this is bbc news. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: president trump's spokesman quits as a new voice takes over white house communications. as the saudi—led coalition continues military operations in yemen, the country faces a massive epidemic of cholera. pockets of famine are growing, cholera is spreading, and civil servants, like the doctors and nurses, here, haven't received a salary in over ten months. the palestinian president freezes ties with israel as three palestinians are shot dead and three israelis killed in an outbreak of violence. the victim of an armed robbery in which oj simpson was jailed tells us why he thought the former football star should be freed. hello. welcome to the programme.

one of the most recognisable faces at the white house, the president's press secretary, sean spicer, has resigned. spicer, who became known for his rocky relationship with journalists, reportedly quit in protest over an organisational shake—up by mr trump. but in his first interview since resigning, mr spicer insisted he was proud of the chance to work for the president. gavin hewitt has this report. a day of dramatic changes at the white house. sean spicer, the white house press secretary, and one of the most recognisable faces of the trump administration, abruptly resigned. spicer was a controversial figure. early on, he was forced to defend the crowd size at donald trump's inauguration, denying that more people turned out for barack obama. this was the largest audience to a witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.

but pictures suggested otherwise. and then there were his remarks about chemical weapons. his references to hitler caused outrage. we didn't use chemical weapons in world war ii. you know, you had someone as despicable as hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons. his performances were mocked on late—night comedy shows. when i say rocky start, i mean it in the sense of rocky the movie, because i came out here to punch you! in the face. also, i don't talk so good. sean spicer found himself under close scrutiny from donald trump, who prizes good on—camera performances. the president began looking for a strong defender, particularly as he faces a growing investigation into whether there was collusion between the trump campaign and russia during last year's election. what prompted spicer‘s resignation was the appointment of this man, anthony scaramucci, as white house

communications director. the wall street financier gave his opening pitch. i love the president and i'm very loyal to the president. then he was reminded that back in 2015, he had called donald trump "a hack, an inherited money dude". mr president, if you're listening, i personally apologise for the 50th time for saying that. but here's the wonderful thing about the news media. that was three minutes of my life. he's never forgotten it and you've never forgotten it. but i hope that someday, mr president, you will forget it. let's go to the next question. the new communications director is certainly slick, but here's the problem. you can stand at the podium and defend white house policy, but president trump has a habit of changing the message with just a tweet. today's sha ke—up reveals donald trump under pressure, seeking a communicator who will fight for his presidency. gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. in the last couple of hours, mr spicer has given his first

interview to us television while the president took to twitter to publicly thank his now former press secretary. he said "sean spicer is a wonderful person who took tremendous abuse from the fake news media — but his future is bright!" our north america correspondent peter bowes was watching spicer‘s interview and gave me his analysis from los angeles a little earlier. it is very clear that he is determined to at least publicly be loyal to the very end to his former boss, the president, president trump. in fact, boss, the president, president trump. infact, he is boss, the president, president trump. in fact, he is staying on any role for another few weeks, he says to enable a smooth transition. he said it had been an honour and a privileged to serve the president. the tenor of the conversation we heard on fox news is that he believes he is leaving the job in

capable hands, essentially to the woman who has been his deputy, sarah huckaby centres, woman who has been his deputy, sarah hucka by centres, and woman who has been his deputy, sarah huckaby centres, and that he intends to be very supportive. —— huckerby—sanders. so no sign of dissent. that is not the story told by many media outlets here, who say that he left the job because he was unhappy about the new appointment. on the subject of the new committee guesses chief, anthony scaramucci, he has a tough task ahead of him, does the? yes. he has a tough job ahead of him. —— communications chief. there was a smooth performance by him earlier. that seems to be his hallmark. he is not aged mitigations expert. he is coming from wall street. although he is very experienced as a television performer. he is a closed, a close

friend of donald trump and his children. —— is a close friend. he has to pull various factions together. it looks from the outside into the white house the events of the last 2a hours, the rocky last six months would suggest that it is a gimmick asia's department in disarray. —— communications department. that is not how he sees it. he says everything is on course and that the president is doing good work and as far as everything, as far as he's concerned, everything in terms of policy is going the right direction. the problem that he has to fix is the public perception and perhaps the media perception of that. peter bowes there.

the emir of qatar has called for negotiations in his country's dispute with four arab neighbours. in his first public address since the crisis erupted, the emir said any solution must respect qatar's sovereignty. saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, bahrain and egypt cut ties with qatar injune over its alleged support for terrorism. a light aircraft has been towed to safety after it landed in new york city's east river. the seaplane had been flying between east hampton airport and manhattan when it got into difficulties. it was not immediately known what caused it to land. seven passengers and crew were rescued, and there we re and crew were rescued, and there were no reports of any injuries. yemen is now facing the worst cholera outbreak anywhere in the world. the aid agency oxfam says this is the worst outbreak ever recorded in a single year. it's killed 2,000 people. and, according to oxfam, there are hundreds of thousands more suspected cases. and this is a man—made disaster: yemen has been torn apart by a brutal civil war for over two years. the bbc‘s nawal al maghawi is in yemen's capital sanaa. another crisis has hit yemen.

people here question how much more they can take. war and poverty have combined to mean cholera has swept through this country faster than any on record. unless treated quickly, this waterborne disease can kill. most have walked hours to get treatment, but only the fortunate make it in time. samira rushed here from the village to save her daughter. her family have suffered all three tragedies of this war. they have lost their home to an air strike, the children go without food, and now they are all fighting cholera. aid agencies are doing what they can, but the magnitude of this outbreak is outstripping their ability to respond. one person dies in yemen every hour from cholera.

this is the world's largest humanitarian crisis, and it's completely man—made. pockets of famine are growing. cholera is spreading, and civil servants like the doctors and nurses here haven't received a salary in over ten months. there's one thing that people here keep telling me, and it's that they feel completely forgotten by the world. people face the biggest threat in rural areas. in this one village alone, 20 people have died in the space of three months. hours from the nearest town, it was impossible for people without money to get help. abdullah has recently become sick. together with his sister hind, they can't afford the medicine for their illness. the truth is that for many in this country there's no escaping cholera. here on the edge of the village is the only source of water. the people know it's infected, but, with no other options, they continue to rely on it.

nawal al—maghafi, bbc news, hajjah, yemen. three palestinians and three israelis have died in renewed violence as the crisis grows over additional security measures at a keyjerusalem holy site. palestinian president mahmoud abbas has said he's freezing all official contacts with israel. alan johnston has more. and so it began. what the palestinians said would be a day of rage. they'd gathered in their hundreds, the israelis said men under 50 would not be allowed to go into the old city and perform friday prayers at the holy site. so the palestinians prayed in the streets. and then the tensions exploded. the violence played out in pockets in different parts of occupied east jerusalem.

fierce exchanges in the sacred city. when the tear gas eventually cleared, arrests were made. injerusalem and in violence in the west bank, hundreds have been wounded. there were fatalities too. at the centre of attention, muslims call it haram esh—sharif, jews, the temple mount. last week this was the scene of violence. israeli arab gunmen killed two policemen were hunted down and courtyard. so the israelis installed these metal detectors at the gates. palestinians vehemently opposed this. many refused to go through the detectors into the aqsa mosque compound. instead they started praying in the street outside.

for these people, the new security measures are an attempt by their occupiers to secure more control over a place that sits at the very heart of the religious and political divisions between israel and the palestinians. reasonable thinking, reasonable behaviour, and that extremism and racism is the way to solve problems. palestinians in any case will not accept any compromise about the mosque. the israelis say the detectors are only in place to keep everyone safe. a week ago today muslim radical terrorists went in and murdered two israeli policeman after smuggling in rifles. the only way that we can defend ourselves is by placing those metal detectors. and so afterjerusalem's day of rage, then metal detectives remain in place, this latest bitter dispute is not over. the dangerous stand—off will continue. stay with us on bbc news.

still to come: it's time to play the music — a new muppet show opens in new york city, an exhibition paying tribute to the furry entertainers. mission control: you can see them coming down the ladder now. it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30 year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia. but now, a decade later, it's been painstakingly rebuilt

and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunction of sperm unable to swim properly. thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the white house press secretary sean spicer has resigned, reportedly angry at president trump's appointment of a new communications director. yemen is suffering the world's largest cholera outbreak two years after a saudi—led coalition intervened in the country's civil war. the victim of an armed robbery in which oj simpson was jailed has

told the bbc why he gave evidence at the former football star and actor's parole hearing on thursday. simpson is expected to be released from prison in october. bruce fromong, a memorabilia collector, explained why he thought oj simpson should be freed. when they came in the room, the first people in the room, the first guy came in and hit me in the arm. pushed me in the back. the second guy that came in the room was armed. he came in, put a gun in my face and said "i will shoot you." i don't want to use the exact words he used, but he threatened to kill me. i know it was not oj simpson who put that gun to your head but he was there, and you spoke in his favour at his parole hearing. why is that? well, the amount of time he was sentenced to was the problem that i had. he was given 9.5 to 33 years.

and if you are familiar with the case, back in 1994—1995, he was given restitution in a civil case of $33 million. at the judgement at that time coincided with what the judge gave him — 9.5 to 33 years injail. i felt that 9.5 was more than what he deserved. i told a district attorney here i—3 years for the crime here in las vegas. there has been some criticism of oj simpson ‘s appearance at the parole hearing that was slightly lacking in remorse. i wonder, hearing that was slightly lacking in remorse. iwonder, what hearing that was slightly lacking in remorse. i wonder, what did you make of it? well, you may remember that he's been for nine years and was

there asking to be released. he's been a model inmate, he hasn't had any problems while he has been imprisoned, and you are in prison here, nine years is a long time to never be written up, he has not had one incident. that's like driving on the streets 2a— seven to nine years and never getting a ticket. it's pretty ha rd to and never getting a ticket. it's pretty hard to do. he's been a model inmate and he is, you know, he's nervous, he's trying to explain why he should be let out, and sometimes, it's hard do, sometimes you get anxious, you get a little upset, are trying to explain, you know, you're really trying to be passionate and explain what you're out and sometimes you may get a little overzealous about it and yes, i'd have liked to see a little more from

horse to it but —— remorse to which but he's very passionate about life and who he is and so this is oj simpson. i've known him for 27 yea rs. simpson. i've known him for 27 years. this is the way oj simpson is. a bbc investigation has found evidence of children as young as nine being groomed on the livestreaming app periscope. launched just two years ago, it allows its millions of users to broadcast live from their phones, and can reveal their location. but our team found children streaming video live from their classrooms and even their bedrooms, and clearly being groomed for sexual abuse. despite this, twitter — which owns the app — claims it has "zero tolerance" for this kind of conduct. our correspondent angus crawford investigates. not learning, but broadcasting, live from the back of a lesson. viewers send her direct messages. another school, another class, more questions from total strangers. but this isn'tjust

an innocent chat. are you in high school? yes. we found pupils livestreaming across the country. and they've all been using this — periscope, an app owned by twitter, which allows users to broadcast live from anywhere. and our investigation found children using it in their own bedrooms and being groomed in front of our eyes. this child is still in her school uniform, probably 12, no more than that. talking straight into the camera and there's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven requests already. one of them is asking the size of her bra. another one has justjoined. ugh, someone has just asked her to unbutton her shirt. the age limit is meant to be 13,

but we easily find children younger than that. oh, this little girl is really young. hi. so right now, it's my first time playing this app. i don't even know what to do. i'm nine. i actually look seven. "up top, please." what do you mean by, "up top, please? " we passed the details of all these children to the police. that's illegal. that's incitement. and showed what we found to the nspcc‘s head of online safety. hi. oh, god. well, it's very disturbing, isn't it, to see children as young as nine, while they're so vulnerable, and being so clearly groomed for sexual purposes by a pack of people online. it's really shocking. what's really worrying about periscope is the way it uses maps. if i go live from here,

on a street corner in west london, then anyone can zoom in and find out exactly where i am. twitter refused an interview request, but said in a statement: but our investigation showed children openly being groomed. the question for periscope — can young people really broadcast to the world and stay safe? angus crawford, bbc news. counting in papua new guinea's general election has been delayed in one province following accusations of sorcery. according to radio new zealand international, recounts have been ordered in two constituencies in the country's east sepik province because more than one candidate has alleged that witchcraft has been used to remove their votes from ballot boxes. johnny blades has been

following the election for radio new zealand and says the accusations aren't unusual for png. regarding the sorcery allegations, that is not unusual in papua new guinea because a lot of people believe in the use of black magic for good and for bad, and what happened up in the east sepik electorate you just referred to is that a number of ballot papers have gone missing during the count and some of the candidates up there believed that was a result of some malevolent use ‘sanguma,’ as they call it, or sorcery. —— use of ‘sanguma,’ as they call it, sorcery. they approached election officials about having the count redone. or at least a petition filed. since then, the papers have been discovered again but it's not unusual in a papua new guinea

election — one, for ballot papers to go missing, but also for people to make these which probably seem outlandish that people believe in black magic, at least a lot of people. do you think they actually believe the votes have gone missing because of sorcery and witchcraft, or is there some electioneering going on? probably both. but listen, people genuinely believe in sorcery there. when there are things and events happening which they can't explain — for instance somebody who gets sick in the village — people don't necessarily understand why. i went to one village where some lady had taken sick quite suddenly and the rest of the village were confused, and they rounded on some man at the edge of their kind of area and beat him to a pulp but then the local health officer came and said, "she's got pneumonia." and that was all explainable.

but by then, they had sort of you know done the damage for this poorfellow and his reputation was tarnished, so a lot of it stems from i suppose ignorance butjust a misunderstanding of some of the things happening in the modern age and so forth but here, yeah, you would have to also suspect that some of these candidates are trying to stall the process, and the process is quite an unwieldy one already. thank you very much. a new exhibition devoted to the works ofjim henson is opening at a museum in new york. if you're a fan of the muppets, the fraggles, or the cast of sesame street, you'll be able to find out more about how they came to appear on television screens. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. for generations of children, there has always been something magical about the market. kermit, miss piggy. about the market. kermit, miss piggy, big bird, just some of those appearing at this exhibition in new york. so, what the organisers trying to achieve? tell a rich and riveting story aboutjim henson is a creative thinker, constantly curious, pushing

the boundaries of technology, and bringing these amazing characters to life. you can follow the history of the muppets from their first appearance on local television in the 1950s. there are storyboards from sesame street and the muppet show, and the exhibition will also shine a light on the people who worked with jim henson. he had this amazing grip folks around him that just enjoyed their work so much and loved what they did and i think that jolie that people get from these characters, you know, the ingredients of that are in the joy of the people who made them a sort of the people who made them a sort of had in creating them. as well this exhibition, there will be a troubling show that will muppet fans to seejim henson‘s worked up close. so plenty of time to get things started for the muppet show tonight. stay with us. hello and welcome to the weekend —

although you may view that as a somewhat hollow greeting once you have seen the forecast. some really very wet weather on friday in south—west england and wales in particular. but that transferring further east around this low pressure, which is still a player in our weather going to the weekend. not a washout. more of a sunshine and showers picture. but some of those showers will be heavy. some sunshine in between, and after a really windy day for some of us on friday. over the weekend, it is still breezy, but the winds are looking lighter. showers could be gusty. this is what it looks like for early risers. showers move in towards south—west of the uk, and band of rain pushing away from the uk but still there in northern england and southern scotland. breezy picture in northern scotland. but north—west scotland should fare well throughout the weekend. northern ireland picking up the odd shower here and there. quite wet across parts of northern england, the further north you are.

here is a drier, brighter slot across much of wales and down towards south—east england. already, at this stage of the morning, a few showers popping up in south—west england and south—west wales. outbreaks of rain affecting parts of eastern england, but beginning to push away. so on through the day. where we start with sunshine, showers build. where you start wet, it may ease. throughout north—west scotland, it will stay dry, breezy, but warm in, with some sunny spells. one or two showers in northern island. you could catch a shower across southern scotland into northern england. it could well be torrential and thundery. the risk of hail, too. a rumble of thunder maybe to the south. could be a lot of rain to come. going to the evening, some of the really heavy showers to fade. could be, compared with friday, a quieter day at the open golf at royal birkdale. fewer showers around, but on sunday still some wet weather as we go into the final round.

so this is how sunday is shaping up. again, it is reallyjust sunshine and showers. maybe more of us, on sunday, escape the showers. temperatures through the weekend in the high teens, low 20s for most us — close to average for this time of year. as we go into monday, this system pulls away. it may have some lingering cloud and outbreaks of rain for eastern parts of england, but for monday and tuesday, for most of us, it is looking like a quieter story. briefly high—pressure and some fairly warm sunny spells coming through. this is bbc news. the headlines: the white house press secretary, sean spicer, has resigned, reportedly because he was unhappy with president donald trump's appointment of a new communications director. the new appointee, anthony scaramucci, denied there had been tensions over his appointment. the world health organisation has said the cholera outbreak in yemen is out of control — with over 300,000 people affected.

the country has been racked by civil war and an intervention by saudi—led forces for the past two years. asa as a result, a government health services have collapsed. the victim of an armed robbery in which oj simpson was jailed has told the bbc why he gave evidence at the former football star and actor's parole hearing on thursday. demonstrations have been taking place in the polish capital,