hello, i'm matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories and checking out the truth behind them. we start in ukraine — and the horrifying details of a russian missile attack, on a restaurant in kramatorsk. eleven people were killed and rescue workers have spent most of the day, going through the rubble — looking for any survivors. kramatorsk is in ukraine's eastern donetsk region. it's under ukrainian control — but close to parts of the country occupied by russia. this was scene after the attack. it was a popular busy restaurant — with many families eating out before the nightly curfew. dozens of people were injured.

the missile also damage nearby apartment buildings and shops. among the dead — were two 14—year—old twins — yulia and anna aksenchenko. president zelensky said the attack showed russia deserved defeat. arnaud de decker is a journalist who was at the restaurant — just before it was hit. he described what he saw. i was in the lounge eating a pizza and drinking a nonalcoholic beer. i paid and left and ten minutes later, i heard a very loud explosion, first one and then moments later a second one, and i immediately understood it was the lounge that was hit. i went to the place and it was an absolute disaster. the restaurant was totally gone, people wounded in the street and rescue workers were trying to help the people from underneath the rubble. it was absolutely a disaster. that was a journalist describing

what he saw at the restaurant. our correspondent andrew harding has the latest from the scene in kramatorsk. i'm in the centre of kramatorsk where the missiles hit and the blast area around it is huge, there are buildings all around me, hundreds of metres away that were damaged. right behind me is the place that took what seems to be the hardest hit, a restaurant popular with locals, with soldiers, with journalists and aid workers. i went there a lot myself. we understand that rescue workers are still looking for many survivors who may still be trapped underneath the concrete. we have heard saws and other lifting equipment as those workers try to dig through the rubble. why this particular spot was targeted? we don't know if it was deliberately targeted by two russian missiles, but it is clearly a popular area in the centre of town and whatever the russians may or may not have been trying to target, it was clear that this was a big city and a busy time of the evening with many, many civilians around.

and as we've seen so often in this conflict, many civilian casualties. i have been talking to the ukrainian mp who told me russia is bombing ukrainian civilians in desperation. unfortunately we are seeing russians are trying to attack more often, ukraine, the last two months there are more air attacks than before. thanks to eric defence and our partners, we can cover a big part of our country. but not all. all the equipment we have not received, the price for it is these lives, like these twins, the two girls who will never see their 15th year. we these twins, the two girls who will never see their 15th year.- never see their 15th year. we have had the usual— never see their 15th year. we have had the usual denials _ never see their 15th year. we have had the usual denials from - never see their 15th year. we have had the usual denials from the - had the usual denials from the kremlin today. how difficult is it

proving to document and secure evidence for any later attempts to bring the perpetrators to justice? the kremlin is lying all the time. they said they do not attack civilian infrastructure. your correspondence that he was in this restaurant and it is clear this restaurant and it is clear this restaurant is not a warehouse for tanks or other parts, it is craziness. the kremlin again showed its absolute brutality. they do not care about people at all. and more people are killed, they are happy when they are killing people unfortunately. in when they are killing people unfortunately.— when they are killing people unfortunately. in terms of the resilience _ unfortunately. in terms of the resilience of _ unfortunately. in terms of the resilience of people _ unfortunately. in terms of the resilience of people there, - unfortunately. in terms of the l resilience of people there, give unfortunately. in terms of the - resilience of people there, give me a sense of that because we are well into the second year of this war, we have the counter offensive. give me a sense of what ordinary people are

thinking. a sense of what ordinary people are thinkina. , , ., . , a sense of what ordinary people are thinkina. , , ., ., , , thinking. definitely ordinary people are tired from _ thinking. definitely ordinary people are tired from all _ thinking. definitely ordinary people are tired from all of _ thinking. definitely ordinary people are tired from all of this, _ thinking. definitely ordinary people are tired from all of this, people i are tired from all of this, people want to live in safety. but if russia at least tries to break our will, that is impossible. because we know it is often what happened in kramatorsk, but everywhere russia came, the territories occupied by russians the situation is much, much worse. they are committing genocide against people, against ukrainians. we knew for us it is existential. that is why our will is unbreakable. today's strikes come just days after a weekend of instability in russia. where the wagner mercenary group staged a rebellion against the country's military leadership. in the end, that mutiny proved short—lived, coming to a halt when wagner leader yevgeny prigozhin told his troops to stand down just hundreds of kilometres away from russia's capital. on tuesday belarus's leader

aleksandr lukashenko says the wagner chief flew to the belarus capital minsk, but there's uncertainty now over the wagner leader's exact current location. on that, here's our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford. now days later there are indications that the man who was behind that mutiny is not only still free, there are no criminal charges against him but it is possible he might actually be back in russia. yesterday president lukashenko of belarus said he was in that country, certainly we had seen flight tracker data which had shown his flight, his own privatejet, had landed in minsk yesterday morning. but yesterday evening that same plane left belarus and flew towards russia, first moscow and then to mr prigozhin's hometown of saint petersburg. and a second plane which had mirrored the movements of the first for several days was also seen flying to saint petersburg. we haven't heard from mr prigozhin himself for some time now, since monday when he put out a audio recording answering some questions but many of them still remain very open, including exactly what his plans

are and what exactly is happening to his wagner group on the ground, those mercenaries that have been fighting in ukraine for a very long time now. let's head to the newsroom and talk to our security correspondent frank gardner who has been looking at the implications of all of this specifically for the wagner group. what is the latest in terms of the basic numbers that may be going to belarus? , ., basic numbers that may be going to belarus? , . . , belarus? they are undecided yet, the kremlin has — belarus? they are undecided yet, the kremlin has given _ belarus? they are undecided yet, the kremlin has given the _ belarus? they are undecided yet, the kremlin has given the wagner - belarus? they are undecided yet, the kremlin has given the wagner group l kremlin has given the wagner group three choices. you canjoin the russian mainstream army, you can sign a contract with them. in other words, no longer be with the wagner group butjoin russiamainstream group but join russiamainstream army. group butjoin russiamainstream army. you can go home or you can go to belarus. it is not clear under what circumstances they would be going to belarus. there is a lot of confusion here, and to be perfectly honest i think there is still a deal

being hammered out. this is still a work in progress between lukashenko, the ruler of belarus, the kremlin and prigozhin and the wagner group. a three—week negotiation. the wagner group has served the interests of the kremlin very well over the years, since 2014. they have been there go to arm's—length instrument to carry out certain deniable operations in parts of the world like types of africa, libya, syria, and ukraine. to lose that altogether would be to the detriment of russia post military but then again can president clinton ever trust them again? look at the vitriol that president putin spoke with in that address of his on saturday the meeting was fully under way. we talked about betrayal, a stab in the back, brutal punishment for those responsible. he has issued a pardon for the wagner remembers saying it

was not theirfault for the wagner remembers saying it was not their fault they were misled and betrayed. but he is not going to truss three again and yet we know is a free man. —— he is not going to trust prigozhin. at some stage, he landed at some point in belarus. is he going to stay there? how much freedom is he going to have? is it going to run the african operations from there? president lukashenko of belarus says we can give you a camp, it is set up there, you can pitch your tent is. all of this is very alarming to belarus post natal —— belarus's natal members. there are already uncomfortable about tactical missiles placed in belarus, they are uncomfortable about the ideas of these mercenaries, many of whom are convicted rapists and murderers turning up in belarus. it is a very

unstable situation with a lot of fluidity and unanswered questions. in terms of what it means for the war in ukraine, this is one of the most effective fighting units in russia. ., , ., ., ., ., russia. two things are not going to chan . e, russia. two things are not going to change. russia _ russia. two things are not going to change, russia is _ russia. two things are not going to change, russia is not _ russia. two things are not going to change, russia is not going - russia. two things are not going to change, russia is not going to - russia. two things are not going to change, russia is not going to stopj change, russia is not going to stop its barrage of missiles against ukrainian cities and military targets, but primarily the city is an obvious way to seriously sit down and make peace. the war goes on, the counter offensive continues. the bulk of it is yet to come but they are going to have a realjob trying to break through russian defences. that hasn't changed. thanks very much. before we move on, let mejust bring you an update on that story from the ashes, the lord's test we saw a little earlier. a protest that we saw. we will put the pictures up from a little earlier, to people entering the field at lord's at the start of play attempting to spread that orange powder. jonny bairstow

picking up one of the players and removing them, and i was stopped by the england captain ben stokes. the powder they were carrying landed on the square but pretty quickly was cleared away by ground staff and the game resumed. a statement from the uk culture secretary lucy fraser in the last few moments saying there is a big difference between peaceful protest and to be totally u na cce pta ble protest and to be totally unacceptable behaviour we saw today at lords. this government takes climate change extremely seriously and we respect people's rights to protest but trying to spoil events millions of people enjoy it will not help their cause. pretty blunt statement from the culture secretary. let's turn to events in france. protests and unrest erupted overnight after police shot dead a 17—year—old who failed to stop when order to by traffic police.

the teenager has been named nehal m and he died from bullet wounds to the chest. he is the second person to be killed by police at a traffic stop this year. a real sense of unease in paris today as hugh schofield now report. hugh schofield reports from paris. his report contains images of the incident moments before the shooting. riots again in the paris banlieus, the troubled suburbs. disaffected youth taking it out on private property and symbols of the state, police responding with tear gas. it's happened before when there's a grievance against the police, like now. and now, it's a big one. two officers stopped a yellow car for a control. there was a discussion and one officer pointed his weapon at the driver named as 17—year—old nahel. then the car moved off and the officer fired. a few seconds later, the car veered off the road, the driver fatally shot. translation: for the shooting to be legal, the police officer— had to be in danger. this was not the case,

since it was clearly seen in the video that the police officers are on the side of the car and not in front of the vehicle. the government is very aware how situations like this can trigger prolonged disturbances, like in the weeks of rioting that followed the deaths of two youths in 2005. translation: yesterday, - we dispatched 1200 police and gendarmes to maintain public order. i would like to thank the police, gendarmes and firefighters who responded to the many rubbish bin fires. and to tell you that i am obviously calling for calm. i am calling for the judicial investigation to be completed as quickly as possible. comments clearly designed to calm nerves. president macron has said the shooting was inexplicable and inexcusable. translation: first of all, i i want to express the emotion of the entire nation at what has happened and the death of a young man, and to give his family our solidarity and the affection of the nation.

but nahel�*s mother has called for a march in nanterre tomorrow, a revolt, she said, on behalf of her son. and tonight, there'll be police reinforcements out on patrol. there's a distinct fear this tragic episode is farfrom over. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. we were told more about the mood at the scene. you can see there is quite a lot of bad blood around. a lot of people driving past shouting at us, the media, shouting insults towards the police as well. you get the feeling this is not over, that tonight it is quite possible there will be more people coming out again to express their indignation and anger at what happened. there is a march tomorrow which the poor mother has called for. a distinct sense on the part of the government that they need to calm this down.

when the president comes out and says, before there has been any investigation that the shooting was inexplicable and inexcusable, that suggests they are very mindful of how this needs to be treated very carefully indeed. in terms of the security presence, given those fears you have just been talking about, perhaps a second night of the sort of disturbances we have already seen, what sort of presence is there? right now nothing excessive around here at all. i do not want to predict anything but quite clearly the government is going to be on standby and the interior minister has said yesterday there were 1,200 police in nanterre and the environs. tonight it will be 2,000 police officers because we have known from the past this kind of thing can create in the days that follow it copycat, if you like, or simply longer expressions of the kind of anger that people are feeling when they look at the pictures of what happened.

around the world and across the uk, you are watching bbc news. let's take a look at some other stories making news in the uk. a new report says an estimated 700,000 children in england are being taught in unsafe, or ageing school buildings, which are in need of major repairs. according to the national audit office, the education department has since 2021 assessed the risk of injury or death from a school building collapse as �*very likely and critical�*. but the risk hasn't been addresed because of underfunding. a marking and assessment boycott by staff at queen's university belfast — which is part of uk—wide industrial action — has ended after several months. an agreement to end the dispute follows talks between queen's and the university and college union. ofcom has launched an investigation into the telecoms company bt following a major disruption to 999

services on sunday. emergency services on sunday. emergency services across the country reported emergency calls were failing to connect because of a technical fault. bt which manages the system has apologised for those problems. you are live with bbc news. now to a developing and important story. the government has said it is prepared for a range of scenarios at claims that him water could be on the brink of collapse. it serves 15 million people and has been under pressure over its performance, of leaks of sewage, and is reportedly struggling with £14 billion worth of debt. this lunchtime the company says it is working constructively with shareholders to secure new funding needed to support its turnaround. here's our business correspondent emma simpson. thames water is the biggest water company in the country, serving 15 million customers in london and the thames valley. underfire for leaks, dumping sewage raw in rivers,

a complex, privately owned business that is now under financial pressure as well. the main problem is that the company has nearly £14 billion of debt, so it has a substantial interest bill to pay every year. that interest bill is currently going up because interest rates are going up. some interest rate payments are related to inflation, which is very high. at the same time, it's having to spend over £1 billion a year in infrastructure, water mains, stopping leakage and there's a regulatory review coming up in a few years which may mean it will have to invest even more. thames water needs to raise money from somewhere but if it can't get it, the government is looking at options. we need to make sure thames water as an entity survives. there's a lot of work the government is doing on resolving sewage. up until now, the regulator has been focused on keeping consumer bills down but there is a lot of infrastructure work that needs to take place and we need that entity to survive.

in a statement, thames water says it's working constructively with its shareholders in relation to its funding needs. ofwat, the regulator, is being kept fully informed on the progress of the company's turnaround. the ceo sarah bentley was leading it but she resigned yesterday with immediate effect, adding to concerns. it's an absolute scandal, what has happened. huge dividends paid out, huge debts taken on, customer bills rocketing, sewage being dumped into our rivers, so the government has got to come forward and explain what are they going to do to sort this out. the financial resilience of this whole industry may be tested, given the sale of investment now needed. by 2050, the environment agency and the water companies believe that about 50 billion needs to be invested to get sewage overflows down to an acceptable level. you're talking about very large

sums of money to restore and enable our water infrastructure and sewage infrastructure to be fit for purpose. but whatever happens, thames water will continue to flow to customers. in the longer term, though, higher bills for all consumers is in the works. there has been so much political reaction to the story during the course of the day. we saw in that report to be action from the government and the opposition party. the liberal democrats have been talking. many wilson said her constituents are simply fed up. thames water is meant to be serving my constituents day in and day out and they are rightly concerned to hear that there what a company may be about to collapse but they are also fed up to the back teeth with thames water when we see notjust sewage being pumped into the thames but even recently, with the flash flooding, we saw sewage on the

streets of twickenham and elsewhere. let's go live to westminster and speak to a political correspondent. the government are saying they are looking at a range of scenarios but what does that mean in real life speak? i what does that mean in real life seak? ~ ., what does that mean in real life seak? ~ . ., , , what does that mean in real life seak? ~' ., ., , , ., speak? i think what it means is that ou first speak? i think what it means is that you first instance, _ speak? i think what it means is that you first instance, you _ speak? i think what it means is that you first instance, you have - speak? i think what it means is that you first instance, you have the - you first instance, you have the company talking to investors and shareholders about its financing. but the issue arises if that isn't sufficient, if they are not able to sort out what financing they need, then what would happen? the talk has been about some sort of special administration measures, which we saw happen before during the, after the invasion of ukraine. energy prices going high, government took one big firm into special administration to sort out its finances and it was but by a private

company. the sorts of decisions that people are talking about our plans, what people are talking about in the background. but as you were saying they are, the government to saying and repeating again in the houses of parliament today, in the commons, rebecca powers question this. what are the plans, how much might a bailout cost? she was being asked these questions and she said there are discussions going on, a lot of work behind the scenes and there is a process in place necessary to move us to the next stage if that is required. that is all those back—up plans. required. that is all those back-up lans. ., ., ., plans. you mentioned there a multitude _ plans. you mentioned there a multitude of _ plans. you mentioned there a multitude of questions - plans. you mentioned there a multitude of questions being | plans. you mentioned there a - multitude of questions being asked, but i suppose the basic ones are how did this company get into such a perilous state, how has it come to this? questions about the regulators as well presumably? yes. this? questions about the regulators as well presumably?— as well presumably? yes, the regulator _ as well presumably? yes, the regulator is — as well presumably? yes, the regulator is overseeing - as well presumably? yes, the regulator is overseeing this i as well presumably? yes, the i regulator is overseeing this what you saw from some of the conservative mps themselves were

quite crossing has the regular should be doing itsjob properly? when you look at the situation, these companies were privatised back in the 905. at the time, they didn't have the debts. a5 private firms, they have taken on debt. the argument has been they have not invested enough into their infrastructure, into upgrading old pipes that may have been in victorian times, 100 years ago, that is where they get leaks and you get complaints about sewage, when there is big heavy rainfall that the pipes cannot cope and the sewage has to flow out somewhere and is pumped into rivers. lots of arguments, all over local areas around that. the big argument is that the companies have been prioritising money perhaps to shareholders rather than investing in the infrastructure and thatis investing in the infrastructure and that is why they face such a big cost. equally, as inflation has taken off cost. equally, as inflation has ta ken off interest cost. equally, as inflation has taken off interest rates in the uk have risen, the debts that the

companies have built up as private firms, it is getting much more expensive to keep paying off the interest on that as the rates have gone up. that is the other reason there is a squeeze right now but there is a squeeze right now but there is a political issue for the government. opposition parties seizing on this because they know in local areas people really care about these sorts of matters. they care about what has been pumped into the rivers, the quality of the water, sewage on the streets. it is an issue which they can attack the government on, the government is vulnerable in constituencies where it is already seeing the opinion polls putting its majority in constituencies in the south of england in danger. as we look at the by—elections and possibly an election next year, this is one issue where the opposition parties know they can try and focus on, to try and win over support in those key battlegrounds. the government saying it thinks the industry is resilient, that there will not be a

threat to water supplies in the area but there are real pressures on it, as you are hearing emma simpson say as you are hearing emma simpson say a moment ago. as you are hearing emma simpson say a moment ago-— a moment ago. thank you for taking us throu~h a moment ago. thank you for taking us through all— a moment ago. thank you for taking us through all of _ a moment ago. thank you for taking us through all of that. _ a moment ago. thank you for taking us through all of that. we _ a moment ago. thank you for taking us through all of that. we are - a moment ago. thank you for taking us through all of that. we are going| us through all of that. we are going to take a short break. when we are back we have the latest on that climate change committee report, it says the uk is no longer a world leader. we will talk to alec sharma, the former president of cop26. —— alok. hello there. it's a very cloudy picture for many parts of the country again today, but the weather is changing towards the northwest. we're seeing some sunshine coming through, particularly across northern ireland. but here and in scotland, as the sunshine follows the rain, we're going to find cooler, fresher air moving in. it's going to be a bit warmer for england and wales, even with all that cloud around, particularly in the muggy air that we've got in eastern england, temperatures are likely to be into the mid 205. but we do have that rain around separating the cooler, fresher air from the muggy air. that band of rain becoming more

fragmented, more showery, one or two heavy bursts, perhaps for a time. that wetter weather drifts down slowly towards east anglia in the southeast, clearer skies following from the west away from those showers in the west coast of scotland. cooler tonight for scotland and northern ireland. quite muggy, though, still for east anglia in the southeast because that rain is still around. first thing tomorrow morning, that weather front does move away. mind you. and then we're all going to move into this westerly airstream with that cooler and fresher air. but it could take all morning, actually, for the rain to finally clear the far south east of england, once it does we're in the same boat. sunny spells, but some showers coming into northern ireland, scotland, 1 or 2 for northern england. further south, it's likely to be dry with more in the way of sunshine. sunshine would be nice, but the air is cooler and temperatures at this time of the year should be a bit higher than 18 or 19 degrees. all our weather is coming in from the west and by the end of the week, this weather front increasing the cloud, bringing some rain on friday, all wrapped around that area of low pressure which is going to hang

around into the weekend, as we'll see in a moment. but eastern areas of the uk will start to dry. bright with some sunshine on friday, does tend to cloud over, bits and pieces of light rain here and there, but more persistent rain coming into scotland, perhaps into northern ireland on a stronger breeze as well. temperatures only 16 degrees in the central belt of scotland, 21 or 22 towards the south east of england. now, that area of low pressure that we've got is going to be sitting to the north of scotland just in time for the start of the school holidays in scotland. it's going to bring some really windy weather as well, maybe gales in the northwest and most of the rain will be in the north and west of scotland as well. a few showers perhaps at times for northern ireland and northern england. further south, it's going to be dry, but it will be quite a blustery weekend, particularly further north with those stronger winds.

this is bbc news, the headlines... at least 11 people have been killed, and more than 60 injured, after a russian missile strike hits a restaurant in the ukrainian city of kramatorsk. the climate watchdog states the uk has "lost its leadership" in the fight against global warming. we'll be speaking to the former head of the cop26, alok sharma. thames water is in talks to secure extra funding, as reports suggest britain's biggest water supplier

is on the brink of collapse.