welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm monica miller. the headlines: former uk prime minister borisjohnson denies lying to parliament during a hearing into the so—called partygate scandal. i apologise for inadvertently misleading this house, but to say that i did it recklessly or deliberately is completely untrue, as the evidence shows. the us federal reserve raises interest rates, despite fears that it could add to financial turmoil after two bank failures. japan's prime minister fumio kishida wraps up his visit to eastern europe with a surprise visit to kyiv and a meeting with his

counterpart in warsaw. and the search is on for the family of one of the uk's last world war ii veterans, ahead of his funeral next week. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's 7am in the morning in singapore and ”pm in the evening in london, where the uk's former prime minister borisjohnson has denied lying to parliament in testimony to a committee that's investigating whether he intentionally misled mps over breaching his government's own coronavirus rules. he's acknowledged misleading parliament but said that was inadvertent and again apologised for that. the committee has pressed him on who gave him assurances that rules and guidelines had

not been breached. our political editor chris mason reports. one after another, the revelations came. the evidence stacked up, the defences fell. borisjohnson�*s government stumbled and then collapsed. today is about mrjohnson�*s reputation, but it is bigger than that. public debate is built on truth, something that toppled over under boris johnson. mps are now trying to determine if the former prime minister lied to them. i swear by almighty god that the evidence i shall give before this committee should be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. so help me god. thank you very much. being asked to take the oath is rare, borisjohnson promising to tell the truth about whether he told the truth — and that, the chair of this inquiry underlined, is at the crux

of all this. if what ministers tell us is not the truth, we can't do ourjob. our democracy depends upon trust that what ministers tell mps in the house of commons is the truth. and without that trust, our entire parliamentary democracy is undermined. the prime minister. and look at this — borisjohnson having to look himself in the eye and watch what he had previously said. the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times. i am here to say to you, hand on heart, that i did not lie to the house. when those statements were made, they were made in good faith and on the basis of what i honestly knew and believed at the time. and so to his interrogation, the mps testing his arguments. one of his conservative colleagues asked him about this picture of a leaving do for a senior adviser, or what mrjohnson called a farewell event.

the guidance does not say you can have a thank you party and it's ok if you think it's very important to thank people. the guidance doesn't say that. i accept that not everybody is perfectly socially distanced in that picture. but that did not mean to me, when i stood up in the house of commons and said that the guidance was followed completely, i was not thinking of that event and thinking that somehow that contravened the guidance. absolutely not. we were... we were making a huge effort to follow the guidance. what about the get togethers in the downing street garden? would you have advised anyone else in the country, if they'd asked you at one of the press conferences at that time, to have a large social gathering in the garden? it was not a large social gathering. it was... it was a gathering intended... and i really must insist on this point. people who say that we were partying in lockdown simply do not know what they are talking about. people who say that that event was a purely social gathering are quite wrong.

and then there was borisjohnson�*s birthday do, which led to mrjohnson and rishi sunak being fined for breaking the law. the pictures show that you attended a gathering in the cabinet room on this date to mark your birthday with at least 17 other people in attendance. now, the attendees included your wife and your interior designer, didn't they? they... they certainly included my wife and son. and, yes, there was a contractor who was working in the building who popped her head round the door very briefly. we've just confirmed that at least two people attended who were not work colleagues. why did you think this was reasonably necessary for work purposes, as required by the rules at the time? i thought it was reasonably necessary for work purposes because i was standing at my desk surrounded by officials who'd been asked to come and wish me a happy birthday. another committee member contrasted mrjohnson�*s written testimony with what he told mps.

you say you don't believe that perfect compliance with social distancing was required by the guidance. if you believe this, why did you not make it clear when you told the house that the guidance was followed at all times? well, that's a very good question, mr carter. perhaps if if i'd elucidated more clearly what i meant and what i felt and believed about following the guidance, that would have helped. and listen to this — things getting testy about whether boris johnson was sufficiently curious about what was going on where he lived and worked. the question is, why did you not take proper advice? this is complete nonsense. i mean, complete nonsense. i asked the relevant people. they were senior people. they'd been working very hard. and with that, after nearly three hours, it was over. thank you very much. i've much enjoyed our discussion. laughter well, i think it's been a useful...

i genuinely think it's been a useful discussion. all of this leaves three questions tonight. do the mps believe him? do you believe him? and what will a day like today mean for how our leaders conduct themselves in future? chris mason, bbc news at westminster. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk. staying with uk politics, members of parliament have voted in favour of a key part of a new agreement for implementing post—brexit trading arrangements for northern ireland. the british government's proposals — known as the windsor framework — have been agreed with brussels. 29 mps voted against it, including members of northern ireland's democratic unionist party and several high—profile mps from the governing conservative party. a 70—year—old man who was set on fire as he left a mosque

in birmingham has been named as mohammed rayaz. he remains in a serious but stable condition. a man arrested on suspicion of his attempted murder has now been arrested over a similar incident in west london last month. the main union representing train drivers in the uk has announced rail strikes by its members at 14 train companies. the suspensions are scheduled to take place on the 30th of march and the 1st of april, following discussions with management on wednesday. the rmt has already resolved its row with network rail in a similar dispute. the us central bank, the federal reserve, has increased interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. it's trying to balance the need to tackle inflation while protecting the financial sector. the collapse of two us banks this month were blamed in part on higher borrowing rates.

the latest decision has raised fears about the health of the us financial system. but the fed chairman spoke to reassure the public. our banking system is sound and resilient, with strong capital and liquidity. we will continue to closely monitor conditions in the banking system and are prepared to use all of our tools, as needed, to keep it safe and sound. in addition, we are committed to learning the lessons from this episode and to work to prevent events like this from happening again. and there will be more on the fed's interest rate decision coming up on asia business report in around 20 minutes�* time. stay tuned. the japanese prime minister has just wrapped up a visit to eastern europe, including a stop in ukraine, where he visited war—torn bucha and pledged $30 million in non—lethal aid. prime minister fumio kishida also met with his polish counterpart in warsaw — and the two leaders agreed on bilateral cooperation to help ukraine. but poland, one of ukraine's

closest allies, raised the alarm about increasing cooperation between beijing and moscow. russian president vladimir putin hosted chinese president xijinping for a two—day summit in moscow this week. the meeting coincided with the japanese prime minister's trip to ukraine, resulting in these striking images of contrasting asian alliances in the ukraine war. let's speak now to aki tonami, associate professor of international relations and economics at the university of tsukuba. she joins us from tokyo. thank you very much forjoining us on the programme. a lot of people are asking, is this a coincidence or was this planned, this trip by prime minister kushida?— minister kushida? thank you for havin: minister kushida? thank you for having me _ minister kushida? thank you for having me this _ minister kushida? thank you for having me this morning. - minister kushida? thank you for having me this morning. so - minister kushida? thank you for - having me this morning. so preminger kushida seems to like to bring himself as a diplomat, so that his

ground he is feels comfortable on, because he has been foreign minister before, so for him, making this upcoming g7 meeting in hiroshima, or he is originally from, is of actually a most importance both domestically and internationally. i suppose the date was not specifically chosen to align with mr xi's visit to russia, but nonetheless it became symbolic. you have these two east asian countries basically going to do different sides, what originally started as a regional conflict.— sides, what originally started as a regional conflict. some people have been questioning _ regional conflict. some people have been questioning that _ regional conflict. some people have been questioning that japan - regional conflict. some people have been questioning that japan is - regional conflict. some people have been questioning that japan is the l been questioning thatjapan is the last g7 member to visit ukraine. why did he take so long?— did he take so long? kushida had a difficult time _ did he take so long? kushida had a difficult time domestically, - did he take so long? kushida had a difficult time domestically, and - difficult time domestically, and there has been reports that he missed another opportunity in the past to visit ukraine, so i think it

just happened to be this lucky moment that he is able to both, for the mystic political reasons and internationally, he found this very slight moment of chance to visit ukraine —— domestic political reasons. in ukraine -- domestic political reasons. , . ukraine -- domestic political reasons. g ., ., ukraine -- domestic political reasone— ukraine -- domestic political reasons. ., ., , reasons. injapan, how do people feel about _ reasons. injapan, how do people feel about the _ reasons. injapan, how do people feel about the ukraine _ reasons. injapan, how do people feel about the ukraine war? - reasons. injapan, how do people feel about the ukraine war? is i reasons. injapan, how do people feel about the ukraine war? is it | feel about the ukraine war? is it something they discuss? is it something they discuss? is it something that is important to them? i think the war in ukraine means two things for people injapan. one is that many people project what happens to ukraine as the possibility of china invading taiwan. and taiwan is of course a some parts of japan, some parts ofjapan, okinawa, for example, is closer to taiwan, so the

projection feels very real. secondly, a possibility of changing the piece and situation that japan has held since 1945, after we lost the war, and this for many people feels very uncomfortable. piki feels very uncomfortable. aki tonami, thank— feels very uncomfortable. aki tonami, thank you very much for joining us on the programme. britain's prince william has thanked troops based near the ukrainian border for "defending our freedoms" at the start of a trip to poland. the prince of wales said the two—day trip, which was kept secret due to security concerns, will allow him to personally thank troops. he also said he wanted to pay tribute to the "inspiring humanity of the polish people" helping ukrainian refugees, who he's also been meeting on the trip. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: a huge clean—up operation is under way, after millions of dead fish filled a river in australia.

applause i'm so proud of both of you. let there be no more war or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. with great regret, the committee has decided that south africa will be excluded from the 1970 competition. chant 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. our headlines: former uk prime minister boris johnson denies lying to parliament, during televised hearings into the so—called partygate scandal. the us federal reserve raises interest rates, despite fears that it could add to financial turmoil after two bank failures. a major clean up operation is under way in a small town in new south wales after millions of fish died in a local river. it has now been almost a week since the incident was and it's been an anxious time for residents of the town of menindee, who are worried about possible

contamination of their water supply. i'm joined now by phil mercer in sydney. thank you very much forjoining us on the programme. what is the situation of the clean—up right now? we have heard from the senior police officer who is leading this emergency clean—up in menindee, and he believes that up to 20 million fish could have died in this mass die off. it is believed that the native fish suffocated in what is called hypoxic blackwater. this is a naturally occurring phenomenon that causes oxygen levels in the river to be drastically reduced, so essentially it is believed that these fish died because they didn't have enough oxygen, and he clean—up will be absolutely exhaustive. the police say he will be a logistical nightmare, so what we are seeing in

menindee, this is a small community, about 1000 km to the west of sydney, is contractors using giant booms to scoop up the fish on the surface and also try to reach those that are floating to the bottom of the darling river too. so it will be a huge logistical operation for contractors. as for residents, they are living with fears, as you say, of contaminated water supply and this awful stench of millions of rotting fish. this awful stench of millions of rotting fish-— this awful stench of millions of rotting fish. those pictures are iuite rotting fish. those pictures are quite extraordinary. _ rotting fish. those pictures are quite extraordinary. what - rotting fish. those pictures are quite extraordinary. what are l quite extraordinary. what are residents having to say and candy do something as simple as true the water in their area? the authorities sa the water in their area? the authorities say they can- -- — water in their area? the authorities say they can- -- as _ water in their area? the authorities say they can. -- as simple - water in their area? the authorities say they can. -- as simple as - water in their area? the authorities say they can. -- as simple as true l say they can. —— as simple as true the water? there was a meeting between the government agencies and the police, and during that meeting, officials were asked by residents to drink a glass of the local water,

which they did. the officials say that that water is perfectly safe to drink, that the residents in menindee have described a funeral recession of millions of fish carcasses, stretching for many, many kilometres, so there are clearly concerns about the clean—up, how long it will take, and also concerns about the quality of the town's water supply. on top of that, broader concerns about the management of the darling river that joins the murray darling basin, which is australia's biggest river system. which is australia's biggest river s stem. ~ . . ., which is australia's biggest river s stem. ~ . ., ,, , system. phil mercer, thank you very much for that _ system. phil mercer, thank you very much for that update. _ us secretary of state antony blinken has called on uganda's government to reconsider anti—lgbt draught legislation passed by parliament. under the bill, anyone identifying as lgbt could face up to ten years in prison. the bill still needs to be signed by president yoweri museveni. human rights watch says if it becomes law, it will be the first anywhere to to outlaw merely

identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer. the bbc�*s patience atuhaire reports from kampala. this gay man in his early 20s says that he is afraid for his life. he spoke to the bbc on condition that his identity is kept hidden and says that he has already faced online attacks and was outed to his family. they even took the information to my mother, so my mum was very mad at me and called saying, "you're gay? "i never want you back in my life. "never even come near my other children. "you are no longer my child." the newly passed bill will see anyone who is convicted of grooming or trafficking children for purposes of engaging them in homosexual activities face life in prison. but it includes even tougher penalties. a clause titled aggravated homosexuality now stipulates the death penalty in cases where somebody has sex with a minor, a disabled person, or in cases

where the victim gets infected with a lifelong disease as a result of the assault. this is the first time in decades in uganda that the death sentence has been included in a new law. ordinary ugandans have been reacting to the passing of the law. i am over the moon, very happy, because as ugandans, the biggest percentage of ugandans, they don't agree with the homosexuality. i don't wish our kids to face that, like, ladies sleeping with ladies. i was so excited about it and i really thank the parliament of uganda because they didn't let us down. activists have said that the anti—homosexuality bill may have far reaching consequences for ugandans in general. there's no reason why we should have a bill that criminalizes - individuals that are having consensual same—sex - adult relationships.

all ugandand should be really scared of this bill because it will not - just affect suspected lgbt individuals or people - who are actually lgbt. it can affect anyone. you know, anyone can accuse anyone of touching with the intent _ to commit homosexuality. anyone can accuse anyone - of promotion of homosexuality. government representatives in parliament gave the bill overwhelming support, but it will have to be signed by president yoweri museveni before it can officially become law. patience atuhaire, bbc news, kampala. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the number of people killed in a strong earthquake in afghanistan and pakistan has gone up to 19. more than 200 have been injured as the 6.5 magnitude tremor damaged houses and buildings, especially in remote mountainous areas on tuesday night. the epicentre of the quake was in the hindu kush mountains in north—eastern afghanistan.

south korea's opposition leader has been formally indicted on corruption charges, but his party says he can stay on in his position. the democratic party says it believes the charges against lee jae—myung are politically motivated. mr lee narrowly lost last year's presidential election and has been accused of granting illegal favours to property developers during his time as mayor of the city of seong—nam. the search is on for the family of one of the uk's last world war ii veterans as preparations are made for his funeral next week. he died alone in his flat. flight sergeant peter brown was born injamaica. he joined the raf in 1943 and served as a radio operator and air gunner on lancaster bombers. he never married and had no children. but there is hope some surviving relatives may be found. helena wilkinson has the story.

this is peter brown when he was serving as a flight sergeant in the royal air force in 1945. age 17, it's thought the young jamaican had travelled thousands of miles so he could volunteer to fly and fight in world war ii. after training, he flew as a crewmember in the avro lancaster, britain's famous strategic bomber that was used as the raf�*s main weapon against targets in germany. in december, the air force veteran died alone in his flat in west london. fiercely independent, stubborn as hell, but a wonderful guy, always smiling. he was never miserable. he chatted about his health. he was always complaining about one thing or another, but he kept going.

he said, "my knee hurts, but i've got to walk to the shops, "got to keep going." peter brown had no known relatives. now officials are searching forfamily members to attend his funeral. after peter brown came to britain, he trained as a wireless operator and air gunner, and he flew in a lancaster bomber like this one when he served in 65 squadron. he was one of 450 young black men from the caribbean, africa and parts of the uk to fly with the raf during the second world war. they were specialists that became a tightly knit team. everyone's survival depended on everyone's abilities to do theirjobs. they were the best and brightest. they took only the best and the brightest. his job was one of that team. without him, they would not have been able to go forward. it is hoped that anyone related to peter brown or anyone who knew him will get in touch ahead of his funeral next week, so he can be given the very best sendoff he deserves. helena wilkinson, bbc news.

muslims around the world are preparing to mark the start of ramadan, one of the holiest months in the islamic calendar. hundreds of worshippers in indonesia have offered evening prayers at one of the largest mosques in southeast asia, the istiqlal grand mosque injakarta. for some, it's their first time marking the start of the holy month at the huge venue. shoppers have also been visiting dubai's souqs for traditional sweets and spices, with the historic markets adorned with ramadan lights and decorations. and in london, the west end has been lit up with 30,000 lights to mark ramadan for the very first time. the lights were switched on by the mayor of london, one of the 1.3 million muslims in the city who'll be celebrating.

and that is it for us here on newsday. i'm monica miller. thanks for watching. hello there. the weather is remaining pretty unsettled for the rest of this week. low pressure will always be nearby, out to the west of the uk, in the atlantic — steering weather fronts our way, bringing outbreaks of rain, followed by sunshine and showers. and it will be blustery, even windy at times, particularly across england and wales. but on the plus side, it'll be fairly mild, with our air source coming in from the south—west. but it's quite a messy picture, i think, as you can see here for thursday, low pressure out to the west, lots of isobars, plenty of weather fronts. this weather front will bring more persistent rain to the south and south—east of the country later in the day. so we'll have showers, even longer spells of rain affecting central, northern and western areas. some good spells of sunshine around, too. but later in the day,

we'll see the cloud building up across the south and south—east as this persistent rain starts to push in. it will be a blustery day, certainly for england, wales, parts of northern ireland, not so much for scotland. a quieter day for you, but gusts around 40 miles an hour in exposure. but another mild day to come, temperatures reaching the low to mid—teens for many. a little bit chilly there for the far north of scotland. that rain, then, persistent at times, affects the south—east corner and then pushes on into the north sea. that'll be followed by further showers, even longer spells of rain, across scotland, in towards northern ireland for a time, but some clear spells, too. and temperatures, again, fairly mild because of the cloud, the breeze, the rain. no lower than around 5—8 degrees. now into friday, our area of low pressure is a bit closer to the uk, so it looks like we'll start off with some sunshine, fairly breezy, but then showers will get going. they'll be widespread and they will be heavy at times, some thunderstorms mixed in, some hail at times too. but again, temperatures low

to mid—teens for many. it will feel quite pleasant when you're out of the showers and in the sunshine. then it's all change into the weekend. we start to pick up northerly winds. that'll turn things very much colder. and we'll see showers turning increasingly wintry, particularly across the northern half of the country. you can see the arctic air plunging its way southwards gradually as we move through the weekend. the coldness of the air initially at the weekend across the north and then spreading to all areas by the time we reach sunday. so another mild day on saturday with sunshine and showers. by the time we reach sunday, it'll be very much colder, particularly in the north — where we could see some snow, notjust in the hills, even down to lower levels.

hello i'm hugh ferris. the race to become manchester united's potential new owners has taken a twist this evening with the deadline for revised bids being extended and several other proposed investors coming forward. qatari banker sheikh jassim and ineos ownerjim ratcliffe had been the only two interested parties to go public and it was understood that they had submitted a revised offer. but it's emerged they both asked for an extension to the deadline, which was this evening... and in a new development, was met by what's been described as �*several�* other potential investors. it's unclear when the new deadline will be in a situation that's understood to be �*live and fast moving'. chelsea have taken a step

towards the semi finals of the wmoen�*s champions league — with an impressive victory over the holders lyon in france.