this is bbc news. i'm lucy grey. our top stories: an army on the move. ukraine says it's 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 lines 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 editor jeremy 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 bunch 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 10 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. 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 620 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 layout what each of our redlines are, understand what he believes to be and the critical national interest of china, what i know to be the global interest of the united states and determine whether or not they conflict with one another. if they do, how do we resolve it and how do we 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 10 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. a 21—year—old man has now been charged with his murder. what do we want? the violence has to stop. it really does, because it's not just about cassius. - cassius' death shocked the unresolved issues around racism. thousands of people attended rallies

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 the 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. iam hoping i am hoping this is 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 when he was with him. cassius's best friend when he was with him.— was with him. i said to him when you _ was with him. i said to him when you go _ was with him. i said to him when you go to _ was with him. i said to him when you go to the - was with him. i said to him when you go to the shop, i was with him. i said to him - when you go to the shop, keep your hands out of your pockets, be aware others will stereotype you. i never thought they'd 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 as my miracle kid. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, perth. 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. here's our north america correspondent, david willis, in washington.

republicans seem set to take a few seats although by no means as many as they had counted on, 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 versus wade by the us supreme court during a television celebrity doctor,

is due to make a major announcement, thought to be the statement that he is going to run the big republican win on tuesday night went to the florida governor ron desantis 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.

in the republican party david willis their reporting from washington. 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, j

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 j among the ranks of clergy suddenly felt welcome. this is bbc world 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. police in australia are investigating the killing of an aboriginal teenager. the prime minister says it was

a racially motivated attack. france has suspended a plan to take in 3,500 refugees currently in italy after rome refused to let a migrant rescue ship on its shores. the ocean viking ship was carrying 230 migrants, including 57 children. france has now allowed the ship to dock in toulon. it's the latest episode in a series of clashes between italy and its neighbour on migrant arrivals. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri has more. finally, some hope. these migrants have been stranded at sea for nearly three weeks. hundreds of them were rescued in six separate operations but their troubles were far from over. left on this ship, many have developed serious health problems. that's why some of them were flying to a hospital in corsica. france has now allow the ship to dock in

toulon on what he calls an exceptional basis. the french interior minister hit—out at italy for turning the migrants away. translation: italy for turning the migrants away. tuna/mom- italy for turning the migrants away. translation: many people were very sick- — away. translation: many people were very sick. italy _ away. translation: many people were very sick. italy has _ away. translation: many people were very sick. italy has been - were very sick. italy has been very inhumane in handling the situation. the italian authorities were not professional. i left this boat therefore 20 days without any decisions. but before they left. ., , ., decisions. but before they left. ., ., ,, ., left. the european commission insists that _ left. the european commission insists that ships _ left. the european commission insists that ships should - left. the european commission insists that ships should be - insists that ships should be able to dock at the nearest place of safety but italy's right—wing government sees things differently. rome believes it has had to carry an unfair burden forfar too believes it has had to carry an unfair burden for far too long. its neighbours must take in their share of migrants. in a statement, the italian interior minister hit back. he said:

france says it will take him one third of the passengers. another third will be relocated to germany and the others shared between eu member states. as far as an agreement to accept thousands of migrants currently in italy, france has torn that up. these photos were captured the moment these migrants learned france was stepping in. many migrants flee conflict and risk their safety to seek a better life. but despite their hopes for asylum, they are still getting caught in diplomatic rails. that puts them in danger all over again. —— i’ows. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. let's return to our top story now. earlier, i spoke to michael o'hanlon, who's a senior fellow and director of research in foreign policy at the brookings institution. i asked if he thought the russians had overestimated their military capabilities in ukraine. well, 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 i think that in this specific case, this was, as you know, the big regional capital in the south they thought that would be there pathway to odesa and to take the whole black sea coast and that's one more frustration that they've encountered over the course of the campaign but let's bear in mind as well as important not to get too enthusiastic, those of us who support ukraine in this fight. to bear in mind this was a fairly exposed position for us and by the way it's not even lost it, you and i thought of trying to get ahead of the news along with the rest of commentary because as far as we know, russia is still in the city and we are talking about will they retreat in an orderly way or not? i don't know if they go into retreat at all. until it is done, it is not done and here we are, the middle of november and this is one of the more exposed forward cities inside of ukraine that russia has held. and this is maybe the maximal conquest that ukraine is going to be able to

achieve in the rest of 2022. in this general vicinity. in other words, this war is slowing down. this war is becoming a tough slog. and 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. i think that's the basic moral of the story. and a difficult winter.- and a difficult winter. yes. who has — and a difficult winter. yes. who has the _ and a difficult winter. yes. who has the advantage - and a difficult winter. yes. i who has the advantage when and a difficult winter. yes. - who has the advantage when it comes to the winter? i’m who has the advantage when it comes to the winter?— comes to the winter? i'm not sure. i comes to the winter? i'm not sure- i saw — comes to the winter? i'm not sure. i saw some _ comes to the winter? i'm not sure. i saw some writing - comes to the winter? i'm not. sure. i saw some writing today about how ukraine is getting all of these wonderful equipment from norway and all these other countries up north at know how to handle winter but i don't underestimate the russians in the winter either. and i think they can probably figure out a way to get warm enough clothing to their troops so they can dig down in trench lines and hold positions. i'm not sure they are very good, putin's is very good at working out how to go on the offensive in the winter. it proved that last february when his plans to

take eve very quickly were unsuccessful but i think there's a good chance to russia can hold most of its positions —— take kyiv. the winter will be basically a stalemate. i hope i'm wrong, i have ukraine keeps making a lot of progress but let's recognise the progress has already slowed in last month or two compared to august—september and i'm afraid we are settling into a period of modest incremental gains. plus stock. of modest incremental gains. plus stock-— plus stock. and a group two putin will— plus stock. and a group two putin will try _ plus stock. and a group two putin will try to _ plus stock. and a group two putin will try to save - plus stock. and a group two putin will try to save face, l plus stock. and a group two putin will try to save face, i | putin will try to save face, i suppose, from the situation in kherson and want to do something, show of force, a significant show force soon because this is humiliating for him, if this is what pans out that the rush of —— that if russia does fall —— fully pull out from kherson. we russia does fall -- fully pull out from kherson.- russia does fall -- fully pull out from kherson. we don't know which way — out from kherson. we don't know which way he _ out from kherson. we don't know which way he will _ out from kherson. we don't know which way he will escalate - which way he will escalate however i am 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 afar 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 as necessarily on the ropes. in the western commentary, that's how we see him. certainly, he has done an abysmaljob at every level, ethically and morally and militarily of prosecuting this war. but i don't know he is in political trouble at home. i'm not sure i buy into that argument. michael o'hanlon from _ buy into that argument. michael o'hanlon from the _ buy into that argument. michael o'hanlon from the brookings . o'hanlon from the brookings institution. 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 abdel 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. a british man has been sentenced for life for murdering his ex—partner who died 21 years after he set her alight. jacqueline kirk was badly disfigured after steven craig re—enacted a torture scene from the film reservoir dogs in 1998. he was previously found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent and has served almost 19 years in jail. 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". artemis is the us mission that, if everything goes to plan, will see us 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. that's 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's 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. a quick reminder of our top story, ukraine's army said it has made major gains around the port city of kherson following

russia's announcement its trips were withdrawing from the area. russia says it is using before moving to new defensive positions on the other side of the dnieper river. —— dnipro river. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @lucyegrey. 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

degrees north—to—south but overnight temperatures at the moment between about 13 to 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 for 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 marshes, 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 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 xi jinping.