this is bbc news with the latest headlines. sources close to the former chancellor rishi sunak say he has secured the backing he needs to enter the conservative leadership race. meanwile borisjohnson arrives back in the uk as speculation grows he'll join the leadership contest. the leader of the commons, penny mordaunt, is the only person to formally announce that she's running. two mayors are calling for more funding to train operations. it is following disruption to services. it is following disruption to services. you just can't keep up with all of the cancellations and even when your train isn't cancelled, you're often on a really, really packed service. and england's lionesses will face

china and denmark at next year's women's world cup in australia and new zealand. good afternoon. rishi sunak has become the first leadership contender to secure the 100 nominations by tory mps needed to enter the race to be the next prime minister. the former chancellor has yet to announce whether he will launch a fresh bid for the top job after losing to liz truss over the summer. meanwhile, borisjohnson has flown home from holiday, as supporters rally behind a potential comeback by the former prime minister. but so far, penny mordaunt is the only contender to have officially launched a campaign. hopefuls have until monday afternoon to find 100 backers. 0ur political correspondent, helen catt, has more.

are you running for leadership? he's got the numbers to get on the ballot paper. and rishi sunak is expected to declare his candidacy soon. the former chancellor now has more than 100 mps publicly backing him to be the prime minister. the big question in westminster is now if his former boss will try tojoin him. borisjohnson, returning from a holiday, is up for running again, according to one ally. the wheels of his plane may barely have touched down, but he's likely to be under pressure to decide quickly. we've seen in the last few days, is some of the mps who resigned, some of the mps who called for boris to go at the start of the summer have now said that they would like to see him put himself forward. they've admitted that they were wrong and i know that there are many others waiting to hear on if he makes a decision to run before they go public. others don't agree. the return of mrjohnson could, the former conservative leader william hague suggested, send the party into a death spiral.

there does seem to be a real mix between those who are really enthusiastic about the idea of return for borisjohnson and those who are frankly appalled at the prospect. but some are saying there is a practical challenge to any bid by him to become prime minister again, and that is that in the next few months he's going to face an investigation by parliament's privileges committee into whether he misled the house of commons in what he said about parties at downing street. i think the country needs a prime minister that is focused 100% on them, and ijust don't see as a practical matter that that can be boris, if he's then dealing with all of those issues. and i say that as someone who would love to see boris returned to front line politics, i think he can, but i don't think he can until he's addressed those issues. penny mordaunt is the only candidate to so far have actually confirmed she's running. her public backers are still far short of 100 at this stage. well, i'm backing penny because she's the candidate. i think that cannot onlyjust bring the conservative party and parliament together,

but actually the whole country. she's got a proven track record working across eight departments in her 12 years in parliament, and i think her background really makes her well placed to connect with people. by this time next week, barring any major surprises, one of these three people will be the prime minister. until then, the race to gain support continues. helen catt, bbc news. currently the bbc estimates 168 out of 357 tory mps have gone public as you've heard, rishi sunak has passed the key threshold of 100 backers, borisjohnson has 48 and penny mordaunt 21. it's worth pointing out that these are the numbers the bbc can verify — others may have different information. 0ur political corrspondent rajdeep sandhu is in westminster. a lot of speculation as to whether boris johnson's

a lot of speculation as to whether borisjohnson�*s potential pump boris johnson's potential pump comeback, borisjohnson�*s potential pump comeback, how likely is might be able to gain the backing of enough support from mps, given the manner in which he left? it is always interesting with borisjohnson. he is the man who defies political conventions and rules, and has made many political comebacks. this one, if he could pull it off, could be his greatest yet. the big hurdle in front of him is whether he can get those 100 backers from within the conservative mps in the party, by 2pm on monday. he is now back in the country. allies of him are saying that he is up for it, that he is ready to go and ready to have another shot. there will be frantic phone calls going on to trite up those numbers and get more support. 0n those numbers and get more support. on your question about how likely it is, given he was forced out of

office, that is the big question a lot of full conservative mps will be asking themselves. he has had a crack at the job before and it didn't end well. it ended in scandal and him having to go, because so many of his own mps in the government were resigning and calling for him to quit. 0n government were resigning and calling for him to quit. on top of that, he has a parliamentary inquiry, an investigation that will kick off into whether he misled mps. he has picked up a number of backers. the bbc puts it at 49. one of the high—profile two high—profile ones is pretty patel. she says he has the mandate to deliver the elected manifesto, and a proven track record. those are the two key arguments we are hearing from boris johnson supporters. 0ne, they think he has a mandate because it won the election in 2019, and they think he

got those big decisions right on ukraine and on the pandemic. critics of his will argue that he just comes with too much baggage, that there are too many things that can be thrown at him, and too much of the stuff around partygate that can be dredged back up during the parliamentary inquiry, that makes it unlikely for him to succeed in this. when the party is looking to unite, there are a lot of goals for the party to unite. can he convince some of those conservative mps like roger gale and andrew bridgeman, who have said they will leave the party if he becomes the next prime minister. that is how strong feeling is against him. iii that is how strong feeling is against him.— that is how strong feeling is against him. that is how strong feeling is auainst him. ., ., against him. if we look at the other otential against him. if we look at the other potential candidates, _ against him. if we look at the other potential candidates, rishi - against him. if we look at the other potential candidates, rishi sunak. against him. if we look at the otherj potential candidates, rishi sunak is the only one to have gained the 100 mps in terms of backing, but when it comes to how successful he might be in terms of public opinion, how

likely is that, given that he too got fine over partygate. he likely is that, given that he too got fine over partygate. he was, and that has stymied _ got fine over partygate. he was, and that has stymied his _ got fine over partygate. he was, and that has stymied his last _ that has stymied his last conservative leadership election race. especially in the eyes of the conservative party, there are some who feel that he was part of those trying to bring borisjohnson down. he was one of those significant resignations at the time. he was part of the borisjohnson government, he did, as you say, get a fine. at the moment, his backers say he is the most steady pair of hands for the economy. he has that experience. many of them privately, will say that he has been proven right. many of the things he was saying during the campaign have come to pass, like higher interest rates and higher inflation, because of the plans lose trust put forward. they

feel that has gained him more credibility with his economic vision. credibility with his economic vision. of course there are more mps coming out to back him. we expect him to announce his candidacy soon. 0ne him to announce his candidacy soon. one of those interesting backers is lauder frost. one of those interesting backers is lauderfrost. he is not an mp so he won't get a vote. he was the brexit minister in borisjohnson�*s minister in boris johnson's government. just minister in borisjohnson�*s government. just a few days ago he was warning against borisjohnson. today he has come out in favour of rishi sunak and says the party should move on. just rishi sunak and says the party should move on.— rishi sunak and says the party should move on. just briefly, the onl mp should move on. just briefly, the only mp to _ should move on. just briefly, the only mp to have _ should move on. just briefly, the only mp to have announced - should move on. just briefly, the only mp to have announced and i should move on. just briefly, the i only mp to have announced and the sea is penny mordaunt. how likely is she to get the numbers she needs. she is the only one to officially announce. she also has a campaign video. she doesn't seem to have gained the momentum she needs and

enough numbers. she is languishing at the end of what we can see in the verified polls, at around 20% 20 supporters. she would need to increase that dramatically. it is not looking great for her and her supporters. not looking great for her and her supporters-_ not looking great for her and her su orters. ., ~ ,, supporters. thank you. our political correspondent _ supporters. thank you. our political correspondent in _ supporters. thank you. our political correspondent in westminster. - what do voters make of what has been happening in westminster? jessica lane has been talking to people in the conservative constituency of penistone and stocksbridge, in south yorkshire. as mps are back in their constituencies this weekend, many will find out if what's happening in westminster is the talk of their town. i think that we've lost faith in all the politicians, labour or conservative, and i think it's time that we need to get a bit more stance within the country again. get stability back. i've been in spain last week. on holiday, and all the spanish people and german people keep saying, what's wrong _

with your country? we've been talking nothing else. it is the backstabbing and that's the problem. this constituency has this rural market town of penistone, as well as the industrial steelworks in stocksbridge nearby. it's a red wall seat, so it only turned conservative in 2019. the local mp, miriam kates, says she has huge admiration for borisjohnson, but she's backing rishi sunak for the leader. but some business owners say they are more bothered about getting support, and soon. that's what crippling us. 0ur quarterly has gone up from £270 to £990 for three months. for a little shop like this, it's difficult. is it electric and gas? just electric, we've got no gas. so, it's crippling us big time, so stuff like that needs sorting out. whatever does happen over the next few days, it's certainly giving people a topic to chew over here. jessica lane, bbc

news, in penistone. a 12—year—old boy has died after a wall collapsed at a house in essex. emergency services were called to the property in clacton last night after a garage attached to a house collapsed. a man in his 30s was pulled from the rubble with an arm injury. a range of avanti west coast rail services will be cut throughout the day, because of strike action by train managers. only one train per hour will run from london to manchester, liverpool and glasgow. the rmt union says the strike is the "culmination of months of neglect". the mayors of greater manchester and the liverpool city region are calling on the government to give an immediate funding injection for train operators in the north of england. andy burnham and steve rotheram say that delays and cancellations on transpennine express and northern services are damaging the economy of the region. they're calling for an urgent meeting with the transport secretary. let's get more now on both these stories with our business correspondent marc

ashdown. tell us what the mayor has said? this press conference was delayed this morning for a time, because, you couldn't make it up, both of these mayors were delayed because these mayors were delayed because the train was cancelled. the irony was not lost on them. when they did get up and running, the key message was that this was an urgent call for action to the government for more funding fortrain action to the government for more funding for train services. there needs to be an urgent injection of cas to end the rail chaos, as they put it. they say it is inflicting misery on people's lives, and wreaking havoc on local economy. it is another day of rail disruption in the in the north. it is a one day strike over train managers. they will be finishing in the very early

evening, the last train out of euston is at az30pm. what is not helping as this is the start of nine days of upgrade works by network rail across the region. that has added to the disruption. this does involve rmt members, but is not part of the long—running saga we have been witnessing about working conditions, jobs and pay. the two mayors said the people in the north are being treated like second—class citizens, and enough is enough. let's hear from andy burnham. people are in despair about it, aren't they? they are trying to get their lives on track, with all of the pressures on them, and every day they are having their lives turned upside down. theyjust can't rely on these trains. this is the point, people can't trust the trains. people can trust the trains in the north—west of england, and that is bad. it's bad for our economy, but it is also bad for transport more broadly.

a clear message from the reporters there. and there have been more issues. a, , ., ., there. and there have been more issues. , ., ., ., issues. more frustration for passengers- _ issues. more frustration for passengers. they _ issues. more frustration for passengers. they have - issues. more frustration for - passengers. they have apologised for a string of cancellations and massive delays. we have heard of gaps of seven hours between services. this affects places like leeds, manchester and hull. services. this affects places like leeds, manchesterand hull. some passengers describe six hour delay is what they are on the train. they have described awful conditions, often overcrowding at times. bobbie had graphed regular travels to hull from manchester, and she has described some of the conditions she has faced. itjust adds so much unnecessary time and thejourney, and even one of the trains that were suggested as an alternative route, the connecting train from leeds was cancelled as well. you just can't keep up with all the cancellations. even when your train isn't cancelled, you are off

often on a really packed service, because, for example, the other week i went on the trans pennine service, and my train was fine, but the two before it had been cancelled back to hull on friday, and we were all crammed like sardines in the carriage. literally, there was no room to move because everyone was stood up all the way down the aisle. you pretty much suffocated all the way through to leeds, where a lot of the commuters get off. got to the operators said? they blame high _ got to the operators said? they blame high levels _ got to the operators said? they blame high levels of _ got to the operators said? tie: blame high levels of sickness got to the operators said? tie1 blame high levels of sickness and training backlog. they say our customers want reliable and punctual train services and we are sorry we haven't been able to provide. back 22, they say they are disappointed by the strike. further strikes are planned and they want unions to engage in meaningful industry. don't forget, they are on notice. their franchise was up and the government extended it. they are very much in the last chance saloon. they have to

buck their ideas up. the rmt says the strike is the domination of months of neglect. the department for transport says it has earmarked only for funding. the for transport says it has earmarked only forfunding. the message for transport says it has earmarked only for funding. the message from those two mayors to the major cities is more investment needs to come, and soon. . ~ is more investment needs to come, and soon. ., ~ i. ., ., and soon. thank you for that analysis- _ sources close to the former chancellor rishi sunak say he's secured the backing he needs to enter the conservative leadership race. meanwhile borisjohnson arrives back in the uk as speculation grows he'll join the leadership contest. the leader of the commons, penny mordaunt, is the only person to formally announce that she's running. nearly one and a half million households across ukraine are without electricity. a ukrainian government official said russian missile strikes had continued to target its energy infrastructure.

ukraine's energy distribution company said it would limit the power supply in several regions, including kyiv. 0utages have been reported across the country. hugo bachega is following developments. 0rthe hugo bachega is following developments. or the presidential office said about 1.5 million households are without power, following this morning's attack. the ukrainian air force said russian forces had fired 33 cruise missiles. 18 of those missiles had been intercepted by the air defence systems. today's attack targeted energy infrastructure like central ukraine and 0desa in the south, where at least three people were injured as a result of those attacks. 0fficials injured as a result of those attacks. officials say the damage caused by the latest air strikes might exceed the consequences caused

by last week's attacks carried out by last week's attacks carried out by russian targeting sites across the country. 0fficials by russian targeting sites across the country. officials say that more than a third of the country's power stations have been damaged as a result of these attacks. reacting to the last latest air strikes, was said russia was fighting against civilian infrastructure and people, and ukrainians are getting angry. he said these attacks would lead to a much stronger ukrainian response. hugo bachega reporting. china watchers are trying to find out what's behind extraordinary scenes at the ruling party congress in beijing. the country's former leader hu jintao was forcibly ushered out of the closing ceremony. it's a remarkable occurence in a country where such events are usually highly choreographed. you can see it happen here. mr hu is sitting beside president xijinping in the great hall of the people when he is approached by officials who take him by the arm and lead him away. it's still not clear what was behind

the move which comes at a time mr xi is extending his power in the country. 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 new italian government has been sworn in at a ceremony in the presidential palace in rome. giorgia meloni is italy's first ever

female prime minister and the country's first far—right leader since world war two. her party — brothers of italy — won last month's elections with just over a quarter of the vote. she'll head a right—wing coalition. ms meloni has sought to reassure western allies that italy's foreign policy won't change. hate crimes recorded against lgbt people are the highest they've ever been, according to new figures for england and wales. more than 30,000 homophobic and transgender hate crimes were recorded in the 12 months until march of this year and many more are thought to go unreported. 0ur lgbt and identity correspondent, lauren moss, has been finding out more. my very turning up somewhere is something that is enough to create anger in people. shea is transgender. she says she and her family experience some form of abuse almost every single day. i have been shouted

at on the street. i've been yelled at when my kids are with me. things have been thrown at me, i have had one violent assault. in march, shea says she was physically attacked leaving her with a knee injury and too scared to travel alone. i was pushed to the ground and kicked several times. a clearly transphobic incident but by the time i realised that it had happened, i was alone on the pavement bleeding. looking back now, i should have reported it but ijust wanted to go home. a hate crime is any criminal offence perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on personal characteristics such as race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity. the latest figures show that there were more than 4000 recorded hate crimes against transgender people in england and wales in one year. a rise of 56%. the home office suggests the discussion of what it calls transgender issues on social media may have led to an increase.

there is absolutely no way you can say that what we have seen, particularly in the last 18 months in the media, has not contributed heavily to the way that trans people are being treated and it is not a nice thing to have to address, but it is the truth. was it a difficult decision to choose to speak me about this today? to me about this today? yes. i will anger some in my community. we tend to think that we live in a tolerant and accepting nation but hate crimes are at the highest level ever recorded. the home office says this could be driven by improvements in police recording. but hateful attacks must be fully investigated. three of them were just stamping on my head, stamping on me, asking for my phone, beating me. nathan was heading for the train home early one morning in august after a night out at a gay bar in london when he and his friend were attacked by a group of teenagers on a bridge. they said they shouted

out homophobic abuse. they beat him and stripped his clothes off. one of them will say, you know, we have to get rid of them. he was obviously trying to grab hold of me and pulled me towards the river thames. were you worried at that point that you were going to die? i was. still now, even now. recorded homophobic hate crimes have also risen to more than 26,000, a a1% increase in one year. in nathan's case, two teenagers were charged with robbery and sent to a youth offender panel for 12 months and given a three—month night time curfew. nathan says hate crime still is not treated seriously. you can ask almost every lgbt person and i am sure 90% of them have had something happened to them. they reported it, but nothing happened. it is hard to hear. pc hayleyjones specifically focuses on hate crime in the capital in a role created by the metropolitan police this year.

as part of the community myself i recognise that there are people who do not trust the police and i understand where they come from. by listening to their concerns i hope to develop those relationships and to build that trust again. i also recognise how easy that trust can be destroyed. pcjones is a link between police and victims. despite the rise in reports she says that many still do not come forward. i think there is still underreporting and the severity of the crimes seems much higher. anti—abuse charity galop say they too have seen an increase and have recently launched a mobile phone app where people can report crimes and receive support. whenever our community is more visible we are more likely to experience abuse and violence and those words used against our community do translate into violence and abuse in real life. what we have seen in our service over the last six months is a nearly 20% increase in demand and what we are seeing coming through our service

is the highest levels of violence we have ever seen. for shea and nathan and those behind the latest statistics, the scars from what they have been through may take a long time to heal. lauren moss, bbc news. a former eastenders actor has died backstage after performing in a play. josephine melville, who played a radical student, tessa parker, in the early days of the soap, died at the nottingham playhouse despite efforts by paramedics and an audience member to save her. england will face denmark and china in the group stages of the women's world cup next year. the european champions are in group d and will also play either senegal, haiti, or chile. the lionesses will be based in australia, with group games in brisbane, sydney, and adelaide. if we perform at our highest level next summer, then we should

absolutely get through this group stage, and then we'll see. as we said in the euros, that is going to be the case also in the world cup. very good opponents, every country is improving so much. it is going to be really tight, so yes, it should be a very great tournament next summer, and i hope we will be successful again. and the republic of ireland have a tough group for their first world cup appearence. they'll face co—hosts australia, olympic gold medalists canada and nigeria. a sheet of paper with handwritten lyrics for two songs 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. some amazing pictures from chile

where a high speed chase led to thousands of dollars being scattered across a highway in the capital, santiago. police were pursuing a car containing robbery suspects when bags of money were hurled out of the window. according to local media, the alleged robbers tried to steal nearly 10 million chilean pesos, around 10,300 us dollars. after the chase, six suspects were detained by police. now it's time for a look at the weather, with alina. hello there, it is a very mild time cross this weekend. the outbreaks of rain across northern ireland and scotland this afternoon. there are some spells of sunshine, xiao is now gathering across wales, the south—west and central england. temperatures at from 1a to 18 celsius. showers in the south—west

will nudge their way northwards and eastwards, potentially heathery and thundery. more heavy thundery rain starts to push on from the south—west late in the night. it is another mild night, temperatures typically ten to 1a celsius. tomorrow is another day of sunshine and showers. the showers are much more likely to be heavy and thundery, especially in the morning. this band works its way north and eastwards as the day moves on. sunshine following behind, and then heavy thundery rain following on behind. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: sources close to the former chancellor rishi sunak say he's secured the backing he needs to enter the conservative leadership race. meanwhile borisjohnson arrives back in the uk as speculation grows he'lljoin the leadership contest. the leader of the commons, penny mordaunt, is the only person to formally announce

that she's running. ukrainian officials say around 1.5 million households are without power following a new wave of russian attacks.