and in football, thomas tuchel is to become the new england boss. he's the third foreign manager to take charge of the men's team. welcome to newsday, i'm steve lai. we start with the latest on the conflict in the middle east. the biden administration has given its most stark warning yet to israel over its conduct in gaza — threatening to withdraw some military assistance — unless israel allows more humanitarian aid into the enclave. us defense secretary lloyd austin and secretary of state antony blinken sent a letter to israel's military, which was then leaked to the media. it says israel must, within 30 days, act on a series of �*concrete measures�* to boost aid. israel says it's reviewing the letter, and will address the concerns raised.

it comes amid further israeli strikes on gaza on tuesday. 50 palestinians were killed, according to the hamas—run health ministry. in northern gaza, an air strike killed 17 people near al—falouja, gaza's largest refugee camp. israel says it is targeting hamas militants. with more, here's our state department correspondent tom bateman. northern gaza is under renewed israeli assault. loud blast its offensive, it says, is to clear out hamas. but aid groups say the area is encircled and civilians who don't obey orders to leave might not survive, with nearly all aid blocked for a fortnight now. the us secretaries of state and defence have now written to the israeli government demanding it stops blocking convoys. the letter was sent to the israeli government on sunday. it says the us has deep concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in gaza, warning that 1.7 million civilians are at high risk of lethal contagion,

having been forced into a narrow coastal area by israel's evacuation orders. the letter demands urgent and sustained actions this month to reverse this trajectory, saying israel must, starting now and within 30 days, act to boost aid supplies. it warns that failure may have implications for us policy, and it quotes american law, which prohibits military assistance to countries that impede the delivery of aid. critics have long accused the us of failing to leverage its weapons supply to israel to get what it wants on the protection of civilians in gaza. it's always rejected that, but now it is issuing its starkest warning yet to the israelis to do more to get aid in and to do it now. at the state department, officials say the letter is a matter of us law.

good afternoon, everyone. there will be those who say you've had a year to write this letter to issue such a stark warning to the israelis. why has it taken so long? you shouldn't assume that the letter is our first intervention with the government of israel. about the situation, just over the past few months, we have been making it clear to them that we needed to see results, and we haven't seen the results. president biden's pressure on its government is increasing near the end of his term, but the war in gaza may yet last a lot longer. tom bateman, bbc news, washington. laura blumenfeld is former senior policy advisor on the state department's israeli—palestinian negotiating team. she shared her reflections on the impact a letter like this could have.

well, i think that the letter is one side of a coin, the other side of that coin being a missile—defense battery that's being deployed as we speak. i think they are both the same kind of currency, saying israel, we're going to put boots on the ground for your defence and we expect concrete conditions on the ground in gaza and also frankly in lebanon to change. i do think they have leverage. we've seen that, i think netanyahu's first target choice with iran, would have been to go after the nuclear facility, and second choice would have been the oil production sites. so, we are seeing some kind of leverage being exercised. it's not enough and i believe after the election, you will see a very different picture out of the us. we saw that after the election in 2016 where president obama was coming to the end of his second term, where there was a un security council resolution condemning israel on settlements and united states abstaining. there will be more examples to come.

in lebanon, the deputy leader of hezbollah, has suggested the only solution to the conflict with israel, is a ceasefire. but naim qassem also warned that his iranian backed militia group, was prepared to continue to inflict "pain" on israel and keep fighting. it comes after the un's human rights office, called for an investigation into an israeli airstrike which killed at least 22 people in the christian village of aitawah, many of them women and children. israel says it's targeting hezbollah, which hides among civilians. here's orla guerin. death tolls don't tell life stories. this is shana qasim, a young mother. she fled israel's attacks in the south, only to be killed with her baby in an airstrike in the north. they died with relatives and neighbours from a shia border village. all had sought refuge in a christian district. typically, these areas are not targeted. "0h, mother mary," says this man, seeing the destruction

that came without warning. israel says it struck a hezbollah target and is investigating the claim that civilians were killed. it's more than a claim, here and elsewhere. in recent weeks, we have travelled around lebanon, reporting on half a dozen airstrikes that killed only civilians — 53 in total. that's according to relatives, rescue workers and neighbours, and in some cases, officials. this was september 27th in the sunni border village of shaba. an israeli airstrike killed nine civilians, including four children, all members of an extended family.

nasri hamdan can now kiss his son yusuf only on the screen. the 15—year—old was here at his grandparents�* house helping with livestock. "it�*s a massacre," he says. "if it�*s a war, they should hit military areas. "these are civilian areas. "may god rest his soul. "hopefully, he�*s in heaven." nearby, relatives mourn for one of the dead — a pregnant woman. this is her husband, mohammed. his unborn child was found in the rubble, ripped from his wife�*s womb. orla guerin, bbc news, beirut.

pakistan�*s capital, islamabad, is in lockdown as a majorsummit, bringing together the leaders of china, russia, india and iran culminates today. the shanghai cooperation organisation is taking place against a backdrop of rising insurgent violence in pakistan. the threat alert has been high, especially after the killing of two chinese engineers and shooting deaths of 21 miners last week. i�*m joined now by husain haqqani 7 former ambassador of pakistan to the united states , and director of the south & central asia, of the hudson institute. what�*s the main thing to understand about this summit and the circumstances in which it�*s happening, with the capital effectively locked down? the establishment was created

in 2001 by russia and china to advance their interest in central asia and then it was joined by india, pakistan and iran and the grouping is primarily about political and economic cooperation as well as security cooperation on counterterrorism. for pakistan the summit is significant because it is the first big international meeting in as after two years of political turmoil and of course the city is in lockdown primarily because of security threats from myriad terrorist groups as well as from the political supporters of the former prime minister imran khan who has threatened to protest against their government in the presence of foreign visitors in islamabad. presence of foreign visitors in islamabad-— islamabad. and how crucial is pakistan to _ islamabad. and how crucial is pakistan to china's _ islamabad. and how crucial is pakistan to china's larger- pakistan to china�*s larger plans? pakistan to china's larger lans? .," , ., , pakistan to china's larger lans? , . , pakistan to china's larger lans? w , . , plans? pakistanis china's most important _ plans? pakistanis china's most important partner _ plans? pakistanis china's most important partner in _ plans? pakistanis china's most important partner in south - important partner in south asia. china has invested heavily in pakistan and is pakistan�*s major military supply and china�*s guarantee

with india as long as there are half a million pakistani troops on indian�*s border it keeps india busy in south asia rather than being able to look towards china, so china considers pakistan a very important and of course pakistan considers china a very significant guarantor of pakistan�*s security and economic survival. china normally has a hands off approach when it comes to intervening in foreign countries. all that continue to hold with regards to pakistan? definitely. china has no intention, i think of intervening in pakistan domestic politics and right now it seems no one is. the former prime minister imran khan was not particularly liked by any of the pakistan foreign partners and has a strong support base in parts of the country and his supporters are very enthusiastic in their support for him but at the same time pakistan�*s military no

longer trusts him and the pakistan business community doesn�*t trust him and nobody wants to intervene on his behalf which, of course,, the downside is that human rights violations and any draconian measures against mr khan and his supporters are not addressed, but on the other hand it enables the pakistan government to move forward with its plans for the economy as well as restoring security. just one last quick question. you mentioned russia being part of this grouping from the beginning. what does it want to get out of its participation in this sco? fin get out of its participation in this sc0?— this sco? on this particular occasion — this sco? on this particular occasion i _ this sco? on this particular occasion i think _ this sco? on this particular occasion i think russia - this sco? on this particular. occasion i think russia wants to make sure the central asian republics, iran, pakistan and india continue to remain neutral in its conflict with ukraine. all of these countries have essentially abstained in un votes and cannot support or do not want to support russia

but they do not want to be seen as supporting ukraine either and from russia�*s point of view, that is a positive thing. we must understand the shang quy we must understand the shang guy organisation cooperates —— constitutes 24% of the world land area and 42% of population and all russia that is significant. —— and for russia. thank you for your insights there today. with the us presidential candidates locked in a tight race for the white house — kamala harris and donald trump are vying for votes in battleground states. vice president harris has been campaigning in michigan today, participating in a town hall with radio host charlamagne tha god, as she reaches out to black voters. she talked about how she�*ll bolster the us economy. take a listen. when you look at my plan, from my presidency, it will

strengthen the economy and it will help people. and, as per the conversation we have been having today, perhaps the issue is that i�*m going to always think about it in the context of how am i helping working people, how am i helping families, how am i helping people in the middle class, how am i helping people who have been without access having access. that�*s how i talk about it. meanwhile, former president donald trump held several events in georgia — including a pre—taped town hall with an all—female audience, hosted by conservative news outlet fox news. early voting has kicked off in the crucial swing state. this was the scene early tuesday morning at polling centers — officials say voter turnout records have already been broken. before that, the former president was in chicago for an interview with bloomberg. the interview centrered on lowering costs for americans — one of the top issues for voters in this election. mr trump was asked about his economic plan and why business leaders should trust him.

we are about growth, she has got no growth whatsoever. we are all about growth. we�*re going to bring the companies back. we�*re going to lower taxes still further for companies that are going to make their products in the usa. we�*re going to protect those companies with strong tariffs because i m a believer in tariffs, i�*m not sure that you are — i think you are—, i don�*t think you are. i congratulate you on your career, but to me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff. the middle east conflict is a prominent issue this presidential election — particularly for many voters in the us state of michigan. with 211,000—plus arab americans — the state is home to the largest number in the country — about 2 percent of michigans entire population is arab american. ed o�*keefe is a cbs news senior white house and political correspondent. he�*s following developments from detroit — he had more on what the harris campaign will need to do to win over voters in michigan.

she has to find a way to shore up she has to find a way to shore up her support amongst arab and muslim voters in this state. it may be difficult given the personal anguish are so many have experienced or believe the biden administration has wrought on their friends and family back in the middle east, but today�*s main focus was shoring up support from black men. while overall, about 87% of black voters across the country are back in kamala harris, and those numbers are on par with what president biden earned four years ago, it is the support amongst men specifically that seems to be softer than four years ago. so there is a real support to ensure enough of them are turning out to vote for them, not only here in michigan, but also detroit with its large african—american population but also cities like philadelphia in pennsylvania, milwaukee in wisconsin, and atlanta in georgia. any slippage in support or

a decision to stay home could cost her thousands of votes when every single vote across the states will determine who wins this. the old bailey has been hearing how sara sharif, who was 10 years old, suffered dozens of injuries in the run up to her death last year. the little girl�*s body was found at her home in woking in surrey, after herfather, urfan sharif, called the police from pakistan. he denies murder and causing or allowing the death of a child, along with sara�*s stepmother, and her uncle. the mother of dawn sturgess, the woman from wiltshire who was poisoned by novichok in 2018, has paid tribute to her daughter, at the public inquiry into her death. dawn unwittingly sprayed herself with the deadly substance from a contaminated perfume bottle, four months after the same chemical weapon was used to target a former russian spy and his daughter, in salisbury. sir keir starmer has denied that increasing national insurance contributions for employers would break a promise made in the labour election manifesto.

speculation that a rise could be announced in the budget later this month has been growing since the chancellor, rachel reeves, suggested the party�*s pledge may not apply to businesses. you�*re live with bbc news to asia — and north korea has blown up several interconnecting roads and railways on its side of the border with south korea. footage released by south korea shows the moment north korea blew up roads connecting the two countries. pyongyang had vowed to cut off the roads and railways once seen as symbols of inter—korean cooperation. north korea says it wants to completely separate the two countries. ambassadorjoseph yun is a former us special representative for north korea policy, and now serves as senior advisor to the asia program at the us

institute of peace.q1. thanks forjoining me to talk about this. what�*s the key thing we need to understand about why north korea is doing this? and why it�*s doing this now? thank you, good to be with you. i would say there are four causes. number one, the most immediate cause is the drones that the north koreans claim have been distributing leaflets, propaganda leaflets a rou nd leaflets, propaganda leaflets around pyongyang and that has really upset them. and i would say the second cause, the more underlying cause, is the deteriorating relationship between north and south korea. it started probably a few years ago and it got steadily worse and now it�*s quite bad, especially with a very conservative president in south korea, and then the third cause is really north korea has become very much emboldened by their tight relationship with

russia. we�*ve all seen the reports that there may be russian troops, sorry, north korean troops fighting in ukraine and that has made russia and north korea�*s relationship very strong and really, china, not wanting to be left out, has also improved its relationship with north korea. so north korea is no longer isolated and nor should we consider it a pariah state any more. in the last causes are only the us elections. and you see that in the past, near the us elections, north koreans will test missiles and will sometimes test nuclear devices, sometimes test nuclear devices, so those are four causes that i think make the situation now quite dangerous.— think make the situation now quite dangerous. how concerned are ou it quite dangerous. how concerned are you it could _ quite dangerous. how concerned are you it could escalate - are you it could escalate further? we know north korea

often criticises the us and south korea for conducting joint military drills which they say is a pretext to invasion. i they say is a pretext to invasion.— they say is a pretext to invasion. ~' , ., ., invasion. i think the situation is cuite invasion. i think the situation is quite tense now. _ invasion. i think the situation is quite tense now. it's - invasion. i think the situation is quite tense now. it's not, l is quite tense now. it�*s not, of course, as tense as a situation as it was in 2017 where if you remember then president trump talked about fire and fury, so really i don�*t see the immediate danger in the sense that north korea will become militarily aggressive, immediately, but the situation is getting worse and worse, so medium—term, that is what we should be worried about and really the signs of immediate danger are of course the north korean leader kim

jong—un coming out and saying loudly that he is about to do something. some of —— so far we have only heard from the system, so i would say you will notice it is getting quite dangerous when the leader himself comes out openly and blasts south korea and the us. i want to ask you about something else you mention about north korean troops being fighting for russia and ukraine. tell us why that is so significant. i ukraine. tell us why that is so significant-— significant. i think it is very significant _ significant. i think it is very significant for _ significant. i think it is very significant for a _ significant. i think it is very significant for a number - significant. i think it is very significant for a number of| significant for a number of reasons. number one, from the north korea watching the side, testifies how strong the relationship was between north korea and russia. north korea has been sending weapons to help ukraine and some of them are old soviet era weapons but

some ballistic missiles as well some ballistic missiles as well so that has the north korean it shows they have the attention, the friendship and more than that, something akin to strategic partnership with russia. from the russian side, of course, it testifies that they are getting quite desperate in ukraine and need troops and they need them from as far off places as russia, surrey, is north korea, and i understand some of the mongol tribes have also contributed, so it really is a risky situation for all, especially for the united states and south korea. ., ., for the united states and south korea. ., ~' ,, for the united states and south korea. . ~ i. ., korea. thank you for giving us that context and _ korea. thank you for giving us that context and we _ that context and we do appreciate your time.

ukrainian military officials say russia�*s army is forming a unit of about three thousand north korean citizens in eastern siberia. officials say the batallion is preparing to deploy to russia s kursk region, where intense cross—border fighting continues. ukraine has claimed over two dozen kursk region settlements since launching its surprise incursion in august. a white house national security council spokesperson said the us is �*concerned�* by reports of north korean soldiers in ukraine. in a statement, he noted that if the reports are true, they signal quote �*a new level of desperation for russia.�* our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse sent this report. we�*ve seen growing concerns among ukrainian officials over north korea�*s partnership with russia. there�*s been mounting evidence that pyongyang has supplied bosco with artillery shells and missiles which have ended up hitting ukrainian targets but a source at the

country�*s intelligence agency has told the bbc that they suspect russia is gathering around 3000 north korean soldiers close to its border with mongolia. according to reports they have been supplied with small arms and are getting prepared to deploy in the russian kursk region where ukraine mounted this extraordinary incursion into russian territory back extraordinary incursio