welcome to bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: violent scenes as the tenth consecutive weekend of anti—government protests in hong kong come to a close. beijing warns britain not to interfere. and has medically it won't accept what it calls british meddling —— china has made it very clear. conspiracy theories around the death of billionaire sex offenderjeffrey epstein provoke more outrage in the united states. russia's president putin bikes into occupied crimea — ukraine calls it a "blatant violation of sovereignty". and reunited after almost 60 years — the teenage friends divided by the berlin wall.

hello and welcome. on the tenth weekend of unrest, there have been further clashes between pro—democracy protesters and riot police, in hong kong. tear gas was fired after petrol bombs exploded near the main police headquarters. earlier, beijing warned britain not to interfere in hong kong's affairs, after the foreign secretary, dominic raab, suggested there should be an investigation into ongoing violence against pro—democracy protestors. from hong kong, here's jonathan head. this is how it starts every weekend now in hong kong. they've turned improvising barricades into an art form. they work with impressive speed and coordination. there's never much time

before the police arrive. these confrontations are now a familiar routine in hong kong's streets. generally, the protesters retreat, avoiding direct contact. but, by nightfall, the clashes were happening in multiple locations across the city and getting worse. the police are stressed and acting at times with little restraint. this was tai koo underground station, where protesters were corralled by the police and then beaten and driven down the escalators. the foreign secretary dominic raab has called for an independent investigation into police tactics. it's one of the five demands made by the protest movement, but his intervention has not gone down well with china, which views this as an internal matter. the longer this goes on, the greater the risk of more overt intervention by china.

now, that's something that clearly worries britain as a joint guarantor of the city's special status. china'sjust made it clear it will not accept what it calls british meddling. the influence of hong kong's one—time colonial power these days is very limited. there are those here who is still hope for some kind of foreign support for their cause. in truth, though, they are largely on their own, and up against an unyielding and increasingly impatient china which has warned it won't stand by if this unrest goes on. jonathan head, bbc news, hong kong. for more on the developing situation in hong kong you can head to the bbc news website. you'll find the latest information, as well as the background context of the pro—democracy movement.

bbc.com/news. a political row has broken out in washington, following the death ofjeffrey epstein, the multi—millionaire businessman and convicted sex offender. he was found in his prison cell in new york yesterday, apparently having taken his own life, while awaiting trial on new sex trafficking charges. the case has created a slew of speculation from both sides of the political divide. but donald trump is facing strong criticism from democrats, for retweeting a conspiracy theory, linking his death to the clinton family. chris buckler reports from washington. jeffrey epstein was once a man at the centre of high society parties and a figure instrumental in the abuse of underage girls. his death in a new york prison just weeks after another apparent suicide attempt has raised many questions. some, including the city's mayor, have called it convenient given the alleged involvement of some of his rich and famous friends. among those retweeting conspiracy

theories was donald trump... you know what he had, he had information on the clintons and a man ended up dead. ..who gave publicity to completely unsubstantiated allegations about another president, bill clinton. his wife hillary ran against him for the presidency. this is another example of our president using this position of public trust to attack his political enemies with unfounded conspiracy theories. mr trump was himself at one time a friend of epstein‘s. they were pictured partying together, but that was many years ago, and the president and the white house insist he is now concerned about getting to the truth about what happened at events epstein organised in florida and new york. i think the presidentjust wants everything to be investigated, and trying to connect the president to this monster from years ago where they are seen dancing in a video, versus other people who are actively i suppose flying around with this monster.

the authorities here in the us are acutely aware of the questions being asked about the death of a man who had links to some of america's most influential people. it's why the fbi are investigating, something that's extremely unusual in the case of an apparent suicide. and while epstein‘s victims know he won't now face trial, they are pushing for inquiries to be widened to look at the actions of his associates. among his many famous friends was prince andrew, who attended church with the queen at balmoral today. in recently released court documents, he's been accused of groping a girl at epstein‘s mansion, an allegation buckingham palace has called categorically untrue. but the death ofjeffrey epstein will not end the calls for greater scrutiny of what did happen at some of his notorious parties. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. joining me now from atlanta in the us state of georgia,

is republican political strategist seth weathers, who previously served as trump's 2016 campaign director in georgia. seth, thank you very much for joining us. first of all, was it a mistake for the president to retreat this conspiracy theory? would you have advised him to do it?|j this conspiracy theory? would you have advised him to do it? i think what is going to do is bring attention more to the hashtag that had been trending, which was #trumpbodycount, which was supposedly saying that he orchestrated the death of epstein. and he obviously didn't comment on it and it was a comedian who retreated it. you are right in that there have been conspiracy theories from both sides of the political

divide, but is it different —— is it different when a us president is seen as buying into it? is there a leadership role in staying away from these things? may be so, but i don't think the media is in a big position to discuss conspiracy theories considering the russian collusion host hopes which they have pushed forward 2.5 years. —— hoax. host hopes which they have pushed forward 2.5 years. -- hoax. we are sure that the rustling investigation asa sure that the rustling investigation as a separate issue. but it is extraordinary to see so much coming from both sides. i do think it comes from? do you think there is a lack of trust in authority now? yeah. i think there is a definite mistrust of authority and the government in general. i think we've seen it all around the world but we are seeing it more here in america than we ever have in the past, and i think, you know, a reference to before, but the russian collusion hoax has something to do with that after being told something for 2.5 years and then to

find out that it didn't pan out by world leaders and nation's leaders, i think world leaders and nation's leaders, ithinki world leaders and nation's leaders, i think i added a lot of mistrust of the government. so, yeah, ithink we re the government. so, yeah, ithink were at a time where there is very little trust in the government. the russian issue is a separate one, i'm sure many people have views about that. but in an era where many people talk about taking news, do you want to see perhaps a change in tone going into the presidential election? should there perhaps be a change in tone from donald trump and even from the democrats on these issues and tone down the issue and rely more on facts, perhaps? yeah, i think i would probably be nice to have a change of tone and just have people get out there and say here is my policy, here is your policy, but i know the reality is they didn't going to happen. and having studied elections, you go back tojohn adams and others and they were some of the

dirtiest elections you've had in history. so just seems to be a thing where people are running for the most powerful office in the world, things tend to get a little rough andi things tend to get a little rough and i don't see that not happening this time either. it is interesting that you say though, that you feel like this is kind of where the united states is that at the moment. ifi united states is that at the moment. if i can ask you to kind of look a little bit into the future, everyone is talking about donald trump moving into 2020 campaign mode, what can we see from him in that respect?” think that he's going to be a very aggressive campaign. you know the other side is being very aggressive against him, we've got, i don't know how much of your viewers see us news here, but we've got pretty much all the major candidates on the democrats side calling openly him a weights of premises and a racist without basis to do so. so when they said that standard, i think what is going to come back from trump is

going to come back from trump is going to come back from trump is going to be pretty aggressive and i don't blame him with those allegations being thrown around. it is going to be aggressive. allegations being thrown around. it is going to be aggressivem allegations being thrown around. it is going to be aggressive. it is certainly a very heated atmosphere in the united states. seth weathers, previously with donald trump's 2016 campaign director, thank you very much for your time. let's get some of the day's other news. russia's state communications regulator has accused google of using its youtube platform to promote recent anti—government protests. the regulator, roskomnadzor, ordered google to stop allowing what it said were "illegal mass events' to be made available to view. google has not yet responded. brazil's presidentjair bolsonaro has accused the german government of "trying to buy the amazon" — after it said it would withhold about $40 million of environmental funds because of worries about deforestation. last month brazil's space agency

reported a huge increase in the amount of trees being cleared since mr bolsonaro took office. he said brazil doesn't need german money. china has mobilised thousands of servicemen and women to help with the clean—up after typhoon lekima swept across the country's eastern seaboard. officials say 32 people were killed and 16 are missing. the storm system brought winds of up to 187 kilometres per hour and heavy rain, causing widespread flooding. hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes on the spanish island of gran canaria due to wildfires. strong wind and temperatures of over thirty two degrees celsius are hampering efforts to put out the blaze, which covers ten square kilometres. a 50—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of starting the fire. ukraine has described a visit by russia's president, vladimir putin, to the annexed crimean peninsula, as a "blatant violation of ukraine's sovereignty". mr putin, was the guest of honour of a right—wing nationalist bikers' group. crimea was annexed from ukraine by russia in 2014, violating international law. ramzan karmali reports.

it's an image that the russian president likes to portray. vladimir putin dressed in leathers, writing a russian—made motorcycle, leading a convoy of bikers. but this bike ride has rolled ross a's neighbour ukraine. mr putin was attending the shutter available on international bike show. it was taking place near the crimean city of sevastopol. crimea was an act from ukraine by russia in 2014, violating international law. but the president was more focused on heaping praise on the organisers of the event. the nobles motorcycle club, a right wing nationalist bikers group. translation: i'm very happy that such manly large set an example for the young people in our country and show them how one should treat russia. i congratulate you on your 10th anniversary and i wish you all

the best. thank you. the bikers club is close to president putin and had been strong supporters of the annexation. but the russian leader's bike ride comes during grand disquiet at home. over the weekend, 60,000 protesters took to the streets of moscow, demanding fair municipal elections in september. so far, there has been about a month of anti—government demonstrations. ukraine's foreign ministry described mr putin's visit is a blatant violation of ukraine's sovereignty and said attempts by moscow and its media to present such visits as routine were pathetic. ramzan karmali, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: they were schoolfriends until the berlin wall divided them. now, nearly 60 years later, they meet again for the first time.

case so the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutalformer dictator has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. 2 billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millennium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later when the sun set over the bay of bengal.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the tenth consecutive weekend of pro—democracy protests in hong kong has come to an end with accusations of increased police violence. donald trump has been accused of promoting unfounded conspiracy theories about the apparent suicide ofjeffrey epstein. polling booths in guatemala have closed in the final round of voting for the presidential election. insecurity has been cited as people's main concern followed by unemployment, high living costs and corruption. the two candidates in the run—off have both stood for the presidency before and will replacejimmy morales. our correspondent will grantjoins us for more on this in nearby mexico city. are we seeing

are we seeing any are we seeing any results the moment? we are getting the first partial results. polls haven't been closed for long but the electoral commission gives an advantage to the right—wing candidate, the former prisons minister, alejandro giammattei, who has a few more percentage points but there are more to be counted in the more remote parts of guatemala. turnout was very low. in some areas, just as little as 17, 16% of the electorate. some higher, some like 40,40 5% but nevertheless, we can sense there has been a real rejection of this election by ordinary voters. why is this election important at this point in time? well, the person who ta kes point in time? well, the person who takes over from jimmy morales has a very complicated job on their hands. first off, there is a lot of people who want to leave guatemala and head

north as part of the sort of groups of migration that is heading towards the united states. they need to build jobs and development in guatemala to dissuade them from doing that but also there are key things that i think are the reason that people haven't turned out to vote. one is a rejection of the corruption going on in guatemala, and the one body that is —— body thatis and the one body that is —— body that is trusted is a un backed body which has been thrown out by the outgoing administration and both candidates said they wouldn't allow it to come back in either so that's creating a greater disconnection between the guatemalan people and institutions. plus of course, there is the relationship with the trump administration. will grant, i'm sure those votes will continue to be counted. the main city in indian—administered kashmir, srinagar, is once again under complete lockdown. a curfew, which had been eased for the past two days, has been strictly reimposed for reasons that remain unclear.

streets are almost completely deserted. the region has been violently disputed by india and pakistan since their 1947 partition from britain. the bbc‘s rewind unit takes a look back at the key events in kashmir‘s fragile history.

the trouble began in early august. there were disturbances in kashmir and the forces of both sides ignore the ceasefire line and crossed into each other‘s territory. neither side has really won the fight but the war has really won the fight but the war has shown just how bitterly divided the two countries are over kashmir and how deep are the divisions between muslims and hindus.

in divided kashmir, the indian and pakistani armies face each other across the line of control. with this eyeball to eyeball confrontation, there is always the chance of an accidental flareup leading to something much bigger.

ending up —— indian artillery pounded the infiltrated hideouts on the peaks. on the receiving end of this, indian omits, is a force well—versed in high—altitude warfare. taking a look back at kashmir‘s history. floods have killed almost 150 people in southern india. nearly half the deaths occured in the southern state of kerala, where continuing heavy rain and landslides forced more than 100,000 people to take shelter in relief camps. the british prime minister boris johnson has been criticised over his controversial plans to extend police stop and search powers. the changes will allow all 43 police forces across england and wales to use the tactic when they believe a crime may, rather than will, be committed.

opposition politicians have warned it could lead to social unrest. the roll—out was decided upon, after a 3—month trial in 7 police authorities. the berlin wall was a symbol of the division of europe during the cold war. for nearly 30 years, it separated friends and family — keeping the two sides of the city apart. now, two women have been reunited, nearly 60 years after the wall was built. the bbc‘s tim allman has their story. august 1961, two teenage girls holding hands as the whole world around them is transformed. they we re around them is transformed. they were known as the wall girls. rosemary on the left in the east of the city. kleimhild on the right lived in the west. almost 60 years later to the day and the two friends are reunited. both of them living the moment when berlin was split

into. translation: what i did was, of course, was not meant to be. i ran straight to the wall. the policeman who was in the picture should have stopped me. i did not think about it at all, i did not even realise what i was doing. i walked towards my friend with only that thought in my head. east germany was forced to build the wall to try and stop the city's population playing to the west. it's not known exactly how many people tried to escape but 136 of them died in the attempt. the citizens of west berlin, desperate to help their eastern neighbours. translation: rosemary fled with her mother. at first, she stayed with me but we com pletely lost first, she stayed with me but we completely lost track of each other until a year ago when we saw an article in the news people when they we re article in the news people when they were calling for an information on people who knew the wall goals in the photo. eventually the wall in the photo. eventually the wall in the regime it represented collapsed. a new germany was born. and to old

friends could meet up in a city no longer divided. tim allman, bbc news. before we go — let's take a look at these pictures a pair of twin lion cubs were put on display at the shee—an chingling wildlife park. qiang qiang and juang juang haven't had the easiest start in life. their mother was in bad health and couldn't provide enough milk for the pair of them. the keepers were able to feed them every two hours and now they are thriving. they definitely are. before we go, a reminder of our top story. police in hong kong have clashed with pro—democracy protesters in numerous cat and mouse encounters across the city. petrol—bombs were thrown as riot police fired volleys of tear gas at hundreds of protesters holding a peaceful sit in at hong kong airport. much more on the

website. hello. it's been a weekend of wild weather. we've had heavy rain that's caused some flooding, thunderstorms and strong winds, too. the week ahead looks a little bit quieter, but still an unsettled theme. there's further rain at times, particularly on wednesday. and things are feeling rather cool and breezy, too. now the low pressure that brought us the weekend's wet and windy weather is now pushing off towards the north—east, but we've still got a few weather fronts draped across the country during monday morning. so, some heavy showers, particularly in the south. some thunderstorms possible too anywhere from the channel isles up toward sussex and kent as well. to the north of that, a little bit drier. so some sunshine norfolk, through the midlands towards wales and the north—west of england. a little bit of light, drizzly rain still lingering for north—east england through monday morning. and since showers packing into parts of northern ireland and the west

of scotland, but for the bulk of scotland, a much improved day after the heavy rain and flooding we've had recently. much drier weather for scotland. a few showers towards the north and the west. some showers, too, for northern ireland but through the south of england we also going to see a few heavy showers through the day. but, some sunshine and it is generally a drier day than we've seen recently. only 16—19 degrees to the north—westerly breeze, so things are feeling quite a bit cooler than they have done. showers will continue to monday night to tuesday but they'll slowly ease away towards the east through into the early hours and quite widely in the countryside down into single figures. so quite a cold, fresh start for tuesday for many of us. some misty patches should clear a pretty quickly. through the day on tuesday, one or two showers still but they'll be much fewer and further between then we have seen recently and the winds will be much lighter, too. so actually in sunshine tuesday, one of the best days this week. 16—21 degrees or so. later in the day it'll cloud over from the south—west with the arrival of some more rain overnight.

all down to this area of low pressure during wednesday, that brings us a very unsettled story, especially across england and wales. that's where we see the bulk of the rain on wednesday. the winds also strengthening, particularly strong and gusty along the south coast of england. also, some heavy showers likely across parts of scotland once again through the day on wednesday but i think a drier slot for southern scotland, northern england and northern ireland. but it will feel pretty cool, particularly where you've got the showery rain. by the time we get to thursday, again, most the showers will have eased away. so a slightly drier window in the weather on thursday, some sunny spells, a few showers moving in from the north—west but many of us will avoid them. temperatures about 15—21 degrees on thursday but then things turn more unsettled as we look towards the end of the week. down to another area of low pressure moving in — that brings us some strong winds and some heavy rain by saturday. bye— bye. some sunny spells, a few showers moving in from the north—west but many of us will avoid them. temperatures about 15—21 degrees on thursday but then things turn

this is bbc news. the headlines: in hong kong, pro—democracy activists have accused the police of using undercover officers disguised as protestors to make arrests. clearing up is underway in the city after the tenth weekend of pro—democracy marches. there were violent scenes in several places. two petrol bombs were thrown and police baton—charged protestors. a political row has broken out in the united states over the death of the disgraced financier and sex offenderjeffrey epstein. democrats have criticised president trump for promoting unfounded conspiracy theories about epstein's apparent suicide. he was found dead in his jail cell in new york on saturday. russia's communications regulator has accused google of hostile interference by using its youtube website to publicise recent anti—government protests. it has warned google to stop, saying that it will react accordingly if the internet giant does not comply with its wishes. there was another large authorised rally in moscow on saturday.