welcome to bbc news. our top stories. president putin ordered an investigation into the explosion that severely damaged russia's only bridge to the occupied crimea and peninsula the bridge open to great fanfare to the russian president in 2018, it's been used to move military equipment into ukraine. watchdog calls for in urge for protection of the zapper reset nuclear power plant after cuts to its external power. more protesters take to the streets of iran as demonstrations against the countries hardline islamic rulers entered their fourth week funerals are ahead with my health of the funerals of a knife attack in northern thailand. police say ten people

have been killed in an explosion at a petrol station in the republic of ireland. 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. 0ur 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 could 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 have 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 for ever. very different scenes today. pro—kremlin commentators have blamed ukraine for the explosion, but there has 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 are being told that there are problems, that russia is losing ground, and today they learned 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 is worrying," stas says. "war is always bad. they should have done this differently, with negotiations."

but 0lga 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 has 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 russians 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 who is 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 in charge 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 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 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 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. translation: since the end of september, in this - short period of time, they have launched missiles seven times. these actions by north korea are a threat to the peace and security of our country, region, and the international community, and absolutely cannot be tolerated. ten people have been confirmed or died after an explosion on friday. 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

the rescue efforts became a recovery process as the day went on. the sight of ambulances leaving — a sign that there was no expectation that more survivors would be found. from the moment it happened, blown—out walls, a crumpled roof and tonnes of rubble showed this was a lethal explosion. like a bomb going off and a sonic boom accompanying it that shook us to the core and immediately we just... the people who were there, we alljust waded in to try and help and try and get people out of the building. the building was very precarious, it was very, very dangerous. there were flats above the garage shop, which largely collapsed. several times the emergency services asked for silence so they would be able to hear anyone who was trapped. eight people were taken to hospital. one is in a critical condition. what is really 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, wait for news, but you get the sense they can't really take in that some of theirfriends, 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 a girl — and a youngergirl. this evening, the leader of the irish government came to meet firefighters, police and paramedics. he said the nation was mourning. words on their own will not console someone who has lost a loved one. and 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. 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. chris page, bbc news, creeslough. 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's 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 they 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 tojudgment 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 up—rated 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 he is being used as an attempt by liz truss to regain authority, but also that this has been a horrendous conference, very unsure about the leadership. so, to some extent, conor burns is saying that, he doesn't really know the process is here, but his allies are saying that process is being used for reasons other than this incident which happened in birmingham. 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 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. as you mentioned, you can't look atjust one poll but a range of opinion polls are putting the opposition labour party considerably ahead. there are some 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 that they might just lose their seats but at the scale of any likely defeat. real union leaders have said they would do it it takes to get to a fair deal for the more

than 40,000 members of the rmt union took further action in a long—running dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions. for the second consecutive saturday rail services has ground to a halt. just one in five trains were running today, the impact felt across england, scotland and wales. picket lines at manchester piccadilly had become an all too familiar sight as has disruption for passengers. i sight as has disruption for passengers-_ sight as has disruption for assenuers. ., , ., passengers. i do understand about the — passengers. i do understand about the strikes _ passengers. i do understand about the strikes but - passengers. i do understand about the strikes but it - passengers. i do understand about the strikes but it is . about the strikes but it is causing a lot of complications, especially going to work and travelling, things like that is making a lot harder to get a wrong two around. we making a lot harder to get a wrong two around.— making a lot harder to get a wrong two around. we took a bus from london- _ wrong two around. we took a bus from london. manchester, - from london. manchester, because _ from london. manchester, because of the rail strike. and then the boss. _ because of the rail strike. and then the boss. it _ because of the rail strike. and then the boss. it was - because of the rail strike. and then the boss. it was supposed to be _ then the boss. it was supposed to be a — then the boss. it was supposed to be a four_ then the boss. it was supposed to be a four hour— then the boss. it was supposed to be a four hourjourney- then the boss. it was supposed to be a four hourjourney that l to be a four hourjourney that turned — to be a four hourjourney that turned into _ to be a four hourjourney that turned into eight— to be a four hourjourney that turned into eight hours. - to be a four hourjourney that turned into eight hours. going to take a taxi _ turned into eight hours. going to take a taxi to _ turned into eight hours. going to take a taxi to blackpool - turned into eight hours. going to take a taxi to blackpool so | to take a taxi to blackpool so that — to take a taxi to blackpool so that will_ to take a taxi to blackpool so that will cost us 120 quid. 40.000 _ that will cost us 120 quid. 40,000 members of the rmt union at 50 rail operators watch out for the day for that mainly

guards and signal staff at up but crucially there is a network rail which operates the tracks and signals. it's all part of a long—running series of disputes involving various unions overjobs, pay and work conditions. there is now been 11 strikes with no obvious end in sight. 11 strikes with no obvious end in siuht. , , , 11 strikes with no obvious end insiaht. ,, ,., in sight. the issues are the same now _ in sight. the issues are the same now as _ in sight. the issues are the same now as they - in sight. the issues are the same now as they were - in sight. the issues are the same now as they were at l in sight. the issues are the i same now as they were at the start of the dispute. we got nothing from these employers will who are acting on behalf of the government. until we get in agreement we will have to continue this dispute. and in agreement we will have to continue this dispute.- continue this dispute. and i could go — continue this dispute. and i could go on _ continue this dispute. and i could go on well— continue this dispute. and i could go on well into - continue this dispute. and i could go on well into next | could go on well into next year? could go on well into next ear? ~ ., �* ., ., ., year? well, we don't want to do but it could _ year? well, we don't want to do but it could go _ year? well, we don't want to do but it could go on _ year? well, we don't want to do but it could go on to _ year? well, we don't want to do but it could go on to an - but it could go on to an unidentified. forthat but it could go on to an unidentified. for that would like to get a settlement for that would like to say to the company next week that make us some offers and we can consider to our members.— to our members. unlike rail operators — to our members. unlike rail operators that _ to our members. unlike rail operators that network - to our members. unlike rail operators that network railj operators that network rail amounts to 8% over two years without we have significantly change what we were proposing originally and we will continue to have discussion. but originally and we will continue to have discussion.— to have discussion. but i think what we need _ to have discussion. but i think what we need is _ to have discussion. but i think what we need is a _ to have discussion. but i think| what we need is a compromise from _ what we need is a compromise from the — what we need is a compromise from the other side as well and

some realise him about the state — some realise him about the state of— some realise him about the state of the railway and that hurting _ state of the railway and that hurting our passengers is never going _ hurting our passengers is never going to — hurting our passengers is never going to make it easier. make it possible. all going to make it easier. make it possible-— it possible. all this is having a wider impact _ it possible. all this is having a wider impact on _ it possible. all this is having a wider impact on britain's l a wider impact on britain's economy. a wider impact on britain's economy-— economy. obviously the passenger— economy. obviously the passenger railway - economy. obviously the passenger railway is - economy. obviously the i passenger railway is really important to us but the freight tract thick is exceptionally important to us without keeping the lights on at a time when we are talking about blackouts for other reasons, the last thing we want is for critical freight to not be able to get around the network as well because of this disruption. the the network as well because of this disruption.— this disruption. the new transoort _ this disruption. the new transport secretary - this disruption. the new transport secretary said this disruption. the new- transport secretary said she's confident a deal can be brokered with only with both sides without the rmt is about to rebalance for a fresh mandate which means industrial action could run well into next year. i am action could run well into next year. iam back action could run well into next year. i am back with the headlines in a few minutes. back up again around the same time. tomorrowjoin me then if you can we continue in the coming hours with bbc news.

thank you very much for being with us. bye for now. after what's been a wet week for some saturday was a lot quieter. 18 degrees southeast he is in the south and around nine mm 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, notably of england and wales with a touch of brass frost, a little mist and fog around where we got the light winds.

but the winds far 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 squally 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 14. 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. ahead with that 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 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.

rated hello this is bbc news. present britain has ordered the russian secret service to tighten security on the bridge after an explosion leapt —— ripped through the only road link between pressure and the crimean tenancy.— link between pressure and the crimean tenancy. ordered an investigation, president zelensky welcomed it. there has been a warning that the zaporizhzhia are nuclear plant has to be protected urgently. they have been reports of at least three more deaths on another day of mass protests

against the iranian authorities that have erupted