this is bbc news. i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines at 11pm: president trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort, pleads not guilty to charges of conspiring to defraud the us. his lawyer says he denies all charges. it's also emerged that george papadopoulos, who advised the trump campaign on foreign affairs, pleaded guilty earlier this month to lying to the fbi about contacts who had links to russia. the government is promising action within days to deal with allegations of sexual harassment at westminster. the hollywood actor kevin spacey apologises after being accused of making sexual advances towards a teenage boy in the 1980s. on newsnight, trump top charges. tonight we look at what's going on in washington and whether the law there is catching up with the president himself, or is he right to say it's nothing to do with him? good evening and

welcome to bbc news. downing street says action must be taken to make sure the reputation of parliament isn't tarnished by allegations of sexual harassment. the leader of the house of commons, andrea leadsom, says that action is needed in days rather than weeks. numerous allegations have been made in recent days, with mps accused of inappropriate behaviour towards fellow mps, secretaries and researchers. our political editor laura kuenssberg has more details. what really happens within westminster‘s walls? it's work for thousands of people but often for young staff making their way it is a place with a fear they could face harm. with suspicions in the air about politicians‘ behaviour. speaker: order! the speaker told the parties it is theirjob to clean up. there must be zero tolerance of sexual harassment or bully

here at westminster or elsewhere. andrea leadsom. with a stern—faced theresa may alongside, the leader of the commons promised a new complaints system for staff and vowed the parties will work together. our constituents will be rightly appalled at the thought that some representatives in parliament may have acted in an entirely inappropriate way towards others. parliament must take action in days, not weeks. a new support team for staff is planned but how to tackle the more complicated question of culture? no woman, or man for that matter coming to work in this house should be subjected to unwanted sexual advances from those in a position of power over them. no—one should have to work in the toxic atmosphere of sleazy sexist or homophobic banter. don't think for a moment that much of this is really new. this place is about power and it's

been an open secret for years that too often it's used for the wrong reasons. suspicions are running high once more but it's too early to say if this is the start of a turning point or refrain of the same old story. concerns about westminster‘s boozy culture where alcohol, ambition and long hours collide are long held. in 2014, the tory mp nigel evans was tried and cleared of sexual abuse of young men. but his lawyer described drunken over familiarity. and the then boss of the liberal democrats, lord renard, was accused of behaving inappropriately to female party members. he was never charged yet eventually admitted he might have invaded their personal space. one of those who accused him said that kind of behaviour was hardly rare. i also can see this behaviour being seen as quite normal, to bottom pinching or inappropriate kissing or any of the kind of social norms that you think on the one side

might be ok suddenly goes into the wrong direction. one of the problems? mps employ their staff directly. who can easily complain about the boss to the boss? as a rep for common stuff summed up. if there's an issue and you have nobody to go to you are just going to slink away with your tail between your legs because you don't want to get a reputation as a troublemaker and the member gets away with it time and again because nobody will stand up and say, do you know what, there is a problem there. but whether victims are willing to spill this place's secrets could change the view of this place. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. live to westminster and our political correspondent iain watson what can you tell us? that's right,

rumours at westminster that some serving ministers are being accused of inappropriate behaviour privately by conservative researchers and mps' staff tonight. the first serving minister tonight has been named by the sun, defence secretary michael fallon, saying he admitted to touching radio host's knee. but how serious is this allegation? sources close to michael fallon have made it clear that there was an incident 15 yea rs clear that there was an incident 15 years ago at a dinner at a conservative party conference. he indeed touched julia hutton brewer's knee, she was then working for the daily express, she robustly told him to re m ove daily express, she robustly told him to remove his hand, he did so, apologised and those sources say they remain friends to this day. but more significantlyjulia hartley brewer tweeted tonight: earlier today, she also issued a

statement when rumours were going around that a cabinet minister was going to be named and she said the incident that she herself had reported but hadn't named the minister, she said she didn't regard herself as a victim and it was important not to conflate allegations of effectively to and flirting with more serious accusations of sexual harassment. she's certainly playing down the incident. michael fallon‘s playing down the incident, so i don't think hisjob is down the incident, so i don't think his job is under threat down the incident, so i don't think hisjob is under threat but down the incident, so i don't think his job is under threat but we haven't had any further details tonight about more serious allegations doing the rumour mill against other unnamed mps. indeed, iain, iwas against other unnamed mps. indeed, iain, i was going to ask you and briefly if you can, are there many mps, ministers, who are quaking as to what's going to be revealed in the papers over the next few days? there is some concern that when

you're focusing on an issue like sexual harassment, which is clearly serious, and the parties are looking at improving their procedures with dealing with complaints so people can speak out, incidents they regard as perhaps rather trivial and embarrassing or incidents that might have been between consenting adults might get caught up in what even julia hartley—brewer has called a frenzy at westminster and a witch—hunt and some will be worried they're written iteration is might ta ke they're written iteration is might take a hit even though they themselves don't think they have done something which is seriously warranted. thanks very much, iain watson. the official inquiry into allegations of russian meddling in last year's us presidential election has produced its first charges. president trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort, has been charged with money laundering and conspiracy against the united states, charges he's denied. in a separate development george papadopoulos a former policy adviser to mr trump, has admitted lying to the fbi about his ties with a russian contact. president trump has consistently denied any collusion with russia, as our north america editorjon sopel reports. mr manafort, are you turning

yourself into federal authorities today? this wasn't how it was meant to be. mr manafort has no comment. over a year ago the multimillionaire paul manafort was donald trump's campaign chairman and a figure of huge influence. today, he's been ordered to an fbi field office to face the most grave charges. normally talkative, today, much more tight—lipped. the indictment runs to over 30 pages and details are complex web of financial arrangements to keep vast sums secret from the us authorities. it details how manafort was working as an agent for the pro—russia party in ukraine from whom he received tens of millions of dollars in payments for a decade until 2016. it's alleged he laundered $18 million through various accounts and companies $2016. almost one million was funneled

through an antique antiques rug store in virginia. $850,000 through a men's clothes store in new york. a mark of how seriously the prosecutors take this case, is that paul manafort has had to surrender his passport. he's considered a flight risk. he's also going to be kept under house arrest until the trial, which might not be for several months. it's going to be a very big change in lifestyle. but his lawyer after the hearing ridiculed the charges. he was seeking to further democracy and to help the ukraine come closer to the united states and the eu. those activities ended in 2014. over two years before mr manafort served in the trump campaign. and in response to the indictment, donald trump tweeted angrily: another tweet on russia:

today's announcement has nothing to do with the president. has nothing to do with the president's campaign or campaign activity. the real collusion scandal, as we've said several times before, has everything to do with the clinton campaign, fusion gps and russia. today a damaging and unexpected disclosure, this man, george papadopolous, a foreign policy advisor to the trump campaign, who president trump once described as an excellent guy, secretly pleaded guilty earlier this month to lying to the fbi about his contacts with russian officials during the campaign. and this former state department official and international lawyer says that could be much more significant. manafort is a bigger figure but we expected the charges and the indictment to come out against him today. papadopoulos‘ guilty plea shows what we didn't know about and that

could be a much bigger problem for trump. the charge sheet against him says that while a trump advisor he met a russian professor in london who said he had dirt on hillary clinton. despite having earlier told the fbi he hadn'tjoined the trump campaign when that meeting took place. the professor claimed he had thousands of clinton campaign e—mails. papa doc pa pa doc pulis papa doc pulis worked to arrange a meeting between putin and trump, something that didn't take place. the fbi now say he is co—operating fully with their investigation. not so paul manafort. as he walked uncomfortably away from court, through the cameras and reporters, to start his period of house arrest. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the american actor and producer kevin spacey has apologised after being accused of making sexual advances towards a teenage actor in the 1980s. the claim was made by anthony rapp, who was 1a at the time

mr spacey said he didn't remember the encounter but if it did happen it would have been deeply inappropriate. from los angeles our correspondent james cook reports. they say we get the leaders we deserve... kevin spacey is one of the biggest names in show business — a two—time oscar winner currently starring in the netflix political drama house of cards. but his reputation is now in jeopardy because of allegations that date back to broadway in 1986. anthony rapp, on the left here in the musical rent, says spacey invited him to a party, carried him onto a bit, climbed on top of him and made a sexual advance. rapp, who was 1a at the time, said he squirmed away and left the house. in a statement, kevin spacey said he did not remember the encounter but, if it happened, it would have been:

"deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour", for which he now apologised. he added, "i know that there are stories out there about me," saying, "i choose now to live as a gay man and i am examining my own behaviour." but that has provoked a backlash. it's ended up conflating two different issues. one, a big us star coming out as gay and being accused of sexually assaulting a teenager, they are two very different things. and unfortunately, it does feed into the negative stereotypes that homophobes have, that associates paedophilia with homosexuality. the scandal is rippling through london's west end too. no surprise, says one director. i think that many people in theatre and in the creative industries have been aware of many stories, of many people, over a lot of years and kevin spacey would be one of the people that people have had concerns about. netflix says it's deeply troubled by the claims about its star and house of cards will end after its upcoming sixth season. and other claims are emerging. this journalist, heather unruh, says the actor assaulted

someone close to her. he has not responded. no—one here thinks that kevin spacey will be the last big name to be ensnared in the web of allegations which has spun out after the harvey weinstein affair. hollywood is abuzz with gossip and rumour about who is next. james cook, bbc news, los angeles. the government has extended the deadline for the dup and sinn fein to reach a deal to restore powersharing in northern ireland. secretary of state james brokenshire had warned the parties they had until today to produce a written agreement or he would be forced to impose a budget. it's the latest in a series of missed deadlines aimed at breaking the 10—month deadlock at stormont. three children have escaped from a house fire in powys, in which a number of members of the same family are believed to have died. one of the people unaccounted for has been named locally as david cuthbertson. the three children, aged ten, 12 and 13 are being treated in hospital.

now it's time for newsnight with evan davis. new are you turning yourself in to federal authorities today? mr manafort has no comment. trumped—up charges? paul manafort, the president's former campaign chief, faces multiple criminal indictments. president donald trump was correct, there is no evidence that mr manafort or the trump campaign colluded with the russian government. well, mr manafort‘s lawyer there dismissed the charges, but he and two other associates of president trump are now caught up in criminal cases. and that could just be the starter. the inevitable question: is the legal net closing in on the president himself and his campaign? make no mistake, there is a need for change.