welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm monica miller. the headlines... a team from the un's atomic agency finally carries out an inspection of the russian—held nuclear power plant in ukraine. our correspondent is on the front line as the ukrainians struggle to retake areas seized by russia. the threat here isn'tjust the artillery you can hear. it's also these landmines all along this pathway. a federaljudge in florida has reserved judgment on donald trump's request for a special master to review evidence seized by the fbi. and fans of serena williams are still celebrating,

after she knocked out the number two seed at the us open. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's 6am in singapore, and 1am in zaporizhzhia, in ukraine — where a team of un inspectors have begun their checks on the nuclear power plant which has been caught up in the russian invasion. the team from the international atomic energy agency — or iaea — had to cross military checkpoints into territory controlled by russian forces. they'll stay on site until at least monday as they assess how safe — or unsafe — the facility is, after being struck several times by fire. the head of the inspectors,

rafael grossi, had this to say about what he had seen. i went into the units. i could visit the emergency systems, the diesel generators, the different parts. so we have the control rooms of some of the nuclear power plants there. so we chose 3—4 key areas that i needed to see first—hand, and i was able to do that. with his analysis of the day's events, here's our correspondent in kyiv, james waterhouse. rafael grossi, the chief of the iaea, posted a video at the end of today, saying the structural integrity of the site had been repeatedly violated and, in his words, "it shouldn't be allowed to continue." but, look, it's been messy, it's been unpredictable, but the sight of that un convoy moving into the zaporizhzhia plant

symbolised a major breakthrough. the route they took is a place where both sides were accused of bombing it to try and delay the inspectors�* arrival, and trying to undermine the whole mission. and then, once they arrived, the claim from ukraine was that they were heavily monitored, escorted around — which meant that they weren't able to speak to staff candidly, hear their testimony, staff who have previously described being kept at gunpoint. but the crucial detail is this — rafael grossi claimed that his team won't be going anywhere. and if that transpires, that could well have a stabilising effect on what is a very volatile section of a vast front line. but, to be frank with you, the duration of the iaea's stay at the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will be dictated by the russians, who retain a very tight grip on the surrounding territory.

that visit to the zaporizhzhia power plant comes as government forces in ukraine are trying to seize the initiative before the arrival of winter. a counter—attack is already under way in the south of the country, around kherson. but the ukrainians are now preparing to expand that operation in the donbas to the east, and also around kharkiv in the north. our correspondent quentin sommerville and camera—journalist darren conway have had exclusive access to a unit of ukrainian troops, near the front line. their report includes some images that may be disturbing to some viewers. in donbas, there will be no harvest. as russian shells fall about us, these fields and furrows are instead ploughed by gun tracks and fighting men. ukraine's national guard leads us through the barrage. they pause only briefly and by the cover of tree lines.

this is a war of artillery, of seemingly limitless firepower, and of scorched earth. the destruction is measured in the square kilometres. with phosphorus and cluster bombs, russia burns and scores what it seeks to capture. a canopy of acacias gives some protection from drones. but from here onwards, they must go on foot. the breakthrough in kherson has buoyed spirits, even as russia's dominance in donbas rings out loudly. but this was isn't only being fought at long distance. take care, there is a land mine, be careful. careful. the threat here isn'tjust the artillery you can hear, it's also these landmines, they are all along this pathway.

that's why i'm following very closely in the footsteps of the men ahead. there is another one. explosion and there are more threats — some locals are ambivalent, others hostile to ukrainian forces. but not sergiy. where is your wife, is it hard being apart? translation: yes. every hour, every moment i miss her. it's difficult without her because i love her, and she loves me. what a life. but i think we will get through it all, everything will be for the better. despite the shelling, yeva and her mother appear numb to danger. we can hear the shelling all around us. explosion translation: i am afraid.

i have a small selection of medical supplies which could be helpful if suddenly, god forbid, something happens to my child or to anybody at all, i will give them first aid and take them somewhere for further treatment. but at the moment, as long as i have strength, i want to stay at home. so for now, julia and yeva will hang on here amid the illusion of a normal life. explosion. in villages and towns for hundreds of kilometres, there is no school, no work, no life. a country frozen in time and in conflict. few live this war as fast and as close to danger as ruslan and his team of army medics. the cost of hesitation lies all too apparent by the roadside. speed is a matter of life and death

for them and for their patients. their ambulance can't afford to wait until the shelling stops. but there are times when even ruslan and his medics have to take cover. explosion translation: over there you can see smoke, their mortar is working. - ruslan, we can see incoming russian mortarfire here. what do you do when you have casualties out there and this kind of firepower is coming in? what decisions do you have to make? translation: we see the enemy and the enemy sees us, _ but the enemy hides in the tree line there, disguising himself. we can't do that, our ambulance is exposed. we have to pick up the injured and take them out. man screams russia's viciousness is the daily burden of ukrainian combat medics. this man curses in agony.

only moments earlier, he was wounded by a mine. they're still not sure of his injuries. but in this field hospital, they have an intimate knowledge of the damage that shrapnel and artillery do to the human body. they are covered in blast wounds, their limbs broken. his colleague too has been hit. time is critical here for two reasons — the patient�*s life, and the medics never know when more casualties will arrive. quentin sommerville, bbc news, donbas. and you can find more reporting on ukraine by quentin sommerville — including on the ukrainian counter—offensive — on our website. simply head to bbc.com/news. you can also download the bbc news app. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk... police in the uk city of liverpool have released cctv footage of a man they want to question in connection with the fatal shooting of

nine—year—old olivia pratt—korbel. she was killed in her home last week as her mother tried to stop a gunman entering their house. police have also revealed that two guns were involved in the incident. in one of his final acts as prime minister, borisjohnson has confirmed £700 million of government money towards the sizewell c nuclear reactor in suffolk. the project, which is being developed by french energy company edf, is estimated to cost about £20 billion overall. around 40,000 rail workers from 14 different train companies in england, wales, and scotland will go on strike for two days later this month in the long—running dispute over pay and conditions. the members of the rmt union will stage 2a hour walk outs on the 15th and 17th. the government says the industrial action is "self—defeating".

joe biden doesn't make many prime—time speeches to america — but in just a few hours, he'll go in front of the cameras in philadelphia to unleash a wave of criticism on donald trump. the stage has already been set by his press secretary, who made it clear what mr biden�*s white house thought of the "maga republicans" — named after donald trump's "make america great again" slogan. you know, when you ask me about the maga agenda, especially as it relates to congress and elected officials, it is one of the most extreme agendas that we have seen. and it is a part of the — it is an extreme part of the republican party. and we are talking about, they want nationwide bands on abortions, they want to give tax cuts to billionaires and corporations while raising taxes on the middle class americans. they are

threatening political violence and attacking our democracy. i'm joined now by peter bowes, in los angeles. thank you forjoining us on the programme. president biden had called for normalcy when he entered the white house, and now he's changed his tune. why now? itruieiiii the white house, and now he's changed his tune. why now? well it is true that up _ changed his tune. why now? well it is true that up until _ changed his tune. why now? well it is true that up until this _ changed his tune. why now? well it is true that up until this point, - is true that up until this point, joe biden during his presidency has avoided getting into political spats with donald trump. but now, we are just a few weeks away from the crucial midterm elections which will determine the political makeup of congress, the senate and the house of representatives, for the next two years. and that is crucial tojoe biden if he is to get anything done in the second part of his term in office. so he's certainly going for donald trump and the right of the republican party — we got a sense of it from the white house briefing. we have already heard mr biden use the

term semi—fascism, relating to those on the right wing of the republican party. and i think what we will see in this speech is he'll put a bit of flesh onto the bone, describing what he means. he will talk about those maga forces that want to take the country, in his view, backwards with no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, and no right to marry who you love — all of those hot button issues, and especially issues like abortion following the supreme court ruling a few weeks ago. those are the kinds of issues he'll raise to make a very distinct difference between what he stands for and what donald trump stands for and what donald trump stands for. stay with me, peter, because we're going to look at what happened on thursday to mr biden�*s predecessor in the white house, donald trump. he sent his lawyers to ask for an independent person to oversee the fbi's investigation of material which was seized from his home in florida.

mr trump has previously claimed the search, carried out on the 8th of august, looking for classified documents, was politically motivated. thejudge decided to defer the ruling. is there any hope for trump that thejudge will grant this request? certainly the former president can hope, and it remains to be seen what the court decides. we understand that ruling will be issued at an unspecified time in the future. my hunchis unspecified time in the future. my hunch is that it will be fairly soon before we know what the judge thinks about this idea of an independent person, a senior lawyer effectively to look through all of those documents, perhaps to determine whether the department ofjustice has anything now in its possession that it shouldn't, and personal documents, perhaps documents that are covered by client lawyer privilege, as far as the former president is returned, and should be returned to him. that's what he is

hoping for — but clearly there are two distinct sides to this, and it was interesting that in court earlier, one of donald trump's lawyers likened the current situation to a lot of fuss over an overdue library book. know clearly the department ofjustice sees a very different and a much more serious way. i think what's happened in the last few hours with this court hearing is that simply raised the stakes in this deep controversy. will watch and see what happens in the coming hours. thank you, peter. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: serena williams will soon play in a doubles match at the us open with her sister venus, but the tournament is set to be her last. she's retiring, but what next for a sporting mega—star? she received the nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and the dying in india's slums.

the head of the catholic church said mother teresa was a wonderful example of how to help people in need. we have to identify the bodies, then arrange the coffins and take them back home. parents are waiting, and wives are waiting. hostages appeared — some carried, some running — trying to escape the nightmare behind them. britain lost a princess today. described by all to whom she reached out as "irreplaceable", _ an early morning car crash - in a paris underpass ended a life with more than its share of pain and courage, - warmth and compassion.

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm monica miller in singapore. our headlines... a team from the un's nuclear watchdog has reached the russian—held zaporizhzhia power plant in ukraine, despite shelling nearby. we turn to seoul now, where the government has promised to get rid of its basement apartments, which were made famous by the oscar—winning film parasite. it follows severe floods last month, which trapped people inside their homes, killing four. the underground homes have come to represent south korea's growing inequality and spiralling housing crisis, and as our seoul correspondent jean mackenzie has been finding out, those who live in them fear they'll be left with nowhere to go. under the streets of seoul live hundreds of thousands of people.

known as banjiha, these basement apartments were made famous by the oscar—winning film parasite. but when seoul experienced its heaviest rain in 100 years, life suddenly imitated art. do you know how high the water came up? ji—ae has raised her two sons in this banjiha. it's the only place they can afford, with house prices in seoul out of control. but this is now the second time they've been flooded.

seoul city is promising to phase out the apartments by creating more social housing — but this promise has been made and broken before. cha jong—gwan only recently moved into his basement, but it was destroyed by the flood. you open a window and what do you see? his previous apartment was a third of the size.

this woman rents her basement the four migrant workers. she and other owners will be offered money to convert them into warehouses. but at nearly 80, she'll struggle. as people start to rebuild their lives from scratch, moving above ground seems further away than ever. jean mackenzie, bbc news, seoul. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines... the us dollar index — the benchmark for the currency�*s

international value — has hit a 20—year high. investors have been piling into the dollar in recent months. as well as seeing it as a safe haven, they're attracted by the us central bank's commitment to raising interest rates as it tries to bring down inflation. rosmah mansor — the wife of ex—malaysian prime minister najib razak has been sentenced to ten years in prison. she was found guilty on three charges of soliciting and receiving bribes to help a company win a $280 million project. just days earlier, her husband started serving a i2—yearjail sentence for corruption charges related to state—owned wealth fund one mdb. chengdu has become the latest chinese city to be locked down after a fresh outbreak, as beijing continues to pursue its controversial "zero—covid" policy. around 21 million people have been ordered to stay indoors, with just one person per household allowed out for essential shopping. this comes as the southwest region is experience extreme weather patters that

are destroying its crops. to sport now — and serena williams is into round three of the us open, after winning a sensational victory over second seed anett kontaveit. she is also set to play doubles in the new york tournament with her sister venus — but the tennis icon is still set to retire after the open, saying she wanted to "evolve away" from playing tennis. in an article she wrote for vogue magazine, she discussed having to choose family life or tennis, renewing the debate about the challenges women face in balancing a family and a career. for more on this, we can cross live to los angeles and join eve rodsky, who's the author of the hit book fair play — which looks at re—balancing the workload in relationships. thank you very much forjoining us on the programme secular thank you for having me. what did you make of

serena williams's article? the for having me. what did you make of serena williams's article?— serena williams's article? the most im ortant serena williams's article? the most important thing. — serena williams's article? the most important thing, the _ serena williams's article? the most important thing, the most - serena williams's article? the most| important thing, the most important line is, i were a guy, i wouldn't be writing this." line is, i were a guy, i wouldn't be writing this- "— writing this." interesting, tell us more about _ writing this." interesting, tell us more about what _ writing this." interesting, tell us more about what that's - writing this." interesting, tell us more about what that's like. - writing this." interesting, tell us l more about what that's like. when writing this." interesting, tell us - more about what that's like. when we hear about serena williams, she's a famous star, financially stable where a lot of people don't have that. and yet she is struggling with this balance. that. and yet she is struggling with this balance-— this balance. absolutely. there is nothina this balance. absolutely. there is nothin: in this balance. absolutely. there is nothing in america _ this balance. absolutely. there is nothing in america or _ this balance. absolutely. there is nothing in america or the - this balance. absolutely. there is nothing in america or the world i nothing in america or the world right now that makes it easy to be a mother — and it's notjust the physical labour, we don't have any supports, especially here in america where she's writing from. we just lost our bid to try and get bill back better done, we have no access to federal pay to leave, it's just us and papa new guinea left he doesn't have policies to support the

mother. and we know maternal mental health and physical health is not supported either. so it makes it very hard to be a mother in america, let alone any mother in america even if you have privilege. in let alone any mother in america even if you have privilege.— if you have privilege. in terms of serena williams, _ if you have privilege. in terms of serena williams, it _ if you have privilege. in terms of serena williams, it was - if you have privilege. in terms of. serena williams, it was interesting to hear her say that this isn't a retirement, but an evolution. is there something that may be other women can learn from her theory on life? i women can learn from her theory on life? ~' women can learn from her theory on life? ~ ., ., ., ., ., life? i think a lot of what we are seeinr , life? i think a lot of what we are seeing, including _ life? i think a lot of what we are seeing, including my _ life? i think a lot of what we are seeing, including my colleaguel life? i think a lot of what we are | seeing, including my colleague - life? i think a lot of what we are - seeing, including my colleague - she seeing, including my colleague — she did an article saying if serena williams can't have it all, then neither can we. but what i think she's doing is she's a feminist icon for all of us, and what she's done is exposed to the underbelly. she talked about how hard it was, how she almost died giving birth, she talked about how hard it is, how sexist some of the line calling judges have been against her. so i think what she'll continue to do is call out the challenges for women

everywhere, and hopefully we can follow her to that new evolution to see what she does for all of us. so what advice would you have given serena, briefly? i what advice would you have given serena, briefly?— serena, briefly? ithink whatl would say _ serena, briefly? ithink whatl would say to _ serena, briefly? ithink whatl would say to her— serena, briefly? ithink whatl would say to her is, _ serena, briefly? ithink whatl would say to her is, "thank. serena, briefly? ithink what i. would say to her is, "thank you serena, briefly? ithink what i - would say to her is, "thank you for saying if i was a guy, i wouldn't have to write this." she can acknowledge tom brady can continue his career while she has to stop and expand herfamily. so what i expand her family. so what i would give to her with advice is to keep talking, to recognise what she's doing, with modelling with her husband, alexis, that men can step in the full power of care so women can step into their full power of the world. it's a model of the —— for the next generation, including her daughter in mind.— for the next generation, including her daughter in mind. thank you very much forjoining _ her daughter in mind. thank you very much forjoining us _ her daughter in mind. thank you very much forjoining us on _ her daughter in mind. thank you very much forjoining us on the _ much forjoining us on the programme. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. if you want to follow any of our top stories, please visit us online. i'm

monica miller, have a lovely weekend. hello there. summer 2022 was certainly a memorable one, wasn't it? and as we bring summer to a close, these are some of the standout headlines — england'sjoint warmest summer on record, and the driest year so far for the uk since 1976. now there is actually some rain in the forecast as we go through friday and towards the weekend. the weather is set to change. we've got this weather front here gathering pace into the northwest, and this weather front�*s been bringing some showers. now those showers may well linger for parts of england and wales — fairly isolated, but nevertheless, they'll still be there. the best of the sunshine, north wales, northern england and eastern scotland. showery outbreaks of rain gather into the far north west of scotland and northern ireland. here, temperatures perhaps at around 18 celsius the high — but it will be another hot and humid

afternoon for central and eastern england, with temperatures into the high 20s. all change as we move into the weekend, for some, there will be some thundery showers around or longer spells of rain, and it will turn increasingly windy for all. as an area of low pressure anchors itself out to the west, spiralling around that low in an anti—clockwise direction is a series of weather fronts that'll bring some rain, some of it fairly persistent, through northern ireland and southwest scotland throughout the weekend — and that could have an impact. it will certainly have an impact on the feel of the weather. elsewhere, sunny spells and scattered showers. not a bad day to the far north of scotland, highs of 19 here — but in the sunshine, in east anglia, if you dodge those showers, you should see highs of 2a celsius. more wet weather in a similar position coming up through southwest to england, wales, and then, sitting across northern ireland and southwest scotland. showers elsewhere — if you dodge those showers, you still keep those blustery winds, but it will still feel quite warm

in the sunshine for parts of england and wales, as temperatures still likely to peak at highs of 25 celsius — disappointing under the cloud and the rain. the low pressure is not set to move very far very fast at all — into the early half of next week, it anchors itself down to the southwest. the wind direction still coming from the south, still relatively mild, but still, we could see some showers and those showers could be heavy and quite widespread for the early half of next week.

this is bbc news. the headlines... a team from the un's nuclear watchdog has carried out an initial inspection of the russian—held zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in ukraine. nearby shelling has raised fears of a possible nuclear disaster. the chairman of one of russia's biggest oil companies, lukoil, has died after reportedly falling from a hospital window. the company confirmed the death of ravil maganov, saying he had passed away following a severe illness. a long—delayed united nations report says serious human rights abuses have been committed in the chinese region of xinjiang against uyghur muslims. the white house has called on china to immediately cease "atrocities" against uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. millions of people in pakistan are at risk of disease and hunger, after some of the worst floods in the country's history.