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00:00:10Live from London. This is BBC
00:00:12News. The Houthis in Yemen warn against
00:00:14against the use of airports in Saudi Saudi Arabia after 12 people are
00:00:18are killed in a deadly attack at at Riyadh's international airport.
00:00:22airport. After President Trump accused accused him of prolonging the war,
00:00:25war, President Zelensky says Ukraine Ukraine will stop striking Russian Russian oil refineries if Russia
00:00:29Russia stops hitting Ukrainian energy
00:00:32energy infrastructure. Pope Leo is is to have an operation in the coming
00:00:35coming days for what the Vatican
00:00:36Vatican says is a nodule on his lungs.
00:00:39lungs. Flash floods in central Nepal Nepal sweep away bridges and homes
00:00:43homes as five people are reported reported missing. A second day of
00:00:47of protests in Delhi. As the leader leader of India's Cockroach Janta
00:00:50Janta Party says they will neither
00:00:51neither back down nor be intimidated.
00:00:55intimidated. And eight orangutans orangutans rescued from wildfires
00:00:57wildfires in Borneo are released
00:00:59released into protected forest. Hello
00:01:10Hello and a very warm welcome to to BBC News. I'm Mark Logan. We're
00:01:13We're starting this hour with a major major escalation in the Middle East
00:01:16East conflict because Yemen's Iran Iran backed Houthi group has warned
00:01:20warned airlines and passengers not not to use airports in Saudi Arabia
00:01:23Arabia after the deadliest attack attack on Saudi Saudi soil in more
00:01:26more than a decade. Saudi Arabia Arabia says the Houthi missile attack
00:01:29attack at Riyadh's airport has killed killed 12 people and injured more
00:01:33more than 300. We've received these these pictures from inside the airport
00:01:36airport terminal. Reports say there there was a missile strike on one
00:01:39one of the airport gates. The Saudi Saudi authorities are calling it
00:01:41it a war crime and are promised a a forceful response. The airport
00:01:45airport has been closed and hundreds hundreds of flights cancelled or
00:01:48or diverted for the second time in in less than a month. Schools in
00:01:51in Riyadh have switched to remote remote learning for the week. A number
00:01:55number of Western diplomatic missions, missions, including the UK and US,
00:01:58US, have warned their nationals to to stay away from the airport. The
00:02:02The strike has been condemned by by the United Nations Secretary General
00:02:05General and by President Trump, who who has indicated the US may join
00:02:09join the Saudi campaign against the
00:02:11the Iran-backed Houthis. Well, you're you're going to find out, Steve,
00:02:15Steve, but I think it's terrible. terrible. Well, they're able to defend defend look, the Saudis are good
00:02:19good fighters. But I think the attack attack was a terrible thing. What
00:02:22What happened in Saudi Arabia is
00:02:24is not acceptable. Thank you. Our Our correspondent in the Middle East,
00:02:28East, John Jon Donnison, has this
00:02:29this latest. It's another dangerous
00:02:32dangerous moment in a region that that is already fraught with tension
00:02:36tension and conflict. So we've seen seen those pictures from the airport.
00:02:39airport. Clearly a lot of damage damage inside the terminal. Large
00:02:42Large plumes of black smoke rising
00:02:45rising above the building and reports
00:02:47reports that the hospitals in the the capital are overwhelmed or have
00:02:51have been overwhelmed just by the the sheer number of people injured.
00:02:55injured. More than 300. Now, the the conflict in Yemen has been going
00:02:59going on for more than a decade. decade. The civil war, and that is
00:03:03is between the Saudi backed, internationally internationally recognised government
00:03:06government and the Houthis, who are are supported by Iran. There have
00:03:10have been thousands of lives lost.
00:03:12lost. There has been a humanitarian humanitarian crisis in Yemen. But
00:03:15But in recent weeks the Houthis have
00:03:18have stepped up their attacks directly directly on Saudi Arabian soil. And
00:03:22And that, I think, is all tied into into the broader conflict that the
00:03:26the United States and Israel have
00:03:28have with Iran. You mentioned that
00:03:31that conflict with Iran at the source source of all of this. In a sense,
00:03:34sense, John, President Trump has has already said that he will resume
00:03:38resume bombing Iran after the mid-term mid-term elections, an indication
00:03:41indication of just the impact that that the Iran war is having on the
00:03:44the cost of diesel, of course. And And how much of an issue that is
00:03:47is in the mid-terms. But now, of
00:03:49of course, if the US is mulling getting
00:03:53getting involved in bombing the Houthis,
00:03:56Houthis, that could escalate that that issue again, given the Houthi
00:03:59Houthi control of Bab al-Mandab,
00:04:01al-Mandab, that other important oil
00:04:04oil strait. Exactly. And that the
00:04:07the Houthis are being used really really by the Iranians as another
00:04:10another arrow in their quiver to to try and exert economic pressure
00:04:14pressure on the United States to
00:04:16to try and get a better deal for
00:04:19for the Iranians in to try and end
00:04:21end that conflict with the United
00:04:23United States. But, you know, American
00:04:27American President Trump says he he may intervene in Yemen. I mean,
00:04:30mean, I think that is pretty unlikely, unlikely, certainly before those those mid-term elections. You have
00:04:34have to remember that he was re-elected
00:04:36re-elected promising to end America's America's involvement in conflicts
00:04:39conflicts around the world. Well, Well, America, under his presidency
00:04:42presidency this second term has been been directly and indirectly involved
00:04:46involved in three in this region region alone. So in Gaza, in Lebanon
00:04:50Lebanon and in Iran. I think it's it's unlikely that would go down
00:04:54down very well with US voters if
00:04:57if suddenly in the next few weeks, weeks, America was going to get directly
00:05:00directly involved in Yemen to. Jon Jon Donnison there, the British Defence
00:05:04Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, Streeting, was asked for his reaction reaction to the attack and if the
00:05:08the UK would provide more support support to the Saudis. Well. We're
00:05:12We're already supporting Saudi Arabia,
00:05:14Arabia, we're supporting Saudi with with air to air refuelling support
00:05:18support that enables them to fly fly potentially. I've spoken to my
00:05:22my Saudi counterpart KBS, on a number number of occasions in recent weeks
00:05:25weeks to look at what more we can can do to support Saudi Arabia. And
00:05:29And I'm afraid last night explains
00:05:33explains precisely why we are providing providing that support. I mean, even
00:05:36even in the context of Houthi attacks attacks and an escalation, what we
00:05:40we saw in terms of the attack on on the airport in Riyadh was a shocking
00:05:44shocking escalation. Actually, hundreds hundreds of casualties and an attack
00:05:48attack on a civilian target that
00:05:49that can't be can't possibly be justified justified in any circumstances. Are
00:05:53Are you saying. You could get involved involved in an offensive? The UK
00:05:56UK could get involved in offensive offensive operations? Well, that's that's not what we're looking at
00:06:00at at this stage and we've always always been clear that there isn't
00:06:04isn't a military solution to this this conflict. As Royal Lodge was
00:06:07was just setting out there. There
00:06:10There was a truce. We need to see see a diplomatic solution and Saudi
00:06:13Saudi needs to do that from a position position of strength. And so the
00:06:16the support we've been providing providing the air to air refuelling
00:06:19refuelling support, the ground based based air defences, those things
00:06:22things are having a positive impact. impact. But I think there is clearly
00:06:25clearly more to do, as evidenced evidenced by what we saw last night,
00:06:28night, which I think should be condemned condemned worldwide. British Defence
00:06:31Defence Secretary Wes Streeting Let's Let's bring in Hesham Shawish from
00:06:34from BBC Monitoring our media monitoring monitoring unit. Hi, Hisham. Just
00:06:38Just give us some of the lines that that you are picking up from the
00:06:42the Saudi media on this story. Sure.
00:06:45Sure. So the Saudi media response response has been quite strong. They've
00:06:47They've been providing wall to wall wall coverage over the latest attacks,
00:06:51attacks, and they've been speaking speaking to commentators, observers,
00:06:54observers, military experts. Since Since yesterday's attacks, we have
00:06:57have been seeing a strong lead with
00:07:01with the Saudi coalition statement
00:07:04statement condemning the attacks
00:07:06attacks on both Riyadh International
00:07:09International Airport and the airport airport in Dammam. That's a large
00:07:12large city on the eastern coast. coast. Projectile also fell there.
00:07:15there. And the Saudi led coalition coalition described the attack on
00:07:19on Riyadh as a full-fledged war crime crime and a terrorist attack, and
00:07:22and said that they would respond respond firmly and decisively in
00:07:26in the coming days. So those are are the lines that the Saudi media
00:07:29media have been leading with over over the past 24 hours. And the fact,
00:07:33fact, Hisham, that the Houthis have have warned people to stay away from
00:07:37from airports suggests that they're
00:07:39they're not finished. Exactly. So
00:07:41So this morning we saw this fresh fresh warning by the Houthis for
00:07:44for airlines to avoid Saudi airports airports and airspace. With the exception
00:07:47exception of Mecca and Medina, the the two holy cities near the West
00:07:51West Coast. So for now, Jeddah International International Airport is safe for
00:07:55for flights coming and going. And
00:07:57And it shows. The latest warning
00:08:00warning shows that Houthi signalling
00:08:03signalling towards Saudi, Saudi civil
00:08:07civil civilian aviation is part of of the pressure campaign against against the Saudis to try and end
00:08:10end their blockade on Houthi controlled
00:08:13controlled areas in Yemen. And this this type of warning by the Houthis
00:08:16Houthis is really intended to amplify
00:08:19amplify the psychological and economic
00:08:22economic impact will we've already
00:08:23already seen hundreds of airlines airlines cancel their flights or
00:08:27or delay their flights. So it does does have a major impact. And it
00:08:31it will also make travel travellers,
00:08:34travellers, insurers, airlines more more wary of travel to the airline.
00:08:38airline. So it's intended to cause cause a lot of damage beyond physical
00:08:41physical damage. Let's talk just
00:08:43just for a moment about the Mecca
00:08:46Mecca pact, which is an agreement agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey
00:08:50Turkey and Pakistan, a sort of mutual mutual defence pact that has been
00:08:53been struck recently. And Islamabad
00:08:57Islamabad and Ankara deciding to
00:08:59to deploy troops here. So just explain
00:09:02explain how that is playing into
00:09:03into the story. Sure. So the latest
00:09:07latest attack on airports is a major major one. It's a major escalation
00:09:10escalation and it will really test
00:09:12test the sincerity of the Mecca pact.
00:09:15pact. The response Saudi response response will be waiting to see whether whether it's a short lived escalation
00:09:19escalation or whether it will be be a sustained campaign. We'll also
00:09:22also be watching to see how the Saudis Saudis respond, whether they'll be
00:09:25be going it alone in terms of military
00:09:28military targeting of Houthi run run areas in, in Yemen, which we've
00:09:31we've seen since last night, those those strikes have been taking place,
00:09:33place, or whether we'll see a mobilisation,
00:09:36mobilisation, a diplomatic mobilisation
00:09:39mobilisation in, in the kingdom or or whether we'll see more international
00:09:43international travel by Saudi officials
00:09:46officials to Pakistan, Turkey, the the neighbours like Egypt as well,
00:09:48well, who could have a say. It will
00:09:51will likely will likely see more
00:09:54more an increase in diplomatic lobbying
00:09:57lobbying for countries to either either condemn the Houthi escalation
00:10:01escalation against Saudi airports airports or for an intervention by
00:10:05by both Pakistan and Turkey. The The two signatories of the Mecca
00:10:09Mecca pact alongside Saudi Arabia. Arabia. Hesham Shawish from BBC Monitoring.
00:10:12Monitoring. Thanks very much. Thank
00:10:14Thank you. Now, President Zelensky Zelensky says Ukraine will stop striking
00:10:18striking Russian oil refineries if
00:10:20if Moscow stops striking Ukrainian Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
00:10:23infrastructure. His comments came came after President Trump accused
00:10:26accused him of prolonging the war, war, and said it was time for Ukraine
00:10:29Ukraine to elect a new leader. In In a post on social media, President
00:10:33President Zelensky wrote the real real cause of the war in Europe is is Russia and Russia alone. It's
00:10:37It's possible to stop strikes on on energy infrastructure as early
00:10:40early as today, but Putin does not not want to do so. He goes on Ukraine
00:10:44Ukraine will be ready to stop striking striking Russian oil refineries if
00:10:47if Russia stops striking our energy energy infrastructure. Any de-escalation
00:10:51de-escalation steps must be reciprocal reciprocal and backed by real guarantees.
00:10:55guarantees. Well, the British Defence Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, Streeting, has been speaking on that
00:10:58that as well and says that the UK
00:11:00UK still stands with President Zelensky.
00:11:03Zelensky. Speaking to reporters yesterday, yesterday, President Trump accused
00:11:06accused Mr Zelensky of disrupting disrupting global fuel supplies and
00:11:09and choosing not to end the war with
00:11:11with Russia. You know what I suggest?
00:11:14suggest? I suggest they get a new
00:11:17new leader who can make a deal because because he could have made many deals.
00:11:20deals. But for some reason he never never does. And let me go a step
00:11:23step further. If I were president, president, you wouldn't have ever
00:11:26ever had that war. That war would would have never started. There was
00:11:29was no reason that that war with with Ukraine and Russia started.
00:11:33started. It started due to incompetence. incompetence. It should have never
00:11:37never started. You wouldn't have
00:11:38have lost 30% of your country already.
00:11:41already. You've lost 30% of your
00:11:43your country and you've had over over a million people killed between
00:11:47between the two of them. Over 2 million million people killed. That's a war
00:11:50war that should have never started. started. And I think it's time for
00:11:53for Ukraine to get a new president. president. President Trump choosing
00:11:56choosing to blame the country that that was invaded, not the invader.
00:11:59invader. Well, our correspondent correspondent Joe Inwood told us us how difficult the situation is
00:12:03is for Ukraine. Now that we are hearing hearing reports that the Americans
00:12:06Americans may cut off military intelligence
00:12:08intelligence if it continues to strike
00:12:10strike Russian refineries. What makes makes it really serious? We do know
00:12:14know that the Americans they're not not providing the material support
00:12:16support they once were in terms of of hardware, in terms of resources,
00:12:19resources, but they are still providing providing intelligence support. And
00:12:23And if that were to be cut off, I I think that would be considered considered to be very, very serious
00:12:26serious indeed. Of course, the Ukrainians
00:12:28Ukrainians are still reliant as well well on American manufactured weapons
00:12:32weapons purchased and paid for by
00:12:34by the Europeans. But, you know, know, American patriots and that
00:12:38that sort of thing. And if that were
00:12:40were to be if he were President Trump Trump were out of, you know, a fit
00:12:43fit of pique to say you're not we're we're not going to sell you weapons weapons any more. I mean, there's
00:12:47there's no suggestion of that at at this point, but that's the sort sort of thing that would be very,
00:12:51very, very serious indeed. So I think think the Ukrainians are going to
00:12:54to be viewing this as something they they want to try and dial down the
00:12:58the anger on because I think yesterday yesterday it was interesting listening listening to President Zelensky's
00:13:02Zelensky's statement. His reaction reaction to the news that Donald
00:13:05Donald Trump was going to be buying
00:13:07buying Russian diesel. He sounded sounded absolutely furious. I mean,
00:13:11mean, you can never know what's going going on inside someone's head. But But I listened to that interview
00:13:14interview and he sounded sounded sounded like a cold rage there. And
00:13:16And you wonder if he might have reacted reacted in that rage and now will
00:13:20will be trying to dial it back slightly slightly because the relations with
00:13:24with President Trump have they have have been improving and they've gone
00:13:26gone back many steps, I think. Yeah. Yeah. And of course, we always know
00:13:29know what happens when a world leader
00:13:31leader rises to the bait and counterattacks. counterattacks. Donald Trump, a man
00:13:35man not known for his thick skin.
00:13:38skin. What about whether this will
00:13:40will now spur others to leap ever ever further to Ukraine's defence?
00:13:43defence? We've already had that call call from Downing Street and Andy
00:13:47Andy Burnham promising to meet Zelensky Zelensky in the coming days. I mean,
00:13:50mean, there's going to be a kind kind of a greater rallying around around Ukraine by the other allies,
00:13:54allies, given the fact that the US US is no longer a sort of trusted
00:13:57trusted one, I suppose. Yeah, I think think if I think it goes without
00:14:00without doubt, there's no no doubt doubt that we will see the Europeans Europeans rally around. But there's
00:14:04there's two things here aren't they? they? There's the metaphorical support
00:14:08support or the arm round the shoulder shoulder that they can give him.
00:14:10him. I mean, in the case of the famous famous White House bust-up, there
00:14:14there was a literal arm round the the shoulder for President Zelensky Zelensky from then Prime Minister
00:14:17Minister Sir Keir Starmer. But there there are there's a difference between
00:14:21between rallying round, showing support support and actually offering the
00:14:24the kind of material back up that that Ukraine really needs. They are
00:14:28are doing both of those things, but but there's a limit to the latter.
00:14:31latter. The former is basically an an unlimited supply. They will stand stand shoulder to shoulder, as they
00:14:35they always say. I think that's very very different from, for example,
00:14:38example, replacing the intelligence intelligence support that the Americans Americans give them. The Europeans Europeans are going to find that
00:14:42that much harder. Joe Inwood Poland's
00:14:46Poland's Interior Ministry is holding holding an emergency meeting after
00:14:49after what it said were possible possible assassination attempts against
00:14:52against the country's Prime Minister Minister and the Defence Minister, Minister, a spokesperson said police
00:14:56police had received credible information information about possible attacks
00:14:59attacks against Donald Tusk and Wadsworth
00:15:01Wadsworth Kociniak. Cashmere ministers ministers will be meeting secret
00:15:05secret services later today. The The announcement comes as authorities authorities in Poland have been on
00:15:08on high alert following a wave of of violence in schools that resulted
00:15:12resulted in the death of school caretaker
00:15:16caretaker on Thursday. Pope Leo has has announced that he is to undergo
00:15:20undergo surgery after his doctors doctors detected what he called a a very early stage, a very early
00:15:24early stage nodule in his lung. Leo,
00:15:27Leo, who is 71 years old, said it it was found during a routine check-up
00:15:31check-up and appeared to be well well contained. He thanked people people for their prayers, recovery
00:15:34recovery from surgery is expected
00:15:36expected to take around a week. To
00:15:40To India now, where the leader of of the Cockroach protest movement
00:15:43movement has been released from detention detention as the city sees a second
00:15:46second day of protests, the Cockroach Cockroach Janta Party said its founder,
00:15:49founder, Abhijeet Dipke, was detained detained with other leaders shortly
00:15:52shortly after landing in Delhi to to lead protests seeking electoral
00:15:56electoral reform just months before before crucial state elections. He
00:15:59He began the movement in May after after India's chief justice likened
00:16:03likened some jobless young people people to cockroaches in his first
00:16:06first comments after his release, release, Dipke said the Cjp will
00:16:09will neither back down nor be intimidated.
00:16:12intimidated. Narendra Modi is the the biggest coward this country has
00:16:15has ever seen. Well, protesters have
00:16:19have returned to central Delhi for for a second day. Much of the area
00:16:22area has roads, barricaded offices, offices, shops and restaurants shut
00:16:25shut and internet services are curtailed. curtailed. For now, demonstrators
00:16:29demonstrators are vastly outnumbered outnumbered by security personnel
00:16:31personnel and the BBC has witnessed witnessed many detentions. The Cjp
00:16:35Cjp and other opposition parties parties are calling for the election election commissioner to be sacked
00:16:39sacked over revisions to the electoral electoral roll, an accusation denied
00:16:43denied by the authorities. The Gen
00:16:45Gen Z. The youth has been stopped
00:16:47stopped from being a voter since
00:16:50since 2024 and this is being done
00:16:52done because the government is scared
00:16:55scared that these young generation generation people who are awakened,
00:16:58awakened, who are asking questions, questions, who are asking for accountability
00:17:01accountability will come after them them and will seek answers from them.
00:17:04them. The government does not like
00:17:06like it and therefore it is resorting
00:17:09resorting to violence against the
00:17:10the citizens of this country. Our Our correspondent in Delhi, Arunoday
00:17:14Arunoday Mukharji, has the latest latest from the protests. This is
00:17:17is the first time we're hearing the
00:17:21the senior members of the Cockroach Cockroach Janta Party movement essentially
00:17:24essentially talking about their experiences
00:17:26experiences over the last 24 to 48 48 hours, highlighting what happened happened to them when the police
00:17:30police detained them and criticising criticising the Delhi Police once
00:17:33once again and essentially very, very, very combative in their messaging
00:17:37messaging targeting Prime Minister Minister Narendra Modi as well as as the interior minister or the home
00:17:41home minister as he's called here, here, Mr Amit Shah, accusing them
00:17:43them of shielding the Chief Election Election Commissioner for their own
00:17:46own gains. They've also said the the way in which the Delhi Police
00:17:50Police has gone about carrying out out these detentions across Delhi
00:17:53Delhi to the tune of thousands, they
00:17:54they said that demonstrates the fear
00:17:57fear that the authorities have regarding
00:17:59regarding these protests. They have have not outlined what their next
00:18:03next plan of action is. That still still remains a bit of a question
00:18:07question at the moment. All we've we've heard in terms of them urging
00:18:10urging others to continue their protests, protests, they said that this is
00:18:13is just the beginning of the battle. battle. They've urged people from
00:18:16from other states to go ahead and and protest in any way that they
00:18:19they can to ensure their voices are
00:18:21are heard. At the moment over here
00:18:24here we still see some security that that is there. It is not as strict
00:18:28strict as yesterday. We've seen a
00:18:30a little bit of relaxation, not completely, completely, but there has been a
00:18:34a little bit of difference compared compared to what it was yesterday.
00:18:37yesterday. But there are still barricades barricades and other parts of the
00:18:40the city. We've also heard from the the Supreme Court, which has now
00:18:43now said and asked the Delhi Police
00:18:44Police to review its security measures
00:18:47measures in place and only do it it where it is necessary. Arunoday
00:18:51Arunoday Mukharji staying in South South Asia. Authorities in Nepal Nepal have called for the evacuation
00:18:55evacuation of villages on the banks banks of the Budhi Gandaki River
00:18:58River after severe flooding in the the centre of the country, Nepali
00:19:01Nepali officials say they've rescued rescued 49 people from areas impacted
00:19:05impacted by the flash flood, which which has washed away bridges and
00:19:08and damaged a hydropower facility. facility. Five people are missing. missing. It's believed the flash
00:19:12flash flood was caused by a landslide. landslide. Upstream, the country
00:19:15country remains on high alert after after devastating floods swept thousands
00:19:18thousands of people away seven weeks
00:19:21weeks ago. Well, our global affairs
00:19:24affairs correspondent Anbarasan Ethirajan Ethirajan joins me now. Hi, Anbarasan.
00:19:26Anbarasan. Just give us the latest latest on what you're hearing there
00:19:29there from Nepal as the picture around around these flooding, flooding flooded
00:19:32flooded areas. Officials are now
00:19:34now saying that up to 40 houses have
00:19:37have been damaged because of this this flooding. And also they were
00:19:40were swept away, including one camp camp for a hydropower project. And
00:19:44And the pictures were terrifying. terrifying. You know, you have a
00:19:48a sludge of mud, rocks and water
00:19:51water sweeping away several areas
00:19:54areas of this Budhi Gandaki river. river. And many settlements were
00:19:57were damaged. And that's why Nepali Nepali government officials are now
00:20:01now urging people living downstream
00:20:03downstream of the river to evacuate. evacuate. And the Nepali officials
00:20:06officials have also deployed about about four helicopters. The army
00:20:09army has been deployed and they have have rescued dozens of people, including
00:20:13including some trekkers. The most most important thing is the damage
00:20:16damage to some of the footbridges footbridges and also road bridges
00:20:19bridges because Nepal being a mountainous mountainous country, these bridges
00:20:22bridges play a crucial role in between between connecting various districts.
00:20:25districts. For example, this happened happened in Gorkha district. There
00:20:28There was one bridge that was completely completely destroyed snapping contact
00:20:32contact with the neighbouring district. district. So it makes it difficult
00:20:34difficult for the authorities to to move aid. And the weather is also
00:20:38also not favourable. So this comes comes after, you know, in August
00:20:41August you saw the massive floods
00:20:44floods in both the Koshi River that
00:20:46that caused devastation. So still still they are looking for at least
00:20:50least five people unaccounted for
00:20:52for and also some shepherds are also also missing and they are hoping
00:20:56hoping to make contact with them them later in the day. You mentioned mentioned those terrible floodings
00:20:59floodings floods, of course, on the the border with Tibet from seven
00:21:02seven weeks ago are the roads and
00:21:05and paths still blocked and damaged damaged from those floods and making
00:21:08making it harder even to control control these new ones? Nepal is
00:21:12is already struggling to come back back from the devastating floods
00:21:16floods in late August, and many districts districts were impacted. In fact,
00:21:19fact, they have been building this this Bailey bridge connecting various
00:21:23various step by step. Several hydropower hydropower projects were completely
00:21:26completely wiped out and still there there are thousands of people living
00:21:29living in shelters or with relatives relatives and friends. They can't
00:21:32can't go back to their homes because because many of the villages were
00:21:35were wiped out. And that's why Nepal Nepal says that the reconstruction
00:21:38reconstruction costing cost would
00:21:39would be amounting to nearly $5 billion
00:21:43billion and still 5000 people are
00:21:44are unaccounted for. About 1500 people
00:21:48people confirmed dead and several several relatives are still coming coming and searching on the banks
00:21:52banks of the river and the settlements. settlements. So this has come as
00:21:56as another, you know, big shock for for Nepal. Now they have to deploy
00:21:59deploy more people and more resources resources to tackle this particular
00:22:02particular flooding. And briefly, briefly, are neighbouring countries
00:22:05countries also going to be deploying? deploying? Is there a call for international
00:22:08international support? Nepal is called called for international help and and that's why the Nepalese Prime
00:22:11Prime Minister, who spoke in the the UN General Assembly, called for
00:22:14for a billions of dollars of aid. aid. India and China have already
00:22:17already stepped in giving aid and
00:22:19and on for reconstruction work. Anbarasan
00:22:22Anbarasan Ethirajan thanks very much.
00:22:25much. Some more developing news this this hour. At least 109 migrants
00:22:29migrants have been killed, including including 15 children, after a boat
00:22:32boat sank off the shore of Djibouti,
00:22:35Djibouti, according to the International International Organisation for Migration Migration Survivors said the vessel,
00:22:39vessel, which was carrying 350 people
00:22:41people from Djibouti to Yemen, capsized
00:22:43capsized north of the Djibouti town town of Obock overnight on October
00:22:47October the 8th. Around 116 are still
00:22:50still missing. Hurricane Simon is
00:22:53is bearing down on Mexico's Pacific Pacific coast, bringing torrential
00:22:56torrential rain and sustained winds
00:22:58winds of up to 240km an hour. The The category four storm is expected
00:23:02expected to make landfall near the the port city of Manzanillo in a
00:23:05a few hours' time. Residents on the the coast of Colima and Jalisco have
00:23:09have been warned that eight metre metre waves could bring storm surges
00:23:12surges and coastal flooding. People People have been boarding up windows
00:23:15windows and doors ahead of its arrival. arrival. Simon is the latest in a
00:23:18a busy hurricane season in the Pacific, Pacific, where the powerful El Nino
00:23:21Nino ocean warming phenomenon is is allowing the storms to gain in
00:23:25in strength. Our weather presenter presenter Matt Taylor explains just
00:23:29just how powerful this hurricane hurricane is. Hurricane Simon. It's
00:23:32It's quite a phenomenal storm. We We measure hurricanes on a scale
00:23:35scale of 1 to 5. This is right at at the top end of a four sustained
00:23:38sustained winds. That's mean winds
00:23:40winds of 250km an hour, 155 miles
00:23:42miles an hour gusts much, much quicker quicker than that as well. If I just
00:23:46just show you the satellite imagery imagery of where that storm is at at the moment, you can see the well-defined
00:23:50well-defined eye there it is getting getting close. It's about 60 miles
00:23:53miles offshore at the moment. The The big question mark though forecasters
00:23:56forecasters are having, is just the the behaviour of what is going to to happen with this storm. Is it
00:24:00it going to come on land or is it it just going to skirt parallel to
00:24:03to the coast for a bit longer? Now Now that's crucial because the second
00:24:06second it goes on land because it's it's quite mountainous, just inside inside of the coast, it will rip
00:24:09rip the storm apart quite quickly. quickly. But if it stays offshore offshore for a little bit longer,
00:24:13longer, it means those coastal areas areas will be battered by those catastrophic
00:24:16catastrophic winds for a much longer longer period. We're going to be
00:24:19be piling in more in the way of storm storm surge towards those coastal
00:24:22coastal districts as well. And then then the rainfall is going to be
00:24:25be piling in as well across the mountainous
00:24:27mountainous region just inland. That's That's Matt Taylor from BBC Weather
00:24:31Weather now eight orangutans rescued rescued from the wildfires that recently
00:24:34recently swept through parts of Borneo Borneo have been released into a
00:24:37a protected forest. The orangutans orangutans three mothers and three
00:24:41three mother and baby pairs and two two male teenagers were saved from
00:24:45from various locations in West Kalimantan Kalimantan on the Indonesian part
00:24:49part of the island. Their new home
00:24:51home is the Batu Nambu Reserve, chosen chosen by conservationists because
00:24:55because of the availability of food
00:24:56food and water sources as well as
00:24:59as its connectivity to other forests. forests. Orangutans are critically
00:25:02critically endangered, with just just over 100,000 remaining in Borneo
00:25:06Borneo and Sumatra. Let me just remind
00:25:13remind you of that story that we've we've had in the last hour or so
00:25:16so from the Vatican, which is that
00:25:18that Pope Leo XIV is going to be be operated in the coming days. After
00:25:21After telling the crowds there on on Saint Peter's Square in his Sunday
00:25:25Sunday morning Angelus prayer that
00:25:27that he has small nodules on his his lung, he said recently, during
00:25:31during some medical examinations, examinations, doctors found a localised
00:25:34localised nodule in my lung. It was was detected at a very early stage
00:25:38stage and is well contained. The The doctors believe it is advisable
00:25:40advisable to intervene, so following following their advice, I've decided
00:25:43decided to undergo surgery to remove remove it. The operation is already
00:25:47already scheduled for the next few few days. The 71-year-old pontiff
00:25:50pontiff elected, of course, last last year in Saint Peter's Square.
00:25:54Square. After that conclave, to have
00:25:56have that operation in the next few
00:25:59few days, we will be back with the the headlines in just a moment or
00:26:02or two. Don't go away. Stay with with us here on BBC News.
00:29:56latest news wherever you are. Business
00:29:57Business on BBC News. Make the connection.
00:30:08connection. MUSIC
00:30:14Nigeria has one of the lowest
00:30:17rates of women's political representation representation in the world. So what's
00:30:21what's holding women back from the the ballot? Now on BBC News and Katie
00:30:24Katie Bonner with Focus on Africa
00:30:27Africa The Conversation. Is Nigeria
00:30:32Nigeria ready for female leaders?
00:30:35leaders? The majority of Nigerians Nigerians have not gotten to that
00:30:38that place where we vote on the basis
00:30:41basis of character, competence, capacity,
00:30:43capacity, credibility. If these women
00:30:46women are credible enough. Why can't
00:30:49can't they be the front runners? runners? Even more daring now is
00:30:52is that we don't even have female
00:30:56female deputies any more. Now we we see a lot of man oh man man man man man