welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm monica miller, the headlines... china's president extends a hand — and a peace plan — to russia's vladimir putin in the pair's first meeting since the invasion of ukraine. the united nations releases a major new report on climate change — dubbed a �*survivial guide for humanity'. all eyes on the asian markets opening — as banks and governments around the world try to address turmoil in the financial sector and encourage confidence the barricades go up in new york in preparation for protests — amid specuation of incoming charges for former president donald trump.

and the hunt for this shark's head — why scientists in the uk are appealing to whoever took it to bring it back. hello and welcome to the programme. president xi of china is on a state visit to russia, where he's been warmly greeted by president putin. the summit has been the focus of a good deal of speculation following the publication of china's plan to "settle the acute crisis in ukraine." mr putin said that moscow was always open to negotiation. but the americans have already warned that the chinese peace plan could be a just a delaying tactic. the visit comes just days after the international criminal court issued an arrest

warrant for president putin, in relation to alleged war crimes. from moscow, our russia editor steve rosenberg reports. just three days ago vladimir putin was named as a war crimes suspect by the international criminal court. but that didn't stop china's president flying in and shaking his hand. putin and xi have met many times before, but never before has russia's president been under such pressure. his war in ukraine not going at all according to plan. xijinping called vladimir putin his "dear friend", his "strategic partner". the kremlin leader said they would discuss china's peace initiative. but there is no detailed chinese plan to end the war in ukraine. what moscow would like from beijing is lethal aid to help him win.

what moscow would like from beijing is lethal aid to help it win. beijing's been reluctant to provide that, to prevent secondary sanctions against chinese companies, but it has been supplying dual—use technology, like semiconductor chips, that the russian military can use. the kremlin also wants to expand trade with china. with russia under heavy international sanctions, economic ties with beijing are proving a lifeline. if you burn bridges with the west, as vladimir putin has, what do you do then? you look east. and that's exactly what the kremlin leader has done. recent events have accelerated russia's dependency on china. putin and xi may speak about mutually beneficial cooperation, but beijing looks increasingly like the senior partner. but moscow hasn'tjust partnered with beijing. last week, russia held joint naval exercises with china and iran. there are signs the kremlin is looking to forge

an anti—western alliance. translation: putin is building his own bloc. l he doesn't trust the west any more. he's looking for allies and trying to make russia part of a common fortress with china, as well as with india, latin america, and africa. putin is building his own anti—western world. now, with xijinping here, russia can claim that it's not isolated, that moscow has powerful allies who view the world through a similar lens, that it doesn't need the west if it has friends in the east. but experience shows china always puts china first. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. joseph torigian is a professor at the school of international service at the american university in washington.

i spoke to him a little earlier about the chances of resolving the situation in ukraine. i think the chinese understand that the battle field dynamics are not conducive to a ceasefire. neither side thinks the time is right for a conversation about ending the fighting, and the 12 point proposal that the chinese shared a few days ago i think ultimately is intended to give them some cover for their strategic relationship with the russian federation without obligating them to create the conditions for peace. tell us about the 12 point proposal and what is in it. i think what the chinese wanted to do with that proposal is help balance the two objectives that are in conflict with each other. on the one hand, the chinese want to affirm that strategic partnership with the russian federation but they are also concerned about the economic and reputational cost that they

might suffer if they are seen as enabling the russian war machine, so when the west looked at that particular document, what they saw was some chinese sympathy for the origins of the war, which they obliquely blamed the united states for, and also because calls for an immediate ceasefire without removing russia from ukraine, which i think is a nonstarter for kyiv. the west has been lukewarm and even sceptical about this proposal. if a deal is reached, do you that washington and capitals across europe will accept it? i think it would depend on what the deal looked like but unfortunately i don't think a ceasefire between ukraine and russia is going to happen any time soon. in part because i think there is a view that ever ceasefire does happen, the russians mightjust use that as an opportunity to rebuild the war machine and stop the violence

again once it is more in their favour. it is interesting, we have seen china recently with saudi arabia and iran to step in and broker some sort of deal, is this a new phase for china as a government, in terms of being an negotiator of some sort? usually, they stick to their own and stay on the sideline. well, i think xijinping has been inculcating a status as a statesman. we have seen him talk about his vision for international order, he has been able to discuss the role they played and as you mentioned, mediating a new relationship between iran and saudi arabia. but with regards to iran and saudi arabia, i think they wanted that deal to happen and the chinese just created a room for that. the situation in ukraine is very different where both sides are not ready for negotiation because they still think they can achieve more on the battlefield.

let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk. large numbers of demonstrators have taken to the streets of paris after the government narrowly survived a no confidence vote over its controversial pensions reform. more than one hundred people were arrested in tense standoffs with security forces. there have been months of strikes and blockades across france, in protest against the pension changes. the northern ireland democratic unionist party says it will vote against the uk government's new brexit framework. when it comes before mps for the first time this week. the party leader, sirjeffrey donaldson, says there are "ongoing concerns" about the legislation. eu member states are expected to endorse the deal on tuesday. the king of thailand has formally dissolved the country's parliament to pave the way for a general election in may. prime minister prayut chan—o—cha's conservative, royalist party is facing a challenge by the party led by exiled populist former prime minister shinawatra's

daughter, paetongtarn. mr prayut led the military coup which toppled mr shinawatra's sister as prime minister in 2014. sri lanka's president says the international monetary fund has approved a $2.9 billion rescue package to help the country out of its current economic crisis. in return, the government has agree to raise funds by restructuring state—owned enterprises, and privatising the national airline. sri lanka defaulted on its debts last may. six members of a far—right us militia known as the oath keepers have been convicted of charges linked to the capitol riot two years ago. they were among thousands of donald trump's supporters who tried to prevent congress from certifying joe biden�*s election win. so far, prosecutors have filed criminal charges against more than 1,000 people. the catastrophic impact of climate change have been

laid out in a major new report, which the united nations has described as a survival guide for humanity. climate experts say there is a closing window of opportunity to build a sustainable future, but say that will involve rapid cuts to fossil fuels, and maximising the use of clean energy and technology. here's our climate editorjustin rowlatt. as many as 43,000 people are estimated to have died in a drought in somalia, a new report said today. in malawi last week, dogs were used to sniff out bodies. more than 250 people were killed when one of the strongest cyclones ever recorded ripped through the country. weather extremes like these are likely to intensify as the world continues to warm, un scientists warned today. their report was published at a conference in the swiss town of interla ken. the document released

here today draws together eight years of work and it will be crucial — the basis for future global negotiations on climate for probably the next decade. and the key message, says the un chief, is that all is not quite yet lost. this report is a clarion call to massively fasttrack climate efforts by every country and every sector and on every timeframe. in short, our world needs climate action on all fronts — everything, everywhere, all at once. the glaciers in the mountains above where the scientists are meeting lost 6% of their volume last year alone — evidence of the impact climate change is already having. at this weather station in the alps, they've been collecting climate records for decades. today we got the strongest warning yet that, in the next few years, we are likely to bust through the 1.5 degree

boundary that avoids the worst impacts of global warming. the future really is in our hands. we will, in all probability, reach around 1.5 degrees early next decade but, after that, it really is our choices. this is why the rest of this decade is key. today's report warns the decisions we make now will determine our climate future for thousands of years to come. just look how rising temperatures and humidity will threaten the lives of increasing numbers of people. the darker the colour, the more days of extreme heat people face. and animals will be badly hit too. here, the darker colour shows more species are at risk and the more likely we are to lose them altogether. there is some good news, though. the cost of key low—carbon technologies — electric vehicles and solar and wind power — has already

fallen very rapidly. that will help because only a massive effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions can slow the global temperature rise, the scientists say. it is those with political power and with decision power in the big companies of this world, who need to stop subsidising fossil fuels, stop everything to burn fossil fuels as fast as possible. the high alps show how climate change is already reshaping our world. there is still a window to keep it within manageable limits, today's report says, but it warns that, without dramatic global action, that window will soon slam shut. let's turn now to the global financial markets — which have reacted nervously to sunday night's emergency

takeover of the swiss bank credit suisse. the bank was bought by its rival ubs, after regulators worked around the clock to secure the takeover. the problems confronting credit suisse had sparked fears over the global financial system. david woo is a former wall street strategist and imf economist. he gave me an insight into the markets�* reaction. the big story that is not basically being talked about is the fact that of course, first republic bank is down 15% today. i mean, this bank has been the whipping boy for wall street for much of the past week, the fact that it is still going down raises more questions. i think there is no way that this bank is going to go down while the rest of the banks are scott free because there is no question that if this bank is allowed to go down, there is no doubt they will be a domino effect, the next days, the markets will be looking for the next four guy.

what exactly do you think is going through the minds of customers? if you are a customer looking at all of this unfolding, you must not feel particularly confident right now. talk us through exactly what other steps protect them. i think that is exactly the point. if there is one thing that first republic and silicon valley bank have in common is that there deposit banks consist of large depositors, i am talking about depositors who put in $250,000, so they are uninsured. obviously, if you are a rich guy with a lot of money in the bank, you are going to be the first one to move your money, and i think that is what has been happening, that is what happened to the silicon valley bank and that is what happened to first republic. however, what is interesting, of course, is that the fed is drawing a lot of money because they understand they cannot allow first republic to go down

because silicon valley bank, signature bank, these are banks in the techno bubble but first republic is a fundamentally sound bank, so if you allow this bank to go down, you have no idea what will happen to the other banks, especially the smaller regional banks. they basically gave it $70 billion last week in terms of liquidity and on friday last week they managed to get 11 banks to put up $30 billion and deposit this money into first republic because the idea was that if this bank has enough credit forjpmorgan, it has to be enough for everybody else. but clearly the depositors had not thought that. this is why stock prices dropped 15%, this is why the regulators were panicking.

you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... why scientists are hunting for this shark's head — and appealing to whoever took it to return it. applause. let there be no more wars or bloodshed between arabs and the israelis. with great regret, the committee have decided that south africa be excluded from the 1970 competition. singing.

streaking across the sky, the white hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm monica miller in singapore. 0ur headlines... china's president extends a hand — and a peace plan — to russia's vladimir putin — in the pair's first meeting since the invasion of ukraine. the united nations releases a major new report on climate change — dubbed a �*survivial guide for humanity'. a former australian sas soldier has been charged with murder after an investigation into alleged war crimes in afghanistan found "credible evidence" of unlawful

killings during the war. phil mercer — our correspondent in sydney — has more details. a previous investigation by a high—ranking australian military officer found that there was credible evidence that 39 afghan civilians had been unlawfully killed by australian special forces in afghanistan. much of that evidence was redacted but there was an allegation of bloodlust, a warrior culture, a broken culture within australia's special forces. and we understand the arrest of oliver schulz, who is 41 years of age, he was arrested in the new south wales snowy mountains by australian federal police, is linked to this investigation. mr schulz is a former australian special forces commando, he is a decorated former soldier, receiving a commendation for gallantry, serving multiple tours in afghanistan.

and he is the first servicemen of retired military veteran to be charged with a war crime under australian law. do you think he acted alone or could we see more arrests coming out of this investigation? monica, it is alleged that 0liver schulz murdered a man in afghanistan while on deployment with the australian military. and we understand this relates to the alleged murder of a man in a wheat field in southern afghanistan in may of 2012. now this alleged murder was revealed in a tv documentary by australia's national broadcaster, the abc, and footage allegedly shows the former trooper shooting a man dead at close range in that field. a group representing current and former members

of the special forces says that 0liver schulz must have have the presumption of innocence, but legal experts say that his arrest and charge and the fact that he has been charged with a war crime is unprecedented and could well have ramifications for other countries thatjoined the us led effort in afghanistan and sent forces to that country, including the united kingdom and new zealand. former us president donald trump says he expects to be arrested on tuesday as part of a criminal case being investigated in new york. prosecutors have been looking into possible hush money paid to former adult film star stormy daniels. posting on his truth social website, he called on his followers to protest. however, he has provided no evidence to back up his claim that prosecutors are planning to take action on that specific date. nada tawfik was

outside the courthouse and sent this report. any decision rests with whether the grand jury decides to move forward and then if the district at eternity decides he will charge the former president. now, what i can say is that all the signals we have gotten is that this is wrapping up his investigations at the time for the manhattan attorney, district attorney to make a decision is coming up soon, how he will decide is anyone�*s guess. nevertheless, there have been reports in us media speculating that it could be as early as the next few days this week. but nevertheless when we look at the how this would all play out, you can see around me the world's media has already descended on lower manhattan because this will of course be an unprecedented moment for the country. in legal terms and political terms. you would have the first time a former president has been

convicted of a federal crime and would be brought here, just like anyone else, and formally booked, fingerprinted, having his mugshot taken. i don't think anyone expects of course that he will be slammed with handcuffs or forced to do a perp walk and of course he will have a security, his secret service details. but still, you see here in new york the nypd preparing for possible protest, preparing for that possible big moment here in new york. there's a hunt on in the south of england for a shark's head. it's being led by the tv historian dan snow. and it began after a dead shark was washed up on a beach near his home at the weekend. it turns out that shark is not normally seen in uk waters. and now scientists want to study it. but the problem is — someone got there firs. duncan kennedy reports on the efforts to get it back. the people who found the shark couldn't believe it.

alicia, it is a shark so be careful. - they tried pulling it into deeper waters... come on, mr. ..and thought they had succeeded. let it go then. let it go. but later, the two—metre—long smalltooth sand tiger shark was found dead on the beach. the broadcaster dan snow, who lives nearby, went to salvage the carcass so scientists could examine it but when he got there, the shark's head, tail and fin had been removed. people can have it, they can keep the head, but if we can just get access for scientists before they boil it or mount it or something, that would be great. the scientists want to have a quick look, do some tests, and then the person with the head can go and enjoy it for the rest of their lives. smalltooth sand tiger sharks rarely venture into northern waters and usually swim at depths of more than 200 metres. which is why scientists

are so excited about seeing one of these sharks here in the solent, and why they would also like all the parts of this shark handed back in. it is really sad and somewhat disappointing that the shark was taken apartjust as the scientists were rushing to it so it would be great to have all of those pieces to be able to stitch together some sort of a story about this particular animal. a story about a creature we would never normally see here, from the coasts of spain to the shores of the solent, and now a mystery that shark experts would love to explore. duncan kennedy, bbc news. and that is it for this edition of newsday. you can always find us online. 0r of newsday. you can always find us online. or you can download our app if you haven't already. goodbye for now.

hello. well, it's been a pretty grey and damp start to the new working week. many of us have already seen some outbreaks of rain. these are the rather moody skies that we had during the day in argyll and bute. now, so far this month, we've already seen more rainfall than average in a number of places. aldergrove is west of belfast and here we've had about one and a half times as much rain as we see in an average march, but there is more rain on the cards as well. you see, the satellite picture shows the band of rain that we had on monday. but out in the atlantic, we've got several more areas of rain bearing cloud set to move in. and so this week we are going to see rainfall totals really pile up, particularly across western areas. you can see the largest totals over our western hills, whereas in the east you get

something of a shelter effect. so the rain won't be quite as heavy for those eastern areas. now, over the next few hours, we do have some fairly heavy bursts of rain to come through and there'll be some low cloud around a bit of mist and fog around our western coast and hills. but it's a mild start to the day tuesday, temperatures nine or ten degrees, rain start the day across eastern england, probably north—east scotland. that clears away what will follow is a day of bright spells, a bit of sunshine and some heavy showers and thunderstorms. we then see another area of rain move into northern ireland as we go through the course of the afternoon. now it's going to be another mild day, temperatures 1a, 15 degrees celsius. as we go from tuesday into wednesday, actually the isobars pinch together. and so it's going to be a windier day on wednesday. again, overnight rain tending to clear through a day of sunshine and heavy thundery showers. this time, some of the showers could even have some hail mixed in. some of the showers in the west may merge together to give some longer spells of rain. it's going to be blustery gusts of wind, 40, even 50—odd miles an hour in places.

but it is still, however, pretty mild with temperatures again reaching around 14 degrees in the mildest spots. for thursday we're looking at more rain as well. still quite a blustery day, the potentialfor some heavier rain to work in perhaps to parts of south—east england during the day. but away from that, the showers could merge together again to give some longer spells of rain at times. temperatures still up to about 14 degrees. and really through friday and the weekend, there's no change in the weather pattern. it stays unsettled with more rain at times. that's the latest.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. china's president xijinping is in moscow for a state visit with a man now wanted for war crimes. such is the geopolitical fallout from vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine. international criminal court have issued a arrest warrant for the russian president won't deter him for his continued assault on

ukraine but it does raise new