welcome to bbc news. i'm alpa patel. our top stories: donald trump celebrates the strongest us economic growth in four years, despite warnings it might not last. the president takes credit for putting america first. we are the economic envy of the entire world. when i meet the leaders of countries, the first thing they say invariably is "mr president, so nice to meet you, congratulations on your economy". a spectacular night sky show for millions, as a "blood moon" rises in the longest lunar eclipse this century. the cbs television network investigates an allegation of sexual misconduct against its chaiman and chief executive. thousand of iraqis take to the streets to protest against political stagnation and a lack ofjobs. hello.

president trump has described economic growth in the us as "historic", after it rose at an annualised rate of more than 4% between april and june. the growth was driven by strong consumer spending and a surge in exports as firms rushed to beat new trade tariffs imposed on the us. the white house hopes the strong economy, diverts attention away from controversy surrounding alleged russian involvement in the 2016 election. with more, here's our north america editor, jon sopel. the sun shone and donald trump beamed as he basked in the warm glow of these latest economic figures. this is what he promised the american people and now 18 months or so into his presidency, he can say this is what he's delivered. these numbers are very,

very sustainable. this isn't a one—time shot. i happen to think we're going to do extraordinarily well in our next report next quarter. i think it's going to be outstanding. i won't go too strong because then if it's not quite as good, you will not let me forget it. the economy is powering ahead, but these figures don't take account of the trade war launched against mexico, china and the european union and the retaliation taken against us products. and though donald trump says the economy is set fair, the effects of the tariffs are yet to feed through. i think there probably will be a lower number in the next quarter of data, just because there will be some give—back. we had a temporary surge in exports and that is not going to happen, that is people buying stuff ahead of the tariffs going up. the other reason why these figures are such a welcome tonic is that it allows the president to try to shift the conversation away from russia,

a subject which took another murky twist last night. the white house believes that people will be much more interested in their wages, their livelihood and the state of the economy than they will be in whether there was collusion between donald trump and the russians over the last election. michael cohen, his long—time lawyer and personal bag carrier, has let it be known that he is prepared to testify, that donald trump was lying when he said he knew nothing about meeting held at trump tower before the election, with a kremlin linked official promising to dish dirt on hillary clinton, a potentially explosive claim. donald trump's current lawyer was sent out to do a number on the ex—lawyer. there's nobody that i know that knows him who hasn't warned me that if his back is up against the wall, he will lie like crazy because he's lied all his life. but this was rudy giuliani just a couple of months earlier. the man is an honest, honourable lawyer. the president entered the fray this morning, saying:

thank you very much, everybody. reporter: mr president, are you going to go to moscow? as donald trump left the south lawn, there were no shouted questions about the economy. it was all russia. the issue thatjust won't go away. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. let's get some of the day's other news. british mps are warning that democracy has been plunged into crisis by the spread of fake news, with voters being systematically manipulated by campaigns which rely on hate and misinformation. in a leaked report, they've criticised the behaviour of big tech companies such as facebook and google and called for new laws to make them responsible for content published on their sites. 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. a group of political parties in pakistan say they have rejected the results of wednesday's general election alleging widespread rigging. results declared so far show the party of former cricket star imran khan has emerged as the single largest in parliament. pakistan's election commission has dismissed the allegations of manipulation. millions of people around the world, have been gazing skywards to catch the longest lunar eclipse this century. it's as the moon passes through the earth's shadow. those lucky enough not to be dissapointed by cloud cover, can see the phenomenon known as a "blood moon". at least part of the eclipse was visible from europe, the middle east, africa, australia, most of asia and south america. victoria gill reports. passing through the shadow

of our own planet. in the darkest skies, stargazers took in the view of the moon during the longest lunar eclipse of the century. our natural satellite spent one hour and 43 minutes cast spectacularly red, as it was totally eclipsed by the earth. the moon is passing right through the centre of the earth's shadow, so it is where the earth's shadow is at its widest. and so it lasts the longest. the only light from the sun that can reach it is actually the light that has been filtered through the earth's atmosphere and that is why it goes this beautiful dusky red colour. at the same time, our solar system neighbour, mars, will be as close as it is possible to be to the earth on its own journey around the sun, significantly improving our view of it. this recent picture captured by the hubble telescope shows

the detail of a dust storm on the red planet. so it is clear they will see a brighter, red mars. and it won't happen again until 2023, so it is a good night to look skywards. much of the uk is being covered by cloud but if even pockets of sky clear, the end of the eclipse could be visible until around midnight. and during that time, a partially red moon will appear in the same south eastern skies as a bright red mars, so at least the weather has some time to perhaps grant us a glimpse of this celestial show. victoria gill, bbc news. the directors of cbs, one of the big us television networks, say they will investigate claims of sexual misconduct against the chairman and chief executive, leslie moonves. the allegations have been published by the new yorker magazine. shares in cbs fell more than six per cent on news of the claims against mr moonves, who is one of america's highest—paid business executives. our correspondent chris buckler is in washington. he told me more about the allegations. leslie moonves, as you mentioned there, is one of the most powerful and influentialfigures in american television. he has led cbs to the top in terms of american television and is responsible for a number

for a series of hit shows, even appearing himself on the david letterman chat show, which was an extremely influential television show — and he has been responsible for commissioning many big programmes. he has also been, in recent months, a big supporter of the metoo movement. this is, of course, this system of people coming forward and putting forward allegations that men have misused their positions in some cases, to try to take advantage of women in the workplace. now he finds that he himself has been accused of doing exactly that. in this article, which is by ronan farrow in the new yorker, and he has been covering a lot of these metoo claims, he says that four women describe leslie moonves attempting to forcibly kiss or touch them during business meetings and two told that leslie moonves physically intimidated them or threatened to derail their careers. now he has denied the inappropriate behaviour, but there is a statement from him in this article. it says, "i recognise

there were times decades ago where i may have made some women uncomfortable while making advances, those were mistakes and i regret them immensely but i always understood and respected and abided by the principal that no means no and i have misused a position to harm or hinder anyone‘s career". nonetheless, there are damaging allegations and there are also wider questions about the culture at cbs, which you may remember last year fired one of their presenters — charlie rose — now he again denied any allegations of sexual harrassment, but cbs took the decision at that stage to stop his employment. and an independent investigation started back then they say is now continuing. cbs now looking at these allegations as part of that. austria's chancellor is understood to have backed an idea put forward by the british prime mimister, for european union leaders to hold formal talks about brexit at a summit in september. theresa may has been

speaking to sebastian kurz and the czech prime minister, as she seeks support for her plans. from salzburg, our diplomatic correspondent, james robbins sent this report, a warning it contains repeated flash phtography. arriving for a night at the opera, at the end of yet another bruising brexit week. theresa may is finally starting her holidays with mozart's the magic flute, in the city of his birth. she's the guest of austria's chancellor, sebastian kurz. in a session of talks earlier, she tried to persuade him to urge a softer brexit stance from the entire eu side. but, at this particularly tense moment, both deliberately said very little publicly. and i hope that we can find a way that also after the brexit, the relations between the uk and austria and the uk and the european union remain very strong. we are delivering on the vote

that the british people made. they chose to leave the european union and we will deliver. so, could austria prove to be a british ally? this is a country both highly conservative and eurosceptic. hostile to migrants from outside the eu, but not to freedom of movement inside it. tonight, austria's foreign minister told me brexit has now pushed her country deeper into european unity. the current uncertainty on what brexit will be like, has in a different way shaped austrian public opinion, that interestingly enough, people have become a little bit more pro—eu than they used to be. a little bit more supportive of the 27? exactly. but it doesn't look like theresa may got much comfort from the czech prime minister either. another leader she's been meeting here in salzburg. the overwhelming problem

for theresa may is this — some other eu leaders may be sympathetic, but, and it's a big but, when britain says "you must blink first", they tend to stand solidly together and say "no, after you". so, for mrs may, tonight's mozart, a serious fairytale, offers an escape and her holiday in italy does start tomorrow, but it's only an interval before the hardest bargaining britain has ever faced. james robbins, bbc news, salzburg. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the us high school students, reluctant to share their conservative views — to avoid criticism from their peers. the us space agency, nasa, has ordered an investigation

after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol in south armagh. once an everyday part of the soldier's lot — drudgery and danger — now no more after four decades. if one is on one's own in a private house, not doing harm to anyone, i don't really see why these people should wander in and say you are doing something wrong. six rare white lion cubs on the prowl at worcestershire park, and already they have been met with a roar of approval from visitors. they are lovely, yeah. really sweet. yeah, they were cute. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: donald trump celebrates

the strongest us economic growth in four years — despite warnings it might not last. the prince of wales has told an inquiry that he at no stage sought to influence a police investigation into a bishop, who was later convicted of paedophile offences. in a written statement to the uk's independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, prince charles wrote that he'd been friends with peter ball, the former bishop of gloucester, between the 1970s and 1990s. but he said he was unaware of his crimes, and felt "deep personal regret" at being misled. peter ball, who is 86, was jailed in 2015 and released in 2017. he is too ill to give evidence to the inquiry in person. sophie long reports. and what hurts our hearts most... peter ball was a senior figure in the anglican church for decades.

he was bishop of lewes from 1977 until he became bishop of gloucester in 1992. he was a man with friends in high places. prince charles attended his installation and invited him to his home. but in 1993, peter ball resigned his position and accepted a caution for gross indecency. any message for the victims? i'm very sorry. it wasn't until 2015 that he was convicted for abusing 18 teenagers and young men and jailed. today, while prince charles was at raf marham, he tried to distance himself from the man he once called a loyal friend. in a letter read out to the inquiry by its senior counsel, he said he had ceased contact with mr ball when he was found guilty of serious offences against young people. it remains a source of deep personal regret that i was one of many who were deceived over a long period of time about the true nature of mr ball's activities. clarence house said prince charles

didn't know about the caution until 2009 and he said he hadn't been aware that a caution carried an acceptance of guilt. one of ball's victims, who wants to remain anonymous, told me he did not feel that was good enough. i felt very let down by prince charles. we have been fighting for 25 years for this inquiry. and the fact that prince charles did not come out and say that he was absolutely devastated as to what had happened to us was hurtful. in 1997, peter ball and his brother were found 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 that gave him peace and tranquillity. the two men exchanged letters over two decades. "life continues to be pretty nasty for me," ball wrote to the prince. "it seems my accusers still want to continue

their malicious campaign". "i wish i could do more," prince charles wrote later, "about the monstrous wrongs that have been done to you and the way you have been treated." two years later, the prince calls one of ball's accusers "a ghastly man", adding, "i will see off this horrid man if he tries anything again". in his letter to the inquiry, prince charles said he did not recall whether this was in reference to an individual accuser or a member of the press. 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 during the 1980s and ‘90s, there was a presumption you could take people such as bishops at their word, but he was clear that he never sought to influence the outcome of a police investigation into peter ball, nor did he instruct any of his staff to do so. sophie long, bbc news, south london. there's been more protests in iraq as demonstrators rally against widespread corruption and social inequality.

on friday, thousands of people took to the streets of basra and other cities across the country calling for political change. stefan levy reports. for three weeks now, angry protests have rocked basra. the southern city is iraqi's made oil hub, home to over 70% of its reserves. but few living here reap the rewards. people lack basic amenities like clean water and electricity. jobs are hard to come by. these placards read "i wa nt to come by. these placards read "i want my rights, i want my country". rallies over these issues are not new, but this time around the unrest has been more widespread. protesters are demanding more reform to the parliamentary quota system installed after the us invasion of their writing 2003. —— of iraq.

translation: the government are making the same promises time and time again and they tell you they cannot fulfil demands because of the quota system. the prime minister cannot even meet the smallest amount. i challenge to meet the smallest amount. the protests come ata smallest amount. the protests come at a sensitive time. different political factions are currently trying to form a coalition government. after may's elections we re government. after may's elections were tainted by allegations of fraud. and the pressure is on. you write's top cleric has echoed the cause of protesters to establish a new government. —— iraq's top cleric. translation: the current government has worked hard to implement demonstrative suffering and misery. second, the next government must be formed as soon as possible on a sound base. and must be credible and efficient people. the fear is without sweeping changes to the political system is entirely stands, corruption will continue, and the wealth generated via the oil—rich country will remain in the

hands of the few rather than the many. —— generated by. life is not always easy as a teenager. some young conservatives in the us believe they have the additional problem, of struggling to go public with their views. we went to a meeting of conservative high school students, to ask them about their politics. i love america! it's amazing here. i love being conservative. there is a lot of stereotypes about what the conservative movement is really about. it is pretty difficult being a young conservative in the us right now, just because of the hysteria going oi'i. just because of the hysteria going on. being a young conservative is a little difficult. it's tough, especially on college campuses. little difficult. it's tough, especially on college campusesm feels like a much better place to be

conservative i'iow feels like a much better place to be conservative now than it was a few years ago. it's a little bit difficult, like, i kind of half to watch what i say and when i say it and two i say it. it's pretty amazing. i've always really been concerned with being pro—life. that's, like, one of my main moral values. concerned about, definitely gun rights. i see the left coming at it and it's really, like, it scares mea it and it's really, like, it scares me a little bit. political unrest is one of the most divisive issues going on because we are so left against right. i am pro life and it is one of the biggest issues to me. another thing that is really important to me as national security. i am in florida and we just had, like, eusebio was by air rifle and shotgun at 18 and they took out right away from me. —— you used to be able to buy an air rifle. i feel like donald trump and sulphur sort of divisive in a way and not really the best leader for the conservative movement. president

trump is someone who is so, so for america, i mean, make america great again, keep america great again!|j think again, keep america great again!” think it is fantastic. we have a great leader in the white house right now. having a president that actually does what he promised is really rare. i want him to do well. i really, really want him to do well. i don't think he's done a greatjob uniting well. i don't think he's done a great job uniting the well. i don't think he's done a greatjob uniting the country well. i don't think he's done a great job uniting the country but at the same time i do feel he has done a fairly okjob leading this country forward. trump is the most pager to person that i've seen. he is the american dream. mixed views from some republicans. after surviving the brutal war in syria, a group of child refugees and their classmates will take to the stage in london on sunday. they'll be performing a poem about the conflict, written for the bbc proms. caroline hawley went along to rehearsals. it isa it is a long way from the rubble of water this. welcome to royal albert hall! what do you think? it has been

a tough at extraordinaryjourney for these children. this is sajeda, who is 1a. several of her family members we re is 1a. several of her family members were killed in syria and her story is not unique. muhamed is also 1a. he escaped lebanon before coming here and still dreams of home. for the first time, the voices of child refugees are being heard here at one of the country's most prestigious venues, with a plan they have written themselves. it makes me feel iam in written themselves. it makes me feel i am in syria, eating falafel for brea kfast i am in syria, eating falafel for breakfast with my family. what you wa nt breakfast with my family. what you want people to take away from the poem? to understand syria is a very nice country, that people would like to live in all their lives. but because of the war, everything is

gone now. neither muhamed nor sajeda spoke english when they arrived. it was hard settling in. some children was hard settling in. some children was bullying me, like, go away, go back to your home, we don't want you here. i remember it right. i remember syria. i am, i said, like, when i was small i did think, i am going to be on stage in front of all these people. very exciting, and i hope that the audience will really enjoy it. now let's return to the blood moon. if you didn't catch it, here is a collection of images of it from around the world. beautiful images. if you want to get in touch with me about that or

anything else, i am on twitter. that's all for now. goodbye. hello there. violent thunderstorms broke out across southern and central parts of the country late on friday. this marks the end of the current heatwave. the thunderstorms continued to clear northwards and eastwards and then things turn cooler, with showers following on behind. that is the culprit for the change to our weather, the big area of low pressure that has been moving in off the atlantic. you see the thunderstorms, a line of them across east anglia and into england and eastern scotland. as we head into the early hours of saturday, most of the thunderstorms will clear off into the north sea. they could, however, mingle on a bit longer into the north—east of scotland. behind those, further pulses of rain pushing in to start saturday morning. it is going to be slightly cooler and fresher here but for england and wales, again, another warm and humid night. saturday, we start off with showery rain, maybe some of the country. quite a wet start for north—east scotland. some of these producing longer spells of rain in northern ireland. could be even heavier thunder across england and into the west of wales.

this is something we have not seen for a while, blustery winds. i have got the wind areas on here because it is going to be quite gusty, 20 to a0 miles an hour in some places. it is going to be a lot cooler and fresher to what we have been used to. 10 degrees cooler now than what we saw thursday and friday. the low pressure is still with us as we head into part two of the weekend. in fact, this feature running up in the south—western parts of england could bring a spell of storms. windier and cooler pretty much across the board. some of this rain will be pretty heavy and prolonged, good news for gardeners and growers, as it continues to push its way northwards into much of scotland. behind that, we could see a few sunny breaks, but it is going to be another windy day, particularly across england and wales, and even fresher on saturday, temperatures at best 21 or 22

across southern areas. closer to the high teens celsius further north. yes, it is going to be a cool, fresh week, with some strong outbreaks of rain. the signs are as we head into the new working week, high—pressure continues to push in and these temperatures are going to be on the rise again. this is bbc news. here are the headlines: donald trump is celebrating the strongest us economic growth in four years, despite warnings it might not last. the increase of 4% between april and june was driven by strong consumer spending and a surge in exports. the president has described the figures as historic. millions of people are gazing skywards to catch the longest lunar eclipse this century. it's as the moon passes through earth's shadow. the blood moon occurs when the earth's natural satellite appears as shades of red, when the sun is filtered through the atmosphere. a sexual misconduct investigation has been launched at cbs, one of the big us tv networks. claims going back several

decades have been made against the broadcaster's chairman and chief executive, leslie moonves. now on bbc news, it's time for click.