welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... one year on since the taliban takeover of afghanistan, the number of newborn deaths and miscarriages almost double in parts of the country — where women weak from hunger are losing babies. translation: | drink. tea in the morning, tea translation: | drink - tea in the morning, tea 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. a ceasefire comes into effect between israel and the palestinian militant group, islamichhad, but there are already reports of continued fighting.

the us senate passes joe biden�*s climate plan, channeling billions of dollars towards ambitious clean energy goals. the world will be a better place for my grandchildren because of what we did today, and that makes me feel very, very good. very, very good. and more than 80,000 tourists are stranded in a chinese resort after a coronavirus outbreak sparks a lockdown. live from our studio in singapore this is bbc news. it sneezed at. —— it's newsday. it's 6am in singapore, and 2:30am in the morning in afghanistan — from where we have a special report showing how pregnant women, new mothers and their babies are being affected by acute shortages and a lack of basic services. it comes nearly one year on from the taliban takeover and with much foreign funding suspended. 0ur report was filmed in badakhshan province in the north—east of afghanistan —

by cameraman sanjay ganguly — producer imogen anderson — and correspondent yogita limaye. some viewers may find this report distressing. in afghanistan's maternity wards, women forced to endure unbearable suffering. groans. no drugs to ease the pain. barely any resources for an emergency. 0nly 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. all through this week we'll be looking back at life under the taliban, one year in. turning out to another story for you. a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending three days of fighting between israel and the palestinian militant group, islamichhad, has officially come into effect. however, reports from both israel and gaza say fighting has continued beyond the agreed deadline. the palestinians put the overall number of dead at close to 50 — including two leaders of the islamichhad group. while israel says hundreds of palestinian rockets were fired indiscrimately atjerusalem and tel aviv. 0ur middle east correspondent

yolande knell sent this report. 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 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. to the us now — where a landmark bill, which includes billions of dollars to fight climate change,

has been approved by the senate. this is the moment the legislation, known as the inflation reduction act — passed after a marathon overnight session — during which republicans attempted to stall its passage. the $430 billion package also includes measures to reduce health care costs and introduces new taxes for businesses. senate majority leader — chuck schumer — shared his joy that the bill has passed. but unlike our bill enhances our energy security and is the boldest 0ur bail enhances our energy security and is the boldest climate package in us history. the senate has now passed the most significant bill to fight the climate crisis ever. it is going to make a difference to my grandkids. the world will be a better place for my grandchildren because of what we did today and that makes me feel very, very good.

very, very good. 0ur washington correspondent gary 0'donoghue sent this update. this is a huge win for the democrats and forjoe biden, the largest piece of climate change legislation ever passed by congress. it will go something like 80% of the way to reducing carbon targets by 2030. it also means for individuals that they can get seven and half thousand dollars in tax rebates if they buy an electric vehicle. incentives too for businesses to switch to renewable energy. there will be higher taxes on businesses with profits of more than $1 billion, and there will be attempts to bring down prescription drug prices, a hugely contentious issue in this country. it is the latest victory forjoe biden, a series of legislative wins for him. and that will, they hope, influence the november elections when congress gets reelected. the problem, though, is that those elections are often

a referendum on the administration itself, and joe biden�*s approval ratings are underwater. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk.... the family of british child archie battersbee have called for an inquiry into the legal battle surrounding the withdrawal of his life support. the 12—year—old, who was at the centre of a court row between his parents and doctors, died on saturday. archie had been in hospital since being found unconscious at his home in april. the uk government is expected to announce that payments of up to 100,000 pounds will be made to victims of the country's contaminated blood scandal. thousands of people contracted hiv, or hepatitis c, in the 19705 and 80s through nhs treatments. more than 2,400 died as a result. a london museum says it will return ownership of artefacts that were looted in the 19th century, to nigeria. the horniman museum said that 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. let's turn to china now — which continues to pursue its hardline zero—covid policy. an outbreak at the resort city of sanya has sparked a lockdown. the restrictions on sanya, which is on the southern hainan island and a popular surfing destination, come during the peak tourist season. all flights and trains have been cancelled — leaving more than 80,000 tourists stranded there. let's speak now to professor yanzhong huang who is a senior fellow for global health at the council on foreign relations. it's great to get you on the programme. ijust want it's great to get you on the programme. i just want to start by asking, locking down over a few hundred cases — something that in other parts of the world would be unthinkable at this point —

given we are all living with covid — do you see this as a temporary measure — or a wider, more stringent lockdown in this area to come? well, if you look at the house that policy that has been pursued in china, basically for each locality where even single digit cases, they are supposed to lunch immediate and effective measures in order to nip the crisis in the bud. in that sense, the lockdown measures that were imposed in this province is no exception. that is part of that chinese policy response to covid—19. professor, you say that, and i understand that it is part of that response, so we should expect it,

but how real is the risk to public health at this point given we are talking about locking down several thousands, tens of thousands of people. if thousands, tens of thousands of eo - le. , ., thousands, tens of thousands of neale, r, thousands, tens of thousands of --eole. ,, ., thousands, tens of thousands of --eole. ., ., people. if you look at the actual case is that _ people. if you look at the actual case is that are _ people. if you look at the actual case is that are so _ people. if you look at the actual case is that are so far— people. if you look at the actual case is that are so far being - case is that are so far being identified are more than 1100 cases. three quarters of them are considered confirmed cases. 0ne considered confirmed cases. one third of them are symptomatic ones, but even among those confirmed cases, all of them are considered mild ones. there are no severe cases or even debts. so in that sense, really, not considered a serious concern in our opinion, but in china, because of the zero covid policy, you cannot tolerate any infection. it is still considered a challenge there.— infection. it is still considered a challenge there. how much is this olitical,

challenge there. how much is this political. as _ challenge there. how much is this political, as well, _ challenge there. how much is this political, as well, though? - challenge there. how much is this political, as well, though? we - challenge there. how much is this | political, as well, though? we have talked about the health aspect of this, but there has some been some speculation that after the big leadership meeting later this year in china, that covid restrictions may well be eased. do you see that happening?— happening? well, if we define the resonse happening? well, if we define the response as _ happening? well, if we define the response as political _ happening? well, if we define the response as political because - happening? well, if we define the response as political because of. happening? well, if we define the i response as political because of the high political stakes, giving up zero covid is notjust a public health problem, it's a political problem, so in that sense, congress the end of the congress will open up a political window for potential policy events. a political window for potential policy events-— a political window for potential oli events. ., ., policy events. professor thank you so much for _ joining us on newsday with your thoughts. joining us on newsday with your thou~hts. ., ~ joining us on newsday with your thou~hts. . ~ , .,

you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... as the commonwealth games draw to a close in birmingham — australia sit top of the medals table. we'll be speaking to one of their gold medal winners. the question was whether we want to save our people and the japanese, as well, and win the war — or whether we want to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at 2am this morning. mr bush, like most people, was clearly caught by surprise. we call for the immediate i and unconditional withdrawal of all iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigour, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long — and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she's achieved this landmark anniversary.

this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. this is newsday on the bbc. 0ur headlines... a bbc team in afghanistan finds maternity services at breaking point — and sees how women weak from hunger are suffering miscarriages after three days of violence, a ceasefire comes into effect between israel and the palestinian militant group islamichhad, but there are recent reports of continued fighting. turning now to the issue of taiwan, and china says it will be carrying out new military exercises in the yellow sea, near south korea, until the middle of august. in the yellow sea, near south korea, it follows a barrage of drills which have encircled

taiwan for four days. taiwan has accused china of practising for an invasion of the island, while the us has accused beijing of using military drills to change the status quo. 0ur correspondent in taipei, rupert wingfield—hayes, gave us this update. so what we are hearing from taiwan's defence ministry today is that it believes the last four days of china's military drills around the island have been a dry run for a future invasion. interestingly we have also heard from the people's liberation army eastern command in china, effectively saying almost the same thing. perhaps the most significant statement has come from washington over night. the white house released a statement saying it believes the drills from china are an attempt to change the status quo in the taiwan strait. that language is very significant, because for the last a0 years or more the fundamental bedrock of the relationship between america and china has been that america

will oppose any unilateral attempt by taiwan or china to change the status quo in the taiwan strait. for the last few days, we've been hearing loudly from china from the foreign minister and other officials that it is america that is to blame for this crisis, nancy pelosi's visit has provoked this. this is washington really pushing back against that, saying to beijing, no, it is you being aggressive, you are trying to change the rules of the game and you are attempting to unilaterally change the status quo in the taiwan strait. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines... ukrainian nuclear authorities have accused moscow of committing an act of nuclear terrorism by launching a new rocket attack on the zapo—rizhzya power plant late on saturday. the operator of the plant said a russian rocket had landed close to a storage facility containing casks of spent nuclear fuel. russian forces occupy the site while ukrainian staff still operate it.

russia has blamed ukrainian forces for attacks. police in thailand have arrested the owner of a nightclub where 15 people died in a fire that broke out early on thursday. at least 30 others were injured. the police say the owner had turned himself in, and he's expected to face charges including causing death through recklessness. thai rescue teams say they found the bodies of victims piled up near the exit, which eyewitnesses say was locked. specialist teams from mexico and venezuela have joined firefighters in cuba as they struggle to control a massive blaze at an oil facility in matan—zas. more than 100 specially trained personnel are involved in the effort, with planeloads of fire fighting chemicals. officials say around five— thousand people have now been evacuated from the area where two fuel tanks are burning uncontrollably after a lightning strike on friday. the commonwealth games draw

to a close in birmingham later. there have been some incredible performances, but perhaps unsurprisingly, australia top the medals table. once again, their swimmers enjoyed considerable success in the pool. and that included 23—year—old zac stubblety—cook. he secured gold in the 200 metres breastroke. he also picked up two silver medals at the games. not bad going considering he is already an olympic and world champion. and i'm delighted to say zac joins me now from brisbane. it is great to have you on the programme and congratulations in the first instance. you've been described as an unstoppable force. talk us through how that moment of victory felt for you.— victory felt for you. yeah, the moment _ victory felt for you. yeah, the moment of— victory felt for you. yeah, the moment of victory _ victory felt for you. yeah, the moment of victory in - victory felt for you. yeah, the - moment of victory in birmingham was pretty specialfor me. moment of victory in birmingham was pretty special for me. four years ago, i didn't make the final, so it was specialfor me ago, i didn't make the final, so it was special for me to be able to stand up on those blocks and have the crowd back and have that moment,

all my team—mates and my family there, it was pretty special. all my team-mates and my family there, it was pretty special. yeah, i can there, it was pretty special. yeah, i can imagine- _ there, it was pretty special. yeah, i can imagine. what _ there, it was pretty special. yeah, i can imagine. what a _ there, it was pretty special. yeah, i can imagine. what a moment - there, it was pretty special. yeah, - i can imagine. what a moment indeed for you. i can imagine. what a moment indeed foryou. give i can imagine. what a moment indeed for you. give us a sense of how difficult competing in the commonwealth games was in comparison to the olympics, for example. yeah. to the olympics, for example. yeah, i mean, to the olympics, for example. yeah, i mean. every _ to the olympics, for example. yeah, i mean, every race _ to the olympics, for example. yeah, i mean, every race is _ to the olympics, for example. yeah, i mean, every race is always - to the olympics, for example. yeah, i mean, every race is always a - i mean, every race is always a little bit different. for me, this year has probably been different again. last year, i came in an underdog, this year i've come in kind of coming in as that guy to beat. so that's been different pressure. i wouldn't say it's easier or a different quality, it was just, yeah, a different race, if you will. it was still a tough race, so that's always great to come away with a win. ~ . , ~ ., ., always great to come away with a win. ~ ., , ~' ., ., ., ., win. what is it like to go from that transition from _ win. what is it like to go from that transition from being come - win. what is it like to go from that transition from being come as - win. what is it like to go from that transition from being come as you| transition from being come as you have described it, you know, the underdog to the pool? it is

have described it, you know, the underdog to the pool?— underdog to the pool? it is a stran . e underdog to the pool? it is a strange feeling _ underdog to the pool? it is a strange feeling in _ underdog to the pool? it is a strange feeling in something underdog to the pool? it is a - strange feeling in something i'm still learning to deal with and learning how to race, given that, and the last 12 months has been an absolute whirlwind like it was 12 months to the day from tokyo to the breaststroke and birmingham. so it was a pretty special 12 months and something i'm still learning how to do, at the end of the day, i stand behind the black and represent my country, but i'm representing myself and trying to get the best out of myself and trust that process and continue to perfect that process. you know, a lot of people watching i'm sure you're wondering, the discipline that is involved in becoming the kind of athlete you are and having to push yourself every single points. what do you do in order to sort of psych yourself up, i suppose, to get even faster and beat that next record is yellow i

enjoyed the challenge, i guess is the easiest way to put it. it's always about trying to find the best of m self, always about trying to find the best of myself. i — always about trying to find the best of myself, i guess, _ always about trying to find the best of myself, i guess, that's _ always about trying to find the best of myself, i guess, that's kind - always about trying to find the best of myself, i guess, that's kind of. of myself, i guess, that's kind of the way i view my life, if i was to pass away or die tomorrow, would i be content with the life i've lived? trying to live each day to its last, and that is kind of how i live and how i continue to live in trying to get the best out of myself each and every day and make the most of each and every day, and that means challenging myself in and out of the pool both in life and in the pool. try to just be the best person i can be, it's as simple as that, i guess. just briefly, we are running out of time, the next commonwealth games will be in your home country, australia, how do you feel about them? �* , , , australia, how do you feel about them? 3 , , . australia, how do you feel about them? , . them? it's pretty exciting. it was art of them? it's pretty exciting. it was part of home _ them? it's pretty exciting. it was part of home commonwealth - them? it's pretty exciting. it was . part of home commonwealth games them? it's pretty exciting. it was - part of home commonwealth games in 2018 to him it was an amazing event, and hope last radio can have another amazing event, obviously, six years out from the olympic games as well, it's pretty exciting. hopefully we will inspire another generation of the olympics. will inspire another generation of

the olympics-— will inspire another generation of the olympics. will inspire another generation of the ol mics. ., ~ the olympics. indeed. zac, thank you so much for — the olympics. indeed. zac, thank you so much forjoining _ the olympics. indeed. zac, thank you so much forjoining us, _ the olympics. indeed. zac, thank you so much forjoining us, and _ the olympics. indeed. zac, thank you so much forjoining us, and that - so much forjoining us, and that brings us to the end of newsday. thank you so much forjoining me. hello there. there was a lot of dry, sunny, very warm weather over the weekend, certainly across england and wales. and that's just the taste of things to come, because as we move through this upcoming week, it's set to get very hot and sunny across parts of england and wales, a developing heatwave here. but even scotland and northern ireland will turn much warmer with plenty of sunshine. now, high pressure will keep control of the weather through this week, weather fronts always flirting with the northwest corner of scotland and will bring more cloud, breeze, outbreaks of rain. and then towards the end of the week, the area of high pressure will sit towards the east of the uk, and that will bring very warm southeasterly winds off the near continent. now, of course, we know it's been very dry last month across england and wales and we continue the dry theme into august. very little rain over the next few days for much of the country. most of it will be falling across

the north and the west of scotland. and there will be further splashes of rain across northwest scotland, over the northern and western isles, over the course of monday. more sunshine, though, for northern ireland, much of central, southern and eastern scotland. most of the sunshine, though, and warmth will be across england and wales. so we've got the low 20s across the north in the sunniest spots, the high 20s further south. we could be up to around 29 degrees in a few spots across the midlands and southern england. monday night, then, dry and clear for most, a bit of mist developing here and there. it'll stay cloudy and breezy across the north and west of scotland, further splashes of rain here. and temperatures will begin to creep up, 10—16 degrees will be the low. and as we move through the week, the nights will get warmer. so for tuesday, then, it's a fairly mild start to the day, plenty of sunshine across the country. again, the far north and west of scotland will see most of the breeze and the cloud. quite windy across the west highlands, into the western isles. 17 degrees here, the mid—20s further south, and we could be close to the 30 celsius mark across parts of england and wales.

until wednesday, i think a sunnier picture across much of scotland and northern ireland, that weather front just pushing to the northwest of the country. so we're up to around 2a, 25 degrees through central, southern scotland, up to 30 or 31 celsius across the midlands and the south wales, southern england. and it gets hotter across england and wales as we move towards the end of the week, perhaps up to the mid—30s in places. warm as well for scotland and northern ireland. don't forget, the nights will get much warmer as well.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the number of newborn deaths and miscarriages in parts of afghanistan have almost doubled one year since the taliban takeover, after which foreign funding to the country was suspended. a ceasefire agreement aimed to end three days of fighting between israel and the palestinian militant group islamichhad has officially come into effect. however, reports say violence continued beyond more than 80,000 tourists have been left stranded in a popular resort in china after a covid outbreak sparked a lockdown. authorities cancelled all flights and trains from sanya, known as "china's hawaii", on saturday. a landmark bill which includes billions of dollars to fight climate change has been approved by the us senate.

the legislation passed after a marathon session