i'm sharon in singapore, the headlines another weekend — the 20th — of protests in hong kong as demonstrators defy the ban on marches. and no sign of either side backing down the question is the one we've been asking for five months now — when does this end, how does this end? we return to sri lanka — and meet the community trying to re—build after the suicide bombings six months ago i'm samantha simmonds in london. also in the programme. the dream may be over — butjapan‘s rugby romance blossoms — as the hosts bow out of the world cup. an ancient role in modern times.

as japan's emperor naruhito is enthroned this week, we look at the role of the empress masako. good morning. it's 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 7am in hong kong, where the working week is just getting under way. it follows another weekend of mass protests. organisers say as many as 350,000 people took part in the demonstrations, which were held without official permission. police fired teargas and water canon, to try to clear the streets. nick beake reports from the protests in hong kong. they were told they weren't allowed to march today. they were threatened with prison

if they wore a mask. and they were warned by china's leader there would be broken bones for those who try to break up his country. but this is a pro—democracy movement that believes the world is on its side and it's not backing down. we are here to fight for freedom and we are not scared about the chinese communist party. we want our freedom and human rights. but once again, peaceful protest gave way to petrol bombs, with police stations under attack. this is what eventually cleared the hardcore activists, who then rampaged through the streets, targeting chinese businesses. they fought the police late into the night. for a 20th consecutive weekend of unrest here in hong kong, the police are really struggling to control the streets here.

they brought out the water cannon. the protesters are not going home. the question is the one we've been asking forfive months now. when does this end? how does this end? hong kong's government claims a housing crisis has unleashed this cycle of violence, but these protesters say it's their deep fear of the type of place they'll be living in under greater chinese control, which means they won't be giving up. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. here in the uk the government has said it plans to hold another meaningful vote on the brexit withdrawal agreement on monday. it's not clear whether the speakerjohn bercow will allow that to go ahead. a letter requesting an extension has been sent to the eu following mps backing a move to delay the approval of the deal on saturday. here's 0ur europe editor katya adler on the reaction of eu leaders.

there is such a stark contrast here in the eu to the times of theresa may when she wanted an extension because then, you still had leaders like president tusk and angela merkel of germany and they thought maybe they would change their minds and choose to stay the eu. if the uk that, now the main concern for eu leaders is basically to move on. they want to put the uncertainty behind them and they sailed far too close to the possibility of a note to brexit as of late, so they would like in peace to vote in favour of the steel some of the uk in the eu can go forward now. also making news today — donald trump has abandoned a plan to host the g7 summit at one of his resorts in florida, after he came under criticism for potential conflict of interest. president trump had originally offered his doral resort for the summit, apparently at cost price. distancing the white house from the offer, the white house acting chief of staff,

mick mulvaney, told us media that the offer resulted from donald trump's business background in hospitality. the president isn't one for holding back his feelings and his emotions about something. he was honestly surprised at the level of pushback. at the end of the day, he still considered himself to be in the hospitality business and he saw an opportunity to take the biggest leaders from around the world and he wanted to put on the absolute best show, the best visit that he possibly could and he was very comfortable in doing that and i think we were all surprised at the level of pushback. to pick up, he considers himself in the hospitality business, he's the president of the united states? yeah, but that his background. yeah, but that's his background. i used to be in the real estate business, i don't know what you use to do before you were in media. nothing, that all i've ever done. nothing, that's all i've ever done. he wanted to put on a show, he wanted to take care of folks. he's in the hotel business, or at least he was... does he understand, forget the media, does he understand that it looked lousy? i think he knows that people thinks it looks lousy.

anti—government protests have continued for a fourth day in lebanon. protesters are calling for a revolution and demanding their government stands down. the protests were triggered by a new tax on calls over the internet but the government's handling of an economic crisis is the underlying issue. the government is hoping to approve a reform package on monday. ali hasheem is in beirut. protesting against the policies of the coalition government and it is not an easy task to be lebanese living here and paying for water and lacking decent health services. the lebanese are asking for accountability from the political elite and also for the resignation of the government and early parliamentary elections. they gave them 72 hours to accept his reform

bill, and the clock is ticking and there are only a few hours left until then. some reports are emerging that they accept what he is offering and there are others for ministers from lebanese parties that have announced their resignations. securing the support of his rival to offer his reforms to these people. they either take it into or leave it and stay. demolition crews in new orleans used a series of controlled explosions to take downtwo construction cranes damaged at the site of the partially collapsed hard rock hotel. the construction project partially collapsed last week, killing three workers. the building is at the edge of the city's french quarter and authorities said they hoped to demolish the cranes without damaging surrounding historic buildings. kurdish forces in syria say they've pulled out of a key strategic town in the north

of the country, after a temporary truce put an end to fierce fighting. turkey says it is attempting to create a 20—mile ‘safe zone‘ in areas of kurdish control, after president trump pulled us troops out of the area. kurdish fighters are now reported to have left ras—al—ain, on the syrian side of the border. 0ur correspondent aleem maqbool is in northern syria. souad mohammed is numb. she's been that way since seeing in the morgue the mutilated body of her daughter. the brutal killing of havrin khalaf, a kurdish politician, by turkish backed militants, is now being investigated as a war crime. "i feel i want to burn down this home", she tells me, "because the memories of my daughter are everywhere, and it's too hard to bear. her whole life is playing like a movie in my mind."

she told me she blamed turkey and america for her loss. it was the announcement of the withdrawal of these american troops from northern syria that precipitated this crisis and, in effect, gave turkey the green light to invade. that us withdrawal is now very much in motion, a sorry end to what had been an effective partnership that won back all the territory controlled by the islamic state group. kurdish forces lost thousands of fighters in that campaign. now, some of the same combatants who survived the long battle against is are dying at the hands of turkey. i think we managed to defeat isis all over north and east syria. and it was not something easy. and i think what is happening now is a betrayal for the sacrifices that they have gave

and they provided for the security and stability of the area. for all the talk of ceasefires on the front line and diplomacy, people here are still very much in shock atjust how quickly their lives were turned upside down. and those we speak to tell us they have very little faith that the world will come to help relieve their suffering. so, instead, they continue to flee for their lives in huge numbers. camps for the displaced near the iraq—syria border, that were all but emptied, are full again. some families here told us they didn't leave their homes in the days of is, but felt compelled to now. they're afraid of meeting the same fate as havrin khalaf. when over recent years, so many thousands of kurdish mothers have already had

to bury their children. it's six months since sri lanka was rocked by a series of suicide bombings targeting churches and luxury hotels — one of the world's worst terrorist attacks this century. the authorities say local muslim extremists carried out the attacks, which killed more than 260 people and injured many more. the deadliest of the bombs was in the fishing town of negombo, the centre of sri lanka's small catholic community. from there, caroline hawley reports. people were screaming, they were scared, they were panicking. six months ago, he was released to sunday mass when the church he was in was bombed, killing 115 people. i was there and i did not know what to do. i was scared. ifelt like i was bleeding. these are fragments of the bond that were removed from his body. these are fragments of the bomb that

were removed from his body. 0ne bit in his lung is still inside of him. he spends his 17th birthday in intensive care. that is where he learned that his mother was dead. my mother was the best person i ever met. she was very loving. she knows her to keep the family together, she knows how to forgive, she really made me happy. this is where she was killed and this is the killer calmly walking into church with his bomb. over the past six months the people have come together to rebuild their lives and also repair the church. a parishioner was giving a speech and the guy had come along this road and he walked and he has entered from this way and here the blast took place. this is the exact spot where he detonated himself? yes.

and the whole church was like that. how it is damaged. he is the new priest, taking over when others were too traumatised to stay. god always has told us to forgive. everything that happened here, and people when the bodies were here and there and people were weeping and shouting. the statue. it is full of blood. the statue here. it was splattered by blood. the blood of the people. they are striving hard to come from this trauma. over the past few months, the people are trying to move on. but despite the best efforts of their religious leaders, the attacks have put a strain on communal relations.

remarkably, they say he is not angry any more about what happened to stop he is now teaching the younger children in sunday school and when he is not in church, he is learning to cook for his dad. he told us he wants to make a success of his life and do his mum proud. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. as a new emperor ascends to japan's chrysanthemum throne this week —we look at role of the new empress, masako. also on the programme. airborne for nearly 20 hours. the world's longest nonstop commercial flight from new york to sydney comes to a very welcome end.

this is newsday on the bbc. our top stories: there's been another weekend, the 20th, of protests in hong kong, as demonstrators defy the ban on marches. as ambulances evacuate the wounded, kurdish fighters say they're withdrawing from ras al—ayn in northern syria under a ceasefire deal with turkey. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the japan times is focusing on the government response efforts to typhoon hagibis. it reports that the government is committing an initial 710 million yen — that's $6.5 million as part of the relief effort,

after the storm's death toll reached 79 people on sunday. the straits times leads with the swearing in of indonesian presidentjoko widdodo for his second term in office. the ceremony took place under heavy security in the wake of a series of student protests. and most of the australian papers have redacted their front pages to highlight the constraints on media organisations under strict national security legislation. national mastheads, including the australian and the financial review, ran special covers on monday morning arguing the media is subject to a regime of intense government secrecy and the threat of criminal charges forjournalists doing theirjob.

now, what stories are sparking discussions online? yes, let's looks at what is trending right now. how would you feel after a 19—hour flight? australian airline qantas has flown a plane 16,000 kilometres nonstop from new york to sydney to research how the long journey could affect pilots, crew and passengers. the total flight time was 19 hours and 16 minutes. one of the four pilots on board was sean golding. the flight was very successful from two components. the first one, was research. we are researching the effects of the long flights, the ultra long haulflying on our cruise. we are getting a lot of data that's going to be analysed over the coming weeks and months. and also the feet of distance. that flight last night was 16,200 kilometres. we were airborne for 19 hours and 16 minutes and we landed here in sydney with a comfortable 70 minutes of fuel.

so there was no doubt. and that was also against stronger headwinds than we'd actually forecast, so that was a success. on tuesday emperor naruhito will formally ascend to the throne injapan. the ceremony will be attended by dignitaries from around the world, including prince charles, who's representing the uk. but the spotlight will be firmly on the japanese royal family — the new emperor and his wife, masako, a former diplomat who speaks several languages. mariko 0i takes a closer look at the role of the new empress. this is the new empress of japan because she is married to him, the new emperor. naruhito. japan's imperial family is very old and very traditional. and the empress as a very important role, so the pressure on her has

been really high and it has taken a really taking a huge personal toll on her. masako was only the second commoner to become an empress and people called her the career woman princess. why? because unusual for a japanese imperial woman, she had career goals and was on her way to be a successful diplomat. straightaway, masako was under enormous pressure to produce a male heir because only men can inherit the japanese throne. this was a very hard and public challenge for the couple. masako had a miscarriage in 1999 and 2001, the couple had their first and only child, but it was a girl. japan nearly changed its laws to allow women to inherit the throne but then, the emperor naruhito's younger brother had a son.

her husband announced that she was having difficulties adjusting to the imperial life. it is a huge taboo to talk about mental health injapan, but she then disappeared from the public eye for over a decade. recently, we have seen a lot more of her and in may, she became the new empress. this is her talking to foreign leaders like president trump without an interpreter. she still has all of those rules and traditions to follow, but at least she is finally getting to use her language and her diplomacy skills in her new role. it is an ancient role in modern times, but it looks like masako can become a very different empress. so, the dream is overfor the rugby world cup hosts japan, after they lost their quarter final in tokyo to south africa, with a resounding 26 points to three defeat.

south africa's springboks will now play wales for a place in the final. here are the players reacting to the result. 0verwhelmed with the winter night and so glad to go through to the semis. yeah, my first world cup. we knew it was going to be a tough one tonight but to pull through against japan, injapan is an amazing feeling and i feel will get a lot of confidence going into that semifinal. translation: i am very disappointed right now so i can't think of anything else. but i want to say that i would like to show my appreciation to our fans because their support pushed us a lot. although we lost the game tonight, many supporters kept cheering us. we raised a slogan, "0ne team" in our team but i believe we were able to become one team, including all our supporters at the stadium tonight.

afairy a fairy tale for weeks and put to an end any hope ofjapan a fairy tale for weeks and put to an end any hope of japan repeating the 2015 victory against the same opponents ironically. media interest grew exponentially over the past four weeks after an impressive group stage performance which included superb victories over ireland and scotland. it was a historic day despite the defeat injapanese rugby fa ns despite the defeat injapanese rugby fans have grown no doubt in the country. 30 ancient wooden sarcophagi have been put on display in egypt following their recent discovery near the nile. the historically significant find of well—preserved and ornately decorated coffins for men, women and children are around 3,000 years old, as nina nanji reports. it is the biggest find of its kind in more than a century. perfectly preserved mummies

discovered in 30 ancient wooden coffins in the valley of the kings — the egyptian city of luxor. the trove was unearthed by a team of egyptian archaeologists on the west bank of the river nile. the coffins date back around 3000 years but despite this they were found in good condition — sealed and intact and adorned with vibrant colours and inscriptions. it is believed to contain the remains of high priests and their families. this will enrich our knowledge about the belief of the afterlife and the workshops that make these beautiful scenes, the colour and the religious scenes. it is for the common people, for a king orfor a priest? and that is why i believe this discovery is very important. egyptian authorities will be hoping the discovery, along with other finds of ancient relics, will help revive the country's tourism sector — hit in recent years

by political instability. the sarcophagi will undergo restoration before being moved to a showroom at the grand egyptian museum, due to open next year. you have been watching newsday. i'm samantha simmonds in london. and i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. stay with us. ever had a call claiming your computer security has been compromised? police close down fraudsters at two call centres in kolkata after thousands are scammed. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with these pictures. this is the centre of the spanish capital, madrid on sunday. and, yes that is two thousand sheep you can see being herded down the city streets. the spanish capital sits on ancient migration route where shepherds would move their livestock south for the winter. there is a medieval rule

which allows shepherds the right every year, a nominalfee is paid in exchange for the safe passage of the animals, in a ceremony between the mayor and the chief herdsman at the city hall. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. some quiet weather around and at least to start this week in sharp contrast will be a vet for much of 0ctober so far which is an active jet stream and low pressure and rain. infact jet stream and low pressure and rain. in fact for england and wales, all of the average 0ctober rain has fallen already this month with 11 days to go in very wet in northeast england. scotland and northern ireland have some ways to go before the october average rainfall and it is here that we will see the wettest weather as we go to the week but as i mentioned earlier, it is quiet to start the week because of an area of low pressure and there is still some low pressure and there is still some low pressure and there is still some low pressure close to east anglia and england and for monday, they'll bring a bit of rain for us and in terms of the weather field to begin the day. chilly and northern ireland

but especially in scotland where parts of royal aberdeen, three celsius to start one over. a modest offering that it was a lot of cloud around the north easterly breeze the few showers in the outbreak of rain towards the far southeast, especially intent, essex and norfolk, but we might see a few spots further in land as well. some outbreaks of rain towards northern ireland with a fresh south—westerly wind and temperature is around ten to 14 wind and temperature is around ten to 1a degrees, some spells developing more widely us to go through the day. in england and wales going into tuesday morning with winds, the reason for the patch developing dents in a few that in mind. for tuesday morning, high—pressure still here indicating the light winds, breezy picture for us, the northern ireland and parts of northern england is welcome a fairamount of of northern england is welcome a fair amount of cloud on tuesday. most will be dry but he my brakes of rain in the far north of scotland, few sunny spells and boxers away, the rest of england and wales and

temperatures are actually edging up a few degrees. and a few looks at the picture for wednesday, low— pressure the picture for wednesday, low—pressure getting closer and a week weather front heading towards the southeast and weather front is coming ina the southeast and weather front is coming in a more substantial rain from these will be heading into northern ireland and heading into scotland, especially to the west we will see if you showers but that weather front towards the south east and between the two and in the zone here, present and your weather and temperatures right around the mid to low teens. so that it's of the week is looking, quite a start with and for midweek, it is back to some rainy times in scotland and northern ireland france or england and wales, pressure remains high so the quieter weather holds on and not much of the way of fresh rainfall on the way and there will be a few flock patches. —— fog.

prisons there welcome to bbc world news. our top story. there's been another weekend, the 20th, of mass protests in hong kong. organisers say as many as 350,000 people took part in the rallies, which were held without official permission. police fired tear gas and water canon, to try to clear the streets. kurdish—led forces in syria say they have withdrawn their fighters from the border town of ras al ayn under a ceasefire deal with turkey. it comes as ambulances evacuated the wounded from the town. and this story is getting a lot of attention on bbc.com. 30 ancient wooden coffins have been put on display in egypt, following their recent discovery near the city of luxor. the ornately decorated coffins for men, women and children date back to the 22nd dynasty around 3,000 years ago. that's all. stay with bbc world news.