall.— the us overall. of course, countries _ the us overall. of course, countries like _ the us overall. of course, countries like japan, i the us overall. of course, | countries like japan, south korea and australia already have pretty close ties with the united states but when it comes to developing nations, they don't particularly want to have the jews between don't particularly want to have thejews between the us and china. how would they like to respond? china. how would they like to resond? ,, china. how would they like to resoond?_ china. how would they like to resond? ,, ~ ., respond? sure, so i think that is the most — respond? sure, so i think that is the most important - respond? sure, so i think that is the most important thing i respond? sure, so i think that is the most important thing to watch with this framework overall. i think a lot of the policies putting framework

around climate, infrastructure, things that you point out, japan, singapore, south korea. very interesting and important to watch. what the us can offer towards developing nations, signing onto the deal and make robust and serious commitments around things like labour standards and climate, with our traditional market access commit is that the us has traditionally ought to these trade deals. —— commitments. you're watching newsday on the bbc. oscar winning composer of some of the most famous film soundtracks, vangelis, has died at the age of 79, 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 has 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 given to a pop singer. it's been a peaceful funeral demonstration so far, i but suddenly, the police i are tear—gassing the crowd. we don't yet know why. the pre—launch ritual is well—established here. helen was said to be in good spirits, but just 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 is time to celebrate. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko oi in singapore. our headlines: australians head to the polls on saturday to pick their next

prime minister, incumbent scott morisson or his rival, the labor leader anthony albanese. presidentjoe biden is on his way to south korea on his first asian trip as us leader. the us senate has approved nearly $40 billion in aid to ukraine, the largest aid package since russia invaded. meanwhile, the secretary of state antony blinken is warning the world is facing the �*greatest global food security crisis of our time', as more than 20 million tonnes of grain is piled up in ukraine, because of the war. he's called on russia to allow ships to leave black sea ports, including the key city of 0desa, with food and fertiziler. 0ur correspondent caroline davies reports from 0desa. ukraine's wheat helps to feed the world, but while its black sea ports remain closed, much of it is beyond the world's reach.

over 3,000 tons of grain fill yuriy�*s warehouse, but because of the issues transporting it out of the country, no—one wants to buy it. translation: idon't| know who in the world to ask for help. we would like to be helped to sell this grain at any price, as long as the people don't go hungry. i think that all western countries should help us. you need to bang your fist on the table, open the ukrainian ports, stop the russian invasion and take out this grain. how do you feel knowing that there are many people around the world that would be desperate for this crop? translation: there's a feeling of despair. i i'm talking now with tears in my eyes. it's hard to say. yuriy�*s problems are faced by farmers across the country. this crop is due to be harvested in just over a month's time, but the farmers here still have no idea where they're going to store

it or how they're going to get it out of the country. some goods can be taken out by road, others by rail, but not in the same quantities that used to be transported by sea. since russia began its invasion, ships can't move forfear of being hit. and the sea has also been mined, which could take months to remove. andrey stavnitser is the owner of one of the largest ports in ukraine. we have about 80 ships that are basically ghost ships in ukraine right now. the crews have left them, some of them are full, some of them are empty, they're in the ports or outside the ports, they're standing idle, and for the crews to come back, their shipping companies have to get clearance from insurance companies, and these insurance companies are obviously not happy to allow this to happen because the sea is full of mines. how long do you think it will be until you can reopen the port again? we have no idea when we will be able to reopen the port. we are facing a disaster that's going to happen in the next few weeks when the new crop is here and the old

crop is not exported. the un has warned that unless russia allows the ports to reopen, there could be mass hunger and famine for years. russia says sanctions imposed on it would need to be looked at if the world wants to solve the crisis. while many in the west will feel that russia is holding safe passage through the sea hostage, if no agreement is reached, ukraine's crop could rot while others starve. caroline davies, bbc news, 0desa. ukraine's president says russian forces have completely destroyed the eastern donbas region, accusing moscow of senseless bombardments as it intensifies its attacks. in another development, the international committee of the red cross says it's registered hundreds of ukrainian prisoners of war, who've left the besieged azovstal steelworks in the ukrainian port city of mariupol. the russian authorities say that all those who have left will be treated in line with international standards —

but there are fears that some could face prosecution by president putin's courts. from moscow, our russia editor steve rosenberg reports. tired and wounded. moscow released these images of ukrainian fighters leaving the steelworks they'd been defending in mariupol, giving themselves up to the russians. ukraine is hoping for a prisoner swap, but in russia there are calls to put some of the soldiers on trial for war crimes. they are killers, they are criminals, but we give them medical care. but your country invaded ukraine with more than 100,000 troops. that's aggression, isn't it? no, it's not an aggression. it's not an aggression. don't bully us. moscow tries to justify invading ukraine with a false claim — that it's gone in to fight nazis. a war crimes trial could shore up an unconvincing narrative.

the kremlin wants russians to believe that in ukraine their army is battling nazis, and nato, europe and america were all plotting away to attack and destroy the motherland. and there are many here who believe this parallel reality. not everyone does. dmitry admits that his country, russia, is the aggressor. he is appalled by the bloodshed and wants his whole town to know it. he has transformed outside of his shop into a message board with the names of ukrainian towns russia has attacked. kherson, irpin, kyiv. "peace to ukraine," it says. he has even turned his roof into the ukrainian flag. translation: | thought| this would be a good way of getting information out, because for the first few weeks of the war our people didn't know what was happening. they didn't know that russia

was shelling cities. some don't want to know. "traitor" has been graffitied on dmitry�*s door. and the police have been round. he's been fined for discrediting the army. "the front of a shop isn't for expressing opinions," she says. "he can say what he thinks," says anton. "i think attacking a neighbouring country is a strange thing to do." and in russia protesting can be a dangerous thing to do. but dmitry is refusing to stay silent. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the greek composer, vangelis, has died at the age of 79. he composed one of the best known film scores, �*chariots of fire'.

vangelis won an oscar for the soundrack in 1981. he also wrote music for many otherfilms including blade runner. david silitto looks back at his life. chariots of fire theme music chariots of fire, 1981, a soundtrack that was both an oscar winner and a number one single. the work of evangelos 0dysseas papathanassiou, better known as vangelis. he had started playing piano when he was four and in the �*60s, aged 25, teamed up with a young demis roussos to form aphrodite's child.

but a life of writing commercial heads for a band was not what he wanted. in a studio in london he spent hours alone exploring the possibility of a new musical technology, the synthesiser. he was led to a successful partnership with the singerjohn anderson. but is most natural home was film, has musical signature was the sound of soaring hope and lonely infinite distance. movies such as blade runner, there was a vision of a distant future. los angeles, 2019. and it needed the sound of the future. mi;

the sound of the future. my interest was _ the sound of the future. ij�*i interest was not the sound of the future. ij�*i1: interest was not to the sound of the future. i’i1 interest was not to create the sound of the future. m1 interest was not to create a symphony orchestra, which they can, it's very easy, but to go further than that and do things a symphony orchestra can't do. and i think ice exceed to create something. he was private. — create something. he was private, publicity - create something. he was private, publicity shy i create something. he was private, publicity shy but. create something. he was i private, publicity shy but as life of constant travel and lonely hours at the studio, you could hear some of the life of vangelis and his music. composer vangelis, who's died at the age of 79. the duke and duchess of cambridge has attended the uk premiere of the long—awaited sequel of top the royal couple said that children were jealous

of them attending the event in london as they rubbed shoulders with a start studied cast led ljy with a start studied cast led by tom cruise of course and told us how the cast earned their wings. told us how the cast earned theirwings. i told us how the cast earned their wings.— told us how the cast earned their wings. i did have to do send a their wings. i did have to do spend a lot _ their wings. i did have to do spend a lot of _ their wings. i did have to do spend a lot of time - their wings. i did have to do | spend a lot of time educating about cinema, we were being worked into the fighter pilots' training programmes so i had to figure out how to do it so the actors, there is a lot going on in that aeroplane. there is a lot going on in that aeroplane and it is very intense and you don't know how intense it is until you've been in it and they wanted to represent that in the film they wanted to prepare these actors in a manner that they could just perform and also for the fighter pilots, the things that they were doing, that they understood what it is that we were. that's all for now, stay with bbc world news. we will be back with all the

latest coverage on the australian elections so do stay with bbc world news copy thank you so much for watching. hello there. the weather is certainly a bit up and down at the moment. we had a pretty good day on thursday with sunshine across much of the country, temperatures into the low 20s. but after a much quieter night, things will change again on friday with more cloud, it's going to be cooler and breezy, and there will be some rain around at times. now, we've got a weather front approaching the northwest of the uk to bring some rain. we are also seeing more cloud moving up from the south across england and wales, starting to bring some rain by the morning. we will get wetter in the morning across the southeast of england, then into east anglia, some thunderstorms just

across the channel. as it gets wetter here, we will start to see some sharp showers breaking out elsewhere, a spell of rain moves across northern ireland into western scotland and northwest england in the afternoon, by which time, we should see that more persistent rain clearing to the southeast, some sunshine and even a few showers here. so it will be a cooler day, could make 19 celsius after the rain in the southeast, 1a celsius in the central belt of scotland. and we've got a spell of rain in the evening running eastwards across scotland, northern england, once that moves away, we will have some clearer skies overnight with a few showers left over in western parts of scotland by saturday morning. by then, temperatures will be around 9—11 celsius. this is the pattern that we've got as we head into the weekend. higher pressure to the south of the uk with a west—south—westerly airflow and some weather fronts approaching northern areas. so expect a lot of cloud for northern ireland. we may well see a little bit of rain here. a bight start, i think, in scotland, those showers in the west being replaced by thicker cloud and some outbreaks of rain in the afternoon. england and wales, a good chance of staying dry, some good spells of sunshine coming through, and those temperatures reaching 21 celsius in the southeast, still only around 1a celsisus in the central belt of scotland. second half of the weekend,

got to keep an eye on this weather front here, could bring some showers into the english channel, but otherwise, it's towards the northwest again that these weather fronts will bring in some more outbreaks of rain, particularly into scotland and northern ireland. a bit of damp and drizzly weather coming over the irish sea into western parts of england and wales, but thorugh the midlands towards east anglia and the southeast, here it should be dry. this is where we've got the best of the sunshine and the highest temperatures, up to 23 celsius, but it should be a little bit warmer for many of us on sunday. things will change, though, into the beginning of next week, because lowering pressure means that is going to get much wetter once again, and those temperatures will be dropping away as well. goodbye.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. hello, it's adam in the studio. and marianna. and chris. but first, chris, you've had a busy old day covering what you could describe as maybe the beginning of the end of the downing street party story. yeah. so the metropolitan police

today have said that they are done.