this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america, or around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: president trump attempts to distance himself from the racist chanting targeting a somali—born democratic congresswoman, at wednesday's campaign rally. i was not happy with it. i disagree with it but, again, i did not say — i didn't say that, they did. the pentagon says us forces have shot down an iranian drone as it approached an american ship in the gulf. staying injail — the reasons why a judge ruled that financierjeffrey epstein must stay behind bars until his trial on sex trafficking charges. on a beach in norfolk the biggest sandscaping project ever seen in the uk to try

to save the coastline. president trump has tried to distance himself from the "send her back" chants directed by his supporters at a black democratic congresswoman, a former refugee, at a north carolina rally on wednesday. the president has claimed he was not happy with the chanting, but video footage makes it plain he made no attempt to stop it. from the podium he had specifically named ilhan omar and three other congresswomen of colour, who have criticised him. the bbc‘s nick bryant watched the whole rally. donald trump has been raising the racial temperature in this country all week. tonight he tried to cool things down a little, amidst concerns within his own party that he has been playing with political fire.

this is a rally that will be talked about for decades to come. after the racism of donald trump's original attacks on the four congresswomen of colour came the kind of racial demagoguery we've not heard or seen from a modern day american president. first, he singled them out by name. representative ilhan omar. crowd boos. representative alexandra ocasio—cortez. crowd boos. "go back to where you came from" was his message to the congresswomen earlier this week, three of whom were born in the usa. his latest advice: if you don't like america, then leave. tonight i have a suggestion for the hate—filled extremists who are constantly trying to tear our country down. they never have anything good to say. that's why i say, hey, if they don't like it, let them leave. let them leave. crowd chants: send her back.

"send her back" was the shout, and donald trump made no attempt to calm the crowd. for 15 seconds, presidential silence. today, though, he tried to distance himself from the chants. earlier, republican leaders told the white house we cannot be defined by that cry. i was not happy with it. i disagree with it. but again, i didn't say — i didn't say that, they did. newly elected and on the left of their party, the congresswomen call themselves the squad. alexandra ocasio—cortez describes herself as a democratic socialist, and the president as a racist. ilhan omar, a muslim born in somalia, has been condemned for remarks about israel her critics claim are anti—semitic, and for saying of september the 11th, "some people did something." this was her response today, to mr trump. we have said this president is racist. we have condemned

his racist remarks. i believe he is fascist. tonight at the oval office, he looked more conventionally presidential, but the angry mood of the north carolina rally speaks more of the age of trump. a poll has suggested almost 60% of republicans support the president's racist tweets. but as we have been saying, there are these moderate conservatives who are much more uneasy about them, and they are such a key demographic, perhaps the decisive demographic in next year's presidential election. well, there's been a huge reaction in congress on thursday. chuck schumer, leader of the democratic minority in the senate, criticised senior figures in the republican party for their silence about president trump's comments. this is a moment. there is no john this is a moment. there is nojohn mccain anymore.

when this kind of bitter racism emerged at his town hall meeting, he rejected it, publicly, when somebody used it against then—candidate obama. it went down in history as one of his finest moments. where are the fine moments of my colleagues? 53 of them on the republican side and not one has spoken out strongly enough. not one. but some republicans have spoken out against donald trump. republican adam kinzinger, said the chants were "ugly". he tweeted: the chairman of house republicans‘ campaign arm, tom emmer, on thursday criticised the "send her back" chant that animated the crowd at donald trump's rally, but stopped short of calling the president racist.

meeting in montreal, canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau and european union council president donald tusk, condemned donald trump's comments at the rally. i want everyone in canada to know that those comments are completely unacceptable and should not be allowed or encouraged in canada. it is difficult to understand some fact, some worlds. it is difficult to understand some fact, some words. and sometimes if you feel that something is totally unacceptable you have to react.

despite business, despite interest for me, those values are so much more important than trade. maybe i am old—fashioned but i will never change my opinion here. i asked taylor griffin, former republican party candidate and editor of roughly explained—dot—com if he thought donald trump was a facist. i think there is an important distinction here. fascists have a plan. donald trump is hamming it up for the audience and it is getting out of control. donald trump woke up this weekend and not strategically deciding to stir all these up. he woke up on the wrong side of the bed. he was mad and he is impulsive

and he sent a tweet out. this kind of stuff works for him because his base, his supporters, really love it when he is in the middle of a fight, when he is in the middle of a fight, when he is angry that middle media, the liberals in the country and when he is politically incorrect, they love it. saying having an up, this is just what he does, to see the most powerful man in the world, an old white man, mocking, abusing, threatening for women of colour, all of them elected representatives simply because they disagree with him, the historical echoes are surely chilling and it suggests the future under a second trump term could be a very dark place. there are none of us could be a very dark place. there are none of us were could be a very dark place. there are none of us were proud of this, even some trump supporters think he is going too far. it is important to

have a distinction here. he is not capable... he does not have some master plan for a fascist america. he is someone though that will say things that are way out of what is a cce pta ble things that are way out of what is acceptable adult behaviour and his supporters love it because they love the reaction to it. they see this as a fight with the left who they see as communists and all other sorts of things and it excites them, it engages them, even if they are not really races. how do you think politically it is my play. the more moderate republicans may be a key demographic and are unhappy with what donald trump is saying. other people may not like him very much but his administration is doing enough on abortion, taxes, the supreme court that they will vote for him again? there are a lot of

people who say that i like the economy, it is going well, he's well enough. but the problem is this really starts to get embarrassing. i do not like... i love coming on bbc news but i do not like coming on and explain what the president of the united states is saying in this sort of tone. i think, for a lot of people they are going to start being a lot more sceptical, start looking at some of the democratic candidates very closely it would otherwise have voted for him. as excited as his base get and as much as they cheer, thatis base get and as much as they cheer, that is what is going to win him the election, the voters on the cusp and like the economy but are a little sceptical of trump but this might be the thing that pushes them over the line and they will vote democratic and that is a problem. president trump has announced

that the us military shot down an iranian drone, in the strait of hormuz. he said staff on the uss boxer took defensive action as the drone came within 1,000 yards of a us navy ship. it's the latest action in mounting tension in the gulf region between iran and the us and its allies. ramzan karmali reports. this, according to iran was the moment that it sees the panamanian—flagged tanker. the circling speedboats were manned by members of the iranian revolutionary guard. once on board, they say they found a million litres of fuel which they allege was being smuggled out of iran. later, president trump said the us military had shot down an iranian drone in the strait of hormuz. he said staff on the uss boxer took defensive action as the drone came within 1000 yards of a us navy ship. these latest incidents reflect the mounting tension in the gulf region between iran, the us and its allies. in may, the us tightened up

sanctions that it reimposed on iran's oil sector after it unilaterally withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal. in retaliation, president hassan rouhani said that it would be scaling back its commitment to that deal. since then, the white house has blamed iran for two separate attacks on oil takers in the guld of oman in may and june, an allegation that tehran has denied. iran has also shot down a us surveillance drone, over the strait of hormuz, again under disputed circumstances. and it's notjust the two countries at odds here. uk warships have been shadowing british oil tankers in the area since iran threatened to seize one in response to the impounding of an iranian tanker off gibraltar, earlier this month. the uk claimed that the tanker was suspected of breaking eu sanctions against syria. this led to another denialfrom tehran. the us has beefed up operations in the regions since withrdrawing form the nuclear deal, and is asking its allies to help

protect strategic waters off iran and yemen. we believe that is an international responsibility, not a united states responsibility. but the united states is very happy to be part of the solution, and we're going to work very aggressively with our partners both in the region and with those partners internationally that move commerce through this critical part of the world. the latest incidents have led to more demands and denials from both sides. iran said it had no information about a missing drone, while the us has insisted iran should release the seized tanker immediately. ajudge in new york has ruled that the disgraced american financier, jeffrey epstein, must remain in jail while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking underage girls for sex. mr epstein, who once counted bill clinton and donald trump among his friends, denies the charges. our correspondent, nada tawfik, explains how the prosecution thought epstein could be a flight risk.

ultimately, the judge sided with prosecutors who argued that jeffrey epstein, who is a registered sex offender, remained a danger to the community and a flight risk and they pointed to evidence they found at his mansion. they found in his safe, a foreign passport with a fake name, piles of cash, diamonds as well as many, many lewd photographs of young women and girls. and so they said that he had not changed his ways and that he had the means and motive to flee. the judge said the suggestion by the defence that mr epstein could remain on house arrest with an electronic monitoring bracelet was just not adequate. even though mr epstein offered to pay for armed guards 24/7 and to put up $100 million in collateral. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the australian outpost that brought millions the now—iconic images of the moon landing — how one radio telescope

helped relay history. 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 world news. the latest headlines: president trump has sought to distance himself from racist chanting aimed at a somali—born congresswoman, during his election rally on wednesday. he said he was not happy about people shouting, "send her back". the us says its forces shot down an iranian drone that approached an american vessel near the strait of hormuz. but iran says it has no information about a downed drone. there's been an outpouring of sympathy injapan and around the world after an arson attack on an animation production studio in kyoto, killed at least 33 people. the police are holding a 41—year—old man in custody, suspected of deliberately starting the blaze. local media said he did not appear

to have any ties to kyoto animation. the more we learn about this attack, the more horrific the details become. as the fire crews have gone through this charred and blackened building, they have found more and more bodies. many of them apprently crowded onto stairs as people tried to escape onto the roof of the building as the fire tore through it in a very, very short amount of time. as to the allegation that this was a deliberate attack, the police are saying they have a 41—year—old man in custody. they say he went into the bottom of the building, the first floor of the building, with a can of petrol or gasoline, and then spread it around the floor there and set fire to it. and they claim eyewitnesses heard him shout, "die," as he did that. so really a truly horrific scene there. the younger brother of the man who bombed the manchester arena in 2017 has appeared in court charged with the murder of 22 people who were attending a pop concert. hashem abedi was extradited

to the uk from libya on wednesday. the prosecution alleges he made detonator tubes for the bomb used by his brother and bought chemicals that were used in the explosives. daniel sandford reports. flown back from libya yesterday, this morning brought to his first court appearance in an armoured police van, hashem abedi back in britain for the first time since the manchester arena bombing. in the dock, he confirmed his name and his british citizenship, and then listened as the names of all 22 people he is accused of murdering were read out. he is also accused of attempted murder and conspiracy to cause an explosion. his older brother salman abedi detonated the bomb. hashem abedi is accused of helping him, of buying the car where bomb parts were stored, purchasing two key chemicals used to make the explosive, and manufacturing the detonator tubes. his lawyer said he denied any involvement, and was happy to come back to clear his name.

he said he had been held in solitary confinement for two years, and had been tortured. the hearing lasted just 11 minutes, and then he was driven out again. hashem abedi has now been taken away to prison, where he'll remain until a court appearance at oxford crown court on monday. it is the end of more than two years of difficult negotiations with the government and military groups in war—torn libya, and there was even a last—minute hitch yesterday, when the private jet that was to fly him back to biggin hill airport developed a fault. daniel sandford, bbc news, at westminster magistrates‘ court. officials in afghanistan say a car bomb has exploded killing at least 12 people and injuring 60. it happened near the entrance to police headquarters, several government

started firing in the building afterwards. the taliban has admitted responsibility. britain's parliament has made it more difficult to force through an ideal brexit, it will be harder to suspend parliament, a move that borisjohnson, favourite to become pragmatist has not ruled out. here in the uk some 2 million cubic metres of sand is being pumped onto a beach in norfolk to help save an eroding stretch of coastline. a giant dune will be created to protect a gas terminal which is crucial to the uk's gas supplies. our science correspondent rebecca morelle went to see how it's being done. a crumbling norfolk cliff, and perched on top, bacton terminal, which supplies one third of the uk's gas. but the coastline here is eroding so fast, in a few years, it could be lost. this, though, could be the answer — a £20 million experiment, on a vast scale, using sand to fight back the encroaching sea. this is a 24/7 operation.

every hour, 10,000 cubic metres of sand is being pumped out. and, over the course of just a few weeks, it is going to create a massive sand dune, standing up to seven metres high and stretching for six kilometres. that's nearly four miles along the coast. it is the first time this has been tried in the uk. the problem is so big and so unsolvable that it needs something radical like this, so the massive volume of sand, and then using the wind and the waves and the tides to move the sand to where it needs to be over time, to provide 15—20 years of protection. this dredger is full of sand collected further along the coast from a licensed site. it then delivers it to the shore using a long pipe, releasing a mixture of sand and water. it is carefully shifted into position, working section by section to create the sandy barrier.

when you've got national infrastructure like this, it's clearly being affected, and people can afford to pay to protect this. where you can't afford to protect the coast, do you just let it go? in some places, that's already happening, mainly in areas where it's just natural farmland anyway. using sand is a change of approach for sea defences. usually it is concrete or rock, but this is a more natural method. the sand will ebb and flow with the currents, but should protect a larger stretch of coast over time. all eyes will be on this scheme to see if it works. rebecca morelle, bbc news, bacton in norfolk. this weekend marks 50 years since a human being first walked on the moon — watched live by a tv audience of 600 million. the pictures were broadcast thanks to a radio telescope in rural australia, immortalized in the film the dish. hywel griffith has been to meet one of the people who helped bring those images to the world.

they've got the flag up now, and you can see the stars and stripes on the lunar surface. it was the tv moment of the 20th century. beautiful, just beautiful. the giant leap for mankind sent 384,000 km through space and onto screens around the world. it was only possible thanks to this dish. the parkes observatory was one of three receiving the signal on earth. it produced the clearest pictures, and so was the main source of the tv images. david cooke was the senior receiver engineer, but the enormity of the occasion didn't strike him until later. if we started to think about what a great thing that we're doing, we're likely to break down and not do it properly. so only afterwards did i go down outside the telescope and look up and see the moon, and realise that there were three people up there, and two of them on the surface, and we had helped to put them there.

that's armstrong. on the moon. much of the story was captured in the dish, the film which told the observatory‘s history, with a little dramatic license. for example, there wasn't really a power cut as the moment approached. but there was plenty of real—life drama here on the day. just as the astronauts were landing on the moon, a storm arrived here in parkes, bringing wind gusts of over 100 km/h, causing the tower to shake and sounding the safety alarms. normally they would have shut down the dish, but they didn't want to miss their moment in history. it is one which has put parkes on the map, and keeps bringing visitors out to this country town. i find it very cool, ‘cause it‘s just amazing how that big thing can, like, see or, like, hear people out in space. i don't think they realise how much of an impact it had on history, when it comes from such a small town, and it is out

in the middle of nowhere. and nowadays, we have this equipment... the dish is still in use, and is now 10,000 times more powerful than when it came into operation. one of their projects is to look for alien life. we scan the heavens, visible from here, looking for evidence of radio emissions from alien civilisations. we haven't found anything yet, butjust imagine if a signal is found from another civilisation elsewhere. i mean, that'll just. .. there is still so much we don‘t know about the universe around us, but 50 years on, this dish is helping humans to see and think beyond our own planet. the film is a bit of a joy. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i‘m @bbcmikeembley.

hello there. if you‘re hoping for warm weather, it might be worth sticking around until the end of this forecast, but in the meantime, some soggy weather to get through during the day ahead. this frontal system sliding in from the south—west, this is going to bring some outbreaks of pretty heavy rain northwards across many parts of the uk, and with that, a brisk breeze. that rain very quickly getting into south—west england and the south of wales through the morning. many other spots starting the day dry and clear, but through the rush hour, some very heavy rain falling across parts of the west country and particularly south wales. could well be some surface water and spray on the roads, some very poor travelling conditions, perhaps some disruption. but as we drift further north, across northern england, northern ireland and scotland, many places starting the day dry, with some spells of sunshine.

14 degrees there in glasgow, just a scattering of showers across the north of scotland. now, as we go through the day, this band of rain, perhaps with the odd flash of lightning, the odd rumble of thunder, will move its way northwards across the midlands, east anglia, up into northern england, clipping into northern ireland, getting into southern scotland, perhaps into the central belt by the middle of the afternoon. some showers chasing on from the south. the best of the dry weather, albeit with one or two showers, across northern scotland. some sunny spells here, temperatures of 19—21 degrees. now, on the southern flank of this rain band, there could be some thunderstorms breaking out across the far north of england, the far south of scotland through friday evening. another batch of wet weather sliding across southern parts of england. generally speaking, across the south—east of the uk, it‘s going to be a pretty muggy night, a muggy start to saturday morning. a little cooler and fresher across the north—west. now, the main body of the wet weather tied in with this frontal system here will be sliding eastwards as we get into saturday, but low pressure still

very much in charge. so yes, there will be some spells of sunshine, but also a scattering of showers, and some of those could be heavy, could be thundery, could crop up just about anywhere, but especially for central and eastern areas. temperatures 20—24 degrees, beginning to creep upwards again. split fortunes on sunday — england and wales having a predominantly dry day, increasing amounts of cloud, some sunny spells, but we‘ll see rain across northern ireland spreading into the western side of scotland. temperatures down towards the south may be into the middle 20s at this stage, but they will climb a little higher, i suspect, because early next week, heat will really be building across iberia and france. some spots up to 40 degrees, and that heat looks like getting drawn into at least the southern half of the uk. some spots into the low 30s celsius, but further north, it‘ll be cooler, and more unsettled as well.

this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump has tried to distance himself from the "send her back" chants directed by his supporters at a black democratic congresswoman, a former refugee, at a north carolina rally on wednesday. the president has claimed he was not happy with the chanting, but video makes it plain he made no attempt to stop it. from the podium he had specifically named ilhan omar and 3 other congresswomen of colour, who have criticised him. the pentagon is saying an american navy ship has shot down an iranian drone that flew within a kilometre of the vessel, in the gulf. iran says it has no knowledge of any missing drone. injune, iran downed a us military drone in the area. ajudge in the us has ruled the financierjeffrey epstein must stay behind bars, until his trial on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy, because he poses a flight risk. he denies the charges.