welcome to newsday, live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. ——welcome to newsday, live from singapore, the headlines... the first ships carrying crucial grain supplies prepare to leave ukrainian ports — part of the effort to avert a global food crisis. the president of the philippines, calls for an overhaul of disaster management systems, after an earthquake in the north of the country. resistance forces fight back almost a year after the taliban took power in afghanistan. a family home — burned to ashes, we hear how the wildfires in california are having devastating effects. this is my house. he sniffles.

this is where i felt the safest. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. a new coordination centre has begun work in turkey — part of a complex deal to restart blockaded grain exports from ukraine. it's an effort to ease a global food crisis that is affecting millions around the world. more than 20 million tonnes of grain is waiting at ukrainian docks. the aim is to export five million tonnes a month, matching pre—war levels. richard galpin reports. from the start of the war back in february, russian forces has been blockading ukraine's black sea ports

— preventing exports of ukrainian wheat and other grains vital for the food supply of many countries around the world. according to officials, there are around 20 million tonnes of grain in ukraine. with fears growing of global food shortages, it seems there may now have been a breakthrough with a deal agreed by the two sides. it is hoped it will be possible for ships to be inspected near turkey and then guided past ukrainian sea mines before being loaded with grains and fertiliser. the first shipments are due in the coming days. all this after turkey's defence minister unveiled a coordination centre in istanbul to oversee the export of ukrainian grains. translation: currently, i the preparation is that ships laden with grain that will leave ukrainian ports.

the work done by the world joint coronation centre will contribute to overcoming the food crisis affecting the whole world. the un, ukraine and russia have all said they expect experts all said they expect exports to begin in a few days. but russia's deputy foreign minister has warned the deal could collapse if the obstacles to russia's agricultural exports are not promptly removed. richard galpin, bbc news. meanwhile, ukrainian rocket strikes have forced russia to close a key bridge, which is a a crucial supply line for russian forces. the anton—ovsky bridge connects the occupied city of kherson to the east bank of the dnipro river. our diplomatic correspondent, pauladams, explains. this was late last night, a pretty substantial barrage of precision rockets launched by this newly acquired system,

the high mars system, which the americans have supplied. it gives them the ability to launch precision strikes at some distance, and they have been using it to try to destroy the bridges that connect kherson and the region around kherson to other russian controlled territory on the other side of the dnipro river. finally, last night, they effectively succeeded in making sure that the bridge is no longer usable. and judging by the images that we have seen of it, it is going to take quite a long time to repair it. it's not the only bridge come there's also a railway bridge and another to bridge on nearby tributary which is being targeted by ukrainians. this is all parts, western officials say, of a growing ukrainian counteroffensive designed ultimately to retake kherson, a city that was taken very early on in the war by the russians. the first city of any consequence to be taken, regarded, western officials say, is the jewel in the crown of russia's occupation

of southern ukraine. so obviously if ukraine could retake it, that would be a huge setback for russia. meanwhile gas prices in europe have reached near—record highs. the rise comes on the day the russian state—controlled firm, gazprom, further cut flows through a major baltic pipeline — nord stream one. they closed at two—hundred—and— four euros a megawatt hour, ——the eu accuses russia of weaponising gas — something the kremlin denies. rising gas prices are fuelling global inflation. in the uk, mcdonalds, coca cola and unilever are among some of the biggest brands increasing prices. with inflation at a a0 year high — mcdonalds has raised the price of its cheeseburgers for the first time in m years. here's our consumer affairs correspondent, colletta smith. big names are putting prices up. over recent weeks, we've heard from huge household brands saying they're charging us more. today, it was mcdonald's turn. can i just get a cheeseburger, please?

they announced they have added between top and 20p to lots of items on the menu. right, take care. my cheeseburger has gone up from 99p to £1.19. mcdonald's say they're facing increased costs for things like fuel, wages and ingredients. when the likes of mcdonald's and other big brands start increasing the price on key products that everyone knows the price for, that's when as customers, we really start to feel the difference, and it shows that what is happening behind—the—scenes is that even the world's biggest companies can't absorb the amount of price increases that they're facing at the moment, so they're passing it straight on to us. but with prices rising so quickly on bills and households basics, it's those with the least who are struggling the most. hi, jodine, how are you? jodine has four children and is dependent on her universal credit payments. i'm trying my hardest. that's all i can do,

that's what anyone can do, is try their hardest, but it's like our hardest is just not enough. and she's not the only one. more than 2 million people have money deducted from their universal credit each month to repay debt, overpayments or advances. they did it in the pandemic. i think there's a very, very strong case, which i hope the government will accept, to do it now as well. we're a cross—party committee with a conservative majority, this is a consensus view of our committee, and i hope the government will take forward what we're proposing. the government say they've already reduced the amount that can be deducted each month, but those looking at the impact on those most in need don't think that's enough. the deductions that we're seeing have a huge impact on people's. ability to make ends meet. already, after ten years of cuts i and freezes to our social security |system, the basic rate of benefitsj in our country is at a 40—year low. jodine thinks scrapping those deductions would help her. it would at least give me a standing

point to kind of put myself back on an even keel. with prices for food, groceries and energy bills set to rise much higher in the months ahead, jodine and millions like her are hoping for help but bracing themselves for the worst. colletta smith, bbc news. the phillippines president, ferdinand marcosjunior, has called for national disaster relief systems to be overhauled, following an earthquake in the north of the country, that killed at least five people. the 7.0 magnitude quake, struck the northern island of luzon. buildings were damaged, and landslides reported in some areas. more than 200 aftershocks have been felt — some as far as 300 kilometres away, in the capital manila. these pictures show people running from a bell tower 36 kilometres from the epicentre of the earthquake. let's speak now to theodore rivero,

a school teacher who was near the epicentre of the earthquake. he joins us now from vigan city in luzon. thank you so much for talking to us on the bbc. i understand you were near the epicentre of the earthquake. i hope you are safe now. can you tell us a little bit more about what happened? unfortunately, some of us -- — about what happened? unfortunately, some of us -- fortunately _ about what happened? unfortunately, some of us -- fortunately some - about what happened? unfortunately, some of us -- fortunately some of. about what happened? unfortunately, some of us -- fortunately some of us| some of us —— fortunately some of us are very safe already. what happened was we were at school for a seminar, all of a sudden, the earthquake shipped everyone. we need to evacuate the school onto the field. even some teachers were stuck in some classrooms because their fear of going down, because it was even so hard to run because of that very big magnitude. now, going back home,

of course, the principal wanted us to go to our homes to check on our families. the scene is very devastating. all the hold houses where shattered. there were cracks in the ground. pipes... that where shattered. there were cracks in the ground. pipes. . ._ in the ground. pipes... that you must have _ in the ground. pipes... that you must have been _ in the ground. pipes... that you must have been terrifying - in the ground. pipes... that you must have been terrifying for i in the ground. pipes... that you l must have been terrifying for you. what about those who live nearby the school? i mean, how are they coping now? ., . , school? i mean, how are they coping now? ., ., , . ., now? fortunately, the police some of the local authorities _ now? fortunately, the police some of the local authorities came _ now? fortunately, the police some of the local authorities came to - now? fortunately, the police some of the local authorities came to the - the local authorities came to the school and checked on all of the cracks, all of the things that were damaged, they are already doing their part in order to fix all of their part in order to fix all of the damage as. 0ur province is already under red alert for that. yeah, and do you have any sort of, you know, response to these kinds of

events chris mackey mentioned that you are in the red zone. do you know what to do in these situations? have you been told? have the local authorities giving you any guidance? fortunately also we have quarterly drills that the department for education are doing, and also we have disaster risk reduction teams that are there to help us in cases of these natural disasters.- of these natural disasters. yeah, and ou of these natural disasters. yeah, and you mentioned _ of these natural disasters. yeah, and you mentioned that - of these natural disasters. yeah, and you mentioned that there i of these natural disasters. yeah, | and you mentioned that there are concerns about other tremors. what can people like yourself do in those situations with the risk of more tremors going forward? definitely most of us are _ tremors going forward? definitely most of us are living _ tremors going forward? definitely most of us are living near - tremors going forward? definitely most of us are living near the - tremors going forward? definitely | most of us are living near the fault line here where most of the

earthquakes are. so, what we mostly do is to check up on our electricals, the buildings. right now, there is no electricity right now. we experienced a lot of aftershocks, actually, last night, i slept and woke up with an aftershock and just this morning at four a:m., there was also a five magnitude aftershock that was really strong. so i guess we really need to check up so i guess we really need to check up on the engineering of our houses and all of that.— and all of that. theodora, thank you so much for— and all of that. theodora, thank you so much for talking _ and all of that. theodora, thank you so much for talking to _ and all of that. theodora, thank you so much for talking to us. _ and all of that. theodora, thank you so much for talking to us. i - and all of that. theodora, thank you so much for talking to us. i hope - so much for talking to us. i hope you continue to remain safe. firefighters have finally started to control the wildfires in california after nearly 3,700 people had to leave their homes. officials with the california department of forestry said the fire had behaved unlike any other they had seen. aaron martinez was out of town with his family when he found the oak fire was nearing his home.

by the time they got back, all the roads were closed because the fire was spreading too quickly. the bbc�*s james clayton returned to the property with the martinez family — to see what was left. this was the martinez family's favourite place in the world. they called it shangri—la. their home has now been obliterated. aaron has returned to assess the damage. this was my house. this is where i felt the safest. this is where my office was, my television, my computer, books, and binders. there's just nothing... it's a picture frame, it was a glass frame. i had family pictures in it.

it's all the stuff that can't be replaced. it hurts. grandmother's writing, pictures... oh, god. even old answering machines that we saved that we stopped using just so that we could hear grandparents' voices. it's all gone. meow, meow, meow! aaron's wife, heather, is trying to look for the family cats. i don't see anything. yeah, i'm trying to hear more than see. they had 15 of them, but none of them respond to the calls. it looked like it was one of the teenage ones, i or like teenage to adult. poor thing. her son austin finds one of the kittens. it didn't make it. i've never experienced anything like this, ever in my life, never.

he sobs. the grief is overwhelming for aaron. but the family knew living here was becoming increasingly risky. the climate here, you've lived here all your life. have you noticed it change? it has gotten a lot hotter. a lot hotter and a lot drier. a lot of people we talk to we're like, "should we try and rebuild, shall we stay?" and they say, "we're selling, we're getting out of here." the martinez family didn't have insurance. they didn'tjust lose memories — they lost everything. we're going to rebuild and we'll be stronger and smarter. but this loss hurts. it hurts a lot. what happened to the martinez family is a danger more and more californians are facing, as it gets drier and drier. james clayton, bbc news, mariposa county, california. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme...

birmingham prepares for the commonwealth games with atheletes — and celebrities — showing off the city's heritage. the us space agency nasa has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol here, once an everyday part of the soldier's lot of trudgery and danger, now no more after almost four decades. each one is on one's own in a private house not doing any harm to anyone. i don't really see why all these people should wander in and say "you are doing something wrong." six rare white lion cubs— are on the prowl at worchester park,

and already, they've been met with a roar of approval - from visitors. they were lovely, yeah, really sweet. yeah, they were cute. this is newsday on the bbc. 0ur headlines... preparations are under way for the first ships to leave ukrainian ports — as turkey opens a headquarters that will oversee exports of ukrainian grain. the president of the philippines calls for an overhaul of disaster management systems after an earthquake in the north of the country. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, says the us has offered a substantial deal to russia, aimed at freeing american detainees brittney griner and paul whelan.

mr blinken says he expects to speak with russia soon about the proposal. here's our state department correspondent barbara plett usher. we also know that russia has expressed interest in the release of a notorious of notorious arms dealer who is injail in the united states. and we know that there has been mounting pressure to win the release of britney greiner, famous basketball star arrested on drug related charges in russia. paul whelan, from a us marine who has been detained there for several years, and that the administration officials have said repeatedly that they are determined to do so, but still, this is quite a rare and risky move to go public at this juncture, especially because the administration hasn't been speaking to the russians since the invasion of ukraine. it's almost a year, since the taliban retook power in afghanistan — and resistance forces — loyal to the previous government — are fighting an insurgency.

at the moment — clashes are limited to a handful of areas — long known for anti—taliban sentiment, and the group dismisses the threat posed by them. but resistance forces are behind the most sustained clashes afghanistan has seen over the past year. secunder kermani was given rare access, to one of the areas where they've been active — the an—darab valley. out on patrol. the taliban are now more powerful than they've ever been. more powerful than the old afghan government ever was. but in this scenic part of the country, they're facing a resistance movement. a small band of guerrillas led by former army soldiers is launching attacks here in andarab as well as in neighbouring panjshir province, where they recently managed to bring down a taliban helicopter.

it's hard to get a sense of the true scale of the fighting. the resistance exaggerate their strength, whilst the taliban outright deny their presence. translation: you can see yourself, we only have a small— military presence here. there are no problems. i was told of at least one ambush on a taliban vehicle in this valley. that was a long time ago. we carried out some operations in the mountains and now there is nothing. elsewhere in this province, resistance fighters managed to take over a taliban military post, pulling down theirflag. but when we visit andarab, they're the ones in charge. from what we've seen, the taliban are in firm control of the territory here. that's presumably why they're happy for us to have visited. but they're also accused of committing serious human rights

abuses in trying to stamp out this resistance movement. relatives told us villagers abdul hashim and nur rullah were detained and killed after wrongly being accused of attacking the taliban. of his family murdered last year. relatives allege he was targeted for treating members of the resistance. earlier this year, another doctor was also killed. i've been told of two doctors in andarab who were killed, four young men who were killed after being detained. we've spoken to people who knew them. eyewitnesses, they say they were arrested and then shot. translation: there was one doctor who was killed at his home _ that was due to some personal feud. as for people being taken out of their homes, detained, bound and then killed,

we totally refuse this. yes. if there is a clearance operation in an area and someone violently resist the government forces, they will be killed or arrested. that happens everywhere in the world. accompanied by taliban fighters at all times, it was hard to gauge what locals really think. many we contacted secretly strongly oppose the taliban, but some also criticised the resistance forces. we managed to speak to one of their commanders. surely there's no actual chance of you defeating the taliban. so, what's the point in continuing the violence? translation: well, our fight is forjustice, for brotherhood | equality and for the real islam, not the islam of the taliban, which defames the religion. ourfight is for the

rights of our sisters. the prophet muhammad said education is compulsory for both men and women. the taliban's insurgency over the past two decades was in part fuelled by anger at aggressive raids and the killing of civilians by international forces and the afghan army. here in andarab and the surrounding areas, despite recruiting some locals, many see the taliban as outsiders, and they risk repeating the same mistakes as their old opponents. sekunder kermani, bbc news, andarab. a possible trip to taiwan by the speaker of the us house of representatives nancy pelosi is raising tensions between bejing and washington. a spokesperson for china's foreign ministry says if the visit goes ahead, china will resolutely respond with countermeasures.

china regards taiwan as its territory — even though taiwan sees itself as an independent country, with its own constitution and democratically—elected leaders. final preparations are underway for the 2022 commonwealth games — held this year in the english city of birmingham. over 11 days, more than (ani) 5000 athletes from 72 nations over 11 days, more than 5000 athletes from 72 nations and territories will compete in 19 different sports — this year's games are historic for a number of reasons. they'll feature the largest number of events for women and para—sport athletes. it's the first multi—sport event to award more medals to women than men, and it's the first major multisport event that's carbon neutral. the opening ceremony is expected to play out to a stadium audience of 30,000. it'll celebrate the games — and propel birmingham onto a global stage.

birmingham, is the uk's second largest city by population. it saw massive growth during the industrial revolution and is now a hub for higher education, commerce and art. the total cost of the event is expected to be around 778 million pounds. uk sports minister nigel huddleston says it's worth it: there has already been a major impact because we have built some fantastic new facilities, a brand—new aquatic centre, a complete refurbishment of the alexander stadium as well, but also some softer benefits, skills, and of course, inspiring a generation of potential future athletes and all the activity levels with the excitement around sports. so there is a very tangible benefits. it will be well worth the money. staying with sport — germany have beaten france in the second semi—finals match of the women's euros. both teams got a goal before half time, but germany took the lead in the second—half to win 2—1. the 8—time european champions will now face england in sunday's final at wembley stadium in london.

you have been watching newsday. stay with us. hello there. the weather story's looking pretty benign for the next few days. we'll have very little wind around to move the weather along. but one thing you will notice over the next few days is that it'll be warming up, particularly across england and wales. most places will be dry, but there will be some showers around — increasingly so across the north and the west of the country as we move into the weekend. so, we've got this weak area of high pressure just to the east of the uk, rather cloudy high, drawing up some warmer air from the near continent. but there is a lots of cloud trapped underneath it, so a rather grey day, i think on thursday. showery bursts of rain continue to affect parts of northern ireland, northern england, southern scotland, certainly through the morning, it'll tend to ease down into the afternoon. could see a few showers developing across western areas, most places will be dry. despite the cloud amounts, it'll feel warmer — 22—24 celsius in the south. we could see 20 celsius or so in

the central belt of scotland. so, it looks like it should be a dry affair for the commonwealth games' opening ceremony in birmingham, temperatures at around 19—20 celsius, so feeling quite mild. now, as we head through thursday nights, it looks like most places will hold onto the cloud — again, the cloud will be thickest across parts of northern england, southern scotland, where we could see some splashes of rain. but for most places, it will be dry, and a milder night to come, lows of 12—14 celsius. so for friday, we start to see this area of low pressure pushing into the far northwest of the country. the breeze will be picking up here later in the day, but much of the uk will be under the influence of high pressure once again. so, we'll start off with quite a bit of cloud around friday morning across northern england, southern scotland. that should tend to fizzle away, and we could see the cloud melt away, as well. so, i think there's a greater chance of seeing the sunshine on friday. the odd shower will develop again into the afternoon, but most places will be dry,

25—28 celsius across england and wales, the low 20s across the north — so feeling a lot warmer. saturday's another warm, muggy day, but we will have more cloud around outbreaks of rain affecting the north and the west of the country, as that weather front continues to push his way eastwards. very little getting into the southeast, the areas where we really do need the rainfall. again, it'll be another warm day — low 20s in the north, up to around 25—26 celsius across the southeast. it stays warm into sunday and monday. there's always the chance of rain in the north and the west, but tending to stay dry in the south and the east.

this is bbc news. the headlines... a coordination centre for ukrainian grain exports has opened in turkey. it's part of the un brokered deal to get global supplies moving again. moscow has been blockading black sea ports since the start of the war. gas prices have soared after russia again cut supplies to germany and other central european countries. european gas prices are 2% higher than the previous all—time high, when russia invaded ukraine. the phillippine president, ferdinand marcoer, has called for national disaster relief systems to be overhauled following an earthquake in the north of the country that killed at least five people. the united nations human rights committee says hong kong's controversial national security law should be repealed.

the committee was reviewing hong kong's human rights record for the first time since the security law