welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... two men are arrested in new york for allegedly operating a chinese "secret police" station. life under military rule — we have a special report from inside myanmar. one of president putin's most prominent critics is jailed for 25 years. almost 200 thousand hospital appointments cancelled — the impact of last week's strike byjunior doctors in england.

it's seven in the morning in singapore, and 7pm in new york city where two men have appeared in court charged with operating a chinese "secret police station" in manhattan. lujianwang and chenjinping are accused of acting on behalf of china's ministry of public security, to monitor and intimidate dissidents. breon peace is the federal district attorney in brooklyn. unlike typical officers, the mps officers who have been charged today are not focused on preventing crime. rather, the complaints charge these mps officers with engaging in transnational repression schemes, targeting members of the chinese diaspora community in new york city and elsewhere in the united states.

and as shown in these complaints, the mps has repeatedly and flagrantly violated our nation's sovereignty, including by opening and operating a police station in the middle of new york city. our new york correspondent nada tawfiq told me more about the reaction from us authorites. what they are alleging here is that these two men, older men who were us citizens, were essentially opening and operating an illegal chinese police station on behalf of china's ministry of public security. and they said that began in 2022 in order to routinely monitor and intimidate dissidents in anyone critical of china's government in order to silence them. and us authorities say that this was essentially an entire floor of an office building in manhattan's chinatown, and that these men never notified the attorney general that they were acting as agents of a foreign government as they are required to do. and so essentially the fbi, they got an authorised warrant,

they searched the office, and they were able to question these two men. and they say that these men, once they realised that the fbi were investigating them, they closed the office, they deleted messages between them and a chinese official. and the fbi says that that essentially obstructed their investigation, prevented them for from understanding the full extent of what they were doing in that office. but in the kind of complaint, karishma, it lists, even before this secret police station was set up, alleged secret police station, that these men also did things like trying to locate persons of interest for china, trying to intimidate them, including a pro—democracy activist in california. yeah. nada, as you point out, you know, these are allegations at this point, but have we heard from beijing yet? and any sense of what

these alleged secret outposts are meant to do, what their purpose is? well, we haven't had direct response to this case in particular, but we know from past allegations. i mean, the fbi director, the old one, chris wray, there was a whole government hearing on this. and at the time, china really hit back at allegations that they're running about 100 of these outposts around the world and said that these were service centres for their citizens, that after covid—i9, their citizens needed access to things like renewing driver's licence and other consular services, and that that's what these outposts were all about. so they are denying this kind of full scale. i think from the us perspective, very similar to what we saw, if you remember, with the kind of spy balloon drama. they're really hitting back at china's assertions that this is nothing to see here. the us says that this is very calculated. this is all a part of efforts to strengthen xi jinping, hold on china, and to

silence anyone where, no matter where they are around the world, who would try to push back against china's government and policies. yeah. nada, the relations between the us and china, frankly, they're not at the best right now. right. i mean, we talk about this so often on this programme with you. what's your sense of how this might add fuel to the fire, so to speak? yeah. i mean, that's exactly right. i mean, we've seen things just deteriorating constantly. i mean, not only are these the world's two biggest economies and they have a natural competition in that sense, i mean, every effort that has been made to try to smooth things over, we've had other issues pop up. i mean, not only has it been back during the trump era, the trade wars and tariffs that had been placed, covid—i9 ratcheted up tensions. then we see with taiwan china's militarisation of the area in the south china sea, the us militarising the areas around the philippines.

i mean, we constantly have things that set back any attempts to try to get dialogue going. we've heard from the united states that they want to compete without conflict. china at the same time, has said that the united states has to get rid of this mentality, that they can control the world, that they have to allow for more open competition. so we've just seen these tensions, kind of these new ones when it comes to the spy balloon. now, this set back any kind of opening for the two sides to have real talks to make progress. we'lljust have to see, though, you know, in the future if they're able to get those talks going, antony blinken, if he's able to meet with his counterparts in the future. after one reporting on that story for us. to myanmar — where two years after the military seized power, deposing the government led by aung san suu kyi, the country is trapped in a civil war. the army is increasingly reliant on the air force to attack insurgent—held areas,

at least 140 people were killed in one such attack last week. 0ur south east asia correspondentjonathan head has been allowed to visit myanmar for the first time since the coup. his movements were restricted and he was barred from contacting the opposition. here's his report. much of myanmar is off—limits to visitors these days, but the military government did allow us to come here to inle lake, in shan state — in normal times, one of the country's most popular destinations. it's very quiet now. interviewing people directly is risky. you can be arrested for saying anything deemed negative. but the boatmen we met told us times have never been harder. "we never dreamt it would get this bad," they said. "we used to have freedom, then it ended so suddenly. " well, we've been to several places along the lake and so far, i've seen only three otherforeigners. for an area that is so

dependent on it, the collapse of tourism here has been catastrophic — the economy is in terrible shape. and it's worse than that for people living around here, because they say they have a deep, abiding loyalty to aung san suu kyi. they don't like the military takeover — although they don't say that openly — and they're worried that the armed groups resisting the military regime are operating closer and closer to the lake. "what we need," said one of them, "is peace". but there's little peace in myanmar. gunfire. south of the lake, anti—coup insurgents were battling the armyjust two weeks before we arrived. in retaliation, more than 20 civilians were lined up against the walls of this monastery and shot. we're passing through a village called tangtong and we know that there was a clash between a volunteer militia

here, anti—military, and the armed forces earlier this year and a number of people were arrested. it was the first time they'd had armed clashes in this pretty popular tourist area and it shows just how widespread this insurgency has become. no—one in the market wanted to talk about it, though. instead, they complained about rocketing inflation, of not enough people spending money. back in yangon, there is an air of normality. yet, barricades surrounding the city hall hint at the underlying insecurity. there are still occasional ambushes and assassination attempts. thousands of political prisoners are still being held, many behind this gate at insein prison. one of them, a veteran activist released last november, was the only person willing

to speak to us openly. translation: if the right to protest was restored i today, people would fill the streets again tomorrow. from past experience, we know the people of myanmar will never accept any form of dictatorship. while on the lake, we were taken to one of myanmar�*s most revered pagodas. in the past, it would've been packed with visitors praying for good fortune. the crowds are much thinner now. a woman approached me and warned me to be careful. "it's not safe since the coup," she said. "we wish we could go back to how it was before. " it's a forlorn hope. their military rulers keep telling them that there is no turning back. jonathan head, bbc news, inle lake, myanmar. fascinating report.

the eu's ambassador to sudan was attacked in his home in khartoum, as fighting between rival generals enters its fourth day. more than 180 people have already died in the latest violence, many of them civilians and the un says the humanitarian situation is now a full—blown crisis. the fighting was triggered at the weekend by the struggle between these two men to control sudan's military — the head of the armed forces general abdel fattah al—burhan and his deputy mohamed hamdan dagalo — who's in charge of the the paramilitary group the rsf the rapid support forces. the two men disagree on sudan's future and its journey towards civilian rule. one of the main obstacles is the role of paramilitaries in sudan's army and who should be in charge. caught in the middle, is sudan's population of around 50 million people. many are displaced and millions need humanitarian help. 0ur senior africa correspondent, anne soy, reports.

intense fighting is going on in sedan with no sign of rust bite. these students were caught in the crossfire when the clashes broke out. they are sheltering at an oil company located between army headquarters and the presidential palace. translation: for three days we've had no food or drink, conditions are miserable. please send help. airports are still a flashpoint these satellite images show the damage that has been done in the capital. the attacks have grounded aid operations and force regional leaders who would do to travel here on the peace building mission to cancel plans. civilians are trapped in their homes. i actually lived in east khartoum, less than 50 minutes

away from the military headquarters and the airport. we don't have enough food for tomorrow. we only have drinking water for two days now. we're actually out of tap water. sudan is a majority muslim nation for the ramadan is a time to travel and meet friends and family. but not now. aid workers have been caught up in the clashes. several of them have been killed and others injured. the un says a four hour pause introduced for humanitarian access was breached.— humanitarian access was breached. , , , ., breached. unless there is a very immediate _ breached. unless there is a very immediate truce - breached. unless there is a very immediate truce for i breached. unless there is a l very immediate truce for the people to get their needs i think the people will be compelled to do some looting. the number of casualties is rising. here staff at a local hospital travel just to get into their workplace this morning. whilst military

officers who support the army chief, working to be seen visiting the injured. and the fighting is spreading with troops out on the streets and ports are done and reports of unrest elsewhere. —— sudan. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines... the uk's prime minister — rishi sunak is under investigation by the commissioner of standards over whether a declaration of interest was "open and frank". the probe is related to his wife's child care firm that she has shares in. a spokesperson for mr. sunak says the pm is happy to work with the watchdog to clariy his ministerial interest. canada's public broadcaster says it's quitting twitter over a new government—funded label it says questions its editorial independence. the canadian broadcasting corporation says twitter had added a "government—funded

media" label to its account, branding it the same way as it does as major media outlets in authoritarian countries such as russia or china. the most senior roman catholic cleric in hong kong is making the first episcopal visit to beijing in nearly three decades. the trip by bishop stephen chow comes weeks after the chinese government said it had unilaterally installed a bishop in shanghai. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. whether it's an advert for the cinema, cigarettes or even sugar—coated bills these mysterious signs are all over our towns and cities. we've all had situations where we been driving around, not really noticing our surroundings. but you will have seen signs like these painted onto the sides of buildings advertising products

from may be 100 years ago. but did you know these are called ghost signs? gender produces a photographic magazine which documents some of the best ghost signs around west york shire. in my life span we've gone from paystub billboards to electric advertising spaces. that rotate every five seconds. we're so desensitized to advertising now. whereas 108 years ago these were made to last. how does it make you feel seen the looks sulfatedthe old charm, it boils my but, really. you're live with bbc news. one of president putin's most prominent critics has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by a court in moscow after he publicly criticised russia's invasion of ukraine. vladimir kara—murza, who also has british citizenship, is accused of treason and spreading false information.

his conviction is widely seen as politically—motivated. the uk government has demanded his immediate release. from moscow, our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports. handcuffed and in a bullet—proof cage, one of president putin's most prominent critics. vladimir kara—murza faced multiple charges, including treason. the verdict, guilty. the punishment, a quarter of a century in prison. access to the court room was heavily restricted. with otherjournalists and with foreign diplomats, we crowded into another room to watch on tv screens. for more than a decade, vladimir kara—murza has been a high—profile opponent of the kremlin. he'd lobbied western governments to sanction russian officials for corruption and human rights abuses, and he publicly condemned the war in ukraine.

mr kara—murza is also a british citizen. the uk hasjoined international condemnation of his conviction. the british government will continue to support him and stand in solidarity with him and his family, and we will continue to call for his release. vladimir kara—murza has a british passport. what will britain do to try to secure his release? we are continuing to ask for consular access to mr kara—murza, and we will continue to do that. for a critic of the kremlin, a political opponent of president putin, a prison sentence of 25 years is unprecedented in its severity. and it's a sign that in today's russia, the authorities are determined not only to silence or criticism, ——all but to neutralise anyone and anything they believe could be a threat to the political system here. vladimir is a very strong man. evgenia kara—murza is vladimir�*s wife. when she spoke to me from america before the verdict, she was already preparing

for the worst. the 25—year prison sentence, i think this is... well, to me, this is the recognition of the effectiveness of vladimir's work. they hate him so much, and they're so much afraid of him out there, you know, running free, that they need to lock him up for a quarter of a century to stop him from continuing his work. another sign of the times in moscow. this famous museum reminds russians of political repression of the past. it's named after soviet human rights campaigner andrei sakharov, but the authorities have declared it a foreign agent and now they're evicting it from the building. their final event feels like a swan song for russian democracy. now to an important

story from the uk — the impact of last week's strike byjunior doctors in england. its severity has been underlined by the latest officialfigures. more than 196,000 appointments had to be cancelled because of the industrial action, the highest number so far in the current pay dispute. the full impact is likely to be more far—reaching. nhs bosses are increasingly concerned about further industrial action. our health editor hugh pym has the latest. trying to get back to normal. are you comfortable as you are, lying on the bed? they are assessing patients who have come through this hospital's emergency department. fully staffed again after the four day strike by junior doctors last week. i'm really worried. i think this is an incredibly difficult time at the moment. the chief executive told me the hospitaljust about coped, but the prospect of further strikes was a huge concern. i think we feel very much

like we're getting to the edge of our ability to continue delivering care during these circumstances. our staff are utterly exhausted. it's not that long since we've recovered from the acute phases of a pandemic nationally. our staff need a degree of normality, and i don't believe they can keep stepping forward and supporting people during this action. he told me they'd cancelled 3,000 appointments and operations last week. rebecca was due to have day surgery at another hospital after ongoing health complications. it was cancelled, though she doesn't blame thejunior doctors. myjob had arranged cover for the two weeks where i needed to be off to recover, i'd kind of prepared myself mentally to go through the recovery process and things like that, and also, i do live with a decent amount of pain. but, yeah, i wasn't amazingly pleased that it got cancelled, but i understand why. the prime minister conceded that cancellations would make

his target of cutting waiting lists more difficult. there's lots of different initiatives that we've got which are going to help us bring those waiting lists down, and it's something i'm focused on, and i'm going to make sure that we continue to deliver, but of course industrial action makes that more challenging. but we are going to keep going at it, because it's important to the country. opposition parties say ministers must do more to resolve the disputes. i think that unless there is real leadership now from the prime minister, we are going to be back here again and again, notjust with nurses, with junior doctors, and if the government can't get around the table to negotiate, then i think it's time to call in acas. we've seen time and again, i this government is very slow to come to the table - to negotiate with the unions, whether it's junior doctors, whether it's nurses, - whether it's teachers. in fact, with junior doctors, they haven't even agreed . to start negotiating. you can't get to a settlement unless you talk. _ there are different pay disputes with the junior doctors' union around the uk. in england, further strikes are possible. in scotland, there is a ballot on strike action. in wales, pay talks

are ongoing, and in northern ireland, there are no negotiations. hospitals in england are now focusing on the nurses' strike in two weeks' time, expected to leave many operating theatres empty, as we saw before here. we will be very limited in our ability to offer any elective care and possibly also large degrees of emergency care. what sort of things in a&e might not be there? we are currently reviewing what we can offer on an emergency pathway, but it is possible that elements of our emergency care will not be open during the period of the strike. as things stand, an end to these disputes in the nhs still seems some way off. police in the us state of alabama have given details of the four people who were shot dead at birthday party at the weekend. they were aged between 17 and 23 and included two high—school students. nearly 30 others were injured in the attack in the town of dadeville, which has left

five people in a critical condition. our north america correspondent jessica parker has been speaking to the sister of one of the victims. a proud mum stands beside her son, a star athlete seen heading for university on a football scholarship, but 18—year—old phil dowdell lost his life on saturday. we have spoken to his mother latonya and sister alexis whose sweet 16 it was. she says her big brother pushed her to the floor as the shooting began, saving her life. she then found him fatally injured. he wasn't breathing too much because he had already lost a lot of blood. so it was... they said that it was his body lying on the ground. my mum started crying and that is when i ran in there and grabbed him. i was holding him in my arm.

police investigating the attack at this dance studio have given no details about suspects or a possible motive. latonya and alexis say they don't know what happened either. everybodyjust rushed out. you don't know if it was more than one person but you think it was? i think it had to be more than one person. tell us about phil. it is like a piece of my heart has been ripped out. i know he loved us. he know i loved him. he was supposed to graduate next may. instead of going to graduation, i will be going to the cemetery to see my son. phil's mother says more must be done to tackle gun violence, to stop tragedies like this. a young man dying at his own sister's birthday. jessica parker, bbc news, dadeville, alabama. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news.

thank you forjoining us. lots more on the bbc website as always. do stay with bbc news. hello there. we've started this week off on a pretty warm note. in fact, many parts of the uk saw the warmest day of the year so far on monday. however, over the next few days, those temperatures will be coming down as we pick up a chilly easterly breeze. and there could even be a bit of rain in places by the end of the week. now, high pressure dominates the scene over the next few days, sitting across scandinavia, bringing this easterly breeze. but more isobars on the chart mean that easterly wind picks up and we'll start to see these weather fronts rolling in off the near continent, bringing outbreaks of rain, particularly for england and wales, whereas further north it should tend to stay largely dry. now for tuesday morning, we'll start off with a bit of low cloud mist, but that should tend to burn away.

many places will see a sunny day, but we'll see thicker cloud for southern and southeastern areas. and the breeze will be stronger, noticeably cooler, i think, across the board, but certainly down north sea coast. that's because the sea temperatures are pretty low at this time of year, seven or eight degrees. so it will feel cool immediately on the north sea coast, head further inland and again, we're close to the mid—teens, some of the highest temperatures for western scotland, up to the high teens there. so as we move out of tuesday day through the night, we'll start to see further low clouds and mist the rolling in off the north sea once again, especially for england and wales, eastern scotland, clearer skies further west. so it's here where we could see temperatures dip close to freezing two, three degrees. generally for most, we're between four and seven celsius. a little change as we head into wednesday. again, we've got high pressure dominating the scene. it's going to be another windy day, strong easterly winds, so feeling cool again along the north sea coast and we'll see thicker cloud at times rolling in across england and wales. clusters of showers affecting the south of england, certainly the south west,

perhaps in towards south wales. but most places will be dry, get a chilly feel to things towards the east, further west where around the low to mid—teens celsius. and then as we move throughout thursday into friday, we start to see more weather fronts pushing in some of these weather fronts, bringing more prolonged rain at times to england and wales on friday. and again, it's going to be quite cool with a strong east the breeze so temperatures dipping away as we head towards the end of the week into the weekend. and there's a greater chance of many of us, certainly england and wales, seeing some wetter weather.

beijing is said to release the first indicators of china's post covid—19 economy and political tensions rise again in the us is the republican leader criticises president biden over the us debt ceiling. hello and welcome to asia business report. markets in asia are awaiting in anticipation for economic data out of china and if you are his time, beijing will release its gdp figures among a host of other key data. the quarterly figures were the presence beijing strapped in zero

covid—19 restrictions late last year. the