this is bbc news. our top stories: russian—occupied regions in ukraine hold referendums on whether tojoin the russian federation. ukraine says it's a sham which is doomed to fail. the kremlin organises rallies to support its policy of calling up reservists 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. markets around the world take a dive as a major bank warns a global recession is all but inevitable. and the first woman to win the booker prize twice, celebrated author dame hilary mantell, dies at the age of 70.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the g7 — the group of seven wealthiest nations — have condemned the referendums being held in parts of ukraine to decide whether they want to join russia. it added the votes, which are being organised by moscow—backed officials, are a breach of the united nations charter. 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. voting is expected to run until tuesday and the result seems almost certain to go in moscow's favour. these pictures, filmed in russian—occupied donetsk, show representatives taking polling cards to people in their own homes. here, at least, it is

not a secret ballot. meanwhile, russia is continuing to mobilise 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 call—up 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 "than 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. car horn blares. 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 have let on. woman yells. 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. crowd groans. 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 faith in him won't be easy. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. stock markets around the world have fallen amid growing fears of a global recession. oil prices slumped on friday, the pound crashed against the dollar, and wall street's

dowjones index fell to its lowest level since november 2020. earlier, i spoke to our north america correspondent david willis. this has everything to do with inflation, resulting in large part from russia's invasion of ukraine, pushing up energy prices, affecting the bigger economies of europe, germany and others as well. now, resulting from that, rises in consumer goods in the shops, which is worrying a lot of the chairmen of the central banks around the world, including the federal reserve, whose chairman, jerome powell, this week announced another rise in interest rates in an attempt to try and cool down of the economy and bring down prices. the fear, though, is that in cooling down the economy, it could be pushed into recession, and fears of a global recession are spooking the financial markets right now. so, the dowjones closed today

down 1.6%, its lowest point this year, and as far as the prospects of a global recession are concerned, analysts at one of the main american banks, the investment bank goldman sachs, forecasting today a recession is not only inevitable. they said the question is just the timing, magnitude or the length of such a global recession. david willis. here in the uk, the finance minister kwasi kwarteng has taken steps to boost the economy, announcing plans for the biggest tax cuts for half a century. among the measures outlined to parliament on friday, the higher rate of income tax of 45% is to be abolished. a planned rise in corporation tax from 19% 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. the markets have not reacted well to the news — with the pound falling

to a 37—year low against the dollar — dropping below $1.09. the opposition labour party has called the government "desperate gamblers in a casino chasing a losing run". the bbc�*s political editor chris mason reports. —— rob watson gave his analysis. essentially, this is a package of massive tax cuts that's going to amount about $50 billion of tax cuts in about five years�* time. there's also a programme of deregulation and the sort of big—picture idea is that if you cut taxes on corporations and you cut taxes on the wealthiest, that will lead to more growth and it will attract people into the country and it will attract people to start new businesses, but it is massively controversial and why it's notjust a sort of british domestic political story is that britain is something of an outlier. the other rich nations, the other g7 countries, are not doing this, they are not having unfunded tax cuts, and that's why it'll be watched immensely closely notjust by people living

here in the uk but everyone around the world. the government's arguments — and it's sort of described as trickle—down economics by people that don't like it very much — a sort of reminder of what people have said ronald reagan did in the 1980s in the united states, that if you sort of unshackle business, if you lower taxes, the pie — the overall pie will get bigger and that's more important than how you redistribute it. but it is a massive gamble for the following reason — i mean, most economists don't think it's going to work, an awful lot of businesses are rather sceptical, and the real risk is that if it doesn't work, i mean, if you don't get this growth, you've cut all these taxes, that will then add to government debt, borrowing is becoming more expensive, it could fuel inflation which is already higher here than in other g7 countries, and something else — which is something shared with the united states — there is a danger, of course, that it would further fuel inequality in the uk which, like the us, is very, very high compared to other wealthy nations.

protesters in mexico city have clashed with security forces during a demonstration over the disappearance of 43 students in 2014. a demand for answers and justice. demonstrators take their anger onto the streets. at stake is the unsolved case of 43 mexican students who disappeared nearly eight years ago. the protesters are calling for the arrest of those linked to the case. in 2014, the students were abducted. they were allegedly turned over to a drug going and never seen again. the remains of only three victims have been identified. the families of the missing students say they have been let down.— been let down. translation: yes, we been let down. translation: yes. we are — been let down. translation: yes, we are angry, _ been let down. translation: yes, we are angry, they - been let down. translation: yes, we are angry, they made| yes, we are angry, they made the orders to make us children disappear and what makes us most angry is they say they

take to the streets to guard and care for us but no, they are the ones who make us disappear. they are the ones who steal so we don't even trust them.— who steal so we don't even trust them. . , ., trust them. some officers have been physically _ trust them. some officers have been physically assaulted - trust them. some officers have been physically assaulted in . been physically assaulted in the protest. 11 were injured by firecrackers and blows to the body. last month, a truth commission was tasked by the current government to investigate the case. the next day, the attorney—general who led the controversial historical truth investigation into the case, was detained on charges of forced disappearance, torture and obstruction ofjustice. obstruction of justice. prosecutors said obstruction ofjustice. prosecutors said arrest warrants had been issued for more suspects. president 0pry labrador have said that any officials involved in the disappearance must face justice. gunfire.. but with the eight year anniversary of the incident approaching, families are desperate for more answers in this unsolved abduction. emily brown, bbc news.

italy's general election on sunday could make history, potentially giving the country its first female prime minister. giorgia meloni of the far—right brothers of italy party is seen as the frontrunner of a right—wing alliance that's predicted to win the vote. 0ur europe editor katya adler reports. italy's political earthquake travels in style these days. are you the best person to govern italy, giorgia? i had to ask. giorgia meloni, self—appointed defender of the italian people, poised to become italy's next premier, comes from the neo—fascist hard—right — though her tone is now consciously more mainstream. cheering and applause. "italy is changing," says giorgia meloni. while her critics worry about her roots in the far—right, she's carefully concentrating on economics. this crowd is worried

about the cost of bread and the price of gas. they really want to give her go. translation: we need to change the future of our country, - for our children. we believe in giorgia meloni. political rivals are sounding the alarm about far—right government, but many here think they're exaggerating. right is trying to scare us and to design enemies for us and instead of that, left is building and trying to give rise for people. they are talking about the past and we want to go to the future. giorgia meloni insists there are no nostalgic fascists in her party, but what about this? it looks like a fascist salute. just surfaced on social media, we see a city councillor from meloni's party making the gesture with others at a family funeral. prosecutors are investigating. then, there are meloni's

chosen coalition partners, both traditionally close to vladimir putin — silvio berlusconi — remember him? — and far—right matteo salvini. italy's allies in the eu and nato worry about a meloni government. should they? let's judge the future governor by facts. she voted in favour of the sanctions. there's no reason that she'll do different things in government than she's done in the opposition. most italians just want some stability. these ceramic workers' jobs are at risk because of spiralling energy costs. translation: we start work before dawn now, | because energy prices are cheaper then. 0ur bills have gone up 1000%. ijust hope the next government has a stable majority so they can do something fast to help us and other struggling workers. whichever political bandwagon

voters jump on this sunday, italy's next government will have their hands full, but their policy choices are limited by eu law and the italian constitution — cold comfort, perhaps, for those fearing the far—right. katya adler, bbc news, rome. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: close encounter — the experiment to knock an asteroid off course — that could — one day — save all life on earth. benjohnson, the fastest man on earth, is flying home to canada in disgrace. all the athletes should be clean, going into the games. 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 the americans invade. 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 judgement in australia. concorde have crossed the atlantic faster than any plane ever before, breaking the record by six minutes. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines — russian—occupied regions in ukraine hold referendums on whether to join the russian federation. ukraine says it's a sham, which is doomed to fail.

roger federer has lost in the deciding _ roger federer has lost in the deciding tie—break. roger federer has lost in the deciding tie-break.— deciding tie-break. federer, who received _ deciding tie-break. federer, who received a _ deciding tie-break. federer, who received a rapturous - who received a rapturous reception at a sold—out crowd was overcome by emotion as he thanked everyone. he said his career had been an amazing journey. the player of only 41 announced last week he was retiring because of a persistent knee injury. the sports journalist uche amako was courtside for the match and hejoins us now. lucky you. an emotional ending, wasn't a victory but my goodness the crowd were behind him. �* , , ., ,

goodness the crowd were behind him. , , ., him. absolutely, there was not a dry eye _ him. absolutely, there was not a dry eye in _ him. absolutely, there was not a dry eye in the _ him. absolutely, there was not a dry eye in the house - him. absolutely, there was not a dry eye in the house as - a dry eye in the house as federer teamed up with his greatest rival nafas —— rafa nadal to put on an incredible show in the 02 nadal to put on an incredible show in the o2 arena that ultimately ended in defeat but it was irrelevant to the real story, saying goodbye to one of the sport was my greatest of athletes. ., , ._ athletes. how did he play toda ? athletes. how did he play today? he _ athletes. how did he play today? he has _ athletes. how did he play today? he has been - athletes. how did he play - today? he has been struggling with this knee injury but was he on good form tonight? he really was- — he on good form tonight? he: really was. he wouldn't have said he has not played in a year because of the way he was moving, the shots were still there, his serve was still as impressive as always. he looked very good. there were times when he was sluggish but that is to be expected. he isjust 41 of course. is to be expected. he is 'ust 41 of coursei is to be expected. he is 'ust 41 of course. some critics of his style _ 41 of course. some critics of his style will _ 41 of course. some critics of his style will say _ 41 of course. some critics of his style will say he - 41 of course. some critics of his style will say he is - 41 of course. some critics of his style will say he isjust i 41 of course. some critics of his style will say he isjust a | his style will say he is just a swiss machine but actually when it came to it, he was just so consistently good, wasn't he? consistently good, and he did it for over 20 years, it is an incredible feet for an athlete to do that. in the ultimate aero playing against some of his greatest rivals as well,

rough on and djokovic and andy murray. he is the most stylish player i have ever seen, the most elegant, his highlight reel is incredible, and he will always be remembered for that. interesting also, the labor cup, this is something he set “p cup, this is something he set up as a ryder cup style tournament. and what struck me, and i don't know if you saw this, or maybe you see this all the time, is that sort of friendship, that unity that all these players have. i mean, they are bitter rivals on court, but when you see them together, they are relaxed, aren't they, and they seem to get on. aren't they, and they seem to net on. : : , aren't they, and they seem to net on. .. , :, aren't they, and they seem to net on. , :, , aren't they, and they seem to aeton. , :, , get on. exactly. you see some sorts get on. exactly. you see some sports men — get on. exactly. you see some sports men and _ get on. exactly. you see some sports men and rivals, - get on. exactly. you see some sports men and rivals, they i sports men and rivals, they can't be in each other �*s company but you wouldn't have said that when you see the likes nadal with federer and djokovic and murray, they dominated the sport, won all the grand slams multiple times, and able to come together as a group and showcase how great they really are, in that relationships don't need to be

fractious, and animosity. you can be friends. you can be respectful on and off the court, and that is one of the biggest thing is that nadal and fedor have really shown the world i think.— fedor have really shown the world i think. all right, lucky ou to world i think. all right, lucky you to have _ world i think. all right, lucky you to have seen _ world i think. all right, lucky you to have seen it. - world i think. all right, lucky you to have seen it. thank. world i think. all right, lucky l you to have seen it. thank you very much forjoining us. the celebrated author, dame hilary mantel, widely regarded as one of the greatest british novelists, has died, at the age of 70. our culture editor katie razzall looks back on her life. thomas cromwell is now 50 years old, the same small, quick eyes, the same thickset, imperturbable body... cromwell, why are you such a person? thomas cromwell and hilary mantel will be forever entwined. her trilogy about the life of henry viii's fixer became a bafta—winning tv series. her vivid novels conjured a tudor world of intrigue and violence that readers could feel and taste.

she won the booker prize twice, for wolf hall and bring up the bodies, the first woman to do so. mantel had been writing historical and contemporary fiction for years before she found popular acclaim. i hesitated for such a long time before beginning to write this book — actually, for about 20 years. the young hilary mantel had wanted to be a barrister, but her lack of connections, and the endometriosis she struggled with all her life, saw her turn to writing instead. the law's loss was humanity's gain. anywhere she chose to write about, at any time, any character, was the best anybody could have done. she's a classic writer, in the footsteps of dickens and mrs gaskell and george eliot, but she was writing in our time. she really is that important. get everything settled before europe wakes up to what's happening. others have also been paying tribute. the royal shakespeare company's adaptations of mantel�*s novels saw ben miles as cromwell. he said today, "she was extraordinary. "one of the greatest

writers of our time." recognition of those searing talents got mantel a damehood, for services to literature, and she talked in recent years of her hopes for the future. there's so much i want to do, and it'sjust a question of, "how much stamina have i got, what time have i got left?" dame hilary mantel died from a stroke in a hospital in exeter, with her family beside her. dame hilary mantel who has died at the age of 70. earlier, i spoke to the author daniel mendelsohn, editor—at—large of the new york review of books, on mantel�*s unique style of writing. when you think about hilary mantel and what she accomplished in the tudor novels, you have to go back and look at the whole work. this is an author who was

interested in many themes and many topics in her entire career and reached a culmination in the tudor novels but it was always there in the beginning, and she was one of the most distinctive and idiosyncratic, she was one of the most distinctive and idiosyncratic authors in britain and around the world. from the beginning of her career, and i think the tudor novels gained so much acclaim and interest but they are really a continuation of what she had been doing all along, an interest in the conflict between modernity and the primitive, between the past and the present. between the rational and the irrational. if you go back and look at everything, starting with her first novel in 1979, these were her themes, and i think with cromwell and the tudors, she found the perfect peg to hang many of her long—standing interests on. one of the other themes was power.

the abuse of power, the corrosiveness of power as well? absolutely. again, in some of these earlier novels, she is very interested in power as it is both enacted by someone, and enacted on someone. and, of course, there again, the cromwell story is the perfect vehicle for that because she is interested in cromwell as a person who acquires a tremendous amount of power and uses it to act on people. so of course, the first two novels of the tudor should so of course, the first two novels of the tudor trilogy in particular show him wielding the power and using it first on catherine of aragon and ironically on anne boleyn, too. she is interested in both the power plays. and she evokes it in a very brilliant way. final preparations are under way for an experiment that could, one day, end up saving every life on earth.

on monday, the us space agency nasa will fly a spacecraft into an asteroid to try and divert its path. if it works, it may herald a new age of planetary protection, as the bbc�*s tim allman explains. if you want to know about the potential perils of an asteroid, just ask the dinosaurs. around 65 million years ago, it is believed a giant space rock crashed into the earth and killed them all. now, a bold experiment, to try and make sure the same thing never happens to us. for and make sure the same thing never happens to us.— never happens to us. for the first time _ never happens to us. for the first time ever, _ never happens to us. for the first time ever, we _ never happens to us. for the first time ever, we will - first time ever, we will measurably change the orbit of a celestial body in the universe. doing so has clear benefits in ensuring humanity's ability to deflect a potential threatening asteroid in the future. it threatening asteroid in the future. , ., future. it is called dart, and the theory _ future. it is called dart, and the theory behind _ future. it is called dart, and the theory behind it - future. it is called dart, and the theory behind it is - future. it is called dart, and| the theory behind it is pretty simple. find your asteroid and then fly a spacecraft straight at it at a speed of around

23,000 kilometres per hour. the hope is you will knock it off course and it will fly harmlessly off into the cosmos. but these things are pretty big, so you have to plan ahead. this is what you would want to do for planetary defence. you are trying to just give something a small ledge which only changes its position slightly, and that adds up to a big change in position over time. so if you are going to do this for planetary defence, you would do it five, ten, 15, 20 years in advance, in orderfor this technique to work. years in advance, in order for this technique to work. space is vast and — this technique to work. space is vast and the _ this technique to work. space is vast and the earth - this technique to work. space is vast and the earth is, - is vast and the earth is, cosmically speaking, pretty small, so the chances of a catastrophic impact are fairly remote. that has happened before, and eventually it could happen again. but not if dart has anything to say about it. tim allman, bbc news. that is it from me in the team. back in a moment. see you then.

hello. the autumn equinox happened on friday, and saturday is going to be ourfirst full day of autumn. the skies are pretty clear at the moment, and the weekend, how's it looking? actually, not too bad. there will be a few showers around, but predominantly sunny spells. so, this is what it looks like out there right now. yes, a few showers around, but generally clear across most of the uk through the early hours of saturday, and the temperatures ranging from close to freezing in the scottish glens, around ten in liverpool, and 12 degrees in the south. now, recently in the south east, it has been pretty cloudy and wet because of a stubborn weather front, but the thinking is that weather front should be out of the picture out in the english channel and across france, early on saturday morning. but there is a possibility it could be cloudy, if not damp,

in the extreme south—east. elsewhere across the country, we're waking up to sunny spells, and i think through the course of the afternoon, we'll see showers developing — quite well scattered across england and wales. but in scotland and northern ireland, it should be a predominantly dry day. here, temperatures will range from 12 degrees in the northern isles, 16 in glasgow, in the south, still around 18. that was saturday, this is sunday's weather forecast. a lot of sunshine, particularly across england and wales, but watch this cold front sweep into northern and western scotland later in the day. the winds will increase, and that heralds a change, a change into next week. we'll have a look at that in a second. first, i want to update you on hurricane fiona, which has just passed to the west of bermuda and it is heading towards nova scotia and also newfoundland, and the effects of this storm are likely to be very significant around the canadian maritimes. when the storm hits, it'll no longer be a truly tropical hurricane. it'll sort of turn into more of a mid—latitude weather system, but the strength

of the wind will still be blowing at hurricane force, and waves around coastal areas are forecast to reach 10, even 12 metres of ferocious weather there, the other side of the atlantic. but over in our neck of the woods, we are expecting a colder plunge of air on monday, following a cold front. so if you look at the forecast here, 13 degrees in aberdeen and edinburgh probably as well, and cardiff, mid—teens expected and similar values there in london. have a good weekend.

this is bbc news, the headlines: officials in four russian—occupied regions of ukraine have been holding self—declared referendums, on whether to become part of the russian federation. britain's finance minister has defended the government's plans to boost the economy, insisting they're not a "gamble". kwasi kwarteng has said massive tax cuts aimed at boosting economic growth are fair for all despite the highest earners gaining the most. tax cuts will be paid for by extra borrowing. the former men's tennis world number one, roger federer, has bid a tearful farewell to the sport.