a deal is imminent in this dispute, which has lasted over two years and seen 18 strikes taking place. a small rise in inflation, the first this year. what will it mean for possible interest cuts ahead? a judge jails a 53—year—old woman from cheshire for suggesting on facebook that a mosque "should be blown up with the adults inside" during the southport riots. and scientists are shocked to find the huge altar stone at the heart of stonehenge probably came from scotland, not wales. and coming up on bbc news — new var rules for the new football season. the premier league say fans are happy, but supporter groups care to disagree. good evening and welcome

to the bbc news at six. ukraine says its troops have pushed even further into russia in one of the most surprising developments of the war and captured over 100 russian servicemen today. it's the biggest foreign incursion into russia since the second world war, and to underline the point, ukrainian television has been reporting from inside russia. ukraine's incursion began just over a week ago, a move that took moscow by surprise. president zelensky insists it is a temporary move, and he says he wants to set up humanitarian corridors so russian civilians can escape. in a moment, i'll be talking to our russia editor, steve rosenberg, about how dangerous a moment this is for president putin. but first, here's our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse. no border checkpoint on this crossing to russia, just a burnt—out russian tank. a different assignment for ukrainian war reporter natalya nahorna. "this is a historical moment," she tells the camera

in the city of sudzha. such a claim might be premature, but ukraine is talking up this land grab while it can. it's providing humanitarian aid and organising evacuations. there are even plans to set up military offices. but on the battlefield, success always comes at a cost, as this injured soldier attests. translation: fear, adrenaline, you realise when you enter- their territory, how much we have suffered, how much our women and children have suffered, that now it's their turn. the head of ukraine's armed forces is having even more regular meetings with the president. translation: since the beginning of today, troops have _ advanced around 1—2km in some directions. after the body blow of losing territory, russia is now moving resources to try and take it back.

as fighter bombers drop glide bombs on ukrainian forces on its own soil, kyiv today claimed to have shot one of them down. the su34s are thought to be £30 million each. kyiv is trying to change the politics of this war by shaking up the fighting itself. it's certainly done the latter. messaging matters. it is really interesting to see it. for ukraine, it is almost as important as the fighting itself. why? because it is looking to apply pressure and russian forces as they struggle to combat well—trained ukrainian troops, but they also want to put pressure on moscow, and vladimir putin, to try and undermine his tough guy image in their eyes, and try to undermine his invasion. but for now, it seems, is reflected with continued fighting in eastern ukraine as well as in the south, both sides as ever are more focused on trying to contain each other, which they are struggling with at

the moment, but also trying to capture as much territory as possible. james waterhouse, thank you. let's speak to our russia editor steve rosenberg, who's in moscow. how dangerous a moment as this president putin? well, over the last two and a half years, there have been many potentially damaging moments for vladimir putin, like the rapid russian retreat from north—eastern ukraine in 2022, like when vladimir putin declared partial mobilisation, which sparked a lot of alarm in russian society, and then that mutiny last year, you remember the armed mercenaries marching on moscow. vladimir putin got through all of that, and i suspect he will be confident that he can get through this too. but here is the thing. that mutiny was over in a day, but this is day nine of ukraine's incursion into russia, day nine of ukraine seizing territory in russia, and i think the dangerfor vladimir

putin is that the longer this continues, the greater the pressure will be on russia's leadership, and potentially the greater the damage to his image. for 25 years, he has styled himself as the leader who can provide russians safety and security. but safety and security are not two words right now that you would associate with russia. steve rosenberg, thank you. joining me now is our security correspondent frank gardner. well, what about ukraine, frank? this is pretty risky for president zelensky, isn't it? it is. yes, it is a high—risk, high return strategy. ultimately, president zelensky and his military chiefs are faced with a stark choice will stop do they stay or do they go? this is not a simple shoot and scoot across the border, plant a few flags, take a few selfies and cross back into ukraine. they appear to be digging in. there is already footage of them erecting barriers along the border, starting to build defences. they are starting to talk about building a field hospital,

evacuation routes. so the riskier for ukraine is that the longer they stay, the greater risk that russia, as it slowly grinds its military operation into gear, will amass enough troops to either surround them, kill, or capture them, and that will reverse all the benefit of this entire operation for ukraine. but if they stay, they could use it as a bargaining chip when negotiations for peace finally start. frank, thank you. here, the rate of inflation has risen slightly for the first time since december last year. it rose to 2.2% in the year tojuly, up from 2% injune. the rise is lower than expected and mainly driven by the cost of our gas and electricity. it means that prices are still going up, but that increase is slower than it has been for the last couple of years. our chief economics correspondent, dharshini david, reports. that's my mum and dad there in their younger years, and now me and my brother run it. yes, he does the magic downstairs making the ice cream,

and i make sure everything is running smoothly. livia's family have owned this ice cream parlour and restaurant in hove since 1969, giving them the inside scoop on the highs and lows of inflation over the decades. this bout of higher costs has been particularly challenging. we've tried to keep our prices so that it's still attainable to a lot of people, so we've put our prices up about 15%, so we've had to absorb some of the cost. we've still kept the size of our ice creams the same, because we want to be able to still give good value to people. a cone or cup? these figures reveal prices for services are rising more slowly, but while customers will still treat themselves to an ice cream, fewer are stretching to a full meal. the surge in the cost of living over the last few years has changed appetites. that's perfect. thank you. so i have separate accounts for holidays, food, make—up, stuff like that. so i do think twice and i go to different supermarkets and look at the prices.

even things with, like, - budget ranges in supermarkets, you might walk in- one day and it's gone up fairly significantly. it's always surprising to see how much less you get for your groceries when you're spending the same amount. watching individual specific items go up and fluctuate. inflation is a long way down from its peak, but these numbers are a reminder that pressures still remain in goods, but primarily in services, such as eating out or day trips. and that is why many think interest rates might be slower to come down than they were to go up. this is what the bank of england is keenly watching right now when it's thinking what to do with interest rates. it cut rates in august. i think it probably won't do so again in september, but it's hinted that we could get further cuts later in the year. for when the bank sets interest rates, it takes a year or two to impact inflation.

so it took until this spring for inflation to return to the 2% target in response to higher rates. and while the bank expects inflation to remain above that level for a few months, it still predicts those pressures will melt away further out. there are risks, however, including businesses looking to rebuild profit margins. things will have to go up slightly in the future to try and recoup. yes, it's going to be difficult. however, with these numbers revealing, some prices are settling, revealing some prices are settling, there's a taste of better times to come. dharshini is here now. more data coming tomorrow when the economy. give us an idea of the state of it at the moment? yes, this isjust one piece of the puzzle, sophie, and there is no doubt it continues to be a very hard time for some people. another study has underscored what we suspected, that it has underscored what we suspected, thatitis has underscored what we suspected, that it is the basic foodstuffs that saw some of the biggest rises over the last couple of years, and that

has hit those on lower incomes particularly hard. but another study showed yesterday that wages have since been outpacing inflation on the whole. many people are feeling better off, and that should have paid off on the economy as a whole. tomorrow morning, we will get some figures which are expected to show the economy overall grew at a pretty decent rate in the early summer, and on top of that we were hearing their expectations of more interest rate cuts. others say that could happen as soon as september. put it all together, the economy does seem to be seeing a warmer climate now. the challenge is, how do you make everyone feel those benefits, and how do we make that improved temperature, that improved weather, if you like, for ourfortunes come way beyond the summer? thank you. the scottish government is introducing emergency spending controls to make up for budget shortfalls. it's understood a number of projects will now be cut. it came as ministers announced an end to universal winter fuel payments for scottish pensioners. let's speak to our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon, who's in edinburgh.

what effect will this have on people? well, sophie, the scottish finance secretary has put the brakes on spending in a pretty dramatic fashion. schonert robson has written to her cabinet colleagues asking them to constrain all but essential spending. —— shona. ithink them to constrain all but essential spending. —— shona. i think she is laying the groundwork for what will be some pretty difficult decisions ahead. one of those came today with the announcement that the scottish covenant will follow the uk government and scrap universal winter fuel payments for pensioners going forward. it will be means tested. it is not clear where else the axe will fall. some speculation about whether or not the scottish government might shrink the provision, for instance, of free school meals or whether they will reverse the decision to scrap peak—time railfares. shona robson would not be drawn on that, but she was clear that it was down in part to the public sector pay deals. the

government recently had to find an extra £77 million to draw a halt to propose bin strikes, which were due to start today, for instance. miss robson warned that barnet consequential is will not cover the pay rises, and that about a third of this will have to come from departmental cuts will stop this means she has put a freeze on job recruitment in all but essential areas. blue lightsjobs recruitment in all but essential areas. blue lights jobs will still go ahead if they need to be filled, but strong cases will have to be made to fill otherjobs in the public sector going forward. the economic think tank the fraser valentine institute said that the spending cuts just announced were part of the uk's disco framework, though it would be unfair to blame it on that. they argue a lack of prudent planning where the scottish government is a major part of the issue, the leader of scottish labour, who has his eyes on winning more seats in the next holyrood

election is saying it is down to 17 years of snp financial mismanagement coming home to roost. lorna, thank you. now, the breaking news tonight:... a deal is imminent in the train drivers�* dispute following talks at the department for transport today. the industrial action has affected more than a dozen train operating companies based in england over the last two years. our transport correspondent, katy austin, joins us from outside aslef headquarters now. what more can you tell us about this? well, sophie, a deal now looks very immanent in this dispute, which, as you say, has gone on for more than two years now. there have been 18 strikes during that time, and there were talks at the department for transport today, direct talks between the aslef union and department for transport officials began last month under the new labour government. if aslef�*s committee agrees, i expect a new offer to be put out to members to

vote on, with a recommendation to accept. full details are yet to be confirmed, but i think the pay offer will be above the successive 4% rises that were on the table last year. attached to those previous proposals were conditions that the union particularly objected to, changes to ways of working. the previous government and the rail industry said they were necessary to save money and modernise the railway, but as i said, the union particularly objected to them, and i think many or all of those are expected to be removed in this new offer. katie, thank you. ukrainian forces move further into russia — in what's the largest incursion into russian territory since world war ii. and still to come: scientists think they've uncovered more secrets about the origins of stonehenge. coming up on bbc news.

conor gallagher's move to the atletico madrid stalls, the chelsea and england midfielder doesn't appear to be going anywhere, as the blues look to resurrect their options ahead of the new football season. a fresh round of talks on a gaza ceasefire deal are due to begin in qatar tomorrow amid concerns of escalating tensions in the middle east. diplomacy is being stepped up in the region, but hamas, the group which runs gaza, has said it won't attend the talks. and there are fears iran could retaliate against israel following the assassination last month of hamas's leader in tehran. israel has said it won't confirm its involvement. our correspondent lucy williamson reports from jerusalem, and just a warning — viewers may find the content of her report upsetting from the start. in gaza, peace is for the dead, not the living —

not for this boy and his five siblings, laying theirfather to rest today in khan younis. the man was killed in israeli artillery strikes, they said, as he went to help the wounded. we werejust sitting around, he said. he was playing with us. when the first strike happened he went to rescue people. in the second strike he was killed. but this push for a ceasefire is being driven by events outside gaza. by israel's growing conflict with hezbollah in lebanon. by threats of iranian retaliation for the assassination of key hamas and hezbollah leaders. a ceasefire in gaza could prevent regional war. the deal would also help enable a diplomatic resolution here in lebanon and that would prevent an outbreak of a wider war. we have to take advantage of this

window the diplomatic action and diplomatic solutions. that time is now. since the last ceasefire negotiations the stakes involved in a deal have grown but so have the sticking points. benjamin netanyahu says the wrong deal would harm israel's security. his critics say it would also harm his governing coalition and that mr netanyahu is protecting himself. the prime minister wants israeli troops to keep control of gaza's southern border and to filter unarmed civilians moving back to the north. hamas says these are new demands and that the time for negotiation is over. there are also disputes over israeli hostages and palestinian prisoners and over conditions for resuming the war. a former israeli negotiator says outsiders are driving this deal. it seems that the mediators, the united states, egypt and qatar, have decided that they need

to change the rules of the game, put an ultimatum on the table, put a bridging proposal on the table and tell hamas and israel that they have to do it. it is obvious that the mediators want the agreement more than the parties do and that is a big part of the problem. these talks have been billed as the last chance for a deal. the price of failure will be paid by the hostages, by the region, by teenagers. success may depend on the leaders of israel and hamas risking their own political survival. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. a woman from cheshire has been jailed for 15 months after suggesting on facebook that a mosque should be blown up with the adults inside, after the violence that followed the southport stabbings. it is one of severaljail terms that have been given out in the last few days for social media posts during the recent unrest. our uk affairs correspondent daniel sandford is here. interesting what the judge said as he sentenced this to 53—year—old.

julie sweeney had been posting in her local facebook group, talking about what anything people have to give away and sell before discussing what happened in southport with the riot outside the mosque. and they were looking at people cleaning up and she said it is absolutely ridiculous, don't protect the mosque, blow up the mosque with the adults in it. it is for that that she has been jailed adults in it. it is for that that she has beenjailed today adults in it. it is for that that she has been jailed today for 15 months. the recorder of chester said during that hearing keyboard warriors like her need to learn to take responsibility for their language. he said to her that instead of watching the news like other people with horror she had chosen that moment to stir up hatred. beyond the online element of this that is actually a debate going on about the appropriate charge that those actually involved in the rioting should face. the recorder of hull said today that when faced with yet another person charged with violent disorder which carries a maximum sentence of five years that

he actually thought that some of the varieties maybe should be being charged with riot which has a maximum sentence of ten years and that would allowjudges to pass longer sentences than their passing at the moment. so that is perhaps an active debate as to whether the sentences are not even long enough. daniel sanford, thank you. urgent testing is being carried out on a 12—mile stretch of canal between walsall and birmingham, to find the cause of a major chemical spill. walsall council has said it's too early to say how sodium cyanide had got into the water. the chemical can cause seizures, vomiting and loss of consciousness. we are doing the sampling to understand the levels and concentrations of the chemical, how far that has gone. and we believe it has been contained to a much smaller section of the canal than initially feared, which is good. however there is busy still public health risks here. british transport police say they've

recorded a 20% increase in the number of violent crimes against women and girls on the transport network, year on year. more than 11,000 complaints were made in the year to march — compared with fewer than 9,500 the previous year. police say the increase could be down to more victims coming forward. the government says the levels of violence and harassment are completely unacceptable. ellie price reports. a guy gets on and completely unprovoked begins kicking me and then hurling a lot of verbal abuse at me. fit} then hurling a lot of verbal abuse at me. ~:: ., , , at me. 60 rolled quite well dressed man grabbed _ at me. 60 rolled quite well dressed man grabbed me. _ at me. 60 rolled quite well dressed man grabbed me. i _ at me. 60 rolled quite well dressed man grabbed me. i was _ at me. 60 rolled quite well dressed man grabbed me. i was wearing - at me. 60 rolled quite well dressed man grabbed me. i was wearing a l man grabbed me. i was wearing a heavyweight coat with it being winter~ — heavyweight coat with it being winter. the next thing they were hands _ winter. the next thing they were hands underneath it. the everyday stories of women _ hands underneath it. the everyday stories of women on _ hands underneath it. the everyday stories of women on their - hands underneath it. the everyday| stories of women on their everyday commute. on average, every day, 31 complaints of violence against women and girls are made on our transport

network. put and girls are made on our transport network. , ., , ., ., ., network. put your bags on the floor was white police _ network. put your bags on the floor was white police say _ network. put your bags on the floor was white police say they're - network. put your bags on the floor was white police say they're doing i was white police say they're doing something — was white police say they're doing something about _ was white police say they're doing something about this. _ was white police say they're doing something about this. this - was white police say they're doing something about this. this arrestl something about this. this arrest last year— something about this. this arrest last year after _ something about this. this arrest last year after this _ something about this. this arrest last year after this man _ something about this. this arrest last year after this man sexuallyl last year after this man sexually assaulted — last year after this man sexually assaulted a _ last year after this man sexually assaulted a woman _ last year after this man sexually assaulted a woman on - last year after this man sexually assaulted a woman on a - last year after this man sexually assaulted a woman on a train. l last year after this man sexually. assaulted a woman on a train. he last year after this man sexually- assaulted a woman on a train. he was sentenced _ assaulted a woman on a train. he was sentenced to — assaulted a woman on a train. he was sentenced to 20 — assaulted a woman on a train. he was sentenced to 20 months _ assaulted a woman on a train. he was sentenced to 20 months in _ assaulted a woman on a train. he was sentenced to 20 months in prison- assaulted a woman on a train. he was sentenced to 20 months in prison but| sentenced to 20 months in prison but there _ sentenced to 20 months in prison but there is— sentenced to 20 months in prison but there is no— sentenced to 20 months in prison but there is no quick— sentenced to 20 months in prison but there is no quick fix. _ sentenced to 20 months in prison but there is no quick fix. the— sentenced to 20 months in prison but there is no quick fix.— there is no quick fix. the only thing that _ there is no quick fix. the only thing that we _ there is no quick fix. the only thing that we are _ there is no quick fix. the only thing that we are asking - there is no quick fix. the only i thing that we are asking women there is no quick fix. the only - thing that we are asking women to do is change the threshold of reporting. we know historically feedback we have received is women choose not to report sexual harassment because they don't believe it is going to be dealt with, taken seriously. but we absolutely do take it seriously. police say numbers maybe up because more people are coming forward, rather than a dramatic increase in offending. but even with those caveats, women's charities and the government sate the stats are still unacceptable. the government sate the stats are still unacceptable-— government sate the stats are still unacceptable. the government have made it incredibly _ unacceptable. the government have made it incredibly clear— unacceptable. the government have made it incredibly clear that - made it incredibly clear that tackling the scourge of violence against women and girls is part of its core mission. we consider it to be a national emergency.- its core mission. we consider it to be a national emergency. police data

su: est be a national emergency. police data suggest that — be a national emergency. police data suggest that sexual _ be a national emergency. police data suggest that sexual offences - be a national emergency. police data suggest that sexual offences are - suggest that sexual offences are most likely to happen in the evening rush hour between 5pm and 7pm when the train is much busier than this. the rail industry says it is working to solve the problem. this is part of their ongoing anti—sexual harassment campaign. of their ongoing anti-sexual harassment cam ai-n. . ., ., ., harassment campaign. what we want to do is educate — harassment campaign. what we want to do is educate people _ harassment campaign. what we want to do is educate people as _ harassment campaign. what we want to do is educate people as to _ harassment campaign. what we want to do is educate people as to what - do is educate people as to what constitutes sexual harassment but then also give some tips as to how people can de—escalate the situation and then also report it if they have witnessed it.— witnessed it. police say reporting offences is _ witnessed it. police say reporting offences is key, _ witnessed it. police say reporting offences is key, either— witnessed it. police say reporting offences is key, either as - witnessed it. police say reporting offences is key, either as a - witnessed it. police say reporting| offences is key, either as a victim or witness. offences is key, either as a victim orwitness. but offences is key, either as a victim or witness. but in doing so they might find these latest figures are just the tip the iceberg. ellie price, bbc news. new analysis shows that the huge six—tonne altar stone at the heart of stonehenge came from the far north east of scotland rather than wales, as previously thought. the discovery reveals that the ancient monument in salisbury in wiltshire was built from stones from all parts of great britain, suggesting that neolithic britain was far more connected than it was thought.

here's our science correspondent pallab ghosh. it's one of the most famous prehistoric monuments in the world and also one of the most mysterious. why was stonehenge built in south—west england 5000 years ago? and what was it used for? what we do know is that the giant outer stones are probably sourced locally from england. the inner blue stones are from wales and we now know that the central altar stone is from north—eastern scotland and not from wales, as once thought. the irony is that the discovery was made by a young welshman. he still remembers being brought to the site as a one—year—old in 1992. i remember coming with my dad and being on his shoulders and looking over at the stones, so it's nice to kind of come full circle and make this discovery at somewhere so special to me. you are a proud welshman and you've taken the welsh status

away from the stone, so how do you think it will go down in wales? i'm not sure they'll ever talk to me again! it's a loss for wales, no doubt. but wales has contributed so many rocks to this monument, i'm sure scotland can have one! anthony analysed the rock and discovered it had a unique date and composition. in the journal nature, he says it could only have come from the far north of scotland, here in the orcadian basin, which includes caithness, orkney and moray firth. so this is the altar stone, the heart of stonehenge, now partially buried. it is one of the larger stones here at around six tonnes. the big question is how on earth it was transported from north—east scotland and why the people back then thought it was so important to bring it all this way. they must have been very technically advanced to be able to do that, to bring it down by boat and bring it down on sledges or whatever overland. and presumably it wasn'tjust a matter of engineering, there must have been some sort

of social cohesion for, you know, the scots and the welsh and the english all to work together. absolutely. to bring this to here there must have been linking between all of these areas. so what does this say about neolithic society in britain? well, it certainly implies great social connections and sophistication. and i think what we have got to remember is that these people were just like us in a way. you know, they were just as clever but they had different technologies. but to bring a stone of this size all the distance from what we now call scotland was really quite something. the new discovery has changed the story of stonehenge and those that built it. the tale is now of a people across great britain, who were more interconnected and advanced than previously thought. pallab ghosh, bbc news, stonehenge. nasa has said that two astronauts stuck on the international space station

are making the most of their time there. sunita williams and barry wilmore launched into space injune for a mission expected to last eight days — they've been in space for more than two months after the spacecraft that took them there — boeing's starliner — faced technical issues that halted their return to earth. nasa says it is undecided if the pair can return on starliner or whether they'll need to wait eight months to catch the next flight. it was one of britain's worst—ever maritime disasters, more than two centuries ago, in which around 250 people died, but now the wreck of the earl of abergavenny has been granted special protection, meaning divers can visit the underwater site and look but not touch. the ship had set sail for china carrying many chests of silver bullion when a storm drove her into a sandbank off the coast of weymouth. her captain was the brother of the famous poet william wordsworth, who went on to express his grief in his poetry. this vessel is a unique little

capsule of the east india company, that still remains on the sea bed of portland. it's one of the finest and largest of the east india company's ships that ever sailed. it was human error, the conditions of the storm on the night and everything coming together, causing the perfect storm. weather in a moment — just to say that we're hearing that aslef has announced train drivers are to vote on a new offer aimed at ending their long—running pay dispute — more than two years. we will have of course the latest on all of that on the bbc news at ten. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. for most of us a fresher field today but we still saw temperatures peaking at 25 degrees, 77 fahrenheit across east anglia. a lovely day on the beach across norfolk and suffolk

but spare a thought for friends and family in northern spain and southern france, heavy rain here. 96 millimetresjosh i of four inches of rain in 12 hours in southern france. this frontal system here is producing a little more cloud generally for us but we do need to focus on this area of low pressure into the far north and west as we go through the evening and overnight. it sparks a change to some wet and windy weather moving into scotland, northern ireland, gradually pushing south and east. first thing tomorrow morning we might start with some brightness to the north—west of the great glen but there will be outbreaks of rain from aberdeen down to glasgow and into northern ireland. the heaviest burst perhaps across the borders and into north—west england by ten o'clock on morning. cloudy skies down through northern england, the midlands, wales and south—west england. from hull to southampton south and east

of that we might start the morning with lovely sunshine once again but the cloud will build as we go through the afternoon and the rainbow gradually push its way into northern england and parts of wales. hopefully some useful rain for the gardens. if we cling onto some sunshine, 26 degrees not out of the question but for most of us it is a fresh appeal, physically with the cloud, wind and rain. into the weekend, high pressure will build. once the frontal system brings light, patchy rain into the south—east the weekend is looking quite promising. a little bit of early morning showery rain easing from the london area, dry, settled and sunny and temperatures on the whole back to where they should be at this time of year, peaking at 25 degrees in the south—east, 77 fahrenheit. something to look forward to again. sophie, back to you. thanks louise. and that's bbc news at six. the news continues here on bbc one, as now it's time to join our