hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. another senior british minister resigns — priti patel is accused of not telling the prime minister about highly sensitive meetings with top israeli politicians. on the first anniversary of president trump's election, democrats sweep the polls in the us. we will hear from katty kay. president trump's spent the day in china — we scour the country's social media to find out what they're saying about him. hollywood star kevin spacey faces a new allegation of sexual misconduct — we hear from an alleged victim. welcome to outside source. quite a day for uk politics. i will do my best to take you right through it. this is priti patel. she was international development secretary. but this is her leaving ten downing street after resigning,

under intense pressure. this was not so long ago. this isn'tjust about one minister — it's about the stability of the government, and about brexit. priti patel is a big supporter of brexit. this began with priti patel holding meetings with senior israeli officials during what was supposed to be a summer holiday — and we were told by downing street that she hadn't told the prime minister. that breaks the ministerial code. then we had an apology from priti patel. it seems theresa may accepted. then last night we found out there were more meetings. that was from a report in the sun newspaper. and it said that the pm had not been told. now while this is playing out, ms patel is in east africa. she was supposed to be heading to uganda —

but instead was told to get on a plane back home from nairobi. that wasn't a good sign. that plane took off earlier. people quickly started following it on the website flight radar. at one point more than 22,000 users are currently tracking flight #k0100 en route to london. are you ready for the next twist? while the minister is in the air, thejewish chronicle runs a story claiming number ten had known about some of these meetings and told priti patel not to declare them. that is an explosive carla lane —— explosive claim, but number ten denied that. if it was true, it

would place theresa may more solidly in the controversy. we were all waiting for the plane to land and media outlets including bbc news filmed the plane as it landed, filmed the plane as it landed, filmed the plane as it landed, filmed the ministerial cars collecting priti patel and taking her into the centre of london. this resignation has not done anything to calm down some people, who are looking not just calm down some people, who are looking notjust for her resignation but also that of foreign secretary borisjohnson, who but also that of foreign secretary boris johnson, who has but also that of foreign secretary borisjohnson, who has been under pressure about comments he made about a british woman in prison in a run. priti patel claimed shitole boris johnson about these meetings that that was sufficient. here is the foreign secretary giving his reaction. i want to say that priti patel has been a very good colleague and friend for a long time, and a first—class secretary of state for international development. it has been a real pleasure working with her, and i am sure she has a great

future ahead of her. thank you very much. deep breath. let's bring in our political correspondent alex forsyth. it is complicated, farcical but also pretty serious? it is. the chronology you outlined showed that in the uk resignation of priti patel was pretty widely expected today, it did not come as a big surprise when we finally got official confirmation that she had resigned from the government. that is in part because all cabinet ministers are supposed to abide by what is called collective responsibility, they effectively speak with one voice. so priti patel going off on her own, meeting with israeli officials without discussing that or disclosing it to the prime minister isa disclosing it to the prime minister is a clear breach of her role as a cabinet member. when further details emerged it was pretty inevitable she had to go. the prime minister accepted the resignation but gave a pretty firm rebuke to priti patel, saying although the uk works closely

with israel it has to be through official channels. this place into a much bigger problem for the prime minister, already her authority was in question in the uk, then last week we had the resignation of the former defence secretary michael fallon over claims about his past conduct. now we have the resignation of the international development secretary priti patel, and it all fuels what is the appearance of a pretty 5 ha ky fuels what is the appearance of a pretty shaky cabinet at the moment. obviously the two of those things are out of theresa may's controllers prime minister but it adds to the image that she is not properly in control of her government, which is difficult for theresa may. this all matters notjust in the context of uk politics generally but in the context of the brexit negotiations, we have a major eu summit towards the end of december and the expectation is that perhaps the eu and uk will move on to discussing their trade relationship post brexit. the eu will only do that if three major issues are

resolved. here is the eu chievo negotiator on brexit popping up on twitter to reminders this will not happen unless more progress is achieved on three key topics. those are the ireland border, citizens rights and, most difficult of all, the so—called divorce bill. this would be a tough for theresa may to navigate with a decent parliamentary majority and unified cabinet. she has neither. the problem for theresa may is twofold, the first is the images creates, not only within the uk but to those negotiators in brussels, about theresa may's own authority. the second problem is the conservative party is deeply split over its approach to brexit, and for that reason theresa may had very carefully balanced the figures about the cabinet table between those who supported brexit during the referendum on those that supported remain, hoping she could retain the

ballots in the wider party. now we're having the departure of key figures, priti patel was a prominent brexiteer, theresa may has a real headache and how to replace and how to try to maintain the balance the cabinet which is just about keeping her party onside, all of that happening while she is trying to ta ke happening while she is trying to take difficult decisions about brexit and negotiate with 27 other countries, so the problems are stacking up. presumably it is not necessarily the end of things, borisjohnson is still in hot water about his comments about the british woman in iran, and the de facto deputy to the prime minister, damian green, is fighting off allegations of pornography on his computer. he is subject to cabinet investigation, but we should make it clear he has repeatedly and strenuously denied allegations of wrongdoing, but there isa allegations of wrongdoing, but there is a question over several key members of the cabinet, and for that reason theresa may will think very

carefully before carrying out any big reshuffle and will have to think carefully about to shoot —— who she appoints so she can at least maintain stability going forward. a lot of what has happened to theresa may has been to some extent events, she has had to deal with some major incidents during her time as prime minister, but when things like this keep happening people will look to the prime minister to show her authority and show she can sort it out and maintain a stable government. with everything going on, from brexit to internal domestic politics, it is not easy for theresa may. it remains a very difficult time for a prime minister who has already had quite a tough run. thank you for taking us through that, alex. now from uk politics to us politics. for the first time since donald trump's victory, the democrats have won an election. two, in fact. not a national elections. they've taken out state wide elections in virginia and newjersey. the win was particularly significant in virginia,

where the democratic candidate ralph northam won the governorship with roughly 54% of the vote to his republican opponent's 45%. it's a bigger margin than the 5% hillary clinton defeated donald trump by during the presidential election. what can we learn from this? donald trump has been quick to distance himself from the defeats. he tweeted, "ed gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what i stand for." that was one of the republicans who lost. here is political analyst larry sa bato. he says that is not true. it is absolutely untrue that ed gillespie did not tie himself to trump's issues. he was out trumping trump, he was stressing confederate monuments and football players taking a knee during the national anthem, and immigration and latino gangs, even more than trump has

done, with some vicious television adverts on which he spent millions. there was saturated coverage of these advertisements. and it backfired, it produced more democratic votes than additional republican votes, by a factor of about ten. you could be forgiven for thinking the democrats normally do well in virginia and newjersey, what is the fuss about? for more on this i spoke with the bbc‘s katty kay in washington. it is their first big win since the election a year ago, which gives them a certain amount of momentum. i spoke to one democratic senator this morning who was positively beaming but also raise the point that we won in states that were basically fairly democratic already. this is a senator who democratic already. this is a senator who comes democratic already. this is a senator who comes from a very republican state in the middle of the country, she is up for election next year and she says the factory won in newjersey alberginia does not mean we will do so well in the more conservative states, and

thatis the more conservative states, and that is a problem for democrats. they have not taken control of politics and power in america, they have just won two states. during the presidential election you help me understand that donald trump simply solidified his place to a degree that got him over the line, rather than trying to broaden his appeal. what is happening with that base?” what is happening with that base?|j was what is happening with that base?” was down in virginia yesterday and cavubati election was down in virginia yesterday and cavu bati election more was down in virginia yesterday and cavubati election more closely, and the race of ed gillespie, who ran all these adverts playing on fears about immigration, they were seen as culturally divisive, fairly hard right positions. if he had won last night the governorship in virginia, other republicans around the country would have looked at the junior and said that is what we do now, we take trump's issues, we do not mention the president if he happens to be unpopular in our state, but his issues are popular and resonate so we will run hard on those fairly conservative, culturally divisive issues. ed gillespie did not win,

which raises an issue for republicans going forward. how do they run in the age of trump? if they run in the age of trump? if they are in states where trump is not popular, and there are many, what does that mean for republican candidates? 32-year-old journalist has become the first transgender candidate to win a state legislative position anywhere in the us, that is wanting to mention, and may remember this couple. kris hirst was a news anchor, his girlfriend, reporter alison parker, was fatally shot on air in 2015. mr hirst has been elected as a democrat, defeating a three—time incumbent backed by the national rifle association. i mention those because for all the positivity around the democrats, i have seen criticism that they do not have seen criticism that they do not have a new strategy to win across the country. are these smaller stories offering clues as to how they could shape that?

i think those two stories you brought up are interesting. what the democrats are saying about the junior is we are embracing the idea of inclusivity, the fact we have the first openly transgender congresswoman first openly transgender congresswoman elected, there was a sikh mayor elected, two african—american attorney general ‘s also elected. inclusivity works. i am sure that is the message that drew virginians in such big numbers for a governor's race to the polls, it was freezing and raining yesterday, the weather was yucky. according to the exit polls, they went out in big numbers because they do like —— do not like donald trump and what he is doing to the country, that seems to have drove the democratic victory as much as anything. you can see katty and christian fraser on beyond 100 days,

monday to friday on the bbc news channel and bbc world news. we will report from catalonia soon, pro—independence protesters have blocked traffic and the trains. we will hear why they are doing it and how the region is gearing up for elections next month. here in the uk the head of nhs england has given his starkest warning yet about the impact its financial woes are having on patient care. simon stevens, the chief executive of nhs england, has challenged the government to find an extra £330 million every week, as promised by pro—brexit campaigners. the nhs wasn't on the ballot paper, but it was on the ballot bus. folk leave for a better funded but it was on the ballot bus. folk leave for a betterfunded health service, £350 million a week. —— vote leave. this is what the campaign director of vote leave said

in january. pundits campaign director of vote leave said injanuary. pundits and mps kept saying why isn't vote leave arguing about the economy and living standards? they did not realise that for millions of people £350 million for millions of people £350 million for the nhs was about the economy and living standards, that is why it was so effective. it was clearly the most effective argument, not only with the crucial swing fifth but with the crucial swing fifth but with almost every demographic. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is... the uk's international development secretary priti patel has resigned over a row to do with undisclosed meetings with senior israeli politicians. she is the second member of the british cabinet to leave within a week. this was the scene in catalonia today. pro—independence protestors causing havoc in rush hour. hundreds of them descended onto main highways and blocked the tracks of barcelona's main train station. this is the catalan traffic monitor.

it shared this graphic earlier. this picture showing the roads affected by demonstrations. the protestors were calling for former ministers currently in custody to be released. the former leader, carles puigdemont, is not among them — — he's still in brussels. as we have discussed a few times on the programme. he gave an interview to a belgian tv station today, saying, "we will win the next elections in catalonia." those elections are in catalonia in december. the spanish government is preparing for them. here's the foreign minister with the bbc‘s gavin lee, discussing a possible nationwide referendum on independence. we have created a committee in

parliament to explore the possibility of amending the constitution is, to be able to accommodate a better the aspirations of some of the catalan people. i think we are ready. we acknowledge that the political situation deserves to be looked at, but in any case it is clear that a decision will have to be taken by all of spain. let's get more analysis from govan. this proposal appears to offer an olive branch to separatist supporters, but a means 47 million people across spain will decide whether to make it legally possible or not to have the right to self—determination, it's so it will be down to the entire spanish population to decide if they want to see independence. i think catalonia has to decide the referendum, not spain. spain don't have anything to say.

it may be a good thing for catalonia. maybe, who knows? inside the catalan ghost parliament, cleaning is the only official business going on. daily politics controlled by madrid until elections in december. tomorrow, was separatist officials will face charges of sedition and rebellion. —— more separatist this —— officials. only days ago, they declared independence. now they are considered enemies of the state. there are allegations of sexual misconduct about the hollywood actor and theatre director kevin spacey. the us journalist heather unruh has told reporters that her son was sexually assaulted by mr spacey last year. mr spacey has not responded to any of the allegations. here's our special correspondent lucy manning. injuly 2016, actor kevin spacey sexually assaulted my son. the tears of a mother in boston today, revealing what she claimed

happened to her son. the victim, my son, was a starstruck straight 18—year—old young man, who had no idea that the famous actor was an alleged sexual predator or that he was about to become his next victim. journalist heather unruh‘s tweet about kevin spacey last month triggered all the allegations against him. today, she went public and the police are now investigating. to kevin spacey, i want to say this — shame on you for what you did to my son. the bbc has interviewed more alleged victims. chris nixon didn't have to speak out but wanted to make clear kevin spacey‘s behaviour was part of a pattern. it's not just sleazy, it's predatorial, it's... he did what he did because he knew he'd get away with it. the one—time barman met kevin spacey

in london in 2007, when he alleges the actor groped him. kevin spacey sat down on the sofa next to me, asked if that was my girlfriend, then reached over, grabbed... he then describes a sexually explicit action and words. a couple of weeks after the party at his place, he was in the bar, reached forward, grabbed my waistband and said something to the effect of, "if i can make it up to you," or, "let me make it up to you." so i went back upstairs, i was standing behind the bar thinking, "what the helljust happened?" i was in work so i couldn't make a scene about it. and told him in no uncertain terms where he could go. the bbc also spoke to an american film—maker who didn't want to be fully identified. in the 1990s, he was a junior crew member on a film kevin spacey directed. he claims the actor sexually harassed him, something he mentioned to another man working on the film. he said, "you too, huh?" and i was like, "what do you mean, ‘you too'?

what do you mean?" and he goes, "he was touching you and flirting with you?" i said, "yeah, it was awful!" and he said, "yeah, he did that to me." in the first week we were all out of the bar, and he grabbed my butt, and i turned round, and i said to him, "kevin, if you ever do that again, i will kick your ass, so leave me alone." in the uk, the actors‘ union says sexual harassment in the industry is endemic. can those at the old vic theatre, where kevin spacey worked for 11 years, really have been in the dark? the theatre initially said it had no complaints against him, but it has now appointed external advisers to investigate. kevin spacey has not responded to any of the latest allegations. previously, he said he needed to examine his own behaviour. lucy manning, bbc news. let's turn to a number of global business stories, beginning with

some big companies which handle data. us data companies could face more regulation after cyber attacks rocked the likes of yahoo and equifax. the former bosses of those companies were on capitol hill wednesday, in front of the senate commerce committee. they were questioned over data breaches that saw billions of their users' data stolen. here's one senator threatening more government oversight. there is no such thing as data security. when you think of a sophisticated state actor such as china or russia, your companies can't stand up against them. there will have to be a cooperation between the most sophisticated player in the united states and otherwise we americans will not have

any more privacy. samira hussain is in new york. i wonder if these companies want to work with the nsa? they are facing a gruelling, for some of them this is not the first time they have faced a grilling for their performance after the hack was made public. there is not much they could say, that's right you have heard a lot of apologies from both yahoo and echo fa cts , apologies from both yahoo and echo facts, both companies say we worked with law enforcement officials when we first learned of these hacks and we first learned of these hacks and we will continue to do so. in fact the former head of equifax, mr smith, had said i think there needs to be some more cooperation between public and private in terms of trying to secure people's data. in terms of how that would proceed, do these people on capitol hill have a power to force the big companies

to do it, or do theyjust ask? a power to force the big companies to do it, or do theyjust ask7m depends on how they make it happen. these words used by the senator bill nelson are more threatening, and from a company perspective you do not want to have more government intervention, so far it is clear, just from looking at the size of the hacks from yahoo and echo fax, something really needs to be done in order to protect the data of consumers. the as you have heard, president trent is in china at the moment. one of the main objectives for president trump is to get concessions from xi jinping. 19 commercial deals worth about $9 billion have been signed. they include chinese firms buying food and helicopters from the us. but more than that is needed to narrow the current us trade deficit with china, which stands at around $300 billion. but what us firms really

want is greater access to chinese consumers. david dollar used to be the us treasury's economic and financial emissary to china. here is his assessment on what the trip might have achieved.” here is his assessment on what the trip might have achieved. i think it mostly trip might have achieved. i think it m ostly co m es trip might have achieved. i think it mostly comes down to policy, china has a lot of close markets, lots of issues, lots of sectors imported to the united states are closed in china, most financial services, telecom, media, entertainment, it is a long list. from an economist‘s point of view, if you are too done this imbalance, china needs to open up this imbalance, china needs to open upfor this imbalance, china needs to open up for sectors. does not seem to be much discussion of on this trip. if you want to know more about president trump in china, stay tuned, we will talk about it in a red ten minutes. —— in around ten minutes.

if you were watching yesterday you will have heard me talk about the very cold plume of arctic air across canada and northern states of the us. it is shifting eastwards in the next couple of days, you can see the deep blues and purples pushing towards the great lakes and the north—east united states. meanwhile, across the west, a plume of slightly milder air bringing temperatures up a little across parts of washington state, but wet and windy weather with it. across the great lakes and towards the north—east, we could see snow for the next couple of days, lots of ice and frost, we could be looking at travel problems. certainly the first significant cold blast after what has been a near record—breaking summer and autumn for many places. south asia, heavy rain has been affecting parts of tamil nadu and carol and towards sri lanka, the monsoon rain easing down a little into thursday and friday,

but further north it is about the light winds, the dry air and the sunshine, it is also still problems continually in larger cities in the north. —— smog problems. the sunny downpours are intense across the south—east of asia, the andaman sea, malaysia, the gulf of thailand in towards the south china sea. we are watching this bright echo moving into the central northern philippines, this could bring a bout of exceptionally heavy rain through thursday and friday. it exits into the warm waters of the south china sea and there is a small chanceit south china sea and there is a small chance it could develop into a tropical as it heads towards north vietnam, something to keep a careful eye on. we have had one area of low pressure early in the week which brought torrential rain and flooding for the central mediterranean, another area of low pressure moved

from the west. across the east of the mediterranean on thursday and looks fine, lovely weather and one. the same for southern italy and sicily, these thunderstorms will expand as they push eastwards through thursday and friday. we could see violent storms than the risk of large highland waterspouts. cold airdigging risk of large highland waterspouts. cold air digging down into northern spain, snow over the pyrenees, but southern spain and portugal doing pretty well with sunshine, of course the canary pretty well with sunshine, of course the ca nary islands pretty well with sunshine, of course the canary islands are very warm, 2627. back home in overnight weather front will eventually clear away southwards during thursday afternoon, then we are in a run of west north—westerly winds, quite blustery but fine, bright with sunshine, showers across the north and the west. stay tuned for a full uk weather forecast in about half an hour. hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. another senior british minister has

resigned, this time it is priti patel, who is accused of not telling the prime minister the forced ——. read about private meeting with israeli politicians. democrats have had good days in the polls in virginia and newjersey. donald trump is doing his asian tour, he has spent the day in china. we will hear how that has been covered on chinese social media. and as i was discussing earlier, the hollywood star kevin spacey is facing a new allegation of sexual misconduct. an alleged victim has been speaking. we have donald trump and his wife getting a two of the forbidden city with xijingping and his

getting a two of the forbidden city with xi jingping and his wife. this is the first time that the official leader has had an official dinner there. before you get carried away, we spotted this from a former mexican ambassador. he said this. if we put that cynicism to one side at the moment, there is once going both ways. this is president xi jingping looking at president trump's phone, a video of his granddaughter reciting a chinese pound. apparently the chinese president gave her an a+. all of this, pleasant as though it is, is a warm up to tough talking on north korea and trade. this is the bbc china editor talking about these issues with a former us ambassador to china. the talk of the chinese is the sense that they will listen that they will not cut off ties with north korea because they do not want to destabilise the peninsula. but

your view is that it is right to raise the pressure on china as well as north korea. i think it is right to put pressure on china. but frankly i think there is no solution to the kim jong—un problem without going through china. china has to be pa rt going through china. china has to be part of the solution. that means not just pushing china but finding some agreement with china. there has to be carrots as well the sticks. there are some analysts and critics of us policy in china who say that us presidents have allowed themselves to be flattered for a0 years. sitting of the peking duck, they have allowed themselves to be lulled into a chinese game. the thing that isafair into a chinese game. the thing that is a fair assessment and you think there is a danger that this president, perhaps more than any other, at a point when china strong, might fall into that trap? the chinese have thousands of years of experience in flattering foreigners. they are very good at it. we do not have that experience, it is not

really our approach very much anyway. this is a state visit plus, trump blue skies, they willjust roll out the carpet and flatter trump as much as possible. i think it is imperative that the united states ta ke it is imperative that the united states take a much more strategic view down the road. how confident are you that that strategic vision is there from your president?” are you that that strategic vision is there from your president? i hope that trump realises through this visit that he listens to his people that advocate that, it is very important. a diplomatic answer to say the least. trump being in china will be a big talking point, but there are restrictions about what chinese people can say online. this was taken down from weibo earlier, called a trump blue sky. china suffers from very bad smog, this was heavily blue and the suggestion

making the suggestion that the government made this happen. i was going to show you this as well, this isa going to show you this as well, this is a website called free weibo, it shows comments that have been censored. this case with the word trump take out, censored, censored, censored. a lot of people have had what they are saying restricted by the authorities. a chinese media expert for bbc monitoring is looking across reaction in china. today, anything to do with xi jingping and donald trump, normally gets a lot of attention in chinese media. looking today on weibo, which is what people use in china because of facebook and twitter being blocked. many of the top hashtags are related to the visit, things like trump is here, trump and xi jingping meet. these hashtags have beenin jingping meet. these hashtags have been in the top ten consistently all day. normally what happens though, any day. normally what happens though, a ny state

day. normally what happens though, any state media post that they put on weibo, these are recounts with about 50 million followers, they have massive followings. they normally, within a few minutes, get at least 1000 posts. but all day, most of the posts have been coming in from cctv or states related to the video, had only received several hundred which normally indicates there is censorship with government censors removing posts from weibo. what we can see is what the government allows us to seek is not what is the official view on this trip that the official sources like as to have? in china there is this idea of meeting people face—to—face. for a visit like this, which is a very, very important visitor china as well as the us, yes, the red carpet is being rolled out. a lot of people have been posting comments, not all of them have been censored,

but people talking about how blew the sky is today, and alluding to this idea that the factories around the capital must‘ve been closed. but a lot of comments have been censored that mention how can donald trump possibly not be tweeting? even though twitter is blocked in mainland china, people can access it from a vpn in a closed environment, not ina from a vpn in a closed environment, not in a public space. a lot of 5—star hotels give access to people and they can use vpns. people were expecting today that donald trump would eventually tweet. but there we re would eventually tweet. but there were some people asking if he will be tweeting while he is with xi jingping, which would be very awkward! we were looking at that picture of blue skies in the chinese capital, no blue skies in delhi at the moment, because the air pollution situation there is getting very, very situation. that is delhi on the map, this is what you would

see if you try to work this morning in delhi. it was filmed by my colleague, persistent fog, it is smog. pollution is always bad in delhi but the past two days have been extreme. in some areas it has reached 30 times the recommended limit according to the w helped show. the american medical association has declared a state of emergency. all schools have been closed for the week. pollution levels generally wise in the winter in delhi. that is because in neighbouring states —— rise, thousands of farmers are burning stubble in their fields, thousands of farmers are burning stubble in theirfields, that creates mike, add to that dust and rubbish from construction starts and you get to where we are. one of our correspondence is based in delhi and he stepped outside. this is what delhi looks like at the moment. the entire city is covered in this thick

blanket of grey smoke. in the distance is the famous, iconic india gate war memorial, which you can only just see gate war memorial, which you can onlyjust see because the visibility is so poor. at this time you would often see a lot more people out mysteries, but there are not many people about. it is not hard to understand why. i have been out for only ten minutes, my eyes are beginning to smart, my throat is burning, because when you breathe in you breathe in this deadly cocktail of diesel fumes, construction dust, such from coal—fired power plants, even smoke from burning crop stubble on the farmland outside delhi and beyond. that is the reason why it is literally becoming dangerous for people in the city to venture out. these items are the one people in delhi are queueing up to buy. pollution masks, cut yourfires, air purifiers for your home, even an air quality monitor to assess how dangerous it is to be outside. if you look inside the shop, people have been cheering for several hours

hoping to get their hands on these products. it is very expensive, that is why i'm looking, it should be reasonable so everyone can purchase it. but it is important? yet it is important. a big demand? would you run out? hopefully we will get fresh supplies in one hour. people are going to great lengths as you can see, and it is not difficult to imagine why. four people it is a question of their health and in some insta nces question of their health and in some instances their lives. there is more information on the pollution in delhi and the vast majority of the stories we cover on outside source via the bbc website. this go back to the main story here in the uk, and in fact the main story here in the uk, and infact our the main story here in the uk, and in fact our lead story on outside source. priti patel, the former

international development secretary, has resigned in the last few hours. these are pictures of her leaving downing street in this car after she has broken to theresa may and had offered her resignation. that was pretty much inevitable. she had been under pressure for days. the story isn't about one minister, it is about how stable to theresa may's government is. it has not been particularly sta ble government is. it has not been particularly stable since the election earlier in the year. this story has many components. it starts with priti patel having a series of meetings with israeli officials and the israeli prime ministerjeering a summer holiday in israel. we were then told that downing street did not know the these meetings had happened. that would be a break of the ministerial code. priti patel then released an apology. she acknowledge that what had happened was not ideal, theresa may excepted that. then the story escalated. last night we had multiple reports, this one from the sun, that there were

other seriously high level meetings involving priti patel, which the government and in particular theresa may did not know about. that meant, bearing in mind that priti patel was not in england, she was in east africa, she was told not to carry on with her trip that come back to london for some conversations. while she was in the air, lots of people we re she was in the air, lots of people were following her flight on the flight were following her flight on the flight radar website, and they told us flight radar website, and they told us that 22,000 people were monitoring it. step—by—step and waiting for her to land to see what would play out. while she was in the airwe had a would play out. while she was in the air we had a situation of thejewish chronicle running another huge story. if it is true, that in fact number ten you about some of these meetings and encouraged priti patel not to go public with them. let's be clear, our political editor says that number ten flatly denies this.

we cannot say for certain that this is the case. but the man behind the story has spoken to the bbc.” is the case. but the man behind the story has spoken to the bbc. i have been told first by my original to sources, that since i have gone public, a third source has contacted me. a very senior, respectable and reliable source has confirmed to me that it reliable source has confirmed to me thatitis reliable source has confirmed to me that it is true. but priti patel did know and tell number ten on monday about that extra meeting. and number ten asked her, told her, not to put that extra meeting in her statement, for whatever reason they may have. well, if that is, as stephen pollard says, the story isn'tjust about the resignation of a government minister, it is about the behaviour of theresa may, watching you and what she didn't know. and what that leaves conservatives and their power. earlier on i asked whether

story leaves theresa may right now? this is the second cabinet minister theresa may has lost in a week. well i don't think anyone is blaming theresa may for their resignations, they are very different, one about sexual harassment allegations, and in the case of priti patel, the idea that she was making foreign policy up that she was making foreign policy up as she went along and wasn't following the normal channels. the problem is that it adds to that whiff of chaos and crisis surrounding her government. the sense that it is a government that has been buffeted by events rather than being in control of them. this all of course is while the government is facing so massive, so huge, you know what i'm going to brexit. and michel barnier has helpfully taken to twitter to remind the uk that there are still three outstanding issues, the irish border, citizens of rights and the

so—called divorce bill, to be resolved if they are going to be any conversations about face two, the uk trade relationship with the eu. and of course the clock is ticking because it is important to remember that britain has triggered article 50, whether or not there is a deal, britain will be out of the eu in march 2000 and 19. of course, these things are all linked. in part because of these negotiations beginning, the government will be thinking how weak they look to the eu, to our negotiating partners with all of the problems we are having in london. but the other big issue which is connected to brexit, you have to remember that priti patel was a prominent brexiteer. for theresa may, when she has to hire a new development minister, she will have to be very mindful of that difficult balance and her government between those who campaigned for leaves, and those who campaigned to remain. ina leaves, and those who campaigned to remain. in a way that is the dynamic

at the heart of all of this. in many ways, government ministers resigning isa ways, government ministers resigning is a terrible thing. sorting out brexit and where these talks should be going is super tricky. brexit and where these talks should be going is super trickym brexit and where these talks should be going is super tricky. if you find uk politics intriguing, look at this next story. it is about lebanon on's disappearing leader. he did not announce it in leather nun, he announced it in study your arabia. we can be certain that his recognition was not expected, his foreign affairs magazine said that the resignation left his own supporters scratching their heads. or another well—known analyst said... we must also point out that hariri has not been backed 11 on and

not said when he will return. this is interesting with this picture, the word crosses backs meaning hostage, implying that the saudis forced him to resign and controlling the situation. certainly we can say that saudi arabia backed his party and that when he resigned he blames iranfor and that when he resigned he blames iran for meddling. that is important because this is a grand regional battle between saudi arabia and iran ford dominance. this is playing out elsewhere in the middle east. this is what our middle east correspondence said... this is the bbc correspondent in beirut getting to grips with all of this. we know he is in riyadh, but we don't know under which status,

which prompts lots of questions on high official levels that mr hariri might be under pressure in saudi arabia. so far, the camp of mr hariri, the pro—future movement officials and supporters claimed that mr hariri is not under any sort of pressure, not under house arrest and has complete freedom to return to the country. but the president himself is casting a lot of doubt on this saying that he refuses to deal with the resignation of mr hariri until the prime ministers back to leather nun. he said he would —— lebanon. he would deal with the surprise of this announcement and would not deal with the resignation. this is turning into a surreal story

in lebanon. the sequence of events is extraordinary, and everyone here is extraordinary, and everyone here is catching their breath about what is catching their breath about what is next for the country. who knows what is coming next? while we wait for news from lebanon. let's talk about the latest round of the us led climate talks. almost 200 countries are working on how to implement the paris agreement. but there is concern that any progress made on carbon levels could be wiped out by an unusual threat. i certainly had not heard about this before today. in the democratic republic of congo and the peatlands of central africa, there is an issue. our reporter explains what it is. this relate area of forest in central congo holds gigatons of carbon. it is the result of decay

from millions of years ago and it has been locked safely in the soil for thousands of years. we estimate we have a map of the central congo peatlands for the first time this year, the shows it covers around 1a5,000 square kilometres. that is an area a bit bigger than the size of england. we think its stores about 30 thousand tonnes of carbon, more carbon than the emissions from fossil fuels and humanity globally for three years. but with more intensive farming and destruction of the forest, there is concern. sig green peas and sciences are monitoring the levels. the ra i nfo rest monitoring the levels. the ra i nforest is monitoring the levels. the rainforest is the second—largest in the world and we know that it is critical for biodiversity. with this discovery we also learned that it is critical for the climate. so far, the vegetation remains largely

undisturbed campaign groups say there is absolutely no question of expelling forest people. in fact, those who live and depend on the forest, a re those who live and depend on the forest, are likely to be keener to co nse rve forest, are likely to be keener to conserve it. but they are also trapped in extreme poverty and this puts pressure on the forest. translation: our fathers bought back fish and animals from the forest, but there is nothing left to bring back because many people are exploiting it and we ourselves are dying from hunger. researchers estimate that by planting more trees, farming more sustainable and conserving weapons, carbon dioxide emissions could be slashed by more than one third. money though is key. and congolese officials say they need more funds. translation: the effo rts need more funds. translation: the efforts of the democratic republic of congo to protect the forests are not sufficiently rewarded with international solidarity. but the drc will have to wait and see if their appeal is successful. and

what, if anything, they come up with. a child suffering from a rare genetic condition which leaves skin as fragile as butterfly wings has been given new genetically modified skin. this was done in a series of life—saving operations in germany. when hassan was just a week old, his skin began to tear and blister. he hasjunctional epidermolysis bullosa. the separate layers of his skin should be held together like velcro, but hassan's dna is missing vital instructions that leave his skin as fragile as a butterfly‘s wing. there's no cure, and around four in ten patients do not reach adolescence. hassan's dad said it was an upsetting time for the family. he was in severe pain. he was asking me a lot of questions. i couldn't answer them. for example, "why do i have this disease?"

"why do i have this life?" injune 2015, hassan was critically ill at the children's hospital in bochum, germany, and doctors did not think he would survive. more than half his body looked like a red—raw open wound. in an experimental therapy, a patch of hassan's skin was taken to a lab in italy. there, it was infected with the virus. viruses are good at getting inside cells, and this one was used like a postman to deliver the missing instructions for binding layers of skin together. large sheets of the skin were then grown and grafted back onto hassan's body. this breakthrough is exciting doctors. i got goose bumps when i heard this, it was just incredible, really, very, very exciting. is this going to make a difference for patients today? this treatment is not available, and it is not going to be available in the next few months, but this is a massive advance in research.

four—year—old tia is just one of half a million people living with epidermolysis bullosa worldwide. it's gave us a lot of hope. if it's going to make her better and make her have a normal life, we would definitely go for it. every birthday that she has, i dread it sometimes, because i always sit and think, "is she going to die this year?" "is she going to live?" and i don't want to think that any more. but this is not a proven therapy — it's experimental. clinical trials are under way to see if it can be used more widely. james gallagher, bbc news. just before i say goodbye. i want to tell you about an important ruling from germany's highest court. it says that a third sexual category must be legally recognised at birth. by must be legally recognised at birth. by the end of the year there has to be legislation to create an intersex

category. germany will be the first country in europe to do that. it is also worth pointing out that in 2013 it was also the first country to allow babies with both characteristics of both sexes to be categorised as neither male nor female. between 0.05 and 1:7%... a really significant ruling there in germany. that is the end of today's outside source. thank you for watching. join me tomorrow at the same time for another hour of the bigger stories around the world. i will see you then. it is that time again when we look at some detail over the next few days. on this occasion we will

trying to look at some of the trends in the latter part of the forthcoming week to see what will affect us then. in the shorter term, there are a lot of isobars on the chart, especially across the northern half of scotland weather will be gailforce northern half of scotland weather will be gail force winds throughout thursday and a copious supply of showers. in the south it is a dull start but eventually the frontal systems that bring that cloud, will slump away to the continent. brighter skies following behind. double—figure temperatures even as far north at as the central belt of scotland. not a bad end to the day, and then overnight we will bring a new set of weather fronts even will stop pretty much a rerun, where those fronts moved to the southern half, some showers turning wintry across the high ground of scotland. friday is all about trying to push that weather front down towards the southern shores. quite a few isobars again. another windy day across scotland. but this time the wind is

just north of west, a fresher feel despite the presence of sunshine. a scattering of showers as well. i am not sure weather that cloud will actually get away from this south—western court, because it is one thing to waive its way back to the western side which will bring rain on friday into saturday. the weekend will be a bright affair, cold, and there will be showers around the coasts. that little wave on the weather front, just the last of the relatively mild air, because as we go through the weekend you will notice that it is a sea of blue with the air streaming down towards us with the air streaming down towards us from the north, never a one direction. there is that wave, cloud and raina direction. there is that wave, cloud and rain a feature of that on friday into saturday. once that has pulled away, eventually we will see the start of this incursion of this colder air on these north—westerly is. still some relative warmth across the faster, but elsewhere,

temperatures as a daytime high are in single figures. on saturday into sunday, it doesn't really matter where you are, we have got this forlorn north north—westerly wind right across the british isles. a chilly start and a cold day throughout. the prospect of showers especially in the eec which will give it a chilly start on monday. but it is just giving ground wanting to slump towards the south—west as these weather fronts wander over at these weather fronts wander over at the northern flank more rain and wind. primarily a dry day thanks to the influence of the high pressure. then, as we move towards the middle pa rt then, as we move towards the middle part of the forthcoming week, it really lays out what will be the pattern of the rest of the week with the high—pressure tantalisingly close to the south, but it is not

doing enough to keep those low pressures away from the north. in between the flow will be essentially from the west, relatively speaking competitor weekend, a milder flow from midweek onwards. there will be rain because of the low pressure in the north, and in the cell thanks to that area of high—pressure things will look a bit more settled. minister in a week. international development secretary, priti patel, resigns after a series of unauthorised meetings with israeli ministers. she'd been summoned back from a government trip abroad to number 10 to explain herself. the foreign secretary paid tribute to her. it's been a real pleasure working with her, and i'm sure she's got a great future ahead of her. tonight labour called on the prime minister to get control of her chaotic cabinet. also tonight: the head of nhs england says without more money one in ten of us will be on a waiting list by 2021.

the mother of a teenager accuses the actor kevin spacey of sexually assaulting her son last year. to kevin spacey i want to say this: shame on you for what you did to my son.