this is bbc news broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. the headlines... the uk's former chancellor rishi sunak looks is set to officially enter the conservative leadership race after securing the backing of more than 100 mps. rivals of former uk prime minister borisjohnson dismiss claims by his allies that he's also reached 100 backers, with speculation rife he could enter the contest. the leader of the commons, penny mordaunt, is the only person to formally announce that she's running, but has fewer supporters. ukrainian officials say around a million and a half households are without power after a new wave of russian attacks.

the opportunity of rishi sunak and brentjonnson the opportunity of rishi sunak and brentjonnson meeting the opportunity of rishi sunak and brentjonnson meeting today the opportunity of rishi sunak and brentjonnson meeting today is the opportunity of rishi sunak and brentjonnson meeting today is being talked this evening as the race for the new conservative party leader gathers pace. the bbc understands they were due to meet face—to—face at 3:30pm this afternoon but that was delayed. my colleague says the meeting may still go ahead later. rishi sunak has become the first leadership contender to secure the public support of 100 tory mps — that's the number needed to enter the race to be the next conservative leader and prime minister. but he's yet to announce publicly whether he will bid for the top job — after losing to liz truss last month. meanwhile, borisjohnson has flown home from a caribbean holiday, as his supporters claim he now also has 100 mps backing him,

although others have said this is "hogwash". so far, penny mordaunt is the only contender to have officially launched a campaign. 0ur political correspondent damian grammaticas has more. are you running for the leadership? he was tight—lipped this morning but rishi sunak clearly has a well of support among conservative mps. more than 100 now publicly backing him. and that sets up the extraordinary possibility he could face off against the man he helped bring down. borisjohnson, flying back from a caribbean holiday for a possible political comeback. it is just over four months since mrjohnson faced a revolt by his own mps and a confidence vote. then vote in favour of no confidence in boris johnson as leader is 211 - votes and the vote against him was 148 votes. _ more than 40% of his mps had no confidence in him then. dozens then resigned from his government. some now say they want him to return. we have seen in the last few days is that 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 they would like to see him put himself forward. they have admitted they were wrong and i know there are many others waiting to hear on if he makes the decision to run before they go public. thank you very much for coming! those who want him back rememberthis, boris johnson is a vote winner. many tory mps have not forgotten what followed, lockdown parties that broke the law. parliament will soon begin hearings into whether mr johnson lied about this. that is why the man he was a deputy prime minister is backing rishi sunak. i think the country needs a prime minister who is focused 100% of them and i just don't see as a practical matter that that can be boris if he is then dealing with all of those issues, and i say that as someone who would love to see boris return to front line politics. i think he can but i don't think he can until he has addressed those issues don't like the first

candidate to declare she was running was penny mordaunt, last night, but she has far fewer public declarations of support. i am backing penny because she is the candidate i think that cannot onlyjust bring the conservative party and parliament together but actually the whole country. she has got a proven track record working across eight departments in her 12 years in parliament. this was borisjohnson injuly, to the right, rishi sunak. later that day, rishi sunak resigned as chancellor, saying people needed competent, serious government. three days later, mrjohnson was out of office. so the choice facing tory mps may come down to two men with a bitter history or an untested alternative compromise candidate. damian grammaticas, bbc news. currently the bbc estimates that more than half of tory mps have gone public with their support. as you've heard, rishi sunak has passed the key threshold of 100 backers and is on 119, borisjohnson has 52 and penny mordaunt 22.

it's worth pointing out that these are the numbers the bbc can verify — others may have different information. that means 164 conservative mps are yet to say who they'll be voting for, with a total of 357 tory members of parliament up for grabs. some of these mps are making it public and posting on social media to try to build support for their preferred candidate. borisjohnson�*s former chief of staff, steve barclay, a superb rishi sunak with an article in tomorrow's sunday newspaper. she says he is the serious honest leader that we need. ex—home secretary, priti patel has tweeted her support for borisjohnson, saying he can "bring together a united team" and "lead britain to a stronger and more prosperous future". meanwhile andrea leadsom, previously business secretary and leader of the commons, says she wants penny mordaunt to become leader, saying she has "experience,

compassion and determination to be our next prime minister". former secretary of state liam fox says rishi sunak "has the judgment to heal our economy and unite our party". previous culture secretary, nadine dorries, has unsurprisingly backed boisjohnson, saying he's the "one person labour fear the most". and george freeman, who helped run penny mordaunt�*s last campaign, says "britain needs stability and unity, not a soap opera" and ms mordaunt will bring "unity, stability and economic responsibility". earlier, we spoke to bim afolami, who is the conservative mp for hitchin and harpenden. he explained why he's supporting rishi sunak. first thing, unrelenting focus on making sure inflation comes down in interest rates come down. that is

what he is focusing on. secondly, sustainable economic growth, liz truss is not wrong to think about growing our economy, making sure that everybody owns a bit more, more opportunities for people to start businesses, get a betterjob, etc. but we have got to do that in a sustainable way. rishi sunak understands that. here with us now is conservative peer, lord jonathan marland. thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc news. who would your preferred candidate to be? i here on bbc news. who would your preferred candidate to be?- preferred candidate to be? i don't have one. preferred candidate to be? i don't have one- i _ preferred candidate to be? i don't have one. i prefer— preferred candidate to be? i don't have one. i prefer boris _ preferred candidate to be? i don't have one. i prefer boris not - preferred candidate to be? i don't have one. i prefer boris not to - have one. i prefer boris not to stand because i don't think the time is right for him. and i have suggested to him accordingly. there is still the inquiry going on, but you knows what the result is going to be. i don't think there is enough distance between his past tenure and now. so i have suggested that perhaps it's a good time for him not

to stand and to continue put pay in the loft as he so aptly described it. ~ ., the loft as he so aptly described it. . ., ., , , the loft as he so aptly described it. what was his response when you disensed it. what was his response when you disnensed that _ it. what was his response when you dispensed that advice? _ it. what was his response when you dispensed that advice? well, - it. what was his response when you dispensed that advice? well, we i it. what was his response when you | dispensed that advice? well, we will wait to see- — dispensed that advice? well, we will wait to see- it _ dispensed that advice? well, we will wait to see. it could _ dispensed that advice? well, we will wait to see. it could be _ dispensed that advice? well, we will wait to see. it could be two - dispensed that advice? well, we will wait to see. it could be two fingers l wait to see. it could be two fingers the old—fashioned way, or i agree with you. let's see. it's very compelling for him, isn't it? he arrives off the holiday plane confronted by loads of people wanting to get his opinion. there been phone all over the country demanding his return, wanting his return because he has a huge popular sway. and there is rumour to be 100 members of parliament wanting to support him. so it's very compelling for him and i understand that. but thatis for him and i understand that. but that is my view. i'm not supporting any other candidate. it's not for me to support candidates one way or the other. i am to support candidates one way or the other. iam not to support candidates one way or the other. i am not an mp. ind: to support candidates one way or the other. i am not an mp. nd. everyone keeps talking — other. i am not an mp. nd. everyone keeps talking about _ other. i am not an mp. nd. everyone keeps talking about the _ other. i am not an mp. nd. everyone keeps talking about the need - other. i am not an mp. nd. everyone keeps talking about the need for - keeps talking about the need for stability, the need for unity. how

unifying a figure could boris jonnson possibly hope to be when you think of those mass resignations of ministers in the summer and they ousted him. ministers in the summer and they ousted him-— ousted him. one thing is for certain, mp! _ ousted him. one thing is for certain, mp! are _ ousted him. one thing is for certain, mp! are unified - ousted him. one thing is for certain, mp! are unified in l ousted him. one thing is for. certain, mp! are unified in their desire to keep theirjobs. in that regard, they would be very unifying because he is a winner, he's won two mayoral elections, brexit vote and he won a huge majority. the people actually probably won't forgive us for the way we treated him. but that has been said, that is may be said. our mps have behaved very badly 0ur mps have behaved very badly indeed. they haven't got behind the candidate. it they put their own self—interest before countries and unless they do line up behind the next appointed, they are completely doomed. you next appointed, they are completely doomed. ., ., , doomed. you mentioned the inquiry auoin on. doomed. you mentioned the inquiry going on- the _ doomed. you mentioned the inquiry going on. the privileges _ doomed. you mentioned the inquiry going on. the privileges committee | going on. the privileges committee looking into evidence as to whether borisjonnson

looking into evidence as to whether boris jonnson knowingly looking into evidence as to whether borisjonnson knowingly misled parliament. why isn't that sufficient to? that hanging over him, sufficient to put some of his supporters off, do you believe? i don't think that they believe that he will be found to have misled parliament.— he will be found to have misled parliament. ~ ., ., ., parliament. william hague, former leader of the _ parliament. william hague, former leader of the party _ parliament. william hague, former leader of the party has _ parliament. william hague, former leader of the party has said - parliament. william hague, former leader of the party has said that. parliament. william hague, former leader of the party has said that hej leader of the party has said that he believes boris johnson leader of the party has said that he believes borisjohnson returns that will send the party into a death spiral. do you agree?— will send the party into a death spiral. do you agree? yes, well, you have all sorts _ spiral. do you agree? yes, well, you have all sorts of _ spiral. do you agree? yes, well, you have all sorts of people _ spiral. do you agree? yes, well, you have all sorts of people now - have all sorts of people now campaigning for one candidate or another making their own views about who shouldn't run, we are in campaign mode. so i tend to ignore this. my view is, as i said earlier, that it's not quite the right time for boris. he's a remarkable politician. he spent a reference point to the conservative party for the last 16 years. he's immensely charismatic. he's very well he's popular. he's a great populist candidates. at my own view is that

it's not quite the right time if this was happening a year forward, then all the issues you talked about to may well have been resolved and members of parliament will be desperate to win the next election. this is going to be a very tough time for the british people. the tax, the highest we have done for 30 years. the corporation tax is a total disincentive for those of us who are in business. and at some point there is going to have to be some give or of the conservatives will lose the next election because they're taxing as high as a labour government. we they're taxing as high as a labour government-— they're taxing as high as a labour government. we are told that rishi sunak and boris _ government. we are told that rishi sunak and boris johnson _ government. we are told that rishi sunak and boris johnson are - government. we are told that rishij sunak and boris johnson are meant government. we are told that rishi i sunak and boris johnson are meant to sunak and borisjohnson are meant to be meeting. we wonder who called backin be meeting. we wonder who called back in gets the most out of it. i have heard that rishi sunak was not prepared to meet, understandably. i know that rishi sunak is phoning

directly to conservative members. but this goes on. we will see what happens on monday. i am very pragmatic about it. and as not being an mp, i shall wait there decision and support the leader of the party. what will you say to all the conservative mps because my given that we are told that our allies abroad think we are a laughing stock. ~ , ., ., ., stock. well, they have let down our country very — stock. well, they have let down our country very badly. _ stock. well, they have let down our country very badly, the _ stock. well, they have let down our country very badly, the mps - stock. well, they have let down our country very badly, the mps in - country very badly, the mps in general. they don't realise, you know, as you say, that we are badly thought of overseas. we aren't entirely badly thought up overseas, we've put on a magnificent funeral for her majesty the queen. 0ther for her majesty the queen. other countries have got tremendous problems. ijust returned from france, mozambique, my role as a commonwealth enterprise investment counsel. and i can tell you it's for

hours to wait for petrel in paris. we appreciate you sharing your thoughts, thank you very much for talking to us here on bbc news. thank you. this is our website is looking at, the life page, you a live update as all of the twists and turns is leadership campaign. summary down the side there, a good question posed by laura comes back. why would anyone want to be prime minister now anyway? read that on our bbc website. the ukrainian government says almost one and a half million households are without power , following another barrage by russian missiles on civilian energy facilities. the national electricity operator said the latest strikes could have caused more damage than the intense bombardment lasting several days earlier this month. here's the latest from our correspondent, hugo bachega. the ukrainian presidential office said around 1.5 million households

across the country are without power following this morning's attacks, and the ukrainian airforce said russian forces had fired 33 cruise missiles, but that 18 of those missiles had been intercepted by the air defence systems. today's attacks targeted energy infrastructure in regions away from the front line, like lutsk in the north—west, cherkasy in central ukraine, and also 0desa in the south, where at least three people were 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 that were carried out by russia, targeting sites across the country. officials say more than a third of the country's power stations have been damaged as a result of these attacks. reacting to the latest air strikes, the president's chief of staff, andriy yermak, said russia was fighting against civilian infrastructure and people and that

ukrainians are getting angrier by the day. he said these attacks would lead to a much stronger ukrainian response. there have been some extraordinary scenes at china's ruling communist party congress — with the former leader hu jintao being led out of the closing ceremony in beijing. mr hu was sitting beside president xijinping 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, but state media claims ill health led to the removal of the former president. back to our top story and the conservative leadership race. what do voters make of the turbulent events in westminster?

jessica lane has been talking to people in the conservative constituency of penistone and stocksbridge in south yorkshire to find out. 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, a bit of 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? " well, we've been. talking nothing else. it is the backstabbing and that's the problem. this constituency has this rural market town of penistone and the industrial steelworks in stocksbridge nearby. historically labour, it turned conservative in 2019. the local mp, miriam cates, says she has huge admiration for borisjohnson, but she's backing rishi sunakfor leader. but some business owners say they're more bothered about getting support soon.

the main thing is energy bills at the moment, that's what's crippling us. our quarterly has gone up from £270 to £990 for three months. for a little shop like this, it's difficult. is that 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. joining me now is our political correspondent damian grammaticas. we talked about numbers about who has how many backers, but it's all of that sort of put your finger in the air and of that sort of put your finger in the airand see of that sort of put your finger in the air and see where it lands at the air and see where it lands at the moment. the air and see where it lands at the moment-— the air and see where it lands at the moment. �* , ., ., ., the moment. there's more to it than that, actually. the _ the moment. there's more to it than that, actually. the bbc _ the moment. there's more to it than that, actually. the bbc have - the moment. there's more to it than that, actually. the bbc have been i that, actually. the bbc have been running our own tally and this is of publicly declared support, so people who have either very publicly on social media or confirmed to us and

those are the number of people out there to clear income of those numbers are interesting because they do give rishi sunak well over 100 backers. borisjohnson around 50 or so. and penny mourdant 20—something. now, the borisjonnson camp came out earlier and were putting out that they believed they had 100. that wasn't corroborated by the numbers we had officially. the reach a sunak campaign poured cold water on the borisjonnson claim and their view is show us the names that you have and let's see. it's worth saying that the rishi sunak camp have been sharing names and pointing to people who they can be publicly seem to have back to rishi sunak. part of the feeling with them is their suspicion might be that the boris jonnson camp want to try to get a sense of momentum and that will be a typical borisjonnson type of move to push something out, get a bit of

the media talking about his campaign, but they are sceptical about his return. the campaign, but they are sceptical about his return.— campaign, but they are sceptical about his return. the only person formally declared _ about his return. the only person formally declared as _ about his return. the only person formally declared as penny - about his return. the only person - formally declared as penny mourdant, the fewest backers as far as we are aware. . , , the fewest backers as far as we are aware. ., , , , , . aware. clearly the fewest public backers. absolutely. _ aware. clearly the fewest public backers. absolutely. her- aware. clearly the fewest public i backers. absolutely. her candidacy is interesting. you might say that in all of this game of perception that's going on, may be part of the reason she jumped early and went early was to try to get her candidacy up and running first, aware that she needs to try to cement support. her team are pushing this idea that she can be a unity figure between the two because you have these very polar two men, boris jonnson, rishi sunak with a better history behind them, and some sort of suggestion from her camp from penny mordant�*s camp that she can be balance, someone to bring the party together. they may be hoping to wait and see if mps might come her way, but the numbers are dwindling of those who are left and she needs to

pick up quite a lot of us to hit that hundred mark. bud pick up quite a lot of us to hit that hundred mark.— pick up quite a lot of us to hit that hundred mark. and we have heard the international _ that hundred mark. and we have heard the international development - the international development secretary has decided who she is going to back. this secretary has decided who she is going to back-— secretary has decided who she is going to back. this is interesting, so she has _ going to back. this is interesting, so she has written _ going to back. this is interesting, so she has written something i going to back. this is interesting, | so she has written something that will be in the sunday times in the morning, it's already out online. a rising star on the right of the party, she is in that summer campaign that leadership campaign in the summer. she was perceived to have made a pretty good impression then, particularly with those on the right of the conservative party, and she has come out and publicly backed rishi sunak, and in her article, she says some of her colleagues, she says some of her colleagues, she says you're in for a simple solution to the leadership question. they recall borisjonnson resting the party behind in the puls, but three years on from what we need is not nostalgia or the cavalier cannellini patient, honest, conservative virtue. she points to rishi sunak saying that now is the time when she

says she saw him in the treasury and saw the way he ran things and was worried then about the economic situation, inflation. that may bring vote mps from the right behind rishi sunak and so some of her backers were already seeing that they would support rishi sunak. for were already seeing that they would support rishi sunak.— were already seeing that they would support rishi sunak. for the moment, thank you very — support rishi sunak. for the moment, thank you very much. _ two labour mayors are calling on the government to immediately increase funding for the train operators, transpennine express and northern in the north of england — because of what they've described as "rail chaos." the greater manchester mayor, andy burnham and the liverpool city region mayor, steve rotheram were late for their own news conference because their train was cancelled. once they arrived, mr burnham said poor services were causing misery for people in the region. transpennine express has apologised following a large number of rail cancellations passengers say they've been left frustrated by the problems. jake zuckerman reports. i woke up basically to find that from 7:35 when the last direct train from manchester picadilly departed,

there was a six—hour gap until the next train. the experience ofjust one transpennine express customer last week. the operator's services between hull and manchester and cleethorpes have been hit by one cancellation after another. to give you a sense of the scale of the problem that people are facing here every day, we have come down to hull paragon station. the 12:06 is still running to manchester piccadilly but the next two services, just after one o'clock, and just after two o'clock, they have both been cancelled already, so if you want to catch the transpennine to manchester, you are going to have to wait until three o'clock before you can catch the next train, and people here are just getting fed up of it. i know my train has been cancelled on the way back today, which i am not happy about. i suffer anxiety, so i can't switch from one train to the next to the next. it is appalling, really, it is the heartbeat of the nation, the m62 corridor, especially for this northern powerhouse. on tuesday, every single train to manchester from five o'clock until nine o'clock was cancelled so i don't know how people are

expected to get home at this point. the company has apologised to customers. there is a range of reasons for the spike in cancellations, predominantly sustained levels of sickness, so high levels of sickness, alongside a big training programme that is ongoing for our drivers. transpennine has promised it will work towards providing a more consistent service, but customers are already losing their patience. jake zuckerman, bbc look north, hull. how do you respond when your best friend randomly decides to call time on your life—long friendship? well that's the plot of the film, the banshees of inisherin set in the 1920s, on a fictional remote island off the coast of ireland. our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba has been talking to its stars, colin farrell and brendan gleeson. have you been rowing? dark and quirky.

what the hell's going on with you and me brother? he's dull, siobhan. but he's always been dull. humourous and compelling. you're behaving awful unusual. the film tells the story of a lifelong friendship that suddenly ends. people have responded to it in such a positive way and it's meant something to the people that i've spoken to that have seen it — there's been a kind of relatability or personalisation of this film in regard to their own lives and their own experience of whether it's friendship, loss or isolation had to be dealt with, so it means a lot, it's lovely. yeah, breaking up and all that kind of stuff, like, we've all had a bit of it. it's hitting home with people in a way that's quite moving and stuff. you just kind of feel, "wow, this is one that has worked the way it should." do you know who we remember for how nice they was in the 17th century? who? absolutely no—one. yet we all remember the music of the time. everyone to a man knows mozart's name. i don't, so there goes that theory. one of the central themes is how

much people should sacrifice in order to create meaningful art, with both actors drawing on their own experiences. through the years, i've missed things. i've missed funerals of people who meant a lot to me, i missed... you know, i have two children — i missed the birth of one, i was there for the birth of the other one, but only because i wasn't gainfully employed at that time, thank god! so at least i was there for one of my boys being born, but you miss really important, fundamentally important moments. at one stage, i was nearly seven months away over the year in three different jobs. it was too much for my kids, it was breaking my heart to be there, and i said, "i'm not _ there's a certain level, i'm missing too much". so it's a constant line you're trying to walk. how gratified are you to be talked about as oscar contenders? if you got a nomination or something like that and i didn't, we'd have a laugh with it. we would. we would have a laugh with it, and then we would...it�*d be business as usual, do you know what i mean? and then it'd would be business as usual, you know, afterwards. no, but it'd be great! it'd be a laugh. yeah, yeah, yeah. "i want it," is what he's saying!

"i want it! "when do we find out?" well, oscar nominations are still three months away, but when they are announced, many expect to see the names gleeson and farrell on that list. lizo mzimba, bbc news. now for a look at the weather. hello. it stays mild through the second half of the weekend and into next week as well. and still further showers or longer spells of rain all tied in with this area of low pressure, which will bring some thundery rain north and eastwards across the uk tonight and through tomorrow as well. we've also got south or south easterly winds, and we've got this extremely mild air across england, wales, scotland and northern ireland. so it stays mild both by day and by night. back to tonight, and we'll have further showers pushing their way north and eastwards, heavy and thundery, ahead and behind them for a while, some clear spells, but also some mist and fog before another spell of heavy thundery rain starts to arrive from the southwest later in the night. the far north of scotland likely to keep more cloud with just some patchy rain here.

temperatures not much lower than 12 or 13 celsius in places. so a very mild night for the time of year. for tomorrow, it's another day of sunshine and showers. but this time the showers, the longer spells of rain, are much more likely to be heavy and thundery, particularly through the morning across parts of wales, central, southern and southwest england. this band then pushes its way north and eastwards as the day wears on, becoming confined to scotland through the afternoon, where the north of scotland should be dry with some sunshine, some sunshine behind it as well. but watch out for further sharp and thundery showers developing through the afternoon. temperatures on a par with saturday, really, 14—18 celsius, the top temperature, just 11 celsius for the northern isles, and the winds not as strong as they have been recently, but still quite gusty for the northern isles and also for channel coasts as well. we could likely see gales through the channel, and as we head through sunday night and into monday, another spell of heavy thundery rain starts to arrive from the southwest. so this is then how monday shapes up. we still got this area

of low pressure close by, and we'll still keep some thundery showers going through the early hours of monday, and at first on monday as well, particularly for some eastern areas, they will start to pull away. and behind that, we'll see some sunshine developing for many eastern areas. but out to the west, more showers starting to pile in, and still some gusty winds through the irish sea and also along channel coast as well. still some spells of sunshine and the temperatures again in the mid, if not high teens, it should still feel quite warm in that sunshine. and, actually, the temperatures will rise a little bit in the week ahead. we could see 20—21 celsius across parts of east anglia and south east england later in the week, but also further showers or longer spells of rain.

this is bbc world news, the headlines... former chancellor rishi sunak is set to officially enter the race to become the uk's next prime minister. he's received the backing of 100 mps — the threshold needed for the ballot. there's also growing speculation that borisjohnson will run. ukraine says almost one—and—a— half million households are without electricity, following a new wave of russian attacks targeting critical energy infrastructure. the national electricity operator said the latest strikes could have caused more damage than the intense bombardment earlier this month. the former chinese leader hujintao has been led out of the closing ceremony of the communist party congress in beijing. it's not clear what was behind the move