welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. the headlines: the british prime minister prepares to meet the president of the european commission, in a bid to finalise a new brexit deal for northern ireland. almost 60 people — including 12 children — have drowned trying to reach europe, after their boat was shipwrecked off southern italy. we can't be abandoned by the rest of europe. this type of tragedy should have been avoided, not live to how we are having to live it today. avoided, not lived how we are having to live it today. israeli settlers in the occupied west bank set fire to palestinian homes and businesses, killing one man, after two israelis

were shot dead in their car. and one of the most—hyped bouts in the history of boxing — tommy fury wins his bout against jake paul. by bya by a split decision. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. welcome to the programme. the european commission president, ursula von der leyen, is to meet the british prime minister later today, with expectations rising that they'll finalise a new post—brexit trading deal for northern ireland. if agreement is reached, rishi sunak will make a statement to the uk parliament. our political editor chris mason has more. here stands the ultimate prize in all of these negotiations. this is stormont, in belfast, the home of the northern

ireland assembly. getting it and an executive here up and running again would be quite a moment. doing a deal with brussels does not guarantee that, but there are other potential prizes, improving internal uk trade and resetting relations with the european union. if we can get it over the line, we're on the cusp, we've made great progress, we're not there yet, but it would be a really important deal. and just critically, a deal that, with all the best will in the world and for all the progress that others have made, that no prime minister before had been able to secure. and senior voices in the eu are sounding upbeat as well. i believe there has been very significant progress made and what was the purpose of it all? _ to respond to the issues that have been raised. so what can we expect in this proposed new deal? a plan to make trading easier between england, scotland and wales and northern ireland. it looks like goods that are staying in northern ireland will be able to pass through a green or express

lane, and those things going on into the republic of ireland, in the eu, will have to be checked via a red lane. it's also expected that there will be a new arrangement about tax. northern ireland follows some eu rules on this and, in particular, around vat, and that is a real frustration to some. then there is how the rules are enforced. this involves the european court ofjustice, and critics of the protocol want to get rid of the role of the eu's court. that seems unlikely, but we can perhaps expect some sort of promise to talk up other ways of sorting out disagreements first. and then there is also the issue of northern ireland having a say on ongoing rule changes that the eu makes, something i expect the leaders will talk about tomorrow and the deputy prime minister talked about today. if there are any new rules that would apply in relation to northern ireland,

it must be right that there is a northern irish democratic check on that. and again, that would mark a significant shift. are you going - to resign over it? and hand in yourl passport as well? this prominent brexiteer, steve baker, now a minister, is giving it the thumbs—up. others are rather less positive. we're not stupid. what we want is a situation where eu law is expunged from northern ireland, so it is treated on the same basis as england, scotland and wales. politically, it's vital for downing street there aren't too many conservative mps who share that view once a deal is done, even though labour say they will back the prime minister. if he's able to pull off a deal, we will support it because we think it will be an improvement on what we've got at the moment. let's look at the detail in the coming days, but all credit to rishi sunak if he does that.

tomorrow is shaping up to be quite the day. some are excited, others are nervous. the democratic unionists are quiet. this isn't the end of the story. that report by political editor chris mason. our europe editor, katya adler, has more from brussels. the president of the european commission says she's off to the uk tomorrow. she is somebody who manages her image extremely carefully. so it's unlikely that she'd head off unless she thought that a deal was really nearly there. that said, the mood here tonight is cautiously optimistic. the eu has been brexit burnt before, so it knows that for a uk prime minister, negotiating with the eu is only part of the journey. he or she then needs to sell that deal back home. especially sometimes in the last moments and hours, that can get extremely tricky. that said, prime minister sunak is viewed here differently to his predecessors. yes, he is a brexiteer, but the eu sees him

as a solutions—focused guy, not in ideologue, working here in the interests of the people of northern ireland. and they can see why it's in his best interest to do this new deal. first of all, he avoids the possibility of a trade war with the eu, the uk's biggest trade partner, if he doesn't implement the old deal on northern ireland. and better relations and a new deal, that opens up new possibilities such as an agreement with france over stopping those people smugglers. and a new deal, that opens up new possibilities such as an agreement with france over stopping those people smugglers over the channel. and improved relations with the us. joe biden has been clear he wants to see a deal over northern ireland work. sold and signed. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines.

the first results from nigeria's hotly contested election have been announced — confirming a win in the south—western ekiti state for the governing party candidate, bolu tinubu. the election went more smoothly than previous polls, but delays and attacks on some polling stations meant voting was postponed until sunday in parts of the country. the authorities in brazil say last week's floods and landslides in the state of sao paulo have killed 64 people, including 18 children. a search effort is continuing for one missing person. police in the sri lankan capital, colombo, have used teargas and water cannon to disperse a protest against the postponement of local elections. the government said it couldn't fund them because of the financial crisis. india's federal police have arrested the deputy chief minister of delhi, manish sisodia, for alleged corruption. the arrest came after hours of questioning in connection with alleged irregularities in relation to an alcohol policy in the city. the policy was dropped after police began an investigation. mr sisodia and his aam aadmi party deny the allegations.

at least 59 migrants have drowned after their boat broke up in rough seas and sank off the southern coast of italy, including a number of children. the boat was said to be overloaded with close to 150 people. it's thought the vessel left izmir, in eastern turkey, three days ago. those who survived came ashore near the town of crotone, on the calabrian coast, and are being helped by the red cross. jon donnison has the latest. overnight, another tragedy in the mediterranean. by daylight, this was all that was left of the migrant boat that broke up in rough seas just off the calabrian coast. rescue workers struggled in the conditions to recover bodies from the water. it's thought around 150 people were on board. dozens, including a baby, are known to have drowned.

the regional governor visited the scene. translation: calabria is a reuion translation: calabria is a region that _ translation: calabria is a region that welcomes - translation: calabria is a | region that welcomes people. last year, we welcomed 18,000 migrants, but we can't be abandoned by the rest of europe. this type of tragedy has to be avoided and how we live today and how we will live in the future. reacting to today's loss of life, the head of the european commission ursula von der leyen said, altogether eu countries must

redouble their efforts to tackle the migration crisis in the central mediterranean. around 80 people are brought to shore alive. among the migrants from iran, pakistan and afghanistan. we cannot have, unfortunately, a definite number at the moment, so we are still waiting 105,000 made it successfully with over high those numbers are missing on the 2016 peak when there were over 180,000 arrivals by sea. the government blames people traffickers and has pledged to stop the boats. at the vatican, pope francis expressed his sorrow for the latest loss of lives. which he said included many children. he said he was praying for the dead, the missing and those who survived. those survivors, like hundreds of thousands before them, face an uncertain future. earlier, jeremy konyndyk, president at refugees international, told us more about this tragedy. no, it's not a surprise at all. this is a tragedy, but i don't think you could call it an accident.

it's an outcome of policies that italy and the wider eu have been putting in place for years that have made the passage through the mediterranean more dangerous and have removed the sort of rescue tools ngos have been trying to use to at least save lives when people are at risk. i guess those governments would argue that they put those policies in place hoping to deter people. but is it not really working, then? it's clearly not working. as bad as the crossing is, and as unsafe, people are still willing to do it because what they're fleeing is worse. and the conditions that they're fleeing in places like iran and afghanistan — which is where a number of these migrants apparently came from — are worse. so, if it's so dangerous that they're willing to take that crossing, then clearly, making it

less safe is not going to deter people yet more. yet the policy for the last ten years has been to progressively close off the less dangerous routes and force people into more and more dangerous routes. just days ago, the italian government detained an msf rescue ship and passed new legislation that makes it even harderfor the rescue operations to save people. so, this is not an accidental outcome. this is... perhaps not an intentional one, but certainly one that is baked into the calculus that italy and the wider eu are making. what needs to happen? with ukraine, there seems to have been political will to help them, but it's not exactly possible for european nations to be that accommodating with everyone who wants to flee, is it? well, i think what is interesting about the ukraine case in europe, but also in the us, the us also took in

nearly 100,000 afghans. interestingly, in light of who is in this shipwreck. interestingly, in light of who is in this shipwreck. it shows that where there is political will to give people who are looking for safety an orderly channel to claim asylum, and perhaps not everyone on the boat would have had a valid asylum plan but, certainly, some would. when they are given an orderly channel to do that, people prefer that. there's an experiment going on in the us where citizens of several countries in the western hemisphere can now seek protection in the us from where they live, without having to make the dangerous overland journey to the us border. and the numbers coming from those countries through the irregular channels have dropped dramatically once they are offered a safer, more orderly channel to do so. and i think there's a real lesson in that, and in the case of the ukrainians, where there

is political will to remove danger from the process, to not intentionally make it more dangerous as a deterrent, that people will avail themselves of that. you're watching newsday, on the bbc. still to come on the programme... sheffield becomes the latest uk city to tackle car pollution — by charging drivers to enter a clean air zone. first, the plates slid gently off the restaurant tables then, suddenly, the tables, chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards. it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched onto her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heared the news earlier. so my heart went bang, bang, bang. the constitutional -

rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the united states, - and they should be protected so that they don't get their heads broken - and are sent to hospital. this religious controvery, i know you don't want to say too much about this religious controversy. but does it worry you? well, it worries me. — but does it worry you? well, it worries me, yes. _ i hope everything will be all right at the end of the day. this is newsday, on the bbc. our headlines: the president of the uk commission ursula von der leyen is travelling to the uk to meet the uk prime minister, could there finally be a new brexit deal for northern ireland. at least 59 people — including 12 children — have died, after a boat

carrying migrants sank in rough seas, off the coast of southern italy. israel settlers have set fire to palestinian houses, shops and vehicles in the occupied west bank, killing one palestinian man. the violence happened in the village of huwara, just south of nablus. the palestinian red cross said that about 100 people were being treated, many of them from inhaling tear gas fired by israeli security forces. it comes after two israelis were shot dead earlier in the occupied west bank. the israeli army said a palestinian gunman opened fire at an israeli—owned car and then fled the scene. the violence comes despite the israeli government and the palestinian authority agreeing to take immediate steps to end a surge in violence. our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, has more on the talks injordan. this summit was really quite an unusual one — the first of its kind in many years where you've had the israeli and palestinian security chiefs meeting face

to face with these other important regional players. and then, the statement that came out really gave some important commitments towards working towards peace, for one thing. but also, there were some cemented commitments from the israelis, saying that they would, for the next four months, stop discussions on settlement building in the occupied west bank and they would hold off announcements on new settlements for the next six months. from the palestinian side, we're expecting that they will hold off going to the un, as they have tried to do, taking action against israel in recent weeks. there are also commitments by both sides that they will work closely together to prevent further violence. but then, you just see how big the challenges are in all of this because the palestinian militant group hamas came out very quickly and described this summit as being "worthless". and you had two key ministers

from the israeli government, from the far—right, basically rejecting its commitments, particularly when it comes to settlements. in the course of the day, there was this attack in huwara, close to nablus, where two israeli brothers from a nearby settlement were shot at close range. the israeli military says it's hunting for a palestinian gunman. but there's also been continuing violence over the past few hours, asjewish settlers set fire to palestinian properties, some with families inside, who had to be evacuated. there was one palestinian man who was killed after he was shot. palestinian health officials say that was after settlers and soldiers entered into his village. and that is really keeping changes very high. it's a reminder ofjust how dangerous things are, as we go into this sensitive period. in just one month's time, you have the islamic holy month of ramadan due to start. that is always a sensitive time.

this year, once again, it's going to coincide with the week—long jewish holiday of passover, and that could really ramp up tensions particularly here injerusalem, which has such a contested holy site in the old city. sheffield will become the latest english city to introduce a clean air zone from today. drivers of the most polluting lorries, vans, buses and taxis will now be charged to enter the designated area — though private cars and motorcycles are exempt for now. the city follows bristol, birmingham and newcastle in making the move, while london's ultra low emission zone is due to be expanded this summer. drivers across england have been fined more than £50 million so far for not complying with the new rules. dan johnson reports. no to clean air zones. no to extortionate charges

for driving in our own city. | there's a new battle zone in the fight for clean air. sheffield's seen opposition. and today, there was another protest in cambridge against plans to charge drivers, as clean air zones hit more streets across the country. my wife works, my wife commutes. two different cars, two different locations, so it's £5 a day for every working day, and that's a lot. it's a very poor way to be thinking of how to improve any problems in cambridge. charging the most polluting vehicles is supposed to get them off the road, but cities have got different prices covering different classes of vehicle, and if you get it wrong, you get fined. bristol's scheme started just before christmas. i think everyone in bristol agrees that we all have a bad cough that lingers, and i think the air quality is terrible. anything we could do to improve it, ifully support. i'm not really seeing a difference. are my lungs better? no, they're the same as they

were last year as well, so... as a cyclist, it hasn't made the roads any quieter. - well, it's to stop people coming into the city, but it's also to make money, i think. it's good because we're trying to keep the planet a bit healthier. you know, we want healthy air, just clean air. it's good for everyone. bath started charging commercial vehicles two years ago, but some feel that's moved traffic and emissions onto wiltshire's roads. we've seen significant increases in terms of heavy goods vehicles coming through the middle of westbury. we're here on a street where the trucks are going, what, a metre and a half from people's front doors. so, we've taken an air quality problem in bath and simply transposed it to the middle of an area where it's going to create a worse air quality problem. birmingham's zone generated £37 million in fines over the last 18 months. nationally, poor air quality causes something like 36,000 excess deaths each year. but evidence shows it is cutting emissions. during the first few months after the zones' introduction,

we found that there was a significant reduction in n02 levels in birmingham city centre, so that's a good thing. and we didn't see any change in the air quality on the perimeter of the birmingham clean air zone. there's controversy about expanding london's low emissions zone to cover every borough. but the government is insisting on cleaner air. so more zones are coming, but reducing pollution means tackling more than just vehicle emissions. dan johnson, bbc news. a russian spacecraft has docked with the international space station, as part of a mission to bring home three stranded astronauts. the uncrewed vehicle will bring back two russians and an american who've been stuck since their return vessel began leaking coolant. the three were originally only supposed to stay until the end of march, but will now have to wait until september to come back to earth. in one of the most—hyped bouts in the history of boxing, novices tommy fury —

the reality tv star — has beaten youtuberjake paul in a multi—million—dollarfight in saudi arabia. fury is the brother of world heavyweight champion tyson fury. the bbc�*s kal sajad breaks down the fight for us. well, i mean, it was probably the most high—profile eight—round contest in boxing history that these two have had. twitter back and forth, social media spats for the last two years. you've gotjake paul, who's a youtuber with a huge social media following, 22 million followers on instagram. and as you mentioned, you've got tommy fury, brother of tyson fury, of love island fame. so these are two big social media celebrities. but they can also box a little. fury coming from a fighting family and jake paul, he started boxing two years ago, but he can, he knows the fundamentals of the sport and he's showcased that so far. so it was a big fight in the world of two people from the worlds of entertainment, but they could also box a little.

well, we were just debating in the newsroom whether we could actually call this boxing. its supporters say that it brings more people to the sport, but others would argue it's just a choreographed youtube episode. is it actually good for the sport? i mean, it's tricky. so on the one hand, boxing aficionados believe that it is not good for the sport. yes, it's bringing in fresh fans, but are these fans going to go to a fight at the york hall in london on a friday night to watch some novice boxers? no, probably not. it's bringing a certain type of fan to a certain type of fight. now, those who are in favour of this type of boxing, they believe that it will bring those new fans. and also, that boxers could probably learn a few things from these social media stars. they know how to build their profile, they know how to sell a fight, and that is almost half the game in trying to make your name as a boxer in this sport. so before we let you go, what's next, is there any more highly—anticipated fight? well, in terms of the world of entertainment, these two

guys, jake paul wants a rematch, tommy fury will probably take the rematch because there is so much money to be made, so i can see these two doing it again. especially, it was a fairly tight contest, it could have gone either way, it was done by split decision. so, yeah, in terms of entertainment boxing, i reckon we might see a rematch. now, some pictures which prove that the recent snowy weather in parts of america hasn't been bad news for everyone. these playful seals have been enjoying rolling around in the snow at oregon zoo, which remains closed to visitors due to the conditions. the city of portland recorded nearly 11 inches or 28 centimetres of snow in one day earlier this week — its second snowiest day on record. but definitely, they are having great fun. that is it for this

programme. thank you so much for watching. hello. we've had reports of spectacular views of the aurora borealis across many parts of the uk, from northern scotland all the way to southern wales and even southern england. and here's another beautiful picture from the weekend. this time, of cornwall, a beautiful horizon of those aqua colours. ok, how about the weather for the week ahead? mainly dry, some sunshine and night frosts. pretty much what we've had for quite a few days now. with that high pressure firmly in charge of our weather. it's here on monday and it's here to stay. so, let's look at

the forecast, then, for the early hours of monday — clearing skies across scotland and also southwestern parts of england. so, early on monday morning, there will be a frost here. but elsewhere, where we have that thicker cloud, certainly northern and central england in most towns and cities, it should be frost—free. for example, four degrees in liverpool and about that in norwich as well. now, the cloud cover will vary during the course of monday. the best of the sunshine will be across some western parts of scotland, maybe the south coast of england too. but also, one or two showers are possible anywhere from lincolnshire through the midlands. possibly wales. now, the temperatures will be between around eight and 10 celsius. but it is a noticeable wind, it's a dry wind too. so it will feel a little colder than that — closer to around 5 degrees, i think, across many parts of the uk. so, that's monday. how about tuesday? little change, the high pressure still very close to central scotland. just subtle changes in the wind direction, and actually the possibility of a few showers, perhaps more persistent ones, at least for a time, across southeastern

parts of england. they won't last for very long, though. and you can see them here carried by that breeze out in the northeast. again, very similar temperatures, eight in glasgow and around nine expected in plymouth. and it will feel a little colder than that. so, here's the weather map for wednesday and for thursday, that high pressure is not expected to budge. so, lots of dry weather and more of the same to come. let's have a look at the outlook, then, as we head into the weekend and even into next week. yes, there's a possibility of some rain maybe heading our way. it's a long way off still and the chances are the forecast next monday will change. that's it from me. bye— bye.