welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm monica miller. the headlines. britain's new chancellor defends the prime minister, saying voters don't need the turmoil of a fresh leadership election. what they want is stability. and the worst thing for that would be more political instability at the top, another protracted leadership campaign. china's president stresses the need for continued economic development but defends the nation's covid policy as the communist party gathers in beijing. we've a special report on the impact of somalia's drought, the worst in a0 years, with people walking for days in search of help. we are headed for a

catastrophe, this is serious, it's really going to get worse. and private screenings of a film starring british and pakistani stars are being auctioned to raise funds forflood victims in pakistan. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in the uk, where new finance ministerjeremy hunt has insisted prime minister liz truss is in charge. 48 hours into thejob, he has the herculean task of restoring market confidence in her economic plans. he's made clear he will be

looking at government spending as well as the planned tax cuts. mr hunt held talks with the prime minister on sunday. but her position did not appear secure — three conservative members of parliament have publicly called for her to resign. here's our political correspondent ben wright. behind the gates of the prime minister's country retreat, liz truss met her chancellor — not unusual in normal times, but these are not. jeremy hunt has been sent in to urgently rewrite the government's economic strategy. so who has the power now? the prime minister is in charge. yeah, i think it is important... some tory mps think liz truss needs to go. her chancellor had this warning to his party. when i talk to my constituents in south west surrey, what they want is stability, and the worst thing for that would be more political instability at the top, another protracted leadership campaign. i think that's the last thing that people really want to happen. but some of mr hunt's colleagues are still seething

about the government's now abandoned plan for unfunded tax cuts. over the past few weeks, the government has looked like libertarianjihadists and treated the whole country as kind of laboratory mice in which to carry out ultra, ultra free—market experiments. i wasn't the only one that thought it was a mistake. even the us president has a view about what's been going on here. the idea of cutting taxes on the super wealthy at a time when... anyway, ijust think, i disagree with the policy but it's up to great britain to make that judgment and not me. and may have chilled relations with number ten with that highly unusual bit of commentary. as despairing tory mps trudge back to westminster tomorrow, they know this is a political crisis that directly affects their constituents. and if the last few weeks have shown anything, it's that decisions made

by politicians here can have an instant impact on people's lives and the economy. on the value of the pound, on borrowing costs, mortgage payments and rents. and it seems many tory mps have resolved that liz truss cannot be left in office to sort it out. can liz truss survive? no, i think the game is up. and it's now a question as to how the succession is managed. he's the first conservative mp to publicly say it should now be curtains for liz truss, but the criticism from others is hardly veiled. power is a very fickle thing and i think liz truss, - as i see it, is in office but is not in power. . and this former cabinet minister thinks liz truss needs to get more talent into her team. she needs to bring the broad conservative party into her government. so a reshuffle? she needs a reshuffle, because the reshuffle that she started her administration with, she took the decision, which was respectable but high risk, to only put in

the cabinet people who had voted for her, and that means, that's only a third of the conservative party in parliament. reaction to the chancellor's budget plan could determine the prime minister's fate. some tory mps believe her time is up but allies says she can ride this crisis out despite the turmoil lapping at downing street's door. ben wright, bbc news. now to china, where president xijinping has said beijing would not renounce the right to use force in order to take control of taiwan, which beijing considers part of china. in his opening address to the communist party congress, president xi also stressed the need for continued economic development, despite signalling he won't ease the country's zero—covid policy that has led to mass lockdowns. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell reports from beijing. xijinping is on the brink of an historic third term in office. a move which will give him power not seen in decades. so at the great hall

of the people, he was praising his government's performance, sounding strident, as he said the communist party would try to achieve peaceful unification with the self—governing island of taiwan, but warning that he wouldn't rule out seizing by force what he sees as part of his country's territory. translation: we will never promise to renounce the use| of force as an option. he defended the hong kong crackdown, which he said had restored order to the city. but what most chinese people wanted to hearfrom him was whether covid lockdowns and travel restrictions might be eased when the congress finishes. the short answer, no. translation: people's lives come first. - we will not waver in our zero—covid policy. however, there was no acknowledgement of the pain this country has suffered, as cities have shut down for months on end, nor of the rising youth unemployment as businesses

close their doors. translation: the epidemic has really hit the economy, - and i was hoping to hear new policies to help people. translation: if we could find a job we wouldn't be studying l for a masters degree right now. a few days ago protest banners were hung off a beijing bridge calling for xijinping's removal. there's always increased security in the city when these big political meetings happen, but this time round these bridges are being guarded round the clock. and seeing these guard stations is probably the closest most people come to engagement with the congress. when this meeting finishes in a week's time, xijinping will reveal his new leadership team. his political rivals have been removed. in theory, he could be leaderfor life. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. let's speak now to sue—lin wong, china correspondent for the economist and host of the prince — a podcast series about xijinping's rise to power

and how he has consolidated it. shejoins us from beijing. thank you forjoining us. i have been listening to your podcast and one of the thing thatis podcast and one of the thing that is striking to me is the amount of access you have had to his childhood friends and people who knew him early in his career. so what exactly do we know about president xi from these people? xi we know about president xi from these maple?— these people? xijinping had an incredibly traumatic _ these people? xijinping had an incredibly traumatic childhood. | incredibly traumatic childhood. he was born into communist party royalty. his father fought alongside mao zedong and is considered a founding father of the people's republic of china, but when he was nine years old, his dad was purged, and xijinping became, he was labelled a counterrevolutionary. mao zedong's red guard attacked him, he was given five minutes to live, and then he was sent,

like millions of other chinese of his generation, to the countryside. xijinping lived countryside. xi jinping lived in countryside. xijinping lived in a cave in the chinese countryside for seven years. he was subjected to terrible conditions and very hard labour. all of these experiences in his childhood have really shaped who he is as a person today. and his fear of chaos. and his desire for control. but what makes him particularly interesting is that while many of his generation decided they wanted nothing else to do with the chinese communist party, and in fact many decided they wanted nothing to do with china any more and left the country, xi jinping made a very different choice. he decided to double down, and commit himself to the party. what he took away from his childhood wasn't that the chinese communist party was bad in and of itself, he decided that what had happened was the chinese communist party lost control. and if he ever rose to the top of the party, he would

do everything in his power to make sure the party didn't lose control again. it’s make sure the party didn't lose control again.— control again. it's interesting that we see _ control again. it's interesting that we see president - control again. it's interesting that we see president xi - control again. it's interesting i that we see president xi giving his speech and making an unprecedented third term... interesting as we are paying attention closely to what happens with iwan, and he has made it very clear to foreign governments including the us to not tread on top of thailand. what do you think he will do in the long run. do you think he is willing to attack any time soon or is he playing the longer game? —— taiwan. it longergame? —— taiwan. it seems he is playing the longer game, and we saw that in his work report where he talked about the importance of peaceful reunification, but he also didn't rule out the use of force, which is something he has said in the past. what is important to remember about the xijinping is he sees himself as a true inheritor of the

chinese communist party mission. one really important part of that is taking back taiwan. in the west, many of us see taiwan as a thriving democracy and a self—governing island, but from the chinese communist party perspective, they see taiwan as a province of china. one of his most important missions is to take back taiwan into the communist party fold. what is becoming increasingly concerning is the risk or some kind of military intervention from china, but i also think xijinping intervention from china, but i also think xi jinping feels like he can take his time, and the chinese communist party has many tools in its toolkit. we saw this on hong kong, things like infiltrating key organisations in hong kong, co—opting businesses including western businesses, and using fear. so it's very possible they may use those tactics on

taiwan as well.— taiwan as well. thank you so much for _ taiwan as well. thank you so much forjoining _ taiwan as well. thank you so much forjoining us. - from the parched plains of southern somalia, somalia has a long history of droughts. but due to climate change, the intervals between them are getting shorter, and this one is the worst in a0 years. it's estimated that more than half the population, nearly 8 million people, are currently living in drought—affected areas. the situation is getting worse. it's growing into a full—blown famine, where households have no food, and children suffer acute malnutrition. andrew harding's report comes from dolow, where people have come in search of life—saving help. a warning that you're likely to find parts of it difficult to watch. from the parched plains of southern somalia, a weary exodus. these families have trekked for days across a hostile wilderness in search of food.

tens of thousands have made similarjourneys in recent weeks. drawn to places like this. the crowded outskirts of dolow, a border town where some help is at hand. the local hospital, funded by britain since the last famine here back in 2011, is playing a vital role. the baby is really very severely malnourished. but pamela, a nutrition expert from neighbouring kenya, is afraid of what lies ahead. somalia needs help. now? yeah. and if it doesn't get it? we are headed for a catastrophe. this is serious. it's really going to get worse if nothing more comes in other than what's already there. today, that catastrophe is already taking shape in the crowded stabilisation award.

stabilisation ward. as usual, it's the under fives who act as the fragile sirens of famine. and today, a boy is fighting for his life. he is two years old, but weighs little more than a newborn baby. he has been hungry for most of his life? his mother tells me he had a fever for weeks. "the drought took everything from us, all our crops, our cattle," she says. "there was nothing left for the boy to eat." which is why they came here, to dolow. it took the boy and his family nine days to walk to this camp. they had to beg for food on the way. it was somalia's savage drought that forced them off their farm but the real culprit here is man—made here is man—made climate change. almost no—one here thinks they will ever go back to their farms,

to their old way of life. the next morning, we return to check up on the boy. but he is struggling. his body temperature has dropped sharply. probably might be successful. we are not sure. but we are still trying to resusicate. the doctors try to warm him with a foil blanket, but he's too weak to respond. his mother and grandmother watch silently. but there is no more to be done. and with a light touch on her shoulder, his mother is told that it's over. her husband is there, too, to see the end. the number of children that we've lost here this year, 2022, also increased. it must take a toll on you

and your staff to see that. yeah, it normally takes a toll, especially it is so sad and painful when you witness something that can be prevented and can be corrected very easily. within hours, the boy's father is already helping to dig a grave. there are brief prayers. and as the women watch from a distance, a two—year—old's body is buried. it will not be the last here. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. private screenings of a film starring british and pakistani stars are being auctioned to raise funds for flood victims in pakistan.

a historic moment that many of his victims waited forfor decades — the former dictator in the dock, older, slimmer and, as he sat down, obedient enough. dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night on the plain, it lights up a biblicalfamine, now, in the 20th century. the depressing conclusion. in argentina today, it is actually cheaper to paper your walls with money. we've had controversies with great britain. - but as good friends, we have always come up with a good i and lasting solution. concorde bows out in style after almost three decades

in service, an aircraft that has enthralled so many of its admirers for so long taxis home one last time. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm monica miller in singapore. 0ur headlines. the new uk chancellor jeremy hunt meets prime minister liz truss to discuss further changes to the mini budget. china's president defends his zero covid policy as the communist party gathers for a congress that happens only twice a decade. sources inside iran's evin prison in tehran have said that shots were fired and teargas used during the fire that broke out on saturday night. iranian officials have said that four detainees died after inhaling smoke, and more than 60 others were injured. evin prison also holds some of those detained in the current wave of anti—government protests.

the uk and the united states have expressed concern. parham ghobadi from the bbc persian service, has more on the reaction to the official government account of what happened at the prison. one of the prominent iranian activists who was held in prison has told herfamily, and not many people have managed to call their family, that the prison, the situation last night was like a war zone. some of the female inmates were so scared for their lives that they managed to break the doors and get into the yard, but then faced snipers and riot police who were shooting tear gas. this is different from state media's account, who were showing a quiet and calm environment in the prison, but some of the journalists who spent time in the prison confirmed to bbc persia that they were showing different sections of where the action took place, versus where they showed. a revolutionary guard news

agency said that there was a prison break and some of the inmates tried to escape from the prison and ended up in a minefield, which is really bizarre. and they rejected that claim, but from the footage that we saw on social media, we see two objects, shot and fly from outside the prison into the prison and if you look at the trajectory, it is not something that can be thrown by hand, something that is probably shot and it is immediately followed by a sound, video of an explosion. renewed flood warnings have been issued for large parts of the australian state of victoria after days of heavy rain. residents have been urged to move to higher ground, while others have been told it is already too late to evacuate safely. the country's prime minister, anthony albanese, has promised help. by the end of today, over 100 adf personnel will be

on the ground here in victoria, providing support with evacuations, providing support with sandbagging, providing whatever support is required, and we'll continue to respond positively to further requests. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. diplomats are warning of a civilian bloodbath in ethiopia's northern region of tigray if rebels are pushed out of towns by ethiopian and eritrean troops. tigray residents say food and medical supplies are running out as a massive offensive on the region intensifies. the head of the world health organization, who is from tigray, says cities are being carpet bombed. turkey's president has been criticised for linking the deaths of 41 miners in an explosion to "destiny", saying such accidents "will always be". president erdogan made the comments during a visit to the site in bartin province on saturday. protests have taken place in istanbul objecting

to his remarks, with some protestors describing the accident as a "massacre". private screenings of a film starring british and pakistani stars including emma thompson and sajal ali are being auctioned to raise funds forflood victims in pakistan. around 1,700 people have died and nearly eight million people have been displaced by the floods. emb hashmi has been speaking to the screenwriter and producer of the film what's love got to do with it?, jemima goldsmith, about the auctions of the screenings. mo, here. — mo the matchmaker. no photos? yeah, no photos yet. so, jemima, you have a new film out, what's love got to do with it?, and you are showing an awful lot of love for pakistan right now by auctioning off viewings of your film, that is due out injanuary. tell me all about that. yes, i wrote this film a long time ago, produced it and it is partly

set in pakistan. it's a predominately either british—pakistani or pakistani cast, and it'sjust timely that we get to put it to good use at the moment, which is to help as a kind of fundraising tool. so, in terms of timing, it's been helpful because it means we can do various charity screenings and charity dinners to try to raise money for the flood victims in pakistan. everything we do will hopefully help the victims. everyone's been very

supportive. emma thompson has been incredibly engaged, lilyjames has been very supportive with unicef, all the stars, and sajal ali, a great pakistani actress, they have all said they will come out and take part in a fundraising event. a dinner and a screening, and regional events. we'll do birmingham, manchester, various towns where there's a big south asian contingent. and another big fundraising event injanuary. i would like to raise half a million at that. have you spoken to anyone on the ground, any victims, anyone from unicef working on the ground, and what are they telling you? the numbers... it's really hard to get a gauge on the actual numbers. they vary so much. but it's an unprecedentedly terrible catastrophe. the environment minister estimated a third of

the country was under water, 33 million people affected. so many millions of children affected. yeah, and there are no more innocent victims than children of climate change. in particular, pakistani children in a country which has not been one of the great carbon emission culprits. so it should be a real wake—up call to the rest of the world. we should all be on red alert watching what's happening in pakistan, because of course what happens there effects everywhere in the world and it's coming for us. what other activities do you have planned to support victims of the floods? every single screening that we do in some way will hopefully have a benefit charitably for the flood victims.

that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello. although there's some wet and windy weather sweeping its way northwards, a lot of that is gone for monday, leaving for many areas a largely dry day with sunny spells. here's the area of low pressure. it will pull away northwards. in its wake, it'll be blustery, it'll be bright. still with a few showers around, though, particularly in scotland. this is how we're starting the day, milder air moving northwards overnight and into the morning, the rain still in the far north of scotland that will then move across the northern isles. and in east anglia, in the southeast of england, rain clearing, then a hang back of cloud probably, gradually brightening up during the day. northern ireland, northwest england, perhaps north wales will see a few showers but become mainly dry in the afternoon. showers will continue in scotland, north of the central belt. some quite lengthy downpours around here. and it'll be windy

again in all areas. the strongest winds will be in the central belt, southern scotland, northern ireland, northern england, north wales. these are average speeds. we could well see some gusts around a0 to 50 miles per hour. and as for temperatures, well, if you get that sunshine, as many will, especially in england and wales, in the afternoon and out of the breeze, there'll be some warmth in that still. now, as we go on into monday evening and night, as that low pressure system continues to pull away, there'll still be a few showers around northern scotland. for many, the wind will ease, it'll be dry, skies are clearing, and it will turn chillier than this in more rural spots. so there will be a touch of frost in places as tuesday begins and a day which will offer a lot of dry and sunny weather. more cloud around parts of eastern scotland, northeast england, slight chance of a shower. more cloud towards the far south and south west of england. again, a slight chance of a shower here. the vast majority, though, a dry day. 13 degrees in glasgow, up to around 18 degrees in cardiff. there is another area of low pressure coming our way and, in fact, unlike the others which have swept right the way

through, this willjust linger towards the southwest or west of us as the week goes on, starting to bring some showers in. now, wednesday will begin with some cloud around scotland, northeast england. maybe a bit drizzly in places. that's reluctant to clear. it'll make for a rather chilly—feeling day, whereas from that low pressure towards south, southwest england, wales, into northern ireland in particular, there'll be some showers moving in and some of those could be heavy, perhaps thundery as well. and as the low pressure exerts more of an influence across the uk, from thursday onwards, more places will see some wet weather at times spreading its way northwards.

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 straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. in the increasingly overt struggle between western liberal democracy and authoritarianism, hong kong's position is unique. it is chinese sovereign territory granted special autonomous status under a handover deal done with britain. many hong kongers hoped that deal would guarantee theirfreedoms, but those hopes have been crushed.

my guest is ted hui, a hong kong pro—democracy