live from london, this is bbc news. in another reversal of policy, the us agrees to send anti—personnel landmines to ukraine. an international treaty bans mines in most countries. the us closes its kyiv embassy because of air—attack threats. it's urging its citizens to take shelter if an air alert sounds. rising energy bills push uk inflation above the bank of england's target. official figures reveal it's at its highest level since april. the pro—democracy media tycoon, jimmy lai, testifies for the first time in his national security trial in hong kong. and we head to the canadian arctic to see how the un climate conference decisions will drastically impact polar bears.

welcome to the programme, i'm lewis vaughanjones. the bbc has confirmed reports the biden administration will soon provide ukraine with anti—personnel landmines. the widely banned explosive devices will be used to help prevent russian advances within ukrainian territory. officials said kyiv had committed to not using them in built—up areas. russia says the decision shows the us wants to prolong the war. in other developments, ukraine says it's struck an ammunition warehouse about 100 kilometres inside russia — in what the us says was the first time the american—provided long—range missiles have been fired at russian soil. and the us embassy in ukraine has closed its embassy in kyiv after receiving information of a potential air attack. in a statement, the embassy said it had instructed all its staff to evacuate to shelters if an air

alert sounds. anti—personnel landmines are electrically fused and require battery power to detonate. they're designed to go off when a person comes in close proximity. they will not detonate when the battery runs out. the mines are banned in most countries under the 1997 ottawa treaty, which prohibits their use, stockpiling, production, and transfer. 164 countries are signatories to the treaty. ukraine is one of them — raising questions over the potential use of the weapon. the us — along with china, india, and russia — have not signed the treaty. in 2014, barack obama expressed an intention to sign up — banning the production of anti—personnel landmines. donald trump reversed that in 2020. but, joe biden restored the obama stance — until this major policy shift. our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford explained what difference the change in policy could make. this comes after that

other change in policy, which was to allow the use of longer—range us missiles for ukraine to fire at targets within russia. so, hot on the heels of that rapid change in policy is this one, which isjoe biden reversing his position that he wouldn't provide anti—personnel landmines to ukraine and suddenly saying that they will now be supplied. we don't know when, we don't know how many. we do know that this is controversial, and that's whyjoe biden has avoided taking this step until this point. but both the pentagon and the white house have told the bbc that this will happen, that they are what they're describing as nonpersistent landmines, which are the type which will lose charge over a period of time and therefore not be dangerous for long, prolonged periods of time. because, of course, the concern with landmines is always the large number of civilian casualties that they can cause and the huge amount of time

that it takes to clear territory where landmines have been deployed in front—line areas of wars and elsewhere. so it is a controversial move. the americans are saying that they believe this will help ukraine to blunt the russian advance. there is extreme concern at the moment about how quickly russian forces are taking territory inside ukraine, particularly in the east of the country, and the decision to allow ukraine to use these land mines, despite all the controversy, is aimed at trying to slow that advance. and of course, that move comes when there's so much concern about what donald trump will do when he returns to the white house and whether or not he will be pressuring ukraine to come to some kind of arrangement, some kind of negotiated settlement with russia on ending this war.

thank you to sarah for that. let's speak to security expert, maria avdeeva. ijust wondered if i just wondered if you could talk us through, first of all, what difference it will make, this change in policy on antipersonnel mines. this is ureat antipersonnel mines. this is great that — antipersonnel mines. this is great that biden, _ antipersonnel mines. this is great that biden, at - antipersonnel mines. this is great that biden, at last, i great that biden, at last, started to give ukraine what ukraine was asking for many months, and especially atacm missiles, and especially around the curse, it is still unknown how quickly these will be deployed, but the situation is deteriorating every day, and one of the key logistical hubs is preparing for street fights, and the russian troops are getting more and more close, and the ukrainian army is very much out command. there is not enough. there is also not

enough. there is also not enough weapons. these mines could help ukraine in defending the front lines in the east of ukraine, buti the front lines in the east of ukraine, but i also think this is very important to note that it looks like biden is trying to give ukraine everything america has in reserves before donald trump comes to power, and ukraine has two months to use whatever is given to try to change their course of the war, because currently russia is in its fastest pace of offensive in ukrainian territory since the war started.— in ukrainian territory since the war started. given that, do ou the war started. given that, do you think _ the war started. given that, do you think there _ the war started. given that, do you think there will— the war started. given that, do you think there will be - the war started. given that, do you think there will be a - you think there will be a significant change in policy when donald trump comes to power? when donald trump comes to ower? , , ., , power? this is what the people here, power? this is what the people here. this _ power? this is what the people here. this is — power? this is what the people here, this is the _ power? this is what the people here, this is the most - power? this is what the people here, this is the most concern, i here, this is the most concern, that trump will try to change this and try to lower bay american help which is so critical. this is why there is a hope that the biden steps will actually cause a chain reaction, and other countries

will be allowed also to give ukraine the possibility to use their own long—range missiles, for example the british storm shadows, french weapons, and probably germany will supply weapons to ukraine. this together will make a huge change for ukraine in the course of the war. one step alone, it is not as big, but together, united, all these efforts might actually change the ukrainian position, and ukraine will be able to talk with russia from a position of strength. h0 with russia from a position of strenuth. ., , strength. ho significant with that change _ strength. ho significant with that change have _ strength. ho significant with that change have to - strength. ho significant with that change have to be, - strength. ho significant with that change have to be, to l strength. ho significant with l that change have to be, to be in a position, in your eyes, where ukraine is talking from a position of strength? how much territory, how much domination in the conflict would actually be needed?— be needed? currently, what would be — be needed? currently, what would be very _ be needed? currently, what would be very helpful, - be needed? currently, what would be very helpful, if. would be very helpful, if ukraine would be able to effectively target a military

facility inside russian territory, basically pushing the war into russian territory, and showing president putin that this is not so much successful for russia to continue waging the war. also, ukraine has have the possibility to stop the advance of russian troops, and hidden key logistical hubs, cutting the logistical ways for russian to advance their troops, this will be helpful and allow ukraine to change the negotiation position, because for now there is no reason for russia to talk, and they are progressing in the east of ukraine, and why would they sit down and talk about any piece. putin wants to use this time to get as much territory as they possibly can. we can go live to sergei goryashko from bbc russian who's monitoring the situation in riga.

just talk us through the response we have had from the kremlin. ., , response we have had from the kremlin. . , _, , _ kremlin. the latest comments by the kremlin's_ kremlin. the latest comments by the kremlin's press _ kremlin. the latest comments by the kremlin's press secretary, . the kremlin's press secretary, dmitry peskov, are quite reserved, but he is still accusing the us, and other nato allies, of sending those long—range missiles to ukraine, therefore escalating the situation on the front again, yesterday, on russian late—night tv bulletins, a lot of time was reserved to talk about that alleged attack with missiles on russia's region, and they highlighted the fact that russia has actually shot down all the missiles, but they highlighted this is a big escalation move from the west.

again, they were mentioning the changes in the russian nuclear doctrine in accordance with those white house and other western positions to provide ukraine long—range missiles and allow them to attack russian territory. allow them to attack russian territo . �* ., , territory. and we have 'ust heard from i territory. and we have 'ust heard from the i territory. and we have just heard from the ukrainian l heard from the ukrainian foreign minister saying, we must force putin to peace, not asking for peace. what is your assessment when it comes to things like talking to ukraine from the russian position? again, at official level, kremlin still underlines that putin is open for negotiation, but of course on his own terms. before those negotiations, kremlin's press secretary amitri prescott says they will continue their so—called special military operation, in

fact the invasion of ukraine, until they reach their ultimate goals. they don't name all those goals, but they keep seeing that nothing will stop russia from continuing its operation, and they are seeing their is a way for a negotiation, but this is only rhetoric for now. nothing was said about any sort of deal that could be brokered or any sort of circumstances where those negotiations would happen. those negotiations would ha en. ., ~' , those negotiations would hauen. ., ~ , . those negotiations would hauen. ., , . ., happen. thank you very much for cominu happen. thank you very much for coming on _ happen. thank you very much for coming on the — happen. thank you very much for coming on the programme. - here, the uk inflation rate has risen to its highest

level since april. the office for national statistics says it climbed to 2.3 % in october — the sharpest month on month increase for two years. higher energy bills were the main driver, sending inflation back above the bank of england's 2% target. the chief secretary to the treasury darrenjones gave his reaction to the figures. we know the cost of living continues to be a problem for working families across the country, but gone are the days when inflation was at 10% or 11%, driving family bills through the roof. inflation is stable, it's around target, and the key driver of inflation statistics today is that expected increase in the energy price cap set by the regulator ofgem. but the good news is that inflation is stable, it's close to target, and that will be good for working families across the country. the funeral of the former one direction member, liam payne, will take place today. the 31—year—old singer died last month when he fell from a hotel balcony in the argentine capital, buenos aires. his family said the ceremony will be a private occasion for family and close friends. around the world and across the uk,

this is bbc news.

this is bbc news. china has accused pro—democracy media tycoonjimmy lai of being an "agent and lackey for anti—china forces", as his trial resumes in hong kong. mr lai has testified in court for the first time in his years—long battle. he's denied charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and publishing seditious materials. the 76—year—old, whose apple daily tabloid had been openly critical of beijing — was frogmarched out of his was marched out of his newsroom in a police raid in august 2020 — two months after the national security law took effect. the resumption of mr lai's trial is a day after 45 pro—democracy activists were jailed in hong kong under the national security law. our correspondent martin yip is following the trial in hong kong. jimmy lai, since this morning

has been discussing many about his political views, but he also said that he denied allegations like he and his apple daily and next magazine publications have been supporting the idea of hong kong independence and taiwan independence. and he even said that he thought this hong kong independence suggestion was a conspiracy, although, obviously to the prosecutors and people from the pro—beijing camp, theyjust don't believe that is the case. he also discussed how he knew various international dignitaries, how his network was built, including how he introduced some retired us generals to the then taiwanese president tsai ing—wen. he also discussed a meeting between him and the us, the then us vice president mike pence, as well as meeting

with the then secretary of state, mike pompeo, injuly 2019. that's during the height of the anti—government protests in hong kong. he said that he did ask vice president pence to voice out support for hong kong, but he denied that he has ever asked anyone to do anything anti—china, which is, of course, not something that the prosecutors believed in. our thanks to martin for that. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has visited central gaza, vowing to eliminate hamas from the territory. he also announced a $5 million reward and safe passage for anyone who brings out a hostage. 97 hostages are still believed to be in gaza. our middle east correspondent yolande knell updated us on the prime minister's visit.

he was in what the israeli military calls the netzarim corridor. it really divides the top one third of the gaza strip from the rest of the territory, and is under full israeli military control, this area, which palestinians know as wadi gaza. and ostensibly, you know from the video message that mr netanyahu put out, his message was very much about how israel had, he said, destroyed hamas's military capabilities in gaza, how hamas would not return to rule gaza, and also restating israel's intention to bring home the remaining hostages held by hamas. but there are reports in the israeli media that also what he was looking at there is this issue of aid distribution, particularly with the un continuing to highlight how gaza is facing this hunger crisis. and there is renewed discussion, according to israeli media reports,

about the possibility of bringing in private us military contractors to be involved in the distribution of the aid. lebanon has accused israel of a "systematic destruction" of villages close to its border with israel. the idf has been striking villages and towns in the south of lebanon, since its invasion began last month, in response to attacks from hezbollah. israel says its targeting hezbollah infrastructure hidden in civilian areas. bbc arabic�*s carine torbey has been speaking to some of those who have seen their homes hit, and sent this report from beirut. calm, and then, in a split second,it calm, and then, in a split second, it is gone. these

controlled explosions destroyed several buildings, homes, livelihoods. israeli forces have been carrying out mass detonations in towns across southern lebanon since they invaded last month. translation: ~ ., . ., translation: watching the video tore my heart _ translation: watching the video tore my heart to — translation: watching the video tore my heart to pieces, _ translation: watching the video tore my heart to pieces, as - translation: watching the video tore my heart to pieces, as if - tore my heart to pieces, as if the blast was happening inside me. , ., ., the blast was happening inside me. , . ., ., , me. the first village that was almost wiped _ me. the first village that was almost wiped out _ me. the first village that was almost wiped out was - me. the first village that was almost wiped out was right . me. the first village that was | almost wiped out was right on the border. like all residents of these border towns, no deserted, he first saw the explosions on social media. translation: i explosions on social media. translation:— translation: i wanted to cry, but as a man — translation: i wanted to cry, but as a man of _ translation: i wanted to cry, but as a man of the _ translation: i wanted to cry, but as a man of the village, - but as a man of the village, crying seem shameful. i hit my head against the wall, trying to stop myself from crying. these pictures were taken by him a year ago. one had already

started in his hometown. he wanted to capture the place of his childhood, his most precious moments. another border town hit by two ways of detonations. israel says it strikes in lebanon are targeted. it claims it is destroying's hezbollah's infrastructure. translation: it infrastructure. translation: , ., , infrastructure. translation: it is as if you're unchin: translation: it is as if you're punching a _ translation: it is as if you're punching a hole _ translation: it is as if you're punching a hole in _ translation: it is as if you're punching a hole in a _ translation: it is as if you're punching a hole in a piece - translation: it is as if you're punching a hole in a piece of i punching a hole in a piece of papen — punching a hole in a piece of --aer. ~ punching a hole in a piece of .aer_ . punching a hole in a piece of --aer. ~ paper. with each mass detonation, _ paper. with each mass detonation, she - paper. with each mass detonation, she felt i paper. with each massl detonation, she felt the village of her parents and grandparents being destroyed. translation: i trig grandparents being destroyed. translation:— translation: i try to understand _ translation: i try to understand their - translation: | try to - understand their barbarism against _ understand their barbarism against us. it is not myjob to know— against us. it is not myjob to know what_ against us. it is not myjob to know what lies beneath the

village, _ know what lies beneath the village, but what i am certain of is — village, but what i am certain of is that_ village, but what i am certain of is that what was destroyed were — of is that what was destroyed were homes of civilians. a lot of whom _ were homes of civilians. a lot of whom have no political ties. the same _ of whom have no political ties. the same thing happened here. there was the house of a famous poet and artists. as doctors say it was his dream house. translation: i say it was his dream house. translation:— say it was his dream house. translation: ., . ., translation: i watch the video ofthe translation: i watch the video of the exposure _ translation: i watch the video of the exposure nearly _ translation: i watch the video of the exposure nearly a - of the exposure nearly a hundred times, hoping it would stop hurting him. it is not easy to see the moment your home is obliterated.- home is obliterated. israel sa s its home is obliterated. israel says its intention - home is obliterated. israel says its intention is - home is obliterated. israel says its intention is to - home is obliterated. israel. says its intention is to make the north of israel safe from hezbollah rockets, so residents can go back home. but this is what it is doing to houses on the other side of the border. for the residents of these destroyed towns, these explosions blow up their roots, their memories, and their place of belonging.

with the latest round of united nations climate change discussions drawing to a close in azerbaijan this week, what the conference decides will have a direct impact on polar bears living more than 5,000 miles away. over the past five years, the polar bear population near churchill in the canadian arctic has declined by more than 25%, as rising temperatures melt the ice. our science correspondent, victoria gill, reports. i am here on a very robust tundra buggy out on the tundra near churchill, manitoba in northern canada. it's home to one of the most southerly populations of polar bears in the world. they call churchill the polar bear capital of the world. and there is a polar bear sleeping just nearby. we are safely higher up and in a vehicle that it cannot reach, and we are just quietly watching it, having a snooze. watching it having a snooze.

now i'm here with the polar bears international team, including dr flavio lehner. the polar bears here are having they're having a good year, aren't they? what is happening here in terms of the weather that's helped them ? yeah, so in the western part of hudson bay, the bears had a good year because the ice stuck around really long in spring. they could use it to hunt for longer than usual. some of the bears we saw today look really good. so they really profited from this unusually good year. the bears really need that sea ice, don't they? i heard one of your colleagues refer to polar bears as blubber—hunting ice bears, which i really like that expression. that's going to be my expression for them now. why did they need the ice so much? yeah, so the bears use the ice as a hunting platform to hunt seals, which is their main prey. seals are a lot of fat, so they really actually go after this very calorie—rich diet. so really this hunting platform is essential for them. it's basically their grocery store. so with less sea ice available in given years, it's really affecting how much they can eat and starting to affect their survival rates. right, because although it's been a good year this year, what is the pattern of the sea ice?

the reason we talk about this as being a good year is because it's a single year that looks like it used to look like in the 1980s, but since then, on average, the years have been getting less and less ice—covered in summer. so this ice free period in summer where they cannot hunt seals has extended by over a month now since the 1980s. over the last a0 years, the trend was very clear towards less ice and so like less opportunities for bears to hunt seals. is that having a measurable effect on the population here, on the bears here? so we have actually good data there. and we see that since the 1980s, their population has basically been cut in half, from about 1200 bears, plus or minus, of course, it's hard to estimate, to about 600 now. is that directly connected with the planet warming emissions that we're putting into the atmosphere? how is it linked? that's right. i mean, it's simply the fact that we're warming the planet so it gets warm enough to melt the sea ice early in the spring, and it takes longer in the fall to be cool enough for the ice to form.

so it's simply a function of the warming of the entire planet and the arctic as well. thank you so much, flavio, and thank you for standing out in the freezing cold. and we'll be here making a film about this incredible place, its bears and its people, and you'll be able to see that film later on this year. and our bbc colleagues will be covering the un climate talks throughout. thanks to victoria for that. i just want to bring you some of the latest developing lines we have on our main story this hour out of ukraine. we can take you to the capital, kyiv, and this is live pictures of the square in kyiv. first, the us embassy is temporarily closed, as it says it has received information of a potential significant error attack. the second development is that the us president has agreed to give anti—personnel landmines. —— air attack. that

is from a defence official telling the bbc. i'm lewis vaughanjones, this is bbc news. hello. this cold spell of weather does look set to last for another few days, before what could be quite a dramatic change over the weekend. more on that in a moment. in the short term, for the day ahead, after a frosty and icy start, we will see quite a lot of sunshine. still some wintry showers and a cold northerly wind, that wind coming all the way from the arctic, ushering in further wintry showers, particularly in those spots exposed to the wind. so, many places, actually, after that frosty icy start having a decent day with quite a lot of sunshine. but eastern england will see some showers, a mix of rain, sleet and snow. a few for wales, the south—west of england, some wintry showers for northern ireland and frequent snow showers continuing in the north of scotland. further accumulations of snow here with some pretty brisk winds, so temperatures at best — north to south — 2—8 degrees. factor in the strength of the wind, it is going to feel colder than that, and temperatures certainly dropping away during the night.

another cold night. still some wintry showers, but i think they'll tend to clear away from the east coast. a few more into these western parts, particularly in the north—west of scotland. and by the end of the night, you may have noticed there some rain and perhaps some snow pushing towards the far south—west of england, in association with this area of low pressure. now, the centre of this low is set to stay away to the south of us, but it may just get close enough for the south—west of england to see some rain, sleet and hill snow. could even see something wintry across the channel islands. elsewhere, quite a lot of sunshine around. still some wintry showers in spots exposed to the wind and it is again going to feel cold for the time of year. now, on friday, again, we'll see some wintry showers, particularly around the coast, but we could see some rain, sleet and snow getting inland at times. most places, though, by the end

of the day should be dry. still rather cold, but there is a change on the way for the weekend in the shape of this deep area of low pressure, the centre of which is expected to stay to the north—west of us. but notice all these isobars, some very strong winds, some heavy rain sweeping across the uk. but with that, it is expected to turn much milder.

this is bbc news, the headlines... joe biden agrees to give anti—personnel landmines to ukraine — in another reversal of policy. mines are banned in most countries. rising energy bills push uk inflation to its highest level since april. official figures show a greater than expected increase. and �*my brain tumour and me' — we take a look at bbc glenn campbell's documentary on life after a shocking diagnosis. i want to get as much out of every day as i possibly can. this is me living with my brain tumour. yes! let's get more on our top story. the bbc has confirmed reports

the biden administration