wind from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to the programme. we begin in the us where presidentjoe biden has secured a package of assistance for ukraine valued at $325 million. it includes upgrades to air defences but not the long—range missiles that president zelensky had been requesting. the announcement came at the end of the meeting between the two presidents at the white house. volodymyr zelensky briefed the government about his plans. for more on this, let's go to

halina humphrey who has been tracking developments at the white house. the assurances coming at a time when politicians have been divided overfunds politicians have been divided over funds for ukraine. how difficult has this process mean? , . , difficult has this process mean? , , ., , mean? this has been a very difficult time, _ mean? this has been a very difficult time, i _ mean? this has been a very difficult time, i think - mean? this has been a very difficult time, i think it - mean? this has been a very difficult time, i think it is i difficult time, i think it is fair to say, for president zelensky to come to the united states but nevertheless it has been a critical moment for him to come 19 months now into this conflict. what he has left today — the presidential delegation has left the white house with security assistance to the tune of $325 million but let's be very clear about this. this is a drop in the ocean compared to the 25 billion us dollar package that the white house and the biden administration is calling for right now at a time when congress is divided, is facing a lot of soul—searching about how it will approve a federal

spending budget in time for that deadline of around nine days time and whether ukraine and assistance for ukraine will be included in that. so, president zelensky coming to the white house today to make that case behind closed doors, and according to chuck schumer the message is that without the extra weaponry including the long—range missiles which you werejust long—range missiles which you were just talking about there, the ukrainian military will not be able to win this fight. given the us is also gearing up for election season, how much pressure is president biden under and how far pressure is president biden underand how far can pressure is president biden under and how far can he realistically go in terms of age to ukraine?— realistically go in terms of age to ukraine? this is the balancing _ age to ukraine? this is the balancing act _ age to ukraine? this is the balancing act now - age to ukraine? this is the balancing act now for - age to ukraine? this is the - balancing act now for president biden. we are coming into an election year. every four years the conversation does become more optimistic. it becomes more optimistic. it becomes more introspective and that

what we are seeing right now. 55% of americans do not want to see further aid through congress to ukraine and with the republican party that goes to 71%. a out of ten americans now concerned about how long this will go on for and that is why we have seen demands from a speaker of the house kevin mccarthy for accountability in terms of this funding. he also wants to see battle plans of how ukraine plans to essentially win this war so the job for president biden, and it will be incumbent on him, is to continue to make the case clear to the american public that this is notjust about charity for ukraine. this is about defending global security because the message at the un security council and the general assembly in new york this week was that president vladimir putin will not stop at ukraine's borders. we vladimir putin will not stop at ukraine's borders.— vladimir putin will not stop at ukraine's borders. we leave it there. helena _ ukraine's borders. we leave it there. helena humphrey, - ukraine's borders. we leave it. there. helena humphrey, thank you very much for taking us through all the developments over the last few hours and putting it into context. for

decades, rupert murdoch has been at the world's most powerful tycoon. been at the world's most powerfultycoon. now, he been at the world's most powerful tycoon. now, he says powerfultycoon. now, he says that he is retiring as the chairman of fox and newscorp which owns the times newspaper. his son locklin will be taking over and in a letter rupert murdoch said he will still take an interest in the company and the daily contest of ideas. the most powerful media mogul in the world, rupert murdoch, is rumoured to be able to change governments, making and destroying political careers. for more than half a century, his influence on britain has been profound. his professed philosophy always antiestablishment. we don't believe that people who set themselves up in positions of privilege or of public figures, or public role models and either make money from that or get power from that, we believe they should be looked at. we live in a democracy now.

now at 92, he is stepping down as chairman in favour of his son lachlan. in a statement today, he said: the murdoch dynasty inspired the tv series succession with its brutal power struggles to take control of the business. in real life, of rupert murdoch's six children from three of his four wives, three have vied at different times to play significant roles. liz runs her own media company, james quit the board in 2020 over editorial disagreements and lachlan is now at the helm. lachlan murdoch is no rupert murdoch. he hasn't got the force of personality, or the experience

or the genius of murdoch, i think, to hold that company together, so it will be interesting to see whether he can prevent it breaking up. the murdoch path to influence in the uk came with the australian's purchase of the news of the world and later the sun. he reinvented the british tabloid, taking on the print unions in a huge disruption to the media industry after he acquired the times newspapers. his empire expanded into the us and into the wider broadcasting sphere. murdoch's influence became legendary, courted by many uk prime ministers. i'm not hiding behind an editor in saying, "no, i had nothing to do with the policy of whatever," i do get involved in it, and i don't make a secret of it. despicable, that's how many... in 2011 it emerged his news of the world had illegally listened to the voicemails of the murdered schoolgirl milly dowler. the wider phone hacking scandal forced the paper to close and was a personal and costly humiliation. i would just like to say one sentence. this is the most

humble day of my life. he is reported to have spent more than £1 billion paying out to phone hacking victims, and earlier this year came another huge settlement, more than three quarters of $1 billion in a defamation lawsuit against fox news over false comments about voting machines used in the 2020 presidential election. he has now passed the baton to the next generation. i very much doubt whether the sun will be a print product within the next couple of years. there will be other difficult decisions, which i imagine rupert will want to hand onto somebody else. there is absolutely no point in saying, "lachlan, you are the chairman", and you turn out to be actually chief operating officer. from november, rupert murdoch will be the compa ny�*s chairman emeritus, a man who made politicians sit up and listen. will future prime ministers feel as inclined to pick up the phone? katie razzall, bbc news.

earlier i spoke to editor of the daily beast and he told me what it meant for the empire. not much because you have to remember that he will still be in this new position. he will still be in regular contact with locklin and i would suggest with a different editors. he is someone who has always been incredibly involved, so i don't think initially much will change. i think over time things well. the important thing to remember is he still controls the family trust which controls box and newscorp and when things will get interesting will be when he parts with the big newsroom in the sky and i think today is the sky and i think today is the first step in signalling that. he is 92. although we are continually reminded by people around him he is in good health. what i was told today by a couple of people around him — he does not want to go

the way of the legendary founder and chairman of cbs who hung on to power right until the end and really became a bit ridiculous, a bit of a joke in the industry. so, i think this is the first step to him it really sort of handing the reins on it to lachlan but i think initially not much will change, not much visibly. you will see changes in the content of the newspapers and what we see on the car's inbox and on sky. see on the car's inbox and on 5 . .. ., see on the car's inbox and on sky. lachlan has a different relationship _ sky. lachlan has a different relationship with _ sky. lachlan has a different. relationship with employees. how will that look? i relationship with employees. how will that look?— how will that look? i think lachlan is _ how will that look? i think lachlan is aligned - how will that look? i think lachlan is aligned to - how will that look? i think lachlan is aligned to his i lachlan is aligned to his father's political views. he is actually a bit more conservative than his father. i think the question is how is he going to go in terms of dealmaking? i am sort of curious about his dealmaking

prowess vis—a—vis his father, and also his love affair with things like the newspapers are not as apparent as his father's, so i think those other things to watch — what happens to the newspaper titles in australia and there in the uk, and where things go in the next couple of years. find uk, and where things go in the next couple of years.— next couple of years. and very briefl - next couple of years. and very briefly - the — next couple of years. and very briefly - the question - next couple of years. and very briefly - the question of- briefly — the question of succession has been a subject of conversation and we have seen it reflected in popular culture. what makes rupert murdoch and the company get the kind of attention if usually gets? it kind of attention if usually nets? , , gets? it is his political power- _ gets? it is his political power. you _ gets? it is his political power. you will - gets? it is his political power. you will never| gets? it is his political - power. you will never see anyone like it. not only the fact he took a small newspaper in australia, in adelaide, and spun that international paper and assets in the uk, started sky and came over to the united states and bought the new york post and started fox news that it is how he has positioned himself politically. this is

someone who will put profits before anything else and the greatest example is donald trump. he detested trump. he thought he was a joke years before donald trump announced his political rain but he was happy to get behind because it made huge ratings for fox and huge profits and i think what is very fascinating is that support for trump, him tying himself so closely to trump, resulted in the promotion of the big lie, the dominion pay—out, this extraordinary pay—out, this extraordinary pay—out, and lawsuits still to come. pay-out, and lawsuits still to come. ., pay-out, and lawsuits still to come, ., ., ., pay-out, and lawsuits still to come. ., ., ., ., come. to the ongoing row between _ come. to the ongoing row between canada - come. to the ongoing row between canada and - come. to the ongoing row between canada and indiaj come. to the ongoing row- between canada and india due to the murder of a leader in british columbia. justin trudeau promoted anger when he said that the indian government may have been behind the killing. india has denied all allegations. 0n killing. india has denied all allegations. on thursday the prime minister asked india to co—operate and they said they said that they were stopping issuing visas to canadian

citizens. this is the scene of a brazen murder near vancouver, a killing back injune that's now led to an escalating diplomatic row between allies — one with global consequences. police in canada have been investigating the crime for weeks, watched closely by the country's sikh community. today, the canadian leader at the un in new york, repeated his explosive allegation. there are credible reasons to believe that agents of the government of india were involved in the killing of a canadian on canadian soil. now, we call upon the government of india to engage with us, to move forward on getting to the truth of this matter. india says it's now suspending visa services for canadian citizens and canada is cutting back its presence in india, saying its diplomats in delhi have received threats on social media. hardeep singh nijjar was a sikh separatist leader.

he'd publicly campaigned for an independent homeland in india and the indian government labelled him a terrorist. earlier this week, the canadian high commissioner in delhi was summoned after canada said it was kicking out the most senior indian intelligence agent there. in a tit—for—tat expulsion, a canadian diplomat was asked to leave india. it's angrily denied any involvement in the killing, hitting out at canada over what it calls anti—india activity being allowed there. to talk about reputational issues and reputational damage, if there is one, any country that needs to look at this, i think it's canada and its growing reputation as a place, as a safe haven for terrorists, for extremists. at the g20 summit hosted by india earlier this month, justin trudeau met narendra modi. evident in their body language, the strain in relations. but they've now plunged to an unprecedented low, leaving other allies like britain watching on nervously,

hoping they won't have to take sides. caroline hawley, bbc news. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. this is the first coloured nail sculpture in the world. it is the largest nail sculpture in the largest nail sculpture in the world as well. i think people might be disappointed it is leaving little germany but it is staying in bradford. it has been up for six years and it has to come down. i need time to work on it, to renew it again, and that is why it is coming down. you can see it, can't you? just now some of the paint is beginning to peel, so there will be quite a lot. i will have to send it down and topcoat everything but once the first panel came down then i started to relax. i think the first panel everybody is a bit

nervous and i did not like to watch that bit, but that is down now and all the panels are coming down quite nicely. 0h, coming down quite nicely. oh, it is great. i wish i could keep it. too big for my house. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. india's upper house of parliament has passed landmark legislation that will almost double the number of women in its lower chamber. the women's reservation bill was passed almost unanimously by the lower house on wednesday. just two votes were cast in dissent. the constitutional amendment would guarantee a third of all seats in the lok sabha for women. it needs to secure a two—thirds majority in the upper house to pass. a short while ago i spoke to professor rohini pande, the director of the economic growth center at yale university. hopefully the law will pass but it will only be implemented

with a lag so we anticipate it will be implemented no sooner than 2029, possibly later. assuming that it is implemented, much of the research we have comes from both reservation for women and local governance in india but also from other countries across the world is that female politicians tend to represent women's policy preferences better and as a result we will likely see the coming up of more bills and legislation that are supportive of women's preferences which may range from issues like better policing for women safety in india to investments in public infrastructure that they favour. there is also evidence that investments in women's health that we see when women politicians are in place. 0verall politicians are in place. overall we should anticipate changes in policy and certainly we should also hopefully see the change in the types of debates that often happen in legislations. we debates that often happen in legislations.— legislations. we have seen attempts _ legislations. we have seen attempts to _ legislations. we have seen attempts to politically - legislations. we have seen - attempts to politically empower women in the past but the way the indian political set up is

especially in rural parts of the country, the presence of proxies is a concern. so while a woman may have the might be the political representative, the political representative, the men in the family will still wield the power. do you think with this that that worry might persist? i’m think with this that that worry might persist?— might persist? i'm not sure that is correct _ might persist? i'm not sure that is correct festival. - might persist? i'm not sure that is correct festival. you | that is correct festival. you have realise that this is a directive that is it convenient for people who do not want to give up power is to state that women will not. all the evidence we have when we see increases in female representation and this is something that we have been able to study very well because of how it has been implemented, implemented in a sense randomly so we can do the equivalent of the kind of clinical trials that you would see for medicine, we see fours. it is also the case that in a society thatis also the case that in a society that is reasonably patriarchal strategically the smart thing for a woman to do to give the appearance of having a man in charge and changing things from within. first of all i would challenge the narrative that

women are being puppets and thatis women are being puppets and that is not what we see in the data or any of the other residents.— data or any of the other residents. . , ., ., ., residents. that legislation are b both residents. that legislation are by both houses _ residents. that legislation are by both houses of— residents. that legislation are by both houses of the - residents. that legislation are by both houses of the indian | by both houses of the indian parliament and significantly ahead of general elections in the country which is slated to take place next year. notable story making headlines this week. a woman in los angeles has decided to speak publicly for the first time about an incident in 2008 involving russell brand that she says happened in an office building shared with the bbc. the woman, who worked for another media company, says russell brand exposed himself to her and then laughed about it on his radio 2 show. she has been telling her story to our correspondent nomia iqbal. you're listening to bbc radio 2. it's the russell brand show. and here's your host, i am! actor, comedian, presenter and now alleged sex offender. russell brand is facing a growing list of claims of sexual impropriety,

which he denies. now we have spoken to a woman who says brand exposed himself to herjust moments before recording an episode of his bbc radio 2 show in los angeles. 0livia, whose identity we are protecting, did not work for the bbc, but did work in the building. she says she was in the bathroom when brand came in and stood over her. and he said, "i'm going to call you betty." and i said, "but that's not my name." and then he said, "well, i'm going to bleep you." and i went, "what?" 0livia says that the door was closed as this was happening. and he pulled out his penis on his hand and served it to me, you know, as you would be serving someone some food. and i said, "no, no, no, you're not going t me." and then all of the sudden there was, like, banging, like, bang, bang, bang. like, "russell, you're wanted, russell. you're wanted in the radio studio." 0livia said russell brand

left the bathroom. he went outside to the hallway to meet his team. moments later, she said she also walked out of the bathroom. she says she remembers feeling ashamed, embarrassed. she said she was red in the face. she also remembers walking past a group of men who were hanging out here in the hallway. she continued herjourney to her office that way. mmeanwhile, russell brand had entered this studio, where he went on to prerecord his radio 2 show, where he and co—presenter matt morgan laughed and joked about brand exposing himself. the bbc has removed some of brands offensive content from its services, but we think it's important to hear this moment. russell brand: i won't be able to drag her off into a cubicle - and show her my pubicles! that would never... how long ago did you do that last? been a long while, max, since old russy brand... 25 minutes since he showed his willy to a lady.

laughing: very easy to judge! 0livia never made a formal complaint, but bbc management was told about the exchange in 2019. no action was taken. 0livia only recently realised that the exchange had not been cut from the final broadcast. what's your reaction to the bbc now investigating? it's a bit late. but isn't there a sense of duty? the audio that i heard at the weekend was vile. what made the bbc think that was appropriate to go out like that? i just don't understand why they didn't investigate this much sooner. in a statement, the bbc said:

her claims come after an investigation by the sunday times and channel 4's dispatches programme, in which four women allege they were sexually assaulted by russell brand between 2006—2013. the metropolitan police also says it's received a sexual assault allegation from 2003. brand has denied any wrongdoing. i was very, very promiscuous. now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships i had were absolutely always consensual. this is the first time that brand has been accused of sexual misconduct and then heard discussing it. the bbc is looking at these latest claims as part of its review, but the corporation is facing even more serious questions about brand's time at the bbc and what he was allowed to say and do on airfor so long. nomia iqbal, bbc news, los angeles. and the bbc has received a statement from russell brand's former co—presenter matt morgan. here's nomia iqbal, with an update.

we received this from matt morgan and it is a long statement and in it he says i stopped working with russell brown several years ago and during the time he worked with him he was not aware of any allegations of serious sexual misconduct against him. another part of the statement we will read verbatim. he says "i was not aware until now have the nature of this encounter that we are a warning. i respect my regrets now looking back at the impact of the show and this is a further example. recent coverage has been very distressing to me and i reiterate my absolute condemnation of any form of mistreatment of women. that open" that is a statement we received a short while ago from matt morgan, the co— presenter alongside russell brown —— brand on that show we have been reporting on. in addition: we put 0livia's allegations to russell brand but have not received a response. the latest claims follow an investigation by the sunday

times and channel 4's dispatches programme — in which four women allege they were sexually assaulted by russell brand between 2006 and 2013. the metropolitan police also says it's received a sexual assault allegation from 2003. brand has denied any wrongdoing. here is one for taylor swift fans. the first academic conference on the pop star is set to happen in australia next year. forfour days in february, the university of melbourne will host what it's calling a "swiftposium" — with talks and discussions on the singer's influence on a range of topics, including the economy, culture and the music industry. taylor swift is one of the highest—earning artists ever, and will be on the australian leg of her �*eras' tour when the symposium takes place.

0rganisers have said she's welcome to drop in. that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello. it's been a particularly wet week for many, autumnal feeling. some of the wettest spots have seen 160mm of rain, the likes of the lake district and north wales. now, some of that moisture was wrapped around this deep area of low pressure which are the remnants of hurricane lee, so that's why we've had so much rain. but that low pressure is still influencing our weather — we've still got showers thrown up across its eastern flank here, as you can see, to southeastern parts, and then we're picking up a northerly wind as it's continuing itsjourney into the north sea, and that'll be a different feel to friday. near gale force winds in the north but a stronger wind ushering those showers further south and east.

hopefully, those across the east of england clear away fairly soon and then we've got the showers coming down from the north. no area exempt to catching a shower and temperatures similar to thursday, i think, but, with more breeze, it will feel cooler and there'll still be some lively showers with rumbles of thunder. but, actually, through the night on friday, the winds ease away, the showers also ease, the guys clear, and it really looks like a chilly night, chillier than thursday night into friday with a touch of frost potentially in the glens of scotland, which means a fine start to saturday morning. there might be just the odd pocket of mist underneath this ridge of high pressure, but it's reallyjust a brief window of drier weather because we already have this next low rolling in. this is the remnants of hurricane nigel, so more tropical air heading our way. but, for the meantime, it's going to be chilly, as i say, to start saturday morning. and as we start saturday morning, we'll see some good spells of sunshine, just patchy, fair—weather cloud. but, as the day wears on, we will find more cloud piling in across the southwest into northern ireland in particular and western scotland.

and for northern ireland, actually, the latter part of the afternoon might bring a few splashes, the first splashes of rain from the next weather front. but ahead of that with sunshine and with light winds, it should feel quite pleasant at 16—17 celsius, and we're losing that northerly breeze because we're picking up instead a milder south—westerly wind but, with it, more wet, more rain and the tightly packed isobars indicate that the wind will be strengthening once again, so the likelihood is we will see further gales, particularly around the coast, and we will have further heavy rain. again, we could see similar totals — perhaps 50mm in the wetter spots, even more over the hills. but there's some uncertainty, but it does still look as if some southern and eastern parts of england might escape and stay dry with more cloud but warmer — 20—21 again because we're switching the wind direction. we are tapping into this south—westerly and starting with that high pressure close by but, eventually, on monday, that weather front does slip through across central and eastern areas. by then, perhaps not that much rain around it, but it will freshen things up again behind with showers — sunny spells and showers as we go through

towards monday. and potentially something a little bit more unsettled looking towards the west. but look at those temperatures — 19—21 celsius, feeling quite pleasant. and that's because we're still keeping this south—westerly. then there is some uncertainty as we go further ahead, then, into next week. low pressure looks more dominant, doesn't it? but there's always the chance that a ridge of high pressure mightjust start to build across southern areas, so it's more likely that we'll see the wetter and windier weather taking shape across northern and western parts but, even further south this stage, it does look set to stay very changeable but still quite warm — temperatures into the low 20s into next week here, and up into the high teens further north. as ever, there's more on the website and we'll keep you up—to—date here.

the end of an era — media tycoon rupert murdoch steps down. we look at how the leadership transition will change his empire. and an aeroplane design that would cut flat emissions in half. we talk to the ceo that is bringing this idea to the market. hello and welcome to asia business report. let's start the programme in the us with news of the transition at the top of one of the world's largest

media empires. rupert murdoch has stepped down as the chairman of newscorp and fox corp, ending a career that saw his business go from australia, all the way to the united states. our correspondence with the latest from new york. at 92 years old, rupert murdoch has been preparing for this day. his son is chief executive for box and his siblings are in the way. the elder mr murdoch has been known to joke that he intended to leave his company feet first and perhaps in that spirit rupert murdoch said he will remain close at hand, keenly watching his media outlet�*s offerings and reaching outlet�*s offerings and reaching out with thoughts, ideas and advice. you will become a emeritus chairman of both companies in mid—november. it is hard to overstate mr murdoch's influence on the media and political landscape domestically and around the

world. his news platform capitalised