for pregnant women and newborn babies. for a special report — a bbc team has seen maternity services at breaking point, and how women week from hunger are suffering miscarriages. translation: | drink tea - in the morning, tea for lunch, and for dinner we find something to cook and eat. we had no food the day this happened. we'll look at life for the most vulnerable in one remote area nearly a year on from the taliban takeover. also tonight... in the last half hour a ceasefire has begun between israel

and the islamichhad group after three days of violence and more than a0 palestinian deaths. the bill as amended is passed. cheering and applause. political wrangling and a marathon debate — president biden�*s climate bill has been approved in the us senate. how dozens of english councils have cut back on holiday food vouchers for children on free school meals. commentator: it's gold for scotland. and in birmingham, laura muir becomes the 1,500 metres commonwealth champion. good evening. we're beginning tonight's programme with a special report from afghanistan, showing how pregnant women, new mothers and their babies are being affected by acute shortages and a lack

of basic services nearly one year on from the taliban takeover and with much foreign funding suspended. to give birth in remote parts of the country means difficult journeys on makeshift roads, sometimes being turned away from hospital, sharing beds on wards, and little medicine. pregnant women are suffering from a lack of food, and there's been a sharp increase in newborn babies dying. our report was filmed in badakhshan province in the north—east of afghanistan, by cameraman sanjay ganguly, producer imogen anderson, and correspondent yogita limaye. this is what they found. in afghanistan's maternity wards, women forced to endure unbearable suffering. groans. no drugs to ease the pain. barely any resources for an emergency. only female staff are allowed here. they scramble around a woman

in a serious condition. bibi sara's waters have broken too early. the only female doctor helps sara pull through. her baby is rushed to critical care. there is a faint heartbeat but she isn't breathing. to treat the child, a male doctor is called in. these are crucial moments. after half an hour of intense efforts the baby girl is stable. doctors have told us she has a good chance of survival now. but they see scenes like this every single day here. it's also the middle of the day on a weekday when all of the staff were here. but there's just one female doctor and five nurses in an area that's home to more than 200,000 people. life is precarious here.

a day later, before she could be named, the baby's condition worsened and they couldn't save her. one of too many such cases. the number of newborns dying in badakhshan province has almost doubled since foreign funding to afghanistan was frozen last year. in this striking but harsh land, two decades of progress saving the lives of babies and mothers is in rapid decline. imagine taking a woman in labour on these roads. that's what this family had to do three weeks ago. abdul hafeez�*s wife and the mother of these two children died in a car, turned away from the local clinic, which wasn't equipped. zeinab was 38.

translation: | feel like i've - lost my whole life, i'm so lonely. i've lost my main support. without her, my life is meaningless. in the neighbouring village, this man's sister was turned away from two medicalfacilities and died on the road to the third a few months ago. he's taken in her daughter, a five—year—old, whose father works in iran. translation: if we had proper. clinics and good roads i would not have lost my sister. now what will happen to her daughter? he was hoping to get his sister to this facility, badakhshan�*s main hospital. better equipped than any other

in the province, but overwhelmed. since foreign funds stopped they've had to reduce their beds by a third. in every cot there are at least two women. staggering evidence here of how quickly the situation is unravelling. this room and another one next door is full of women who have miscarried. doctors tell us there are twice as many miscarriages this year than in 2021. stress and hunger are the main triggers. this woman tells me what she eats every day. translation: | drink tea - in the morning, tea for lunch, and for dinner we find something to cook and eat. we had no food the day this happened. i was going to our relatives�* home to borrow some rice or flour. i started to feel weak

and began to bleed. 0n the floor above, the number of premature babies also surging sharply. this boy was born at seven months, still to be named. nurses and doctors are exhausted. and the taliban's bar on girls�* secondary schools means no reinforcements are coming. a series of blows have been inflicted on afghan women in the past year. its collective impact nowhere more visible than in the country's maternity wards. yogita limaye, bbc news, badakhshan. and this week we'll be looking at life in afghanistan as the one year anniversary of the taliban taking control of the whole country approaches. there will be a series of reports across the bbc.

a key supporter of liz truss has insisted she hasn't ruled out direct help for people struggling to pay energy bills. yesterday, the conservative leadership contender drew criticism after she said in a newspaper interview she would focus on tax cuts rather than what she called "handouts". with just under a month to go before either liz truss or rishi sunak become prime minister, let's talk to our political correspondent damian grammaticas. damian, what have they both said on helping with the cost of living? i think that was a pretty significant reversal from liz truss cross campaign stop yesterday her campaign said that to deal with the cost of living she would not be looking at giving hand—outs to people but rather cuts. criticised by rishi sunak who said he would look at direct payments later in the year. today in the liz truss campaign saying they might do the same. what they want to do is remove the recent rise in national insurance but that has also been criticised by rishi sunak who says it will do nothing for those on

lowest incomes and pensioners and would give leicester £200 a year to have many families and average bills could go up by almost £2000 in the coming months. rishi sunak said that removing vat from those bills won't give people any more. what's clear is the scale of what is coming dwarfs what the candidates are saying and they will be under pressure to offer more. damian grammaticas. _ pressure to offer more. damian grammaticas, in _ pressure to offer more. damian grammaticas, in westminster, | pressure to offer more. damian - grammaticas, in westminster, thank you. in the last half hour a ceasefire has entered into force between israel and militants in gaza after an israeli military operation which began on friday. israeli airstrikes killed two commanders of the islamichhad group. in total more than a0 palestinians have died, including 15 children. israel says more than 600 rockets and mortars have been fired into its territory by islamichhad, which is a militant group in gaza, backed by iran. the violence has been the worst since the 11—day conflict between israel and gaza in may 2021.

from jerusalem, our middle east correspondent yolande knellc reports. a crush of grief for islamichhad's most powerful commander in gaza. "revenge," the mourners shout. and soon it came, the armed group firing barrages of rockets at israeli cities. the death of the veteran militant is a serious blow to the jihadist group. he was killed here with seven others in intense israeli bombing. "it was horrifying. they targeted the house with five or six rockets," says this man, who lives nearby. "there were bodies on the ground." and today, the violence also reached jerusalem, as israeli nationalists visited its most disputed holy site for a jewish holiday. israel's air defence system could be seen intercepting two palestinian rockets over the city,

leaving trails of white smoke. israeli officials say they launched their military operation to prevent attacks by islamichhad on israeli civilians, that they had precise, detailed intelligence of its plans. but normal civilian life has been on hold in much of israel. this evening, warning sirens sent beach—goers in tel aviv rushing to air raid shelters. further south, that's become routine. we now have to live with this situation. we have a shelter in our house. it's ten seconds to go there. and then we need to stay there ten minutes. after fighting since friday there are hopes that a ceasefire brokered by egypt will stick. but people here know that a truce is always temporary. there have been more rocket alerts in southern israel and there have

been israeli strikes on gaza since this ceasefire was supposed to come into effect. but there is still hope because we have seen a similar pattern when previous truces were arranged with both sides wanting to end strongly. studio: yolande knell injerusalem, thank you. the family of archie battersbee, who died yesterday after his life support was withdrawn, have said nobody should go through what they did, and called for an inquiry. archie, who was 12, was at the centre of a legal battle over his care after being in a coma since april. a fifth man has been arrested over the disappearance of a student nurse in south london. owami davies was last seen a month ago in west croydon, after leaving her family home in essex three days earlier. the man is being questioned on suspicion of kidnap. four others have been bailed. in the united states, president biden hasjust had a major legislative victory. this evening the senate has passed a climate and healthcare bill that

would see billions of dollars spent on bringing carbon emissions down. our north america correspondent gary o'donoghuejoins us live from capitol hill. how important is this, gary? this is a huge victory forjoe biden and for the democrats. the biggest piece of climate change legislation ever passed by congress. it will take america four fifth of the way there towards its carbon reduction targets by 2030. and for people at home, it will mean they can buy an electric vehicle and get $7,500 in tax credits. $4000 for a second hand vehicle. there will be higher taxes on businesses with profits of more than $1 billion and an attempt to bring down the ever thorny problem of prescription drug prices in this country. the latest in a series of victories forjoe biden legislatively speaking and it's very important in terms of the upcoming

mid—term elections in november when congress gets re—elected, the house of representatives, they all have to get re—elected. the problem for democrats at the moment is that is often a referendum on the administration and joe biden�*s owner approval ratings are sub zero, —i7% at the moment. will it help? it might, but there is still a lot of work for them to do. gary o'donoghue, in washington, thank you. bbc news has found that holiday food vouchers for children on free school meals have been reduced in value — or stopped — by 43 councils across england. it's prompted warnings that children could go hungry this summer because of a "postcode lottery of support". the bbc�*s education correspondent elaine dunkley reports. zed watches every penny. today, she's shopping at a community food pantry to pick up discounted essentials for the children. last summer, zed got a free school meal voucher in the holidays worth £15 a week. but here in birmingham, that's been scrapped. £15 might not sound like a lot of money.

actually, in the grand scheme of it, it is. when you've got two children to be paying for, like, it is a big loss. the vouchers have been replaced with free holiday clubs that provide food and activities. i love to get my children out in all activities, but with having a young child and a child with additional needs, it can be extremely difficult for many reasons. three, two, one, go! the council has organised events like this. in birmingham, nearly 70,000 children are eligible for free school meals. we had sandwiches, yoghurt, and a bit of fruit. yeah, it's a healthy lunch. i've enjoyed it a lot because i was able to go out. like, usually i wouldn't go to the park. usually i'd just be at home on my phone. the holiday activities and food programme is also meant to help families on low incomes who don't qualify for free school meals but are also struggling. the government says

the household support fund has allocated up to £281 million to councils to spend on families with children. some local authorities have told us it has led to a reduction in the value of the vouchers they're able to offer. he wants chicken. birmingham city council says it's not offering vouchers this summer, but will spend £4 million on grants for households with children on free school meals. hi, andy, how's it going? at this community hub, they're helping struggling families applying for a grant. currently on the desk, more than 400 applications. a similar number of people, but more families with young children. if you're a working family on a low income, or in the gig economy or you work part—time, then your choices are really limited. we're a lifeline. without us, they would, you know, really struggle. for many families, tough times have got tougher, with no break from the rising costs over the summer holidays. elaine dunkley, bbc news, in birmingham.

with the day's sport, including all the action from the penultimate day at the commonwealth games, here's jane dougall in birmingham. what an incredible, breathtaking day it's been in birmingham. the medals have just kept coming with multiple golds for all the home nations — on the track, in the boxing ring, and on the hockey pitch. jo currie rounds up the day's action. the last five seconds, in towards the circle. ., the last five seconds, in towards the circle-— the last five seconds, in towards the circle. ., ., ., ., the circle. counting down to gold. and england _ the circle. counting down to gold. and england are _ the circle. counting down to gold. and england are the _ the circle. counting down to gold. and england are the common - the circle. counting down to gold. i and england are the common wealth games champions. four and england are the common wealth games champions.— games champions. four years ago it was england's _ games champions. four years ago it was england's netballers _ games champions. four years ago it was england's netballers who - games champions. four years ago it was england's netballers who stole l was england's netballers who stole the show at the last commonwealth games with a famous victory against australia. today it was the turn of the women's hockey players to light up the women's hockey players to light up birmingham. a first—ever commonwealth title, a long—awaited moment. the 2—1win over australia came after goals from holly hunt and tess howard. the australians struck

back late on but england held on to secure an historic victory. i back late on but england held on to secure an historic victory.— secure an historic victory. i think our singing _ secure an historic victory. i think our singing voices _ secure an historic victory. i think our singing voices are _ secure an historic victory. i think our singing voices are destroyed | our singing voices are destroyed now! but singing jerusalem up there, just a beautiful moment and to have the whole crowd there, friends and family and everyone who supports us is amazing. to family and everyone who supports us is amazinu. ., , ., ., is amazing. to see the growth of women's snort — is amazing. to see the growth of women's sport is _ is amazing. to see the growth of women's sport is incredible - is amazing. to see the growth of women's sport is incredible and l is amazing. to see the growth of i women's sport is incredible and we have made — women's sport is incredible and we have made history today, a legacy we will carry— have made history today, a legacy we will carry forward and it's amazing. she has_ will carry forward and it's amazing. she has so— will carry forward and it's amazing. she has so much grit and determination. _ she has so much grit and determination. ., . h . . she has so much grit and determination. . �*, ., ., ~ determination. scotland's laura muir dismantlin: determination. scotland's laura muir dismantling the _ determination. scotland's laura muir dismantling the field _ determination. scotland's laura muir dismantling the field and _ determination. scotland's laura muir dismantling the field and cruising - dismantling the field and cruising to gold in the 1500 metres with northern ireland boss mick kieran mcgeary and picking up silver. this has meant a _ mcgeary and picking up silver. this has meant a lot _ mcgeary and picking up silver. ti 3 has meant a lot to me. missing gold coast as well. it's so nice to come here and notjust get one but two in such a competitive field. these girls are fast.— such a competitive field. these uirls are fast. . ., �* , girls are fast. having won the men's 400 metres — girls are fast. having won the men's 400 metres four _ girls are fast. having won the men's 400 metres four years _ girls are fast. having won the men's 400 metres four years ago - girls are fast. having won the men's| 400 metres four years ago england's sites were set firmly on defending their title. they clinched in some style well clear ahead of trinidad and tobago. here at the nec it's

finals day in the boxing and 16 commonwealth titles are up for grabs so it could be a bumper day for the home nations with northern ireland alone going for six gold medals. five of them delivered to break northern ireland �*s record four gold medals in the commonwealth games. it all got too much for dylan eagleson as his stunning victory saw him crowned bantamweight champion well brother and sister aidan walsh and michaela walsh ended up top of the podium. i michaela walsh ended up top of the odium. , ., , , michaela walsh ended up top of the odium, , ., , , ., ., podium. i promised my grandad in 2014 when he _ podium. i promised my grandad in 2014 when he died _ podium. i promised my grandad in 2014 when he died that _ podium. i promised my grandad in 2014 when he died that i - podium. i promised my grandad in 2014 when he died that i would . podium. i promised my grandad in l 2014 when he died that i would have a gold medal and ifinally have one. this is for you, granddad. mi; a gold medal and i finally have one. this is for you, granddad.— this is for you, granddad. my own doesnt this is for you, granddad. my own doesn't mean _ this is for you, granddad. my own doesn't mean half _ this is for you, granddad. my own doesn't mean half as _ this is for you, granddad. my own doesn't mean half as much - this is for you, granddad. my own doesn't mean half as much as - this is for you, granddad. my own doesn't mean half as much as it . this is for you, granddad. my own i doesn't mean half as much as it does for hen _ doesn't mean half as much as it does for hen for— doesn't mean half as much as it does for her. for her to when one means more _ for her. for her to when one means more to— for her. for her to when one means more to me — for her. for her to when one means more to me than anything to stop rosie _ more to me than anything to stop rosie eccles secured the light middleweight title for wales, making her the _ middleweight title for wales, making her the second welsh female to win a boxing _ her the second welsh female to win a boxing title. her the second welsh female to win a boxin: title. ., . . her the second welsh female to win a boxing title-— boxing title. scotland had three olden boxing title. scotland had three golden moments _ boxing title. scotland had three golden moments in _ boxing title. scotland had three golden moments in the - boxing title. scotland had three golden moments in the ring. i boxing title. scotland had three . golden moments in the ring. there was delight for delicious orie, england's new super champion. in the

para table tennis, joshua stacey claimed gold for wales with a 3—2 victory against his australian opponent. and england have their first—ever commonwealth beach volleyball medal. first-ever commonwealth beach volleyball medal.— first-ever commonwealth beach volleyball medal. he's done it! what a block. twins _ volleyball medal. he's done it! what a block. twins javier _ volleyball medal. he's done it! what a block. twins javier bello _ volleyball medal. he's done it! what a block. twins javier bello and - a block. twins javier bello and joaauin a block. twins javier bello and joaquin belle _ a block. twins javier bello and joaquin bello took _ a block. twins javier bello and joaquin bello took bronze. - a block. twins javier bello and joaquin bello took bronze. a l a block. twins javier bello and - joaquin bello took bronze. a medal on the beach in birmingham, something that's not likely to be seen again for a very long time. jo currie, bbc news. and breaking news — in the women's 4x400 relay, it looked like england had won by the tiniest of margins, but they've subsequently been disqualified. england appealed but their disqualification was confirmed. away from the games, the premier league continued its opening weekend — if you don't want to know what happened, it's time to leave the room. there were contrasting fortunes for two men who have arrived in manchester over the summer. erik ten hag suffered

an uncomfortable afternoon in his first match as manchester united manager, his side losing 2—1 to brighton at home. in contrast, manchester city's big summer signing erling haaland had a better day. he scored both goals for city as they beat west ham at the london stadium. in the other lunchtime kickoff, josh dasilva got a late equaliser for brentford at leicester. that game finished 2—2. in the scottish premiership, there was a thrilling end to the edinburgh derby. martin boyle's goal in the last minute of injury time gave hibs a share of the points, to the delight of the home crowd at easter road. in the other game, livingston beat dundee united 1—0. finally, there was a tense finish to the women's open championship golf at muirfield. as darkness closed in, south africa's ashleigh buhai

finally beat south korea's in gee chun, winning on the fourth play—off hole. that's the sport from birmingham. and it's been revealed that the five—time paralympic gold medallist ellie simmonds willjoin this year's strictly come dancing line—up. the swimmer said she was "bursting with excitement" but also "absolutely petrified". the show will be back next month on bbc one. time for a look at the weather. here's stav. another heatwave on the way for england and wales. not as intense as what we had last month but this one could last longer, certainly across central and southern areas. it will be warming up for all areas including scotland and northern ireland but for england and wales heatwave conditions, we will see

temperatures well above the seasonal norm for more than three consecutive days. if you are crying out for rainfall, they will not be a drop over the next few days across central and southern areas. most of it reserved once again for the north and west of scotland. here we will continue with the cloud and breeze overnight. some rain could turn out quite heavy for the western isles by dawn but further south, clear spells and one or two misty patches and temperatures between ten and 15. one or two spots under clear skies in england and wales could fall down to 7-9 c england and wales could fall down to 7—9 c will stop tomorrow is looking glorious, plenty of sunshine from the word go. most of the rain across the word go. most of the rain across the north and west of scotland. the chance of an isolated shower developing over the north pennines but again most places dry. top temperature is of 28, 29, and it could be warm and sunny for south—east scotland and northern ireland. tuesday, the windiest weatherfor ireland. tuesday, the windiest weather for the north west of scotland with further spots of rain. for the rest of scotland, northern

ireland, england and wales, a sunny day with temperatures creeping up each day. up to 29 and may be 30 in one or two spots. the mid 20s across south and east scotland and northern ireland. an area of high pressure sitting to the east of the country towards the end of the week. that will draw up the very warm air from the near continent on an east, south—easterly wind. the second half of the week will be hotter, up to 33, maybe 36 in the south. warm in the north as well and the knights will become uncomfortably warm as well towards the end of the week. that's all from us but the news continues here on bbc one, with our colleagues across the nations and regions and the news where you are. goodnight. hello, this is bbc news with chris rogers. a london museum says it will return ownership of artefacts that were looted in the 19th century to nigeria. the horniman museum said 72 objects which were forcibly removed

from the kingdom of benin, during a british military incursion in 1897, would be handed over to the nigerian government. they include 12 brass plaques, known as benin bronzes. david olusoga is a historian and professor of public history at manchester university. earlier, i spoke to him and started by asking if he could tell us more about the benin bronzes, and the fact there are still lots more of these out there. they are, they're scattered all over europe. there's many in the united states, but the reason they are scattered is because they were sold by the british government after the raid in 1897, so they have been dispersed to museums and private collections now for well over a century, but these are among the greatest works of art ever produced in africa and they are the nigerian, the country of my birth, national treasures. what are we talking about? what were they used for and how important are they in nigerian history? the thing that we group together as the benin bronzes is a range of artefacts, not all of them metal objects,

there are also ivory objects, but these were the decorations, the parts of the walls, the objects held within the palace of the oba of benin, right up until the british attack in 1897. this technique of making bronze objects with wax moulds was one of the most intricate forms of metallurgy in african art, so it is a huge range of objects and we are talking about thousands of objects. i suppose we have to be fair on museums, they are not displaying these items as, "look what we got from nigeria," it is more about what we can understand from nigerian history, but this particular museum says it was the right and moral thing to return them. so why are some museums, such as the british museum, who also have some benin bronzes, refusing to do so? i think the corollary of the horniman museum's decision to return these items and define returning them as moral

and appropriate means continuing to hold them by other museums is immoral and inappropriate and i would completely agree with that. these objects were stolen in a raid of colossal and appalling violence against the people of benin at the end of the 19th century and it is one of the most clear—cut cases of theft, the appropriation of treasures from one society to another. the calls for them to be returned have been going on for the large part of half a century and we had calls from the british museum, which i very much admire and have been going to my whole life, which doesn't even display all the objects it has from benin city, 900 in total. i think the argument for retaining these kinds of objects taken in the age of colonialism are fading away, they are falling apart. museums are part of a colonial project and the age of the colonial museum, the ethnographic museum needs to be brought to an end. the british museum actually says

it cannot return them because of the british museums act and the heritage act. do you buy that? absolutely, there are legal impediments presenting impediments preventing the british museum from returning these objects, but the law is changed all the time, we have sessions of parliament every year in which we change laws, it happens all the time. this idea that we should loan stolen objects back to the people from whom they were stolen is almost as offensive as the attempt for many decades to pretend this isn't a problem. of course there are legislative problems, but of course legislation can and should be changed. is itjust these artefacts or are there other collections people like yourself would like to be returned home, would like to see returned back to their native country? well, i think many more people would be interested in and willing to return these objects, if we recognised what we do need to recognise, which is the museum, the european ethnographic museum was part of the colonial process. it wasn't an adjunct,

a witness to the age of colonialism, it was a fundamental part of the age of colonialism and there are museums that hold objects that are sacred and vital and treasured to countries and people all over the world, objects that were taken through violence or duplicity and do we really want to have in our museums in the 21st—century our museums to be repositories for stolen objects? do we really want a relationship with the rest of the world to be one in which we hold things that are sacred to them out of a sense of might is right? the age of the ethnographic and colonial museum is over and we need to come to terms with this. is there not a danger, though, that we put some of these museums you are talking about under threat if they don't have these collections, that they are not going to be able to draw the crowds? every museum i have ever been to or worked with, its main problem is display space. almost every museum in the world has the vast majority of its collection in storage

because it hasn't got space to display everything it has. the british museum and most other museums have vast storage facilities. we can't even find space to display the objects that our museums hold, so why can't we return thousands or millions of them, in fact, to the people from whom they were taken? and this is happening all around the world, german museums earlier this year have made similar commitments, university in oxford and cambridge have made similar commitments. this is a very important museum, the horniman museum, catching up with a process that is already under way and other museums need to do likewise. speaking to me earlier. this is bbc news, the headlines... a ceasefire between israel and palestinian militants has come into effect after three days of violence. at least 44 people — including 15 children — have been killed in the violence, which began on friday. the two conservative party leadership contenders vying to be the next prime minister have been outlining how they plan to help people cope with the rising cost of living. but former prime minister

gordon brown says much more action is needed.