and only modest gains. here's paul adams. picking up the pace. could ukraine's counter—offensive, slow—going sincejune, be gathering momentum? in recent days, a few tentative signs. some units do appear to have broken through russia's formidable first lines of defence, south of zaporizhzhia. translation: further on, that's |where we see their supply roads. i they use these roads. i'm sure we'll go faster from here. i don't want my guys to think that they can relax now. they know we're moving on to liberate all of our territories. he says he's looking forward to leading his men all the way to the sea. but that's a long, long way. and this fighting is really hard. success is still far from guaranteed. away from the front lines, the country is now in mourning for one of its best—known heroes. this was andriy pilshchikov, callsign �*juice�*, flying combat missions last year. when russia invaded, few gave ukraine's air force much chance of getting off the ground. but from dogfights over kyiv to the interception of russian cruise missiles, juice was part of an elite force, fighting against extraordinary odds. he and two other senior pilots were killed on thursday — not in combat, but on a training flight. theirjets colliding over a village. the pilots managing — just — to avoid the houses below. ukrainians revere their pilots. a year and a half after russia's full scale invasion, their status as national heroes is well established. president zelensky said the death of andriy pilshchikov and two of his colleagues was a disaster. juice was due to start training on american—made f—16s in a matter of weeks. when the first jets finally arrive early next year, he won't be around to fly them. pauladams, bbc news, kyiv. a man and a woman have died after being trapped in a car on a flooded road in liverpool. police say it's thought the vehicle was submerged under a bridge and they are appealing for witnesses. flood warnings remain in place for parts of merseyside. our reporter mairead smyth is at the scene of the incident. police were called to assist merseyside fire and rescue service, who were attempting to free a man and woman who had become trapped in their mercedes car. they'd become trapped in floodwater just under the bridge behind me on saturday night after heavy rain fell in this area of liverpool. now, this is a road that does become flooded in times of heavy rain, but police are trying to work out just what happened and how the man and woman became trapped in their car. passers by attempted to help the fire and rescue service and police to free the man and woman and emergency services then took them to hospital, where they were pronounced dead. next of kin have been informed and police are appealing for anyone with footage from phones, dash cams or doorbells that may help paint a picture of what happened here on saturday night. i reporter, mairead smyth. recent flooding in china has claimed more than 80 lives — and also caused vast economic damage. what has also shocked many there, is that the floods struck parts of the country that aren't normally subject to these types of natural disasters. chinese scientists are blaming climate change, warning that extreme weather events are hitting the country more frequently, and with greater devastation than ever before. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell visited luoxingdun island, in the country's flood plain in the south and also, to the town of zhuozhou in the north, which is normally flood—free. here is his special report. china's recent floods hit hard in parts of the country not accustomed to them. and its meteorological administration says both extreme temperatures and precipitation have definitely increased in recent decades. it's one thing to talk about climate change in the abstract, quite another to consider real human impacts. this whole town is having to rebuild after the recent floods and all these businesses, they've been completely trashed by the floodwaters, and the people here, they don't know how they're going to be able to get back to the way their lives were. both this man's shops in zhuozhou in hebei province were submerged by the floodwaters. translation: it will take me 8-10j years to recover from these losses. the government has not said whether it will compensate us. another man who runs a warehouse said even goods stored high up were destroyed. his wife showed us their mud—filled home. translation: i can't describe how i felt when i saw this. _ our life's work, it's over. every year, china's flooding seems worse, and official statistics appear to confirm it. in 2011, the country recorded around six floods a month during the summer. but this year, there are ten times as many. the impact has even struck china's overall food supply. in august, 40% of the famous wuchang rice crop was wiped out by flooding. translation: i've never seen floods here in all my life. _ this is the first time. translation: when i saw the water hit here, i cried. | oui' crops are gone. i lost everything. it's hard to calculate. then in the south, where flooding is supposed to happen, there are fears of a drought closing in. this man grew up next to poyang lake and drives a boat out to luoxingdun island when there's enough water. translation: this year's water level is very low. i old people say this has only occurred once before, in the early 1950s. since the song dynasty 1,000 years ago, the temple has been surrounded by water during the rainy season. recent droughts have exposed it much earlier. a couple of months ago, all of this was underwater. but as the waters have receded, the island behind me has become accessible by land. and this historic site has become something of an environmental barometer to measure whether water levels are where they should be at any given time of year. extreme weather is focusing attention on climate change in china, but can this huge country combine with the rest of the world quickly enough to do something about it? stephen mcdonell, bbc news, jiangxi province. from midnight tonight, the cost of driving anywhere in london will increase, as the whole city becomes the world's largest ultra low emission zone. owners of the most polluting vehicles will have to pay a daily charge of £12.50 for driving in the zone, as tom edwards reports. the ultra low emission zone or ulez expands out to cover all of london tonight at midnight. it means your vehicle has to comply with emissions standards or you have to pay £12.50 a day. it will operate 2a hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year apart from christmas day. the changes have made life difficult at this car dealership in windsor. we are struggling. 0ne, we can't find the stock at the prices we're used to paying. prices are just escalating so fast. and then what we're finding is if we do secure vehicles at a higher cost, that cost, the additional cost gets pushed onto the customer, which they're not happy to pay. so it's not viable. the principle behind the ultra low emission zone, or ulez, is that the polluter pays and the aim is to get drivers to switch away from older, more polluting vehicles. broadly, what that means is if you've got a petrol vehicle that was first registered before 2005 or a diesel first registered before 2015, you'll have to pay the £12.50 a day charge. you can check if your vehicle is compliant on the tfl website. city hall says this scheme will bring cleaner air to millions. improving the air is an incredibly important thing for us to be doing and all and any increase in air quality is to be welcomed, because it leads to a corresponding reduction in the number of premature deaths. that's the responsible thing to be doing. but opponents say the nine month lead—in time was too quick and the costs are too high. five councils failed to get it stopped in court, and many councils in the home counties aren't allowing advanced warning signs on their land. nonetheless, from midnight tonight, the largest pollution charging zone in the world begins. tom edwards, bbc news. transport correspondent katy austin has been following the story. i'm standing in eltham in south east london, right on the edge of the existing ultra low emission zone, and that sign there tells drivers they're entering the current zone. but from tomorrow, ulez is expanding to cover a much bigger area — all london boroughs. and that includes some quite big destinations — heathrow airport, wembley stadium, chessington world of adventures to name a few. and that means drivers going into that expanded area will all have to pay the £12.50 daily charge if their vehicle doesn't meet certain emissions standards. so it's older, most polluting vehicles that are being targeted by the ulez charge. that has led to a lot of people looking at how they can switch vehicles, particularly if they either live in london or drive in to the city for work every day. there is some financial help available for londoners if they want to scrap their existing car and get one that does comply. grants of up to £2,000 are available and more than 13,000 are said to have been approved so far. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, has insisted that expanding ulez is a necessary step to help to clean up the air and improve public health. but there has been a lot of criticism, including for the financial impact on people and businesses at a time of very high cost of living pressures. some councils are very unhappy about it. five conservative run councils mounted a legal challenge. that failed. some neighbouring councils are still refusing to put up ulez warning signs on roads into london. but after all the debate and discussion we've seen in recent months over whether this is the best way to clean up the air without hitting people too hard in the pocket, tomorrow, ulez is expanding as planned. that was katy austin. staying with vehicles... earlier this month, san francisco voted to allow driver—less—taxis — which they call robotaxis — to operate 2a hours a day. passengers have to book and pay for the journey via an app. but after a high profile accident, there are renewed safety concerns, and some people are detirmined to get them off the roads. here's james clayton. one of the things that surprises many visitors when they arrive in san francisco are these things, driverless robo—taxis. they're all over the city. this is me ordering one on my phone. one minute away, there's a cab just around the corner. but before i could even get in, a member of the public approached us with a warning. i think you're unsafe, because i saw a guy that was in the crosswalk at night, almost got hit by it. well, thank you very much, sir, cheers. not exactly the ideal thing to hearjust before you get into a cab with no driver. i've been in these cars a few times now and it never changes. it's always totally surreal. it always feels nerve—racking when you first start, and it's really surprising how quickly itjust becomes totally normal. but the first few sort of roads you come across, tjunctions, you're kind of always slightly apprehensive. let's see how this does. 0ur ride was perfectly uneventful, but the city itself is divided over these cabs run by two companies, waymo and cruise. earlier this month, san francisco officials green—lighted the use of robo—taxis for 24—hour use, only to then restrict their use after an accident between a driverless cab and a fire engine. authorities are investigating. the flip—flopping is emblematic of a city unsure about whether to embrace these robo—taxis. and some have even taken to the streets in protest. a group called safe streets rebel has been disabling the cars by putting cones on their bonnets. a video they put out injuly has gone viral. first, find a cone. make sure their car is empty. and repeat. it's not entirely clear whether what they're doing is legal. so a spokesperson for the group agreed to be interviewed under the condition of anonymity. how would you describe your group? are you vigilantes? are you a campaigning group? what are you? we're definitely not vigilantes. i think we'rejust a group of people. we don't like cars and we're doing what we can about it. however, driverless car companies have hit back, saying what the group is doing is bad for road users and is vandalism. waymo says what you're doing is vandalism. how do you respond to that? it's not vandalism, because that requires property damage, and we're not damaging anything. as soon as you take the cone off, the cars are right back to working condition and on their way. they hope to expand across america and beyond. but others here in the city hope they ultimately fail to convince authorities the technology is ready. james clayton, bbc news, san francisco. europe's biggest street party, the notting hill carnival, wraps up today, bringing the streets of west london alive with music, vibrant colours and extravagant costumes. it was all smiles and dancing, as the annual extravaganza kicked off with the children's day parade on sunday. jon donnison has the story. musical youth. europe's biggest street festival kicked off over the weekend with the traditional children's parade. feathers and a whistle the order of the day. i love it! why do you love it? it's just fun, everyone's vibing and it's chill. do you guys agree? yeah! ahead of today's main event, sunday at the carnival has more of a family focus. i love it, i love the vibes, love the dancing, love the food. ijust thought i'd bring the kids out here to experience the good vibe. absolutely love it, it's so amazing, honestly. important to show our children the caribbean history from our parents coming over here and what they used to do. so it's carrying on the tradition of coming to carnival. and, of course, part of that tradition is the music. some of it up tempo... # summertime... ..some a little more laid back. this group comes to carnival every year on roller skates. and by the end of the bank holiday weekend, more than two million people are expected to have attended. jon donnison, bbc news. in its continued commitment to bring live events right into the heart of its audiences, for the first time, bbc news will be live streaming notting hill carnival. as millions flock to london tojoin europe's biggest street party, for those that cannot be there, all the action will be streamed live from 1pm on bank holiday monday. head to bbc iplayer. the paris paralympics will get under way in exactly one year today and great britain are looking to build on the success they enjoyed in tokyo two years ago. they won a total of 124 medals, including 41 golds. andy swiss has been to find out more about how preparations for next year's games are going. ready to make an impact. britain's para table tennis team preparing for next month's european championships, but they know the ultimate goal is exactly one year away. rob davies won paralympic gold at rio in 2016 and, after missing the last games through injury, he told me the paris paralympics can't come soon enough. yeah, it's a huge motivation. paris is onlyjust over the pond and it would be nice if all my family could get over there to watch me. that's been my real fire, really, to get to paris. and i'm just going to keep going and hopefully i'll qualify and then hopefully i can do some good. britain's recent paralympic form certainly bodes well. they finished second in the medals table in tokyo, winning 41 golds. so what can they expect in paris? well, earlier this month, the city held a test event in paratriathlon. it wasn't entirely smooth. the swimming leg had to be cancelled because of the river seine's water quality. but it showed off the city's famous beauty and its sporting appetite. after covid meant there were no fans in tokyo, they're hoping for more than three million next year — a new paralympic record. to give to the athletes the, let's say, platform that they deserve, which is full stadia, spectators, viewers around the world. but, you know, to feel the warmth of the crowds will be amazing for that. and i do believe these games will be transformational, not only in paris, not only in france, but around the world. so i can't wait for these games to happen. great britain's most decorated paralympian ever. and britain once again will be hoping to lead the way. this summer has seen an array of impressive performances, from dame sarah storey�*s 36th paracycling world title to another wimbledon crown for alfie hewitt and gordon reid. the challenge now is to make sure next year's celebrations are even bigger. andy swiss, bbc news. it's been sitting on a hillside in 0xfordshire for 3,000 years and can be seen for miles around, the uffington white horse — a chalk image which belongs to the national trust, has been designated a scheduled monument. a scheduled monument is a site that's legally protected because of its historical importance. volunteers were out at the weekend to help in its annual clean up. geeta pendse reports. seen from miles away, the uffington white horse in 0xfordshire is considered britain's oldest chalk figure. leaping across the head of the ridgeway slope, it's thought to date back to the late bronze age, around 3,000 years old. and it's thanks to the annual work of volunteers on the ground that means we can still see this ancient animal marking. yes, a bitjust over there. using around 15 tonnes of chalk extracted from a local quarry, volunteers have travelled from near and far to help with the weeding and re—chalking. my wife grew up in a village just down there and i grew up on the other side of the world, but i remember reading books about the white horse and it's amazing to be able to add something to it. i'm researching a book on british art and this is 3,000 years old. so i thought what better way to get hands—on with british art than to come and do a bit of weeding, as it turns out. and i saw you pounding away. how do you find it? it's harder work than i thought it was going to be. but, yeah, i'll take a break and go back to my parents if i have to. have a strong wrist, because it can be very tiring, and be dedicated because it's a lot of fun. not only restoring and maintaining this wonderful figure that we've i got, but also an opportunity for people to actually - get hands on heritage. we say that we want - you to understand that you're in the footsteps of the ancestors. without human intervention, - the horse would simply grow over, over about 20 years. and for people to be able - to contribute to its legacy and then go away and look back and say, | well, hey, i did my bit that day, kept the horse going — . it's the feel—good factor. there's certainly a feel—good factor for layla and her family who travelled two and a half hours from dudley. well, you get dirty and if you get dirty, then you're having a lot of fun, and that's always the way. what's the best bit about hammering? er, you feel powerful, like thor. over the centuries, the annual re—chalking became a well—known large—scale public event — so much so that, in 1857, it had to be banned because 30,000 visitors showed up, many reluctant to go. well, now, it's carefully managed by the national trust so that people can take part whilst also protecting this figure. and preserving the figure is going to require more than just re—chalking. since the 1980s, archaeologists have been noticing the white horse become thinner and now there are plans to restore its original outline. in particular, the neck of the horse was starting to narrow quite a lot. so the project involved a drone survey comparing the imagery taken from that to an image taken in 1939, aerial photograph, overlaid one on the other and that said to us that in 80 years, the figure had diminished by almost 50%. so it is important to take steps to start rectifying that. for the time being, though, keeping the uffington horse white is the task at hand, or, if you're feeling a bit sleepy, a task for dad. an indigenous canadian totem pole — which is more than 11 metres tall — is to be returned to canada, nearly a century after it was removed without consent and sold to the national museums of scotland. a ceremony is taking place in edinburgh today to prepare it for the 4,200 mile journey home to its original home. it is the first item of its type to be handed back by a uk museum. i'm really pleased that it will be returning to its home where its spiritual, culturaland returning to its home where its spiritual, cultural and historical significance is mostly fell and i've been pleased we've been able to use a procedure to work with the family to help make this happen. i think this is the first example of this type of transfer from a national museum within the uk. we type of transfer from a national museum within the uk.- type of transfer from a national museum within the uk. we are doing the riaht museum within the uk. we are doing the right thing _ museum within the uk. we are doing the right thing and _ museum within the uk. we are doing the right thing and so _ museum within the uk. we are doing the right thing and so our— museum within the uk. we are doing the right thing and so our heart - museum within the uk. we are doing the right thing and so our heart is - the right thing and so our heart is at peace — the right thing and so our heart is at peace and we are establishing a new relationship with scotland in bringing — new relationship with scotland in bringing that home. we are also in some _ bringing that home. we are also in some ways — bringing that home. we are also in some ways still recognising that we have had _ some ways still recognising that we have had many generations of family members. _ have had many generations of family members, especially our matriarch sent chiefs, — members, especially our matriarch sent chiefs, many of whom wanted to brin- sent chiefs, many of whom wanted to bring this_ sent chiefs, many of whom wanted to bring this pole home and could not do it within — bring this pole home and could not do it within their lifetimes and recognising that these people within our family— recognising that these people within our family won't be present, unfortunately they've already passed away into _ unfortunately they've already passed away into the spirit world, and they have many— away into the spirit world, and they have many children and others who will he _ have many children and others who will be feeling that great coming knowing — will be feeling that great coming knowing their parents have not had that opportunity. but at the same time, _ that opportunity. but at the same time, i_ that opportunity. but at the same time, i think we're feeling very uplifted — time, i think we're feeling very uplifted and feeling like this will be uplifted and feeling like this will he an_ uplifted and feeling like this will be an historic moment for our nation for scollang — now — a rather magical record breaking event, which took place in hamburg in germany — where more than 1,700 harry potter fans gathered in costume to celebrate the fictional wizard. there were plenty of wands on display — plus of course the scar on the forehead — at the event which celebrated the 25th anniversary of the publication of the first harry potter book in germany. in case you are wondering, the previous record for a gathering of harry potter lookalikes stood at 997. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. the weather over the next few days is going to be fairly quiet. but if you have an allergy to weed pollen, it's worth mentioning that the levels today are high across much of england and also all of wales. the forecast for today is one of sunny spells and a few showers. the showers fairly well scattered and there will be fewer of them than there were at the weekend. so what we have is a lot of sunshine around, variable amounts of cloud. again, the cloud producing the odd shower here and there. but for most of us, we'll miss them. and by the end of the afternoon, we'll be starting to see the cloud thicken up in the western isles, heralding the arrival of a weather front that will later bring in some rain. temperatures, 1a to 21 degrees. with light winds if you're in the sunshine, that will feel quite pleasant. and, in fact, if you're off to the notting hill carnival today, it should be mostly dry, there'll be some sunny spells. at times, there'll be areas of cloud coming across and you could catch the odd shower, but highs up to 20 degrees. now through this evening and overnight, our weatherfront continues to move southwards across scotland, getting into northern ireland and by the end of the night, northern england. behind it, some clear skies with a few showers. ahead of it, quite a bit of cloud with some clear skies. and in ruralareas, it will be a chilly night. these temperatures you see there indicate what you can expect in towns and cities. so tomorrow, our weather front continues to push southwards as a weak affair, bringing in a bit more cloud and a few showers. the showers persist across scotland. it will be breezy in the northwest. in between, once again, we're looking at some sunny skies, with highs 1a to about 21 degrees north to south. then beyond that, as we head into wednesday, still some showers around across the north, and parts of the west. in between, there'll be a lot of dry weather, variable amounts of clouds, some sunshine. but through the afternoon, we could well see some heavier showers, sharp showers across eastern scotland and eastern england and some of those could also be thundery. top temperatures up to 20 degrees. during the course of thursday, we've got this band of rain coming in from the southwest. it looks like it's going to push that bit further north across parts of england and wales, possibly as far north as northern ireland. but it should stay dry in scotland and our temperatures ranging from 1a in the north to a high of about 20 degrees as we push down to the south. live from london, this is bbc news. police forces in england and wales are told every theft must be investigated as the home secretary says she wants to see radical change and tackling minor crimes. the cost of driving anywhere in london will increase from midnight as a whole city becomes the world's largest ultralow emission zone. spain's football federation will hold an urgent meeting in response to the controversy surrounding its president lewis robbie alice after he kissed a player on the lips. france will ban students from wearing robes worn by some muslim women in state—run schools. hello, i'm luxmy gopal. police forces in england and wales have committed to pursuing all reasonable lines of inquiry in an effort to solve more crimes. the government says it wants to make it clear there is no such thing as a minor crime. with a clampdown focusing on offences such as car theft and shoplifting.