welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... reporter: have you wrecked | the economy, prime minister? time for another u—turn? is it all going to plan? prime minister, are the markets wrong? the british prime minister insists she won't cut public spending to pay for her multi—billion pound package of tax cuts. the us leads western countries in promising more weapons for ukraine, including air defence systems. we're going to do everything we can, as fast as we can, to help to protect the ukrainian people. a jury orders conspiracy theorist

alexjones to pay $965 million to the families of the victims of the sandy hook massacre. and in china, where the country's ruling communist party gathers for its annual congress, we'll look at whose likely to become xijinping's second in command. live from our studio in singapore... this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's six in the morning in singapore and 11 in the evening in london, where the government is battling new economic uncertainty. prime minister liz truss has told mps her strategy of cutting tax will not change. but she's also said she won't cut spending either,

suggesting the government will have to borrow more. that's raised concern even among her own mps. some want her to rethink tax cuts to reassure the markets. our political editor, chris mason, reports. reporter: have you wrecked the economy, prime minister? - there are plenty of questions for liz truss at the moment, but that one gets to the crux of things. spiralling prices, interest rates climbing, the markets wobbling, and her backbenches, too. quite the backdrop for her second outing at prime minister's question time. given the government's central challenge right now is proving the numbers add up, it was this exchange today that stood out... during her leadership contest, the prime minister said, and i quote her exactly, "i'm very clear. "i'm not planning public spending reductions." is she going to stick to that? prime minister. absolutely, absolutely. we are spending almost £1 trillion of public spending.

we were spending £700 billion back in 2010. what we will make sure is that over the medium term, the debt is falling. but we will do that, not by cutting public spending, but by making sure we spend public money well. so, let's try to work out what that means. some have said that ministers either have to junk those tax cuts announced a few weeks ago or have to announce massive spending cuts to be seen to be credible. the government says it's going to not do either and isn't explaining how that is possible. one way may be that they include the big extra help being offered for energy bills as part of government spending and still make cuts elsewhere. we've taken decisive action to make sure that people are not facing energy bills of £6,000 for two years. labour wanted to return

to liz truss's tax cuts. who voted for this? not even most of the mps behind her, who know you can't pay for tax cuts on the never, never. does she think the public will ever forgive the conservative party if they keep on defending this madness? and this senior conservative backbencher who backed rishi sunakfor prime minister is sceptical, too. there are many, myself included, who believe that it is quite - possible that he will simply have to come forward with _ a further rowing back - on the tax announcements. and, remember, the reason the government says it's doing all of this is to turbo—charge the economy, but one economic group told mps that's not going to happen any time soon. we're not going to hit medium term 2.5% growth in this economy at the moment. this is something that's going to have to be nurtured, as i've said to this committee a number of times, over decades. tonight, liz truss saw the king for the prime minister's usual

weekly chat or audience. take a listen to their pleasantries. your majesty. back again. lovely to see you again. dear, oh dear. it is a great pleasure. now, i never know how... that was chris mason reporting on that story. lots of challenges there on the economic front for sure. well, in washington, an important meeting of finance ministers is being held. the british chancellor, kwasi kwarteng, is there, facing questions about the market turmoil. i'm joined now by doctor adnan mazarei, previously deputy director at the imf, now senior fellow at the peterson institute. he's in oxford. great to get you on the programme. i want to start by asking you how serious you think the problems in the global economic environment are. as i have indicated recently —— the

imf have indicated recently, the global economy has turned much more sour than before. on the one hand there's supply problems because of price experiences. covert scarring is still with us and there's a still supply change interruptions. central banks are turning to fighting inflation more forcefully, raising interest rates, which will curtail the demand. some asset prices have been falling sharply. there is a serious concern about the continued problems of the covid lockdown and property market problems in china. and unfortunately... just property market problems in china. and unfortunately...— property market problems in china. and unfortunately... just to 'ump in there, as and unfortunately... just to 'ump in there. as you-ve * and unfortunately... just to 'ump in there, as you've been h and unfortunately... just to jump in there, as you've been talking, - and unfortunately... just to jump in there, as you've been talking, it - there, as you've been talking, it strikes me that a lot of the conversation today that's taking place with finance ministers at the

imf, it's all about economic and financialjargon. but what imf, it's all about economic and financial jargon. but what we're really talking about our people's jobs in their mortgages as well. if you could just explain in simple terms how did we get here? well. terms how did we get here? well, ou're terms how did we get here? well, you're absolutely _ terms how did we get here? well, you're absolutely right. _ terms how did we get here? well, you're absolutely right. this - terms how did we get here? well, you're absolutely right. this is - terms how did we get here? -ii you're absolutely right. this is at the end of the day about people's livelihoods. inflation has risen, the central banks are raising interest rates. this is going to raise the prices of mortgages, it is going to raise the cost of borrowing for everyone. in many cases, this is because of central banks have just moved too slowly, such as the us, may be. but then, there are other countries like the uk where some of the problems are due to policy errors. this many budget and the

consequences and the uk market and higher interest rates are self—induced problems. higher interest rates are self-induced problems. we've 'ust seen self-induced problems. we've 'ust some offi self-induced problems. we've 'ust seen some of the i self-induced problems. we've 'ust seen some of the reaction i self-induced problems. we've 'ust seen some of the reaction to h self-induced problems. we'vejust seen some of the reaction to thatl self-induced problems. we've just l seen some of the reaction to that xi —— that mini budget. what's the way out of this? -- that mini budget. what's the way out of this?— out of this? unfortunately, many countries. _ out of this? unfortunately, many countries, because _ out of this? unfortunately, many countries, because they've - out of this? unfortunately, many countries, because they've been| countries, because they've been spending a lot of money during the covid years, they've had higher budget deficits and and higher desk. so, they cannot spend a lot of money. whatever they do spend has to be targeted, especially towards... one big risk is that individual central banks, especially in the major economies, independently raise interest rates without coordination and sort of overdoing it. so it's

important for central banks of the major countries to get together accordingly. i’m major countries to get together accordingly-— major countries to get together accordinal. �* , .,. accordingly. i'm so sorry to cut you off, buti accordingly. i'm so sorry to cut you off, but i believe _ accordingly. i'm so sorry to cut you off, but i believe that's _ accordingly. i'm so sorry to cut you off, but i believe that's what - accordingly. i'm so sorry to cut you off, but i believe that's what all. off, but i believe that's what all the time we have. thank you so much forjoining us with your thoughts. i want to bring you some breaking news that's just come in and the last 15 minutes or so. north korea state media says the country's military has testfired too long strange —— two long—range cruise missiles. it was aimed at enhancing the reliability of tactical nuclear weapons. the new missiles flew for 2000 km, coming on the back of several missile tests from pyongyang in recent weeks. we'll have more for you on that story as and when we get it, so do stay tuned to us for that.

i want to turn out to other stop stories for you. the un general assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn russia's attempts to annex four regions of ukraine. only four countries voted with russia: belarus, north korea, syria and nicaragua. meanwhile, the us and its nato allies have reaffirmed their support for ukraine in the face of intensifying russian aggression — promising to send military hardware to kyiv for as long as it takes. in the past few days, putin has given us all another grim preview of a future in which the appetites of aggressive autocrats outweigh the rights of peaceful states. we're going to do everything we can, as fast as we can, to help the ukrainian forces get the capability they need to protect the ukrainian people. for his part, vladimir putin has accused the west of stoking the global energy crisis, suggesting damage to the nord stream gas pipeline was the result of "international terrorism". with mr putin under increasing pressure at home and abroad, our russia editor, steve rosenberg,

considers what his next move might be. what will vladimir putin do next in ukraine? what is he thinking? his special military operation has not gone according to plan. but u—turns? that's not his style. this is. applause. at an event in moscow, classic putin. the kremlin leader painting russia as the victim and the authorities in kyiv as terrorists. keep in mind, though, that it was russia that invaded ukraine. constantin�*s newspaper has criticised russian officials for nuclear sabre rattling during the special operation. he says putin wants a new world order and don't expect the end any time soon.

de—escalation any time soon. he's an authoritarian leader of a nuclear power. he's unchallenged leader in this country, and he has some strong beliefs and perceptions which drive him crazy, and he has started to believe that this is existential. would vladimir putin really go nuclear in ukraine? he's dropped unsubtle hints. days before the russian invasion the president oversaw, massive nuclear drills. he's since warned the west he's not bluffing about the nuclear option. in putin's mind, for him, defeat is unimaginable. if you'd run a country for 22 years like vladimir putin has, and if you had silenced all your critics and crushed the opposition like putin has, you may well feel like putin appears to feel — that you will always end up a winner.

to acknowledge that any other outcome is possible means facing up to an unpalatable fact that you are not invincible. and in a country with no checks or balances, and where the leaders and where the leaders don't feel accountable to the public, there are few constraints on kremlin decision—making. the problem is that the system which was created in this 30 years did not create the society. there is a lot of very nice people in russia. i think you have met them. but there is no civil society. that's why russians can't resist. for now, resistance to the kremlin is coming from ukraine and the west. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. i want to bring you some news that's just come through in the last hour from the us, where a usjury in connecticut has ruled

that the conspiracy theorist alex jones must pay just shy of $1 billion in damages to the families of those killed in the 2012 sandy hook mass shooting. for more on this, i'm joined by our correspondent gary o'donoghue. he's been covering the story for a very long time. great to get you on the programme. gary, just talk us through the background of this — because for years, jones falsely claimed, didn't he — that the incident had been staged by the government? from when it actually happened, alex stone, on his info wars channels, reaching millions in the good people —— alexjones, suggested that the 20 dead small elementary school children and six adults was a hoax and that the parents of those who died were crisis actors, he put it, and it was all done in the name of

protecting gun rights. or attacking gun rights by the government. some of his followers took up this mantra, and they persecuted the parents of those children who died. they sent them death threats, they publish their information online. some of them are forced to move home, and this went on for years and years. eventually, some of these families decided to sue alexjones. this is the second defamation trial he's faced. he pleaded guilty, by the way, and since said he's retracted the claim about the hoax, but he's not retracted his polemic and his language about the people who brought the case. on the show today, with the jury was reading who brought the case. on the show today, with thejury was reading out his verdict, he said it was delusional leftist, and he used an expletive. it is a huge, colossal sum and it is one that will probably bankrupt him in the long run or put

it out of business. whether or not the families will see this amount of money is a different matter because there will be a field and he will simply say he doesn't have the money. simply say he doesn't have the mone . ., �* . ~ simply say he doesn't have the mone . ., �* ., ~ , ., simply say he doesn't have the mone . ., �* . ~ , ., , money. you've talked us through this reaction from — money. you've talked us through this reaction from jones. _ money. you've talked us through this reaction from jones. have _ money. you've talked us through this reaction from jones. have we - money. you've talked us through this reaction from jones. have we heard l reaction from jones. have we heard from the families of who died? yeah, there was reaction _ from the families of who died? yeah, there was reaction outside _ from the families of who died? yeah, there was reaction outside the - there was reaction outside the court. as the jury numbers were read out in court, the amount of money are jaw—dropping. families in the gallery were crying a little. they were touching one another, there were touching one another, there were 50 bumps —— fist bumps. afterwards, a father of six—year—old emily parker, who was killed in the massacre, stood outside court and said it was justice to take a long time, but it was worth it. and lawyers in fact said this is all

about... in a sense, telling america that you cannot spread these kinds of malicious lies without there being consequences because, of course, what conspiracy theorists like alecjones say is that freedom of speech means you can say what he likes in the courts have really come down and said that's not true. gary o'donoghue, thanks so much for joining us on the programme with your thoughts. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: ahead of china's ruling communist party's annual congress next week, we look at some of the big changes expected at the top — including the retirement of the man running the world's second—largest economy. parts of san francisco least affected by the earthquake are returning to life, but in the marina area where most of the damage was done, they're more conscious than ever of how much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last here, he's gone from being a little—know revolutionary to an experienced

and successful diplomatic operator. it was a 20—lb bomb that exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the front of the building. this government will not weaken. | democracy will prevail. it fills me with humility and gratitude to know that i have been chosen as the recipient of this foremost honour. this catholic nation held its breath for the men they called the 33. and then... bells toll. ..bells tolled nationwide to announce the first rescue, and chile let out an almighty roar. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines... to china now, where the country's ruling communist party gathers

for its annual congress, which starts on sunday. xi jinping is widely expected to stay on for a third term as general secretary, but there will likely be some changes at the top. after two terms as premier, the man running the economy, li keqiang, is expected to step down in march. i'm joined by kerry brown, who has written almost 20 books on modern chinese politics and is currently the director of of the lau china institute at king's college, london. it's great to get you on the programme, kerry. just talk us through about the role that li keqiang has had given the fact that in my time, i've seen how his stop start dashed star has stopped shining. start dashed star has stopped shininu. , ., start dashed star has stopped shininu. , . ., , shining. yes, li keqiang really should be _ shining. yes, li keqiang really should be as _ shining. yes, li keqiang really should be as premier, - shining. yes, li keqiang reallyj should be as premier, number shining. yes, li keqiang really- should be as premier, number two in the hierarchy and in charge of administration, governmentand the hierarchy and in charge of administration, government and the economy. but because this is such a

political leadership and xi jinping regards the economy as a political tool, in many ways, that's making keqiang's position much more subservient. he's clearly survived ten years — that's not easy — in charge of a hugely complicated and economy. so i think he hasn't done a bad job, economy. so i think he hasn't done a badjob, but economy. so i think he hasn't done a bad job, but he hasn't the profile that previous premieres in the 1960s in the 70s. 50 that previous premieres in the 1960s in the 70s. ., ., i. , that previous premieres in the 1960s in the 70s. ., ., , , in the 70s. so who do you see is takin: in the 70s. so who do you see is taking on _ in the 70s. so who do you see is taking on the role _ in the 70s. so who do you see is taking on the role of— in the 70s. so who do you see is taking on the role of the - in the 70s. so who do you see is taking on the role of the new - taking on the role of the new primary and how important will the role be going forward under xi jinping? i role be going forward under xi jinin: ? ~ ., ~ role be going forward under xi jinin: ? ~' ., . , jinping? i think the role, which is to really implement _ jinping? i think the role, which is to really implement of _ jinping? i think the role, which is to really implement of xi - jinping? i think the role, which is| to really implement of xi jinping's policy. the two figures that have occurred most frequently are a very

high respected 60—year—old, so young in this hierarchy. he's got provincial experience in mongolia and some years in tibet. he is very capable administrator. the other one is one young, but he's a mixed sleep experience. are either of these guys going to radically shake things up? i think it's very unlikely. they will have to deal with extremely complicated economic situations. that will be their priority and they know will not really want to create anything that would be destabilising or innovative.— or innovative. kerry, it strikes me that there's _ or innovative. kerry, it strikes me that there's so _ or innovative. kerry, it strikes me that there's so many _ or innovative. kerry, it strikes me that there's so many challenges l that there's so many challenges going forward, and as you pointed out, the economy is a big one, but also dealing with the united states, how do you think either of these two will deal with what has become an increasingly fractious relationship?

well, jobs have been mostly domestic. of course, in their careers, they had to deal with the outside world quite a lot. in the province where he was the party boss, had to deal with investors, so they understand the importance of a constructive engagement with the wider world. constructive engagement with the widerworld. but constructive engagement with the wider world. but the issue is that they're dealing with in america which is radically different in many ways from even a few years ago, an election coming up in 2024 that could change things out quite an undertaking a stick outcome it's difficult for any deal with this kerry brown, thanks so much for

joining us. and finally, australian researchers have grown brain cells in a lab that have learned how to play the iconic early video game, pong. the team say their so—called "mini—brain", can sense and respond to its environment, calling it the first sentient lab—grown brain. other experts describe the work as "exciting", but say it's going too far to call the brain cells sentient. here's our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. these little white blobs are clumps of brain cells that have been grown in a lab. researchers connected cells similar to these to a computer. under the microscope, you can see the tiny wires that sent electrical impulses in and out. it learned to play a 1970s game called pong, in the rectangle on the screen. the lab—grown brain moves a white line to try and stop the dot getting past. right now, we have the chance for drug discovering, disease modelling, understanding intelligence. the next stage could open up options

such as cybersecurity management, or more autonomous devices. finally, perhaps we could even lead to sentient and fully autonomous robots that can act and change in the real world. the researches grew a clump of 800,000 brain cells from a mixture of mouse neurons and human stem cells. the plan is to see if more of those mini brains become worse at playing the game after they have been dosed with alcohol, just like a human player would. mini brains are being grown in a uk lab in order to study brain development. it's taken researchers six weeks to grow these mini brains. you can see the electrical activity of the neurons on this screen here. it's precisely because they behave similarly to human brains, even though it's at a very rudimentary level, that researchers here are taking great care in the way they develop the technology.

there may be the potential, probably much further down the line, to simulate something like certainly intelligence and cognition, and we want to make sure that we know ahead of time where that boundary is, so that we don't accidentally stumble over it. the scientists are working with ethics experts to develop new rules to regulate the research. will these so—called mini brains - develop to the point where they can feel pleasure or pain? and how might we consider. their moral status if they were conscious or sentient? and how should we regulate the use of this research - in future technology? these are questions _ that we haven't begun to consider. today's mini brains are a very long way off from becoming self—aware, and many researchers believe that is unlikely to ever happen, but they agree that they do need to proceed with caution. pallab ghosh, bbc news.

what will they think of next? that's it for much. thanks so much for hello there. our weather story is becoming a little bit more unsettled as we head towards the weekend. no two days the same at the moment, not only in terms of weather, but also the feel of things, both by day and night. now, for thursday, many of us will see some sunny spells, but there will be blustery, squally showers developing in the far north—west. over the next few hours, we'll start to see this weather front easing away from channel coasts. it mightjust continue to bring a little bit of early of early—morning rain on thursday. look at the temperatures — double digits because of the cloud and the rain around. further north, though, it's going to be a chilly start, with a touch of light frost in rural parts. but as we go through the day,

there will be a good slice of dry and sunny weather to look out for for most of us. into the afternoon, however, the winds will strengthen, we'll see some squally showers developing into northern ireland and north—west scotland in particular. elsewhere, temperatures pretty similar to the last few days by the middle of the afternoon. we're looking at highs of 11—17 celsius — that's 63 fahrenheit. now, that weather front will continue to move its way steadily south and east, weakening all the time. it's going to be replaced by another one moving through scotland and northern ireland as well. at the same time, there's the potentialfor a little bit of showery rain once again, just clinging on to channel coasts first thing on friday. sandwiched in between the two, we should see some drier, brighter interludes, and behind, its going to be bright and breezy with showers. so, friday's a messy story, a real autumnal story of blustery showers. warm in the sunshine still, with 17 degrees the high. now, low pressure never too far away as we head into the weekend. plenty of isobars, particularly the further north you go. gusts of wind, 40—50 mph,

and they're going to be driving weather fronts in around those areas of low pressure. so, saturday is going to be a case of sunny spells and squally showers, the showers most frequent out towards the west, but some of those will start to push a little bit further inland as the day continues. favoured spots for the best of the drier weather, parts of aberdeenshire and perhaps through south—east england as well. and here, we'll see highs again of around 11—17 celsius. not much change as we go into sunday and monday. the winds stay blustery from a warm source, plenty of showers to dodge as well. take care.

this is bbc news, the headlines. prime minister liz truss has insisted she won't cut public spending to pay for her multi—billion pound package of tax cuts. but some conservative mps have warned the government may have to rethink its plans to reassure financial markets. ajury in the us has ordered the conspiracy theorist, alexjones, to pay nearly a billion dollars in damages to the families of victims of the sandy hook school massacre a decade ago. ukraine's nato—led allies have announced deliveries of advanced air defence weapons to kyiv, after a spate of russian missile strikes.

the weaponry promised by the us, canada, france and the netherlands includes missiles and radars.