hello. i'm tom donkin. welcome to bbc news. us media are reporting that president trump told senior russian officials visiting the white house that the fbi director, james comey, was crazy, and that firing him had relieved great pressure on him as president. mr comey had been running an inquiry into possible collusion between russia and donald trump's election campaign. the ex—fbi chief has agreed to testify before the senate intelligence committee about the investigation. here's laura bicker with the latest from washington. president trump is off on his first foreign trip. he might be glad to leave washington behind for a while. he tweeted he will be protecting american interest. but the president has had one of his most tumultuous was weeks in the white house the. it started with allegations he leaked

to the russians. then came reports ofa to the russians. then came reports of a memo claiming he asked the fbi director to drop an investigation into his former national security adviser. the next day it was announced a special counsel would lead an enquiry into russian meddling in the election and links between moscow and the donald trump campaign. the washington post is now reporting someone close to the president is of interest in that investigation. just as air force one took off, the new york times published this. not only did he call james comey a nightjob, he said with him gone it would relieve pressure over the fbi investigation —— nutjob. pressure over the fbi investigation -- nut job. it seems we are learning disturbing new allegations about president trump, not just disturbing new allegations about president trump, notjust every day, but ladies and gentlemen, every hour. the white house said donald trump was acting in the interests of the nation by firing james comey.

earlier this week, he described the russian enquiry at the witch—hunt. there was no collusion certainly between myself and the campaign. i can only speak for myself and the russians. zero. ithink can only speak for myself and the russians. zero. i think it divides my country. i think we have a very divided country because of that and many other things. did you at any time urged james comey in any way, shape or form, to back down on michael flynn —— urge. shape or form, to back down on michael flynn -- urge. no. no. next question. james comey will now give his side of events in public in around ten days' time. he will talk in front of senators on the intelligence committee who say they are very much looking forward to hearing his side of the story. it will be required hearing across the us where people are gripped by the political side us. donald trump is embarking on an eight day ambitious foreign trip. but what here, she is

maybe overshadowed by what happens back home. —— what he accomplishes. laura bicker, bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the self—proclaimed libyan national army says an attack on a southern airbase on thursday, claimed at least 140 lives. this included civilians and was more than twice the number originally reported. the lna forces support an administration based in tobruk. the internationally—backed libyan government in tripoli has denied ordering the attack which breached a ceasefire. yemen could have as many as 300 thousand cases of cholera within six months, and an "extremely high" number of deaths. that's according to the world health organisation. nearly 250 people have died in the past three weeks alone. brazilian president michel temer is facing widespread calls to resign after the supreme court announced he was being investigated for trying to derail a massive corruption inquiry. the allegations emerged after a plea bargain with bosses of a company. secret recordings appear to show mr temer giving his blessing

to payments of hush money to a politician jailed in the inquiry. the president's also being investigated for accepting a judge in the us state of minnesota has ruled that the six brothers and sisters of the pop star prince are the heirs to his estate. the six, including tyka, who is seen here, shortly after his death last year, will take shares of the singer's 300 million dollarfortune, although other people can still lodge claims with the court. stay with us on bbc news. still to come. theresa may is forced to defend her election pledge to scrap winter fuel payments for some pensioners, as party divisions begin to open. the serial killer, stephen port, was jailed for life last year after he killed four men. their bodies were all found outside his flat or in a churchyard nearby. yet their deaths were not initially treated as murder,

and detectives missed a number of chances to catch the killer. now, the families of the victims say they're dismayed by the slow progress of an inquiry into why police took so long to catch him. here's our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford. the graveyard in barking that was stephen port‘s dumping ground for three of the bodies of the four men he killed with the date—rape drug ghb. his first victim was 23—year—old anthony walgate, the last 25—year—old jack taylor. theirfamilies have been waiting for an investigation by the independent police complaints commission into why detectives failed to spot that there was a serial killer at work for so long. but this week they told me their patience has run out. i don't feel that the ipcc are in control of the investigation at all. i think it's the police dictating to what stage it goes, what pace it goes, which is disgusting. i think we had to fight the police to listen, and now we're having to do the same for the ipcc to move onto the next stage. stephen port used dating apps to lure the men to his home. he then gave them lethal doses of ghb.

his first victim, anthony walgate, was found outside the door of port‘s flat, the others in or near the local churchyard over the next 15 months. the police were asked on numerous occasions if the deaths could be linked. the ipcc investigation is designed to work out why detectives were so reluctant to connect them. but 20 months on, not a single police officer has been questioned. the bbc has been told that the independent police complaints commission investigation team is itself frustrated and dismayed by the delay in interviewing the officers. i understand that's being caused by the officers, the police federation and their lawyers asking for more time to examine the 7000 pages of evidence. though in public today, the ipcc was playing down the row,

saying it had agreed that the detectives should have more time. the families told me they're worried that any further delays will lead to officers forgetting why they made the decisions they did. it's like very frustrating, it's disappointing, it's like you're being let down all over again, and i think we all feel that, that we're just being let down. you shouldn't have to keep chasing things up — after everything that we've been through. it is very, very frustrating, because i really thought the ipcc would be totally independent, be more professional, and a lot faster than they have been. they want to know if police just jumped to conclusions and assumed that gay men dying from date—rape drug overdoses was something normal and not worth treating with suspicion. daniel sandford, bbc news. divisions are opening up within the conservative party over its manifesto commitment to means—test winter fuel payments for pensioners. the scottish conservative leader, ruth davidson, said she was in favour of retaining the payment for all pensioners in scotland. but, the prime minister argued it was unfair that wealthy pensioners received the money, while some families were struggling. here's our deputy political

editorjohn pienaar. would you trust her to keep things running or to run your economy? but has theresa may dropped a spanner in the works by keeping people guessing about her tax and spending plans, and then keeping pensioners guessing about who'd keep and who'd lose the winter fuel allowa nce. she wasn't giving much away. we will continue to ensure that the least well—off pensioners are protected. but if you look at the situation at the moment, we see well—off pensioners able to be supported with theirfuel bills, when struggling ordinary working families are not. i think there's a principle of fairness that underpins this. but that's not how all tories see it, especially scottish conservatives under their leader, ruth davidson, who greeted mrs may in edinburgh. the scottish tory manifesto, published today, says, "social security devolution allows us to make different choices in scotland, and so we will protect universal winter fuel payments for all older people and they will not be subject to means testing." we believe there shouldn't be means testing for the winter fuel payment.

the reason that we've said that is, as many of your viewers will acknowledge, scotland has a colder climate, we also have a different amount of housing stock, and devolution allows you to make different decisions. mrs may's answer? she's writing policy south of the border. as a government, we have given the scottish government significant powers in relation to welfare, and they make a number of decisions about various welfare benefits in scotland. you are a breath of fresh air. and who knows? more voters might feel the same ifjeremy corbyn‘s promise to protect the fuel allowance and pensions catches on. labour's been attacked over tax and spending plans critics say don't add up. now he's hitting back. what she's done is she's caused a huge amount of anxiety, she hasn't said what level she's going to change it. we think the winter fuel allowance should be kept, and it will be kept under labour, and it will be universal. just one way for the snp to go,

right at theresa may. well, i think taking the winter fuel payment away from pensioners who have worked hard and paid in all their life is just wrong. you know, the winter fuel payment is not a king's ransom. not all tories south of scotland agree with mrs may on pensioners, on policies like social care. one former minister told me they'd be opposing her, except there's an election on, and that's one reason it's happening. mrs may wants more backing for potentially unpopular decisions if public money gets tighter after brexit, and you can bet she'd hesitate to make risky promises if she wasn't so confident of winning. tories look upbeat about this campaign whether or not they always agree, but life could get tougher for them, for a lot of people afterwards, whoever wins. john pienaar, bbc news. the wikilea ks founder, julian assange, is claiming a victory after swedish prosecutors decided to drop their investigation into claims he carried out a sexual assault. but he remains in the ecuadorean embassy in london

where he took refuge five years ago. british police say if he was to leave they would still arrest him for failing to attend court. caroline hawley reports. out into the fresh air. cheering. on the balcony of the ecuadorian embassy, julian assange emerged this afternoon to have his say on the end of the swedish investigation against him. today is an important victory, for me and for the un human rights system. seven years without charge, why my children grew up without me. that is not something that i can forgive. it is not something that i can forget. but the prosecutor in sweden hasn't cleared julian assange. she said that, in his absence, she simply couldn't pursue the case any further.

translation: the decision to discontinue the investigation is not based on an assessment of the evidence but because we don't see possibilities to advance the investigation further, so we do not make any statement on the issue of guilt. this complex international drama began in 2010 when two women alleged thatjulian assange had sexually assaulted them on a visit to sweden, accusations he's always denied. he was detained in britain under a european arrest warrant. in may 2012, the supreme court upheld a decision to extradite him to sweden for questioning. and injune, mrassange walked into the ecuadorian embassy in london asking for political asylum. the metropolitan police mounted a 24—hour guard at the embassy. by october 2015, it had cost over £13 million. and it's not over yet. julian assange is no longer wanted on an international arrest warrant, but the police say that if he stepped out of the embassy, they're still obliged to arrest him

for failing to surrender to a london court back in 2012. at the embassy this evening, his supporters were jubilant. but in sweden, the woman who accused him of rape issued a statement saying he was evading justice and expressing her shock at the investigation was being shelved. julian assange was not held without charge for seven years, he was subject to extradition proceedings within the eu, under the european arrest warrant scheme. he would have received a fair trial in sweden, had he chosen to go back, and the fact that proceedings lasted seven years was entirely down to him seeking refuge in the ecuadorian embassy rather than going to face trial in a country that is governed by the rule of law. light ‘em all up. come on, fire! it was this footage of an american helicopter shooting civilians in iraq that first brought wikileaks to international attention. a flood of other state secrets followed. julian assange has always said it was his fear of extradition

to the us that drove him through the doors of the ecuadorian embassy. thanks, guys. free assange! so, despite today's dramatic twist in this long—running diplomatic and legal saga, tonight, he's back inside, not, for the moment, going anywhere. caroline hawley, bbc news. donald trump departs on his first foreign trip, leaving in his wake fresh turmoil in washington. he's reported to have told russian officials that firing his fbi chief eased "great pressure" on him. the wikileaks founderjulian assange has claimed a personal victory, after sweden dropped a long—running rape investigation against him. the polls in iran's presidential election have now closed after a high turnout forced officials to extend voting by six hours. the votes are being counted, although there have been no exit polls or official early results released so far. the incumbent president hassan rouhani is facing strong competition from the hardliner ebrahim raisi, who promises a tougher stance on the west.

now, the bbc has not been given permission to cover the election from within iran. but our middle east editor jeremy bowen has this report, which does contains flash photography. people are encouraged to vote in iran because it gives the system legitimacy, but the election, as ever, isn't free, because the candidates have to be approved by the unelected guardian council. it's looking like a close race between the main candidates. at this polling station they were supporting hassan rouhani, the current president. translation: we will stand in these queues for as long as it's needed in order not to go backwards, for the shadow of the war not to hang over people's heads. translation: i want socialjustice, social freedoms and political development, and good relations with all countries in the world. iranian elections, with all their flaws, produce vigorous campaigns and moments of political openness. candidates have traded accusations

of corruption and criticised iran's security policies. remarks that at other times could land iranians injail. iranians don't seem particularly enthused by the candidates. for many, it's a choice between bad and worse. the main challenger is ebrahim raisi. he is a veteran conservative hardliner. he is deeply suspicious of the west, and if he wins, there could be crises ahead. president hassan rouhani wants to have another term. he's a moderate who would like more openness in politics and society. rouhani was elected last time because he promised better relations with the outside world and the relaxation of economic sanctions through making a deal about iran's nuclear plans. president rouhani is running on the success of the deal in which iran accepted restrictions on its nuclear industry. if he loses, it's because voters

think he's handling the economy badly. raisi opposed the nuclear deal when it was being negotiated, but now says he'd keep it, though he insists his toughness will make sure iran stays strong. whoever‘s going to be the next iranian president, whether it be hassan rouhani or ebrahim raisi, it's going to change the tenor of iranian politics, its ability to dialogue with the international community and the west, particularly the united states, and also its relationship with its neighbours in the region. whoever wins will have to work with the supreme leader, ayatollah khomeini. in iran, he has the power and the last word. viewed from tehran, the country's a regional power with legitimate security interests and the right to help allies like the syrian regime. but that alarms its adversaries, especially the us, the saudis and israel, and that won't change.

jeremy bowen, bbc news. the former us congressman anthony weiner has pleaded guilty to sending sexually explicit messages to a teenage girl in 2016. it's likely he'll now face a prison sentence. his wife, huma abedeen, was a top aide to hillary clinton. she has now filed for divorce. our north america reporter neda tawfik has more. anthony weiner hung his head as he exited federal court, trying to ignore the throngs of press gathered to cover the fall of a once rising star of the democratic party, now soon to be sex offender. in court, the ex—congressman broke into tears as he admitted sexting and sending lewd images to a teenager who he knew was a minor. he apologised, saying he had a sickness, but not an excuse. mr weiner became infamous and a regular tabloid spread

after similar scandals in the past. in 2011, after posting a graphic image publicly to his twitter account in error, he resigned from congress after serving for 12 years as new york was a representative. i make some big mistakes and i know i let a lot of people down. two years later he would try to make a political comeback, with a run for mayor of new york. but again his pension for exchanging lewd messages with women online would ruin him and make him a pariah of the democratic party. —— penchant. but no one anticipated that his actions would append the 2016 presidential race. after the daily mail exposed his illegal exchanges with a 15—year—old, the fbi seized a laptop used by both anthony weiner and his wife huma abedin, a top aide to the democratic candidate hillary clinton. in it they found a new set of emails from hillary clinton's private server. that prompted the fbi

director at the time, james comey, to announce he was reopening the investigation into the democratic candidate for president, days before the election. hillary clinton has partly blamed mr comey‘s announcement for her ultimate defeat. i was on the way to winning until a combination ofjames comey‘s letter on october 28 and russian wikilea ks, raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me, but got scared. anthony weiner‘s impact on the clinton campaign is likely to be analysed for years to come, as one of the key twists in a truly unique election. two more astronauts have been inducted into nasa's hall of fame at a ceremony at the kennedy space centre in florida. they are michael foale, who has british and american citizenship, and ellen

ochoa from the us. both took part in numerous shuttle launches and spent time on the international space station. tim allman reports. # there's a star man waiting in the sky... space — to coin a phrase — the final frontier. mankind's exploration of the cosmos, one of its greatest achievements. and no british—born astronaut has spent more time in orbit than this man, michael foale. now, nasa is honouring him by inducting him into their hall of fame. a moment of pride, and some poignance. i returned, yesterday, from the uk,

because my mum died, three weeks ago. but the good — the happy part of this is she died in cambridge, and before she died, and she knew i was going to be honoured here. in his 26—year career, he served aboard the international space station and the russian mir platform. he also helped prepare the hubble space telescope, spending more than a year in orbit. —— repair. also being honoured was dr ellen ochoa, the first hispanic woman in space, and now the director of thejohnson space centre. i remember that one of the first pieces of advice i got when ijoined the astronaut office was that, ok, there are really only two ways to mess up as an astronaut. number one, failing to follow procedures exactly as written, and number two, following

the procedures exactly as written. so, the nasa hall of fame grows ever—larger. a collection of individuals, but also a team who had the right stuff. tim allman, bbc news. a new record has been set for the work of an american artist. a painting byjean—michel basquiat has sold for a huge $110 million. he came to fame as a graffiti artist in the 1970s and died of a heroin overdose atjust 27 years old. our arts editor will gompertz reports. $57 million. $58 million. the moment is about to arrive at sotheby‘s last night. $65 million on the telephone. when the american neo—expressionist painterjean—michel basquiat, who died nearly 30 years ago. is that a bid, sir? $69 million. ...hit the big—time. the hammer is up, sir. i'm selling it on this side of the room.

it's yuki's bid. a fair warning and selling, thank you, sir, for $98 million. thank you, yuki, congratulations. the sale price when commissions are included puts him in the exclusive auction house $100 million plus club. along with pablo picasso and francis bacon. we definitely had an idea that everybody felt that it was a masterpiece but the air gets pretty thin at those sort of levels financially. so, of course, the previous record price was less than half what we've achieved this evening so you're going into very new territory. the buyer, yusaku maezawa, a japanese online fashion retailer, was delighted, he said, at winning this past piece, which is great. —— this masterpiece. but why might he have be willing to pay so much? it's the kind of rock and roll way he put images and text together, it's extremely influential. that mixed with a kind of expressionistic style of painting, added to the fact that he is, you know, a black american artist.

it's a kind of explosive mix. that's andy warhol. to that you could now add the almost mythical nature of basquiat‘s shortlife, which was immortalised and romanticised in this biopic with his friend and mentor andy warhol played by david bowie. who himself became a collector of the one—time street artist's work. whatever one thinks of the eye watering auction price paid for the work there is no question that jean—michel basquiat fits into the story of modern art. his paintings reference the so—called low art ofjean dubuffet. .. there's something ifind quite alarming about that picture. ..and the expressionism of vincent van gogh and the street art scene of 1970s new he is a significant figure in the canon. —— new york. of course, nobody knows whether his paintings can sustain $100 million prices but given most are still held privately, the chances are will find out fairly soon. will gompertz, bbc news. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @tomdonkinbbc.

here's the weather with jay wynne. hello, there. good morning. it's quite wet across the north and north—east of the united kingdom, through the small hours of this morning, quite breezy, too, in the north—east. further south and west, some bright spells but a spattering of showers. elsewhere, much lighter winds, away from the south—west, and there is a scattering of showers to be had, but also some clear spells. and with the clear spells, it is a little bit chilly, major towns and cities, nine, 10 degrees, rural spots a few degrees below that. so yes, it will be a bit chilly for some, first thing. and pretty wet, actually, for much of the day, crossing north and north—east of scotland. the south and west fares a bit better through the morning. and in northern ireland, there will be some cloud and outbreaks of rain around, but that will tend to fragment. scattered showers in some parts of northern england, but largely dry for manchester across towards hull, at least through the morning.

but already, we are seeing showers getting going across wales and the south—west of england. some of those can be a sharp side, from fairly early on, but get down towards the midlands, much of east anglia, and the south—east, and it is largely dry and bright through the morning. but we will season showers getting going. the cloud amounts will increase. the showers will then follow. in some of the showers could turn out to be quite heavy, with a few rumbles of thunder. but it is more like persistent rain across the north and the east of scotland. and there will be quite chilly, as well, and the east of scotland, maybe only 11 degrees in aberdeen. 16 in belfast. about 17 or 18 at the very best of the south—eastern corner. scottish premiership action under way. showers at hamilton, and probably wetter weather in inverness. we also have some premier league action. i suspect we will see some rain at times, and in the liverpool area, those showers could be frequent — and that will keep it on the cool side, as well. now, as we go through the evening, a lot of those showers will tend to fade away. we will keep few going in the northern scotland in particular. but even that tends to move away towards the north.

so by sunday, we are starting on a dry note for most places. it will be chilly, once again, first thing, but dry and bright weather, particulary further south and east, with lighter winds. it will feel warmer — 19—20 degrees here. a few degrees cooler in the north and west. there we will see some rain. so to sum up the weekend, saturday will see heavy showers, but also some spells of sunshine. so sunday looks the better of the two days, because it looks mostly dry, with very few showers around, and it will be a little bit warmer, as well. that warming trend continues into monday for some of us, because we have the southerly breeze ahead of an area of high pressure. that will bring wetter, windier weather to the northwest. head down towards, the south and east, a warm breeze coming in from the south—east. dry and bright. and quite warm, it 22 or 23 degrees by monday afternoon. this is bbc world news. the headlines: us media are reporting that president donald trump told russian officials that firing fbi directorjames comey eased "great pressure" on him.