welcome to bbc news. i'm alice baxter. our top stories: face—to—face talks have taken place in doha between senior us and taliban officials as mass funerals are held in afghanistan for the victims of friday's kunduz bomb blast. plunged into near darkness: lebanon suffers another nationwide power cut amid an ongoing economic crisis. taiwan says it will work to hold fast the frontlines of democracy and freedom after china says reunification must be fulfilled. the chancellor of austria, sebastian kurz, says he's stepping down to fight corruption allegations. and porridge with a twist:

we will speak to the runner—up of the world porridge making championships. and one of 2021's most anticipated boxing bouts takes place in las vegas as tyson fury and deontay wilder meet for a third time. everyone welcome to you. tell a man says it will observe a peace agreement negotiated with the united states last year. —— the taliban says it will observe a peace agreement negotiated with the united states last year. the announcement, which includes a pledge to prevent al-qaeda from operating in afghanistan, follows face—to—face talks with the us in the qatari capital doha. meanwhile, mass funerals have been held across afghanistan for victims of friday's

bomb blast in kunduz. secunder kermani reports. prayers and tears for the dead. up to 80 people are now said to have died in friday's blast, targeting worshippers from the shia minority. "we are burying the victims next to each other" says this man. "we have no choice. it is a mass grave." the local branch of the islamic state group said that one of its suicide bombers had carried out the attack. is and the taliban are fierce rivals but hundreds of is prisoners escaped from jail as the taliban took over the country. the group is small but there are fears it is growing in strength. translation: we strongly condemn this incident. - it was a cowardly attack and i hope that god will punish the perpetrators. however, i still hope that the martyrs will go to heaven and the wounded people will heal. the taliban delegation met with us officials in qatar today.

tackling the threat from is is a common interest. but with foreign funding largely frozen, afghanistan faces an economic crisis. secondhand markets like this have sprung up across the country as desperate people try and sell their possessions just to purchase food. how to help afghans without supporting the taliban — a dilemma the west is still debating. this is a country that has already endured so much and its future remains deeply uncertain. secunder kermani, bbc news. lebanon's electricity grid has shut down, leaving the entire country without power for the second weekend. officials say it is unlikely that supplies will resume before monday amid an ongoing economic crisis. from beirut, here is our middle east correspondent anna foster. careful steps in the

blackest of nights. for many, this is the reality of life now in lebanon. light and hope are in short supply. translation: the collector - comes at the end of each month to take 300,000 lire from me. and where is the electricity? there is no electricity. -- to take 300,000 lira from me. lebanon's national grid was already weak. when it works, it is only for one or two hours a day. but for the country's poorest that is a vital lifeline. people here are dealing with crisis after crisis and while the blackout was not a surprise, it is just another thing to make an already difficult life even tougher. this is keeping the lights on for 300 flats. those who can pay for expensive private generators but prices have doubled in the last month and they are getting harder to afford.

some people, they text me that "we don't have much money" and we are helping them but it is difficult for us too. so without all of this and without you, the people are in complete darkness? yeah, unfortunately. a ship carrying fuel is on its way. it is another short—term solution to an enduring problem. lebanon's politicians are talking about answers but this struggling country does not have time to waste. anna foster, bbc news, beirut. taiwan has issued a defiant rebuttal of a claim by beijing that reunification with china is inevitable. tension between the two has been growing once again as taiwan celebrates its national day. here are some live pictures from taiwan on this national day. earlier, the president sighed again when said in her

speech that we hope for an easing of relations and we will not act irrationally and there should be no illusions that the time people will bow to pressure. —— tsai ing—wen. she said she will ensure that nobody can force taiwan to take the path china has laid out for them. this is because the path that china has laid out means the end of a free and democratic life all taiwan, nor sovereignty for our people. earlier, i spoke with scott harrold, a researcher who specialises in china and taiwan.

it is important to say that beijing has said, building the capacity to threaten towards taiwan for a long time and seems to think that right now it is a moment when it needs to rattle its labour and threaten taiwan. of course, taiwan has been striving to push back against that pressure and the us and its allies and partners are signalling to beijing that the entire us china relationship is premised on beijing resolving its differences with taiwan peacefully. the united states, japan and the uk recently completed some naval exercises with four aircraft carriers in the waters approximate to taiwan and some of what china is trying to do is show that it too has a capacity to threaten taiwan and the us and its allies and partners so as to deter taiwan from even contemplating any steps. taiwan said they were not planning to take any steps — they simply want to maintain that they are a sovereign country that china cannot absorb by force. and what do you make of president xi's comments on saturday that taiwan will have to reunify with china? certainly, xijinping's claims that taiwan will have to

be absorbed by china are of a piece with his broader china dream. the taiwanese president has every right to feel anger and the people of taiwan have a right to feel frustrated that china will not seek to negotiate their differences as equals and respect the people of taiwan's hard—won democracy, and i think president xi is going to continue to try to rattle his sabre. the reality is that his sabre cannot achieve what he wants. there is no cost—acceptable way for china to engage taiwan militarily because it would mean engaging taiwan and the us, japan and many other countries, possibly the uk. and that is too costly for china to win that conflict and think that it could do in a way that was acceptable. today is taiwan's national day and we expect the president tsai ing—went to speak. what do you think is going to say? i think the president will reiterate points

made for the past 4.5 years she's been in office. she has said that sovereign is already a sovereign republic and has been since 1912. she will highlight the fact that the people of taiwan have struggled against chinese dictators in the past and have built a robust democracy that deserves respect and support from the world. finally, i think she will point to the successes of her administration and past taiwan governments that have built up a very capable governing structure and a robust military apparatus to defend taiwan's hard—won freedoms and in the respective partners around the world. i suspect she will reach out an olive branch and say she is always willing to talk to china but they have to speak as equals and i think that is something the rest of the world should respect too because the only way we can get out of this mess that beijing has started is for beijing and taipei to sit down and negotiate on terms of peace, not on terms of taiwan surrendering.

let's get some of the day's other news now. police in guatemala have rescued 126 migrants from inside a trailer abandoned by the side of the road. most of the migrants were from haiti, which is currently suffering an economic and political crisis. the us ambassador to mexico, ken salazar, said a solution had to be led by both countries. la palma airport in the spanish canary islands has reopened after clouds of thick ash from the erupting volcano forced it to close for two days. three weeks after the volcano first erupted, lava continues to flow. spanish and international tourists visited la palma to witness the eruption. some are labelling it as a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity. italian police and protesters in rome have clashed during a demonstration by thousands of people against the extension of the coronavirus health pass to all workplaces.

some demonstrators attempted to storm the office of the prime minister. police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse them. austria's chancellor, sebastian kurz, has announced that he is stepping down after he was placed under investigation on suspicion of corruption offences. he stood down after his coalition partners the greens withdrew their support, describing him as unfit to govern. mr kurz, who denies the accusation, says he will remain as leader of his party. mark lobel reports. j°y joy outside austria's chancellor's headquarters from opponents of the country's popular leader as he fell on his sword, days after being placed under investigation for bribery. translation: my country is _ bribery. translation: ij�*i country is more bribery. translation: m: country is more important bribery. translation: m; country is more important to me than myself. what we need now is stable conditions. i would like to make way to end the

stalemate, to prevent chaos and ensure stability. the 35-year-old - ensure stability. the 35-year-old deniesl ensure stability. the - 35-year-old denies using 35—year—old denies using government money back in 2016 to pay a newspaper group to publish polls favourable to his centre—right party. but his resignation came after pressure from his governing coalition partners the greens, who said it was an important step for theirfuture it was an important step for their future cooperation. translation: it's their future cooperation. translation:— their future cooperation. translation: it's the right ste and translation: it's the right step and means _ translation: it's the right step and means it _ translation: it's the right step and means it will- translation: it's the right step and means it will be i translation: it's the right l step and means it will be able to continue our work for the people in austria. to adopt a budget and push forward the last big project we negotiated — the eco— social tax reform. this man, alexander schellenberg, austria, spike foreign minister has been proposed by kurz as his replacement as chancellor. the two are close on his appointment would keep kurz near the heart of power. kurz says he will continue to lead his overpaid people's party and sit in parliament —— ovp. it

has raised hopes of some in his party he could stage a comeback but other austrians think it is time for him to leave politics altogether as this follows the fall of his last coalition government. a snap election was called two years ago after his right—wing partners were caught in a sting dubbed the ibiza appearas in a sting dubbed the ibiza appear as they appeared to offer public contracts are positive press coverage. an positive press coverage. jifi undercover reporter found positive press coverage. fifi undercover reporter found one of the coalition partners at the time discussing various transactions with what he thought was a russian oligarch of this has been rumbling away for some time and it's quite widespread, the practice of political parties getting favourable coverage in newspapers in return for funding. newspapers in return for funding-— funding. but the crucial question _ funding. but the crucial question sebastian - funding. but the crucial| question sebastian kurz funding. but the crucial - question sebastian kurz faces that could determine his political future alongside nine other individuals and three organisations is whether public funds were used to manipulate such coverage. allegations ——to

call is baseless as this investigation continues. —— allegations kurz calls baseless. mark lobel, bbc news. the headlines: face—to—face talks have taken place in doha between senior us and taliban officials as those funerals are held in afghanistan for the victims of friday's kunduz blast. lebanon has been plunged into darkness again after its electricity grid shut down, leaving the entire country without power. opposition parties in the czech republic are celebrating a surprise victory over andre publish, the billionaire turned politician who has led the country since 2017. —— a surprise victory over andrej babis, the billionaire turned politician who has led the country since 2017. two opposition groupings will now control a majority in the lower house, and will ask the president to entrust them with forming a new government. however, he has said previously he will give the first chance to prime minister babis, despite little prospect of success. with more, here is

rob cameron in prague this weekend belongs to spolu, the czech word for �*together�*, a coalition of three parties — conservative, liberal and christian democrat — as well as a second opposition alliance between local mayors and the pirate party. together they have deprived andrej babis of a majority in a result that few of them had predicted. and on saturday night they were celebrating. the man they defeated appeared almostjovial at a news conference, laughing off suggestions that he might become speaker of parliament instead. not for him a role in opposition, it seems. translation: to the chamber of deputies, as speaker? - no, certainly not. what would i do there? that was an attempted a joke, wasn't it? iam a managerand my place is in government.

instead, this man, petr fiala, a bearded, bespectacled soft—spoken leader of the conservative ods party could now be the next prime minister. he and his coalition allies say they want to repair the damage done to the country's reputation. mr babis has fought a criminal prosecution into claims he misused eu funds. he is facing a separate eu conflict—of—interest probe and was also a central figure in the recent pandora papers leak. he denies any wrongdoing and says the accusations are part of a conspiracy against him. czech voters, it seems, disagree. but while change is afoot, it may not happen very quickly. it is not quite game over. the ailing president, milos zeman, has already said he will only ask the leader of the largest single party, not an electoral alliance, to form a new government. that is still andrej babis, even though his prospects look grim.

here in the uk, the recent murders of two young women have highlighted the danger that many consider they face simply walking alone after dark. sarah everard and sabina were killed in different circumstances in two separate attacks in london. their deaths have led to an outcry over the safety of women. now a dedicated phone line and app have been suggested as a way of providing protection. more than six months after the murder of sarah everard, flowers and messages are being left at the band stand in clapham, where a vigil is being held in her name. sarah's death and that of sabina nessa, killed last month in south london, have led to a wide public debate over the safety of women and the potential solutions. bt have now come up with plans for a smart phone app called walk me home.

an emergency number, potentially 888, would enable women to have theirjourneys tracked and an alert triggered if they don't reach home in a set time. the government says it is considering bt�*s proposal and welcomes working with the private sector, but there are already a number of apps like this. polyguard has been downloaded more than 300,000 times. in an emergency, it alerts a series of contacts, gives a precise location, and automatically starts recording video. it was set up by holly guard's family after she was killed by her ex— partner. it is for everybody, anybody wants to feel extra safe when they are out of the house, it is tried, tested, it has been working for six years, and we could put that out tomorrow to the whole country. is technology the answer? the co—founder of the campaign group reclaim these streets says bt�*s idea is little more

than a sticking plaster. an app is not the answer to preventing or ending violence against women and girls. the answer has to be changing our culture that emboldens and enables men to attack women and girls, or harass us in the street. a woman is killed every three days by a man in the uk. campaigners say it should not be up to women to download an app to make themselves feel safe. graham satchel, bbc news. one of the most anticipated boxing matches is coming up between tyson fury and deontay wilder. ridenton�*s fury will defend his crown who he stopped in the seventh round in the second five months ago. such is the intense rivalry between tyson fury and deontay wilder they were kept apart during yesterday's weigh

in for fear of a fight before the fight. that did not prevent both men trading verbal blows. he can't do nothing about it! fury fiery throughout, wilder much milder, as he has been throughout the whole week. when you are calm you can make better decisions. your decision—making as a whole lot better. deontay wilder has barely engage with the media all week, contrasted tyson fury who has taken a centre stage. he is the heavy favourite for the third and final bout in what has been a fascinating rivalry. fury floored twice in the first bout in 2018, down but not out in the draw. then it was fury�*s turn to play aggressor, handing deontay wilder his first loss, but the american claimed that tyson fury cheated his way to victory, and it has created ill feeling between the two men who were once respectful rivals. i believe tyson fury will win if the fight goes the distance. if the fight doesn't go the distance, deontay wilder will win.

after the theatrics and high octane performance on stage, fury was in a much calmer mood as he made his way out of the arena, but he remains confident that will be only one outcome. this fight will go one way, he meets the floor las vegas. peace out. will it be his hand raised, orwillwilder�*s punching power decide the outcome, we will find out this evening. we will find out later this evening. the winner of the 2021 world porridge making championships has been announced. the winner was from the netherlands and the winning dish was arruncini balls. it isa it is a far cry from traditional porridge made from oats and water. the competition was named after the wooden label traditionally used to stir the porridge, and it was run online for the second year

running, and organisers hope to haveit running, and organisers hope to have it back in the scottish highlands next year. i spoke to the runner—up earlier. it was quite unusual about the way had to operate because the pandemic. we had to submit a video of us cooking our recipe and also write the recipe and send it in. you didn't get to taste it. i guess it's the same as a cookbook. if you buy a cookbook, you look through it, imagining the recipes and imagining how it is. that's a good way to put it. we are all used to imagining how food may taste from a visual. take me through your dish. you were the runner—up and i referenced what was the winners because arrancini balls of porridge. what was your offering? ijust made porridge.

just porridge! it was very special! i am from australia and tried to use native ingredients to try to stand out in the competition and to show the world or whoever is watching the kinds of flavours that we have in australia, so my porridge had mango, something called a quandong, which is like a native peach and finger limes, and other native citrus and macadamia nuts, which i cooked with a praline and river mint, a native mint and a few triples of bush honey. it sounds absolutely glorious! i love porridge, i think i have it every single morning but i've never steamed my porridge oats. will you convert me to that?

i hope so. i started doing it myself and, again, i have a steam oven at my studio and ijust thought, what would happen if you just steamed oats for porridge? and you don't actually need to stir it when you do it that way and it's quite easy and it can make a large batch ahead of time and keep it in fridge and just reheat it the next day on the day after that. there you go! all you needed to know about porridge! you can reach me on twitter, talked with about porridge the president of taiwan has responded defiantly to a speech by the chinese president is xinping, who warned on saturday that the island would have to unify with china. these are live pictures we're at now in an address on taiwan's national

day, the president said there should be no illusions that the time when these people would bow to pressure. she said taiwan would continue to bolster its defences and no—one could force it to accept the path china had laid down for it. china's communist leaders consider democratic taiwan part of their territory. tension between the two has increased in recent months. last week china sent an unprecedented number of military aircraft into taiwan's air defence identification zone, and these are live pictures we're seeing now of taiwan �*s national des. our reminder of our top story. the taliban agree say they have agreed with united states to uphold the peace agreement. this follows the first face—to—face talks between the two sides since the militants seized control of the country

in august. the deal includes a pledge by the taliban to prevent al-qaeda from operating in its territory. hello. for many of you, sunday is going to be quite a pleasant day to get out there and enjoy the changing autumn colours, most parts of the country should be dry, a fair bit of sunshine as well, more cloud in the south compared with what we had on saturday afternoon and for all, something a bit fresher, the muggy air being swept away. this cold front pushing its way southwards and eastwards allowing temperatures to drop, but it will still be quite pleasant out there. the sunshine overhead will be cooler, northern ireland, scotland, northern england, temperatures down into single figures and a cool start to the south—east, where we could see morning sunshine in the south—east. mist and fog but weather front bringing the fresh and will be sitting across central southern parts of england and wales.

patchy late rain in the morning, that should clear, all but the far east of kent by the mid afternoon and sunny spells, light winds for the vast majority. more cloud in the afternoon for scotland and northern ireland and a few heavy showers where we will see the strongest of the winds and a gust of a0 mph. in the sunshine in the south, not as muggy and humid, but once that sun is on your back it should still feel quite pleasant. into the evening and overnight into monday, clear skies around, a few mist and fog patches but mostly clear and dry and even cooler nights to take us into the start of the new week. these are the city centre temperatures in rural areas, down to single figures for one or two. going to a new week in a cooler note, a new trend from what we have had recently, the exception to the dry story will be across the north and west of scotland, patchy rain here and we could see some of that at times getting to northern england, a lot more cloud in the northern half than the southern half and we will receive the best of the sunshine, temperatures continuing to drop a little bit after those cooler nights, but as we go through monday night into tuesday, highs close by but it is not quite with us, allowing this weather front to push its way south, introducing a lot more cloud

across northern and eastern england for tuesday, one or two spots of rain and showers without, but most places will be dry, sunny spells around, feeling cooler down the eastern coast, and shelter to the west where you get any sunny spells, it should feel pleasant. through the rest of the week, most places will stay dry, temperatures in the mid teens, chances of rain into the north as we go into next weekend. see you soon.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the taliban says it will observe a peace agreement negotiated with the united states last year. the announcements, which includes a pledge to prevent al-qaeda from operating in afghanistan, follows face—to—face talks with the us in doha. lebanon has been hit by a nationwide power cut caused by the electricity grid shutting down. the authorities have blamed ongoing fuel shortages amid a severe economic crisis. electricity supplies are unlikely to resume before monday. taiwan's president tsai ing—wen has vowed to uphold democracy and freedom at home amid growing tensions with beijing, responding to a speech from president xijinping, saying that reunification with china is inevitable. she said there should be no illusions that time when these people would bow to pressure. ——no illusions that the

taiwanese people.