what hong kong's minorities think about the protests, and what they mean for the city's diversity. and we talk to the people trying to save australia's koalas from the devastating bushfires. good morning. it is 9:00am in singapore and 1:00am in london. time is running out to stop climate disaster and temperatures rising, says a new report from the un. the un environment aagency says global emissions need to fall by more than 7% every year over the next decade to stop warming by more than 1.5 degrees. we can see the effect rising temperatures are having already, as droughts become more common all over the world, but especially in asia. water levels in the mekong river have fallen to their lowest level in more than 100 years. that has devastating consequences for wildlife, and the tens of millions of people living along the river. and australia has seen one of its longest dry spells. it has made massive bushfires even worse in new south wales and queensland. and in zimbabwe, in southern africa, serious drought is threatening both urban and rural life. the bbc‘s stephen sackur has been there. when the zambezi river is in full flow, you can see why the explorer david livingstone called it "a view for the angels." but look at the falls now. this is what southern africa's prolonged drought means. the volume of water is down by two thirds. here we are at this viewpoint. yes. it's called the horseshoe falls viewpoint, but there's no falls? yes, steve. the change in — the low falls, they're becoming more frequent. who knows — maybe one year there'll be no fall completely, no water. two hours north of victoria falls is hwange national park, a land dying of thirst. hwange has the largest concentration of elephants in all of africa. i don't know if you can see, but there's a group of elephants just over there. now, each elephant needs about 300 kg of food a day. in a drought like this, and you can see how dry it is, that means they're constantly on the move, in a desperate search for food. drought is a killer. 200 elephants have starved to death in the last two months. solar pumps stop water holes drying out, but in drought conditions, the elephant population here is unsustainable. climate change is real. trees are destroyed, the vegetation is lost. those are the issues. beyond the park boundary, subsistence farmers are also struggling to survive in a land dry as dust. climate change is intensifying conflict between humans and wildlife. graphic images show farmers trampled to death trying to defend their fields from elephants. madelina shoko‘s brother was one of them. prolonged drought is also an urban crisis. 500,000 people live in sprawling mbare, in harare. this place simply isn't equipped to cope with an environmental crisis. they've had no piped water here for months. cholera and typhoid are a looming threat. and look what happens at sunset. zimbabwe's power supplies have been crippled by a lack of hydro power. mbare is enveloped in darkness. zimbabweans have endured years of misrule and economic collapse. drought makes it even harder to see a way out. yvonne, in the dark at night, when there's no power, there's no lights, do you and the kids feel safe here? no, we don't feel safe, because some of the people are being robbed at night. there are thieves all over this community, so we don't feel safe if there is no electricity. yvonne mgombe and nine family members huddle together by the light of a candle. zimbabwe's present is grim. its future could be much worse. stephen sackur, bbc news, harare. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. in britain, ahead of the general election campaign, a row has grown over the records of the two leading parties on tackling racism. despite weeks of accusations about his party's failure to tackle anti—semitism, the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, has refused to apologise. he was asked about it in an interview with the bbc. wouldn't you like to take this opportunity tonight to apologise to the britishjewish community for what's happened 7 what i'll say is this. i am determined that our society will be safe for people of all faiths. i don't want anyone to be feeling insecure in our society. and our government will protect every community... so, no apology? ..against the abuse they receive on the streets, on the trains or in any... so, no apology for how you've handled... ..in any other form of life and... i'll try one more time. no apology? no, hang on a minute, andrew. can i explain what we're trying to do? you have, and you've been given plenty of time to do it. i asked you if you wanted to apologise, and you haven't. andrew, i don't want anyone to go through what anyone has gone through... and you've said that several times. i understand that, mr corbyn. i was asking you about an apology. meanwhile, the muslim council of britain has criticised what it called the conservative party's denial, dismissal and deceit regarding islamophobia. the party has insisted it never tolerates any form of prejudice. prime minister boris johnson was challenged on his record. we're having an inquiry into all forms of prejudice and... you're having a broad inquiry, but not one into the specific allegations of islamophobia. and — because if anybody‘s convicted, if anybody is done for islamophobia, or indeed any other prejudice or discrimination in the conservative party, they're out first bounce. also making news today: the us housejudiciary committee has announced its first impeachment hearing will take place next wednesday. it marks the next phase in a process that could lead to formal charges against president donald trump. the hearing will reportedly include a panel of constitutional experts who will testify about the founders' interpretation of impeachable behavior. at least 20 people are dead and 600 injured after a 6.1i—magnitude earthquake hit albania. buildings collapsed and people were trapped under rubble when the tremor happened in the early hours of tuesday. wednesday has been declared a day of mourning. there has been a series of high—profile resignations from malta's government, all connected to the investigation into the murder ofjournalist daphne ca ruana galizia, who was killed by a car bomb in 2017. protesters in malta have demanded the resignation of the prime minister. earlier, joseph muscat‘s chief adviser stepped down amid reports he was being questioned by police. the tourism minister resigned shortly afterwards, and the economy minister has stepped aside. all three deny any wrongdoing. now to the annual event all of washington waits for. yes, it's the turkey pardon, a thanksgiving tradition when the president gives one lucky bird a reprieve. this year, the finalists were bread and butter. don't worry, neither of them will be on table this thursday, but butter received the official blessing. a team of hong kong polytechnic university management, security guards, and the hong kong red cross have searched room by room for any protesters who may still be on campus, coming across the remnants from the siege there. this is after a landslide victory in local elections over the weekend by pro—democracy candidates. kenneth chan is an expert in politics at hong kong baptist university. i asked him if the protests will now calm down or pick up again. i think we have seen a window of opportunity for all sides to try to de—escalate the situation. now, on the weekend, the people have spoken loud and clear. it was supposed to be a de facto referendum on the carrie lam administration and beijing policy towards hong kong over the past few years. and now, we're waiting for carrie lam and beijing to come back with some proactive actions. notjust words, not just very empty, vague responses like, "we have listened to the people, we're going to listen to the people more." they have listened for months, and now we need to see actions. now, failing that, i'm afraid, if they again misjudge the situation, people might come back onto the streets. and the civil human rights front, which has successfully organised a demonstration for more than 2 million people back injune, is about to organise another one on 8 december, the weekend before the international human rights day. so we have to wait and see, but for the time being, people are willing to give peace a chance in hong kong. alright, it is a "wait and see" at the moment. and of course, we have these new pro—democracy local councillors coming in. but we know their power, professor, is pretty limited overall. is there anything that they can do to bring about the change that they want? they intend to do so. now, on the face of it, of course, according to the laws and the constitution, which is the basic law of hong kong, district councils are consultative bodies, and they used to follow the lead of the leaders or follow the lead of the civil servants rather than taking the lead themselves. but the democrats have pledged to do things quite differently. this time around, they would like to see changes bottom—up, and many of them are agreeing to work together, since they now control all but one district councils across 18 districts in hong kong. i think the civil servants would need to learn a new game, new ways of doing things. and these newly elected pro—democracy district councillors tend to do things in a more deliberative, bottom—up way, and even more gender—based analysis of policies, and so on and so forth. so, actually, the government must learn to work with these new group of pro—democracy district councillors. kenneth chan from the hong kong baptist university. now to iran, where a pro—government rally has taken place in the capital, tehran. it follows weeks of nationwide anti—government protests in which dozens of people have been killed. the protests were triggered by the tripling of petrol prices. the government completely shut down the internet, but as that returns, videos suggest that the unrest is on a bigger, more violent scale than was previously thought. kasra naji reports. more pictures of unrest are only now gradually emerging from iran, like these, posted on the internet. a small group of protesters wielding sticks, and even an axe, facing armed security forces in gorgan in north—east iran. gunfire shots ring out, and then two injured people are seen being dragged away. when the protesters faced the security forces throughout the country last week, the iranian authorities shut down the internet and cut off communication lines to stop these pictures reaching the outside world. amnesty international says at least 143 people have been killed, the most violent protests in iran for many years. triggered when the government, without notice at midnight on november 15, increased petrol prices by three times. the next day, many blocked the main roads in cities and towns across the country by parking their cars on the roads. translation: with the rise of the price of petrol, everything else is going to become more expensive. you will not see it today, but soon. but what started as a protest against the price hike quickly became a nationwide insurrection against the clerical leaders. dozens of petrol stations were set on fire, as well as hundreds of banks, government offices, even religious centres. iranian leaders blamed outside powers, particularly the united states. translation: the americans were at the centre of this rebellion and they admitted it. "death to america," shout the hardliners at tehran‘s friday prayers. iran has been under most stringent us sanctions, what the us government describes as maximum pressure, denying iran almost completely its oil revenue — the source of some 70% of its income. with the inflation at more than a0%, and value of the iranian currency plummeting, the prices of many basic foodstuffs have gone through the roof. economic growth is expected to be —9%. all this is music to the ears of donald trump. he tweeted: iranian leaders, shocked by the extent of the unrest, yesterday called for a rally of their supporters in tehran. the top commander of the revolutionary guards warned the us, britain, israel and saudi arabia, "we will destroy you if you cross our red lines." kasra naji, bbc news. also on the programme: the sad news that the koala filmed being rescued from the australian wildfires has died, one of nearly 1,000 that have perished. president kennedy was shot down and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world, the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number 10 to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor, easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot—air balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes, but nobody seemed to mind very much. as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air we need, it's hard cash." cuba has declared nine days of mourning following the death of fidel castro at the age of 90. castro developed close ties with the soviet union in the 19605. it was an alliance that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war with the cuban missile crisis. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. kasia madera is in london. our top stories: a new warning from the united nations — we are falling woefully short of our current targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. with just over two weeks until the uk general election, both main political parties are forced to defend themselves against allegations of racism. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the japan times' international edition reports on the last day of the pope's visit to the country. the pontiff has been speaking about the importance of education. he told people in tokyo that universities should be for everyone, notjust the privileged. look at the wonderful smile from the pope. preparations are under way for a party in the desert, according to the arab news. the pop star enrique iglesias and the opera singer andrea bocelli will both be at the tantora festival in saudi arabia. it's a unique experience set in an ancientjaw—dropping location. and the new york times wonders why dogs are still a man's best friend. the paper put our canine companions under the microscope and found that your pooches friendliness could be coded into their doggy dna. those are the papers. hong kong is a chinese city that has long had a vibrant ethnic minority community, many of whom are south asian. they've come under the spotlight in recent weeks amid the ongoing civil strife. but one pakistani hong konger says a series of controversial incidents have actually given his community an unexpected chance to promote greater understanding of hong kong's diversity. that was a vibrant ethnic community in hong kong. to australia now, where up to 1,000 koalas are feared to have been killed in bushfires across new south wales and queensland. i'm sorry to say the toll includes this koala, called lewis, who was rescued from a bushfire in a video that went viral around the world. animal groups are still combing the charred landscape looking for other survivors. australia's koalas are already in crisis, with the world wildlife fund predicting the animals could be extinct by 2050 in new south wales if current land clearing rates continue. josey sharrad is from the international fund for animal welfare. she explains why they're so at risk. koalas are particularly vulnerable to bushfires. they live high up in highly flammable eucalypt trees. and when the crown fires come through, they are literally incinerated. those that do survive try and climb to the top of the trees and they can suffer from burnt paws, burnt noses and often smoke inhalation. and they can survive up to weeks after a fire, so now it's the search and rescue phase. these fires have been catastrophic. the koala population in new south wales, at least, is already on the road to extinction and this could really push them over the brink. how close is it to extinction? because that is extremely serious given just how significant and popular koalas are across australia. it's a national tragedy. koalas are an australian icon, they are much—loved the world over. numbers have been plummeting dramatically due to excessive land clearing rates. habitat loss is the number one threat to koalas, and these bushfires have been the last straw, so we are really fearful for the future of the species, at least in new south wales, so we're calling on emergency measures. this already vulnerable population should really now be considered endangered and a moratorium on any activities negatively impacting koalas. so how challenging is it to find and rescue these animals after the bushfire? we saw the video of lewis being rescued but unfortunately it's tragic that lewis has passed away. how difficult is it to bring a koala back to full health? it's a really tough task. the first tough task is actually finding the koalas. they're difficult enough to find as it is. they're cryptic creatures, they hide high up in trees, highly camouflaged, like little balls of fur, very hard to spot with the human eye. that's why we've brought in a koala detection dog, bear, because he can smell what we can't see, so he can identify koalas' presence by the smell of their fur and when he identifies a koala he drops under the tree and the humans can come in and find those koalas. but once they are rescued, the road to recovery can be very, very long. a number of these koalas like lewis have had to be euthanised, sadly, to put them out of their suffering. so really now, with that pressure on the species, every individual will count towards the future of this species forfuture generations. the sad news that lewis, the koala that had been saved didn't make it. he passed away. you have been watching newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. stay with us. we will be hearing from the 24—year—old ceo who's helping the world's biggest brands connect to social media. rico, we look forward to that. and to finish we have an update on the robbery at a museum in dresden in germany. we now have pictures of some of the priceless items taken, including this stolen ‘sword of the diamond rose', encrusted with several large diamonds and dozens of smaller ones. also taken was a breast star of the polish order of the white eagle. it was taken, absolutely priceless. hello, once again. i don't know about you but i'm struggling to remember the last time i saw any meaningful sunshine and there's not a great deal of difference as we lose tuesday and move into wednesday, with that low pressure very much the dominant feature, a number of attendant fronts. so really quite wet conditions right from the word go across parts of eastern england, gradually migrating towards the borders. north of it, this ribbon of cloud and rain stretching from the northern to the western isles, fringing into the north of the great glen and at the same time some blustery showersjust running along the channel coasts. still relatively mild, nine to about 12 degrees or so. 0n into the evening commute, still a lot of rain to come across eastern scotland to the north—east of england. somewhat brighter skies in south—western scotland. maybe some western fringes of britain. even as far ahead as thursday, it is still that low pressure that's really driving our weather but beginning to cede ground and that's allowing the first signs of a change in our weather type, certainly into the northern parts of britain but for the greater part of england and wales, you've still have the relatively mild air, enough cloud across northern and eastern parts of britain for there to be bits and pieces of rain. as the weather front comes south, heralding the change to brighter but colder conditions, initially on thursday across the greater part of scotland, but eventually, as the low pressure finally moves off to scandinavia. so the high pressure comes in to dominate and it's the combination of the high to the west and the low to the east that generates quite a strong northerly wind and the clue there is the wind direction. it is a northerly, it's going to be a cold day but a much, much brighter day for the greater part of the british isles. but forget all about double—figure temperatures, bar the very far south west. three, four, five, six degrees for the north of britain, seven or eight in the south. that's the way we start the weekend, a cold and frosty start to the day but yet another set of weather fronts wrapped around an area of low pressure, just moving towards the south—western quarter. some really wet conditions there but away from that south—western part of england, the southern part of wales, it's another cold and bright day. a lot of dry weather around as well, but again, maximum temperature somewhere between about three and seven degrees. now, that weather system really dominates southern parts of britain as we get on into sunday. the flow around its northern flank quite a noticeable easterly or north—easterly wind with a lot of cloud associated with the weather fronts. but elsewhere, until quite late in the day when we have another little weather front to the north of scotland, again, it's a cold and frosty start followed by a bright, dry, sunny sort of day but those temperatures again locked into single figures. you are watching bbc world news. our top story: a new warning from the united nations that time is running out to stop temperatures rising and a climate disaster. our current targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions are short of the limit agreed under the paris climate accord. the un says global emissions need to fall by more than 7% every year over the next decade to stop warming by more than 1.5 degrees. with just over two weeks until the uk general election, both main political parties are forced to defend themselves against allegations of racism and anti—semitism. and this rather sad story is getting a lot of hits on bbc.com. a koala which drew wide attention after being rescued from an australian bushfire has died after failing to recover from his burns. he had been taken to an animal hospital last week in new south