hello, you're watching bbc news. i'm frankie mccamley. ukraine's military says it's managed to break through key russian defences near the south—eastern city of zaporizhzhia. general oleksandr tarnavskyi told the observer newspaper that extensive minefields had blocked troops for several weeks, leaving them vulnerable to russian shellfire and drone attacks, but the general claimed that painstaking mine clearance work has now allowed his forces to advance and they expect to face far weaker russian defences ahead. sources in the ukrainian army have confirmed the breakthrough to the bbc. an adviser to president zelensky, aleksander rodnyansky, explained the significance for kyiv�*s forces. we've been waiting for this moment for quite some time, we've been hoping that we would pierce through the russian defence line, the first defence line, which was the hardest to pierce through, if you believe military experts when they talk about it.

so hopefully now when we reach the second and third lines of defence that the russians have established, those will be easier to essentially overcome. and perhaps hopefully this is the spot, this is the place where we can actually put all the modern nato technology, the tanks that we've been getting and the training that we've been receiving, put all of that to use to our advantage. and just really, really briefly, the hope from your side that ukraine's military has managed to break through these defences, how does that sit in the war across the country? is this a key moment, would you say? hopefully it's the key moment. again, we'll see what happens. it's hard to predict any at any point, including at this point. but you know what the objectives are. we have a common objective of liberating ukraine, notjust for ukraine, but for the whole western developed democratic world, because this is a standoff between democracies and authoritarian systems, and it's really key for everybody to chip in. so hopefully this is a key moment.

hopefully we'll be able to build on that and make sure that we liberate all of ukraine in its 1991 internationally recognised borders. justin crump is a military analyst and ceo of sibylline, an intelligence consultancy. he gave us his assessment of the reports from the frontline. i think the news, as you say, it's been confirmed by your other sources. it's been confirmed on visual pictures that they are in the first actually main russian continuous defence line. there have been defences forward of that. but the thing that people are mostly thinking about with the dragon's teeth, anti—tank obstacles and the many, many, many kilometres of ditches and covered firing positions. so we know that they are into that. and it's clear as well that this is the most upbeat the ukrainians have sounded about their conduct of their offensive since the earliest days. but the word "breakthrough" is something that many people watching might be thinking of this very dramatic action and tanks charging forward now

towards the sea of azov. and i think what you have to understand, the breakthrough at this sort of pace, it's still very slow and steady. it's not a dramatic moment. it's the culmination of a lot of effort, including infantrymen almost crawling forward on their bellies to clear mines, to clear positions. so ukraine, obviously, very pleased with the achievement at this stage. i think we're still a little bit of a way away from seeing what might come to most people's minds when they hear the word breakthrough. yes, i think that that word breakthrough is key, isn't it? so really looking at the war as a whole, how significant do you think what ukraine is saying a breakthrough is, you're not necessarily calling it that, but how significant is this announcement? you know, again, it's slightly unfair to pick on the word. it is a breakthrough. whether it leads to that sort of cascading picture one might have, and if you think back to desert storm in 1991 or the invasion of iraq in 2003, or indeed the collapse of the russians in kharkiv

this time last year, i think we're still some way away potentially from seeing that point where armoured formations, wheeled formations, are sort of driving tens of kilometres a day, potentially, the russian army is having to fall back at pace to new positions. i think that is the key question at this point, and that depends very heavily with the strategy ukraine has taken on how many losses the russians have taken in trying to hold the lines forward where they have done for so long and how much effort that's taken the russians to actually hold the line to keep the ukrainians from advancing for so long. and the question is, has it exhausted russia's reserves of artillery, of personnel to the extent that now they can't counter increased pressure from ukraine? or has russia got enough of a reserve in the tank to keep the pace very slow, to keep pushing back at the ukrainians and stop them from developing what is currently a bit of a gap in the line into something which leads to the cascading failure of the russians in the south? it's still impossible really to say that, and i'm not sure either side knows fully the state and balance of forces on the ground.

so it's what the soldiers are having to find out. yeah, and just like you're alluding to there, there's so much we don't know. but do you think going forward we could expect faster gains in ukraine's military offensive now they've broken through one key russian defence? yeah, absolutely. i think that is the question. how fragile are the russian defences once you push on them, once you push through them? and i think, with any defence line, it can look fantastic on the map. it can look fantastic on the ground. it's only as good as the troops and the equipment and logistics that support it. otherwise, it's just a speed bump, literally, in some cases to attacking forces. it's only effective when trying to cross an obstacle means you're being fired at by your enemy, you're being attacked by artillery, you can't move in the open, and suddenly you're stuck in front of an obstacle. if ukraine doesn't get stuck on these obstacles any more, that's when the russians will be in trouble. and tarnavskyi is, by background, the tank commander.

i think he's waiting for that bit where he can unleash his vehicles. once again. it's notable in the interview that what he talks about is we're reaching the point that we're back in our vehicles, we're reaching the point that we're back where we can start moving again. and you can see the desire, actually, in his words, as he talks about it. so he obviously thinks this is close and that they are approaching a position where they can achieve this sort of level of success against the russians. i think, again, many unknowns. it's the fog of war. you're always going to have this. but ukraine definitely sounding more upbeat than they have for a while. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams has just sent us his assessment from kyiv. we have been hearing reports that ukrainians might have got through the first line of russian defences, it has been a week since the commander of one unit said he had done precisely that, but in the last couple of days we are hearing senior officials both here and in kyiv and

general is involved in the fighting in the south all making the same claim, where is this happening? in an area around a tiny village, some distance south—east of separation, and an area the ukrainians have been concentrating on for some time, it seems as though, to some degree, the ukrainians have pushed through the first line, that is minefields, tank track, trenches, ukrainian forces are now through those obstacles, possibly in those russian trenchers or even perhaps slightly beyond them, trying to push this gap in the russian line wider and wider so that ultimately ukraine can pour through that gap, the armoured infantry that it has been preparing and equipping for precisely this moment. now, that opportunity to push through may still be some way off, ukrainians

have got to widen the gap first before they are confident enough that the armed forces can move through without being attacked by the russian artillery, but we are in the russian artillery, but we are in the beginnings of what could turn out to be a new phase. if they are successful in widening that breach in pushing forward we could see the pace of the ukrainian counteroffensive getting slightly quicker because it's thought that the defences that lie behind the front line may not be quite as strong as that first line. all of that will remain to be seen, it is probably some way ahead of us, but clearly officials here in kyiv and down in the south believe that this could be a bit of a turning point. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, has said ministers will spend what it takes to secure schools that have been affected by crumbly concrete. more than 100 schools have been forced to close buildings

because they contain dangerous raac material. labour has demanded to know why this wasn't dealt with earlier, as our political correspondent, tony bonsignore, reports. ferryhill secondary school in county durham. corpus christi catholic primary school in brixton. and katherine's primary academy in essex. just three of the more than 150 schools that won't be fully reopening as planned this week thanks to the presence of this, raac. a lightweight concrete used in the 50s, 60s and 70s but now often in a state of serious disrepair. it's a problem that's been known about for years. five years ago, a primary school building in kent collapsed, leading to wider concerns. good morning, sir. so the questions of many parents are now asking of government — why act only now, just days before

the start of the new school year in england? we went through this exhaustive survey of 22,000 schools after the initial incident in 2018. then, in the summer months, new information came to light that suggested that some of the buildings that had previously been classified as safe might not be. and so the education secretary acted immediately on that. the chancellor said the government would spend whatever it takes to keep children safe at school, although it's not clear what that means in the long term. labour is piling on the pressure, demanding action. first, i am calling on the government to publish the full list of all the schools affected and publish the papers that are driving all of that. we don't fully know exactly what is going on, and if the government aren't prepared to do it then we will force the vote in parliament next week. we need to understand the scale of what's going on. the chickens are coming home to roost after 13 years. and i can think of are no more

defining image of the last 13 years of conservative government than children being sat in classrooms under metal props to prevent the ceilings literally falling in on their heads. educational leaders are concerned too about the impact on pupils. they think this could have been avoided. i am extremely disappointed i and frustrated that there wasn't a plan in place for this happening. the government might not have known that it would happen this week- but we knew the stock was in this situation. i ministers will face tough questions when mps return to westminster this week, particularly as the true scale of this crisis remains unknown. the chancellor has also hinted inflation could rise again when the next set of figures are released later this month. jeremy hunt said there may be a blip in inflation, but he insisted the government's plan to slow price rises is working. the prime minister has promised to halve inflation by the end of the year from the 10.7% level it hit last autumn.

last month, the consumer prices index figure stood at 6.8%. this is what the chancellor had to say to laura kuenssberg this morning. what people want from a chancellor, what people want from their prime minister, is not people who are going to take the easy decisions, but people who are going to take the right decisions for the long term of the british economy. that's what we're doing, and we can see the plan is working. inflation is coming down... well, it may go up. the bank of england thinks it has gone up in august. do you accept that? do think that is what's going to happen? i do think we may see a blip in inflation in september, but, after that, the bank of england are saying it will fall down to around 5%. if we're going to put money in people's pockets quickly, the fastest thing i can do is to deliver the prime minister's pledge to halve inflation. taiwan is being battered by its biggest storm in four years. typhoon haikui has brought winds of up to 190 kilometres an hour.

our reporter, nicky schiller, is in the newsroom with more. the storm gathered pace as it approached taiwan, and what you can see behind me as one of the government webcams where you can see the torrential rain pounding the lens. it's predicted in some areas that there could be at least half a metre of rain by monday. with those winds of 190 kilometres an hour, it's no surprise that trees and power lines have been brought down in several coastal towns, causing, as you can see, damage to vehicles. the state—run taiwan power company says it is working hard to restore electricity to tens of thousands of homes and businesses. all domestic flights were cancelled on sunday. roads have also been damaged, with the authorities warning that there is a risk of landslides in some mountainous districts. thousands of people have been moved to evacuation centres, whilst others are staying sheltering

in their homes, although they have been told to stay away from windows in case they get broken by flying debris in those strong winds. the military have mobilised soldiers and equipment to help with those evacuation efforts and the flood relief. taiwan has escaped any direct hits by major storms since 2019. although the typhoon is expected to cause extensive damage, it is passing over a relatively sparsely populated area of the island. it will then move, forecasters say, across the taiwan strait and into china. now it's time for a look at today's sport with chetan. straight to the premier league — when an old rivalry is currently being renewed — with arsenal taking on manchester united.

liverpool have extended their unbeaten start to the new season after a comprehensive win over aston villa, 3—0 was the final score from juergen klopp�*s side. mo salah rounding the victory of. he had turned down a bit from a saudi club, joint second, two points behind leaders manchester city. mil joint second, two points behind leaders manchester city. all the big heads of the _ leaders manchester city. all the big heads of the past... _ leaders manchester city. all the big heads of the past... you _ leaders manchester city. all the big heads of the past... you have - leaders manchester city. all the big heads of the past... you have to i leaders manchester city. all the big | heads of the past... you have to let them grow into their new role, there are top performances, a lot of desire, an organisation, the

willingness to defend together, we had more contact than in other games because of the way we defended. and it is how you should do it. elsewhere, crystal palace beat wolves 3—2 at selhurst park. in scotland, the first old firm derby of the season went celtic�*s way. they beat rangers 1—0 at ibrox with kyogo furuhashi's brilliant goal on the stroke of half time proving to be the difference. at the us open tennis later, the world number one, iga swiatek, caroline wozniacki and the 23—time grand slam champion novak djokovic will all be playing on sunday in new york. last year's runner up and fifth seed ons jabeur produced another gutsy display to reach the last 16 with a three—set win over marie bouzkova that took almost three hours. she's been struggling with illness

but has now set up a match with the chinese 23rd seed, zheng qinwen. third seed daniil medvedev overcame argentina's sebastian baez in three sets as he continued his bid to win a second us open title in three years. he'll face australia's alex de minaur next. max verstapppen has made formula one history, winning sunday's italian grand prix to become the first driver to win ten consecutive races. he overtook pole—sitter carlos sainz on lap 15 and never looked back. cruising to victory to overtake sebastian vettel�*s previous record of nine consecutive wins. verstappen�*s red bull team—mate perez was second, with sainz third. england are looking to complete a series victory against new zealand in the third t20 international at edgbaston.

and allen made 83 of 53 balls. new zealand made 223 in response. jos buttler leading the fight back. i can tell you he hasjust buttler leading the fight back. i can tell you he has just been caught, so england looking in trouble, one more in the series to come, looks like it is going to tourists' wait the moment. chris eubankjunior says he has answered his critics after gaining revenge over liam smith, beating him by a technical knockout in round 10 of their middleweight rematch. eubank knocked smith down in the fourth round at the manchester arena and, although he wasn't able to capitilise immediately, the referee stoped the fight when eubank did it again in the tenth. smith won the first fight between the two back injanuary. it's half—time at emirates, you can keep across that on the bbc sports website as well as that exciting

finish at edgbaston where new zealand very much on top against england for now. now a few other stories making news in the uk today. more than 850 migrants crossed the english channel in 15 small boats yesterday. that's the highest daily figure this year. it brings the total number of arrivals in 2023 to around 21,000. a three—year—old girl is being treated for serious injuries after a dog bit herface in kirkby town centre. police are questioning a 31—year—old man from ormskirk on suspicion of having a dog dangerously out of control. wales has the second highest number of vacant shops in the uk, according to new figures. just over one in six shops in wales are empty according to analysis from the welsh retail consortium.

here in the uk, ministers are facing calls to change the law to better protect shop workers from physical and verbal abuse. tesco's chief executive, ken murphy, has warned that physical assaults on his staff have risen by a third in a year and that his shop assistants have been offered body cameras. marc ashdown has the story. why are you touching me? why are you touch me for? get out, now. why are you touch me for? get out. a body worn camera captures a suspected shoplifter unleashing a torrent of abuse. the british retail consortium found there are now 850 attacks on retail staff every single day, almost double the number before the covid pandemic. staff report being sworn at, spat at, racially and sexually insulted, and verbally and physically abused. the boss of britain's biggest retailer, tesco, says enough is enough. writing in the mail on sunday, ken murphy said, "millions of people stock the shelves, walk the floor and serve the tills.

"these unsung heroes are being made to feel unsafe by customers who will be verbally or physically abusive or who will threaten or attack them when challenged". "these attacks are unacceptable," he said. "for these colleagues and their families, it's heartbreaking." after the co—op and waitrose started using body worn cameras, tesco will now offer them to any staff working face to face with customers. but does it work? clearly, there are some people who just don't care. but what it does do is make some people think twice. it makes them realise that they're on camera, that their conflict is actually being recorded. and obviously it's also a huge cost to the retailers, and it's a cost which ultimately gets borne by the customer in terms of the prices we see in stores. there is growing evidence that organised criminal gangs are targeting shops more frequently, but one former security manager at asda told us the squeeze on household budgets is also having an impact. i think people are more accepting of violence in society today. i think, with the economic situation

more people are desperate, so they are willing to use violence to get the items that they need. in scotland, abusing staff is a specific criminal offence, which industry leaders want to see extended across the uk. body worn cameras are just one tactic in the ongoing fight against retail crime, which cost the industry £1.8 billion every year. mark ashdown, bbc news. joining me now is chris brook—carter. he is the chief executive of the retail trust, a charity which supports the well being of retail workers. you've been collecting data on these attacks — what have you found? we have found sadly across the many hundreds of thousands of retail workers we support each year that a third are now subject to some form of abuse, physical or verbal, at least once a week, around 90% of all store workers have been the victim

of abuse, and about a third of those have been threatened with physical violence, and sadly around 80% of people are saying this is getting worse. . , people are saying this is getting worse. ., y ., y people are saying this is getting worse. ~, .,y , ., worse. really worrying statistics, wh are worse. really worrying statistics, why are we _ worse. really worrying statistics, why are we seeing _ worse. really worrying statistics, why are we seeing this _ worse. really worrying statistics, why are we seeing this rise? - worse. really worrying statistics, why are we seeing this rise? we | worse. really worrying statistics, - why are we seeing this rise? we have started to see — why are we seeing this rise? we have started to see an _ why are we seeing this rise? we have started to see an increase _ why are we seeing this rise? we have started to see an increase across - started to see an increase across the pandemic, sadly. there were heightened tensions between store staff and customers during lockdown, a lot of unusual behaviour, staff were managing cues and enforce the wearing of masks as well, and as we came out of the pandemic unfortunately the incidents continue to increase and is what we have started to see is this abuse being normalised, and of course that is incredibly dangerous but difficult to turn around. find incredibly dangerous but difficult to turn around.— incredibly dangerous but difficult to turn around. and retail workers themselves. _ to turn around. and retail workers themselves, what _ to turn around. and retail workers themselves, what are _ to turn around. and retail workers themselves, what are you - to turn around. and retail workers themselves, what are you hearing about the impact on them personally?

it's devastating, none of us want to go to work and have our safety threatened, all of us have the right to turn up to work, not be abused, shouted at, spat out or threatened with physical violence. and it is having a big impact on people, we have had people calling our helpline and telling us they no longer want to go into work, they bring their anxiety and stress of this back home and it affects their home lives, a third of store workers told us they wanted to leave the sector and the rising levels of abuse in stores are one of the top three reasons alongside the cost of living crisis for people moving out of retail, so it's very worrying indeed and it's having a real impact on real people in individual lives. find having a real impact on real people in individual lives.— in individual lives. and we are heafina in individual lives. and we are hearing from _ in individual lives. and we are hearing from tesco's - in individual lives. and we are hearing from tesco's chief - hearing from tesco's chief executive, according to change the law to better protect shop workers, is that the right way forward? i do. is that the right way forward? i do, but it's not — is that the right way forward? i do, but it's not the _ is that the right way forward? i do, but it's not the only _ is that the right way forward? i do, but it's not the only thing, - is that the right way forward? i crr, but it's not the only thing, this is

a complex problem, we have got to change public attitudes, we have to get staff to report these instances more forcefully and quicker, retailers need to take this more seriously, and the police need to do more to take retail crime seriously. i'm afraid i will have to stop you there but thank you for your thoughts. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. we've got a september heat wave building over the next few days with lots of dry weather, lots of sunshine, and rising temperatures. now, looking at the weather picture today, we did start off with a bit of morning mist and fog that all cleared out of the way to reveal these blue and sunny skies. and it's been like that pretty much for the whole of the day. the exception has been the far north of scotland, where we have had some thicker cloud, and that's been bringing a few patches of rain to the hebrides, parts of highland, orkney

and shetland as well. temperatures with that cloud and rain being a little bit suppressed across the far north of scotland. but otherwise it's been warm for the rest of scotland and northern ireland. england and wales, mid—to—high 20s for some. now, overnight tonight, we'll keep the clear skies going. again, there could be a few mist and fog patches developing later in the night with temperatures slowly drifting down to between 12 and 16 degrees for most of us. and the weather over the next few days is dominated by this area of high pressure that's overalljust to the east of the uk. and it's this that's going to be bringing us our long spell of dry, sunny, very warm, if not hot weather. now, for the details on monday. mist and fog patches clearing, plenty of sunshine for the vast majority. a brighter day for the hebrides and the highlands. orkney, too. but shetland could continue to see some thicker cloud and occasional spots of rain. temperatures rising, probably mid 20s in the very warmest parts of scotland and northern ireland. but highs are set to hit about 27 into parts of england and wales. we've got more of that very warm,

sunny weather to come on tuesday as well. probably some thicker cloud just for a time working across the northern isles. so probably bright if not sunny here. but for most of us, the sunshine back out in full force. and again, another very warm day. those temperatures are set to rise a bit further as we head towards the middle part of the week. but again, could see a bit of mist and fog first thing in the morning. the hottest weather towards eastern england where we could see temperatures on wednesday afternoon hitting 30 degrees celsius, which isn't too far away from the highest temperature of the year, which currently stands at 32.2. and the dry, sunny, very warm weather lasts for most of us into the first part of next weekend. probably a change on sunday with rain returning.

this is bbc news, the headlines ukraine's military says it has managed to break through key russian defences near the southeastern city of zaporizhzhia. a high ranking ukrainian general has told a british newspaper that extensive minefields had blocked advancing troops for several weeks. headteachers in england are in a race this weekend to find ways to reopen their schools after being told to shut buildings made with unsafe concrete. many from the 104 affected schools are busy rejigging timetables, seeking alternative classrooms and trying to rent

temporary toilets. police in israel open an investigation into the use of live fire by officers during clashes in tel aviv between rival groups of eritrean asylum seekers, nearly 150 people were left injured. now on bbc news, talking business. hello, everybody. a very warm welcome to talking business weekly with me, aaron heslehurst. let's go and take a look at what's on the show. a demographic time bomb. the global life expectancy has doubled in just over 100 years, but it's not all good news. what does our rapidly ageing population mean for societies and our wider economy? in some places, there's a growing imbalance between an increasing older generation and a birth rate that seems to have fallen off a cliff.

it means paying for health care and welfare is one of the biggest