a very warm welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: live in montana and rallying his base. president trump speaks to reporters —— supporters as critics reporters —— supporters as critics report his policy—making is out of control. confrontation at the un. russian and british diplomats trade accusations of criminality and deceit over the nerve agent poisoning of a former spy. they tried to murder the skripals. they played dice with the lives of the people of salisbury. they work in a parallel universe, where the normal rules of international affairs are inverted. and british airways is investigating the theft of bank card details from its website and its mobile app. hundreds of thousands of customers have been affected. and tributes to an icon. after an acting career that spanned six decades, the movie star burt reynolds has died, aged 82. hello to you.

one by one, many of president trump's closest aides have been publicly denying authorship of the anonymous editorial in the new york times, which has painted such a damning picture of the trump white house. the writer — described by the times as a senior official — describes an "erratic, impulsive, amoral" president, whose "misguided impulses", it claims, need to be controlled or blocked by his senior staff for the good of the country. in that context in the past few minutes the president has been addressing a rally in montana complaining again about the way he has been portrayed in the media. you look at the washington post or the new york times. i can never get a good story. you look at this horrible thing that took place, it

is it treason? it is a horrible thing. the good thing about that, even liberals that hate me say that thatis even liberals that hate me say that that is terrible what they did. the president at supporting his republican candidate. let's go live now to washington dc and our correspondent, chris buckler. no surprise at the editorial is still rattling around washington. what is the latest? as far as donald trump is concerned it is firmly on his mind. he denied some reporters that, in his work, that he was stomping around the white house and screaming like a lunatic. he said that was not the case but he did say that was not the case but he did say that that the person who wrote the article is a gutless coward and he has called again for the new york times to publish their name because he says it is a national security issue. within the context of all of this and the speech that is happening in montana, we have had

official after official lining up in the white house. list too long to read out, of individual saying it was not them because there is a feverish guessing game going on inside washington, dc and inside the white house. they have been looking closely at the editorial which is damning about president trump and what is happening inside the white house to try and see if they can see any clues, any phrase that may give any clues, any phrase that may give a hint as to who wrote it. we will play you a few of the individuals who have denied. the first of whom is the vice president, mike pence who uses the word lodestar quite often in speeches, a phrase used in the article. it does mean a guiding light but he says it was not him. the anonymous editorial, published in the new york times, represents a new low in american journalism. in the new york times, represents a new low in americanjournalism. i think the new york times should be ashamed and whoever wrote this anonymous editorial should also be

ashamed to. anyone who would write an anonymous editorial... sneering this president who has provided extraordinary leadership for this country, should not be working to this administration. they should do the honourable thing and resign. this administration. they should do the honourable thing and resignli come from a place where if you are not ina come from a place where if you are not in a position to execute commands you have one option, and thatis commands you have one option, and that is to leave. the efforts of the immediate battling media in this regard to undermine the president are incredibly disturbing and i know someone are incredibly disturbing and i know someone will say i did not answer the question sol someone will say i did not answer the question so i will answer directly, it is not me. someone who works in the administration says that the pleasure of the president. it isa that the pleasure of the president. it is a person who was living in dishonesty. it does not help the president so if you are not interested in helping the president you should not wait for the president. some senior figures are. as you say, there is a feverish guessing game as to who the author

might be. that is understandable yet it is also convenient for the administration to keep the focus on this rather than on what is being said. in the context of that, given the damning allegations that have been made, the suggestion that essentially there are people inside the white house who are trying to subvert what the president wants to do for the good of the country, it is remarkable that, essentially the question is not about whether or not this came from a senior figure question is not about whether or not this came from a seniorfigure in the administration but exactly who is. the fact we have had this line of individuals, a line of incredibly senior officials all standing there and saying it was not me, has, in some ways just and saying it was not me, has, in some waysjust given and saying it was not me, has, in some ways just given credibility to this opinion piece. next week there is the publication of bob woodward's book can that fear which looks at what is happening inside the white house. extracts have been published and bob woodward has spoken to many

people inside washington and, again, it gives this idea of a dysfunctional white house. we're getting a real sense tonight from montana where donald trump continues to deliver that speech, that he will fight back extremely hard and suggests that once again these are individuals who are deliberately anonymous, who stay in the background and that this is some kind of plot to try and undermine him. in some respects that is an interesting strategy because there are elections coming up and he is trying to make out that in some way this is the elite attacking donald trump and his supporters and he will use that in the upcoming elections. world leaders have backed the british government's assessment that the novichok attack in southern england on a former russian spy and his daughter was carried out by officers from russian military intelligence. the us, france, germany and canada have all agreed that the poisoning of sergei and yulia skripal in salisbury in march was "almost certainly" approved at a high level in moscow. this from our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. these are the pictures

the government believes show russia's responsibility for the first use of chemical weapons on european soil in decades. two russian military intelligence officers, alias alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov, flying to britain in march, taking the train to salisbury, allegedly laying a trail of deadly nerve agent on orders, ministers say, from the very top. all of which british diplomats in new york said was reckless and malign behaviour by one of the five permanent members of the united nations security council. one p5 member has undertaken a pattern of behaviour which showed that they tried to murder the skripals, they played dice with the lives of the people of salisbury. they work in a parallel universe, where the normal rules of international affairs are inverted. russia insisted that its military intelligence service, known as the gru, had nothing

to do with the attack, nor had president putin, seen here on a visit to its headquarters. ‘s russia's ambassador claimed the british allegations were unfounded and mendacious. translation: the russian federation categorically rejects all unfounded accusations regarding its involvement in poisoning with toxic chemicals. london needs this story forjust one purpose — to unleash a disgusting anti—russian hysteria. today, the leaders of britain's closest allies, the us, france, germany and canada, issued a joint statement, expressing theirfull confidence that the operation was almost certainly approved at a senior level in russia. they also agreed to disrupt together the hostile activities of foreign intelligence networks on their territories. but we will respond robustly when our security is threatened. the ambassador called

for greater use of sanctions, for the chemical weapons convention to be strengthened, and more powers for international authorities to name and shame countries that use nerve agents. and around the table, there was some support. today, our british friends and colleagues are providing us with a masterclass on how to stop the spread of chemical weapons. they are creating accountability for those who use chemical agents, and providing vital support for the international norm against the use of these deadly illegal weapons. the question for the foreign office here is can all this diplomatic support be translated into real action against russia, such as sanctions? now, that's unlikely to come from the united nations, where russia has a veto, so the uk is going to have to rely on the eu, and the problem is that some european allies are reluctant to antagonise russia. so this will be a real test of british diplomacy and european unity.

james landale, bbc news, at the foreign office. let's round up some more of the main news. the far—right candidate who's leading the polls in brazil's presidential race has been stabbed at a campaign rally, a month before the election. jair bolsano's son has tweeted that he's recovering in hospital from a "superficial" injury. doctors say he's out of intensive care and his condition is grave but stable. the remains of 166 mexicans have been found in a mass grave in the gulf state of veracruz. state prosecutor, jorge winckler, said the bodies were found after a tipoff. he said they had been buried at least two years ago. mr winckler called on relatives of missing people to supply dna samples to help them identify the bodies. twitter has permanently banned the conspiracy theorist alexjones and his infowars website for violating its policy on abusive behaviour. youtube and facebook deleted his content last month, citing hate speech. he was seen this week berating senators and journalists in congress, and is being sued for claiming the sandy hook school shooting was staged and the bereaved

families were actors. british airways is investigating the theft of customer data from its website and mobile app. it says personal and financial details were compromised between august 21st and wednesday ninth. the airline says the stolen data did not include travel or passport details, and that its website is now working normally. lebo diseko has the story. a sophisticated attack, is how british airways described the theft of customer data from its website and mobile app. around 380,000 credit cards were compromised in the two weeks between the 21st of august and the fifth of september. the personal and financial details were stolen as people made bookings online and through the app. when asked why it took so long to detect, the airline said it took action as soon as it realised there was a problem. we found out the extent of the damage and that is why we immediately began

to communicate with our customers. it is most imperative that we tell our customers to please contact their credit card issuers and their bank, to make sure that they can proceed and follow the recommendations with regards to their credit card details. this is the latest in a series of customer relations issues the airline's had recently. in may last year, 75,000 passengers around the world were left stranded for days after an it failure. the airline was criticised for its handling of the problem, with some people blaming the outsourcing of its it staff. and injuly this year, it issues meant dozens of flights in and out of heathrow airport had to be cancelled. ba has apologised for the latest problems, saying it takes the protection of customers' data very seriously, but it might take more than an apology to restore customer confidence. lebo diseko, bbc news. britain and other european nations have voiced their deep

concern at the prospect ofjoint russian and syrian military action in the syrian region of idlib. the last rebel—held province — which is also home to violentjihadists — has a population of nearly 3 million people. with the border to turkey closed, it's feared civilians could be trapped. later on friday, there will be key talks between russia, turkey and iran. our middle east correspondent quentin somerville reports. the world for abu ibrahim's family just keeps getting smaller. nine of them have two rooms, in a building shared with 60 families. for those opposed to bashar al—assad, idlib is the last refuge. and now it, and abu ibrahim's family, are under threat. translation: turkey has closed its border and people trying to cross are getting hit by snipers. translation: i'm worried about my children, and there is no place to go. it's very difficult to move and run with children when the bombing is happening.

turkey and other routes are closed. we are trapped here. explosion the battle proper for idlib hasn't begun yet, but in al—tamanah to the south, they're getting a taste of what's to come. tens of thousands of regime forces are standing by, along with dozens of russian and regime aircraft. the un has warned that in this cruellest of wars, idlib will be the perfect storm. the population of the province has doubled, as the opposition and islamists took refuge from a regime on a victory roll. on the streets of idlib city, they're expecting the worst. translation: people are afraid of chemical weapons, like chlorine or sarin, but in god's will, we are prepared for them. rebel groups are digging in. this is the turkish—aligned faylaq al—sham. translation: we've been preparing and digging trenches, giving our soldiers extra training on all kinds of weapons.

we're prepared to defend our territory against the regime and the russian invaders. as faylaq's fighters man the defences, russia says it's got its eyes on other rebels — hts nusra, the al-qaeda linked jihadists that control much of the province. moscow is promising to liquidate them. but syria's conflict isn't just a war of armies, it's a war on people. there are more than 2.5 million trapped here. atma camp for the displaced stretches from the turkish border to the horizon. there's no room for more people and there's no escape. the fate of the last fight in syria's civil war appears set before it begins. rebel idlib may be the battle already lost. quentin somerville, bbc news, beirut. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: as montana's farmers lose trade with asia, we ask how president trump's supporters are fairing as the tariff war

with china escalates. freedom itself was attacked this morning, and freedom will be defended. the united states will hunt down and punish those responsible. bishop tutu now becomes the spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here, of the blacks in soweto township as well as the whites in their rich suburbs. we say to you today, in a loud and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears. enough! translation: the difficult decision we reached together was one that required great and exceptional courage. it's an exodus of up to 60,000 people,

caused by the uneven pace of political change in eastern europe. iam free! this is bbc news. the latest headlines: live in montana and rallying his base, president trump speaks to his supporters after critics inside and outside the white house claim his leadership is out of control. britain is backed by the us and france, as it tells the un that the salisbury nerve agent attack was almost certainly approved by moscow. russia says it's a lie. as we've been reporting, president trump is back on the campaign trail, this time stumping for republican candidates in montana. some of his most ardent supporters

are feeling the effect of the ta riffs are feeling the effect of the tariffs on china. on the great plains, the harvest is coming to a close. farming is entwined in the american identity. spacious skies and amber waves of grain. a land of plenty. so much, in fact, that half of the nation's major crops are sold abroad — a figure that's even higher here in montana. 75% of our wheat is exported. most of our top customers reside in the pacific rim. so we are very heavily export—dependent on... ..and rely on those international customers to keep moving our product. country life ain't so simple when it's tied to international trade. when the us slapped tariffs on china, beijing stopped buying us wheat, and farmers here are also losing access to their biggest customer, japan.

montana's democratic senator is campaigning for re—election in the shadow of yellowstone park, deep in trump territory. as a farmer, he just wants a fair crack of the whip. access to market is a big issue. that's it, period. if we have access to the japanese and the south korean market, if we have access to the eu, if we have access to all these markets, we can outcompete anyone in the world in agriculture, but if we don't have access to those markets, we're done. the trump trade strategy does involve absorbing pain, with the aim of winning better deals for the us. across the border in wyoming, at the cody rodeo, they may not be following every twist and tweet, but they think they're in safe hands. glad we have trump to probably stand up for ourselves... for us, and maybe make a better deal for us than what we've had in the past.

american farmers need help and whatever he can do to help is fine. and what would you need, you know, what would you ask him for to help you? 0h, he'll do the right thing. we like him. you trust him ? we trust him. there is a great divide here in the north—western united states between protectionism and free trade, but it doesn't seem to be eroding loyalty to mr trump. support for donald trump here runs deep and wide. of course, voters have concerns, not least about trade, but in the wilds of the american west, we've heard the same sentiment time and again — people trust the president, they say, to do the right thing. but as autumn beckons, concerns remain. michelle erickson—jones is harvesting this year's final field of wheat. she says tariffs have pushed down profits, putting the future of her family farm in doubt. we're ok for a couple of years, yeah, but... but you want to get back to free trade?

yeah, we definitely want to get back to free trade. ithink... well, a lot of my concern's based on how long it's taken us to build these markets. it's easy to tear them down, and tearing them down has a pretty big impact on, you know, the future of my kids' ability to farm. as the last grain is hauled away, the direction for america's farmers is farfrom certain. james cook, bbc news, at broadview in montana. for decades it seemed impossible to mention his name without adding the two words moustachioed megastar. burt reynolds was both of those things. one of the biggest film stars of the 1970s, has died at the age of 82. he shot to fame in deliverance and starred in films like smokey and the bandit, boogie nights and cannonball run. he died in hospital in florida after suffering a heart attack. let's speak to a film producer in

los angeles. he was a mental to you? i knew him as a teacher, not an act to. —— actor. i do everything i have achieved in this business to him. my story is not unique. many people say meeting but reynolds was one of the greatest things that happened to them. —— but that produces called him and he said to hire me and sure enough i got the role. all sorts of stories. his acting classes were legendary? i had no idea is what i

was in for. they were eating classes and we would start at 7:30pm and very often he would go on to two or three in the morning and it was a mix of study, anecdotes, his incredible stories and the people he has known. he was a wonderful storyteller a nd has known. he was a wonderful storyteller and i have to say, working in the business for so many yea rs i have working in the business for so many years i have never heard a bad thing about reynolds. anyone who he met and touched really loved him. he seemed to be a guy who did not take his work or himself very seriously. he said nobody had more fun than he did. the comeback movie, book unites, but he did not much like the movie? —— book boogie nights.

unites, but he did not much like the movie? -- book boogie nights. he did come to understand it. i drew up watching him on the tonight show withjohnny carson watching him on the tonight show with johnny carson and watching him on the tonight show withjohnny carson and he was a riot, so much fun, but as a teacher, it was something that meant a great deal to him. people don't really know how important is the reynolds acting company was. when he would get a film or television show in florida, he would hire all his students. he took acting incredibly seriously and he was an incredible teacher. he is also famous for turning down some roles, including a james bond movie. but he was about

to appear in a quentin tarantino film? he had a wonderfulfilm to appear in a quentin tarantino film? he had a wonderful film that came out earlier this year. it was a natural and honest performance which he always gave. the other role, he told us he turned down the jack nicholson role in terms of endearment. wow. he was not a man who lived with regret, i can tell you that. lovely to talk to you. thank you very much indeed. very briefly, a quick reminder of a story that had a happy ending. in bangkok, they are celebrating the rescue of they are celebrating the rescue of the boys celebrated from a cave in. this was the scene. rescuers joining the boys had dinner at the royal plaza. more news on the website. thank you forjoining us. hello, good morning.

the details for this weekend still look a little uncertain. things are more straightforward, though, for friday. a lot of the rain and earlier thunderstorms have been fading away. skies have been clearing, which is why it's been turning quite chilly out there, and it'll feel a little cooler for many places with a north—westerly breeze, but for the most part it'll be dry. there's going to be some areas of rain still around, very close to this area of low pressure that's in the north sea. this is where we'll see most of the rain, so perhaps northern parts of scotland, eastern scotland for a while, and the north—east of england. maybe a little bit of rain heading towards the wash, but for the most part, this rain will move its way out into the north sea. one or two showers coming in on that north—westerly breeze, patchy cloud bubbling up, still some sunny spells, and most places will have a dry day. it may feel a little warmer across the northern half of the uk with some sunshine, but a little cooler in the south, temperatures not really making 20 degrees. into the evening, a lot of that cloud melts away. temperatures fall away, and then we've got increasing cloud

coming in from the atlantic. and this is the start of the uncertainty — how far north or south that rain's going to get. but it should be a milder night on friday night into saturday morning. but across england and wales, it looks like we're going to see cloud and a spell of rain. that rain could affect southern parts of northern ireland and southern scotland for a while. it's more likely that southern counties of england should see very little, ifany, rain. and across the northern half of scotland, this is where we'll see the best of the sunshine. those temperatures not changing very much, 17—19 degrees. uncertainties arise because we've got a chain or a string of weather fronts sort of buckling their way across the uk. and if there's a bit more amplification to that buckling, so the rain goes a little bit further north, which it looks like doing for sunday. but a lot of that rain will peter out through the day. we'll see a bit more sunshine developing, with some showers continuing across the northern half of scotland. most places in the afternoon may well be dry, and there's a warming trend for england and wales, with temperatures 21 or 22 celsius. as we head into next week, there's a strengthening jet that's propagating across the atlantic.

that's going to pick up areas of low pressure, these weather fronts too, and steer them towards the uk. it looks like it's going to be more north—western parts of the uk which will see the wet weather into the early part of next week. that rain beginning to gather during the second half of the day. one or two showers ahead of it, but some sunny spells as well. it should be a bit warmer too, temperatures 22 or 23 degrees. and that warming trend continues across the south—east into tuesday and wednesday, temperatures peaking at 2a or 25 degrees. again, towards the north—west, there'll be more cloud, stronger winds and rain at times. this is bbc news. the headlines: inhuman president trump has told his supporters that the white house is running smoothly despite claims of chaos and resistance in his administration. a number of his closest aides have publicly denied being the author of an anonymous article, apparently written by an insider, which describes how staff are ignoring his orders. the writer was described by the newspaper as a senior official and says that staff are blocking the misguided impulses of the president for the good of the country. world leaders have backed

the uk over its assessment that the salisbury novichok attack was carried out by russian military intelligence. the us, france and germany agreed that moscow ‘almost certainly‘ approved the poisoning of the former spy sergei skripal, and his daughter. russia has denied the claims. british airways says it's investigating the theft of customer data from its website and mobile app. it says details of 380,000 bank cards have been stolen but the data did not include travel or passport details. just after half past three in the morning and it is time for panorama. across britain, serious violence is on the rise, with 100 violent deaths in london this year, including at least 16 teenagers. in the last 2a hours seven more people have been injured in stabbings... it's the third teenager to be fatally stabbed in the capital so far this year. this summer, panorama has been at the heart of one community affected by the violence, filming with the family of a murdered teenager.

a 17—year—old boy has been shot dead in southwark. he was found in warham street, just after 6 o'clock last night.