this is bbc news. i'm duncan golestani. 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 allegations of sexual misconduct against its top executive. thousand of iraqis take to the streets to protest against corruption, poor services and unemployment. hello, and welcome to bbc news.

the us economy is growing at its fastest rate in four years, prompting president trump to describe it as "historic." growth rose to 4.1% between april and june, 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 will divert attention from the controversy surrounding alleged russian involvement in the 2016 election. here's our north america editorjon 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 and 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. 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 relations between 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 therefore of the 27? exactly. but it doesn't look as if 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. 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. joerg schulze reports. for three weeks now, angry protests have rocked basra. the southern city is erupted the main 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 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 reform to. the parliamentary quota system installed after the us invasion of iraq in 2003.

translation: the government are making the same promises time and time again, and they tell you that they could not fulfil demands because of the quota system. each party wants something for it. the prime minister cannot even meet the smallest demand. i challenge him to meet the smallest demand. the protests come at a sensitive time. different political factions are currently trying to form a coalition government, after may's elections were tainted by allegations of fraud — and the pressure is on. iraq's top cleric, ali al—sistani, has echoed the cause of protesters to establish a new government. translation: the current government must work hard to implement the demands to reduce their 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 as it currently stands, the corruption will continue, and the wealth generated

by the oil—rich country will remain in the hands of the few rather than the many. stefan levy, bbc news. millions of people around the world, have been gazing skywards to catch the longest lunar eclipse this century. those lucky enough not to be dissapointed by cloud cover, can see the phenomenon known as a blood moon. stefan levy reports. it was a spectacular sight for sta rgazers it was a spectacular sight for sta rgaze i’s a cross it was a spectacular sight for stargazers across the globe. the moon bathed night skies with its red glow for one hour and 43 minutes as it was totally eclipsed by the earth. the display was visible for most of the southern hemisphere, but the best views were across eastern europe, east africa and asia, where the entire eclipse was visible. 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, so its last the longest. the only light from the sun that can reach it is actually the light that has been filtered through a earth's

atmosphere, which is why it goes the beautiful dusky red colour. catching a glimpse of the eclipse was hit and miss for stargazers in the uk due to cloud conditions, but the lucky ones managed to see the moon go fully read. meanwhile in brazil, people of all ages were out to enjoy the spectacle. translation: it is very beautiful, very beautiful. it was great being here and the moon was a very beautiful, more so with this telescope. it was very interesting to see the beginning, when the moon appeared, when it became very clear and bit by bit the earth was the shadow. i thought it was very pretty andl shadow. i thought it was very pretty and i liked the planet mars even more, which you could see right next to the moon. over the coming days, mars will be at its closest point to earth since 2003. but the lunar eclipse doesn't just earth since 2003. but the lunar eclipse doesn'tjust coincide with the red planet's close approach. a so—called procession of bonus will see a lineup of our celestial neighbours, giving skywatchers a particularly good view of venous,

jupiter, saturn and mars, and if you didn't manage to catch this year's lunar eclipse, you can take solace in the knowledge that the next one isa in the knowledge that the next one is a mere six months away. dr ian griffin is a british astronomer and director of the 0tago museum who viewed the blood moon from the mountjohn 0bservatory in lake tekapoe, in the south island of new zealand. i spoke to him earlier about what he saw. it was absolutely spectacular to be here in a beautiful backdrop you can see. here in new zealand, the eclipse took place as the moon was setting in the sun was rising, so we had the moon setting, going red, against the alps, and it was just one of the most fantastic sights i have ever seen stargazing. it was a fantastic sight to see. dr griffin, i think we've got some of the pictures you took ang kindly sent to us, we are going to show them now and it looks absolutely amazing. do you think you got one of the best views in the world

there on the south island of new zealand? well, we did not see the whole eclipse because we saw it setting as it went into totality, but what we got was the sun rising at the same time, so as the moon went red, it eats into the sky and then started turning this wonderful pastel colour. it was just, a group of us were standing on this mountain top in the middle of new zealand and said this is absolutely stunning. victoria gilljust had a go at explaining it for us, but try again for us. why does it look like it is red? well, if you were now standing on the moon, what you would see is all the sunrises and sunsets of the earth st the same time, because that is the only light passing towards you on the moon. so if you can't be an astronaut, i think one of the best things to do is to be here in new zealand like this because, by golly, it was something. and i gather that mars

is getting close as well, so you have more treats in store. that is right, we are also observing mars with the big telescopes here at tekapo. it will be very exciting, a lunar eclipse and brilliant views of mars, which is the closest it has been since 2003. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: it reminds me of syria, being back eating falafel with my family. from syria to the royal albert hall here in london. the child refugees turning their experiences into poetry. 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 almost 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're doing something wrong. six rare white lion cubs are on the prowl at worcestershire park, and already they've been met with a roar of approval from visitors. they're lovely, yeah. really sweet. yeah, they were cute. welcome back.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: donald trump celebrates the strongest us economic growth in four years, despite warnings it might not last. a spectacular night sky show for millions, as a blood moon rises in the longest lunar eclipse this century. 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 6% 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. earlier, he told me more about mr moonves and the allegations against him.

leslie moonves has been with cbs for almost a quarter of a century and during that time, he has been responsible for a series of big entertainment hits and actually, he has really made his mark on the network. he is seen as being one of the most important executives in us television. it cannot really be understated just how important he actually has been to cbs itself. yet, these are serious allegations that have come from the new yorker magazine. the piece is written by ronan farrow — and you may remember that he was involved in the harvey weinstein expose — and he has now written these allegations about leslie moonves. in them, he says that he has spoken to six women who have described various different encounters with mr moonves in which they say they were forced to kiss him, in some cases, in which they say that there was forced touching in other cases, and in which they claim, in many cases, that they had their careers derailed or threatened to be derailed by mr moonves. now he has denied all of these allegations. nonetheless, they're being taken

very seriously by cbs itself. it's released a statement making clear that an investigation is ongoing. now, it should be said that this investigation was actually started a long time ago, among concerns about the culture at cbs. you may remember at the end of last year they fired one of their top presenters, charlie rose, over allegations that again he'd been involved in inappropriate behaviour. now, again at that time, he denied that inappropriate behaviour but he was removed from his post and he did apologise for anybody

who felt that he had acted inappropriately around them. of course, i guess, chris, the metoo movement has focused quite heavily on the entertainment industry, but cbs is not the only television network in the united states to have received these allegations? yeah, ironically leslie moonves himself specifically was a big supporter of the metoo movement. in fact, he was involved in setting up organisations to address some of these concerns and was very much seen as somebody leading the charge there. he now find himself facing these allegations. he has released a statement himself and it was given to the new yorker and it is very clear, but again, he also makes some apologies if people have been concerned about his behaviour and his past. he says, "i recognise there were times decades ago when i may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. those were mistakes and i regret them immensely. but i always understood and respected and abided by the principle that no means no,

and i have never misused my position to harm or hinder anybody‘s career. but the issue for cbs here goes well beyond the man at the top, because there have also been questions in this article about how they handled previous allegations of harassment, of sexual misconduct in the workplace, and it seems that this lengthy article is going to have to lead to a real widening of that investigation that's taking place by cbs. british mps are warning that democracy has been plunged into crisis with warnings that voters are being manipulated systematically by campaigns that rely on hatred and misinformation. in a leaked report, they have criticised the actions of technology companies google and facebook. chris's prime minister

says he is useful political responsibility for the bushfires which killed more than 80 people around athens. —— he assumes. the opposition has called on the government to apologise for failing to respond quickly enough to the disaster, but the prime minister said the authorities would act quickly to tackle unlicensed residential developments. 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 start imran khan has emerged as the single largest in parliament. pakistan's election commission has dismissed allegations of manipulation. and britain and ecuador say they are in talks about the future of the wikileaks founder, julian assange, who has been living in the ecuadorian embassy in london

to six years. british police say that he will be arrested if he steps foot outside of the embassy for breaching bail conditions. 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. wow. it's a long way from the rubble of war to this. welcome to the royal albert hall! whoa, what do you think? what do you think? we're the new hit thing. it has been a tough but extraordinary journey for these children. this is sajeda, who is 14. several of her family members were killed in syria and her story is not unique. mohammed is also 14. 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 poem they've written themselves. it makes me feel i'm in syria, eating falafel for breakfast with my family. what do you want people to take away from the poem? i want them to understand that 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 mohammed nor sajeda spoke english when they arrived. it was hard settling in. some children was bullying me, like, they always tell me like "go away, go back to your home, we don't want you here." iremember iraq. iremembersyria. i am so proud of myself, i said...

like, when i was small i didn't think, i am going to be on stage in front of all these people. very excited, and i hope that the audience will enjoy it. lots of luck to them on sunday. now to something fishy sweeping paris. a new craze is attracting growing numbers of people, keen to capitalise on the city's clean waterways. street fishing is catching on, as andy beatt reports. casting a spell on the beautiful banks of the seine and the capital's canals. thousands of urban anglers are falling hook, line and sinker for a fashionable pastime. fans of street fishing are ignoring the call of the countryside and reeling in their catches far closer to home. translation: right now, we are in the heart of the city, but when i street fish, i'm in my own bubble. there is seaweed and fish here. i may be in the middle

of the traffic, but i completely forget about it. shunning bulky equipment and armed with little more than lightweight rods, this dynamic new breed say they are celebrating the city by reclaiming its waterways, and it's purely for the pleasure of the moment. converts follow a strict rule of catch and release. it's a far cry from the polluted waters of the past, now 32 species of fish are found here — including perch, trout and pike, but while the cleanup has been dramatic, the hobby does carry a health warning. translation: you absolutely must not eat these fish, especially not kids. maybe one every six months or so is fine, but definitely not every week because the catch is often contaminated by chemicals. also, there can be other pollutants like bacteria and germs, which can lead to liver disease, eczema and other serious problems. while it's notjust fish that come out of the depths,

for those that can't or don't want to travel further afield, street fishing's lure is irresistable. andy beatt, bbc news. let's get a reminder now that top story. donald trump has been celebrating the strongest us economic growth in four years, despite warnings that it might not last. it has prompted president trump to describe it as historic. growth rose to 4.1% between april andjune, growth rose to 4.1% between april and june, driven by strong consumer spending and a surge in exports. and thatis spending and a surge in exports. and that is the way it is looking this soui’. that is the way it is looking this sour. plenty more on the bbc website and you can follow me on twitter. —— the way it is looking this power. i'm @duncangolestani. thank you for your hello there.

violent thunderstorms broke out across southern and central parts of the country later on friday. this marked the end of the current heatwave. these thunderstorms continuing to clear northwards and eastwards and then things turn cooler and fresher, with showers following on behind. this is the culprit for the change to our weather, the big area pressure that has been moving in off the atlantic. you see the thunderstorms, a line of them from east anglia across into england and eastern scotland. as we head into the early hours of saturday, most of those thunderstorms will clear off into the north sea. they could, however, linger on a bit longer into the north—east of scotland. behind those, further pulses of rain pushing in to start saturday morning. it's going to be slightly cooler and fresher here but for england and wales, again, another warm and humid night. then into saturday, we start off with showery rain,

maybe across eastern areas. quite a wet start for north—east scotland. some of these producing longer spells of rain. some of them could be even heavier and thundery 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. a good 10 degrees down from 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 into south—western parts of england could bring a spell of storms. windier and wetter pretty much across the board. some of this rain will be pretty

heavy and prolonged, good news for gardeners and growers, and it continues to push its way northwards into much of scotland. behind it, we could see a few sunny breaks, but it is going to be another windy day, particularly across england and wales, and even fresher than 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 weekend, with some strong outbreaks of rain. —— winds and. 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, 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 have been gazing skywards to catch the longest lunar eclipse this century

as the moon passes through the shadow of the earth, causing it to glow red. the phenomenon, known as a "blood moon," coincides with the closest pass of mars for 15 years. 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. shares in cbs fell more than 6% on news of the claims. a 6—year—old boy has died after being shot with a pellet gun at a house in east yorkshire.