this is bbc news. the headlines at 103m: a "politically motivated attack". downing street reacts angrily as borisjohnson is referred to the police watchdog over his links to an american businesswoman when he was mayor of london. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, promises to replace the government's controversial welfare policy universal credit should they get into power. renewed pressure on the trump administration over its dealings with ukraine. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, is ordered by democrats to turn over documents connected to the impeachment investigation. more than half of patients with a type of skin cancer once seen as "untreatable" have been handed a lifeline thanks to a revolutionary new treatment. and can hosts japan hold on to beat ireland and cause a huge upset at the rugby world cup?

they lead 16—12 with minutes to go. downing street has reacted angrily after boris johnson was referred to the police watchdog over his friendship with an american businesswoman. the independent office for police conduct will look at whether a criminal investigation should be launched into allegations thatjennifer arcuri was given favourable treatment, including financial grants, when mrjohnson was mayor of london. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. come to london. build your businesses here. the mayor of london supports you. the american tech entrepreneur jennifer arcuri received £11,500 sponsorship for events run by her company innotech from organisations linked to borisjohnson‘s office

while he was mayor of london. she then went on three overseas trade missions with borisjohnson — all of which she'd originally been turned down for. the bbc has spoken to several people who were on the trips. they said jennifer arcuri seemed out of place, as her companies were less substantial than those of other participants. borisjohnson‘s office intervened to make sure that she got on one of the trips to tel aviv, though she paid her own way. ilike it! it's brilliant! the allegations of improper conduct were originally made in the sunday times and have been looked at by the greater london authority monitoring officer this week. she's now decided to ask the police watchdog, the independent office for police conduct, to assess whether borisjohnson should be investigated for the criminal offence of misconduct in public office. the iopc are involved because, as mayor of london, borisjohnson was also in charge of london's metropolitan police. i really think there are so many more important issues like putting more police on streets, increasing funding for schools.

all of these things are the kind of issues that my constituents and the general public want us to focus on. ijust do not believe that this complaint is the issue that it is being made out to be in the media this morning. the prime minister has vigorously denied the allegations. a senior government source said the referral to the iopc was "a nakedly political put—up job". daniel sandford, bbc news. jeremy corbyn is to commit a future labour government to scrapping universal credit, the conservatives' flagship welfare reform which merges six benefits into one. in a speech in north london, he will describe it as "cruel and inhumane" and say it needs to be replaced with a system which treats people with "dignity and respect." our political correspondent nick eardley is here. universal credit has always been controversial but labour are not saying here what they would replace it with, are they?

that is absolutely right. the basic idea behind universal credit was to roll all of the benefits that people we re roll all of the benefits that people were getting into one, and that broad principle was welcomed at first. the idea of streamlining the system was one that most parties thought was a good idea. but the system has been beside with problems stop people waiting to long to get their benefits, and also the reduction in money that was available to the system as a whole led to cuts. whatjeremy corbyn is saying today is in the first instance, they will reverse those cuts. the benefits cap will go, as will the two child limit, which basically means that you can only claim child benefit for yourfirst two children. more broadly, if labour were in power, they are saying that they would get rid of the system completely. have a listen to the shadow work and pensions secretary. we're going to be scrapping universal credit and going to be replacing it with a social security system that has respect at its heart and that tackles poverty. because everywhere universal credit

has been rolled out, we've seen very serious problems. we've seen people going into debt, people going into rent arrears. some people even facing eviction as a result of it. we think the system really is too flawed and it has to be scrapped. crucially, labour is not saying what the new system would look like. they are saying it will be fairer, will think a lot more about the security claimants come they are noticing what it would look like. some of universal credit‘s critics think that it would be far easier to reform it and make big changes to how the system works then get rid of it completely. now, this comes after a very feeble rail, difficult week in westminster and ahead of conservative party conference, with talk of a potential no—confidence vote this week. some are really pushing that idea now because they are increasingly concerned that the prime minister might have a way around that legislation that is designed to stop a no—deal brexit month. they think they might have to bring down the

government and put an emergency prime minister in place to ask for the brexit extension and call it general election. yesterday, we heard the snp leader nicola sturgeon 13 with the idea. this morning, her mps have been going forward, it further. —— flirting with the idea. i believe that we have to do that because there is no no—confidence that the prime minister will obey the law and seek the extension which parliament voted for only a few weeks ago. certainly, his performance the other evening when he was asked explicitly would he do that, he said no. that is incredibly disturbing that a prime minister is even giving the impression that he might not obey the law. the dates and deadlines and timings are really important here. the opposition fears that no—deal brexit will happen and yet they are completely divided, are they not, on whether they can supportjeremy corbyn as interim leader or not? you're absolutely right. the reason

that the parties are increasingly thinking will have to act in is because there is a 1k day window after you bring down a government in which another government can form, and a numberten which another government can form, and a number ten has indicated that borisjohnson would not go willingly and might try again to form a new government. you are right also that the numbers are not thereforejeremy corbyn as an emergency prime minister at the moment. the liberal democrats are not on board. those former tory mps kicked out of the party for refusing to back mr johnson's brexit policy are not on board either. what i think the snp are trying to do is bounds the other parties into coming up with a plan. they have a meeting on monday to discuss tactics and the snp are trying to say to the other parties we need to do something and need to do it now. even if it is notjeremy corbyn, we need to agree on who that interim payment should be and get something on the cards. is there anyway that the opposition would allowjeremy corbyn to be seen

to be trying to form a government and then coalesce around somebody else like hilary benn or ken clarke? it is possible. it is an option but a very risky one. within that 1a day period in which the government, the vote of no—confidence passes and you have time to format new government, if you do not and get to the end of that 14 if you do not and get to the end of that 1a days, you go into it general election which 25 working days after that 14 election which 25 working days after that 1a day period. you are well into november, well past the 31st of october brexit deadline. i think the opposition parties will want to know exactly what they plan to do, have their ducks in a row, know what former conservative mps might be willing to back before they passed that no—confidence motion. but it is one that they are increasingly talking about for the simple reason that they are not sure they have done enough yet to stop no deal. i was at that book belongs where dominic cummings made the walk in a

park comments and repeating again the line that they are going to deliver brexit at the end of october whilst being the law. it is the tory party conference this week. would devote of no—confidence beat time for when borisjohnson devote of no—confidence beat time for when boris johnson is devote of no—confidence beat time for when borisjohnson is due to make his speech? that would be an option that i knew opposition parties have discussed. what is the best way to put it? maybe a slightly cheeky option. you would have conservative mps racing down on the main line to get back to london. the environment secretary was asked about exactly this this morning and there is a plan in place to decamp from quickly as possible if that happens. you need to table a vote of no confidence the night before so they will get some notice but that is absolutely an option. another busy week i think, nick. no telling where it is going to go. thank you. leading democrats in congress have made their first demand for documents in the impeachment inquiry into president trump. the secretary of state, mike pompeo,

has been ordered to hand over ukraine—related material within a week. the us special envoy to ukraine, kurt volker, has resigned. our north america correspondent, david willis, reports. donald trump is defiant and lashing out on his preferred medium, twitter. taking aim at the man who will play a key role in his impeachment hearings, the democratic chairman of the house intelligence committee. of him, the president said... the whistle—blower who revealed details of his telephone conversation with ukraine's president, volodymyr zelenskiy, mr trump has branded a partisan operative. yet at the whistle—blower‘s account of events has proved uncannily

accurate, not only about the contents accurate, not only about the co nte nts of accurate, not only about the contents of the telephone call but attem pts contents of the telephone call but atte m pts by contents of the telephone call but attempts by the white house to cover them up. have now confirmed that a transcript of the call was moved to in more secure server. the democrats' impeachment inquiry gathers pace, today saw the first sip to the secretary of state, mike pompeo, demanding documents relating to co nta ct pompeo, demanding documents relating to contact between members of the staff and the government of ukraine committee members also said they had scheduled the positions from five state department officials, among the former us ambassador to the ukraine who was recalled over policy disagreements with president trump. and the us special on woi to ukraine, kurt volker, who was said to have help, help trumps personal lawyer rudy giuliani set up meetings with officials there. shortly after this was announced, kurt volker resigned from his position. the

witchhunt continues. but they are getting hit hard on this witchhunt because when they look at the information, it is a joke. impeachment for that? yet, the pressure is growing from outside congress as well as within. more than 300 former us national security officials from both republican and democratic administrations have endorsed the impeachment inquiry, saying they want to know the facts. events a re saying they want to know the facts. events are moving quickly, with some democrats predicting that articles of impeachment could be ready to be voted on by the end of november. it's the fifth most common cancer in the uk and in the most serious cases it can kill within a matter of months. but, in recent years, doctors have made significant progress in the treatment of melanoma. today they've announced that another "huge milestone" has been passed as a new treatment offers a lifeline to more than half of patients with an advanced form of the disease.

we're joined now via webcam by professor james larkin, consultant medical oncologist specialising in the treatment of melanoma and cancers of the kidney at the royal marsden foundation. thank you so much forjoining us. i gather you were involved in this trial. can you just tell is what exactly you have found and what the treatment is? this is a trial involving people with melanoma that has spread around the body, metastatic and stage iv melanoma. we started the trial about five years ago. the people who went into it, they had three different potential options. one was to get one immunotherapy drug, another was to get another immunotherapy drug and the third was to get the two together. what we are presenting todayis together. what we are presenting today is the result after five yea rs, today is the result after five years, which, as you have said, have shown that 52% of people who have the two immunothera py shown that 52% of people who have the two immunotherapy drugs together are alive at five years. and that is

only background of a disease that in yea rs only background of a disease that in years ago, there was really no effective drug treatment at all and average life expectancy for people ten yea rs average life expectancy for people ten years ago with this disease was probably between about 6—9 months. that seems to be an incredible leap forward. how did you come up with the idea for this trial? the development of these drugs has been based on understanding the biology of cancer much better. in fact, the nobel prize was awarded very recently for the work that led to the development of these types of drugs. without understanding of the biology of cancer —— with the understanding of the biology of cancer and the development of these drugs, the next step was to see how effective they were inpatients and this trial is one of many trials that has looked at these types of drugs and lots of different types of cancer and, drugs and lots of different types of cancerand, in drugs and lots of different types of cancer and, in fact,

drugs and lots of different types of cancerand, infact, it drugs and lots of different types of cancer and, in fact, it is notjust really melanoma where we are seeing benefits from these treatments but in lung cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, lots of different types of cancer actually. are there not huge side—effects? if people are having to take two very powerful drugs? yes, the two drugs together, particularly in the first few weeks of treatment, can cause significant side—effects. but those tend to be manageable side—effects. we have got lots of experience of managing them over the last four years. if people do develop significant side—effects, we actually tend to stop the immunotherapy we actually tend to stop the immunothera py treatment. one we actually tend to stop the immunotherapy treatment. one really important result coming out of this trial today is that the people who stopped the immunothera py trial today is that the people who stopped the immunotherapy treatment for side—effects early on seemed to have the same type of benefit from the treatment as the people who didn't stop for side—effects, meaning you may not need a prolonged course of this type of treatment to get benefit, which is good for patients. what we would really want to be able to do is give a brief

course of treatment and the patient to be off the drugs and living a normal life. for people watching who might be concerned, is this treatment now going to be available? this actually is a treatment that became available in the uk in 2016, actually, after we had seen that the first results of this trial. this is a treatment available on the nhs. this combination of drugs actually was also approved on the nhs at the beginning of this year for the treatment of kidney cancer that has spread. so, this is a treatment that we have now been using, actually, outside clinical trials at the marsden and other centres in the uk for a number of years. and just finally, are you seeing more melanomas? if so, what do you advise people still to do? we are all travelling more, i guess. in terms of being careful. the incidence of

melanoma is still going up in most of the world, certainly western europe and north america. australasia is the only part of the world where the incidence of melanoma is not going up. what i say to people is do not get sunburned. that is the most important thing, especially for children. stay out of the sun in the middle of the day. cover up, where sun protection. that is the risk factor for this type of disease that make this disease that we know about that is easiest to modify. —— that is the risk factor for this disease that we know about thatis for this disease that we know about that is easiest to modify. thank you. the headlines on bbc news: "a politically motivated attack". downing street reacts angrily as borisjohnson is referred to the police watchdog over his links to an american businesswoman when he was mayor of london. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn promises to replace the government's controversial welfare policy, universal credit, should they get into power. renewed pressure on the trump administration over its dealings with ukraine. the us secretary of state,

mike pompeo, is ordered by democrats to turn over documents connected to the impeachment investigation. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's holly hamilton. and there's been a massive upset at the rugby world cup? yes, especially this set. it was a shock defeat for ireland. beaten by japan in their second group match in what was really a stunning comeback from the hosts. ireland had taken an early lead. gary crossing the line early lead. gary crossing the line early into the first half. but japan tightened the gap in that first half with three penalty kicks before the break, followed then by this deserved effort as the host nation took the lead in the second half. the penalty made it 19—12 as japan

made history to beat ireland for the very first time, and make it two wins from two at this rugby world cup and move top of their group. earlier, argentina picked up a bonus point as they beat tonga 28—12. all their tries came in the first half. a hat—trick from one player. argentina are second behind leaders england, who they play next saturday in tokyo. u nto in tokyo. unto the athletics world championships, where the women's marathon started at midnight local time but with temperatures of 32 celsius and that humidity reaching over 70%, 28 of the 68 starters withdrew. there was gruelling conditions and britain's charlotte was among them. organisers decided to go ahead with the race, where can you's ruth chepngetich went on to win in two hours, 32 minutes and 43 seconds. that is 15 minutes slower than the world record. and it was

not just the than the world record. and it was notjust the marathon that than the world record. and it was not just the marathon that was affected by that heat. this is jonathan busby of aruba, competing in the main‘s 5000 metre heats, and he was in serious trouble. helping him across the line was a competitor of guinea—bissau. busby was ok in the end and even had time to stop his watch. but the question is, how are the british athletes faring in those conditions? so far so good for the semifinalists of the women's 800 metres but there was a huge disappointment for the former european champion lynsey sharp, who failed to qualify for stops she finished fourth, the top three went through and she was not quick enough to get a fastest loser spot. she had been touted as a medal contender in a depleted field this year in the absence of the defending champion. eight matches in the premier league today, including manchester city's

visit to everton. their boss pep guardiola has defended his portuguese forward after the football association asked for the clu b to football association asked for the club to explain a post on social media which has since been deleted, in which silva compared a cartoon character only sweet packet to his friend. a statement from the player says he regrets he may have unintentionally caused offence. he has an exceptional person, exceptional. focus on other issues, not on bernardo because bernardo is not on bernardo because bernardo is not absolutely guilty because his intention was a joke. the face is quite similar. probably the same as happened 1000, one million times with white people, you know? it is the same. sometimes you feel in a

cartoon. it was just a joke. st helens are through to their first super league finalfor st helens are through to their first super league final for five years after thrashing wigan 40—10. st helens, who won the league leaders shield, were all over wigan. mark percival taking the game beyond wigan with two tries. the warriors will have another chance to play the grand final when they play salford next week but for the sense, those celebrations can begin. that is all your support for now and i will have more in the next hour. there've been a series of explosions in afghanistan, where votes are being cast in a presidential election. up to 15 people were wounded in a blast at a polling station in the southern city of kandahar. the election, which has been delayed twice, is going ahead after peace talks between the taliban and the us collapsed earlier this month. donna larsen reports. after months of delays amid the continuing conflict, tens of thousands of security officers have been deployed to guard polling stations against an ever present threat of suicide bombings

and rocket attacks. the taliban, which again controls increasing swathes of the country, since us peace talks broke down earlier this month, has described the election as a fake american process and sworn violence against anyone taking part. people are scared, according to this voter injalalabad. they want security forces to work to secure the situation. we are worried that if we go to the vote centre there will be explosions, this man says. most people can't go to cast their ballots. the poll is considered a two—horse race between the current president ashraf zani and his power—sharing rival abdullah abdullah, the country's chief executive. the previous election in 2014 was marred by massive corruption and this time the government is desperate to claw back some credibility with biometric fingerprint readers and better training of election officials.

in spite of the security concerns, around 5,000 polling stations are open, including in remote hillsides where donkeys have been used to transport ballot boxes. it will take a strong turnout to legitimise the election result, but fear and widespread political apathy could make that unlikely. donna larsen, bbc news. protesters in hong kong are holding a rally to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the so—called u m brella protests. this is the scene there live now. the original series of pro—democracy demonstrations took place in 2014 — with protestors carrying umbrellas to protect themselves from police pepper spray. the movement has surged again this year with anti—government protests. more rallies are due to be held over the weekend, as protesters continue their calls for political change. this week the bbc has been spending a lot of time in stoke—on—trent, whose residents are among the most

indebted in england and wales. more than a thousand people in the city declared personal insolvency last year. money box reporter dan whitworth is in stoke to find out why. first of all, dan, when can you declare personal insolvency? personal insolvency, generally speaking, quite simply is when you don't have enough money to pay the debts that you all. those dates can be anything from mortgage payments or bills or anything like that and you can apply for personal insolvency, to the insolvency service, and essentially tell them you don't have enough money coming in to pay your debts, you are struggling, can you be declared insolvent. how bad is it in stoke, and why there? it is one of the worst places right across england and wales and

in 2017 and 2018, it was the number one area in england and wales regards the rate of personal insolvency, followed closely by scarborough in north yorkshire and torbay in devon. the number you mentioned equates to around about one in every 200 adults in stoke—on—trent being insolvent. as to why? i have been speaking to a variety of experts this week on the ground and they say the reasons are fourfold. obviously, we used to have the potteries industry here which employed tens of thousands of people. now, it employs around 7000. there was a glut of cheap housing, which brings people who are on low wages, quite often zero—hour contracts. low wages, cheap housing and that historical issue of far fewer jobs and that historical issue of far fewerjobs in and that historical issue of far fewer jobs in manufacturing. and that historical issue of far fewerjobs in manufacturing. it has all contributed to make stoke—on—trent one of the hotspots for personal insolvency. if people are worried about facing this problem, what can they do? there is a lot of help out there,

and it backed i spent yesterday at a food bank, one of 16 set up across the city here. the people coming in are obviously quite desperate and certainly one of the ladies, it was her first visit to a food bank. she has got three children. she used to work but lost herjob because she has to look after those children and when she came in, there is an independent data adviser, a specialist, they are as part of the food bank operation. she was able to offer this lady all sorts of help and advice that the lady did not actually know was out there. you can get help. you can get short—term brea ks get help. you can get short—term breaks on your council tax payments, help with your energy bills, with your water rates. very much the advice to people if they are struggling as talk to someone. if you can get specialist help. there is help and advice that can help you turn things around. the government has talked about trying to invest in communities which are struggling. what is the government or local councillor doing? —— local councillor.

well, in fact, we are going to be speaking to some of the key people involved in that. there is a financial inclusion group made up of 14 financial inclusion group made up of 1a organisations, local council, communities, voluntary organisations, have put forward a five year, £12 million plan which would involve trying to change people's habits and behaviours. you can have specialist debt advice which will certainly problem in the short—term but we really need to change behaviours and attitudes to spending. if they are on low incomes, the need to be careful and change their attitudes and the way they think. part of the plan for that financial inclusion group put forward here in stoke—on—trent, that is the attitude, changing attitudes and behaviours to try to help people get back on their feet. very interesting stuff, dan. the broadcasting regulator ofcom says it is assessing comments

made by the bbc presenter naga munchetty following tweets by president trump injuly. she was speaking on bbc breakfast after president trump called for four non—white congresswomen to ‘go back to their countries'. the bbc received a complaint and ruled that naga was entitled to comment about her own experience of racism, but she should not have speculated about the president's motives as that breached impartiality. ofcom says it has now received complaints about the broadcast and it is assessing whether a full invesigation is necessary. skin—lightening creams act like "biological paint stripper" and should be avoided at all costs. that's the stark warning from the local government association. seizures of whitening creams — sold by rogue retailers online, in market stalls and in some shops — showed that many contained hydroquinone which strips off the top layer of skin, and is illegal in the uk unless prescribed by a doctor. this week many people have complained that the tone and language used by mps in the house of commons has gone too far and may incite violence. more than 100 bishops signed an open

letter calling on politicians on all sides to show more respect. so where should politicians draw the line? jayne mccubbin has been speaking with one mp. thank you, mr speaker. the attorney—general speaks of moral and constitutional courage. i have panic alarms. i have a fireproof letterbox. i have been threatened with rape. i have been told i should be exterminated, beheaded. six people have been cautioned for abuse that they have given me. one man has been sentenced to 18 weeks improvement. —— one man has been sentenced to 18 weeks imprisonment. i have been called a traitor and told that i should leave the country, yet i voted three times for the deal to leave. do words have consequences? this mp believes the increasing heat in parliament has led to increasing pressure on mps. this is the panic alarm she has been given which will bring armed police to her within minutes.