this is bbc news, the headlines at 8pm... a milestone in the investigation of the murder of nine—year—old olivia pratt—korbel — who was shot in her home in liverpool. the crown prosecution service has authorised merseyside police to charge thomas cashman, 3a, from grenadier drive, west derby, with the murder of nine—year—old olivia pratt—korbel. anyone with information is asked to direct message @merpolcc or contact crimestoppers anonymously @crimestoppersuk, or telephone them. large parts of britain's rail network grind to a halt as 50,000 workers stage a walkout in the biggest rail strike so far.

even in, prime minister! is your party behind you? prime minister liz truss has arrived in birmingham for the conservative party conference, as she admits that there has been disruption in the uk economy following the mini—budget. the ukrainian military says it has regained control of the strategic eastern town of lyman in the donetsk region from russian troops, just a day after moscow annexed the area. a man has been charged with murdering nine—year—old 0livia pratt—korbel five weeks after she was shot in the chest at her home in liverpool. 34—year—old thomas cashman is accused of killing 0livia, who died after convicted burglar joseph nee was chased into herfamily�*s property in dovecot in august. at a press conference in liverpool this evening, maria corr from the crown prosecution service

outlined the charges. let's hear what she said. the crown prosecution service has authorised merseyside police to charge thomas cashman, 3a, from grenadier drive, west derby, with the murder of a nine—year—old 0livia pratt—korbel. also, the attempted murder ofjoseph nee and cheryl korbel on the 22nd of august 2022. cashman additionally has been charged with two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. i have further authorised the police to charge paul russell, 40, from snowbury road west derby, with assisting an offender. i come on behalf of cps mersey cheshire, have authorised the charges following a review of a file of evidence received from merseyside police.

the defendant's first court appearance will take place at liverpool magistrates on monday the 3rd of october. our thoughts are with 0livia pratt—korbel�*s family at this time. the crown prosecution service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendants are now active and that they have a right to a fair trial. it is extremely important that they should be no reporting, commentary, orsharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings. and i will now hand over to mark who will say a few words. thank you. as maria has just outlined, today, we have charged an individual with the murder of nine—year—old olivia _ if i could remind everybody

that this is still very much alive investigation and therefore our work involves and it continues in earnest. at the beginning of the investigation, we were firm in our commitments to finding all of those involved in this case. this includes the people who tried to shield _ this includes the people who tried to shield and protect individuals and those who supplied the weapons and those who supplied the weapons andindeed and those who supplied the weapons and indeed those who are hiding the weapons _ and indeed those who are hiding the weapons used in this attack. i therefore _ weapons used in this attack. i therefore still need people to come forward _ therefore still need people to come forward and speak to us. we have had an overwhelming response and levels of support _ an overwhelming response and levels of support from the public since the tragic— of support from the public since the tragic murder of olivia. i want to ask for— tragic murder of olivia. i want to ask for that _ tragic murder of olivia. i want to ask for that continue to support so that we _ ask for that continue to support so that we can — ask for that continue to support so that we can keep the promise we made to olivias— that we can keep the promise we made to 0livia's family in the local community to ensure that those involved — community to ensure that those involved face justice. anyone with information is asked to direct

message _ information is asked to direct message @merpolcc or contact crimestoppers anonymously @crimestoppersuk, or telephone them on oh @crimestoppersuk, or telephone them oh oh 800 _ @crimestoppersuk, or telephone them on oh 800. 555. @crimestoppersuk, or telephone them on oh 800.555.111. @crimestoppersuk, or telephone them on oh 800. 555. 111. again, if you have _ on oh 800. 555. 111. again, if you have any— on oh 800. 555. 111. again, if you have any cctv, dashcam or smart door bell have any cctv, dashcam or smart door belt footage _ have any cctv, dashcam or smart door bell footage that could help our inquiries, — bell footage that could help our inquiries, they can be uploaded on the dedicated public portal for olivia's — the dedicated public portal for 0livia's murder, and that will go straight — 0livia's murder, and that will go straight through to the investigation team. finally, alpha build _ investigation team. finally, alpha build is _ investigation team. finally, alpha build is today are with 0livia's man and dad. _ build is today are with 0livia's man and dad, cheryl and john, build is today are with 0livia's man and dad, cherylandjohn, and their families— and dad, cherylandjohn, and their families who throughout the last few weeks _ families who throughout the last few weeks have showed incredible strength, courage, and dignity. thank— strength, courage, and dignity. thank you _ strength, courage, and dignity. thank yep-— correspond was at the news

conference. it has been almost six weeks since she was shot and killed in her home. police say that a man armed with a done chased his intended target, he had forced his way into 0livia for my family home. two men had been under arrest in connection with this murder investigation and today the assistant chief constable said they had reached a significant stage of their investigation, this has been a complex inquiry which had been supported not only by the wider community but also by 0livia's mum and dad, and the senior crown prosecution service prosecutor said that that time had now come to charge thomas cashman who is from the west derby area of liverpool, with the murder of olivia, and also the attempted murder ofjoseph nee and cheryl korbel who was injured during this shooting. he has also been charged with the possession of a firearm with intent to endanger

life and paul russell, also from west derby, has been charged with assisting an offender. this was a complex inquiry, police sighed, supported of course by the wider community, and here today, the detectives chief superintendent said it is still very much an active investigation, they still need help from the wider public, specifically he said ring door bell footage, dashcam footage, any cctv footage which can help them with this investigation. what they also said was that the first court appearance of thomas cashman and paul russell would be on monday the 3rd of october. that will be at liverpool 0ctober. that will be at liverpool magistrates' court. they also said that thoughts are very much with 0livia's family at the moment. more than 50,000 rail workers are taking industrial action today — causing the biggest strike

disruption on the railways this year. 0nly around 11% of the usual saturday timetable will be able to run. members of four unions are taking part in the strike in a long—running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. 0ur transport correspondent, katy austin reports. shutters down, empty platforms — it's the most disruptive train strike yet. i've got no train so now i'm having to... i've just rung my husband, he's got to drive two hours, well, longer than that, down to here, to pick me up. everything has gone up in price so they need to be paid for the work they are doing. but i don't like the strike, no. so, for my money, 100% behind them, all power to them, - and i hope they win. karen from staffordshire is running the london marathon tomorrow to raise money for the hospital where she had breast cancer treatment. news of the strike meant changing her plans to get there. so, for me, thisjust blew everything apart. i couldn't even begin to think of how we would get there. ijust worried, until we knew

what our plan was, ijust panicked. the red lines on this map show the only parts of the rail network where some trains are running today. large parts of england, scotland and wales have none at all. where there have been trains today, they started a lot later than usual and they finished earlier, as well. nothing at all has been running between london and some other major cities including edinburgh, newcastle and brighton. the train drivers' union aslef is demanding a pay rise amid high inflation. the rmt wants that for its rail worker members too, and it argues job security and working conditions are under threat. it says its current mandate for strike action lasts until late november. we will be commencing a re—ballot next week, so that process will be under way and we expect a very healthy return and a fresh mandate that will go through to the middle of next year, if that is what is needed, but we don't want that. we would rather get a settlement and get this dispute out of the way and get back to normal.

rail industry bosses say they want to give a pay rise but the impact of the pandemic on finances and travel patterns means reforms must be agreed to afford it. we're looking to standardise areas of working practices that will then allow us to be able to give staff an increase but we can't forget there is a £2 billion funding gap and there is no new money. we have got to generate that money from within the industry. negotiations continue and the new transport secretary recently met with the rmt and aslef leaders, but there has been no breakthrough and unions have made it clear that more strikes could be coming down the track. katy austin, bbc news. also walking out today, royal mail workers are on their second day of a 48—hour strike in a dispute over pay and conditions. the communication workers union says the walkout by around 115,000 of its members is the biggest strike of the year. a royal mail spokesman described the action as "reckless" because it would weaken the company's finances and jeopardise workers' job security.

liz truss has admitted there has been "disruption" in the uk economy following the mini—budget last week. it comes as the tory party prepares for its party conference in birmingham, just over a week after the government unveiled £16 billion of tax cuts funded but did not accompany it with the usual economic assessment of the plans. the prime minister liz truss arrived for the party conference in the last hour and reporters shouted questions. 0ur political correspondent ben wright is in birmingham. she was asked if her mps are behind, and she shrugged off the question and smiled and walked into the conference hotel, where she will be in residence now until wednesday afternoon. that is a long time to be questions about why the government's economic plans seem to have gone so awry in her first days and weeks in office. i think normally a new leader of the tory party, in office

forjust a month, heading to their first party conference, should be feeling pretty buoyant, and it would be a fairly celebrate every gathering. not so this time. the chancellor's fiscal statement clearly caused deep disquiet within the conservative party, let alone, of course, on the financial markets, prompting an intervention by the bank of england to shore up pension funds. i think the government's fiscal credibility has taken an absolute hammering, and privately, a lot of tory mps say that is the case, and they wonder what liz truss and the government can do to stabilise the situation over the next few days, when the policies of the government are going to be under huge scrutiny. the question will be, that she needs to focus on, whether or not she will be climbing down or standing firm. we know margaret thatcher was her big hero and famously said this lady is not for turning. liz truss has said she is prepared to be unpopular. how unpopular can she be prepared to be within her own party? i think you are right. that is exactly the political role

model she will have in the back of her head as she tries to sort of weather some of the criticism that is coming her way. the piece that she wrote for the son today firmly suggest she doesn't line any kind of rollback at all. she feels she is justified in breaking the link to what she considers the old economic orthodoxy, the treasury way of doing things, and in her mind, she feels the only way to accelerate economic growth in this country is to go down the path of low taxes, deregulation, the sort of supply—side reforms that we expect to hear more of from the government in the coming days and weeks. if that proves to be unpopular, which it is proving at the moment, with the party tanking in the opinion polls, so be it. i don't think it will be that straightforward, because they will be a lot of pressure on her from the conservative party to at least slow down a bit and explain what the government is attempting to do here.

as i said, i think that is what we will hearfrom her and her ministers over the next few days. precisely what sort of housing reforms, for instance, or immigration changes may be part of this new approach to seeking economic growth. but there is a real imperative to try and spell out to the markets. the chancellor has said he will this in the commons by november. exactly how this jig fits together. borrowing £16 billion to fund these tax cuts, well, these tax cuts, will, it seems inevitable, require that would also require some sort of spending cuts as well to make sure the numbers add up and pass muster when the office for budget responsibility finally get to cast their eyes over the figures, and they need to sign them off and show their plans for growth look plausible. this is a very big task liz truss has set herself, and clearly, the first few days since this plan was put forward have been incredibly difficult,

and there is a lot of calming down of tory party nerves she will have to do here over the next few days. yes, calming down of nerves. i know you are up on a roof they are talking to us. i don't know if you have had a chance to talk to many of the tory mps arriving there today, but there are quite a few big names not attending this conference. rishi sunak and boris johnson are amongst them. what is the mood like, that you know of, at the moment? well, at the moment, there is no mood, because apart from the prime minister, i'm not sure any conservative party members are here yet. this doesn't get going until 4pm tomorrow afternoon. privately, i have talked to mps who are in despair, who can't quite see how liz truss gets herself out of this political corner she has driven herself into without losing a lot of political capital on the way, but nor can they see much mileage in her continuing to pursue this and allowing labour,

as we saw last week at their conference in liverpool, to attack the government for prioritising tax cuts for rich people, and i think there is a very difficult position she has found herself in. and as you say, quite a lot of big names, for instance rishi sunak, are not going to be here. borisjohnson is not expected here. a lot of tory mps will not show up. frankly, that is not unusual at conservative party conference. you don't usually have the same swell of party members and tory mps turning up at the annual conference that you would at a labour party annual gathering, but as i said, they are here for a long time, until wednesday afternoon, and they will have to feel that i'm somehow! it certainly gives us plenty of opportunities to try to speak to ministers and mps, activists and donors, to get a sense of what they think about the government's new economic strategy, which does mark a very big break to the one that borisjohnson was pursuing just a month or two ago. yes, the government will obviously want to move all the talk away from that. what else will be

top of their agenda? well, i mean, it is not really a forum... certainly not a forum for creating policy here, or even debating it. again, like labour, you won't see the whole full of people debating policy issues that have percolated upward through the party to discuss. the tory party conference is a very stage—managed thing. we will hear a number of speeches, most of them are in short, from cabinet ministers, and then a number of fringe events where policies will be discussed. this will be the dominant issue. this is a massive breakfrom boris johnson's economic strategy. it has created economic turmoil that we have seen. there is a lot in that to discuss. i think other issues that will crop up and are proving controversial at the moment are the government's decision to lift the ban on fracking. a lot of conservative mps and party members are not thrilled about that. so we will see if that is one of the issues that also circulates around this conference. housing too is one of

the supply—side reforms the government thinks it needs to focus on as it tries to kindle some economic growth, but again, building new houses, particularly in areas like the green belt, is not something that a lot of the conservative party have been in favour of in the past. so there are interesting issues, i think, that may well rumble through this conference. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are the broadcaster lucy beresford, and joe twyman — the director of the polling organisation, deltapoll. the cost of gas and electricity for millions of households has risen from today with a typical annual bill going up to £2,500 pounds — twice as high as last winter. but the government has brought in a number of measures to try to help with the increase, as our business correspondent simon browning reports. in different corners of the country this afternoon, protests.

coordinated demonstrations about the cost of living. from today, 25 million households are paying more for their energy. i am on a pension. every penny that they charge me for the oil is out of my purse, that i have less to spend on food or whatever i need. walk into a supermarket, last night, for instance, there was a difference of £2 in the product from three days ago that i looked at. in belfast, newcastle, leeds, london and birmingham, protests that enough is enough, as prices rise and the impact it has on consumers struggling with their bills. the government's huge package of energy support fixes the amount you pay per energy you use. the typical household with average energy usage and paying by direct debit will now pay £2500 for their energy. prepayment will cost more. but the more energy you use, the more you will pay. all uk households will be

given a £400 discount on their energy bills from october, arranged by energy companies. more cost of living payments are available for pensioners, those on disability payment, and low—income homes. but fuel poverty charities are already concerned. the level of support for everybody has been really, really welcome, but the depth and severity of the issue for millions of householders is not being satisfactorily affected by these relief packages. they simply need more support to get through the winter. on a visit to british gas yesterday, the prime minister said it was important the government took steps to deal with the costs faced by households by putting in place its energy plans. but liz truss said she did not want to raise taxes, but instead increase borrowing to pay for the support. the price cap will soften the impact of higher energy costs. but as bills go up, the advice is to use less if you can as the colder months arrive. simon browning, bbc news. the russian news agency ria —

quoting the defence ministry — in moscow said russian troops have now left the strategic town of lyman, in eastern ukraine. earlier, the ukrainian military said its troops were inside the town, which isjust inside the russian occupied donetsk region. the minister spokesman, quoted by russian news agencies, said the withdrawal was carried out because of a threat of encirclement. earlier, i spoke to alina frolova, ukraine's former deputy defence minister and current deputy head of board of the centre for defence strategies, who's in kyiv now, and i asked her about developements in east ukraine. russia declared its so—called referendums yesterday and declared these territory to be russian territory, and this is the first released town out of those which were declared. it also has important operational meaning because it is like a connection and because it is

also at the beginning of the quite big advance in the donetsk region. it is very critical to stress that lyman is in the donetsk area, one of those regions that russia is claiming as part of it but of course we are seeing russian troops leaving so what does that mean for other territories like the nesco and further down the south of luhansk nearby, and also zaporizhzhia. sham; nearby, and also zaporizhzhia. any advance nearby, and also zaporizhzhia. my advance means a lot because we disrupt the rates which we can disrupt the rates which we can disrupt the rates which we can disrupt the logistics, move out the artillery, but the principal of these counter offences is the continuation of the counteroffensive, and it means that we didn't stop after this threat of

the nuclear war, that we didn't stop all the claims which russia made, and this is principally very important for ukrainians. brazil goes to the polls tomorrow in a highly polarised election. the two front—runners are presidentjair bolsonaro and the former left—wing leader, luiz inacio lula da silva, who've been holding their final rallies today. this is being billed as the most significant election since the 80s, why is that? it is also because president bolsonaro, the incumbent, who is trailing in the polls, that is one today had him on 35% and his main opponent on 48%. president bolsonaro has been casting doubt on the integrity of the voting system.

here in brazil, everybody votes electronically, it is seen as an efficient and reliable system, the results come in within two hours of pulse closing but president bolsonaro because mac party suggested that government workers and election officials could somehow manipulate the result of these machines. so that is widely being seen here in brazil as a prelude to president bolsonaro refusing to accept the result of the first round of elections tomorrow, whatever that result may be. and he's also seen as imitating the playbook of former us president donald trump who also cast doubt on integrity of the election, and summoned his supporters to come to the streets. so the present here in brazil, where the president has a close relationship with the military, he has made 6000 appointments from the military to various bits of his administration, is whether he would turn to the administration —— the military to support him in a bid to stay in power. papers are being briefed that

there is in the pathology of a coup and that they will respect the results but it is pretty tense here because of the uncertainty about whether president bolsonaro will accept a result that goes against him, samantha. president bolsonaro is running on a platform of faith and family, of god, and the homeland, very conservative, pugnacious, populist message, and lula da silva, the former president of brazil, a left—winger, a former metalworker who became an incredibly popular president, the champion of the poor, president derek obama once referred to him as the most popular politician on her. —— forma president barack obama. the economy has been hammered by the pandemic, the food and energy prices going up. bolsonaro —— lula da silva is saying

let's feed ourselves again, let's have fun, whereas president bolsonaro is talking about compares the theories on how the elites are against him, so it's a fascinating matchup of populism from left and right going into the first round tomorrow. if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, there will be a second round. all eyes on tomorrow. 27 people are now known to have been killed by hurricane ian — which has been lashing the coast of south carolina after bringing widespread destruction to florida earlier this week. new aerial footage reveals the extent of the devastation in coastal areas of south west florida, as you can see from these before and after images. causeways linking islands off the coast of the state have been washed away, cutting off entire communities, with some residents having to be rescued by helicopter. the bbc�*s nada tawfik is in south west florida and has sent this report.

the category one storm made landfall just north of the historic city of charleston with winds of 85 mph. its charleston with winds of 85 mph. its powerful storm surge down power lines, plunging 400,000 people into darkness and left some stranded. local police captured the end of the peer collapsing before it floated away. officials did not feel evacuations were necessary but they have urged residents to avoid going out. if have urged residents to avoid going out. , ., ., �* ., have urged residents to avoid going out. i. ., �* ., ., have urged residents to avoid going out. ., �* ., ., ., , out. if you don't need to go outside and went right _ out. if you don't need to go outside and went right now, _ out. if you don't need to go outside and went right now, stay _ out. if you don't need to go outside and went right now, stay inside. . out. if you don't need to go outside and went right now, stay inside. if. and went right now, stay inside. if you don't need to drive, be careful, and be smart. you don't need to drive, be careful, and be smart-— you don't need to drive, be careful, and be smart. still, the damage was nowhere near _ and be smart. still, the damage was nowhere near as _ and be smart. still, the damage was nowhere near as devastating - and be smart. still, the damage was nowhere near as devastating as - and be smart. still, the damage was nowhere near as devastating as in i nowhere near as devastating as in florida, whether coastguard had to rescue people by helicopter from barrier islands cut off from the mainland. after making landfall twice in the united states, ian is

forecast to weaken rapidly, it will now move inland. as prince of wales, he had planned to attend the cup 27 conference, the palace had said that king sought advice and with mutual respect there was agreement that the king would not attend. confirming that the king will not be going to the local climate conference, cop27, later this year. time for a look at the weather. hello there. most of the showers today have been

across more western parts of the uk on a brisk westerly wind. a lot of those showers will fade away this evening and overnight and skies will clear for some. not in the south of england and the far south wales. thickening cloud will bring some rain in from the west by the time we get to the early hours of the morning. that'll keep the temperatures up here further north with the winds dropping and some clearer skies. temperatures will be seven or eight degrees. now, the good news for the london marathon is it won't be as windy as today, but there will be a lot of cloud around and we could have some rain from time to time, particularly in the morning. conditions should improve in the afternoon, but this is where the rain is early in the day. and we've got some heavier rain affecting the south west of england. through the day, the rain becomes lighter and more patchy and many places do become drier. we've got a lot of dry weather across other parts of the uk, plenty of sunshine, just a few showers in the northwest of scotland, but certainly fewer and lighter than today. in the sunshine, it'll feel quite pleasant. temperatures typically 16 to 18 celsius. now on bbc news, political thinking with nick robinson.

welcome to political thinking, a conversation with rather than an interrogation of someone who shapes our thinking about what has shaped theirs. you know what they say about a week in politics, what a long time this week has felt. since the budget that was officially not a budget. we have seen the pound go down, interest rates go up mortgages cancelled and billions of pounds being spent by the bank of england in order to defend the pension system. my guest this week is a new member of liz truss's new cabinet, the education secretary kit malthouse.