ukraine's generals are reporting significant progress in the counteroffensive against russia's invasion. they say their troops have breached the first line of russian defences in the south, near zaporizhzhia. general oleksandr tarnavskyi told the observer newspaper that extensive minefields had blocked troops for several weeks, leaving them vulnerable to russian shelling and drone attacks. but the general claimed that painstaking mine clearance has now allowed his forces to advance and they expect to face far weaker russian defences ahead. ukraine says its forces are making gains in the south of the country and has in recent weeks expanded its units towards the strategic town of tokmak, a logistical centre for russian forces. last week, ukraine's military said it had captured the village of robotyne in the zaporizhzhia region

amid a counteroffensive that is yielding incremental gains. 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 the 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 now 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. hopefully, it's the key moment. again, we'll see what happens. it's hard to predict 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. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams has sent us his assessment from kyiv. so, for several days now, we've been hearing reports that the ukrainians might have got through the first line of russian defences. in fact, it's been a week since the commander of one unit said he had done precisely that. but in the last couple of days, we're hearing senior officials, both here in kyiv and generals involved in the fighting down in the south, all making the same claim. where is this happening? well, it's an area around a tiny village called robotyne that is some distance south—east of the city of zaporizhzhia. and it's 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.

now, that is minefields, tank traps and trenches. possibly in those russian trenches 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. the ukrainians have got to widen that gap first before they're confident enough that the armoured forces can move through without being attacked by 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 and 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 of defences 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. meanwhile, ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, has announced he will ask permission from parliament this week to dismiss the country's defence minister oleksii reznikov. reznikov has been ukraine's defence minister since november 2021, and has played a key role in securing billions of dollars in western military aid. however, his ministry has been dogged by corruption allegations. he'll be replaced with rustem umerov, the head of ukraine's main privatistion fund. president zelensky made the announcement a short time ago.

translation: this week parliament will be asked — translation: this week parliament will be asked to _ translation: this week parliament will be asked to make _ translation: this week parliament will be asked to make a _ translation: this week parliament will be asked to make a staff - will be asked to make a staff related decision. i have decided to replace the minister of defence of ukraine. oleksii reznikov has been through more than 550 days of full—scale war. i believe the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society as a whole. i've been speaking to dan sabbagh, the guardian's defence and security editor, about why zelensky is making this move. he has been under pressure. time, serious allegations of corruptions, scandals and someone, we thought a few months ago that he might go. the americans were keen for him to stay on at that time. reznikov is a defence minister and his goal or his key role was to help negotiate arms transfers

from the west, to negotiate the logistics around that. ukraine still needs more arms, it still wants them, but nevertheless a lot of the big deals are... ukraine has rocket artillery, it has the tanks, and will have others in due course, it has most recently secured f—16s but it will be some months before those fighter planes are in the actual battlefield. it may well be a time that the president feels he can move reznikov because it could be time for a change. certainly what you are seeing with the zelensky administration is the intensive focus on rooting out corruption and stiffening up anti—corruption measures because ukraine wants to join the eu the eu as well as nato, and really needs to improve its record in that area

and show it means business. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, says the government will "spend what it takes" to secure school buildings that are affected by crumbling concrete. labour has criticised what it called a "bare bones" response to a crisis. more than 100 schools have been forced to close buildings, and others could follow, because they contain a type of concrete, called raac, which can fall apart after several decades. our home editor mark easton has the latest. after two days of terrible headlines about crumbling schools at risk of collapse... good morning, sir. good morning. ..it was the chancellor who took to the airwaves to try and reassure the public that the government had matters under control. welcome back to the studio, chancellor. appearing on the laura kuenssberg programme, mr hunt said ministers would do whatever was necessary to keep schoolchildren safe. we will spend what it takes to sort out this problem as quickly as possible.

so do you commit to covering whatever costs are required to remove all of this dangerous concrete from schools around the country? we will spend what it takes to make sure that children can go to school safely, yes. the chancellor has insisted the government acted fast when the dangers of school ceilings unexpectedly falling on children came to light, but did they? injuly 2018, a staff room ceiling suddenly collapsed at a primary school in kent, and crumbling raac beams were blamed. in december of that year, the government warned every school authority to beware the dangers. in may 2019, a committee of structural experts went further, advising that catastrophic failure could happen without warning, with the possibility of injury or death. but it wasn't until march 2022, almost three years later, that the government sent out a questionnaire asking schools if they had raac in their buildings. in december last year, they issued new guidance, with photos showing examples of school ceilings which could suddenly fall in.

then, over the last two months, further unexpected collapses prompted the current crisis. the risks from failing raac beams have been known about for decades, but government checks on school buildings have only been visual, surveyors not even expected to remove ceiling tiles to identify critical structural problems behind. the labour party says cuts in school maintenance budgets have put lives at risk. i can think of a no more defining image about 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. it is scandalous. we're working to make sure that there is minimal- disruption to education. the education secretary is hoping that this departmental video posted on youtube will console worried parents. not everyone is convinced the government is doing enough. i am extremely disappointed 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. checks on the fabric of england's schools were not good enough to spot potentially catastrophic failures before they happened so, while the problem is thought to involve around 100 schools at the moment, the raac crisis could actually affect thousands of buildings right across the public estate. migrant crossings in the english channel reached their highest number on saturday for the year. the home office says 872 people made the crossing yesterday on 15 vessels. almost 21,000 migrants have made the journey so far this year. that's around 4,000 fewer than this time last year. to politics here in the uk, and the labour leader, sir keir starmer, is expected to reshuffle his top team tomorrow. the change to the shadow cabinet coincides with mps returning to westminster from their summer break. there is speculation over what role he may give his deputy leader angela rayner.

our political correspondent ione wells has more details. it's expected that the labour leader, sir keir starmer, is going to reshuffle his top team tomorrow. it's not yet clear who will get spots in the new shadow cabinet, but there's been lots of questions raised about what role he may give his deputy leader, angela rayner. now, she was elected deputy leader, so she will keep that position no matter what. but there's been some labour sources speculating that she might be given a domestic policy brief — essentially be put in charge with a main policy area rather than doing her current role where she shadows the cabinet office brief, which is held by the deputy prime minister oliver dowden for the conservatives. now, there's been lots of speculation about other names in the mix too. some tipped for potential promotion, including darrenjones, the chair of parliament's business committee. he's received lots of kind of positive headlines in the past, partly for his grilling of big

companies like royal mail and p&o and thames water in the past. and i think there's certainly lots of speculation that he may be tipped for an entry into the shadow cabinet. now, this comes after rishi sunak replaced his defence secretary and appointed a new energy secretary last week. it's expected the prime minister will carry out his own fuller reshuffle at some point in the coming months. but both leaders really want to try and solidify their top teams ahead of an expected general election at some point next year. torrential rains have swept across spain, with residents in the capital madrid being advised to stay at home. large areas of the countryside in castellon have been flooded. emergency services sent text messages to people living in madrid, advising them not to use vehicles. la liga has suspended the match due to take place between atletico madrid and sevilla in madrid, due to the alert.

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 is one of the government webcams, where you can see the torrential rain pounding the lens. it is 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 ollie foster. we'll start in the premier league after arsenal celebrated an injury—time win over manchester united at the emirates stadium. it was 1—1 after 90 minutes

the gunners captain martin odegaard cancelling out marcus rashford's opener in the first half, but deep into stoppage time declan rice scored his first for the club since his £100 million move from west ham, and gabrieljesus added another. 3—1 the final score. i love the mentality. i think the determination the team shows to go and do well and go up against any opponent. we want to win and this draw is not enough. and again, we may have it again because we gave the first goal away in an area that i guess manchester united are kaput, and we've done it again in the second half. they could've cost us a goal. but i got a lot of pride in the team for what they want to do all the time. can't be goal given,

especially in that moment in the game, it is clear for us, can't be. more mistakes following that goal not given, the penalty given, later on rejected. i think it is not offside. like arsenal, liverpool are also unbeaten this season, they had a very comfortable 3—0 win over aston villa at anfield. liverpool new signing dominik szobozlai scored his first goal in english football before an own goal from matty cash put them in control. mohamed salah rounded the victory off, just three days after liverpool had turned down a bid of £150 million for him from the saudi pro league. liverpool are third, two points behind leaders manchester city, level on ten points with tottenham, west ham and arsenal. elsewhere, crystal palace beat wolves 3—2 at selhurst park. odsonne edouard with two of palace's goals to secure their first league win since the opening day of the season, they are up to seventh in the table. just one win from four for wolves. in scotland, the first old firm match

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. rangers had two goals disallowed and were booed off the pitch by their own fans at full—time. max verstapppen has made formula 1 history, winning sunday's italian grand prix to become the first driver to win ten consecutive races. starting from second on the grid, verstappen overtook ferrari's carlos sainz on lap 15 and never looked back, easing to victory to hold the record outright, he'd previously been level with sebastian vettel. verstappen�*s red bull team—mate sergio perez was second, with sainz coming third. new zealand's cricketers beat england by 7a runs in the third t20 at edgbaston to keep the four—match series alive. batting first, new zealand set a huge target, thanks to opener finn allen.

he made 83 offjust 53 balls whilst glenn phillips added 69 as new zealand made 202 from their 20 overs. in reply, england lost early wickets and were never likely to make the runs, bowled out for 128. they still lead the series 2—1, the final t20 is at trent bridge on tuesday. i think credit to new zealand, they outplayed us, they put up a really challenging school. maybe a little bit over partnership, one we just couldn't break, that was the main part of the game.— couldn't break, that was the main part of the game. looks like one of those services _ part of the game. looks like one of those services you _ part of the game. looks like one of those services you might _ part of the game. looks like one of those services you might need, - part of the game. looks like one of those services you might need, it l those services you might need, it has been a bit dry, is that vital? yeah, good exposure for us to play on those wickets, lots of cricket this summer, i expect those kind of pitches, a good challenge with the bat.

and don't forget you can follow all the action from the us open tennis on the bbc sport website and app, but that's all the sport for now. the boss of one of the world's largest supermarket chains, tesco, has called for laws to be toughened to protect shop workers from increasing attacks. ken murphy told a sunday newspaper that physical assaults against his staff were up a third on the same time last year. mark ashdown reports. why are you touching me? what are you touching me for? get out now. what are you touching me for? 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, you know, they are on camera, that their conflict is actually being recorded. obviously, it is also a huge cost to the retailers and it is a cost which ultimately gets borne by the customer in terms of, you know, the prices we see in stores. one former security manager at asda told us the squeeze on household budgets is also having an impact. 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 costs the industry £1.8 billion every year. marc ashdown, bbc news. this summer has seen another series of major wildfires around the world. researchers say forest fires are becoming more widespread and more intense. here's our science editor rebecca morelle. at times this summer, it has felt like the world is on fire. flames racing across swathes of land, destroying homes and lives. the images are unforgettable. but how bad has this wildfire season been? looking at the total area affected by fire so far, this has not been an unusual year, although we are only partway through it. but there are some exceptions. in europe, greece has seen some extreme fires,

one the largest ever recorded in europe. but in countries like portugal and romania, the area burned has been below average. over in canada, huge fires have been raging for months, their worst wildfire season on record. but in the us, it has been quiet. in california, a wet winter and cool spring has lowered the fire risk. in hawaii, though, the fire was small but its impact was enormous. the death toll is still rising, making 2023 the deadliest year for wildfires this century. hawaii kind of shows that you can have a really intense fires as well and it is the intensity of the fires as well, rather than the size, but how hot it was, how fast it spread and how easily it spread. it kind ofjust shows that those fires can be devastating and, you know, with the amount of people who have lost their lives. so what is the overall trend? are wildfires increasing? the answer is not straightforward. this shows how the total area

of burnt land is changing over time. the line is going down, the areas decreasing year—on—year. it is driven by a fall in savannah fires, mainly in africa, part of the natural cycle. they make up about 70% of that total area burned. but as land use changes, the area is getting smaller. forest fires, on the other hand, cover a much smaller area but they are becoming more widespread. on the forest area around the world, especially outside of the tropics, we have seen a substantial increase in fire, notjust in area burned but also in intensity of fire. this is where we see all those big implications. they generate a lot of smoke, they generate a lot of carbon emissions. if they are close to population centres, they can be deadly. as parts of the world battle wildfires, what is the impact of climate change? climate change is leading to hotter and drier conditions, helping wildfires to take hold. scientists estimate that, since 1979, the global fire

season is now 27% longer, and the united nations projects that extreme fires could increase by 50% by the end of this century. where the fires occur is also shifting. we're also seeing this trend of wildfire activity _ going further north, - which is why, um, in the uk, over the last five years, _ we have seen a kind of upward trend as well in wildfire activity. the northern hemisphere season is not over yet, and summer is just starting in the southern hemisphere, so all eyes will be on what happens next. rebecca morelle, bbc news. now, we had to show you these pictures out of denmark. you may have heard mozart peformed but probably not like this, by barking dogs. take a listen. barking

i don't quite know what to say to that! what i can tell you is the three dogs who performed — cookie, sophus and sica — were chosen for their barking skills. the concert in copenhagen featured the danish chamber orchestera, and the piece the dogs barked to was by leopold mozart, the father of wolfgang amadeus. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. we've got a september heatwave building over the next few days with lots of dry weather, lots of sunshine, and rising temperatures. we're looking at probably the hottest days wednesday, thursday, when we could see temperatures reach the low 30s. now, most of us had sunshine today. we've seen temperatures go past 26 degrees in a few areas. the one place that missed out on the sunshine and warm weather, the far north of scotland, where we had a bit of cloud and rain. and after a locally misty start to the day, we saw that sunshine really coming through across the board. this was penzance in cornwall, doing quite a good impression

of the tropics, given the plants we've got across this part of cornwall. now, overnight tonight, we'll keep the clear weather, a few mist and fog patches are quite likely to develop. it's across shetland we might see a few occasional patches of rain, but otherwise it's a dry night. temperatures 12 to 16 degrees. the next few days weather—wise dominated by this big area of high pressure that's overall just to the east of the uk. and it's this that will be bringing dry, sunny and very warm weather our way. now, from monday morning, you might start off seeing just a few early morning mist and fog patches. then they'll clear away within the first couple of hours of the morning, then sunshine across the board for most. the exception, again, the very far north of scotland might see a little bit of rain for shetland, but i think brighter weatherfor orkney, the hebrides and highland scotland as well. temperatures the highest across england and wales, reaching 27. but the warmest spots of scotland and northern ireland will also see temperatures into the mid—20s. so for many monday's going to be a warm day. and that warm theme continues for tuesday as well. as i say, for most of the uk,

it's looking like another dry day with plenty of sunshine around, perhaps a little bit more cloud again across the northern isles of scotland, but otherwise sunshine across the board. and for wednesday probably a few more mist and fog patches around. some of those might linger around some of our coastal areas, particularly through the irish sea. but across the inland areas we'll have lots of sunshine once the early morning mist and fog patches have cleared out of the way, and it continues to get hotter. temperatures could reach 30 degrees celsius, and that's not far away from the highest temperature we've recorded all year, which currently stands at 32.2. stays dry and sunny for most thursday, friday, saturday. it's only really until we get to sunday when we start to see a change to cooler, more unsettled weather conditions.

this is bbc news. the headlines. ukraine's military are reporting significant progress in their counter—offensive against russia's invasion. they say they have managed to break through key russian defences near the southeastern city of zaporizhzhia. one general has told a british newspaper that extensive minefields had blocked advancing troops for several weeks. the chancellor says the government will "spend what it takes" to keep england's schoolchildren safe from crumbling concrete. more than 100 schools have been forced to close buildings because they contain a type of concrete that has

a lifespan of about 30 years. the labour leader sir keir starmer is expected to reshuffle his shadow cabinet tomorrow as mps return to westminster from their summer break. there is much speculation over what role sir keir may give his deputy leader angela rayner. now on bbc news, africa eye — sickle cell: the enemy within. my name is lea. i may look like a normal twentysomething... ..but my life is often consumed by illness.