tonight at ten, celebrations into the night in zimbabwe after robert mugabe finally resigns as president after 37 years in power. tens of thousands of people poured into the streets after the man who'd had an iron grip on power was swept aside. i. i, robert mugabe... mugabe's resignation came as a complete surprise. his letter was read out in parliament. we're here right at the moment that they've heard that robert mugabe has resigned from the presidency. and you can hear it from zanu—pf mp5, from opposition mps, from members of the public who've come here to witness what's happening. it happened as impeachment proceedings against 93—year—old mugabe were beginning after last week's military take over and days of protests. it isa it is a good steak for zimbabwe. this is a new era for our nation.”

think the only time this is a new era for our nationli think the only time i will be able to comprehend what has just think the only time i will be able to comprehend what hasjust happened is whenl to comprehend what hasjust happened is when i wake up in the morning. for many people, mugabe is the only leader they've ever known. we'll be asking what now for zimbabwe? also tonight: police reveal dozens of prosecutions have been dropped after claims that thousands of test results were tampered with at a forensics laboratory. the dup leader arlene foster says northern ireland's border is being used in the negotiations for the brexit negotiations. the chancellor philip hammond puts the finishing touches to tomorrow's budget saying he will "invest to secure a bright future for britain". and coming up on sportsday on bbc news: no shortage of goals in spain as liverpool continue their champions league campaign in sevilla. good evening.

robert mugabe took zimbabwe and the world by surprise this afternoon when he suddenly resigned as the country's president after almost four decades in power. without warning his letter of resignation was read out in parliamentjust as impeachment proceedings against him were getting under way. in it mugabe said his decision to go was voluntary and he had made it to allow a smooth transfer of power. the news sparked wild celebrations with thousands of people pouring onto the streets in the capital harare. our africa editor fergal keane was in parliament when the news broke. tonight harare, a city for so long where people feared to speak their mind, isa where people feared to speak their mind, is a place of noise. it is exactly seven days since the army began its move against robert mugabe. in the times since, people's

hopes have surged and faded as they wondered if he would resign. tonight just before five o'clock robert mugabe brought the waiting to an end. it is the night of the free, and night like no other in their lives, a great tension has broken, the epoque of fear, of desperation, of robert mugabe, has ended. how rarely does politics translate into something so truly felt? it is a mystery in the making. we never thought something like this would happen in zimbabwe. this is what we have been fighting for since independence. one man has been taken as, but we are happy it is done now. suddenly we got the news tonight it was over, he had retired, he had resigned and he was gone and

suddenly there was just this euphoria and that is all of us. all of us! the sense of surprise here is deep. because at the day's beginning it did not feel as if robert mugabe was going anywhere. parliamentarians, urged on by the crowds, gathered to begin the process of impeaching the president. after a week in which he had refused to quit, his own mps led the legal process. as mps moved into parliament to prepare for the impeachment vote, the decisive political phase of the operation to remove robert mugabe from power gets under way. will he be gone by the end of the week? i really cannot say. the process of parliament is determining whether or not he will be gone by the end of the week. i would have wanted him to go yesterday. the mps knew that public

patience was wearing thin. the expectations of a nation were focused on them. the crowd have new heroes, the general who arrested robert mugabe... and emerson mnangagwa, the political brain behind the coup and president in waiting. by mid afternoon the mps and senators had moved to a hotel to accommodate the specialjoint session of parliament. they were watched by the public in what felt like a rare moment of true democracy here. people are suffering, this mp said. and then the moment. a letter was handed to the speaker. he read it first himself and then to the world. a letter from the president... he was muffled but the words were momentous. he hands in

his resignation. cheering many who are we ago would have cheered robert mugabe now exalted in his fall. and we are here right at the moment that they heard that robert mugabe has resigned from the presidency. you can hear it, cheering from zanu—pf mps, you can hear it, cheering from zanu—pf mp5, from opposition mps and from members of the public who have come here to witness what was happening. they did not expect it. they thought this would be a potentially elongated process of impeachment but it has not happened. he has gone, it is over. a week ago most foreign journalists were banned here. today mps were eager to speak with me. this is a huge moment for your country, what do you feel? this

isa your country, what do you feel? this is a revelation. the people, if they speak their is a revelation. the people, if they speaktheir mind, is a revelation. the people, if they speak their mind, they can change what will come. what are you feeling? i am feeling very happy because there is no spilling of blood in zimbabwe. the people love peace. celebrations spilled into the streets. they cheered emerson mnangagwa and mocked robert mugabe. wherever they were met, the soldiers we re wherever they were met, the soldiers were fated. we moved back up to the city into the rapidly gathering crowds. we have just city into the rapidly gathering crowds. we havejust come city into the rapidly gathering crowds. we have just come from parliament and we are on the streets and the celebrations have started. many are celebrating the end of the age of mugabe. now it is over. but

in theirjoy they age of mugabe. now it is over. but in their joy they also know they must be vigilant. i think people will rejoice tonight, after that we really have to be about the serious business of building our country. we cannot make the mistake of having the same kind of leaders in place to build our country, we cannot afford that. remember the longer road to this moment? the people who endured white minority rule? and then they saw their independence become tyranny. they found themselves suddenly free. our africa editor fergal keane. our africa editor fergal keane. after nearly four decades in power, robert mugabe is the only leader many zimbabweans have ever known. our zimbabwe correspondent, shingai nyoke, has been talking to some of the people celebrating in the capital harare. street parties are going on

throughout the night as people say they have been reborn. on every street, in every bar, the celebrations continue, relishing the national flag celebrations continue, relishing the nationalflag in a renewed celebrations continue, relishing the national flag in a renewed sense of patriotism. i witnessed first—hand celebrations at independence in 1980. there was such an overwhelming sense of hope. now for the first time in 37 years i have seen the same glimmer of hope in the eyes of zimbabwe. i visited this bar to see what changes this generation, known as born frees as they were born after 1980, want from a future without robert mugabe. can you imagine all the years i have existed on this planet i have only known one president. for me it is certainly a different thing and it is the best. i will run with it and i will run with emerson mnangagwa, i do not care. it is ironic that emerson mnangagwa, one of the symbols of

zanu—pf repression, is now seen as the face of that new hope. zanu—pf repression, is now seen as the face of that new hopelj zanu—pf repression, is now seen as the face of that new hope. ijust hope that as the new president of zimbabwe he is aware that, unlike mugabe, he is leading with people who have found their voice and if at any time in his presidency he comes short, we now have got the courage and the will to put that into check. that is what this period has been about, that the president must a nswer to about, that the president must answer to the people. for many years zimbabwe and had felt an unspoken shame as the economy crashed and millions of africa's most literate workforce, young and old, fled the country for new jobs in workforce, young and old, fled the country for newjobs in foreign lands. i can start building a career, i can start investing. by the time i am a0 maybe i can own property. for me i finally have a future and i can start looking towards something and notjust surviving. we are the future of

zimbabwe, without us, there will not be any zimbabwe. in the streets of harare i saw a pride that has been long absent and heard many say that night they have shown africa had to effect peaceful change. the 1980 independence struggle one robert mugabe the image of a hero by some. his part in achieving that won him the status of a hero in the anti—colonial struggle. but then during his long years in power he presided over decades of political repression and economic chaos. by the end he was reviled as a tyrant. here's our africa correspondent andrew harding. at every roadblock in every corner of this long tormented country you can feel the influence and the damage wrought by robert mugabe. and the fear. today we went deep into zimbabwe's the fear. today we went deep into zimba bwe's countryside. there the fear. today we went deep into zimbabwe's countryside. there it is

on the left. robert mugabe's mansion. it is almost feudal, more like a mansion. it is almost feudal, more likeafamily mansion. it is almost feudal, more like a family business than a country. andrew, we want you to come in and take a look. they would not let us go in to admire the chandeliers, so we visited the neighbours. it was smashed down by the police? yes. to be poor in zimbabwe is to be powerless. robert mugabe's wife grace recently decided she wanted this land so she said the piece into destroyed dozens of homes. they came here and started demolishing my house. they said you must go away with this process being taken by the first lady. grace mugabe? yes. if she came here, what would you say? she has destroyed my life for the past 16 years. tear her to pieces. so how did it all go so

wrong? i, robert, gabriel mugabe. 37 yea rs wrong? i, robert, gabriel mugabe. 37 years ago robert mugabe was a hero, the man who liberated zimbabwe, but he soon proved to be a different leader. after he had the least his supporters on the country's white farmer as the economy collapsed. he rigged elections and terrorised his opponents to stay in power and all but a few suffered. this was me shopping in a country ravaged by hyperinflation. to give you a sense of this country's spiralling catastrophe i have come to a supermarket on the edge of harare and we are using hidden cameras for our protection. the first thing you see are empty shells that should be stacked with bread, but the bakeries have stopped working. robert mugabe shrugged it off, but he was older and weaker than he knew. in the end his fatal mistake was almost a

cliche, to pick his wife as his successor, a woman who know one trusted or liked. the man poised to ta ke trusted or liked. the man poised to take over here is emerson mnangagwa, for decades robert mugabe's right—hand man, his brutal enforcer. the worry is that zimbabwe is busy exchanging one tyrant for another. then again this has been an earthquake of a week. the fear has lifted, the genie of freedom may be out of the bottle. this is a big moment, we are so excited that finally we are taking over the country. 37 years of disappointment, falsehood and dictatorship, all of this is coming to an end and we must have a fresh beginning. tonight robert mugabe leaves behind a country warped by years of stubborn, unnecessary cruelty. but he is gone and zimbabwe is celebrating. but he is gone and zimbabwe is celebrating. let's go back to fergal keane who is

in harare. we can hear the noisy celebrations still going on. i am sure they will be going on into the night. what next now for zimbabwe? we know that emerson mnangagwa, the president elect, will arrive here tomorrow and be sworn in either tomorrow and be sworn in either tomorrow or wednesday. as andrew said in his report, there are serious questions around him. he was a loyal henchman of robert mugabe for years. but it is important to factor in the pressure that will come from people like the chinese, major backers of zimbabwe, and the west. for me the biggest thing that has emerged in the last week is the power of our younger generation of activists. they are people who are tech savvy, allied to the power of social media and determined not to endure the prior patience and depressions that their parents and grandparents suffered. they will be

the biggest bloc against any kind of tyranny in zimbabwe again. fergal keane, thank you. more than 10,000 criminal cases may have been affected by alleged data manipulation at a forensics laboratory in manchester. it's a lab that's used by police forces across the uk. around 50 prosecutions for driving offences have already been stopped because of concerns about drug test results and there are fears there could be many more. daniel sandford reports. a glossy promotional video for randox testing services, used by police forces to check samples for drugs, testing that it's now clear has been unreliable for years. my advice from the forensic science regulator was that up to 10,000 cases, spanning back to late 2013, could no longer be fully relied upon in the criminaljustice system. 10,000 cases. defence lawyer nick freeman spotted the problem when one of his clients,

who'd admitted using a small amount of cannabis, tested positive for drugs he knew he hadn't taken. when we got the report from randox, it suggested a much larger amount than had been anticipated but, more pertinently, it also suggested that he'd consumed cocaine and another substance, and he hadn't consumed any other substance, as far as he was concerned. two employees from randox‘s manchester laboratory are suspected of not redoing tests that had failed quality checks. they've been arrested, but not charged. the company has apologised and is paying for thousands of retests. the actual number of miscarriages ofjustice isn't clear yet. the crown prosecution service has dropped 50 prosecutions for drug—driving that hadn't come to court yet and two cases of death by careless driving involving drugs have been referred back here to the court of appeal. and there are now concerns about work done by these same two employees on family cases at trimega laboratories

between 2010 and 201a before it was taken over by randox. daniel sandford, bbc news, at the court of appeal. a drugs company has been accused of overcharging the nhs by tens of millions of pounds a year for a thyroid medicine. ten years ago the annual bill to the nhs was £600,000, last year the company concordia charged the nhs £3a million for it. the competition and markets authority says the manufacturer abused its dominant position. concordia denies it infringed competition law. northern ireland's border is being used as a bargaining chip in the brexit negotiations according to the leader of the dup, arlene foster. she's accused ireland and the rest of the eu of being "careless" and "reckless" in the way they are using concerns as part

of the brexit talks. it comes as the prime minister theresa may said she's ready to move the brexit talks forward. our political editor, laura kuenssberg, reports. the answers aren't written in the sky, but number ten has got ministers on board to dangle the promise of a bigger payment to brussels. theresa may hopes that will shift the eu to talking trade next month. we are ready to move onto phase two, to see those talks about a deep and special partnership with the eu for the future. but a hypothetical bigger bill isn't the only demand the brexit secretary's counterparts are making. the eu's pressing the uk to be more specific about what happens at the border between northern ireland and the south when it's time to leave. the northern ireland border cannot be fully addressed if we're not taking into account the shape of our future partnership with the european union. final resolution of the financial settlement depends on it because nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. serious slips can easily be made by both sides, one diplomat said today.

and serious awkwardness is emerging over the irish border. the irish pm, the taoiseach, demanding a hard border is ruled out, concerned that putting up real barriers could undo progress, peace in northern ireland. but the dup who, remember, have essentially the casting vote in the commons and the prime minister's ear, aren't happy about how ireland and the eu are playing their concerns. i am accusing them of being reckless because, if you listen to some of the rhetoric... look, nobody understands negotiations probably better than i because there are people that will come out and they will say things to try and push agendas forward, so it's almost a full battle. so you think some of this is confected, would you say it's a faux battle? well, i think some people are taking their moment in the sun at the moment to try and get the maximum in relation to the negotiations and i understand that, but you shouldn't play about with northern ireland.

it sounds rather, arleen foster, that you're warning off the taoiseach? well, i'm saying to him that he should know better than anybody, that you don't play around with northern ireland to effect change in other places. we need to get into the next phase, to look at what does it actually look like in terms of trade. i hear this phrase "the borders of the past", of course the borders of the past were there for a completely different reason. the borders of the past were there to deal with terrorism. they were there to deal with a very difficult situation in northern ireland. what is that solution though? people talk about the frictionless border and for pretty much 18 months now nobody has come up with a solution. what might that be? the solution comes in the trade negotiations and that's the point i'm making. we need to be able to move to the second phase so we can actually get more of the details. but for ireland, north and south, for brussels as well as westminster, the border could yet hold up the deliberation of the next crucial stage. a reminder, brexit is notjust

about our departure, notjust about our parliament, and certainly not just about our politicians. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. tomorrow the chancellor philip hammond will outline his vision for britain's economy and spending when he delivers his budget. he says he will use it to "invest to secure a bright future for britain." our economics editor, kamal ahmed, has been looking at what we can expect him to say and asking just how much room for maoeuvre the chancellor actually has. budget day and probably the most important economic and political event since the general election. it's the day when the government lays out how it's going to tax all of us and what it's going to spend those taxes on, that long shopping list of demands — schools, hospitals, the police and housing. for many years the government has spent more than it raises in taxes, and that's meant the government's had to borrow. on that issue though, there's been some good

news for the chancellor. the official forecast said that the government was likely to borrow this year £51.7 billion. but higher tax revenues and lower public spending has made the picture a little more positive. now, the forecast is expected to say that borrowing this year will hit £a5.7 billion. that would give hammond a bit more wriggle room if he wants to spend more. and will help the deficit, that's the amount the government spends compared to what it receives in taxes. in 2010, the deficit was running at 9.9% of national income, otherwise known as gdp. last year, it was 3.8% and the government wants it to fall to zero by the middle of the next decade. but talk to any budget expert and they will tell you all of the chancellor's calculations could be blown out of the water by a huge downgrade in productivity, that's the ability of the economy to create wealth. a downgrade's definitely bad news for philip hammond.

it's bad news both because a slower growing economy means lower tax receipts and more borrowing and it reduces the amount of money he has to play with to make the kind of announcements he might want to make. productivity downgrade is also going to affect people's pay and families living standards and that creates added pressure on the chancellor to do something about that, whether it be via things like public sector pay or cuts to working—age benefits or changes to the tax regime. mr hammond already has some bills to pay. the government has pledged £2 billion to help students repaying their loans. there's another £2 billion for affordable housing. the northern ireland coalition deal with the dup, that will cost £1 billion. there is likely to be majorfunding needed to deal with the aftermath of the grenfell tragedy. what should we expect from the budget? will the chancellor borrow more to pay for all that housing? will there be more money for health and public sector pay? and don't forget, the chancellor doesn't actually control the biggest factor affecting the economy and that's brexit, and that

remains the big unknown. kamal ahmed, bbc news. a fatal accident inquiry in scotland has ruled that the deaths of three people who were killed in a rally in the borders could have been avoided if people had been clearly banned from standing in the area where the crash took place. the inquiry was held into the deaths at thejim clark rally in 201a and a fourth fatality at the snowman rally near inverness in 2013. rodney bewes, best known for his role as bob ferris in the likely lads, has died aged 79. english girls abroad with appealing shoulders and flowery dresses, like wallpaper on the march. the series was a huge hit in the 19605 and was revived a decade later. his agent described him as "a true one—off." un war crimesjudges

will deliver their verdict tomorrow on the former bosnian serb army commander ratko mladic after a trial that's lasted six years. in 1992, after the break up of yugoslavia, the small republic of bosnia—herzegovina descended into civil war. areas dominated by ethnic serbians declared autonomy and began a three—year war with bosnia's mainly islamic majority. mladic, nicknamed the "butcher of bosnis blamed for ordering mladic, is blamed for ordering europe's worst atrocities since world war ii. our special correspondent, allan little, reports. for years, he was the most commanding figure on the bosnian battlefield and his men gave to the lexicon of conflict a grim new euphemism — ethnic cleansing.

but ratko mladic's son insists the hague tribunal is biased. they are going to try to ignore the second world war in which the serbian people lived through five years of genocide. he was an honest, capable officer, who did hisjob perfectly in this difficult circumstances. if it were not for general mladic, we would have repetition of the second world war. this inherited memory drove the serb war effort. for them it justified the bombardment of sarajevo, were 11,000 died. the murder and extermination, the mass deportations, the concentration camps — all these are charges mladic faces. and at srebrenica, 8,000 men and boys killed. for this, he is charged with genocide. when he took srebrenica, mladic held meetings with local muslims. this engineer is almost too frightened to speak, within days he was murdered. nesib mandzic, then a school teacher, also met mladic, he survived.

translation: at one moment he said to me, "nesib, the destiny of your people is in your own hands. you will decide whether they survive or disappear." i took it as a threat, but i didn't think they would kill so many people. but in the end, they even killed children — 1a,15,16 years old, and men over 70. i couldn't believe that they would kill people like that. among serbs who fought for him, general mladic remains a folk hero, but even here there's a weariness with the past and the war the country hasn't recovered from. "you should know that a good percentage of war veterans on both sides", he told me, "become alcoholics or addicts or they commit suicide in poverty. none of us war veterans would want our children to fight another war. we'd rather leave." two decades on, the divisions

of the war remain. these children are bosnian muslims, growing up in the serb controlled half of bosnia, but they go to a separate muslim only school because their parents say the local state schools teach an explicitly serb curriculum, one which rejects their bosnian identity. it's what ratko mladic fought his war, to separate serbs from non serbs. alija omerovic, who survived srebrenica, has two children at the school. translation: i think he succeeded. that plan, to divide us, is still succeeding. this in a way is also ethnic cleansing. schooling is a basic right for all children, no matter what their nationality and if we don't have schooling, then we can't live here. ratko mladic fought to dismember bosnia, a country he believed had no legitimacy or right to exist. the divisions that war bequeathed are deep and enduring. allan little, bbc news, sarajevo. back now to our main story and the

sudden resignation of robert mugabe after 37 years as zimbabwe's president. back to harare now and our correspondent, shingai nyoka. as the curtain closes on president mugabe's era tonight i've cast my mind back on his 37 year rule. he began as a hero, a liberator, a person who educated his people as well as a reconciler of black—and—white. but so much of that has been eroded over the last 20 yea rs. has been eroded over the last 20 years. i've been thinking of the people who never really stood a chance. the millions of people who left zi m ba bwe to chance. the millions of people who left zimbabwe to find