welcome to bbc news. i'm simon pusey. 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. peace negotiations between the taliban and the united states have been called off. in a tweet president trump blames a deadly attack in the afghan capital, kabul. the canadian teenager bianca andreescu beats serena williams to win the us open women's singles title. hello and welcome to bbc news. a senior british

government minister, amber rudd, has resigned, accusing the prime minister of an assault on decency and democracy in his handling of brexit. it follows boris johnson's decision to expel 21 mps who have refused to back a no—deal brexit, including two former finance ministers. ms rudd said she couldn't stand by while good, loyal, moderate conservatives are expelled from the party. our 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. president trump has announced

on twitter that he's called off peace negotiations with the taliban after an attack that killed 12 people, including a us soldier, in the afghan capital, kabul, on thursday. the announcement comes just days after the american envoy to afghanistan reached a draft peace deal with the group. mr trump said a previously secret meeting with taliban leaders and the afghan president, ashraf ghani, due to take place at the president's camp david retreat on sunday has been cancelled. our north america correspondent, david willis, says president trump's tweet has revealed an unexpected development in the afghan peace process. we don't know a great deal about the planning for this summit. it was, of course, a secret, as president trump makes clear in his tweet this evening. but there were clearly plans afoot to fly in both the afghan president and perhaps members of the taliban to meet at camp david later on sunday for these peace negotiations.

presumably concerned about the possible withdrawal of us troops, the phased withdrawal of us troops, from afghanistan. but it's very surprising because a lot of people are saying had he pulled it off, this would be tantamount if you like to, sort of, to getting together with kim jong—un of north korea. this is a move that's taken a lot of people by surprise. quite a considerable diplomatic gambit were he to have pulled it off. the president says he is cancelling the meeting because of that car bomb attack last thursday which killed a dozen people in the afghan capital, kabul, including an american serviceman. it would appear to scuttle his campaign promise to withdraw troops from afghanistan, us troops from afghanistan. that is if the peace negotiations

have come to an end. it's not clear whether or not that is in fact the case. actually realistic in the short—term, david? because talks between the us and the taliban really appear to bypass the afghan government. that's right. there's been jockeying for position among the senior ranks of the afghan government. there's been a flurry of attacks carried out by the taliban in the period that the special envoy has been out there, edging closer, he says, to some sort of framework for an agreement. there's been a lot of speculation that may be if nothing was to come at least immediately from these efforts... but it appears now that they are,

at the very least, on hold. serena williams‘ quest for a 24th grand slam title continues after she lost to canada's bianca andreescu in straight sets. the 19—year—old wasn't even born when serena won her first us open title back in 1999. courtney nguyen, a senior writer with wta insider, the official platform of the women's tennis association, gave us her perspective on why serena lost. i would probably go down and say serena was not good enough and i think she was incredibly honest about her assessment of her play today, giving full credit to the 19—year—old and how well she did play. it wasn't the serena williams we've seen through six matches here in new york. she got to the final and her serve was only broken three times through six matches and tonight she could not hold serve, struggled with her first service percentage and gave the young canadian a lot of confidence in her return game. "i have to find a way to bring serena into these grand slam finals," because that's

where she is not showing enough. andreescu is only 19. is she going to play a central role in women's tennis for many years to come? i really believe that ever since march, winning indian wells, she went to a tough draw and really showed a lot of composure and how she handled herself over that two weeks. even then, the way she plays her tennis and how much resilience in her character and game, she didn't seem like a fluke in march, and here we are in september and she is a major champion. it also seems she is incredibly mature for 19. she apologised to the crowd afterwards, obviously many americans there, for beating serena. she is canadian. that is what they do, they apologise. it was a tough crowd for her to play through. the crowd on arthur ashe stadium was really backing serena and got serena to come back, she was down 1—5 in the second

set, saved matchpoint and levelled it at 5-5. that crowd, i have never heard of that loud. bianca did a greatjob presenting herself and get through that and be the classy one at the end and say, thank you very much. "i am sorry, this is not the result you wanted." an iranian oil tanker which was seized by royal marines 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 adrian darya—i 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, than provide for its own people." 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 tanker being off syria, and said any breach of iran's assurances would be morally bankrupt and a violation of international norms. so far, there's been no comment from tehran, which has been 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. james landale, bbc news. conditions in the bahamas are said to be rapidly deteriorating six days after hurricane dorian ripped through the islands. tens of thousands of people are homeless. many are now desperate to flee the destruction in the abaco islands and grand bahama. cruise liners, private planes and helicopters are all being used to help those still trapped. the official number of dead still stands at 43, but that's expected to rise as the situation becomes clearer.

jenelle eli, spokesperson for the international federation of the red cross and red crescent societies, described what she saw when she visted the affected areas at grand bahama and the abaco islands. when i landed on the island of abaco for the first time, it was amazing just from the air to see trees uprooted. trees just snapped just from the air to see trees uprooted. treesjust snapped in half. and as you get closer, it is houses without rooves. it is still flooded areas. there's a lot of devastation here. i spoke with families who spoke of horrific tales of three days of trying to survive. there was one mother who told me she was so there was one mother who told me she was so devastated that she lost her home and everything she's ever owned, but she was really proud that she was able to keep her kids alive and she was grateful that there were neighbours helping neighbours. this is the situation right now. can you

tell us some of the challenges you're facing in getting aid to the areas most affected? certainly. as with any disaster, there are logistical challenges to getting aid in. things like flooded ports and roads to tell a connectivity ‘s. right now access to the islands is slowly opening up, so access to humanitarian relief is getting in, including red cross humanitarian relief, which is getting to hardest—hit areas. that aid includes shelter materials like hammers, tarps, wires, rope, so people can at least have some semblance of shelter. it includes things like water purification and jerry cans, because water sanitation is critically important at this time. we've seen that. if water sanitation isn't taken care of it can lead to further humanitarian needs. they are coming 23, going to government

evacuation shelters, so it's a continually unfolding situation —— to nassau. what can the international community do that they aren't already doing? international community do that they aren't already doing ?|j international community do that they aren't already doing? i would say this is a major humanitarian relief effort. people don't just this is a major humanitarian relief effort. people don'tjust need aid now, they're going to need it in the mid—term and even the long—term. you're watching bbc news. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: this is bbc news. our top story: 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. following on to that story of brexit... even before this latest blow, borisjohnson was under increasing pressure to make it clear that he'd abide by legislation requiring him to seek a further brexit extension if there's no deal with the eu. a group of mps is 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 force a 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." all: content. to the contrary "not content." silence 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. —— if a new deal. 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. now, i'm 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's right to pursue his own path. normally, governments legislate and are held for account for that legislation. we're now in a position where parliament, the opposition is legislating. how can the government be held to account for legislation that neither sponsored nor supported ? in aberdeenshire today, the 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. well, it emerged earlier this evening that angela smith, the former labour mp, has joined the liberal democratic party. ms smith was among seven mps to quit the labour party in february over jeremy corbyn‘s approach to brexit and the row over anti—semitism. she's the third mp to join the liberal democrats in a week, bringing the total number in the house of commons to 17. now, 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. the family of a french 6—year—old boy, who was allegedly thrown from a viewing platform at the tate modern gallery in london last month, say he has made amazing progress in hospital. the boy, who was in london on holiday, fell five floors. his family says he still cannot speak or move his body, but responds by smiling. a 17—year—old boy has been charged with attempted murder. let's look at some other stories in brief. a us congressional committee is investigating another possible 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. el salvador wants to put a woman who was cleared of murdering her newborn child

on trial for a third time. 21—year—old evelyn hernandez‘s baby was found dead in a toilet in 2016 after she fainted. she said she had been raped by a gang member and didn't know she was pregnant. prosecutors will appeal against the acquittal in a bid to send her back to jail. candidates in tunisia's presidential election are holding a series of debates broadcast live on television, an almost unprecedented event in the arab world. 26 candidates will take part over three nights of debates. the unpredictable presidential race includes the current prime minister, a media mogul and a representative of an islamist—inspired party. there are growing concerns about the number of young people in the country 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 isa it is 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 led —— linked to dnp in the uk. 21—year—old bethany 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 which she bought online. since his daughter's death, doug has been trying to trace the source of the dnp. bethany ordered the pills from the 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 the ukraine,

and in the uk, it is legalfor industrial purposes. doug has come to ukraine to find out more about his daughter's death. to ukraine to find out more about his daughter's deathlj to ukraine to find out more about his daughter's death. i haven't had time to grieve, and i'm trying to get justice time to grieve, and i'm trying to getjustice for her time to grieve, and i'm trying to get justice for her and time to grieve, and i'm trying to getjustice for her and trying to prevent this happening from 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. that killed her. i watched her die in hospital in four hourslj that killed her. i watched her die in hospital in four hours. i am really sorry. if i could do anything, at the moment, ifi knew... anything, at the moment, ifi knew. . . the anything, at the moment, ifi knew... the man admits selling dnp but says he never intended for the substance to be used for suicide and isn't responsible for bethany‘s death. what i want is a is i really

feel sad... just with a small business idea, just for money. feel sad... just with a small business idea, just for moneylj business idea, just for money.” hope you remember these eyes for the rest of your life. that is what we needed to hear. is this the end of the journey for you? certainly not. dnp is still freely available on the internet. the venice film festival has drawn to a close with the golden lion being awarded to the film joker. it's the first time a comic book movie has won the top prize at a major festival. in second place was an officer and a spy by the controversial director roman polanski. a warning — tim allman‘s report contains flashing images. my mother always tells me to smile and put on a happy face. dark, disturbing. one critic described it as prurient, but exhilarating. joker is unlike any other comic book movie you've ever seen.

these films dominate at the box office, but have always failed to win the major prizes... until now. joker...by todd phillips. applause. director todd phillips looked a little surprised to be winning the golden lion. the origin story of batman's arch enemy now lauded by one of europe's top film festivals. in his acceptance speech, he was full of praise for his leading man, joaquin phoenix. joaquin is the fiercest and bravest and most open—minded lion that i know and you are a beautiful soul and thank you for trusting me with your insane talents. applause. speaks french. the grand jury prize went to an officer and a spy, telling the story of the dreyfus affair. its director, roman polanski, still wanted in the us for the drugging and raping of a 13—year—old girl,

was not present for the ceremony. the acting prizes went to france's arianne ascaride and italy's luca marinelli, both paying tribute to those risking their lives in the mediterranean. speaks italian. "i would like to dedicate this award to all the splendid people "who are at sea to rescue other human beings who are fleeing "from unimaginable situations. "thank you. "long live humanity and long live love." and long live thejoker. a great night for comic books and the films they inspire, once dismissed, now honoured. tim allman, bbc news. that is just about it for us. you can reach me on twitter. let's check on the latest weather prospects now with nick miller. hello. after a fine start to the weekend, sunday will continue on a similar

note for most of us, but there are some changes on the way. this view from northern ireland came during saturday, some sunshine, but we'll expect more cloud on sunday. why? because while most of us stay under this finger of high pressure giving us sunny spells, this weather front is moving into it with cloud into northern and western scotland and northern ireland. but most will start sunday clear and chilly. temperatures widely in single figures, low single figures in the countryside, and close to freezing in the coldest parts of eastern scotland and north—east england where a touch of frost is possible to begin the day. so, it's chilly on the start line at the great north run in the morning, but after that, with a mixture of cloud and sunshine, the temperature is not going up too far too quickly. perfect conditions for running. good luck to everyone taking part. light winds too. for the rest of us, sunday is looking like this — england, wales, eastern scotland — lot of sunshine, some patchy cloud around. maybe an isolated shower, more so towards the coast of east anglia, maybe the far east of kent, though most stay dry. but in northern ireland, northern and western scotland,

because of that weather front we saw earlier, it's a cloudier day and you may encounter a bit of light rain and drizzle, not amounting to too much, mind you. temperatures on a par with what we had on saturday, but feeling a little warmer. parts of eastern scotland along that north sea coast of england despite the chilly start. now, anyone hoping for rain on the final day of the test match at old trafford will be disappointed. another rather cool, but dry day is on the way. but there is some rain moving in, but it's coming in on sunday night and into monday, as this system comes in from the atlantic. so, as that comes in, it brings in more cloud so it will be a milder start on monday morning with the exception of easternmost parts of england staying clear overnight, so still quite chilly here to begin the day. so, during monday then, we're going to take outbreaks of rain a little further east, but more persistent and heavier at times into wales, south—west england and not much reaching eastern parts of england. as for temperatures, around about the mid teens, it is going to be a cooler feeling day.

now, that weather system dies a death as we go into tuesday, but here comes another, and actually, this is what is left of hurricane dorian getting close to iceland. but with trailing weather fronts that are coming into the uk, nothing to worry about from that. yes, there'll be some rain, the winds will start to pick up as well and there'll be further western systems coming in as we go deeper into the week. so, wet at times, not all the time, turning windier too, perhaps a little bit warmer towards the end of the week.

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.‘

president trump has cancelled peace talks with the taliban after a deadly attack in kabul, revealing that he'd been due to hold a secret meeting with leaders of the group at camp david on sunday. a us envoy to afghanistan had reached a draft peace deal with the militant group last week. the canadian teenager bianca andreescu has beaten serena williams to win us open women's singles title. the 19—year—old won her maiden grand slam title after beating williams 6—3, 7—5. she becomes canada's first grand slam champion. now on bbc news, blind comedian chris mccausland hosts the second part of a comedy and storytelling show featuring funny and fascinating stories told by disabled people and those with mental health difficulties. this programme contains discussion of some adult subjects.