welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm monica miller. the headlines: president putin blames ukraine for the attack on a key bridge linking russia to crimea. translation: there is no doubt that this is _ translation: there is no doubt that this is an _ translation: there is no doubt that this is an of— translation: there is no doubt that this is an of terrorism, - that this is an of terrorism, aimed at destroying russia's critically important civilian infrastructure. taiwan prepares to celebrate its national day in the shadow of growing economic and military threats from china. it's not just taiwan's democracy it's notjust taiwan's democracy that is threatened by xijinping, it's all of democracy that is threatened by xi jinping, it's all of the rights and freedoms that people

enjoy hearing, their whole way of life. australian authorities warn people about rising flood waters after days of rain in new south wales. and we catch up with the crowds who turned up at london's trafalgar square to celebrate the festival of lights. welcome to the programme. president vladamir putin has said "there can be no doubt" that saturday's explosion that damaged the only bridge to the occupied crimean peninsula was conceived and carried out by ukraine's intelligence services. he called it an act of terror. meanwhile, rescue teams in the ukrainian city

of zaporizhzhia have been searching for survivors in the ruins of residential buildings that were destroyed by russian missile strikes overnight. paul adams reports from kyiv. in zaporizhzhia, this is what escalation looks like. a gaping hole, where once there were homes. rescue workers searching for the dead — and the living. moments after the blast, in the middle of the night, stunned, furious reactions. "they destroyed a building at night, at 2am," he says. "they simply destroyed a multistorey building." translation: we ran out into the street. - when we left the corridor, a neighbour ran out with her eldest son and she screamed that her husband was dead. and the whole wall was torn out, their apartment fell into ours. this was a civilian area, not a military target. volunteers helped to clear the rubble. local officials say scores of people were wounded.

this industrial southern city is used to being hit, but its civilian are now bearing the brunt of russia's anger — more than 60 killed in and around the city in the past nine days. officials say 12 missiles were fired from russian warplanes flying safely over nearby occupied territory. here in kyiv, president zelenskyy said these were merciless strikes on peaceful people. this, he said, was absolute evil, perpetrated by savages and terrorists. it all came less than 2a hours after yesterday's dramatic attack on a key bridge linking russia with the crimean peninsula. russia said this was the result of a truck bomb. others spoke of an audacious act of ukrainian sabotage. tonight, vladimir putin directly accused kyiv. translation: there is no doubt that this is an act i of terrorism, aimed at destroying russia's critically important civilian infrastructure, and this was devised, carried out and ordered by the ukrainian

special services. some road traffic has resumed. the physical damage can be repaired, but this was a profound psychological blow to moscow. up above, work on the ravaged railway bridge goes on. russia says freight and passenger services have resumed. this bridge is vital to moscow's war effort. it cannot afford to lose it. pauladams, bbc news, kyiv. our russia editor steve rosenberg has more on what president putin has been saying. the fact that we saw vladimir putin on a sunday evening, that is interesting, that is unusual and important stopping it suggests i think that the kremlin wants to show that president putin is in control of the situation, that he takes this attack seriously. how is he going to respond to it? he called this an act of terror. wonder if he is now going to

reframe he calls at the moment a special military operation into an anti—terrorist operation. there has been a lot of speculation about that in the russian press in recent days. it is unclear what difference that would make. we may get some clues about how he is going to respond tomorrow because vladimir putin will be chairing a meeting of the powerful russian security council, although not everything that is set at these meetings is made public but obviously this is a tense moment reflected by the fact that russian state television said that the world had frozen on the threshold of nuclear armageddon. but interestingly other programmes and tv channels were trying to play down the attack on the bridge and one of them said tonight the attackers had planned damage on a massive scale but they failed because the bridge is still standing. and later in the programme we'll have a report from the front line close to the liberated city of lyman, as ukrainian forces become increasingly confident about the progress they are

making against russian forces. monday is �*national day�* in taiwan when — despite recent threats and intimidation from china — the island will celebrate its democratic political system and open society. it comes as recent opinion polls suggest a greater number of people than ever now identify as taiwanese and want the country to remain separate from china. in response, beijing is not just threatening war — it's waging an economic conflict — and recently banned the import of some 2,000 taiwanese products. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield hayes sent this report from taiwan. it may not look like it, but these ponds in southern taiwan are filled with gold. the huge fish thrashing around in su gou—zhen�*s ponds are called grouper. 0n the tables of beijing and shanghai, each one can fetch up to 2,000 us dollars. 80% of taiwan's grouper used to go to china. now it's zero.

beijing's import bans are hitting taiwan where it hurts the most. so, is it working? "0lder fishermen like me are nervous," he says, "but the younger generation, they're not worried. they think, fine, if china doesn't want to buy our fish, we'll sell to other markets all over the world." china isn'tjust threatening taiwan's economy. since august, it's made repeated threats to take the island by force, test firing dozens of missiles across the taiwan strait. but if taiwan people are scared, they're not showing much sign of it. it's election season here and at nightly rallies, candidates are on stage appealing to voters. unlike in china, people here get to choose who rules them. and they're not about to give that up. taiwan is justifiably proud of its democracy. there is nothing

like this anywhere else in the chinese speaking world. but it's notjust taiwan's democracy that is threatened by xijinping. it's all of the rights and freedoms that people enjoy here, their whole way of life. at their home in the south of taipei, mota and sitti are playing with their two year old daughter. in 2019, taiwan became the first country in asia to legalize same sex marriage. sitti is now expecting baby number two. "being homosexual was something you had to hide," says mota. "but things have changed now." "we're out in the open and the government has accepted and recognised us." for couples like this, the stakes couldn't be higher. sitti says if china wants taiwan, it will have to invade. and if that happens, people like them will have no choice but to leave. rupert wingfield—hayes bbc news in taipei.

i'm joined now by wen—ti sung, a political scientist who teaches in the anu taiwan studies program. hejoins us from changhua in taiwan. welcome to the programme. what exactly should we expect resident the president to stay in a speech later today? likely to assert that _ in a speech later today? likely to assert that the _ in a speech later today? likely to assert that the taiwanese i to assert that the taiwanese will remain assertive and defiant in their ability to defend themselves and they will try to focus on how taiwan through its democratic values, that taiwan has enough friends and partners internationally who are sympathetic to taiwan's cause and who will be willing to play a role in terms of helping taiwan to remain viable

nationally and play a positive role in terms of helping taiwan and china to find ways to get along and to avoid the military tension in the taiwan strait from getting out of hand. lie from getting out of hand. us house leader nancy pelosi, when she visited the island in august china had started to stage military exercises around the island so how likely do you think it is that china will invade taiwan?— think it is that china will invade taiwan? it's one of those situations _ invade taiwan? it's one of those situations where - invade taiwan? it's one of those situations where i i invade taiwan? it's one of. those situations where i think both sides act rationally the risk of true escalation towards war is relatively unlikely, because it is not really in the interests of either side really to escalate. for china, obviously china feels like they need to demonstrate its resolve as well as its capability to use force against taiwan successfully if necessary, quote unquote, if necessary.

however when it comes down to a china really has no immediate timeline to invade taiwan stopping the closest thing we've ever heard from china is this line 2049, eight year that beijing has tied between the unification of taiwan with the so—called great revival of the chinese nation. even then, there is some wiggle room there as well so i've in short, from china's side the risk of accidental escalation militarily is through accident, through for example chinese and taiwanese aeroplanes determine each other in the air and somehow things escalate. accidental escalation is a lot more serious than a full—blown premeditated warfare of the taiwan strait. 0ther premeditated warfare of the taiwan strait. other actors around the world could play a role in ensuring that they try to keep accidents as low as possible.

to keep accidents as low as possible-— to keep accidents as low as possible. to keep accidents as low as ossible. ,, , , ., ., possible. quickly before we go, my colleague — possible. quickly before we go, my colleague was _ possible. quickly before we go, my colleague was just - possible. quickly before we go, my colleague wasjust speaking j my colleague was just speaking to a group farmer who is suffering now from economic hits that china has punched against taiwan, is this may be against taiwan, is this may be a more effective way to punish taiwan in the long run, through economic sanctions and limit? it is a yes and no situation. economic you can use positively and negatively. for china they want sanctions to punish taiwan to get hearts and minds on the chinese side and really more importantly to shape the opinion of the taiwanese leadership. but it is moment china can't really punish taiwan's government without also punishing the taiwanese people, the average farmer, fisherman and so on, so it is a really difficult situation on china at this moment. they can't really get taiwanese people to like them more and

want the peaceful implications scenario more if they keep up this economic pressure. they will work much better if these positive economic incentives to view a warmer tie between the two sides than to continue using economic sanctions to deter and persuade.- using economic sanctions to deter and persuade. thank you so much for— deter and persuade. thank you so much forjoining _ deter and persuade. thank you so much forjoining us - deter and persuade. thank you so much forjoining us on - deter and persuade. thank you so much forjoining us on the l so much forjoining us on the programme. to australia now — and the authorities in new south wales continue to warn people about rising flood waters, as days of rain in much of the most populous state have swollen rivers and caused flooding. i asked 0ur reporter from the abc news in australia if this is the first time they have seen flooding on this scale. these are comparative to the 2010 floods and that is because this has been building for almost a year stopping the local ses who are tasked with trying to help with this paps

of rescue efforts, they have been on flight operations since november of last year and that is because australia hasjust entered its third consecutive la nina and there has been an incredible amounts of water. so fortunately dams have been used to hold back water and then release it down rivers at times when it can handle it without causing the communities that live alongside these rivers to be inundated, it hasjust live alongside these rivers to be inundated, it has just been a situation where the rain has continued to soar and there is more than the countryside can deal with stopping the catchments are completely saturated and then there was huge rainfall, even the tiniest amount is translating into huge flooding and so large flash flooding and so large flash flooding events also occurred on top of those river rises and it has caused flooding right across not only inland new south wales but also along the east coast, along the coast which hasn't been impacted like

that, with flash flooding from the situation that has just p°pped the situation that has just normed up the situation that has just popped up with rainfall. emergency services have just been inundated with lists for assistance, how are they handling the situation? they laruel handling the situation? they largely relv _ handling the situation? they largely rely on _ handling the situation? they largely rely on volunteers i handling the situation? tia: largely rely on volunteers so it has been a very difficult situation and they are calling in the defence force, they have brought in helicopters across inland new south wales to try to help. there have been farmers that have been isolated for more than a month now and it is a very sad situation for them because first they lived through the drought and in this landscape less than three years ago was completely parched stopping these dams that are now in many cases spelling or completely full, they were empty less than three years ago and people had lived through the worst drought in living memory in australia three years ago and they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to keep their stock alive and now less than three years later they are dealing with floodwaters. they are flooded in their homes, they have put

their stock to the highest ground possible, there have been livestock losses already and there is no warning that this situation could continue untiljanuary. there is more rain to come later on this week and it is quite a daunting prospect given how much rain there has already been. that is lucy from abc news in australia. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: celebrating the festival of lights — we catch up with the crowds who turned up at london's trafalgar square to celebrate diwali. pa rt part of san francisco is affected by the earthquake are coming back to life but in the marina area where most damage was done, they are more conscious than ever about how much has been destroyed. in conscious than ever about how much has been destroyed. in the 19 ears much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since — much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he _ much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was _ much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last - 19 years since he was last year, he has gone from being a little—known revolutionary to an experienced and successful

dogmatic operator. it an experienced and successful dogmatic operator.— an experienced and successful dogmatic operator. it was a £20 bomb exploded _ dogmatic operator. it was a £20 bomb exploded on _ dogmatic operator. it was a £20 bomb exploded on the - bomb exploded on the fifth floor— bomb exploded on the fifth floor of— bomb exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, there had been — floor of the grand hotel, there had been a hole in the front of the building.— the building. this government will not weaken. _ the building. this government will not weaken. democracy . the building. this government i will not weaken. democracy will prevail! — will not weaken. democracy will revail! ~ , . prevail! with humility and gratitude. _ prevail! with humility and gratitude, to _ prevail! with humility and gratitude, to know - prevail! with humility and gratitude, to know i - prevail! with humility and - gratitude, to knowl have been gratitude, to know i have been chosen as the recipient of this for of earthly honours. this catholic nation _ for of earthly honours. this catholic nation held - for of earthly honours. “try 3 catholic nation held their breath for the man they called the 33. and then... vels told nationwide to announce the first rescue and chilly let out an almighty roar. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm monica miller in singapore. 0ur headlines: president putin blames ukraine for the attack on a key bridge

linking russia to crimea. more on ukraine, and kyiv says moscow is targetting civilian areas because its forces are unable to respond on the battlefield. in recent weeks, ukraine has managed to regain some territory in the south and east, including the strategically important town of lyman. 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale reports from close to the front line. distant explosion ukraine's still advancing, still hunting down russian positions. here, using a drone to spot them. ukraine's retaken another dozen miles of territory over the past week here in the east. but the retreating russians are still putting up a fight. it's quite intense, the fighting here. yeah, yeah, yeah. it's, uh... it's russian

artillery work now. russian guns haven't been silenced, but this barrage seems indiscriminate. the troops say, unlike theirs. they also see a huge difference in morale. in ukraine, we name their army, it's meat — only meat because they don't save their people. do you think they're capable of retaking any of this territory you've liberated? i'm sure that cannot. why are you sure? because they are weak. they're weak now. they're scared about us. you feel safe? yeah, i feel safe because i'm on my land, so even the ground will help me. this is the same ground president putin recently declared forever russia. but all that's been left

by russia is trash. this was a russian position, and you can see just the rubbish strewn around — rations. there's even a russian cap here. there's something for artillery shells there, just strewn across the area. and the ukrainian forces say that's what makes them such an easy target, because they can see this rubbish when they're flying the drones and spot the russian positions, making it easier for them to attack. want to see russian helmet? it's from the future. that's a russian helmet? yeah. ukraine helmet in russia. what's the difference? army of future! but very bad future! they laugh recaptured territory, too, tells the story of a depleted russian army.

ukraine's now captured more russian armour than they've been supplied by the west. dozens more vehicles lie wrecked, rusting, destroyed. along with discarded ammunition, the donbas is also littered with lethal mines. but liberation comes with a costly legacy. bombed—out homes and ruined infrastructure, downed bridges, stations without trains, and the remnants of a population nowjust trying to survive. the people of lyman, those who stayed behind, have now gone through invasion and liberation — and constant bombardment. now they don't even have the basics — food, electricity and water. this is just a queue for bread, and there's not enough to go around. winter is coming, and life isn't going to get any easier. katarina worries for her children's future.

but more than that, she still fears what russia might do next. translation: they have a lot of power, j which is why it is scary that they might return. because the city has already suffered very badly, and if the city will be passed back and forth from hand to hand, then nothing will remain, including people. i know longer know who to believe or not to believe. wejust want silence, peace, peace and electricity, at least. help is slowly coming. here, a couple of volunteers are spraying over the pro—russian graffiti, but it'll take much more to erase the recent past. and russia is still at their doorstep. jonathan beale, bbc news, lyman. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines:

north korea has released stills of leader kim jong—un overseeing his latest missile launch — when two ballistic missiles were fired in the direction of the sea of japan. state media says all of the seven recent missile tests were tactical nuclear drills and personally supervised by the leader. the latest launch came after the end ofjoint military exercises between the united states and south korea. us broadcaster cnn has apologised for filming inside a thai nursery that was the scene of a mass killing on thursday. a cnn reporter and cameraman have had their thai visas revoked and could face further charges. a spokesperson for the broadcaster said it regretted causing offence, and admitted that the film crew did not have the proper permission to enter the crime scene. emergency services in pakistan have put out a large fire that broke out at a mall in the centre of the capital, islamabad. the fire spread rapidly up the building to a hotel and apartments above. everyone was evacuated safely. pakistan's prime minister has

ordered an investigation. crowds descended on london's trafalgar square on sunday to celebrate the hindu, sikh and jain festival of diwali. it's the first time since the pandemic that the celebration has been allowed to take place in person. we spoke to some of those celebrating the festival of lights. celebrating diwali, here in london for the very first time. i am from india. i love the atmosphere here. it reminds me of home. ., ., , , ., of home. you get a sense of home and — of home. you get a sense of home and the _ of home. you get a sense of home and the culture - of home. you get a sense of home and the culture and i of home. you get a sense of. home and the culture and food, to be _ home and the culture and food, to be around this many people, so it_ to be around this many people, so it really— to be around this many people, so it really nice feeling inside _ so it really nice feeling inside stop a big part of todays— inside stop a big part of today's festivities is celebrating with traditional food — celebrating with traditional food and what is being served has proven popular with money. this is— has proven popular with money. this is my— has proven popular with money. this is my first time and i am here forfood only. i am loving

that the whole india and pakistan is together on this platform. i pakistan is together on this platform-— pakistan is together on this latform. ., , platform. i am en'oying this weather and _ platform. i am en'oying this weather and this _ platform. i am enjoying this weather and this beautiful. weather and this beautiful music— weather and this beautiful music and the food. while this is the latest _ music and the food. while this is the latest free _ music and the food. while this is the latest free festival - is the latest free festival here in a busy calendar of events paid for by city hall, it's clear people are enjoying the music, atmosphere, food and sunshine, but is this belief money at a time when budgets are being squeezed and people are being squeezed and people are feeling the pinch?- are feeling the pinch? people can for free — are feeling the pinch? people can for free celebrate - are feeling the pinch? people can for free celebrate these l can for free celebrate these events, it's a part of the glue that binds asadee together but a small amount of money from city hall goes towards wealth and prosperity for small businesses and think about the restaurants, bars, hotels, restau ra nts, bars, hotels, benefiting restaurants, bars, hotels, benefiting from these events. many activities like this are taking place in london today and in the coming weeks, all with the same simple message. namaste. happy diwali! enjoy and have fun! thank you!

namaste. happy diwali! en'oy and have fun! thank you! thomas mcgill, sac, — and have fun! thank you! thomas mcgill, bbc, london. _ that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. goodbye for now. sunday was a tale of two halves weatherwise. nearly 90 degrees are nine hours of sunshine in southern and east areas but heavy rain and east areas but heavy rain and strong winds in northern ireland and scotland. places like syndrome and shall had another 40 millimetres, adding to what's been a very wet first week of october. that's not far away, about three quarters of the average 0ctober rainfall. that rain still heading its way southwards. it'll drag its heels before clearance southern and eastern areas so much milder here overnight. a bit of misting is ahead. chillier than the night for the north and still windy. those winds buffeting the northern isles

and finals of scotland in particular, that ranking a lot of spray understanding what on the road as it continues southwards and is was particularly on the faster roots. 0nce particularly on the faster roots. once it clears it today is sunny spells and but much brighterfor is sunny spells and but much brighter for scotland and northern ireland, still a rush of showers for the north and west but not many reaching east of the grampians or central earl and of the grampians or central earland again of the grampians or central earl and again eastern plaza northern ireland, not many across england and wales. b is agreeable to die because the winds are coming from the north—west. but the windfalls lighter as we go through monday evening and overnight. we may pick up more cloud towards the north and west but it's not gonna stop at temperatures falling much and it looks like a chilly night. touch of grass trust will be close to freezing in some rural parts of england and wales in particular and with original high—pressure overhead here as well, there is more light to be misty and fog issues and at this time of year without that strength and sunshine they can linger till mid morning. 0therwise lots of dry and wet weather, plenty

more sunshine but more cloud on this i on a northern ireland and drizzly rain later in the day particularly the north and west. that takes shape through the night tuesday and wednesday. not of england and wales again, a few issues with mist and fog, quite chilly in rural parts, much milder weather cloud and rain further north which will then meander its way southwards during wednesday and wednesday but to the atlantic some uncertainty as to where the next batch of wind and rain is going to go but it looks like southern areas could see significant rain and then some strong winds, even girls and more into the northern half of the country on friday so it looks more unsettled leader for midweek on.

v0|ce—0ver: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. hello, we're bringing today's media show to you from the heat of la. i'm at universal studios to meet one of the most powerful women in hollywood — the chairman of universal filmed entertainment group, who just happens to be a brit. her decisions have led to everything from huge surprise hits like mamma mia and straight 0utta compton to enduring franchises,

the likes of fast & furious and despicable me. and back in 2020, with cinemas shut by the pandemic, donna langley made a single bold move that transformed her