welcome to newsday — reporting live from singapore — i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... iraq's prime minister appeals for calm — after surviving a drone attack on his home in baghdad. the uk's prime minister is accused of "corrupt and contemptible behaviour" by the opposition labour party — after he tried to protect a former cabinet minister who had broken lobbying rules. chinese president xijinping is expected to cement his authority and legacy at a key communist party gathering which opens this monday. an american welcome — the us will shortly reopen its borders to fully—vaccinated travellers from much of the world. and — we report on a diamond

mining project in india which activists say will ruin the environment and displace thousands of people. live from our studio in singapore— this is bbc news. you're watching news days. —— it's newsday. it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london and 2am in baghdad —— it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london and 3am in baghdad where the iraqi prime minister, mustafa al—kadhimi, has appealed for calm, after surviving a drone attack on his home in the high—security green zone of the city. the us president, joe biden, has instructed his national security team to help investigate the attack. it's not yet known who carried out the attack, which came after violent clashes in baghdad between the security forces and supporters of pro—iranian political groups. our middle east correspondent,

anna foster, has this report. a strike at the heart of the iraqi government. two drones were shot down, but a third made contact, exploding at the prime minister's official residence. mr al—kadhimi escaped unharmed, but six of his personal bodyguards were injured. shortly after the attack, he appeared on national television to reassure the nation that he'd survived. translation: my house was the target of a cowardly attack. - thanks to god, i and those who work with me are in good shape. your heroic security and army forces are working on protecting iraq and its stability. cowardly rockets and cowardly drones do not build countries or futures. less than a month ago, elections in iraq produced a record low turnout. now the country is struggling to build a ruling coalition.

many voters don't see any prospect of meaningful change, and there has been violent unrest over the results. the influence of iran is also making things tough. the shia cleric, moqtada al—sadr, claimed victory in this election. he campaigns against foreign intervention in iraq, including from its neighbour. as his party gained votes, the pro—iranian alliance lost them. some analysts believe that could be the reason for the attack. the problem for them is that al—sadr wants to do a majority government, basically this means they will not be part of the new government. this translates into a serious loss of privileges, the patronage system they have in place, and that is something that really worries them. no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attempt

on the prime minister's life, but it has been roundly condemned by world leaders and by iran's foreign ministry. they are hoping this won't mark the start of a dangerous new escalation. anna foster, bbc news. meanwhile, china's president xijinping is preparing to lead a key meeting of the ruling party's elite that will set the tone for his long—term ambitions. from monday to thursday, some 400 members of the communist pa rty�*s all—powerful central committee will be gathering in beijing behind closed doors. our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell reflects on the importance of this meeting. starting today, just up the road from where i'm sitting, hundreds of china's central committee, the elite of the communist party will be meeting. they are gathering at the great hall of the people and will be behind closed doors.

now, we know very little about what's going to be discussed, and yet, it looks like it's going to be absolutely crucial in terms of shoring up the president of china's control on power, his legacy and also, crucially, provide a justification for china's current leader to move into a historic third term at a party congress next year. i say we know very little about the meeting, for example, we don't have the exact wording of the main resolution, but what has been released is that they will be talking about the historical achievements of the party. there has only been twice when a, sort of, resolution like this has been discussed, which is analysing history —— as i say, this is all to be going on behind closed doors, and even at the end, we are only getting a few

titbits released by the most loyal organs of the party, the most loyal portions of the media, which are completely controlled by the party. so, we just have to rely on their interpretation of what happened. certainly wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall, though, down at the great hall of the people this week. an emergency debate on standards is to take place in the uk house of commons on monday. it follows a row over the government seeking to change the rules governing mps conduct — as a conservative mp had been found in breach of them. the leader of the labour opposition, sir keir starmer, accused prime minister boris johnson of �*trashing' the uk's reputation for democratic standards. a cabinet minister rejected that — calling the row a "storm in a teacup". here's our political correspondent chris mason. mps are forever aware how many people don't much like politicians. it's why for so many who spend their weeks here, this row over the government's behaviour gets right up their nose.

because it leaves a whiff of this being a self—serving place. for the opposition parties, it's also a chance to take aim at the prime minister. instead of upholding standards, he orders his mps to protect his mate and rip up the whole system. now, that is corrupt, it is contemptible, and it's not a one—off. and what makes me most angry is the prime minister is trashing the reputation of our democracy and our country. at the heart of this is this man, the former cabinet minister, owen paterson, he was found to have broken the rules by making the case to ministers and others on behalf of companies that were paying him. he was due to be thrown out of the commons for 30 days and potentially byelection until the government ordered its mps to back a review of the system. then, under intense pressure,

it changed its mind. any review would not be applicable to mr paterson. today, this cabinet minister said it wasn't about getting their colleague off the hook. the vote wasn't to reject they report that had been put together. the vote was to establish an appeals process so that mps in the sort opposition that, yes, 0wen paterson was in, but others as well in future, would have a right of appeal. i think that's right. it's still an important objective, to have due process here, to have a right of appeal, but obviously we could only take that forward with the agreement and cooperation of other parties. mps will return here tomorrow and spend around three hours debating parliamentary standards. there is real anger on all sides about what's happened. labour's chris bryant, who chairs the commons standards committee, still wants mps to vote to condemn 0wen paterson's behaviour, even though mr paterson has now resigned.

plenty feel there is something of a rebuilding job to be done here, for the government and parliament, to restore trust in how this place works. we're now in the last hours of voting in nicaragua's presidential election. president daniel 0rtega is widely expected to maintain his grip on power after clamping down on his political opponents. seven of the leading opposition candidates were arrested in recent months under a treason law. mr 0rtega — a former guerrilla leader — has been in power for fourteen consecutive years. foreign journalists are not being allowed in to observe the vote — so our correspondent will grantjoins us live from neighbouring costa rica. great from neighbouring costa rica. to have you on new understand great to have you on newsday. i understand that daniel 0rtega has cast his ballot in the

presidential elections, opposition parties have condemned this boat as illegitimate. how soon until we get a result and will vote respect that results? well, i think it will— respect that results? well, i think it will be _ respect that results? well, i think it will be a _ respect that results? well, i think it will be a handful- respect that results? well, i think it will be a handful of. think it will be a handful of hours still before we have the full restarts, because, of course, there are other elections as well as the presidential one, members of parliament and governorships and so on all under consideration as well. i think we can safely say that daniel 0rtega will be announced as the next president. it'sjust 0rtega will be announced as the next president. it's just by what margin of victory, really. as has been an election that has been sullied from the very start injune, the second of june. he arrested one of the leading presidential candidates against ten, christiana, and following that the whole swathe more, seven presidential candidates in total, 35 critical voices, and many more sincejournalists critical voices, and many more since journalists have been forced from the country. it is

a very, very difficult picture for nicaraguans to see the election being held in that kind of environment whether there are election resurfaced him as he mentioned to the introduction of foreign journalists, and yet, the government is claiming that this government is somehow free and fair. ., this government is somehow free and fair. . ., ., , , and fair. yeah, what does this tell us? or — and fair. yeah, what does this tell us? or what _ and fair. yeah, what does this tell us? or what does - and fair. yeah, what does this tell us? or what does this - tell us? or what does this forecast for the type of politics that we will see in nicaragua going forward? while, in essence. _ nicaragua going forward? while, in essence, more _ nicaragua going forward? while, in essence, more of _ nicaragua going forward? while, in essence, more of the - nicaragua going forward? while, in essence, more of the same, l in essence, more of the same, more of daniel 0rtega in essence, more of the same, more of daniel ortega and his very powerful and influential wife, the vice presidents, now, obviously, depends in such a divided society, you know, who you listen to. the 0rtega support to say he has done great things for the country, that he has kept the economy going through difficult times, that he does a great deal for the poor, but there are others, particularly those who turn out and protest your neighbour in costa rica who say it is simply a dictatorship, that he has

strengthened his stranglehold on all the institutions of the state and will not give up the throne, will not give up the seat of power under any circumstances.- seat of power under any circumstances. ~ ., circumstances. will grant there with that fascinating _ circumstances. will grant there with that fascinating analysis i with that fascinating analysis down the nicaragua elections. thank you forjoining us on newsday. police in the united states have opened a criminal investigation after eight people died at a music festival in houston, texas on friday. many others were hurt when the crowd surged forward. investigators are also looking into claims that someone in the crowd was injecting people with drugs. 0ur north america correspondent nomia iqbal reports. candles and flowers have been laid outside the festival venue, in tribute to those who died. more is now being heard about those who were killed in the crush. the youngest was 14. 0ther victims have been named. brianna rodriguez, just 16, was a keen dancer. friends are fundraising to pay for her funeral.

franco patino, 21, and danish baig, 27, who died trying to save his fianc e. i just want to send out prayers to... to the ones that were lost last night. for the first time since the tragedy, travis scott addressed his fans. appearing sombre and distressed, he reflected on what went wrong at the festival he founded. i'm honestlyjust devastated, and i could never imagine anything like this happening. the surge towards the stage continued, but the party there were signs of trouble just after 9pm local time. the surge towards the stage continued, but the party soon turned into panic. the venue's first aiders were quickly overwhelmed. people were pushing and shoving to make their escape. police in houston say this is now a criminal investigation, after suggestions of foul play.

one of the narratives was that some individual was injectingl other people with drugs. we do have a report of a security officer, according to the medical staff, that was out and treated him i last night, that he was i reaching over to restrain or grab a citizen, and he felt a prick in his neck. - several people were treated with an anti—drug medication. as the memorial for the victims grows, so do the questions about what happened. i was completely shocked, because it was for about a couple of minutes that i was seeing two bodies laying down right behind me, and the whole time i was just thinking that they were passed out, and then once a security guard was right next to me talking to another security guard, saying that he didn't have a pulse. investigators say they will find out exactly

what caused the surge, and who, if anyone, is to blame for the tragedy. nomia iqbal, bbc news, washington. if you want to get in touch with me i'm on twitter — @bbckarishma faxed for any of the straits he had seen so far, including that report from houston. i look forward to hearing from you. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... we report on a diamond mining project in india which activists say will ruin the environment and displace thousands of people. the bombastic establishment outsider donald trump has defied the posters to take the keys to the oval office. i feel great about the election results. i voted for him because i genuinely believe that he cares about the country. it's keeping the candidate's name always in the public eye that counts. success or failure depends not only on public display

but on the local campaign headquarters and the heavy routine work of their women volunteers. berliners from bothl east and west linked hands and danced around their liberated territory. i and with nobody to stop them, it wasn't long before the first l attempts were made to destroy the structure itself. _ yasser arafat who dominated the palestinian cause for so long has died. palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning. after 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy, leaving ministers who long felt only grudgingly accepted among the ranks of clergy suddenly felt welcome. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk. iraq's prime minister has appealed for calm — after surviving a drone attack on his home in baghdad. the leader of the uk's main

opposition party accuses the prime minister of corrupt and contemptible behaviour�* — following a row over lobbying. more protests have been taking place in sudan — two weeks after its military seized power in a coup. two days of civil disobedience are now planned by people angry at the army's action, two years after a military dictator — in powerfor decades — was toppled. sudan's civilian prime minister is under house arrest and protests calling for democracy are being met with force — as our africa correspondent andrew harding reports. anger on the streets of khartoum today. protesters blocking off neighbourhoods. taking big risks to show their contempt for sudan's military coup. right now, a lot of blood, a lot of dead people. this military government is a killer.

it's a goddamn killer, for real. the protests began two weeks ago when the generals seized power, halting this giant country's admittedly bumpy transition from dictatorship to democracy. so which side will prove stronger? the army or the street? in a khartoum hospital, we found an elderly tailor recovering from a savage beating by the military... can i see your leg? ..and this young student, shot in the leg. a lot of people were shot. his message to the soldiers... they're like animals. the animals are better. it's hard to find anyone here who supports the military takeover. it's heartbreaking, honestly. to see those young people, the ones that are being killed just for asking for what's rightfully theirs. for frequenting with

the civilian government. —— for free country with the civilian government. so for me, it's very devastating. it makes me angry. the man leading sudan's coup is general burhan. his spokesman, an admiral, told me that the military had done nothing wrong. you've detained the prime minister and other politicians. your troops have killed protesters on the streets. why on earth would the sudanese people trust you for a second? translation: time will show this was not a coup. _ we will hold elections and the military will step aside. this was simply a course correction. but many people here are not convinced. even at night, the protests continue. the determination, the defiance here is impressive. and it's possible that sudan's generals will back down under growing international pressure.

but for now, this country's democratic revolution remains on hold. on a continent where it seems military coups are firmly back in fashion. andrew harding, bbc news, khartoum. the us is set to reopen its borders on monday for vaccinated non—essential travel, ending a 20 month entry ban. the easing of restrictions will open up travel for double jabbed non—us citizens to over 30 countries, including the uk, eu, china and india. earlier i spoke to tori emerson barnes the executive vice presidenet of the us travel association about what this might mean for her members and the us economy as a whole. isa is a huge turning point and will be beneficial to communities across our country throughout the pandemic, the travel economy has lost 300,000,000,000 expert income

and almost a million jobs. 300,000,000,000 expert income and almost a millionjobs. this is the result of the closure of these borders. we are excited to reunite americans at the rest of the wild and welcome international travellers to destinations across our wonderful country today, tomorrow, november eight. yes, indeed. tori, there are concerns aboutjust how responsible a policy this may speed, aren't there? a lot of people saying that even with the vaccination requirement, an increase in infections is almost inevitable. how worried are you about that? we have a policy here where you have to be vaccinated to come into the us. you also have to have proof of that negative covid test, and based on mayo clinic research, the chances of someone coming from just the uk to the us, the chances of someone boarding the plane that actually has covid is one in 10,000, and the chances of someone actually getting infected is one in a million. we feel really good about the science that's in place and the fact

that we are welcoming vaccinate travellers and proof of negative test, i think it is good reassurance that if it is the right time to reopen, and as we start to see even more folks vaccinated here in the us and across the globe, we will be able to live at the virus. just briefly, tori, what will your association be pushing for next? sure, we need to decrease the visa backlog issues that we are seeing here. 0bviously coming from a lot of countries in the uk and europe, you don't need to have a visa, but countries like brazil and other countries across the globe are requiring a visa to come to the us, and so we need to get through some of the backlog there. we need to ensure funding for our brand, usa, which helps to market the us internationally. there is still a lot of work to do, but we are excited and november eight is

an important day as we welcome people back to the us. as the cop26 climate talks continue, the debate over development versus protecting the environment is playing out in india. billions of dollars' worth of diamond reserves lie in the ground in buxwaha forest in central india. the state government says a proposed mine will bring jobs but local people say their lives will be destroyed. bbc hindi s nitin srivastava reports. the lungs of central india are under threat. a trek of four hours is the quickest mode to arrive here, but all of this could be lost if a proposed diamond mine gets operational. thousands of animals will be displaced along with local tribes who are totally dependent on this forest. 10,000 people live here

in the forest, but the state government has given permission for 200,000 trees to be cut down for a diamond mine. translation: medicinal herbs and leaves are - found in this forest. people have to decide what they want to do. they know that the healer brings herbs from the forest. they have to decide if they want to fight for it. i cannot do it on my own. but the state government says people do want the project. translation: we have gone and met the villagers, - not a single person opposed it. everybody wants to get employment from this. diamond mines require millions of litres of water per day. the state government says it will plant 1,000,000 trees to compensate for cutting down the forest. but even those trees

will need water. translation: if we consider this area in the context - of water supply, this area has been designated as a semi—critical area. the mining project will require 16,000,000 l of water, so they are building a dam on the river and diverting river water. it will destroy everyone. —— it will destroy the river. environmentalists are taking the state government to court, fearful that something unique like these prehistoric paintings will be lost, but the failure of the state to educate young people who live in the forest is also felt. nitin srivastava, bbc news. before we go, one last piece of news to bring you — the us navy has launched a ship named after a gay rights activist who was forced in the 19505 to resign from the service because of his sexuality. the oil tanker, harvey milk, was launched in san diego — where the navy secretary said he wanted it to give inspiration to all lgbt leaders who serve in uniform.

that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. thank you so much forjoining us. from that me and the team. goodnight. hello. after a bright and blustery sunday, lighter winds for monday morning mean it will feel colder out there at the start of monday. looks to be the coldest part of the week ahead, but the milder air isn't too far away from coming back with these set of weather fronts about to move in from the atlantic with thicker cloud and some patchy rain, heading into westernmost parts of the uk to begin the day, especially into northern ireland. where skies have stayed clearfor long enough, over the night, across eastern scotland and eastern england, this is where temperatures will have fallen low enough with those light winds for a touch of frost. any early sunshine isn't going to last too long here, as cloud increases. the rain from northern ireland will then gradually move across scotland as the day goes on, heaviest in the west, into northwest england and wales.

though much of the midlands, eastern and southern england, will stay largely dry during daylight hours. the milder air lifting the temperature in belfast to 15 celsius. still feeling quite chilly into eastern parts of england with the cloud increasing after that frosty start around 10 degrees in norwich. further outbreaks of rain overnight and into tuesday through northern ireland and scotland, pushing into parts of northern england, it will be a much milder night overnight and into tuesday. double figure temperatures for many of the larger towns and city centres as we start the day. this weather front is only very slowly edging southwards on tuesday. so, probably cloud and some outbreaks of rain into northern england and wales, pushing into parts of the midlands and southwest england. east anglia, the southeast, will stay largely dry, a few hazy, sunny spells. a brighter day in scotland and northern ireland, albeit a few showery bursts of rain spreading their way southwards during the day. and temperatures are definitely on the mild side of average, and that's where they're going to stay for the rest of the week.

this weather front is still around into wednesday, in fact, there will be another pulse of energy running along it. it looks as if that will bring some outbreaks of rain into parts of wales and england on wednesday. a bright day in scotland and northern ireland. there will be a few showers just edging towards northwest scotland during the day. again, those temperatures for the most part are into double figures. again, that's where they are going to stay for the rest of the week. a fair amount of cloud around, some sunny spells here and there and another set of atlantic weather fronts beginning to take some rain southwards from scotland and northern ireland into wales and england as we head towards the end of the week. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. we'll 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. what do we go to the cinema for? well, for many, the answer seems to be escape. what other explanation could there be for the seemingly endless supply of franchise—friendly superhero films? my guest today makes films based on an entirely different premise. forfive decades, acclaimed british director mike leigh has

told stories about believable characters facing