welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: as congress hears claims from a whistleblower that the white house tried to cover up donald trump's phone call with ukraine's leader, a furious response from a president facing an impeachment inquiry. what these guys are doing, democrats, are doing to this country, is a disgrace and it shouldn't be allowed. there should be a way of stopping it. tackling britain's toxic politics. boris johnson suggests tempers should cool over brexit, but refuses to apologise for his own language. and we report from libya, as the un warns the country's latest conflict is escalating fast. what happens on this frontline has implications far beyond tripoli. the

fear is that if this conflict continues, it could push libya into all out civil war. hello to you. senior white house officials tried to lock down all details of a phone call between president trump and the ukrainian leader, according to a whistleblower‘s complaint against the president. in the call, mr trump pushed for the ukrainian government to help smearjoe biden, his leading rival in next year's us presidential election. mr trump denies exerting improper pressure, but the phone call has triggered an impeachment inquiry against him, and evidence to congress, on thursday, from america's acting director of national intelligence. this from our north america editor, jon sopel. —— director of national intelligence. joseph maguire is a man who's spent his career living in the shadows. not any more. the evidence that the acting director of national intelligence is giving today could

have a critical bearing on the future of donald trump's presidency following that contested call with ukrainian leader. i have a feeling that your country is going to do fantastically well. donald trump, who met volodymyr zelensky at the un yesterday, insists that the call was perfect, even though he blatantly asks the ukrainian leader to investigate his main democratic political rival, joe biden. but today, a whistle—blower‘s letter was made public, and its allegations are damning. he says, "after an initial exchange of pleasa ntries, the president used the remainder of the call to advance his personal interests. "namely, he sought to pressure the ukrainian leader to take actions to help the president's 2020 re—election bid." and he goes on, "white house officials told me they were directed by white house lawyers to remove the electronic transcript from the computer system in which such transcripts are typically stored for co—ordination, finalisation and distribution to

cabinet level officials." and, citing white house officials, one other thing the whistle—blower says is, "this isn't the first time the administration has treated a transcript like this, not because it's a matter of national security, but because it's politically sensitive." and so to the evidence. would you agree that the whistle—blower complaint alleges serious wrongdoing by the president of the united states? the first question seemed to cause mr maguire discomfort. uh, the whistle—blower complaint involved the allegation of that, but it is not for me and the intelligence community to decide how the president conducts his foreign policy. the white house has sought to undermine the credibility of the whistle—blower. the intelligence chief, though, was noticeably not going there. i think the whistle—blower did the right thing. i think he followed the law every step of the way. the complaint states that the white house tried to lock down all records of the call. and democrats are seizing on the whistle—blower‘s letter. this is a cover—up...this is a cover—up.

donald trump's anger over attempts by democrats to impeach him is palpable. what these guys are doing, democrats are doing to this country, is a disgrace, and it shouldn't be allowed. there should be a way of stopping it. the president returned to the white house this afternoon after what's been a bruising few days in new york. events are moving at speed, and not in the direction donald trump would want. john sopel, bbc news, washington. richard painter served as the chief white house ethics lawyer in the george w bush administration. hejoins me now from minneapolis. good to talk to you and thank you for your time. despite the hot thing and puffing here, impeachment isn't going to happen, is it? a republican—controlled senate isn't going to vote by two—thirds to impeach a republican president? impeachment by the house of representatives may very well happen

but then, of course, there's a trial in the senate and the trial in the senate will be determined... the outcome, yes, by the republicans stop the but the political damage to the republican party by this situation is a mess. the second time donald trump has sought to enlist the help of a foreign government to win an election. he did it in 2016, asking russia to hack into hilary's e—mails and the trump tower meeting and all of that written up in the mueller report, and now he's doing it again with ukraine and he is asking the ukrainian government to dig up whatever dirt they can onjoe biden and ifjoe biden doesn't win the democratic nomination, he will turn to the ukraine or whatever other power it is, this is unacceptable in american politics to use the power of the presidency in

this way. he's going to be impeached and the question is whether the republicans have the courage to do what republicans did in 1974 with richard nixon, simply ask him to step down, to resign. of course mr trump denies exerting any improper pressure. what do you make of the involvement of president's personal lawyer in all of this? rudy giuliani has been charged by donald trump with the task of digging up dirt on joe biden, or whoever happens to be his opponent in the democratic... 0n the democratic ticket for president in 2020. that's what rudy giuliani is doing. he's working with donald trump ina is doing. he's working with donald trump in a personal and political capacity. he's built his business... the power of the presidency should not be used in this matter, and we should not be coercing foreign governments into taking sides in our elections. it also seems curious

that mr trump elections. it also seems curious that mrtrump said elections. it also seems curious that mr trump said almost as an aside today that people should be investigating mike pence's dealings with the ukraine. it almost sounds like a warning to his own party, to the republicans, if you let me go you will also lose the vice president, mike pence. you will also lose the vice president, mike pencei you will also lose the vice president, mike pence. i believe that's what's going on because there are quitea that's what's going on because there are quite a few republicans who secretly are very, very upset about donald trump and his behaviour. they aren't going to say anything publicly, but there are many republicans who would be very happy to replace donald trump with mike pence. mike pence is a lot quieter, calmer, has not gotten himself anywhere near as close to this situation onto the russia situation, but perhaps donald trump is saying at least that he has something on mike pence. so he's threatening his own party, he's threatening his own vice president, in order to save his own skin, and that is a very, very

troubling situation. other people will take a different view, of course, but richard painter, thank you for your views and your insights. thank you so much. let's get some of the day's other news. the hong kong government has tried a new approach to diffuse tensions in the territory by holding the first of a series of public consultations. the event was televised, with chief executive carrie lam facing a storm of difficult questions from 150 people, apparently chosen at random. an earthquake, magnitude 5.7, has struck off the coast of istanbul. some people in turkey's largest city had to evacuate homes and businesses and at least eight people have been injured. istanbul lies near a majorfaultline. officials say none of the three bridges in the city connecting europe and asia was damaged. new south wales has become the last australian state to decriminalise abortion. the bill overturns a law which has been in place for 119 years. previously, abortions were only allowed if a doctor deemed the pregnancy a serious risk to a woman's health. saudi arabia is opening its doors to tourists from around the world

for the first time. according to the tourism minister, it's an historic moment. visas costing $80 will be available online. the british prime minister has suggested tempers need to come down in parliament a day after a furious session in the house of commons. but borisjohnson has refused to apologise for dismissing concerns that his own talk of surrender and betrayal is inflammatory, at a time when mps are receiving death threats. one was murdered, just before the 2016 brexit referendum. there is some strong language in this report from our political editor, laura kuenssberg. we will not betray the people who sent us here! subject to death threats and abuse every single day! i've never heard such humbug in all my life! this is the language. you're a publicity whore! publicity whore, madam! this is it. politics has never been forfaint hearts. this man is an idiot. we won't tolerate this, sorry. but there was poison in the air last night. use language that is respectable,

whatever your views are. was your language in the commons yesterday appropriate? frustrated by a lack of brexit progress, the prime minister is happy to provoke. i totally deplore any threat to anybody, particularly female mps. and a lot of work is being done to stop that, and to give people the security they need. but i do think it's important that, in the house of commons, i should be able to talk about the surrender bill, the surrender act, in the way that i did. but there's fury from labour mps at that kind of talk. an encounter between a labour mp and the prime minister's advisor, dominic cummings, in parliament, was filmed by a member of the mp's team. the mp, karl turner, said he had had death threats last night. mr cummings's answer, "get brexit done".

in the commons itself, a sense of disbelief for a moment, the morning after the night before. yesterday, the house did itself no credit. to dismiss concerns from members about the death threats they receive, and to dismiss concerns that the language used by the prime minister is being repeated in those death threats, is reprehensible. as he prepared to gather his cabinet, the prime minister said tempers need to come down. but the chances of him are listening to this reprimand from a predecessor in number 10 are slim to none. words such as saboteur, traitor, enemy, surrender, betrayal. which should have no place in our party, no place in our political discourse, nor in our politics, and nor, for that matter, in our wider society.

but whatever the difficulty, whatever the distress, there is no intention in downing street, none at all, of pulling back from their overall tough approach. a belief, even, this is a pent—up conflict that must play out to clear the way for brexit. patting each other on the back, when there is so much frustration in every corner of the country, and this political village? the government playing tough appeals to some, but could cause other voters to take fright. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. un officials are warning that a surge in fighting in libya could escalate into full—blown civil war. the latest conflict began in april when a rebel commander launched a major offensive, aimed at seizing the capital, tripoli. thousands of people have been killed, including many civilians. from tripoli, our international correspondent, 0rla guerin. the southern edge of tripoli, a suburban battlefield. a journey to the heart

of libya's latest conflict, one which involves foreign players and is increasingly another proxy war in the middle east. after there, the five lines. the commander shows us the front line, which many have died to protect. he and his men are the defenders of tripoli, fighting for the un—recognised government. it has the support of turkey and qatar. explosions gunfire they take aim at enemy forces, backed by egypt, the uae, france and russia. explosions

well, the fighting has been grinding on here since april, much of it unseen. but there is active firing taking place today, and what happens on this front line has implications far beyond tripoli. the fear is that if this conflict continues, it could push libya into all—out civil war. the government complains that it is outgunned and can't fight on all fronts. minister, very nice to see you again. libya's interior minister says, while the battle for tripoli is raging, there's a moment of opportunity for including the islamic state or daesh. this is a very good chance for al-qaeda, for boko haram, for daesh, for organised crime now in libya. it is a very good environment. and they will use this chance. they will use it, you know. they can grow, now, in the desert, and they can move. and right now you can't try to fight them, because you're defending tripoli? yes. we continue our activity to capture some of them. we are watching. but inside our area, not outside our area, and we are continuing our

collaboration with the usa security and british security, we continue. but out of our front line, what will we do? the government here can't even protect the airport in the capital. it was targeted by an air strike today, the latest in a series. here, a glimpse of the terrified passengers caught inside earlier this month. for now, the airport is closed, a potent symbol of a capital city under attack. 0rla guerin, bbc news, tripoli. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: president, prime minister and mayor of paris. france mourns political titan jacques chirac, who has died aged 86. ben johnson, 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 news. the latest headlines: white house officials have been accused of trying to cover up evidence that president trump used his power to solicit foreign interference in next year's election. let's stay with that story. with all this frenetic activity in washington, how do voters actually feel? the bbc‘s james cook has gone to pennsylvania, which will be key in deciding the 2020 election, to see which issues matter there. donald trump's route to the white house ran through the midwest. his promise to make the rustbelt shine again was critical in 2016, and how pennsylvanians feel about the president now could determine his chances of re—election. so what do voters here make of mr trump asking ukraine's leader to investigate his potential opponent?”

ukraine's leader to investigate his potential opponent? i don't like the idea that trump is asking, or trying to get someone else to investigate joe biden. that doesn't seem right. him being the president, he has permissions and kind of can get away with different things that, you know, you or i wouldn't be able to get away with. i mean, i don't know the actual laws behind it, itjust seems not straightforward or appropriate public official. at the heart of this affair is the us relationship with ukraine, and at the heart of pittsburgh's ukrainian community, these voters sound pretty devoted to president trump.|j community, these voters sound pretty devoted to president trump. ijust think it was probably a normal political conversation, and i don't think there was any malicious intent behind it. that's my opinion. and what's your feeling about waiver democrats are now doing what they are doing? i think it's foolish and i think it's another attempt on the

pa rt i think it's another attempt on the part of the democrats to put our country through more pain and turmoil because they lost the last election. for many voters, there are more pressing concerns. these americans say the big issues at sta ke americans say the big issues at stake next year will be immigration and the economy. he is pushing entrepreneurship as well as individuality. so is donald trump my number one pick? probably not, but he is in the office, so i am with him all the way, because i'm american. as you know, he makes it very ha rd american. as you know, he makes it very hard for — how should i say it? for coloured folks, hispanic and african americans. and when we say making it harder, meaning some of the laws and policies he is coming up the laws and policies he is coming up with, tearing families apart.|j think we're getting four more years. this will be the year that i go out and vote. and the focus here is the

election rather than impeachment. an airof election rather than impeachment. an air of scandalfatigue election rather than impeachment. an air of scandal fatigue may help the president, although who knows what is coming down the track? well, donald trump really should have a 1—way ticket to re— election. the economy is growing, unemployment has been falling, and wages have been rising at last. and, in normal times, that's what americans think about when they decide how to vote. the thing is, these are far from normal times in us politics. this news just came through in the past couple of hours. the united states is to reduce by almost half the number of refugees it admits to the country. the state department says 18,000 refugees will be accepted during the next 12 months, down from the current limit of 30,000. the administration says it plans to prioritise refugee slots for iraqis who worked with the united states military; some persecuted people from central america and small groups of religious minorities. tributes have been paid

to the former french president jacques chirac, who has died at the age of 86. one of his country's most popular politicians, he led france for more than a decade until 2007. internationally he was best known for opposing the us—led invasion of iraq, but his later years were marred by scandal. from paris, lucy williamson looks back at his life. the ‘bulldozer,’ the ‘weathervane,’ the ‘super liar‘ — political nicknames and political satire that could never dampen france's affection forjacques chirac. his long road to the presidency included two stints as prime minister and almost two decades as paris mayor. his down—to—earth charm and talent for connection unleashed on everyone, from children to chancellors. bringing the country together proved harder. he wanted to heal france's social divisions, but his plans for reform were shelved after 2 million people came out in protest.

he created new international divisions, too, refusing tojoin the us and britain in the 2003 invasion of iraq, a position that won him strong support at home. translation: my position is that france will vote against, in any circumstances, because tonight there is no case to wage war to disarm iraq. he also won widespread support for being the first french leader to publicly recognise france's role in the wartime deportation ofjews. in 2002, chirac won a second—term landslide against far—right leader jean—marie le pen, after left—wing voters were urged to hold their noses and vote for the crook rather than the fascist. his later years were dogged by ill health and a conviction for embezzlement during his time as paris mayor. through it all, jacques chirac has

remained perhaps france's favourite leader, a president with a very human nature, a very human touch. former french president jacques chirac. black characters, let alone black leading characters, are still rare in the gaming world. not content with the pace of change, one long—time gamer has set about creating custom video games for her own enjoyment. hi, my name is danielle. i also go by ebonix online. i am half nigerian and half belgian content. custom content is content that is user generated by players, gamers like myself, who just want to add a little bit more space into their game. i started little bit more space into their game. istarted making little bit more space into their game. i started making content because i wanted to make myself. i

literally wanted that at first, but then i thought to myself, hold on, i can't make myself. there isn't anything out there. and i came to the realisation that there is a gap, there's something missing, and that needed to be filled. and so i started creating content so that i could fill that gap and bring representation into the game that i loved. it helps me explore my nigerian identity in particular, because there are pieces of content that i have made that i have used stuff like that. it helps me dive into how beautifully diverse our textures a nd into how beautifully diverse our textures and textiles are and i wa nted textures and textiles are and i wanted to bring that into the game, because i've been wearing it from when i was born. to see t—pain using my content and looking for dreads, it was an achievement. the exposure really highlighted to a lot of people that, well, there's someone that makes content for us? i have received so many messages. 0ne

that makes content for us? i have received so many messages. one in particular that stood out to me has been from a lady. she said that her niece has always hated herself, a lwa ys niece has always hated herself, always hated how she looks, and her hairand always hated how she looks, and her hair and stuff, always hated how she looks, and her hairand stuff, and always hated how she looks, and her hair and stuff, and asked me if i could make her hair. the response back was just, my niece has absolutely fallen in love with herself. there's so much that has come from the community, and it overwhelms me, and it gives me a lot of drive. because there are days where i just of drive. because there are days where ijust don't of drive. because there are days where i just don't feel as motivated. but those are the days that i get messages. the end goal for me really is to be an advisor for me really is to be an advisor for gaming companies, if not a creator myself, to bring about a lot more change and a lot more diversity into games, so that when you go to create a character, you've got the content create a character, you've got the co nte nt to create a character, you've got the content to make a character that looks like you. so i really want to push the diversity and the

representation agenda in all games. that's it for now. thank you very much for watching. good morning. well, last week's high pressure and settled autumn sunshine a distant memory. this week it's been very different, hasn't it? on monday, we saw some heavy rain, some areas seeing a month's worth of rain injust a 24—hour period. through the middle part of the week, it's quietened down a little. sunny spells and scattered showers. but there's more wet and windy weather to come through this weekend. here it is sitting out in the atlantic, and it's going to continue to push its way across the seas towards us for the second half of the weekend. ahead of it, circulating around an area of low pressure, a scattering of showers. some of those quite heavy, possibly thundery, and some of them, as we go through the day today, merging together for longer spells of rain. blustery winds, particularly through the south—west,

driving those showers inland. there'll be some heavy ones through wales, north—west england, and northern ireland as well. the best of the drier, sunniest lot perhaps reserved for scotland. temperatures a little subdued in comparison to of late. we're seeing highs of 14 to 18 degrees the high. now, as we move out of friday into the start of the weekend, that low pressure will ease away, and we'll see a relatively quiet spell for a time. so the start of the weekend is not looking too bad. yes, we will have sunny spells and scattered showers, but there will be some drier interludes in between. quite a blustery feel still, and by end of the afternoon we'll see some wetter weather pushing into the south—west. now, the timings for this rain still subject to change, so if you do have outdoor plans this weekend, you'll certainly need to keep abreast of the forecast. but that is likely to bring a spell of very wet weather and some windy weather with it as well. so we could see 2—3 inches of rain, and at times, through the early hours of sunday morning, we're going to see strong,

gusty winds, in excess of 40—50 mph in places. and, as that low moves through, maybe for a time 60 mph across eastern england, close to the coast. but that low will move through, and then we start to see some drier weather coming through on sunday. however, the wind direction into the north is going to make it feel a little on the cool side as well. so top temperatures in scotland 13—15 degrees. further south and east, we're looking at highs of 17 or 18. so, just in case you haven't already got the message, it does look at the moment as though saturday will be the better of the two days in the weekend. sunny spells and a few showers. sunday will start off wet and windy, but that rain will slowly ease away. and then, monday into tuesday, things are a little bit quieter, but the temperatures could be better for this time of year. take care.

this is bbc news, the headlines: leading democrat, nancy pelosi, has accused donald trump of trying to cover—up the details of a controversial phone call to the ukrainian president. in the call, which has triggered an impeachment inquiry, the president pushed for the ukrainian government to help smear his main rivaljoe biden. he's dismissed the impeachment proceedings as ‘another witch—hunt‘. borisjohnson says tempers need to come down after furious scenes in the uk parliament on wednesday. but despite strong criticism, the prime minister has refused to apologise for his own controversial language. france has paid tribute to its former leader, jacques chirac, who's died at the age of 86. in a 45—year political career, he served as president, prime minister and mayor of paris. internationally, he was best known for opposing the us—led invasion