Said indian agents may have been involved in the killing of a canadian sikh activist. He was shot dead in june near vancouver. Just now, mr trudeau doubled down on that claim. India described the accusation as absurd. It also said canada can expect its number of diplomats in india to be reduced. Indias Foreign Ministry spokesman was asked how the dispute was affecting indias reputation. One, any country that needs to look at this, i think it is canada and its growing reputation as a place, as a safe haven for terrorists, for extremists and for organised crime. And i think thats a country that needs to worry about its international reputation. At the heart of this issue are calls for an independent homeland for sikhs in indias Northern State of punjab. Its known as the Khalistan Movement. Sikhs form a majority of punjab� s population, but are a minority in the rest of india. There have been calls for an independent state to be formed there for some time, with the movement reaching its peak in the 1980s, when the area experienced a series of Violent Attacks and thousands of deaths. Despite there being little support for the Khalistan Movement in india today, supporters in the Sikh Diaspora have continued to advocate for a separate state, with calls intensifying in recent years. Our correspondent Archana Shukla gave us this update from mumbai. Apologies, we dont have that. But we can return to what the canadian Prime Minister has been saying in the past have an hour. Lets have a listen in. 5 the past have an hour. Lets have a listen in. � ,. , listen in. As i said on monday, there are listen in. As i said on monday, there are credible listen in. As i said on monday, there are credible reasons listen in. As i said on monday, there are credible reasons to l there are credible reasons to believe there are credible reasons to believe that agents of the Government Of India were involved in the killing Government Of India were involved in the killing of eight canadian on canadian the killing of eight canadian on canadian soil. That is something of the utmost canadian soil. That is something of the utmost and foundational importance in a country of rule of law, importance in a country of rule of law, in importance in a country of rule of law, in a importance in a country of rule of law, in a world where International Rules law, in a world where International Rules based law, in a world where International Rules based order matters. We have rigorous rules based order matters. We have rigorous and independent Justice System rigorous and independent Justice System and robust processes that will follow their course. And we call upon will follow their course. And we call upon the Government Of India to engage call upon the Government Of India to engage with us to move forward on getting to engage with us to move forward on getting to the truth of this matter. We will getting to the truth of this matter. We will have more on that worsening spat between india and canada, and as i say, Justin Trudeau hasjust been speaking on that. Now to our other main story this hour. That is the news that Rupert Murdoch is stepping down from running one of the worlds most powerful media empires. His eldest son lachlan is taking charge of fox and news corp, although the 92 year old will continue in the position of emeritus chairman. Rupert murdoch has spent more than 70 years building his Global Media Empire after starting in local newspapers in his native australia. In a statement to staff, mr murdoch says the companies are in robust health, as am i. He goes on to say. Our opportunities far exceed our commercial challenges. Lachlan murdoch has congratulated his father on what he called his remarkable 70 year ca reer. Our bbc Business Correspondent erin delmore is in new york and told us what this mean for the future of news corp and fox. As Brian Stelter told you in your interview earlier, this isnt an altogether shocking development. Rupert murdoch is 92 years old. The Succession Plan has been talked about, and his son lachlan was the likeliest contender to take over. But new leadership means change, and it remains to be seen what lachlan will want to enact or how involved his father will continue to be as Chair Emeritus of the boards of both companies, news corp and fox corp. Murdoch didnt give us an indication as to what role he would have, but he said that hes always been involved in daily news decisions, editorial, keeping up with the content. And he didnt say that that would change. He considers that something thats inherent in who he is and how he does the work. But lets face it, fox and Cable Companies all over the United States are facing challenges here, especially as consumers choose to cut the cable cord, as consumers look and try to re evaluate their budgets in the wake of higher prices and more pressures on their daily wallets. And this is something that fox is going to have to contend with, how to get more money from streaming services for their content, how to get more revenue from the people who make up their viewers and their listeners. And, erin, whats the reaction been on the markets to this change at the top . Yeah. Share price has been, you know, Holding Steady relatively since this morning. And that speaks to what we were just speaking about. You know, lachlan was the likely successor. It doesnt send a shock wave through the market. Wave through the company. Itjust raises a lot of questions about whats next, why, what will change and when will it happen. Murdoch has said that he plans to step down in mid november, but we dont have an indication as to why hes chosen that timing. He did make a point to be up and about, being visible and interacting with Fox Employees this week, and that would lead us to say that, you know, its not a Health Concern thats making him choose this timing. But i will point out to you that were at an interesting moment in the publishing industry. Murdoch is going to be in the eye of the storm, so to speak, with a couple of big books coming out about him. On tuesday, were getting a book from michael wolff, and as you remember, wolff is the chronicler of Donald Trumps presidency, writing three best selling books, Including Fire and fury and siege and landslides. So murdoch will get the Wolff Treatment next week. And after that, well see a book by Brian Stelter, who you just interviewed, about six weeks later, coming out in mid november. And its worth noting that vanity fair special correspondent gabe sherman also has inked a deal off of his april cover story, which was about exactly this, the murdoch Succession Plan. So we expect to see that book next year. When he more on that story on the bbc news website that we have a Life Page Running on that. Here in the uk, prosecutors have authorised a charge of conspiracy to conduct espionage against three men and two women suspected of spying for russia. It follows an investigation by the metropolitan police. Our Home Affairs CorrespondentDaniel De Simone gave us more details on the charges. So, today, its been announced by the Crown Prosecution Service here in the uk that five bulgarian People Living in the uk are to be charged with spying for russia. They are going to be charged with conspiracy to conduct espionage, and it is alleged that this group were part of an operational Spy Cell Working for the Russian Security services. It is alleged that members of the group conducted operations both in the uk and europe, that that involved Collecting Information on targets. They are alleged to have gone to germany, to montenegro. One of the members, orlin roussev, is alleged to have run the operations from the uk and then been the link to people within the russian state who he was passing the information to. Three of the defendants were charged earlier in the year after being arrested in this operation, and earlier in the year, they were charged with possessing fake documents, which including passports, id cards, for nine different countries. Those three defendants were orlin roussev, Bizer Dzhambazov and katrin ivanova. Theres two additional defendants today that weve learnt about who are going to be charged in this wider charge of conspiracy to conduct espionage. Those two additional defendants are Ivan Stoyanov and va nya gaberova. So weve got three men and two women. They are all bulgarian nationals, and theyre going to appear at westminster magistrates� court here in london next week. Staying here in the uk, and Interest Rates have been left on hold for the first time in nearly two years. The Bank Of England decision leaving the uk Benchmark Rate at 5. 25 brings to an end a run of ia consecutive increases which began in late 2021. It was designed to curb rising prices. The announcement� s a day after an unexpected slight fall in the rate of uk inflation, as well as a pause in rate hikes by the us central bank, the federal reserve. The governor of the Bank Of England says he expects the trend of slowing inflation to continue, but cautioned there is no room for complacency. Well, its a point when weve stopped tightening because weve had very good news this week on the inflation front, very welcome news. You know, we can see that inflation was coming down, but this weeks news is good because its a sign that weve had more than we expected, and thats very good. But, of course, the jobs not done yet. We cant be complacent about this. Ourjob is to get inflation back down to the 2 target and to sustain it there. So the job isnt done yet. And we will, of course, keep on doing thejob. But many people see this now as a peak. Weve seen other Central Banks also sort of pause their rate rise cycle. Is that the right way to look at this . The next move will be down . No, im not predicting at all what that is. I can tell you that we have not had any discussion on the Monetary Policy committee about reducing rates because that would be very, very premature. Ourjob is to get inflation down. You know, as i see it, weve got a big job to do. Weve got quite a long way to go. Its encouraging, but im afraid we cant be complacent. And, of course, we will watch the evidence very carefully as we always do. Is your sense that the medicine is now working . Yes, i think the effects of what we have done over the last not far off two years now, actually, are coming through. Weve used the word restrictive. What i mean by that is we can see policy having effects. We can see it, in a sense, having the effects we hoped it would. And that, of course, is reducing the Inflationary Pressure in the economy. Are you worried about maybe whats happening in the oil market with fuel prices . The imf have done a report saying, you know, beware premature celebration. Weve looked at the 1970s oil shock. Thats what happened then. Well, theres no premature celebration because weve got a long way to go. Yes, we are watching the oil market very carefully. I think thats important. We have to do that sort of thing. We also have to, though, be very careful in the judgments we reach on it as to how permanent its going to be, what the effects on the economy are going to be from it. So we watch it very carefully. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. Lets look at some other stories making news. The man accused of escaping from Wandsworth Prison two weeks ago has pleaded not guilty. Daniel khalife also faces charges under the secrets act and the Terrorism Attack act appeared by video at the old bailey. The metropolitan Police Firearms officer charged with the murder in last september has appeared in court and been released on bail. The 24 year old was fatally shot through the window of the car he was driving in Straaten Hill in south london. Covid i9 lockdowns have caused a Seismic Shift in the way parents view school attendance. According to a report by the policy consultancy public first. It says eight significant number of parents picking children on holiday during term time, with those breaks now being seen as socially acceptable. The cost of living process is also thought to be a factor behind low attendance. Those are some of the other stories we been taking a look at here. Youre live with bbc news. The secretary of defence in the us has welcomed the ukrainian president as ukraine continues to seek war backing against russia. President zelensky is seeking aid from the us and is due to deal with scepticism from republicans who are against more aid. This is mr zelensky� s second wartime visit To Washington and is siding trying to shore up war support despite signs of fatigue. President biden has requested another 24 billion in humanitarian and military assistance for ukraine. Another diplomat who spent time in ukraine and russia told us what he thinks support will continue. I think its going to continue, the support. Obviously, as time goes by it gets more and more difficult as the us approaches its own elections next year. It is, i suppose, an extreme wing, it has seized on the ukraine issue as something they want to push on in the traditional isolationism of us politics. But i think at the moment you can also not forget there is quite a substantial part of the Republican Party thats still quite supportive of ukraine, including, i think its still the case of significant Trump Supporters like senator lindsey graham. It is not drastic yet, but this continued effort by zelensky and ukraine to try to keep shoring up the support, keep the support coming is really, really important. Paul, this comes at a very different time. A year ago, when president zelensky, last december, when he addressed a joint session of congress, he gave Kamala Harris and nancy pelosi a ukrainian flag, which i recall was signed by soldiers whod been fighting in bakhmut. The gains that were made back then, some of them have been lost now, places like kherson. How does the Battle Map Change some of the conversations that mr zelensky� s having . One point, i dont think ukraines lost anything, theyre just not gaining as quickly as that incredible period last year. Youre in a different situation now, and i think russia is purely trying to cling on to what its taken already so its very much ukraine having to force itself forward. One of ukraines staunchest allies, poland, says after existing contracts are met, it will no longer supply arms to its war torn neighbour as a row over grain intensifies. Russia blocked many Export Routes of Ukrainian Grain following their invasion last year. This led to grain flooding the market in Central Europe and to the eu Banning Imports in order to protect its own suppliers. Last week, the Eu Import Ban was lifted, but poland along with slovenia and hungary kept it in place. Yesterday, president zelensky criticised the move at the un, sparking the reaction from the polish government. Our Eastern Europe correspondent Sarah Rainsford is in warsaw with the latest. I think its precisely because of those close ties and that really staunch support that poland has shown since the beginning of the war, since the beginning of russias full scale invasion of ukraine. I think thats why these comments are so significant because theyre not the first. You know, at the heart, this is a dispute over grain. The latest comments by the ukrainian president to the un talking about those who are resisting imports of Ukrainian Grain basically playing into russias hands, those comments went down really badly here in poland, and the backlash was instant. The government here talking again very critically of ukraine, and specifically essentially escalating it by saying, ok, were stopping the transfer of weapons. But if you look more closely at what actually the Prime Minister said, what he said was that there would be no further transfers of weapons, and then he said thats basically because poland has run out, that theyve already given all their old stocks to ukraine. Theres been huge support in the past year and a half or so, and that now poland needs to concentrate on building up its own supplies back at home. But there has been an awful lot of commentary since then from the government saying, look, were backing ukraine, we do support ukraine, but we have to protect polish interests as well. And thats not just their military interests, building up the military as i was saying there, but also about the grain. You know, the farmers here, the conservative rural voters are absolutely vital to this government, and we are in an election campaign. Its just less than a month now until elections here. The government is scrambling for every single vote. That includes those farmers votes. It also includes the voters on the more far right here in poland, who are particularly critical of ukraine and believe that ukrainians for example, here in poland, ukrainian refugees are getting too much and that poles are being suffering as a result of that. So essentially ukraine has become a card that has been played in the polish domestic elections, which is worrying precisely because poland has been such a staunch supporter of ukraine for so many months. Armenias Prime Minister says the ceasefire that ended azerbaijans 24 hour offensive in the disputed Nagorno Karabkh region was being broadly observed. Nikol pashinyan said there had been isolated violations, but he described the overall situation as stable. Earlier, talks wrapped up between the azerbaijan government and an Ethnic Armenian delegation from the breakaway region. Pictures on azerbaijani state media showed the delegations seated with representatives of a Russian Peacekeeping mission in the city of yevlakh. On wednesday, azerbaijan said it had restored full sovereignty over the disputed territory. Thursdays two hour meeting ended with an agreement to hold further talks. Earlier, i spoke to lara setrakin, who is an American Armenian Journalist and president Of Applied Policy Research at the institute of armenia. She gave me her reaction to the armenian Prime Ministers comments. Well, peace is certainly good news. Unfortunately azerbaijan created a great deal of human misery leading up to this agreement, so in a sense, it was a capitulation and it was very much under duress. The military strikes that began against Nagorno Karabakh on tuesday came after nine months of a blockade, food deprivation, limited medical supplies. So when people went down to the bunkers where they were huddled in overnight, they were very hungry and they were very much unable to sustain the strikes that azerbaijan had begun. And so what the International Community had wanted to see and what certainly armenians had wanted to see were Peace Negotiations that did not come after that onslaught of air strikes and duress. It doesnt set the tone for a very sustainable peace going forward. Its not the ideal, and that is why you saw an International Outcry over the past few days. What are your biggest concerns, then, going forward, even though there is some optimism from todays news . There was always a need to articulate the rights and the safety and the security of the armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh. That still hasnt happened. There isnt a clear path forward. There is, of course, a lot of ill will, distrust, pain and humanitarian upheaval after the past week. We dont yet know how aid is going to reach these populations. There are reports of thousands of people without food and water. Electricity was cut for an extended period of time this week. People are scared. Theyre terrified, and they dont know what comes next. Thats not exactly a recipe for a peaceful coexistence. Again, the ideal here wouldve been peace talks without a major offensive against the population. What assurances do you think Karabakh Armenians in are seeking . Traditionally they wanted International Observers, an International Peacekeeping force and some facilitation of these peace talks. Because of the circumstances, because there was so much kinetic and military activity in this area over the past week, its just not exactly the tone or tenor of peace talks that they were expecting to say the least. So some semblance of Peace Negotiation without the threat of force and the use of force would have been certainly the better way. And there were ways. I mean, every issue between baku and the armenians of Nagorno Karabakh and baku and armenia itself has a peaceful resolution. There is a peaceful option. Baku didnt need to take this approach, but it did and now we are where we are. Azerbaijans envoy to the united kingdom, ambassador elin suleymanov, joined me in the studio. He said todays talks were positive. Armenian side, the armenian representatives of the Community Asked for supplies of fuel, humanitarian aid and of course, Azerbaijan Side agreed. And we will be providing that assistance as needed. So youre guaranteeing now that after a number of months when weve heard from Karabakh Armenians whove said that they havent been able to get essential food or medical supplies because of the closure of that corridor, are you now guaranteeing that you will make sure that they get that aid and food . Yes, but not now. We always guaranteed that. In fact, the information which you have is somewhat misleading because the azerbaijani supplies of flour and medical supplies have always stood on azerbaijani offer to provide all the supplies to the armenians in karabakh. The problem was that armenians refused. They only wanted to use the word share. And here, heres something which what pushed this latest escalation. This is a very important thing. Azerbaijan for a long time insisted that armenia, according to its own commitments, should have withdrawn its troops. Republic of armenia troops from karabakh. And they havent. And we couldnt. We couldnt. Let me pick up on two points there. Lets just start with the corridor, because it has been a key route to getting people essential aid. There have been other International Observers whove said that they have feared a humanitarian crisis because this corridor has been shut for so long. So are you now saying that you are going to reopen that as a route to send essential aid to people . There is more than one road going to karabakh. Yes, but im talking about the corridor specifically. It was never closed for medical evacuation and isolation. But aid wasnt getting there, was it . There was. There was aid going for a long time. Not forthe nine, nine months blockade is not true. But what happened was then when azerbaijan established a checkpoint to make sure that Armenian Forces do not get resupplied or rotated in azerbaijani territories, Armenian Side stopped using that corridor. Thats an important point to understand. Weve been basically, what we were saying all this time turned out to be true, because armenian separatists themselves acknowledged in the Ceasefire Agreement that the armenian troops, the troops of the Republic Of Armenia will withdraw. That was a key demand. This was a key threat to the security. They themselves now acknowledge that. Were running out of time. I want to ask you one more question. What reassurances can you give to Karabakh Armenians who are still in nagorno who want to be sure that they can be integrated and that they wont be, as the Prime Minister has said before, risk of ethnic cleansing. There will be no ethnic cleansing. Weve never intended to not supply fuel and food to people who want ethnically cleansed, unlike armenians, by the way, which occupied azerbaijan in 1990. The reason there was a pull out, i mean, the population there today is because all the azerbaijani residents were ethnically cleansed. About a million people. We dont do that. Well do the opposite. Well offer to integrate in our diverse society. Lets remind you of the developing story in this hour and that if the worsening diplomatic row between canada and india. In the last hour, we have in hearing from canadas Justin Trudeau who has repeated claims that the indian agents may have been involved in the killing of a canadian At Sikh Activist with india saying those are absurd accusations. Good evening. The rather autumnal Weather Picture will continue for the end of the working week as well. Weve had more heavy rain or heavy showers today. The showers continue as we go through the night. At least itll be different to last night, when it was the persistent rain, 30 40 millimetres, that pushed through southern and eastern areas. We have had another dollop, though, of persistent rain in the north, showers in between. Now that band of rain in the north will tend to fragment to showers, but we could see further heavy, thundery showers moving into central and eastern areas, as well as a scattering elsewhere as that band of rain makes its way southwards. But in between, some clear spells and a cooler, fresher night. Notably so across southern parts of england and wales compared with last night. We move into friday, and those showers may take a couple of hours to clear away from eastern areas. And then its a day of sunny spells and scattered showers. Again, therell be some heavy showers rushing through on a strong wind. Thatll be the notable difference, i think, for most of us. That wind coming down from the north or north west, really quite strong around some of the coastlines some of the coastlines and over the hills, and pushing those showers ever southwards. So temperatures on a par with those of today, but i think it will feel a little bit cooler because of the strength of that wind. But the winds ease away, then, during the night on friday and a little ridge of high pressure, a window of drier, calmer weather. So part one of the weekend does look like the drier day at the moment. We might have some Early Morning mist and some fog around, but then in comes the rain and the cloud. Ahead of this, i think to bring it to Northern Ireland in particular. But for many of us, therell be some good spells of sunshine, 16 17 on the cards. Now, moving into saturday night, we see the remnants of this time Hurricane Nigel moving in. So theres more energy in the atmosphere. Again, some tropical moisture. So, yes, were going to see windier, wetter weather returning for sunday. Its likely, we think, that southern and eastern areas might escape the rain, certainly more cloud around and more breeze as well. This time, its changing to the south, coming up from the south or the south west. Temperatures rise actually during sunday. But with it in many areas, some fairly persistent and heavy rain, which will take a time to clear on monday. And even once it does, as you can see, its a rather showery, unsettled picture as we go into next week. More online. This is bbc news, the headlines. Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is to step down as chairman of fox and news corp. His son lachlan will head up both companies. Five people in britain are to be charged with spying for russia. The three men and two women are due in court next week. The charges follow an investigation by the metropolitan police. The deteriorating relationship between canada and india. Prime ministerJustin Trudeau repeats his claim that india was involved in the killing of a sikh man near vancouver. A of a sikh man near vancouver. Charge india mainta king of a sikh man near vancouver. Charles tours the re work king charles tours the Restoration Work at the notre dame cathedral, after being the first british monarch to address the french senate. Sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc heres marc edwards. Mercurial fly half marcus smith starts at fullback and captain owen farrell returns at legal. Smith impressed in the position after coming off the bench in recent weeks, including in the pool d win overjapan. Freddy steward is rested among the 12 changes. Farrell appears for the first time at france 2023 after a four match ban coming in for george ford, who is named as a replacement. Ollie lawrence, henry arundell, and max malins also come in, with Billy Vunipola and jack willis in the pack