this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughanjones and these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world... britain's chancellor defends his tax cuts aimed at boosting economic growth, saying they're fair for all — we'll have reaction to the mini budget. world powers condemn the self—styled referendums being held in parts of ukraine on whether tojoin russia. hurricane fiona makes landfall on canada's atlantic coast, leaving hundreds of thousands without power. and...meet the parky blinders as they use the power of boxing to help improve the lives of people with parkinson's.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. an independent think tank in britain says the uk government's "mini budget" is likely to leave the vast majority of taxpayers worse off. the chancellor kwasi kwarteng's package of measures include scrapping the top rate of income tax for the highest earners and reducing the basic rate by a penny. the institute for fiscal studies says that only those with incomes of more than 155,000 will be net beneficiaries over the current parliament. ben king reports. here in reading and around the uk, people feel like they

could do with a boost. bills are going up and interest rates are rising. across the country as a whole, the economy has been growing too slowly. and the chancellor has come up with a very bold solution — tax cuts worth billions of pounds. he plans to cut the basic rate of income tax to 19p and the pound in england, wales and northern ireland next april and abolish the 45p top rate of tack for people earning over £150,000. he will reverse the 1.25% increase in national insurance from november and cancel a planned rise in corporation tax, paid on company profits, that was due to go up to 25%. he has cut stamp duty, there will be none to pay on the first £250,000 of a house purchase or $105,000 forfirst time buyers. and to fund this, the government will need to borrow £231; billion this year. potentially more than 100 billion a year in coming years. an astronomical sum, though the government hasn't said how much. it sounds a bit silly because you cannotjust magic

money out of thin air. bad, it's appalling. why is that? because it all seems to be targeted at people with loads of money, scrapping the top rate of tax. a lot of the people who are struggling at the moment don't even pay tax. it's a gamble, there's no denying that but at the end of the day, i if you grow the economy, more money will come i in through other taxes so therefore you are paying it off. _ yeah, it's a gamble but i think it's one we have got to do. _ the government hopes these tax cuts will boost economic growth, making everyone more prosperous and providing extra money for public services. but critics fear that won't happen and we will be left with higher interest rates, higher inflation and a bigger national debt that will be a burden for decades to come. this is a gamble. if very fast growth turns up, whether because of the government's policies or for other reasons, then that will be a good thing and it will help us manage those higher deficits. but if it doesn't, we are taking a big risk and that will involve tax

rises or public service cuts in future. and the verdict from the markets was brutal. the pound fell more than 3% against the dollar, shares also fell and government borrowing costs rose. labour says it's a budget that rewards the already wealthy. when you are lifting bankers�* bonuses at the same time sayng postal workers and rail workers can't have a decent pay rise, people can see that and see that as grossly unfair. and it looks like the conservatives are looking after people at the top and are not really channelling that long—term investment, which is our proposal is around long—term investment and around skills for the future. but the government still believes that the dash for growth is a strategy. i don't think it is a gamble at all. what was a gamble, in my view, was sticking to the course we were on. we had a tax system, taxes at a 70 year high, highest since the late '405 and that was unsustainable. so what we had to do was have a reboot, a rethink and what we are doing is pushing

growth, incentivising investment and actually, critically, helping people on lower incomes keep more of the money. they call it a mini budget, but this is actually an enormous and unconventional plan to get the economy moving again. and the big question is, will it work? ben king, bbc news, reading. the pound has fallen to a fresh 37—year low against the dollar as financial markets react to the biggest tax cutting moves in 50 years. justin urquhart—stewart is a partner at seven investment management. he explained the global economic background to the pounds fall. what you're seeing is the global economy growing, so whilst people talk about recession, it normally grows about four or 5% a year and we are half that at the moment. it may be getting weaker. signs we can see, in china there is significant slowdown. the wear of some economic data, half of it not reliable. in

japan, honda have reduced the capacity of manufacturing costs, and some plants by a0%. the problem we had before are still working. the big picture. _ had before are still working. the big picture, let's come to the uk. the pound falling, what is going on? a very dramatic fall. before brexit we were about one 50th. very much smaller indeed. the impact on that is anything we buy in is more expensive. afterfood... the one thing the bank of england. 0ur thing the bank of england. our experts are therefore far better value, but if the global economy there will be last demand for the exports.

very difficult to work your way through all this. will it be successful? we don't know. what are the reasons the _ successful? we don't know. what are the reasons the pound _ successful? we don't know. what are the reasons the pound specifically, i the reasons the pound specifically, everything kind of falls against the dollar. we are taking on a large amount of debt, we have never defaulted like other countries. people trust us. they are looking at the amount of debt being potentially a lot more, in terms of dealing with the energy crisis. that could be another 100 billion, 150 billion. people throw these numbers around. event we are on our debt, and interest of that, lash it was about 50 billion. this year it could be 100 billion.

people are looking at britain's thing we trust you with the cost of your debt is going to go up. 0ur ten year bond was about 1% a few months ago and is now 4%. a big rise. big increases, trust an issue. how surprised were you or what was your reaction to the chancellor yesterday? astonishing, if this is a mini i dread to think what a large is. a huge amount in here to unpack. what they are trying to do is kick—start the economy. the trouble is, trying to do that is quite difficult to achieve. basically what they are saying is the previous policy wasn't working, and they're using a firm kicks, we want to invest in the future, but the key issue here is going to be the smaller businesses, the major employer in this country, and those smaller businesses are terrified because they are —— uncovered by cap.

the chancellor announced plans for 38 �*investment zones' in england. in these areas planning rules would be �*liberalised' to release more land for housing and commercial development. the conservation charity the rspb has called that �*an attack on nature'. beccy speight is the chief executive of the rspb and joins us now... thanks for coming on the programme. what are your concerns? we thanks for coming on the programme. what are your concerns?— what are your concerns? we are really concerned. _ what are your concerns? we are really concerned. we _ what are your concerns? we are really concerned. we live - what are your concerns? we are really concerned. we live in - what are your concerns? we are really concerned. we live in one| what are your concerns? we are l really concerned. we live in one of the most nature depleted countries on the planet, half of our species in decline. a hugejob to be done in terms of restoring nature and we think globally we are about to commit to 30% of the world being looked after... the uk has played a leading role in that. domestically here in the uk actually... what is

coming through now feels like it is going against that. investments once have been announced, this is basically giving a carte blanche to development in these areas, it has been announced for england and 38 areas have expressed interest, but it could roll out... there is no provision in therefore environmental assessment to try and improve. what is important as the economy and our own health and prosperity are wholly... own health and prosperity are wholl . , own health and prosperity are wholl ., ., ,~/ wholly... vast ma'ority of the country remain _ wholly... vast majority of the country remain exactly - wholly... vast majority of the country remain exactly as - wholly... vast majority of the country remain exactly as is. | wholly... vast majority of the - country remain exactly as is. when you look at the overall percentage, these are tiny bits of land. the uk needs to look at different ways of growing the economy. yes. needs to look at different ways of growing the economy.— needs to look at different ways of growing the economy. yes, but the economy cannot — growing the economy. yes, but the economy cannot grow—

growing the economy. yes, but the economy cannot grow successfullyl economy cannot grow successfully unless nature is any good state. there are reviews that show how important nature as to the economy and how important it is to have a healthy climate going forward. 0ur long—term food security depends on having a healthy natural world in terms of culmination but it is not just the investment zones, we are concerned about the investment zones we know little about, it seems to indicate a rolling back of environmental assessments. the second, this returned eu law bill which seems to want to sunset a whole lot of legislation which protects wildlife, rivers, food standards. there is no sense of any provision for what is going to replace those laws as we move forward. we are also hearing rumours about the environmental land management schemes that have been

introduced forforming, also being rolled back. these were introduced so we could have... for security in the long term in space and having that healthy natural world. this is a small proportion that needs to be developed to get the economy going again. developed to get the economy going aaain. ~ . . developed to get the economy going auain.~ . ., i. developed to get the economy going auain.~ . ., ,., , again. what are your plans, given that ou again. what are your plans, given that you have laid _ again. what are your plans, given that you have laid out _ again. what are your plans, given that you have laid out your - again. what are your plans, given i that you have laid out your concerns clearly? to that you have laid out your concerns clearl ? ., , . ., , ., clearly? to be clear, these are the areas that — clearly? to be clear, these are the areas that are _ clearly? to be clear, these are the areas that are important _ clearly? to be clear, these are the areas that are important for - clearly? to be clear, these are the. areas that are important for nature, and also for carbon. we are talking about being affected by this. 70% of the uk's formed lands, 70% of our land when talking about the environmental land management schemes, what we want to see is... no one saying this regulation is perfect but we want to see it

improved strength and in terms of natural infrastructure. we want to see these investments on soaring natural infrastructure will also be improved and we want to see these environmental land management schemes rolled out anyway so that we can have that long term healthy natural world. there's been international condemnation of the self—styled referendums being held in parts of ukraine onjoining russia. the g7 — the group of seven wealthiest nations — have called the votes a sham, as reports emerged of russian forces intimidating people into voting. 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 percent of ukraine's territory. voting is expected to run until tuesday, and the results seem 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. 0ur correspondent hugo bachega

is following developments from kyiv. ukraine has dismissed this so—called referendum as a farce and says it has no legitimacy and western countries have dismissed the vote as a propaganda exercise and they say the result has already been decided by moscow and it is going to be used by moscow as an excuse to annex parts of ukraine. now russia says it is giving an opportunity for people living in occupied areas to express their vote. and on russian television and by russian officials, this is being described as a free and fair process. but residents in those occupied areas have said soldiers are going door to door, forcing people to vote and ukrainian officials say that people in some

areas have been banned from leaving until tuesday. president biden said if the russians go ahead with any annexation of territory, this would be a flagrant violation of international law and he said western countries were ready to impose more sanctions on russia as a reaction to this possible annexation of territory. the fear here is that the russians may use the result of this vote to save these areas are now part of russia and any attack on those —— to say these areas are now part of russia and any attack on those regions will be seen as an attack on russian territory. increased numbers of russians are continuing to try to leave the country since president putin announced the mobilisation of at least three—hundred— thousand extra troops. there's a queue about ten kilometres long at the border between georgia and russia, as men attempt to avoid the draft. border traffic between finland and russia has also increased. satu sikanen is regional mayor

of south karelia in finland, on the border with russia. i asked her what the situation was like there at the moment. the situation here in south—east finland is stable and peaceful. even if the traffic has increased at the border crossing points. i would say the number of border crossers from russia has doubled in the past days, compared to the week before, and one reason might be the mobilisation of troops in russia. the number of border crossers is not so high as other countries. that is an important point.

the numbers doubling are significant. do you have enough resources and does the country have enough to deal with the extra numbers coming in right now? right now, yes. it is the threat of security. but of course we have to take the situation seriously and actually yesterday it was decided to proposed to our government that it would set significant restrictions under issuing the recess. restrictions on russians and russian visas.

what about the argument some say close the border entirely? it seems to be we can't be proud of the situation that finland... it has already made some restrictions and the number of issuing the visas have already decreased. we are also waiting for assistance and we have the opinion we need more fast. more restrictions rather than fully closing the border? if numbers continue going up, if immobilisation is announced

in russia of all fighting age men, rather than the slightly more restricted numbers now, you would be forced to take more drastic action? this is a serious situation. of course for our region, but i want to underline that we have a strong defence and finland isjoining nato, and i have understood that finland has a joint call to have those restrictions on the amount of border crossings will be limited in the near future, they near days i assume. to iran now , where state media are reporting that at least 35 people have been killed

in just over a week, in a wave of protests across the country. they were sparked by the death of a 22 year old kurdish woman, who'd been arrested for wearing her hijab in what was deemed an improper way. a demonstration is planned at london's trafalgar square today in solidarity with those protesters in iran. kaveh abbasian is one of the organisers, hejoins me now. thank you for inviting me on the programme and salute to the people of iran and the great women of iran who are out protesting further human rights. we who are out protesting further human riahts. ~ ., , who are out protesting further human riahts. ~ . , ., , who are out protesting further human riahts. . , ., , rights. we have seen remarkable acts of brave , rights. we have seen remarkable acts of bravery. and _ rights. we have seen remarkable acts of bravery, and you _ rights. we have seen remarkable acts of bravery, and you are _ rights. we have seen remarkable acts of bravery, and you are protesting - of bravery, and you are protesting out on the streets in london, what are you calling for, what do you want to change? hill this is a protest alongside the other protest that this be happening the past week. , . , , ., week. usually everyday we have processed _ week. usually everyday we have processed and _ week. usually everyday we have processed and today _ week. usually everyday we have processed and today one - week. usually everyday we have processed and today one will. week. usually everyday we have l processed and today one will start to be in front of the embassy but what we have tried today for

trafalgar square protest at 4pm is bring people from various political parties, various political ideologies and from all walks of life. not only iranians but also iran endow sporty people and british people, anyone from around the world, any nationality —— diaz warwick. you're talking about solidarity... warwick. you're talking about solidarity. . ._ solidarity... what you want to chance? solidarity... what you want to change? the _ solidarity... what you want to change? the protests - solidarity... what you want to i change? the protests started... solidarity... what you want to - change? the protests started... the sark of change? the protests started... the spark of the — change? the protests started... the spark of the protest _ change? the protests started... the spark of the protest over _ change? the protests started... the spark of the protest over mahsa - spark of the protest over mahsa amini, a girl in tehran arrested for the hijab, and because she did not wear the hijab, according to place observations, she was beaten to death and people started coming out to the street and people joined across iran in solidarity. this is a progress that has been turning into an almost revolution. it started against the morality police and the

hijab law but now it is against the entirety of the regime. what we want to see is the changing of the entirety of the regime and changing the way people are treated inside iran and what we want is solidarity and support from people around the world. ., ., ., world. you are calling for regime chance, world. you are calling for regime change, how likely _ world. you are calling for regime change, how likely do _ world. you are calling for regime change, how likely do you - world. you are calling for regime change, how likely do you think. world. you are calling for regime i change, how likely do you think that is? i change, how likely do you think that is? ., , . . change, how likely do you think that is? ., , ., ., is? i would be careful about that, we are not— is? i would be careful about that, we are not calling _ is? i would be careful about that, we are not calling for _ is? i would be careful about that, we are not calling for regime - we are not calling for regime change, people in iran are calling for a revolution, for a toppling down of the islamic republic of iran that has been raining lives for the past 43 years, what we are trying to do here now —— raining lives. we are trying to gain solidarity from people all over laos. we have not seen so much support from british politicians, —— people all over the world. we have not seen an actual concrete support for a rally in people. i concrete support for a rally in --eole. , ., concrete support for a rally in neale, , ., , concrete support for a rally in --eole. , . , ., �* people. i understand is that i'm afraid we are _ people. i understand is that i'm afraid we are out _ people. i understand is that i'm afraid we are out of _ people. i understand is that i'm afraid we are out of time - people. i understand is that i'm afraid we are out of time but i people. i understand is that i'ml afraid we are out of time but you got your message across clearly. thank you very much.

post—tropical storm fiona has made landfall along canada's atlantic coast and has already left hundreds of thousands of people without power. these are the latest pictures of the storm hitting halifax in nova scotia. torrential rain and winds of up to 140 kilometres per hour have been reported. severe hurricanes in canada are rare and meteorologists say this weather system could be "an historic, extreme event". at least eight people were killed as fiona made its way through the carribean in the last few days. earlier, bbc weather presenter helen willetts, gave me the latest on the storm. it was the first major hurricane of the season. things are getting very active now. it is absolutely pummelling parts of eastern canada. you can see it there, moving back out of porto rico and the dominican republic would cause catastrophic flooding. it's wins, hurricane force

winds in excess of 100 miles an error, those gusts of winds, and the coastal search, storm surge, 10—12 metre high waves battering the coast line now of some parts of nova scotia, labradorand into scotia, labrador and into newfoundland scotia, labradorand into newfoundland as well. as it moves, and it will move northwards, it could bring us much as 6—10 inches of rain, and it is pumping an awful lot of warm air headed into greenland as well, we could continue to see that back you can see the progress they further showers behind it, really life—threatening rip currents along the east coast, but we are now starting to get concerned, obviously this is going to give some severe impacts but we also have another storm forming, and running a major hurricane into parts of the south—east usa next week. it is very active. is this unusual in this part of the world?

yes, it is. it does not happen every day. every couple of decades and it is very unusual for that part of the world. it will have big impacts. a uk euromillions player has won 171—million pounds in last night's draw — this morning, thatjackpot winner is now richer than adele or ozzy osbourne. the prize is the uk's third—largest ever — just 16 uk players have won more than 100—million—pounds in the lottery�*s history. pictures of king charles with his red box have been released for the first time. the image shows the king carrying out official government duties at buckingham palace last week. five years after becoming the first person to swim the whole of mainland britain, ross edgley has finished another epic challenge. he has swum for 52 hours in loch ness. the extreme athlete —

who began his challenge live on breakfast on wednesday morning — covered nearly 50 miles in the water — with the aim of raising awareness of ocean conservation. 0nce verified by officials, ross' attempt will break the record for time and distance swum in loch ness. a gym in cornwall is harnessing the power of boxing to help improve the lives of people with parkinson's. club members with the condition — who call themselves the parky blinders — say special training sessions are helping with some symptoms of the disease. andy birkett has been speaking to some of them. it isa it is a novel disease, affecting my speech, and more.— it is a novel disease, affecting my speech, and more. boxing training cannot cure _ speech, and more. boxing training cannot cure the _ speech, and more. boxing training cannot cure the disease _ speech, and more. boxing training cannot cure the disease but - speech, and more. boxing training cannot cure the disease but can i cannot cure the disease but can help.

cannot cure the disease but can hel. ., , cannot cure the disease but can hel _ ., , ., ., cannot cure the disease but can hel. ., ., ., , cannot cure the disease but can hel. . ., , , . help. it has made a big difference to me personally. _ help. it has made a big difference to me personally. so _ help. it has made a big difference to me personally. so good - help. it has made a big difference to me personally. so good for- to me personally. so good for coordination, _ to me personally. so good for coordination, a _ to me personally. so good for coordination, a lot _ to me personally. so good for coordination, a lot to - to me personally. so good for. coordination, a lot to remember, employing — coordination, a lot to remember, employing your memory and your arms and relax _ employing your memory and your arms and relax. the boxing helps with your— and relax. the boxing helps with your balance as well. the group, based all over cornwall love a good pun and have named themselves the parky blinders. it hasn't gone unnoticed with nigel travis, who played erasmus lee. by the order of the parky blinders, i reckon you will change some lives using boxing. i have heard it is a wonderful thing you are doing and it genuinely sounds fantastic. i wish you all the best and i hope to see you soon. god bless. don't be fooled, it is not all exercise, the sessions usually end with cake. the social network that

people have created around the group is so satisfying, because there seem to be a little bit of a gap in that. also, i have just made lovely friends. it is fantastic, especially afterwards when we socialise, you learn so much more about them, their medication, how it affects them. then i can tailor what we do to assist them. it is almost like a one—to—one session within the group. having secured funding, this pilot scheme got the green light at the start of the year. the parky blinders are hoping to branch out and offer other activities for people with the disease. but i suspect cake will be involved, whatever they do. andy burkett, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear sunshine and showers, the best way to describe saturday's weather. showers should be fairly isolated and the best of the dry brighter weather perhaps this afternoon further north and west you are. top temperature is likely

to peak between 12 and 18 celsius. any showers through the evening will tends to fade away and we will have clear skies across england and wales, temperatures will fall. more cloud to the far north—west, temperatures likely to hold into double figures, it will be a chilly start to sunday morning and hopefully it will be a sparkling one as well. lots of sunshine around first thing on sunday. the cloud will continue to bring a few showers into north—west scotland and eventually a weather front with heavy and persistent rain as we go through the day. top temperatures to sunday afternoon, 13—18. that weather front is going to introduce much colder and windier conditions on monday and as you can see, a notable difference to the feel the weather.

hello. this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughanjones and these are the headlines. britain's chancellor defends his tax cuts aimed at boosting economic growth, saying they're fair for all. world powers condemn the self—styled referendums being held in parts of ukraine on whether to join russia. hurricane fiona makes landfall on canada's atlantic coast, leaving hundreds of thousands without power. and meet the parky blinders as they use the power of boxing to help improve the lives of people with parkinson's.

now on bbc news, click.