island of garbage". hello, i'm carl nasman. israel says it intends to ban the un agency for palestinian refugees, unrwa, from operating in the country — a move which could severely impact the agency's ability to provide aid in gaza and the west bank. under a law passed late monday by israel's parliament, the knesset, unrwa is to be banned from any activities in israel and ejected from its headquarters in annexed eastjerusalem. the israeli government has repeatdly accused unrwa staff of involvement in the attacks of october seventh and of diverting aid in gaza. the move will also ban contact

between unwra and israeli government officials. co—operation with the israeli military — which controls all crossings into gaza — is essential for unrwa to transfer aid into the territory. it is the main un organisation working on the ground there. unrwa's boss, philippe lazzarini, said the measure would only deepen the suffering of the palestinian people. we'll hear more reaction from unrwa with our guest in a moment. but first, several nations have also condemned israel's decision, including the uk and germany. here in the us, the state department's spokesperson said the us is urging israel not to implement the law. as far as we're aware to this date the government of israel hasn't supplied any evidence to unrwa, which they should. if they want unrwa to take action, supply the by evidence. there is an important role that unrwa plays that no one else can play right now. if unrwa goes away you will see civilians, including children, babies not be able to get access to food and water and medicine that they need to live.

and we find that frankly unacceptable. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, welcomed the move, posting on x: the agency has repeatedly denied being involved in terrorism. david mencer is a spokesman for the israeli government. he spoke earlier to my colleague, caitirona perry — who asked him for his reaction to the new law. it's overwhelming from left to right support for this bill. it is really focusing on two points. the problem with unrwa is that they own employees actually took part in the october seven massacre. notjust a few rotten apples but widespread support amongst unrwa for hamas. we always say here in israel

that unfortunately unrwa is a front for hamas. they constantly defend them. i put those claims to william deere — who is the director of unrwa's representative office in washington. the vote result was an unexpected but its a still kind of a dark day for humanitarians working all over the world. these situations to instances, the legislation has these situation is this — the legislation has passed. if the government implements the legislation it's going to devastate the humanitarian response in gaza. it's going to have a major impact on the west bank because we will no longer be able to educate almost 50,000 boys and girls. we will have to close our 43 health centres and stop providing social support to about 250,000 palestinians in the west bank. it also sets a precedent, you really can't forget this, it sets a precedent. it's going to be a model for other nations to use whenever they want to eliminate

the un voice that they may find to be inconvenient. unicef calls unrwa indispensable, irreplaceable, it laid out many of the operations that unrwa does in the region. if this is implemented who or what do you think will fill in those gaps? we're not sure there is a plan b right now. if this legislation is implemented it is going to be up to the united nations general assembly to decide how we're going to go forward here. the truth is, and you just hit upon it, we're the backbone of the humanitarian response. we're the warehouses, we're the truck network, we're the staff who stay for example during the polio vaccine campaign in gaza recently, but

we're the staff of inoculated most of the children. the issue is this, the legislation stays can't be contact between unrwa and israel. if that comes to pass, it ends what we call de—confliction. we won't be able to move in gaza without being subject to possible attack. the international staff will be able to get visas any longer, we won't be able to get work apartments for our national staff. and as you can imagine, the supply chain is going to fall apart. we heard in that previous interview some of the criticism of unrwa coming from a spokesperson from the israeli government saying there is "a deep connection between the terrorist organisation hamas and unrwa." other members of the knesset say they simply cannot put up with this relationship here. what is your reaction to those claims they passed this bill? and what israel is saying the reason why they passed this bill? first of all, the real

rationale is the idea that by removing unrwa from the region the issue of palestine refugees somehow goes away. there were some pretty stark claims they are and there was an investigation that found nine workers had possible links to the october seventh attack. they were removed from theirjobs. sure. absolutely. remember, we acted swiftly and decisively when israel brought those concerns to our attention. we fired the people involved. the secretary general launched in investigation using the highest investigative body of the un, that is the result you just referred to. an independent outside review was conducted of how the agency handles neutrality and what it actually said was unrwa does more in the space than any un organisation. but it also gave us 50

recommendations to do better. we immediately adopted them and we're in the process of implementing them. so these accusations are to say the least overstated. i heard in the discussion with your reporter from the israeli spokesperson, a lot is accusations without proof. meanwhile, a top member of the israeli team negotiating the release of hostages has resigned. the israeli defence forces said general oren setter had worked tirelessly to secure their return, but israeli media say he quit because the talks were at an impasse. talks are ongoing in the qatari capital, doha. israel has dismissed a draft plan by cairo, which would begin with a two—day pause in hostilities to pave the way for a longer—term ceasefire. hamas said it was studying the proposal to exchange four israeli hostages for some palestinian prisoners.

and in lebanon, the health ministry says 60 people have been killed in israeli attacks on the bekaa valley. the local governor called the attacks the most violent in the area since israel escalated the conflict against hezbollah last month. the eastern bekaa valley is a stronghold of the group. earlier on monday, israeli air strikes on the coastal city of tyre left seven dead. the latest figures from the health ministry say israeli attacks have killed more than 2700 people in the past year. the nato military alliance has confirmed that north korean troops are supporting russian fighters in ukraine. in the us, the pentagon estimates that some 10,000 troops have been deployed to eastern russia. intelligence from south korea suggests north korean soliders are in the kursk region, where ukraine has an advantage. moscow has not confirmed or denied these reports. it's thought that in exchange for kim jong—un�*s help, russian president putin will send pyongyang military technology, and help north korea evade sanctions imposed by western countries.

in response, the us says it will not impose limits on ukraine's use of american weapons if north korea joins the fight. the announcement follows pleas from ukraine to lift restrictions on long—range missile strikes. nato secretary general mark rutte said russia also recieved ballistic missiles and millions of ammunition rounds from north korea. he called it a serious escalation and dangerous expansion to the war in ukraine. nato calls on russia and the dprk to cease these actions immediately. the deployment of north korean troops to kursk is also a sign of putin's growing desperation. over 600,000 russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in putin's war, and he is unable to sustain his assault in ukraine without foreign support. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse has more on the reactions from kyiv. president zelensky is currently

in iceland where he is meeting scandinavian leaders. what has team is saying is listen to south korea. they've been saying north korea troops are joining russia's invasion of our country. the west, nato needs to listen as well. we have the chief of nato confirming as well that north korean troops are indeed in russia now and could it's thought be on the front line sooner than expected. ukraine is calling for more sanctions on pyongyang and moscow to try and stop its operation from building. in terms of the troops themselves, the estimates range from between two and 12,000, a proportion expected to be specially trained troops.

it's not as simple as slotting them into in the military in terms of the battlefield i don't think we will see it's not clear how they will be deployed. it's interesting because on the western side western allies, the us have been wary of this wars footprint spreading. russia's strengthening relationship with north korea does just that on the other side. here we have south korea, which is farfrom impressed with north korean soldiers getting battlefield experience potentially, gaining intelligence on western weapons which has sowed fears will be used on itself. south korea is looking at what it can do, it's considering sending lethal weapons to ukraine. a real policy reversal. and will the west have to calibrate around that? what we're hearing from the pentagon is there will be no new restrictions announced on missiles provided to ukraine and what hits inside russia, that includes potentially, hypothetically on north korean soldiers.

the picture is building. the calls for action are building. in terms of the battlefield itself i don't think we will see a step change in dynamics outside of what russia is doing. these are interesting geopolitical times as we approached the us presidential election. alexander vindman is a retired united states army lieutenant colonel and former director of european affairs for the united states national security council. he explained what north korean support says about putin's strategy going forward. i think part of this is looking to slightly alleviate the pressure with his diminished access to resources. i think it's more of a messaging tool. it's a message that he wants to send that this is not a stable conflict, their arrest this to blow up and be a bigger regional or go to eight global conflict and he's doing this to ward off the west. it's something that's likely to blow up in his face as one of the number of miscalculations he's made on this war. the south koreans could step in, sit did not provide significant material aid,

the europeans won't back off, nato will not back off. once we get ourselves straight here in the us again, we're on the precipice of providing great support to ukraine or complete withdrawal. we'll be able to play a much more significant role. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. fertility rates in england and wales are at the lowest level since records began in 1938. office for national statistics data for last year show it has fallen to an average of 1.41; children per woman. research suggests those born up to the mid—1990s are not having children because of financial pressures, not feeling ready or having not found the right partner. tens of thousands of tickets for oasis�*s reunion tour that are being sold on resale websites will be cancelled. the band s promoters told the bbc that more than 50,000 tickets will be invalidated, then be made available again

through the official seller, ticketmaster. more than ten million fans tried to buy tickets when the gigs went on sale in august. the bus fare cap in england will be raised from two to three pounds in the upcoming budget. the cap was introduced under the conservative government to help with the cost of living and was due to expire in december. some are angry with the increase, but there's also relief that the cap hasn't been scrapped entirely, as many were fearing. you're live with bbc news. turning to the race for the white house — we are just over a week away from election day. there's no slowing down on the campaign. in the last hour, the republican nominee donald trump wrapped a speech at a rally in the battleground state of georgia. earlier, he spoke at a faith summit, where he said religion is the glue that holds america together. democratic nominee kamala harris has been spending the day in another crucial state, michigan. she stopped by a computer

chip factory in saginaw, and just wrapped a speech herself in the city of ann arbor — where she was beenjoined by musician maggie rogers and her running mate tim walz. to something else that's been making headlines in the us — there's been widespread criticism of comments a comedian made about puerto rico at a trump rally on sunday eveningtony puerto rico at a trump rally on sunday evening. tony hinchcliffe was one of a list of speakers before donald trump at the new york event — when he likened the us territory to a "floating pile of garbage". there's a lot going on. the trump campaign has tried to distance itself from the issue, saying the comments "do not reflect" the republican candidate's views. this was the reaction from running mate, jd vance. and my own view, look, i haven't seen the joke. maybe it's a stupid racistjoke as you said. i wont comment on the specifics

of thejoke. but i think we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the united states of america. i'm so over it. for some more lawmaker reaction, i've been speaking with democratic congresswoman from new york, nydia velazquez. she serves as chair of the congressional hispanic caucus. people are angry, they are devastated. but this is not a surprise for them. you know, donald trump has a history of disparaging puerto rican sand latinos. in found when he made his announcement the first time that he was running for office, he called mexican—americans thieves and rapists and that is what donald trump is all about, about hatred, rhetoric. what can i say? puerto rico is a us territory, but residents there cannot vote in the presidential election.

nevertheless, comments like this could have an impact. our correspondent ione wells explains. states like florida and pennsylvania have a large proportion of voters who are originally from puerto rico and maybe still have family there and there is concern from some of those republicans that comments like these may put off some of those voters who might have been thinking about voting for donald trump from voting for donald trump from voting for him or may be encouraging their communities not to and whether or not it will really make a difference is yet to be seen, partly because donald trump has been in us politics for many years and people know he is no stranger to controversial comments on more that some of the people he's campaigned within the past, so a lot of voters know that that is something that may be comes as part of the parcel with donald trump, so there is some question over whether a comment like this is a distraction for the trump campaign are not necessarily what they wanted to talk about today is not

necessarily something that will make a huge difference come the vote itself. let's turn now to the case of the menendez brothers, as the los angeles district attorney seeks their resentencing. lyle and erik menendez are serving life sentences for the 1989 murder of their parents in california. they claim they acted to escape a lifetime of abuse. the resentencing push by the la district attorney, george gascon, could open the door to parole. but the brothers�* fate now rests with a judge. critics of mr gascon argue his motivation is political as he faces a tough re—election battle. earlier, he told the bbc what made him want to reopen the case. since i've been in office for the last four years we have resentenced approximately 350 cases so far with under 1% re—sentencing rates, so we've looked at a lot of cases where people have been imprisoned for decades. this particular occasion was brought to our

attention initially about a year and a half ago and more recently earlier this year and the reason is because the attorneys representing the brothers have tried different avenues to provide relief for them. one of them is what we call habeas corpus which is basically an allegation that there was evidence that had it been presented to the original trial of fact, the outcome might have been different. secondly, there was new evidence that has surfaced years later that shows a potential affirmation that the conduct that the father displayed with the boys, he had also engaged in similar contact, meaning molesting young kids in another case. in the uk, prime minister sir keir starmer has said the autumn budget will include tax rises that he says are necessary to prevent austerity. in a speech aimed at laying the groundwork for wednesday's announcement, sir keir warned of what he called a harsh fiscal reality and promised to use the money gained from taxes to rebuild public services.

here's our deputy political editor, vicki young. keir starmer says it's time to be realistic about the challenges facing britain — a combination of depleted public services and a weak economy. today, he promised a credible plan to deal with what he called an unprecedented situation. stability, to prevent chaos. borrowing that will drive long—term growth. tax rises to prevent austerity and rebuild public services. we choose to protect working people. we choose to get the nhs back on its feet. ministers have struggled to define exactly what they mean by working people but the latest promise is to protect their payslips. it is likely that employers will have to pay more national insurance. you are promising to be honest with people but isn't this turning out to be a budget of sneaky tax rises?

you are putting up employers�* taxes, which will be passed on to the working people that you say you want to protect. the purpose of the decisions we are making this week are to ensure that we do stabilise our economy and ensure that we've got the foundations to rebuild our country, and that is vitally important. but the conservatives say the prime minister is not being straight with people. he's going to increase taxes. so after saying 50 something times during the general election campaign that labour would not increase taxes on working people, it's now very clear that they are going to dojust that. one budget detail has been confirmed today, the bus fare cap in england, which was due to end, will be extended for another year but will rise from £2 to £3. ministers say it will keep journeys affordable. do passengers agree? yes, we need to keep the cost of travelling down. they're using buses fora reason, because they can't afford cars. £3 is too much l for a single fare.

the government has spent a lot of time warning people that there are tough decisions coming this week. today, the prime minister was more explicit about taxes rising to pay for public services, like health and education, trying to make the case that paying now will be worth it later. but for small businesses like morridge coffee shop, these are worrying times. ownerjames would have to pay for any rise in employers�* taxes or the minimum wage. that�*s coming from somewhere, my salary, my profit, but that�*s already very thin as it is. so if we keep getting squeezed, well, i�*ll have to put up the prices of products or coffees or porridge. i might have to cut hours. but if i can�*t, ultimately, i�*ll have to kind of make the team a bit smaller. there is a lot of detail to get right when you are preparing for a big occasion. people are braced for tax rises in wednesday�*s budget but the government is promising brighter days ahead. vicki young, bbc

news, birmingham. global efforts to tackle climate change are wildly off track, according to the un. new data shows that warming gases are accumulating faster than at any time in human existence. researchers are also worried that forests are losing their ability to soak up carbon. helen briggs reports. trees are vital to help clean the air we breathe, soak up carbon emissions and provide a home for thousands of different birds, mammals and insects. yet it�*s been revealed that more than a third of trees around the world are in trouble. experts here at kew worked on the latest extinction red list, which found deforestation is a major threat to life on earth. 38% of the world�*s trees are threatened with extinction. more than all the threatened mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles added together. so a huge number of species, and these are found all across the world — in 192 countries, there is a threatened tree species. so, yeah, there�*s work

to do everywhere. the extinction list is an ever growing tally of living things facing extinction, with more than 16,000 tree species at risk. like this wollemi pine. and if you take away the trees, you lose habitat for other living things, from birds to mammals. and it�*s notjust treesjoining the unenviable list. animals and birds are highlighted too, such as the much loved hedgehog, whose fortunes are going from bad to worse as wild spaces disappear. now, that swelling on the branch is what kills the branch, and that's what causes the tree to die eventually. with time running out, scientists are trying to find solutions. and here at kew, this living library of trees is helping with conservation in the wild. by using extinction lists, it does allow us to really focus on vulnerable species. we can then go and collect those species and try to grow them on in the arboretum, to safeguard them with the aim

to then reintroduce them. and that's how we can really make a significant difference in protecting forests for the future. and as autumn sets in for these trees, it�*s hoped this new list can help focus conservation efforts where it�*s most needed and safeguard future forests. helen briggs, bbc news, kew. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. a big blocking area of high pressure is likely to bring us a very quiet spell of weather now for the rest of october and into the start of november. it�*s going to be mostly dry thanks to the high pressure system, and quite mild, with our air source coming in from the south—west. there will be a little bit of sunshine at times, but will often be cloudy. we could start the days a bit misty and foggy in places.

so for tuesday, we�*re losing the weather front. high pressure will be building in across the country, but we maintain this mild air mass which will continue to move up from the south. just the chance of a plunge of cold air, i think will just avoid us and dive into the near continent to the east of us. tuesday, though, will be a rather cloudy start for many. we�*ll see further spits and spots of rain across england and wales, particularly towards the south. but even here we�*ll see some holes appearing in the clouds for some sunny spells, with the best of the sunshine across eastern scotland and north—east england, and the cloud thick enough for some spots of rain for north—western scotland. temperature—wise again mild, mid to maybe high teens. now for tuesday night it stays dry. i think we lose the spots of light rain and drizzle across england and wales. a few clear spells, but there�*ll be a lot of cloud, some mist and fog. temperatures again mild, eight to 11 degrees. this area of high pressure builds in across the country, as you can see for wednesday. so winds will be very light. so that�*ll be a perfect recipe for some mist and fog to greet

us on wednesday morning. pretty much anywhere, but i think greatest chance through central and southern parts of the uk where winds will be lightest. some of that fog may lift into low clouds, so some areas staying grey all day, but other areas will see the sunshine poking through and that will lift temperatures up into the mid to high teens. where we hold on to the cloud and the fog, though, could be closer to the low teens. little change as we head into thursday with this area of high pressure dominating. maybe subtle changes taking place across the far north of scotland into the northern isles, the winds picking up here, some outbreaks of rain, but for much of the mainland it�*s dry. again, could be misty, foggy start for england and wales, where winds will be lightest and then into the afternoon. variable cloud some sunny spells, mostly dry temperatures again mid to high teens. looking pretty good for halloween evening. dry for many, especially england and wales, there�*s a chance of wetter, windy weather for the north and the west of scotland, but the vast majority will stay dry. and for the end of the week into the weekend, it�*s much the same — dry and settled.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines follow at the top of the hour, after this programme. dogs bark.