welcome to bbc news, i'm mike embley. our top stories: president trump faces a formal impeachment inquiry, over allegations he asked a foreign power to help damage a political rival. senior democrat nancy pelosi says he's violated the constitution. the actions of the trump presidency revealed the dishonourable fact of president trump's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections. the uk's supreme court rules borisjohnson‘s suspension of parliament is unlawful. he claims the verdict is wrong, but says he will respect it. and on their tour of south africa, the duke and duchess of sussex visit the country's oldest mosque.

in washington, members of the democratic party in congress have launched a formal impeachment inquiry against president trump, accusing him of seeking the help of a foreign government to smear a political rival. he has acknowledged withholding military aid to an american ally, ukraine, and pushing the country to investigate joe biden, frontrunner for the democrats for next year's presidential election. but mr trump says withholding the funds was not done to put pressure on ukraine. this from our north america editorjon sopel. new york in september, when the leadership of the world converges on the un to speak, but one conversation is causing donald trump extreme difficulty and the heat is intensifying. injuly, he phoned the newly elected ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky and it's alleged donald trump demanded an investigation into his democratic

presidential rivaljoe biden and his son's business dealings in the country as the price for receiving us military aid. no dirt, no aid is the suggestion. the president denies wrongdoing but his account of the call has changed continually as the questions have piled up. i think it's ridiculous, it's a witch—hunt. i'm leading in the polls, they have no idea how to stop me, the only way they can try is through impeachment. this has never happen to a president before, there has never been a thing like this before, it's nonsense and when you see the call, when you see the readout of the call which i assume you will see at some point, you will understand. that call was perfect. joe biden is the democratic party frontrunner. he is leading donald trump in the polls and says the president this time has gone too far. the president does not comply with such a request from the congress, he continues to obstruct congress and flout the law. donald trump will leave congress, in my view, no choice but to initiate impeachment.

that would be a tragedy, but a tragedy of his own making. with the pressure is on donald trump, he's said he will declassify the phone call and release the full transcript but too little, too late. it won't be enough to stop the democrats pressing the nuclear button and pushing for impeachment. the actions of the trump presidency revealed the dishonourable fact of the president's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections. therefore, today, i am announcing the house of representatives moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry. it's hard to overstate the significance of this move by the democrats and one that the leadership have been very wary about. a ball has been set rolling, with uncertain consequences. democrats will hope this brings about the end of the trump presidency. what they fear is that it will galvanise support for him and lead to his victory in 2020. jon sopel, bbc news, new york.

live now to washington and our correspondent david willis. david, i think there are six house committee is investigating the president, only two us presidents have been impeached before, what happens next? does the process necessarily move forward from here in full? mike, nancy pelosi has described president trump's actions in regard to that telephone conversation with the president of the ukraine as a betrayal of the presidential hopeful office, a breach of constitutional responsibility —— oath of office. and the move to prevent a whistleblower‘s complaint from being considered by congress, nancy pelosi said that was a violation of the law, in her view. well, said that was a violation of the law, in herview. well, i said that was a violation of the law, in her view. well, i can tell

you that whistleblower‘s complaint is now going to be heard by members of congress, probably on thursday after they've heard from the acting director of national intelligence, a man called joseph maguire. it's possible that the whistleblower himself we are told might actually give evidence in secret to members of the committee, also on thursday. president trump has said he will release a transcript of his call with volodymyr zelensky, the president of ukraine, he has described the call is very friendly and completely appropriate. allies of president trump say the democrats‘s moved towards impeachment could backfire if the release of those two, the complaint and the transcript, failed to show any serious wrongdoing. it is quite

any serious wrongdoing. it is quite a risk. nancy pelosi has been known to resisted for quite some time despite pressure from others below her in the party. it's quite possible that a president cleared by congress would look stronger going into an election. nancy pelosi had held off precisely for that reason. she felt it could backfire and look at what happened to bill clinton, because he is one of only two us presidents who have been on the receiving end of impeachment proceedings was were overturned by the senate, his popularity skyrocketed. and there is the fear that president trump's support is good basically use this to make him even more popular going into the election next year. but the feeling was with so many democrats, my, lining up to put their name behind impeachment proceedings, that there

was some sort of turn in opinion amongst the democrats on this one, that this was beyond the pale. and it was also something that they could explain in the democratic leadership to the american people unlike the recent russia probe. david, thank you very much for that. let's get some of the day's other news. officials in pakistani—administered kashmir say at least 22 people have been killed and hundreds injured in an earthquake. security forces have reached the areas worst affected, in and around mirpur, to help with rescue and relief efforts. people in cities as far away as islamabad and delhi felt tremors. the european union's top court has ruled that google does not have to delete all sensitive personal information about criminal convictions and sexual conduct that shows up in searches worldwide. but it must remove links from searches in europe, when it receives an appropriate request. google had appealed against fines in france over what's known as ‘the right to forget‘. the spanish tenor, placido domingo,

has withdrawn from all future performances at the metropolitan opera in new york. he's been accused by several women of sexual harassment, which he denies. in a statement, the singer, who's 78, said he was concerned his presence on stage would have distracted from his colleagues' work. the british prime minister is cutting short a visit to the un in new york, returning early to face furious members of parliament and the consequences of tuesday's crushing verdict from the uk's supreme court. judges ruled unanimously that boris johnson's government advised the queen to act unlawfully, in suspending parliament for five weeks. the effect, they said, "upon the fundamentals of our democracy," was "extreme". our political editor laura kuenssberg, now, on a momentous day. ready to passjudgement on the prime minister — borisjohnson broke the law. the decision to advise her majesty

to prorogue parliament was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification. jubilation outside in the rain. cheering yes! those outraged the prime minister had advised the queen to suspend or prorogue parliament for five weeks, suspicious he'd done it to close down debate on brexit, which he denied. no justification for taking action with such an extreme effect has been put before the court. the conclusion — it was illegal, so it never happened at all. the prime minister's advice to her majesty was unlawful, void, and of no effect. parliament has not been prorogued. the government's lawyers a few weeks ago did not expect this. the courts traditionally allergic to politics and stay well away, but the other side's legal dream came true.

the ruling today speaks volumes. this prime minister must open the doors of parliament tomorrow. mps must get back and be brave and bold in holding this unscrupulous government to account. thank you. so what next? immediate calls to new york, 3,000 miles away, for the prime minister's audacious move condemned by the court... prime minister, are you going to resign? ..to be a reason to resign. there's been a court case in our country this morning, which i think some of you may have picked up on... another chance to suggest the establishment is trying to stop him. i have the highest respect, of course, for ourjudiciary and for the independence of our courts, but i must say i strongly disagree with this judgment. and we in the uk will not be deterred from getting on and delivering on the will of the people to come out of the eu

on october 31st. the labour leader's conference in brighton disrupted and delighted by the news. it shows that the prime minister has acted wrongly in shutting down parliament. i invite boris johnson, in the historic words, to consider his position. johnson out, johnson out! i have instructed the house authorities to prepare not for the recall — the prorogation was unlawful and is void — to prepare for the resumption of the business of the house of commons. the house of commons sits tomorrow, and that it does so at 11:30am. but once mps have raced back here tomorrow, what will they actually do? the alliance of former tories, still rebels, might try to take control again after the government's approach went so wrong.

that advice was clearly very poor, and i think some of his advisers are going to have to leave. if boris johnson won't do the decent and honourable thing, then i think parliament has a duty to come together to force him out of office through a vote of confidence. there's no sign of labor doing that quite yet. and look who's in boris johnson's corner. i know him well, he's not going anywhere. a place in power he might have dreamt of for years, but after only two months it's proving harder than perhaps he thought it looked. so what does this mean for the relationship between courts and government and what impact could it have in the future? the bbc‘s mark easton reports. what you're watching never happened. it may look as though, in the small hours of september the 10th, the royal commissioners attended the house of lords to suspend or prorogue parliament, but today the most senior judges

in the land said the ceremony was void and had no effect. ..to prorogue this present parliament. when the royal commissioners walked into the house of lords, it was as if they'd walked in with a blank sheet of paper. parliament has not been prorogued. this is the unanimous judgment of all 11 justices. this was a constitutional thwack on the nose of government, delivered by the judiciary on behalf of the uk parliament. thejustices made it clear this judgment was a one—off, but its implications will echo down british history. around parliament square in westminster, there are hidden power lines, a triangle of authority joining the houses of parliament, the government — focused on 10 downing steet, and the judiciary and the supreme court. today the justices explained that a fundamental principle of british democracy is that the prime minister is accountable to parliament. they also stated that the courts had supervised the lawfulness

of government for centuries. established in 2009 to replace the law lords as the uk's most seniorjudicial body, today saw the supreme court beginning to flex its constitutional muscles. this is probably the biggest day in the history of the supreme court so far. with this unanimous judgment, the judges have really set down a marker about their role as a constitutional court, as a check on government and as a defender of parliamentary sovereignty. and although this will have some repercussions for brexit, it's really much bigger than that. this is about how our parliamentary democracy works. booing traitor! the supreme court is crossing the line, meddling in politics, downing street has suggested. but the justices were adamant they had a responsibility to question the motives of the prime minister, pointing out he'd failed to submit a witness statement to explain under oath his reasons for suspending parliament. the only evidence the supreme court says it's had

was this memo sent by nikki da costa, boris johnson's adviser, recommending suspension. borisjohnson ticked yes. this was not a normal prorogation in the run—up to the queen's speech. this is a completely proper constitutional procedure. whenjacob rees—mogg, as leader of the house of commons, went to balmoral to advise the queen to suspend parliament — advice she was obliged to accept — the process was unlawful, the justices said. and in a direct criticism of borisjohnson, thejudgment suggested he ignored constitutional responsibilities in favour of party political interest. it is not clear to us that any step is needed from the prime minister, but if it is, the court is pleased that his counsel have told the court that he will take all necessary steps

to comply with the terms of any declaration made by this court. tomorrow morning, parliament will sit once more, its sovereign place in our democracy restored and enhanced. but it won't be a fresh dawn. today'sjudgement means it opens its doors as though the prime minster had never closed them. mark easton, bbc news, parliament square. much more to come for you on bbc news. still to come: thousands more british holidaymakers are brought home following the collapse of thomas cook. benjohnson, the fastest man on earth, is flying home to canada in disgrace. all the athletes should be clean going into the games. i'm just happy that justice is served. it is a simple fact that this morning, these people were in their homes. tonight, those homes have been burnt

down by serbian soldiers and police. all the taliban positions along here have been strengthened, presumably in case the americans invade. it's no use having a secret service which cannot preserve its own secrets against the world, and so the british government has no option but to continue this action even after any adverse judgement in australia. concorde have crossed the atlantic faster than any plane ever before, breaking the record by six minutes. welcome back. good to have you with us. this is bbc news. our main story: us democrats have launched a formal impeachment inquiry against donald trump over claims he pressured the president of ukraine to investigate

his political rivaljoe biden. let's get more on our top story with rina shah. she's a republican strategist based in washington, dc. good to talk to you again. this is not a good look for a president, is it? it is likely impeachment will get through. but it doesn't look good. well, i think we are sitting ina very good. well, i think we are sitting in a very interesting moment right now. this is certainly a very historic moment in that policy has acted, this is an official enquiry. many people have been waiting for this day. that is what president trump supporters are saying tonight. this is a witch—hunt. a few hours ago i received a text asking me to doughnut because they are conducting a witch—hunt and this is the message they will take into 2020 is that the democrats are out for blood, they have never liked donald trump and they are going to try and find any

reason to conduct official impeachment. however, for so many conservatives, this was a turning point. it was a mueller report we thought would be explosive, it is the revelation that the us president would ask a foreign country's leader to dig up dirt on a political opponent. i think that is what is perhaps the most outlandish thing and that is what many of us are looking at today. apparently withhold military aid in the hope of persuading that president of a foreign power to do so. you really think this might make a difference? you don't think impeachment will go through the senate? no, i don't. i think senator mcconnell and the many republicans that have stayed glued to his side will remain hypocritical, and on twitterfor example, on facebook, there are clips resurfacing from many years ago of senator saying impeachment

was not about a crime that then, that we didn't need a crime in this republic. we just need to prove that oui’ republic. we just need to prove that our president is trying to lie to the american people. what i find most concerning is that this is a clear—cut phase for power, and instead republicans will continue to look at this as democrats wanting to find any reason to get rid of trump and not use the same litmus test, and not use the same litmus test, and that is what is most frustrating here. mr biden, both deny mr trump's allegations. can we just be clear to try and help people keep up—to—date. is it now confirmed that not only the transcript of the call with the president of the ukraine, but also the full report from the whistleblower will be released ? the full report from the whistleblower will be released? here is the thing. i remember sunday morning, just a couple of days ago, which is not weeks now, the

president saying, i hope the transcript is released. it was so unusual to hear these words out of his mouth because he has the power to release it. what is most concern in this moment is that the white house repeatedly had the transcript of congress. that is a duty and that is something they do when they checked each other. this isjust normal course of duty over here. however, the white house has played political stunts like this and now what concerns me is that what are they going to redact? what will they erase from this transcript that they provide to congress? 0ne bright spot here is that the whistleblower does have legal counsel reports and is likely going to show up on capitol hill ina likely going to show up on capitol hill in a closed—door intelligence hearing before the end of this week. we should have some answers. i think the american people deserve answers. for me, i really started to believe that impeachment was necessary and it needs to take place. we just

don't know so many things. there are all these allegations and a he said, she said situation. until we get some cold, hard facts, we don't know what happened for sure and what our president said and why he said it. very interesting to talk to you. thank you very much. thank you for having me. a major operation is still under way to bring more than 150,000 people back to the uk, all victims of the collapse of tour operator thomas cook. according to the civil aviation authority, around 16,000 passengers were repatriated just on tuesday. the flights will continue until october 6th. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge reports. logistics to get you to manchester... repatriating 150,000 people is complicated, but resilience at this turkish airport. the manchester flight is full, right? yeah. still in her thomas cook uniform, unsure if she will be paid.

but in kefalonia tonight, a long and miserable wait after a government—run rescue flight was delayed and then cancelled. and people still on thomas cook holidays are having trouble too. hotels like this one are owed money by a company which has collapsed. last night, staff demanded that guests, who'd already paid for their entire holiday, cover the unpaid bills. caught up in it all, graeme and claire. it wasn't a pleasant scene. so there was a bit of aggression from one of the reception staff, demanding the money. 0bviously, they're quite worried about not being paid themselves. government advice is not to pay because of cover from the atol travel scheme, but in another part of spain, guests were locked out of their rooms until they did. we went out for dinner last night and came back to the hotel and we couldn't get into our room. so we had to go downstairs to the lobby and the lady said, basically,

"give us 340 euro and you can get back into your room." so that's what we had to do. it's money she can claim back. but other customers gave money to staff out of work during one —— crewing one of the last thomas cook flights after a collection organised by a passenger. it's now likely that thomas cook's german airline will be rescued by a loan from the german government. but in britain, an entire operation is grounded. there will be a probe into the company's demise. tom burridge, bbc news.

just briefly, the duke and duchess of sussex ate traditional south african food and visited the country's oldest mosque on day two of their tour of africa. the royals visited the 225—year—old mosque on south africa's heritage day, a public holiday celebrating national culture. the tour is their first official overseas trip with their son, archie. a lot of sadness around the news that robert hunter has died. he was 78. he was inducted into the songwriters hall of fame in 20 for dean. he co—wrote some of the best love songs, including broke down palace and jack straw. he also wrote lyrics for bob dylan. the cause of death has not been disclosed. he died at his home in california. much more for you on all the news at any time on the bbc news website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley. thank you for watching.

hello there. well, september had been on course to be a dry—looking month across the south of the uk until our most recent spell of very unsettled weather. now, yesterday we had this area of low pressure bringing heavy rain, some thunderstorms mixed in with that. some really heavy downpours, actually. it caused some localised surface—water flooding. that was just one of the storms, quite near the bbc around the oxford circus area in london. now, in boscombe down in wiltshire, they recorded 59mm of rain over the space of around about the last 2a hours. that's exactly a months worth of rain, and with more rain in the forecast, of course, now september, for a number of us it's going to be much wetter than normal. well, here we are. the rain continues to moving

across the south of england, southern parts of wales. gusty winds around english channel coast as well, gusting at around 30—40mph. the winds a little bit lighter for the northern england and scotland but we still have rain around here as well. through wednesday, our area of low pressure will eventually start to pull away and the weather will get a little bit less soggy for a time, although there'll still be showers before the next weather system works in from the west through the afternoon. so, rain at times probably best sums up wednesday's weather. the rain with strong winds across southern coastal counties of england initially. the winds eventually calming down through the afternoon. the skies trying to brighten up, but again, there will be some heavy showers around. then we've got the next area of rain that's going to work its way into northern ireland as we go through wednesday afternoon. temperatures, well, 18, 19 degrees, not feeling particularly cold, but on into thursday's forecast now, and the next area of low pressure follows in quickly. sets of weather fronts moving across the uk followed by south—westerly winds. those winds still bring a lot of cloud and still a lot of showers, so even as the rain clears its way through, the skies brighten up for a time,

but further showers come in, and those showers again could be heavy with some thunder mixed in, so some heavy downpours to come at times during thursday. temperatures, well, just falling a few degrees across scotland and northern ireland, the airturning a little bit cooler here. england and wales, little overall change, 18 or 19 degrees the top temperature for thursday. friday's weather, well, it's another unsettled day, more rain pushing its way northwards and eastwards across the country again followed by showers through the afternoon, some of those heavy and thundery. temperatures friday afternoon, well, again, the coolest weather across scotland and northern ireland, 1a or 15 degrees celsius here. so feeling a little bit cool in the wind. further south, england and wales, temperatures coming down a little bit across western areas with highs of 16 in cardiff. 0n into the weekend, well, it stays unsettled, stays quite windy with showers or lengthier spells of rain at times. that's your latest weather.

this is bbc news. the headlines: members of the democratic party in in the us congress have announced a formal impeachment inquiry into president trump, accusing him of seeking help from a foreign government to smear a political rival. nancy pelosi, speaker of the house, accused him of violating the constitution. he's called the move a "witch hunt" and "harrassment". the uk's highest court has ruled that borisjohnson‘s decision to suspend parliament was unlawful. the prime minister says the verdict is wrong, but will respect it. a major operation is continuing to bring more than 150,000 people back to the uk after the collapse of thomas cook. around 16,000 passengers were repatriated on tuesday. emergency flights are set to continue for another ten days.