this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. borisjohnson arrives back in the uk as speculation grows he'lljoin the conservative leadership race. the bbc estimates the former chancellor, rishi sunak, has the backing of enough mps to enter the contest. his supporters think he will restore public confidence. he has both the economic credentials, but also can bring people together and the ability to restore confidence of the public. the leader of the commons, penny mordaunt, is the only person to formally announce her candidacy. in other news, at the china congress, president xi's predecessor, hi jintao, is mysteriously led out

of the hall by officials. giorgia meloni has been sworn in as the head of italy's latest coalition government. she's the nation's first female prime mnister — and its first far—right leader since the second world war. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. borisjohnson has arrived back from holiday as the battle to replace liz truss as conservative leader — and prime minister — intensifies. mrjohnson�*s plane touched down at gatwick airport in the last hour. neither mrjohnson nor rishi sunak have declared their candidacy; only penny mourdant has officially put her name forward. we understand the former chancellor

is expected to announce his candidacy shortly. but it's widely being seen as a battle between the former prime minister and the man who worked with him as chancellor. currently the bbc estimates 168 out of 357 tory mps have gone public with their support. rishi sunak has passed the key threshold of 100 backers, borisjohnson has 46 and penny mordaunt 21. it's worth pointing out that these are the numbers the bbc can verify — others may have different information. mps will vote on monday for their preferred candidate. if more than one reaches 100, conservative members will have the final say. some politicians have already been coming out in support of their preferred candidate to be the new prime minister of the uk. the former foreign secretary, dominic raab, has been speaking about why he's supporting rishi sunak as a contender. he has already, through the public declarations that have been tallied up, broken through the 100 threshold for nominations. i think what's probably more

important than that in terms of those mp5 is the range — from devon seats like simonjupp to carlisle, john stevenson, welsh, scottish mps, remain and leave. i think the critical issue will be the economy. rishi had the right plan in the summer. i think it is the right plan now. i think he is the best candidate to provide stability and confidence for the millions of workers and businesses up and down the country. i also think he's the right candidate to bring the party together with a government of all the talents to relentlessly deliver for the british people, whether it's on the cost of living, crime, schools, nhs, and get us moving forward. which is what i think the country needs to see. one of those supporting the idea of borisjohnson returning as party leader and prime minister is andrew stephenson, who's currently a minister in the government. i'm encouraging borisjohnson to win because during the summer i helped

oversee the conservative leadership election as party chairman, i travelled around the country to over 80 different constituencies. what i heard from party members and people in the street, the length and breadth of the country, is that they thought mps had been wrong to get rid of boris and they wanted him on the ballot. that couldn't have happened over summer because he had resigned, the contest was between liz truss and rishi sunak. but now there is an opportunity for boris to put himself forward, which is what i'm encouraging to do. the mp for basingstoke — dame maria miller is supporting penny mordaunt in her efforts to become party leader and prime minister. i'm backing penny because she is the candidate, i think, that cannot only bring the conservative party and parliament together but actually the whole country. she has a proven track record working across eight departments

in her 12 years in parliament. i think her background really makes her well— placed to connect with people. after all, we are going through a tough time as a country and we want to have a prime minister who can really demonstrate that they understand that and put the right support in place for the families watching your programme this morning who are struggling, still, with their energy bills. 0ur political correspondent, rajdeep sandhu, is in westminster. we understand that rishi sunak may be formally announcing he will stand shortly, but he has the backing needed to do so.— shortly, but he has the backing needed to do so. indeed. mps who want to become _ needed to do so. indeed. mps who want to become the _ needed to do so. indeed. mps who want to become the next _ needed to do so. indeed. mps who want to become the next leader i needed to do so. indeed. mps who want to become the next leader of| want to become the next leader of the conservative party need 100 conservative mps backing them, so mathematically there can only be three candidates. rishi sunak seems to be in the lead with over 100 publicly declared conservative mps thinking that he is the best man for thejob. their argument is

thinking that he is the best man for the job. their argument is that, privately, he can say, i told you so. publicly, they think it is the man who can calm the markets down, has the vision and the experience to deal with the challenges that the uk currently faces. of course, critics of him will say that, actually, there is a narrative, especially if you are a borisjohnson supporter, that kind of stymied him last time. whether it is true or not, perception is everything in politics, he is the man who brought down the borisjohnson era. that makes him unpopular in some parts of the party. he came second to liz truss, so can he be reinstalled by mps if it doesn't go out to the party mentorship? will the party membership wants to put up with a candidate who they once rejected.

his backers will say things have changed now, liz truss didn't work out and he is a stable pair of hands. we are inspecting him to announce his candidacy soon. as sooner we saw his campaign starting to come together, backers coming out and hitting the airways, it was clear there was an intention to stand. there is also borisjohnson, who has landed back in the uk after his holiday. wherever borisjohnson goes, he creates a sense of anticipation, even if you load him, he causes a flurry of activity. at the moment, he has around 46 public backers, but there are lots of different poles coming out. that is the bbc�*s verified stats there. he needs to make it to 100. the

thinking is that if he cannot make it to 100 backers, then perhaps he would not want to go for it. it seems that he has been telling allies that he is up for it and ready to give it another shot. the big problem with borisjohnson is that he was ousted by conservative mps when cabinet ministers started resigning en masse and forcing out of downing street because of the scandals around party and hovering over him is a parliamentary investigation into whether he misled mps that will be kicking off in the next few months. that could damage any support that he could gain, because it causes doubt in conservative mps' mines. we heard dominic raab saying that. there are

also those questions being dredged up also those questions being dredged up again. there are calls for unity in the conservative leadership race, we had that last time as well, but i don't think... there are parts of the party who don't like either candidate. that is where we get penny mordaunt, who is trailing behind, but she is pitching herself as the unity candidate, the one who can bring the party together. at this point, and there will be frantic calls going on behind—the—scenes between conservative mps and campaigns, and penny is the first one to have officially declared. she even has a glossy campaign video out. she will be trying to get that support up. she needs 100, and it is looking unlikely. it looks like rishi sunak

and borisjohnson, but it is about to makes the nominations on monday at 2pm. to makes the nominations on monday at 2m. . ~ to makes the nominations on monday at2m. ., ~ ,., borisjohnson has landed back in london after his holiday in the caribbean, as speculation grows that he will enter the leadership race. 0ur correspondent, nomia iqbal, was on the flight and shejoins me now. where people aware that the former prime minister was on the flight? how did people react? hat prime minister was on the flight? how did people react? not everybody was aware of — how did people react? not everybody was aware of it, _ how did people react? not everybody was aware of it, which _ how did people react? not everybody was aware of it, which was _ was aware of it, which was interesting. he was actually sat in economy, right at the back, with his wife and children. he was sat among everyday holiday—makers who were heading home. he is one of the most recognisable men in the world. he was surrounded by a lot of security, including from the metropolitan police. when we came off the plane

at the jetway, we were waiting to see him come off the plane, he exited down the back of the plane and into two black cars. people were shocked. people did not know he was on the plane. some were excited, some were fairly bemused and then others were quite angry. there were some people who said to me, he shouldn't be throwing his hat into the ring for the leadership, even though he hasn't officially done so, they were saying that they should be a general election. but i think there were a lot of people who were surprised that he was on the flight. where you able to glean that he was returning early? it is understood they were in the caribbean for a few weeks, so maybe it was when the holiday was due to end anyway. 0r

holiday was due to end anyway. or maybe they cut it short because of what is happening here. did he say anything to give any indication of his thinking? fin anything to give any indication of his thinking?— his thinking? on your first point, in the dominican _ his thinking? on your first point, in the dominican republic, - his thinking? on your first point, in the dominican republic, we i his thinking? on your first point, l in the dominican republic, we did try to find out and tried to approach him to understand exact that, is it a case of him being due to come back anyway, or was he cutting short his holiday? we are not 100% sure. he has been there for a couple of weeks, and he had a business trip during that holiday as well. we don't know for sure. in terms of any comment he has made, what is so fascinating is we know that boris johnson what is so fascinating is we know that borisjohnson is media friendly, he isn't shy of talking to the press, but he would not comment, would not say anything to any of us. we know there are allies who are saying he is going to do it, and

then there are others saying that he is genuinely unsure whether he will do it. as we are seeing now, it looks like his former chancellor, rishi sunak, is ahead of him in the polls. rishi sunak, is ahead of him in the olls. . ~' ,. , rishi sunak, is ahead of him in the olls. ., ~' , . let's have another reminder of how the leadership contest will play out over the coming days. we could find out who's replacing liz truss as early as monday. conservative mps have until then to nominate their preferred candidate. each candidate needs at least 100 nominations — if only one of them achieves that, they'll be declared prime minister on monday afternoon at 2pm. if there are three candidates with 100 nominations, there'll be an mps' vote to narrow the choice to two. mps will then hold an indicative vote on the two finalists, before the choice is handed to the conservative membership in the country, who will vote online. if that happens, the new party leader and prime minister will be declared on friday.

with me now is lord lexden, the official historian of the conservative party. welcome. thank you forjoining us. how do you contextualise this? what we are seeing is a series of new ground being broken, new records being set in terms of tenure. looking back over recent events, really from brexit onwards, i have just been saddened by the constant state of crisis. it takes a different form, changing over these years, but neverfree different form, changing over these years, but never free from it. different form, changing over these years, but neverfree from it. one just desperately yearns for stability to return. as far as this contest is concerned, i agree with the passage on borisjohnson�*s flight. it would be bad news, very bad news for the conservative party if he should get 100 supporters. i'm

slightly surprised, given the circumstances in which he departed, given the lack of success that he had as prime minister during his time in office, and lack of success as foreign secretary before that. i'm disheartened that there should be as many mps as there are who are prepared to indicate their support for him. the mere fact that a senior politician is about to be investigated by a hugely important committee of the house of commons, that itself ought to rule out an individual as a contender. a prime minister needs two things, a capacity to win elections, which borisjohnson capacity to win elections, which boris johnson showed capacity to win elections, which borisjohnson showed extremely impressively in 2019, and an ability to run the country. he didn't put in the hours as prime minister, didn't

do the work. he didn't take serious policy decisions. he is the most frivolous conservative leader that has ever been and it would be hugely damaging to have him back. do has ever been and it would be hugely damaging to have him back.- damaging to have him back. do you think any of— damaging to have him back. do you think any of these _ damaging to have him back. do you think any of these contenders, - damaging to have him back. do you think any of these contenders, or. think any of these contenders, or anyone else, actually, can unite the party currently and can deliver the stability that you talk about? and stability that you talk about? and restore trust? _ stability that you talk about? and restore trust? it _ stability that you talk about? fific restore trust? it will be stability that you talk about? fific restore trust? it will be extreme difficult because there has never been a time when the conservative party in parliament has been so riven by faction, by discontent, by argument. sometimes revolving around policy and sometimes arising around individuals. there have been plenty of occasions historically where the party has been divided, but usually on more simple lines like wet and dry orfor and against on more simple lines like wet and

dry or for and against europe. on more simple lines like wet and dry orfor and against europe. now there are divisions galore and it will be very difficult. what i really want to see is an upsurge of feeling within the conservative party that there must be unity within it so that it can govern effectively. within it so that it can govern effectively-— within it so that it can govern effectivel . . , , effectively. that is interesting, ou want effectively. that is interesting, you want to — effectively. that is interesting, you want to hear _ effectively. that is interesting, you want to hear from - effectively. that is interesting, you want to hear from the - effectively. that is interesting, i you want to hear from the party, from the mps, that they want to see unity and you are not hearing that? not at the moment, which shows the measure of the difficulty, i think, that these accessible have, whoever that these accessible have, whoever that may be. —— that the successor will have. i don't know these candidates personally, we will be hearing from them. what is obvious to everyone is that the former chancellor of the exchequer has a rather attractive track record, and he conducts himself well. i want to see stability and unity and dignity backin see stability and unity and dignity back in politics, and i'm afraid borisjohnson is wholly incompatible with that. if

boris johnson is wholly incompatible with that. ~ , ., ., , with that. if the mps, though, as ou are with that. if the mps, though, as you are sensing, _ with that. if the mps, though, as you are sensing, will— with that. if the mps, though, as you are sensing, will not - with that. if the mps, though, as you are sensing, will not be - with that. if the mps, though, as| you are sensing, will not be ready for unity, will there be any other option than a general election sooner than it might otherwise be? i have to get themselves ready for unity. that is a crucial thing at the moment. a decision will be taken and, at that moment when a new leader has been chosen, there really has to be coming together. it is leader has been chosen, there really has to be coming together.— has to be coming together. it is a -a with has to be coming together. it is a party with a _ has to be coming together. it is a party with a big — has to be coming together. it is a party with a big majority, - has to be coming together. it is a party with a big majority, these l party with a big majority, these issues are not because it has a wafer thin majority, where leavis had fallen foul before. i do wafer thin majority, where leavis had fallen foul before.— had fallen foul before. i do feel ve sad had fallen foul before. i do feel very sad indeed _ had fallen foul before. i do feel very sad indeed that _ had fallen foul before. i do feel very sad indeed that a - had fallen foul before. i do feel very sad indeed that a great. had fallen foul before. i do feel. very sad indeed that a great party should find itself in this state. a shambles, frankly. if it cannot recover its own internal unity, it cannot govern the country effectively. these are the great tests that now confront it. if it

cannot answer these challenges, then we will see, i'm afraid, further chaos. the country's demand for a change will be overwhelming. i'm slightly surprised, actually, in these circumstances of great economic as well as political crisis, there is not an interest in having a national government. the politicians are very far apart. perhaps it is not such a time for a thing. the onus is on the conservative party. the uk's economic outlook has been lowered from stable to negative by the ratings agency moody's. the group said political uncertainty and last month's mini—budget had contributed to its decision. the rating is a marker of the strength of a country's economy and its stability. there have been some extraordinary scenes at china's ruling communist party congress — with the former chinese leader hujintao being led out

of the closing ceremony in beijing. mr hu was sitting beside president xijinping in the great hall of the people when he was approached by officials who took him by the arm and led him away. it's not clear what was behind the move during what's usually a highly choreographed event. 0ur correspondent, steve mcdonell, has more from beijing. incredible scenes there at the great hall of the people this morning. and it's left a lot of people scratching their heads, wondering what's going on. i think to unpack this, it's probably best to take it chronologically. so the morning session initially was behind closed doors. then the second part of the last day at the congress, some journalists were allowed into the great hall of the people. hu jintao was sitting in the front row on stage and then in front of the cameras, several officials came along and said to him, you could see the ushering, "you should go." he looks like he doesn't want to leave. but then he says something

to xijinping, who nods. he tapped his protege, li keqiang, on the shoulder and is helped off the stage. now there are only two possibilities, really. one is that this is sort of chinese power politics on display with xi jinping — out with the old, in with him. you know, something like that. and that was people's initial feeling, the initial thought of what was going on. really, though, i think what's much more likely is that it's something to do with his health, because when you look at the footage a little bit earlier, when he's still sitting down to his left on stage, other seniorfigures in the party, you can see they're turning to him. they look a bit worried about him. and then when he stands up and the fact that he says something to xijinping and nods, i think what's most likely is that he has some sort of a serious health problem. and that's why china's former leader wasn't able to sit through the final session there at the communist party congress.

the ukrainian government says russia has launched a wave of airstrikes aimed at the country's civilian infrastructure. reports suggest most missiles have been intercepted by by ed defence systems. some have fixed locations in western and southern regions. five missiles fired at the capital, kyiv, were shot down according to an adviser to the president's office. ukraine's energy distribution company said it would limit electricity supply in several regions — including kyiv — while power outages have been reported in areas across the country. 0ur correspondent, hugo bachega, has more from kyiv. another morning of rushing attacks targeting the country's electricity grid. we are getting reports of attacks across the country in the central cities, critical info structure was hit. the entire city is now without power. in the port city of 0desa, three people were injured after infrastructure was

hit. villages across the region in the south of the country are now without power. in the west, away from the front lines, one person was injured after another energy facility was hit. we are getting reports of blackouts across the country this morning, the energy distribution company said it would limit electricity supply to several regions of ukraine, including here, the capital, kyiv. this seems to be part of russia's strategy in ukraine, to damage the country's electricity infrastructure ahead of winter. 0fficials electricity infrastructure ahead of winter. officials say more than a third of the country's power stations have been hit in recent weeks and restrictions on electricity consumption have been introduced across the country as officials say it will take time to repair the damage. we had reaction from the head of the president's office to this latest wave of

russian attacks. he said russia was fighting against civilian infrastructure and people, and that ukrainians are getting angrier by the day and that this means they will give an even stronger answer. this is the feeling i get when i talk to people here in kyiv there is no panic, no fear, only anger that civilian sites and civilian infrastructure have become the target. the new italian government has been sworn in at a ceremony in the presidential palace in rome. giorgia meloni is now italy's first ever female prime minister and the country's first far—right leader since the world war two. her party won last month's elections with just over a quarter of the vote. she'll head a right—wing coalition. in the uk, the rail operator avanti west coast has warned passengers it will run a significantly reduced timetable today, because train managers in the rmt union are on strike. the rmt says it's over

the imposition of rosters. avanti said it was disappointed, and urged the union to engage in meaningful talks. another strike by train managers is due on november the 6th. the former us president donald trump has been ordered to give evidence to an official investigation into the mob attack on the capitol building. the subpoena accuses mr trump of fuelling the anger which led to the riot. it was issued after his former strategist, steve bannon, was sentenced to four months in jail for refusing to testify to the same investigation. mr trump has claimed the inquiry is politically motivated. by the sex pistols has sold for more than £50,000 at an auction in london. the page has the words for holidays in the sun and submission, written by band's frontman, john lydon, in 1977. it was part of a collection of sex pistols memorabilia that went under the hammer at sothebys for a total of £350,000.

you are watching bbc news. friendship is something that's important to all of us — your friends often see you through the highs and lows of life. but how do you respond when your best friend randomly decides to call time on your life—long companionship? well, that's the plot of the film, the banshees 0f inisherin, starring colin farrell and brendan gleeson which is set in the 1920s, on a remote island off the coast of ireland. 0ur entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba, has more. dark and quirky. what's going on with you and my brother? — he's dull. but he has always been dull. the film tells a story of a lifelong friendship that somehow ends. people have responded in such

a positive way and it's meant something to people who have seen it, there is relatability or personalisation of the film. it means a lot. breaking up, we have all had a bit of it. it's hitting home with people. you just feel, "wow, this has worked the way it should." do you know who has been remembered for being _ do you know who has been remembered for being nice in the 17th—century? nobodx _ for being nice in the 17th—century? nobody. we all remember mozart, though _ i don't, so there goes that theory. there is a theory about how much people should sacrifice to create meaningful art with both actors drawing on their own experiences. through the years i have missed funerals of people who meant a lot to me, i have two children, i missed the birth of one,

you miss really important moments. at one stage i was nearly seven months away. it was breaking my heart not to be there for my kids. i thought i was missing too much. it is a constant line you're trying to walk. how gratifying is it to be talked about as 0scar contenders? if you got an oscar nomination, we would have a laugh and then it would be business as usual. but it would be great. "i want it," is what he is saying. 0scar nominations are still three months away but when they are announced many expect to see the names gleeson and farrell on that list. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich.

hello. the weather will be changing all the time this weekend. wherever you are across the uk, you will see some rain. at times some of that will be heavy, but equally there will be some sunny breaks and it is going to feel mild. through the rest of today, cloud and some outbreaks of rain continuing to journey northwards across northern ireland scotland, sunny spells for england and wales, showers in wales through part of the afternoon perhaps with some flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder. highs of 14 to 18 degrees, warmer than it should be at this time of year. through tonight, zones of wet weather pushing northwards sometimes heavy and thundery, particularly in the far south and south—west later in the night a little bit chilly in the north—east of scotland but it will be mild. sunny spells behind but some further thundery showers popping up through the afternoon, a bit breezy for some, highs of 14 to 18 degrees.