this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm geeta guru—murthy. a massive explosion has severely damaged the strategically important road and rail bridge connecting occupied crimea to russia. the bridge — opened to great fanfare by president putin in 2018 — has been used to move military equipment into ukraine. the un nuclear watchdog calls for the urgent protection of the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant after shelling cuts its external power. police say ten people have been killed in an explosion at a petrol station in county donegal, in the republic of ireland. ceremonies have been taking place in thailand to mark the start of a four—day funeral for victims

of a mass killing at a nursery. hello and welcome, if you're watching in the uk or around the world. president putin has suffered an embarrassing setback in the war with ukraine, after a huge explosion on the only bridge linking russia with the crimean peninsula. the bridge partially collapsed but has now reopened to light traffic. russia annexed crimea in 2014, and after occupying these regions of ukraine — in red — it's managed to establish a corridor up through southern and eastern ukraine. the kerch bridge, connecting russia to the crimean peninsula in the black sea, was an important supply route for sending russian troops and artillery into ukraine. in the last few hours president putin

has ordered his fsb secret service to tighten security on the peninsula. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports. it is the bridge the kremlin built, and it was under attack. an explosion at dawn. this was the result. russian officials claim a lorry had been blown up here and that the fire then spread to a fuel train. whatever the cause, you can see the damage. this is the bridge that links russia to annexed crimea, and parts of the road had collapsed into the sea. later, investigators announced that three people had been killed. they've opened a criminal case. the 12—mile—long road and rail bridge is not only strategically important to the kremlin as a supply route, it is also a symbol of the russian annexation of crimea.

vladimir putin opened it in 2018 — getting behind the wheel to show that, as far as he was concerned, russia and crimea were joined forever. very different scenes today. pro—kremlin commentators have blamed ukraine for the explosion, but there's been no claim of responsibility from kyiv. it is noticeable how the situation has changed here, and the messaging. a few months ago, russians were being told — by their leaders and by the state media — that the so—called special military operation would be relatively brief and victorious. now they're being told that there are problems, that russia is losing ground. and today, they learnt about the attack on a hugely symbolic location, the crimean bridge. news of the attack has sparked concern amongst the public here. but the russians we spoke to had different ideas about how the kremlin should react.

"it's worrying," stas says. "war is always bad. they should have done this differently, with negotiations." but olga says, "putin must respond. "what a birthday present they gave him! "we should blow up the train lines ukraine uses to get "its military aid from america. "this is nato�*s fault." but from vladimir putin, there's been no reaction yet to what happened here. no hint as to how he will respond. steve rosenberg, bbc news, st petersburg. paul adams is in kyiv and told us how the ukrainians are responding to this. ukrainians, in general, are absolutely cock—a—hoop. for them, this is like the sinking of the moskva — the russian flagship of the black sea fleet, back in april. this is a real moment of national delight. just to give you a bit of an indication,

the ukrainian post office has already announced that it plans to issue a postage stamp celebrating the hit on the bridge over the kerch strait. the symbolism of that attack is enormous here, too. now, experts i've spoken to have said that they think this was probably a result of an extremely expertly executed sabotage operation, almost certainly by ukrainian special forces. but a presidential adviser just about an hour or so ago said, no, this was actually the result of infighting in moscow. was he trolling the russians, playing on signs of division within the russian defence establishment? we simply don't know. it seems, though, this was a very good day, though, for ukraine. i'm joined now by professor kata ryna wolczuk — a fellow of russia programme at uk think—tank chatham house and professor of east european politics at the university of birmingham.

thank you very much forjoining us. just how significant is this hit on the bridge, do you think? this just how significant is this hit on the bridge, do you think?- the bridge, do you think? this is siunificant the bridge, do you think? this is significant and _ the bridge, do you think? this is significant and highly _ the bridge, do you think? this is significant and highly symbolic l significant and highly symbolic because it happened to be on the night after president putin's birthday. it is significant because crimea is vulnerable and it has been expected for a long time that the bridge may be hit and yet the russian army claimed that it is very well protected. it hasn't been the case, it proved. imilli well protected. it hasn't been the case, it proved.— case, it proved. will the russian sa that case, it proved. will the russian say that it _ case, it proved. will the russian say that it is _ case, it proved. will the russian say that it is partially _ case, it proved. will the russian say that it is partially reopened l say that it is partially reopened now, they will no doubt try to limit the sense of damage? yes. now, they will no doubt try to limit the sense of damage?— now, they will no doubt try to limit the sense of damage? yes, and first of all they don't _ the sense of damage? yes, and first of all they don't say _ the sense of damage? yes, and first of all they don't say what _ the sense of damage? yes, and first of all they don't say what it - the sense of damage? yes, and first of all they don't say what it was, - of all they don't say what it was, they claim for the time being a terrorist attack. we know that president putin has declined to comment and there is going to be an investigation so for the time being the kremlin is trying to downplay the kremlin is trying to downplay the significance, but also, we know

that the one stretch of the road has been reopened, but with very limited capacity. usually there would be up to 40,000 cars passing through the bridge daily. we can expect about 500 or so being able to pass. it has been also claimed that the railway line is reopened, but this has not been confirmed, and it seems, given the scale of the damage, very unlikely that it is going to happen any time soon. unlikely that it is going to happen any time soon-— unlikely that it is going to happen an timesoon. ., ., ,, any time soon. how would you assess the sort of pros _ any time soon. how would you assess the sort of pros and _ any time soon. how would you assess the sort of pros and cons _ any time soon. how would you assess the sort of pros and cons in _ any time soon. how would you assess the sort of pros and cons in terms - the sort of pros and cons in terms of use ahead at the moment, because obviously, we do get conflicting accounts from both sides. it seems that ukraine _ accounts from both sides. it seems that ukraine is _ accounts from both sides. it seems that ukraine is having _ accounts from both sides. it seems that ukraine is having the - accounts from both sides. it seems - that ukraine is having the momentum, especially after liberating kherson and the kharkiv region. kherson is a bit more difficult but in the last couple of days, ukraine has made some spectacular advances, so the momentum is on the ukrainian side

and they will clearly try to use it in the next several weeks before the harsh winter conditions start hampering any military activities so, from that point of view, hitting the kerch bridge is of major strategic significance if, especially the railway link, cannot be established any time soon, because we know russia has relied heavily on railway lines to supply the russian armed forces. russia has a new commander, _ the russian armed forces. russia has a new commander, and _ the russian armed forces. russia has a new commander, and there - the russian armed forces. russia has a new commander, and there has - a new commander, and there has apparently been a number of changes in senior military personnel in russia. what do you read into that? it reads that the kremlin holds that the new commander, there is indeed a new commander but it is very unlikely that he will be able to make a change. his experience of fighting the second chechen war, but

the fact is, no commander in russia can actually compensate for the weaknesses, strategic long—term weaknesses, strategic long—term weaknesses, of the russian armed forces, which have been exposed over the last seven months, including very poor coordination and very poor training and also lots of equipment so their major sort of weaknesses, which will make it months if not years to remedy and in the meantime, this is a bit of a poisoned chalice for any russian commander now in charge of the war in ukraine. yes. charge of the war in ukraine. yes, this general— charge of the war in ukraine. yes, this general who _ charge of the war in ukraine. yes, this general who has _ charge of the war in ukraine. yes, this general who has been - charge of the war in ukraine. yes, this general who has been appointed to oversee operations at the moment. kataryna to oversee operations at the moment. kata ryna wolczuk, to oversee operations at the moment. kataryna wolczuk, thank you. thank ou. the head of the un nuclear watchdog says the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southeastern ukraine must be protected urgently, after shelling again cut all external power.

0ur correspondent in kyiv, hugo bachega, has been following events. well, for weeks, this nuclear power station has been at the centre of concerns because of the level of military activity happening around it. the russians invaded this complex at the very beginning of the war and the ukrainians have been saying that russian troops have essentially turned this nuclear facility into a military base, using it as a nuclear shield to launch attacks, knowing that ukrainian forces are unlikely to retaliate. now, president zelensky said more than 500 russian troops, heavily armed, are there, positioned in this complex. and the nuclear operators, the ukrainian staff, are still operating this facility, working under very stressful, difficult conditions. so rafael grossi, the head of the international atomic energy agency, released a statement saying that "the station must be protected urgently". he's been calling for the creation of a safety zone around this facility.

he was here in kyiv earlier this week. he's due to visit moscow to try to push ahead with this plan to try to create this safety zone around the nuclear facility. and he said in a tweet that after this visit to moscow, he's going to return here to kyiv to try to create this safety area around the zaporizhzhia nuclear facility. ten people, including a young child and two teenagers, are now confirmed to have died, after an explosion at a petrol station in county donegal in ireland yesterday. police say they believe it was a tragic accident. from the scene, the village of creeslough, our ireland correspondent chris page reports. this small community has been caught up in a wave of devastation and desperation. the rescue efforts gave way to a recovery operation

as the day went on. the sight of ambulances leaving, a sign that there was no expectation anyone else would be found alive. from the moment it happened, blown out walls, crumbled roof and tonnes of rubble showed that this was a legal explosion. is was like a bomb going off on a sonic boom that shook us to the core. immediately the people in the area just waited to try and help to get people out of the building. the building was very precarious, very dangerous. there were flats above the garage shop which largely collapsed. several times the emergency services asked for complete silence so that they would be able to hear people who were trapped. eight patients were taken to hospital, one is in a critical condition. what is striking in the village is the quietness, the stillness, even. the emergency services are continuing to carry out their search and people have gathered to watch and wait for news, but you get the sense

that they can't really take in that some of their friends, relatives, neighbours, went to the local shop on a friday afternoon and lost their lives so suddenly. all those who were killed were from the area. there are no outstanding reports of unaccounted for persons. the ten casualties are four men, three women, two teenagers, a boy and girl, and a younger girl. many of the 400 people who live in creeslough went to a special church service this morning. the leader of the irish government sent his condolences. i think the entire nation is shocked at what happened. it is an unspeakable tragedy. our thoughts and our prayers, our hearts go out to the people of creeslough. rural county donegal is often thought of as the essence of tranquillity, an idyllic retreat. tonight, widespread grieving has begun, coupled with an intense feeling of disbelief.

people here say that our taking comfort from the messages of sympathy and practical offers of support they have received right across the island of ireland. the emergency services are winding down your search now. police will be investigating how the recent explosion happened but at this early stage they are suggesting that a crime is not suspected. chris page. the south korean military says north korea has fired two ballistic missiles into the sea of japan. the missiles were reportedly launched in the early hours of sunday morning, local time. the japanese coastguard confirmed the launches, without specifying where they landed. this, from the japanese prime minister's office on twitter, appears to confirm at least one of the launches. the incident comes amid simmering tensions over us—led military exercises in the region. there have now been a total of four ballistic missile launches by north korea in the past week. on tuesday, pyongyang fired a missile overjapan, followed by another two

launches on thursday. iranians have defied a great security crackdown to take to the streets in a fourth week of anti—government demonstrations. there are protests in many cities. reports from iran say that at least three people had been shot dead by security forces. the protests were triggered by the death of a 22—year—old woman in police custody, more than three weeks ago. there have been demonstrations in cities around the world today, including this one in the netherlands, in support of the iranian protests. the headlines on bbc news... a massive explosion has severely damaged a strategically important road and rail bridge connecting occupied crimea to russia. the un nuclear watchdog calls for the urgent protection of the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in ukraine after shelling cuts its external power.

funeral services are being held for dozens of victims of a knife 24 children and 12 adults were murdered by a former policeman on thursday. 0ur south east asia correspondent, jonathan head, sent this report. all these young faces as they were in life. as theirfamilies would like to remember them. 0ne wall of the temple has been turned into a shrine to what is now a lost generation for this village. with loved toys, stuffed animals, and for this boy, a school uniform he'd onlyjust begun wearing. kanchana and sitipong are saying goodbye to their only child, three —year—old hubet, one of the youngest victims. they rushed back here on news

of the attack from another province where they've been working. he was a very cheerful boy. everyone admired him. i see you've been holding this blanket ever since we first saw you. and tell us about the blanket. you know, this is the . blanket he really loved. it always had to be a red blanket. he loved the smell of it. floral tributes have come from all over the country. arranging them properly is one of the manyjobs taken on by volunteers in the village. then the start of a funeral which is expected to last for four days. this is a holy water pouring ceremony, for which people queued on their knees inside and under a fierce tropical sun outside. funerals in thailand are always a community affair, and it seems that pretty much all the residents of this village have come to be a part of this one. it is a way of sharing the grief, of course, of consoling the parents,

but also of acknowledging that these dreadful killings have affected everyone. then it was the turn of kanchana and sitipong. this young couple left their village in search ofjobs they hoped would provide a better life for their son. those hopes have been cruelly dashed by an attack no—one could have foreseen and which no one can understand. jonathan head, bbc news, north—eastern thailand. unimaginable horror for all of those families involved, in thailand. we will take a break from that and turn to something a little bit lighter. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's lizzie. hello, we're starting with the premier league where manchester city beat southampton 4—0 to go top of the table — at least until arsenal play liverpool on sunday.

it was another big win for pep guardiola's side against a southampton team who've lost four in a row. joao cancelo opened the scoring, and phil foden made it two before half time. riyadh mahrez put city three up after the break before erling haaland scored his 20th goal in his short time at city. we had the chances again. he scored a brilliant goal. he had chances. it is an incredible weapon for us. a big threat for the opponents and, yeah, we are so satisfied. there was victory for chelsea and another for manager graham potter — his side 3—0 winners over wolves. kai havertz, christian pulisic and armando broja with the goals. the win moved them up to fourth. wolves drop into the relegation zone. it is built to control the whole the premier league match. they come into it a bit more in the second—half but overall we deserved the win, nice to

score three goals and mass to keep a clean sheet, so a happy afternoon. here's a look at the rest of saturday's fixtures. wins for bournemouth against struggling leicester who thrashed brentford 5—1. harry kane scored his eighth goal of the season to help tottenham win at brighton. in italy's serie a, ac milan beatjuventus 2—0 at the san siro. elsewhere inter beat sassuolo and bologna are a goal up at home to sampdoria. borussia dortmund came from 2—0 down to draw with bayern munich and stop their rivals going top of the german bundesliga. there were also wins for bayer leverkusen and bochum. and real madrid can go top of la liga if they win at getafe in the late kick—off in la liga — they're currently 1—0 up. in the other matches played there were wins for almeria and atletico madrid. sevilla drew 1—1 at home to athletic bilbao. formula i now, max verstappen is well positioned to win his second formula one world title — after taking pole position at the japanese grand prix.

he pipped ferrari's charles leclerc, who'll start tomorrow's race from second. carlos sainz took third. verstappen can become champion tomorrow if he wins the race and takes the point for fastest lap. cycling history's been made, in a velodrome in switzerland — filippo ganna has smashed the hour record. the italian, who rides for the british ineos grenadiers team, has beaten dan bigham's world record. ganna has ridden further than any human has ever done, in an hour — going 56.792 km. that is more than one kilometre further than the previous record. that's it, our website has much more including the latest from the women's rugby union world cup. the first round of matches continue on sunday with wales playing scotland, the usa playing italy, and japan taking on canada. the bbc has been told that uk prime minister liz truss sacked conor burns as the country's trade minister yesterday,

after eyewitnesses saw him touching a young man's thigh at a hotel bar during the party's conference in birmingham. mr burns has denied any wrongdoing. i'm very limited in what i can say. all i can say is that as someone who is dedicated to public service, to serving my constituents, the last 24—hour is have been distressing and devastating. i still have not had any information from the party on the nature of the complaint. i say, as i said in my statement, that i will cooperate fully with the party when they engage with me and i look forward to clearing my name. i'm sorry, i can't say any more at this time. for more on this, i'm joined now by our uk political correspondent, iain watson. what more do you know? conor burns was international _ what more do you know? conor burns was international trade _ what more do you know? conor burns was international trade minister - was international trade minister until yesterday. this incident happened during the conservative party annual conference in a hotel bar in the early hours of tuesday morning. we heard there from conor

burns himself who said he didn't know the details of what the party was accusing him of what the bbc has been told by an eyewitness what they thought the incident was, that he was touching a young man's five early in the morning. what is interesting is that, it was an eyewitness who told the bbc what they had seen, but the complaint about conor burns was made by a third party, by someone else who was not directly involved in the incident itself. so, that has led to many of the allies of conor burns accusing the prime minister liz truss of effectively rushing to judgment, and using the incident as an attempt, on her part, to try to regain some lost authority during the conference. you remember during the conference. you remember during the annual conference, the governing party here, there was a reversal on herflagship party here, there was a reversal on her flagship tax policy, party here, there was a reversal on herflagship tax policy, some arguments over what to do about benefits and whether they should be operated in line with inflation so

it was a messy conference to put it bluntly and he's effectively saying, others close to him would be saying, that he has been used as an attempt ijy that he has been used as an attempt by liz truss to regain authority but also, that this had been an horrendous conference and are very unsure start to her leadership so to some extent conor burns are saying that he doesn't really know what the processes say, but you saying that that process is being used for reasons other than this incident which allegedly happened in birmingham.— which allegedly happened in birmingham. which allegedly happened in birminuham. ., ., ., birmingham. there are more opinion olls birmingham. there are more opinion polls putting — birmingham. there are more opinion polls putting the _ birmingham. there are more opinion polls putting the tories _ birmingham. there are more opinion polls putting the tories behind - birmingham. there are more opinion polls putting the tories behind the i polls putting the tories behind the opposition, the labour party, and there is a lot of speculation about whether liz truss can survive as prime minister.— whether liz truss can survive as prime minister. . , , . ., ., ., , prime minister. that speculation has ha--ened prime minister. that speculation has happened very _ prime minister. that speculation has happened very rapidly. _ prime minister. that speculation has happened very rapidly. what - prime minister. that speculation has happened very rapidly. what we - prime minister. that speculation has happened very rapidly. what we are | happened very rapidly. what we are going to be seen in the next few hours, on sundays, the newspapers become very reflective, looking at what has happened in the last week and looking ahead to the next week

and looking ahead to the next week and we will see a range of conservative ministers rallying round liz truss. the fact that people have to be seen to be rallying round the primer is means that she is in some degree of difficulty. as you mentioned, you cannotjust difficulty. as you mentioned, you cannot just look at difficulty. as you mentioned, you cannotjust look at one opinion poll but a range of opinion polls put the labour party considerably ahead and there are fears amongst conservative mps about what they could be facing at the next election. that election could be two years away but there are fears by some mps, not those who might lose their seats, about the scale of any likely defeat, but they do have difficulty, if they try to pick yet another leader that will make them look not only disunited but whether it was legitimate for other people to continue in post without a general election, and with the polls at the moment that would not be very helpful to them, so there is little doubt that last week at the conservative conference that was open talk on the margins away from the conference floor about who

might succeed liz truss. rishi sunak, boris _ might succeed liz truss. rishi sunak, boris johnson, - might succeed liz truss. rishi sunak, boris johnson, many l might succeed liz truss. rishi sunak, borisjohnson, many names that we have speculated about before. many details to come on this in the coming days, iain watson, thank you very much indeed. you are watching bbc news. good evening. it's been a much quieter weather day today. we've had plenty of sunshine. this was the view in teignmouth in devon late in the afternoon. it wasn't the only place enjoying that sunshine. many areas had a lot of sunshine today because we've had a ridge of high pressure which is holding these weather fronts back, but you can see that high pressure slipping eastwards, so these weather fronts will make progress into scotland and northern ireland in particular later tonight and tomorrow. for this evening we've actually got a few light showers through the central lowlands. they will die back to the west coast later. the winds do start to strengthen, though. the cloud starts to thicken, so it won't be as chilly here overnight compared with england and wales which, once again,

with temperatures in rural areas getting down to within two degrees of freezing. you could have some ground frost around, some grass frost, by morning. a little bit of mist and fog, as well, with the light wind regime, but the winds generally will be picking up through sunday, a windier day on the whole. gales or severe gales right from the word go across the western isles of scotland, along with this heavy rain, 30 to 40 millimetres likely to fall over the higher ground in parts of northern ireland and eventually cumbria. these are the steady wind speeds, but the gusts will be more likely 60 or 70 in northern and western areas and a steady 30 or 40 in more exposed parts of the west coast of england and wales. but where we keep that sunshine the winds won't be quite a feature, 17 or 18 further south and east, still feeling pleasant in the relatively strong 0ctober sunshine. through the evening and overnight, you can see that weather front does bring some rain across england and wales, albeit a weakening feature. we're not likely to see that much rain on that weather front, and it won't be as chilly either, although it turns a little cooler

for scotland and northern ireland behind this weather front. it will be windy for a time, as well, sunday night into monday, as that low—pressure crosses close by to the north and west. then high pressure builds for the start of the week. the weather fronts tending to erode that and bring some more rain into the north and west late on tuesday. for monday, we may well start a little bit damp in the south—east for the rush hour. still that brisk wind across north—eastern parts of scotland, but otherwise it is looking like a dry and fine day. then, as the winds fall light to start our tuesday morning, it is likely to be a bit frosty first thing with patchy mist and fog around, but otherwise some fine weather around. more rain, though, midweek.

hello this is bbc news. a massive explosion has severely damaged the strategically important road and rail bridge connecting occupied crimea to russia. the un nuclear watchdog calls for the urgent protection of the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in ukraine after shelling cuts its external power ten people have been killed and eight injured in an explosion at a petrol station in the republic of ireland — police say it appears to have been a "tragic accident". protests continue in iran and around the world as three people are killed in the country. now on bbc news — it's time for our world.