hello, i'm rich preston. ukraine says russian commanders were among those injured in friday's missile strikes on the headquarters of russia's black sea fleet in occupied crimea. the building in sevastopol appears to have been hit by at least two missiles, causing extensive damage. there are reports that the missiles used were storm shadow missiles — supplied by britain and france. it comes as reports in us media suggest america is planning to give ukraine more advanced, longer—range missiles to help with its ongoing counteroffensive against russia. with me is the bbc�*s europe regional editor, danny aeberhard. who can tell us more. what has each side been saying about this attack? we've had a new interview the head

of the ukrainian military intelligence. he said that basically nine people were killed and 16 injured. we are not clear how he got that information, we are not clear whether it is true, it certainly hasn't been verified yet. one of the things he said was that two russian generals had been badly injured in the attack. one is part of the operation in zaporizhzhia which lies to the north—east of crimea and the other person is linked to russia's north sea fleet. both those people apparently, according to ukrainian military intelligence, badly injured. he did not comment on reports that the admiral of russia's black sea fleet was killed, so that certainly, even from the ukrainian side, hasn't stood up in any way.

ukraine special forces have also commented. they have said basically the attack was timed to coincide with a meeting of the leadership of russia's naval forces but with a meeting of the leadership of russia's navalforces but again with a meeting of the leadership of russia's naval forces but again they gave no evidence for that claim and it hasn't been independently verified. russia on the other hand has stayed remarkably quiet. they have got quieter, so the russian ministry of defence initially said one service person had been killed. they then said one person was missing and the story itself disappeared as the day went by in the mainstream russian media. talk to us about — the mainstream russian media. talk to us about the _ the mainstream russian media. talk to us about the significance of the location of this attack in crimea. it is the heart for russia of occupied crimea. it has been for a long time the location of russia's naval forces in the black sea. long time the location of russia's navalforces in the black sea. up long time the location of russia's naval forces in the black sea. up to 2014, that was done on a leasehold

basis, it least it from ukraine but then russia illegally annexed crimea and now claims the peninsula to be its own, that is not recognised internationally. it is an incredibly embarrassing thing for the russians. and sevestopol is being attacked again. there have been further tax this morning. so the proxy governor for russia in sevastopol has said it was hit by russian air defences and debris fell near a peer in a bay the sevastopol area. debris fell near a peer in a bay the sevastopolarea. he debris fell near a peer in a bay the sevastopol area. he has also talked in social media about panic in the town. he said people should stop spreading panic, this is actually helping the enemy, what ukraine wants but it is clear from the posts

there has been serious fears in sevastopol about access to bomb shelters. they are intriguing developments. we shelters. they are intriguing developments. shelters. they are intriguing develo - ments. ~ ., , developments. we mentioned this comes amid _ developments. we mentioned this comes amid reports _ developments. we mentioned this comes amid reports in _ developments. we mentioned this comes amid reports in us - developments. we mentioned this comes amid reports in us media i developments. we mentioned this i comes amid reports in us media that america might be willing to send longer range missiles to ukraine. what more do we know? these are sourced to media reports an unnamed officials, these weapons ukraine has been looking to get hold of since the early days of the war. the main reason is its range, up to 300 kilometres. they would be fitted to the high master system, the rocket delivery system is that it already has but washington has not confirmed this, neither has keith and we know for example when they would be delivered and we don't know about the warheads that they would be

fitted with. one thing about the range but also how they are tipped. the suggestions are that they would be fitted with cluster munitions not with bunker busting weapons that would be able to be used on the concrete bridge that connects occupied crimea with mainland russia. ~ ., occupied crimea with mainland russia. ~ . ., russia. we will leave it there for now. russia. we will leave it there for now- thank _ russia. we will leave it there for now. thank you. _ former prime minister, borisjohnson has warned the uk government against scaling back the high speed rail project hs2, amid speculation part of the route could be scrapped. the criticism comes as dozens of company bosses and business groups in england have signed a letter urging prime minister rishi sunak to re—commit to the high—speed railway. costs around hs2 have increased significantly and are now well above its original budget of £33bn, which was set a decade ago when work on the line began. noor nanji reports. it's a massive, decades—long project, meant to create more capacity and speed up journey times.

but hs2 has also been plagued by delays, cuts and spiralling costs. it's not the first section, between west london and birmingham, that is in question today. that's due to open by 2033. a central london terminus at euston is meant to come later, although work on that has been paused. but question marks hang over the line that is meant to link the west midlands and crewe before heading on to manchester. an eastern leg is also planned, but this has already been scaled back. recently, the prime minister, rishi sunak, and chancellorjeremy hunt have not been willing to say that they are committed to hs2 being built to manchester, casting fresh doubt over the project's future. labour's shadow chancellor rachel reeves has also refused to commit. now dozens of business leaders in groups including manchester airport's group, british land, virgin money and the northern powerhouse have all signed a letter calling for clarification and renewed commitment to hs2.

the letter expresses deep concern over the constant uncertainty of the project, adding that repeated mixed signals are damaging the uk's reputation as a place to do business. and i hope the prime minister takes the weekend to reflect on being a northern mp and what he should be putting first, the future of the country or the short—term interests of the conservative party. because former tory leaders and britain's leading business people are all telling him he needs to think again before he makes what might be his worst decision is prime minister. today, the chair of the national infrastructure commission warned against truncating the line. the importance of this railway line is that it connects the three principal cities in britain, london, birmingham and manchester. it's a significant part of the government's levelling up agenda. it has already creating big opportunities in birmingham. it will do the same in manchester and across the north west, it will link into the government's new railway which it's planning to build between manchester and leeds. this is a fundamental part of levelling up, and to stop it now would be a tragedy.

former prime minister borisjohnson has also weighed in, urging the government against building a "mutilated" version of hs2. on thursday, the chancellor insisted no decisions had been made. but once again, the route ahead for hs2 seems uncertain. noor nanji, bbc news. social care reforms will be at the centre of the liberal democrats' offer to voters as the party's autumn conference begins in bournemouth on the southcoast of englnd. free social care in england, help for families in the cost of living and increased pay and time off for parental leave are expected to be announced by party leader ed davey, who is hoping to build on a tring of recent by—election successes in traditionally conservative constutuencies. live now to our political correspondent helen catt, who's at the conference. what should we'll be watching out

for. , , ., what should we'll be watching out for. , , . , what should we'll be watching out for. , . for. this is a big conference. the liberal democrats _ for. this is a big conference. the liberal democrats haven't - for. this is a big conference. the liberal democrats haven't been. for. this is a big conference. the - liberal democrats haven't been able to meet since the last general election and that's due to a combination of covid and last year they had to cancel the event after they had to cancel the event after the queen died. the focus is very much looking towards the next general election. we are getting the policies and the sort of, they are putting together a pre—manifesto to their members today, telling us what their members today, telling us what the ground is the liberal democrats will fight on. we are expecting a lot of policies to come out and earlier i spoke to the leader, sir davey, and he was very clear that this is about the next election. well, we are firing the starting gun

for the next general election. the party's in great heart after so many by—election victories in tory heartlands, showing that in large parts of the country, it is the liberal democrats who are the ones who can beat the conservatives. so party members are very buoyant, as you've seen, and we are looking forward to lively debates. we will be debating our pre—manifesto. the only party putting forward a draft manifesto this early on, to set out our vision. we want a fair deal for the british people, and we are going to focus on the economy, and particularly on the health service. we want to give people a much better health service and a care system too. health is expected to be a major part of the policies announced this weekend and in fact, one that was announced even before the conference was the one you spoke about, about providing free personal care to everyone who needs it in england. that is things like helping people to wash, helping them to take medication, at home. that comes with a £5 billion a year price tag but

they reckoned they would save £3 billion a year in cost to the nhs and by some people not having to go into care homes. another big announcement that came in this morning was a big announcement on parental leave that you mention. the liberal democrats say they would extend the amount of time that parents can take off as paid leave from 37 weeks to 46 and they would also double the amount parents are paid during that time from the current rate ofjust over £172 a week to £350 a week. they would also extend the right to be paid to self—employed people, so it's a big offer, a big eye—catching offer. they haven't quite set out they would pay for that yet but that is what they are putting out as part of this election pitch that we are hearing. i'm sure we will hear a lot more about that as we go. we hearing. i'm sure we will hear a lot more about that as we go.- more about that as we go. we saw ictures more about that as we go. we saw pictures earlier _ more about that as we go. we saw pictures earlier of _ more about that as we go. we saw pictures earlier of a _ more about that as we go. we saw pictures earlier of a davey - more about that as we go. we saw pictures earlier of a davey arriving | pictures earlier of a davey arriving on his bike, one of the big

political stories was around the environment and rishi sunak pushing back on some of the previous climate pledges that the uk government have made. are we anticipating that this cycling arrival might suggest the lib dems have some environment policy is to unveil as well?- policy is to unveil as well? partly. partl it's policy is to unveil as well? partly. partly it's because _ policy is to unveil as well? partly. partly it's because the _ policy is to unveil as well? partly. partly it's because the lib - policy is to unveil as well? partly. partly it's because the lib dems l partly it's because the lib dems like to do things in a colourful way. it's attention grabbing but they have been fighting very strongly on environmental issues, in particular sewage and water ways and thatis particular sewage and water ways and that is certainly something we would expect to hear more about this weekend. it's been a big campaign issue for them. i would expect something on that, absolutely and they did reference rishi sunak�*s changes this week. they described it as an act of vandalism.— as an act of vandalism. helen catt, our political _ as an act of vandalism. helen catt, our political correspondent, - as an act of vandalism. helen catt, our political correspondent, thankl our political correspondent, thank you. the international red cross says it's managed to deliver 70 tonnes of relief aid to nagorno karabakh,

for the first time since azerbaijan captured the disputed territory in a lightning operation five days ago. tens of thousands of armenians have sought refuge in the main city stepanakert, where food and medicine are running low and power cuts are frequent. now it's time for a look at today's sport with hugh ferris. hello from the bbc sport centre. we've reached the stage of the rugby world cup where quarterfinal places could be won and plane tickets home might well be booked too. and with this pivotal weekend comes the biggest match of the tournament so far. the top two in the world meet later on saturday in paris, as both ireland and south africa will attempt to take control of their pool, as andy swiss reports. it is paris but it feels like dublin in disguise. a bar by the moon on rouge, ireland fans already flocking for what is the match of the tournament so far. are they

confident they will be south africa? just a little. i think ireland have a great chance and fair play to them. we are number one in the world and we will win the world cup! i think they will win. 100%. you | and we will win the world cup! i - think they will win. 100%. you can't beat number _ think they will win. 100%. you can't beat number one _ think they will win. 100%. you can't beat number one in _ think they will win. 100%. you can't beat number one in the _ think they will win. 100%. you can't beat number one in the world. - tonight's match might be a group game, but it feels more like a final. ireland are the six nations champions, but south africa, of course, are the world champions after their triumph in 2019. well, so far ireland have been unstoppable at this world cup. in their first two games, they scored some 141 points, but they know their title credentials are about to face the very toughest test. no, it's not a must win. it's not a must win. it's not a do or die type of game. but it's pretty important to both teams, let's put it that way.

it's a big day for the farrell family, with andy's son owen returning to captain england. they're up against chile, the lowest ranked team in the tournament. but they know there's no room for complacency. you've got a group of lads that are wanting to go and add to what we've already done. two good wins so far, but we're not underestimating the opposition. england no victory in lille and the quarterfinals will be beckoning. the early game of the day at the rugby world cup involves two teams in niether of the pools we've just been discussing. georgia and portgual are playing in toulouse. the usa's lead over europe in the solheim cup is still two points after the second morning's foursomes. that meant they started the fourballs at finca cortesin 7—5 ahead. europe are very much in a position

of strength heading into what is the early stages still of that afternoon session in southern spain. but all square and all three looking to make some advantage out of the situation that saw them 4—0 down after the first round of matches yesterday morning. normal service has been resumed in formula one, with runaway leader max verstappen securing pole for the japanese grand prix, after his blip last weekend in singapore. the red bull driver was over half a second clear of the impressive oscar piastri in second, with mclaren team—mate lando norris in third place. red bull could secure the constructors' championship this weekend. it's been really enjoyable, a lot of fun to drive and it gave me a lot of confidence to push, especially in the first sector. it has been really, really nice to drive, especially in qualifying. four players are making their england one day debuts in what is a shadow squad for the series against ireland.

one of them is sam hain, and he's got a half century at trent bridge. willjack�*s out. just over five overs of the 50 to go. the england players selected for next month's world cup in india are being rested for these matches. meanwhile, in a match that does serve as a legitimate world cup warm up, bangladesh are chasing 255 to beat new zealand in mirpur. after ten overs, 60 — three. three games in the english premier league kick off in the next hour. follow them on our website. and that's all the sport for now. president xi is presiding over the opening the asian games in the eastern city chinese city of hangzhou. security has been tightened around the stadium where the ceremony is taking place. leaders from asia and the middle east are in attendance. they include syrian leader bashar al—assad.

earlier he met with president xi, with the two countries announcing a new strategic partnership. mr assad is visiting china for the first time since civil war erupted in syria 12 years ago. but western nations refuse to engage with syria whilst assad is still in charge, with the us saying there no plans to normalise relations. mr assad is looking to bolster his presence on the world stage after attending an arab league summit in may. the games themselves are the biggest sporting event china has hosted in more than a decade. more than 12,000 competitors from 45 nations will take part. they include a contingent of athletes from north korea. let's ta ke let's take a quick spin to france and the velodrome in marseille where the pope is visiting. the visit comes amid heightened tensions across europe around migration. the

pope recently commentating that those who risk their lives at sea are not invaders. this of course referring to people travelling from north africa to europe. pope francis said on saturday that migration was not an emergency but a reality of our times. not an emergency but a reality of ourtimes. meanwhile, france's our times. meanwhile, france's interior minister ourtimes. meanwhile, france's interior minister pushed back saying that while his country —— that his country would not welcome any more migrants to france. sudan's army chief has said he is willing, in principle, to hold talks with his paramilitary rival to end the civil war that broke out in april. general abdel fattah al—burhan, head of the sudanese armed forces, said he was ready in principle to sit down with mohamed hamdan dagalo, leader of the rapid support forces. the two men have been fighting a brutal war, which the united nations says has left more 5,000 people dead and more than five million displaced. our diplomatic correspondentjames landale spoke to the general in new york, and began by asking him

why neither side appeared willing to engage in peace talks. translation: we have the desire and the will to end this war. - we know the suffering of the sudanese people. we know the atrocities committed against the sudanese people. we are ready to engage in negotiations whenever. are you prepared to sit down and talk with the rsf leader hemedti? translation: if the leadership of this wilderness forces has - the desire to return to its senses, and pull its troops out of the residential areas, and return to its barracks, then we will sit with any of them. but in principle, are you ready to sit down and talk with him? translation: absolutely. whenever he commits

to what we agreed injeddah, we will sit to resolve this problem. the comedian and actor russell brand has made his first public statement since sexual assault allegations were made against him a week ago. in a video posted on his youtube channel, he did not directly address the claims but thanked his supporters for questioning the media reports. he also criticised the government and technology companies. simonjones has this report. hello there, you awakening wonders! back on social media for the first time in a week. obviously, it's been— an extraordinary and distressing week, and i thank you very much. for your support and for questioning the information that you've been presented with. - july 1st, 2012, was when my rape happened. this week, russell brand faced allegations of rape and sexual assault following claims by four women made in an investigation by channel 4's dispatches

and the sunday times, claims he had previously denied. he insisted his relationships had always been consensual. the bbc also heard from one woman who said in 2008, in this building in los angeles, where russell brand was recording his radio 2 programme, he allegedly exposed himself to her in a bathroom beforejoking about the incident minutes later on air. and one comedian who worked with russell brand in the early 2000 said he had had concerns about his behaviour, claims mr brand has not responded to. a lot of the modelling | agents would sit down and tell their models, - tell their stables, warn them about him. things like, you know, - people go back to his house and they fooled around and then if they didn'tl want to go all the way, _ he had a reputation for sometimes getting angry or a bit nasty if people wouldn't sleep i with him the first time. youtube has now suspended russell brand's channels from making money from adverts for violating its creator responsibility policy.

the culture, media and sport committee had expressed concerns about mr brand being able to monetise his content, something the comedian hits out at on his latest video. by now, you're probably aware that the british government have asked big tech platforms to censor our online content and that some online platforms have complied with that request. in this three—minute video, russell brand does not directly address the allegations he's been facing, but he does talk about what he calls "media corruption and collusion". the bbc has made several requests to speak to mr brand over the past week, but he has chosen to talk directly to his followers on social media rather than facing outside scrutiny. russell brand says he'll post another video on monday as investigations into his alleged behaviour continue. simon jones, bbc news. pro european protesters are marching in central london today.

the national rejoin march is due to culminate with a rally at parliament square. they want the prospect of britain rejoining the european union back on the political agenda. speakers include the former belgian prime minister guy verhofstadt and anti—brexit campaigner gina miller. to hawaii, where some small signs of hope are sprouting, after wildfires devastated an iconic banyan tree on the island of maui. this is what the 150—year—old tree looked like after deadly fires ripped through the town on lahaina in august, with some residents fearing it might die altogether. but now, the tree is showing fresh signs of life. you can see green leaves shooting up along what is believed to be the largest banyan tree in the country — giving a signal of hope to those still recovering from the devastating fires. and a man's been arrested after being spotted climbing a london skyscraper known as the cheesegrater. these pictures show a free—climber making their way up the 225m leadenhall building in the centre of the city without any climbing equipment. police say a suspect was met

by officers on the roof and taken into custody. don't try this at home! hello. for most parts of the uk, a chilly start has given way to some saturday sunshine. but there are some changes to come through the rest of the weekend. it is going to turn a little bit warmer, but it's also going to turn wetter and windier thanks to this weather system, which you can see on our earlier satellite picture. this contains the remnants of what was hurricane nigel, certainly not a hurricane any more, but an injection of tropical moisture that's going to bring some heavy rain and some slightly higher temperatures. for the rest of the day, we'll see cloud and some rain spreading into western parts of the uk, particularly northern ireland. still on the cool side for the time being. and then as we head through this evening and tonight, we'll see strong winds and some outbreaks of rain across western parts. another pulse of rain starting to push up towards the south west

of england and wales by the end of the night. so it is going to be milder than last night. in fact, by the start of sunday morning, 11 to 16 degrees. but for sunday, we see this wriggling frontal system which will continue to bring some outbreaks of heavy rain, especially across western areas. and we will have some pretty strong winds. so these outbreaks of rain through sunday spreading across western parts of england and wales, a bit of rain for northern ireland, some rain returning to the south west of scotland, all the while east anglia and the south east staying mostly dry with a little bit of sunshine. temperatures here up to 20 or 21 degrees. a warmer day generally, in spite of the cloud, in spite of the outbreaks of rain, because the winds will be coming up from the south. now into sunday evening, we'll see some very heavy bursts of rain pushing in across western areas, some squally downpours with some gusty winds. in fact, we could see wind gusts of 50 to 60 miles per hour and some particularly wet weather moving across some western and central parts of scotland.

the weather system responsible will tend to clear through as we head into monday, but low pressure still in charge of the scene. as we head into monday, we will see some pretty heavy showers, maybe some thundery ones across parts of northern ireland and western scotland, further south and east across england and wales, more in the way of dry weather, some spells of sunshine, and it is going to feel quite warm out there with highs of 22 in the south east corner. as we look further ahead, it is going to be a very unsettled week. there will be some outbreaks of heavy rain and potentially some very strong winds for some of us around the middle of the week.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the head of ukraine's military intelligence claims that russian commanders were among those injured in friday's missile strike on the headquarters of russia's black sea fleet in occupied crimea. separatists in disputed nagorno—karabakh give up their weapons according to russian peacekeepers, as humanitarian aid begins to reach the thousands who fled following a military offensive led by the azerbaijani government. in the uk, borisjohnson urges the government not to scale back plans to build the hs2 high speed rail link, amid speculation part of the route could be axed. actor and comedian russell brand has posted a video online saying it's been an "extraordinary and distressing" week,

in his first public comments since sexual assault allegations were made against him. he didn't address the claims directly, but has previously said his relationships were "always consensual". it is just after 2:30pm. it isjust after 2:30pm. a it is just after 2:30pm. a very good afternoon to you. now on bbc news, the travel show. my name is lucy edwards, and this is my first time injapan. yay! oh, it's a latte! i'm experiencing it through sound, taste, smell and touch. all the colours taste different. different, yes. i'm a content maker, activist and broadcaster. hi, guys. this is my first blind vlog. ten years ago, i lost my eyesight. and since then, i've been on a mission to prove that having a disability doesn't have

to hold me back.