good afternoon. the government has defended its sweeping range of tax cuts from criticism that they favour the better 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 — moves the government says will promote growth. the institute for fiscal studies says the richest — who pay the most tax — will benefit the most from a cut. our political correspondent helen catt reports. it's an all—out attempt to grow

the economy with the biggest tax cuts in four decades. at spitalfields market in east london, they are taking stock of a mini—budget that's ignored a massive shift in political direction. what do you make of moves like reversing the national insurance rise? will that help, do you think? i think it probably will help. to a degree. but it depends what bracket you are in in terms of income. yeah, i think it will help. i mean, it does not even touch the sides. i don't know. we will see. there is a lot to take in. the treasury is cutting the basic rate of income tax from 20p to 19p from april next year. it is abolishing the 45p top tax rate for people who earn over £150,000, as well as reversing the national insurance rise from november, and cancelling a corporation tax rise planned for next year. stamp duty will be scrapped below £250,000. the government will borrow to fund it. £231; billion this year.

there is criticism from opposition politicians that those with the most are getting the most. or as labour puts it, rewarding the already wealthy. when you are lifting bankers�* bonuses at the same time as saying that 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 what our proposal is around long—term investment and around skills for the future. labour is about to start its annual conference in liverpool. and it is likely to face calls to spell out what it would do. it says it will back reducing the basic rate of income tax, but oppose scrapping the 45p top rate. ministers see the tax cuts as a tool to grow the economy for everyone. we are not into the politics of envy where we want to deliberately penalise people who have been working hard. we want to cut taxes for everybody. and the danger, by the way, if you have tax rates that are too high,

for either companies or for individuals, you drive them away. companies have a choice often about where they locate. we want them to choose to locate here in the united kingdom. in the financial markets, the cost of borrowing for the uk government went up after the statement yesterday, and the pound fell to a 37 year low against the dollar. the new direction has been welcomed by some conservative mps, but others remain sceptical. it is now up to ministers to show they can deliver the goods. our business correspondent marc ashdown is here with me. could there be more tax changes to come? , , , ., could there be more tax changes to come? ., . . come? possibly, we are crunching the fiuures, come? possibly, we are crunching the figures. broad — come? possibly, we are crunching the figures, broad consensus _ come? possibly, we are crunching the figures, broad consensus that - come? possibly, we are crunching the figures, broad consensus that higher. figures, broad consensus that higher earners are better off. it's important to point out that much of this falls on the policies of the previous government. this is about reversing planned personal and corporate tax rises, giving people and businesses a bit more money back to hopefully invest and spend. could

there be more to come? 0ne to hopefully invest and spend. could there be more to come? one big policy, the previous government froze the rate at which we'll start paying basic tax. but with inflation high and not going up, we are all a bit worse off, disproportionately lower earners. the senior treasury minister this morning hinted that could be looked at. treasury insiders said this morning a wider review of all taxes is still on the table, we are expecting a full budget in the autumn, huge tax cuts already then but the chancellor might not yet be done.- already then but the chancellor might not yet be done. ukrainians have reported armed soldiers going door—to—door in occupied parts of the country to collect votes for self—styled "referendums" on joining russia. the group of seven wealthiest nations has condemned what it says are sham referendums in those regions on whether they want to join russia. 0ur ukraine correspondent hugo bachega is in kyiv.

ukraine says this vote is a farce and has no legitimacy. 0n russian tv this has been reported as a free and fair process. now, western officials have dismissed this as a propaganda exercise, they say the result has already been decided by moscow, and that this is going to be used by russia as an excuse to annex parts of ukraine. the fear here is that russia is going to say that these areas are now part of russia and that any attack on those regions will be seen as an attack on russian territory. it's hard to get independent information from those areas, some residents say that soldiers are going door—to—door, forcing people to vote and in some towns in ukrainian officials say that residents have been banned from leaving. speaking to the bbc, the eu foreign policy chief said the threats being made by the russian president should taken seriously. i don't want to spread alarm, but,

certainly it's a dangerous moment, because the russian army has been pushed into a corner. and now, putin, putin's reaction — threatening using nuclear arms — yes, it's very much worrisome. yesterday president biden said any annexation of territory would be a flagrant violation of international law and he said russia would pay a severe cost. law and he said russia would pay a severe cost-— russians are continuing to leave the country in their thousands following president putin's announcement of mobilisation of at least 300,000 extra troops last week. there's a queue more than six miles long at the border between georgia and russia, as men attempt to avoid being called—up. officials in finland say the number of russians arriving there has more than doubled in the past week. let's take a look at some of today's other news. iranian state media say 35

people have been killed after eight nights of violence. large crowds have clashed with riot police in serveral cities following the death of a 22—year—old kurdish woman who'd been arrested for wearing her hijab in what was deemed an improper way. sir eltonjohn has performed at the white house at the invitation of president biden, and received the national humanities medal for his work with hiv charities. he'd declined previous invitations to play there from mr biden�*s predecessor, donald trump. the performance was part of a celebration to honour nurses, teachers and emergency workers. with all the sport now, here's gavin ramjaun at the bbc sport centre. roger federer said it was the perfectjourney as he brought the curtain down on his magnificent tennis career last

night in the laver cup. the 20—time grand slam champion was given a farewell to remember at the 02, despite the loss in the doubles teaming up with long—time rival rafa nadal. an emotional night for all. 0ur sports correspondent laura scott reports. a raucous reception for the retiring roger federer. the swiss star who reimagined the sport and rewrite the record books for nearly a quarter of a century. for his 1527th and final match, he got his wish. not battling his greatest rival rafael nadal from across the net but sharing the same side of the court with him. both in blue, based in bandannas, braced for something special and so it proved to be. he was savouring this moment and so were they. having not played in more than a year, there were signs of rust. at other moments of perfection without the practice. ground strokes that looked like

brush strokes from this artist of the game. a fightback from the american pairfoiled the the game. a fightback from the american pair foiled the fairy tale finale. the emotions of the ending were clear to see, is one of the sporting greats was given the most sentimental of send offs. england's women cricketers are playing for pride in their third one—day international against india at lord's. they are two down in the three match series, but made a great start with the ball dismissing india's star player harmanpreet kaurforjust four. that was a third wicket for kate cross. freya davies got a fourth wicket to leave india in real trouble and a few moments ago, they were 110—6 in the 30th over. it is the end of season climax in rugby league, and we could see history made in the super league grand final. st helens are the reigning champions and are looking to become the first side ever to win the super league title for the fourth season in a row. but standing in their way at old trafford will be resurgent leeds rhinos. we could potentially comedy any team

to win four in a row which is a huge motivating factor. we could be in the not regarded as potentially the best super league team ever and that's a huge credit to a lot of people and a lot of hard work that's gone on for a number of years of. regardless of who has played, we have put— regardless of who has played, we have put our attention on today, whatever— have put our attention on today, whatever day that has been. we've done _ whatever day that has been. we've done 0k— whatever day that has been. we've done ok with it, we've been pretty adaptable — done ok with it, we've been pretty adaptable and we don't make too much son. adaptable and we don't make too much song about_ adaptable and we don't make too much song about his not playing. but trying _ song about his not playing. but trying to — song about his not playing. but trying to also acknowledge the whole squad _ trying to also acknowledge the whole squad effort that's gone into getting — squad effort that's gone into getting to this point and a few have even moved on to other clubs during the even moved onto other clubs during the season_ even moved on to other clubs during the season but everyone has played a part. the season but everyone has played a art, ., �* , , the season but everyone has played a art. ., �* , , , , the season but everyone has played a art. , , part. that's it but plenty of football to _ part. that's it but plenty of football to keep _ part. that's it but plenty of football to keep across - part. that's it but plenty of l football to keep across today part. that's it but plenty of - football to keep across today as well. northern ireland play kosovo and scotland take on the republic of ireland in the nations league. plenty build—up on the bbc sport website and there is a big match in the women's super league with arsenal hosting tottenham in 15 minutes. the game is live on bbc one

straight after the news. 0ne lucky euromillions player from the uk has won £171 million in last night's draw. 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 in the lottery�*s history. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 5.40pm. bye for now. hello. we are going to have a mixture of sunshine and scattered showers through the rest of the day. good day for chasing rainbows,

particularly in england and wales. that's where we've got most of the shallows. these will move away but shell was coming in of the north sea and a few more will develop inland. still the odd shower in scotland, those will fade, plenty of sunshine here and looking dry northern ireland. temperature similar to yesterday. the showers that develop today across england and wales will decay this evening, one or two on the breeze of the north sea towards norfolk and around the wash for a while. 0therwise clear skies for much of the country and a cold night tonight. easily getting down to four or five tonight. easily getting down to four orfive for many tonight. easily getting down to four or five for many areas. not quite so cold for the north—west of scotland because the breeze will be picking up because the breeze will be picking up here. close to the steep area of low pressure. that's not going to directly run across the uk but there will be impacts on sunday and into monday. 0n will be impacts on sunday and into monday. on sunday, the wind start to pick up. for england and wales we start dry and sunny. some cloud increasing but a few showers. 0ne start dry and sunny. some cloud increasing but a few showers. one or two showers further north and as the winds pick up we will see gales in

the north—west of scotland and rang pushing into northern parts as well. temperatures again typically around 15-17 temperatures again typically around 15—17 on sunday afternoon but with that stronger wind and the wind is picking up overnight. we've got this with a short burst of rain during sunday evening to scotland and northern ireland, sweeping southwards overnight and overnight and england and wales. then we get a northerly wind that will strengthen, bringing colder air all the way from iceland. certainly a chilly feel to the day on monday. the overnight rain scene clears away, the south coast and english channel. showers and sunshine follow, mostly showers in north and east and scotland in the eastern coasts of england. the possibility of some snow over the tops of the scottish mountains in the north where those winds will be gale force winds temperatures struggling in single figures. quite a chilly feel, top temperature 15-16.

the amount of interest we cater our debt could be twice as a defence budget or the size of the entire educational budget, so people are saying, we trust you put the cost of your debt is going to go up. our ten year bond was under 1% in months

ago, now it's a%. fix, year bond was under 1% in months ago, now it's 496.— year bond was under 1% in months ago, now it's 496. a bit of an issue, then, ago, now it's 496. a bit of an issue, then. have — ago, now it's 496. a bit of an issue, then, have surprise _ ago, now it's 496. a bit of an issue, then, have surprise where - ago, now it's 496. a bit of an issue, then, have surprise where you, - ago, now it's 496. a bit of an issue, | then, have surprise where you, what was your reaction to the measures announced by the chancellor? it’s announced by the chancellor? it�*s astonishing if this is a mini budget, i dread to think what a large budget would look like, but what they are trying to do now is kick—start the economy which is a good idea. the trouble is that kick—starting it when the rest of the world find themselves slowing down is actually quite difficult to achieve but what they were saying as the previous policy was not working, no one was heading in a particular direction, here you are now seeing a firm kit, we're going to invest in the future but the key issue will be the future but the key issue will be the smaller businesses, that's the major employer in this country and smaller businesses are terrified because they aren't covered by any cap, so freezing energy for the is helpful but it's not a long—term solution. helpful but it's not a long-term solution. . ~ helpful but it's not a long-term solution. ., ~ , .,

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. the first goal of the new women's super league and it falls the way of arsenal. it’s super league and it falls the way of arsenal. �* , . super league and it falls the way of arsenal. �*, . , , . ., super league and it falls the way of arsenal. �*, . ,, .. , ~ prices, came out we are being in debt— prices, came out we are being in debt last — prices, came out we are being in debt last year was 50 billion in interest— debt last year was 50 billion in interest in this year could be 100 billion _ we are we a re really we are really concerned, and to give you a bit of context, we live in one of the most nature depleted countries of the planet and about half of our species are in decline. there is a hugejump half of our species are in decline. there is a huge jump to half of our species are in decline. there is a hugejump 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 furniture by 2030, a big meeting coming up in the uk has played a leading role in that. domestically here in the uk, the environment act in 2020 said we would try and halt species decline by 2030, but what is coming to a now feels as though it is really going against that, so these new investment zones that have been announced, this is basically giving announced, this is basically giving a carte blanche as far as we can see

through development in these areas, it has been announced for england in 38 areas have expressed interest but it could roll out to scotland, wales and northern ireland. there is no provision in their environmental assessment to try and prove our nature infrastructure. what is important as our economy and health and prosperity are wholly owned by having a really healthy nature world. . , ., ., , having a really healthy nature world. ., ., ., , ., world. the vast ma'ority of the country will h world. the vast majority of the country will remain _ world. the vast majority of the country will remain exactly - world. the vast majority of the country will remain exactly as l world. the vast majority of the | country will remain exactly as it world. the vast majority of the i country will remain exactly as it is at the moment to stop the overall percentage, these are tiny bits of land that will be developed and the uk needs to look at different ways of growing the economy. yes. uk needs to look at different ways of growing the economy.— uk needs to look at different ways of growing the economy. yes, but the economy cannot _ of growing the economy. yes, but the economy cannot grow— of growing the economy. yes, but the economy cannot grow successfully - economy cannot grow successfully unless nature and acclimate about any good state as well. the government was my own review showed how important nature was that the economy and there's also been reviews showing how important it is to have a healthy climate going

forward. 0ur long—term food security, for example, depends on having a healthy natural world in terms of combination. it is three things we are really concerned about, one is investment zones that we know little about at the moment, seems to indicate a rolling back—up environmental assessments. the second, this retained eu law but which seems to want to sponsor a whole lot of legislation that protects wildlife and our rivers and clean air and rfid standards. there is no sense of any provision for what is going to replace those lost as we move forward, there is a very tight deadline, the end of the year, so we are worried about that as well and we are also hearing rumours about the environmental land management scheme that has been introduced performing, also being rolled back, these were introduced so we could have food production and a healthy natural environment as well, because at the end of the day, our food security in the long term is based on having that healthy

natural world in terms of pollinators. wright this is a small proportion of land that needs to be developed. it proportion of land that needs to be develo ed. , ., , ., developed. it needs to be to get the economy going _ developed. it needs to be to get the economy going again. _ developed. it needs to be to get the economy going again. what - developed. it needs to be to get the economy going again. what about i developed. it needs to be to get the i economy going again. what about your plans are given you have laid out very clearly what your concerns are? what are you going to do? just very clearly what your concerns are? what are you going to do?— very clearly what your concerns are? what are you going to do? just to be clear, what are you going to do? just to be clear. these — what are you going to do? just to be clear, these are _ what are you going to do? just to be clear, these are the _ what are you going to do? just to be clear, these are the areas _ what are you going to do? just to be clear, these are the areas that - what are you going to do? just to be clear, these are the areas that are l clear, these are the areas that are most important and also for carbon. 70% of the uk is farmland, we are talking about 70% of our land when talking about 70% of our land when talking about 70% of our land when talking about those environmental land management schemes, so what we want to see is we want to see no one saying this regulation is perfect, but we want to see that regulation improved and strengthened in terms of actually improving our natural infrastructure. we want to see these investment zones showing natural infrastructure will also be improved as part of supporting a really healthy economy going forward. and we really want to see these

environmental land management scheme is rolled out anyway so that we have this long—term food security based on a healthy natural world. to iran now , where state media are reporting that at least 35 people have been killed injust 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. earlier i spoke with kaveh abbasian, one of the organisers. this is a protest alongside the other protest that this be happening the past week. usually everyday we have a protest 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 outside and british people, anyone from around the world, any nationality. you're talking about solidarity... what you want to change? the protests started... the spark of the protest over the killing of mahsa amini, a girl in tehran arrested for the hijab, and because she did not wear the hijab, according to morality police observations, she was beaten to death and people started coming out to the street and people joined across iran in solidarity. this is a protest 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. a search for survivors is continuing after a boat carrying migrants sank off the syrian coast. latest reports say 86 people have died, many of them children. the boat set off from tripoli in northern lebanon on tuesday with more than a hundred people on board. the migrants are believed to have been lebanese, syrians, and palestinians heading for europe. at least 20 survivors have been taken to hospital. 0ur middle east correspondent lina sinjab reports. another boat sinking, another catastrophe, another failed attempt to change destiny. desperate migrants left lebanon earlier in the week, only to drown in the mediterranean in less than 24 hours. rescue operation is ongoing on the syrian coast. some survivors made it safe,

many more arrived dead, others are still missing. in shock and grief, this family has lost four of its members. their son and his three children were among the dead. the wife is still in critical condition in hospital in syria. 35 years old mustafa worked as a taxi driver and dreamt of a better life for his family in europe. his mother is devastated. translation: my son tried to escape the hunger - and poverty, no water, no electricity, nothing. he ran away for a better life but they sent him to the grave. mustapha's cousin tells me there is no hope left in the country. did he talk to his daughters before? did they want to go? they knew about going on boat? no. his eldest daughter, she did not want to and cried and said don't want to go

because i don't want to die, but... unfortunately... lebanon's economy has gone from bad to worse to catastrophic, leaving many unable to even secure the basics. lebanese, syrian and palestinian nationals are all believed to have been on board the boat. this was one of several temps of people trying to reach europe over the past weeks. we are at the border crossing between syria and lebanon. a few metres away from the mediterranean water that people are trying to cross to reach europe. families have gathered here anxiously waiting for news about their beloved ones. some are fortunate and will be waiting for survivors, but many others are just waiting for bodies to barre. for bodies to bury. despite the loss, the crowd

is still calling to migrate, we here believe mustapha is better off because we are all dead here anyway. we are hopeless. all of these people would risk the sea to reach the journey to there are grave. 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 caribbean

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 puerto rico and the dominican republic where it caused catastrophic flooding. it's widns, hurricane force winds in excess of 100 miles an hour, those gusts of winds, and the coastal storm surge, 10—12 metre high waves battering the coast line now of some parts of nova scotia, labrador and 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 ahead of it

into greenland as well, we could continue to see that back and you can see the progress and 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. it 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. five years after becoming the first person to swim the whole of mainland britain, ross edgley has finished another epic challenge. he has swum nonstop for 52 hours in loch ness. the extreme athlete 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. now we leave you with these pictures of king charles with his red box, which have been released for the first time. the image shows the king carrying out his new duties as head of state at buckingham palace last week. 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 sharply. 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 through 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. now on bbc news, unspun world withjohn simpson. welcome to unspun world, the programme where we get the in—depth views of the bbc�*s wide range of experts. as the war in ukraine takes a deeply worrying new turn, we look at the intelligence behind the movements on the battlefield.

they didn�*t reinforce on that front in the way they would have done if they�*d known it, and that does suggest a real