this is bbc world news today. i'm kasia madera. our top stories: it's a blood moon. the longest lunar eclipse this century is underway. donald trump says more than 4% growth shows that his administration has achieved an economic turn—around of historic proportions. i will say this right now and i will say it strongly. as the trade deals come in one by one, we're going to goa come in one by one, we're going to go a lot higher than these numbers, and these are great numbers. pakistan's former ruling party says it will contest the election results from the opposition benches, after victory for cricket star—turned—politician imran khan. hello and a very warm welcome to world news today. if you're in europe, africa, the middle east and south east asia, then you're in for a special treat tonight.

the longest "blood moon" eclipse of the 21st century is happening now. the moon is passing through the shadow of the earth for one hour and 43 minutes. and not just that. this coincides with the closest approach of mars in 15 years, making the planet glow bright red where skies are clear. we can speak people who are monitoring from the areas they are cbs correspondent deborah patta is injohannesburg and astronomer dr emily brunsden from the university of york is in york. let's start with you. what have we seen? iare let's start with you. what have we seen? i are here in the uk, we been a little bit disappointed because we're a little bit overcast tonight. yeah. so far, we haven't seen much, but it's so far early days yet. fingers crossed we will see a little peak between nic lentz. deborah, you

are in johannesburg. tell us peak between nic lentz. deborah, you are injohannesburg. tell us what you've been able to see so far. this isa far you've been able to see so far. this is a far better viewing point, i think. clear skies in johannesburg. very chilly. in the sky is a full blood red moon. as it grew more red, they started howling at the moon. people love, with their families, they are picnicking here or eating pizza as they watched the moon. i spoke to some young children who said they turned down a party to come here today. it may have been terrifying in ancient times but here, it seems to be the selfie of choice, a selfie with the red blood itiooi'i. choice, a selfie with the red blood moon. a selfie! absolutely fantastic! as we're watching images from nasa of the blood moon can i just want to become a point with you because i know that the experts don't particularly like that phrase, blood moon. just to spite us why. —— this explained to us why. it was

used in ancient times and would not have a full understanding of the astronomical events that were going on around them and then that's understandable you can interpret that and lots of different ways. now we understand nowadays this is because of the moon passing to the earth's shadow and there are some wonderful physics going on. but as just explained he was when it comes to the lectern with a widow light is dispersed and the like waves as it reaches the moon. three objects in a line. you've got the sun and then the earth and then the sun is casting a shadow, causing the earth to cast a shadow in which lies the moon. some of that light from the sun is being scattered onto the surface of the moon. the blue light scatters down to our planet, which makes our sky look blue but the red light is passing straight on through

and onto the service of the moon to him and that's what's causing it to be this beautiful red colour. and it isa be this beautiful red colour. and it is a stunning colour. deborah, for those of us lucky enough variety to it come it must be absolutely and arising —— lucky enough to see it's where you are, it must be absolutely mesmerizing to see this view. and we are not even in the city. the more you get out of the city, the less light and blowing it would actually be. but people are actually able to see this full blood red moon so certainly something that everyone is enjoying here, and they understand the science behind it, they understand why it should not be a called a blood moon but they're still going for that word because it's such a thrilling, wonderful occasion. they're hoping tonight they may even see if you shooting stars tojust to they may even see if you shooting stars to just to cap it off and make the evening even more wondrous and magical than it is. it is the evening even more wondrous and magicalthan it is. it is so the evening even more wondrous and magical than it is. it is so funny

because that phrase, dr emily brunsden, really because that phrase, dr emily bru nsden, really encapsulates because that phrase, dr emily brunsden, really encapsulates what's going on. if that was not enough, we've also got mars making its closest approach in 15 years. what does that mean? what else will we seek was yellow mars is going to be really bright in our sky. it's very close to the moon. here in the uk, escort a company close to the noon. it's this gorgeous, bright red colour and it's so fascinating you think there is a planet in our solar system that is red that we can see with just our eyes. it's this bright red dot in the sky. in just explained to us, dr brunsden, anybody in new york, anyone is johannesburg... we're all seen this at the same time. it's really lovely. a lunar eclipse is shared by

half of the entire word. you can go out there from europe, from africa, from asia or the uk or you can see exactly the same thing. deborah, are you finding that, the people are kind of sharing this at the same time all around the world? north america will struggle to seek what is going on but is this lovely ability to share this with other people wherever they are, this phenomenon? and of course, with modern technology, people are able to watch it on their phones as well. while they're watching it physically here injohannesburg, while they're watching it physically here in johannesburg, they while they're watching it physically here injohannesburg, they are able to go on their mobile phones and see what's happening in india or europe actually get the sense of the global experience, even if it is only half the world. we can see mars as well. we can see that right now here in johannesburg. it looks like a little orange lot next to this bright big

itiooi'i. orange lot next to this bright big moon. very exciting when you consider the moon is at its furthest point from the earth and mars at its closest for 15 years. deborah patta, i think we are alljealous of you in johannesburg. also dr emily brunsden. both of you, thank you so much for your time. of course, do share with us any images you have if you've been lucky enough to share that blood moon. the us economy is powering ahead at its fastest rate in years. it grew by 4.1% in the second quarter of the year. that is the best figure of any industrial country. strong exports were a big factor, although some of these are now facing chinese tariffs that came into force in response to the ones imposed by president trump. but overall, the latest figures are great news for president trump. once again, we are the economic the

entire world. the first thing they say invariably is the a mr president, so nice to meet you. congratulations on your economy. you're leading the entire world. they say it almost each and every time. america is being respected again and america is winning again because we are finally putting america first. everywhere we look, we are seeing the effects of the american economic miracle. president trump with his reaction to this. earlier, i spoke to our washington correspondent gary o'donoghue, and i started by asking him if president trump was quick to claim credit for these growth rates. absolutely. he thinks this is a direct result of the policies he pursued and the atmosphere he's created here, and to some extent, he can claim that with legitimacy. they passed a tax reform package in congress which cut taxes for some

people, cut the corporate tax rates significantly. that's led to a significantly. that's led to a significant repatriation of profits from abroad to be invested here. there's been a consumer bump through consumer spending. that may not last. people feel they may bring it ina last. people feel they may bring it in a little bit in the following quarters. and of course, the president believes is tougher talk in terms of the international climate has helped him to be able to reestablish manufacturing businesses and industry here at home in the us. these are all factors he will point to and these are significant factors in terms of the numbers. however, as you said in the introduction, there are some anomalies in those numbers. namely that some people were exporting some of these soybeans ahead of these tariffs from china for example and it will be a one—off game. yes, something being termed

the sugar rush. president trump says this growth rate will continue into the third and fourth quarter, its raising eyebrows among some economists. yes, it is. ithink he certainly will hope that and the consensus, to the extent there ever isa consensus, to the extent there ever is a consensus consensus, to the extent there ever is a consensus among consensus, to the extent there ever is a consensus among economists, there will be a growth rate of around 3%. that would still be a significant growth improvement for the us economy but not starting with a four. that's what the president promised in his campaign. he will continue to bush that and of course, this good message he can take into the summer, in the run—up to the midterm election which, after all, are midterm election which, after all, a re often midterm election which, after all, are often a referendum on the administration. you can point to a decent economy and growing economy, that will carry a lot of weight with

a lot of voters. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news today. greece's prime minister alexis tsipras says he assumes full political responsibility for the bushfires which killed more than 80 people around athens. the government has faced calls from the opposition to apologise forfailing to respond quickly enough to the disaster. but mr tsipras said the authorities would act quickly to tackle unlicensed residential building development. another hollywood giant is facing sexual misconduct allegations. us media is reporting les moonves, who developed hit tv shows like friends, is facing as—yet unspecified claims of sexual misconduct. moonves heads the production company cbs. it's shares fell more than 6% as the reports leaked out. the russian president vladimir putin says he's accepted donald trump's invitation

to visit washington, and he's reciprocated. speaking at the brics summit in johannesburg, mr putin described his meeting with the us president in helsinki earlier this month as useful. he said they spoke about their countries' vested interests, and says they're staying in contact. members of pakistan's former ruling party say they won't boycott the new parliament, despite rejecting the results that show imran khan's party winning. they say they'll fight their cause from the opposition benches. the united states has expressed its concern about "flaws" in the election, including what it calls constraints on freedom of expression and association during the campaign. the bbc‘s secunder kermani is in islamabad. he told us more about the dispute and what the opposition parties plan to do now. it's not quite clear what's going to happen. certainly according to the results come in recon... the party

will easily be able to form a government by forming alliances, evenin government by forming alliances, even in small parties or with other independent candidates joining them, which we are hearing they are already in the process of doing at the moment. a lot depends really on what the opposition parties do. particularly the party that has been in powerfor the particularly the party that has been in power for the last five years. as you say, they have rejected the vote but simultaneously, this morning we heard the son of the leader saying they would sit in opposition benches and be contesting it through legal and be contesting it through legal and political means, one assumes. at the moment, the party is in a meeting with a number of other parties discussing the way forward because they all have been claiming that this vote is rigged. this eu election observer observation mission came forward with some interesting statement earlier today.

they were quite critical, not necessarily about what took place on the election day itself but about the election day itself but about the election day itself but about the election campaign and the build up the election campaign and the build up there. one of the statements they said is they had been told there was a systematic campaign to undermine the ruling party at the time. and that chimes with one of the complaints the party has made, which is that they say the pakistani military has been trying to dominate the election campaign and in sure that the p imran khan has said those claims are just to cover for their decreasing popularity that he is also said he is willing to look into any instances of alleged vote rigging. secunder kermani reporting of islamabad. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: prince charles has expressed "deep personal regret"

that he was decieved by the disgraced bishop, peter ball, who was later convicted of sex offences. cheering. the us space agency nasa has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol, once an everyday part of the soldier's drudgery and danger, now no more after almost four decades. if one is on one's own in a private house, not doing any harm to anyone, i don't really see why all these people should wander in and say, "you're doing something wrong." six rare white lion cubs were on the prowl at worcestershire park, and already, they've met with

the role of approval from visitors. they're lovely, yeah. really sweet. yeah, they were cute. this is bbc world news today. i'm kasia madera. the latest headlines: the longest lunar eclipse this century is under way, as the moon passes through earth's shadow and turns a shade of red. president trump has said new figures show his government has achieved an economic turn—around of historic proportions. here in britain, the prince of wales says he regrets being deceived by a bishop who was convicted of sexually abusing young men and teenagers. in a letter to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, the prince wrote that he'd been friends with peter ball, the former bishop of gloucester, for several decades

between the 1970s and 1990s. but he said he was unaware of his crimes, and felt "deep personal regret" at being misled. sophie long reports. a senior and powerful figure in the church of england for decades, peter ball had friends in high places. but in 2015, the former bishop of lewis in gloucester, seen here on the left, was convicted of abusing teenagers and young men and jailed for 32 months. he received a caution for gross indecency in 1993. tooday, in a letter read to the inquiry by its senior counsel, the prince of wales tried to distance himself from the man he once described as a loyal friend, saying he had taken him on what he believed to be his good word. events later demonstrated beyond any doubt to my deep regret that i, along with many others, had been misled, and the reverse was true. the prince said he was unaware until recently that a caution

carried an acceptance of guilt. i have to say, the victims find that excuse rather unconvincing. prince charles is somebody who had access to the best legal advice that money can buy, he had the opportunity to clarify the legal position, and he should've taken that opportunity and avoided a relationship with this man. in 1997, peter ball and his brother were found in this house in rural somerset, then owned by the duchy of cornwall. prince charles wrote to him saying he longed to see him settled somewhere they gave him peace and tranquility. the two men exchanged letters over two decades. in 1993, peter ball wrote... in 1995, prince charles wrote to peter ball, saying... prince charles said he hadn't been

aware of the true context and details of the complaints against peter ball until his trial in 2015. he said that during the 1980s and 90s, there was a presumption that you could take people such as bishops at their word, but he was clear that he never sought to influence the outcome of the police investigation into peter ball, nor did he instruct any of his staff to do so. sophie long, bbc news, south london. the go back to our top story, some pictures from nasa. live pictures of the lunar eclipse, the blood moon and eclipse. the log is taking place of the 21st century. —— the longest. this is a historic occasion because

this will be the longest blood moon eclipse of the 21st century, when the light from the moon is com pletely the light from the moon is completely obscured. and this is going to last for just completely obscured. and this is going to last forjust under an hour and 43 minutes. we heard that experts particularly don't like it being called the blood moon because it is humanised, but let's face it, it is a dusty red. why is it red? the many colours of the summitare why is it red? the many colours of the summit are scattered by the earth's atmosphere but the reds longer wavelength get through, giving it its very, very distinctive reddish glow. that lunar eclipse taking place right now. the sticky paws from that and bring you all the sport. chris mitchelljoins us from the sportscenter. he will be walking on the moon. they've been hurtling down

the mountains of the pyranees at almost 80km/h, the riders trying to catch geraint thomas. but none of them made a dent in the welshman's lead and after the final mountain stage — stage 19 of the tour de france, and thomas has edged closer to winning. it's his to lose now, if you like. the team sky rider was challenged on the slopes of the col d'aubisque with a number of his rivals attacking at various points on the climb. he looked strong throuhgout and try as tom dumoulin might, he just couldn't shake the welshman and now looks like the world time trial champion will need misfortune from thomas to win the tour. thomas finished second to primoz roglic to strengthen his position, and providing he makes it through unscathed, thomas can enjoy the procession to paris where the winner will be crowned on sunday. so the overall classification. as it stands, two stages to go. a time trial tomorrow followed by the procession to paris.

two minutes and five seconds behind. look at chris froome there. he looked tired on stage 19 and he's got further back. ferrari's sebastian vettel was fastest in second practice at the hungarian grand prix while his title rival lewis hamilton was only fifth for mercedes. hamilton and his team—mate valtteri bottas made errors on their fastest laps in a car that appeared to lack rear grip. especially at the back there. hamilton is 17 points clear of vettel following his victory in sunday's german grand prix, where the ferrari driver crashed out and hamilton came from 14th to win. that total at the moment looking strong in hungary. it may not be for a world title, but there is plenty of hype and intrigue around the fight between joseph parker and dillian whyte. look at them, larger than life. between them, the pair

have just two defeats — and that was to the same man, world heavyweight champion anthonyjoshua. the winner of this fight would himself in line to face the other heavyweight champ, deontay wilder. alex gulrajani reports. the journeys the top of heavyweight boxing isn't always... especially for dillian whyte and joseph parker. first new zealander parker, he bought one version of the head to a title until very recently. —— he held one version. anthonyjoshua took that from earlier this year in cardiff, his only defeat. he is back with a new attitude. i used to say, hopefully have a good fight, play clea n. hopefully have a good fight, play clean. they're so hopefully here. i'm here to do damage. i'm here to punch with bad intentions. i want to break them down. i don't want to

cash in clutch. looking to prove a point and come back with a win, something dillian whyte knows all about. pete too only has one blemish on his professional career, and you can guess who inflicted it. three yea rs can guess who inflicted it. three years ago beforejoshua became world champion, he defeated him inside seven rounds, i defeat that he is used to springboard to launch himself towards his very own world title challenge. it's a rarity risky fight. it's a dangerous fight. he says he's going to come and throw punches. he's going to go down. i don't know if first—round, third round, but... and for the victor, what lies in wait? the bbc champion, american deontay wilder, remains a valiant opponent —— the wbc champion. as well as you know who.

alex gulrajani, bbc news. that's all the sport for now. thank you so much. that is chris. let's return to the moon. the moon is actually going to the earth's shadow, if that makes sense. the reason is lasting so long, it is the last one in the 21st century. this is a really big deal. the earth is so much bigger than the moon and when the moon is within the earth's shadow, all of that light that you recently moved filters to the earth's atmosphere. if you got any images, to share them with a santos unity of this is for kevin. —— share

them with us on social media of this historic event. widely the west is whether. .. be prepared historic event. widely the west is whether... be prepared for storms particularly through east anglia. a broad swathe of eastern britain will be affected by some thundery downpours as we go through tonight and into tomorrow morning. tomorrow morning particularly still northeastern areas. another muggy night, to the west, temperatures come down a bit but still a lot of cloud around. it moves northwards towards the northern isles. expecting some heavy ones there. northern ireland in particular is cooler, it is fresher and it's been quite some time. most notable where it's been so high can it's quite

breezy too. that's it from me. at 10pm, reeta chakra batri will be here with a full round up of the days news. first on bbc news, it's money clinic — the programme that invites couples to talk honestly and openly about money. we're putting money and relationships under the spotlight. many of us find it hard to talk about money. even with those we are closest to. and that can turn into a big problem. it sounds like you're triggered by the interrogation that you are getting. when she answers it that way, then it triggers me. in this programme, couples will open up to an expert, to try to get a better understanding of their finances. their emotions... i'm not going to sit there and give him an explanation of what ijust purchased.

and one another. we can deal with that. it's time to open the doors to the bbc money clinic. welcome to miami in the united states. on the surface, this looks to be a city of opportunity. but for many people, wages are low and prices are rising. we brought the bbc money clinic here to find outjust what problems finances cause in the sunshine state. seeing the couples in the bbc money clinic today is financial therapist jeanne ferrer. she's a certified financial planner and a family and marriage counsellor. can love and money mix? absolutely, it's just that sometimes people need some help in mixing the two. why do we find it so hard? i think because money is a window into what we value and that can be a difficult conversation to have, one, if you haven't thought very

clearly about your value, and two, if you and your partner have different values. where do we get our money values from? generally, the largest influence of our forming money messages is our family at large and people we grew up with, our mother, father and society that we associate with when we were children. so does that mean if your parents were careful savers, then you will be a careful saver? not necessarily. maybe you actually reject the message and become more carefree with their money. so it's an influence. it doesn't mean it is a control. what happens if you get married to somebody who has completely different money values to you? it's my experience that you generally don't marry somebody with completely different values. generally there is some common ground. first into the clinic — manuel a construction manager and jackie a teacher. together, they are raising four children in suburban south florida. before they were married,

manuel was one of the estimated 27 million americans without medical insurance. which meant that when he fell ill a few years ago, it was his finances as well as his health, that suffered. jackie is a great person. and i figured such a good person must make a great mother, and she does. my husband and i get along well, but we do have money worries. my husband had gotten sick three and a half years ago. he had over $100,000 worth of medical bills because he didn't have insurance. it was either paying the rent, putting food on the table or paying the medical bills, and we went through a really rough time. but... we're making it right now. i want my coin money.