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. live under military rule, we have a special report from inside myanmar. and one of president putin's most prominent critics is jailed for 25 years.

hello and welcome to the programme. we began in new york city where two men have appeared in court charged with operating a chinese secret police station in manhattan. they are accused of acting on behalf of china's military to monitor and intimidate dissidents. unlike typical officers, they are not focused on preventing crime, ratherthe are not focused on preventing crime, rather the complaints charged these nps offices with engaging in transnational repression schemes, targeting members of the chinese deist for a community in new york city and elsewhere in the united states, and as shown in these complaints, the nps has repeatedly and flagrantly violated our nation's sovereignty including by opening and operating a police station in the middle of new york city.

station in the middle of new york city-— station in the middle of new york ci . . . , ., york city. that was the federal district attorney _ york city. that was the federal district attorney in _ york city. that was the federal district attorney in brooklyn. l 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 are 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 and 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 essentially obstructed their investigation, prevented them from understanding the full extent of what they were doing in that office but in the complaint, it lists even before this secret police station was set up, legend 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. pro-democracy activist in california.— pro-democracy activist in california. a ., california. as you point out, these are — california. as you point out, these are allegations - california. as you point out, these are allegations at - california. as you point out, 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? we outposts are meant to do? what their purpose is?— their purpose is? we haven't had direct — their purpose is? we haven't had direct response - their purpose is? we haven't had direct response to - their purpose is? we haven't had direct response to this i had direct response to this case in particular but we know

from past allegations, the fbi director, the old one, kris reyes, there was a whole government hearing on this and at the time china really hit back at allegations that they are running about 100 of these outposts around the world and said that these were service centres for their citizens, that after covid—19, there are citizens needed access to things like renewing drivers licenses and other consular services and that's what these outposts were all about, so they are denying this 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 are really heading back at china's assertions that this is nothing to see here. the us says this is very calculated and all a part of efforts to strengthen xi jinping's hold on china and to silence anyone about it where they are around the world who would try to push back against china's government and

policies. china's government and policies-_ china's government and olicies. ., ., , , policies. relations between the us and china _ policies. relations between the us and china frankly _ policies. relations between the us and china frankly are - policies. relations between the us and china frankly are not. policies. relations between the us and china frankly are not at| us and china frankly are not at the best right now. we talk about this so often on this programme with you. what is yoursense programme with you. what is your sense of how this may add fuel to the fire, so to speak? that's exactly right, we have seen things just deteriorating constantly stopping not only are these the world's two august economies and have natural competition in that sense, every effort that has been made to try to smooth things over we have had other issues pop—up. not only has it been back during the trump era that the trade wars and tariffs have been placed, covid—19 ratcheted up tensions, then we see with taiwan, china's militarisation of the area and the south china sea, the us militarising the areas around the philippines. 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 has said that the united states 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 havejust seen these tensions, 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 willjust have to see though, in the future, if they are able to get those talks going. antony blinken, if he is able to meet with his counterparts in the future. 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 other foreigners. 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 army just 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. the eu's ambassador to sudan was attacked in his home in khartoum, as fighting between rival generals enters its fourth day. hospitals have also been sheued hospitals have also been shelled with almost 200 people

killed. 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. 0ur senior africa correspondent, anne soy, reports. intense fighting is ongoing in sudan for the third day running with no respite insight. these students are sheltering between the army headquarters and the presidential palace.

translation: presidential palace. tuna/mom- presidential palace. translation: ., , translation: for three days we have had no _ translation: for three days we have had no food _ translation: for three days we have had no food or _ translation: for three days we have had no food or drink, - have had no food or drink, conditions are miserable, please send help. airports are still a flashpoint. _ please send help. airports are still a flashpoint. these - still a flashpoint. these images showed the damage that has been done in the capital. the attacks have grounded aid operations and forced peace building admissions to cancel plans. these fighters from the rfs claim to have taken control of another airport. civilians who live nearby are trapped in their homes. i who live nearby are trapped in their homes.— their homes. i actually lived in east khartoum, _ their homes. i actually lived in east khartoum, less - their homes. i actually lived in east khartoum, less thanj their homes. i actually lived i in east khartoum, less than 15 minutes away from the literary headquarters and the airport. we don't have enough food for tomorrow, we only have drinking water for two days now, tomorrow, we only have drinking waterfor two days now, and tomorrow, we only have drinking water for two days now, and we are actually out of tapwater. sudan is a majority muslim nation. ramadan is a time to travel and meet friends and family, but not now. aid

workers have been caught up in the clashes. seven of them have been killed and others injured. the un says a four hour pause announced last evening to allow for humanitarian access was breached. for humanitarian access was breached-— breached. unless there is a very immediate _ breached. unless there is a l very immediate humanitarian truce for the people to get their needs, i think people will be compelled to do some looting. will be compelled to do some lootina. , ., looting. the number of casualties _ looting. the number of casualties is _ looting. the number of casualties is rising. - looting. the number of i casualties is rising. here, staff at a local hospital struggled just to get into their workplace this morning. military officers who support the army chief were keen to be seen visiting the injured. and the fighting is spreading, with troops now on the streets of port sudan and reports of unrest elsewhere.

lots more on the bbc website on that story, but for now around the world and across the uk, you are watching bbc news. derby to cornwall for £40. this trip wasn't made by train, but by buses. lots of buses. it probably took a good half day of planning with with the bus map and timetables to make it reasonably resilient to any problems. andrew is now planning his next challenge. andrew's goal was to take advantage of the £2 bus fare cap introduced by the government until the end ofjune and encourage others to do the same. it's a plea to value your local buses and use them. use them as much as possible. if you swap just one journey a week from car where you could make a huge difference to congestion and the economics of bus operation. andrew caught 20 different buses to complete his challenge, stopping in swindon and exeter before arriving in penzance on saturday night.

andrew is now planning his next challenge. i haven't got another thing planned at the moment, but i am working on it, so obviously. you're live with bbc news. 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. 0ur health editor hugh pym has the latest. trying to get back to normal. are you comfortable as you are, lying in 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 the junior 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. 0pposition 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, 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. 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. 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 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, 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... 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. steve rosenberg,

bbc news, moscow. earlier i spoke to a professor who gave us his reaction. it was a warning shot to the liberal opposition to not protest nor engage in opposition activity but it sends a signal to hardliners who are close to and around putin and the pro— war telegram channel bloggers. and it paint him as a powerful symbol for the hard—line national the ha rd—line national criticism. the hard—line national criticism. and we need to point out that, in fact, the judge who was involved in prosecuting this was also somebody sanctioned by the magnets key

act. how successful do you think the uk government will be on trying to gain access or helping kara—murza? he is being treated as a dual national and given the state of uk russia relations being extremely poor and we seen the busted side is and we seen the busted side is a symbol of bureaucratic post i don't think there is much britain can do. i don't think that kara—murza is someone they are interested in for a prisoner exchange. and information has been revealed about this case and others will follow suit. 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. 0ur 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.

they said 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.

more on that story on the bbc website. that's all for now — stay with bbc world 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 icy bars 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.

the world and across the uk, you are watching bbc news. beijing is set to release the first set of indicators of china's post covid economy, we will have analysis. plus political tensions rise again in the us as republicans criticise president biden over the us debt ceiling. hello and welcome to asia business report, i'm a one. markets in asia are awaiting in anticipation for economic data out of china today because in just under two hours beijing will release its quarterly gdp figures amongst a host of other key data. the quarterly figures

will be the