i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: india's top judges accuse the authorities of passing the buck and failing to tackle delhi's toxic smog. key impeachment testimony is released to the public, as a federal court orders president trump's accountants to hand over his tax returns. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: with just hours before the melbourne cup race, an animal abuse scandal shocks many in australia. and we live in politically troubled times. we hear from the cartoonist about how he draws inspiration.

good morning. it is 8:00am in singapore, midnight in london, and 5:30am in delhi, where millions of people are still being urged to stay indoors because of toxic smog. state governments have been accused of failing to take action to tackle the city's air pollution. the supreme court said authorities were only interested in gimmicks, rather than concrete measures. our south asia correspondent rajini vaidyanathan has more. so our pollution metre has a reading of around 300 right now. now, that is way lower than it was in the last

24 is way lower than it was in the last 2a hours or so, but it is still staggeringly higher, way above what is considered safe. according to the world health organization. now, as delhi continues to be in a state of public health emergency, the government here is trying to mitigate some of the higher levels of pollution. it introduced on monday what is known as it odd — even scheme, now, that means that ca i’s even scheme, now, that means that cars with an even license plate can only drive and even dates, and the same for odd license plates on odd days. the aim of that is to reduce the number of private vehicles on the number of private vehicles on the roads, and therefore the emissions. now, it isn'tjust vehicle emissions that contribute to these extraordinary levels of pollution. it is also unchecked pollution. it is also unchecked pollution from industries and factories. but also, crucially right now, farmers in nearby states burning crop stubble, which is contributing to those overall emissions. just to put this all into

context, i was talking to a doctor earlier today who said that every breath you take in deli amounts to breathing in poison. —— in delhi. we will be coming back to india's pollution problem a little later here on newsday. now to another big story: democrats have moved their impeachment inquiry into the next phase with the release of the first transcripts from interviews held behind closed doors. the transcripts show former diplomats believed president trump's lawyer rudy giuliani was in effect running a shadow foreign policy on ukraine. the former us ambassador to ukraine told the inquiry that she was advised to tweet remarks praising the president in order to save herjob. our north america correspondent peter bowes has been following developments for us. she was saying that she in effect felt intimidated by the way that the president had been talking about her during that now famous telephone

conversation that he had with the president of ukraine back injuly, that he said she was bad news, and that he said she was bad news, and that she was going to go through some things. not specific, but she read that as an intimidating comment, and that she was very concerned about it. she also told the committee that she had been warned by a ukrainian official to watch her back. this is a woman who clearly felt very concerned. she was clearly felt very concerned. she was clearly very worried about her position. and tell us a little bit more about this accusation that rudy giuliani was creating this kind of back... a second, i sort of behind—the—scenes way of running the situation with ukraine. yes, this is essentially a description of a behind—the—scenes policy. not the public policy, but the behind—the—scenes policy, towards ukraine, that rudy giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, seemed

to be in charge of. and the implication from this witness and, according to reports from others as well, is that essentially what the administration was doing was trying to change the scenario in terms of working with ukraine, possibly so that future relations could include attem pts that future relations could include atte m pts to that future relations could include attempts to get information that could politically help the president of the united states. of course, that goes to the very heart of the impeachment investigation. yes, absolutely, and peter, briefly, if you could, the significance of four us officials not showing up to testify? once again we have political appointees inside the white house refusing to accept an invitation to testify at the moment. now, potentially in the future they could be forced to testify, if they receive a legal demand that they should do so. the democrats are

already saying that, once again, this is an attempt to obstruct their investigation. much more details on oui’ investigation. much more details on our website. also making news today: there have been more clashes between police and protesters in hong kong. china's president, xijinping, met hong kong leader carrie lam in shanghai earlier to discuss the months of unrest. he said beijing continues to have confidence in her. carrie lam told him stopping violence and restoring order is her top priority. internet access in baghdad and much of iraq has been cut off as the country experiences a wave of anti—government protests. authorities in the iraqi capital are denying reports of mass casualties during the latest clashes, but medical sources say at least four people wer killed. more than 250 people have died since protests began in baghdad and other cities last month. vietnamese officials have arrived in britain to help identify the bodies of 39 migrants found

in a lorry container nearly two weeks ago. the victims are all thought to be from vietnam, where police arrested eight people in connection with the case over the weekend. british mps have elected a new speaker of the house of commons to replace the high—profile former holder of the post, john bercow. this sir lindsay hoyle has been a deputy speaker. here is the tradition of him being reluctantly dragged to the speaker's chair. it is thought he will be less controversial than his predecessor. and this is a baby sea turtle finally making its way back home. five—year—old mara washed ashore in ireland during a storm. after staff at a marine park nursed her back to health, she was finally ready to go back to the canary islands off the coast of morocco. she headed to this special check—in desk at cork airport, then joined her fellow passengers.

in australia, they call it the race that stops a nation, but much of the attention on this year's melbourne cup will be for all the wrong reasons. the annual horse racing event is set to take place in a few hours' time, amid an animal abuse scandal that has shocked many. earlier i spoke tojo mckinnon, a horse racing journalist and broadcaster in melbourne. i don't think there's any doubt that welfare has been a top of mind issue for the australian racing and breeding industry for quite a number of years now. but the recent abc report has certainly sparked a lot of momentum around the need to build stronger strategy around equine welfare longer term. the report shocked the entire nation. the images that were seen disturbed me,

along with thousands of others, both involved within the industry and outside of it. so it's been a huge talking point in recent weeks, especially in the lead up to today's melbourne cup. that's right, and i mean, a lot of the investigation centred around quite healthy racehorses that were heading to the abattoir, that were being killed. now, we know that there's been money pledged by the authorities for horse retirement programmes, but are they doing enough? that is the question, and its sparked a lot of reaction, but also a proactive attitude from the peak racing bodies here in australia. on the eve of melbourne cup week, the chairman of the victoria racing club announced that they would kickstart an equine welfare fund by chipping in $1 million straightaway. they also announced that 10% of all ticket sales across this week at flemington

would be donated towards that fund, and annually, 5% would be taken off their membership fees to contribute to this fund. at the very same time, the state body, racing victoria, announced that it would contribute $16 announced that it would contribute $115 million to fast track equine welfare strategy. so this shocking abc report has brought about much—needed proactive response. in the last hour, turkey has announced that it captured the sister of abu bakr al—baghdadi, the leader of the islamic state group, who died in a us raid in north—western syria a week ago. turkish officials say they are interrogating her and her husband and daughter—in—law, who were also detained. live from washignton, we're joined by michael pregent, a seniorfellow from the hudson institute and a former intelligence officer.

so what more are you hearing about this capture of abu bakr al—baghdadi's sister? this capture of abu bakr al-baghdadi's sister? thanks for having me. so father details, there are not a lot of details. but what is important is where she was captured. the town of bazaz. and this is a smuggling ground for isis women since isis took the town in september 2013. so there was no need intelligence, known information, that there were isis families in that there were isis families in that area. and it was also under the control of our turkish forces. but it is now under the control of turkish forces. so explained to us the significance, then, that she within this particular location. well, it shows that this is a place that isis has been very comfortable with since 2013, and it will be interesting to find out what the turkish officials can glean from the ca ptu re turkish officials can glean from the capture of documents with her, also the interrogations of her and her family family members. she is the

sister of abu bakr al—baghdadi. she would know, we would be able to ask her, how long has it been since... how her, how long has it been since... h ow ofte n her, how long has it been since... how often did you see macro al—baghdadi, how long has it been since you have seen him? and hopefully we can get american intelligence agency and to ask questions. turkey is hoping to ca ptu re a questions. turkey is hoping to capture a lot of intelligence from her. realistically though, how much do you think she was privy to? you would have to ask a lot of questions. i don't think she would know of any imminent attack plans, but she might know smuggling routes, people that baghdadi trusted, networks in iraq that helped her facilitate her own travel and her family's travel so this should be able to give us intelligence and other allied intelligence officers overview into the isis networks and how moved family members, how they travelled, and who they trusted. i am not sure she is going to be able to tell us whether or not there is

an imminent attack that was planned, but we should still ask the questions. and it is turkey that has ca ptu red questions. and it is turkey that has captured her. tell us about the significance of that. well, this sounds to me... i mean, i don't want to sound sceptical, but i would think that turkish intel officers would have known that isis wives we re would have known that isis wives were in this area. this is a place they have been since 2013, and i think it looks... it looks good for tu rkey‘s think it looks... it looks good for turkey's reputation to find the sister of baghdadi, after the raid where baghdadi was killed in a turkish controlled area of ad lib. , and now his sister was found in a turkish controlled area on the syrian— turkish border —— idlib. so it would actually be good for the turkish intelligence to say look what we have found, because it makes them look like they are part of this effort to decapitate isis and defeat the organisation, as opposed to facilitating travel into syria like turkey has done since 2013. this is

a developing story, so it's really good to get this initial analysis from you. thank you so much for joining us. thanks for having me. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the thai folk band claiming asylum in france. they say it is too dangerous for them to return home. also on the programme: we speak to a political cartoonist to find out how he captures the main events of the day in art form. the israeli prime minister, yitzhak rabin, the architect of the middle east peace process, has been assassinated. a 27—year—old jewish man has been arrested, and an extremistjewish organisation has claimed responsibility for the killing. at polling booths throughout the country, they voted on a historic day for australia. as the results came

in, it was clear. the monarchy would survive. of the american hostages, there was no sign. they are being held somewhere inside the compound, and student leaders have threatened that should the americans attempt rescue, they will all die. this mission has surpassed all expectations. voyageri is now the most distant man—made object anywhere in the universe, and itjust seems to keep on going. tonight, we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms, or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories:

india's top court accuses state governments of failing to take real action to tackle delhi's toxic smog. turkey says it's captured the elder sister of abu bakr al—baghdadi, leader of the islamic state group killed in a us raid. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the front page of the japan times reports on the talks between south korea and japan over compensation for past war crimes. the article says prime minister abe wants seoul to stick to an accord agreed between the two countries in 1965. the philippine star front page says the government there does not require foreign help in recovering from a recent earthquake in mindanao. it also covers the poor attendence

at this weekend's asean—us summit after donald trump pulled out, saying only three of the ten leaders took part. and the straits times leads on singapore banning electric scooters on footpaths, after a rise in accidents. it reports that anyone caught breaking the new rule could face a fine of up to 2000 singapore dollars or a jail sentence of up to three months. more now on our top story the deadly smog affecting delhi. i've been speaking to natasha mudhar, the founder of the world we want, an organisation that aims to promote the un's sustainable development goals. i think by now, especially when you look at the sustainable development goals, i think we have always been ambitious about the project,

ambitious about the project, ambitious about the project, ambitious about popularising the goals, creating that household chapter, where everybody knows that there is this to list that has been created for people and planets that you need to abide to. there needs to be certain accountability. that needs to precipitate across different sectors, government, corporate, media talent, ngos, mass markets. so when we see certain emergencies, climate emergencies like we are seeing in new delhi right now, it makes you wonder why enough is not being done to tackle this. when the issue of climate change is so popular, especially in today's day and age. so what are these barriers we are facing? why are governments, why are the media, why are people just not managing to deal with this? i why are people just not managing to dealwith this? i think why are people just not managing to deal with this? i thinkjust as there is not a single institution in there is not a single institution in the world that can solve the world's problem, i think we also have to remember it is not a single

institution that is the cause and effect of those problems as well. there needs to be a collaborative effort. so while they will be a lot of media attention around the issues, government activism, certain policies being in place as well, you need to have a cross collaborative effort to really see change. lots of the change that we are looking out, as well, is behavioural. and any behavioural —related change takes time. so there is a lot of social transformation that needs to be done on the ground to really feel the impact. but when we had the situation say, with the focus very much on india at the moment, given just about the pollution is, when you have farmers who continue to burn their crops, what can you do on the ground straightaway? —— just how bad the pollution is. i've, when you look at the measures that were put in place even on monday, the government has 300 teams on the ground to actively pursue any

farmers, to enforce restrictions on them, if they are illegally burning their land, as them, if they are illegally burning theirland, as an them, if they are illegally burning their land, as an example, right through to, you know, even various different schemes to limit the number of cars on the roads as well. so things are being done. but a lot of the pollution that we are seeing in delhi at the moment is quite seasonal. so any sort of measures that are put in place shouldn't be seasonal, but they need to be sustained, again, if you want to create but long—term action. this week singapore welcomes the world's top literary talent as it hosts its annual international writer's festival. the political cartoonist chris riddell, who works for the observer newspaper in britain, is taking part. iam i am never without something to characterise in my cartons. what do

you think a good political cartoon does, that perhaps other mediums can't? it is a visual medium, isn't it? so we can use metaphor. i often think of political cartoonists, as a visual image, i think we are sort of like koi carp and a decorative pool. we wait for politicians to drop soundbites into our pool, and then we'll go for them. so obviously when boris talks about being dead in a ditch if we don't leave on october 31, we think, right, we can draw boris dead in a ditch in perpetuity. we are seeing some of your cartoons 110w we are seeing some of your cartoons now on the screen. obviously drawing political cartoons is not an easy art. we know there have been issues in the past, the likes of cartoonists like her quest to guard who got into trouble for his depiction of the prophet mohammed,

he gets to threats and is under protection now. is there ever a line you need to cross, or perhaps a line that you can push the envelope a bit too hard? i think essentially, for me, it is about sort of telling truth to power in some sense. but it is also about maybe punching up rather than down. and i think for me, since around religion, personal conscience, that is something i respect. what i don't respect our politicians who are just to be pragmatic and then sort of go along and do other things. you know, that sort of dual standards that we sometimes get in public life. and i think myjob sometimes is to just point a visualfinger think myjob sometimes is to just point a visual finger and say, actually, i think you will find that wasn't a good idea. speaking of pointing visual fingers, you wasn't a good idea. speaking of pointing visualfingers, you have been working on something since you have been in the studio. do you want to hold up what you have been working on? i have been drawing a presenter, i've got to say. excellent. what does it say? pioneer

of the stylish grey look. i'm very impressed them actually. chris radu albot but rather brilliant picture of our very own sharanjit leyl. brilliant picture of our very own shara njit leyl. —— brilliant picture of our very own sharanjit leyl. —— cartoonist chris riddell. a thai folk band called as faiyen is seeking asylum in france. the band's lyrics criticise the monarchy and the military. they've faced death threats. bbc thai has been following the band's journey in exile.

that was the thai folk band faiyen which is seeking asylum in france, oui’ which is seeking asylum in france, our team there monitoring their journey into exile. we will of course keep you posted as and when we get any more developments from them. you have been watching newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. and i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. stay with us. coming up, uber skids on its latest results. the ride hailing firm chalked up more than $1 billion in losses for the latest quarter, but promised it would be profitable by the end of 2021. and if you want to have a closer look at that wonderful cartoon that

chris riddell drew earlier, this is a picture of me. it says the pioneer of the stylish grey look, apparently iam making of the stylish grey look, apparently i am making a political message are naturally going grey. you absolutely are, beautifully done. hello there. an unsettled start in november. quite a bit of rainfall in places. over the next few days but we will notice is a change in temperature. it is going to turn much cooler as those windstar to come down from the north, right from the arctic. they will also be further rain at times through the week. quite a bit of cloud across england and wales on early tuesday, most of the showers across this north—east corner. turning dry with clear spells across western scotland and northern ireland, so it will be quite chilly here. further south and east, where we also have lighter winds, we will see temperatures around seven or eight degrees and they could be a few patches of mist and fog around to start tuesday.

this area of low pressure will retreat to the continent, allowing those winds to come down from the north. you can see i suppose fairly close together so it will be breezy across northern and western areas. you can see that arctic air, the blue colour, seeping south and sitting across the northern half of the country during the day. tuesday morning, drier weather across scotla nd morning, drier weather across scotland and northern ireland. staying rather cloudy across central and eastern parts of england, if you show was around. it will also be quite windy as well across the north and the west. i mentioned earlier with those isobars close together, single figure values in the north, just about double figures in the south. 10—12. through tuesday night, we will see those clear skies pushing their way south and east with most of the showers dying out. those temperatures will fall away, and certainly a chilly night to come across northern and western areas, temperatures in towns and cities hovering around freezing, about two degrees. actually such a wednesday. some frost around. a bit of mist and

fog as well. looking west, we've got the next weather system working its way in through wednesday. that will introduce the cloud and outbreaks of rain. we start off on a chilly note with frost and sunshine across central and eastern areas. mist and fog clearing away through the morning, then we will start to see the thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain pushing into western areas. meanwhile, the sunshine across eastern areas will turn hazy as the frontal system continues to work in. a chilly day to come for all. six or seven degrees in the north, nine or just about ten across the south. as we had to thursday and into friday we had to thursday and into friday we hold onto that chilly feeling, you can see those blue colours and it will tend to be more rain at times, although for friday it is looking a bit drier. we will have some rain about on thursday, it will be quite breezy, too. on friday, a brief ridge of high pressure rings are some dry conditions with some sunshine.

i'm kasia madera with bbc news. india's top court has accused state governments of failing to tackle delhi's toxic smog. the supreme court said authorities were only interested in gimmicks, rather than concrete measures. levels of dangerous particles in the air are well over ten times safe limits in the capital. turkey says it has captured the elder sister of abu bakr al—baghdadi, leader of the islamic state group, who was killed in a us raid last month. this story is trending online — video of farmers celebrating the rain in australia. the country is seeing one of its longest dry spells, and farmers have been particularly hit, but a series of rainstorms in new south wales has brought much—needed relief to parched lands. that's all, stay with bbc world news.