the us says thousands of north korean soldiers are training in russia, and warns they'll be legitimate targets if they fight alongside russian forces in ukraine. turkey says five people have been killed and others injured in a terror attack on a state—owned defence and aerospace firm. kamala harris holds a presidential town hall in the crucial swing state of pennsylvania, as donald trump rallies in georgia. welcome to newsday, i'm steve lai. broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. our top story this hour, the united states has confirmed reports that north korea has sent military forces to russia. it has also warned that north korean troops will be regarded as "legitimate targets" if they fight

alongside russian forces in ukraine. national security spokesman john kirby says 3,000 north korean troops travelled by ship to vladivostok, russia's largest pacific port, in early to mid—0ctober to receive training at various sites. but he said it still isn't clear whether they will be deployed to the front line. i don't believe we have a very specific assessment at this time of the exact nature of all the training. there's three sites that we assess right now, that this first tranche of about 3,000 are being trained. i think i could go so far as to say, at least in general terms, it's basic kind of combat training. and familiarisation. i can go as far as that, and no further. while russia and north korea deny the reports, the two nations have strengthened

collaborations in recent years, and signed a major security agreement injune that commits both countries to provide military assistance if either is attacked. meanwhile, the leader of belarus, another russian ally, has also rejected reports of north korean involvement. speaking to our russia editor steve rosenberg, the leader of belarus and ally of president putin denied these recent reports. few people know vladimir putin as well as he does — alexander lu kashenko, the authoritarian leader of belarus. he has agreed to take questions on the war in ukraine and his role in it. one year ago, i say, you let russia use your country as a staging ground for invading ukraine — are you prepared to do that again? translation: i'm ready to provide territory - again, but i'm also ready to wage war, together with the russians,

from the territory of belarus, but only if anyone, even one soldier, comes to our land from ukraine to kill my people. a year ago, there wasn't any threat to you from ukraine. you don't understand the situation very well. the usa and western europe pushed ukraine into this war. well, they've got the war they wanted. russian troops in belarus. these were only exercises, but they make ukraine nervous. it's watching closely for any sign of belarus becoming the launch pad for another russian push. mr lukashenko enjoys making the russian troops feel at home. the other thing he does a lot of is accuse the west of fuelling this war. if you continue this escalation, you will get nuclear weapons.

and russia has more than anyone. if nuclear war starts, belarus will cease to exist. so i'm saying we need to stop, we need to sit down at the negotiating table, because nuclear war will wipe out the usa, too. he is offering to host vladimir putin and joe biden in minsk for talks. the us leader will be in poland next week. iam inviting president biden to belarus. it's not far from warsaw — 30 minutes and he's here. i will persuade the president of russia to come, too. we will sit down and reach an agreement. that's unlikely to happen. in the eyes of the west, alexander lukashenko is very much in russia's camp, doing the kremlin�*s bidding. andrei lankov is a professor of korean studies at kukmin

of korean studies at kookmin university and the director of korea risk group and nk news. let's first get your reaction to that news development that north korean soldiers may be in russia. if it is in fact true, what does north korea want out of it from russia? i what does north korea want out of it from russia?— of it from russia? i believe, assuming — of it from russia? i believe, assuming it's _ of it from russia? i believe, assuming it's true, - of it from russia? i believe, assuming it's true, and - of it from russia? i believe, assuming it's true, and i'ml assuming it's true, and i'm inclined to believe it's really true, three things. first of all, money. because russian soldiers now are paid very high salaries by the russian government. and if north koreans are going to get the same salaries, it will be a noticeable income for the north korean government. soldiers will get something, a cut, most of their pay will go straight to the government coffers. and it will be a very good income for north korea. second, they will get battle experience. the north korean army has never

been involved in operations on a large scale. they sent some small groups of military advisers, but basically they have not bought a major conflict, any conflict actually come up from 1953. and that experience is important. number three, they probably hope to persuade russians to provide them with some military technologies, which normally russia would be very reluctant to give to any foreign country. this is probably their major hope. so they are good reasons for north korea to send the troops. for north korea to send the troo s. for north korea to send the troo s, . ., for north korea to send the troos. . . . , troops. some clear incentives for the north _ troops. some clear incentives for the north korean - troops. some clear incentives for the north korean side. - troops. some clear incentives i for the north korean side. what does it say for vladimir putin that he has had to turn to north korea to shore up his military?— north korea to shore up his milita 7�* , ., , ., military? because he does not want to send _ military? because he does not want to send draftees - military? because he does not want to send draftees to - military? because he does not want to send draftees to the i want to send draftees to the battle lines. right now, all

russian soldiers fighting in ukraine, with very few exceptions... some of them were mobilized in 2022, but the majority are contract soldiers, professional soldiers, who as i have mentioned are paid very good salaries. the average russian see a significant increase in the economy, growing because of the wartime simulation like normal. but at the same time, he or she is not afraid, doesn't expect to be called to arms and drafted, sent to the battlefield. and the government would like to keep it that way. and therefore, it's simply a very good solution to take foreigners who, because of political and financial... we have just — political and financial... we have just lost _ political and financial... we have just lost your audio. i

havejust lost your audio. i hope you can hear me 0k. havejust lost your audio. i hope you can hear me ok. i havejust lost your audio. i hope you can hear me 0k. ijust want to ask how you think south korea might react, they are sensitive to any sort of military movement or activity north korea.— military movement or activity north korea. ., . ., north korea. not much, i would sa . north korea. not much, i would say- reaction — north korea. not much, i would say. reaction will— north korea. not much, i would say. reaction will happen. - north korea. not much, i would say. reaction will happen. if- say. reaction will happen. if south koreans discover that some sensitive military technologies have been transferred by the russians to north korea, if it's going to happen, south korean government has made a number of warnings about it. they told russians, don't transfer technology. not any technology, but only a small number of sensitive military technologies. and if it happens, south korea can reciprocate. by starting large—scale direct military support of ukraine. they are not doing it. there have never been shipments of any missiles

aid to ukraine so far. but it's not going to happen just because of the north korean soldiers fighting in ukraine. south korea will do all kinds of diplomatic protestations, statements, everything. but they will not do anything significant, meaningful, unless they will be absolutely certain that russians are providing north koreans with some sensitive technologies. recently, even the deputy head of the national security advice made public a list of technologies, such technologies. 0therwise, technologies, such technologies. otherwise, i think south korea will basically not do anything serious. ., . ., serious. thanks so much for our serious. thanks so much for your insight- _ turning to the us election, kamala harris is currently facing questions from undecided voters at a town hall in the battleground state of pennsylvania. at the start of the event, she was asked if she believes

donald trump is a fascist, to which she answered "yes, i do". her rival donald trump has been holding a rally in another battleground state, georgia. earlier he took part in a town hall in zebulon, georgia, about 50 miles south of atlanta. separately, trump's former chief of staff john kelly has made some accusations about him. in a post online, mr trump called his former chief of staff "a total degenerate", "dumb," "a low—life" and a "bad general", who was making up stories. daniel lippman, white house reporter at politico, has more aboutjohn kelly's background and his connection to donald trump. he is a former four—star general, so you don't really get to rise up to that unless you have great intelligence and dedication to the country. this is someone who worked for trump for more than a year. that was generally seen as one of the adults in the room. so he has lots of credibility in washington.

he's also sacrificed personally, his son died in war. and he has long been a critic of trump since he left office. he has kind of doubled down and wants to make a difference by speaking publicly, notjust being an anonymous source. this is kind of creating some earthquake in washington right now. trump has responded, perhaps predictably, saying he is a total degenerate, calling him dumb and a lowlife and a bad general, and he is making up stories. less than two weeks to go until election day, how is this going to play out, do you think, in the minds of voters? well, there's been so many criticisms thrown at donald trump, and he seems to be pretty teflon don. so most people who think trump is a fascist are going to vote against him anyways.

i think ultimately this may hurt harris a little bit, because right now, her campaign is riding on, can she reassure americans that she has the right agenda to help them economically? whether she can distance herself enough from the current administration, which is not very popular. more people approve of the job donald trump is doing than her, so she's not in a honeymoon phase any more this campaign. so the more the campaign is focused on trump, the less attention is on her. but we should not lose sight of the fact that he is the only president in american history who, after his time in office, has had so many senior officials from defence secretaries, national security advisers, chiefs of staff, who have said this is a person dangerous to the republic. bill clinton, george w bush, none of them had similar situations. i suppose we won't know what the american people think

until the results start to come in and how much weight they put behind the latest developments. as i mentioned, under two weeks to go, what do you think is likely to move the needle if at all in the last run—in to the election? so far, 25 million americans have already voted early. republicans are doing a little better in the early vote than in 2020. trump has kind of waffled a little bit, provided mixed messaging. sometimes he says early voting is bad, people have to vote on election day, he is against mail—in voting sometimes, but there seems to be a lot of energy on the republican side, and there's going to be second—guessing about whether biden should have left the race earlier. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

in the middle east, israel has continued to carry out raids in lebanon, with several explosions reported in beirut on wednesday evening. this was the scene in the lebanese capital, where state media reported at least ten strikes on the southern suburbs of the city. 0ne reportedly hit the evacuated office of a pro—iranian broadcaster. tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in the southern port city of tyre, where israel has struck what it called hezbollah targets. the un estimates that at least one million people have been uprooted since cross—border strikes between israel and hezbollah broke out. to address the increasing need for aid, the charity world central kitchen has been working to provide tens of thousands of daily meals for affected communities in lebanon. my colleague caitr ona perry has been speaking with aline kamakian, who is leading the charity's team on the ground in lebanon. you were there running kitchens

to feed to people in need, tell us how great the need is you are seeing right now? there are more than 1.4 million people displaced in lebanon. this is without yesterday and today. yesterday, they hit the south and today, in another area and they are asking people to move areas, they are asking people to get out of their homes and areas. so 1.4 million is about 22—23% of the lebanon population. there is not enough shelters, people are sleeping on the street, in the centre of lebanon, beirut, you see tents full of people, children, so there are a lot of people that don't have a roof on their top, don't have basic needs. so what world central kitchen is doing is we are feeding around 50,000 hot

meals per day. it's a big number, 50,000, yet it's not enough. if you have seen how much is the need. people are hungry, cold, they don't have shelters, basic needs are not covered. how are you managing to provide that service? you mentioned in the evenings you are having to flee for safety and for cover, so how are you doing the work you are doing, and how are you getting the ingredients that you need? the world central kitchen team has around 18—20 kitchens we use and distribute from. half of the team are sleeping in the kitchen, starting at 4am because most of the team lost their home, they are displaced people already, and we are working in very difficult, stressful and harsh conditions. we are getting our ingredients, we still have ingredients,

we still have food in lebanon. the distribution is very difficult and the quantity that you are asking is very difficult. so we are at the edge of having ingredient scarcity. this is the problem right now that we are facing. we will have a lot of ingredients that is missing, we are cooking with the basics. don't forget, winter is there and most of the planting lands are in the south right now, which we cannot use so we will have a lot of vegetable difficulties, so there will be a lot of ingredients missing in lebanon. to turkey now, where five people have been killed and more than 20 injured during an attack on the headquarters of a defence company. it happened at an aerospace complex north of the capital, ankara. turkey's interior minister said two gunmen had been killed in what he said was a terrorist attack. no—one has claimed

responsibility. caroline hawley has the details. from the car park outside the headquarters of turkey's state—run aerospace company, someone filmed as the attack unfolded. first came the shooting. then the explosion. followed by more gunfire. the attackers appear to have arrived in this taxi. to the right of it, one of the first casualties. cctv showed two attackers — one a man, one a woman — just outside the building, carrying large rucksacks and automatic weapons. the man then enters the headquarters. security forces rushed to the scene as employees took refuge in shelters. the company makes both civilian and military aircraft, as well as drones. this is the aftermath.

no group has yet said it was behind it, but officials are pointing the finger at the kurdish militant group the pkk, which has fought a long insurgency against the turkish state. president erdogan had just arrived in russia to attend the brics summit of emerging economies. from those here and from other allies, including the us and eu, came a chorus of condemnation. translation: | thank. you for your condolences. i condemn this heinous terrorist attack and wish god's mercy to our martyrs. the two attackers were killed by the security forces, and, as another of their victims died of their injuries, the defence minister vowed there would be a stern response. caroline hawley, bbc news. to samoa next, where king charles and queen camilla have arrived on the second leg of their royal tour — the biggest overseas trip for king charles since his cancer diagnosis.

katy watson is there and sent this report. this small island nation extended a big welcome to the king and queen. it's the first time king charles has attended the commonwealth heads of government meeting as monarch. it's also a first for a pacific island to host the summit, and samoa's pulling out all the stops to make a success of it. the main road from the airport to the capital is one long welcome party. villagers across samoa's main island have been sprucing up their homes, ready for this week's visitors. we are samoan people, we always extend our hospitality. same with the king. so, you know, we have this great opportunity to welcome him. the king may be in the spotlight, but so too are the issues that matter to him. and they are issues that also matter to islanders. the pacific is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels — while here, the king's chosen to visit a mangrove restoration project

and a national park, highlighting the effects of climate change. the king will then spend friday with commonwealth leaders — climate is expected to once again dominate the agenda. but at this meeting of nations brought together by british colonisation, talk of historic links to the slave trade are bound to come up. the government has ruled out an apology, and financial reparations are not on the agenda either. neither will the king be able to say anything, as he needs the government's approval. he will, though, address leaders and host a dinner on friday, before he and the queen make their long journey home. katy watson, bbc news, in samoa. i spoke to sala george carter, who's a samoan high chief and director of the anu pacific institute. he told me why king charles was made a samoan high chief on this visit. samoa is very proud

of its history, and part of that history is being part of the commonwealth. the highest gift not only the country but the people is bestowing a chiefly title, it makes king charles one of our own, that cultural connection. there were a few villages offering bestowing titles, and this esteemed title was bestowed today by a village which creates that cultural bond of the king to the people of samoa. there will be more villages tomorrow. but of course this is a day of celebration, that we have on the shores of this island nation a king from the uk. is his reception equally warmly received across samoa? we saw protests in australia, i just wonder if there is any anti—monarchy sentiment in samoa?

absolutely not, we are proud in samoa of our cultural heritage. we have our own head of state and head of government, but the celebration in terms of being part of the commonwealth is important, vital to samoa. we joined the commonwealth in the 19705. in part, for navigating a way to international relations. in part, for navigating a way through international relations. without the commonwealth, we wouldn't have what we have, the treaty of climate change, because it was through countries like samoa and the alliance of small states, using coalitions such as the commonwealth, this advantage to pursue foreign policies. we see in this very meeting the elevation of climate change. this is an issue that's important to this part of the world, and using the commonwealth, through the leadership of samoa, the countries hope we see more climate action, especially within the commonwealth family.

this is a four—day state visit. this provides samoa a platform to raise these issues that are close to your heart. tell us more about what the king will be doing on these four days? the king will be joining the people. i think that's the theme and direction which not only the prime minister but also the people want. a lot of activities. currently, he is at a village, sitting at the moment, able to witness what village life is like. we will have more on that meeting in the next few days. also to remind you, sir keir starmer is there in attendance too. back with business today with the boeing strike deal that has fallen through. see you soon. hello there.

apart from a few showers across central and southern parts of england, most places were dry today and there was some decent spells of sunshine, a bit of rain, fairly strong winds for the north—west of scotland too. now tonight, it looks like many places will turn dry. there'll be clear spells and i don't think we should have many issues with dense fog, because there'll be a little bit more of a breeze, and it'll certainly be quite breezy across scotland and northern ireland through the night. so quite blustery here with further cloud, the odd shower as well, particularly north—west scotland. but england and wales, winds will be a little bit lighter and we'll see lengthy clear skies. temperatures here single digits once again, but not as chilly as recent nights, and milder further north and west. you'll see double figures to start thursday. so another fine day thanks to high pressure on thursday, with plenty of sunshine, particularly towards central and eastern areas, always more cloud. scotland, northern ireland, wales, south—west england see a little bit of rain just getting into the far north—west later on. but again, pretty decent temperatures, quite mild at the mid—to—high teens in the warmest spots. we start to see some changes

now for the end of the week. for friday, this area of low pressure begins to develop just to the west of the uk, and that will start to bring outbreaks of rain. but a dry start with light winds across eastern areas means friday, we could see some fog patches early on across northern and eastern england, but we'll have to see bands of light and showery rain pushing northwards across the country. that will be followed by some brighter skies towards the south and south—west. here, it will be windy in the far south—west. further north, winds will be lighter. we could be up to 16 or 17 degrees where we have the sunshine, but i think temperatures a degree or so down on what we've had the last few days. now, pressure chart for saturday — we've a new area of low pressure pushing into the north of the uk. that will bring wind and outbreaks of rain for scotland and northern ireland. the majority of england and wales should be dry with some sunshine, just a few showers towards the south—east. that's the remnants of friday's low pressure system. temperatures closer to the mid—teens at this point. sunday probably looks drier for most. there'll still be some showery rain across scotland and northern ireland, we'll have more of a breeze, but eastern scotland,

england and wales mostly dry, again with some sunshine around, lighterwinds and temperatures around 1a or 15 degrees in the south, low teens in the north. so it's not looking that bad for the weekend. into next week, we start to see high pressure building back in, so a lot of dry and settled weather around, with some sunshine, and we'll see a return to overnight fog.

boeing deal rejected, as striking workers vote against the 35% pay rise offer. plus — the imf warns of the fallout from tariffs, telling the bbc a trade war could lead to a huge contraction in global growth. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. to our top story — 64% of workers from boeing's largest union have said "no" to a sweetened contract offer, which included a 35% pay rise over the next four years. ritika gupta has the latest from new york on what happens now. boeing machinists have rejected the latest contract offer, thereby extending the strikes command as you mentioned it wasn't even close, 64% voted in favour of rejecting it. there are no current talks set in place but the union president has been speaking and he says

he wants to change that he said