this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak, with the headlines. an explosion in istanbul kills six people and injures more than 50 — turkey's vice—president says, it was a female suicide bomber. in the uk, the chancellor says taxes are going up for everyone — but he will protect the most vulnerable — in thursday's autumn statement. and in the us mid—terms, the democrats have retained control of the senate, providing a boost to presidentjoe biden and dealing a blow to donald trump.

hello and welcome to bbc world news. an explosion in the turkish city of istanbul has killed at least six people and injured dozens of others. the blast happened in a busy street in the city centre. the turkish vice president claims it was the work of a suicide bomber — although cctv footage appears to show the explosion coming from an object placed on the ground. turkey's president erdogan said initial reports suggested an act of terrorism. our senior international correspondent, orla guerin, has sent this report. chaos and panic in the heart of istanbul. an attack on one of the city's main arteries. soon ambulances rushing away the wounded and the dead.

turkey's president offering his condolences and saying it appears this was a terrorist attack. initial developments and initial intelligence from the governor are that it smells like terrorism and a woman has played a part in this, said erdogan. it remains sealed off now, there is a heavy police presence. but this is normally one of the busiest places in istanbul, an area that is crammed with visitors and with shoppers. now police are carrying out their investigations and there is a real sense among people here of anxiety. for istanbul this has come as a shock. she told us she was in an internet cafe and heard the blast. i saw a pram, she said. when i heard the explosion i went out.

i saw wounded people rolling around. there was a woman carrying her dog, it was a frenzy. at night falls istanbul is grappling with fear and uncertainty. an area that is a magnet for tourists now a scene of horror. the uk finance secretary has told the bbc that "everyone" will pay more tax — and there will be spending cuts — when he gives his autumn statement on thursday. chancellorjeremy hunt said the most vulnerable would be protected, but "difficult decisions" had to be made. and he said in future there would have to be "constraints" on the government's support for people's energy bills. our political correspondent ben wright reports. he's in charge of the economy at the toughest of times. on thursdayjeremy hunt will explain how the government plans to tackle rampant inflation, a cost of living crisis and an economy sliding into recession and grisly government finances. today, his tone was sombre, his words stark.

we are going to see everyone paying more tax. we're going to see spending cuts. but i think it's very important to say, we are a resilient country. the details will be revealed in parliament, but income tax thresholds are likely to be frozen for the next six years, raising billions for the treasury. with public spending set to be squeezed too, mr hunt said his plans would disappoint people but promised to protect the most vulnerable. i will be honest, i will be fair and it will be a balanced approach that recognises that the economy is struggling at the moment, businesses are struggling, families are struggling and we need to help people through a difficult time whilst putting in place the long term plan that gets us through to the other side and allows our economy to take off, as i really believe it can. an energy crisis, the covid pandemic and meagre growth of all added to the chancellors problems.

today he was asked if brexit had added to the difficulties facing the economy. i don't get either cost to a decision like brexit but they're also opportunities with up of the many announcements we will get on thursday will be a new scaled—back plan for helping people with energy bills beyond april. one of the reasons for the instability that followed the mini budget was that people were worried that we were exposing british public finances to the volatility of the international gas market. so there has to be some constraints to it. but, yes, we will continue to support families politically he has a toughjob in his hands after the fiasco of septembers minute budgeting want to try and rebuild the government reputation for economic credibility while keeping the fractious tory party on board. and the backdrop of higher taxes, lower growth and cash—strapped public services will shape the battle lines of the next election, raising tough questions for a position about what they would do. it's so important that

we have a serious plan for growing our economy and improving living standards for ordinary people that will give us the money to invest in public services butjust because you have to make difficult decisions doesn't mean you have to make the same decisions. and the decisions, the choices labour would be making would be making our tax system fairer and would grow the economy so that we've got money for those essential public services. the chancellor's plan needs to be credible to financial markets, palatable to to his party and to voters. a very difficultjuggling act that will have an impact on all of us. ben wright, bbc news. in the united states, the democrats have retained control of the senate in the mid—term elections, after winning a pivotal race in the state of nevada. president biden said he was incredibly pleased by the results, which are a blow to donald trump's hopes of running again for the white house. the deciding moment in the battle for control of the senate came when us networks called the nevada race for democratic incumbent catherine cortez masto,

giving the party the 50 seats it needs for an effective majority. catherine cortez masto has delivered her victory speech in the past few hours — let's listen to a little of what she said. thank you nevada. thank you. cheering and applause i am so grateful to every volunteer who knocked on doors, who made phone calls, who wrote post cards and letters and who had the courage to publicly stand up, and fight for our state. you are watching bbc news. people across the uk have paid their respects to those who have lost their lives during war. at the cenotaph in london, king charles led his first remembrance sunday ceremony since acceding to the throne. the service was followed by a march—past of 10,000 veterans. 0ur royal correspondent,

nicholas witchell reports. a solemn ceremony of national remembrance in its familiarform amid the colours of autumn, but with one notable absence. at one minute to 11, king charles took his place at the cenotaph for the first time as britain's monarch. for so many decades, the nation's remembrance had been led by his late mother, queen elizabeth. now she, too, is remembered for her service. at 11 o'clock, big ben signalled the start of the national two—minute silence. big ben chimes the hour.

last post plays. at the cenotaph in london, the last post, surrounded by royal marine buglers, marked the end of the two—minute silence. the king laid his wreath in tribute to all those from the united kingdom and the countries of the commonwealth who lost their lives in the world wars and more recent conflicts. wreaths were laid by political leaders, headed by britain's prime minister, rishi sunak. and then after the commonwealth representatives and the military

chiefs, it was the turn of the veterans. 10,000 men and women who served on many different battlefields. on parade today, a0 years after the falklands war, 500 veterans of that conflict, so many with their own memories of comrades who never came home. remembered today with gratitude. nicholas witchell, bbc news. there are warnings that supplies of bread and medicine have run out in kherson — the city in ukraine that was abandoned by russian forces on friday. work is under way to restore the electricity and water supplies cut off by russian troops as they retreated. our international editor, jeremy bowen, has reached the centre of kherson, where people are still celebrating the russian departure. this is the central square of kherson, which has been the focus

of the celebrations, the outright sheer relief that people here are feeling because the russians have gone. it's been quite emotional as well, because you can see, like those ladies there, people are meeting up with old friends and able to move around without fear of the russians, and that is still a major novelty. now, one reason why there are so many people here, it's notjust a sense of wanting to be together, a sense of community, of catching up with friends. it's because the army has set up a satellite wi—fi terminal and so people are here and they are queueing up. there's a great big long queue over there where they are queueing to get the password to get on those terminals. that basically is kherson�*s connection with the outside world at the moment. which is why they are so keen to get on it and to tell their families they're all right.

you can see it's a patriotic moment, there's an awful lot of flags around. there is a sense of relief. as we drove in this morning on the edge of town, there were lots of people waving. we came in with a convoy, a military convoy. and there were people waving and waving flags, it was emotional. a lot of them were crying. a tehran court has handed down the first death sentence in connection with the continuing protests in iran. five other defendants were handed prison sentences ranging from five to ten years. the protests began about two months ago after a 22—year—old woman, mahsa amini, died in custody after being arrested for not fully covering her hair. siavash ardalan from the bbc�*s persian service told me why this death sentence is significant. now, this person particular person

who has been sentenced to death was accused of very heavy charges that carry the death penalty. when you read the text of the court proceedings you see that this person was allegedly involved in vandalism and setting fire to motorbikes and so on. there are five other people at least that we know who have been accused of similar charges but this is the first person we're hearing about who has been accused to death. the case can be appealed, of course, so to speak. there are voices within the government that want to exercise the iron fist, want to deter protesters by these kinds of executions. as many executions as possible. they are very hard and moderate forces who in their words want to exercise, they say, smart repression and engaged in what they say, strategic patients. strategic patience. this is a tactic of not allowing

more people to get killed so that could give more incentive to the protesters to come out in the streets in commemoration of those who have been killed. it's a very high risk game, playing the security equilibrium by different factions within the government, in terms of how they want to manage the process so far. we seen slogans being written inside tehran walls and other programme offences where protesters are threatening that if anyone is executed we will go out in the streets again. it remains to be seen if they execute someone, whether it will have the effect of deterring protesters or inflaming the situation it already is very explosive. the bbc persian service. a police officer with the lancashire force has been charged with attempted murder. it follows an incident at a hotel in manchester when a woman was taken to hospital. james riley, who's 27, has been remanded in custody, to appear in court tomorrow.

a murder investigation is under way after two men were stabbed to death in a bedfordshire town. three men were found with stab wounds in houghton regis early this morning. two of them died at the scene, while a third was taken to hospital where he remains in a serious but stable condition. police haven't named the men but said the families of the three victims were being supported by officers. the government has confirmed that almost 41,000 migrants have now crossed the channel to the uk so far this year. there were more arrivals at dover this morning — the ministry of defence said 972 people made the crossing yesterday. let's get more on that warning from the chancellor about the economy and public spending. what do we know about how the chancellor might be planning to find savings in the public purse? our business correspondent marc ashdown has more details. we expect there will be spending

cuts of about £35 billion and plans to raise some 20 billion in tax. over the coming years. so what could all this long like for you in terms of your income tax? well, tax thresholds are really important. here are the main ones, we will bring them up for you now. of course, you don't pay anything on earnings up to £12,500, and these are the levels that you pay above that, depending of course on how much you earn. now they normally creep up and up every year with inflation, but they're currently frozen until 2026, and jeremy hunt might extend that freeze to 2028, so as wages hopefully rise we would all pay more in tax. what about this top rate of 45%? well, we're hearing the threshold for that could be lowered to £125,000, meaning more people would pay it, and of course this raises billions of pounds for the treasury. now, public spending. that is facing a big squeeze, with all departments expected to be told their budgets could be frozen for at least three years, and of course with inflation running at 10%, that would signal a real terms cut in spending.

and finally on energy, jeremy hunt has promised there will be more support for households beyond next april. the current energy price guarantee of £2,500 for the average bill payer applies to everyone. the chancellor says future support would need to be constrained, and that suggests that better off households might get less, or no support, beyond april. failings in the energy market have cost £2.7 billion — that's almost £100 pounds per household — according to a group of mps. the public accounts committee said the industry regulator ofgem had been too late to spot problems before a spike in wholesale energy prices last year, which caused dozens of suppliers to go bust. ofgem has defended its performance, saying suppliers have collapsed across the world. the chair of the public accounts committee is the labour mp meg hillier. the cost of living crisis could lead

to some foster carers quitting if extra money is not provided to help cover increasing costs. support service "foster talk" said some carers were reaching a "crisis point" and has called for urgent action. our social affairs correspondent emma glasby has this report. we started fostering in 2007. so just coming up 16 years. i was brought up in a big family. i seem to have this ability to look after huge numbers of children. that's just what i do, and i love doing it. at their home in scarborough, jacqui and her husband are foster carers as well as bringing up their own children. they take in foster children long term in emergencies, and often look after traumatised children with extra needs. but jacqui's concerned foster care allowances are not covering the rising cost of living. foster carers are already

subsidising these children's lives. and so, yeah, i am worried because, you know, not all foster carers are in a position where they can do that, and we are already so short of foster carers, you've got to worry for the children that are coming into care. where do they go? fostering payments vary. jacqui fosters for north yorkshire county council. for a child aged between five and ten, she gets £195 a week to cover costs. for 11 to 15 year olds, it's £242. it's to cover food, possibly school meals, clothing, transport to school orfamily visits, toiletries, pocket money, days out, internet, perhaps a mobile phone. it's also for activities like swimming, football or gymnastics, which jacqui says are vital. these children often have very low self—esteem. they suffer from anxiety. they need these things probably more than your own children do,

because they need outlets that are creative, something that they can find that they're good at. but if you're not in that situation where you have additional income from whatever, those things are just going to have to stop. so the children suffer? so the children suffer, yeah. the government says no foster carer should be out of pocket because of the support they provide, but told us that fostering service providers are responsible for setting their own payment structures, using the national minimum allowance. north yorkshire county council told us that in october, it took the unusual decision of increasing fostering payments for the second time this year because of concerns about rising costs. more than 70% of children in care are in foster placements, but many older carers are leaving, and it's a struggle to replace them.

some foster carers can have jobs, but jacqui looks after extremely vulnerable children, and says working would be impossible. some children are awake all night. some children abscond. we've had to kind of drive to places looking for these children, reporting things to the police, waiting up on phone calls for the child to be returned back to you. if people are already out working a0 hours a week, they don't have space in their lives. it worries me constantly... ..about what's going to happen in the future. after the pandemic, and now the rising cost of living, there are growing demands on the care system. councils must find a way to keep hold of foster carers and recruit new ones. emma glasbey, bbc news. more on the midterm elections in the us. the democrats have retained control of the senate in the mid—term elections, after winning a pivotal race in the state of nevada, and the results are a blow

to donald trump's hopes of running again for the white house. our north america editor sarah smith, sent this report. after a nail—biting wait, democrats can now celebrate a result they didn't dare hope for when voters went to the polls last week. i am so grateful to all of you. the democratic incumbent in nevada, catherine cortez masto, was considered to be one of the party's more vulnerable senators. but us networks are now projecting that she has defeated her republican challenger, adam laxalt, a trump acolyte who repeats the big lie about the 2020 presidential election having been stolen. chuck schumer is the democratic senate leader. this election is a victory, a victory and a vindication for democrats, our agenda and for the american people. control of the house of representatives remains to be decided, as around 20 seats have not yet been declared. whichever party wins, it looks set to have a very narrow majority. i'm predicting that,

as i've said all along, it'll be perilously close. we can win it. whether we're going to win it remains to be seen. this victory means that even if republicans win the runoff election in georgia that is scheduled for the 6th of december, democrats will remain in control of the senate as vice president kamala harris casts a tie—breaking vote. historically, the party in power in washington usually loses a considerable number of seats in the midterm elections. the democrats' performance this year is the best for any governing party for 20 years. but what power does president biden get from retaining control over the senate? sidney blumenthal is a journalist — a former senior advisor to president bill clinton and long time confidante of hillary clinton — let's hear what he said the most important power that

president biden retains, by retaining the senate, is the ability to appoint federaljudges. judges. to appoint federal judges. judges. there are to appoint federaljudges. judges. there are hundreds of federaljudges that are going to be up in the next two years, and control of the judiciary is absolutely essential to advancing a liberal or progressive programme. further more, if there is an opening on the supreme court, president biden will be able to appoint a replacement. he will not be blocked as president obama was when he lost control of the senate. this is the single most important result of the, control of the senate, and it is vastly important for the, senate, and it is vastly important forthe, not senate, and it is vastly important for the, not only the future of the rule of law but the future of politics in america.- rule of law but the future of politics in america. those places don't come _ politics in america. those places don't come up — politics in america. those places don't come up often _ politics in america. those places don't come up often do - politics in america. those places don't come up often do they, - politics in america. those places - don't come up often do they, though, in the supreme court? the? don't come up often do they, though, in the supreme court?— in the supreme court? they do not. well, we will _

in the supreme court? they do not. well, we will see _ in the supreme court? they do not. well, we will see what _ in the supreme court? they do not. well, we will see what the - in the supreme court? they do not. well, we will see what the health i well, we will see what the health is, of the various justices, but you know, biden had a large disapproval, we had high inflation, the crime rate i which had begun to spike underformer president rate i which had begun to spike under former president trump was higher, and yet despite these head winds, the democrats not only survived, but rebuked the trump republicans, this was a historic signal victory with immense consequences, not only domestically but internationally. so it was a great almost unprecedented victory for the democrats. to cricket, england have beaten pakistan by five wickets in the men's t20 world cup at the melbourne cricket

ground. england turned the tables on pakistan with some remarkable bowling and all—rounder ben stokes reeling in a half—century to gain a modest victory of 138. it's england's second t20 title. earlier i spoke to simon hughes — he's a former professional player, now a writer and broadcaster who's produced a documentary about england's 2019 world cup win. he gave me his reaction to today's victory. the t20 world cup, in a way, is a tougher thing to win. it's a shorter tournament. the matches are shorter. one person can change a game in ten minutes, and england have had the strength to come through a slightly rocky period in the middle of the tournament when they got beaten by ireland, quite justifiably, and had to win their last four games to win this tournament. and they've won and they've done it. so they're now the only team who've ever held the 50 over tournament and the 20 over tournament, both trophies, at the same time. and that is a fantastic achievement, especially if you look back six or seven years.

england were terrible at one day cricket, at white ball cricket, and now they're the best in the world. what was the secret ingredient in transforming the way england have delivered? very good question. fearlessness, i would say, is the main thing and just not having any kind of reservations about how you play. being really aggressive, being positive, always looking to take the attack to the opposition, even when circumstances are quite difficult, having a very deep, long batting order so that even if you got into trouble, there were people down the order who could rescue you. and i think also the most important thing, and the thing we brought out in ourfilm, the greatest game, is diversity, is the fact that you've got players from all sorts of different communities, from different educational backgrounds, from different ethnicities who bring... each of them brings a different kind of ingredient to the team. they all work very harmoniously together. i mean, i'll give you a quick example. adil rashid, who comes

from a fairly poverty stricken community in bradford, his father's from a pakistani background. they had nothing, really, when they were kids. his father really worked with him. and the interesting thing is that when he was about 23, adil rashid, bowling leg—spin, struggled to control the leg—spin, which is a really difficult art. but he then got islam, he then got to become a really devout muslim, and he found that being a very good muslim and being a good person made him relax into his cricket and didn't put himself under so much pressure in his profession. and his bowling, his leg—spin, has flourished and he made a crucial intervention today. well, that's fantastic. in terms of test cricket, how do you see the future there for england? well, ben stokes, of course, is captain. there's nobody more fearless or forthright than him. he showed that last summer, when he was captaining england to all those test match victories. they've turned the tables on their own form in the last few

months in the test arena, and now they've matched it with the one day performances. going back to test cricket, well, they're playing in pakistan now in december, three test matches. it's brilliant that they're being able to go and play in pakistan, and pakistan will obviously welcome them with open arms. it'll be a tight series, but i think england are now beginning to realise they can bring that one day success, the fearlessness that they play in one day cricket, into the test arena, and that should get them up the table in test cricket as well. now on bbc news, the weather with susan powell. hello. spectacular sunshine to the west of the uk on sunday, combined with some very warm air that's been sitting across the uk. so, we will reach unseasonable highs in west wales. 21 degrees recorded in porthmadog. but look at how the temperatures change through the week ahead. there's also some very wet and windy weather to come in the mid week. we are going to see some rain approaching wales even during monday.

at this with the front is going to move in from the west pretty slowly. it is slow down again on where we thought it would be earlier on in the weekend. at the moment though, it does look wet overnight for northern ireland, perhaps the far southwest of wales, pembrokeshire and cornwall. and then further east, i think we are likely to see some low cloud pushing once again and mist and fog developing. through monday, the front in the west not really moving very far at all, perhaps getting a little further up the bristol channel. some of the rain barely making it across the welsh border into the midlands, persistent rain sitting across western scotland. further east, perhaps some brighter spells but rather like sunday, there could be some stubborn, lingering clouds, mist and fog holding the temperatures back. the front is really on the high into nothing as it goes eastwards on tuesday, the low when the west takes over. this is a much more lively front, this will bring heavy downpours to areas in its path. it will also move through pretty quickly, however. so, brighterskies coming in the afternoon, for northern ireland, wales and the southwest. but with some squally showers

coming in on the winds. and then for the middle of the week, we are very confident that we're