welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... a game—changing election in italy — as exit polls suggest suggest giorgia meloni is set to win, and is on course to become the country's first female prime minister. super typhoon noru has hit the philippines and is set to sweep through the capital manila with winds of up to 175 kilometres an hour. translation: i evacuated the house i'm _ translation: i evacuated the house i'm living _ translation: i evacuated the house i'm living in _ translation: i evacuated the house i'm living in because - translation: i evacuated the house i'm living in because i'mi house i'm living in because i'm scared, — house i'm living in because i'm scared, the _ house i'm living in because i'm scared, the floods are very high — scared, the floods are very high and _ scared, the floods are very high and i don't want to go through— high and i don't want to go through what i went through before _ japan prepares to hold

a state funeral for former an election rally injuly. and less than two months ahead of the men's football world cup in qatar, concerns there may not be enough affordable accommodation for fans. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. it is seven in the morning here in singapore, and 1am in italy. exit polls there suggest far—right leader giorgia meloni has won italy's election, and is on course to become the country's first female prime minister. if hindeed if indeed these exit polls are confirmed, she will aim to form italy's most right—wing

government since world war ii. for the latest, we can cross live to rome and our correspondent there, mark lowen. you know, the words political earthquake are often used, and probably overused, but really it feels apt for tonight, because this is a country that now looks like not only has it elected its first ever female prime minister, but its first far right leader since benito mussolini, the fascist leader that led italy into the second world war and was eventually hanged by antifascist partisans, and now it looks like giorgia meloni, whose party has its roots in neo— fascism, but she says her party has consigned that political creed to history and she represents a modern conservative right—wing government. it looks like she has won this election and won very decisively, and it looks like now she will attempt to form a right—wing coalition government for the first time in italy for 12 years, and that she will have a very

significant majority in parliament. about an hour ago on italian television, and they show giorgia meloni of the far right brothers of italy with a very sizeable lead, a sizeable and healthy majority for her, 25% of the vote, and the league of the far right brothers of italy at between 8.5 and 12.5%, and forza italia at 6—8%. the reason we are showing you those three is that they will form the right—wing coalition that is now likely to be able to form a stable government and a pretty healthy majority at that. you can see giorgia meloni way out in front ahead of her coalition partners, the hardline firebrand former interior minister matteo salvini, and silvio berlusconi,

almost 86 years old, three times prime minister, known almost as much for his bunga bunga sex parties as for his politics. so a major political moment for italy, and indeed for europe as well, as our europe editor katya adler reports. a warning that this report contains some flash photography. italy looks picture perfect from afar. a delicious combination of food, fashion... ..and folklore. but close up, things are very frayed around the edges. italians voting today are living through an acute cost of living crisis. and many think this

woman has the answers — far—right firebrand giorgia meloni, a master of gut politics who promises to restore italy's national pride. waiting in the wings are her chosen coalition partners, tycoon silvio berlusconi and anti—immigration populist matteo salvini. though not all voters are convinced. crisis, the economy, but i don't trust politicians. i'll vote for the best of the worst. what's on your mind? "having meloni as prime minister would be unforgivable". of a better future. sovereignty in europe. that's better for our business, our politics and economy.

it's hide and seek all over town today for giorgia meloni. including outside italy. this country is a core partner in the eu and nato. her coalition partners are past defenders of russia.

katya adler there on the implications of this vote both here and abroad, and of course it is a major member of the european union and of the nato alliance, will continue with support for ukraine. lots to chew over with with mattia diletti. thank you very much forjoining us so late. what do you make of what we are seeing tonight? it is a very strange feeling, because it is something unique, but at the same time we are discussing this for two or three months, and the polls said she was going to win very well. we are in a new world, we are going to see what happens, we are worried about our relationship with the world, but we know

that giorgia meloni needs to reassure the world about the italian posture on ukraine, the crisis, the recovery plan in europe, so we don't know what is going to happen for real. you talk about the concerns abroad. there will be many people concerned here in italy as well that this country is perhaps going to go more in the style of a conservative hungary of viktor orban, even? what is clear about giorgia meloni, a key word is ambiguity. she knows how to be moderate when she needs to be moderate, and now she needs to be moderate. and she knows when to push a far right posture. i think she is not going to be so friendly with viktor orban now because she needs a friendship with europe, so i think for a few months she will try to have a good relationship with europe,

but we know that she had a strong relationship with viktor orban and other far right leaders around the world, even in the republican party in the us. what kind of leverage you think europe will have over meloni? it will be a delicate diplomatic dance. yes. one is money, of course, and maybe if they should try to avoid to encircle her too much, to push too much, because one reaction could be trying to be more nationalist, so maybe it is better if the european union way to understand who giorgia meloni is, but maybe mario draghi could help her. mattia diletti, thank you very much indeed. a suggestion there that perhaps europe needs to play the game a little bit with giorgia meloni, not to be too hard with her, but to coax her into the western european fold,

to try to bring her closer to their position rather than to give her the cold shoulder. it will be fascinating times ahead, both here in italy and in europe in terms of that wider very important relationship between italy and the european union and italy and nato. we will continue to have all the coverage and analysis on this fascinating story in the days and weeks ahead over the political horse trading before the formation of a government. it now looks like it will be a right wing government led by giorgia meloni becoming the first far right leader of this country since mussolini. with that, it's back to you. that was mark lowen reporting on the political situation in italy. we will return to italy a little later in the programme, but for now let's turn to the philippines. a category three tropical storm has made landfall northeast of capital manila. super typhoon noru has been lashing the eastern parts

of the country with high winds and torrential rain. thousands of evacuations are under way, and president ferdinand marcosjunior has suspended work and classes for monday. our correspondent laura bicker has the details. super typhoon noru crashed into the main island of the philippines. winds gusted up to 180 miles an hour and there but noru developed into a super typhoon with very little warning. more than 8,000 people have now sought shelter.

translation: i evacuated the house that i'm living i in because i'm scared. the floods there get really high and i don't want a repeat of what happened to me before. as this storm makes its way over land, people here can only wait and hope they have done enough to stay safe. there have been 3a suspected cases of ebola in uganda. health teams are continuing to trace any people who may have come into contact with the virus. after being closed for a week due to a series

of armed hold—ups. the raids were carried out by the banks' own depositors. in one case, a woman used a toy gun to force employees to hand over her own savings — to pay for cancer treatment for her sister. the co—founder of pink floyd, roger waters, has had a series of concerts in poland cancelled. the anti—war advocate accused ultranationalist in ukraine of provoking russia and said the west was prolonging the bloodshed by arming ukraine, but he failed to mention russia's role in starting the conflict. this is newsday on the bbc. still to come, the legacy of shinzo abe. 0ur tokyo correspondent looks at why some injapan do not feel he deserves this honour.

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines... a game changing election in italy as exit polls suggest far—right giorgia meloni is set to win, and is on course to become the country's first female prime minister. elisa, it is great to have you on the programme. there was lots of activity behind you. give us a sense of what the mood is there right now. it is a mode of— mood is there right now. it is a mode of victory. _ mood is there right now. it 3 a mode of victory. giorgia meloni is the first woman prime minister after these new political elections, and her party is at the top, 24%, and

the second party of the democratic party of the left, but giorgia meloni is the winner of these elections, no doubt. , , ., , �* winner of these elections, no doubt. , ., , �* doubt. just to “ump in, i'm so sor to doubt. just tojump in, i'm so sorry to interrupt. _ doubt. just tojump in, i'm so sorry to interrupt. are - doubt. just tojump in, i'm so sorry to interrupt. are we - sorry to interrupt. are we expecting giorgia meloni to speak, make a statement about what has happened tonight? yes. what has happened tonight? yes, we are expecting _ what has happened tonight? yes, we are expecting her— what has happened tonight? yes, we are expecting her to _ what has happened tonight? 1913 we are expecting her to speak, and now here is speaking a lot of the strongmen of giorgia meloni is party. he is her brother—in—law, and they are all very, very happy about this, and they are saying that they have the numbers and the seats to rule the country, because now the problem is if the right—wing coalition has

the right—wing coalition has the number to rule the country, because we know that we have to wait until every single vote is counted in order to know how many seats they have in the parliament.— many seats they have in the parliament. ~ . , ., parliament. we have 'ust heard that the opposition _ parliament. we have just heard that the opposition have - that the opposition have conceded defeat, the vice president of the party saying that we can't deny that the right has won. how do you see this playing out in terms of politics in italy in the future?— politics in italy in the future? , ., . , politics in italy in the future? , ., . future? the democratic party as the -a future? the democratic party as the party which _ future? the democratic party as the party which lost _ future? the democratic party as the party which lost the - the party which lost the election, but not only the democratic party, in the right—wing coalition there is the league which is also the loser. the trouble with the opposition now as it is very

divided. there is the democratic party, but there is also the 5—star movement, they used to rule together, but now they run in different parties, and they were not a coalition, and they were not a coalition, and so now there is a problem with the position because it is pragmatic, it is not one opposition. pragmatic, it is not one opposition-— pragmatic, it is not one ouosition. �* , , , opposition. and 'ust briefly, elisabetta. h opposition. and just briefly, elisabetta, what _ opposition. and just briefly, elisabetta, what does - opposition. and just briefly, elisabetta, what does that l opposition. and just briefly, - elisabetta, what does that mean for giorgia meloni's policies and how she will push them through? and how she will push them throu . h? ,, and how she will push them through?— and how she will push them throu~h? ,, ., ., , through? she will have to see what she can _ through? she will have to see what she can do _ through? she will have to see what she can do one - through? she will have to see what she can do one a - through? she will have to see| what she can do one a political level, but this is a very easy, because for all the campaigns, that she said she is going to

respect the european union, the debt. she is not going to make further debt, she is not going to touch the budget. 0n the other hand, we are very worried about civil rights, because she is very right wing on civil rights, and issues have been taken about a lot of things that in italy were going on in a way were more liberal, in a more liberal country, but now we see that we are going backwards.— we see that we are going backwards. elisabetta from radio 24. — backwards. elisabetta from radio 24, thank _ backwards. elisabetta from radio 24, thank you - backwards. elisabetta from radio 24, thank you for - backwards. elisabetta from - radio 24, thank you for keeping us up—to—date on that story. thank you. us up-to-date on that story. thank vom— us up-to-date on that story. thank yon-— us up-to-date on that story. thank you. let's turn to japan now. japan is preparing to hold a state funeral for former prime minister shinzo abe, who was shot dead during an election rally injuly. political leaders from across the world are set to attend, including us vice president kamala harris and indian prime

minister narendra modi. in the last few weeks however, opposition to mr abe's state funeral has grown withinjapan. many of those who oppose the honour say during his eight years in power, mr abe illegally trashed japan's pacifist constitution. from tokyo rupert wingfield—hayes reports. shouting. shinzo abe does not deserve a state funeral. most of these people are pacifists. they believe that when he was prime minister, mr abe trashed japan's pacifist constitution, and that he did so illegally without a proper vote. translation: abe made japan able to go to - warand fight again. that is why i'm against abe and his state funeral. after his killing injuly, there was an outpouring

of sympathy forjapan's longest—serving prime minister. but when it was announced he would be given a state funeral, the mood changed. i'm actually surprised that the opposition to the state funeral has gone up so much more. you know, as the weeks passed, and now it's like over 60% of the people. i think it has most to do with the fact that abe is seen as somebody who is not accountable to his people. and so whatever he did, he did it against the constitutional principles. he did against the principles of democracy. the scale of these rallies opposing shinzo abe's state remains, even after his death. to these people, he was a corrupt warmonger who wanted to drag japan back into the past. but to his supporters, he was an international mr abe's supporters say

he understood that to fend off will retreat from the region. so in order to get the united states involved in the region, we need to have the power on ourselves to defend ourselves. but the japanese people were never asked if they agreed to that change. nowjapan's ruling party is preparing a state sendoff for its fallen leader. and once again, the japanese people have not been asked. to qatar now, work with under two months to go until the

football world cup, there is insufficient accommodation for fans. many fans say they are being priced out, with too few affordable rooms, as our middle east business correspondent reports from doha. with less than two months left for the world cup to kick off, the excitement is building up. qatari nationals and residents are bracing themselves for the biggest football carnival. the country is set to become the smallest nation ever to host the tournament. qatar is expecting to attract 1.2 million visitors during the course of the world cup. it has invested billions of dollars to organise the tournament ever since it won the bid in 2010. but with just weeks left for the kick—off, many fans who were planning to come down from different parts of the world are struggling to find accommodation. qatar has a little over 30,000 hotel rooms, out of which 80% and football teams.

rooms available for fans across different categories, including empty apartments like this, villas and floating hotels. but the cost of these rooms is proving to be expensive. even tiny prefabricated cabins at fan villages built on the outskirts of the city are listed for over $200 a night, which many fans say is pricey. we weren't given permission to visit the site by the authorities. with no affordable options available, simon whitney was forced to book a room in dubai, where he is paying a fraction of the price compared to doha. i did expect there to be a quick flurry of purchasing accommodation from the beginning, but i thought i'd wait my time to see if there was more accommodation, more variety. but that has not proved to be the case. at no stage has the cost actually come down or become more accessible to the average fan. like simon, thousands of fans are choosing not to stay in qatar,

and are booking their stay in dubai, which is 45 minutes away by flight. we reached out to the organising committee for an interview, but they declined the request. however, the local hospitality industry here is optimistic that travel from dubai will not dampen the world cup experience forfans. if you ask me, i could be a spectator and like they say, hit two birds with one stone. i could go and see dubai, see qatar, both at the same time, and have the opportunity to watch the match and enjoy tourist attractions in both areas. for qatar, thejourney to hosting the world cup has been mired in controversy right from the start. issues like the treatment of foreign migrant workers and anti—homosexuality laws have been under the scanner. given this backdrop, the stakes are high for the tiny gulf state. but with time running out, it needs to resolve the accommodation issues soon to ensure that fans have an enjoyable experience. samir hashmi, bbc news, doha.

before we go, an update on our top story, those game changing elections in italy. the democratic party has conceded defeat in the elections, saying it will be the main opposition force. you have been watching newsday. thank you for watching. hello. we will get our first proper taste of autumn this week, with temperatures below average for the time of year, north—westerly winds to begin with, a changeable week in terms of sunshine, during the first half of the week, and then the potential for something quite nasty later on. to start the week we have warm weather fronts clearing away from southern coastal counties, bringing early rain, and that opens the door to a north—westerly airflow bringing arctic air away, but don't forget it is september, there is still warmth in the atmosphere and it won't feel desperately chilly, and temperatures higher than they were on sunday.

but we do start with rain across southern counties of england, the channel islands, just one or two showers later here. ever changing skies elsewhere, sunshine and showers, most frequent across scotland and out of the western coast, one or two spots may avoid showers altogether, but quite breezy compared to of late. and of course it all adds up for a cool afternoon, and out of the sunshine you will notice temperatures of 10—16, lower than of late, and distinctly chilly in the north of scotland, 8 degrees cooler than on sunday. through monday night into tuesday, we continue with the strong wind, showers frequent across northern parts of scotland and a bit cooler particularly in the south and east, but enough of a breeze to stop frost forming to take this into tuesday. the chart for tuesday, low—pressure to the north—east of us, trying to move down, sliding towards the south—west, a bit closer with a chance of some cloudy conditions, outbreaks of rain close to corman in devon but otherwise it is sunshine and showers, a different position of showers due to a shift in wind

direction, so some eastern areas will stay dry for longer. and in temperatures, 11—15, it will feel cool. the wind is starting to ease down a little bit, longer spells of rain, eastern scotland pushing down, and overall southern and western areas looking a little bit drier and brighter and it won't feel quite as cold given the winds are light. a cold start to thursday, but the quietest day of the week with more places dry, but the potential for some very wet and windy weather on friday.

this bbc the and all news m the to- of the hour as at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hello, and welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. a few days ago, one of ukraine's wooden ballet dancers was killed while serving in the ukrainian army. art and culture are not immune from the impact of war. —— a leading belly dancers. alexei ratmansky is a world—renowned choreographer with roots in both russia and ukraine, once director of the

bolshoi ballet in moscow, and now putting on a special production of gisele with