coming up on bbc news... wales and ireland take on southern hemisphere heavyweights, as the rugby world cup weekend brings a host of pivotal group matches. good evening. we start tonight in ukraine. as the war there grinds on, today has seen a surge in attacks carried out by ukraine. the russian navy headquarters in crimea was hit by a ukrainian missile, supplied by the west. it's the latest of several attacks ukraine has carried on crimea this month — as they try to step up the four month long counter offensive. the crimean peninsula was annexed from ukraine by russia in 2014. ukraine has accused russia of attacking power infrastructure in what they called "energy terror" as winter nears. our senior international

correspondent orla guerin is in the ukrainian capital, kyiv tonight, and joins us now. is the counteroffensive intensifying?— is the counteroffensive intensifying? is the counteroffensive intensi inc? ~ , ., intensifying? well, it has been a bus da , intensifying? well, it has been a busy day, sophie. _ intensifying? well, it has been a busy day, sophie. from - intensifying? well, it has been a | busy day, sophie. from ukraine's point of view, a successful one. it has managed to hit the headquarters of russia's black sea fleet in the crimean peninsula with a missile. we know there is damage to the building. we are not sure how much. one ukrainian spokesman has said on social media, we wanted a bigger hole. but undoubtedly, ukraine could hardly have picked a more symbolic target. it's a headline grabbing attack, it is a showy attack. it is not the first time that ukraine has struck at russian military and the structure in premier. as ukraine faces into the second winter of war, we know it is suffering heavy losses on the battlefield, although the numbers are a closely guarded military secrets. we have been given

access to a hospital in the south—east, a major regional centre, which is one of the main places where casualties are sent directly from the battlefield. now, doctors there have told us that since russia's full scale invasion in february of 2022, they have treated 20,000 wounded soldiers, and many of them are amputees. sirens under a blanket of darkness, the wounded are brought in. on arrival, each one is numbered. each one a husband, a father or a son. this is the pain of a generation. staff here treat 50 to 100 new casualties every day. another badly wounded soldier has just been brought in. he's in his 20s and one of his legs has already been amputated. this is where you can see

the cost of the war. the cost for soldiers, the cost for ukraine. and there's no let up — the casualties keep coming. oleksiy is 38 and days before lost both of his legs. translation: the in'uries are very severe. h i'm very glad that oleksiy survived. this was caused by a mine explosion. unfortunately, his friends are no longer alive. "war is frightening," says oleksiy. "only a fool wouldn't be scared." "what more can i say? "bullets whistle, mines explode." more than 20,000 injured soldiers have passed through these doors

in europe's newest war, a conveyor belt of broken bodies. even when the fighting is over, for many, the battle will last a lifetime. orla guerin, bbc news, southeastern ukraine. you can watch more of that report from orla, on tonight's bbc news at ten. here, the prime minister is considering a major shake up of the a—level system in england. our political correspondent nick eardley is in westminster, what is rishi sunak looking at doing? sophie, rishi sunak has promised to deliver answers to what he sees as some of the big, long—term questions the uk is facing. earlier this week we had the controversial announcements on net to zero. next, it could be education. because the

prime minister, in downing street, are weighing up some pretty significant reforms of the a—level system in england, as it is at the moment. one of the options that is being considered by number 10 is replacing a—levels with a so—called british baccalaureate. it would involve people studying more subjects than the three four they do at a level at the moment, it would involve everybody who takes them studying english and maths to the age of 18. we know that rishi sunak is a very keen on more people studying maths until 18. i should point out that none of this is confirmed yet, it is being weighed up confirmed yet, it is being weighed up a number10. we confirmed yet, it is being weighed up a number 10. we told that no firm decisions have been made yet. but if it happens, what is certain is that it happens, what is certain is that it will be controversial. some in the education sector think that it would be too expensive. that the money could be better spent on retaining teachers or on rebuilding infrastructure. labour have said that it infrastructure. labour have said thatitis infrastructure. labour have said that it is simply an undeliverable gimmick. but it's possible that we

will hear more details from the prime minister in the next two weeks or so. always remember the political context to stories like this. sophie, a conservative party that is far behind labour in the polls, trying very hard to find something that will capture the political imagination in the run—up to the election. police have found a large quantity of the highly potent painkillerfentanyl, in a new york city nursery where a boy died from exposure to the drug. the authorities say they discovered enough fentanyl and other drugs hidden in the daycare centre to kill half a million people. fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin and has been blamed for a rise in drug deaths in the united states. from new york, john sudworth reports. a small memorial at the door of the daycare centre marks a tragedy that new york prosecutors say has shocked the conscience of a city. one—year—old nicholas domenici died and three other children were hospitalised as the result of exposure to the deadly

synthetic opioid fentanyl, that police say was kept hidden in huge quantities close to the mats in the nursery on which the children played and slept. a place meant to safeguard that ultimate act of trust, the care of children, turned into a crime scene and a family left devastated. "i love him," nicholas' father says. the owner of the nursery, 36—year—old grei mendez, has been charged with murder, along with a relative, carlisto acevedo brito. both are said to claim no knowledge of the drugs. but the police, who are still looking for one other person, say all three were part of a conspiracy. is alleged in the complaint, before emergency personnel arrived at the daycare, before they arrived, mendez and a co—conspirator try to cover up what happened. and all of that happened while the children, the babies, were suffering from the

effects of fenta nyl babies, were suffering from the effects of fentanyl poisoning, and in desperate need of help. fentanyl is a painkiller 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine, and has been blamed for a rise in us drug deaths. in 2010, fewer than 40,000 people died from a drug overdose across the country, with less than 10% fentanyl related. by 2021, the number of deaths had risen to 100,000, with an estimated 66% of them caused by fentanyl. what the statistics don't reveal is the individual human suffering, something new york is now confronting in stark reality. i spoke with the dad, you know, of the baby we lost. it rips your heart out. a death that ought to be incomprehensible is instead the latest grim milestone in a drugs epidemic out of control.

prosecutors say what happened here is inexcusable and unconscionable. new york's mayor, eric adams, as well as speaking emotionally about his interactions with the parents of nicholas dominici and the other injured children, says it should serve as a wake—up call to anyone, anywhere, with children, who keeps opioids in their home. an eight—year—old girl has become the first child in the uk to receive a kidney transplant that means she does not have to take long—term drugs to stop her rejecting the organ. the girl received both stem cells and a kidney transplant from her mother, which meant her body accepted the new organ. our medical editor fergus walsh joins us now. fergus, explain the significance. well, sophie, first and foremost, this is fantastic news for eight—year—old aditi here and her family. she is the first child in the uk to benefit from this ground—breaking new transplantation method.

aditi's health has been transformed, thanks to her mum and a team at great ormond street hospital in london. she has an extremely rare genetic condition which had weakened her immune system and meant her kidneys were failing. doctors came up with a radical new approach, which involved not one but two transplants. the medical team began by removing stem cells from a aditi's mum. these were used for a bone marrow transplant which rebuilt and re—programmed aditi's immune system. six months later, she had a kidney transplant, again donated by her mother, and her reprogrammed immune system accepted the organ as her own. her immune deficiency had to be corrected by having mum's bone marrow first, and because aditi was able to engraft and accept her mum's bone marrow, that therefore meant that her body could then

see her mum's kidney, when it was transplanted, as being part of her. transplant patients usually have to take immunosuppression drugs for life to prevent their body rejecting a new organ. but this makes them more vulnerable to infections, and there are other long—term side effects. but because aditi's immune system matched her mother's, she was able to come off these anti—rejection drugs just a month after getting her new kidney. her parents say she is back at school and doing well. ifeel so happy, actually, yes. i've given the blood cells and the kidney. so happy, yes, of course. i feel perfectly ok, yes. i'm so proud of her. and she is amazing. she is doing very fine, each and every day. and most of the support, i would say, is from her side. because if she was someone who was bogged down by the procedures, or what she listens to on the ward, it could have been much

more difficult for us. on the other hand, she was the one who was actually more outgoing. the procedure is unlikely to be widely used, as the initial bone marrow transplant involves chemo and radiotherapy which come with increased risks to the patient. but for aditi it has been life—saving. mortgage brokers are saying rates should begin to fall following the bank of england's decision to keep interest rates on hold yesterday. good news for many homeowners but it'll make little difference to the hundreds of thousands of people who own flats with flammable cladding and building safety defects discovered in the wake of the grenfell tower fire. because of the problems with their buildings, they are unable to shop around for the best mortgage deals and must stick with their existing lender, as phil hendry explains. it's really upsetting. this is my first home. i wanted it to be fantastic. dan's dream home has turned into a nightmare. his mortgage payments have doubled

for a flat with a leaking roof and other fire safety and building defects. he's paying 8.5% interest on his loan for the privilege. this has been such a traumatic experience. i don't sleep. i'm angry all the time. there's physical symptoms. since i spoke to dan, his psoriasis has flared up with the stress, and it's little wonder. it looks like a solid brick wall. but when i lean on it, the whole thing, including the roof, moves. it's not the only wall that moves. interest rates may have stopped rising, but the defects mean he can't get a better mortgage deal. we've been in a legal battle which has wiped out all of the savings i had. and so to have to pay an extra £500 a month, roughly what it is now, i'm not really sure how i'm going to continue to cover it. his desperation, clear to see. he blames those who make and enforce building regulations for letting him down.

there is some good news for dan. i contacted his mortgage lender, santander, and they've agreed to offer him a lower interest rate. but he's just one of hundreds of thousands of people trapped by the cladding and building safety crisis who can't shop around for the best mortgage deals. it's so frustrating. you have no choice. you have no freedoms. lisa's two—bed flat has a small amount of flammable cladding, the same as was found on grenfell. but because her building is lowrise, it's not eligible for government funding to replace it. i'm in this situation through no fault of my own and not out of choice. so it's, it's really, really galling. lisa is on her lender's cheapest rate, in line with government advice for flats with cladding. interest rate rises may have paused for now, but it's already meant sacrifices. our mortgage repayments have gone up by about £500 a month. so we've had to get rid of the car,

make other savings wherever we can. it's been dreadful. it's ruining me. the bank of england putting a hold on interest rate rises has come too late for roy. he's just handed back the keys to the flat he bought in manchester for the bank to sell. its flammable cladding has been replaced, but it's put buyers off. i have had to see my gp. they have referred me for kind of talking therapies. _ it has helped me to kind of rationalise. | luckily, i'm not a drinker or anything like that. - roy now lives in a house he bought when he became a father. but until the bank sells his formerflat, he remains liable for the mortgage. he's among the first, but probably not the last, to hand back keys for flats affected by the cladding crisis. phil hendry, bbc news. the time is 6:16. our top story this evening: ukraine launches a missile strike on the headquarters

of russia's black sea fleet in crimea. and coming up: we speak to this youtube star about why he's stepping back from the spotlight. coming up on bbc news... after the us make it a clean sweep on the first morning at the solheim cup, europe have spent the afternoon four balls in spain attempting to fight back. a seven—year mission into space to study the asteroid known as the most dangerous space rock in the solar system should reach a dramatic conclusion on sunday. a capsule that has been to scoop up a sample from its surface is due to return to earth finally, landing in a remote part of the us state of utah. science editor rebecca morelle is there for us now.

how are the nasa team there feeling? yes, the clock really is ticking for the team here at the military base in utah. the landing is less than 48 hours away. the helicopters are ready in the hangar, getting ready to go out and bring the capsule back. then the painstakingly slow process of opening it up to reveal what is inside will begin. now, the lead scientist has said they are ready, and he is 99% certain everything will go to plan, but it is just that 1% that is keeping him up is just that 1% that is keeping him up at night. is just that 1% that is keeping him up at night. asteroid bennu, a boulder—strewn rock hurtling through space, the target of a seven year nasa mission. after travelling billions of miles, captured on camera the moment the osiris—rex spacecraft collected its sample in a smash and grab lasting just five seconds. these bits of bennu were stowed in a capsule. now they're heading back to earth. we're looking at material that existed before our planet did.

in fact, some of it may have been from even before the solar system formed. so we're looking at the beginning of our story. how did our solar system form, how did asteroids come together? and did asteroids like bennu literally make the earth a habitable world? the capsule's landing site is a vast wilderness, a military base in the utah desert. asteroid bennu is 500 metres in size, taller than the empire state building. it's shaped like a spinning top, bulging at its middle. and although it looks solid, it's actually a pile of rubble loosely held together with a little bit of gravity. but bennu tops the list of nasa's most dangerous space rocks. its orbit around the sun can bring it close to the earth — sometimes dangerously close. and the chance of a collision is one in 1,750. that's like tossing a coin and getting 11 heads in a row.

and the 24th of september 2182 is the date it's most likely to hit. it's a very low likelihood of hitting the earth, and that's more than 100 years in the future. but it's really important to characterise its orbit, to understand its physical properties, so that if we do need to do anything to deflect asteroid bennu or another asteroid in the future, we are prepared and have all of the information that we can. the return won't be easy. the capsule will speed through the earth's atmosphere at more than 27,000mph before descending down to the ground, slowed by parachutes. the nasa team has been practising in the desert, working out the best way to recover the craft after it comes down. it's vital to keep the extraterrestrial material inside free from contamination. all eyes are now on this patch of utah desert, ready for the landing. the hope is this mission could

answer that most profound question. rebecca morelle, bbc news, utah. the family of a teenager who died while challenging an nhs decision over her life preserving treatment say they were brutally silenced by the courts. the 19—year—old can now be named after legal restrictions were lifted. the patient had mitochondrial disease and died after a cardiac arrest before the eu court of protection could hear her case. she needed end—of—life care rather than on curbing treatment. her family say they were deeply disturbed by how they were treated by the hospital trust and the courts. ~ . , ., courts. we have been gagged, silenced and _ courts. we have been gagged, silenced and most _ courts. we have been gagged, silenced and most importantly| silenced and most importantly prevented from accessing specialist treatment abroad. had she been allowed to seek treatment six months ago, it might well be that she would

still be with us and recovering. she said she wanted to died trying to live. detectives investigating the death of ten—year—old sara sharif in woking last month have released new pictures of her. they're hoping the images will prompt more people to come forward with information about sara, and herfamily. sara's father, stepmother and uncle have been charged with her murder. here's our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford. a smiling sara sharif, seen here in a picture that's much more recent than those we had seen before. surrey police have released the image and a school photograph in the hope more people will come forward with information about her and her family. both pictures show her wearing a headscarf, as she usually did in the last few months before her death. ten—year—old sara was found dead here at her family home in woking just over six weeks ago. she was discovered with what prosecutors described as a constellation of injuries.

detectives have said the injuries were multiple and extensive. her uncle, faisal malik, her father, earl urfan sharif, and her stepmother, beinash batool, all appeared at the old bailey on tuesday by video link, charged with murder and causing or allowing the death of a child. they'd flown to pakistan the day before sara was found dead and flew back last wednesday but without sara's five siblings, who are in the care of the pakistani government. they face trial next september. detectives are still investigating sara's death and still want any information no matter how insignificant, that will help them to piece together a picture of her life. they hope the two new photos willjog people's memories. daniel sandford, bbc news. youtubers now rank as some of the most famous and influential people — nowadays better known than some hollywood stars — and they're making a lot of money.

daniel middleton, better known online as dantdm, is one of britain's most successful youtubers who's famous for video game commentaries. he's posted thousands of videos across three separate youtube channels, which have reached more than 34 million subscribers. overall, he's clocked up over 21 billion views. huge numbers. he doesn't often do interviews but our culture editor, katie razzallm got to meet him. hey, guys, it's dan here. welcome back. i've been playing video games ever since i was young. the views were just ridiculous. we are going to be doing the diamond mine cart experiment. we hit the most viewed channel on the entire site. i still look back and i'm just, like, that's crazy. get in there. at one point, dantdm was the most watched youtuber in the world. for more than a decade he's made videos about gaming from his house that turned a boy from aldershot into one of britain's most successful and richest youtubers. welcome back to minecraft legends.

dan middleton — his real name — turned his love of minecraft into a cultural brand, with a reported net worth greater than many footballers. he's released books and lent his voice to disney movies. i'm yourfriendly ebay alert messenger. at one stage, his channel was getting 400 million hits every month. i was really shy at school. like, you wouldn't catch me doing anything like this. a lot of youtubers are naturally introverted but very creative. but as you see, it's set up like a movie, there's camera angles. what did you think when you realised how much money could be made from this? couldn't really believe it. i mean, i wasn't really using it because i was making videos. i was in a lucky position where i started it at the right time. youtube just grew exponentially over that time, so a platform with that many eyes on it is going to make money. dan was his own production house, making two videos every day.

with anything, when it's growing, it gets a little bit addictive. you're like, "oh, i can keep uploading and then try out new things, see if they work, if they don't." can you walk out the door and not be recognised? or are you somebody who gets recognised and has to wear a hat? it literally happens every day. i have made a lot of videos — a lot of them. age 31, this year, dantdm announced a scaling back from making videos. he's been open about struggling with depression after becoming a parent during the pandemic. i think if you're making content at that rate, whether it's youtube, even if you're, like, a musician or a playwright, you're a writer, if you're doing something every day, you're going to burn out at some point and need a break. do you feel like you're taken seriously as a creative? it did take a long time because people thought, oh, they see the 20 minute video. "you just record it for 20 minutes, uploaded it, that's it." but now i think there is that respect there. if you're successful on the platform, you're doing something right. you are creative. you're just good at what you do. dan sells out arenas. a british success story at a time when the internet has become more

and more central to our lives. katie razzall, bbc news. we are going back to entertainment from the past now. have a look at this. 50 years ago tomorrow, in the early hours of the morning, the wigan casino nightclub hosted its first—ever northern soul all—nighter, and it quickly took off. coach loads would arrive at the club in greater manchester to do this — dance the night away as the northern soul music and dance culture exploded in 1960s north of england. the club no longer exists in physicalform in wigan but its spirit lives on and fans will be celebrating this weekend, as david sillito reports. # do you want me to get down on my knees? # beg you, baby, please # cry a million tears?# the fabled wigan casino in its �*70s heyday, and one of the few nights a camera was allowed in, for a film about young people who travelled from across the country to dance all night to what had become known as northern soul.

there is even a blue plaque to it, but the casino itself has long gone. in its place, as you can see, is a shopping centre. but that's not stopped the veterans. 4000 are gathering here in blackpool this weekend to celebrate this anniversary, and it's also a reminder ofjust how far northern soul has travelled. and you've flown in from austria? yeah, straight from austria. how far have you travelled today? all the way from chicago, illinois. i was there on the first night. yeah. and i'm going into my 70th year. what a start to the year. it's brill, in't it? this is just amazing. the saying, northern soul is a way of life — it completely is a way of life. and one of the stars from that original wigan film of the �*70s was chris here, who was worrying about telling her dad.

i'm going to tell you, dad, because he's got an idea anyway, you know? it'sjust, i'm not telling him. 45 years on, we tracked her down. did your dad ever approve of you going? well, he knew about it when he saw the film, didn't he? looking at it these days, what was it like in there? oh, it was. it was banging. like, you'd go and sweat was dripping off walls. # 0h, tell me...# . saw that— and i thought, i want to meet her. i want to meet her. you're a star. i found you. have i changed? nothing. nothing has changed. # follow you around, everywhere in town...# northern soul. and it's far more than just wigan. it's a community that's spread around the world. and 50 years on, thousands are this weekend keeping the faith. david sillitoe, bbc news, blackpool.

time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. with a rainbow! and i will show you a very different headline in a minute. we are coming to the end of summer officially. from tomorrow, it is the equinox, so the sun is directly over the equator, but the headline for the weekend — remnants of hurricane to bring tropical air over us. it does sometimes happen this time of the year. he was the hurricane, called nigel, in the atlantic, the ay spinning around. the tail end of this system is approaching us right now. strong winds and rain to some parts of the country, but also one dose of subtropical air to more southern and south—eastern parts. the temperatures will rise in the coming days. at the moment, we have a north—westerly, coming from the coat direction, so pretty chilly. the fresh morning on saturday, sheltered glens, even a touch of

frost. forthe sheltered glens, even a touch of frost. for the rest of us, seven or eight celsius. you will feel the chill, but the sun will be out in the wind will be light. here we have the wind will be light. here we have the remnants of that hurricane, no longer a hurricane, of course. the remnants of that hurricane, no longera hurricane, of course. it will bring cloud, outbreaks of rain initially to ireland, then the cloud will thicken across the west. decent temperatures, 18 celsius in london, the mid—teens in scotland. through saturday into sunday, that one plume of their spreads across the country, and the warm air will be with us over the coming days. sunday, outbreaks of rain, difficult to summarise the weather across the uk because you can see it varies quite a lot. to the west and north, heavy rain, stronger winds, a lot. to the west and north, heavy rain, strongerwinds, but a lot. to the west and north, heavy rain, stronger winds, but warmer a lot. to the west and north, heavy rain, strongerwinds, but warmerair spreading across much of the country. around the moray firth, i wouldn't be surprised if it reaches 20 celsius. sunday afternoon and into the evening hours, gayle is out to the west and heavy rain. further east and south—east, pleasantly warm. back to you. thanks, tomasz.

and that's bbc news at six.