welcome to newsday — reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: singapore says it'll end its ban on sex between men — but has made it a lot more difficult to legalise same—sex marriage. i believe this is the right thing to do and something that most singaporeans will now accept. russia investigates a blast which killed the daughter of an ideological ally of president putin — saying the attack was pre—meditated. growing concern over a wave of killings targetting hindus in india—administered kashmir. and the bbc gains rare access to the american and south koreanjoint operations centre — designed to fend off any

attack from the north. welcome to the programme. here in singapore, the country's prime minister has said singapore will end its ban on sex between men, but will take steps to defend the institution of marriage as a union between a man and a woman. prime minister lee hsein loong said singaporean society was becoming more accepting of gay people and the british colonial—era law was out of date. the legal ban on sex between men, while not enforced, has long been criticised by lgbt activists — although many more conservative citizens still support it. the government will repeal

section 377 a and decriminalise sex between men. i believe this is the right thing to do, and something that most singaporeans will now accept. the prime minister speaking there. with me is our asia digital reporter tessa wong, who has been following and reporting on this issue for years in singapore. great to get you on the programme, tassagh. ithink it's fair to say that there has been huge joy it's fair to say that there has been hugejoy in it's fair to say that there has been huge joy in the wake of this decision, but at the same time, criticism that effectively a red line has been drawn when it comes to gay marriage?— drawn when it comes to gay marriaue? . 3 ~ marriage? that's right. when the news _ marriage? that's right. when the news broke _ marriage? that's right. when the news broke last - marriage? that's right. when the news broke last night, i marriage? that's right. when the news broke last night, it| the news broke last night, it was met with immediatejoy the news broke last night, it was met with immediate joy and one activist i interviewed former tory told me, i'm ecstatic, i am at a loss for words, there are pictures of people celebrating the parties waiving the lgbt flag, and at the same time the move has also

been met with some caution. effectively, what the singapore government has done is they have made it a lot harder to legalise gay marriage, they have put in constitutional protections for the definition of marriage as one being between a man and woman so it means that if you want to legalise gay marriage you have to go through parliament and not through the courts. one route to legalising gay marriage has been effectively shut off. , , . ~ marriage has been effectively shut off. , ., ~ , marriage has been effectively shut off. , . ~ , ., shut off. just talk us through the fact that _ shut off. just talk us through the fact that in _ shut off. just talk us through the fact that in the _ shut off. just talk us through the fact that in the lead - shut off. just talk us through the fact that in the lead up i shut off. just talk us through | the fact that in the lead up to this, there has been resistance from some conservative quarters of singaporean society. what is driving that resistance? it is a lot of the _ driving that resistance? it 3 a lot of the conservative resistance to this repeal has been driven by the churches and also some muslims and because of this coalition has formed where some of these people have

gathered together, they have organised themselves and petitioned the government do not repeal it, and this loch has been very powerful and recent surveys do show that actually a majority of singaporeans do support the cause. but that has been dropping in recent years and as for repealing it, the support has been growing. you could say the writing is on the wall and the writing is on the wall and the singapore government has appeared to acknowledge this. last night in the speech, the parameter did say that gay singaporeans are better accepted in singaporean society. 15 years ago when they first made the decision to keep the law but also not enforce it, at that time that was to reflect what society felt about the law or rather what the government felt, what singaporean people felt about it. now they say times have changed. it. now they say times have changed-— it. now they say times have chanced. , . ~ , ., changed. yes, it takes time of course for _ changed. yes, it takes time of course for these _ changed. yes, it takes time of course for these shifting - course for these shifting societal mores to be translated into legislation, but what do you think it will mean now, the

fact that we have had this momentous decision by the singaporean garment, what will that mean for gay people living in singapore?— in singapore? since this law has not been _ in singapore? since this law has not been effectively - has not been effectively enforced, singapore has developed a very thriving and visible and vibrant lgbt scene in the last four years. but a lot of lgbt activists have long asked for this law to be struck down because while it is not actively enforced, it does mean that there is a stigma on gay people in singapore. and a lot of lgbt people i have spoken to, activists or otherwise, they have told me they have experienced personal discolouration in the workplace, from people that they meet on the street, or people who are their friends even or family. people who are their friends even orfamily. a lot people who are their friends even or family. a lot of it can be traced to this law because it sends a signal to society that lgbt people are basically second—class citizens. so i would say this is pretty momentous, doesn't signalthat

momentous, doesn't signal that lgbt momentous, doesn't signalthat lgbt singaporeans are part of society as well, at the same time activists are saying that this is the first step to a long journey for what they see as a battle for full equality. thank you so much forjoining us. just to say, she has written extensively about this subject so do have a look at the bbc website for more of her reports if you are indeed interested in this topic. the daughter of a prominent russian ultra—nationalist has been killed by a car bomb on the outskirts of moscow. darya dugina was a journalist and vocal supporter of the invasion of ukraine. there is speculation the target may have been herfather, alexander dugin, whose calls for a new russian empire, challenging the west, are said to have influenced president putin. will vernon reports from moscow. a fireball on the streets of moscow. darya dugina, a political commentator, was killed when a bomb exploded in the car she was driving. at the scene, her father,

aleksandr dugin, an ultranationalist philosopher. russian media said mr dugin was meant to travel in the car with his daughter, but changed his mind at the last minute, and there is speculation he was the intended target. darya dugina, like herfather, was a vocal supporter of russia's invasion of ukraine. she was a regular guest on russian television, calling the war a clash of civilisations. both she and her father have been sanctioned by the west. some analysts say president putin is close to aleksandr dugin, although the nature of their relationship is unclear. but mr dugin�*s radical nationalism has helped shape the kremlin�*s foreign policy, including on ukraine. his political movement, eurasianism, sees russia as the centre of a new empire that will challenge the west. back in 2016, mr dugin spoke

to the bbc�*s gabriel gatehouse about his views. so we have our special russian truth that you need to accept as something that maybe is not your truth. even if it's not true? but if the truth is relative, that doesn't mean that truth doesn't exist. the authorities have not yet said who was behind the attack. but russia's foreign ministry said if a link to ukraine were found, the attack would be state terror by the kyiv regime. an adviser to the ukrainian president denied his country was involved. car bombs and assassinations are rare in moscow. but as the war in ukraine grinds on, instability at home will be a cause for concern in the kremlin. will vernon, bbc news, moscow. the former pakistani prime minister, imran khan, is being investigated under the anti—terrorism act.

the authorities say he has threatened police and justice officials. it follows a speech by mr khan during a rally, accusing the police of torturing a party colleague while in custody. the media regulator then banned live speeches by the cricketer—turned—politician on all satellite television channels because of what it called his hate speech against state institutions. i want to turn to india now — where there's growing concern over a wave of killings targeting hindus in indian—administered kashmir. police say the attacks, in the muslim majority region, are being carried out by anti—india militant groups. it comes against the backdrop of a long running conflict there, and growing anger against the indian government. the bbc�*s yogita limaye reports. a school in trauma. earlier this year, as these students in kashmir gathered for morning prayers, their teacher was killed, metres away.

they heard the gunshot and found her on the ground, bleeding from her head. the spot has been marked with stones. rajni bala was killed by anti—india militants, police say. a mother and wife, a much loved history teacher. "we're devastated. she was a wonderful person, adored notjust in the school but in our village," her colleague told us. it's believed rajni was targeted because she was a hindu, a minority in the country's only muslim—majority region. teachers told us she feared for her life after a wave of killings of people from her community. translation: there had been a targeted killing of a hindu, . just two kilometres away. she was scared and had applied for a transfer. kashmir�*s long—running and complex conflict started

with the killings of hundreds of hindus, 30 years ago. but this minority has rarely been targeted since 2003. now it's facing a resurgent threat that's left hindu families terrified. these men work in government jobs and are demanding they be moved out of kashmir. sanjay kaul is a teacher at a public school. translation: if someone next to me takes their hands - out of their pockets, i feel they are going to pull out a gun to shoot me. we have stopped sending our children to school. and we hardly go out of our compound. insurgent groups say they're attacking minorities because the government is trying to change the religious make—up of kashmir. the accusation stems from india's actions here three years ago.

federal rule was imposed. outsiders allowed to buy land. leading to fears that india's hindu nationalist government wanted to alter the religious demographic of muslim—majority kashmir. distrust against the state soared. since 2019, things have gotten a lot worse. there is no elected government here and large sections of the police and bureaucracy are now officers from outside of the region. which means amongst local people here, there is a strong feeling that their voice is being suppressed and they don't have any say in the decisions that are being made to govern them. there are also allegations of killings of muslim civilians by indian security forces. we travelled to shopian in southern kashmir. this is where 20—year—old shoaib muhammad ganai is buried. a university student who loved playing cricket,

he was killed in the middle of the day in the local market. his parents and eyewitnesses say he was shot dead, point—blank, by a paramilitary soldier. "we want justice for this cruelty that's been inflicted on us. a piece of our hearts has been taken from us," his father, ghulam muhammad, told us. the police and paramilitaries say their son was killed in crossfire. translation: we are being ruled by ruthless people, _ despite what eyewitnesses say, they insist he was shot in crossfire. the indian government denies that there's an atmosphere of fear in kashmir. it says its policies are bringing peace and development. the growing violence contradicts the claims. yogita limaye, bbc news, kashmir.

you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... war games — the joint operation between south korea and america aimed at deterring an attack from the north. he is the first african—american to win the presidential nomination of a major party, and he accepts exactly 45 years ago to the day that martin luther king declared, "i have a dream." as darkness falls tonight, an unfamiliar light will appear in the south—eastern sky, an orange glowing disc that's brighter than anything save the moon, our neighbouring planet, mars. there is no doubt that this election is an important milestone in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. it will take months and billions of dollars to repair what katrina achieved

injust hours. three weeks is the longest the great clock has been off duty in 117 years, so it was with great satisfaction that clockmaker john vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our main story: singapore says it'll end its ban on sex between men but has made it a lot more difficult to legalise same—sex marriage. let's have more on that story, and speak tojoseph o'mahoney, an academic and author of the book "british colonialism and the criminalization of homosexuality". it's great to get you on the programme. isuppose in it's great to get you on the programme. i suppose in the first instance, for the sake of

our viewers, some of them tuning in to understand exactly how the history of all this started, how did it spread across the qualities of the time? ., ~ across the qualities of the time? . ~' ,, across the qualities of the time? ., ~ i. ., across the qualities of the time? ., ~ ., ., time? thank you for having me. the british, _ time? thank you for having me. the british, decided _ time? thank you for having me. the british, decided during - time? thank you for having me. the british, decided during the l the british, decided during the early 19th century that they wanted to codify the laws of india, and they drew up what was called the indian penal code, and then imposed it on british india in about 1861. when they were doing this, they didn't have any consultation with the local people, and explicitly the author of this code said he wanted to bring the blessing of modern british civilisation to india and the qualities. and so, this indian penal code contained section 377 which criminalised sex between men. they called it carnal intercourse against the order of nature. there was another amendment later on

called 3777a, which then criminalised all sexual activity between men. that was called gross indecency. that was based again on an english law that was law used to convict oscar wilde and alan turing in england. once the british raj had this law, that lord then went to the other colonies in south and southeast asia. so the straight settlement broker from the british raj and they took the law with them, it included section 377, and then throughout the decolonisation process, we had india, pakistan, bangladesh, sri lanka, malaysia, brunei, burma and singapore all with some version very similar to the indian version of section 377. just tojump in, so much of what was left over from the

empire in the wake of these newly independent countries, many of them got rid of so many of the legacies of empire so to speak. why has it taken so long for this law in particular to be repealed in parts of these countries which were former colonies?— countries which were former colonies? ~ ., , ., colonies? well, some laws have been repealed, _ colonies? well, some laws have been repealed, some _ colonies? well, some laws have been repealed, some laws - been repealed, some laws haven't. in part of the context here, there was primarily ex british colonies that retained these laws, partly because other colonial powers did not impose this law, they did not criminalise homosexuality, for example the french empire did not do so. and so it was primarily x british colonies who retained these laws, like section 377. who retained these laws, like section 377-— who retained these laws, like section 377. and when you look at why this _ section 377. and when you look at why this is — section 377. and when you look at why this is happening - section 377. and when you look at why this is happening now, l at why this is happening now, one of the most famous examples a few years ago was india, now

we have got singapore, is there something specific about the time we are living in that is now galvanised momentum around this issue? ~ ., , this issue? well, there has been a global— this issue? well, there has been a global shift - this issue? well, there has been a global shift in - been a global shift in attitudes towards lgbt rights over the last few decades. it's a very recent phenomenon, mean, evenin a very recent phenomenon, mean, even in countries like... in europe and the uk and australia, we are only talking 20 odd years that it's been fully legal in those countries, or the us. so it's very recent. but there are a couple of processes going on, one is what is called the politics of visibility, so small initial advances often very hard—fought in countries, those have led to 93v in countries, those have led to gay people and lgbt rights being much more visible, in the media, and everyday life, so that has an effect on people because my attitudes and especially for young people growing up, where they see

people, sports stars or actors, who they admire in the media being gay, living gay lives, that then makes it seem much more normal to them. so this is a very important process and thatis a very important process and that is really starting to kick off, you see the polling... oh, sorry. off, you see the polling... 0h, sor ., , ., off, you see the polling... 0h, sor -. , ., off, you see the polling... 0h, sor ., , sorry. just to say, i don't think we _ sorry. just to say, i don't think we have _ sorry. just to say, i don't think we have done - sorry. just to say, i don't| think we have done much sorry. just to say, i don't - think we have done much time left, sadly. just to say, do you see this happening in other parts of the world is welcome other former colonies dropping this law? , ,., ., , this law? yes, so, we do see lots of legal _ this law? yes, so, we do see lots of legal challenges, - this law? yes, so, we do see lots of legal challenges, lots | lots of legal challenges, lots of legal challenges around x british colonies that are trying to make... to get the courts to rule that these laws are unconstitutional or whatever else, so recently we have seen several developments, for example in africa, in kenya, the high court rejected an appeal. botswana, the court of appeals eventually ruled

that criminalisation was unconstitutional. so obviously india is another example, as you mentioned. in singapore one of the things that is interesting is that the final ruling, orthe interesting is that the final ruling, or the latest ruling, was that the court of appeals said that they were not going to rule the law unconstitutional, previously in singapore there had been discussion this was not an issue for the courts but an issue for the courts but an issue for the legislative permit and that's actually really encouraging sign for singapore. it indicates i think there is a much broader support for legalisation in singapore than perhaps some other countries around the world. thank you so much forjoining us on the programme. the british heavyweight boxer, tyson fury, has called for tougher punishments for knife crime, after his cousin was stabbed to death in manchester. thirty—one—year old rico burton was attacked outside a bar in the early hours

of saturday morning. a seventeen—year—old is also in hospital in a serious condition. police have arrested two men. for the first time in four years, the us and south korea will revive their live—action military drills, sharpening their preparedness as the north korean nuclear threat worsens and china steps up its presence around taiwan. the 11—dayjoint drills start monday in south korea. but there is concern that north korea could use the drills as a chance to retaliate. our seoul correspondent jean mackenzie was given rare access to the countries' joint operation centre, from where the war games are run. deep underground, an american and a south korean colonel watch north korea. i'm learning but it's difficult to get it right. in this classified bunker outside seoul, the two militaries work together to defend against north korean attacks. this is the only place in korea where us forces and south korean forces sit side by side, and using

all this information, they can detect almost immediately if north korea launches a weapon. between his great english and my terrible korean we can usually muddle through a lot of different things and get to a decision quickly. the threat from north korea is increasing. its missiles are becoming more dangerous, its rhetoric more fiery. so these war games from five years ago are back as the us and south korea practice how to fight their common enemy using aircraft, warships and tanks. i can't do it in a classroom, i can't do it on a chalkboard, i have to give them the most intense environment that we can create and this is that environment. fighter pilot captain abby walters will train from the sky. it's really important for us to train together with the south koreans. the communication flow is much better in the air if you've practised it multiple times, so it can go quicker which helps us to get more effects down and just be more

efficient and deadly in ourjob. north korea sees these drills as a rehearsalfor an invasion. there is concern it could retaliate. in this recent speech, kimjong—un warned it could end in war. they might have the appearance of war but the us and south korea insist these drills are defensive. in part a show of strength to convince north korea never to use its weapons, especially as it works to develop ones that can evade missile defences. lieutenant general scott plius is the deputy head of the us forces korea. i have absolutely no worries whatsoever that north korean missiles have a way of defeating our capabilities here on the peninsula. but they are making progress. and so are we. intelligence suggests

north korea is on the cusp of testing its first nuclear weapon in five years. south korea says it shouldn't be blamed if these drills provide its ammunition. since north korea know that this one is a defensive one and they wanted to utilise this joint military drill for their own political purpose, i think that the joint military drill is one excuse for north korea to do the kind of military provocation. these war games may well provoke north korea but faced with an increasingly formidable enemy, these forces believe they have no choice but to prepare. jean mackenzie, bbc news, seoul. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news.

hello there. for many, this weekend shaped up to be a tale of two halves. the north of england on saturday was cloudy, grey and wet with a couple of inches of rain falling. but on sunday, just take a look at leeds, just shy of 13 hours of sunshine here. i suspect there's going to be more rain in the forecast, however, today, with this area of low pressure and the fronts pushing in from the west. now, some of that rain is going to push its way steadily eastwards. so, some heavy rain clearing to showers. the best of the drier weather through monday is likely to be across scotland. so we start off, then, with heavy rain moving out of northern ireland through the irish sea into the north—west of england and parts of wales. but you can see central and southern england is quite showery in nature, so not everywhere will see some wetter weather. there'll be some heavier bursts. the best of the drier, sunny weather looks likely

potentially to be in scotland. not quite as warm here, though, 1a to 20 degrees the high. we mightjust see 25 degrees ahead of that rain before it arrives in parts of lincolnshire and east anglia. now, as we move into tuesday, this area of low pressure will continue to enhance some showers in the far north—west, and down to the south—west, we've got this little weather front which will bring some showery outbreaks of rain across south—west england and wales. just how far north that's going to be, well, we'll need to keep an eye on that, but we start to tap into some pretty warm, humid air with that south—westerly flow and temperatures in east anglia and the south—east likely to peak at 27 celsius. that's 80 fahrenheit. it stays warm and humid in the south and east. at the same time, close to that low pressure, we'll see more wetter weather, sharper showers developing out to the west. so first thing on wednesday morning, a very humid feel, 18 degrees. and so, despite it being quite cloudy to begin with, it will be largely fine and dry with that south—westerly flow.

as the rain eases away, the temperatures are likely to peak at highs of 27 celsius by the middle of wednesday afternoon. moving out of wednesday into thursday, that weather front is going to continue to sink south and east. there'll be no significant rain on it, unfortunately. and so, that does mean that thursday on the whole will be largely fine and dry. potential for some thundery rain first thing in the south—east and then into the weekend, drier but noticeably fresher.