this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: celebrations as the so—called islamic state is driven out of raqqa, the syrian city isis once claimed as its capital. it's power politics, beijing style, as china's political elite prepare to unveil their vision for the future. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: we have a special report on the people who have risked everything to escape from north korea. and the festival of diwali begins today in the world and in singapore. rico has promised a special surprise for me — we'll find outjust what he has in store. glad you could join us.

it's 8am in singapore, 1am in london, and 3am in the morning in the syrian city of raqqa, which has effectively been recaptured from the so—called islamic state. once an is stronghold, an alliance of kurdish and arab fighters have battled for more than four months to retake it. two years ago, is controlled a large area across iraq and syria. but now they only hold a handful of towns on the border. our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville has the latest. at the heart of raqqa, they're giddy with victory. the syrian democratic forces control the city that the so—called islamic state hailed as its capital. three years ago, is did victory laps here. paradise circle, it's called, and here they beheaded people. their hatred crossed continents. but now their caliphate is in ruins. a new flag flies in raqqa today.

it was arab and kurdish fighters, men and women, who did a jig, celebrating the islamic state group's retreat. this commander told the bbc is are no longer in control anywhere in the city, but we will continue to patrol and keep a look out. the sdf fought in sandals with the most basic of weapons but they had a killer advantage. coalition air power. that helped drive is out, but it also emptied the city of quarter of a million people. hundreds of civilians may have died in the western bombardment. the battle to free the city spared no—one. gunfire as we witnessed. in its final months, the fighting here reached a new intensity. younus omar and his family, though, survived.

they've onlyjust managed to escape. is used them and thousands of others as human shields. translation: my brother was shot four times but allah is stronger than them. translation: it was horror. i tried to leave twice but i couldn't because is militants were shooting at me. they were saying, "you are going to the infidels." but the final victory here was delivered not in a gun battle but in a bus ride. here, is fighters are seen leaving one of the last holdouts, the national hospital. they were guaranteed safe passage as part of a peace deal. what's left of raqqa can barely be called a city. and still, dangers remain. the islamic state's foreign fighters here vanished. some may be hiding in these ruins. their leadership have already fled. the islamic state group may have abandoned their capital but they haven't abandoned

their cause, so the fight against is goes on. quentin sommerville, bbc news, beirut. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. final preparations are under way in beijing for the ruling communist pa rty‘s national congress. that begins in an hour. the event only takes place once every five years, and is used to set out the country's next steps. our china correspondent robin brant is in tjiananmen square in beijing. as ever, security is very intense for this event, which, as i say, comes every five years. it lasts for about a week and it starts today, with a significant moment, a speech from the country's president. more importantly, today the general secretary of the chinese communist party, xijinping, and that will look back on the last five years, assessing how the communist party has done and if it might live up to the pressures of reform. and looking to the next five years, which are more important for xijinping, because he hopes

to stamp his authority on this party, consolidate his power in the leadership at the top of the party. and he hopes that will give him the opportunity to have a much stronger influence on trying to bring about the influence he wants in china going forward. so we technically do get elections here but people are not voting freely. it is a very small number of people. xi jinping will be confirmed for another five—year period in charge. crucially, there will be a substantial change in those at the top of the party. a very small group who make up the central committee. xijinping, as previously discussed, will try to ensure his people, his allies are moved into places at the top of the communist party, and that will help him, as i say, consolidate his power going forward. how much of a big deal is this, robin? it is very significant. it only happens once every five years. on some occasions, we have a transition of power. we have the emergence of an heir. that is not going to happen this time around. it is about xi jinping

consolidating his power, getting his people, his men, it is always men and it won't change at this event, in significant positions of influence at the top of the communist party. as i say, we get an assessment of how the party and government has done looking back. we also get, very importantly, and there is a need to kind of interpret the documents, the speeches and words that will emerge here, but we get a point to the priorities going forward. will it continue to be anti—graft campaign, cracking down on corruption? will it be environment, trying to make this country much cleaner after decades of gritty growth? what about china's position in the world, will they look out and try to capitalise on what undoubtably has been a vacuum created recently by donald trump? pointers to the future, and they are very important. it is also about intense choreography.

reminding the 1.4 billion in this country about who is in charge and that very much is the communist party. the chinese president is expected to deliver his key note speech to the communist party congress at 0100 gmt on wednesday. that is in just under one that is injust under one hour. and you can watch the speech live here on bbc world news. and our team of correspondents and experts will be on hand to offer instant analysis of the speech — dojoin us for that. also making news this hour, the boss of amazon studios, roy price, has resigned after reports that he harassed a producer and ignored allegations of sexual assault by the disgraced film mogul harvey weinstein. the american actress rose mcgowan says mr price repeatedly dismissed her complaints of rape by mr weinstein. the film producer denies all claims of non—consensual sex. there's been no comment from mr price. donald trump's plans to impose a revised travel ban on some people coming to the us have suffered another setback,

with a federaljudge imposing a temporary restraining order. the measures would affect people from seven countries, including iran and north korea, as well as some officials from venezuela. the white house says it will appeal the ruling, and is confident the ban will be upheld. we have restored peace, but that will not be a cause for celebration. because we have destroyed, in the process , because we have destroyed, in the process, the city, which i admit, because we had to do it. there was no alternative. and i can only extend my apologies to the people of maranao. the 2017 man booker prize goes to... that was the moment, a few hours ago, when the american writer george saunders won the prestigious man booker literary prize. he took the award for his work lincoln in the bardo, which uses the accounts of hundreds of narrators to weave a tale around the death of abraham lincoln's 11—year—old son willie. it's the author's first full length

novel to be published. here's something you don't see every day. a calf here on the loose in the centre of brooklyn. it's not clear how the animal broke out but police were able to stop it from getting any further by bringing in a horse box to aid the rescue mission. the calf was unharmed, and has now been handed over to animal control, who are trying to reunite it with its owner. tens of thousands of pro—independence campaigners have taken to the streets of barcelona, to protest against the detention of two leading catalan politicians by the spanish authorities. the men are being held on suspicion of sedition — or planning to overthrow the state — after allegedly trying to stop a police raid in the run—up to the disputed referendum on catalan independence. our correspondent james reynolds reports from barcelona. these protesters have come out

here in barcelona to call for the immediate release of two pro—independence campaigners. those campaigners have been remanded into custody, accused of sedition. but to these pro—independence campaigners, those two men are political prisoners. i just want to show you this sign here, "freedom for political prisoners, sanchez and cuixart". and if you look at another sign, i don't need to translate it, "independence." and people have come here to show on which side of the divide they stand. it is pretty clear this man has got the flag of an independent catalonia. it is worth saying that not every

person in catalonia wants independence, this is a divided society. but tonight pro—independence campaigners have come out and they have filled the centre of this, their main city, and they now face an ultimatum from the government in madrid. on thursday morning, the central government says that unless the authorities here revoke or announce a declaration of independence, make it clear that they haven't declared independence, the central government may suspend self rule in this region, taking these people and everyone else in catalonia into uncharted territory. you are watching newsday on the bbc, live from singapore and london. still to come: we'll have the latest from the set of the new star wars series movie — including the much—anticipated name of the film. also coming up on the programme,

the festival of diwali has begun today around the world and in singapore. we'll find out how the newsday team will be celebrating. parts of san francisco least affected by the earthquake are returning to life. but in the marina area, where most of the damage was done, they're more conscious than ever of how much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last here, he's gone from being a little—known revolutionary to an experienced and successful diplomatic operator. it was a 20—pound bomb that exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the front of the building. this government will not weaken. democracy will prevail. it fills me with humility and gratitude to know that i have been chosen as the recipient of this foremost of earthly honours. this catholic nation held its breath for the men they call the 33. and then...

bells toll bells tolled nationwide to announce the first rescue and chile let out an almighty roar. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. and i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories... us—backed forces have driven the so—called islamic state out of raqqa — the syrian city the group once claimed as its capital. gathering of the party's elite — china's communist leaders are about to reveal their new five—year plan. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. as we mentioned earlier in the programme: the chinese communist pa rty‘s national congress in beijing is making headlines. it is every five years and this is

the 19th edition. france's le figaro here challenging the party's official pledge of opening the chinese economy further. instead, it says under xijinping's strong grip on the economy, the state was reinforced and debt increased. the south china morning posts unpicks donald trump's visit to the region next month. it says mr trump's careful planning of the five day tour will reassure allies, by placing japan and south korea ahead of the china stop. and the straits times names the ii most expensive cities to live in asia, according to the swiss bankjulius baer. leading the pack is hong kong, where prime real estate can cost more than $55,000 per square metre. shanghai comes second and singapore is third. the bank says prices in china are going up driven by a recovery in consumer sentiment. and babita — what's trending?

the hollywood actress reese witherspoon has alleged that she was assaulted by a director when she was just 16 years old. she was speaking out in the wake of the allegations made against the film producer harvey weinstein. she said she was angry with the people in the film industry who had made herfeel that keeping quiet about what had happened was a condition of her employment. while we hear a lot about north korea's leader, kimjong—un, and his ongoing rows with the global community, it's seldom that details of daily life emerge. the only information comes from defectors, who've risked everything to escape. we've been able to speak to a group of four of them, to get first—hand testimony, and here are their stories... the voices of the people who have defected from north career. ——

korea. live pictures now from beijing just before the opening of the congress. the president is expected to cruise to a second five—year term, as did his two immediate predecessors. we will have live coverage of that here on bbc world news as it begins. as many as two million people are thought to have died when indonesia's military launched a crack down on suspected communists over half a century ago. the killings, in 1965 and 1966, came after the communists were accused of carrying out a failed coup. the scale of the action was kept quiet for many years, but documents which have just been declassified show that officials in the us knew what was happening — but did not speak out. ourjakarta correspondent rebecca henschke has been talking to a now—retired indonesian general,

whose father was killed in the attempted coup. so, these documents show that the military was deeply involved in either orchestrating or turning a blind eye to these killings? i cannot say to justify or to reject the reality of what is explained in that sentence, but, basically, the tragedy of 1965 was a struggle for power between the communist party and the army. based on documents like this and other historical documents that are coming out and showing that the version of history that indonesian schoolchildren have been learning for almost 50 years is not a correct picture of what happened. do you think it is time for indonesia to rewrite history? yes.

and the endeavour of rewriting history, i think there is no other way than going through a reconciliation process. the purpose of that through seeking is notjust to justify who is guilty and who are the victims, but it is to find what went wrong in the state or societal mechanics that we as a nation was able to be involved in such huge numbers of reciprocal killings. so you are saying no one should be held responsible for the killings that took place? and victims of it should forgive? this tragedy happened in 1965. how many years ago was that? maybe all of the perpetrators, if not most, have already passed away. there is still many people alive

today who will admit that they did some of the killings. ah, yes, but would that solve a problem? we would like to see a solution once and for all in the best interests of the society, in the best interests of the nation. a little bit of news for fans of the star wars movies. the name of the next instalment of the series has been revealed. here's the director ron howard. hi. well, as we wrap up production, i just want to take this moment to thank an incredibly talented cast and crew for all their hard work. and to the fans out there, i hope you've enjoyed the pictures that i've been sharing, pictures that i'd taken from the set of... can we even say the name of the movie? i'll see you next year.

looking forward to the next star wa rs looking forward to the next star wars film. and we are well into diwali celebrations here in singapore and i am sure you are as well in the london. we have sweets for everyone! i think i have eaten too many. there are not many of us here in the studio at the moment. me, and sarah and everybody else is in the gallery. we have just been tucking into this. we will save you one, i promise, because forartists, diwali doesn't start until thursday and we have another 2a hours. diwali doesn't start until thursday and we have another 24 hours. look at this one. it looks like your dress! i don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. 0h, dress! i don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. oh, my gosh! oh, no! ok, ok. i need to with

the newsroom. we have too many sweets here in singapore. the newsroom. we have too many sweets here in singaporelj the newsroom. we have too many sweets here in singapore. i don't know what it is like now in singapore but i can tell you that in london the lights have been on in trafalgar square at. in leicester, birmingham, up in glasgow, across the uk there has been a lot of fun. these, however, are pictures from india where the streets are lit up with candles and food and family getting together. i can not wait to have my feast. on behalf of everybody here in newsday, happy diwali to all of you you. and, of course, stay with us. as dashmac

as china's congress prepares to open, we'll be looking at the country's economic challenges. today we're focusing on zombies — not the undead variety — the state owned enterprises that are unable to operate on their own but refuse to die. we will continue our diwali celebrations into thursday because we will be on uk time as well. i will be back with the headlines and we will bring you live coverage of the people's congress party summit in china. well, wednesday is expected to be quite a mixed day across the uk. there is certainly some rain in the forecast. the clouds have been gathering for the last 24 hours or so. some quite pretty pictures, gloomy pictures in places. here is one from dorset, and this is the weather front moving in from the south.

here it is as it drifts in from the bay of biscay across france. and this is going to bring some quite wet weather for a time across southern and some central areas, particularly around the midlands, during the course of wednesday. so first thing in the morning, i think, from the southern counties through the south midlands, into the east midlands, there'll be some rain around. but many northern areas, northern england, northern wales, clear here. and, across the far north of scotland, even a touch of grass frost in one or two areas, particularly in those sheltered glens. so let's have a look at the morning weather, then. this is 8:00am, and it really is looking very cloudy, very dull in many areas, temperatures around 11 or 12 degrees. and then we move a little bit further northwards, into northern wales, the north—west of england, around cumbria there, and into northern ireland. here, i think, some sunshine first thing in the morning. it is going to feel a lot fresher, so a much better start to the day. but, even here, notice that there are a few spots of rain through the lowlands, here in glasgow and edinburgh. but this is really light, and we are back into the sunshine

at 8:00am in the morning across most of yorkshire, and then back into that weather front across the midlands, east anglia, and down into the south—east. now, through the course of the morning, into the afternoon, what is going to happen with this weather front is it'll move a little bit further northwards. but it is also going to introduce some very muggy air, so it is not going to feel particular cold across the south. it is going to be sort of that damp, muggy, grey sort of feeling, with on—and—off light rain or drizzle. you can see those temperatures, despite the cloud and the rain, getting up to 17 in london. but then the other side of this weather front here, further north, it is a lot fresher. it is only 13 degrees. here is a look at thursday. you can see it is relatively quiet, but cloudy, with a few spots of rain in eastern areas, but this weather front of low pressure moving in. and that is going to introduce some wet and windy weather to some of these south—western and western areas during the course of thursday evening. and then, on friday, that weather front and the low pressure is moving northwards across the uk. quite brisk conditions,

windy conditions for a time. fresher there in scotland and northern ireland, at 13. still 16 in london. and then we are watching this next big area of low pressure heading our way. a lot of isobars, the track of the low still a little uncertain. it is probably going to go a little bit further north. but severe gales are on the cards, especially in the south. you are watching bbc news. my name is babita sharma. our top story: the islamic state group has been driven from raqqa — its self styled capital in syria. the flags of a us—backed militia are flying over the city. but scores of the jihadi militants are still being pursued amid its ruins. china's top officials are gathering in beijing for the start of the communist party congress, where the next five year plan is about to be revealed. and this story is trending on bbc.com: hollywood star reese witherspoon has alleged that she was assaulted by a director when she was just 16 years old. she said she was angry with the people in the film industry who had made herfeel that keeping quiet about what had happened was a condition of her employment.

more to come here on bbc news. stay with us. live coverage of the conference in china here on bbc news.