they are treated to abuse by their president. welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: the house of representatives votes to condemn president trump's racist tweets, as emotions run high on capitol hill. donald john trump, by causing such harm to the society of the united states, is unfit to be president and warrants impeachment, trial and removal from office. as us sanctions take their toll on iran, we look at the impact on some of most vulnerable members of society. more on the the story of safa and marwa from pakistan, born joined at the head, as doctors in london succesfully separate them. mission control: columbia, columbia, this is houston. and 50 years on, a very

british view of the moon mission that made history. hello and welcome to bbc news. the us house of representatives has voted to condemn racist comments made by president trump. it's a symbolic resolution, in a chamber controlled by the opposition democrats, and has no force in law, but it is unusual. more democrats have spoken in favour of trying to impeach the president, but the party leadership is not supporting that, so far. mr trump has renewed his attack on four congresswomen from minority backgrounds, but insisted he doesn't have a racist bone in his body. he accused the four, all us citizens, of being anti—israel, anti—usa, pro—terrorist. immediately after the house vote a democratic congressman, al green of texas, filed articles of impeachment

against the president. impeaching donald john trump, president of the united states of high misdemeanours, resolved that donald john trump, president of the united states, is unfit to be president, unfit to represent the american values of decency and morality, respectability and civility, honesty and propriety, repeatability and integrity. is unfit to defend the ideals that have made america great. our washington correpondent david willis has more details on the vote. tonight we saw the house voted to condemn donald trump's tweets, and we also saw the house vote to

allow the house speaker nancy pelosi to call mr trump a racist. that was after the republicans asked for those remarks by nancy pelosi to be scratched from the record. and the acting chairman of the chamber, a man called emanuel cleaver, in all the chaos surrounding him, had thrown down the gavel and stormed out. so it was quite a dramatic night. now, we saw all the democrats in the house of representatives voting in favour of this motion. four republicans joining them as well. and then when that vote was over, democrat lawmaker al green called for the president to be impeached. there was no vote on that, but mr green is one of a number of people who believe there should be some sort of impeachment enquiry into donald trump's behaviour. and david, do you expect any of this to go further than it has today?

well, it's interesting, mike, because donald trump is due at a rally of people that support him tomorrow night, and i can't believe, can you, that he will avoid this issue completely, particularly amongst such voluble and enthusiastic crowds. so i don't think this is over any time soon, quite frankly. but we have heard, and we will hear again, from these four democratic congresswomen, because they've done an exclusive interview with the cbs news network throughout the day here, so that will give more legs to this story, if you like. i don't think it's going to go away any time soon. speaking to reporters before the vote in the house, the most senior republican in the us senate, mitch mcconnell, insisted president trump was not a racist. he also called for an end to heated political discourse. the president's not a racist. reporters shout the president is not

a racist, and i think the tone of all of this is not good for the country. but it's coming from all different ideological points of view, that's the point. to single out any segment of this i think is a mistake. more i think is a mistake. on this later from a republicar strategist. let's get some of the day's other news. members of the european parliament have narrowly elected ursula von der leyen as the first woman to lead the european commission. mrs von der leyen, who was previously germany's defence minister, secured only nine more votes than needed to take the eu's topjob. she appealed to all sides to work together constructively. western and regional powers have come together to demand an immediate end to the battle for control of the libyan capital, tripoli. in a joint statement, the us, britain, france, italy, egypt and the uae called for a return to talks overseen by the united nations.

prosecutors in new york have announced that no police officers will face federal criminal charges over the death of eric garner five years ago. he was detained, accused of selling loose cigarettes, and died after being held in a police chokehold. his death contributed to the rise of the black lives matter movement. three men are to stand trial in malta accused of involvement in the murder of the anti—corruption journalist daphne caruana galizia. she was killed by a bomb planted under the seat of her car in 2017. in pre—trial proceedings, the three suspects pleaded not guilty. a senior iranian official at the united nations has said his country's missiles are absolutely non—negotiable. he was responding to suggestions from the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, that iran is prepared to discuss its ballistic missile programme. our correspondent martin patience has been given rare access inside iran. as with all foreign media, the team were accompanied by a government official and there were restrictions on what they could video but not

what they could say. american sanctions mean the queue at this charity in tehran is becoming longer. these kids are getting their only decent meal of the day. their families scrape by on less than £40 a month, but the price of meat and veg has doubled in the past year, hitting the poorest hardest. doctors believe muhammad has a genetic disease. he can lift his spoon, but he's too weak to carry his schoolbag. his family can't afford the test to diagnose his illness, as it's increased 300%. translation: i took him to the hospital last monday. the neurosurgeon said i have to pay roughly £1,000 for my son's genetic tests.

i asked the doctor, "how am i supposed to pay that money?" he said, "i don't know, i'm just like you." america says it's strangling iran's economy to stop tehran spreading chaos in the region. the country's currency is increasingly worthless. mechanic davoud nasiri says it's hard to get spare parts from overseas. his income has halved. translation: we start working on the cars, and then they get stuck here. i have to work all dayjust to get by. i can't afford to take any time off. tehran feels cornered by america, abandoned by europe. but in the tightly controlled media, that's rarely covered. it's the man on the front page who gets all the blame. massoud rezayi says a third of his colleagues have already

lost theirjobs. translation: we're not after war. what does he want to prove, bringing his warships to the middle east? is he looking for war? let's assume there's a war — many will get killed, both sides would lose. donald trump seems to think that iranians angry about sanctions are going to put pressure on their leaders to compromise. but the men working here say, in fact, he's done the exact opposite — that even those opposed to the government are now rallying behind the flag. back at the charity, the kids wash up. iran is resourceful and resilient. but these sanctions are the toughest it's ever faced, and that means the most vulnerable,

like muhammad, will fall victim. martin patience, bbc news, tehran. and you can find out more about the effect us sanctions are having inside iran on our website. you'll also find a feature on whether the iran nuclear deal is finally dead, that's all at bbc.com/news or download the bbc news app. this week we've been bringing you the remarkable story of twins, safa and marwa from pakistan, who were born joined at the head. a huge team of surgeons in london managed to separate the sisters over the course of three major operation which lasted more than 50 hours. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh and producer rachael buchanan were given exclusive access to the family and surgeons for nearly a year. safa and marwa share a single skull. the two—year—olds have already undergone two complex operations at great 0rmond street hospital

to prepare them for separation. now, finally, that day has come. two whole brains laid out... their brains, locked together since birth, are eased apart. after seven hours, the final connection of bone and tissue are severed. fantastic! at last, after three major operations, the twins are no longerjoined. what was the moment like when they were separate for the first time? what did that feel like? it's a very emotional moment. we've been working a long time to get them here, they've been through so many operations, and now it's worked! so you've still got, what, four or five hours to do? yes, we have to put them together now. so we've taken them apart, and we have to reconstruct their heads.

marwa is still in the operating theatre through here, while safa has been moved just next door. for the first time, the survival of each of the twins is not dependent on the other. and that will make it easier for the two surgical teams to regulate their heart rate, blood pressure and other vital signs. this means both teams can begin reconstruction. the patchwork of skull pieces are shared between theatres. piece for me, piece for you. to have enough to cover their heads, they have to divide each bit in two. at 1:30am in the morning, the surgeons bring the good news to the girls‘ family. # hello, safa! # hello, marwa! # how are you today?#

then begins the long road to recovery. the twins have daily physiotherapy. this will help them reach some basic milestones — learning to roll, sit and hold their heads up. five months after separation, nearly a year since they were admitted to hospital, the girls are leaving great 0rmond street. time to say goodbye to doctors and nurses who have become friends. the twins are likely to have some learning difficulties, but their mum, zeinab, is overjoyed at the freedom separation has brought. whatever hurdles safa and marwa may face in years to come, they will at least do that as separate, independent girls. twins still, but conjoined no more.

fergus walsh, bbc news. and in ourfinal report later on wednesday we'll meet another set of twins once joined at the head who were separated by the same surgical team. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the moon mission and the millions who watched. how apollo 11 captivated viewers in the uk and around the world. after months of talks and missed deadlines, a deal has been struck to keep greece within the eurozone. the immediate prospect of greece going bust, in the worst crisis to hit the eurozone, has been averted. emergency services across central europe are stepping up their efforts to contain the worse floods this century. nearly 100 people have been killed. broadway is traditionally called the great white way by americans, but tonight it's completely blacked out. it's a timely reminder to all americans of the problems that the energy crisis

has brought to them. leaders meet in paris for a summit on pollution, inflation and third world debt. this morning, theyjoined the revolution celebrations for a show of military might on the champs—elysees. finally, wildlife officials in australia have been coping with a penguin problem. fairy penguins have been staggering ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on a huge shoal of their favourite food — pilchards. some had eaten so much they could barely stand. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: in washington, the house of representatives has voted to condemn president trump's racist tweets. four republicans backed the motion. let's get more now on our main story. earlier i asked rina shah, a republican strategist based in washington, dc, for her thoughts

on the outcome of the vote. you know, i think tonight there's a discussion happening in washington that is very, very much to the edges, and the fringes are winning. and here tonight, what we've seen is a partisan—line vote, where republicans have said they're voting no because it's too partisan, it's controlled by democrats who simply don't want the best for our country. and that is what many republicans — i'm ashamed to admit i belong to this party where a great number of people believe his comments were ok, because his intent may have not been to be racist. i know you have made it clear how you feel about this on social media.

you've taken some flak from republicans on this, haven't you? i was one of the first republicans to speak out when i was elected as a delegate to the republican national convention. i went on fox newsjust to offer my opinion, and i received absolutely hateful messages that contained the same words — go back to your country. they mistakenly called me muslim. they wanted me to not really feel that i was a part of america, to make me feel that i was lesser of an american, because of the colour of my skin. so i'm used to this, and i think, you know, strong women in society, in our american society, are used to this kind of rhetoric. we're used to being challenged about why and where we belong. i never thought it would come to this. i never thought that four young congresswoman rightfully elected would be challenged by the president. and i think this goes to his ego. he doesn't like that four brown and black young women can challenge his power. you have direct experience of president trump and the people in

the white house to facilitate what he does. is it a political strategy, or is it visceral? i mean, he says and does things that a white nationals would say and do, that a racist would say and do, that a white supremacist would say and do. is he those things? you know, i don't want to name—call in this moment, but certainly i felt more strongly than ever after this incident, of seeing those words in his tweet, the "get out of our country" line of wording he used, aimed at these four women. he wouldn't have used those words if these were four white—skinned congresswoman, because he couldn't tell them where to go back to. think about it — his first wife and now his current wife, they come from other places. he doesn't believe they should be met with that great that question of where do you come from, or go back to where you came from. i think we are seeing

what his true colours are, and yes, this is racism. he is not really willing to own up to that, because his own supporters are saying, well, he didn't intend to be racist. this isn't about intent. this is far deeper than that. this is a question of who is american and who isn't. rina, you are a strategist for the party. leaving aside the rights and wrongs of it, is this an election—winning strategy for 2020? is what he is saying and doing on this, also on immigration, on abortion, on tax, on the supreme court, the courts in general, and election boundaries — is this going to win him an election next year? this will. i do believe that he will win re—election. not easily, but i believe the incumbent at the oval office enjoys a great deal of power from that incumbency. and most americans, right before the big vote, before election day, they go to the polls and they say, you know, what's anotherfour years? because they're term—limited out, so they think, what is another four,

because the economy is great and there hasn't been a big terror attack. i think that is what americans do, and it's really quite sad, but it's true of us. this is trying to ensure that his base continues to support him. and so what he's doing is throwing them red meat. he's saying, look, i'm one of you. i'm concerned about new americans coming here and trying to take ourjobs, and really encroaching upon the american way. it's really sad to see that the republican party has been fully remade in the image of a man who is not a lifelong republican, and doesn't seem to understand the constitution. i remain in the party hopefully as a change agent, because we will need to rebuild as principled conservatives in the years to come. american senators have been grilling facebook about its plan to launch a global digital currency named libra. the company had said it planned to launch the project with more than 20 partners, including visa and paypal, next year. but it is facing strong opposition from politicians worried

about the risk of fraud and criminal activity. authorities in the democratic republic of congo are saying that a patient has died of ebola. the case was detected quickly and isolated immediately, and passengers on his bus were also identified. 1600 people have died from ebola in the east of the country since the outbreak began just a year ago. it was one of the most extraordinary achievements of all time — the mission that allowed man to walk on the moon, an historic moment in 1969 that captivated people across the globe. 50 years ago, the apollo 11 rocket blasted off from the kennedy space centre in florida. all thoughts were with the three astronauts in the tiny capsule.

let's ta ke let's take you live to washington, dc. commemorating the apollo 11 mission carrying neil armstrong, buzz aldrin and michael collins, blasting off on 16july1969. four days later, of course, armstrong became the first man to step onto the moon's surface. 0n became the first man to step onto the moon's surface. on this 50th anniversary, there was a partial lunar eclipse. the surface of the earth, of course, crossing between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow on the lunar surface. we saw it here in the uk, also visible across europe and much of africa, asia, the eastern part of south america and western australia. lunar eclipses, of course, only occurring on the night of the full moon. there is another side of the story — the impact it had on the millions who stayed up watching tv as the mission unfolded. the uk's space agency has been piecing together their stories and the lasting effect that the event had on their lives. here is david sillito.

columbia, columbia, this is houston. here goes the mission with the television camera on it. this is the story of what landing on the moon meant to us. it's one small step for man... 0ne giant leap for mankind. home movies, scrapbooks, photos — a national memory bank of this "where were you" moment. and, of the hundreds of contributors, we have been speaking to three of them. i'm with my parents and all of the schoolchildren at myjunior school. there is armstrong. it's just myself on the left chair, my dad on the right, looking at the television. you're thinking, i've never been up this late. you know, it's 4:00am in the morning. the children got very bored, and they were getting up and running

round, and i'm dodging, trying to see. and i'm getting so frustrated with this, i burst into tears. the mission has gone so perfectly that a mid—course correction to tomorrow morning... and the bbc‘s man in the studio was james burke, filling time without pictures for more than four hours. the atmosphere is quite tense, because it was something you got one go at. if you got it wrong, you got it completely wrong. archive: you can just make out the backpack, and the dark circle of the visor in front of it. and i had horrid dreams the night before that he would be walking down the steps and he would open his mouth and say something and i would say something on top of it. but perhaps the most important thing was just the sheer spectacle of it. the world was watching this demonstration of science and engineering, and for a generation of young viewers, it was inspirational. i knew at that point that that was what i wanted to do. i wanted to be involved in that side of life, those programmes. i think you can talk to an awful lot of people from my generation and later who were inspired.

these are the apollo stories from britain's living rooms, an archive of memories, inspiration, and feelings. i just thought it was the start of bases on the moon, leading to the bases on mars. but it turned out to be a bit different to that. and jackie... it inspired me, but i was in the situation that the best i could aspire to was to be a clerk typist. 50 years on, she is now a professional space artist. so i always knew i would be an outsider of science. but i was determined, despite that. i had get in there somehow, and i did. however, a lot of the tv coverage has been lost. much of the bbc commentary has not survived. thankfully, one eager 12—year—old was recording it at home. aldrin coming out. and young philip longden even added his own moon commentary.

eagle taking off for the moon... david sillito, bbc news. thank you for watching. hello again. well, it's true to say that weather doesn't just stop at the country's borders. if we look at south—east england, we had some rather grey, boring skies. a bit of rain around, we had some cold air brought in by jetstream rain around, we had some cold air brought in byjetstream that reactivated an old weather front to bring back that wet weather, but just a day later, that area of cold air had reached the very warm waters of the mediterranean, making these massive thunderstorms, massive water spouts in corsica, and here we had 163 millimetres of rain rolling in the space of a day. that's 13 times the amount of rain we would see in the course ofjuly

anomaly. damaging wind gusts and large hail. elsewhere, we've got high pressure holding onto the south—east of the uk, but we've got low pressure spinning in off the atlantic, and increasingly over the next few hours, we are going to see rain turning heavier and steadier in northern ireland, and turning quite damp as well in western scotland. but otherwise, ot‘s dry start to the day. temperatures 10—15 degrees. should see some early sunshine for eastern scotland and northern england. through the rest of the day, it will turn wet across western fringes of england in one, the rain getting into scotland, cooler air across the north and west of the country. some with some warm sunshine, though, for the south—east. it's here we'll see highest temperatures of 26 degrees.

the rain could be very slow to clear, but eventually we will get there, and some sunshine follows. then for thursday, it's a day of heavy showers moving into the north and west of the country. 0n into friday's forecast, we've got another area of low pressure swinging in off the atlantic, again this will bring some wet weather across northern ireland, western parts of england and wales, and perhaps into southern parts of scotland. so many of us will see some rain at some point in the day. temperatures a little bit below par for the time of year, 18—21 for most of us. as we head into the weekend, that area of low pressure moves through. we're going to see further troughing bringing further showers and rain. but the exact tracking of those systems open to doubt. we could see some rain around as we head into the weekend. that's your weather.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the house of representatives has voted to condemn president trump's racist tweets. it's a symbolic resolution, in a chamber controlled by the opposition democrats, but several republicans backed it. mr trump has renewed his attacks on four congresswomen from minority backgrounds, saying they "hate" america, but insisted he "doesn't have a racist bone in his body". a senior iranian official at the united nations has said his country's missiles are absolutely non—negotiable. he was responding to suggestions from the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, that iran is prepared to discuss its ballistic missile programme. members of the european parliament have narrowly elected ursula von der leyen as the first woman to lead the european commission. mrs von der leyen, who was previously germany's defence

minister, secured only nine more votes than needed to take the eu's topjob. she appealed to all sides to work together constructively. it's 3:30am. now on bbc news, it's time for panorama. it is legal to be gay — but do not push that onto our children! whosejob is it to decide what our children learn in school? she comes home and says, "why don't i have two mummies? "why don't i have two daddies?" how are we meant to explain that? in parts of the country, primary school children are learning that some families have same—sex parents. there's lots of different families in this school and we represent them in our lessons. from next year, the government wants all primary schools to do the same. although many religious leaders have endorsed it, some communities aren't prepared to go along.