welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... the un warns of a countdown to catastrophe in afghanistan, with half the country going hungry and millions of people facing starvation. people are desperate. this little girl has been sold by her parents so the family can buy food. we know there are other families here who sold their children, and even while we've been here, another person came up to one of our team and asked if we'd like to buy their child. the desperation and the urgency of this situation is hard to put in words. new covid rules are coming soon for travellers to the us. most will need proof of vaccination, but bans on non—us citizens arriving

from many countries will end. facebook says it's spending billions on safety — as a whistle—blower tells british mps that the media platform is making hatred worse. and countdown to a royal ceremony — as japan gets ready for their princess to marry a commoner — it's expected to be a subdued celebration. live from our studio in singapore... this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. let's start in afghanistan, and a distressing snapshot of the unravelling humanitarian situation. the un has warned of a �*countdown to catastrophe,�* with millions facing starvation. already, hospitals are seeing horrific

scenes of malnutrition. the situation has deteriorated sharply since the taliban seized power in august. international funds, which propped up the economy have been stopped, as the world debates how to deal with the new regime. our correspondent yogita limaye, cameraman sanjay ganguly and producer imogen anderson have witnessed first—hand the dire situation on the ground in herat. a warning — there are some disturbing images in this report from the start. beeping. this is what starvation does to a country. to its tiniest lives. six—month—old usman. this boy, born three months ago. afghanistan was barely surviving before the taliban took over. but now, foreign funds which propped up this country have been frozen, putting at least a million children at risk of dying.

in this ward, one in five will not make it. usman weighs less than half of what he should. his father, among millions who have no work. usman�*s mother told us his twin is in a room next door. this hospital is full. some babies are already sharing a bed. while we were there, six more

children were brought in. it's the only facility for hundreds of miles because without foreign money, most hospitals are collapsing. doctors and nurses, among masses of government workers who haven't been paid for months. a third of the country's people don't know where their next meal will come from. we travelled out of herat to a rural settlement. tens of thousands displaced from remote provinces by decades of war and severe drought. no means of income, barely any food. some days, families here don't eat. they have sold whatever little they had, and now some are forced to do the unthinkable.

this baby girl has been sold by her family. we're hiding their identity to protect them. her husband used to collect rubbish, but even that earns him nothing now. once the baby's able to walk, she'll be taken away by the man who bought her. he's paid more than half of the $500 she's been sold for. that will get the family

through a few months. they've been told the girl will be married to his child, but no—one can be sure. we know there are other families here who have sold their children, and even while we've been here, another person came up to one of our team and asked if we'd like to buy their child. the desperation and the urgency of this situation is hard to put into words. there is no more time left to reach the people of afghanistan. it cannot wait while the world debates whether or not to recognise a taliban government. nearby, aid agencies hand out parcels that might save some children from hunger. alone, they can't provide for the staggering needs. giving the taliban money without guarantees on human rights and how the funds will be used is dangerous. but afghanistan is sinking fast. millions here will not survive the winter.

yogita limaye, bbc news, herat. our correspondent secunder kermani has more from the afghan capital, kabul. some humanitarian aid is still continuing into afghanistan, but given the sheer scale of the crisis right now, it's simply not enough. but afghanistan's economy, including the vast majority of public spending — that's on things like health care, teachers�* salaries — all of that was deeply dependent on international funding, and that�*s what stopped at the same time $9 billion of afghanistan�*s foreign reserves were frozen by the united states. so, there�*s a real shortage of cash here, and that�*s what�*s driven this crisis. western diplomats, however, they have deep concerns about the taliban, about their willingness to crack down on groups like al-qaeda, for example, about their treatment of women and young girls. the taliban want international legitimacy, they say they want international assistance, but it�*s not clear what they�*re willing

to compromise on to get it. time to find a solution to this, though, is running out. let�*s take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the egyptian president, abdel fattah al sisi, has ended the state of emergency that had been in force in egypt since april 2017. in a facebook post, mr al sisi said he would not be extending the measure because egypt had become — as he put it — an oasis of security and stability. facebook has removed a video by brazilian presidentjair bolsonaro from its platforms because he made false claims suggesting coronavirus vaccines could cause aids. in this video, president bolsonaro can be seen reading from a fake scientific study, which has been widely circulated amongst conspiracy theorists on social media. a powerful storm described as a "bomb cyclone" has continued to cause flooding and mudsides across california.

sacramento county saw as much as eight inches of rain and gale force winds have brought down power lines, and several areas are on high alert after flash flooding. two people have died. the electric car maker tesla reached a market value of $1 trillion on monday. it�*s the first vehicle manufacturer and only the fifth company to do so. tesla shares climbed sharply after it struck a deal to sell 100,000 vehicles to the car rentalfirm hertz. new covid rules are coming into force soon for travellers to the united states. most will have to show proof of vaccination, but there are some exemptions. current bans on non—us citizens arriving from many countries will also end. i got the details from our north america correspondent, peter bowes. this essentially lifts restrictions for some 33 countries, restrictions that have been enforced throughout the pandemic. but it means now that foreign nationals — those non—us citizens —

will be able to travel back into the united states again, as long as they have been fully vaccinated by one of the vaccines approved by the world health organization or the food and drug administration here in the united states, and within 72 hours — so three days of travelling — they have to test negative. for us citizens, they don�*t have to be fully vaccinated, but they must test negative within 2a hours of travelling, of getting onto the plane, so that�*s a slight tightening of the restrictions there. another exemption is children under the age of 18, and that is because in some parts of the world, the vaccine just isn�*t available to children within that age group, or in some cases, less children are eligible for a vaccine. so, under 18, that requirement doesn�*t exist for children. it�*ll be the airlines responsible for policing these new rules. there�*ll be some sharing of contact information necessary as well, so some

contract tracing information provided to the airlines for people when they get to the united states. and just briefly, peter, this is all taking place against the backdrop of some rising cases. how concerned are people about a winter surge? i think clearly, there�*s concern, and the very fact for us citizens that are not vaccinated coming back to this country, they have to test negative within 2a hours. that�*s a small window, and i think that reflects the concern that the administration here is doing everything possible to encourage vaccination, and for all the numbers have been dropping here in recent weeks, there are some signs in the northeast and in the midwest that those numbers are rising again. the ceo of facebook, mark zuckerberg, has said the company is on track to spend $5 billion this year on safety and security. his comments come within

hours of testimony by a former facebook manager to law—makers in london. she said facebook was unquestionably making hate worse, adding that the firm�*s safety teams were under resources. our technology correspondent, rory cellan—jones, has more. 7 matt under resourced. facebook, a corporate giant used by 2.9 billion people, an empire which includes instagram, whatsapp and the virtual reality business 0culus. but now that empire stands accused of putting profits before people. frances, we�*re delighted you�*ve been able to make this trip to be in london and give evidence to us. at westminster this afternoon, francis haugen, the whistle—blower who�*s made that charge, told mps and peers what she learned inside the company. she said events like january�*s storming of the us congress were made more likely because of the way facebook was designed. the algorithms take people who have very mainstream interests, and they push them towards extreme interests. you can be someone centre—left, and you'll get pushed to radical left.

you can be centre—right, and you'll get pushed to radical right. you can be looking for healthy recipes, you'll get pushed to anorexia content. she described how instagram facilitated bullying which would follow children home from school, so that it would be with them day and night. and she put much of the blame on facebook�*s founder. you know, mark zuckerberg has unilateral control over 3 billion people, right? there's no will at the top to make sure these systems are run in an adequately safe way. frances haugen�*s testimony comes just as politicians here seem united on the need to rein in facebook and other online giants. but exactly how a new law would work, well, that�*s far from clear. the whistle—blower told the committee what was needed from facebook was complete transparency about its inner workings. tonight, the social media giant had this response. i would encourage people to look at what the actual facts are, and hopefully they can see that this . is something to this| company prioritises. and let's be honest, - it's in our financial interest

to make sure that people have a good experience i on our site. frances haugen has now taken her allegations about her former employer to politicians in westminster and washington. but while facebook�*s reputation has certainly been damaged, so far, its finances remain very healthy. rory cellan—jones, bbc news. if you want to get in touch with me on any of the stories you�*ve seen so far on newsday — the controversy around facebook, for instance — i�*m on twitter. i�*m looking forward to hearing from you. you�*re watching newsday on the bbc. still to come in the programme... a royal affair as japan gets ready for its princess to marry a commoner. indira gandhi, ruler of the world�*s largest democracy, died today. 0nly yesterday, she had spoken

of dying in the service of her country and said, "i would be proud of it. "every drop of my blood will contribute to the "growth of this nation." after 46 years of unhappiness, these two countries have concluded a chapter of history. no more suspicion, no more fear, no more uncertainty of what each day might bring. booster ignition and lift off. of discovery with a crew of six astronaut heroes and one american legend. - this is beautiful. a milestone in human history. born today, this girl in india is the seven billionth person on the planet.

this is newsday from the bbc. live from singapore, i�*m karishma vaswani. 0ur headlines... the un warns of a countdown to catastrophy in afghanistan, with millions of people facing starvation. new covid rules are coming soon for travellers to the us. most will need proof of vaccination, but bans on non—us citizens arriving from many countries will end. it�*s just a week until world leaders meet in glasgow for a hugely important climate change summit. but three different stories today illustrate just how difficult it will be for them to agree on ways to limit global warming to managable levels. first, a un report which says that all the promises made so far on climate will lead to a temperature rise of 2.7 degrees, way above a globally agreed target. next, rich countries will be three years late in meeting a promise to provide

$100 billion a year to help developing countries deal with climate change. and the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record last year — that�*s from meteorologists at the un. the head of the agency that released that report says that "we need to revisit our industrial, energy and transport systems and whole way of life" to meet our climate change goals. earlier, i spoke to george marshall, the founder of climate 0utreach, a charity which aims to raise awareness of climate change. clearly, the story has been the same for the past 30 years. we�*ve always known what to do. the thing that seems to be really necessary now is a reinvigoration of the conversation around climate change. large majorities of most of the high emitting countries support strong climate action. so it�*s really

important that people feel involved in the conversation that they�*re putting pressure on the government. this great news we�*ve had from australia has actually been a result of a very high level of active public engagement in australia, especially from audiences we don�*t tend to hear from especially from audiences we don�*t tend to hearfrom — people like farmers standing up. we need to remember it�*s notjust up. we need to remember it�*s not just about what happens in glasgow, it�*s about what happens in people�*s communities and towns and people have to feel involved. that way, we can move forward.— move forward. george, on australia. _ move forward. george, on australia, some _ move forward. george, on australia, some very - move forward. george, on i australia, some very positive news there, but are those targets achievable?- news there, but are those targets achievable? 0h, most definitely- _ targets achievable? 0h, most definitely. the _ targets achievable? 0h, most definitely. the technology - targets achievable? 0h, most| definitely. the technology and the capacity to develop the targets is hard. there�*s no question about that. what we tend to forget is that it�*s not just about the technology, but about people�*s lifestyle. we

heard that 30% of the delivery of these targets depend on people�*s lifestyles, so i go back to that point. but the degree to which people feel involved in this, ifeel that this is a collective purpose, it�*s the key to it. and that is achievable. we know we can achieve amazing change if people are on board, but that�*s about building the trust, and a vesting in people. taking out this policy to the public. george marshall speaking to me earlier. the us has suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to sudan, after the military overthrew the civilian government there. three people have been killed after soldiers opened fire on protesters. anne soy reports. keeping the flames of democracy alive. it is here on the streets of sudan cities they were fanned, and the people are back trying to stop the military extinguishing them.

they shared power with the army and there was the promise of elections, so the coup is seen as a betrayal. translation: we re'ect it completely. * we have to go back to the constitutional document. the government should be handed to civilians and you should free all those you detained. thousands heeded the call to defend democracy and some are paying a heavy price. but many of these images were blocked on state media. they played patriotic songs all day instead, breaking only to bring this announcement by the head of the ruling council. translation: first, a state of emergency is declared - all over the country. protesters believe the military possible actions today, including putting the prime minister under house arrest, speak far louder than their words. many, including aid agencies

in the country, are concerned about what happens now. we're just so concerned. this was a big humanitarian situation before, with 14- million people in need - of humanitarian assistance. there are over a million refugees hosted here, i and yet this country- is struggling to move on, and it was in some ways, i it feels like everything has gone back to square one. it�*s just two years since the streets last looked like this, with long—term leader al—bashir being overthrown. it was hoped there would be some stability, but today, that hope seems shattered. anne soy, bbc news. i want to bring you a different story now. it will have none of the pomp, ceremony and glamour that many of us might expect of a royal wedding when princess mako, eldest niece ofjapan�*s emperor, gets married later.

insead, the nuptials with her commoner partner, kei komuro, will be a formality, followed by a press conference later to confirm their union. let�*s speak to shihoko goto from the wilson centre. she joins us from washington. great to have you on newsday. many in the audience must be wondering royal weddings are supposed be glamorous, and escape from reality. why is this one so different? absolutely. this is not the wedding of which fairy tales are made. however, it is going to be inspirational nonetheless. you calculate the number that the japanese royal lineage requires not only women that cannot succeed the throne, but also, even if members of the imperial household marry, they have to have a family. by

its nature, she is preparing to be non—royal, so that is one of the biggest reasons for this particular wedding. the biggest reasons for this particularwedding. but the biggest reasons for this particular wedding. but another one is that a lot of people are not happy with the selection of the groom, including her own parents. he�*s been portrayed by the media as a gold—diggers, his family, particularly his mother, has had financial problems. what she�*s doing is not only marrying outside of the royalfamily, she�*s also pronouncing some of the things, including the $1 million to go with it, to be able to marry the love of her life.- the love of her life. that's extremely _ the love of her life. that's extremely romantic, - the love of her life. that's extremely romantic, i- the love of her life. that'sl extremely romantic, i have the love of her life. that's - extremely romantic, i have to say. certainly, does shine a light on the attitudes to at

least female succession of the imperial throne. least female succession of the imperialthrone. how least female succession of the imperial throne. how has this been seen and received in japan? been seen and received in jaan? ~ , been seen and received in ja an? . , , ., japan? well, there is some debate about _ japan? well, there is some debate about allowing - japan? well, there is some debate about allowing a - japan? well, there is some - debate about allowing a female and press down the line, but it hasn�*t really move much. you have to remember unlike the british royalfamily, the british royal family, the japanese british royalfamily, the japanese imperial household doesn�*t have a huge fan base. most people are fairly neutral about it, so it doesn�*t get a tremendous tabloid or anything like that. but there are people who are arguably following the royal family, who are arguably following the royalfamily, they imperial royal family, they imperial household, royalfamily, they imperial household, and they are not particularly happy with this. but here�*s the thing— princess mako will marry the love of her life and move to the united states. . ., , _ ., states. on that happy note, shihoko goto, _ states. on that happy note, shihoko goto, sadly - states. on that happy note, shihoko goto, sadly we - states. on that happy note, | shihoko goto, sadly we don't shihoko goto, sadly we don�*t have enough time to talk about this. i�*d love to talk about it

all day. thank you forjoining us on newsday. astronomers have found hints of what could be the first planet — ever to be discovered — outside our galaxy. the possible planet was located by nasa here in the messier 51 galaxy — also known as the whirlpool galaxy — some 28 million light years away from earth. nearly 5,000 "exoplanets", worlds orbiting stars beyond our aun, have been found so far, but all of these beyond our sun, have been found so far, but all of these have been within our own milky way galaxy. let�*s just show you these live pictures from la palma, where a volcano has been spewing lava and ash for over a month now. far from the eruption slowing down, a new lava channel has appeared after a second cone partially collapsed on monday. so far, lava has destroyed nearly 900 hectares of land and 2000 buildings. 7000 people have had to leave their homes, and it could be weeks or months before the volcanic activity subsides. you can see that image right

now. that�*s it for newsday. hello there. after a day of sunshine and showers on monday, the weather on tuesday is going to look very different, and here�*s why. this cloud here in the atlantic is pushing in from the west, and that�*s bringing with it some outbreaks of rain. ahead of that, though, with some clearer skies, it will be a bit cooler across eastern scotland and eastern parts of england. but out to the west, it�*s milder to start the day with this rain around. some quite heavy rain, too. that rain shouldn�*t last too long. in northern ireland, we�*ll see a a spell of rain pushing eastwards through the morning across scotland and northern england, but the rain further south tends to become light and patchy. most of that rain will have cleared in the afternoon, leaving some drizzle around some western hills, but to the east of high ground, perhaps some sunshine, many places becoming dry in the afternoon. strong south—westerly winds, very mild day — temperatures widely16—17 celsius, quite a bit warmer

than it was on monday for the northern half of the uk. but there�*s still some rain in the far northwest. that�*s on that weather front there, and that is going to move its way southwards overnight and into wednesday. it�*s going to hang around across some different parts of the uk during the day. all the while, though, we�*re pulling in air from a long way south, which is why it�*s so mild for late october. but there�*s some rain around, which is going to be quite heavy over some of the hills. that rain mainly affecting north wales, northwest england, could push back into parts of northern ireland, more especially into southern scotland. to the northwest, there will be some sunshine for a while and some showers, and to the south of our rain band, it should be brightening up. a little bit of sunshine coming through, still quite windy, but very mild. temperatures getting up to 18 celsius. now, looking at the rain fall accumulation during wednesday and thursday, i want to highlight the areas that will see the heaviest of the rain. these are these bright colours here. it looks like it�*s going to be particularly wet in the southern uplands, but also into cumbria, and that could lead to some flooding. because that rain is still around on thursday,

it may turn a bit drier across some northwestern parts of scotland and also northern ireland, as the rain just pivots into more of england and wales. through the midlands and much of eastern england, it�*s likely to still be dry, and with a bit of sunshine, those temperatures again reaching 18 celsius. so, a lot going on over the next few days or so. it�*s going to be quite windy. the winds, though, are going to be in from the southwest, which is why it�*s going to be so mild, but as we�*ve seen, there will be some rain around, mainly for the western side of the uk, and that will be heavy in the hills.

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