welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm mariko oi. the headlines: rapid gunfire deadly violence erupts in lebanon. six people are killed after gunmen attack a protest led by the shia group hezbollah. we can hear regular bursts of automatic gunfire, we can hear the thump of rpgs like that one. we've seen somebody shooting from the top of a building and the army are now trying to work out how to contain this situation, which escalated so rapidly. it struck while they slept — 46 people, many of them elderly, are killed in a tower block fire, taiwan's deadliest in decades. celebrating the arrival of a trickle of coronavirus vaccines, but most promised doses to africa go unfilled.

we report from south sudan. covax was meant to make sure that low income countries like south sudan would not be left behind. by now, it was hoped that one in every ten people would have been vaccinated, but the reality on the ground is that only one in every 500 south sudanese have been fully vaccinated. and coldplay�*s environmentally friendly world tour — a tree planted for every ticket sold — but they're keeping their private jet. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday.

it's 7am in the morning in singapore and 2am in lebanon, where a national day of mourning has begun for six people shot dead in violent clashes in the centre of the capital beirut. there have been international calls for calm, with the united nations, the us and france all urging a de—escalation of the tensions. gunfire erupted during a demonstration by shia muslim groups against the judge investigating last year's devastating port blast. from beirut, anna foster has the latest. it started as a protest. but the tension quickly mounted. within minutes, it became a battlefield. nobody knows yet who started the shooting. rapid gunfire but the exchanges of gunfire between christian and shia armed groups stirs ghosts of the country's civil war.

for hours, shooting echoed through the streets of beirut. not everyone survived. translation: my wife was hiding downstairs, | but our neighbour was killed. she was shot in the head with a bullet. she had kids, her daughter got married just two days ago. it's a very confused picture right now, there are many, many soldiers out here on the streets trying to work out exactly where the firing is coming from. a lot of the exchange of fire is going onjust at this cross—section here. we can hear regular bursts of automatic gunfire, we can hear the thump of rpgs like that one. we've seen somebody shooting from the top of a building and the army are now trying to work out how to contain this situation, which escalated so rapidly. as the shooting faded, the clean—up started, but the scars and the divisions remain. accountability for the port blast is vital for the lebanese people, but tonight, it feels further away than ever.

anna foster, bbc news, beirut. hanin ghaddar is a fellow at the washington institute for near east policy and focuses on shia politics in the levant. she explains how the violence erupted. hezbollah�*s supporters were marching towards thejudicial palace, but some of them diverted and went into a residential christian area, so this is the main question, who actually shot at who first? it seems that they were shot at first, but they have been extremely provocative. but if you look at the bigger context, this is not the first time something like this happened and it will not be the last time. there have been very similar incidents, actually, in sunni areas. very similar things happened, where people reacted against hezbollah in similar ways, with violence with arms. that says a lot about

the mounting discontent in lebanon against hezbollah, as hezbollah is becoming more and more the authority responsible for smuggling subsidised items, for the economic collapse, for protecting the corrupt elite, for hindering anything, including, lastly, this investigation in the beirut port. so this mounting aggressiveness against hezbollah is becoming apparent, and this is the third incident, not the first, and it will not be the last. so what really happened, who shot at who, we're still waiting for more information coming from the lebanese army. we don't know exactly what happened, but there was some kind of provocation by hezbollah supporters when they entered this christian area with a lot of lebanese forces supporters living there. and i guess the big question is, where is this all headed? is there a risk that the violence could escalate into even possibly another

civil war? that's actually a very good question. obviously, this is the main question today. i don't think they will be a civil war because of two reasons. one is that no—one has the capability of actually entering a traditional civil war against hezbollah, who is today stronger than the lebanese army and all the other parties in lebanon combined. so this is not going to be... anyone wouldn't dare do that. the second thing is that no—one is interested in another civil war. the civil war is still present in people's memories, in my generation and the older generation, maybe not the younger, but no—one wants it. however, i'm not saying that this is not going to develop into something else. this is the third incident of its kind and we will see something like this. it's a series of similar incidents that expresses people's discontent, reaction to the crisis,

reaction to the political dominance of hezbollah, reaction to everything that is happening in lebanon. we will see more expression of discontent in the streets, and sometimes in violence like this. for comprehensive coverage of the situation in lebanon, don't forget our website, which includes full analysis of the tensions surrounding the port blast investigation. that's at bbc.com/news or on the bbc news app. investigators are at the scene of a 13—storey tower block in southern taiwan where a fire killed at least 46 people. dozens more were seriously injured during the blaze in a residential and commercial building in the city of kaohsiung. it's the island's deadliest fire for decades and it's raised concerns about poor fire safety standards in taiwan. our asia—pacific editor michael bristow reports. the fire broke out at night, when most residents were at home and in bed.

it started on the lower floors, which once housed busy restaurants, karaoke bars and a cinema — businesses that had long since closed down, leaving much of the place derelict. it was known as kaohsiung's number one ghost building. the flames spread to the upper stories, where most people were living. many of them were old or disabled. most died from smoke inhalation. some residents, though, did manage to escape. translation: there were loud bangs everywhere - on the ground floor. i barely managed to escape. translation: | came down . because i heard some screams. i thought it was somebody quarreling, but it turned out to be a fire. the rescue was hampered by piles of unused items in the empty lower floors which blocked doorways and exits, even though the building is supposed to have had four fire checks in the last two years. these details and taiwan's sometimes patchy safety record will no doubt be scrutinised in the investigation into what led to such a devastating outcome. michael bristow, bbc news.

let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the husband of record—breaking kenyan runner anges tirop, who was found stabbed to death at her home on wednesday, has been arrested. —— agnes tirop. police say he was detained in the coastal city of mombasa as he tried to flee. 25—year—old agnes tirop was a two—time medallist over 10,000 metres at the world athletics championship. last month, she set the world record for a women's only 10km road race in germany. ajapanese court has heard that north korea's leader kim jong—un should pay damages to five people who say they were lured to north korea under false pretences. the plaintiffs, who escaped back to japan, say they were persuaded to relocate after pyongyang launched a campaign to encourage native north koreans to return

between 1959 and 1984. the five are each demanding almost $900,000. pakistan international airlines has suspended flights to the afghan capital kabul, citing "heavy—handed" interference from the taliban. pia has been the only foreign carrier operating regular flights out of kabul. the decision came after the taliban ordered the airline to cut prices to levels seen before the fall of the western—backed government in august. police in norway are treating a bow and arrow attack which left five people dead as an act of terrorism. a 37—year—old is being held, after a man went on the rampage on wednesday night in the town of kongsberg, from where mark lowen sent this report.

a medieval weapon of modern terror, piercing the calm of this once sleepy town. police were called after six o'clock last night when an attacker fired indiscriminately from his bow and arrow. when they tried to intervene, he unleashed more volleys. by the time they caught him half an hour later, he had killed four women and one man and injured three others. today, police identified him as 37—year—old espen andersen brathen, a local resident of danish nationality, who had converted to islam and had previously raised concerns over radicalisation. and they say he's confessed. the act itself looks like a terror act, but we do not know what is the motivation of the perpetrator here. the supermarket where the killing spree began bears the scars of the horror, and kongsberg, this town of 25,000 people, has been shattered. norway's new prime minister,

on his first day in the job, takes over a country in mourning. translation: these are gruesome acts that have been _ committed, quite surreal. my thoughts go to those who have been exposed to this, relatives, families and everybody who has been seriously frightened. tonight, they paid tribute to the victims. this close community in one of the world's most peaceful countries has been devastated. it's scary. beata was out shopping with her children when the rampage began. so we hid in the sport shop for, like, 45 minutes, i guess? it was dark outside and we were quite frightened. this is a small town and it's safe here. i've never been afraid to walk out in the dark before, since i was this age, but now it feels

kind of unsafe. amidst the heartache, questions will linger over how a man flagged as a security risk seemingly slipped through the net. but for now, it's a time to remember and reflect on how this town's carefree spirit was crushed and how to rekindle it. that report by mark lowen. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: chris martin tells the bbc how coldplay are making their new world tour carbon neutral, but they're still opting to use private planes. parts of san francisco least affected by the earthquake are returning to life, but in the marina area, where most of the damage was done, they're more conscious than ever of how much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last here, he's gone from being a little—known revolutionary to an experienced and successful

diplomatic operator. it was a 20—pound bomb which exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the front of the building. this government will not weaken! | democracy will prevail! it fills me with humility and gratitude to know that i have been chosen as a recipient of this foremost honour. this catholic nation held its breath for the men they call "the 33". and then... ..bells tolled nationwide to announce the first rescue, and chile let out an almighty roar. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko 0i in singapore. 0ur headlines:

there have been calls for calm following an outbreak of fighting in the heart of the lebanese capital, beirut, which left six people dead and dozens injured. taiwan's deadliest blaze in decades. questions are being asked about safety standards after 46 people were killed in a high—rise apartment block fire. more than nine out of ten people in africa are still unvaccinated, nearly two years after covid—19 emerged. while wealthy nations have pledged to donate more than a billion vaccine doses worldwide, only a small proportion have been delivered. in south sudan, one of the world's poorest countries, only a tiny fraction of the population is protected. the problem is not just vaccine supply. poverty, insecurity and poor infrastructure are all adding to the challenge. from south sudan, anne soy reports. a south sudanese welcome dance.

this is a celebration to mark the arrival of vaccines, even if it's just a trickle. not many countries have vaccinated fewer people. here, just over 120,000 doses have been administered so far in a country of more than 11 million people. this is a donation from the us government through the global covax initiative. covax was meant to make sure that low income countries like south sudan would not be left behind. by now, it was hoped that one in every ten people would have been vaccinated, but the reality on the ground is that only one in every 500 south sudanese have been fully vaccinated. but it's not as easy as just bringing vaccines to south sudan. this is a country roughly the size of france, but you can't reach people everywhere. the issue is deployment. you have to deploy to the states and then to the counties.

it's not an easy thing, given our country, given our health system, which is also not very strong. the health workers are not well paid. they are sitting for long hours, there's a lot of people queueing up for the vaccine, so it is not an easy situation. in times of hunger, this is how food gets to people in remote parts of the country. some vaccine supplies have to be airdropped. insecurity and flooding render some airstrips unusable, making distribution a huge challenge. more than ten times expensive here in south sudan compared to some other neighbouring countries where you have a reliable road network. and yet, the distribution often has to be done quickly when the vaccines arrive. the last batch of astrazeneca doses brought here was just a month away from expiry. this is not improving the confidence that people have in the vaccine, when they know that they are receiving vaccines that are close to expiration.

it's like dumping product in africa when other people have used the majority of them. i think having vaccines that are coming on time will increase the visibility in terms of planning. here, in the world's youngest country, beset by poverty, there were hopes that wealthy countries would ensure fair play when it came to sharing vaccines. many say it's in their interests to do so. instead, despite covax, south sudan's people remain largely unprotected. anne soy, bbc news, juba. meanwhile, a panel of expert advisers to the us food and drug administration has unanimously voted to recommend booster shots of moderna's covid—19 vaccine. they agreed the vaccines should be given to americans aged 65 and older and those at high risk of severe illness. if the fda signs off on the moderna booster, the us centers for disease control

and prevention will make specific recommendations on who should get the shots. the british band coldplay have announced they are to go on a world tour next year but will aim to offset their carbon emissions as they go. they're working to develop a kinetic floor which would convert their fans' dancing into electricity. the band's singer chris martin also said they would plant a tree for every ticket sold. but they have still opted to use private planes. here's our entertainment correspondent colin paterson. coldplay, back on stage in london this week, and today, they've announced a 2022 world tour. but one with a difference. two years ago, their lead singer chris martin told me they wouldn't tour again until they could do so in a carbon—neutral way. we're taking time over the next year or two to work out how can

not only our tour be sustainable, but how can it be actively beneficial? and it turns out that interview was a game changer for the band. well, last time we spoke, i sort of made that up when we were talking. really? because i was trying to think of something cool to say. and... and then it sort of became a headline. and then we thought, "well, that is actually what we really feel." within a couple of weeks, the band employed two people dedicated to working out how to tour in a cleaner way. today, coldplay have revealed their 12—point action plan, including working with bmw to develop the first—ever mobile rechargeable concert battery. the whole show is powered from renewable energy, which is amazing. and then in terms of offsetting people being there, we're able to plant a tree for every ticket sold.

and that's a lot of trees. their last tour was seen by 5.4 million people. other ideas include a kinetic floor, allowing the audience to provide power by dancing along. you know when a front man says, "we need you tojump up and down"? when i say that, i literally really need you tojump up and down. when rock stars speak about the environment, there are always cries of hypocrisy, especially when privatejets are being used. yeah. are you ready for the inevitable backlash? yeah, i don't mind any backlash at all. we're trying our best, and we haven't got it perfect. and the people that give us backlash for that kind of thing, for flying, they're right. how do you tally that with yourself, then? i don't know, i don't mind criticism at all. it's ok. because sometimes criticism leads to improvement. and so far, coldplay�*s ideas have been well received. and it's clear chris martin believes coldplay concerts are now green enough that he can once again go around the globe singing yellow. we wouldn't be announcing a tour unless we felt

like we're far enough along that it's ok in our hearts. but we're definitely not finished. colin paterson, bbc news. adam gardner is the founder of reverb, who work directly with the music industry and artists to reduce their climate footprint, and he explained how this was great news for the industry. absolutely, i'm excited, and my initial emotional response is, "yes, this is great, this is exactly what the industry needs." it has been leading to that. reverb has been working with artists since 2004, doing much of what coldplay is doing, but we've not seen it before to that scale, with global stadium tours. so this is exciting,

it is the natural extension of the work we've been doing with jackjohnson, maroon 5, and now we have tours we are on now, like billie eilish and harry styles, we are doing a lot of these things and taking it to the next level, exactly what chris just said in that interview — where we are actually doing more good than harm by having these concerts and tours exists. so talk us through exactly how big and negative environmental impact music tours and big events can have. they absolutely can, and i think all you do is look down at your feet at the end of an average concert and see the sea of plastic you have to wade through to get back to your car while you sit and wait in traffic on the way out. so there's some obvious visceral negative impacts, but we focus a lot on the positive solutions to those. for example, we have a programme we have with a bottle company where we have eliminated over 4 million single use plastic water bottles at concerts alone, and they take it home and use it beyond that, so we are addressing the issues right there on the concert. what can we do to make

the events themselves more sustainable and how do we use the cultural power of music, the special connection bands have with their fans to make that change lasting and change people's minds, hearts and actions around all of this? we have a new campaign where we are doing exactly that, bringing together the music industry — the fans, the industry pros as well as the artists — all together to fight the climate crisis, because it's very hard as one music fan to feel alone and go, "what can i possibly do something as huge as the climate crisis?" the answer is, "there's millions of you and millions of us, and together, we can chip away at it." but can i ask briefly, though, they are holding onto their private jets, so as chris said himself, they could be accused of greenwashing the climate impact? i think they're very smart in the way they are talking about it. it is true. nobody is saying it is perfect, and i think the key

is transparency and very specific actions and impacts that the tour is doing. that's exactly what reverb does with all our artists on our tours and it sounds like what they are planning on doing, and that's the right way, because you cannot fault someone for trying to be better. and if you do, your voice should be taken with a grain of salt. adam gardner speaking to me a little earlier. and before we go, the enigma of the art world, banksy, has shown his value. one of his works that self—destroyed at a previous auction sold for more than $25 million today — three times more than the estimate. love is in the bin is what remains of his piece girl with balloon, which shredded itself — live — after it sold for a mere $2 million back in 2018. after closing the bidding today, the auctioneerjoked he was relieved the artwork was still standing. performance art, indeed. that is all we have time for

for this addition of newsday. thank you so much forjoining us. stay with bbc world news if you can. hello. a chilly start to friday across the north of the uk. we've had a cold front gradually working its way southwards through thursday. that's been bringing some outbreaks of rain. and as its name implies, behind it, we've got colder air, so likely to see a touch of frost through parts of northeast scotland and northeast england to start the day on friday. further south, still holding onto this milder air through parts of south wales and into southern england. and it's here we've still got that frontal zone through friday morning, so cloudier, maybe the odd patch of rain. most of that will have fizzled out. through the afternoon, the cloud should thin and break here. and for all of us, we should see some good spells of sunshine during friday. just more cloud pushing into northern and western scotland through the afternoon.

temperatures lower here, just nine or 10 celsius the top temperature. certainly a fresher feel compared to friday. 13 to 15 celsius further south, perhaps 16 across southwest england. but it's a fine end to the day for most, late spells of sunshine before cloud piles in across the north and west of scotland overnight, also into northern ireland and western parts of england and wales too. further east is where we'll have the clearer skies and once again a cold night, particularly for northeast scotland and northeast england, where we could see a few pockets of air frost. but this brief autumnal chill doesn't last for long. as we head into the weekend, we've got further frontal systems approaching from the west. and with those, we'll see a return of the milder air across much of england, wales and northern ireland on saturday and eventually back up into scotland on sunday. so let's take a closer look at saturday, which overall will be a cloudier day compared to friday. most will be dry, the odd patch of rain, but some rain will arrive into northern ireland as we head into the late afternoon. temperatures starting to recover on saturday, but still a fairly cool feel across the far northeast of england and into scotland.

and on sunday, this frontal system will slide its way across and begin to weaken — look what's happening out into the west. but on sunday, we're likely to see some showers, maybe some longer spells of rain. but come the afternoon, looks like the rain will begin to ease and we should see a few spells of sunshine developing. temperatures back up into the mid, if not high teens and starting to feel a little bit less chilly across scotland as well. but as we move into next week, it will be mild, yes, but we're also likely to see some frequent showers or longer spells of rain. goodbye.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. the taliban again rule afghanistan, but they haven't yet persuaded the outside world to give diplomatic recognition. the country remains politically and economically isolated, ill equipped to cope with an urgent humanitarian crisis. meanwhile, afghan diplomats linked to the old regime remain marooned in a twilight

zone of powerlessness. one of them is my guest today, adela raz, still officially