welcome to newsday. the headlines: neck and neck in germany. the typed result in the country's general election but the centre—left are marginally ahead. but the centre-left are marginally ahead.- but the centre-left are marginally ahead. i'm very ha - marginally ahead. i'm very happy about _ marginally ahead. i'm very happy about the _ marginally ahead. i'm very happy about the election l marginally ahead. i'm very - happy about the election result that the citizens of this country are chosen. they have decided that the social democratic party should rise up. in democratic party should rise u -. ., , democratic party should rise u -. . , ., up. in the uk, warnings from etrol up. in the uk, warnings from petrol retailers _ up. in the uk, warnings from petrol retailers that - up. in the uk, warnings from petrol retailers that many - up. in the uk, warnings from petrol retailers that many no | petrol retailers that many no longer have fuel as a result of days ofjews at the pumps. there is a large number, more than _ there is a large number, more than half— there is a large number, more than half of which have already run dry— than half of which have already run dry and those others are running _ run dry and those others are running dry quite quickly.

seeking _ running dry quite quickly. seeking refuge. we have a special report from albania which is opened its doors to those fleeing afghanistan. we talked to the man fired by the military in myanmar who has agreed to stay on as its ambassador to the un. and a church in la paloma collapses after being engulfed in a river of lava as the volcano eruption continues. live from studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it is newsday. it is late in the morning in singapore and 2am in germany where exit polls suggest the tightest of races in the general election with little separating the two main

parties in the race to succeed angela merkel but according to the latest projections, her party, the centre—right cdu appears to be trailing the centre—left. let's take a look at the latest vote predictions from us german news organisation. the centre—right conservatives on 24%. the greens 14.6% and the pro—business liberal free marketeers winning ii.5% pro—business liberal free marketeers winning 11.5% of the vote and the far right on 10.4 and the far left on 4.9%. in terms of seats in the german parliament's lower chamber that pa rliament�*s lower chamber that would put parliament's lower chamber that would put the sdp as the largest party with 209 seats but, crucially, needing support from two other parties in order to secure a majority. we have been following all the latest

developments.— developments. such a tight race. developments. such a tight race- we — developments. such a tight race. we are _ developments. such a tight race. we are looking - developments. such a tight race. we are looking at - developments. such a tight race. we are looking at are| race. we are looking at are probably days and weeks if not months of really tough negotiation. not a surprise event appear. the campaign has been a roller—coaster of a ride. we have seen three parties leading the polls at different stages. 0riginally different stages. originally the cdu, then the greens for a moment, remarkably, then they fell back on the social democrats, the centre—left party led the polls and they have led the polls going into election day. they might have been expecting to get a clear lead and at the moment some projections have them with a small read in some exit polls have them toying with the cdu but we should emphasise this is not about who comes first, this is about you can get to 50% in parliament. none of the parties will be able to do that on their own. they probably won't be able to do that in tandem with one other party. they are probably looking at a three way coalition and that is going to take some negotiating because of course these parties have different policies and they

will not suddenly roll over and go along with the biggest party. they were demanding the return and those negotiations are now beginning in earnest. let's catch up on an evening of political drama without the bbc�*s europe editor. cheering excitement ricocheted around the headquarters of germany's social democrats tonight, dismissed as political has—beens, not long ago, the smell of election victory, even if a narrow one, now hung in the air. results, though, still need to be confirmed. there he is, the man the social democrats hope will be germany's next chancellor, but this has been a very tight election, and the make—up of germany's next government is farfrom certain, despite the noise. translation: it is certainly going to be a long night, -

but it's also certain that many german citizens voted social democrats. because they want a change in government and because they want their next chancellor to be called 0laf scholz. confusingly perhaps, but because the vote is so tight, at a different party headquarters, the conservative candidate backed by angela merkel also claimed his right to try to form a government. although his party is looking at its worst election results since 1949. translation: we had 16 years in germany with angela merkel| as chancellor, and this is why we will try everything to form a government under the leadership of the cdu union. it appears voters weren't bowled over by any single party. people we spoke to at polling stations earlier seemed pulled in very different directions. the cdu has been in power for the past 16 years, and a lot of the challenges were not really addressed. i voted for change,

but not a dramatic change. the climate crisis is the most pressing issue we have - to deal with urgently. the environment was a big election issue, germany's green party didn't perform as strongly as it had hoped, but it's tipped to play a key role in the next german government. so, what now? well, it's all about coalition building. a race between germany's two main parties to woo others to form a parliamentary majority. only then will we know who germany's next chancellor will be, until then, angela merkel isn't going anywhere. katya adler, bbc news, berlin. still some time before we get to a coalition government but in the meantime, questions about what this means for

angler michael's legacy. what is your sense?— angler michael's legacy. what is your sense? well, her legacy is your sense? well, her legacy is a complicated _ is your sense? well, her legacy is a complicated one. _ is your sense? well, her legacy is a complicated one. in - is your sense? well, her legacy is a complicated one. in some i is a complicated one. in some ways her has transcended certain policies edges for the style of leadership which is seen germans trust her so much to the germany that they may be disengaged slightly with one policy or another. now at the moment addressing a transition away from that style into something that is perhaps a bit more familiar to lots of european countries. as for her legacy, it is not ideal if you finished 16 years as chancellor and your party records of the worst result in a german election and many, many years. however, i think that people look at this particular result they're not going to necessarily connected directly to the pros and cons of her leadership. they're going say, let's look at german politics now. the performances of the current leader current candidate. i don't think we should connect to directly the

figures, the figures, the statistics have seen come through from the projections how her chancellorship will be seenin how her chancellorship will be seen in the long run. for more on the fallout _ seen in the long run. for more on the fallout from _ seen in the long run. for more on the fallout from germany's| on the fallout from germany's general election to head to our website. start the negotiations begin in earnest, go to our website and follow the links or download the news app. let's take a look at some of the other stories in the headlines today. voters in switzerland have given a resounding yes to a proposal to allow same—sex marriage. 64% back the change in the law which will give same—sex couples the same rights as married men and women. a chinese state newspaper says the two canadian men release from prison on saturday were sent home for medical reasons after confessing their guilt. both men had previously declared their innocence. the claims appear to build invasion's

assertion that the cases were unconnected with the canadian government detaining a chinese citizen. the taliban have banned shaving beards. anyone violating the rule will be punished. some barbers in the l said they also received similar orders. it has been more than one month and the taliban seized control of afghanistan and the un has warned of an exodus of refugees in the coming months. urging the world to help with what it has called afghanistan's darkest hour of afg hanistan's darkest hour of need. afghanistan's darkest hour of need. the uk to take 5,000 this year. many european countries are not set a target but albania, one of the poorest nations, has agreed to house temporarily up to 4,000. the country has a history of

welcoming refugees, taking in more than half a million kosovans during the 1990s, now it's kosovans during the 1990s, now its leaders criticised europe's approach as our international correspondent reports. i've never seen the ocean. albania is a very beautiful country. we are in a very beautiful place, but afghanistan i love more than myself. this woman has found a safe harbour, but far from her homeland. the tv anchor had good reason to flee. she was in the spotlight after this interview. a stony—faced taliban official being questioned by a woman two days after the fall of kabul.

my hands were shaking, really scared, because this is my first time with a person from the taliban. i hope one day the taliban know this last generation, they are like a diamond, they shine, they want to work for afghanistan. they want afghanistan to become more powerful. my message to the taliban is you took afghanistan, but you lost a powerful generation. another loss for afghanistan, another family displaced. back in kabul, abdul hakim was a painter. blast walls where his canvas. he and fellow artists transforming that landscape of war and staring social change.

he told us when the taliban came, they erased all of their murals and plunged afghanistan into darkness. he says it broke his heart. for the evacuees, a surreal shift from the chaos of kabul to a manicured resort. they are guests in a foreign country and a foreign culture. there is a glimmer of where most hope to go. us humanitarian groups are covering their costs. they arranged to get the afghans to albania, a staunch us ally. this albanian holiday maker from neighbouring kosovo sees a reflection of himself. 20 years ago, he was running from war. as an albanian from kosovo, i feel for them because, you know, we've been there where we have to flee our homes. being away from your home and from your loved

ones is very hard. i was a little boy during that time, and when i see little kids running here, i really feel for them. albania has stepped in where some others did not. prime minister, it is good to see you. i asked the prime minister if he thought more powerful nations let the afghans down. i can say, and i think it's safe to say that since that big refugee crisis back some years ago we did not recover, didn't recover morally, did not recover strategically, and europe still suffers the politics of refusing to open the doors.

an open door means she can continue her education, something the taliban would deny her. for now, many lives here are in suspended animation and many worry for loved ones back home with no way out and nowhere to go. 0rla guerin, bbc news, albania. panic by forces ministers to consider deploying the army. in all russia's turmoil it has never quite come to this. president yeltsin said today will decide the nation's destiny. the nightmare so many for so long is playing out here. russians are killing front of a grandstand audience.

humility produce affection from catholics throughout the world but his departure is a tragedy for the catholic church. he visited the religious compound. he wants israel alone to have sovereignty, an idea that is unthinkable to palestinians. after 45 years of division, germany is one. in berlin a million germans elevate the rebirth of europe's biggest and richest nation. this is newsday. 0ur this is newsday. our top story,

results suggest the social democratic party has edged ahead of the conservative cdu party. the army could be deployed to drive petrol tankers in an effort to resolve the empty fuel pumps in many parts of the uk. ever have a britain's fuel stations are thought to have run dry after days of cues. this is one of the forecourts which were forced to close today, the result of motorists panic buying fuel. a mental health nurse told us she struggled to get to work. because of panic buying, there was nothing left. i live 14 miles away from work. work then had to call me a taxi to bring me in, which is costing the nhs money. a group which speaks for more than 5,000 independent fuel retailers said the impact had been severe. there is a large number — more than half — which have already run dry, and those others are running dry quite quickly.

the first limited supply issues were down to a lack of tanker drivers, that's highlighted a wider lorry driver shortage — a long—standing problem that's got worse. the government has today announced new measures aimed at tackling that, including 5,000 visas lasting only until christmas eve. we would have liked to have seen it four months, but, you know, we will take what we can, but it's not enough, and it's too little too late, basically. other sectors too have struggled to fill their work force, including turkey and chicken producers, five and half thousand visas for poultry workers are also being introduced. the damage has already been done for the bigger processors because they haven't got the turkeys on the farm, there are half a million less. for the smaller guys, for those thousand smaller farmers throughout the country that produce for the local butcher and stuff, it is useful for them. but how easy is it to get those visas? supermarkets say they need 15,000 lorry drivers to avoid christmas disruption.

the labor leader today insisted the visa numbers were far too small, arguing action should have been taken earlier to tackle labor shortages across the economy. it's a short—term response, in the long term, we need conditions to be improved, we need training, of course, but the government has known that for years, and we have got a situation now where we have got an absolute crisis in this country through a lack of planning on behalf of the government. the transport secretary though said it was for industry to work out permanent solutions. we don't want to be relying on overseas labor in the longer run, which is why this is limited until christmas, because we have got to sort out these long—term problems with our hgv sector, which has been around for years. other countries are also experiencing lorry

driver shortages. it's unclear how many will come to the uk. for businesses, the focus is now on keeping on supplies going for the crucial christmas period. katie austin, bbc news. four candidates vied to take over the leadership of the ruling party injapan. after just a year in the post, the president will step down. for more about the candidates i have been speaking to a professor in tokyo. therefore candidates — professor in tokyo. therefore candidates and _ professor in tokyo. therefore candidates and two _ professor in tokyo. therefore candidates and two of - professor in tokyo. therefore candidates and two of them l professor in tokyo. therefore l candidates and two of them are women. the leader right now is a former defence minister, foreign minister. he is young and dynamic. then second place in the first round will be some who also has experience but is not particularly personable. then the third learner backed by the former prime minister.

she is an ideological soulmate and for a lot of ldp members that makes her a bit of a liability. and then you have the last one to join the race. a lot of people believe that she was added basically to siphon away those from another candidate who has a number of enemies. how different you think any successor will be to the way the former prime minister governed? he was not really capable and he was not a very good communicator, very defensive and so he was unpopular that as they step down. you seem to be a liability for the upcoming

national elections that have to be held by the end of november. he is seen as more dynamic. he is quite a social media presence. there is much more likely to appeal to the floating unaffiliated voters in japan and so there is concern among members that they will lose seats no matter who leads but if he is in the leadership, probably they will do better thanif probably they will do better than if any of the other candidates do so right now listening to policy promises. he stirred some controversy with his support for boosting renewables and phasing out nuclear energy. and also pension reform. so, you know, it will be interesting to see how it plays out and whether the background losses will call the background losses will call the second round. me and my�*s

ambassador to the un has accepted a deal to keep this post. the military took power in a coup in february does not recognise him and demanded he be replaced with their candidate. underan be replaced with their candidate. under an agreement with china russia and the us he will remain for the moment so long as he does not speak on the last day of the general assembly. he tells us why he accepted the deal. the other that what we see is this is the most important platform for the country and people to communicate to the international community. urban part of it because i am representing the country. they are representing the people say that the voices coming out from people inside and outside the country. how they see the military and me as a

representative. fight back with many pro—democracy supporters that we have been speaking to feel frustrated at the lack of action. do you share the frustration and view that the words has effectively abandoned me and ma? i do share their frustration. that is why i would also like appeal to like—minded countries to co—ordinate targeted strong sanctions against the military. why that one of the ways that the national government is now looking at the end the military rule is a violent uprising. they have declared a war

against the military. does that make your life more difficult that now this is a conflict between two sides, both using violence? the people conducted peaceful protests. many people died more than 1,000 died. dozens of people have been arrested. thousands of people have been tortured. sometimes tortured to death. how can you look at putting ourselves in the shoes of those parents. like that you think violence is justified under these circumstances? it is a fight between a group of people who have weapons against people who

don't have anything. in the casualty will be on the people. we don't want to lose even a single life so we need from the international community to save the lives of people. me international community to save the lives of people.— the lives of people. me and m 's the lives of people. me and my's ambassador _ the lives of people. me and my's ambassador to - the lives of people. me and my's ambassador to the - the lives of people. me and j my's ambassador to the un speaking to our asia editor. hurry in the programme i want to show these pictures from the alma where a volcanic eruption has been causing widespread disruption. unless the hours are so the lava flow engulfed the village, destroying the church. its bell tower crumbled under the flow. it had narrowly escaped earlier in the week when labour stopped short of its doors. there were no casualties but officials say the volcanoes entered a new

explosive phase. a real powerful force of nature there. stunning but so devastating as well. that is it. thank you for joining us. hello. last week we had the equinox, the astronomical start to autumn. this week, the weather is catching up. last week and through the weekend we saw above average temperatures. but this week, back to average figures and it's going to be looking a lot more unsettled. through the weekend we sat in a southerly air stream, warm air being pulled up from the continent literally overnight though into monday, we flip round to an atlantic air stream and a westerly or north—westerly breeze and a very different feel and look to proceedings. monday will start wet across the eastern side of the uk. the rain pulling away into the north sea by around midday leaves many long spells of sunshine to get through the afternoon, but the westerly breeze will add to that cooler feel.

sunday we saw temperatures in the low 20s across northern scotland and we are lucky to get the low teens in some areas on monday afternoon. the westerly breeze continues to feed showers into western exposures overnight monday, on into the early hours of tuesday. some of them getting driven quite a way eastwards, particularly across central scotland. a cooler night as well, nothing especially chilly temperatures typically in single figures. and then for tuesday, low—pressure to the north of the uk swinging through bands rain and showers. a blustery day, i think the heaviest of the rain not getting into eastern england until perhaps after dark but some pretty wet weather to contend with across temperatures, mid teens typically across the uk. so nothing like the figures we have seen in recent days. more wet weather to come across the eastern side of the uk into tuesday night and then by wednesday, things just slow down briefly and it looks like we will see

a little ridge of high pressure. some shower still getting in on the north—westerly breeze to the likes of western scotland. but actually, quite a lot of sunshine around on wednesday. but despite that, the coolest day i think of the week ahead, highs ofjust14—15 degrees. then for the end of the week, the ridge gives up the ghost and the low pressure is back running the show. plentiful showers and strong, blustery winds.

we will have the headlines and all the main story is for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. right now, it's 10:45. traffic and weather together every ten minutes on the fives. another very hot day across southern california as offshore winds continue to pump in more of the hot, dry conditions.