this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: as the impeachment inquiry against donald trump gathers pace. he again denies pressuring ukraine's president to help him smear a rival. critics say they have damning evidence, accusing him of "a classic mob shakedown". like any mafia boss, the president didn't need to say "that's a nice country you have, it would be a shame if something happened to it," because that was clear from the conversation. this prime minister, to talk about morals and morality is a disgrace! after the supreme court's historic ruling, britain's parliament is back and angrier than ever. but borisjohnson rejects calls to resign.

a dark world of child slavery and prostitution — we report from bangladesh and one of the world's largest licenced brothels. and baby archie takes centre stage as the duke and duchess of sussex continue their africa tour. the white house has released a partial note of the conversation donald trump had with the leader of ukraine, which has led to president trump's opponents bringing impeachment proceedings against him. the allegation is that he threatened to hold back us military aid to an ally, unless ukraine provided dirt on one of his political rivals, the democratic party's frontrunner, joe biden. the president claims the entire story is a witchhunt and a hoax. this report from our north america editorjon sopel. he's made me more famous

than i've made him. who'd have thought that a meeting between donald trump and his ukrainian counterpart would become the most keenly anticipated event of un week? but after a phone call injuly between the two men that has resulted in the democrats launching impeachment proceedings, it has. it's better to be on tv than by phone, i think. and a central charge — did the us president try to pressurise volodymyr zelensky into supplying damaging information on donald trump's main democratic rival, joe biden? the ukrainian leader looked uncomfortable. i think, good phone call. it was normal, we spoke about many things. so, i think and you read it, that nobody pushed me. in other words, no pressure. because you know what, there was no pressure. and, by the way, you know there was no pressure. all you have to do is see it,

what went on in the call. the president wantsjoe biden investigated along with his son, hunter, who has business interests in the country. the white house has released a partial transcript of the conversation and, in it, the president takes the highly irregular step of asking his ukrainian counterpart for a favour... this partial transcript is damning, but not deadly. yes, the president seeks info on a political rival from a foreign leader, but there no quid pro quo, no "unless you give us the dirt, we won't give you aid." nevertheless, in a divided country, buckle up for what will be a bitter and take—no—hostages fight. democrats crying, "high crimes" and "misdemeanours". republicans shouting, "witch hunt". on capitol hill, the battle

lines are being drawn on strict party lines on whether he's villain or victim. like any mafia boss, the president didn't need to say "that's a nice country you have, it would be a shame if something happened to it," because that was clear from the conversation. to impeach any president over a phone call like this would be insane. wherever the president goes, the secret service provides a ring of steel. now it's the republican party and the white house who need to circle the wagons to protect donald trump from this democratic party attempt to bring him down. jon sopel, bbc news, new york. democrats say the allegations are deeply disturbing and credible.

what this courageous individual has done has exposed serious wrongdoing and i think it a travesty that this complaint was withheld as long as it was because it was an urgent matter, it is an urgent matter, and there was simply no basis to keep this from the committee and the idea that the department ofjustice would have intervened to prevent it from getting to congress, um, throws the leadership of that department into further ill repute. peter wayner served under three republican administrations — for ronald reagan, george hw bush and george w. he advised president george w bush on domestic and international issues. a little earlier, i asked him what he would advise if faced with all this. i would probably tell him he should resign. this is such an abuse of presidential power, it is extraordinary. there is nothing i can think of that is comparable. to try and put pressure

on a foreign leader. and i disagree with your correspondent, there was a clear quid pro quo. they were talking about foreign aid and then shifted the conversation to say they needed a favour done and that was the investigation of hunter biden. and, actually, was following up by holding the aid. this is an extraordinary development for an american president. but i must say for donald trump it is not. i think this was entirely predictable because this is a person with a disordered personality and he is missing a morality gene. this man does not believe in any morality outside of himself and so he will do anything and say anything to advance his own power. he really is a person with a mobster mentality combined with an anti—christian ethic, i would say. and yet, there are many republicans who do not like him particularly but they will stick with him because he is doing what they want a republican president to do.

you really think of other things he has said and done this is one that is different? no. i think the republican party will stick with him. i think that this is in a long line of things that donald trump has done. another link in a corrupt chain. do i think this will change the republican party's posture, especially members of congress? no, i do not. mitt romney has courageously spoken out but not many others have. i know privately from conversations i have had with members of congress that their views on donald trump are similarto mine, they just feel that publicly they cannot or won't, they have decided not to say anything. and that is not because they are afraid of donald trump, they are afraid of the base of the republican party because donald trump has a lock on that base. he says jump and they say how high. republicans on the hill know that and if donald trump turns on individual members of congress, so will the base of his party. that is why they do not speak up. it could backfire on the democrats.

when control was around the other way, it did bill clinton no harm as he was cleared by the senate and his popularity rose. it is right. and could backfire on democrats. i really don't know, i do not have a feel for this. you are quite right, this will not dislodge donald trump from the presidency. that can only be done by a vote because the senate is not going to convict him. you would need two—thirds of it and republicans willjust not break in those numbers. if i were advising democrats politically i would probably say in terms of impeachment i would not go there because i think the table is set for them to do well and probably to win. but that does not mean they should not do it because you can make in our argument that institutionally congress should act. this is such a transgression of ethical and moral and normative lines that congress cannotjust sit back and do nothing. in a sense, donald trump seem

to be inviting this. it is notable that this call to the ukrainian president came one day after the special counsel robert mueller testifying on capitol hill. most people would say they dodged a bullet and cleaned up the way. not donald trump. he was more involved and he decided that the day after mueller testified he would pick up the phone and call the ukrainian president and try to engage in more corrupt activities. there was outrage and fury in the house of commons as britain's prime ministerfaced parliament for the first time since his defeat in the uk's supreme court. boris johnson declared that the ii judges had been wrong to pronounce on a political question at a time of great national controversy. and he dismissed the pleas of mps who've received death threats, urging him to moderate his use of words such as "surrender" and "betrayal", to avoid inflaming the country further.

our political editor, laura kuenssberg, reports. to lead often is to be alone. borisjohnson on the tarmac, clutching his red box of business. it was borisjohnson‘s decision to suspend parliament, found against the law. boris johnson racing back from new york to face mps' anger. but on this dangerous road, the prime minister chose tonight to whip up the rancour himself. statement, the prime minister. no regret, no remorse. he questioned the judges‘ ruling yesterday. it is absolutely no disrespect to the judiciary to say i think the court was wrong to pronounce on what is essentially a political question. he chose attack as the best form of defence. rather than give answers, goading the opposition to bring him down. out of sheer selfishness and political cowardice, members opposite are unwilling to move aside, and give the people a say.

we will not betray the people who sent us here. we will not. jeremy corbyn‘s response — he should go. after yesterday's ruling, mr speaker, the prime minister should have done the honourable thing and resigned. but there were verbal punches back. he can't control his own party. he can't decide whether he is for leave orfor remain. he is being held captive by his colleagues. the electorate are being held captive by this zombie parliament and a zombie opposition, and he wants the entire country to be held captive in the eu after october the 31st, at a cost of more than £1 billion a month. we say no. i say no. let's get brexit done and let's take this country forward.

the more savage it was, the more they roared. the prime minister had almost provoked his own side into backing him like this. there was nothing still about tonight. frustration is erupting. and maybe fear too. many of us in this place are subject to death threats and abuse every single day. let me tell the prime minister that they often quote his words "surrender" and "betrayal", "traitor". and i for one am sick of it. i think, mr speaker, i have to tell you, mr speaker, i have to say, mr speaker, inever heard such humbug in all my life. the outrage at his response louder than boris johnson's attempts to make himself heard. more acute when the murdered mp jo cox's successor pleaded with him too. will he, going forward,

moderate his language so that we will all feel secure when we are going about ourjobs? the best way to honour the memory ofjo cox and indeed the best way to bring this country together would be, ithink, to get brexit done. tonight, at least, it is almost impossible to imagine those inside being able to agree on whether it's night or day. the government's top lawyer earlier declared it over. this parliament is a dead parliament. it should no longer sit. it has no moral right to sit on these green benches. for this prime minister to talk about morals and morality is a disgrace! when outrage is in fashion, the agreement the country may crave is hard to find. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. well, as you heard, several

mps drew on the memory of their colleague, jo cox, murdered before the 2016 brexit referendum, and urged the prime minister to stop using what they called "violent" and "dangerous" language. he's drawn further condemnation for his claim that the best way to honour the murdered mp is to "get brexit done". liberal democrat leaderjo swinson described his words as "sickening" and revealed she hasjust reported to police a threat against her child. on a point of order, i fear that the public watching today will perhaps take the view that this house does not take sufficiently seriously threats of violence. we have had the attorney general earlier today joke about wifebeating, we have had the government, we have had the government ask if they would bring forward the domestic abuse bill now that parliament has resumed and they dismissed those requests. and we have had the

comments that were made by the honourable member for dewsbury, recalling jo cox mp and the threats that mps face on a daily basis and i may add that today i reported to the police a threat against my child that has been dismissed as humbug. mr speaker, this is a disgraceful state of affairs and we must be able to find a way to conduct ourselves better. the liberal democrat leader. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: higher seas in a hotter world — the un warns climate change could leave coastal communities a metre underwater. 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. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: president trump has condemned the launch of impeachment proceedings against him, saying they're based on a hoax.

there've been angry scenes in britain's parliament — sitting for the first time since borisjohnson‘s defeat in the uk's supreme court. a bbc investigation has found girls as young as seven being groomed to sell themselves as prostitutes in one of the world's largest licenced brothels. prostitution is legal in some areas of bangladesh, but some women were forced into the life and started work when they were children. a charity is trying to help them escape, by offering schooling from the age of five. our education and family correspondent frankie mccamley has been finding out more. this is a dark world where the unimaginable happens to children. they're born into a life where sex is sold on every street corner, in a brothel that's so popular it's grown into a village, home to nearly 2,000 sex workers. train horn. a familiar noise at the end

of the line, signalling the arrival of more customers. to get into the brothel, men must pay at the gates. anything else is extra. they line dance bars, drinking home—made alcohol, choosing the girl they want. it'll get busy later. it's clear many don't want us here. we can come in? one woman, though, says she will talk to me in a few minutes. we can't go in yet, we've just got to waitjust inside the door because the woman currently has a customer with her. when we do go in, her client hasn't left yet. the us$3 he spends includes lunch. her biggest concern is her daughter, she's now the same age this woman was when she started work. translation: my girl is growing up. i'm stuck here. but she has turned 11. how long has she got left before they take her? she's worried people in the brothel will force her daughter into prostitution.

for the youngsters, this is their escape. save the children has set up schools to help break the cycle, integrating them with others from the area. translation: they would often put them through several forms of torture, beating them, verbally abusing them. they simply didn't know how to look after them. we are trying to change that scenario through counselling. these girls are both 13, they grew up in the brothel but managed to escape to a safe home. translation: i didn't eat deliberately, so i was too skinny to do the work. i knew the men preferred bigger girls. translation: when i was about seven or eight my mother brought many men into our home in the brothel. one man tried to do bad things to me. this member of staff secured a place when she was a child, but had to leave her

seven—year—old friend behind. translation: she did not want to join in. one night her mother forcefully put a customer in her room. after he left she hanged herself. train horn. as new customers continue to arrive, the future of these projects is uncertain. the un says aid for education has dropped globally. police say there are also laws to protect young girls, but the reality is children are worth too much in this adult world. frankie mccamley, bbc news, daulatdia, in bangladesh. a major report by the united nations has warned an overheating world is damaging our oceans and causing sea levels to rise. it says, if nothing is done to limit carbon emissions, sea levels could rise by more than a metre, on average, by the end of the century. that could mean extreme flooding by the middle of this century. the northern english city of hull

has been badly affected over recent years. our science editor david shukman has been finding out what's being done to help. the sea is rising, so stronger defences are needed. here in hull, a new wall is being built to protect thousands of people. most of the city lies below the level of the high tide, so flooding is a constant risk. this is what we are up against currently. we can't stop it. on a winter night six years ago, seawater overwhelmed parts of hull, filling homes with mud. gordon rason watched it happen. the water came over there, into the dock, out of the dock, straight into the streets, because there was no — because the dock was already full of water. what was it like when that happened? frightening, really. we know that sea levels will rise... and if in future, the ocean is a metre higher, the impact could be even worse. scientists are using simulations to see how

bad the flooding could get. it won't be possible to defend everywhere, quite simply. there will be areas that we will have to retreat from with that level of sea level rise. economically, it won't make sense to do so. we can win individual battles, but the overall war we will lose. just a few miles from hull, these homes have very little to protect them from a rising sea, which matters, because the report says that whatever efforts are made to tackle climate change, the level of the oceans is going to keep rising in the coming decades, which means that people here and in many parts of the world are going to have to adapt. the biggest cause of rising sea levels is the melting of the ice in the polar regions. earlier this month i saw how this year had a record melt in greenland. and the report warns that along with higher sea levels, there'll be more powerful storms, extreme floods will strike more often, with drastic consequences. are we talking about relocation?

retreat in some instances? and certainly the report doesn't shy away from the big issues because these patterns of impact are so complex, the report does identify that for example, some small island states may become uninhabitable. back in hull, scientists are out in all weathers to track the currents underwater to help more because the next floods, to gather data about the areas that are most vulnerable. the sea once helped at this place to flourish, but as the waters rise all over the world, they'll become more of a threat. david shukman, bbc news in hull. a former fighter pilot from the united arab emirates has become the first arab astronaut on the international space station. hazzaa al—monsoori embraced his fellow crew when he arrived, smiling broadly, after a six—hour flight on a russian soyuz rocket. he'll spend eight days on board. the world got its first up close look at the newest member of britain's royal family today.

the duke and duchess of sussex introduced their baby son archie to archbishop desmond tutu on the couple's 10—day tour of africa. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell was there. he's four months and 19 days old now, and little has been seen of archie harrison mountbatten—windsor since his birth on the sixth of may. but here he was in cape town today with his mother and father, to meet one of cape town's most celebrated citizens, archbishop desmond tutu and his daughter, thandeka. archie, inevitably, became the centre of attention. that's something he'll need to get used to. laughter oh, you like the ladies? sensible conversation was temporarily suspended so that everyone could try

a bit of baby talk. encouraging sounds and, of course, admiring comments. suffice it to say that archie took it all in his stride, and played his part to perfection. he's clearly a natural at this sort of thing. he won't remember it, of course, but the moment was captured for immediate release to many front pages. archie and the archbishop. you saw it here first. nicholas witchell, bbc news, cape town. just briefly, elaborate hurdle is a popular read of dog described as cute cuddly and lovable but these animals also suffer serious health problems. the creator of the first ever labradoodle nurses creating the breed was his life long regret.

ever labradoodle nurses creating the breed was his life long regretl and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — hello there. we're in the middle of a run of really unsettled weather with no end in sight, really. rain at times coming our way over the next few days, with some fairly strong wind around at times as well. now, looking at the satellite picture, we've got some shower clouds heading our way for today. this area of cloud, just to the north, is going to be bringing some rain across parts of the uk on friday, and then as i spin right the way across towards the other side of the atlantic, well, we've got this juicy looking cloud, quite a deep area of low pressure that's going be bringing some wet and windy weather for some of us as we head into this weekend. so rain will continue to be blown our way. now at the moment we've got some rain crossing the country. it will tend ease across the west with showers following. the winds continue to pick up as well. so it's becoming increasingly

blustery, particularly around the coast and hills. it's a mild start of the day, with temperatures around 11—15 degrees. once the sun is up, the rain still with us initially, will clear away from england and scotland, in the showers really do start to pack in. now, for northern ireland and scotland, the showers will probably tend to merge together to give some lengthier spells of rain at times. and things will begin to get a little bit cooler across the north as well. there'll be some bigger gaps between the showers in southern and eastern parts of england, but no—one is immune from seeing an odd heavy downpour. and through thursday night those showers will continue to rattle in as well with those brisk south—westerly winds continuing to push the showers in, particular into western coast and hills. temperatures then through thursday night, between around nine and 13 degrees, and then for friday, well, we've got further showers swinging our way. the showers will tend to most together to give some longer spells of rain. and this time it's properly most likely across england and wales. but there will be plenty of showers for scotland and northern ireland. it will continue to be

quite gusty as well, gusts of wind running in at around 30—a0 mph across the south of the uk. and the temperatures continue to slowly slump. so highs of around 14 or 15 degrees for scotland and northern ireland. even turning a bit cool across the south—east. now this weekend we do have some heavy rain and some strong winds on the way, thanks to that area of low pressure i showed you a moment ago. but the northward extent of where that low‘s going could change a little bit before we actually get to the weekend. but here it comes, through the weekend, the heaviest rain and strongest winds will be heading across england and wales. but it could cause localised disruption. the unsettled weather then continues, would you believe it, well into the first part of next week as well. that's your latest weather.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the white house has released a partial note of the conversation donald trump had with the leader of ukraine, which has led to impeachment proceedings against mr trump. the allegation is that he threatened to hold back us military aid to an ally, unless ukraine provided dirt on one of his rivals, the democratic party's frontrunner, joe biden. there have been angry scenes in the british parliament, the day after the supreme court ruled its suspension by the prime minister was unlawful. borisjohnson claimed the ruling by 11 judges was wrong and dismissed repeated calls to resign. the world's had it's first up close look at the newest member of britain's royal family. it came when the duke and duchess of sussex introduced their baby son, archie, to archbishop desmond tutu on the couple's 10—day tour of africa. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk

with stephen sackur.