welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... a jury orders conspiracy theorist alex jones to pay over $900 million to the families of the victims of the sandy hook massacre. wildlife populations have declined by almost 70% — the stark warning from a world wide fund for nature investigation. reporter: have you wrecked the economy, prime minister? - time for another u—turn? is it all going to plan? the british prime minister insists she won't cut public spending to pay for her multi—billion pound package of tax cuts.

and 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 the ukrainian forces get the capability they need to protect the ukrainian people. live from our studio in singapore... this is bbc news. it's newsday. 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 alexjones must payjust shy of $1 billion in damages to the families of those killed in the 2012 sandy hook mass shooting. mrjones falsely claimed for years that the mass shooting had been staged by the government to try to introduce tighter gun controls. the

school principal was among the 26 people killed in the attacked in 2012. a little earlier, our correspondent gary 0'donoghue told me why alexjones has been held accountable. really, from when it actually happened, alexjones, on his info wars channels, reaching millions of people, suggested that sandy hook massavre — 20 dead elementary school children, six adult — 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 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 published their information online. some of them were 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 his show today, when the jury was reading out his verdict, he said it was delusional leftist, and then 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. because he's already said that. you've talked us through this reaction from jones. have we heard from the families of who died? yeah, there was some reaction outside the court.

emotional, really. in court, the amount of money are jaw—dropping. families in the gallery were crying a little. they were touching one another, there were 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. justice had taken 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 alexjones say is that freedom of speech means he can say what he likes, and the courts have really come down and said that's not true. i want to bring you some

breaking news. north korean state media says the country's military has test—fired two long—range strategic cruise missiles. the state news agency said the operation had been successful and was aimed at enhancing the reliability of tactical nuclear weapons. kcna reported that the missiles flew for 2,000 kilometres over the sea. this, of course, coming on the back of several missile tests from pyongyang in recent weeks in response to recent us and south korean drills. we'll have more for you on that story as when we get it. do stay tuned to us for us. a report that's just been released by the world wide fund for nature has shown that on average, monitored wildlife populations have declined by a staggering 69% since 1970. it says governments, businesses and the public must take "transformative action" to reverse the destruction of biodiversity. for more on this, let's speak to cristianne close, deputy global conservation

director for wwf international, who joins me from florianopolis in brazil. it's great to get you on the programme, cristianne, and just to say, this is a truly shocking decline in terms of the statistics in your report. what do you think and what have you found, rather, are the main causes for this?— causes for this? yes, it is a staggering. _ causes for this? yes, it is a staggering, shocking - causes for this? yes, it is a | staggering, shocking result, and thank you very much for having us here. this is our flagship publication. we publish it every two years, and 69% dropped this year is really a trend heading in the wrong direction. there's no doubt we have a crisis, and unfortunately, this is a man—made crisis. however, if it can be man solved. we have a broken relationship with

nature. we cannot foster economic development at the expense of our natural world. things like deforestation and conversion of habitats, forests, grasslands, and sustainable hunting and poaching, overfishing of oceans, longing, mining, unsustainable infrastructure — there are multiple causes of there are multiple causes of the way we've produced and consumed in our economic model that we need to change because we depend on nature. this is notjust for the sake of we depend on nature. this is not just for the sake of the beauty of it, because it is beautiful, but everything we have — the food, the water, the clothes we wear — we depend on nature. it's really important to understand where we're heading and what are the solutions for that.- heading and what are the solutions for that. right. just to sa , solutions for that. right. just to say. we're _ solutions for that. right. just to say, we're looking - solutions for that. right. just to say, we're looking at - solutions for that. right. just | to say, we're looking at some of the images of the animals, the species that are

endangered. names i think that will be very familiar to those of you watching at home. you've got the orangutan, the australian cellular ion, the pink river dolphin, koalas. down by some 65% in the last decade or so. you've outlined why it's so important to save the biodiversity, but what's the biodiversity, but what's the single cause behind it? well, there's a not one single cause. i think it's that really, we have a lack of understanding of the value of nature and how we need to foster a nature positive model. we need to make sure that whatever and how we produce and how we relate with our environment has a positive effect and not a negative effect. if you see that per capita gdp in the last a0 years has gone up, while at the same

time, the planet index is going down. so, it's really a non—sustainable model and we need a structure that systemic change. it's notjust for a change. it's not just for a government change. it's notjust for a government or for business. it's the whole system. businesses need to have food systems or food change that are not destroying or converting habitat or fostering the store station. —— restore —— deforestation �*s. we need to make choice in reducing our foodways. almost 30% of the foodways. almost 30% of the food is either lost or wasted, that's a lot. food is either lost or wasted, that's a lot-— that's a lot. cristianne, 'ust to sa , that's a lot. cristianne, 'ust to say. hi that's a lot. cristianne, 'ust to say, is there i that's a lot. cristianne, 'ust to say, is there any i that's a lot. cristianne, just to say, is there any hope i that's a lot. cristianne, just l to say, is there any hope out there in terms of the countries that are possibly getting rates or governments that are getting it right, where we're seeing numbers of animals going up? yes, there are. i think we know

the causes and therefore, we have the tools of turning things around. there are very interesting technologies that we are able to monitor the store station and nowhere is happening —— deforestation. therefore, we can predict the areas of concern. in just two months, we're having the biodiversity conversion happening in montreal. their policymakers will gather together to discuss a framework for the world, and we need to have an agreement that can drive action immediately. we have no time to waste, and there are solutions. we know there are solutions. we know the solutions, we need to have the solutions, we need to have the will because it's not an easy decision. it's really about transforming the way we live and having systemic changes in our systems and our economies of.

changes in our systems and our economies of-— economies of. wise words indeed- — economies of. wise words indeed- i— economies of. wise words indeed. i do _ economies of. wise words indeed. i do hope - economies of. wise words indeed. i do hope that - economies of. wise words . indeed. i do hope that people are listening. cristianne close, deputy director for wwf international, thanks so much forjoining us on that very important topic.— forjoining us on that very important topic. forjoining us on that very im ortant toic. . ~ ,, , important topic. thank you very much. important topic. thank you very much- the _ important topic. thank you very much. the government - important topic. thank you very much. the government is - much. the government is battlinu much. the government is battling fresh _ much. the government is battling fresh economic. battling fresh economic uncertainty. 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. 0ur 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... chris mason reporting there. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come in the programme... we will tell you how the scientist in australia have taught lab grown brain cells how to play an iconic video game.

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines... ajury orders conspiracy theorist a jury orders conspiracy theorist alex ajury orders conspiracy theorist alexjones to a jury orders conspiracy theorist alex jones to pay over $900 million to the families of the victims of the sandy hook massacre. the un general assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn russia's attends to annex four regions of ukraine. the us and its nato allies have reaffirmed their support for ukraine in their support for ukraine in the face of intense russian aggression, promising to send hardware to keo. in aggression, promising to send hardware to keo.— hardware to keo. in the past few days. — hardware to keo. in the past few days, putin _ hardware to keo. in the past few days, putin has - hardware to keo. in the past few days, putin has given i hardware to keo. 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 will do everything we can, as fast as we can to help the ukrainian forces get the capability they need. vladimir putin has accused of the west of stoking the global energy crisis. suggesting damage to the nord stream gas pipeline was the result of international terrorism. 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. 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 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's started to believe that this is existential. would 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'd 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 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 didn't create the society. there is a lot of very nice people in russia. i think you 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. tom brada reports. when two—year—old fatimata developed a fever earlier this year, she was rushed to hospital, diagnosed with malaria and sent home with a prescription for a paracetamol syrup. less than a week later, she was dead. she's one of nearly 70 gambian children to die of acute kidney failure sincejuly, linked to four cough syrups produced in india. fatimata's father described how his infant daughter suffered before she died. translation: she couldn't get

anything down her throat. - the child wasn't eating — she couldn't eat because of the pain. there was even blood coming from her mouth and her nose. last week, the world health organization issued a global alert, following reports from the gambia that dozens of children were being diagnosed with serious kidney problems. the four medicines are cough and cold syrups produced by maiden pharmaceuticals limited in india. who is conducting further investigation with the company and regulatory authorities in india. maiden pharmaceuticals says it is shocked by the deaths, but insists that it does adhere to internationally recognised quality control standards. but indian health authorities are less convinced. they have now halted all manufacturing activities at the company, saying that... the cough syrup scandal has also exposed problems with the health care system in the gambia, and is raising broader questions about the global pharmaceutical trade. behind the political route is the reality of a country which is mired in

poverty and which lacks many of the safeguards taken for granted in other parts of the world. and it's the many bereaved mothers and fathers who are dealing with the consequences. translation: to me, we share this sad, - devastating situation with all the familiesl of the 69 children. we are devastated, - but we will have to take heart and have faith in god. according to the red cross, more than 16,000 harmful medicines have now been identified and taken away to be destroyed. as authorities race to prevent further tragedy, officials have been going door—to—door, searching for products still in circulation and hoping their efforts aren't coming too late. tom brada, bbc news. i want to tell you know about the fa ct fact that australian researchers have grown brain cells in a lab and taught them 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. 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 learnt to play a 19705 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've been dosed with alcohol, just like a human player would. mini—brains are also 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—calledj 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. i today's mini—brains are a very long way off from becoming self—aware, and many researchers believe that's unlikely to ever happen, but they agree that they do need to proceed with caution. pallab ghosh, bbc news. goodness, what will they think of next? the hollywood star jamie lee curtis has had a the actress assigned the date as october the 31st, halloween,

rather than the date and homage to the film that launched her movie career. do stay with bbc news. hello there. 0ur 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—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 really 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, a0—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. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues, welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. last month, president biden told americans the covid pandemic was over. a striking statement, given that us covid deaths are still running at an average of close to a00 a day. the overall covid death toll in the states has topped 1 million.

on many measures, america's pandemic performance has been relatively poor.