i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: a small break in the weather has allowed rescuers in the indian state of kerala more access to those affected by the worst flooding for a hundred years. translation: i thought i was going to die. even the boat i was rescued in almost capsized, my sister and i fell out of it, but somehow they were able to hold onto us. more reunions for families separated by the korean war. bittersweet encounters — they won't have long together. translation: i felt like cutting off my own flesh. anyone who has given birth knows what it feels like to leave their children behind. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: afg hanistan‘s president declares a 3—month ceasefire — but only if the taliban agree to respect it too. terrifying scenes as more earthquakes strike

lombok island, just a fortnight after major tremors there left hundreds dead. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 8 am in singapore, one o'clock in london and 5 am in the indian state of kerala, where after more than a week of the worst monsoon flooding in a century, more heavy rainfall is still expected in many districts. more than 350 people have died so far — more bodies are being discovered — many lost their lives in landslides. the flooding has also left 300 thousand people homeless. 0ur correspondent yogita limaye reports now from kerala. the help they were waiting for has finally arrived.

this baby was rescued from a southern district. the boy's mother had been airlifted just before him. they are among hundreds of thousands who have had to leave their homes, finding shelter at schools turned into relief centres. there are nearly 4000 people here. aid is being sent by the government, but they are receiving supplies from people who want to help. instead of running the school he normally heads, fatherjoe is now managing the centre. it is more than our imagination, they are coming from all over. they had no time even to respond. they have no place to go anywhere. they leave everything and they came. and suddenly we open camps right now. saralamma was visiting her sister when the flooding started. she was rescued by locals in a small fishing boat. translation: i thought i was going to die.

even the boat i was rescued in almost capsized, my sister and i fell out of it, but somehow they were able to hold onto us. not everyone was able to escape. heavy rainfall caused a mudslide which destroyed this house. nine people died here. among them were abdul azeez‘s wife and brother. he works in dubai and came here a day after the tragedy. my wife was my partner of 30 years. and now she has left me. my brother has gone and his children. ijust can't bear it. neighbours and relatives gathered together offering prayers for the dead. outside, the rain has stopped for the first time since the eighth of august. this road was flooded earlier but because it hasn't rained in the past 12 hours, the water levels have receded and cars can pass again.

it has made the work of people like those in these lorries behind me, indian navy personnel and rescuers, it has made their life easier. uprooted trees and rocks had also blocked roads. troops had been clearing them. bridges are being repaired so that relief material can get to even the most remote areas of the state. no rain is expected for the next few days. but even now large parts of kerala are underwater. it will be a while before people get to go home. we will bring you further developments as soon as we get them from south india. our other top story — the afghan president has announced a conditional ceasefire with taliban insurgents from monday ahead of the muslim festival of eid. speaking at an afghan independence day ceremony in kabul,

ashraf ghani said the ceasefire would continue for three months — as long as the taliban respected it. nato secretary generaljens stoltenberg welcomed the ceasefire and urged the taliban to accept it. the announcement follows days of intense fighting in the city of ghazni. here's ashraf ghani. translation: in order for our countrymen to spend the date of eid—ul—adha in a peaceful manner, once again we announce a ceasefire that will start tomorrow, monday, until the anniversary of prophet muhammad's birth, provided that the taliban preserves and respects it and announces it for any period they agree upon. we call on the leadership of the taliban to welcome the wishes of afghans for a long lasting and real peace. and we urge them to get ready for peace talks based on islamic values and principles. also making news today: the former head of the cia who had his security clearance revoked by president trump last week says he is considering legal action to get it back. john brennan, a regular critic of president trump,

says the white house broke its own rules on controlling clearances. the president's lawyer has hit back, accusing mr brennnan of being what he called "totally unhinged". australia's prime minister malcolm turnbull has announced $1.3 billion worth of additional funds for farmers struggling with the worst drought in more than half a century. with grass unable to grow, some farmers have had to sell off stock or even slaughter their animals. the first film with an all—asian ensemble cast from a major studio in 25 years has dominated this weekend's north american box office. ticket sales to see crazy rich asians topped $25 million. the romantic comedy is set in singapore and is an adaptation of a best—selling novel exploring consumerism and opulence in a continent that produces more billionaires than anywhere else. north korea is set to host a temporary reunion

of families separated by the korean war within the next hour or so. the south koreans have just set off for the meeting. it's the first time this has happened in almost three years. a total of 93 people from the south and 88 from the north will be able to meet their family members for three days each. for many, it will be the first meeting in 70 years. laura bicker reports from seoul. kim hyun—sook remembers the moment she saw her daughter for the first time in over 60 years. but the reunion was brief and bittersweet. all too soon, they were torn apart. translation: when time was up, i let go of my daughter's hand and got onto the bus. the moment i sat down, i could not speak. not a single word came out of my mouth. i felt like cutting

off my own flesh. anyone who has given birth knows what it feels like to leave their children behind. mrs kim knows she was lucky to have at least this one chance. it is unlikely to come again. yoon heung—gyu is one of 88 who were chosen this time around. he got a call to say he will meet his younger sister. he hasn't seen her for nearly 70 years. translation: after hearing the news, i was so shocked that i drank and couldn't sleep at all that night. he fled north korea in the middle of the night, leaving his family behind after growing concerned about the spread of communism. he fought the north during the korean war, and is unhappy with the current division. translation: i want to tell

the world that we should allow separated families to meet whenever they want, instead of how it is now, with few people meeting rarely. hwang rae—ha can only glance across the border to his former home in the north. he has never been selected for the state—run reunions. his family came south during the war, but his mother returned north to prepare for peace. she didn't return. translation: when can we meet our loved ones? after all of us are dead? it's just meaningless. there are 50,000 people waiting all over the country. as well as bringing joy, this week's reunions will remind koreans on both sides that the pain of separation has not and may never leave this peninsula. 0livia enos is an asia expert at the heritage foundation.

speaking via webcam from washington, she told me the significance of reunions to korean families. family reunions are one of those rare moments where both north and south korea seemingly put people over politics, and even still, with these family reunions, it seems like there is a political angle for north korea. we have seen time and time again that north korea has consistently used the family reunions as a litmus test for the health of inter—korean relations, as well as a bargaining chip in its negotiations. and i think that this is particularly poignant considering that we're just ahead of the third inter—korean summit this year, which is expected to come up here in september. so i think north korea is trying to put its best foot forward ahead of those meetings. all right, what do you expect to come out of those meetings? as we said, it was the third.

we saw the historic inter—korean talks in april this year. so what can we expect in terms of concrete developments, particularly with north korea denuclearising? well, south korean president moon jae—in says that his primary goal in the third inter—korean summit is to mainly pave the way to signing a treaty that would officially end the korean war, that separated these thousands of individuals and family members from each other. but moonjae—in was also hoping that they can make forward movement on denuclearisation. unfortunately, since the singapore summit, we really haven't seen north korea taking concrete and meaningful steps towards denuclearisation. so i remain sceptical that we're going to make or see any serious movement towards denuclearisation, even if it is encouraging that these family members are able to meet each other, albeit only for a few hours. ten nobel laureates have appealed for the immediate release of the award—winning bangladeshi photographer shahidul alam. he was arrested in the wake of mass

demonstrations by students calling for safer roads. he'd criticised the government's handling of the demonstrations on international television and facebook, and has been accused of spreading false information. he is being investigated under controversial internet laws. the statement by the nobel laureates, including archbishp desmond tutu, also calls for the release of all the students who've been arrested. rabab ahmed is the niece of photographer shahidul alam and she joins us from new york. thank you for being with us. tell us, firstly, how this has been for the family of shahidul alam. thank you for having me. of course it has been very difficult, as the family we we re been very difficult, as the family we were all extremely worried about his safety and we are constantly trying to find the latest updates on

what is going on, which is difficult to do, considering there are so many various sources and different kinds of news coming in from all over the world. however we are extremely worried. those images we have all seen them, after his arrest, barefoot and dishevelled in escorted by the police. what was the reaction of the family when you saw that? do a shock, of course. i am sure anyone who knows anything about him knows that he is proud of the sandals he wears, no matter where he goes or what event he is at. to see him barefoot was extremely troubling and it was heartbreaking. we were mostly just shocked that this is coming about through him doing something so benign as reporting on what he was

saying, just being a journalist doing what he does. recording things as is. so it was extremely shocking and terrifying. what communication has there been with your family and him and are you getting any sort of information about how he is doing was to we are not. here's my mother's first cousin so we are a bunch of siblings and cousins and we are constantly in communication with each other but we have no idea what is going on. there has not been enough communication. 0ther is going on. there has not been enough communication. other than what we have just heard or seen a online. the silence must be deafening for you all. were different do you think this appeal by the nobel laureates will make? we can only hope that the government will fill the international pressure. were profoundly grateful to those nobel laureates because

they have such a presence in the world and for them to speak out about this it will hopefully make a difference and the government will seek that this is their chance to do something right for the people to make the right choice. we are grateful for your time. make the right choice. we are gratefulfor your time. thank make the right choice. we are grateful for your time. thank you for joining grateful for your time. thank you forjoining us. there's more coverage of this story on our website, including a gallery of some of shahidul alam's powerful photography in bangladesh over the years. that's on bbc.com/news you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme — an ordeal at sea. the woman who fell from a cruise ship and spent ten hours in the water. also on the programme, we begin a week of in—depth coverage on global trade wars here on bbc world news, looking at how president trump's tariffs are impacting businesses

inside the usa. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed, i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today, in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last ten days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we're all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people, in his hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us," chanted this ocean of humanity.

"well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me to desert rome?" this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: a major relief operation is underway in kerala to help tens of thousands of families made homeless by the worst flooding for a hundred years. north korea is set to host a temporary reunion of families separated by the korean war. a total of 93 people from the south and 88 from the north will be able to meet their family members for three days each. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the japan times reports that

north korea has agreed to allow international officials to conduct an on—site inspection to ensure that international flights are safe from the country's missile launches. this is according to the un international civil aviation 0rganization. the south china morning posts leads on hongkongers working and living in mainland china who will have their chinese identity cards revoked if they pose a threat to national sovereignty and security. the paper says lawmakers have raised questions about whether this can be done if no laws have been broken. and the gulf times reports on the beginning of the hajj rituals. it says the five—day pilgrimage has become increasingly tech—savvy with apps now helping people to navigate islam's holiest site. yet again, the indonesian island of lombok has been hit by a series of earthquakes.

the latest had a magnitude of 6.9. it was felt in the east of the island, triggering landslides and sending people fleeing into the streets. the new tremors come just two weeks after an earthquake killed more than a70 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes. richard galpin reports. once again, people in lombok run for their lives as another series of powerful earthquakes hits the island. the fear palpable. one of the tremors measuring 6.9, the same as the quake which killed more than 400 people here earlier this month. for those living near the hills, another danger — landslides triggered by the earthquakes sweeping down towards them. aid workers are doing what they can to help. we are lucky, they have water and food they can distribute, we are also distributing tarpaulin,

but more aid is clearly still needed, and for example this latest earthquake triggered a major landslide, and so we cannot reach all the areas we would like to at the moment. already traumatised by the other earthquakes of the past few weeks, many people in east lombok are taking no chances, spending the night out on the streets. this man described how he and everyone else had run out of a hotel, but he said it had been orderly, not chaotic. 0n the neighbouring island of bali, this couple were showing a camera crew how earthquakes had damaged their home. when suddenly, they felt the ground shaking once again. these scenes of people fleeing their homes here in bali,

and much more so in lombok, have been going on for three weeks now, and no—one knows when the tremors will stop. richard galpin, bbc news. the trump administration is about to hear from american businesses about whether the third proposed round of tariffs on china are a good idea. it's a reminder that while trade tensions are rising everywhere, the person who has triggered the trade war is the man in the white house. businesses in the us are quite worried about these developments, in fact a short time ago we got a statement from american chamber of commerce saying these measures increase the harm to consumers and businesses. robert carnell is the chief economist and head of asia research at the investment bank, ing. i asked him whether they have a point. they have not only got a point, they are absolutely bang

on the button with this. tariffs are a tax, they are a tax on imports, and american consumers and american businesses buy imports, lots of them. so it's putting up the price of the things they buy, it reduces profit margins, it's putting up inflation. it means the central bank of the us, the federal reserve, will carry on putting up interest rates, that will put up the dollar. a catalogue of negative consequences from this, all of which are going to hit the american economy. all right, these are dire consequences indeed, but how are they impacting china? i mean, you had the first round of these tariffs come into effect in july, on $34 billion worth of chinese imports, and the chinese trade numbers seem to reflect none of this. in fact, they rose. not really surprising, because tariffs won't improve or worsen the trade deficit or surplus of the country. they just don't work, they don't really operate in that way. they simply make everybody a little bit worse off, because more trade is always better. we have about 3,000 years of history to prove that. that is why the world is a better place today than it was 1,000 years ago.

it's still very early days. the amount of tariffs that have been put in place are tiny compared to, one, the size of the global economy and the economies of china and the us, and two, the amount that has been threatened. now, forget the amount that has been threatened. if you added in all the retaliatory movements, it comes to $650 billion, and then the impact of this could be really very substantial. all right, and i know we focus a lot on the us and china, but what about emerging markets? they are already having to contend with the turkish lira going into freefall. what about the rest of the world? emerging markets are a bitjittery right now, as a result of the tariffs in place, with the stronger dollar. a stronger dollar means these emerging—market currencies are almost by definition weak. that means they tend to drag on inflation, they tend to put up interest rates, it makes it harder to service their overseas debt, and it all becomes more problematic. so the longer this goes on, the harder it is for emerging market economies. very quickly, we know they are talking, the us and china. the negotiations, are you optimistic about them? frankly, no.

it is talks about the possibility of talks. i think the individuals involved are fairly low—ranking officials. i'm not holding out much hope. the global trade wars throughout the week here on the bbc. —— will be looking at the global trade wars. a british woman has been rescued in the adriatic sea, more than 10 hours after falling from a cruise liner off the croatian coast. she's now recieving treatment after her ordeal and says she feels lucky to be alive. tom burridge reports. she fell from a cruise ship at around midnight, and then spent ten hours on her own at sea. but kay looked pretty well on this, the final leg of her rescue by the croatian coastguard. one very grateful holiday—maker back on dry land. and this is the moment she was rescued. i fell off the back of the norwegian star, and i was in the water for ten hours. so these wonderful guys rescued me. the norwegian star is a 92,000 ton cruise ship. kay fell from the back deck down into the adriatic. the ship had docked in dubrovnik and was heading north towards venice when, just before midnight last

night, kay went overboard about 60 miles off the croatian coast. too much sun the only visible effect, but what an ordeal. i am very lucky to be alive. there has been no comment on how she fell. the coastguard said she was exhausted when they pulled her from the water. tom burridge, bbc news. you have been watching newsday. i'm babita sharma in london. and i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. stay with us. trade tensions among the us and china. why is washington so worried over beijing's ‘made in china 2025‘ policy? more later in the programme. that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. hello there. all this week our

weather will be coming in from the atla ntic weather will be coming in from the atlantic so it will be rather changeable. sunday saw some autumn sunshine across a good part of the midlands towards the south—east of england and in the warm and muggy air it felt warm out there as well. the main rain bearing clouds is remain for the time being towards the north—west of the uk, but south of that it is good to be difficult to gauge how much sunshine there will be today because the areas moistening up, more low cloud coming m, moistening up, more low cloud coming in, a lot of dry weather around and there may be some sunshine around. you can see the extent of the cloud. the best across central and eastern parts of england, a bit of drizzle around the western hills and coast. more substantial breaks across central and northern parts of scotla nd central and northern parts of scotland where the areas or to be cooler and fresh. still a decent day and with the cloud further south is going to be a warm day again, temperatures up to 25 degrees. a little at a sunshine to end of the

day and any breaks of cloud tending to fill in as the night goes on except across northern parts of scotland, where those temperatures around nine or ten but 17 is a minimum temperature across southern parts of england. into tuesday, things changing a little. in the north—west you can see we a person rain coming in, that cloud we saw beginning to events around scotland and northern ireland, away from here and northern ireland, away from here and more in the way of sunshine and probably higher to bridges across england and wales, across south—east scotla nd england and wales, across south—east scotland as well. this weather front will be a bit of a nuisance. it is moving southwards but rather slowly, erratically because the regress is being delayed by a little wave on that front. could get a bit of rainfall while across northern ireland on wednesday, northern england perhaps into wales. should see more sunshine coming to scotland and northern ireland, cooler and fresh air, towards southern parts of england and the midlands, where we get some sunshine it will feel very

warm. that is the last of the humid air because that weather front will push its way down towards the south—east. the other following push its way down towards the south—east. the otherfollowing in the north is more intense on the showers at. it is the boundary between the humid air that is getting pushed into the near continent of cooler and fresh air from the north—west. sunshine around on thursday, a few showers for scotland, to bridges across the board will be a little bit lower. will keep that north—westerly airflow through friday but we see rain coming down into more northern parts of the uk. dry across southern parts of the uk. dry across southern parts of the uk. dry across southern parts of the uk but by the end of the week it is not to be as warm. i'm babita sharma with bbc news. our top story: rescue teams are urgently trying to reach people cut off by floods in kerala state in southern indian. thousands of people have been trapped on roofs or in their homes for days. more heavy rainfall is still expected in many districts. more than 350 people have died so far, 300,00 people are homeless. korean familes separated by the war are set to be

reunited for three days in the north. and this video is trending on bbc.com. ice cream that has been moulded into the shape of puppies is being sold at a restaurant in taiwan. it takes around five hours to make each ice cream pup. they're available in a variety of flavours. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: the campaign for another brexit vote has received a million—pound boost after a donation from the co—founder of the fashion label superdry.