against the former first minister alex salmond. the claims are strenuously denied by mr salmond — he says he's no saint but that he's done nothing wrong. i've made many mistakes in my life, political and personal, but i have not sexually harassed anyone, and i certainly have not been engaged in criminality. the claims prompted an internal scottish government investigation. scotland's first minister said they couldn't be ignored. it's a difficult situation, but what is important is that complaints are treated seriously, regardless of who the person complained about is. we'll be looking at the wider implications of an affair that's taken scottish politics by storm. also tonight, egyptian authorities say a british couple on holiday there died of natural causes, but relatives say they were in perfect health. strong winds and torrential rain in hawaii as hurricane lane approaches. no booze is good news —

a new study says there are no safe drinking limits at all. i can't wait to punch you in your stupid smug face... the biggest internet event you've probably never heard of. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, never usually short of something to say, jose mourinho wasn't feeling talkative after turning up half an hour early for his 259—second press conference. good evening. the former first minister of scotland alex salmond strongly denies two claims of sexual harassment dating back to 2013. the claims, which were made in an internal scottish government investigation, have been passed to the police. mr salmond has launched legal action against the scottish government

for the way it's handled the case. his successor as leader of the snp and first minister, nicola sturgeon, said the complaints were made in january and were investigated through a process she had agreed to. here's our scotland correspondent lorna gordon. i think we won the election. he is one of the best—known figures in scottish politics. 0h, you've got your scotland shirt on! alex salmond, a former first minister, a man who led his party, the snp, twice and became the face of the nationalist movement, securing an historic referendum on independence for scotland — but who is now facing allegations of sexual misconduct in the run—up to that vote. the complaints date back to 2013, when mr salmond lived here at bute house, the official residence of a serving first minister. the allegations from two individuals have been denied by mr salmond, who described the claims as "patently ridiculous". i've made many mistakes in my life, political and personal,

but i have not sexually harassed anyone, and i certainly have not been engaged in criminality. you know, i'm no saint, i've got flaws, i understand that, but these are absurd, and i'm looking forward to the opportunity to establish that point. mr salmond said he's not been allowed to see and therefore properly challenge the evidence against him, so now, in an extraordinary move, the former first minister is taking the government he used to lead to court. nicola sturgeon, his anointed successor and for many years his closest political ally, said complaints could not be ignored or swept under the carpet. alex, into this one, please! everybody knows the length and closeness of my relationship to alex salmond, and i think people will understand how difficult this is for me and for my party. this will be extremely upsetting

to members of the snp up and down the country. it's a difficult situation, but what is important is that complaints are treated seriously, regardless of who the person complained about his. -- is. the investigation into these allegations was conducted by scotland's top civil servant, the permanent secretary leslie evans. in a statement, she says alex salmond's comments contain significant inaccuracies which, she says, will be addressed in the court proceedings he intends to bring. she said the scottish government will defend its position vigorously. they've now handed the information to the police, who said their inquiries are at an early stage. welcome to the very first episode of the alex salmond show... alex salmond lost his westminster seat at the last general election, swapping front—line politics for presenting his own tv show. well used to being in the spotlight, mr salmond has come out fighting. he'll now take centre stage in a case which will be heard

in the highest civil court in scotland. the details of the allegations against alex salmond, and the investigation‘s findings, have yet to be made public, but the nature of these complaints, against such a high—profile figure, have rocked scotland's political establishment. and lorna is live for us in edinburgh now. this is a hugely significant day for the scottish government and the snp. yes, significant and i think extremely difficult as well for scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon. remember she and alex salmond were, for many years, if you like, the power couple of scottish politics, she was his protege, and together they made a formidable pairing, and she said today that her relationship with their predecessor here at bute house has made this an extremely difficult situation to come to terms with. and you know, in

that interview she did on camera earlier on today, i think she was visibly upset at the events and how they have unfolded. and then, of course, there's the relationship with the party, there have been calls for mr salmond to be suspended from the snp. nicola sturgeon says that will be debated and decided on in the fullness of time, but you will face challenges in that area too. and on top of that, he is taking a government to court ahead of that october date, and she said she will announce whether or not she will push for another independence referendum. there are tricky times ahead, and they are not going to come to a conclusion any time soon, because alex salmond's legal challenge against the complaints procedure against him could be weeks oi’ procedure against him could be weeks or even months away. reeta. lorna, thank you, lorna gordon there. egyptian authorities say a british couple, john and susan cooper, who were on holiday there died of natural causes. but that's being disputed by their daughter, who says they were in perfect health before they suddenly became very ill in their hotel room

in hurghada on the red sea. the tour operator thomas cook is moving all its customers from the hotel, whose management has denied claims that other guests have also become ill. judith moritz reports. john and susan cooper are said to have started their holiday in great spirits, going to bed on monday in good health, but gravely ill the next day, when they were discovered by their daughter. i believe that their death is not due to natural causes, and something on the evening of their death does not add up. my parents went to sleep on the monday evening fit, healthy and in good spirits, and they woke the following morning in very poor health. medical action was taken, but unfortunately nobody could do anything to save their lives. i have made accusations, and i need answers. they meant the absolute world to me. nobody could have asked for anyone better. they were the salt of the earth. the family were staying

at the five—star steigenberger aqua magic hotel in the egyptian red sea resort of hurghada. today their tour operator, thomas cook, said that although the circumstances of the coopers' deaths were unclear, there'd been reports of a raised the level of illness amongst guests. the hotel disputes this. thomas cook is removing all 300 of its customers, offering them a different hotel or a flight home. everybody‘s really worried, and obviously as anxiety raises we flew out on tuesday, which is the day that the poor, poor people passed away, and i must say i'm really sorry about what happened. but i think we should have been given the opportunity whether to come or not to come, and we would have not, and now we've chosen to go home, i've got two small children. absolutely dreadful, all i could think of was, like, "i just want to go home." janine traviss has just come back from the same hotel and has spent the last three weeks on antibiotics. she and her partner, lee brooke, both had terrible stomachs cramps. he went downhill more rapidly than i did and became quite unwell.

by the evening time, he wasjust in the room being violently sick. stomachs cramps, nausea, dizziness, really, really unwell. and i, by this time, was sort of in quite a lot of pain. for thomas cook, this is very close to home — susan cooper worked at their burnley branch. it was closed today, mrs cooper described as a loyal and long—serving member of staff. the company says it's helping with the authorities‘ investigations and is deeply saddened by the deaths of susan and john cooper. judith moritz, bbc news. in another major blow for president trump, two of his associates have been granted immunity by prosecutors after agreeing to cooperate with the investigation into the president's former lawyer, michael cohen. earlier this week, mr cohen told a court that the president had directed him during the 2016 election campaign to pay hush money to two women who claimed they'd had affairs with mr trump. our north america editor, jon sopel,

is at the white house. jon, first of all, who are these people who have been given immunity? these are two of the most important people that you have never heard of, nor have most americans ever heard of these people. let's start with david pecker, the publisher of the national enquirer magazine, published a whole series of sensationalist articles, all of them really hostile to hillary clinton, during the election campaign. but he did one other thing, when a playmate who said she had an affair with donald trump wanted to sell her story, he bought the story and never published it, it is god a catch and kill operation. according to an american news agency, he has a safe full of other stories that he bought but have never been published. he

has no cut a deal with the feds and is cooperating with them. —— now cut. allen weisselberg is the chief financial officer for the trump organization, the treasurer of the trump foundation, a trustee of the blind trust that donald trump set up when he became president, and in fa ct when he became president, and in fact you could put it like this, the most senior person in the organisation whose name isn't trump. and he has also done a deal with prosecutors looking into all these matters. now, earlier in the week, donald trump railed against people who flip, the flippers, he called them, and he has even used the word rats. now two of the people closest to him, who know most about his financial affairs, now helping the fbi. it hasn't been a great week for donald trump. jon, thank you, jon sopel donald trump. jon, thank you, jon sopel, our north america editor. there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. that's the stark message from one of the most significant studies into alcohol use and its health

effects to date. researchers looked at the drinking habits of people in 195 countries, including the uk. the findings suggest that even moderate consumption is associated with cancer and other diseases. our health correspondent dominic hughes reports. just how much alcohol is it safe to drink? it's confusing when different studies produce apparently contradictory results. now the latest research says while alcohol might protect us from heart disease, overall there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. alcohol is linked to seven types of cancer. we know about liver disease, which has risen over decades in the uk. so those risks actually outweigh any benefits. so what the study is saying is for health overall the best thing we can do is not to drink at all, which is clearly not going to happen for most people. but if we want to give advice, that is probably what we should be giving. nhs guidelines say we should restrict our drinking to just 1a units of alcohol each week. that's around six pints of beer or seven glasses of wine.

but today's report suggests many people are drinking more than that and posing a risk to their health. the study looked at global drinking habits. around the world, one in three people drink alcohol. the study showed that british women drink on average three drinks a day and ranked eighth in the world of highest drinkers. british men drink a similar amount but ranked 62nd, because drinking levels internationally are generally far higher among men. and in this st albans pub, customers were not especially alarmed by these new findings. i think everything comes with a risk, doesn't it? you've just got to make the decision. be aware of what you are drinking and go from there. there's conflicting advice all the time, isn't there, about how many units you can drink or are supposed to drink? i think it must depend on the individual, surely. drinking alcohol is pleasurable, so it is a case of don't overdo it. it is the degree of risk that we may suffer ill—health linked to drinking that we all have to weigh up.

the study shows that the risk of drinking within current guidelines is very low indeed, so it's no argument for abstention just because there is no safe level. after all, there is no safe level for driving, there is no safe level for going on holiday. there is no safe level for getting up in the morning, but it doesn't mean we should abstain from these activities. and in the end this is what the debate around alcohol consumption comes down to, the level of risk we are each willing to live with. people in hawaii are being moved away from their homes as a hurricane nears the american pacific islands. hurricane lane's already brought flash floods, power cuts and torrential rains. the latest reports suggest it's lessening in force, but it's still carrying winds of over 120 miles per hour. james cook is in hawaii. this is what hurricane lane has done

to hawaii already. and it's churning towards the islands. so far it's not the ferocious wind, but the torrential rain which is the biggest problem. there are reports of catastrophic flooding, of landslides, and of water rescues, tourists among those who have been pulled to safety. please leave the area. the big island of hawaii has received some reports of two feet of rain and well already and there's more to come, so the impacts will grow. hundreds of islanders have been forced to flee their homes. have you done this before? 0h, been forced to flee their homes. have you done this before? oh, i've been here for 11 years and it's the first time. across the state dozens of evacuation centres have been set up. of evacuation centres have been set many of evacuation centres have been set ny people of evacuation centres have been set up. many people heeded the dire warnings, stocking up on and water

asa warnings, stocking up on and water as a state of emergency was declared. hurricane lane has now slowed to a crawl as it approaches us slowed to a crawl as it approaches us and that's a concern, because it means the heavy rain and the flooding could continue for days. just another challenge for an island chain which rarely experiences storms of this ferocity. james cook, bbc news, on maui. on the eve of a visit by the pope to ireland — the first for nearly a0 years — the irish prime minister leo varadkar says he's glad the church isn't as prominent in the nation's daily life as it once was. the catholic church has been caught in repeated scandals over the abuse of women and children in recent years. from dublin, our religious affairs editor martin bashir reports. bishops and priests are not usually pounding the turf at leinster rugby ground. but as ireland prepares to welcome pope francis, it's also hosting this global gathering of catholics. an altar has been built along the touchline,

but that's as nothing compared to the challenge of reconstructing the church after decades of scandal. a lot of the pain and the hurt that we felt we were moving on from has resurfaced, particularly for people who were hurt by clergy in the church. and i think the holy father, it's critical that he does something to try and address that. phoenix park, another venue, has been under construction for months. the catholic church and the irish government are spending more than £27 million to host pope francis. the highlight of this weekend's visit will be here on sunday when pope francis celebrates mass. 500,000 tickets have been issued. so will ireland feel like it did the last time the pope was in town? 1979, and popejohn paul ii

was greeted by the largest gathering of irish people in history. back then almost 90% of catholics attended weekly mass. contraception, abortion and divorce were against the law. now all three are legal, and church attendance is down to a0%. marie collins‘ story may help explain why. she was abused by a hospital chaplain as a child. what has happened here basically is the church has fallen over a cliff. its moral authority is completely destroyed. we still have quite a high percentage of catholics in ireland, and i think many of them are hanging on by theirfingernails. are you glad that the church is having less of a dominant effect? the short answer is yes. i think in the past

the catholic church had too much of a dominant place in irish society. i think it still has a place in irish society, but not one that determines public policy or determines our laws. judging by trade in the exhibition hall, the catholic church is pinning its hopes on the popularity of pope francis. this is the best one. he remains the star attraction. but unless it can convince the world that it has changed, then the future of the roman catholic church in ireland will continue to be overshadowed by its past. martin bashir, bbc news, dublin. the united nations says that 22 children and four women have been killed by a saudi—led coalition air strike in yemen. they were fleeing fighting in and around the key port city of hudaida yesterday. it comes just weeks after a strike on a bus killed more than a0 children. after a week in which donald trump has had to address questions

about his possible impeachment, there is a renewed focus on november's congressional elections. the party that controls congress ultimately decides if a sitting president should be impeached, and mr trump is currently protected because republicans hold the majority. democrats think attracting younger voters could be a key to success in the mid—term elections, but mr trump has his own young and deeply devoted supporters, as chris buckler has been finding out. it's up to you, your generation. in the presidential ballroom of the president's own washington hotel is a gathering of the trump teams. crowd chants: usa, usa. hundreds of republican high school students in the capital for a banquet meal and a week of conservative politics, and many here share donald trump's view of the world. i don't think trump's a republican. i think you can make a whole party based on what trump believes. he's conservative in some areas, but he's also not conservative in some areas.

you see yourself as a trump party rather than the republican party? yes, 100%. oh, that never gets old. little seems to shake the belief of the president's most devoted supporters, but donald trumer knows his father is a divisive figure, and recent days have only widened the gap between those who love him and those who loathe him. hate and bs is not a political platform. that is all the other side has these days. but between the booing and jeering for political opponents, and the many chants against the so—called fake news media, president trump seems to have encouraged some hate himself. i think he'sjust changing everything up. hate has always been there and he's just stirring up all of politics, and people don't like that he's changing things. but that means stirring up hate? he's being 100% honest, which isn't always what we get from our presidents or the news or anything, and regardless of what they do no one

is going to like a person 100%, so hate will be built no matter what. there is growing pressure for both republicans and democrats to get their voters out in november's congressional elections, and that's partly because the president has been forced to address the possibility of impeachment. it's 7:00pm in the evening and there's a line of people in order to get into this church, and it stretches right down the street, and they're here to talk notjust about gun control but also politics in america. is there anybody here that maybe you're not registered to vote... congress would vote on impeachment proceedings, making the next elections crucial, and for democrats the youth vote really could matter. i think it's really disappointing and really heartbreaking to see a united states president whojust has such disregard for the youth of our country. this event in georgia was one of dozens of stops on a nationwide tour by students from parkland in florida. they became famous in the worst

circumstances, when 17 people from their school were shot dead. but despite months of campaigning president trump has avoided the gun law reforms they want. it's about human lives and saving human lives, and no matter what party you're from you should support that, so we need to keep as many people together as we can and not be more divisive. but on guns, politics and president trump, america is split. would there be anybody who supports president trump here? all: no. and the last week may only have deepened this country's divides. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. it's being billed as one of the biggest events in the history of the internet — despite the fact the names ksi and logan paul probably mean little to many people. the two youtube stars are set to earn millions of pounds in a boxing match tomorrow night streamed on the internet. colin paterson reports.

the biggest international event in history! two of the biggest youtube stars taking their online rivalry into the boxing ring. i can't wait to punch you right in your stupid, smug face. britain's ksi and his american opponent, logan paul, each have almost 20 million subscribers, predominantly teenage boys attracted by their mix of comedy, bad language and hostility towards other youtube stars. despite not being professional boxers, tomorrow night both are set to make seven figure sums in a pay—per—view fight broadcast live not on satellite tv, but on youtube. a lot of people watching this fight are very young. how good a role model are you? i never like people calling me a role model. i'm not a role model, i'm just a guy that does things on the internet and if people are inspired by that, then that's cool. but logan paul is the baddie of the piece after causing global outrage earlier this year by filming the body of an apparent suicide victim in a japanese forest. i made a severe and continuous lapse

in myjudgment and i don't expect to be forgiven. i'm simply here to apologise. today, he made it clear that he is still trying to make amends. i don't think this is "the redemption". i think it may mark a part of it, but by no means is this fight a redemption for my mistake that happened in january. this fight also shows the way that the entertainment industry is changing. for the last decade youtube stars have worked out how to monetise their huge online following. this is taking it to a different level. this is an audience who are used to not paying. it's a pay—per—view event tomorrow, so in live numbers we are expecting it to be huge. but over the period of time of the content it will run to hundreds of millions of impressions. no matter who loses, both are set to be winners. a rematch in the usa is already scheduled. colin paterson, bbc news, manchester. that's all from us.

here on bbc one, time for the news where you are. good night. good evening, i'm asad ahmad. this weekend, notting hill carnivalgoers will walk though knife arches for the first time hello and welcome to sportsday with me, will perry, the headlines tonight. jose mourinho turns up half an hour early for a 259 second press conference and just look how happy the manchester united manager was. and not the right guy to answer to it. tottenham's world cup winning goalkeeper hugo lloris is charged with drink driving three days before their game at old trafford. and fernando alonso wants red bull to apologise after they denied his claim they offered him a drive for next season. hello and welcome to sportsday.

manchester united manager jose mourinho says he has "no problems" with executive vice—chairman ed woodward despite reports to contrary. mourinho's pre match press conference this afternoon ahead of the tottenham game lasted little over four minutes and it's fair to say he wasn't in a talkative mood. what? do you think it is an over reaction? your pessimistic, i am not. i don't analyse with you my players. how do you feel? i feel we played well against leicester and we w011 played well against leicester and we won and we played badly against brighton and we lost. across manchester, city captain vincent kompany celebrated his tenth anniversary with the club this week — the defender is just one match away from reaching 250 games

for the champions which could come in the early kick off at wolves tomorrow, an achievement to be extremely pround of according to his manager. ten yea rs ten years here, happy another nursery, it is a long time. —— happy anniversary. it could be more. no doubt, he was caught many times when he is fit. he is a big personality. middlesbrough are top of the championship this evening after beating west bromwich albion thanks to a stoppage time goal. boro had been on top for most of the game but missed chances until daniel ayala poked home the winner right at the end. it gave middlesbrough manager tony pulis a win over his former side, boro have 13 points from their opening five games. let's have a quick look at some of the day's other football stories. tottenham and france goalkeeper hugo lloris has apologised after being charged

with drink driving. the spurs captain was charged following a routine patrol stop in london. he's been bailed to return to westminster magistrates court on tuesday the 11th of september. loris karius's two—year loan deal from liverpool to besiktas looks to be a step closer after the turkish club earlier posted a picture of the german goal keeper in their kit on their twitter account. however they've since deleted the tweet. and england's women have taken bronze in the under—20 world cup after beating hosts france 11—2 in a penalty shoot—out. georgia allen stepped up to clinch it for the lionesses after the game finished 1—1 in normal time. japan later beat spain 3—1 in the final. fernando alonso says he wants an apology from red bull, after they denied his claim that they'd offered him a drive for next season. alonso will retire at the end of the year, after he failed to secure a deal away from the mclaren team, but red bull boss christian horner insists they haven't offered him a contract since 2007. alonso said horner had apologised by email for previous comments, claiming he's difficult to work with, and he hopes he'll apologise again this weekend.

on the track though, formula one is back from its summer break. ferrari's kimi raikkonen seems to have benefitted most from the rest, clocking the quickest time of the day in practice for the belgian grand prix. he was a tenth ahead championship leader lewis hamilton, with sebastian vettel down in fifth. he was a tenth ahead championship leader lewis hamilton, with sebastian vettel down in fifth. they called me in the summer. completely out of context. they had been chasing me in the last seven