you're with newsday, live from singapore, the headlines... desperate scenes — palestinians scramble for food from aid trucks entering gaza through the rafah crossing. israel says the three hostages it mistakenly killed in gaza used leftover food to write signs pleading for help. a special report from afghanistan on what could be the bleakest winter in decades — because of cuts to humanitarian aid. early results in serbia's elections suggest the party of president aleksandar vucic — will keep its majority in parliament. and a site in the shetland islands becomes the uk's first spaceport for vertical rocket launches. live from our studio in singapore —

this is bbc news. it's newsday. you're watching bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in gaza — where, in a sign of the growing hunger and desperation, crowds of people have scrambled for food from aid trucks entering the besieged strip, through the rafah crossing. for the first time since the war began, israel has also opened one of its crossings into gaza to aid. it's hoped the opening of the kerem shalom crossing will double the amount of food and medicine reaching gazans. until now, aid agencies have only been able to access the territory through the rafah crossing from egypt. israel says the three hostages it

mistakenly killed in gaza on friday used leftover food to write signs pleading for help. in a change of tone, the uk and germany havejoined calls for a "sustainable ceasefire". the reuters news agency is quoting egyptian security sources as saying israel and hamas are both open to a ceasefire, but still disagree over details. our correspondent lucy williamson has more. sirens sound, horns blow. the target for israel in gaza is hamas. for palestinians, it's survival. the rafah crossing point exploded in desperation today, each aid truck a lifeline, each minute of the journey a lifetime of waiting. horn blares. the border town of rafah has swelled to four times its normal size, as people flee the fighting elsewhere. empty stomachs filled with hope, empty bowls held out for food. the un estimates that almost half

the households here are facing very severe hunger. today, the french foreign minister joined british and german calls for a ceasefire, saying it must be immediate and durable. but the israeli prime minister is so far standing firm. translation: we are guided by the - will of the fallen, we will fight . until the end and we will achieve all of our objectives, eliminating hamas, releasing all our hostages and ensuring that gaza will not become again a centre for terror, incitement and attacks against the state of israel. israel has released footage of what it said is the biggest hamas tunnel found so far, 2.5 miles long and just inside the main erez crossing point to israel. this, the army says, is a hamas video showing how the tunnels were built.

a major construction project, using industrial tools. and the man on the right of this video, it says, is the project manager of gaza's tunnel network. mohammad sinwar, brother of the hamas leader blamed by israel for the 7th october attacks. but pressure for a ceasefire is growing in israel, too, as funerals are held for three hostages mistakenly shot dead by israeli forces this week. today, the army released photos of the place it said the hostages were held. signs calling for help written on the walls with leftover food. in gaza, the continued conflict is pushing hospitals to breaking point. the injured, brought in by ambulance, truck, donkey cart. pictures like this rarely make it to israeli tv screens. but they're shaping opinion abroad. lucy williamson,

bbc news, jerusalem. pope francis has also been speaking about the war in gaza. at his weekly blessing, the pontiff again suggested that israel was using "terrorism" tactics in gaza. he was referring to the reported killing by the israeli military of two christian women, who were sheltering inside a church in gaza. the israeli army says it is conducting a thorough review of the incident. let's hear more from the pope. translation: i continue to receive them because _ translation: i continue to receive them because a _ translation: i continue to receive them because a very _ translation: i continue to receive them because a very serious - translation: i continue to receive them because a very serious and i them because a very serious and painful news. unarmed civilians being bombed and shot at and is even happening in side the holy family compound, where there are no terrorists but families and nuns, a

mother and her daughter were killed, others wounded by snipers as they went to the bathroom. the house of mother teresa's nuns was damaged. some say it is terrorism, it is war. yes, it is war. it is terrorism. that's why scripture says that god stops war, breaks bows and breaks spears. in afghanistan — this is the third winter since the taliban takeover, and it is expected to be the worst in recent decades, because of staggering cuts in humanitarian aid. donations are falling due to difficult global economic conditions, and international sanctions on the taliban government. but the taliban's harsh restrictions on women have also played a role. for those relying on international hand—outs, it means millions are now going hungry. three million children in afghanistan are now malnourished, with 90% of afghans not having enough food to eat.

one third of the population, around 15 million people, are suffering from acute levels of hunger and food insecurity. the bbc has been documenting the collapse of health and humanitarian structures in afghanistan, since the taliban seized power. here's our latest report from the bbc�*s south asia correspondent yogita limaye, in kabul. nearly all the people in this country live on less than $2 a day. half of those are women, but you wouldn't know it if you stood on a kabul street. women have all but disappeared from public life under the taliban government. denied the right to work outside their homes, they were most reliant on charity, and are now hardest—hit by aid cuts. we went up the hills surrounding the city, where some of the most vulnerable communities live. crude homes dot the landscape.

sewage flows by the side of mud tracks. sohaila niyazi's husband was killed in fighting during the taliban takeover. baset and baby husna are two of her six children. she's one of 10 million afghans who've stopped receiving aid from the world food programme this year. translation: it's been two months since i was able - to buy milk for my baby. i give her green tea in a feeding bottle and i give her medicine which makes her sleep from one morning to another, because if she wakes up and asks for food, i have nothing to give her. that medicine is an anti—allergy drug that sohaila is using as a sedative.

now she relies entirely on food donated by her relatives and neighbours. aid has so far also prevented healthcare from collapsing. but that's now being withdrawn, too, including from here, where zubaydah has brought her malnourished baby habisa. it's afghanistan's only children's hospital. in a corner is somaya. at 14 months, she weighs as much as a newborn. they are among the more than 3 million malnourished children in the country. it's an unprecedented ravaging of afghanistan's youngest. both of mohamed shafy�*s parents are dead. he weighs less than half of what he should at 18 months. his grandmother, hayat bibi, said the taliban helped her bring

the boy here, but doesn't know how she will get by now. "i'm relying on the mercy of god, i have nowhere else to turn to, i'm totally lost", she told us. at this hospital, doctors and nurses have already had their pay cut by half. over the past two years, we have seen firsthand the situation deteriorating all across this country. we've witnessed how aid agencies are providing the only humanitarian link, keeping people away from famine, keeping the barebones of hospitals up and running, and now, they're facing significant cuts because of a lack of funding from a world that's distracted by so much else, but which also doesn't want to give money to a country where the taliban government is imposing restrictions on women.

i asked the taliban's main spokesman zabihullah mujahid, who's now based in their seat of power, kandahar, about their policies. do you recognise, though, that it's your government's policies, especially your restrictions on women, that is a part of the problem, that is a part of the reason why donors do not want to give funds for afghanistan? translation: if aid is being used as a toolto pressure us, - then the islamic emirate has its own values which it will safeguard at any cost. afghans have made big sacrifices in the past to protect our values and will endure the cutting of aid, too. those words offer no comfort for this mother. her husband died and she must provide for her children. she told us she's been stopped multiple times by the taliban from selling fruit on the street, and even detained once.

she doesn't want to be named, but she wants to be seen and heard. translation: i'm tired of this life. they should at least allow us to go out and earn an honest living. - we are not going out to do anything bad. i if i don't work, what will my four children eat? i her 12—year—old boy now has to work to earn for the family. like most nights, they'll go to bed on bread and water, with millions of other afghans. yogita limaye, bbc news, kabul. japan and countries in southeast asia have agreed to co—operate over maritime security in the face of an increasingly assertive china. the agreement made at a summit in tokyo comes amid an increase in maritime disputes involving china. japan has positioned itself as the country that will lead

the response to chinese pressure. i'm joined now by danny russel — former assistant secretary of state for east asian and pacific affairs in the second obama administration. he's now at the asia society policy institute. many thanks for your time. what does boosting maritime security cooperation mean in real terms? what does it hope to achieve? it’s a cooperation mean in realterms? what does it hope to achieve?— does it hope to achieve? it's a mix of defence — does it hope to achieve? it's a mix of defence capabilities, _ does it hope to achieve? it's a mix of defence capabilities, of - of defence capabilities, of surveillance and oversight capabilities, some very basic training for coast guards. these are, in southeast asia, as well as i should add in the pacific islands. countries at huge economic exclusive zones, but very little capacity to monitor them or to protect them, and they are subject to regular and

increasing incursions by the chinese navy and by massive chinese fishing fleets that are depleting fish stocks in the south china sea, the east china sea and the western pacific, so it is an effort by japan, and i should add other countries, including the united states and australia to bolster the capabilities of these countries so they can defend their own sovereignty, their own territory, their own rights.— their own rights. yeah, but the u-arouin their own rights. yeah, but the growing of— their own rights. yeah, but the growing of this _ their own rights. yeah, but the grouping of this is _ their own rights. yeah, but the grouping of this is so _ their own rights. yeah, but the grouping of this is so divided, l grouping of this is so divided, especially when it comes to china and its relations, individual country relations with china. what do you expect from this summit in addition to these maritime security cooperation agreements?— cooperation agreements? writes,

well, this is _ cooperation agreements? writes, well, this is an _ cooperation agreements? writes, well, this is an ongoing _ cooperation agreements? writes, | well, this is an ongoing challenge, particularly for the icn countries. they started an attempt to negotiate some basic rules of the road, a code of conduct with china. they started in 1982 and they still haven't reached an agreement because of china's assertive stonewalling. china's assertive stonewalling. china claims that the entire cd, 90% of the south china sea belongs to beijing, but they have no legally based evidence. in fact, their manufactured evidence, a map from the 1920s and so on, all of that has been ruled out by the un law of the sea tribunal that took a look at the claims and rejected beijing's assertion. now, this problem isn't going to be solved anytime soon, but

china is a vacuum and will readily feel it if countries like japan and the united states are australia didn't assist the countries of southeast asia to protect their own rights and equities. now, you are correct that china has at least two icn governments, leaders more or less in their pocket and that has allowed them to block some consensus within this, the fact is that as we saw just this week within this, the fact is that as we sawjust this week in the summit with japan, all those countries where willing to commit to cooperation to enhance security and to try to support international law, and that means resisting chinese aggression. and that means resisting chinese aggression-— and that means resisting chinese an uression. ,, ., aggression. daniel russell from the asia society — aggression. daniel russell from the asia society and _

aggression. daniel russell from the asia society and policy _ aggression. daniel russell from the asia society and policy institute, . asia society and policy institute, many thanks for your time. mi; many thanks for your time. my pleasure- _ around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news in the uk. british teenager alex batty, who was found in france after being missing for six years, has returned to the uk. alex vanished with his mother and grandfather, in 2017 while they were on holiday in spain. his mother was not his legal guardian. alex was found on wednesday last week by a motorist, who spotted him on a road near the french pyrenees. arsenal legend ian wright has annouced he will step down as a pundit for match of the day at the end of the season. mr wright made his debut on the bbc programme as a player in 1997 and became a regular pundit in 2002. writing on social media, he said the decision "had been coming for a while" and was "fast—tracked" by turning 60 last month. luton town have said their captain tom lockyer remains

in hospital where he is undergoing more tests, after a cardiac arrest. the wales international collapsed on the pitch during a premier league match in bournemouth on sunday. you're live with bbc news. after years of denials, the former uk conservative peer, baroness mone, has admitted that she stands to benefit from tens of millions of pounds of profit made from personal protective equipment, that was sold to the government during the coronavirus pandemic. the company was led by her husband, doug barrowman. she says she did help broker the deal, but that she was made a scapegoat for the government's failings. our political correspondent laura kuenssberg has more. questions about the pandemic, profits and politics have followed baroness mone and her husband

to southern europe. for years, they denied links to a firm that received £200 million in taxpayers' money for desperately needed masks and gowns. only now the truth — that she does stand to gain. if one day, if, god forbid, my husband passes away before me, then i am a beneficiary as well as his children and my children. so, yes, of course. my family will benefit in due course. our family will benefit. that's what you do when you're in the privileged position of making money. a successful businesswoman and member of the lords, she didn't tell parliament she was helping broker a ppe contract. she now admits she didn't tell the truth when her links to the deal first emerged. you both denied it — why? we were simply listening to our advisers. hindsight�*s a wonderful thing. i wasn't trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes. and i regret and i'm sorry for not saying straight out,

"yes, i am involved". my family have gone through hell with the media over my career and i didn't want another big hoo—ha in the press and my family to be involved in it. i don't honestly see there's a case to answer. i can't see what we've done wrong. doug and the consortium have simply delivered a contract — a delivery contract of goods. but after everything, you can't see what you've done wrong when you've admitted today that you lied to the press? that's not a crime. essentially, you lied to the public. laura, saying to the press that i'm not involved to protect my family, can ijust make this clear? it's not a crime. the company's being taken to court by the department of health. the pairare under criminal investigation. but the government wouldn't comment on the couple who only now want to have their say. laura kuenssberg, bbc news.

vote projections following a general election in serbia suggest that the party of president aleksandar vucic will keep its majority in parliament. the projections suggest his serbian progressive party will win almost 47% of the vote. turnout appears to have been similar to last year's election, at about 60%. our balkan correspondent guy delauney is following the story from belgrade. the projected results appear to indicate a strong result for president aleksandar vucic�*s progressive party. the president himself wasn't up for election because, of course, these were parliamentary and local elections — but he was very much front and centre of the progressives�*s campaign, and a lot of people were viewing this as very much a confidence vote in the man who really embodies leadership in serbia. mr vucic remains an enormously popularfigure in large parts of the country, particularly outside

the larger metropolitan areas and among older voters. they like the image that he projects of being a strong leader who represents serbia's interests in a very powerful way to all the international partners that serbia has to deal with over issues like eu negotiations, normalisation of relations with kosovo, and its ongoing friendship with russia, which mr vucic has refused to drop, despite appeals from brussels to do so. in terms of the opposition, there was certainly some disappointment at some of the opposition events that i was at this evening as the results — or the projections of the results — started to come in. but there may yet be better news for them when it comes to what's happening in the capital, belgrade. the early projections here suggest that that particular race is very close between the progressive party and the serbia against violence opposition coalition.

the uk could soon have its first operating space port, after a site on the shetland islands was granted a licence by the civil aviation authority. the spaceport on unst — the uk's most northerly inhabited island — is the first vertical launch site in western europe to be given the go ahead. saxavord's operators say several rockets from around the world are being prepared to blast off from the site. laura goodwin has the story. unst in the shetland isles, home to around 700 people, and now the uk's first licensed spaceport for vertical launches. construction�*s been under way for some time. one of three huge launch pads is already built, but getting the green light from regulators is a big moment. disbelief in a way that it's finally come through because we've been waiting for it for so long, and then just waiting for it to sink in because it has been such a journey and so, yeah, to finally have it, it is a huge sense of relief. the licence allows up

to 30 launches a year, with rockets taking small satellites into space. from a business perspective, that's huge. that's probably twice as many as any other prospective spaceport in europe, and it's certainly over three times as many as some of the spaceports in the us. so it gives us a real fighting chance at building a sustainable business. the caa say rigorous safety and environmental conditions were a key part of their approval. this is a really important milestone i for the already very significant uk i space industry that exists. saxavord has become the first spaceport to be licenced - for vertical rocekt launches. that's the first in western europe and paves the way from rocket i launches from uk soil and scottich soil. - suborbital launches will begin next year with full launches planned for 2025. laura goodwin, bbc news. you have been watching newsday. we will be live in hong kong for the trial of former

media tycoon jimmy lai. the 76—year—old faces numerous charges, including a conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. if found guilty, he could be handed a life sentence. this is the scene outside the west kowloon court, in hong kong, where the national security trial of media tycoon jimmy lai begins. he is known as a pro—democracy campaigner. he has been a long—standing critic of chinese communism and is accused of undermining the territory's national security through articles in his apple daily newspaper. he has pleaded not guilty but has been held in solitary confinement for the past three years. that's all for now. do stay with bbc news. thanks for watching.

hello there. the mostly cloudy and mild conditions that we've had over the weekend will continue into the start of this upcoming week, and there will be some rain about, too — some of it quite heavy across the south on tuesday. by the middle part of the week onwards, it turns very windy with widespread gales developing — and by the end of the week, it'll be turning colder for most of us, particularly across the north of the uk, with an increasing chance of wintry showers. now we have a load of weather fronts poised to push in for monday — one across the northwest of the country with cooler air behind it, another one which is associated with this milder air — and it will be bringing some patchy rain initially to wales, then into the midlands, northern england at times through the day. there will be some rain, as well, for southern scotland, but brighter for the rest of scotland and northern ireland compared to what we've had over the weekend, before this weather front starts to push into the west with some scattered showers. again, 11—13 celsius, so quite mild for the time of year — and there will be some glimmers of brightness to the east of high ground. as we head through monday night,

though, rain perhaps up across england and wales, becomes quite heavy and persistent for a time. scotland, northern ireland clear, spells a few showers. here, it'll be chillier, but less cold further south. does mean tuesday will start quite wet for england and wales, but the rain should clear away eastwards fairly quickly through the day. so, a wet start to much of england and wales tuesday — that rain becomes confined to the southeast, eventually clears away, i think, late in the afternoon. and then, it's brighterfor all — the sunny skies across the northwest pushing down towards the southeast, but there will be some blustery showers across scotland and northern ireland. they will be turning increasingly wintry as the air does turn cooler for many. as we push into wednesday, we pick up brisk west—north—westerly winds, and this weather front will bring some wet weather to scotland, northern england at times. i think northern ireland, central, southern england and wales will see cloud coming and going a little bit of brightness particularly to all these, but it will be quite a blustery day. and temperatures perhaps up a degree or so for england,

wales, northern ireland. still on the cool side across northern scotland. but then, it changes again as we head into thursday and friday — turns very windy, widespread gales developing. our air switches to a more northwesterly, and colder air will push its way southwards on thursday and certainly on friday, and into the following weekend. so things will be turning cooler, or colder towards the end of the week, with increasing chance of wintry showers across northern areas even into the christmas period.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines at the top of the hour as newsday continues, straight after hardtalk.