and news corporation — passing the family empire to his eldest son lachlan. and seven years after blasting off, a rocket prepares to deliver what scientists hope will be the secrets to how life began on earth. hello. ukraine's president zelensky has arrived in canada on an unannounced visit, his first to the country since russia's full—scale invasion last year. he and his wife were welcomed by prime ministerjustin trudeau. on thursday, president biden announced a new $325 million dollar aid package for kyiv from the united states, after meeting mr zelensky at the white house. our correspondent, helena humphreys, has more details on what is — and isn't — included in the deal. it amounts to some $325 million in weaponry, specifically when it comes to air defence, something we know that president zelensky had been calling for.

more ammunition, as well — ammunition to be fired from those powerful himar rocket systems. more abrams tanks as well, or abrams tanks which will be on the ground in ukraine, we now understand, from next week. specifically, though, it didn't include those atacms longer—range missiles. remember, president zelensky has been calling for those saying they will be necessary, particularly with regards to efforts to retake any land in crimea. let's hearfrom our ukraine correspondent — james waterhouse — who spoke to us from kyiv. i think the main prize is behind president zelensky in the us because it is america which spearheads the western allies in terms of military support, humanitarian aid and financial packages. yes, it is right that there is a sizeable ukrainian community in canada. prime ministerjustin trudeau is also a loyal ally to ukraine. we've seen him here in kyiv make

several visits, and canada itself provides its own packages, but they are dwarfed in comparison to what the us can and is able to provide. and i think, yes, the receptions you're seeing — outwardly, at least — are warm. we'll see that in canada. we saw a warm embrace with his american counterpart, joe biden, yesterday in the oval office. but i think we're seeing ukraine's president engaging in some quite difficult diplomacy now. there are negotiations which are having to be thrashed out. he was meeting some members of the republican party, where there are hardline members really questioning what a ukrainian victory could look like. they are frustrated with the the pace and scale of ukraine's counter—offensive. and as you've heard there, they are increasingly sceptical over the merits of giving ukraine what they describe as a "blank cheque". now, ukraine, frankly, is hugely

reliant on the west's continued support as it continues to fight for its continued existence, frankly. and i think it's becoming really high stakes now, as we close in on the us elections roughly this time next year, it really does feel like a diplomatic business end. one of the world's most influential media bosses, rupert murdoch, is stepping down from his news—and—sports empire. the 92—year—old will be succeeded as chairman of news corporation and fox by his eldest son, lachlan. the companies own hundreds of local, national and international media outlets — including the times, the sun, the wall streetjournal, fox news and fox entertainment. and fox by his eldest son, lachlan. the companies own hundreds of local, national and international media outlets — including the times, the sun, the wall streetjournal, fox news and fox entertainment. mr murdoch will become chairman emeritus of both firms in mid—november. our correspondentjohn sudworth has this update from outside the corporation's headquarters in new york. from that first australian newspaper, mr murdoch has built up an extraordinary global empire.

and although at the age of 92, there has long been speculation about this moment, now that it is here, there is still a sense of shock. notjust from his employees, like those here at fox news, but around the world, because of the huge political, cultural and social influence he was able to wield for so many decades across so many publications. in a statement sent to staff, he described his son lachlan as a "passionate and principled leader", who would take the companies into the future. his brand of right—wing, populist content, as well as his revolutionising approach to the media industry, made him a hero to some and the opposite to others, reinforced in recent years as a result of those scandals. the phone—hacking scandal in the uk, as well as those claims of a rigged election here in america, for which fox news eventually had

to settle for almost $800 million. although mr murdoch steps down formally from the post of chairman, he stays on in an advisory role. and although this marks undoubtedly the beginning of the waning of his influence, it will not be gone entirely, something hinted at by today's statement. "my companies are in robust health", he said. "and so am i". earlier, i spoke to former murdoch journalist—turned—shareholder activist stephen mayne about his experiences. well, i spent seven years as a business journalist and chief of staff on the big murdoch tabloids in australia and saw how they exercised power over politicians and censored coverage on their own affairs. and then i went out and got into the shareholder activist game, and over the past 2a years, i've been to 15 of rupert's

annual general meetings in adelaide, la and new york and i've seen it all — how he suppresses free speech at the agm. when i ran for his board in 2002, he completely censored the platform and wouldn't even tell the shareholders how old i was. i've seen him call security and take the microphone away and only let you ask one question in one minute, and control the company by a gerrymander, where he owns 40% of the votes, but only about 16% of the shares on issues. he's a complete hypocrite and lectures everyone else about free speech and democracy in his own company. he is a control freak, nepotistic, fanatically dynastic.

so you have seen, in your words, him as a complete control freak who runs the media empire, so how do you think it will change now that he is stepping aside and lachlan murdoch is set to take the helm? i think he is a bit of chip off the old block, certainly in terms of the politics, so you won't see any change in terms of republicanism, fox news, client denial, those sorts of things. and rupert wants to hand over to somebody like him. and lachlan is the only adult child standing who is prepared to continue on what rupert has done. but there's only one rupert murdoch, so at one level, it's quite unfair to think one of his kids can sit there and become chairman of two enormous global media empires and running from sydney, where he has moved back to a couple of years ago. so i think it's a bit of a poison chalice for lachlan, but he wants to be able to prove he can make decisions and run the company without his father sitting there, so he will have a chance to see how it goes without dad. if rupert murdoch really is in good

health, as he claims and the company claims, do you think he will be able really disentangle himself from this empire he has been involved with for most of his life? well, what happened was, when his father died in 1952, he became the chief

the european union's forfraud agency has accused marine le pen members of a nationalist party of

misusing public funds while serving in the european parliament. again, the paris public prosecutor has said on friday that marine le pen and 2a others stand trial. the bbc is investigating a claim that comedian russell brand exposed himself to a woman, before joking about the incident on his bbc radio 2 show. it's alleged to have happened in 2008, in los angeles. the woman did not work for the bbc, but was employed in the building where the presenter — who has denied any wrongdoing — recorded his show. graham satchell reports. russell brand is facing a series of sexual assault allegations, including rape and emotional abuse. the latest is said to have happened in this building in los angeles in 2008, where the broadcaster was recording an episode of his radio 2 programme. a woman, who the bbc is calling 0livia, claims brand exposed himself to her in this bathroom.

brand then laughed about the alleged incident minutes later on his show with his co—host, matt morgan. what made the bbc think that was appropriate to go out like that? ijust don't understand why they didn't investigate this much sooner, given the raunchy, outrageous bits. in a statement, the bbc said... russell brand's co—presenter at the time, matt morgan, has also issued a statement. he says... it's the russell brand show and here's your host, i am. the latest claims follow an investigation by the sunday times and channel 4's dispatches programme, in which four women

allege they were sexually assaulted by russell brand between 2006 and 2013. he has denied those claims but has not responded to this latest allegation. graham satchell, bbc news. live now to colin patterson, who is outside back to looks after the behind—the—scenes people at work in the media industry. philippa charles has said the bbc was remiss in not following up when someone reported this incident to their boss in 2019. that was 11 years after the original incident, but it was at this time someone, not the woman we have been hearing from in that report, reported to the bus, but nothing happened. philip child said if the

bbc had done theirjob at this time, we could have been in a completely different place now. a mother left north—west london with her newborn son and daughter on

tuesday. the children are under care protection orders and were taken from the centre again the uk's largest food bank provider says government cost—of—living centre again st—of—living payments only give temporary relief to those in need. the trussell trust say the money helps for several weeks, at most, leading to only a short—term dip in demand for food banks. the government maintains the payments are delivering "quick and much—needed help" to millions of low—income households. the sheffield united midfielder maddy cusack has died at the age of 27. she'd been at the club since 2019 and became the first player to reach 100 appearances for the women's team last season. she also worked as a marketing executive at the women's championship club, who said they were "devastated". you're live with bbc news. a militaryjudge at guantanamo bay has ruled that one of the five defendants charged over the 9—11 attacks is not fit to stand trial. colonel matthew mccall accepted

the findings of a medical panel, which concluded that ramzi bin al—shibh was too psychologically damaged to defend himself. the medical board said mr al—shibh had become delusional and psychotic and was unable to understand the nature of the proceedings. his lawyer says he was tortured while in cia custody. with more on this, bbc security correspondent gordon corera. and also

the allegation is it has left him traumatised. those were the arguments from his defence team. this leads to another delay problem with proceedings. it is specifically to do with the death penalty being on the table. to do with the death penalty being on the table-— to do with the death penalty being on the table. , , , ., on the table. these proceedings have obviously changed _ on the table. these proceedings have obviously changed over _ on the table. these proceedings have obviously changed over the _ on the table. these proceedings have obviously changed over the years. - obviously changed over the years. where does this leave things now that this ruling has been made? the simle that this ruling has been made? tue: simple answer that this ruling has been made? tte: simple answer is in more of a mess and more delays. this has been the

story of these military commissions. president 0bama in 2009 came into office saying he would shut it almost immediately. well, it is still there almost 1a years later and the military trials have not really progressed, not the bulk of them. only one of them come to some kind of conclusion and it is a sign of how difficult it is been for the us to deal with those went animal bay prisoners largely because of the us's own actions, in the way brought them to guantanamo bay and the way it treated some of them, opening up of these legal arguments over how they were treated and what should happen next. the king and queen are continuing their tour of france with a visit to the bordeaux region on friday. on thursday, king charles received a standing ovation for his speech

in the french upper house of parliament, the senate. 0ur correspondent hugh schofield is in bordeaux for the visit. i asked him if today is less about diplomacy and more about one of the king's favourite causes — environmentalism. in fact, that is very much the tone of today public event, certainly the one here, which is that the vineyard of an emblematic vineyard in bordeaux wine country because it is a pioneer in the methods which the king champions. that is organic farming. i havejust been king champions. that is organic farming. i have just been shown around by the owners. given that all that the king and queen will get later on today, and it is a very beautiful place with a massive underground cellar, with hundreds of barrels of wine. the barrels are made here on the premises. and it was explained to me how they use carbon capture here. surprisingly for me, a vineyard like this can produce ten tonnes of carbon dioxide in the fermentation process. here,

what they do is capture that carbon and then turn it via various processes into products which can then be sold. they produce our guy with the carbon dioxide and that can in turn, produces health supplements. —— they produce algae. it is how a concern for biodiversity and organic green farming can be pursued here. and that is exactly the kind of message which the king wants to propagate. the owners here have met the king. so he is coming back with the queen to look at this vineyard and see for himself how it can work. as you are saying at the beginning, he is also going to a forest or a kind of experimental forest, i think the trees are very young there, run by the university, to see how climate change affects the growth of trees. but there is also a defence aspect to this last leg of the tour. he is going to visit a british frigate, the iron duke, which has come into port here,

and that will be to emphasise the defence links, security links which are very close with france and remain so, despite the problems caused by brexit. just remain so, despite the problems caused by brexit.— remain so, despite the problems caused by brexit. just briefly, how has this visit _ caused by brexit. just briefly, how has this visit played _ caused by brexit. just briefly, how has this visit played out _ caused by brexit. just briefly, how has this visit played out in - caused by brexit. just briefly, how has this visit played out in france | has this visit played out in france so far? t has this visit played out in france so far? ~ , ., , has this visit played out in france so far? ~ , .,, ., , so far? i think people are very cufious so far? i think people are very curious about _ so far? i think people are very curious about him. _ so far? i think people are very curious about him. i _ so far? i think people are very curious about him. i think - so far? i think people are very| curious about him. i think they so far? i think people are very - curious about him. i think they will be very pleased to see him. what there hasn't been is a big turnout at his various public appearances. it is very noticeable when he went down the champs—elysees with the president, president macron on wednesday, very few people indeed had turned out. it is maybe simply not what people do any more, come to see celebrities and royalty when they come out because they are familiar, in a way, from social media, from the television and so on. i think there was a certain disappointment that there was not the kind of clamour that there was for the queen. but other than that, it has gone like clockwork and certainly in parliament yesterday, there was a certain awe that surrounded him and his message

certainly got across there. scientists and star—gazers will have their eyes on the skies above the us state of utah this weekend. a capsule — containing rocks and dust from an asteroid — is due to plummet from space at more than 15 times the speed of a rifle bullet. it took four years to reach the asteroid and collect the samples, which could give vital clues about the formation of our planet, more than four billion years ago. 0ur science editor rebecca morelle has the details. asteroid bennu, a 500m—wide rock hurtling through space. with its boulder—strewn terrain, it tops nasa's list of space rocks that pose a danger to our planet. but it could also shed light on our very beginnings. so nasa decided to get up—close and personal with it. after a two—yearjourney, captured on camera, this was the moment the 0siris—rex spacecraft

collected a sample — in a smash—and—grab that lasted just five seconds. these bits of bennu were safely stowed in a capsule, and now they're heading back to earth. we're looking at material that existed before our planet did, before the origin of life. in fact, some of it may have been from even before the solar system formed. so we're looking at the beginning of our story. how did our solar system form, how did asteroids come together? and did asteroids like bennu literally make the earth a habitable world? for the landing site, they've chosen a vast wilderness. after travelling for billions of miles through space, the capsule is going to land somewhere over here in the utah desert. scientists think there's about 250 grams of rock and dust inside. it doesn't sound like much. just a handful or so. but every single grain of this is precious. and scientists will study it to reveal the story of our solar system. the return won't be easy.

the capsule will speed through the earth's atmosphere at more than 27,000 mph, experiencing temperatures of 3,000 degrees, before descending down to the ground slowed by parachutes. beeping the nasa team has been practising in the desert, working out the best way to recover the craft after it comes down. the most important thing is to keep the extraterrestrial material inside free from contamination. of course, we study meteorites here on earth and there's a lot we can learn from those meteorites. but they have gone through earth's atmosphere and potentially had some contamination from earth. so that's why we need a pristine sample from an asteroid. bennu's already thrown up some surprises — it's not a solid rock, it's a loosely held—together pile of rubble. and some surprising people have also been involved in the mission along the way.

sir brian may helped the team to choose the best place to take a sample, by making stereoscopic 3d images of bennu. i think originally 30 different sites were selected as possibilities, but some were rejected because the boulders were too big, some were rejected because it was actually too small to navigate into. some because the materials you were going to get weren't going to be nice enough. interesting enough. and the material that we were able to supply, i think, just enabled them to tip the balance to actually make those final decisions. all eyes are now on this patch of utah desert, ready for the landing. the hope is this mission could answer that most profound question — where did we come from? rebecca morrelle, bbc news, utah. from asteroids to another kind of flying object. and just before we go, take a look at this.

cctv cameras have captured the moment a pigeon crashed into a man's head as he popped to the shops. michael speirs, from nottingham, was heading into his local convenience store when the bird flew into him. he described it as like being "whacked full—pelt with a feathered pillow". stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. we've got a largely fine start to the day across many parts of the uk with some sunny spells, but showers have already been gathering towards northern and western areas and we've seen a few rainbows already from our weather watchers this morning as those showers pass through. if we look at the satellite image, we can see today's weather is linked in with a swirl of cloud here. sunny spells and showers. saturday's weather is this clearer spot, and then this is sunday's weather — a period of wet and windy weather on its way. but for the rest of today, showers continuing towards northern and western areas. those will drift their way towards the south and the east. all of us at some point this afternoon catching a shower. there will be some strong winds in the north—east

of scotland, some gales here. maximum temperatures generally getting up to about 1k to 18 degrees celsius. it will feel quite fresh in that rather brisk north—westerly wind. through tonight, we've got this ridge of high pressure moving in. that ridge means basically that the air is descending in the atmosphere. it clears the moisture, so the showers disappear, the cloud breaks up and there will be some clear spells. that will allow temperatures to fall away — three or four celsius in central areas of scotland, even down in the capital, temperatures in single figures. so a chilly, but a sunny start to your weekend. yes, there will be one or two showers around norfolk and suffolk. those generally clearing away. lots of sunshine for many of us, but the cloud will increase across northern ireland, west wales and the far south—west of england late in the day — a few spots of rain here, as well. temperatures 1a, maybe 18 degrees — pretty similar to today. as we go into the second half of the weekend, on sunday, we're going to see this quite deep area of low pressure. this will contain the remnants

of hurricane nigel. so the white lines there, the isobars, close together, winds strengthening and these weather fronts bringing some outbreaks of rain. that rain particularly heavy across parts of wales, northern ireland, the isle of man, up into scotland, as the afternoon goes on. gales around these irish sea coasts, as well. towards the midlands, eastern and south—eastern areas of england, however, it's looking mostly dry and there will be some sunshine around, as well. temperatures for many of us on sunday up a little bit — 18 to 20 degrees celsius — with a south—westerly wind. it's that south—westerly wind that will keep temperatures around about 18 to 23 degrees throughout the week ahead, with a mixture of sunny spells and showers.

the office... it is after what labour called disastrous mistakes made in last year's mini budget. 0ur made in last year's mini budget. our plans because the crisis in the uk's gilt market sending borrowing costs soaring. it is worth going over what the office for budget responsibility is and its function. it was created backin is and its function. it was created back in 2010 under the conservative liberal democrat coalition government. it checks the health of

the uk's economy and is independent of the government. its forecasts are usually released along big government announcements such as the spring and autumn budget. before these announcements, the government gives the 0br details of its plans to raise or lower taxes and how it intends to spend public money. the 0br checks to plans and makes economic forecasts covering the next five years. sir keir starmer has been speaking about the plans in the last few minutes. it is necessary because a year ago the 0br offered to do an assessment for the liz truss budget and she turned it down. we can never happen again. we need a row that there must be an 0br assessment. row that there must be an obr assessment.— row that there must be an obr assessment. , ., , , ., assessment. obviously if there are some very significant _ assessment. obviously if there are some very significant event - assessment. obviously if there are some very significant event or- assessment. obviously if there are some very significant event or an l some very significant event or an election that comes along at some point and needs an adjustment that can be accommodated, but this is a

route to introduce the security and