welcome to newsday reporting live from singapore stopping the headlines: donald trump has arrived in new york ahead of his unprecedented appearance in court to face criminal charges. he is spending the night in the trump tower in manhattan accompanied by advisers and his legal team. this is the scene live in and hatton where the media has gathered for one of the biggest stories of the year. we will explain just what mr trump is facing and what the effect could be on the next race for the white house. also coming up, russian investigators detain an anti—war campaign as they

investigate the death of a pro— kremlin blogger and an explosion in st petersburg. and a return to the moon with the return of artemis to. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. it singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday.— it's newsday. it is eight in the morning _ it's newsday. it is eight in the morning here - it's newsday. it is eight in the morning here in - it's newsday. it is eight in - the morning here in singapore and eight in the evening in new york where donald trump is spending the night ahead of his arraignment on tuesday. i want to show you the scene live in new york and as we understand that he is in his suite in the trump tower in and hatton, presumably conferring with his lawyers for what will be an unprecedented moment in us legal history. that's before never —— that is because never before has a us president sitting or previous face

criminal charges. we will be looking at what could happen nextin looking at what could happen next in just a moment when we hearfrom our next in just a moment when we hear from our correspondence next in just a moment when we hearfrom our correspondence in new york and from a legal expert we begin today with this report from our north america editor sarah smith. it's not quite a presidential motorcade, but as donald trump leaves his florida home, he is still deliberately grabbing attention. there he is! cheering. american tv stations carried live his arrival in newark. —— american tv stations carried live his arrival in new york. as a former president, donald trump gets the secret service to escort him into town, and he is obviously relishing being back in the spotlight. no president in the history of our country has been subjected to such vicious and disgusting attacks he is already using his claim that the case against him is a politically motivated witch hunt to raise funds. his campaign says it has brought in over $7 million in just four days. die—hard supporters outside trump tower are adamant that he is being victimised

by opponents who want to stop him being re—elected president, and that those efforts will backfire. he shouldn't even be charged with a misdemeanour in this case, and they are charging him with a felony. oh, my god, they really don't like this guy, they're really afraid of him. it stinks like a crock of hog drippings, and i've had democrat friends of mine tell me, democrats, "i still hate trump but what they're doing to him is totally wrong." i would take a bulleti for donald trump cos i know that man would take a bullet for me. l and when he says, "if they can come after me with this case, they can come after any of you," do you believe him? yes! new york's finest are ready outside the courthouse braced for any protest or disruption. donald trump did warn of potential death and destruction if charges were brought against him. while there may be some rabble—rousers thinking about coming to any city tomorrow, our message is clear and simple. control yourselves. new york city is our home, not a playground for your misplaced anger.

mr trump may yet face other more serious criminal charges. a special counsel is looking into whether he should be prosecuted for inciting the january 6th riot at the capitol, as well as the hundreds of classified documents the fbi found at his home in florida. and in the state of georgia, he could yet be charged with trying to unlawfully alter the result of the 2020 presidential election. the new york district attorney who's bringing the case against trump insists it has nothing to do with politics, it's all about the law. but there is no doubt that whatever happens inside this courtroom will have a huge political impact. and we can hear now from our correspondent who joined us earlier from correspondent who joined us earlierfrom manhattan, she earlier from manhattan, she told earlierfrom manhattan, she told me more about the atmosphere at the trump tower. all day long the us media has been following and in fact carrying live every step of donald trump's journey from his

home in mar—a—lago here to trump tower in new york. the whole way, the secret service escorted him here and it is where he will prepare this evening to face the criminal charges against him tomorrow, even on his flight over he was tweeting, repeating this notion that this entire case is a witch—hunt against him and i can tell you, there have been a few supporters of the president here. not as much as in mar—a—lago in florida where he lined the streets —— where they lined the streets —— where they lined the streets and she had for him. they repeated his narrative that this isn't a case worth bringing, that this is all about influencing an upcoming residential election and harming him. on the other hand there are those who say the president has for a long time had this coming and that nobody is above the law and that he will have his child to

answer to the charges against him in court. it is important to remember the indictment is still under seal so we don't know the exact charges but we do understand that has to do with more than 30 counts of falsifying business records, that the trump organization here and mr trumpeted that to conceal a crime. so it has certainly been a day where new york city officials, security, even federal security officials have been bracing themselves and you heard there the mayor of new york eric adams saying to anyone who plans to protest to anyone who plans to protest to control yourselves, that new york is not the place to take out their anger.— out their anger. really interesting _ out their anger. really interesting 24 - out their anger. really interesting 24 hours i out their anger. really - interesting 24 hours ahead and i'm sure you will be keeping us up—to—date on every twist and turn. butjust talk us through the divisiveness that this case has brought into american politics. we have seen that in the past but how much worse is it getting, do you think? iretell

it getting, do you think? well look, donald _ it getting, do you think? well look, donald trump - it getting, do you think? well look, donald trump has - it getting, do you think? -m look, donald trump has always been a polarising figure but he is once again upending us politics, breaking the conventions of the office of the presidency with the fact that now he is facing these criminal charges. i think to his supporters and again because he has hammered this idea that he has faced two impeachments, he has faced several special investigations, so for his supporters it is this idea that there keeps being these investigations coming trump's way and they see this as perhaps one of the least consequential cases. ultimately this is not the investigations over his attempts to overturn the election, allegedly, or attempts to hide classified documents at mar—a—lago as some allege but still, this is such an unprecedented moment where a former president is facing criminal charges and that same

man is trying to make a comeback for the white house at the same time so i think has just deepened the political divisions, his supporters who remain loyal to him remain convinced that this is notjust an attack on him that on them while others who dislike president trump are hoping this is what finally brings him down but i think it is still too early to see how this will affect him politically. it is still early days. at least for now though, his campaign says they have raised at least $7 million since news of the indictment broke so donald trump is hoping to leverage all of this for his benefit. whether that will be the case in the coming months though, who knows. in the coming months though, who know-— in the coming months though, who knows. our correspondent the 're who knows. our correspondent they're talking _ who knows. our correspondent they're talking us _ who knows. our correspondent they're talking us through - who knows. our correspondentj they're talking us through what is expected in the coming days and months and we will bring you for live coverage from new york and mr rudd's appearance in court right here on bbc news. ——mrtrump's. for now

in court right here on bbc news. ——mr trump's. for now you can keep up—to—date on the bbc news website with context from all our teams on the ground. it's all on our website or simply download the bbc news app, simply download the bbc news app, if you haven't done so already. time now to take a look at some of the other stories that are making headlines today, starting with the fact that malaysia's parliament has voted to remove the country's mandatory death penalty. there are more than 1300 prisoners currently on i300 prisoners currently on death row there although there has been a moratorium on executions since 2018. crimes like murder and terrorism will now be punished by life imprisonment. the white house says it cannot confirm us media reports that a chinese balloon that flew across the united states two months ago was able to gather intelligence from several military sites and transmit it back to beijing's. speaking at a briefing depend again deputy press secretary

sabrina singh said she could not confirm whether live transmissions were made by the balloon. oil prices have surged after several of the world's largest exporters announced surprise cut in production. the price of brent crude oil is trading close to around $85 a barrel afterjumping by almost barrel after jumping by almost 6%. barrel afterjumping by almost 6%. the decision to reduce supplies was led by a group of gulf states and russia then said it would extend its cut of half a million barrels a day until the end of the year. i want to take you to russia now where a woman who campaigned against the war in ukraine has been detained by officials in st petersburg after the killing of a well—known pro— military blogger. it's been reported that he died in an explosion shortly after being entered with a statuette on sunday evening. the woman identified as the suspect was previously arrested for taking part in protests of russia's invasion of ukraine. and ordinary seen

on an ordinary street in st petersburg. a woman into the cafe containing a box carrying a statuette. it's hard to verify this but russia says she was delivering a bomb. inside the cafe, there is a meeting of russian pro— war activists invited speaker is this man, a prolific blogger with over half a million followers. and then this. the explosion killed him outright and injured over 30 others. russian officials were quick to blame ukraine which denied at but the suspect now detained is not ukrainian, she's russian. police are naming her as she's russian. police are naming heras an she's russian. police are naming her as an anti—war act of they've released this footage of her being arrested at home. she is then seen being

questioned, apparently under duress. russia says she's confessed to carrying the statuette that killed the man in the cafe. he was a big figure amongst russian military bloggers stopping a former convict, he fought against ukraine in the don beth. he was highly critical of russian failures in the battlefield leading some to suspect into russian rivalry. this is a really murky incident. despite all claims it is not immediately clear exactly who was behind this explosion. but to help guide us through at is olga from the bbc russian service. what is your take on this? a, , service. what is your take on this? , ., service. what is your take on this? , , this? many other experts believe it _ this? many other experts believe it must _ this? many other experts believe it must be - this? many other experts i believe it must be ukrainian intelligence behind this attack. the ukrainian committee thinks russian opposition was involved in. we need to remember that another prominent local support of war was targeted in moscow. on the

other hand many russian war commanders were killed in strange circumstances. b5 strange circumstances. as russian investigators piece together what happened yesterday in st petersburg the propaganda war continues. russia says this was ukraine linked terrorism stop ukraine's residential advisers say it was russian on russian. spiders are eating each other in a jar, he tweeted. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. ., across the uk, this is bbc news. . , ., , across the uk, this is bbc news. . , news. there are people both ounu news. there are people both young and — news. there are people both young and old _ news. there are people both young and old who _ news. there are people both young and old who simply i news. there are people both young and old who simply do news. there are people both - young and old who simply do not know that people of colour fought and died alongside their british counterparts in both world wars. b, british counterparts in both world wars.— world wars. a large crowd gathered _ world wars. a large crowd gathered to _ world wars. a large crowd gathered to remember i world wars. a large crowd gathered to remember a l gathered to remember a generation who crossed oceans to help written during world war ii. ., , ., ., to help written during world war". ., , ., ., ., war ii. nothing short of a disgrace _ war ii. nothing short of a disgrace that _ war ii. nothing short of a disgrace that the - war ii. nothing short of a disgrace that the service | war ii. nothing short of a i disgrace that the service of these brave men who came all

those thousand miles from the caribbean to help this country in its hour of need has been pretty much erased from the history books.— pretty much erased from the history books. glen came over from the _ history books. glen came over from the caribbean _ history books. glen came over from the caribbean to - history books. glen came over from the caribbean to train . from the caribbean to train with the raf. he wanted a memorialfor them and with the raf. he wanted a memorial for them and thousands of others who volunteered to serve. ads, of others who volunteered to serve. �* ., , of others who volunteered to serve. ~ , ., of others who volunteered to serve. , ., serve. a hope people do take notice. serve. a hope people do take notice- i _ serve. a hope people do take notice. i am _ serve. a hope people do take notice. i am proud. _ serve. a hope people do take notice. iam proud. i- serve. a hope people do take notice. iam proud. ifeel- serve. a hope people do take notice. iam proud. ifeelforl notice. iam proud. ifeelfor my comrades. _ notice. iam proud. ifeelfor my comrades. you - notice. iam proud. ifeelfor my comrades. you know. i notice. i am proud. ifeelfor. my comrades. you know. you notice. iam proud. ifeelfor- my comrades. you know. you are live with bbc _ my comrades. you know. you are live with bbc news. _ my comrades. you know. you are live with bbc news. let's - my comrades. you know. you are live with bbc news. let's get - live with bbc news. let's get more now on our top story on donald trump and earlier i spoke with tom ginsberg who is a professor of law and political science at the university of chicago. he

explained donald trump's possible legal strategy at his arraignment hearing. there is a legal strategy and we can't quite focus on it because we do not know the nature of the indictment that the suspicion is it will be a hard case for the prosecution to prove because it turns on intent to commit a federal crime. that is the kind of linked crime to the fraud, so, some people are speculating it might be hard to prove, and i think the legal strategy is going to be focused on donald trump's lack of intent and following legal advice is probably what he will say. there is a political strategy to, and i think from that point of view — right now it is, oddly, a good thing for donald trump. oddly, a good thing for donald trum -. ., oddly, a good thing for donald trum . _ ., ., , oddly, a good thing for donald trum .. . ., , , oddly, a good thing for donald trum. . , trump. neta was 'ust saying that there has _ trump. neta wasjust saying that there has been - trump. neta wasjust saying that there has been a - trump. neta wasjust saying that there has been a flurryl trump. neta wasjust saying i that there has been a flurry of support in terms of public support, people on the streets, but also financial support, giving a boost to the campaign.

are you expecting to see more of that? i are you expecting to see more of that? , ,., ., ., of that? i believe so, and a sitn of of that? i believe so, and a sign of that _ of that? i believe so, and a sign of that is _ of that? i believe so, and a sign of that is all— of that? i believe so, and a sign of that is all the - of that? i believe so, and a sign of that is all the other| sign of that is all the other people on the republican party, including several people expected to be his rivals competing for the nomination, have just rallied around him. they sense that their base at the end of the date once the narrative that donald trump is a victim, that he has — as some of your interviewees were saying, he would take a bullet for them so they have to take a bullet for him. so, really, i think he has upended the nomination campaign because it has made him the very centre of it, for sure. there is a very interesting dynamic.- it, for sure. there is a very interesting dynamic. does that mean that _ interesting dynamic. does that mean that he _ interesting dynamic. does that mean that he is _ interesting dynamic. does that mean that he is - _ interesting dynamic. does that mean that he is - sorry, - interesting dynamic. does that mean that he is - sorry, i - interesting dynamic. does that mean that he is - sorry, i did l mean that he is — sorry, i did not mean tojump into but does that mean that he is a front runner and it puts the other candidates in a really tricky position, doesn't it, because they all have to back in, as you say? i they all have to back in, as you say?— you say? i think so. i think that is what _ you say? i think so. i think that is what is _ you say? i think so. i think that is what is happening l you say? i think so. i think. that is what is happening and he is always very good in a

large campaign field. he is very good one on one at sort of mocking his individual opponents, and so perhaps it would have been this way anyway, but this really has accelerated i think the republicans rallying around donald trump. whether that is good for the republican party, i am not so sure, and i good for the republican party, iam not so sure, and i have republican friends who are upset by the whole thing because they think it is part of a democratic plot be the nominee because they do not think that he could beat biden whereas others could so it is a complex political calculus and i think that is affecting the reactions of many people. find i think that is affecting the reactions of many people. and i wonder whether _ reactions of many people. and i wonder whether you _ reactions of many people. and i wonder whether you can - reactions of many people. and i wonder whether you can speak. reactions of many people. and i l wonder whether you can speak to the divisions within american society about this because this is a hugely unprecedented moment in american politics — people watching this play out in real time, people watching this play out in realtime, in people watching this play out in real time, in a people watching this play out in realtime, in a prime people watching this play out in real time, in a prime time. what do you think is going through the minds of american voters as they watch this play out? i

voters as they watch this play out? ., , , voters as they watch this play out? . , , ., ., ., out? i am sure it is a range of emotions- _ out? i am sure it is a range of emotions. for _ out? i am sure it is a range of emotions. for the _ out? i am sure it is a range of emotions. for the hard - out? i am sure it is a range of. emotions. for the hard trumpers this is an example of why they stood for him in the first place and it might boost his ability to get that nomination. for others, and probably the marginal voters that would be needed to win an american presidency, because of course it is always a broad coalition thatis it is always a broad coalition that is required, i think a lot of people are really tired about hearing about donald trump and all of the drama around him so that is part of the calculus, and then there are people, and i would include myself here, who worry about the precedent — not about prosecuting a former president, but someone who is running for office at the moment — because you can imagine that down the road, state legislature, state prosecutors and bread states will come up with spurious charges to bring against democratic candidates and so i just worry about where this leads us through the politicisation of the legal

system, completely independently of the merits of the particular charges —— red states. the particular charges -- red states. ., ., , the particular charges -- red states. . ., , ., the particular charges -- red states. . ., , ,, states. that was tom ginsburg, trofessor states. that was tom ginsburg, professor of _ states. that was tom ginsburg, professor of law _ states. that was tom ginsburg, professor of law at _ states. that was tom ginsburg, professor of law at the - professor of law at the university of chicago speaking to me earlier about the political situation in the united states and donald trump's arraignment that we will cover for you trump's arraignment that we will coverfor you on bbc news but let's leave the united states because i want to bring you up—to—date with news lines that are coming out of the war in ukraine today. ace spokesperson for ukraine's eastern command has denied russian claims that forces have effectively captured bakhmut. that comes after the head of the russian mercenary showed video of his troops at the centre of the besieged city. meanwhile, finland will formallyjoin nato on tuesday. it made its application to join the alliance after russia of which finland shares a border invaded ukraine. sweden is also applying tojoin nato invaded ukraine. sweden is also applying to join nato with its membership currently being processed. and the american

journalist who was arrested and charged with spying in russia last week has appealed against his detention. his employer, the wall streetjournal, says the wall streetjournal, says the allegations were untrue and a vicious assault to a free press, antonito has also voiced its support. i press, antonito has also voiced its support-— its support. i 'oined the united its support. ijoined the united states _ its support. ijoined the united states in - its support. ijoined the united states in their . its support. ijoined the i united states in their call its support. ijoined the - united states in their call on russia to release the american journalist to ensure that his rights to work as a journalist are respected. rights to work as a 'ournalist are respected.— rights to work as a 'ournalist are respected. the republican us house _ are respected. the republican us house speaker— are respected. the republican us house speaker kevin - are respected. the republican - us house speaker kevin mccarthy has confirmed he will meet thai whiz president tsai ing—wen on wednesday, despite warnings that he was playing with fire — their words. that he was playing with fire — theirwords. last that he was playing with fire — their words. last year former house speaker nancy pelosi became the highest us official to visit taiwan in 25 years. it triggered the largest ever

chinese military drill surrounding the self ruled ireland. beijing seized taiwan as a renegade province which it says will one day be returned to mainland china. our correspondent danny vinson has more. mr xia watches the ukraine war unfold from taiwan. for the quality control engineer, there are comparisons between russia's war in ukraine and china's threats towards his home. the taiwanese government has extended mandatory military training from four months to a year. mr xia fears it is not enough. translation: |think| taiwanese people tend to avoid this issue. personally, i believe that if we want peace, you have to pay a price. freedom comes at a cost, and i hope other taiwanese people can face this problem squarely. mr xia is one of an increasing number of taiwanese civilians determined to safeguard

taiwan in the event of chinese aggression. this is a war survival game with airsoft bullets but the intensity is real. taiwan is on the front line from these aggressions from beijing. but here on the ground, these threats feel like somewhat of a war game. former us house speaker nancy pelosi's visit to taipei triggered beijing to launch military drills, encircling taiwan. now, president tsai ing—wen is set to meet with the current house speaker in the us. billion lee is the co—founder of a fact—finding initiative in taipei. she says that china is flooding taiwan with disinformation in a battle for hearts and minds. translation: we sometimes think that for china it is cheaper _ for the communist party to buy taiwan rather than go to war with taiwan. but the use of misinformation and disinformation is

even cheaper for the communist party. it means they can use the democratic system against itself. the taiwanese have been living under the threat of warfor decades. they must now decide how to best prepare for what beijing says is inevitable. danny vincent, bbc news taipei. in other stories for you today, nasa has announced that the crew of its artemis ii mission which will fly around the moon, and it will include the first woman and the first african—american ever to make a lunar trip. african—american ever to make a lunartrip. now, if all goes african—american ever to make a lunar trip. now, if all goes to plan, they will blast off next year and could help establish a permanent base camp on the moon. ourscience permanent base camp on the moon. our science editor has more. it's a new era of pioneers and adventurers. vying for seats on the most sought after mission in 50 years on a spacecraft that is heading

back to the moon. four astronauts ready to make history. and now they've been revealed. i'm christina koch. i'm a mission specialist on the artemis ii mission to the moon. she holds the record for the longest continuous stay in space by a woman. jeremy hansen, from the canadian space agency — a fighter pilot and physicist. and nasa's former chief astronaut, reid wiseman — the artemis ii commander. and making up the four piloting the spacecraft will be victor glover. artemis ii is more than a mission to the moon and back,. it's more than a mission that has to happen before we send people to the surface of the moon. it is the next step on the journey that gets humanity to mars. the one thing i'm most excited about is that we are going to carry your excitement, your aspirations, your dreams with us on this mission. artemis ii — your mission.

three, two, one... and this is the rocket they'll be riding on. it made a test flight to the moon last year. now it's ready for a crew. the artemis ii mission will lift off from cape canaveral in florida. the spacecraft will spend the first 42 hours orbiting the earth, testing the life support systems. it's the first time they'll have been used. the astronauts will then spend four days travelling to the moon, flying far beyond it, before heading back for a splashdown in the pacific ocean. the whole trip will take about ten days. it's been 50 years since humanity last visited the moon. this next generation's mission is scheduled to take off at the end of next year. rebecca morelle, bbc news. what an amazing report there. exciting times indeed. i want to leave you now with live pictures from manhattan. this is the scene outside trump

tower where the former president donald trump is spending the night ahead of his court appearance on tuesday. we will have a lot more on that from bbc news but for now from me and the team in singapore, thanks forjoining us. hello. we've seen a reasonably settled spell of early april weather over the past few days, largely dry with some sunshine. and that's going to continue at least for another 24 hours for many parts of the uk. so sunny spells around. there is some rain in the forecast through tuesday and it's mainly pushing in across the far northwest all down to this weather front you can see here. but it is meeting this big area of high pressure which sits to the east, and that's really going to be the driving force of the weather, particularly across england, wales and eastern scotland, too. that's where we've got the clearest skies over the next few hours. it's really quite chilly out there. a bit more cloud and drizzly rain pushing into northern ireland and western scotland. so temperatures by tuesday dawn here above freezing. but elsewhere we could see a touch of frost, perhaps

as low as minus four in one or two sheltered rural spots across england and wales. now through the day on tuesday after that chilly start, any misting is soon clearing away. lots of sunshine for much of england, wales and eastern scotland. a little bit of high cloud around, so turning hazy at times, especially later on. more cloud, though, for northern ireland and western scotland. the breeze picking up and a little patchy light rain through the morning, becoming a bit more persistent during the afternoon. top temperatures for most of us between about 12 to 14 degrees or so. not as cool as it has been close to the east coast because we're losing that onshore breeze. now overnight tuesday, and heading on into wednesday, we've got this cloud and rain just pushing more widely across the uk, but we do keep the clear skies for east anglia in the southeast. so yet again, just a touch of frost as we head through into wednesday morning here. but further northwest under that blanket of cloud and rain, it is going to be reasonably mild. so heading through wednesday then this frontal system edges its way gradually southwards and eastwards too. so it will bring a spell of wet weather for many of us, i think through wednesday, not everywhere, probably east anglia, parts of lincolnshire, down towards southern

and southeastern england, staying dry with some sunny spells all day. but elsewhere, a lot of cloud. the breeze picking up from a south westerly direction and outbreaks of rain could be quite persistent at times. reasonably mild, still about ten to 14 degrees during the day on wednesday. and then as we head through towards wednesday night into thursday, we could well see a little bit of a ripple on this weather front. so that means that during thursday, more areas, especially in the east, could see some spells of persistent rain. should gradually clear away, though, as we head through good friday and into the easter weekend, showers tending to clear up. so many of us looking dry. could be a little bit of rain though at times in the south. bye— bye.

possible legal strategy at his arraignment hearing. wall street brushes off inflationary fears after a global oil cartel announced surprise production cuts. plus, we check out an app in india designed in part to help those in remote areas to access welfare schemes. hello and welcome to asia business report, i'm karishma vaswani.