welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm monica miller. the headlines: a bbc investigation casts doubt over the greek authorities' account of a shipwreck in which hundreds are feared to have died. as america's top diplomat visits beijing, we look at the state of us—china relations. and a senior uk government minister apologises after a new video shows conservative activists partying during the lockdown in 2020. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to the programme. we start with the devastating boat disaster off the greek coast.

a bbc investigation has found evidence that casts doubt on the greek coastguard's account of its response to the migrant ship, which sank last week with the loss of hundreds of lives. the ship sank about 50 miles off the southern coast of greece and survivors were taken to kalamata. an analysis of the movements of other ships in the area suggests the overcrowded fishing vessel wasn't moving for seven hours before it capsized. the greek coastguard claims that during this time, the vessel was on its way to italy and didn't need to be rescued. the greek authorities have not yet responded to the bbc�*s findings. our europe correspondent nick beake is in kalamata in greece. the greek coastguard has faced heavy criticism for not doing more to help those people on board. its main justification has been that they did not want their help and that, crucially, the boat was moving in a steady direction towards italy. now, what we've tried to do is piece together a picture of what really happened, and to do that, we've been looking at court documents, at photographs, at video and, crucially, at data tracking

of boats that were in the mediterranean sea — this specific part — on the day of the tragedy. and our investigation casts serious doubt on the official greek version of events. last tuesday morning, from the air, authorities spot the migrant boat. this is a surveillance photo. a simulation we've obtained from a ship—tracking service shows civilian boats in the area in the run—up to the sinking. coastguard and military vessels do not appear. the migrant boat didn't have a tracker, but the yellow pin shows where it eventually goes down. at around 15:00 gmt, a ship called the lucky sailor — which gave us its logbook — turned sharply and is asked by the coastguard to supply food and water to the migrant boat. soon after, says the coastguard, its helicopter finds the boat to be on a steady course. but two—and—a—half hours later, at around 6pm, another vessel, the faithful warrior, comes to the same area

and is also requested to supply food to the boat. bbc verify has confirmed this is footage of it happening. from 7:40 until 10:40, greek officials — from a discreet distance — see the boat keeping a steady course and speed, according to their initial statement. but they later published this close—up image, taken in the same time period, which shows no waves around the migrant boat, suggesting it's hardly moving. and let's look again at the activity of the last seven hours. it's all around one specific spot, indicating the migrant boat has barely changed position. remember, all this time, greece says the vessel is not in trouble and is safely on its way to italy, and so no rescue is needed. it is at ”pm that the boat sinks, with hundreds on board. and there's a frenzy of ships coming to help, including the celebrity beyond, from where this footage was taken and later

sent to the bbc. a luxury yacht, the mayan queen, is then instructed to assist and takes the survivors to shore. they reach safety at the port of kalamata, but leave behind serious questions about the whole greek response. well, the united nations has already called for an investigation into what happened and has reminded countries of their legal and moral obligation to help people who may be in distress on the water. there's another development, because we have seen court documents which suggest that the captain of the coastguard vessel which was there when the migrant boat went down believed that in the 11 hours before it sank, the migrant boat had travelled just 3.3 nautical miles — hardly on a steady course to italy.

we've put our findings to the greek coastguard and they are yet to get back to us. that is nick beake in greece. in pakistan, a day of mourning is being observed for the pakistani nationals who were on the boat and are now among the dead and missing. the country's prime minister has called for immediate action against people traffickers. officials in islamabad say they've arrested several people, including an alleged smuggler, from pakistani—administered kashmir. and in greece itself, nine men suspected of people smuggling are due to appear in court later on monday. 0ur south asia regional editor anbarasan ethirajan has more. many families are waiting for answers, because a significant number of pakistani youths are thought to be aboard that disaster—prone boat where many people are still missing. 0ne father was telling the local media how the human traffickers were luring his son with the promise of a good job in europe, and they were paying more than $7,000 — and then finally, they ended up on this boat. and he's not hearing any

information about his son. this is the case with many of the families, and one police officer told the local media 21 people from one particular village were on—board the ship, and they were missing — and that's why the pakistani government is now trying to find out more information on what clearly happened. they have already declared a day of mourning, and the pakistani flag will fly at half—mast, and the government has also formed a committee to look into this tragedy and see how they can prevent people from going in this illegal manner. so one of the main challenges for pakistan itself is to create jobs for young people, so that they don't leave this country in this dangerous way. pakistan is already going through an economic crisis, and that will be the first priority for the government, to look into creating more jobs and starting more industries, more startup companies, and that will be a challenge. now for the government itself,

it is very difficult to manage the situation because these are transnational gangs involved in these smuggling activities. whom they've arrested in pakistan may be the local agents, but the masterminds may be sitting in countries like libya where they're coordinating all these activities as people go away on land to iran, turkey, greece, orfrom the uae, taking flights from egypt to go to libya. so this is a challenge for pakistan — it needs to cooperate with other countries to stop this menace of human smuggling and save lives within pakistan. let's go now to beijing, where us secretary of state antony blinken has been holding talks with his chinese counterpart in an effort to ease tensions between the two countries. the white house says the talks have been "candid, substantive and constructive". antony blinken is the first senior american diplomat to visit china in five years. 0ur correspondent stephen mcdonell sent this report from beijing.

antony blinken touched down in beijing with little expectation that this visit would result in a breakthrough. china—us relations are so toxic at the moment that merely having the visit proceed has been a step forward. the first meeting was with the secretary of state's chinese counterpart, qin gang. the potential to drift into war is a concern shared all round, so safeguards are needed to prevent an accidental armed conflict. from trade tensions to climate change, much repair work is needed. yet the world superpowers are nowhere near rapprochement on any of these fronts. analysts close to the government here have become very pragmatic about where us—china relations may land. i don't think we can go back to the good old days, that's probably for sure. but then on the other hand,

we probably enter into a new normal, a new status, where both countries recognise, "you can't change me, i can't change you. "let's not change each other. "let's find a way to coexist peacefully." if this trip can re—establish lines of communication, can clear a path for further high—level visits, then both governments will consider it having been a success. and it's a measure of the pessimistic mood around this relationship that if these meetings can simply slow an increase in tensions, that too will be taken asa win. in february, the alleged chinese spy balloon over north america delayed this trip. now that antony blinken is actually here, the mood is polite and official, but not very warm. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. drew thompson, a fellow at the lee kuan yew school of public policy in singapore, gave his assessment on the range of topics discussed between us and china in this blinken visit.

well, the fact that they are having multiple days of conversation gives you an indication that the number of topics on the agenda is probably quite large. it's quite broad, probably addressing everything from china's issues that they want on the agenda as well as us issues. i think, certainly, taiwan is front and centre on the agenda, something that china now calls the core of their core interest, but of course china is also very interested in getting the us to reconsider some of its economic policies that discriminate against china, some of the export control regimes, the tariffs that have been placed on chinese goods since the trump administration, and of course the us side has its concerns about how it ensures its supply chain resiliency, its concerns about governance in china, things like human rights, as well as how china engaged with united states and its allies, and of course seeking a more level playing field for us companies in china as well. so i think that's just

a portion of what's going to be discussed over two days, but clearly it's a very broad agenda. and as your package, mr mcdonell mentioned, yeah, areas of cooperation should also be on the table, things like climate change, things like counter—piracy missions off the coast of africa, areas where the us and china have common interests that could perhaps create a foundation for the bilateral relationship to improve. so, drew, one thing the state department did make clear heading over on the plane was, "don't expect a long list of deliverables on this trip." so what can we expect out of this two—day meeting? they have definitely spent a good amount of effort to try to set expectations so that the meeting is not

framed in terms of outcomes, and that really reflects that there's such a big and wide gap in both their respective objectives and also in the perceived interests between the us and china. and it's worth stepping back and recognising that the us is very much a status quo power in the region. it wants to preserve its presence, its access, its alliances, and all of that in the face of rising china that's much more revisionist in its outlook. it wants to redefine china's relationship with both the great powers but also other countries on its periphery, some of whom are us allies. so i think you've got some very conflicting objectives between the two sides at the highest level of national interest, and that's going to be very difficult, but the us objective is very clear. they want to manage competition, avoid a conflict. and at the same time, it's also worth noting that xijinping has also made it very clear that the communist party that he is leading is preparing for a conflict if the party is threatened and if its interests aren't being taken into account, so this makes diplomatic efforts like mr blinken�*s visit so much more important.

that's drew thompson, a fellow at the lee kuan yew school of public policy here in singapore. the uk government has once again become embroiled in a row over alleged parties during lockdowns. the cabinet minister michael gove has apologised on behalf of the government for a newly released video. it shows staff from the governing conservative party enjoying drinks and dancing at a christmas gathering at their headquarters in december 2020 — when social distancing restrictions were in place. london's metropolitan police service has said it is considering" the footage. mr gove said the event was "indefensible" and apologised "unreservedly", as iain watson reports. december 14th, 2020. the covid rules at the time said that people from different households shouldn't socialise indoors.

but in the basement of conservative party h0, this campaign team didn't appear to receive the memo, or perhaps didn't see the social—distancing posters on the walls. they were campaigners for the conservative candidate for london mayor at the time, shaun bailey. he's soon to join the house of lords, courtesy of boris johnson's resignation honours list. he doesn't appear in the video, but one of his key campaigners does. ben mallet got an 0be in the borisjohnson honours list, and senior conservatives are braced for a backlash. michael gove said sorry, on behalf of his fellow conservatives. on a personal level, i would like to apologise to people for this behaviour. it's unacceptable and indefensible. so, would the honours be withdrawn? no, i don't think that. the decision to confer honours on people was one that was made

by borisjohnson as an outgoing prime minister. charlotte hodge, from bradford, lost her husband jim to covid in november 2021, and her children lost their father. it's upsetting and it makes me angry. you know, it's ok for them to say sorry, it's just words. it's a word, you know? it's not going to bring anyone back. the december 2020 event had been reported before, but without video footage. the police previously decided to take no action, but say they're now aware of the new footage and are considering it. 0pposition parties want action. there also appears to be a mocking of the rules. that is going on in the video, where people up and down. the country were making. sacrifices to follow the rules that were imposed and you, j yet again, get this one rule, it seems, for those - who are in government and another for everyone else. rishi sunak wants to move on from partygate, but events like this still cast

a long political shadow. iain watson, bbc news. let's take a look at some other stories making the headlines in the uk. former scottish first minister nicola sturgeon has said she has done nothing wrong in her first public appearance since her arrest last week, as part of an investigation into her party's finances. i can't say very much just now. what i will say is. . . reiterate the statement i issued last sunday. i am certain that i have done nothing wrong. i intend to be back in parliament in the early part of the week. i'll make myself available for questions then, obviously within the constraints that i'm referring to right now. services have been held in churches across nottingham in memory of three people who were stabbed to death in attacks in the city on tuesday.

university students barnaby webber and grace 0'malley—kumar and a school caretaker, ian coates, all died. a 31—year—old man has been charged with their murders. new analysis for the bbc has found more than 800,000 households in the uk are facing a steep rise in their monthly mortgage bills. analysis by money—facts says the average interest rate on a fixed two—year deal for a £250,000 loan has climbed from 2.5% two years ago to 6% today. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. bringing you different stories from across the uk. 18 years ago, professor adam amara came up with the idea to build a satellite which could help explain dark energy and dark matter. together, these forces make up 95% of our universe,

yet scientists know little about them. the universe isn't slowing down. it's getting faster and faster and faster and faster. it's actually accelerating. euclid hopes to make pioneering discoveries through high resolution images and a technique called gravitational lensing. there are satellites like the hubble space telescope, and that takes super high res images of a little area here, a little bit over here. but to do that over the whole sky, that's the thing that really changes with euclid. the launch will happen in florida injuly, but it's a risky business. there's just so many things that can go wrong, but you have to try. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. now, we return to that extraordinary story out of colombia, when four children were found in the jungle a0 days after their

plane crashed in may. the bbc�*s visualjournalism team has been mapping the massive search effort that found them. to talk us through it, here's mimi swaby from the bbc world service. the plane the children were flying in crashed over colombia's southeastern amazon on the 1st of may. now, the body of the mother, the pilot and an indigenous leader on board were all recovered at the site. however, the children, now 13, nine, five and one, were then missing for a0 days before they were found by a search party consisting of 160 soldiers and 70 indigenous people. now, all the children were found malnourished, exhausted and dehydrated, but they were found alive. the bbc�*s visualjournalism team has been mapping out a possible route the children took. they found multiple items during the a0 days, including a nappy and parts of a bottle thought to belong to the youngest sibling. so these were found in the middle area here, and later on, there were more

fruit parts found such as passion fruit pits, peel, and then footprints later on in the a0 days. but heavy rain really made this operation hard, as it washed away a lot of the footprints. day after day, soldiers with sniffer dogs and local indigenous groups scoured the jungle area. now, the search was split into one—kilometre squares, and it's thought that teams walked more than 2,600 kilometres in total. so, again, a huge area. two patrols, actually in opposite directions, zigzagged across the area, making sure that nothing was left unturned and there was no possibility they would miss the children. now, the search commander said that this wasn't just a search for a needle in a haystack, but more for a tiny flea in a vast carpet because they kept moving. so it really is a miracle

these children were found in such a difficult terrain to navigate. just amazing. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. switzerland has voted in favour of a government proposal to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in a referendum on sunday evening. 59% of people voted to back the measure, which would mean phasing out the use of fossil fuels. under the swiss constitution, policy proposals are often put to a public vote. this vote is a really important step towards reaching the paris agreement, and i think it's really... the unique thing about it is that the swiss people really said, "yes, we want to go net zero, we want "to quit coal, gas and oil." and we decided on a linear reduction plan from 2030 onwards and we decided also on rapid emission cuts. 3.2 billion will be invested in getting businesses and households on this net zero path. funerals have begun to take place for some of the a1 people killed in a terrorist attack on a boarding school in uganda. the victims — who were mostly teenagers — were hacked, shot and burned to death on friday night by militants

believed to have come from the democratic republic of the congo. security forces in austria say they foiled an alleged terror plot to attack its capital vienna's lgbt+ pride parade. the head of austria's domestic intelligence service told local media the suspects, aged 1a, 17 and 20, were arrested before saturday's march and have alleged links to the islamic state terror group. the prince of wales says he wants to make it his mission to end homelessness in the uk and has plans to build social housing on duchy of cornwall land that he receives income from. he's made the pledge in an interview with the sunday times to mark father's day. 0ur royal correspondent daniela relph has more. a father's day family photo, informal and relaxed — the prince of wales with charlotte, louis and george. and teaching them about life outside of royalty

is a priority for him. in a sunday times interview, the prince says he wants to take his children to a homeless shelter and describes having chatted to them on the school run when they've seen people sleeping out... like mother, like son. diana, princess of wales took both william and harry to visit a homeless shelter when they were young boys. confidence is a big thing, isn't it? confidence is a big thing, yeah. for her eldest, it was the start of a long—term interest in tackling homelessness. last week, he opened a new housing development in south london... ..as patron of the homeless charity centrepoint. but he comes at this subject from a position of immense privilege.

as prince of wales, he runs the duchy of cornwall estate — 130,000 acres of land mostly in the south—west of england. as part of his long—term project to try to ultimately end homelessness, there is a plan in its early stages to put social housing on duchy land, something william says is at the front of his mind. in leeds, for those trying to get off the streets, there was cautious optimism about the prince's plan. it's a good idea. hopefully, he does it. i'm fed up of being on the streets myself, do you know what i mean? hopefully they do something about it, you know what i mean? obviously there's too many people dying on the streets. there's too many young families on the streets and that, you know? last year, he was selling the big issue. later this month, he'll launch his homelessness project, as the prince of wales tries to use his voice and maybe his land to help end homelessness. daniela relph, bbc news.

a 2,800—year—old stone tablet has gone on display in iraq after being held in italy for four decades. the artefact was handed over to the iraqi president in the italian city of bologna last week. the tablet was seized by italian police in the 1980s, but it is unclear where it came from or how it left iraq. before we go, a reminder of our top story. a bbc investigation has cast serious doubt on the greek coastguard's account of its response to a migrant ship in which hundreds of people are feared to have died when it sank last week. analysis suggests the fishing vessel was in difficulty at least seven hours before it capsized. the greek coastguard hasn't yet given a response to the claims. you can find more details about that bbc investigation on the bbc news website and the bbc news app. bye for now.

hello there. the rain came pouring down on sunday. there was some flooding in places and, for a while, a lot of thunder and lightning as well, but the storms have eased. the rain, though, continues to be heavy and it continues to push its way northwards away from northern england, coming to rest in scotland by monday morning. and it's muggy air that follows behind that rain, so temperatures around 1a or 15 degrees. but we start with that wet weather in the morning in scotland, heavy rain to begin with. it'll move away to the north—west, clearing away to be replaced across the uk by sunny spells and a scattering of showers developing, the odd heavy thundery one in the afternoon for northern ireland and scotland. for england and wales, there'll be fewer showers, particularly in the south, and you may get away with a dry day. it will be warm in the sunshine, the winds a little bit brisker,

perhaps, but temperatures in the mid 20s. much better weather for the cricket at edgbaston. but low pressure continues to bring the threat of some rain as we move into tuesday. we've got that muggy air coming in on that southerly breeze, but that's where the wet weather is moving in from as well. so we've got this heavy, potentially thundery rain moving northwards across england and wales on tuesday morning, up into scotland. some sunshine around outside of that rain, but that could trigger some more thundery showers here and there. and temperatures may not be quite so high on tuesday, 20 to 22 celsius, probably nearer the mark. heading into wednesday, and again, some more warm sunshine, but more heavy, slow—moving, thundery showers breaking out, in particular in scotland, northern ireland, perhaps the north—west of england and north wales. it's drier and it's brighter and it's sunnier towards the south—east and that's where it's warmer as well — 25 or even 26 degrees midweek. may see a little area of high pressure coming in from the south—west on thursday before this rain arrives in from the atlantic on friday. there are some heavy,

thundery downpours very close by in the near continent, but thursday should be a drier day. ridge of high pressure, the air�*s descending more, limiting the amount of showers, limiting the heavy showers. a lot of places will be dry and quite sunny. we will see the highest temperatures again towards the south—east. 0ut towards the west, it is just a little bit cooler. so we've got the chance of some showers for the next few days that could be heavy and thundery. particularly in the south—east later, it should turn drier, but also quite a bit warmer as well.

our top story this morning us secretary of state antony