president trump's eldest son has said he's willing to testify before the senate intelligence committee about the meeting he's admitted having with a russian lawyer during last year's election. donald trumpjunior met the contact, believed to have links to the kremlin, because she said she had damaging information about hillary clinton. celebrations in iraq after the prime minister's declaration of victory over the extremist group, the so—called islamic state in mosul. prime minister abadi described it as a triumph over darkness, brutality and terrorism. the head of the us—led coalition has warned is is still not completely defeated. nasa'sjuno probe is gathering close—up data for the first time ofjupiter‘s great red spot. the probe passed 9,000 kilometres above the planet. the spot is a vast, centuries—old storm. scientists want to examine the composition of the clouds and what lies beneath them. now on bbc news, time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk.

zimbabwe is gripped by a severe drought which has left a third of its 15 million people dependent on food aid. the state is running out of dollars, workers go unpaid and unemployment is very high — a dire situation that presents the opposition in the country with an opportunity in nationwide elections in 2018. my guest today is welshman ncube, who leads his own faction of the zimbabwean opposition party movement for democratic change, known as mdc—n. the main opposition parties have now formed an alliance, but can they put aside their differences and focus on defeating president mugabe and his ruling zanu—pf? welshman ncube, welcomed to

hardtalk. -- welshman ncube, welcomed to hardtalk. —— welcome. your new opposition alliance is moving too slowly. there are other opposition forces that are filling the vacuum? firstly, it is not moving as fast as we would want to move. the important thing is that it has been confirmed across the political spectrum that it is absolutely necessary that we should come together, that we should create a single corner, which is claimed to sign in the regime change next year. i am happy and confident, that at the end of all these processors, we will have an

effective and inclusive coalition of all opposition parties who are interested in challenging the regime together. let me tell you what i mean. the younger generation, particularly, are very much taking up particularly, are very much taking up the charge at a grassroots level. social media is becoming critical. that is where the opposition lies. we have seen demonstrations becoming much more common, and they are seizing the initiative from you. much more common, and they are seizing the initiative from youm is correct that the young people are impassioned, it is correct that they are using more modern ways of communicating. things like facebook and twitter, they are all talking to each other and talking to us. i think that is something to be commended rather than complained of by the mainstream opposition. what

is necessary is how we can put together linkages with the young people who are active on the ground, to ensure that we harness that energy and that anger towards the elections in 2018, so that the young people can actually vote and express themselves through the only thing which will deliver change, which is speaking out. is more than just the means that young people are using. it is actually the personalities who have emerged on the scene as better leaders than you, perhaps. there is a young pastor who started a social media campaign against president mugabe. he is calling on zimbabweans to be the agent that change the government, he says their generation must realise that we cannot

subcontract our struggle through the previous one, and we cannot mortgage it to their selfish desires. he is critical of your generation for failing to deliver. that is very understandable. we encourage new leaders, we encourage young people to be part of this strategy. what is important at the end of the day is that, when we get to the elections, we come together, young and old. so that we can fight from the same corner. i do not think that we should be concerned that the young people are doing what they are doing. ido people are doing what they are doing. i do not think we should complain that they have raised issues that we have not succeeded with in the past. such as relieving our country from mugabe's dictatorship. i don't think those things should unduly concern us. what should be of concern is how we

can harness those energies, how we can harness those energies, how we can work together, how we can agree ona can work together, how we can agree on a common ground to get to the next election. it is very good that young people are doing what they are doing. work together to the extent that you may have a young person standing in the presidential elections in 2018? the past we spoke has said he is toying with the idea. it is possible that he and others are toying with the idea. what i have said is important is that we must remain engaged with them as political players. we must talk to each other. we need a civil society in its various manifestations to work with us. we can collectively agree on and so that we give ourselves a realistic chance of

defeating mugabe. you are saying it's a possibility the charismatic, young 39—year—old could be an opposition candidate in the elections? that is a distinct possibility? i am saying that we should talk to each other as political partners in civil society, andi political partners in civil society, and i am saying that the ruler of the opposition is yet to be determined, and i hope when that person is determined, they will be realistic enough to understand the capacity and be ways to defeat mugabe. not in an idealistic way. that does not sound like a ringing endorsement. the point i am trying to make is that you say yes, it does extend their hands to the young generation. more than 75% of zimbabwe's generation. more than 75% of zimba bwe's population generation. more than 75% of zimbabwe's population is under 35. however, voters of that age group

are only 5%. that is because they are only 5%. that is because they are disillusioned and are looking for alternatives. the leader of the african democratic party says, i don't see the situation changing because these people lack integrity. she says, we cannot have the same current players that we have, so why not just move off current players that we have, so why notjust move off the stage? the example that you are giving of muscling, of the african democratic party, they just signed muscling, of the african democratic party, theyjust signed up to join the coalition of democrats, which is in the efforts of talking to everybody to ensure that we build that all—inclusive coalition to fight the next election —— marcelline. what is critical at the

end of the day is that we come together, that by agreement and consensus we agree on the person who should be the opposition leader in the forthcoming election. i do not think it should be about putting anybody off the stage, i do not think it should be the young people being impassioned, it should be a recognition that we are in special circumstances, we are in a national crisis which requires collective unity. we need the young people, we need the old people, but more importantly about the young people, in the previous elections, we have had a situation where a great number of young people are not registered to vote. 0ur challenge for next year is to ensure that this time around, the young people get to be registered, get to buy into the

political struggles, and crucially, on election day, they get to vote for the candidate and coalition. do it is opposition alliance that you formed a couple of months ago. it is yourfaction of formed a couple of months ago. it is your faction of the mdc—n and the vetera n your faction of the mdc—n and the veteran opposition leader, whose party is known as mdc—t. there is also another veteran who is now heading her national people's party. you have all come together. in april, you said that the understanding between you was that building blocks towards beginning to building blocks towards beginning to build an opposition. you are still using words like beginning, building. you should have started yea rs building. you should have started years ago. it is a bit late. building. you should have started years ago. it is a bit latelj building. you should have started years ago. it is a bit late. i agree that we should have been where we are today, maybe one year or two yea rs are today, maybe one year or two years ago. it is better late than

never. we should recognise that time is of the essence, there is less than a year to the actual proclamation of an election. we deserve the criticism that we have not a word with the speed and urgency that is required. but we are acting and we are moving forward. we are talking to each other. we are talking to each other on a daily basis. we have a view to complete this as early as possible. i accept no contest at all that that is late in the day, but better late than never. you said in april that you would apologise to zimbabweans for the splitting, you also said that he would vary the hatchet. what exactly what —— was that apology for? what are the differences between you two?

because of the mdc—n, and the movement for democratic change split in 2005. that is well known. we disagreed on a number of things. what we are apologising for in that time, we needed to spend more time talking to each other. we needed to spend more time finding ways of remaining together and resolving those differences, rather than walking away from each other in seeking to pursue the problem from different corners. that has resulted in where we are today. that struggle did not succeed because we dissipated our energies and fought from different corners. we acknowledge that to remain united, and if we had remained united, we probably would have defeated mugabe a long time ago. thank you for

clarifying that. the deputy to more than tanqueray, the best—known of the opposition candidates who stood in the past against mugabe, he says that his boss is a natural leader of the grand coalition. however, he did reveal that he has cancer. is more than perhaps to seek to leave the ground coalition? -- lead. i am not a medical person to be able to speak about president changarri's health. i have met him a number of times over the past few months, we have had very extensive discussions. i have not gotten the impression that he is in any medical state which will hinder our progress. if it is

an inclusive protest and coalition, i believe it will succeed. from interactions with him, i do not share the medical concerns that some might express. but i am not a medical doctor. what is important is that we must keep in mind that, up until now, president changarri is the only person who has previously defeated mugabe in an election. we must recognise that from previous elections, he has secured the highest number of votes and it is important, whatever coalition we build, to ensure that those who have supported him all along our able to continue to support the collective position that we will agree on. you are referring to the contested result in 2008? it is worth reminding you that in 2013, mugabe

won 61% of the vote. changarri won 34% of the vote, and your faction wonjust 3%. 34% of the vote, and your faction won just 3%. one 34% of the vote, and your faction wonjust 3%. one professor said, despite the unreliability of the electoral what —— watchdogs in zimbabwe, he believed that mugabe won the election. you talked about a collective view as to who should be the presidential candidate for the united opposition. who is it? you said it could be changarri, the representative from the national people's party said, i am going to make a bid for it as well. there is you, presumably. who will it be? we don't know who it will be. we need to agree on who it will be. what we are underlining is the

importance of using objective criteria in coming to the determination of who that candidate should be and one important tool is that when we agree on that particular candidate, we must all do so unconditionally in the rally behind that candidate if we are to have a fighting chance in dislodging robert mugabe from power. you just summarised the 2013 result and that is what we have to reverse. who is going to be the presidential candidate? 0ne zimbabwean analyst says, all the cla ptrap candidate? 0ne zimbabwean analyst says, all the claptrap about the coalition, borders around who should lead and not what the coalition should deliver and that is the point. you are alljockeying for position, wanting to be the top person. on the contrary, the conversations which are taking place right now about the details of the

coalition structure, details of policy positions which the coalition should push on to pursue should it win the election, they are about discussing what sort of things we will do to implement the unimplemented elections at the local government and parliamentary level and so forth and... but who will stand against president mugabe? the election is next year, surely we should know. is it you, or is it joice mujuru, is a morgan tsvangirai, or is it another person? i don't know it will be. i have an opinion on who it should be. can you tell us? discussions are ongoing. it will be inappropriate for me and in bad faith while we are talking to

others to come on hardtalk and express that personal opinion. could it be you? they might find comfort in declaring themselves... could it be you? it could be anybody we agree on. if it's you, can i put to you a quote which i'm sure you must be familiar with by now. in 2012, according to wikileaks, christopher dell, then the outgoing ambassador to zimbabwe, said that welshman ncube has proved to be a divisive and destructive player in the opposition ranks and the sooner he is pushed off the stage, the better. yes, he did say that, and what is the question? perhaps you might be too divisive figure to be a potential candidate, to stand against robert mugabe next year? zeinab, if that was true, it will

follow the day on the day we agree on the candidate, it will not be a person with a collective leadership regards as divisive. i do not accept that assessment but this is not about me, it is about us coming with about me, it is about us coming with a candidate that has the potential and the capacity to rally the people, to motivate the people to defeat the mugabe regime. i would rather we not personalise it and i would rather we do not pre—empt the conversations that are taking place. all i know is that we, in selecting a candidate to lead that coalition, we must choose a person, one who will be able to unify all of us and two, a person who has sufficient support at the grassroots level to rally as many voters to our side as possible, a person that we will be able to work with post— victory to

deliver change. you said you are working on a strategy and frankly the problems persisting zimbabwe are huge. two thirds of people in poverty, a quarter currently need food aid. we know that a national debt is approaching three time ——3 times gdp, budget deficit out of control, civil servants cannot draw their salaries from banks. the state of affairs cannot go on and you have people, seasoned observers like our politics lecturer at the university of zimbabwe, who says politics will fail because they don't have a strategy to tackle all these issues. what we have, as an opposition, we are criticised a great deal by academics, by intellectuals, by

social commentators, at cetera and i say too much of that criticism, it is merited but what is important is to recognise that we realise the challenges that we face are immense. the national crisis is deep. the country will only sink deeper into this quagmire of we do not deliver change in 2018. we are talking to each other. we are going to develop a strategy, that we are going to do everything that we can to ensure that we motivate people. we reach out to young people, to come out and vote in 2018. all of those things are the critical ingredients which, in my view, will deliver victory in 2018. an analyst in zimbabwe, says that even without mugabe, zanu pf,

in its shambolic state, will remain in power or they will be a government of national unity in 2018 and that seems to be supported by a afrobarometer survey that says zanu pf still hasn't —— has an edge if it we re pf still hasn't —— has an edge if it were held tomorrow. pf still hasn't —— has an edge if it were held tomorrowlj pf still hasn't —— has an edge if it were held tomorrow. i have no doubt about that but i do not agree that zanu pf is invincible and it can't be defeated. what is important is that we must recognise the things we have been able to do to steal elections. against all of those vote rigging strategies employed in the past. if we have a modicum of a fairly violent — free election, i

believe that zanu pf can be defeated. i interact with people on a daily basis. i know that all the people want is to be given a fighting chance by a united opposition in the promise that they are going to come out in the numbers and liberate themselves are literally from the crisis that we have. finally, one of the groups involved in the opposition forces, particularly amongst the younger —— younger generation. , has been calling for non—violent resistance against the government. you said you wa nted against the government. you said you wanted to walk —— work with all opposition forces. is that the strategy you would support to increase the mass protests, the demonstration, staying away from work? we say it as mdc and as the various coalition parties, whether under the coalition and democrats,

we have said so even in the bilateral conversations we have with the npp, in our conversations with the npp, in our conversations with the mdct, it is important for every zimbabwean, for every social movement, so we can wake —— work collectively and press all the pressure points that will help us develop the mugabe regime next year. welshman ncube in johannesburg, thank you very much indeed for coming on hardtalk. tuesday's forecast has some rain in it.

we haven't been able to say that for some time. you may well say that monday was wet in my neck of the woods, that came from showers and thunderstorms. if one of those caught you, you certainly knew about it. not a cold start to tuesday. from the word go, some bits and pieces of rain across the heart of scotland, the north of england, through wales and the west midlands and into the southern counties of england. it isn't wet everywhere right from the word go. scattered showers across the far north of scotland, we mentioned rain just to the north of the central belt. turning bright across a good part of northern ireland, southwestern scotland and the far north of england. further south again, the first signs of bits and pieces of rain coming through on a wee south, south—westerly breeze. further south again, some dry weather to be had

across the midlands, east anglia and the south—east. already at this stage back across the south—west, the cloud really filling in. some of the rain even from the word go will be quite heavy across parts of pembrokeshire and into the south—west of england. into the afternoon, still little islands of brightness and dry weather across the south. perhaps some of the driest weather found across northern ireland. in the middle of the afternoon, pembrokeshire, southern parts of wales quite widely into the south—west of england, some rain quite heavy. 20, 30, a0 millimetres building up here. even so, still islands of brighter weather. where we have some brightness in the south—east, looking at 18, 19, possibly 20 degrees. a bit cooler further north, pretty acceptable for the time of year. 14—17 should cover it. what have we got for wimbledon? dry enough, probably, until the middle part of the afternoon. clouds thickening, the chance of a shower. as we get deeper into the day,

s o that rain and low pressure and the fronts migrating across east anglia and the south—east. still there on the first part of wednesday. as they pull away, this little ridge of high—pressure toppling in across the british isles. then settling down very nicely, a lot of fine and dry weather. a splendid day, temperatures mid—teens to around 20 degrees. that is a sort of pattern we expect on wednesday and into the first part of thursday. notice we have a weather front beginning to push in from the atlantic. i think that brings the chance of some rain initially into western scotland and northern ireland. increasingly, as it topples across england and wales, a burst of showers, not much more than that. and following that in behind, another spell of fairly quiet weather. this is bbc news, i'm tim willcox. our top stories: defeated in mosul and now being pushed out of raqqa, we report on the battle with islamic state militants in syria. they're coming up against is snipers in all of these streets around

here. %hey‘ve gor drones, theve got suicide car bombs — this is going to be a very, very hard fight. donald trump junior says he's willing to testify about his links with russia during the presidential election campaign as new details emerge. how coffee helps you feel full of beans and possibly adds years moscow's bolshoi ballet denies censorship is behind a decision to postpone its new production — about the openly gay dancer rudolf nureyev. also, a major review into modern working practices