welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: donald trump declares he would accept information from a foreign government about political rivals in the next election campaign. this is the scene live in hong kong — where the authorities have announced the closure of some government offices for the rest of the week. it's quiet, currently, after the storm of the past few days. there were violent clashes on wednesday against a controversial extradition law. all it has done has made people more angry. they are trying to rake through the police barricades over there and things are being thrown. the entire situation has become a

lot more tense. russia detains leading anti corruption activists, despite yesterday's release of an investigative journalist, held on spurious drugs charges. hundreds of thousands of people are evacuated along parts of india's western coast as the region braces itself for a powerful cyclone. donald trump has declared that he would accept damaging information about political opponents during next year's election campaign — even if it came from a foreign government. in an interview with abc news the president denied it would count as interference — describing it as opposition research. russian interference in the 2016 campaign, and allegations of collusion with the trump campaign, were significant lines of inquiry in the mueller report. here's the exchange between mr trump

and the abc news presenter george stephanopoulos. this time around if foreigners russia, china or someone else offers you information should you accept it or call the guy? i think you do both. i think you may want to listen, there is nothing wrong with listening. if somebody called from a country, with information on your opponent, i think i would want to hear it. you want that interference? it is not interference. they have information and i think i would take it. our washington correspondent chris bucklerjoins me now. mrtrump mr trump seems quite comfortable saying what he is saying. you must remember that this is also a president who has made the last few months not go past a single week without screaming the words no collusion and saying time and time again that it was he who got himself elected, not the russians. instead

of saying that in this interview he is clearly saying that if a foreign government was to have dirty intelligence order have information that was compromising for a political opponent, if they were to have dirt, in simple terms, then yes, he would consider going to get that information from them. with the issue of the fbi, he was asked about what he if he would call the fbi. he said he would do both but he set on another occasion it was not his duty to call the fbi in these occasions. and it was said that actually, yes you should call the fbi in the circumstances and his response was to say that the fbi director is wrong. the truth is that if you put this into context we are looking at a report, the mullah report that said that the russians interfered in the 2016 election and tried to a fear —— interferon behalf of president prompt. —— mueller report.

0n president prompt. —— mueller report. on one occasion we do know that senior members of the trump campaign including his son donald trump senior members of the trump campaign including his son donald trumer went to speak to a russian among others at trump tower specifically with the idea of trying to get dirt on the presidential candidate hillary clinton. and again for donald trump ‘s political opponents it raises the idea that he would be prepared to do something like that again and it is something they say is unconscionable. this is a president who is not averse to saying something provocative if he feels he has been out of the headlines for a few minutes. do you think he is being provocative, did not care or did not realise the significance of what he was saying? i think he was answering what he felt were questions about what will come next. sometimes president trump does not like to be cornered into saying he would or would not do something. you could argue he was potentially leaving his options open. but by doing so he has led the

democrats back in and this conversation about whether or not donald trump should be subjected to impeachment proceedings is being discussed over and over in congress. and democrat after democrat have been lining up in the last few hours to basically say the donald trump should be taken up on these words and that should feed into impeachment. joe biden did not say that but he did say that president trump is once again welcoming foreign interference in our elections. this is not about politics, it is a threat to national security. beer in mind that president trump is commander—in—chief. —— therein minded. —— —— bear in mind. authorities in hong kong are shutting government offices in the financial district for the rest of the week, after days of protests against an extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland china for trial.

the bill has triggered the biggest street rallies since hong kong was handed back to china by the british in 1997. police fired tear gas and rubber bullets in running battles with the demonstrators. rupert wingfield hayes is in central hong kong. this was the centre of hong kong this afternoon. scenes of mass violence, the likes of which have not been seen here since the 1960s. the day had been tense from the start. huge crowds surrounded hong kong's legislature, determined to stop any discussion of the hated extradition bill. the object of their anger, this woman — hong kong's chief executive, carrie lam. last weekend, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets here, demanding she scrap a bill that would allow people in hong kong to be extradited to mainland china, but she is refusing to budge. why is she quite so adamant, quite so determined? you would call it arrogance on her part or stubbornness. no, she isjust doing all this at beijing's order. she is just some little puppet

of the beijing regime. today's protesters were almost exclusively young, aggressive, this and boiling with rage at a government they believe is giving away their freedoms. it seemed only a matter of time before things turned violent — and so they did. few here have ever experienced the searing pain of being tear—gassed. you could see the shock and confusion. i think there's lines that we can have the freedom from fear, that we are every day facing right now, so i guess we feel angry and we do not get respected by our own government. by early evening, police had begun to gain the upper hand — launching barrage after barrage, driving protesters away from the government quarter.

what we're witnessing here in hong kong tonight, with this operation to clear the streets, is a hong kong government determined not to allow another protest movement to establish itself and occupy the centre of the city, like it did back in 2014, and a government that is determined, it seems, to push ahead with an incredibly controversial extradition law regardless of the consequences. the government has now declared today's protest a riot, turning those who took part into potential criminals, but tonight thousands remain on the streets — their anger only further inflamed. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in hong kong. steve vickers is the former head of the royal hong kong police criminal intelligence bureau. he gave me his thoughts on the protests yesterday. i'm afraid the government in hong kong have painted themselves into a corner.

0n the surface it appears to be related to a homicide case of a hong kong person who cannot be extradited, who has apparently admitted to murdering his girlfriend, which is what on the surface kicked this off. what people in hong kong, and i am one of them, don't agree with, is the idea of being able to be deported, essentially, to mainland china, which does not have the same standards and controls and checks and balances that we have in hong kong and in other common law jurisdictions. that is at the heart of the dispute. i, like many business people, don't agree with it. the methodology used yesterday was very unfortunate and unwise. people have every right to protest, and in fact should do so, but blatant attacks like that on the headquarters was totally over—the—top. it was technically, i would say, a riot. but i would restrict my comments to the area of the government headquarters, that is actually what happened. do you see potentially a way through, perhaps adapting the law or removing it and putting in place another one? i would want to remove it, but i'm afraid that i see them

pushing this through. the way the legislative council is composed in hong kong, the opposition do not have sufficient votes to stop it going through. i understand that for the 60 hours or so of time set aside, let's say five or six days, so this will be a five or six day phenomenon, at least over this issue. i suspect it will be passed, which is unfortunate, but i can't see any other way. i think they have painted themselves into such a corner that unless there is some great event, it will go through. steve vickers, former head of the intelligence bureau at the hong kong police, thank you very much. let's get some of the day's other news. president trump says he will consider sending an additional thousand troops to poland at a

meeting at the white house with the polish resident he said that soldiers would be transferred from the contingent stationed in germany. two more conservative candidates have launched their bids to replace theresa may as party leader to become the british prime minister. brexit is of course the key issue and former foreign secretary boris johnson says he's committed to bringing the uk out of the eu by the end of the year. but his rival, home secretary sajid javid, said mrjohnson was ‘yesterday‘s news'. the world health organization has called an emergency meeting in response to the news that ebola has spread to uganda from eastern congo. the head of a major medical charity has called the latest outbreak "truly frightening". nearly 1,400 people have died in the democratic republic of congo. there's been high emotion in court in madrid on the final day of the trial of twelve catalan separatists. some face up to 25 years in jail if they're convicted of rebellion and sedition for their part in a failed drive

for independence in 2017. several of them said the prosecution was politically—motivated. police in russia say they've detained more than 200 people in moscow for holding a protest in support of the journalist, ivan golunov. the prominent opposition politician alexei navalny was among those held. mr golunov was detained on drugs charges before unexpectedly being freed on tuesday. gareth barlow reports. one by one they were arrested. members of the public, the press, and key opposition figures. bundled into vans and taken away. a twisted irony, perhaps, that those arrested were themselves protesting against a previous arrest. on thursday last week, police detained the high—profile investigative journalist, ivan golunov, on what many claimed were

falsified drugs charges. on tuesday, the man who has exposed corruption throughout moscow's elite was released, the charges dropped, following an admission by the interior minister that his guilt had not been proven. translation: thank you very much for all the support. i still hardly understand what is happening. i am happy thatjustice has been served and the criminal case was dropped. despite the authorities' rare u—turn, the people in moscow wanted more. for the police who detained ivan golunov to be punished themselves. translation: they violate our rights. freedom of expression, the freedom to demonstrate, the freedom to express our opinions. translation: there is no real change, they have been forced to liberate ivan golunov. they did it because people came out in the streets. without that it would

not have happened. while an investigation into ivan golunov‘s arrest is under way and the police officers involved suspended, amid the screams and scuffles a sense that despite the outcry on the streets, little will change among the police. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the politics of art — a major new exhibiton from one of britain's greatest living artists, dame paula rego. the day the british liberated the falklands. and by tonight, british troops had begun the task of disarming the enemy. in the heart of the west german capital, this was gorby—mania at its height.

the crowd packed to see the man who for them, has raised great hopes for an end to the division of europe. michaeljackson was not guilty on all charges. the screams of the crowd, a testament to his popularity and their faith in his innocence. as long as they'll pay to go see me, i'll get out there and kick 'em down the hill. what does it feel like to be the first man to go across the channel by your own power? it feels pretty neat. feels marvellous, really. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: donald trump declares he would accept damaging information from a foreign government about political rivals in the next election campaign. hong kong shuts down some government offices in the financial district for the rest of the week

after a day of clashes over a controversial extradition bill. india is bracing itself for another massive storm — and this time, it's the north—west coast that's under threat. hundreds of thousands of people are being evacuated. cyclone vayu is gathering intensity as it heads across the arabian sea, and is expected to make landfall on thursday. sam ryder has more. along the coast, india's western state of gujarat is on high alert. fishing boats are being anchored and residents are on the move, taking with them the few possessions they have. but those still here, they are being told find shelter. translation: we have identified 10 districts and have taken the decision to evacuate those villages living by the coastal areas. india's military and disaster response teams have been deployed to help with rescue and relief efforts.

on twitter, prime minister narendra modi urged those in affected areas to move to safety. it's the second time in as many months india has faced severe weather. in may, a cyclone, the equivalent of a category 4 hurricane, killed 3a people in odisha state on the country's eastern coast. the death toll was kept relatively low thanks to the evacuation of more than a million people. authorities here are hoping early preparations are enough to prevent a similar disaster. sam ryder, bbc news. prime minister shinzo abe became the first japanese leader to visit iran in overfour decades on wednesday. he told reporters that he and the iranian president hassan rouhani spoke bluntly about relations between iran and japan's close ally the us. mr abe called for the us and iran to have "more patience" with each other, warning of the real possibility of military conflict and that continued threats could lead to an "accidental" conflict.

translation: it is essential that iran plays a role in constructing peace in the middle east, so the region will not destabilise any further and no accidental clash will occur in the midst of recent rising tensions. the mexican president, andres manuel lopez obrador, says he will use the proceedings from the sale of the presidential plane to cover the additional costs of a new migration deal with the us. mexico agreed last week to deploy thousands of national guard members in the south of the country to prevent central american migrants from reaching the us border. the deal was negotiated after president trump threatened to impose sanctions on all mexican imports unless there an immediate curb on illegal migration. bill clinton was addressing a

gathering about the kosovo peacekeeping mission, saying it was a privilege. several us states will introduce new gun controls with local officials don't want to enforce them, saying they violate gun owners rights. this debate is playing out in colorado where a red flag law is taking effect. on this side of the wall is where we have deputy zack parrish's — the medals that he was awarded a posthumously. at the office in colorado where he once worked, there is now a memorial to a sheriff's deputy shot dead on duty. ijust want to make sure you're ok. body camera footage shows zack parrish trying to calm down

a man with a history of mental health crises. but moments later, when deputies kicked down the door of his home, the man unleashed a volley of bullets. (banging). killing zack. shots fired, shots fired! the gunman was shot dead as well. hold yourfire! zack's boss became one of the driving forces behind a new law that has just been passed in colorado, which says police can now take away the guns of people deemed to be an extreme risk. zack's life will not lost in vain, all those people who were mentally ill and lost their lives because of the mental illness will not be in vain now. we can use this tool to apply it when appropriate to save people's lives. and that's where we started off in the beginning. to save some lives today. sadly, the state has a history of shootings, where lives have been lost that have hit the headlines nationally. the aurora cinema shooting happened just a few miles in that direction, the columbine massacre not very far over there. so it's not like people here haven't known massive tragedy when it comes to guns. but, even then, talk of the notion of taking away people's firearms for whatever reason, that is something that some gun owners in colorado simply can't stomach. with the new so—called red flag law,

they particularly seem to have a problem with police being able to take away guns before the owner can argue their case. pull! they'd have to appear before a judge to get back their firearms. i think that it's another way that the government can take guns when maybe they don't need to. i think there should be some scrutiny involved whenever it comes to taking them away from people. it sounds like a knee—jerk reaction, to something that, yeah, sure, maybe it might save a life? but at what cost? what is the cost? well, your rights, you're taking away my property. the talk of rights and the cost of such a law was something we kept hearing, even from some in law enforcement. one sheriff may have campaigned for the law, but others in the state say they'd rather go to jail than take away guns from people. is that really what you want to give your rights up to?

a subjective ruling from law enforcement applying to a court to say that someone's rights should be terminated? i'm telling you... but if it means it could potentially save lives? so, at what cost? at what cost? at the cost of taking someone's firearms away for potentially a short time. well, so what i'm telling you is as a government official, as a law enforcement person, i don't think law enforcement should have this power. and many sheriffs across several states feel the same way. touch firearms rules in america, even if it is today guns from those in mental crisis, and to stop people getting killed, and you're sure to arouse strong feelings and angry resistance. aleem maqbool, bbc news in colorado. not many artists can claim to have changed public opinion by painting — but the portugese artist paula rego can. her series of paintings on abortion were created in response to the narrow defeat on a referendum to legalise abortion in portugal. this weekend a retrospective of her work goes on show in milton keynes in central england. this from our arts editor will gompertz.

the artist dame paula rego, now in her 80s and weakened by a stroke, still goes to her studio almost every day. her son gave me a tour of her work, which was overtly political. she used her pictures as a way of undermining and criticising the portuguese fascist resume. my mother was very outrageous and took huge risks with her pictures and went crazy in her studio, but at home she was quite a straightforward woman. i think that if you do pictures, they are about what's inside you as much as what's outside you, but that you've got secrets and stories that you want to put out there in the pictures.

her son, the film—maker nick willing, gave me a personal tour of this major exhibition of her work, which starts in the early days, when his mother's art was overtly political. in 1998, paula rego produced a set of large pastel pictures in response to a recent referendum held in portugal to bring an end to illegal abortions — an extremely dangerous practice of which she had personal experience. and my mother, who had suffered so much in her life from backstreet abortions, was so incensed that the portuguese public and particularly women in public hadn't bothered to go out and said, "oh, we're too embarrassed to vote," so she decided to lay it all out there and make a series of pictures of young girls, some of them schoolgirls, who had had backstreet abortions. and that, in a way, gets to the heart of your mother's art, which is storytelling. this is sit, in a way that you tell a dog to sit.

but this is paula being told to sit, so it is both obedience and defiance reflected in this picture. because she is sitting, but you can see the more powerful figure, which in this case would have been my father, is offscreen, as it were, and she is showing in her body language how she feels about that suppression. her feet are twisted in a way that jesus' feed are twisted on the crucifix. —— feet. a paula rego picture is never straightforward — there's plenty of anger and suffering, but also tenderness and beauty. they are ambiguous, dark images and describe the human condition in a way few have done before. will gompertz, bbc news. more on the bbc website.

and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. hello. our very unsettled spell of weather is set to continue as low pressure is still dominating our weather out there at the moment. now this picture was taken on wednesday by one of our weather watchers in herstmonceux, east sussex. grey skies there, we've had some heavy showers around. much of the country has already seen heavy rain and we have still got flood warnings in force with more persistent rain to come over the next 24—48 hours. now the area we are most concerned about during the day on thursday is this region, the south—east of scotland where there could be 80—100 millimetres of rain falling falling over the highest ground. so that means disruption to travel, and flooding is likely. if you have a look through the course of thursday, that rain really will be quite relentless, only slowly easing away as we head through the latter part of the day. but let's take a look at the whole of the uk on thursday, lots of blue on the map.

lots of wet weather. across central and northern parts of england, southern and eastern scotland, some heavy downpours. northern ireland having a bit of a drier day, as does the far west of scotland too. south—east of england should stay mostly dry, but there'll be a few heavy showers and temperatures not doing great still, only around 11—16 degrees. lots of cloud around, really, across the board. now as we move through the course of thursday evening and into friday, we keep the cloud, we keep the patchy outbreaks of rain, probably not quite as heavy or as persistent as the rainfall during the day on thursday. but more downpours across england and wales, heavy showers rattling into northern ireland, too. temperatures below what they have been in recent nights as those winds are set to fall light, too. now low pressure still with us as we move through the day on friday, it'sjust drifting towards the north—west a little bit. not as many isobars on the map as there has been recently,

so not quite as breezy. but through the day on friday, it's another unsettled story. again, a lot of cloud to start the day. some showery rain here and there across england and wales and some further rain showers piling in across parts of western scotland and northern ireland, too. a bit more sunshine by the time we get to friday afternoon, lifting temperatures to about 13—19 degrees, not quite as cool as they have been. as we head through into the weekend, still a fairly unsettled story. saturday, we've got some showers in the west but eastern parts of the uk, sunny spells and just one or two isolated, scattered showers. temperatures starting to creep up by a degree or so, there's still a noticeable breeze around on saturday. and then as we look further ahead into the course of next week, eventually we should lose the showers, at least from the south. still fairly unsettled across the north, but temperatures on the rise. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: donald trump has declared that he would accept damaging information about political opponents during next year's election campaign — even if it came from a foreign government. in an interview with abc news the president denied it would count as interference — describing it as opposition research. after days of protests in hong kong over a hugely unpopular extradition bill, there were violent clashes yesterday. authorities have shut some government offices in the financial district for the rest of the week. the proposed bill would allow people to be sent to mainland china for trial. russian police have detained more than 200 people for protesting in moscow in support of the journalist, ivan golunov. the prominent opposition politician alexei navalny was among those held. ivan golunov was detained on drugs charges before being freed on tuesday.