this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president putin orders an investigation into the explosion that severely damaged russia's only bridge to the occupied crimean peninsula. the bridge — opened to great fanfare by the russian president 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. more protesters take to the streets of iran is the islamic hardline rulers protest against enters its fourth week. police say ten people

have been killed in county donegal in the republic of ireland. hello and welcome. 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. professor kata ryna wolczuk is a russia expert from university of birmingham — she gave me her assessment on the strategic importance of the bridge attack. this is 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. will the russian say that it is partially reopened now, they will no doubt try to limit the sense of damage? yes, and first 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 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. how would you assess 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 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, 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 hopes 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,

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. kataryna wolczuk, thank you. 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. protestors have again taken to the streets of iran — as demonstrations against the country's hardline islamic rulers enter their fourth week. reports say at least three people have been shot dead by security forces during the latest protests. the wave of unrest — across iran — began with the death in police custody of a young woman accused of wearing her headscarf in the wrong way. this report from our diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley, contains images that some viewers may find distressing. chanting. there's a target to their anger and he's inside the building. these students in tehran are shouting at the country's president to "get lost" as he visits their university. inside, ebrahim raisi recited a poem, likening the protesters to flies.

a receptive audience here. but elsewhere in the capital there were chants of "death to the dictator" — a reference to iran's supreme leader, with protests reported in many cities across the country today. video posted on social media shows riot police close to tehran�*s main bazaar in the centre of the city, in normal times seen as a bastion of support for the regime. but many shopkeepers had shut up their stores in support of the protesters who set fire to a police kiosk. and this was the eastern city of mashhad today where new protests brought new grief. screaming. here, a young woman has been shot in the neck by iran's security forces. distressed cries. it was the death last month of mahsa amini, arrested for being improperly dressed, which ignited this wave of unrest. her family say she was

beaten in custody. her gravestone reads that her name will become a symbol, and it has, as iranians find new ways of resisting the regime. the billboard reads that the police are the servants of the people, but this man, cheered on by others, changes it to read, "killers of the people," and calls for the death of the supreme leader. and this banner draped over a main road reads, "we are not afraid any more, we will fight." after nightfall the protests continued. no one knows quite where they will lead but the crisis of legitimacy facing the islamic regime is deepening by the day. caroline hawley, bbc news. funeral services are being held for dozens of victims of a knife and gun attack on a nursery school in northern thailand. twenty—four children and twelve 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. translation:. 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.

translation:. 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. the headlines on bbc news... president putin orders an investigation into the explosion that severely damaged russia's only bridge to the occupied crimean peninsula. more protestors take to the streets of iran — as demonstrations against the country's hardline islamic rulers enter their fourth week. 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 creesluh — 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 people 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. he said the nation was morning. words cannot control who lost a lot on. i think wejust words cannot control who lost a lot on. i think we just have to be with them our thoughts and our prayers are with you. and we will be with you for quite some time.-

you for quite some time. rural county donegal— you for quite some time. rural county donegal is _ you for quite some time. rural county donegal is often - you for quite some time. rurall county donegal is often thought you for quite some time. rural county donegal is often thought of as the essence of tranquility, in idyllic retreat. tonight widespread grieving has begun coupled with an intense feeling of disbelief. 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. it's the latest in a series of launches this week. on tuesday, pyongyang fired a missile overjapan, followed by another two launches on thursday. 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. as someone who's dedicated and committed to public service, to the service of my constituents, the last 2a hours have been distressing and devastating, and i've still not had any information from the party of 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. 0ur uk political correspondent iain watson has been following the story — he told me more. this was an incident that happened during the conservative party annual conference in the hotel bar in the early hours of tuesday morning. we heard there from conor burns himself saying that he didn't really know the details of what the party was accusing him of, but the bbc has been told by an eyewitness what they thought the incident was, that he was touching a young man's thigh early in the morning. what is interesting is that we haven't been able to talk

to the man himself, this was an eyewitness that told the bbc what he had seen. but the complaint about conor burns was made by a third party, again by someone else who was not directly involved in the incident itself. so, that has led to many of his allies accusing the prime minister liz truss of effectively rushing to judgment and using it as an attempt, on her part, to try and regain some lost authority during the conference. you will remember, during the annual conference of the governing party here, there was a reversal on a flagship tax policy, there were some arguments about what to do about benefits and whether they should be updated in line with inflation, so it was a messy conference, to put it bluntly, and he is effectively saying that, or at least those close to him would be saying that she is being used as an attempt by liz truss to regain authority, and also that this has been a horrendous conference, very unsure about the leadership.

so, to some extent, conor burns is saying that, he didn't really know the process is here, but his allies are saying that process is being used for reasons other than this incident. there are more opinion polls putting the tories very much behind the opposition labour party and there is a lot of continued speculation about whether liz truss can survive as prime minister. that speculation has happened very rapidly and i think what we are going to be seeing in the next few hours, obviously, on sunday, the newspapers will be very reflective, looking at what has happened in the past week, and looking at what will happen in the next week and i think we will see a range of conservative editors rallying round liz truss. ministers rallying round liz truss. i think the fact that people have to be seen to be rallying around the prime minister means that she is at least in some degree of difficulty,

and as you mentioned, you can't look atjust one poll but a range of opinion polls are putting the questions about whether they can continue imposed a general election, and that would not be very helpful to them, so there are some restraining influences but there is little doubt that the conservative conference last week, open talk on the margins away from the floor about who might succeed liz truss. the aviation industry has agreed a long term goal of decarbonising air travel. the international civil aviation 0rganisation —

meeting in canada — has accepted a plan for net zero emissions by 2050. airlines have agreed to offset their carbon and develop greener fuels. the bbc�*s tim allman has the story. criss crossing through the air, an industry that endangers the environment with every single flight, but airline companies have now agreed a deal that could make a difference. in a statement: so what have they agreed? john kerry president widens climate envoy said... so what have the

agreed? so what have the agreed? the aviation industry contributes around 2.5%, 3% of global co2 emissions. the plan is to decarbonise, with a target of net zero by 2000 and 50. ——2050 the airlines say it will require an investment of more than $1.5 trillion. how will they do it? partly they will use a system of carbon offsetting, for every flight a certain number of trees will be planted, which can absorb c02 from the air. the airline industry may also try to encourage the development of greener more sustainable fuel. critics remain unconvinced, saying this is a nonbinding goal that will fail to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050. but the airline industry insists it is a start, a step, even a flight in the right direction. you

in the right direction. are watching bbc news. thai for you are watching bbc news. thank you for being with us. after the weather will have a look at the headlines in the front pages. i am back at about 30 minutes with another round of our top stories. let's have a look at the weather. after what been a wet week for some saturday was a lot quieter. 18 degrees southeast he is in the south and only around nine rain. the reason this area of high pressure. these weather fronts are now starting to nudge that high pressure system out of the way. for the day ahead increasing amounts of cloud with rain. ahead of it we've got starry skies and through the night temperatures tumbling away within 2 degrees of freezing in some rural areas by morning for the notably of england and wales with a touch of brass frost, a little mist and fog

around where we got the light winds. at the windstar from light north and west with tips force winds forecast for the day ahead. that's gusts of 60 or 70 mph for parts of the western and northern isles. starting to throw in this really quite heavy rain several hours across scotland and northern ireland, with the squalid winds and he'll follow up with a eventually pushing into the northwest parts of england and wales for the head of that we've got the early morning mist and fog to clear but should hold onto hazy sunshine across central and eastern areas, 17 or 18 and feeling quite pleasant. but clearly with the cloud, the wind and rain elsewhere temperatures will be near a 13 or 1a foot of the progress of the web front will continue through the evening and overnight, becoming stuck across southern and eastern areas but it will be milder through the coming night. as we go towards monday morning rush we may well have a band of wet and relatively breezy weather to contend with in southern and eastern areas, pretty miserable during the day ahead without rain. then showers follow on that

northwesterly breeze with the temperatures take it will be milder through the coming night. as we go towards monday morning rush we may well have a band of wet and relatively breezy weather to contend with in southern and eastern areas, pretty miserable during the day ahead without rain. then showers follow on that northwesterly breeze with the temperatures taken down a degree or two for the good spells of sunshine and just the odd shower low once again with a touch of frost potentially in a fruit do nephew spots as we head towards dawn. that will be more widespread for that later in the day we will start to pick up more cloud and by wednesday the next breath front array of two arrives to bring rain particular across the northern and western half of the uk that's is what the system here. all eyes out to the atlantic later in the week where it looks like a deep pressure of moving in with lots of wind and rain associated. we will keep you posted.

hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are nigel nelson, political editor of people and the sunday mirror and political commentatorjo phillips. tomorrow's front pages, starting with... the sunday times leads with the explosion on the only bridge linking russia to the occupied crimean peninsula. the paper says the blast gives ukraine hope and is a serious embarassment for russia. the observer leads on the same story, calling the incident a bitter blow for the russian leader vladimir putin. moving on, the telegraph's lead is a call from the prime minister, liz truss, to her mps unite or face or disaster. the sunday express says the pm is telling her ministers to work together and stop navel gazing. the mail sticks with the political theme with an aide of the prime minister telling michael gove to stop plotting or let in keir starmer. the mirror leads with the death of the serial killer peter tobin

and his ex wife saying she's his death has