welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: tens of thousands on the streets of zimbabwe as robert mugabe resigns as president. his ousted vice—president is set to succeed him. the surprise resignation was made by letter, just as proceedings to impeach him were getting started 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 mps, from opposition mps, from members of the public who've come here to witness what's happening. for many people, president mugabe is the only leader they've ever known, his iron grip on power finally swept aside. as almost four decades of rule come to an end we hear from president mugabe's political friends and foes. this is a good day for zimbabwean, a new era for our nation. this is a good day for zimbabwean, a

new era for our nationli this is a good day for zimbabwean, a new era for our nation. i am numb, to be honest. i think the only time i will be able to cop and what has happened is one wake up in the morning. -- when i wake up. and the actor and singer, david cassidy has died in hospital in florida, where he had been admitted with organ failure. he was 67 years old. hello. there have been jubilant celebrations on zimbabwe's streets over the resignation of president robert mugabe, ending his 37—year rule. without warning his letter of resignation was read out in parliament, just as impeachment proceedings were getting underway. in it, the world's oldest head of state said his decision to go was voluntary and he had made it to allow a smooth transfer of power. our africa editor fergal keane was in parliament when the news broke. it is the night of the free, a night like no other in their lives, a great tension has broken,

the epoch of fear, of desperation, of robert mugabe, has ended. how rarely does politics translate into something so truly felt? this history in the making. we have never thought that something like this was going to happen in zimbabwe. screams: yes! this is history, you guys. this is what we have been fighting for since independence. one man has been taking us aback, man, and we are very happy that he's done now. and then suddenly we got the news tonight that it was over, that he had retired, that he had resigned, that he was gone and suddenly there was just this euphoria amongst all of us. all of us! cheering 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

stubbornly 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'm not sure. i really can't say. look, the processes of parliament will determine whether or not he will be gone by the end of the week. if it were my choice, 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. ..notice of resignation. cheering and applause many who a week 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,

from opposition mps and from members of the public who have come here to witness what's 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? absolutely, this is a revelation. a revelation that the people, if they speak their mind, if they speak their hearts out, change will come. can you tell us what you feel? i am feeling very happy. i'm happy because there is no spilling of blood in zimbabwe. people of zimbabwe are so understanding, they love peace.

celebrations spilled into the streets. they cheered emmerson mnangagwa and mocked robert mugabe. wherever they were met, soldiers were fated. we moved back up through the city, into the rapidly gathering crowds. we have just come from parliament and already on the streets the partying has started. for many people here, they've known nothing but the age of mugabe. and now it is sinking in, it's over. but in theirjoy zimbabweans also know that they must be vigilant. i think people are gonig to rejoice tonight, and then 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. i think people are gonig to rejoice tonight, and then 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 saw their independence become tyranny, found themselves suddenly free. fergal keane, bbc news, harare. after nearly four decades in power, robert mugabe is the only leader many zimbabweans have known. our zimbabwe correspondent, shingai nyoke, has been talking to some of the people celebrating in harare. street parties are going on throughout the night as zimbabweans say that they have been reborn. on every street, in every bar, the 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 zimbabweans. 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, for all the years i have existed on this planet, i have only known one president so for me it is certainly a different thing and it's the best — i will run with it, i will run with emmerson mnangagwa, i do not care. it's ironic that emmerson mnangagwa, one of the symbols of 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's leading a people that has found its voice and if, at any time in his presidency he comes short, we now have both the courage and the will to put the executive to check.

because that is what this whole upheaval has been about, that the president must answer to the people. for many years zimbabweans have felt an unspoken shame as the economy crashed and millions of africa's most literate workforce — young and old — fled the country for menialjobs in foreign lands. i can actually start building a career, i can start investing. i know, by that time i'm 40, maybe i can even own property. so for me it means i finally have a future. i can actually start building towards something and not just surviving. we the youth, we are the future of zimbabwe. without us there would not be any zimbabwe. 0n the streets of harare, i saw a pride that has been long absent and heard many say that tonight zimbabweans have shown africa how to effect peaceful change. shingai nyoka, bbc news, harare. the one that in a moment. —— more on

that. the actor and singer, david cassidy, has died. he was 67. mr cassidy had been in intensive care in hospital in florida after suffering multiple organ failure. he shot to fame when he starred in the 1970s sitcom the partridge family. david sillito looks back on his life. here he is! # i think i love you... here he is! # i thinkl love you... it here he is! # i think i love you... it wasjust a mass his stereo. i couldn't walk down the street, i couldn't go anywhere. in 1970, a young actor called david cassidy became the star ofa called david cassidy became the star of a new tv programme, the partridge family. 0ver of a new tv programme, the partridge family. over the next four years, he

made 96 tv episodes, recorded 15 albums, and toured the world. 20, 30, 40, 50,000 people screaming at the top of their lungs, i love you! it is so overwhelming. it is like, whoa! at one concert in london a girldied and whoa! at one concert in london a girl died and another 800 were injured in the hyteria. in 1974, exhausted and overwhelmed, he retired from show business. he was 24. to be honest with you, i've been touring about three, three and a half years, and i'm really tired. perhaps sometime come back and do it again, but it won't be as the david cassidy as we know him today, you know? # she's looking at through the eyes of love. david cassidy's parents we re of love. david cassidy's parents were actors, and controlled much of the money when he was growing up.

behind the happy family life of clea n behind the happy family life of clean cut keith partridge, the real david cassidy hung out with alice cooper and yearns to move on from his teen idol image. #if his teen idol image. # if this is the last kiss... by the time he returned to the charts in the 1980s there had in many ups and downs. struggles with money, drink, and the aftermath of fame. but there we re and the aftermath of fame. but there were also great successes. the broadway production of blood brothers, his show in las vegas, and he continued to tour. then, aged 66, he continued to tour. then, aged 66, he made an appearance on television to talk about his health. you have been diagnosed with dementia?” have. hi there. david cassidy, actor, singer, but above all, even 40 yea rs actor, singer, but above all, even 40 years on, for a certain generation, he would always be there teen idol. that was david sillito on david

cassidy. peter bowes is in los angeles for us. so many memories therefore so many people of a certain age? yes, he was huge, wasn't he? as we have just seen, in the nineteen seventies, the partridge family really catapulted him to fame, and a certain amount of fortune as well. he had legions of fa ns fortune as well. he had legions of fans around the world. we heard those screaming girls that seems to follow him everywhere. not only was he successful in the partridge family, very successful as a solo artist as well. we have heard that he also had problems in his life. i think it is fair to say that he came to lows that early success that he had, and! to lows that early success that he had, and i think he really wanted a normal existence for a while. ——

came to loathe. then he came back, and performed in las vegas. he performed on television and appeared in films. in the latter years he was able to recapture some of the finance happiness that he had in the beginning of his career. yeah, his 50 year career, that is not bad going. he had a tough time in later yea rs, going. he had a tough time in later years, with the dementia and arthritis? yes. particularly the arthritis, i think, arthritis? yes. particularly the arthritis, ithink, convinced him earlier this year to say that he was giving up after 50 years in the business. hejust giving up after 50 years in the business. he just found giving up after 50 years in the business. hejust found it giving up after 50 years in the business. he just found it too difficult to perform. but yes, he was suffering from dementia as well, from memory loss, and he called it a day. but he had other medical problems as well. he had suffered from collison. he had done a stint in rehab during his latter years. it was a tough time. he was a very loved, and i think that is certainly being reflected in what people are saying about him, just over the last hours since we have heard he passed

away. just a couple of lines from his publicist‘s statement, announcing his passing. she says, "david died announcing his passing. she says, " david died surrounded announcing his passing. she says, "david died surrounded by those he loved with joy in his heart, free from the pain that had gripped him for so long. thank you for the abundance of support you have shown him these many years". that was referring to his many fans. brian wilson of the beach boys tweeted in the last hour, saying he was very sad to hear about david cassidy. he said, "there were times in the mid— 70s when he would come over to my house and we would even start writing songs together". that came asa writing songs together". that came as a surprise to me. he was a very talented and nice person, he says. that is an image. i didn't know that either. we'll have more on zimbabwe later in the programme: and you can of course find much more on our website. there's also a look back over his robert mugab's 37 years in power and how he managed to become the world's oldest head of state. benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistan's general election, and she has asked pakistan's

president to name her as prime minister. jackson has been released on bail of $3 million after turning himself in to police in santa barbara. it was the biggest demonstration so far of the fast—growing european anti—nuclear movement. the south african government has announced that it's opening the country's remaining whites—only beaches to people of all races. this will lead to a black—majority government in this country, and the destruction of the white civilisation. part of the centuries—old windsor castle, one of the queen's residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds' worth of damage. this is bbc news. the latest headlines:

crowds in zimbabwe celebrate after robert mugabe resigns as the country's president. the ruling zanu—pf party says the sacked vice president, emmerson mnangagwa, will soon be sworn in as the country's new leader. the 1980 independence struggle won robert mugabe the status of a hero in the eyes of some. but during his long years in power he presided over decades of political repression and economic chaos. 0ur africa correspondent andrew harding looks at his downfall. 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 zimba bwe's countryside. 0k, there it is on the left. mugabe's mansion.

it's almost feudal, more like a family business than a country. i'm andrew. i'm dennis. we wanted to come in and take a look. they wouldn't let us go in to admire the chandeliers, so we went to visit the neighbours. it was smashed down by police, you say? there it is, it was smashed down by police, you say? yes. to be poor in zimbabwe is to be powerless. the president's wife, grace mugabe, recently decided she wanted this land, so she sent the police in to destroy 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? i would tear her to pieces, because she has destroyed my life for the past 16 years. tear her to pieces? yes. so how did it all go so 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 brutal, vengeful leader. and, after he had unleashed his supporters on the country's white farmers, the economy collapsed. mugabe 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 economic catastrophe, i've come to a supermarket on the edge of harare. we're using hidden cameras for our protection. and the first thing you see are empty shelves 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 no—one trusted or liked. the man poised to take over here is emmerson 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. we have fought for a long time. 37 years of disappointment, 37 years of falsehoods, and 37 years of 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. andrew harding, bbc news, harare.

we heard from our zimbabwe correspondent, shingai nyoka, a little earlier in the programme. here's her latest assesment of what robert mugabe resignation means for the people of zimbabwe. as the curtain closes on president mugabe's zero 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 years. i've been thinking of the people who never really stood a chance, the millions of people who left zimbabwe to find work, the thousands who died in hospital is because there was a shortage of drugs while he left and flew to singapore to keep himself alive. in the end he became a man obsessed with power and that accession became more important than

his people. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. nearly a week after an argentine navy submarine disappeared in the southern atlantic, officials are worried about oxygen levels inside. 44 people are on board the sanjuan. better weather is helping the search effort, which has now been narrowed down to a much smaller area. the us is imposing new sanctions on north korea. the us treasury says they will target north korean shipping operations, and several chinese firms trading with pyongyang, with the aim of stopping funds for the country's nuclear and ballistic missiles programme. a federal grand jury in the us has indicted an uzbek immigrant on 22 terrorism and murder charges over last month's truck attack in new york. sayfullo saipov, who's 29, is accused of killing eight cyclists and pedestrians in lower manhattan. uber has admitted hackers stole the personal data of 50 million of its customers and seven million drivers. uber‘s new boss says it

happened a year ago, e—mail addresses and mobile numbers were downloaded but not bank account details or social security numbers. the lebanese prime minister, saad hariri, has arrived back in beirut for the first time since he shocked the country by announcing his resignation, more than two weeks ago. he's been in saudi arabia, leading to speculation he was being held against his will. sarah corker has more. his sudden resignation plunged lebanon into a political crisis. now saad hariri is back in beirut, his jet greeted by the security forces and facing many questions. he has spent two weeks in riyadh before trips to abu dhabi, paris and, most recently, cairo, where he remained tightlipped. translation: god willing, we have the independence holiday in lebanon. a holiday for all lebanese and, god willing, by political situation, as i said in paris, will be decided in lebanon and i am not talking about politics here. thank you.

this situation began in the saudi capital, riyadh, 2.5 weeks ago. after talks with the saudis, he abruptly announced he was quitting. he said he feared an assassination. a accused saudi arabia's rival, iran, and hezbollah — a shi'a group — of meddling in his country's affairs. some in beirut believe mr haririr was being held against his will in saudi arabia — something both he and riyadh denied. the lebanese president had this warning for arab states. translation: my first message to the arab brothers, dealing with lebanon requires a lot of wisdom and rationalism and the alternative to that is pushing it towards the fire. amid the uncertainty, posters of mr hariri have appeared across beirut. this one says, "we are all sad". he's expected to attend independence celebrations later today. sarah corker, bbc news.

dramatic video has emerged of last week's dash across the south korean border by a north korean defector under fire from his former comrades. you can see guards only steps behind the defector as they opened fire. 0ne briefly crossed the border, pursuing him, and he was wounded. he's since had two operations to extract bullets from his body and has recovered consciousness. and american military helicopter flew him to hospital and the latest is the will require intensive care. —— an. he is hesitant about speaking and shows signs of depression and his name and rank haven't been released yet. more of that news any time on the bbc news website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @bbcmikeembley. thank you for watching. hello there.

we have heavy rain, gales, even some snow, all in the forecast for the next few days. the coldest air is still waiting in the wings. we have several areas of low pressure all pushing up from the south—west, bringing these weather fronts, and in turn bringing rain. so, having seen the rain ease off overnight, it's going to be turning wetter by the morning. mild to the south, some colder air perhaps beginning to arrive in the north of the uk. let's head into the morning, for the rush hour, and for much of southern england, it well may be dry. midlands, east anglia too. windy by the morning, a very mild side to the day, too. then we're back into the rain across wales, especially wet to the north—west of wales. some rain for the north of england, the north—west in particular. and this rain in ireland could become heavy and begin to arrive in the south—west and south of scotland. then we've got a slice of drier weather before we're back into something a bit wetter in the far north of scotland. this main area of rain could be as much as 100mm of rain falling by the end of the day over the hills, south—west scotland,

cumbria, and north—west wales. and ahead of that, across much of england and wales, it will be windy. strong to perhaps gale—force winds, very mild air, especially if you get the sunshine in the south—east and east anglia. could be some rain and cold air across the north of scotland. this rain still around in the evening, with strong winds. some squally rain sweeping eastwards across england and wales. poor day in the rain, and cold air across scotland. squally rain sweeping east. overnight in scotland, particularly northern parts of scotland. further south, much milder, but still windy. the winds do ease down a bit on thursday, and that snow continues for a while, even to some lower levels in northern scotland too before easing down through the day. we're seeing some bands of showers pushing their way southwards, but there'll still be some sunshine in between. still pretty mild, actually, across the south and south—east, 13 or 14 degrees. much colder, though, not just for scotland, but also for northern ireland

and the north of england, too. now, heading into friday, a lot of uncertainty about the position of this area of low pressure. this is probably the last of those low—pressure centres moving up from the south—west. the rain more likely across southern england for a while on friday. and this could be the last of the milder air, if you like, because colder air that's in the north and north—west will come sweeping its way southwards just in time for the weekend. now, you may well be dry for much of the weekend. there'll be some sunshine, too. but we are going to find some showers, particularly in the north—west of the uk, and those showers notjust of rain, but possibly of hail, sleet, and snow. this is bbc news. the headlines: in zimbabwe, crowds have been celebrating the surprise resignation of robert mugabe as president. the news sparked wild celebrations with thousands of people pouring onto the streets of the capital harare. he'd been in powerfor 37 years since zimbabwe became independent in 1980. his surprise announcement came in a letter read out by the speaker of parliament shortly after impeachment proceedings began. in the letter he said the decision was voluntary and he had made it to allow a smooth transfer of power.

officials from the governing party, zanu—pf, say vice—president emmerson mnan—gagwa will be sworn in as president within 48 hours. he was the architect of much of mr mugabe's repression. his sacking precipitated mr mugabe's fall. zimbabwe's opposition hope to craft a framework for free and fair elections. now on bbc news, our world — the war crimes judgement in the case more than 10,000 criminal