this is bbc news. i'm luxmy gopal, and these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world: ukraine's president responds to russia's annexation of four of its regions by making a fast—track bid to join nato and says his country will continue to defend all of its territory. translation: the entire territory of our country will be _ liberated from this enemy. the enemy not only of ukraine but also of life itself, humanity, law and truth. russia already knows this, it feels our power. millions of people in the uk begin paying more for gas and electricity as the new energy price cap comes into force. large parts of britain's train network grind to a complete halt as 50,000 workers stage a walkout in the biggest rail strike so far over pay and conditions.

the action is getting stronger and the public are behind us, so we are really committed to it. we want a resolution, and if the government can change their attitude, we can get a resolution very quickly. making landfall in the us for a second time — hurricane ian strikes south carolina with heavy rain and powerful winds after leaving a trail of devastation in florida and cuba. and demand for world cup stickers reaches fever pitch in argentina as a shortage of cards prompts fans to come up with some inventive alternative ways of filling their album. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. president volodymyr zelensky has

said that ukraine remains determined to liberate all of its territory, despite vladimir putin's declaration that four occupied regions are now part of russia. in his nightly address, mr zelensky said the path for his nation was difficult but clear, and he was confident of victory. in a signing ceremony at the kremlin on friday, mr putin announced that donetsk, luhansk, zaporizhzhia and kherson were being absorbed into russia. the announcement follows discredited referendums staged by moscow and enforced by its soldiers. president zelensky says the ukrainian army is making significant progress in the east, where the russian—held city of lyman is reported to be almost encircled. he added that his country has also applied tojoin nato. translation: de facto we have already completed our path - to nato, de facto we have already proven our...

ability with the alliance. they are real for ukraine, real on the battlefield and in all aspects of our interaction. we trust each other, we help we each other and we protect each other. this is what the alliance is. de facto, today ukraine is applying to make... ..on proceedings consistent for the protection of our entire community. an accelerated procedure. we know it is possible. we have seen finland and sweden start accession to the alliance this year without a membership action plan. this is fair. this is also fair for ukraine. 0ur correspondent hugo bachega is following developments from kyiv. ukrainians are saying that these changes anything, anything that happened in moscow yesterday was a farce. the announcement have no

legal value, farce. the announcement have no legalvalue, not farce. the announcement have no legal value, not legitimacy. they say they are going ahead with the offensive to retake towns and villages that are now under russian occupation. those four regions of ukraine, donetsk, luhansk, zaporizhzhia and kherson are only partially occupied by the russians. fighting continues. an elastomer, we had a military spokesperson said that the ukrainian forces have now encircled a strategically important city of lyman in the donetsk region. this is a major hub for the russians to resupply their trips in the east of the country. so now it seems that the ukrainians have managed to circle this town, the town of lyman. thousands of russian troops now completely cut off. if they manage to retake the city, it is going to be a major victory for the ukrainians. this is happening obviouslyjust hours after that announcement by president putin that russia was going ahead with the

annexation of these four regions of ukraine, an announcement that has been rejected by the ukrainians and also by most countries around the world. ~ ., . also by most countries around the world. ~ . ., , ., ., ., world. what impact does that have on the ukrainians _ world. what impact does that have on the ukrainians taking _ world. what impact does that have on the ukrainians taking of _ world. what impact does that have on the ukrainians taking of lyman, - the ukrainians taking of lyman, given that that is in luhansk, which putin has said now that it is in his view under russian territory, it is on russian soil and is seen as an act of aggression? the on russian soil and is seen as an act of aggression?— on russian soil and is seen as an act of aggression? the ukrainian say that nothing — act of aggression? the ukrainian say that nothing changes, _ act of aggression? the ukrainian say that nothing changes, they - act of aggression? the ukrainian say that nothing changes, they are - act of aggression? the ukrainian sayj that nothing changes, they are going head to retake territory that belongs to ukraine. they say that these announcements being made by president putin are moscow's reaction to recent military defeats on the battlefield. the ukrainians feel they have got the momentum, they are going ahead with this counteroffensive. fighting is also happening in the kherson region, another region that has been annexed by russia, at least in their announcement by president putin yesterday. i think there is obviously the fear that the

announcement could lead to an escalation of tensions. russia is likely to see that these regions are now part of russia and any attack on those areas will be seen as an attack on russia itself. at the ukrainian say that these declarations do not have any kind of legal implication. they are going ahead with the offensive to take back territory. i think they are supported by most countries around the world, the international community. i countries have rejected the announcements that were made by president putin yesterday. more sanctions have been announced. i think the ukrainians enjoy from western countries. they say they are going ahead with this offensive to take back territory.— take back territory. ukraine is re-uortin take back territory. ukraine is reporting that _ take back territory. ukraine is reporting that the _ take back territory. ukraine is reporting that the director - take back territory. ukraine is reporting that the director ofl take back territory. ukraine is i reporting that the director of the nuclear power plant in zaporizhzhia, the biggest power plant in europe, has been detained by the russians. more details do we have on that? we had a statement this morning from the nuclear operator saying that the head of the zaporizhzhia nuclear

power plant was detained by russian forces yesterday afternoon in the city of... in the south of the country. they see he was blindfolded and taken to an undisclosed location. there are now appealing to the international atomic energy agency to press the russians to release him. for weeks we talked about tensions around this nuclear facility and fighting around this complex had raised concerns of the safety of this nuclear power station. so now another development in the crisis there with reports that the head of this power station has been detained by russian forces. the cost of gas and electricity for uk households has increased today, but the rise has been restricted by the government's energy price guarantee. the average annual bill has risen from just under £2,000 to £2,500. even after the government's intervention, prices are twice as high as last winter, and charities say many people

will struggle to pay the bills. our business correspondent theo leggett reports. maxine flewitt is deeply worried. her husband, ron, has a serious lung condition and she needs to keep him warm but she's struggling to pay for heating. we stay in bed longer in the morning so that we don't get up to have to need the heat. and this is already because it's got cold already this week, and we're like, what in the depths of winter, how are we going... how am i going to keep him healthy enough to live and be alive at the end of this winter? and that's no exaggeration, that's how i feel. the couple are among some 25 million households who will be paying more for their energy from today. the government's message is that it could've been a lot worse. with international energy prices soaring it's limited the amount of consumers can be charged. the new cap isn't for your whole bill, it's on the price your supplier can charge you for every

unit of energy you use. so if you buy gas and electricity, and pay by direct debit, it will be 34p per kilowatt hour for electricity. and 10.3p per kilowatt hour for gas. and then, daily standing charges are added on top. all this means even with the cap, if you use more, you will pay more. every household will soon get an extra discount of £400 on their bills, and the poorest are able to benefit from the government's existing package of cost—of—living payments. under pressure over her economic policy, the prime minister has pointed to the price cap as a key part of the government's support for struggling families. it was very, very important that we took urgent steps to deal with the cost that families are facing this winter, putting in place the energy price guarantee, for which we've had to borrow to cover the costs of that, but also making sure that we are not raising taxes at a time when there are global

economic forces, caused by the war in ukraine, that we need to deal with. but critics point out that average bills will still be roughly twice the amount they were last winter. these people came looking for energy saving tips from the bbc�*s money box roadshow in llandudno. make sure all the lights are off when it's not necessary. and the gas, you know, you check the thermostat on the wall, you check the thermostat on the radiators as well. the children, they're obviously used to go into shops and asking for things. at a time when things have doubled in price, you're trying to get them educated on the fact that we can't afford things like we did. it's quite difficult. that's true, yeah. the price cap will soften the impact high energy costs but it still threatens to be a difficult winter for many. theo leggett, bbc news. liz truss has admitted that there has been "disruption" in the uk economy following the announcement of significant tax cuts in a mini—budget eight days ago.

her comments came at the end of a tumultuous week which saw the pound slump to an all—time low against the us dollar, and the bank of england forced to spend billions buying up government debt to prevent a collapse of the pensions industry. but the prime minister insisted her government had to act. how has the drama affected public attitudes to the government as conservatives prepare for their party conference? joining me now is chris curtis, who is the head of political polling at 0pinium. chris, thank you forjoining us. tell me first of all how has polling been affected in the past week or so? it been affected in the past week or so? . , been affected in the past week or so? ., , , been affected in the past week or so? . , , ., been affected in the past week or so? ., , , ., ~' been affected in the past week or so? ., , , ., ~ ., so? it has been what i think i would describe as — so? it has been what i think i would describe as the _ so? it has been what i think i would describe as the most _ so? it has been what i think i would describe as the most dramatic- describe as the most dramatic pulling movement in my lifetime. as pollsters, we like to add caveats to things, we like to say that this is mid—term polling, it is often the case that you see things go a bit wrong for the government mid—term, you see that poll lead disappear or go away entirely. you see them start

to struggle at roughly this point of time in parliament. it even having said all that, the extent to which public opinion has moved against the conservatives last week is incredibly dramatic. it means it will be very difficult for liz truss to turn these numbers around in time for the next general election. aha, for the next general election. a range of polls showing a surge in support for labour, the opposition, but your polls have not suggested quite as big a lead as some, such as the duke golf poll, why is that? fiur the duke golf poll, why is that? our next ball is the duke golf poll, why is that? oi" next ball is out this evening, sol next ball is out this evening, so i do not want to pre—empt what that shows. roughly speaking, there is two types of polling. 0ne shows. roughly speaking, there is two types of polling. one which is people who are voting conservative sort of shrugging their shoulders at this stage and going, i do not much like what the conservatives are doing, but i am not really keen on anybody else either. generally you would expect those people to move back to the conservatives by the next election, unless they are won

over by someone else. the second movement you see as conservative voters going, no, i am so upset with the conservatives, and actually i quite like this other party, so now i might switch over to the labour party. what we have seen over the last week is a lot more of that second movement. that is quite dramatic. 0nce conservative voters are notjust shrugging their shoulders but saying they are actively going to vote labour, it will be a lot more difficult for the conservatives to won them back. our polling has showed slightly smaller movements because of the way we deal with those movements. the fact we are now seeing about one in five people voting conservative at the last election are actively saying they will support the labour party, it is certainly something keir starmer will be happy about. it is very bad news for liz truss. taking into account _ very bad news for liz truss. taking into account your _ very bad news for liz truss. taking into account your caveats - very bad news for liz truss. taking into account your caveats about. into account your caveats about that, what would the polling that we have seen suggest the results of a general election would look like? aha, general election would look like? comfortable labour majority. i still do not think we are quite at the

stage of tony blair, i don't think we are heading in the direction of tony blair's 1987 style majority. labour still has a lot of work to do to convince people they can be trusted on the economy, they are a government in waiting. they did a bit of that conference last week and we have seen the metrics move in the right direction, but still a lot of work on that front. nonetheless, current polling would indicate a very good majority for the labour party and keir starmer being put into downing street without having to go into coalition with other parties. to go into coalition with other arties. ., , ., , ,, parties. how unusual is polling like this or polls _ parties. how unusual is polling like this or polls that _ parties. how unusual is polling like this or polls that show _ parties. how unusual is polling like this or polls that show this - this or polls that show this necessarily in a premiership? i mean, the honeymoon period is almost certainly over, isn't it? how unusual is that this early on? very unusual. what _ unusual is that this early on? very unusual. what i _ unusual is that this early on? very unusual. what i would _ unusual is that this early on? very unusual. what i would say - unusual is that this early on? - unusual. what i would say as well is that the electorate is historically volatile. it used to be the case that most people would vote the same way most elections and have some sort of loyalty towards the party that they supported. that is no

longer true. we have a lot more compare the market voters who switch between political parties depending on the news of the day. that means that we are going to see lot more of these dramatic pulling movements that are out of step with what we would usually see. that is certainly what we have seen over the past week. , . ~ what we have seen over the past week. , ., ,, , ., ., what we have seen over the past week. , ., ., ., ., ,,, week. chris, thank you for analysis. chris curtis, — week. chris, thank you for analysis. chris curtis, head _ week. chris, thank you for analysis. chris curtis, head of— week. chris, thank you for analysis. chris curtis, head of political- chris curtis, head of political polling at 0pinium. more than 50,000 rail workers are taking part in the biggest strike on the network in britain for decades. the action is part of a long—running dispute about pay, jobs and conditions. the red lines on this map are the only parts of the rail network where some trains will run, starting late and finishing very early. no trains are running between london and major cities, including edinburgh, brighton and newcastle. 0ur transport correspondent katy austin is at london euston. well, london euston station behind me, normally a very busy place, is closed today, and large parts of the country have no train services at all.

where trains are running, they have started later than usual and they will be finishing much earlier than usual, as well. and some disruption will spill over into tomorrow morning. there are no trains at all between london and some other major cities, including edinburgh, newcastle, and brighton. the reason there is so much disruption today compared to other strikes is because train drivers in the aslef union and a lot of other rail workers in the rmt and tssa unions, and a few in unite, as well, are all taking part in a strike on the same day, and that means that very few trains are able to run. now, among the people affected are those travelling to football games, to the conservative party conference, and those trying to get to london ahead of the marathon, which takes place tomorrow. now, i have spoken to the general secretaries of both the rmt and the aslef unions. they say they did not deliberately target the marathon and apologise for disruption, but they feel they need to keep the pressure up in their disputes. aslef is in dispute with train

companies over pay. it says many drivers are being effectively offered a real terms pay cut. and the rmt is in dispute with network rail and train companies, and it says that is over protecting working conditions, pay, and job security, as well. well, the rail industry's argument all along has been that they want to give a pay rise, but things have changed after the pandemic and reforms and savings need to be made to actually afford a pay rise. both general secretaries of aslef and the rmt unions have met the new transport secretary, anne—marie trevelyan. they have spoken positively about those meetings. and she has made some public comments saying that everyone needs to work together to try to find a solution here. but the unions have been clear, they don't feel any breakthrough has been made or is close to try to bring these disputes to an end. the headlines on bbc news: ukraine's president responds to russia's annexation of four of its regions by making

a fast—track bid to join nato and says his country will continue to defend all of its territory. millions of people in the uk begin paying more for gas and electricity as the new energy price cap comes into force. large parts of britain's train network grind to a complete halt as 50,000 workers stage a walkout in the biggest rail strike so far over pay and conditions. the director general of ukraine's russian—occupied zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been detained by russian soldiers, according to ukraine's state nuclear agency, energoatom. it's appealed to the international atomic energy agency to demand his immediate release. zaporizhzhia is europe's biggest nuclear plant and repeated shelling of the site has raised the risk of a nuclear disaster. i am joined by petro kotin, the head of the ukrainian state

nuclear agency, in kyiv. thank you so much forjoining us. what is the latest about this detention of the director's good morninu. detention of the director's good morning- yes. _ detention of the director's good morning. yes, yesterday - detention of the director's rrrc morning. yes, yesterday around for pm, the director of zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was detained by the russian patrol on his way from the russian patrol on his way from the town, his home town, on his way home. his car was stopped, he was taken out of the car. and with his eyes blindfolded, he was driven in an unknown direction. at the moment, we do not have information where he is now. it we do not have information where he is now. , ., ~ ., is now. it is not known where he is? he is sunposedly — is now. it is not known where he is? he is supposedly detained _ is now. it is not known where he is? he is supposedly detained in - is now. it is not known where he is? he is supposedly detained in the - he is supposedly detained in the facilities, but we do not know for sure. ,, .

facilities, but we do not know for sure, ,, ., . ., facilities, but we do not know for sure. ,, ., . ., ., ., sure. state nuclear regulator, the ukrainian one, _ sure. state nuclear regulator, the ukrainian one, saying _ sure. state nuclear regulator, the ukrainian one, saying that - sure. state nuclear regulator, the ukrainian one, saying that the - ukrainian one, saying that the russians have detained him, they are buying this. what would the benefit for them be? what do you think their plan would be if this is the case? it was happening just after this announcement of annexation of ukrainian territory by russian president. at the same time, the scent some people who are responsible for personnel to try to transfer the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant under the control of the russians, they nuclear operator. they are trying to make our personnel sign appeals for work. it was many times before these attempts. the general director

always refused to do that. we expect they are trying to make him accept this move from russia to capture the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. and what particular risk might there be? of course, this is going to be quite an unsettling development. there is a very high risk to the director—general, physically, because she can be treated with torture. everything they did with other staff, which was previously captured will stop in for the operation of the nuclear power plant, for the safety, he is the main person responsible for the safety. he is president of the company and he is responsible for everything that is going on on site. without him on site, the safety of the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

will be jeopardised. the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will bejeopardised. in the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will be jeopardised.— will be 'eopardised. in terms of a wider will be jeopardised. in terms of a wider nuclear _ will be jeopardised. in terms of a wider nuclear security, _ will be jeopardised. in terms of a wider nuclear security, what - will be jeopardised. in terms of a i wider nuclear security, what impact might this have? the wider nuclear security, what impact might this have?— might this have? the plant is o erated might this have? the plant is operated by _ might this have? the plant is operated by the _ might this have? the plant is operated by the ukrainian - might this have? the plant is i operated by the ukrainian staff. might this have? the plant is - operated by the ukrainian staff. it is about 7000 people on site. all of them are led by the director—general. he is also responsible for the safety, so he has sole responsibility and she is the main person who is responsible for the safety of their power plant. without him, all the processes in zaporizhzhia power plant have no top management. zaporizhzhia power plant have no top management-— zaporizhzhia power plant have no top management. thank you so much for takin: the management. thank you so much for taking the time _ management. thank you so much for taking the time to _ management. thank you so much for taking the time to speak— management. thank you so much for taking the time to speak to _ management. thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us. - management. thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us. i - taking the time to speak to us. i appreciate that.— appreciate that. thank you for havin: appreciate that. thank you for having me- —

hurricane ian has made landfall in the us state of south carolina as a category one storm, after pummelling florida. the historic coastal city of charleston has been lashed by winds and heavy rain. hundreds of kilometres of the south—eastern seaboard of the us are under severe weather alerts. this map shows the expected path of the storm on saturday. the bbc�*s nada tawfik is in south west florida and sent this report. the category one storm made landfall friday afternoon near georgetown, just north of the historical city of charleston, with winds of 85 mph. its powerful storm surge downed power lines, plunging 400,000 people into darkness and left a some stranded. at pawley�*s island, local police captured the end of a pier collapsing before it floated away. 0fficials did not feel evacuations were necessary, but they have urged residents to avoid going out. if you don't need to go outside

in the wind right now, stay inside. if you don't need to drive anywhere, don't drive. where the coastguard had to rescue people by helicopterfrom barrier islands cut off from the mainland. and beach destinations along the south—west coast, such as fort myers, were battered and forever transformed. clearly, there is still a lot of clean—up ahead, and besides the personal loss from this storm, businesses are now going to be suffering, too. right ahead of what should have been a busy tourist season here, the beaches, the marinas are devastated. the storm—weary lined up for hours to purchase petrol and water. they all said this was unlike any storm they had ever experienced. honestly, it's sad. hearing all the stories about it, my friend's house — underwater. so, everyone i grew up with,

everyone that i knew, their houses are all underneath water, and it's sad. after making landfall twice in the united states, ian is forecast to weaken rapidly. it will now move inland. let's get some of the day's other news. japan has criticised north korea for conducting more missile tests. the launches defy a ban imposed on north korea by the un security council. tokyo says the missiles landed outside japan's exclusive economic zone, but there is concern pyongyang may be about to conduct a nuclear test in the coming weeks. ketanji brown jackson has made history by being sworn in as the first black woman to sit on the united states supreme court. as president biden's appointee, she joins two other liberals on the supreme court, which is dominated by six conservatives. the british singer phil collins and two of his bandmates from the rock group genesis have sold the rights

to their music in a deal reportedly worth $300 million dollars. that figure would make it one of the biggest such deals, behind only bob dylan and bruce springsteen. it's less than two months now until the football world cup kicks off in qatar. excitement is building for supporters all around the globe. a lucky few will travel to see the matches in person — while many more will be watching on television. but some are showing their enthusiasm in a very particular way — as the bbc�*s tim allman explains. football fever on a somewhat smaller scale. before every major tournament, people start collecting sticker books.

but this year, for some, it's not been that easy. in argentina, there is a major shortage of stickers. shops have sold out, albums are yet to be filled. however, some are luckier than others. my dad said, "i hope we get messi". he opened it, and we got messi. i went around the house, shouting, "i got messi! "i got messi!" here in buenos aires, they are literally queueing around the block. desperate times call for desperate measures. translation: i arrived at 5:00 in the morning and discovered l they are selling stickers here in one of the few places you can find them right now, because they are not available anywhere. in mexico, santiago fills up his sticker book, but he has to glue it in. his father couldn't afford

the real thing, so he had to improvise, printing off copies from the internet — although santiago doesn't seem to mind. translation: i had this light bulb moment. - i couldn't do anything else. i got home. i gave him the album. i said to him, "take this, son." he hugged me, he kissed me, and he said, "daddy dearest, "i love you. "i love you, i love you." the devotion, the obsession, is clear. just imagine how excited they will be when some actual football gets under way. tim allman, bbc news. that puts to shame my lion king sticker album of my youth! now it's time for a look at the weather with matt. a lot more sunshine around today compared registry. keeps an eye out

for dark clouds approaching. if you started around us up the bulk of the show across parts of central and western scotland and northern ireland. fewershowers western scotland and northern ireland. fewer showers across england and wales. some across south—eastern areas. we could see something much drier with very little rain around. feeling quite pleasant, quite a stiff westerly breeze. when the show must come through, it will feel cooler. showers this evening across the northern half of the country, fading a bit through the night. to the south, cloud increasing, outbreaks of rain in the english channel could get as far as south wales in the morning. a fresher night elsewhere. if you missed and fog patches to take us into sunday. most will have a dry and bright day on sunday, just one or two showers. southern counties of england and wales, some chance of cloud and outbreaks of rain. how quickly that clears as a big question. that will be a big dealfor the london big question. that will be a big deal for the london marathon. hello, this is bbc news —

i'm luxmy gopal, and these are the headlines: ukraine's president responds to russia's annexation of four of its regions — by making a fast—track bid to join nato and says his country will continue to defend all of its territory. millions of people in the uk begin paying more for gas and electricity — as the new energy price cap comes into force. large parts of britain's train network grind to a complete halt — as 50,000 workers stage a walk—out in the biggest rail strike so far over pay and conditions. making landfall in the us for a second time — hurricane ian strikes south carolina with heavy rain and powerful winds after leaving a trail of devastation in florida and cuba. now on bbc news, dateline london.