this is bbc news, the headlines at 3pm. as conservative mps gather for their party conference, opposition parties consider whether to calla vote of no confidence in the government, in an attempt to avoid a no—deal brexit. meanwhile, 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. hong kong police fire water cannon, to disperse protestors holding a rally, to mark the fifth anniversary of the pro—democracy umbrella movement. incredible scenes in shizuoka,

as rugby world cup hosts japan make history, by beating ireland for the first time with a stunning 19—12 victory. and coming up. click tests all things audio, by paragliding, breaking glass, and going to an eltonjohn concert, that's in half an hour here on bbc news. labour leader, jeremy corbyn, says a minority labour government is becoming more likely every day, as opposition parties consider whether to call a vote of no confidence in the prime minister. it follows a tumultuous week for boris johnson, with criticism of his use of language in the house of commons and his referral to a police watchdog, following allegations that a businesswoman received favourable treatment, when he was mayor of london. the government has described that move as politically motivated. here's our political

correspondent, nick eardley. power is seldom easy. borisjohnson has found out quicker than mostjust how hard it can be and the pressure keeps on coming. come to london, build your businesses here! the mayor of london supports you! the police watchdog has been asked to investigate his relationship with this businesswoman, jennifer arcuri, over claims she received favourable treatment, including grants and places on trade trips, when mrjohnson was mayor of london. the pm denies any wrongdoing, and downing street is furious. this is issue is being politically driven, it is politically motivated, and the prime minister has been clear that proprieties were observed. mrjohnson will be in manchester later, for his party's conference. but, with parliament still sitting, 160 miles away, tory mps could be called back any minute. opposition parties are considering their next move, in the parliamentary brexit battle.

the snp want to bring down the government next week and put a temporary prime minister, likejeremy corbyn, in place, to extend a brexit deadline and call a general election. i think it is only right and proper that he, as the leader of the largest opposition party, should have the first opportunity to form an administration. but, if another name appears in the frame, ken clarke or dominic grieve, that people can coalesce around, then i personally, and i think the snp, would have very little difficulty with that. an open goalfor labour? not quite. other opposition parties are not playing ball. so far, he just does not have the numbers and yet... it is getting more likely every single day, because this government is collapsing, it has now lost all seven votes, since boris johnson became prime minister, and this tory government has been defeated over 45 times in parliament. they don't have a majority, they don't have a programme, they don't have policies and they do not have any credibility.

that doesn't necessarily mean the next few days, but with the 31st of october getting ever closer, the the pressure will increase. on opposition parties, and on the government, in this most fractious political periods. our political correspondent jonathan blake is in manchester. conservative jonathan blake is in manchester. party representat gathering conservative party representatives gathering for their annual conference. he will be booking open return tickets with the potential problems waiting at westminster next week? certainly, they will have an eye on events down there in london with parliament continuing, unusually, while the conservative party conference is held appear in manchester because earlier this week, mps refused to vote in favour ofa week, mps refused to vote in favour of a recess which would normally be the case. these are unusual times, and as you suggest, the government will be perhaps on notice to send people back down to london. because

as we have been hearing, the opposition parties are talking up the possibility of a vote of no confidence in the government, which could then allowjeremy corbyn to form a temporary government and then trigger a general election. potentially securing a further delay to brexit in the meantime. the trouble is, even though the snp sound like they are up for it, jeremy corbyn saying it is more and more likely by the day, as you heard in the report by nick eardley, the mps are not all in the same position because they want different things apart from the common aim of wanting to oppose a no—deal brexit and wanting to get rid of borisjohnson out of number ten. some want a further referendum, some are happy with jeremy corbyn further referendum, some are happy withjeremy corbyn as prime minister temporarily, some are not. whilst the prospect is there and the opposition are keen to pile pressure on to the prime minister, the immediate prospect of a vote of no confidence doesn't look particularly

likely in the days ahead. so, the conservatives will be coming to try to ram home the message that it is the get brexit and who will then have a focused programme of domestic policy, some of which we have heard about already today. along the lines of animal welfare, reducing carbon emissions and securing funding for organisations which rely on money from the eu and her will be more to come of that in the days to come. the liberal democrat mp with us about an hour ago was saying that it matters who becomes prime minister and therefore the liberal democrats are not just and therefore the liberal democrats are notjust going to weave it through, as it were, even if the other oppositions want to bring down the current government and install, let's sayjeremy corbyn, as leader ofa let's sayjeremy corbyn, as leader of a minority government. how difficult will it be to resolve this tension between the opposition groups? this grouping of the

parties, they seem to have held together quite effectively? they have. up to a point. because they do have. up to a point. because they do have a common aim of avoiding at all costs are no—deal brexit at the end of october, the 31st, and a common aim of putting as much pressure on the government as possible. and up until this point, they have agreed that the best way to do that is to not go for a vote of and unite against the prime minister in parliament, because that would in one respect, give him what he wants. the opportunity for a general election. and one, potentially, before the brexited ling, through which the conservatives would campaign on the basis that they would be the party to deliver brexit. —— brexit deadline. it has come down to this very tight timescale between now, the eu summit in the middle of october when, if

there is to be a deal done, that is there is to be a deal done, that is the most likely time for it to happen, and then the deadline of the end of october, when the prime minister, if he get a deadline, will hope to get it voted through parliament. as the days go on, different opposition parties may make decisions which determine the next move and they are due to meet on monday, but at the moment, as eyesight, the prospect of a vote of no confidence in the government doesn't seem likely in the immediate term. the conservative party is in contrast with the labour conference party where policies are displayed and is not made. some of the promotional materials find you there. how important to the conservatives regard this week as being, given the expectation of one way or another that there will be general election not far off?|j think they well imagine it to be hugely important. everything you will see and hear over the next

three days from the conservatives here in manchester, will be along the lines of, will look and sound like we are preparing for a general election because that is what the prime minister wants, that is what many in the party would like to have, to enable them to form a majority government, and be able to govern more effectively than they can at the moment, and be able to, ifa can at the moment, and be able to, if a brexiting is done, get it through parliament, more easily. or have a mandate to deliver brexit at the end of october with or without a deal. you will hear a lot about getting brexit done, as you say, this logic slogan suggests. beyond that investment and focus on public services, public service and domestic agenda as well. the trouble is that both things the prime minister says that he wants, general election to increase his majority and get on with governing, and a brexit deal, to be able to take the uk out of the eu with an agreement, is his preferred option, both of

those things have been denied him at the moment. and a seeminglyjust out of reach. what about the bee word, the brexit party. will that be in the brexit party. will that be in the minds of conservatives?” the brexit party. will that be in the minds of conservatives? i think it well. because if an election comes before the brexit deadline, then the conservatives are well aware that they are vulnerable, and if brexit has not happened, the brexit party, led by nigel farage, will be able to eat in to the electoral hawks. perhaps cutting their majority and taking seats in parliament, perhaps threatening seats where the conservatives don't have particularly strong presence because they have a simple message that brexit should be delivered prefera bly that brexit should be delivered preferably almost without a deal. certainly by the current deadline of the 31st october. i think that is why you will see, as well as the focus which the party would like to have on its domestic agenda, talk about brexit as well, and being the party that is able to deliver that

effectively, that message is aimed securely and squarely at voters who might well waver in the general election and be tempted to vote for the brexit party instead. jonathan blake, at manchester, conservative party conference, thank you very much. jeremy corbyn has said that if labour is elected it will scrap the government's flagship welfare system, universal credit. mr corbyn, who has been giving a speech in chingford, described the benefit as "cruel and inhumane" — and outlined his party's approach. there is a number of things we will do, leading up to scrapping universal credit, in its entirety. cheering. but first of all, we will end the capability for work assessment tests that go on and are so brutal to people in their lives and have led, tragically, to some people taking their own lives and committing suicide, because they cannot see any way forward. as a constituency mp, i sit

with people going through the pain of being told they're capable for work, when they are clearly not. that report on the situation as it is developing. 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. god bless you, mr president! 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, adam schiff. 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, the whistle—blower‘s account of events has proved uncannily accurate, not only about the contents of the telephone call, but attempts by the white house to cover them up. they have now confirmed that a transcript of the call was moved to a more secure server. as the democrats' impeachment inquiry gathers pace, today saw the first subpoena to the secretary of state, mike pompeo, demanding documents relating to contacts between members of his staff and the government of ukraine. committee members also said they had scheduled depositions from five state department officials, among them the former us ambassador to the ukraine, marie yovanovitch, who was recalled over policy disagreements with president trump. and the us special envoy to ukraine,

kurt volker, who is said to have helped president trump's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, set up meetings there with government officials. shortly after the news of the depositions was announced, mr volker resigned from his job at the state department. president trump's reaction to the impeachment inquiry continues to veer from anger to incredulity. the witchhunt continues. but they are getting hit hard on this witchhunt, because when they look at the information, it's 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 are moving quickly here, with some democrats predicting that articles of impeachment could be ready to be voted on by the end of november. david willis, bbc news, los angeles.

i've been speaking to doctor leslie vinjamuri — head of the us and americas programme at the foreign policy think tank, chatham house, about the democrats decision to launch an impeachment inquiry into president trump dealings with ukraine. nancy pelosi has been under pressure from certain parts of her party to begin impeachment hearings for quite some time and she has been very pragmatic. she has let the mueller report run its course, watched findings be released, has allowed a number of investigations. remember there are investigations ongoing in multiple committees. she has resisted, until this point, turning this into a formal impeachment. so i think the news of the whistle—blower report, the initial refusal of the executive branch to turn that over to the house, the transcripts such as we saw, i think nancy pelosi made a very clearjudgement that there was no other path than to actually begin it.

and do you have a sense, because in the past have been lots of enquiries by congress against the president, almost seems as if people have been dragged from the administration to defend the president on a weekly basis, it has seemed. the reaction from the trump base has been that it is all politics, just games playing. will this process be seen differently? because presumably it is a political risk for the democrats? it is, but remember that the most important decision is whether or not the actions of the president were unlawful, whether he violated the trust of the american people and i think that, as people begin to see these hearings, as they begin to see the evidence, the attitudes will change. some of those attitudes will harden against the democrats, but inevitably when the question of a president, the allegations of a president working with a foreign government

to interfere in future elections, and also to link america's military assistance, to condition it on that pressure, our very grave. so i think as we see those hearings, peoples attitudes will change. we have seen, since the decision, an uptick, more people supporting... quite dramatic in some of the polls? i saw one leapt 12% in one, presumably that will settle down but perhaps it suggests the public are engaging more? the numbers have not spiked as much on the republican side, but it is going to be very dynamic. attitudes will change, a lot will come down to how the hearings are conducted. exactly what charges move forward, and how the evidence is framed. there will be a campaign, we have already seen it, to attempt to defame the whistle—blower by the president, and

a lot of people are going to peel off from this administration. we have seen very high resignation from kurt volker, a number of people will testify, people who the american public respect. so the notion that this is just more of the same, i think, is fundamentally misconceived and under—anticipates how much is going to come out over the next few months. the headlines on bbc news. as conservative mps gather for their party conference, opposition parties consider whether to call a vote of no confidence in the government, in an attempt to avoid a no—deal brexit. meanwhile, 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.

hong kong have fired water canon to disperse anti—government protesters who threw rocks and blocked a key road next to a huge pro—democracy. demonstrators have been holding a rally to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the so—called ‘umbrella' protests. it happened near the legislative council building, where many previous anti—government demonstrations in recent weeks have been held. the ‘umbrella' demonstrations began in 2014, but the movement has surged again this year. more rallies are due to be held over the weekend as protesters continue their calls for political change. the polls have closed in the afghan presidential election. voting was marred by bomb attacks. the election commission had extended the voting by two hours, due to long queues of people waiting to cast their ballots. our correspondent, shwaib sharifi, is in kabul and told us earlier that voting turnout was patchy and low throughout afghanistan. it is very difficult to know, at this time, the exact level of turnout,

across the country. but it has continued to be patchy and low throughout, particularly in the mornings, initially because of the fears of serious taliban warning, a day ahead of the voting. and also the voting centres were opened parallel to multiple attacks, mortar attacks, in some cities in afghanistan, including the one in southern province where, inside a polling centre, a bomb exploded, wounding at least 16 people who had come there to cast their vote. this, somehow, added to the already worries about attacks against polling centres. and the turnout continued to be low, and that, perhaps maybe is the reason that the independent election commission extended the voting timing to another two hours, it was supposed to close at 1500,

kabul time, but reports from some provinces of afghanistan indicate people later, slightly got momentum later to turnout to the voting centres. and that was one of the reasons that the time was extended. and in some places, in the morning, due to security and logistical problems, some centres had failed to either open on time, or operate on time. so another hour from now, the voting centres will be open but, still, compared to the 2018 parliamentary elections and the previous presidential elections, turn it doesn't seem to be very impressive.

the crew would be repatriation after ten weeks. the vessel was taken to weeks after an iranians tanker was held off the strait of gibraltar. tehran denied they took the ship as an act of retaliation. the hosts of the rugby world cup —japan — have recorded one of the biggest upsets in the sport's history. they have beaten ireland — one of the favourites to lift the trophy — by 19 points to 12. our sports correspondent, andy swiss, watched the match in shizuoka. well, what a memorable night for the thousands of japan fans, here in shizuoka. four years ago, at the world cup, of course, it was south africa. now it was ireland on the end of another remarkable giant—killing. ireland, who seemed to have taken control of the first half, they scored two early tries. the first from gary ringrose, as he collected a fine kick from jack carty. carty then set up the second try as well, for rob kearney. at that point, ireland really seemed in control. they were 12—3 up.

butjapan upped the tempo. they came back before the break, three penalties meant ireland led only 12—9, at half—time. butjapan had all the momentum and then, with 20 minutes to go, japan scored the try that sent theirfans into raptures. the try, courtesy of kenki fukuoka. who went over in the corner. that gave them the lead, ireland could find no way back as japan landed a late penalty to make it 19—12 at the final whistle. such disappointment for ireland, but forjapan, it is now two wins out of two and, after other a memorable night here, they are on course to make the quarterfinals. doctors have heralded an extraordinary transformation in the treatment of a deadly form of skin cancer. ten years ago, advanced melanoma was seen as untreatable, but a clinical trial shows half of patients are now surviving for at least five years. the drugs involved target the immune system and are already

available on the nhs. gallagher, reports. pam smith is alive and well. but it's been more than five years since she had the devastating news that her cancer was untreatable. an aggressive melanoma had spread inside her body and she says she didn't stand a chance. but pam took part in a pioneering trial and says it saved her life. without having drugs like that, i might not have got to see my grandchildren. so... because it's just over the five years now since it happened and my youngest grandchild, he was six at the weekend. so, you know, i wouldn't have seen him growing up and the other grandchildren, as well. ten years ago, people usually died within six to nine months of being diagnosed. this trial, on 9115 patients, tested a combination of immunotherapies and it showed 52% were still alive five years later.

the doctor who's presenting the data at a cancer conference said the impact was an amazing surprise. it's been the most extraordinary transformation, from a disease that was regarded, amongst all the cancers, as the most difficult to treat, with the most serious prognosis, to, as you say, the possibility that 50% of people with stage four melanoma will be alive five years after having immunotherapy treatment. pam has not been cured. her cancer halved in size, after treatment and has not grown in five years. others are in complete remission, with no sign of a tumour in their body. immunotherapy is nobel prize—winning science that is making the untreatable treatable. james gallagher, bbc news. 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. 50 years ago, sikhs working on wolverhampton‘s buses won the right to wear their turbans at work. their victory followed a long dispute, when racial tensions in the city were running high. john maguire reports on how one man's stand for religious freedom changed the law forever. it was a campaign that brought thousands onto the streets of the uk and india and personified a changing britain. after a two—year battle, wolverhampton finally allowed its sikh bus drivers to wear a turban and beard. tarsem singh sandhu was the man who made the stand. if there is no harm to anybody else, then why on this earth we are not allowed to practise our religion?

so it kept me going, i thought if this is happening today, tomorrow something else will come up, tomorrow something else will come up. i have to live my life — i have to live the way i am. nobody will chain me. so that kept me going. mr sandhu says he had hoped for support from his friend the local mp — that was one enoch powell, whose infamous rivers of blood speech had stoked the flames of anti—immigration. my house used to be his committee room on election day, so he was so close to me. but in politics, you don't know when they are friend or not friend. if i had known it was your newspaper, i would not have... now, half a century on and the city is paying a new tribute to one of its heroes. a play called himmat — which means courage — is being performed at the wolverhampton art gallery. and then sharanjit, who finally

gives her the coins. i know from my own experiences people don't always have an understanding about who the sikhs are as a faith and as a community. and so, it is important for everybody to recognise that these things are happening in different ways. but they are still out there and we cannot forget that — especially in the day and age that we're living in now. we interrupted rehearsals, with a surprise visit from the man whose story inspired the play. this was your first job? as a bus driver. 0k, 0k. i don't think that's from wolverhampton, but this is a driver's badge. back at wolverhampton bus station, his legacy is plain to see. you cannot grow your beard, you cannot have a turban on, so i had to fight for it. one man's determination united many and divided others, but, ultimately, proved to be a catalyst for change and a victory for people's rights, beliefs and freedoms. john maguire, bbc news.

meghan the duchess of sussex has tied a ribbon at a memorial to a south african student, at the post office where she was raped and murdered last month. a post on her official instagram feed says the duchess did it to show solidarity with those who have taken a stand against gender based violence. meghan is in south africa, as part of a 10—day tour of southern africa with prince harry and their son archie. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. 30 say we have had mixed fortunes. some of us have had sunshine, like here in musselburgh. not1 million miles away, the skies look very different in aberdeenshire. waterlogged roads as we saw persistently wet weather here from this weather front that was with us all afternoon. we had a weather front also in the west stretching in from merseyside towards lincolnshire, also bringing some

fairly persistent rain. down towards the southwest approaches, some areas of blue. this is the area of low pressure rattling off the atlantic, bringing some wet and windy weather across much of england and wales, particularly tonight. the rain will arrive, pushing north and east, getting into northern ireland and across northern england by the end of the night. showers will continue to affect northern parts of scotland and with all the cloud around, the wind and the rain, not particularly cold. temperatures staying in double figures but the winds will be gusty towards the english channel coast, around 45— minute 50 miles for our. —— a5 around 45— minute 50 miles for our. -- 45 to 50 around 45— minute 50 miles for our. —— 45 to 50 mph. the weather will slowly improve with sunny spells breaking through. best of the weather to western areas but if will be showers across north scotland. the rain lingers in the east

midlands, into lincolnshire,