welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines — us vice president kamala harris leads calls for police reform, at the funeral in memphis of tyre nichols, who died after being beaten by officers. and as vice president of the united states, we demand that congress pass the george floyd to justice and policing act. joe biden will sign it. the funeral of the controversial australian cardinal, george pell, has just begun in sydney — we'll be live there with our correspondent. divisive internet personality andrew tate will remain in police custody until february 27, after a romanian court rejected his detention appeal on wednesday.

american football legend tom brady has announced his retirement for the second time in a year. life of our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to the programme. we begin in the us, where the funeral of tyre nichols, the 29—year—old black man, who died after being beaten by police, has taken place. the us vice president kamala harris was among the thousands attending the service at mississippi boulevard christian church, in memphis, tennessee. following tyre nichols�* death, five officers, all of them black, were charged with second—degree murder. several other police officers and emergency staff have also been fired in recent days. our north america editor sarah smith was at the service.

# you lift me up... the grief was overlaid with anger, as mourners celebrating the life of tyre nichols also railed against the injustice of his death. i can't speak for everybody in memphis, i can't speak for everybody gathering, but for me, i believe that if that man had been white, you would not have beat him like that that night. applause. america's first black vice president demanding congress pass police reform legislation. and when we look at this situation, this is a familyj that lost their son and their brother through an act - of violence, at the hands - and the feet of people who had

been charged with. keeping them safe. applause. tyre nichols' family want to remember a young man who was a passionate skateboarder. they say he had a beautiful soul, and his mum's name tattooed on his arm. i see the world showing him love, and fighting for his justice, but all i want is my baby brother back. even if the legal reforms being demanded today do come into force, the sad truth is no one here believes that this is the last time a funeral will be held for an unarmed black person killed by the police in america. will this finally bring about change, do you think? bring about the law change? we're going to try to make change happen. change doesn't come... ..just drops out of the sky, it comes from the ground up. we've got to keep fighting.

the five policemen who assaulted tyre nichols, who are all now facing charges of second—degree murder, are all black. amber sherman, who has spent years campaigning for police reform, says she's not surprised. yeah, i mean the system - of policing is inherently white supremacist, racist and anti—black. - but these were black officers that were involved. the fact that someone - who is blackjoined that system doesn't mean that they're - going to remember that they're black, or they're going to put that first. - they put being j an officer first. the brutal death of tyre nichols has shocked america and reignited the debate about racialjustice, with talk of change and reform, but little hope that anyone can truly say this will never happen again. sarah smith, bbc news, memphis. i want to move now to a story from the uk. thousands of striking workers have taken part in marches and rallies across the country, on what's thought to be the biggest day of coordinated industrial action in a decade.

now, up to half a million employees walked out, including teachers, train drivers and civil servants. unions argue pay increases offered by the government are inadequate to keep up with annual inflation of more than 10%. but ministers say they can't afford to pay more, and theirfocus is on bringing down the rate of inflation. further strikes are planned next week by health service workers. many unions feel there's little progress on talks. over the last 12 years, really catastrophic long—term decline in their pay. teachers have lost 13% over that period. that is in real terms a huge amount to lose. yeah i think it is simple, ithink to lose. yeah i think it is simple, i think these disputes could be resolved. all people want is enough money to pay the bills. ~ ., ., bills. with high inflation, hi h bills. with high inflation, high cost _ bills. with high inflation, high cost of _ bills. with high inflation, high cost of living - bills. with high inflation, high cost of living when i high cost of living when everyone _ high cost of living when everyone wants - high cost of living when everyone wants to - high cost of living when everyone wants to take j everyone wants to take everything _ everyone wants to take everything you've - everyone wants to take everything you've got l everyone wants to take . everything you've got and everyone wants to take - everything you've got and give you nothing _ everything you've got and give you nothing for— everything you've got and give you nothing for it, _ everything you've got and give you nothing for it, it— everything you've got and give you nothing for it, it is- everything you've got and give you nothing for it, it is very. you nothing for it, it is very difficult _ you nothing for it, it is very difficult place _ you nothing for it, it is very difficult place to _ you nothing for it, it is very difficult place to be - you nothing for it, it is very difficult place to be in. - the funeral of the australian cardinal, george pell, is under way in sydney. cardinal pell died last month, aged 81, after heart complications arising from hip surgery. at one point, he was the third

most powerfulfigure in the vatican, but was also controversial. he spent 13 months injail for abusing two boys while archbishop of melbourne in the 1990s, before the conviction was quashed. and a landmark inquiry found that he knew of child sexual abuse by priests in australia as early as the 19705, but failed to take action. hundreds of ribbons, to represent victims of sexual abuse in the catholic church, and elsewhere, have been hung outside st mary's cathedral, where pell will be buried. one of the abuse survivors told us why they are so important. we've come to tie some ribbons on the fence, and two, i guess, open this dialogue. the whole point for us is to offer support to other survivors, and to keep the dialogue open, to try and open the dialogue with the catholic church, which

unfortunately is a difficult journey. but it's mainly about bringing hope and giving voice to those who don't have a voice. for more on this, i am joined now by our correspondent phil mercer. he is at the scene for us. great to get you on the programme. george pell was hugely controversial in life — and even in death, those controversies haven't faded — and immensely polarising figure in this country. cardinal george pell was once upon a time of the archbishop of melbourne and sydney, australia's highest ranking catholic official. to his detractors, he was a man who ignored warnings of child sexual abuse in the catholic church dating back as far as the 19705. the5e church dating back as far as the 19705. these were allegations cardinal pell always denied. in 2018, he was convicted of abusing two boys at a cathedral in melbourne. in

the mid—19905, he spent more than 400 days in prison before tho5e conviction5 were quashed by australia's high court in 2020. thousand5 by australia's high court in 2020. thousands of mourners have turned up today for cardinal pell�*5 funeral here at sydney's imposing 5aint mary's sandstone cathedral. many other hundreds of people have not been able to get in, such as demand 5eat5 within the cathedral. tho5e outside watching the service on large 5creen5, watching the service on large screens, and for them they have come to say farewell to a man they consider to be a champion of conservative catholic values. i think he had an incredible wey— i think he had an incredible way to— i think he had an incredible way to formulate the truth in a way to formulate the truth in a way that— way to formulate the truth in a way that people could understand it, and he was fearless, _ understand it, and he was fearless, absolutely fearless. yeah, — fearless, absolutely fearless. yeah, i— fearless, absolutely fearless. yeah, ijust felt like a lot of peace, _ yeah, ijust felt like a lot of peace, really _ yeah, ijust felt like a lot of peace, really. i— yeah, ijust felt like a lot of peace, really. i felt - yeah, ijust felt like a lot of peace, really. i felt his- yeah, ijust felt like a lot of| peace, really. i felt his hand on noy— peace, really. i felt his hand on my shoulder— peace, really. i felt his hand on my shoulder and - peace, really. i felt his hand on my shoulder and i- peace, really. i felt his hand on my shoulder and i reallyl on my shoulder and i really felt — on my shoulder and i really felt him _ on my shoulder and i really felt him with— on my shoulder and i really

felt him with me. - on my shoulder and i really felt him with me. it- on my shoulder and i really felt him with me. it was. felt him with me. it was honestiy— felt him with me. it was honestiy a _ felt him with me. it was honestly a really - felt him with me. it was. honestly a really beautiful exoerience. _ honestly a really beautiful experience, a _ honestly a really beautiful experience, a man- honestly a really beautiful experience, a man of- honestly a really beautiful experience, a man of god| honestly a really beautiful - experience, a man of god who didn't— experience, a man of god who didn't stand _ experience, a man of god who didn't stand down _ experience, a man of god who didn't stand down from - experience, a man of god who didn't stand down from his- didn't stand down from his faith, _ didn't stand down from his faith, he _ didn't stand down from his faith, he never, _ didn't stand down from his faith, he never, yeah, - didn't stand down from his faith, he never, yeah, he. faith, he never, yeah, he always— faith, he never, yeah, he always stood _ faith, he never, yeah, he always stood up - faith, he never, yeah, he always stood up for- faith, he never, yeah, he always stood up for his . faith, he never, yeah, he - always stood up for his faith, what — always stood up for his faith, what he _ always stood up for his faith, what he believed _ always stood up for his faith, what he believed in. - the funeral has been going on now for over an hour. in the last 45 minutes or so, we've seen a very noisy demonstration. just on the street opposite the cathedral 5treet opposite the cathedral here in sydney, by lgbt protester5 who are angry at the church �*5 stance on homosexuality and also angry at cardinal george pell�*5 opposition to 5ame—5ex opposition to same—sex marriage. george pell, go to hell, was the enchant of many of the protesters, several hundred in number. they have since been moved on by the police. the cardinal because my convictions for child sexual abuse that were quashed by the high court in australia were mentioned during the funeral,

one speaker saying that despite the quashing of his convictions he was still demonised by sections of the media, and this is a man who is being praised as being a giant of the catholic church. so cardinal george pell, controversial in life and continuing to be polarising in death. phil mercer, thanks for keeping us up—to—date on that story from sydney. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. rescue workers in the ukrainian city of kramatorsk are searching through the rubble of a residential building that was destroyed by a russian rocket. the authorities say at least two people were killed. but they've warned others might be trapped under the debris. kramatorsk is in the eastern donetsk region, much of which is controlled by moscow's forces. presidentjoe biden has had his delaware home searched by fbi agents as part of their ongoing investigation

into his handling of classified documents. some documents, dating from his time as vice president, had earlier been discovered in two locations. the president's lawyers said the search was pre—planned and was carried out with their co—operation. pope francis has celebrated mass in kinshasa, the capital of the democratic republic of congo, on the first leg of his trip to africa. the country is the continent's most catholic nation, and hundreds of thousands are believed to have gathered at n'dolo airport to hear the pope speak. delivering his homily, he urged christians engaged in conflict in the war—torn country to lay down their arms. the flagship company of one of the world's richest men, gautam adani, has made a dramatic u—turn, and will return $2.5 billion to investors poised to buy new shares in the firm. the indian billionaire had been trying to raise cash to help fuel the growth of adani enterprises. it has rejected accusations by a us investment firm that it was guilty of stock manipulation and accounting fraud. the uk supreme court has ended

a long—running privacy battle, between the tate modern in london and the owners of four nearby flats, by ruling in favour of the homeowners. they'd complained that visitors to the art gallery could see into their properties from a viewing gallery that opened in 2016. to the philippines now, where the us defense secretary, lloyd austin, is visiting today, and a deal could be announced about us troops getting more access to bases in the country. for more on this, i am joined now by our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes, who is in manila for us. thanks so much forjoining me on the programme. just to say, no details, write, yet, on what might be announced? but what have you had come in terms of what could happen today? ihla what could happen today? no official what could happen today? i157 official details, but there have been unofficial comments by senior philippine government

officials to local media, i think confirming what everybody has been reporting over the last few days, the us and the philippines are now in agreement that there will be access to at least four more philippine basis, and these bases will be in tullah one and in the northern ireland of luzon, and the bases will be facing the south china sea, and facing the south china sea, and facing north towards taiwan. so i think the location, the bases they are talking about, is very significant, because it shows that us is thinking very much notjust about that us is thinking very much not just about the south china sea now but also about access to land close to taiwan where it can base its troops, where it can base its troops, where it can base its troops, where it can watch what china is doing around taiwan and possibly even basis and quite heavy equipment, things like the shorter anti—ship missiles, things like that. people i have

been talking to have said that us would very much like to do that under this agreement, be able to put chinese assets, as they call them, at sea, at risk of being hit from the philippine shores. $5 of being hit from the philippine shores. of being hit from the phili ine shores. ~ , i. philippine shores. as you point out, philippine shores. as you point out. ropert. — philippine shores. as you point out, rupert, sensibly- philippine shores. as you point out, rupert, sensibly this - philippine shores. as you point out, rupert, sensibly this is i out, rupert, sensibly this is about china, right, and given the fact that beijing is never shy about how it feels with this region, how do you feel the expanded influence might be viewed by china? it is viewed by china? it is interesting, - viewed by china? it is interesting, the - viewed by china? it is - interesting, the editorials about this in chinese newspapers over the last few days, yesterday there was a large editorial in the global times that accused the us of luring the philippines into a trap. it seems that china does not want to allow this to disrupt what have been better relations between china and the philippines certainly during

the president worked out a —— president ducati. under president ducati. under president marcos it was assumed the philippines would continue that policy. a lot of people have been surprised how quickly president marcos has warmed relations with the united states, and this agreement is seen as something of a change, something of a pride of the mark —— a surprise that they have moved this quickly. it is a sign of how many people inside the philippine administration are really, really concerned about china's activity, particularly off the coast in the south china sea. china very aggressively asserting its claims to water is very close to the philippines, that is something the philippines itself has very little with which to respond. by little with which to respond. by itself itjust doesn't have the knabl or aerial or marine

strength to counteract china's manoeuvres and assertion of its claims, and so it really needs, this is what people who are saying, without the us we really can't do this alone. thank you forjoining thank you forjoining us thank you forjoining us on thank you forjoining us on newsday. if you want to get in touch with me i'm on twitter — @bbckarishma you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: american football legend, tom brady, has announced retirement after a 23 year career. this is the moment that millions in iran have been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents

concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid, and the anc leader nelson mandela is to be set free unconditionally. mission control: three, two, one. a countdown to a critical moment. the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket, slashing the cost of a launch, that makes this a breakthrough in the business of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it, "a piece of cake." thousands of people have given l the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming - in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record . for sailing solo _ around the world, non—stop. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines: national and local leaders pay

tribute to tyre nichols, the 29—year—old black man who died after a beating by police in memphis. the funeral of the controversial australian cardinal george pell is underway in sydney. the controversial influencer andrew tate will remain in custody in romania for at least another month, after an appeal against his detention was rejected. mr tate and his brother tristan were arrested last month on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group. they've denied any wrongdoing. our correspondent in bucharest, lucy williamson, has more. the court behind me had a short statement today saying it rejected the request by the tate others to overturn their continued detention. the two men have been in custody for more than 30 days and are due to remain until the end of february. their lawyers say that they have not seen any

convincing evidence against the two men and a new legal advisor has been brought in by the brothers from the us law firm. she was in court today and she has been arguing that there continued detention without charges and without any previous criminal record is a violation of the international human rights law. that has been rejected by the courts here today. the two brothers will now stay in custody until february 27 and prosecutors will have until then to bring charges against them or to ask thejudge to extend charges against them or to ask the judge to extend their detention once again. an update on a story we covered for you yesterday — about a tiny, but potentially deadly radioactive capsule, that was lost in the vast western australian outback more than two weeks ago. well, it's now been found, despite it being about the size of a pea. a huge search operation has been underway after the capsule

had fallen off the back of a lorry along a 1,400km long road. authorities said search crews had "quite literally found the needle in the haystack". and thank goodness they did. the co—hosts of the 2023 women's football world cup australia and new zealand have asked the sport's governing body fifa to "urgently clarify" reports that saudi arabia's tourism authority is to be named as an official sponsor of the tournament. the potential has already been criticised by human rights groups. football australia and new zealand football say they were not consulted and are "disappointed" at the news. earlier i spoke to craig foster, former member of the australian men's national football team and human rights activist. and i asked him about the reaction from both australia and new zealand on this? in australia there has been a strong reaction from many fans and former players and in the media we see some outrage and rightly so. many of us, particularly former players and captains of the country feel

that visit saudi should not have the opportunity to be sponsoring a world cup which, after all is in a country where we take gender equality and sport extremely seriously. we are proud in the australian football community of the fact that our matilda's, national women's team has equal pay and conditions to our mail team. the socceroos. only a few years ago that agreement was put in place and in that press conference was both the captain of the male team and the female national team. across cricket many other sports equally we see this as something in australia that is an absolute necessity, notjust here but across all local sport. so the world cup in australia injuly and august this year in australia and new zealand will be so much about gender equality through sport and from sport into broader society. there for with saudi arabia the

state tourism authority wanting and apparently being allowed to sponsor this tournament it means that you have a country with a male guardianship system essentially that renders all women through their entire life a legal miner being able to appropriate the brand and the public message and social value of this world cup. just public message and social value of this world cup.— of this world cup. just to “ump in there i i of this world cup. just to “ump in there i wonder * of this world cup. just to “ump in there i wonder from h of this world cup. just to jump in there i wonder from your . in there i wonder from your experience with fifa what you think their response may be to these complaints and the outrage we are seeing. understandably, in australia and new zealand.— understandably, in australia and new zealand. that is a good cuestion. and new zealand. that is a good question- if— and new zealand. that is a good question. if the _ and new zealand. that is a good question. if the qatar _ and new zealand. that is a good question. if the qatar world - question. if the qatar world cup as an example we can probably expect a monologue from joni along the lines of being a male guardian and a saudi woman and a gender equality activist but, nevertheless, that is where they are at the moment and we see infantino constantly trying to push saudi arabia into the football agenda. the saudis of course are now heavily involved

in the epl as owners of newcastle united and i support a small but important voice of newcastle united supporters who are pushing back against that. the american football player tom brady, thought by many to be the greatest quarterback ever to play the game, has announced his retirement — again. the 45—year—old, who's won the super bowl seven times, retired last year too, only to come back and take the tampa bay buccaneers to the playoffs. here's how he broke the news on his twitter account. i am retiring — for good. i know the process was a pretty big deal last time, so when i woke up this morning i figured just press record and let you guys know first, so i won't be long—winded. you only get one super emotional retirement essay and i used mine up last year, so... really, thank you guys so much, to every single one of you for supporting me.

my family, my friends, my team—mates. .. ..my competitors... i could go on forever, there are too many. thank you, guys, for allowing me to live my absolute dream. i wouldn't change a thing. love you all. let's put tom brady's career in some sort of perspective. ben volin reports on the nfl for the boston globe newspaper — and he told us why the quarterback is one of the all—time sporting greats. he is unquestionably the greatest player the nfl has ever seen. he played for 23 years, has every record in the book and his longevity and durability really is, to me, most impressive. to be able to do it well into his 405 at a time when every other player at their body breaks down or they decidejust cannot do it any more.

tom brady thrived. no player ever won a super bowl over the age of 40 and he won two of them. he had a remarkable third act of his career and the later years of his career when players are supposed to be breaking down and winding down their career. so he isjust a remarkable player, accomplished everything, one everything there is to win and has redefined what it means to be an ageing athlete. so that's what sets him apart, not only from nfl players but from other athletes in american sports as well. now let me bring you these amazing pictures of a driver of a crashed car in las vegas who had a fortunate escape thanks to a passer—by and a police officer who captured the rescue on a bodycam. left unconscious from the crash, the driver was pulled from the wreckage moments before it was engulfed with flames. he was treated for smoke inhalation in hospital

that brings us to the end of newsday. that brings us to the end of newsday-— that brings us to the end of newsda . ., ., ., newsday. from me and eating, thank you _ newsday. from me and eating, thank you for— newsday. from me and eating, thank you forjoining _ newsday. from me and eating, thank you forjoining us. -- - newsday. from me and eating, thank you forjoining us. -- mej thank you forjoining us. —— me and the team. hello there. there's a lot of settled and dry weather to come for many of us over the next few days and indeed even into the weekend. it's going to be very mild as well. certainly on friday it's going to be extremely mild for early february. and that area of high pressure will bring a lot of dry weather, too. these weather fronts will always be flirting with the north of the uk, bringing rain at times, particularly to the northern half of scotland. and it will be a little bit windier here as well. as you can see more isobars on the charts. but we start thursday off on a mild, fairly cloudy note across the south, even into southern scotland, parts of northern ireland as well. a little bit cooler for the northeast of scotland. it's here where we'll start very wet, quite windy for the north and west of scotland.

elsewhere, southern scotland, northern ireland, much of england and wales dry quite a bit of cloud around, but there will be some breaks in the clouds to allow for some sunnier moments. it'll be fairly breezy day come particularly in the north and the west. windy there for the north of scotland. but look at these temperatures were up to 12, maybe 13 degrees across the south, up to 11 degrees as far north as the highlands. as we move through thursday night, it stays fairly breezy, dry for most with variable clouds, some clear spells. we lose the rain as well across the north of scotland for a while. so we start the early part of friday, off on a dry note forallareas, pretty mild night to come, lows of 6 to nine or ten degrees. so we've still got our area of high pressure to the south of the uk, lower pressure towards the north. this new weather front will wriggle in to northern areas through the day on friday. so that will introduce a little bit of rain initially to northern ireland, then push across scotland, perhaps northern england for a time. quite drizzly, in fact, some low cloud mist and murk. best of any brightness later in the day. northern ireland, parts of central southern england and wales, another breezy day to come across more northern and western areas. but lighter winds towards the south, closer to the area of high pressure.

very mild on friday, we could be up to 14 celsius in one or two spots across central, southern and eastern areas. that wedge of milder air continues into the start of the weekend, but then this cold front spreads southwards, introducing much fresher air right across the uk. still high pressure with us though, so it's going to be dry with lots of sunshine as well. the air will be a little bit drier, so a lot of cloud around one or two spots of drizzle on saturday, mild again and then it's colder, much sunnier by sunday.