this is bbc news. i'm samantha simmonds. our top stories. cheering. the ukrainian flag flies again in a key town in the donetsk region, just a day after moscow claimed the territory would be russian forever. more dead and injured as the true extent of destruction caused by hurricane ian in florida becomes apparent. here in the uk police charge a man with murdering nine—year—old olivia pratt—korbel. she was shot when a convicted burglar was chased into her home in liverpool in august. the final push for votes as brazil prepares for what could be its most important election since the 1980s. people in tunisia take to the streets, to protest against the high cost of living and food shortages.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. the russian ministry of defence says its troops have left the strategic town of lyman, in eastern ukraine. a ministry spokesman was quoted by russian news agencies as saying the withdrawal was carried out because of a threat of encirclement. earlier, the ukrainian military said its troops were inside the town. lyman was a key strategic target, used by russia as a major logistics hub, and sits in the donetsk region which the government in moscow has just declared to be a part of russia. video footage shared online shows ukrainian soldiers waving their national flag on the outskirts of lyman. we cannot however verify exactly where the flag—raising is taking place. this report is from our ukraine

correspondent james waterhouse. ukraine's counteroffensives have slowed, but for ukrainians, progress is still progress. traces of occupation are being removed, and quickly. lyman was a logistics hub for russia's invasion. despite continued fighting, it is set to become a platform for ukraine to keep pushing east. cheering its territory that russia officially celebrated as its own only yesterday. despite this recent show of patriotism, it is another embarrassing retreat for vladimir putin. as ever, his generals are trying to put a positive spin on russia's latest setback. translation: in connection i with the threat of encirclement,

the allied troops were withdrawn from the settlement of lyman to more advantageous lines. to add to the kremlin's headache, ramzan kadyrov, one of putin's closest allies, called russia's military "shameful," and suggested it use what he called low yield nuclear weapons. that is essentially a repetition of russia's threat of an escalation in this war. momentum is very much with ukraine, which continues to undermine russian rhetoric by taking back lost territory. it has given kyiv the confidence to repeat its terms for any peace talks. translation: ukraine will get back what belongs to her, _ both in the east and in the south. what they try to annex now and crimea which they annexed in 2014. our flag will be everywhere. complete liberation is a long way off. a lot more people on both sides will lose their lives.

however, ukraine will feel that victories like these will pave the way. james waterhouse, bbc news. let's go to washington now and speak with andrew d'anieri. he's the assistant director of the eurasia center at the atlantic council think tank. thank you for being with us. how significant is this news out of lyman in your view? it significant is this news out of lyman in your view?- significant is this news out of lyman in your view? it is massively significant- — lyman in your view? it is massively significant. after _ lyman in your view? it is massively significant. after ukraine's - lyman in your view? it is massively significant. after ukraine's counter| significant. after ukraine's counter offensive a few weeks ago, we have been looking to see what ukraine would do to extend the counter offensive. they showed of the territory they had taken back from russian forces and now we see they encircle russian forces around lyman and push them out of the town. this comes only one day after president putin called lyman russian. it is a

massive victory for ukraine and a symbolic loss for president putin. as we saw in that report, we saw the chechen leader say that russia should now consider using low yield nuclear weapons in the face of such a defeat. of course, we have had that kind of threat from president putin many times over the past few months and a few days ago he said he's not bluffing. it is very difficult to know what is happening in the mind of the russian leader, but what is your best assessment of what changes this could possibly bring about from the russians? you are absolutely _ bring about from the russians? mm, are absolutely right, bring about from the russians? you. are absolutely right, it is hard to get inside putin's mind or inside kremlin decision—makers. things are so incredulous at the moment. we saw putin's speech yesterday and now we see people asking putin to use nuclear weapons in ukraine. so the chances of a nuclear weapon being used in ukraine by russia, certainly

have increased in recent weeks and possibly in the last few days. it's not quite clear exactly how much low yield nuclear weapon we are talking about would actually make a difference on the battlefield. sure, lots of destruction to a town or military base, but it is really hard to see how this would change the strategic calculus in kyiv. what strategic calculus in kyiv. what would it do _ strategic calculus in kyiv. what would it do in _ strategic calculus in kyiv. what would it do in terms _ strategic calculus in kyiv. what would it do in terms of- strategic calculus in kyiv. what would it do in terms of changing how the west deals with russia? and the possible support for ukraine? the west has possible support for ukraine? tue west has been possible support for ukraine? tte west has been really possible support for ukraine? ttj: west has been really strong in condemning these threats by putin, which have continued for many months. putin has raised the nuclear card and threatened it many, many times. this is nothing new, but like i said, we have seen the threat increase quite a bit and the west, led by washington has been steadfast that cost would be imposed on moscow showed a nuclear weapon be used, and those costs would be massive. we

don't know what those might be at the moment but it is safe to say that more weapons to ukraine and more sanctions on moscow and those would be the two avenues western leaders would use to punish moscow if something like that should happen, unfortunately. what do you think ukraine _ happen, unfortunately. what do you think ukraine will _ happen, unfortunately. what do you think ukraine will be _ happen, unfortunately. what do you think ukraine will be hoping - happen, unfortunately. what do you think ukraine will be hoping to - think ukraine will be hoping to achieve before winter sets in? ukraine will be heading in the east to continue this counter offensive. the next large town is severodonetsk, in that region, and it took the russians months to take that town back in the spring and if ukraine were to take it back, that would be a huge victory. and also, in curzon, the regional capital the russians were able to take it in february. we are looking at the south and east for what ukraine can

expect to take in the next few months. , ., , ., months. interesting to get your thou:hts, months. interesting to get your thoughts, thanks _ months. interesting to get your thoughts, thanks for _ months. interesting to get your thoughts, thanks for with - months. interesting to get your thoughts, thanks for with us. i gas has begun flowing down a new pipeline from norway to poland that will give central and eastern europe another alternative option to russian energy. poland had been dependent on russia for its gas for decades until supplies were cut off in april after it refused to pay its bills in roubles. the polish prime minister, mateusz morawiecki, said the opening of the new link marked the end of russia's domination and blackmail in poland's gas market. meanwhile a gas pipeline running from greece to bulgaria has been officially inaugurated as well. bulgaria, too, had been dependent on russia for gas, and the new pipeline also has the potential to supply countries throughout the balkans. the european commission president ursula von der leyen was present at the ceremony, and stressed the importance of the pipeline for bulgaria and europe's overall energy security. this pipeline is a game changer. it is a game changer for both bulgaria and

europe's energy security. and it means freedom. it means freedom from dependency on russian gas. new gas pipelines are now operating in both poland and bulgaria, loosening the two countries' dependence on russian energy. poland was cut off from russian supplies after it refused a demand to pay its bills in roubles. gas has now begun flowing down a pipeline from norway. i spoke to adam easton, the bbc�*s warsaw correspondent, who began by explaining how the new pipelines came about. toland is one of the oldest buyers of russian gas dating back to the late 1940s. ——:. overthe years, russia's near monopoly supply status allowed it to overcharge poland for its gas. it used to charge poland more than a charge germany because poland could not get it from anywhere else. in 2014, russia's

annexation of crimea, those two factors basically changed minds in warsaw and they decided they have got to approve projects which would allow us to buy gas elsewhere. that has now happened today with the opening, the first gas flow of this pipeline from norway, which is significant. just by itself, the supply is cut off from russia in april, it will be able to supply lithuania and slovakia, because poland has gas pipeline interconnection with those countries. it is a new route into central and eastern europe for norwegian gas. as you mentioned, there was a new route of non—russian gas, this time it is from azerbaijan, which will come through this pipeline between greece and bulgaria, which has started operating today. that is significant as well because russia cut up its

supplies in bulgaria in aprilfor the same reason that bulgaria and poland refused to pay for the gas in roubles. a huge clean—up operation is under way in florida, where tens of thousands of homes and businesses are still suffering widespread power outages in the wake of hurricane ian. the storm has also caused extensive flooding in south carolina. before—and—after aerial pictures have revealed just how extreme the devastation is coastal areas of south west florida. causways linking islands off the coast of the state have also been washed away, cutting off entire communities, with some residents having to be rescued by helicopter. the death toll continues to rise, with reports suggesting the figure for the whole of florida could be more than fifty. azadeh moshiri reports. storm ian's strong winds and heavy rain have left parts of the carolinas underwater. this is charleston, its historic buildings flooded and myrtle beach, overwhelmed by what officials dreaded most, storm surges.

but in florida, the areas that were hit the hardest are still trying to recover from the storm. i went back to see cindy, who lives in a manufactured housing community full of rvs and wooden homes. mother nature and god was helping me out that night. look at it, i've got the chills just thinking about it. i keep getting... my body keeps going through these tremors because i still feel like i am rocking and rolling in that, a roller—coaster in my bathtub. yes, we sat here, my neighbourand i... i then met herbert, whose roof was blown off when he rode out the storm while he was sitting on his couch. trees going farther and farther down. this is what he filmed after the hurricane made landfall. that was a window over there? yes. there is a window here, and a stick came through and broke about this much. i came here about a day after the storm hit, and it still looks pretty much the same. there was a lot more water on the streets around here but

obviously the clean—up crews have drained that water. but people here clearly still need help. they have been told that a government agency will come and will potentially offer them help, but they have also been told that it could tell them that this entire area is uninhabitable. search and rescue missions continued, with flooding still threatening lives. the governor has said thousands have been completed. but though the number of lives saved is growing, so is the number of lives lost, as the state continues counting the dead. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. here in the uk a man has been charged with murdering nine—year—old olivia 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 olivia, who died after convicted burglar joseph nee was chased into her family's property in august. judith moritz reports. it's six weeks since olivia pratt—korbel was killed, six weeks of her family grieving...

i'm on it, as well. ..and the police hunting for the gunman responsible. tonight, at last, a breakthrough, announced at a hastily arranged media conference. the crown prosecution service has authorised merseyside police to charge thomas cashman, 34, from grenadier drive, west derby, with the murder of nine—year—old olivia pratt—korbel. also, the attempted murder ofjoseph nee and cheryl korbel on the 22nd of august, 2022. olivia was shot when a gunman burst into her home in in the liverpool suburb of dovecot in august. he'd been chasing another man and they both ran through the front door which olivia's mum cheryl had opened, wanting to see why there was so much noise outside. olivia's death has shattered the community where she lived. her mum, cheryl, gave

the eulogy at her funeral, and the family continues to be supported by the police. cheryl: she will never be forgotten by us. - we will never say goodbye, but what i will say, is good night, love you, see you in the morning. our thoughts today are with olivia's mum and dad, cheryl and john, and their families who, throughout the last few weeks, have shown incredible strength, courage and dignity. another man, 40—year—old paul russell, has also been charged in connection with the shooting, accused of assisting an offender. both men will appear at liverpool magistrates�* court on monday. buckingham palace has confirmed that king charles will not attend the next major international climate change conference in egypt later this year. he had planned to go as the prince of wales before the death of the queen.

tomorrow's sunday times newspaper reports that prime minister liz truss "ordered" him not to take part — but the palace says the decision was taken in the spirit of "mutual friendship and respect". you are watching bbc news, the headlines this hour: russian troops withdraw from a strategic east ukraine town to avoid being surrounded by the ukrainian military. tens of thousands of homes and businesses are still suffering widespread power outages in the wake of hurricane ian. the two frontrunners in brazil's highly polarised presidential election have been holding their final rallies ahead of sunday's vote. all major polls have put former leftist president luiz inacio lula de silva ahead of right—wing incumbant, jair bolsonaro, but anxiety over a contested outcome remains. laura trevelyan reports from rio dejaneiro. welcome to rio on this final day of campaigning in brazil's presidential election,

which is being seen as one the incumbent, who is behind in the polls is casting doubt on the integrity of brazil's voting system. brazil has electronic voting machines and the result come through nationally within two hours of the polls closing. but president bolsonaro and his party have suggested, without any evidence, that somehow government officials could alter the results. this is leading to speculation that perhaps president bolsonaro will not accept the result should it go against him. this opens up a world of uncertainty. if he doesn't accept the result, what will that mean in brazil? memories are still fresh of the fact that brazil was a military dictatorship until the late 1980s. is possible president bolsonaro could somehow call on the military to make sure he stays in power? military officials are so worried about the public perception that

they would do this, they have briefed brazilian newspapers that they have no intention of mounting a coup in support president bolsonaro. is it possible president bolsonaro could summon his supporters on the street in a repeat of president trump of stop the steel which led to the attack on the us capitol. if one candidate were to get more than 50% of the vote in the first round of the election on sunday, that would mean there would not be a run—off on october the 30th. many questions here in brazil and some anxiety and uncertainty heading into sunday's election. laura will have plenty more from brazil in the coming hours. let's look at some other stories making news today. the african union has condemned friday's coup in burkina faso and has called for the military to refrain from acts of violence against civilians or other

human rights violations. it was the second military take over this year. dozens of demonstrators in the iraqi capital baghad are reported to have been injured in clashes with security forces. thousands gathered to mark the third anniversary of nationwide protests against endemic corruption during which hundreds of protesters were killed. some were carrying portraits of those who died in 2019. more penguins have died from avian flu at cape town's famous boulders beach, raising concerns for the species. a vet at the site said at least 28 out of around three thousand penguins in the colony had died from the disease since the middle of august. scientists say they're continuing to monitor the situation as its not clear how the outbreak would evolve. protests, sparked by the death of a kurdish woman arrested by the country's morality police, show no sign of abating in iran. these pictures from the city of mashhad show women and students defying the law by taking off their hijabs.

it's just one of the cities where protesters took to the streets and clashed with security forces. and iranian expatriates expressed their support by taking to the streets around the world too. jiya gulfrom our bbc persian service was in london for us. here we are in trafalgar square in london, thousands of iranians from different walks of life, from different walks of life, from different political parties, they have gathered here with one voice, to express their solidarity with the protests inside iran. just like iran, there are so many women here leading the protest. one of them was telling me, just imagine if there was no bullet, if there was no weapons, no detention, no torture. how many million more of iranians would show up in the street to protest against islamic republic. as we speak, thousands of iranians, university students in small and

large cities across iran are protesting against the iranian regime. here we have one of those iranian artists who is based in london. he left the country almost three decades ago. 25 london. he left the country almost three decades ago.— three decades ago. 25 years ago. what do you _ three decades ago. 25 years ago. what do you make _ three decades ago. 25 years ago. what do you make of _ three decades ago. 25 years ago. what do you make of this - three decades ago. 25 years ago. what do you make of this protest this time around. t what do you make of this protest this time around.— this time around. i think what is happening _ this time around. i think what is happening in — this time around. i think what is happening in iran _ this time around. i think what is happening in iran might - this time around. i think what is happening in iran might now- this time around. i think what is happening in iran might now is. happening in iran might now is probably— happening in iran might now is probably the biggest, most important battle for— probably the biggest, most important battle for freedom, for women's right, _ battle for freedom, for women's right, human rights, anywhere in the world _ right, human rights, anywhere in the world it _ right, human rights, anywhere in the world it is _ right, human rights, anywhere in the world. it is notjust for the people of had _ world. it is notjust for the people of had it — world. it is notjust for the people of iran. it has great significance globally— of iran. it has great significance globally considering the thing happening around the world right now with russia, poland, hungary, italy, sweden, _ with russia, poland, hungary, italy, sweden, even. this is the greatest movement— sweden, even. this is the greatest movement and the greatest battle for freedom _ movement and the greatest battle for freedom and for human rights

anywhere in the world right now. thank _ anywhere in the world right now. thank you — anywhere in the world right now. thank you very much. i think here, it is notjust a raining, i have seen so many people from different nationalities shouting, woman, life, freedom. this is what people in many other cities are chanting. people in tunisia have taken to the streets this week, to protest the high cost of living and food shortages. more than half of the population is now living in poverty, and almost 700,000 people have left the country heading for europe, since the start of the year. anna foster, reports from the capital, tunis. "i'm telling you to take care of your country. "don't leave." this is the angry new conversation on the streets of tunisia.

food is more expensive than ever before. each month, inflation hits a new record high. translation: there's no oil or sugar, - sometimes there's no bread. how can people live? what can people do? more than a decade ago, a tunisian fruit and vegetable seller set himself on fire. mohamed bouazizi's death caused widespread protests against the high cost of living. the arab spring uprisings were supposed to spark change. for walid, they did — but not in the way he'd hoped. me, myself, i remember them every day... one of his best friends was killed, and while demonstrating walid was shot — he lost his right leg. translation: i sacrificed my leg for l the sake of improving the situation | in my country. unfortunately, jobs and national dignity haven't been achieved over the past 12 years. for a time, there was change. but injuly, tunisians voted

for a new constitution, which concentrated power in the hands of the president, kais saied. it undid many of the democratic gains made since the arab spring. the rising cost of living is directly affecting the political system here. 11 years after protests that removed a dictator, tunisia is back in the grip of one—man rule. but so many people i speak to here tell me that even though their hard—fought freedoms are being lost, they see a forceful leader as the only way to get the economy back on its feet. living standards in tunisia are now worse than when the arab spring began — the number of families in need has tripled since 2010. hannan's husband isn't at home — he's meeting the people smugglers who've offered him a seat on a dangerous boat journey to italy. the family's life is desperate. they can't afford fruit for the children any more, or meat orfish.

translation: if you go outj to the street and ask people to choose between dignity and bread, they will choose bread, because they don't care about dignity any more because people have got hungry. imagine he goes on the trip and dies on the sea, we will be lost. if he dies, we will be automatically homeless. this country has known some of history's most famous battles. now its people are facing a new fight — simply to survive. anna foster, bbc news, tunis. the tech billionaire elon musk has presented the latest prototype of a humanoid robot. optimus — being developed by his tesla car company — appeared on stage at a silicon valley event, where it waved to the audience. mr musk said robots could eventually transform civilization and eliminate poverty. initially though, optimus will be

tested with simple tasks on the tesla factory floor. you are watching bbc news. after the weather we will be looking at the front pages of the papers. now it's time for a look at the weather. a slightly different focus of the weather where a saturday was sunshine and showers, for sunday, many will be dry but not all. this frontal system is sliding eastwards across south wales. on sunday morning it will bring heavy rain to south—west england and rumbles of thunder. the rain extending into south—east england, potentially a little bit into south wales and the south midlands. we could see some patchy rain for a time for the london marathon, particularly through the morning. as the day wears on it will pull away

southwards may be some late spells of sunshine for the late finishers. but as it pulls away, for much of the uk, sunday is a fine and dry day. showers to watch out for, particularly for western scotland under northern ireland. maybe later in the day for the north—west of northern ireland. we have got sunshine and temperatures in the mid to high teens. the wind is not as strong as they have been but still noticeable for the western and the northern isles. we could see some stronger gusts for a time for southern coastal counties associated with the band of rain which continues to move southward through sunday evening. most of the showers will fade and too much of the uk, dry and clear with some cloud pushing back into northern ireland ahead of some rain on monday. under clear skies it could be a chilly night for england and wales with temperatures down to 405 celsius. we start the new week with an air of high pressure in charge for much of england and wales. this frontal system bringing outbreaks of rain and stronger winds into northern ireland and scotland. northern

ireland and scotland. northern ireland seen the rain first through monday, pushing its way eastwards and getting into scotland around midday and then into the afternoon. but for much of england and wales, it stays dry with good spells of sunshine although northern england will see more cloud. in the sunshine across england and wales, temperatures getting to 18, 19 celsius. where you have the rain across scotland, more like 13 or 14 celsius. area of rain across scotland and northern ireland on tuesday and high—pressure drifting southwards. some of the rain will move into wales and northern england on tuesday. by and large, most of the rain in the week ahead will be for scotland, northern ireland, northern england and wales. drier conditions with sunshine further south and east. that is all from me.

hello, this is bbc news. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow mornings papers in a moment. first the headlines. 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, 34, 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 thousand workers stage a walkout in the biggest rail strike so far. buckingham palace has confirmed that the king will not be going to the global climate change conference, cop27, to be held in egypt later this year. the palace was responding to a story in the sunday times which said that the pm had ordered the king not to go to cop27.