hence this is bbc news i'm nancy kacungira. our top stories: senior british cabinet minister amber rudd resigns, accusing prime minister boris johnson, of an assault on decency and democracy over his handling of brexit. the conservative party that is such a force for good in government in this country, no longer has a place for people who have different views of the european union and i can't stand for that. the released iranian tanker is apparently spotted off the syrian coast — britain says it's "deeply troubled" by the reports. the canadian teenager, bianca andreescu, beats serena williams to win the us open women's singles title. we're in the bahamas,

where the aid effort is intensifying in the wake of the devastating hurricane dorian. hello and welcome to bbc news. a senior british cabinet minister, amber rudd, has resigned, accusing the prime minister, borisjohnson, of an assault on decency and democracy over his handling of brexit. it follows the decision of the prime minister borisjohnson to expel 21 mps this week, who have refused to back a no deal brexit, including two former chancellors of the exchequer. ms rudd said she couldn't "stand by while good loyal moderate conservatives are expelled from the party". our uk political correspondent jonathan blake reports. amber rudd has served at the heart of government. she campaigned to remain in the eu referendum and was home secretary under theresa

may. she survived the clear out of like—minded colleagues when boris johnson became prime minister and was made work and pensions secretary. among others, almost all brexiteers. just this week, amber rudd expressed concern about the prime minister's strategy of throwing mps out of the party for voting against the government. i think we have some very valued colleagues, who have made a very different choice. in her letter to the prime minister, amber rudd said resigning was a difficult decision but wrote, "i do not believe that leaving with a deal is the government's main objective. the government is expending a lot of energy", she wrote, "to prepare for no deal but i have not seen the same level of intensity going into our talks with the european union, who have asked us to present alternative arrangements to the irish backstop." i knew and i accept that the prime minister should be able to leave no deal on the table, but what i had expected to see was a huge government centred effort to get a deal and at the moment,

there is a lot of work going on into no deal and not enough going into getting a deal. then on top of that, i've seen 21 of my colleagues, good, strong conservative mps with true, moderate, progressive values, excluded from the party. amber rudd's resignation will come as a blow to borisjohnson at a critical time for his premiership. her reasons reflect the concerns others in government share. jonathan blake reporting, and he's been telling me more about what this means for the government of prime minister boris johnson. a big blow to the prime minister at a crucial time. he has lost members of his own party in the last week, having thrown them out of the party having voted

against the government and is facing an attempt by opposition parties, who now outnumber, to the uk out of the european union, the current deadline of october as something of a moderate in the conservative party and her like—minded colleagues who backed remain were purged from the government when boris johnson came in as prime minister. but she has been there ever since. in her resignation letter we can see she is also concerned about the prime minister's intentions when it comes to leaving the eu. she said she leaving the eu with the deal is a government it is expending a lot of energy and resources into leaving without a deal she isn't going into negotiations with the eu. and there will be others in government who

picking up on the fact she is seeing more work going into a no deal scenario, what does this mean for a stand—off over the no deal deal parties? in terms of the it doesn't change much apart from increasing the pressure significantly on the prime amber rudd and resign in the coming hours or days, we will have to see. but it is awkward for him because there are others in the party who downing street is sounding determined in the wake i can read you a statement they have sent in the last few moments and a spokesman for we are disappointed amber has chosen to lead the government was a talented minister but all ministers whojoin the talented minister but all ministers who join the cabinet signed up to leaving the eu on come what may and that has not changed. suggesting she knew what she was getting into when shejoined the

knew what she was getting into when she joined the government she clearly no longer believes that now, hence jonathan blake reporting. even before this latest blow, borisjohnson was under increasing pressure to make clear he'd abide by legislation requiring him to seek a further brexit extension if there's no deal with the eu. a group of conservative mps are preparing legal action if the prime minister refuses to carry out the instruction which is expected to become law on monday. duncan kennedy reports. another stand—off in westminster. protest and counterprotest today. over the prime minister's plans to suspend parliament and mps‘ attempts to delay to brexit. borisjohnson has spent the week in campaign mode. preparing for an election he wants but opposition parties won't allow. many of that opinion will say content. content.

to the contrary not content. the contents have it. but parliament has now passed a bill compelling the prime minister to ask for a delay of a new deal can't be reached. the law means borisjohnson has until the 19th of october to get a deal with brussels. if not, he must write and request more time until at least the 31st of january. but yesterday he said this... some fear the prime minister is looking for wiggle room and preparing a legal challenge. to write a letter on that day to donald tusk, it specifies the wording that he must use in the letter to apply for an extension. i am very, very concerned and troubled by the fact the prime minister is going up and down the country saying that he will never ask for an extension. either we have the rule of law in this country or we don't. opposition parties have shown they can wield power against boris johnson's minority government but the prime minister's supporters say he is right

to pursue his own path. normally governments legislate and are held for account legislation but now in a position where parliament is legislating, how can the government be held to account for legislation that neither sponsored nor wanted 7 in aberdeenshire today in a traditional spectacle of the highland games, the queen arrived having hosted the prime minister at balmoral overnight. constitutional crisis caused by brexit is sure to have been discussed although not resignation of amber rudd. that shock tonight shows just how unpredictable these political times continue to be. duncan kennedy, bbc news. staying with british politics and angela smith, the former uk labour mp, has announced she has joined the liberal democratic party. ms smith was among seven mps to quit the labour party in february over leaderjeremy corbyn‘s approach to brexit and a row over anti—semitism.

she's the third mp to join the liberal democrats in a week, an iranian oil tanker, which was seized by british forces injuly, has been spotted outside a syrian port. the ship had been held in gibraltar, suspected of carrying oil to syria, in breach of eu sanctions. it was only released after assurances from iran that it was not bound for syria. however satellite photographs reveal it is now sitting at anchor outside the port of tartus. our diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. this is the iranian oil tanker at the heart of the row. the grace 1, now known as the adrian darya—i, which was detained injuly by gibraltar with the help of british marines. it was suspected of heading for syria in breach of eu sanctions, but released in august after iran gave written assurances

that this was not the case. but look at this. new satellite images through the clouds appearing to show the tanker moored just a few miles from the syrian port of tartus, potentially there to off—load its cargo. this is hugely disappointing and demonstrates again why the united kingdom government was right to impound the vessel in gibraltar and wrong to release it. in a terse tweet clearly pointed at european allies, the us national security adviser john bolton said anyone believing the ship was not headed for syria was in denial. tehran thinks it's more important to fund the murderous assad regime than providing for its own people, he said. this is tricky for the foreign office because they trusted iran on this, just when the american said don't. a spokesman he has said it was deeply troubling to hear reports of the tank being off syria and said any breach of iran's assurances would be morally bankrupt and a violation of international norms.

so far there has been no comment from tehran, which is desperate to evade tough us sanctions curbing its ability to export oil. iran also announced today a further breach of the deal agreed in 2015 to curb its nuclear programme. a spokesman said it would start using advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium nuclear fuel bringing the country one step closer to developing weapons grade material. yet again, iran remaining defiant in a stand—off with the west that few expect to be resolved soon. serena williams quest for a 24th grand slam title will have to wait until 2020 at least. the 37—year—old has lost the fourth consecutive final she's been in. canada's bianca andreescu beat her in this final in straight sets. it's the 19 year olds first major title — she wasn't even born

when her opponent won herfirst us open title back in 1999. a us congressional committee is investigating another posisble conflict of interest between donald trump's role as president and his businesses. it wants to know why an airport on the west coast of scotland, close to a golf course owned by president trump, has been paid $11 million forfuel by the us military since he took office. the committee says the fuel would have been cheaper at a us military base. russia and ukraine have exchanged dozens of prisoners in a move which the ukrainian president described as the first step to ending the war between them. a man allegedly implicated in the downing of a passenger plane in 2014 was one of those in the group flown to russia. jonah fisher reports from kiev. this swap had been rumoured for weeks. so when the plane finally

touched down from moscow, relief echoed across the tarmac. the families of 35 ukrainian prisoners had come to see their loved ones return. among them, high—profile detainees like film—maker oleg sentsov, and 2a sailors, like andre, who was captured in the black sea late last year. and we are happy too but we can't even understand that this has already happened. this is clearly a very emotional moment for the relatives of these ukrainian prisoners, but it is also politically significant. it opens the door for meaningful talks between ukraine and russia and the prospect of an improvement in relations between the two countries. and we haven't said that much in the last five years. during that time, russia has been backing a rebel uprising in eastern ukraine and more than 13,000 people have died.

then there was the downing of the passenger plane, mh17. shot down by what investigators say was a russian missile, with nearly 300 people on board. with that in mind, moscow insisted on being given this man, volodymyr tsemakh, as part of today's swap. he was on the ground nearby when mh17 was hit and could have been a key witness to russia's alleged role. the loss of mr tsemakh was clearly outweighed by the possible gains for ukraine's comedian turned president. he appears deadly serious about trying to deliver lasting peace. we have to do all the steps to finish this horrible war. but do you think this is a new chapter in relations between russia and ukraine? i think this is the first chapter. as the dust settles on a momentous day, it's possible to be cautiously

optimistic about russia and ukraine. jonah fisher, bbc news, in kiev. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a plea from the pope to stop deforestation as he visits madagascar, where species like the mouse lemur are being driven to extinction. freedom itself was attacked this morning and freedom will be defended. the united states will hunt down bishop tutu now become spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here in the black soweto townships as well as the lights in their rich suburbs. we say in a

enough and fear. together was it is an exodus of up to 60,000 people caused by the uneven pace of political change in eastern europe. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: a senior british cabinet minister, amber rudd, has resigned, accusing the prime minister, borisjohnson, of an assault on decency and democracy over his handling of brexit. britain says it's "deeply troubled" by reports that an iranian oil tanker at the centre of tensions between tehran and the west appears to have moved very close to syria.

rescue efforts have been stepped up in parts of the bahamas worst hit by hurricane dorian, as hundreds scramble to flee the destruction. cruise liners, private planes and helicopters are all being used to help those still trapped in the abaco islands and grand bahama. the death toll stands at 43 but is expected to increase further. officials believe hundreds of bodies are yet to be found in areas flattened by the storm. regis chapman is emergency coordinator for the world food programme. he told us how they are assisting the relief effort. i , ourfirst , our first vessel had some emergency food rations in the form of ready to, about 111,000 meals for a right now we are this vessel is

carrying actually the world to be able of where infrastructure is damaged, to allow other relief through and get to the population that tell us a little bit about the scale of the problem there now, how many people have been affected and it is actually quite tough to say how many people are affected. are people that lived within in both the islands was around 6000 people. the level of the population that might

be in need now is that the challenge is to figure out how many people are and what those needs are. again, the government and other partners to best determine that. one of the things in mind for the people on those islands, they have but the while it is overwhelmed with certainly the capacities of the people that have been hit the ha rd est, people that have been hit the hardest, there are existing systems to provide assistance to those. collectively, those systems, led by the government, supported by the un, ngos some of the assistance and get regular provision for regis chapman

from the after ravaging us coastlines, hurrican dorian is now closing in on canada's atlantic coast. the slow moving storm that's regained its category 2 strength is expected to make landfall in the coming hours. damage has already been reported in nova scotia with strong winds and rain lashing the region. as fires rage through the amazon, half a world away another environmental catastrophe is unfolding. rainforests in madagascar are disappearing at an alarming rate. eariler on saturday the pope, who's visiting the country, expressed concern over the rate of deforestation making it a key topic in his address to a crowd of 800,000 people. gemma coombe reports.

this is what is left of kirindy forest. on the western side of madagascar, it spans 100,000 hectares but it has lost almost half its size in just two decades. translation: the people who are in charge of the forest tell us we are doing wrong. on the one hand, they arrive because the forest is nature, it is god's creation, but on the other hand, as a human being, it nourishes us. that is how it works here. the forest is home to a multitude of rare species, like this tiny grey mouse lima. it's cousin hasn't been spotted here for more than two years. we do not find the animal in places where we found it before and we are not sure if that is a shift of the population or if it is really a decline. workers are paid just $13.40 by businesses with links to local politicians for every hectare cleared.

maize is planted and then the crops are taken to big cities, where the kernals are taken. everybody sees the trucks of maize coming back and forth, usually at night, but nobody records them or takes pictures or takes a note of where they go. the government has been trying to crack down on those causing the destruction. several farmers have been arrested and crops of corn destroyed, but it is not enough. pope francis, who is currently in madagascar on a three nation african tour, has denounced the illegal

logging and exploitation of the unique natural resources. and he has pleaded with the government to do more to stop the corruption that is ravaging the island. there are growing concerns in britain about the number of young people who've died after taking diet pills containing a highly toxic substance. dinitrophenol, known as dnp, is sold online as a fat burning slimming aid but in the uk it's illegal to sell for human consumption. adina campbell reports. it's a poisonous substance mainly used as a pesticide, but dnp is growing in popularity as a quick fix weight loss aid — with dangerous health effects. in 2018, there were six deaths linked to dnp in the uk. 21—year—old bethany shipsey had complex body image issues after being raped and emotionally abused by an ex—boyfriend, which led to a number of suicide attempts. in 2017, she took her own life. overdosing on pills containing dnp

that she bought online. since his daughter's death, doug shipsey has been trying to trace the source of the dnp. bethany ordered the pills from ukraine. police raided this flat and found a stash of chemical substances. a man was arrested and later released without charge. dnp is not illegal to produce or sell in ukraine. in the uk, it is legal for industrial purposes. doug shipsey has come to ukraine to find out more about his daughter's death. i haven't had time to grieve beth yet, and i'm trying to getjustice for her and trying to prevent this happening to other young people, which is what will give myself, my wife and my family closure. doug is here to meet the man who he believes is responsible for his daughter's death. who is this? yeah, you sold her the

dnp that killed her. i watched her die, in hospital, in four hours. i'm really sorry. if i could do anything... if i knew... he admits selling the dnp, but said he never intended the substance to be used for suicide, and is not responsible for betha ny‘s death. all i want to say is i really feel sad. it just was a small business idea. it was just for money. i hope you remember these eyes for the rest of your life. that's what we needed to hear. is this the end of the journey for you? certainly not. dnp is still freely available on the internet. adina campbell, bbc news, in ukraine. for now. you can find me stay with

me on bbc news, we will see after a fine start to the weekend sunday will continue on a similar note but there are some changes more cloud on sunday. most of us under this finger of high pressure giving of sunny spells, this weather front is moving into it with cloud into northern most will start sunday clear into single figures and low single figures in the countryside north—east england and scotland where a touch of frost is possible to stop the day. chilly on the start in the morning but after that with a mixture of cloud and sunshine and temperatures not going up too far,

too quickly, perfect sunday is looking like this, england, wales, eastern scotland, lots of sunshine and some patchy cloud around. maybe and some patchy cloud around. maybe an isolated towards the coast of east anglia, the far east of kent where most stay dry. in northern ireland, northern and western scotla nd ireland, northern and western scotland because and you may encounter a bit of light rain and drizzle. not amounting to too much. temperatures on a par with what we had on saturday. billy woolmer, eastern scotland and at the north sea coast of england despite anyone hoping for rain on the final day of the test match at old trafford will be disappointed and another cool but dry day is on the way. but there is some rain moving in. it is coming in on sunday night and into monday, as the system comes in as that comes in it brings in more cloud so start a monday morning with exception of

eastern england stately overnight, so eastern england stately overnight, so still chilly to start the day here. during monday will take outbreaks of rain a little further east, but more persistent and heavy at times into wales, south—west england and not much reaching eastern part of england. as for temperatures around about the mid—teens, it is going to be a cooler feeling day. the mid—teens, it is going to be a coolerfeeling day. the weather system dies a death as we go into tuesday, but here comes another and actually this is what's left of hurricane dorian, getting close to iceland. trailing weather fronts coming into the uk. nothing to worry about from that, yes there will be rain and the wind will pick up there will be further weather systems coming in as we go deeper into the week. wet at times, not all the time and wendy, perhaps a little bit warmer towards

this is bbc news. the headlines:

a senior member of the british government has resigned over brexit, in a new blow to the prime minister, borisjohnson. amber rudd called mrjohnson‘s expulsion of 21 conservative mps from the party for voting against his brexit policy in parliament ‘an assault on decency and democracy.‘ britain says it's "deeply troubled" by reports that an iranian oil tanker at the centre of tensions between tehran and the west appears to have moved very close to syria. satellite images show the vessel lying just off the syrian port of tartus. in tennis, the canadian teenager, bianca andreescu, has beaten serena williams to win us open women's singles title. the nineteen—year old won her maiden grand slam title after beating williams 6—3, 7—5. she becomes canada's first grand slam champion.