live from studios in singapore and london. this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it is sam good morning. it is 8am in singapore, 1am in london and 8pm in florida, where the leaders of the two economic superpowers have met for the first time. china's resident xijinping is having dinner with donald trump at his resort in palm beach. they will have a working lunch late on friday and we aren't expecting any golf, as president xi is not a player. reuters has said that president trump has said he expects a very great relationship with president xi in the long—term. our correspondent is in florida for us. our correspondent is in florida for us. what have we seen and heard so farfrom them? us. what have we seen and heard so far from them? well, they started with some socialising. this dinner they had, the two couples and their delegations. trump said earlier that he had been talking to president xi for a long time already and had got absolutely nothing so far. he also continued to say, i think we will have a good friendship. i look forward to a good relationship. so starting with positive talk, which isa starting with positive talk, which is a contrast to the negative talk he had about china during the campaign. the idea is to have an open agenda tonight and tomorrow, so that the two have the freedom to ta ke that the two have the freedom to take advantage of just that the two have the freedom to take advantage ofjust getting to know each other and also in that informal setting talking about this controversial and contentious issue that they have to work together wrong. we note the top items are trade and north korea. president trump is going to repeat his concerns about the trade imbalance between china and america. you know he has made a big deal about this for his voters. there was a rallying cry for his voters, saying china's on fair practices were killing americanjobs on fair practices were killing american jobs and he would put an end to that with high tariffs. i don't think he will be so forthright in his discussions, but he will lay out his concerns and president xi may try to create more jobs for mr trump, given that his theme. he will possibly talk about investment that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, so that mr trump has something to show for the summit. but above all he will try to afford any kind of trade war or high tariffs that mr trump might impose. north korea, which is a big dealfor the north americans, they have been worried about the accelerated missile tests that the north koreans are carried about. they want china to use it economic and political cloud with north korea to squeeze it more and fully implement un sanctions and put pressure on north korea, with the us, to get it to stop its nuclear weapons programme. something that also concerns the chinese, but they haven't done anything dramatic so far. so that's another very contentious issue and hopefully they can discuss it in a constructive manner in this setting, because the tone that's been set in this meeting will probably guide how the men go forward. they aren't going to resolve these issues today, but they will try to set up working relationship, a channel of dialogue, where they can talk about these issues going forward. thank you. turning to europe. eta has revealed the bbc news that it is unilaterally handing over its weapons. although a ceasefire has been in place since 2011, this means an official end to decades of violence. more than 800 people were killed in eta's brutal campaignfor people were killed in eta's brutal campaign for basque independence in the regions of spain and france. our chief international correspondent reports from san sebastien. when you come here to the heart of san sebastian it is hard to imagine this was once the heartland of eta. for decades a place of bombings, extortion, assassinations. a time when former eta members tell us they we re when former eta members tell us they were fighting for basque independence. others say it was a time of pervasive fear. a time when thousands of bodyguards and special forces had to be deployed across this region and in the basque region of france to try to keep security. the human costs are incalculable. thousands of people, many women and children, were either killed or injured in eta's violence and on the other side nearly 400 listeners are still injails in france and spain, farfrom theirfamilies, still injails in france and spain, far from their families, serving life sentences. everyone here has a story. the story now is that eta says it is unilaterally giving up its guns and that's because the french and spanish governments tell them they will get nothing in return. in some senses the move is symbolic. there hasn't been violence here in spain by eta for many years. years ago eta unilaterally announced a ceasefire. what this new move means is that the last insurgency in europe is coming to an end. basque politicians and their supporters say they will continue to fight for independence, but with very different means. well, another developing story this hour is syria. the united states has signalled a major shift in its policy towards syria in response to tuesday's suspected chemical attack. the us secretary of state, rex tillerson, says president assad has no role in the future of syria and there are reports that military action is being considered to deal with the crisis. there is no doubt in our minds and the information we have support that the information we have support that the syrian regime under president bashar al—assad are responsible for this attack. i think further it is very important that the russian government consider carefully that continue support for the assad regime. does assad have to go? assad's role in the future is clear. with the axioms taken we have seen there is no role for him to govern there is no role for him to govern the syrian people. —— acts he has taken. our north america editor, jon sopel, is in florida and sent us the latest on what appears to be a dramatic shift in us policy toward syria. politically we seen the most massive change in the past 24 hours, with donald trump announcing that his view on bashar al—assad had changed and since then we've heard a lot of things. a variety of different sources, all pointing not only to the idea that there is going to be some kind of military strike against syria, but that it could be imminent that plans have already been drawn up that plans have already been drawn up and decisions are being made as we speak. general mattis, the defence secretary, breathing donald trump about what the target options would be. they range from a slap on the wrist to something much more profound, with all the consequences that could go with that. the us senate has approved a historic rule change, to prevent the democrats blocking president trump's nominee to the supreme court. it means they can't stop the confirmation of the conservative judge neil gorsuch and his confirmation is therefore assured. twitter is suing the us government after it demanded the social networking site reveal the identity of the user behind an anti—trump account. the anonymous profile criticises president trump's immigration policy. twitter has requested a court block the request, calling it a matter of free speech. thailand's king maha vajiralongkorn has signed a new military—backed constitution, paving the way for a possible general election next year after three years of military rule. the constitution is thailand's 20th since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932. critics say it will allow the army a powerful say over thai politics. you are not mistaken, this is a picture of adolf hitler in a children's colouring book. the dutch discount store kruidvat has now withdrawn it from sale and apologised. the book was produced in india and it is remains unclear why the image was included. the retailer says it's investigating, offering full refunds to customers who bought copies of the colouring book. in india, three people have been arrested for the murder of a muslim man attacked while transporting cows, an animal considered sacred by hindus. pehlu khan, a 55—year—old farmer, died in hospital on monday after vigilantes attacked trucks carrying cattle on a highway in rajasthan. bbc hindi has been speaking to his son irshad, who was also attacked. translation: we were so badly beaten by these men that we lay unconscious on the road. we heard them saying to douse us with petrol and burn us. but after 15— 20 minutes police arrived. they called an ambulance and we were taken to hospital. three ds letter by father died. let's get more now on our top story now, the meeting between president trump and china's president xijingping. our china editor carrie gracie looks at some of the main issues the leaders will want to address. president xi likes to play the strongman. every appearance choreographed, every meeting scripted. he doesn't do risky blind dates. but in florida, he hopes to seize the day and shape president trump's china policy in a way that suits china. last time president xi visited the us, he made the point that companies like boeing earn good money in china. but with economic growth slowing at home, he can ill afford a trade war with his biggest market. and he'll have to offer help for us exports and jobs. he can promise enormous investments in the deprived areas of the united states, and, in a sense, allow president trump to claim that he is bringing jobs back from china to the united states. 90% of north korea's trade goes through china, which does give president xi leverage. he's already stopped pyongyang's coal barges. and he has done a lot to discourage the nuclear programme of north korea. he does not trust them, but he trusts the us even less. china believes that the us is using north korea as an excuse to deploy aggresive strategic military assets close to china and is using them to move in on their territory. there will be no gulf here to build rapport. but if president xi jinping can stop a trade war and temper the tweets on north korea from donald trump, he will call this florida summita triumph. carrie gracie, bbc news. this is newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: generations apart — chinese—american family tells us what they think of donald trump, as the two countries leaders go face to face for the first time. 55 years of hatred and rage, as theyjump up on the statue. this funeral became a massive demonstration of black power, the power to influence. today is about the promise of a bright future, a day when we hope a line can be drawn under the bloody past. i think that picasso's works were beautiful, they were intelligent, and it's a sad loss to everybody who loves art. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: china's president has arrived in florida and held his first meeting with donald trump. the americans have previously said they want china to use its influence to curtail north korea's missile programme. the basque separatist movement, eta, says it plans to unilaterally disarm on saturday, formally ending decades of conflict against the spanish state. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. no surprises from the china daily, which leads on the talks between president xi jingping and president donald trump in florida. the image is of the chinese president and his wife receiving some parting gifts in helsinki when they finished their trip to finland on thursday and flew straight to the us. the financial times, world edition, are headlining events in thailand. the king has signed a military—backed constitution, signalling a step towards elections and a promise to restoring democracy for the country. the country has suffered 12 coups in the past 80 years. and, finally, the japan times says prime minister abe had a teleconference with president trump ahead of president xi jinping's arrival. away from the politics, and cherry blossom is in full bloom. here it's lit up along the meguro river in tokyo. now, sharanjit, from flowers to flour, explain what's got people talking online? this video of french presidential candidate francois fillon being flour—bombed is making the rounds on social media. the centre—right candidate was doused with flour as he campaigned in strasbourg for the upcoming presidential elections in just over two weeks time. fillon, a former favourite to win, is being investigated for allegations that he gave fake jobs to his wife. the man who threw the flour was taken away by security, but not before having his pro—fillon shirt ripped off. let's go back to us—chinese relations. america's chinese community is closely watching president's xi's visit to the us. we met up with 82—year—old chinese—american immigrant maureen see who voted for trump but her us—born granddaughter didn't. here's how they learned to get along. pop aye, an off—beat and very funny sundance screenwriter award winning film, opens next week in singapore. the movie, which is singaporean kirsten tan's debut feature, has been much anticipated here in singapore, despite being given a surprise adult rating by the singaporean authorities. pop aye follows a downtrodden architect and his long—lost elephant as they take a road trip across thailand to find their childhood home. let's take a quick look. hello. earlier i spoke to the film's director kirsten tan and asked her what inspired her to write this unusual story. i used to live in thailand, for two years, so it was very much based on my experience while living there. and of course, the story is mixed in with my own imagination, and i guess this isjust the outcome of the two textures. it is unusual, because singapore has got a burgeoning film industry. we have had you win, we have had anthony chen win in the past, but were you surprised by the adult rating which was given by the government? yes, to me, i was very surprised when we first heard it. and honestly i was also slightly disappointed when we first heard the rating, because for me i was thinking maybe it would get nc-16, but not 18. there are some sex scenes in it, but i thought it was pretty brief, and after all, the age of consent in singapore is 16. so we were hoping to get a 16. do you think that is going to limit the number of people who can see it? i think, for sure, the film school crowd, but hopefully the idea that sex sells. do you think singapore is just a bit too tough on censorship? i think we are a little tough on censorship. i think that is the case, at least for my film. i feel a little that way. and what were some of the challenges in this film? you have an elephant as one of the main stars. the elephant himself was the challenge ashley. it was fun to film it, but logistically it was also a huge issue to film thes we had to get, the number of crew we have to have two kind of like man the elephant, yeah. well, from film to art. preserving sharks in formaldehyde, or encrusting a skull with more than 8,000 flawless diamonds, there's no question the art of british artist damien hirst is earning him notoriety and wealth in equal measure. he is hoping a fable about a shipwreck will relaunch a career that some critics believe has hit the rocks. in his only broadcast interview, the artist has been speaking to our arts editor, will gompertz what quickly becomes apparent from damien hirst‘s new show is that he still loves spectacle. the bigger, the brasher, the better, even in genteel venice, where he has filled two enormous palazzos with mythical figures. the idea is that there's a collector from 2,000 years ago, who was a freed slave from antioch, in turkey, and he begged, borrowed, stole, commissioned, a massive collection. he built the biggest ship of its day called the unbelievable, or the apistos, as it was called. and he packed the treasures into it, and the ship sank. it was a mythical story. then, ten years ago, we looked into the discovery of the wreck, and we found the wreck and excavated the treasures. the exhibition is the exhibition of the treasures from the wreck of the unbelievable. so the story goes. but hang on a minute. what's this? an ancient sword, bearing the legend "sea world." a marble sculpture with barbie branding. doesn't matter tattooed figure looks a lot like rhianna? is damien hirst taking the mickey mouse? for me, the show is totally about belief. you can believe whatever you want to believe. fantastical story aside, this collection of bronze, solid gold and marble artworks must have cost a fortune to make. uh...what did we say? more than 20, less than 100? we can do better than that, damien. more than 50, or less than 50 million? i'm not sure. probably more. a lot of money. yours? yeah, mine. why do you want people to believe in this story? i want you to be searching for the truth, and i want you to have to be peeling back the layers to find the truth. i don't know what that truth is for you, but i know what it is for me. what is it for you? for me, it's that this guy lived 2,000 years ago, he amassed this collection, and he tried to do something for posterity, and it sank to the bottom of the sea. it's like, i'm really shocked that i say that to you now. there is something sort of barmy about believing a story you actually invented yourself. you know, people believe in santa claus. the difference is, those are other people's story. but if i close my eyes, i can see the sky. are you to tell me that's not real? the artist damien hirst. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. we'll be looking in more detail at the trade issues expected to dominate the summit between donald trump and xijinping. before we go, let's take a look at these pictures. thousands of people have attended a memorial service in the russian capital, moscow, to honour victims of the st petersburg metro blast. crowds gathered in red square to remember the 14 people who were killed in the bomb attack on monday. that's all for now. thanks for watching bbc world news. hello there, good morning. lots of pleasant weather on offer over the next few days for large swathes of the united kingdom. and in fact, on thursday, it was a pretty decent day for many, although there was always a bit more cloud in the north and west, a little bit of rain with that, and that is where we keep most of the cloud overnight. it helps to give the temperatures up in the north and west, but generally it is a chilly night. major towns and cities, eight, nine degrees. but it is in the rural spots, away from the north and west, that we are going to see temperatures getting down to two or three degrees, so a chilly start for many, but a bright start as well, with lots of sunshine. the cloud that we see into north wales and the north—west of england, that looks like it will be breaking up through the morning. so by the afternoon we will see lengthy spells of sunshine for much of england, wales, eastern scotland, too. western scotland, ireland, always seeing more cloud. the odd spot of rain, most places dry. ten or 11 degrees in the north and west, but with some sunshine in cardiff and in london, it is 15 and 16 degrees in a few places. but, across england and wales, we do have quite high levels of tree pollen through the day on friday, and that is causing hayfever sufferers a bit of a problem. other side of the atlantic, it is the wind which has been a bit of a problem for the golfers at augusta. that wind still in evidence on friday, but easing down. continues to ease down into the weekend, as temperatures are on the up. and temperatures will be rising back on our shores into the weekend. it's going to be a lovely day for much of england, wales, most of scotland, most of northern ireland too. it is just the far north—west which will have a little bit of rain. 16,17 or 18 degrees across england and wales, very pleasant indeed. with light winds, looks like a lovely day at aintree for the grand national. 16,17 degrees, some sunshine and light winds. it should be a fantastic day out. the second part of the weekend has this area of light high pressure drifting away towards the near continent. the winds started to drift in from a more southerly direction. the air will be coming up from spain, from france, and it will be quite warm air heading ourway. and the effects of that will be most felt across england and wales on sunday, because towards the north and west we will see a weather front drifting its way in. that is going to bring some cloud, some patchy rain, slightly lower temperatures here. patchy cloud for the western side of england and wales. further east, there is going to be light winds, plenty of sunshine, and quite a warm day. the west of england will be easily into the low 20s. i think around 22, 23 degrees will be the top temperatures, maybe about ten or 11 in the far north and west. but we do have a weather front drifting its way south sunday night into monday, and as that happens it is going to shut the warm air out of the way. colder air will follow along behind, so monday a very different look and a very different feel to things. there is going to be a lot more cloud in the sky. it is going to be quite breezy. there will be a few more showers dotted around, as well, and temperatures will be taking a bit of a tumble. it is bbc world news. the top story: the chinese leader xi jinping it is bbc world news. the top story: the chinese leader xijinping has arrived in florida for his first face—to—face talks with president trump. the key issues will be north korea's is i'll programme. mr trump also previously said he would make china pay for the big trading balance between china and the us. in a statement obtained by the bbc, the basque military movements eta says is we'll unilaterally disarm this week, ending decades of violence between them and the spanish government. this is trending online. the french candidate frances friel —— france's feline is being investigated over allegations that he gave fake jobs to his wife. that's all from me. as for watching bbc world news. our top uk stories: