welcome to bbc news, i'm lucy grey. our top stories. an army on the move — ukraine says its making major gains around kherson, a day after russia announced its withdrawal from the southern city. police in australia investigate the killing of an aboriginal teenager — the prime minister calls the attack racially motivated. still too close to call — two days on from the us midterm elections, who controls the senate still hangs in the balance. and the volcanic island providing an out of this world experience for europe's trainee astronauts.

nine months after the russian invasion of ukraine, seniorfigures in the ukrainian military say they're making significant progress against the forces of president putin. russia has admitted having problems with its supply, and has been actively engaged in establishing new defensive lines. all eyes are on the southern port of kherson, a strategically vital city, which russian troops say they're in the process of leaving. russia says it's moving to new defensive positions, on the other side of the dnipro river, but that process could take weeks. there's no sign so far of a mass withdrawal. our international editorjeremy bowen has more from odesa. the ukrainians are correct to be cautious, because the russians will try and hurt them as much as they can, as often as they can, as their forces go back. but i think as far as the russians are concerned, there is, if you like, a couple of extreme scenarios, a range of scenarios. one of them is for the russians, the worst one, a disorderly retreat,

leaving their forces bunched up at crossing points on the river and very vulnerable to very accurate ukrainian shellfire. the other extreme, the good scenario for the russians — which clearly is the favourite in moscow — is that they manage to carry out an organised fighting retreat, which is something their military skills have not yet suggested they could do. but if they could do that, then they would be able to transfer equipment and men onto the opposite side to their prepared positions. and then, the russians would say, "look, hang on, this may look like a defeat, but actually we are in a better position than we were because of the river." now, what do they make of all this in moscow, on state tv and in the streets? here's our russia editor, steve rosenberg. what are russians being told about the war in ukraine? for more than eight months, the message from the kremlin

to the people has been, russia will be victorious — and yet there is no sign of the promised victory. on the contrary, the public is learning of problems. grim faces on state tv, as russia announces a retreat from kherson, the strategically important ukrainian city. "i bet they're cock a hoop about this in the west," he says. "but we have to remain calm." and this kremlin supporter remains confident. of course, we will win and withdrawal of our troops, temporary withdrawal of our troops from kherson, in order not to be surrendered, is not a defeat. even though a lot of people in the west would like to see this as a defeat. it's not. because sometimes you need to go back one step

to go ten steps further. still, it does feel like vladimir putin has been trying to distance himself from what many see as a setback. as the retreat was being announced, putin was shown visiting a brain research centre. he thought his military operation in ukraine would last days, not months. but it hasn't gone to plan. there is also growing confusion over his objectives in this war. and since the kremlin had insisted that occupied kherson would be russian forever, the retreat is a blow to moscow. russia's retreat from kherson creates a danger for vladimir putin. it risks changing how he's perceived here at home. not so much by the russian public, but by the russian elite, by the people around him, the people in power here, who for years have viewed putin as a great strategist, a winner.

less so now. and the mood on the streets? "of course we'll win the war," he says. "when have russians ever lost?" i really hope that russian soldiers will come back and vladimir putin will leave his post, and ukraine and russia will be free from this dictator. for now, the russian public is watching, waiting... ..to see where the kremlin�*s war goes from here. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. we can now speak to michael o'hanlon, a senior fellow and director of research in foreign policy at the brookings institution. hello to you. greetings. kherson _ hello to you. greetings. kherson was _ hello to you. greetings. kherson was a - hello to you. greetings. kherson was a big - hello to you. greetings. kherson was a big gainl hello to you. greetings. l kherson was a big gain for moscow, did theyjust moscow, did they just overestimate moscow, did theyjust overestimate their abilities?

certainly in february they thought they would win the whole war in a week and take the whole country so yes, they overestimated their abilities dramatically. but in this specific case, as you know this was the big regional capital in the south that they thought would be their pathway to a debtor and take the whole black sea coast. and that's one more frustration they have encountered over the course of the campaign. —— pathway 20 debtor. it is important not to get too enthusiastic, those of us who support ukraine, this was a fairly exposed position for russia, and by the way it's not even lost yet. you and i are trying to get ahead of the news along with the rest of the commentary, because as far as we know russia is still in this city, we are talking about whether they will retreat in an orderly way or not, i don't know if they will retreat at all. until it is done, it's not done. we are in the middle of november and this is one of the more exposed cities inside ukraine that russia has held,

and this is maybe the maximal conquest ukraine's going to be able to achieve in the rest of 2022, in this general vicinity. in the other words, this war is slowing down and becoming a tough slog. even though ukraine has a lot of advantages, thank goodness, and has prospects for continued slow progress, thank goodness, i think we are in for a very difficult 2023, that is the basic moral of the story. and a difficult winter. who has the advantage when it comes to the advantage when it comes to the winter? i saw some writing today about how ukraine is getting all this wonderful equipment from norway and countries that know how to handle winter, but i don't underestimate the russians in the winter either. i think they can probably figure out a way to get warm enough clothing to their troops and they can dig down in trench lines and hold positions. i'm not sure they

are very good, putin's not very good figuring out how to go on the offensive in the winter, he proved that in february. but i think there's a good chance russia can hold most of his positions, and the winter will basically be a stalemate. i hope i am wrong and ukraine keeps making a lot of progress, but let's recognise that the progress has already slowed in the last month or two compared to august and september, and i'm afraid we are settling into a period of modest incremental gains, hopefully all on the ukrainian side.— gains, hopefully all on the ukrainian side. putin will of course want _ ukrainian side. putin will of course want to _ ukrainian side. putin will of course want to save - ukrainian side. putin will of course want to save face, l ukrainian side. putin will of course want to save face, i | course want to save face, i suppose, from this situation in kherson and perhaps use a show of force, a significant show of force, because this is humiliating for him, if this pans out that russia does fully withdraw from kherson. you could be _ withdraw from kherson. you could be right, _ withdraw from kherson. you could be right, we _ withdraw from kherson. 7m. could be right, we should always be grateful that possibility, what's the next way he is going to escalate? however i'm not so sure that

vladimir putin has to really defend himself against this loss. he still holds 15% of ukraine. he still has crimea, and the four eastern provinces or most of them. and he still has changed the whole debate about the future of ukraine's association with nato. so we should not view him necessarily as on the ropes. in the western commentary, that's how we see him. and certainly he has done an abysmaljob at every level, ethically, morally, militarily of prosecuting this war, but i don't know if he's in political trouble at home, i don't buy into that argument.- trouble at home, i don't buy into that argument. thank you very much- — president biden is embarking on a whirlwind diplomatic tour which will take him to egypt, cambodia and indonesia. over the next few days he'll attend cop27, the us-asean summit and the east asia summit before joining the meeting of g20 leaders in bali. that's where the most anticipated event of the trip will take place —

a face—to—face meeting with the chinese president xijinping. here's what mr biden had to say about the forthcoming encounter. what i want to do with him, when we talk, is lay out what each of our red lines are — understand what he believes to be in the critical national interests of china, what i know to be the critical interests of the united states, and determine whether or not they conflict with one another. and if they do, how do we resolve it and work it out? nearly four weeks ago, aboriginal teenager cassius turvey was walking home from his school in perth with friends, when they were allegedly chased and cassius was beaten with a metal rod. he died in hospital ten days later. the australian prime minister anthony albanese claimed that the attack was clearly racially motivated, but police say the investigation continues and have urged people not to speculate about a motive. cassius's mother spoke to our australia correspondent shaimaa khalil. and a warning for aboriginal and torres strait islander viewers: this report contains

images of someone who has died. we were explaining to him why he was called cassius. this was just after we showed some youtube clips of muhammad ali. the heart of his family and community. a good kid who inspired others and loved life. he was funny. mechelle turvey says her son, cassius, was cheerful, loyal, with a beautiful cheeky smile. he set up a lawnmowing business with his friends to reach out to neighbours. the teenager wanted to change the negative stereotypes about indigenous youth. but on his way home from school nearly a month ago, he was violently attacked. i couldn't move. i got a phone call saying he'd been rushed to hospital. and ijust walked out of a hairdressing salon — i didn't know to what extent his injuries were. it was devastating. my question was, "why?

this kid is amazing, why would someone do that?" my son never got in trouble, ijust wanted to be with him. cassius was in his school uniform walking with friends when a car pulled up. a stranger allegedly told the group to run before chasing them down here — and officers are investigating claims that the boys were racially abused. police believe that cassius was then bashed with a metal pole. he was taken to hospital with serious head injuries, but the doctors couldn't save him. he died ten days later. a 21—year—old man has now been charged with his murder. what do we want? justice! when do we want it? now! _ the violence has to stop. it really does, because it's not just about cassius. cassius' death shocked australia and sparked a sense of national grief and anger. it brought to the fore yet again the unresolved issues around racism. thousands of people attended rallies and vigils across the country.

events were also held in the us and new zealand, demanding change and justice. meghan krakouer has helped hundreds of first nations families deal with the aftermath of violence and discrimination — tragedies she says that evoke a generational trauma dating back to colonisation. i'm really angry because i see death. i'm being at their bedsides when life—support machines are turned off. so in my mind, and what is evident is there's a lack of political will — a lack of political will to address the underlying issues. i'm hoping they did a turning point, it would be absolutely amazing if it is. this felt personal to so many families, some of whom say even before cassius' death, they were fearful for their children. emily is the mother of cassius's best friend who was with him when he was attacked.

i always said to him, when you go to the shop, keep your hands out of your pocket, other people will stereotype you. ijust never thought they would be violently attacked or chased to this extreme. mechelle finds comfort in being near cassius' tree, as she calls it — a vigil set up near where the attack happened. every day, she says, there are more messages of support. a shared grief for a young man with so many dreams. how will you remember him? wow. as my baby boy. as my miracle kid. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, perth. stay with us on bbc news, still to come. the scientists taking one small step into a volcano, but hoping for a giant leap to the moon.

the bombastic establishment outsider, donald trump, has defied the pollsters to take the keys to the oval office. i feel great about the election result. i voted for him because i genuinely believe that he cares about the country. it's keeping the candidate's name always in the public. eye that counts. success or failure depends not only on public display, - but on the local campaign l headquarters and the heavy routine work of their women volunteers. i berliners from both east and west linked hands and danced around their liberated territory. and with nobody to stop them, it wasn't long before the first attempts were made to destroy the structure itself. yasser arafat, who dominated the palestinian cause for so long, has died. palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning. after 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted | with an outburst ofjoy. women ministers who'd long felt

only grudgingly accepted - among the ranks of clergy suddenly felt welcomed. i this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the ukrainian army says it has made major advances towards kherson in the south of the country a day after russia said it was abandoning the city. two days after the us midterm elections, the outcome remains unclear, with control of congress still to be decided. the republicans are inching closer to a majority in the house of representatives, while the balance of power in the senate hinges on the outcome of three states — arizona, nevada and georgia. speaking at an event in washington, president biden said the results so far show that voters expect republicans to work with him, and he explained why this midterm was remarkable for the democratic party. while votes are being counted, we don't know the outcome of all the races. here's what we do know — we lost fewer seats

in the house of representatives than any democratic president's first elected midterm in at least a0 years. cheering we had the best midterms for governors since 1986. cheering and experts said we couldn't beat the odds, but we did beat the odds! here's our north america correspondent david willis who's in washington. well, several days on, and the senate race is still a toss—up. voting is still going on in the key swing states of arizona and nevada, whereas the state of georgia is set for a run—off election in a month's time. republicans seem set to take a few seats in the house of representatives, although by no means as many as they had counted on, and it seems that so—called red wave that so many people have been talking about did not materialise. many thought the economy would be the key issue in these elections, given the fact that

inflation in this country is currently at a more than ao—year high, but exit polls suggest that abortion rights were a key issue for about a third of those who took to the polls this time around, that following the overriding of roe v wade by the us supreme court during the summer here. also, donald trump's endorsed candidates in large part underperformed, chiefly, of course, the candidate in pennsylvania, mehmet oz, a television celebrity doctor, who lost out to the democratic rivaljohn fetterman, giving the democrats a key advantage there in the senate. all of this raises questions, of course, about donald trump's role as a sort of kingmaker in the republican party, and next week, the president who was, former president who was not on the ballot this time around, is due to make a major announcement, thought to be the statement that he is going to run

for a third time for the white house. although many are urging him, in the party, to hold back on making that announcement with the georgia run—off still to take place. the big republican win on tuesday night went to the florida governor ron desantis who increased his majority there, and many people in the party are now urging him to run for president in 202a. and, indeed, some are blaming donald trump for the problems that occurred on tuesday night. the murdoch—owned wall street journal had an editorial, "trump is the gop's biggest loser." now, tonight, donald trump himself issued a statement taking credit for ron desantis's rise in the republican party and accusing mr desantis of playing games by refusing to rule out a run for president in 202a. let's take a look at some

other stories in the headlines. counter—terrorism officials in belgium are leading an investigation into the fatal stabbing of a police officer near a train station in brussels. another officer was wounded in the attack. his injuries are not being described as life—threatening. the assailant was shot and taken to hospital. his condition is not known. the egyptian pro—democracy activist alaa abd el—fattah is said to have undergone what is being called a medical procedure. he has been injail since december and is now refusing water and food. china's new top leadership body has reaffirmed the commitment to pursuing zero covid as infections and lockdowns increase across the country. the standing committee of the communist party's politburo, meeting for the first time since it was formed last month, said the nation needed to remain "resolute". for many years, the british army has been providing bibles for its staff who practise christianity. now, the ministry of defence is to issue daily prayer books called nitnem gutka's to sikh

service personnel. it's all down to a major in the british army who's spent years campaigning to make it happen, as claire jones explains. just a warning — there are some flashing images in this piece. at this printers, more than 500 copies of sikh daily prayer books are being created. for sikhs, our scriptures are notjust words, but they are the living embodiment of our group. major daljinder singh—virdee has been campaigning for two years to make this possible. the army has been providing christian religious texts for many years, and i saw the opportunity there to open the door for the sikh faith, to provide to sikh texts. after arriving at a sikh temple in london, the prayer books are being blessed. chanting and praying the prayer books have been printed in three languages and in durable material to withstand

the rigours of military life. the camouflage books are for the british army, and the navy blue books are for the royal navy and raf. sikh daily prayer books were first issued to service personnel more than a century ago, along with steel daggers, bracelets and wooden combs, but they've never been issued again since. one of the last remaining copies is in the national army museum archive — and we're here to see it. so, we'll come around here, and we can have a look at it in detail. it's just in this box here. it's probably the earliest example of a sikh prayer book from the first world war. it's an incredible example, and to survive in such condition — right from 1914, right at the beginning of the war. it's a very important object and tells so many different stories. it's very poignant.

this is the type of sikh prayer book that would've been taken out by sikhs who fought in gallipoli, the first world war, in france, in the trenches. satveer singh designed the new prayer books to include the historical elements of the sikh faith. this is their main logo for the sikh defence network. then you have this here, which is our curved blade sword. and down at the bottom here, you see our shield. throughout history, we've always had symbolism of weaponry, it's part of our history. the thing that will mean the most to me is when sikhs take this out with them throughout their career, and it's a way for them to connect with their faith. that for me is the biggest reward that i could ever ask for. clairejones, bbc news, in london. artemis is the us mission that — if everything goes to plan — will see humans return to the moon by 202a. after that, the next target is mars. preparing for these missions

can be quite a challenge, so the european space agency has sent aspiring astronauts to somewhere on earth that seems out of this world, as the bbc�*s tim allman explains. one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. that giant leap was more than 50 years ago now. not long after, mankind basically gave up on lunar exploration. mission control: ..two, one, and lift—off. but that's about to change with nasa and other space agencies thinking big. this is not the moon. it is lanzarote, one of the canary islands. its volcanic surface is very similar to what astronauts may experience there or on mars. we, as astronauts, have to go out there and recognise rocks, work together with the scientists on earth to see which samples we need to take, because if you take the right rock samples,

the moon will tell us, like an open history book, about our own past on earth. it's notjust about geology. it is also about exploration, identifying rock samples or even traces of extra—terrestrial life. these wannabe astronauts have multiple motivations. one is to become a scientist, to discover the inner workings of our world. and the second thing is to become an explorer, to go beyond the horizons and find new worlds. a return to the moon is expected within two years. a mission to mars may take a little longer. but the hope is what we learn down here will help us up there. tim allman, bbc news. that is all from me for now. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lucyegrey. there is also plenty more on our website. there is also plenty more on

ourwebsite. goodbye. hello there. our exceptionally mild spell of november weather is set to stick around for another few days. there's also a lot of dry weather on the cards, but we have got some rain across the far north—west of the uk. not only is it very mild out there, but it is also going to feel windy once again through friday. so, we've got high pressure towards the south—east, and this waving weather front in the north—west — that combination of weather systems means our winds are coming in from the south—west. so, from a very warm direction, we're drawing up this warm air from the azores right up towards the uk, you can see the orange colours on the map there. so, a very, very mild start to friday morning. on average, we'd expect overnight lows this time of year to be between about 3—6 celsius north—to—south, but overnight

temperatures at the moment between about 13—15, so a good ten degrees or even more than that above average for the time of year. so, very mild to start things off, also fairly cloudy for most of us. we will see rain initially for the western isles and parts of highland — that area of rain will track eastwards across scotland and northern ireland through the day, becoming lighter and patchier as it does so. england and wales predominantly dry, the odd spot of drizzle in the west, best of the sunshine towards the east. but gusts of wind once again, a realfeature — 30—a0mph for many of us, 50mph across parts of scotland and through the irish sea too. and temperatures 16 or 17 for most of us, but as high as 19 celsius for the north—east of scotland, probably the warmest spot during armistice day on friday. so, through the day, then, we're going to be seeing this area of rain moving a bit further south for a time, and then, starting to return northwards overnight and on into saturday morning, so still very mild, not quite as mild as first thing friday morning, though. we're down into single figures across parts of scotland. so, through the day on saturday, there's that area of rain clearing to the north,

slowly, just sitting up towards the northern isles for longest. but elsewhere, after mist and fog clear away from parts of england and wales, should be a bit more sunshine coming through. lighter winds than we've seen, 17 or 18 towards the south, mid—teens are further north. and for remembrance sunday, again, largely dry and settled. some early mist and fog, which should clear away from the vale of york, welsh marches, for instance, as well. lighter winds not quite as warm, but we're still looking at temperatures well above average, 13 to 17 degrees. probably the last of the dry and warm—feeling days, because things are set to turn cooler and more unsettled as we head through next week. bye for now.

this is bbc news, the headlines. seniorfigures in the ukrainian military say they're making significant progress against the forces of president putin. russia has admitted having problems with its supply lines in and around the southern city of kherson. moscow says it's moving to new defensive positions on the other side of the dnipro river. president biden is embarking on a whirlwind diplomatic tour which will take him to egypt, cambodia and indonesia. over the next few days, he'll attend cop27, the us-asean summit and the east asia summit before joining the meeting of g20 leaders in bali, where he'll meet china's president xijinping. australia's prime minister anthony albanese says the death of an aboriginal teenager was clearly racially motivated, despite police saying their investigation is still ongoing.

they've urged people not to speculate about a motive. cassius turvey died in hospital ten days after he was beaten with a metal rod. now on bbc news, panorama. crowd chants: we love trump! we love trump! people started showing up here yesterday to see the former president speak. train horn blares. that's the longest train i've ever seen. is donald trump coming back? # hold on, i'm coming...#. tomorrow's midterm elections in the us could fire the starting gun on a trump run for the presidency in two years' time. is there anybody here who would like to see me run again? applause. trump still dominates the republican party. if president trump chooses

to run, i think president trump will be the nominee.