tonight at ten — inside somalia — a special report on the unfolding humanitarian disaster there. hundreds of thousands of people — many trapped by conflict — are facing extreme hunger after the worst drought in a0 years. a full—blown famine where children suffer acute malnutrition and people die every day from starvation is likely within a matter of weeks. 300,000 people are living in famine conditions with another 2 million on the brink of famine, so it's hard to imagine a situation more desperate, more urgent, more compelling.

and we'll be talking to andrew harding — our africa correspondent — about the conditions that have led to the crisis. also tonight... in birmingham, prime minister and chancellor are dealing with more division — this time over increasing benefits in line with inflation. in ukraine, an extended report on the areas being abandoned by russian forces — and the high price being paid. what happened here wasn'tjust a defeat for president putin, it was a complete humiliation. two and a half years after covid—19 struck, a public inquiry opens into the uk's handling of the pandemic. and in tonight's champions�* league football — liverpool take on rangers — the first ever competitive match between the two sides. and on the bbc news channel, england captain leah williamson won't play against the usa as a training injury rules her out of friday's big friendly at wembley.

good evening. we start with one of the most severe humanitarian crises — anywhere in the world right now. we have an extended report from somalia — where hundreds of thousands of people — many trapped by conflict — are facing extreme hunger and death — after the worst drought in a0 years. the repubic of somalia, in the horn of africa, has a long history of droughts. but the climate shocks are coming more frequently — leaving less time to recover and to prepare for the next. the situation is made worse by the presence of al—shabab insurgents — who control parts of the country — and who make humanitarian work almost impossible. it's estimated that more than half the population affected by the current drought —

live in these areas. and the situation is getting worse. a full—blown famine where households have no food, children suffer acute malnutrition, and people die every day from starvation — is likely within a matter of weeks. 0ur africa correspondent andrew harding reported on somalia's last famine in 2011 — in which a quarter of a million people died. he sent this report from baidoa — a city at the heart of the current crisis. baby cries in a crowded hospital the familiar and unbearable signs of famine. gaunt faces, silent with hunger. weak mothers willing weaker children to cling to life. somalia has been here before but in isolated baidoa doctors and nurses are bracing themselves for new depths of catastrophe. in your life, have you seen things this bad before?

no. the worst. this is the worst? yes. the worst drought in a0 years as climate change ravages the horn of africa. child cries three—year—old ali has been brought in with swollen limbs, a sign of severe malnutrition. he has measles, too. his mother watches in silent dread of losing a third child. so, this woman here has lost two of her children, two girls, in the last week. and already the hospital is struggling. sometimes we lack supplies. that must be incredibly frustrating. sure, sure. when it happens, it is terrifying, actually, because people are dying and you cannot support them. 0n the dusty plains around the city, more families arrive each hour, and set up camp.

many have trekked for days or weeks. across somalia a million people are making these journeys. bringing little with them but stories of dead cattle, dead crops, and a rural way of life that a changing climate will no longer tolerate. fatima walked for a fortnight to get here. she carried her three—year—old for days but the child died of hunger on the journey. "we had to leave her by the roadside," she says. "we had no strength to bury her. "we could hear the hyenas closing in." officially, no famine has been declared yet in somalia but today, right now, 300,000 people are living in famine conditions with another 2 million on the brink of famine. so it's hard to imagine a situation more desperate, more urgent, more compelling.

there is help arriving here in baidoa and plans for much more, but it is too slow. the things we do now we needed to do three months ago. so, in reality we are behind. i think something catastrophic will happen in somalia. you mean a famine spreading? afamine spreading. but drought is not the only challenge. somalia is at war, a long fight against a formidable islamist insurgency. there is fighting going on today just down the road from here, part of a conflict that has been devastating somalia for the past three decades, and of course, in a situation of drought it means getting access to rural communities is not only much more dangerous and more expensive, it is also sometimes simply impossible. in some areas, pro—government forces are taking ground, rescuing trapped communities, but baidoa itself remains more or less under siege.

a precarious place of refuge. and while the men fight, it is somalia's women who soldier on. fatuma recently buried her ten—year—old son, in the camp, just here, beside their makeshift tent. it's not much of a grave but life has taught her resilience. she has four more children to look after. "i cannot grieve for my son, there's no time," she says. "i need to find work and food to keep the others alive." listening to her is her 11—year—old son, but the mention of his favourite brother is too much for him.

that heart—rending report from andrew harding. andrew harding is live injohannesburg tonight. you mentioned the urgency of this case and the fact that the appeals are being made already for help, what can you say tonight about the state of the humanitarian aid? the key question _ state of the humanitarian aid? tue: key question of state of the humanitarian aid? tte: key question of course is if and when a famine is declared because that triggers a huge international response and there has been a tendency in that past for famine to be declared too late, you remember the last famine in somalia, half of those who died during the course of that period died before a famine was declared. the encouraging news is that somalia has changed since then, for instance, every family has a mobile phone and the families are struggling but they have a phone and they are now getting cash from charities, from the united nations,

directly to them, which gives them power and a sense of control over their lives, and it is much more efficient in terms of a delivery. —— aid delivery. efficient in terms of a delivery. -- aid delivery-— efficient in terms of a delivery. -- aid delivery. what about the factors that have come _ aid delivery. what about the factors that have come together— aid delivery. what about the factors that have come together again - aid delivery. what about the factors that have come together again to i that have come together again to produce this crisis?— produce this crisis? people talk about the war _ produce this crisis? people talk about the war in _ produce this crisis? people talk about the war in ukraine, - produce this crisis? people talk i about the war in ukraine, pushing produce this crisis? people talk - about the war in ukraine, pushing up prices, that is certainly an issue, we mentioned the conflict in somalia, it is a war which has been going on now 30 years and a course that plays its part as well. very country, but fundamentally now, this is notjust about rat —— a very fragile country, but fundamentally, this is about drought but also building resilience and accessing international funds. building resilience and accessing internationalfunds. there is money available but to find ways to shore up available but to find ways to shore up communities and to protect people as they are trying to cling on to their old ways of life but also as they move under huge pressure now

towards the cities and towards the towns, to make life very livable as well. �* ., towns, to make life very livable as well. �* . ., ., well. andrew harding, thanks for “oininu well. andrew harding, thanks for joining us- _ there's more updates, news and analysis on bbc news 0nline — that's bbc.co.uk/news — and by using the bbc news app. in her first conservative party conference as prime minister — liz truss is having to contend with more divisions among her own mps — and arguments over party policy. the latest cause of tension is her refusal to promise that welfare benefits will increase in line with inflation. 0ne cabinet minister — penny mordaunt — says that promise was made under borisjohnson and should be honoured by liz truss. another cabinet minister — suella braverman —

accused some of her colleagues of staging a coup against the prime minister on tax policy. 0ur political editor chris mason reports from birmingham. how much does this glass cost if i break it? is the prime minister in control? does she know what she is doing? liz truss, on a visit to a building site in selly oak in birmingham today. she and the chancellor kwazi kwarteng must be tempted to leave those hard hats on all the time at the moment. the latest row is about benefits and whether all benefits payments should rise in line with wages, or the much more expensive option — keeping up with rising prices. i asked the prime minister, which of those was fair? well, we haven't made a decision yet on that specific issue. all of these things depend on the specific circumstances, but what i sought to do when i got into office is deal

with the big challenges that we face as a country. people are facing energy bills of up to £6,000, so it is about making the right decisions at the right time, chris. and as you say, there are different interpretations of what fairness is. for me, what it is about, fundamentally, is making sure everybody across this country has the opportunity to succeed. the prime minister might not have decided, but extraordinarily, this cabinet minister has. penny mordaunt, who sits around your cabinet table, says they should go up in line with inflation. is she right? as i've said, we have not yet taken a decision on that, now, of course, how we uprate benefits is an important issue, but that is a decision to be made later this year. when we last spoke, you made a virtue of being willing to do things that were unpopular. how's that going? because on the first encounter with trouble with your parliamentary party, you buckled.

well, the 45p rate was something that was a relatively minor part of our growth package. and i listened to what people had to say, both to my parliamentary colleagues, but also to the public. and we have changed our policy as a result. you still think it's a good idea orjust unpopular? i would like to see the higher rate lower. i want us to be a competitive country, but i have listened to feedback and i want to take people with me. transparently, loads of conservatives and plenty in the country were not with her on cutting tax for the best paid. and the idea has gone — at least for now. this is a party not at ease with itself right now. listen to how the home secretary describes some of her own backbench colleagues... ultimately, i'm very disappointed that members of our own parliamentary party staged a coup effectively and undermined the authority of the prime minister in an unprofessional way.

so, how does liz truss judge her opening month in thejob? it's four weeks to the day since you became prime minister, and as a direct result of your experiment, people will pay more on their mortgage or rent, and as a direct result of your actions, your party has been in open revolt, and opinion polls suggest you are tanking with the electorate. it's been a disaster, hasn't it? well, i don't agree with that analysis. what bit of it is wrong? if you look at where we were four weeks ago, people were facing energy bills of up to £6,000. we have taken action to keep taxes low. and the markets and the opinion polls? what i care about, chris, is doing the right thing by the british people, and of course, i have never pretended this would be easy. but what i have done is i have acted decisively. we have got those tax cuts that i have promised. this is how we are going to put the united kingdom on a successful long—term footing. this has been a difficult —

at times excruciating — few days for the conservatives. tomorrow, the prime minister takes to the stage for her conference address. eye to eye with party members and the country. chris mason, bbc news, in birmingham. as we heard, boris johnson promised that working—age benefits would go up in line with inflation. liz truss has pledged that pensions will continue to be linked to inflation — but has pointedly not made the same commitment when it comes to welfare payments such as universal credit. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan is here with his analysis. working age benefits cost the government £87.4 billion in 2021/22. to put that in context, the defence budget is about half that at £112 billion, while health and social care for england is more than double at £192 billion. the benefits budget covers a range of payments — including housing benefit,

personal independence payment, and employment and support allowance, the main sickness benefit. but the biggest chunk of it goes on universal credit. around 5.7 million people claim this benefit. more than 40% of these claimants are in work. for those who are unemployed, and older than 25, they get £77 a week. benefits are uprated each april, usually in line with september's inflation figure, which is published later this month. but as you can see here — benefits didn't increase at all from 2016 to 2020. they've risen slightly, but still not in line with inflation, since 2020. now inflation is currently running at 9.9%. but average wages only increased by 5.2% from may to july 2022. increasing benefits in line with wages would save the government

about £5 billion. the prime minister says that pensions will increase by inflation and some other benefits like personal independence payment must also legally increase in line with inflation. but it's the other ones, particularly universal credit, that ministers have in their sights. earlier this year, the former prime minster, borisjohnson, pledged that benefits would increase by inflation next april. that's the commitment liz truss has so far refused to support. and if she doesn't, the anti—poverty group thejoseph rowntree foundation calculate it will be the biggest permanent real—terms cut to the basis rate of benefits ever made in a single year. sophie. —— hugh. tomorrow is the first time for liz truss to be really addressing the

conservative party as leader and pm at that conference in birmingham. live to birmingham and our political editor chris mason. given the turbulence of the last few days, is it fair to say that the task she faces is even bigger than the one she faced when she came there? ~ , ,., , the one she faced when she came there? ~ ,,., , ., the one she faced when she came there? ~ , ., ., , there? absolutely, no doubt about that because _ there? absolutely, no doubt about that because government's - there? absolutely, no doubt aboutl that because government's function through the exercise of power and authority. there have been two examples in the last two days of this government lacking in both. first, the row about tax. such a central argument for liz truss. she remains powerful about the case for lowering tax. yet that rabbit pulled out of the hat at that budget event ten days ago had to be unceremoniously shoved back into the hat. then the row, still bubbling, round benefits, and the view from liz truss, the instinct is that raising them in line with the wages rather than prices is right. yet we have this open revolt from the

cabinet down. the cabinet opened this function. ministers said it should go up by inflation instead. liz truss in her speech tomorrow has to attempt to pull this party back together, has to attempt to demonstrate that even though she's got a majority of 60 she can govern like she has a majority of 60, rather than looking like she's governing without a majority at all. what we will hear from liz truss is i'm told we will have no new big policy announcements. that is a case of once bitten twice shy. this is a government that is nervous with a lot to be nervous about.— government that is nervous with a lot to be nervous about. chris, many thanks. now for the latest on the conflict in ukraine where the country's forces have retaken more territory from the russians in the south. the focus is near the city of kherson — in one of the regions unlawfully annexed by russia last week. president zelensky of ukraine says fighting continues in a number

of areas in the south and east. at the weekend, ukraine retook the strategic eastern town of lyman, which the russians had been using as a logistics base. but both sides paid a heavy price for the fighting there. 0ur senior international correspondent 0rla guerin sent this report which includes some distressing detail. driving into lyman — now liberated soil. ukraine is clawing back territory. it has the momentum. but among the ruins, victory can look bleak. further in, the wreckage of war. and among the pines, there is death. along the roadside, evidence of the human cost of russia's defeat.

the bodies of fallen soldiers, still lying where they fell. ukrainian volunteers keep watch over the dead, trying to help identify the remains. unknown soldiers in vladimir putin's war. left behind when his forces retreated. once, they were someone's husband or someone's son. a few steps away, a soviet book for teenagers entitled "adventure library". and something else russian troops left behind. anti—tank mines — barely visible. the dead were zipped into body bags.

their war finally over. well, there's evidence here notjust of fighting, but also of the desperate attempt russian troops made to get away. here on the road there is discarded bedding, backpacks, russian army uniforms and boots. all of this cast aside by russian troops. what happened here wasn'tjust a defeat for president putin. it was a complete humiliation. last friday, he announced to the world that he was annexing territory, including lyman. he said it would be forever russia's. well, looking around here, you get a very different picture. especially from the top of a captured russian tank. we are going to win. i feel very good, very great. but lyman may never be as it was before. these deserted streets were once home to 20,000 people. pro—russian graffiti is daubed around town, including the cyrillic letters

for the soviet union. lena and her ten—year—old son are out looking for water, and hoping their ordeal is over. "the hardest thing was surviving the bombing", she tells me. "the shells were exploding." "we prayed as we stayed down in the cellar." "we didn't eat regularly and we couldn't even make tea." deprived of school, her son has learned lessons of war. "well, war is very bad", he tells me, "because people are dying, so the population is being reduced." and how do you feel now? "my heart is more at peace", he says. back at the edge of town, ukrainian

forces head for new battles. they know they need to move fast. soon, freezing winter weather could slow their advance. 0rla guerin, bbc news, lyman. elon musk has said he will go ahead with buying twitter after all. just months ago mr musk tried to quit deal, saying the social media platform was full of bots or fake accounts. now, just weeks before both sides were due in court, he's agreed to pay the price he previously had offered of over £36 billion. a 1a year—old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder — after another teenage boy was stabbed to death in gateshead, in the north—east of england. a 13 year—old girl has also been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. 0ur north of england correspondent fiona trott has the latest. a community in grief. 0n estates like these it isn't just one family that's affected, it's all of them.

take a young life like that. there needs to be more things done about this knife crime. you think this isn't _ going to happen on your doorstep. but it does. and on their doorsteps today, police officers gathering information. 0n the fields behind them, searches, all of them trying to establish how a 14—year—old boy was fatally stabbed. it's really quiet here tonight. more people have come to lay flowers and light candles. people living on the springwell estate are upset, but they are also angry. the police are trying to reassure them. while incidents of this nature are very rare in our region, we do understand the devastating impact this can have on our communities. we are committed to bringing those responsible to justice. the boy who these flowers are for has not been named

by the police but the community know him and tonight they are supporting his family in any way they can. fiona trott, bbc news, gateshead. a public inquiry into the uk's handling of the covid pandemic — has started in london. opening the proceedings — the inquiry chair lady hallett said millions of people had suffered loss during the pandemic — and she promised that they would be at the heart of her investigation. the inquiry is expected to last at least a year — as our health editor hugh pym reports. hello. i'm abi williams. hello, i'm peter openshaw. hi. i'm doctor sanjay bhagani. three experts. a care home boss, a scientist on a government advisory committee, and an infectious diseases consultant. all three saw the early impact of covid before lockdown in march 2020. the world they knew was about to change. i can never forget that day. 0n the 16th of march

when i received a call from one of my senior members of staff. she was actually on night duty. she called me about 2am in the morning and said, "abi, i'm sorry to tell you that we have our first "covid case." how did you feel when you lost your first resident? i cried. i did cry. and... i was just devastated, really. because i felt i was asking myself the question, "am i doing everything right?" i felt i wasn't doing enough. it was a telephone call. with one of my infectious diseases colleagues in milan. he was like, "sanjay, ihaven't had any- sleep at all this week. "0ur intensive care. unit completely full. "the ward is completely full. "you know, we are having to ration ventilators. -

"in other words, we are having to choose who gets onto a - ventilator and who doesn't. " and that for me - was like, oh, my god. we had a young doctor at another hospital- suddenly became very, very sick and required intensive care. - i was asked to give an online seminar about what we were projecting in terms of the potential impact. and the numbers that i was giving out almost seemed unbelievable to me. i had to sort of pinch myself. today the inquiry chair said one word summed up the pandemic, loss. those who were bereaved lost the most. they lost loved ones and the ability to mourn properly. it is therefore right that we begin this first hearing with a minute's silence for those who died. she went on to say those who suffered would be at the heart of the inquiry. lawyers for bereaved families wanted further assurances. witnesses will be called from next spring and that will include those ministers who made the key decisions at the time. hugh pym, bbc news.

in tonight's champions league football, liverpool beat rangers 2—0 at anfield, and it was a frustrating night for tottenham in germany. 0ur sports correspondent andy swiss has more. a european night but an all british blockbuster. liverpool against rangers for, remarkably, the first time ever in a competitive match, and for the hosts, what a start... commentator: alexander-arnold takes! trent alexander—arnold putting liverpool ahead with one of the finest free kicks you'll ever see. talk about pinpoint precision. they would have extended their lead were it not for the evergreen allan mcgregor, now 40, but almost single—handedly he kept rangers in it. until after the break, this happened. luis diaz brought down and from the penalty spot mo salah showed his customary composure. liverpool were in control but with time running out, rangers finally stirred. matondo's effort brilliantly cleared off the line by tsimikas as the visitors so nearly found a late goal but it was ultimately liverpool's night after

a comfortable 2—0 victory. tottenham, meanwhile, were in germany to face eintracht frankfurt, and their first half proved a frustrating one. plenty of chances but they could not take them and come the second half, frankfurt nearly made them pay. tottenham keeper hugo lois to the rescue. the result, a 0—0 draw, but for spurs a potentially valuable point. andy swiss, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. some areas had some time to end the day mainly across northern scotland. for the rest, lots of cloud today. you may have seen some rain. some of the rain edged further south into england and wales. further south, the rain is surging northwards again, already went through much of

northern ireland. it is pushing on across scotland. the weather fronts taking the rain north but then tomorrow it goes south again.