hello, i'm christian fraser. hello, i'm geeta guru—murthy. you're watching the context on bbc news. uk borrowing soars to £16.6 billion in september — the third—highest figure for since records begun. more on that and much more further up. sport — and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. hello, from the bbc sport centre. two results so far from tuesday's champins league. ac milan have their first win of the competition after a 3—1 win at home to belgian side bruges. and monaco have gone top of the 36—team league for now after beating serbia's red star belgrade 5—1. plenty of other games to tell you about, arsenal have gone 1-0 you about, arsenal have gone 1—0 up against shakhtar donetsk. giving arsenal the

lead, the only other goal so far in those matches is sporting lisbon 1—0 up. all the other results on your screen as we speak. the sports for a slimmed—down 2026 commonwealth games have been announced — with badminton and hockey being dropped, as the programme of 19 sports is cut to ten. glasgow, in scotland, stepped in to host the games after the australian state of victoria pulled out because of rising costs. the stripped—back schedule of ten sports includes athletics and swimming as mandatory — but will also feature track cycling and boxing. the games were last held in glasgow in 2014, at a cost of more than £540 million. this time around, hockey, cricket, rugby, badminton, and squash are among the sports that have been dropped. the games have got out of hand, it was too big, and trying to be a mini olympics. we want the

commonwealth games to be the right size. a really exciting and dynamic world class event, but it needs to be at a level that people can afford to run it. we've been working with our membership about where the games go. we are about to go to marquette for the mixed youth games, we've already got five countries putting up their hands saying pick up, we've already got three countries interested and willing to have those conversations. so no, they games are strong and alive. former us open champion dominic thiem has played his final professional tennis match. the austrian chose his home event, the vienna open, to retire from the game. he lost in straight—sets to italy's luciano darderi. second seed alex de minaur is into the second round. the australian came from a set down to beat germany's jan—lennard struff and will face italy's flavio cobolli in the next round. frances tiafoe knocked out britain's cameron norrie. the american had been unhappy about being penalised for a time violation, but came through 6—4, 7—6, and will play italy's matteo berrettini next. bangladesh will start

day three of the test against south africa 101 runs behind. they will resume their second innings in mirpur on 101 for three and still have a lot of work to do if they are to make the tourists bat again. england have recalled rehan ahmed as one of three front—line spinners for the series decider against pakistan in rawalpindi on thursday. the 20—year—old comes into the squad alongside gus atkinson, replacing matthew potts and brydon carse from the side that was beaten in the second test. it's1—1 in the three match series. notjust his not just his bowling, notjust his bowling, but his batting and fielding as well, he's an outstanding cricketer. he was a young lad as well, so he's got a lot of time to come. i think he got five here in the test match — not here, in pakistan the last test match, so hopefully he can do that again. and the fixtures for next year's women's rugby world cup have been announced today — following the pool draw last week. hosts england will play

the usa in the opening match of the tournament, which will be played at sunderland's stadium of light on 22 august. champions new zealand held the previous world cup in 2022, beating england in a dramatic final in front of a then—record—breaking crowd for a women's fixture. 42,500 watched new zealand lift the trophy at eden park. and that's all the sport for now. keep up—to—date with all the champions league games on the bbc sport website, in the first half there. we'll keep you updated as the evening draws on. wonderful, thanks, gavin. to the middle east — where an israeli air strike near a hospital is now said to have killed 18 people, including four children. the overnight strike appeared to hit buildings in a densely populated area opposite the rafik hariri university hospital — the country's biggest government—run hospital. lebanon's health ministry says more than 60 people were injured, most of them children. israel said it was targeting hezbollah facilities — and these are pictures of a large bomb hitting a building in southern beirut, causing it to collapse. an evacuation order

was issued an hour before. there was no confirmation of any casualties. in the past hour, the israeli army has issued new evacuation orders for southern beirut. these are the life pictures from the lebanese capital at the moment. so the army has just issued new evacuation calls there. —— for the southern area of beirut. america's top diplomat, antony blinken, who's on a visit tojerusalem, has urged israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, to capitalise on the recent killing of hamas�*s leader by securing the release of all hostages and ending the conflict in gaza. the pair are said to have held talks for two—and—a—half hours, a meeting described as "friendly and productive", according to a statement from the prime minister's office. mr blinken has released five priorities to try to end the conflict in the region — they include reviewing humanitarian assistance to gaza and aiming to de—escalate the war in lebanon. mr blinken has also been meeting the israeli president, isaac herzog.

they've both been speaking in the past few minutes. we know that there is a unique opportunity that, following the killing of sinwar and the other circumstances that have evolved, there is a unique opportunity to make a special effort to employ all tools necessary and possible to move forward and bring the hostages back home. as for the northern front, we are in a different situation — there, we've been constantly attacked for a year already, and definitely, in the last few weeks, constantly attacked from lebanon. and that is why we have to take all the steps possible to eradicate the capabilities of hezbollah, to move forward in preventing their onslaught against the citizens of israel and the cities and towns. their attacks, with drones, missiles, rockets, their attack on the private home of the prime minister — it's all part of a major campaign which, at the end of it all, is led and commanded

in tehran. and that is why, of course, a major answer has to be made towards tehran. i believe very much that the death of sinwar does create an important opportunity to bring the hostages home, to bring the war to an end, and to ensure israel's security. and that's exactly what our conversations today focused on, with our israeli colleagues, including arrangements for the period following the end of the conflict. it's a conversation that i'll pursue in the region with other partners. but, as the president said, this is — and we have to make sure that this is — a moment of opportunity to move forward, and that's the focus of all the conversations we're having here. we'll have an opportunity i think to speak more tomorrow at some point, as well as throughout the rest of this trip.

antony blinken there. let me take you to madison, wisconsin, where former us president barack obama and democratic vice presidential nominee tim walz are campaigning on the first day of early voting in the state. you can see tim walz speaking there. let's have a quick listen. cheering and the good news is, kamala harris is promising a new way forward and ready to deliver. both of us, both of us grew up in middle—class families. we didn't start out with $400 million, we are not the richest people in the world — for christ sakes, they said i might be the worst person that's ever run for... film be the worst person that's ever run for- - -_ run for... oh dear! we 'ust lost that i run for... oh dear! we 'ust lost that feed, it i run for... oh dear! we 'ust lost that feed, it had h run for... oh dear! we just lost that feed, it had been | run for... oh dear! we just i lost that feed, it had been up for a couple minutes, it'sjust gone, but it's coming back. but we will keep across that, we are expecting barack obama to also take to the stage, and they are speaking later in detroit where we think eminem will bejoining the

detroit where we think eminem will be joining the team, playing obama end. 1700 people have already cast their vote in early voting is, we already seen cues for that vote in other states. seen cues for that vote in otherstates. but seen cues for that vote in other states. but the big day is in a couple of weeks. here — the old bailey has released cctv which appears to show chris kaba shooting a man in a nightclub days before he was shot and killed by police. it's only being released now — a day after the police officer who killed him was cleared of his murder — because the jury was not told any details of chris kaba's criminal past during the trial. but it can now be reported that he was also a "core member" of one of london's most dangerous gangs. our uk correspondent adina campbell reports. newly—relased footage of chris kaba on the dance floor in a nightclub in london carrying a gun. a man was shot in the leg and shot again as he tried to escape. chris kaba was the alleged gunman. fast forward two weeks, and chris kaba himself was killed during a police stop

in south london. the car he was driving had been linked to another shooting the night before. the 24—year—old, who was unarmed, died in hospital the following day. metropolitan police officer sergeant martin blake, who we can't show for legal reasons, was cleared of his murder yesterday. today, the judge allowed chris kaba's criminal history to be revealed, following submissions in court about the community not being misled about mr ka ba's character. we can now report he was a rapper who performed under the names maddix or mad itch, and was part of one of the most dangerous gangs in london, the 67 gang. he also had convictions for possession of a knife and an imitation firearm. mr kaba died before being charged in connection with the nightclub shooting. three other men were jailed the jury did not know about chris kaba's previous

convictions, his gang links, or that he had been the suspected gunman in a shooting a week before he was killed. they were only told that the car he had been driving on the night he died had been the getaway vehicle in a shooting the previous day. former police officers and some mps have argued that this case should never have been tried. those of us that have experience of working with our community... but there's been a strong reaction from the black community, who feel they've been failed by the system. i know that when it comes to black suspects, there is a theme of less containment and less de—escalation. there seems to be this assumption that the trouble, and they have to be dealt with very sternly in comparison to white people. the crown prosecution service has defended its decision to prosecute, saying there was an in—depth look at all the available evidence, but since the verdict, there has been even more

questions about police accountability and the strength of the legal process. adina campbell, bbc news. here — the final set of official public finance figures to be released before the budget shows that uk government borrowing rose last month. it was the third—highest september total since records began more than 30 years ago. borrowing — the difference between spending and tax revenue — reached £16.6 billion pounds, continuing a trend of overshooting official forecasts. the numbers present a challenge for the chancellor, rachel reeves, in the budget next week, after labour decided it will not borrow to fund day—to—day spending. but there's some good news for the government — the imf has raised its forecast for uk economic growth for this year to 1.1% — up from the 0.7% it forecast three months ago. our chief economics correspondent dharshini david looks at what it all means. this is a stark reminder of the challenges we face. billions of pounds of public money are spent every month, for example, on education,

on benefits and roads — but in the last six months, we have overspent. spending does typically exceed the government's income, so a shortfall, a deficit — this blue line — was predicted funded by borrowing. but that overspend means the actual deficit — this red line — is even higher. it's nearly £7 billion more than expected in the spring. just one factor rachel reeves needs to bear in mind for her budget plans. add in her decisions on public sector pay rises, manifesto pledges such as boosting policing, and a pledge to avoid a return to austerity, and she may have to find £40 billion — the majority of which could come from higher taxes. but even then, the budget for many services mayjust keep pace with inflation — why? well, take a look at how government spending breaks down. this is 2010 — we split out health and social care,

welfare, and debt interest. focussed on this red section, however — which is everything else the government spends. now look at last year — that red section gets squeezed, in part because of interest payments — they accounted for e1 in every 12 spent, currently more than the entire education budget. and here's what may happen in 20 years — as we get older and sicker, even more will be swallowed up by health care and benefits. budgets for those other services — that red bit — could be squeezed further. now, growing the economy could ease that funding crunch. in the meantime, however, next week's tax hikes may not be the last. joining me is vicky pryce, chief economic adviser at the cebr — that's the centre for economics and business research — and former joint head of the uk government economic service. thanks so much for being with us. first of all on the borrowing numbers, we've got some figures here which show uk

borrowing over the last few years — they go back to 2019 — could you explain to me the spike in the aftermath of covid, during covid, why are they so high for the last figures we've had since september?— figures we've had since setember? �* , , ., september? it's been rather difficult to — september? it's been rather difficult to get _ september? it's been rather difficult to get back - september? it's been rather difficult to get back to - september? it's been rather difficult to get back to any i difficult to get back to any balanced budget. it's hard, given everything that happened before — you rightly mentioned covid — and after that, we had the war in ukraine, and the stress they also put on growth, and inflation was very high. one of the reasons why we do pay a lot of interest in the debt is partly because of that high inflation, a lot of our debt is index linked with retail prices, and one of the things that happens is, when inflation is high, you pay a lot of interest on your debt. now the interesting thing for september is that in fact, the cost of paying for that debt did indeed go up. but we've

seen now of course is inflation coming down — so with a bit of luck, that won't be such a big cost to the exchequer looking ahead, so that's good news. on the other hand, but we've also seen is this increase in pay awards by the government — they are already beginning to have an impact on what is being spent on public services. so you've got that element of it — on the other hand, the interesting thing is the winter fuel allowance has already had an impact because it's accounted for as —£2 billion in september, even though it wasn't due in november. so there are swings and roundabouts if you like, but we still ended up with figures looking on balanced worse than anticipated. the looking on balanced worse than anticipated-— anticipated. the uk growth forecast from _ anticipated. the uk growth forecast from the - anticipated. the uk growth forecast from the imf - anticipated. the uk growth forecast from the imf hasl forecast from the imf has improved, but the us outperforms all its peers in

the g7, it grew 2.8% last year, 2.2% next year — the uk does not fare particularly well with other g7 nations, why is that? we seem to be doing better than your overall, but if you look at the us in particular, they've had a continuation of stemless packages, so there's a huge element of subsidy going on, they also have the ira which is the inflection reduction act —— inflation reduction act —— inflation reduction act, so that is assisting them there, it's had less of an impact on the energy crisis then we've had. so that's as far as the us is concerned. but as far as the rest of the matter is concerned... we are just under 100%. loads of other countries in europe are suffering quite significantly. germany has hardly grown, in fact it may be in recession for the whole of

2024, and who knows what will happen after that. so they've been very badly affected by russia. so were not doing that badly from that point of view. the budget is coming up, what are you expecting? there's lots of measures about capital gains tax — what do you think are the most likely moves rachel reeves will make? i most likely moves rachel reeves will make? ~ ., , ., will make? i think lots of changes _ will make? i think lots of changes will _ will make? i think lots of changes will happen, - will make? i think lots of l changes will happen, there will make? i think lots of - changes will happen, there will be some change in the inheritance tax, not on the rate but some of the loopholes. capital gains tax, gas, equalising that with income tax, we'll see some aspect of it, not overall. anyone who has a voice or second home —— house or second home will see it. but you've also got the national insurance contributions —1 of the reasons we had that problem with our budget right now is because, for employees, that's come down and the government is collecting a lot less, but they hope to collect a lot more from employers and that'll go up, if you adjust the rate up 1% to one

they can put it on a pension contribution as well that employers make, that will go £17 billion. what it will do to the economy, i don't know. you mentioned the increase in the forecast for next year — this year, next year by the imf, the next year is still the same. that may give a bit more room for manoeuvre for rachel reeves. for manoeuvre for rachel reeves-_ for manoeuvre for rachel reeves. ., ~ . ., reeves. thank you so much for bein: reeves. thank you so much for being with _ reeves. thank you so much for being with us — reeves. thank you so much for being with us and _ reeves. thank you so much for being with us and the - reeves. thank you so much for being with us and the budget . being with us and the budget here in the uk is on 30 october, full coverage on the bbc then. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

ever since the war in gaza erupted just over a year ago following hamas's october 7th attack, hundreds of thousands of children have had little or any education. schools have been shut,

and many have been turned into shelters for displaced people. some have been badly damaged or destroyed by israel's bombardment. they include gaza's edward said conservatory for music. our former gaza correspondent jon donnison, who visited the conservatory when it was still standing before the war, reports now on a new effort to teach music to young children. in gaza, amidst the mayhem, a moment of melody. for children, learning music is not easy at the best of times. and for mohammed, these are the worst. the 14—year—old lost part of his arm in an israeli air strike. translation: it changes | the atmosphere of the war, from what has happened to me and from what is happening. it changes the mood when i play the violin. he and his teacher samer

have to improvise. translation: we work to help children escape the effects - of the war and trauma due to the suffering they've experienced and the hardships they've seen, we use music to provide them with a temporary escape and a relief from their struggles. ten—year—old abdel rahman had to have part of his leg amputated. translation: we were living| a life of bombing and shelling, and i was injured in my leg. when the teacher came, we started practising - on something new and we learned when we practise, we can- express ourselves and feel relaxed in our hearts. - his teacher is 15—year—old saleh. both saleh and samah were students at the internationally renowned edward said conservatory for music in gaza city, but it was bombed earlier in the war.

over the last few months, they've been teaching in three schools, now turned into shelters for displaced children and their families. one of them is 11—year—old lina. translation: it's a beautiful feeling because when - the teachers come, they help us escape this state of the war we're living in. after a year of war for these traumatised children, music offers a rare chance to let their hearts sing. jon donnison, bbc news, jerusalem. a hoard of silver pennies from the time of the norman conquest has been bought for 4.3 million pounds — making it the highest—value treasure everfound in the uk. the 2,000 pennies were uncovered by a group of metal detectorists in somerset. ellie price caught up with one of the friends who couldn't believe his luck.

beeping oh, my god, there are pennies everywhere. the stuff of detectorists' dreams, a horde of coins undiscovered for nearly 1,000 years. that was back in 2019. today it turns out it is the highest valued treasure everfound in the uk. it's been almost six years to get to this point, so the initial excitement of finding it, the momentum slowed with covid and it's like winning the lottery are not being able to cash your ticket in. a ticket worth £4.3 million. that money is split between the seven friends who found it and the landowner. i've been able to buy a house mortgage free, so, yeah, it's changed my life. hordes like this one have to come through the british museum in the process of deciding whether they are treasure. there are an average 14,000 fines that come through and about 1500 declared treasure.

it contains twice as many coins of harold ii and nearly five times as many william i coins that have ever previously been found. the coins will end up in somerset, as will adam, as he plans more treasure hunts. every time you dig a hole, you don't know what you will get. before you see it, you are always excited. even if it's rubbish, the edge of it might look gold. what a lucky find. let me take you to madison, wisconsin, where former us president barack obama and democratic vice presidential nominee tim walz are campaigning on the first day of early voting in the state. he's speaking, let's have a quick listen.— he's speaking, let's have a quick listen. soap madison, hel me quick listen. soap madison, help me welcome _ quick listen. soap madison, help me welcome a - quick listen. soap madison, help me welcome a guy - quick listen. soap madison, | help me welcome a guy that knows a little bit about hope, a little bit about hope —— so, madison. and the guy who 1546