welcome to the daily global, where we ll bring you the top stories from around the world. 2024 is shaping up to be a year of elections. two billion people one in four of the world s population will go to the polls this year in votes that could change the global political landscape. 50 nations will hold elections. starting with bangladesh, the polls include seven out of the world s ten most populous nations india, the united states, indonesia, pakistan, russia and mexico. and the uk will go to the polls at some point this year. british prime minister rishi sunak has said his assumption is that a general election will be held in the second half of this year, despite some speculation it could take place in the spring. opinion polls put mr sunak s conservatives well behind the opposition labour party. with the details, our political editor, chris mason. can i welcome to you this morning, rishi sunak, the prime minister? mansfield in nottinghamshire a town the conservative
victory overjason kubler, whilst elina svitolina came from a set down to beat raducanu our tennis correspondent russell fuller has more on both matches. he s playing well, and its referent meadow, a previous champion. i ve been played matches already and having a third againstjordan thompson, three measures in two days, than for matches in five days, it s exactly what you need when returning to the tour having had a year away. there were two hours and 15 minutes on the part when the third set began my soul being realistic, if you have been out since april and had a few operations, you are going to tie in the third set of a match of that quality and physicality. she was really going for shots, we know this away she plays and wants to play. her defence was very good, and again it s been a encouraging few runs for her, certainly above expectations, given she s had so little tennis in 2023. india have won the second test against south africa in cape town afterjust a day and a h
andy murray will be on court in a couple of hours, and novakjokovic starts his bid for the championship later on tuesday. we speak to the woman who s run 150 consecutive marathons and just completed an epic run across australia. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it s newsday. hello, and welcome to the programme. we begin in the uk where the government has decided to block a controversial scottish bill designed to make it easierfor people to change their legal gender. it is the first use of a section 35 order, which can block scottish laws. scotland s first minister nicola sturgeon called the move a full frontal attack on the scottish parliament and vowed to oppose it. here s our political editor chris mason. this is the ceremonial mace. it represents the scottish parliament s authority. we re seeing it here at the opening of its sixth session the year before last. and next, the crown of scotland, a symbol of royal authority. but power is shared in the
andy murray will be on court shortly at the australian open in melbourne. novakjokovic starts his bid for the championship later on tuesday. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news it s newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. we begin in the uk where the government has decided to block a controversial scottish bill designed to make it easierfor people to change their legal gender. it is the first use of a section 35 order, which can block scottish laws. scotland s first minister nicola sturgeon called the move a full frontal attack on the scottish parliament and vowed to oppose it. here s our political editor, chris mason. this is the ceremonial mace. it represents the scottish parliament s authority. we are seeing it here at the opening of its sixth session the year before last. and next, the crown of scotland, a symbol of royal authority. all the laws that are passed here are checked to make sure they don t contradict with laws for the whole of the uk.
this is bbc news. we ll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues, straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk from geneva. i m stephen sackur. this place is home to the world trade organization, the institution whose purpose is to maximise free and fair international trade on the assumption that globalisation is good. so what happens when many governments and people around the world question that premise? well, my guest today is the director general of the wto, ngozi okonjo iweala. will rising geopolitical tensions lead to the weaponisation of trade? ngozi okonjo iweala, welcome to hardtalk. now, you are one of the world s key advocates of ever ngozi okonjo iweala, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, stephen. now, you are one of the world s key advocates of ever freer trade, more globalisation. what s it like to be doing your job when the political tide across the world is running against you? the wto s purpose, the wor