welcome to newsday. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: at the victoria falls, a dramatic change in water levels. we report from zimbabwe on drought, rising temperatures and a new warning from the united nations. with just over two weeks until the uk general election, both main political parties are forced to defend themselves against allegations of racism. iam i am determined that our society be safe for people of all faiths. i don't want anyone to be feeling insecure in our society and our government will protect every community. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: what hong kong's minorities think about the protests and what they mean

for the city's diversity. and we talk to the people trying to save australia's koalas from the devastating bushfires. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it is newsday. glad you could join us. it's 8am in singapore and midnight in london. time is running out to stop climate disaster and temperatures rising says a new report from the un. the un environment agency says global emissions need to fall by more than 7% every year over the next decade to stop avoid warming by more than 1.5 celsius. we can see the effect rising temperatures are having already as droughts become more common all over the world,

but especially in asia. water levels in the mekong river have fallen to their lowest level in more than 100 years. that has devastating consequences forwildlife —— for wildlife and the tens of millions of people living along the river. and australia has seen one of its longest dry spells. it's exacerbated the massive bushfires in new south wales and queensland. and in zimbabwe in southern africa, serious drought is threatening both urban and rural life. the bbc‘s stephen sackur has been there. when the zambezi river is in full flow, you can see why the explorer david livingstone called it "a view for the angels." but look at the falls now. this is what southern africa's prolonged drought means — the volume of water is down by two—thirds. here we are at this viewpoint. yes. it's called the horseshoe falls viewpoint, but there's no falls?

yes, steve. the change in the low falls, they're becoming more frequent. who knows? maybe one year there will be no fall completely, no water. two hours north of victoria falls is hwange national park, a land dying of thirst. hwange has the largest concentration of elephants in all of africa. i don't know if you can see, but there's a group of elephants just over there. now, each elephant needs about 300 kilograms of food a day. in a drought like this, and you can see how dry it is, that means they're constantly on the move, in a desperate search for food. drought is a killer. 200 elephants have starved to death in the last two months. solar pumps stop water holes drying out, but in drought conditions, the elephant population

here is unsustainable. climate change is real. trees are destroyed, the vegetation is lost — those are the issues. beyond the park boundary, subsistence farmers are also struggling to survive in a land dry as dust. climate change is intensifying conflict between humans and wildlife. graphic images show farmers trampled to death trying to defend their fields from elephants. madeleine's brother was one of them. prolonged drought is also an urban crisis. 500,000 people live in sprawling mbare in harare. this place simply isn't equipped to cope with an environmental crisis. they've had no piped water here for months.

cholera and typhoid are a looming threat. and look what happens at sunset. zimbabwe's power supplies have been crippled by a lack of hydropower and mbare is enveloped in darkness. zimbabweans have endured years of misrule and economic collapse. drought makes it even harder to see a way out. yvonne, in the dark at night, when there's no power, there's no lights, do you and the kids feel safe here? no, we don't feel safe because some of the people are being robbed at night. there are thieves all over this community, so we don't feel safe if there is no electricity. yvonne mgombe and nine family members huddle together by the light of a candle. zimbabwe's present is grim. its future could be much worse.

stephen sackur, bbc news, harare. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. in britain, the general election campaign has become a row over the records of the two leading parties on tackling racism. despite weeks of accusations about his party's failure to tackle anti—semitism, the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, has refused to apologise. he was asked about it in an interview with the bbc. wouldn't you like to take this opportunity tonight to apologise to the britishjewish community for what has happened? what i will say is this — i am determined that our society be safe for people of all faiths. i don't want anyone to be feeling insecure in our society. and our government will protect every community. no apology? against the abuse they receive on the streets, on the trains or in any... so no apology. in any other form of

life. i will try one more time. no apology? andrew, cannot explain what we are trying to do? you have, and you have been given plenty of time to do it. i don't want anyone to go through what anyone has gone through... has said that several times, i understand that. i was asking about an apology. meanwhile, the muslim council of britain has criticised what it called the conservative party's "denial, dismissal and deceit" regarding islamophobia. the party has insisted it "never tolerates" any form of prejudice. prime minister boris johnson was challenged on his record. we are having an enquiry into all forms of prejudice and... having a broad enquiry but not wanting to the specific allegations of islamophobia. no, if anybody is convicted, if anybody is done for islamophobia or indeed any other prejudice or discrimination in the conservative party, they are out first bounce. also making news today, the us housejudiciary committee has announced its first impeachment hearing will take place next

wednesday. it marks the next phase in a process that could lead to formal charges against president donald trump. the hearing will reportedly include a panel of constitutional experts who will testify about the founders' interpretation of impeachable behaviour. at least 20 people are dead and 600 injured after a 6.1i—magnitude earthquake hit albania. buildings collapsed and people were trapped under rubble when the tremor happened in the early hours. wednesday has been declared a day of mourning. 13 french soldiers have been killed in an operation againstjihadists in mali. the troops died when two helicopters collided as they moved in to support ground forces. president emmanuel macron says he's deeply saddened by the accident. it's the biggest single loss of life for the french military since the 1980s. there's been a series of high—profile resignations from malta's government, all connected to the investigation into the murder ofjournalist daphne ca ruana galizia,

who was killed by a car bomb in 2017. protesters in malta have demanded the resignation of the prime minister. earlier, joseph muscat‘s chief adviser stepped down amid reports he was being questioned by police. the tourism minister resigned shortly afterwards and the economy minister has stepped aside. all three deny any wrongdoing. now to the annual event all of washington waits for. yes, as you can see, it's the turkey pardon — a thanksgiving tradition when the president gives one lucky bird a reprieve. this year, the finalists were bread and butter. don't worry — neither of them will be on table this thursday, but butter received the official blessing. a team of hong kong polytechnic university management, security guards and the hong kong red cross have searched room by room

for any protesters who may still be on campus, coming across the remnants from the siege there. this is after a landslide victory in local elections over the weekend by pro—democracy candidates. kenneth chan is an expert in politics at hong kong baptist university. i asked him if protests will now calm down or pick up. i think we have seen a window of opportunity for all sides to try to de—escalate the situation. 0n the weekend, the people have spoken loud and clear. it was supposed to be a defector referendum. 0n the carrie lam administration and beijing public policy towards hong kong over the past few years. and now we are waiting for carrie lam in beijing to come back with some proactive actions, notjust words, notjust very vague responses like we have listened to the people, we are going to listen to the people more, they have listened for months and now we need is the actions. failing that, i am afraid if they again misjudged

the situation, people might come back onto the streets and the civil human rights front, which has successfully organised a demonstration for more than 2 million people back injune, it is about to organise another one on the eighth of december, the weekend before the international human rights day. so we have to wait and see. but for the time being, people are willing to give peace a chance in hong kong. it is a wait and see at the moment, but of course, we have this new pro—democracy local counsellors coming in. but do we know there power, professor, is pretty limited overall. is there anything they can do to bring about the change that they want? they intend to do so. on the face, according to the laws of the constitution which is a basic law of hong kong, district councils are consultative parties and they used to follow the leads of the leaders all follow the leader of the civil serva nts all follow the leader of the civil servants rather than taking the lead themselves. democrats have pledged to do things quite differently. they wa nt to to do things quite differently. they

want to see changes and many of them are agreeing to work together since they now control all but one district councils across 18 districts in hong kong. i think the civil servants will need to learn a new game, new ways of doing things, and these new counsellors tend to do things ina and these new counsellors tend to do things in a more deliberative bottom—up way, and even more gender—based of policies, and so on and so forth. actually the government must learn to work with these new group of pro—democracy district counsellors. kenneth from the hong kong baptist university speaking on the weekend. a pro—government rally has taken place in iran's capital, tehran. it follows weeks of nationwide anti—government protests, in which dozens of people have been killed. the protests were triggered by the tripling of petrol prices. the government completely shut down the internet, but as that returns — videos suggest that the unrest is on a bigger, more violent scale than was previously thought. kasra naji reports.

more pictures on unrest are only now gradually emerging from iran. like these posted on the internet. a small group of protesters wielding sticks and even an axe, facing armed security forces in north—east iran. shots ring out. and then to injured people are seen being dragged away. when the protesters face the security forces throughout the country last week, the uranian authorities shut down the internet and cut off communication lines to stop these pictures reaching the outside world. amnesty international says at least 143 people have been killed. the most violent protests in iranfor many killed. the most violent protests in iran for many years. triggered when the government, without notice at

midnight on november 15, increased petrol prices by three times. the next day, many blocked the main roads in cities and towns across the country by parking their cars on the roads. translation: with the rise in the price of petrol, everything else is going to become more expensive. we will not see it to —— today, but so. what started as a protest against the price i quickly became a nationwide insurrection against the clerical leaders. dozens of petrol stations were set on fire as well as hundreds of banks, government offices, even religious centres. irani and leaders blamed outside powers, particularly the united states. translation: the americans were at the centre of this rebellion and they admitted it.

death to america, shout hardliners at tehran public friday prayers. iran has been under most stringent us sanctions, what the us government describes as maximum pressure. denying it run almost completely the revenue. the source of some 70% of his income. translation: the inflation at more than 40% and value of the uranian currency plummeting, the prices of many basic foodstuffs have gone through the roof. economic growth is expected to be at —9%. all this is music to the ears of donald trump. he tweeted: hi —— irani and leaders

are shocked by the extent of the u nrest yesterday are shocked by the extent of the unrest yesterday called for a rally of the supporters into iran. —— in tehran. the document of the revolutionary guards want the us, israel and saudi arabia, we will destroy it if you cross our redlines. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: how the ongoing pro—democracy protests have allowed ethnic minority communities in hong kong grasp the opportunity to promote greater understanding of diversity. also on the programme: the sad news that the koala filmed being rescued from the australian wildfires has died, one of nearly 1,000 that have perished. president kennedy was shot down

and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world, the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number 10 to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor, easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot—air balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes, but nobody seemed to mind very much. as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air we need, it's hard cash." cuba has declared nine days of mourning following the death of fidel castro at the age of 90. castro developed close ties with the soviet union in the 19605. it was an alliance that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war with the cuban missile crisis.

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: a new warning from the united nations. our current targets to cut green—house gas emissions are falling woefully short. with just over two weeks until the uk general election, both main political parties are forced to defend themselves against allegations of racism. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the japan times reports on the last day of the pope's visit to the country. the pontiff has been speaking about the importance of education. he told people in tokyo that universities should be for everyone, notjust the privileged. preparations are under way for a party in the desert,

according to the arab news. the pop star enrique iglesias and the opera singer andrea bocelli will both be at the tantora festival in saudi arabia. it's a unique experience set in an ancientjaw—dropping location. and the new york times wonders why dogs are still a man's best friend. the paper put our canine companions under the microscope and found that your pooches friendliness could be coded into their doggy dna. now rico, a story doing well online proves why one golden rule in television should never be broken. there's a saying in tv — ‘don't work with children or animals'. someone should have told this greek reporter. he was on assignment outside athens reporting on the floods when a pig decided to investigate. cue muchjumping around and not very

much sympathy from colleagues in the studio. to australia now, where up to 1,000 koalas are feared to have been killed in bushfires across new south wales and queensland. i'm sorry to say the toll includes this koala, called lewis, who was rescued from a bushfire in a video that went viral around the world. animal groups are still combing the charred landscape looking for other survivors. australia's koalas are already in crisis, with the world wildlife fund predicting the animals could be extinct by 2050 in new south wales if current land clearing rates continue. josey sharrad is from the international fund for animal welfare. she explains why they're so at risk.

koala ‘s are particularly vulnerable to bushfires. they live high up in highly flammable eucalyptus trees. they are incinerated. those that do survive climb to the top of the trees and can cover burnt paws, noses and smoke inhalation. they can survive weeks after a fire so now it is the search and rescue phase. these fires have been catastrophic. these fires have been catastrophic. the koala population in new south wales is already on the road to extinction and this could really push them over the brink. how close is it to extinction? because that is extremely serious even how significant and popular koalas are across australia. it is a national tragedy. koalas are an australian icon and a much loved the world over. numbers have been plummeting because of habitat loss because of

land clearing rates. these bushfires have been the last straw so we are really fea rful for have been the last straw so we are really fearful for the few that —— future of the species so we are calling on emergency measures. this vulnerable population should be considered endangered and the monitor —— the moratorium on any act that endangers them. we saw the video of lewis being rescued but u nfortu nately video of lewis being rescued but unfortunately it is tragic that he has passed away. how difficult is it to bring a koala back to full health? it is a really tough task. the first tough task is actually finding the koalas. they are difficult enough to find as it is. they are highly camouflaged right at the top of the trees, little balls of fur the top of the trees, little balls offurand hard the top of the trees, little balls of fur and hard to spot with the human eye. that is why we have found that —— that is why we have the koala detection dog who can detect

koalas by the smell of their fur and he drops under the tree and the humans can come in and find the koalas. 0nce humans can come in and find the koalas. once they are rescued, the road to recovery can be very, very long. a number of these koalas like lewis have had to be euthanised to put them out of their suffering, sadly. now without pressure on the species, every life will count towards future generations. hong kong is a chinese city that has long had a vibrant ethnic minority community, many of whom are south asian. they've come under the spotlight in recent weeks amid the ongoing civil unrest. but one pakistani hong konger says a series of controversial incidents have actually given his community an unexpected chance to promote greater understanding of hong kong's diversity.

you have been watching newsday. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. i don't know about you but i am struggling to remember the last time i saw any meaningful sunshine and there is not a great deal of dish and —— difference as we lose tuesday and —— difference as we lose tuesday and move into wednesday at the low pressure very much a dominant feature with a number of it —— unattended fronts. eastern england, gradually migrating towards the borders. with it, cloud and rain stressing from the northern isles going into the great glen and at the same time blustery showers running along the channel coasts. still relatively mild, nine to about 12 degrees or so. on into the evening commute, a lot of rain to come along eastern scotland and the north—east

of england. maybe western fringes of britain. even as far ahead as thursday, it is still the low pressure really driving our weather but beginning to seed ground and thatis but beginning to seed ground and that is allowing the first signs of a change in our weather, certainly into the northern parts of britain but for the greater part of england and wales, you still have the relatively mild air with enough cloud along northern and eastern parts of britain for there to be bits and pieces of rain, heralding the change to brighter but colder conditions. an ill —— and allyship —— initially on thursday across the greater part of scotland but when the low pressure finally moves up to northern scandinavia. the high pressure comes into dominate and it is the combination of the highs to the west and the low to the east that generates a strong wind and the clue is the wind direction. it is a northerly, cold day but are much, much brighter day for the greater pa rt much brighter day for the greater part of the british isles but forget all about double—figure temperatures by the british isles but forget all

about double—figure temperatures father very southwest. three, four, five, six degrees and seven or eight in the south. that is the way we start the weekend, cold and frosty start the weekend, cold and frosty start of the day but yet another set of weather fronts wrapped around an area of low pressure, just moving towards the south—western quarter. some really wet conditions but away from that south—western part of england, the southern part of wales, it is another cold and bright day. a lot of dry weather around as well but again, maximum temperature somewhere about three and seven degrees. the weather system really dominate southern parts of britain as we got —— as we get into sunday, the flow around this northern flank, a noticeable easterly or north—easterly wind with a lot of cloud associated with the weather fronts. elsewhere, until quite late in the day when we have another little weather front to the north of scotland, again, cold and frosty start followed by a right, dry, sunny sort of day but those temperatures again locked into single figures.

this is bbc world news. our top story: a new warning from the united nations that time is running out to stop temperatures rising and a climate disaster. our current targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions are short of the limit agreed under the paris climate accord. the un says global emissions need to fall by more than 7% every year over the next decade to stop warming by more than 1.5 degrees. with just over two weeks until the uk general election, both main political parties are forced to defend themselves against allegations of racism and anti—semitism. and this rather sad story is trending on bbc.com: a koala which drew wide attention after being rescued from an australian bushfire has died after failing to recover from his burns. he'd been taken to an animal hospital last week in new south wales. sad news there. thanks for watching.