this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. russian—occupied regions in ukraine hold votes on whether to join the russian federation — kyiv says it's a sham which is doomed to fail. the kremlin organises rallies to support its policy of calling up reserves to fight in ukraine. our correspondent samples the mood in moscow. this is not a spontaneous display of love for vladimir putin and his policies. it is a highly choreographed affair, designed to give the impression that the whole country is behind the president. meanwhile, russia's neighbours report long queues at the borders — as people leave to avoid being called up to fight in ukraine.

here on the uk, a dramatic change in economic direction — the biggest tax cuts in half a century in a bid to kick—start growth. more than 70 migrants die after their boat sinks off the coast of syria — our correspondent is with the rescue operation. we are now at the syrian— lebanese border, where some of the bodies just arrived. and a new type of cancer therapy which is showing promising results in early human trials. we speak to the study leader. hello and welcome. officials in four russian—occupied regions of ukraine have been holding self—declared referenda — on whether to become part of the russian federation. the kremlin supports the votes —

just as it did after the annexation of crimea, the ukrainian territory which was invaded in 2014. but the government in kyiv and western countries have condemned the referenda, saying they are just a sham and that they will never be recognised. these are the four areas where voting is being held. they include occupied parts of luhansk and donetsk in the east and zaporizhzhia and kherson, in the south — and cover around 15% of ukraine's territory. votes are are expected to run until tuesday, and the result seems almost certain to go in moscow's favour. the international community does not recognise the validity of the process. as you can see, these pictures, filmed in russian—occupied donetsk, show how polling cards are being taken to people in their own homes — with a yes or no answer on the ballot paper — and this form, at least, was not filled in in secret. meanwhile, russia is continuing to mobilize its reserve troops — which isn't going entirely smoothly. with the latest, here's our russia editor, steve rosenberg. it was the moment the kremlin

tried to show the people still back their president and what he's doing in ukraine. within days, vladimir putin is expected to annex a huge swathe of ukrainian territory. there's international condemnation, but at home, the official picture is they trust putin. many of the people here, though, didn't trust us. when we asked the simple question, "why have you come to this rally?", there was a certain reluctance to answer. but they had something to say on the subject of mobilisation. "the callup is worrying everyone with relatives of fighting age," natalia says. not viera. "i'd be much happier if my son got wounded fighting in ukraine then die of alcoholism here," she says. "fighting is a proper man'sjob." this is not a spontaneous display of love for vladimir putin and his policies.

it is a highly choreographed affair, designed to give the impression that the whole country is behind the president. a lot of the people we've spoken to here today have been brought in specially from schools, from factories and other state organisations. in ukraine today, in those areas occupied by russian troops, self—styled referendums began onjoining russia. the west has denounced the votes as a sham, a smoke screen for annexation by moscow. back in russia, more goodbyes, more men called up to fight in ukraine. there's growing concern here that the scale of mobilisation is far greater than the kremlin had let on. emotions are running high. "why have you taken our sons?", a mother is heard asking this officer. when he tells the audience that his own son isn't eligible for the call—up, listen to the reaction. groans, shouts

for the president, this could become a problem. vladimir putin once promised russians stability. now, he's sending them to the front line. persuading russians to keep the faith in him won't be easy. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. vladimir putin's decision to mobilize military reservists has led to what appears to be a mass attempt to leave russia — by people who would be subject to being called up. this was the scene at the southern russian border with georgia, which was itself invaded by russian forces in 2008. those who had crossed reported long queues on the russian side of people wanting to leave. and there were reports of similar scenes at land crossings in kazakhstan and mongolia — and also here, to the north west of russia in finland. journalists asked some of the young men who were leaving russia why they had decided to do so.

it's just insane, all my friends in danger, so i immediately decided to come back. it is crazy. i am just for freedom, come back. it is crazy. i am just forfreedom, russia, from prudent, democracy for russia. it is crazy. —— from putin. people hate russia. when putin has his speech, ijust packed _ when putin has his speech, ijust packed my— when putin has his speech, ijust packed my bag and directly go to finland — packed my bag and directly go to finland. in russia, we don't have flight _ finland. in russia, we don't have flight tickets right now, so i have a second — flight tickets right now, so i have a second visa and i found some cheap flight _ a second visa and i found some cheap flight from _ a second visa and i found some cheap flight from helsinki to istanbul. so, flight from helsinki to istanbul. 50. yeah. — flight from helsinki to istanbul. so, yeah, that was my plan, and i made _ so, yeah, that was my plan, and i made it— so, yeah, that was my plan, and i made it really fast.

well, as the war in ukraine has caused a rise in energy prices and impacted the cost of living in many parts of the world, here in the uk, the finance minister kwasi kwarteng has announced the biggest tax cuts for half a century. this is the first unveiling of economic plans under the new uk government led by liz truss. among the measures, the higher rate of income tax of 45% is to be abolished. a planned rise in corporation tax from i9% to 25% has been cancelled — that's the tax businesses pay on their profits — and the rules which cap bankers' bonuses to twice their annual salary have been scrapped. but the markets have not reacted well and the pound fell to a 37—year low against the dollar. it fell more than 3% against the dollar, dropping below $1.09. the opposition labour party has called the government "desperate gamblers in a casino — chasing a losing run". well, earlier, kwasi kwarteng told mps it would make britain more globally competitive.

now, we need to focus on growth, not just how we tax and spend. we will not apologise for managing the economy in a way that elicits prosperity. our entire focus is on making britain more globally competitive, not losing out to our competitors abroad. the prime minister promised that we will be a tax—cutting government. today we have allowed more businesses to cut —— keep some of their money. we are securing our place in a fiercely competitive global economy but with lower rates of corporation tax and liberates of personal tax. we promised to prioritise growth, we promised to prioritise growth, we promised a new approach for a new era, we promised to release the enormous potential of this country. our growth plan has delivered all of those promises and more, mr speaker, and i command into the house. ——

commend it to the house. let's speak to our uk political correspondent rob watson. this is a huge shift in economic direction for this government. just give us more details. is a direction for this government. just give us more details.— give us more details. is a bit like a different— give us more details. is a bit like a different government, - give us more details. is a bit like a different government, that - give us more details. is a bit like a different government, that is l give us more details. is a bit like i a different government, that is how much of a shift it is. i think you've highlighted the main bits there. essentially this is a package of massive tax cuts that is going to amount to about 50 billion tax cuts in at five years' time. there is also a problem of deregulation. the big picture idea is if you cut taxes on corporations and on the wealthiest, that will lead to more growth, that it will attract people into the country and it will attract people to start new businesses, but it is massively controversial. and why it is notjust a british domestic political story is that britain is something of a outlier. the other rich nations, the other g7 nations not doing this, not having

unfunded tax cuts, natalie will be watched closely notjust here in the uk but by everyone around the world. yeah, and we have already seen the pound following value against the dollar to a seven -- 37 —— 37 year low. what are analysts saying about what a gamble this is? they are saying it is a massive gamble. the government's arguments, being described as trickle—down economics, is considered similar to what ronald reagan did... it is a massive gamble for the following reasons. most economists do not think is going to work. an awful lot of businesses are rather sceptical any real risk is if it does not work, if you don't get this growth, you have cut all these taxes. that will then to government debt, borrowing is becoming more expensive. it could fuel inflation, which is already higher here than in

other g7 countries, and some thing else which is shared with the united states. there's a danger would further fuel the inequality of the uk which like the us is very, very high compared to other wealthy nations. ., , . ., ,., high compared to other wealthy nations. . ., ., ~ nations. 0k, rob watson, thank you forthe undate- _ nations. 0k, rob watson, thank you for the update. thanks. _ the bodies of 71 people have been found after the boat they were travelling in sank off syria's coast. 20 survivors are being treated in a hospital sank on thursday. it is not clear what caused the accident. a rescue attempt is ongoing. our correspondent lina sinjab is in lebanon, a few kilometres south from where the boat carrying the migrants sank. she told me about the rescue operation. we are now at the syrian lebanese border, where some of the bodies just arrived, using ambulance as of

the lebanese red cross. on thursday a boat carrying around 120, or a little bit more, migrants, sank off the coast of the syrian city of tartus, and the search is still ongoing for bodies. so far, as you mentioned, dozens have been found dead off the shore of tartus, and we can see now that some of the still arriving. is scene here at devastating scene here at the lebanese border, with families waiting anxiously for news about their beloved ones. some have already received bodies of their relatives, some are still waiting, and some are among the fortunate that they're waiting for the rescue, but this is a devastating situation for not only lebanese but palestinians who live in lebanon, syrians who live in number not to take to the seas. and talking to the

families here, talking to the people, one person told me the dead are the ones they onesare the lucky ones because they this horrible life escape this herribte: ”fa 1-55: are: here. eecebe thie herribte 'ife 1-55: are here. he said, we are not we are ei'ee’ee; lee—“e ue ee'h— ee-e ere —*e ~ 7... ~ .... we are already ' acacgr’egayaegd’. 7 we are already dead. we we are already dead. we have living, we are already dead. we have reached the level below zero. this is an and even is an unbearable life. and even today, after this catastrophic event is an unbearable life. and even todé happened s catastrophic event is an unbearable life. and even todé happened between )phic event is an unbearable life. and even todé happened between yesterdayt is an unbearable life. and even todé happened between yesterday and that happened between yesterday and today, with a number of deaths today, with a big number of deaths and the people take to and the people will still take to the sea, will still risk their lives, they have got nothing lives, because they have got nothing to lose. they are already living in miserable conditions. lina sinjab there. at least 50 people are now known to have been killed in protests in iran over the death of a young woman in the custody of the country's so—called morality police. protests have spread to more than 80 cities and towns. demonstrators have rejected the police's claim that mahsa amini had suffered "sudden heart failure". iran's president ebrahim raisi has insisted that a thorough investigation is under way into the death of the 22—year—old, who'd been arrested allegedly for wearing a hijab headscarf

in an "improper" way. iran's army has warned it will "confront the enemies" to ensure security and peace. the united states says it will ease internet restrictions on iran, to expand access to services curbed by the iranian government in an attempt to stamp out protests. the us treasury said it wanted to increase internet freedom, despite other sanctions washington has in place against on iran. our reporter in washington, azadeh moshiri, explains what difference this decision is going to make. this is something that us lawmakers, both republicans and democrats, have been asking for since the protests began, and of course there's been a lot of demands from this from iranians themselves, and that is because given heavy us sanctions on iran, tech companies have not been able tojump in or provide or offer services they normally would in response to this clamp on internet services, as well as western messaging services, within iran. and

so the united states, washington, has looked at this and thought, it is time to ease those restrictions, has responded to demands, and this means that now the doors open for tech companies tojump in means that now the doors open for tech companies to jump in and means that now the doors open for tech companies tojump in and offer a way for iranians to be able to share what is going on in their country and continued to mitigating with each other as the protests continue across the country. specifically this opens the door for a company like starling, elon musk�*s internet satellite system, and that would mean that iranians on the ground would be able to bypass the government censorship right now and continue communicating with each other and continue to share what is going on within the country, and it does seem like elon musk has been watching what is going on, and is interested in solving that issue because he did say earlier this week that star link would apply for an exemption from the us treasury. that is when lawmakers urged the treasury to accept it if that request has

come through. so now the ball is in his court. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a virus that kills cancer cells. a new type of therapy shows promising results in early human trials. we'll hear live from the study leader. ben johnson, the fastest man on earth is flying home to canada in disgrace. all athletes should be clean going into the game. i'm just happy that justice is served. it is a simple fact that this morning these people - were in their homes, _ tonight those homes have been burnt down by serbian soldiers and police. all the taliban positions along here have been strengthened presumably in case americans invaded. it's no use having a secret service which cannot preserve its own secrets against the world.

and so the british government has no option but to continue this action even after any adverse judgment in australia. the concorde would cross the atlantic faster than any plane than ever before, breaking the record by six minutes. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: four russian—occupied areas of ukraine are staging referendums on whether to become part of russia. ukraine says the referendums are an illegal sham. un investigators have said russia has committed war crimes in ukraine — including executions, torture and sexual violence. gavin has all the sport. hi there, samantha, good to see you.

some of the players who were reported to have resigned from spain's national women's team claim they didn't demand for coachjorge vilda to be sacked. earlier, the spanish federation released a statement claiming that the players were having their "emotional state and health" threatened by vilda. but the federation added that they would "not allow the players to question the continuity of the national coach and its coaching staff". later in the day, ona batlle and alexia putellas released their own statement, admitting they had made a "private communication" but that they understand theirjob isn't to choose a coach. the spanish fa are going to back, they are backing the manager so far, and they are going to cut players from... there are players, they believe the players are going to maybe suffer a bit from this and may not come back again to the spanish national side. there will be a british record breaking crowd at this weekend's north london derby in the women's super league.

50,000 tickets have already been sold for arsenal's match against tottenham at the emirates — that's 10,000 more than the previous record. jane dougall has more. arsenal tweeted yesterday they had sold the 50,000 tickets, so already they knew they had broken that record. it snatches the previous record. it snatches the previous record in ew from before the match has even kicks off. the previous record was 38,000, and i was set in another north london derby, but this time at tottenham's ground. many are knowledge in this growth in crowds is due to the impact of england's success in the euros, of course it is. 80,000 people went to wembley, millions more watching on the telly at home. it is only going to get bigger, and more and more girls are playing football as well, so that is one of the reasons why. crucial matches in the nations league on friday for several european teams. a lot of focus on group a3,

where england are still searching for their first win. they are down 1—0. not going well for england at all. it could well be england start and finish the day at the bottom of the table. hungary were the top site at the end —— beginning of this round of matches and they are up in germany. attention is very much at the london's o2 arena on friday, where 20—time grand slam winner roger federer is playing in what is set to be his final competitive match, and he's teamed up with his long—time rival rafa nadal to bring the curtain down on what has been an incredible tennis career. they're in doubles action against jack sock and francis tiafoe in the laver cup. many feel it could be the beginning of the end of an unforgetable era. i don't know if we will ever see it again in sport, it was sampras and

agassi, and in my time. nobody would do that again. now three guys with more than 20 grand slam. who knows? you know? and the winner of saturday night's big fight in manchester might feature in a future world heavyweight bout. that's what could be on the line for britain'sjoejoyce and former championjoseph parker of new zealand. former world champion ricky hatton thinks it could go the distance. i see it, joe parker, because of the speed he has got. he is very fast of feed for a heavyweight. good boxing, good movement. isee feed for a heavyweight. good boxing, good movement. i see him thinking a lot of the early rounds, but as the rounds to buy, tick by and joejoyce keeps coming on and coming on and coming on, i think that is wherejoe parker will have to at some point in the fight, go to the trenches, digging in and show bit of fight. he keeps coming, joe, he is a handful.

updates on the football on the bbc sport website, but that is all the sport for now. thank you. early human trials of a new type of cancer therapy are showing promising results. that's according to the institute of cancer research and the royal marsden nhs foundation trust. the treatment uses a common virus to infect and destroy harmful cells. i'm joined now by kevin harrington, who is the study leader and professor of biological cancer therapies at the institute of cancer research and is also a consultant oncologist at the royal marsden nhs foundation trust. that is quite a long title there! good to have you on the programme. tell me more of the what you discovered and what cancers it works on. late discovered and what cancers it works on, ~ discovered and what cancers it works on. ~ ., discovered and what cancers it works on, ~ ., discovered and what cancers it works on. ~ ., , , discovered and what cancers it works on, ~ ., , , , on. we took a comment simplex virus and we changed _ on. we took a comment simplex virus and we changed the _ on. we took a comment simplex virus and we changed the genetics - on. we took a comment simplex virus and we changed the genetics of- and we changed the genetics of that virus. we took out the genes that allow that virus to cause disease, the disease of cold sores, and be replaced those genetic sequences from the virus with things that could be used as treatment for

cancers. so we put in genes that would simile the bodies immune system, to fight cancer, and we also put in the ability of that virus to manufacture and immunotherapy drug inside the cancer itself, so rather than having to give that drug as an injection of the virus makes it for us within the tumour, and so we treated patients with direct injections into the tumours, initially just with the verizon injections into the tumours, initiallyjust with the verizon its own, and then with the virus plus a standard immunotherapy. and in the first phase we saw dramatic responses in three of the nine patients, and in the study with immunotherapy, we saw the patients who previously had progressive disease when receiving those same therapies, a number of those patients had substantial responses of their disease, so this is encouraging data that really points the way to further trials. find encouraging data that really points the way to further trials.— the way to further trials. and at this point. _ the way to further trials. and at this point, who _ the way to further trials. and at this point, who couldn't - the way to further trials. and at this point, who couldn't help, l the way to further trials. and at. this point, who couldn't help, what

kind of patients? the this point, who couldn't help, what kind of patients?— kind of patients? the initial taruets kind of patients? the initial targets are _ kind of patients? the initial targets are for _ kind of patients? the initial targets are for patients - kind of patients? the initial| targets are for patients with various types of skin cancers but also patients with head and neck cancers, and interest in testing it in patients with lung and breast cancers —— who could it help? within the trial we did, we sought responses in very difficult to treat tumours, such as for salivary glands, and also patients with oesophageal carcinoma. there are opportunities there. we also see an opportunity with patients with a rare form of melanoma which affect the eye. we also have seen with a sister virus, the eye. we also have seen with a sistervirus, really, the eye. we also have seen with a sister virus, really, the next version of this virus, with a soft tissue carcinoma, so these are really interesting data. just briefl , really interesting data. just briefly. how— really interesting data. just briefly, how long _ really interesting data. just briefly, how long could it take for more trials and possible wider use of this? . , . more trials and possible wider use

of this? ., , ., ., ., . ., of this? trials are ongoing. what we call expansion _ of this? trials are ongoing. what we call expansion cohorts, _ of this? trials are ongoing. what we call expansion cohorts, further- call expansion cohorts, further groups of patients, are already being invited to take part in this study, with the virus we discussed today, but they are ongoing trials with two other versions of this virus both here in the united kingdom but also elsewhere in the world, so i think lots of opportunities develop this. to treat a diverse range of tumour types. kevin harrington, very exciting. thank you for being with us and telling us more about the study. tributes are being paid to dame hilary mantell, who has died. she won the booker prize twice. among those paying tribute, jk rowling, who wrote the harry potter books, who wrote the harry potter books, who said the world had lost a

genius. that is it from me. thanks for watching. hello there. most parts of the uk had sunny skies, albeit with one or two showers and a rather cool feel to the weather. but across the southeast corner, this weather front has been providing outbreaks of rain and this is in no rush to clear away. some of that rain is set to continue across the far south—east of england, especially as we go through the night. but elsewhere, we'll see some clear spells, also some showers across western coast and also a cluster of showers pushing out of eastern scotland and down into the north east of england. some parts of scotland will get cold tonight, close to freezing. milder further south and east

because we will have extra cloud and we will still have some outbreaks of rain first thing. there is the potentialfor enough rain across parts of sussex and kent to give some localised travel disruption, maybe even some localised flooding, because that rain is likely to hang around the extreme south—east corner for a good part of the day. elsewhere, sunny spells, still one or two showers. by the afternoon, may well be that most of the showers are across england and wales. not qute as many showers for northern ireland orfor scotland. quite a keen north or north—easterly breeze making it feel rather cool, 14—18 degrees at best. as we look ahead to sunday, it does look like that rain will finally clear from the south—east corner. still potentially some showers left behind. some sunshine in the south, more cloud spreading into central and northern parts of the uk, with some heavy rain getting into the northwest of scotland by the end of the afternoon. top temperatures, again, between 14—18 degrees. let me take you to the other side of the atlantic, because this is hurricane fiona, which has been a major hurricane, pushing close to bermuda, and it is now drifting northwards. it's set to bring hurricane—force winds and the potential for quite a lot of disruption across the far east of canada, the strongest storm of this type that canada will have seen for decades.

and while it is not heading our way, it is going to have an influence on our weather because, as the remnants of the storm continue to push northwards, that will help to build this area of high pressure, and around that, we're going to pull some really cold air in from the north for the start of next week. so temperatures will drop quite significantly, single digits in some parts of scotland. further south, highs of 15 or 16 degrees at best.

this is bbc world news. the headlines... russian officials are staging self—styled referendums in four occupied regions of ukraine — on whether they should become part of the russian federation. western countries say the votes are illegal and a step towards the annexation of ukrainian territory. un investigators say russia has committed war crimes in ukraine, including executions, torture and sexual violence. they also found that ukrainians had been forcibly transferred to russia, where they described being beaten and given electric shocks. the bodies of 71 migrants have been found, after the boat they were travelling in sank off syria's coast. the boat carried more than 100 people.

it is not clear what caused the accident. italy's political parties have been holding their final