welcome to bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: democrats hit back as president trump calls on beijing to launch an inquiry into political rival joe biden and his son. china should start an investigation into the bidens because what happened to china is just about as bad as what happened with, uh, with ukraine. in the uk, prime minister boris johnson's brexit plan faces opposition in both parliament and the eu. and a special report from iraq on the sexual exploitation of children and young women by some shia muslim clerics. over a thousand lung injury cases related to vaping are reported in north america, as officials confirm the death toll stands at 18. tribal politics and animal instincts

— british street artist banksy‘s political statement, is sold for $12 million. in washington, the row over the democrats‘ impeachment inquiry for donald trump has reached a new level. the president appears to be doubling down, calling openly notjust for ukraine to investigate the democratic presidential candidate joe biden, but for china to do so as well. the democrats are describing it as repugnant, and a fundamental breach of the oath of office. but mr trump sees it differently. china should start an investigation into the bidens because what happened to china is just about as bad as what happened with, uh, with ukraine so i would say that president zelensky, if it were me, i would recommend that they start an investigation into the bidens because nobody has

any doubt they weren't crooked, that was a crooked deal 100%. our correspondent in washington, chris buckler, has more on the president's new comments. it seems remarkable that donald trump would first —— president trump is trying with a strategy to try and say i am doing nothing wrong. the question should all be aboutjoe biden and his son, hunter. but what he is doing is throwing a lot of dirt at the bidens. in the reality is that none

of it is substantiated. he has not provided any evidence. he is simply putting out a lot of allegations and encouraging other governments to look into their actions. it is a great change of strategy if you consider that 2a hours ago he was awkwardly trying to avoid questions about what he said to the ukrainian president stop now he is getting out there and saying i asked the question, eye asked them to investigate, so what? ultimately, though, it will feed into the calls for impeachment from the democrats. that new strategy is only a few hours old, is it changing people's view on the proceedings? there have been some suggestions from polling that has been done that there has been some support growing for impeachment. but, of course, we are

ata impeachment. but, of course, we are at a very, very early stage and all of this. an president trump is, in those words you have seen, very much trying to appeal to his base. his supporters. but given that in 12 months from now we will be in the last leg of what will be a better election campaign. the 2020 presidential election is coming up and it is going to matter than what is said here and then. president trump will do his best to paint himself as a victim. and democrats know there is a danger in all of that and they realise that what really matters is what those floating voters think. those people in the midwest of america, those in the rust belt were persuaded to vote donald trump in 2016, will they by his claims that he has done nothing wrong when it comes to 2020? and certainly what i think you will see over the next while is a huge focus on these impeachment proceedings, these impeachment inquiries, towards what democrats are talking about,

potential proceedings. even today we had interviews with the former us special envoy to ukraine and when you take a look at washington at the moment it is consumed with talk of potential impeachment. there are stories from the new york times, cnn, washington post, abc, many others tonight, all looking at the present‘s actions and he will be under his scrutiny in the months to come. chris buckler there. the new brexit proposals unveiled by the british prime minister boris johnson have already provoked a wave of scepticism — both at westminster and across the eu. the irish government says it has deep concerns, and the european council president says he's unconvinced. the main proposals relate to northern ireland. it would stay in the eu single market for all goods and that would mean accepting eu rules and standards. but, crucially, northern ireland would leave the customs union and that would mean new customs checks on the island of ireland. but all of this would depend on a future vote by the northern ireland assembly, a body which is currently suspended. so what's the reaction been to all of this in europe?

0ur europe editor katya adler reports from brussels. well, you could say that the prime minister is stuck between a rock and a hard place. he seems cautiously optimistic that the majority of mps would support his new brexit proposals, but the eu doesn't. and if he moves closer to the eu's position, say over customs, then he risks losing support from hardline brexiteers at home. so now what? well, the eu mood can probably best be summed up in a tweet today from the president of the european council, donald tusk. he said he spoke to the irish prime minister and to borisjohnson today. his message to dublin was that the eu fully stands behind ireland, meaning that it will not abandon irish interest just to get a deal. to borisjohnson he said that the eu remains open to his proposals but unconvinced.

n0w, the prime minister's main eu envoy is in brussels tonight and tomorrow, trying to do some heavy convincing. and the eu chief brexit negotiator has a string of questions for him. you see, the eu worries that the prime minister's proposals are not legally watertight, that they expose the single market to smuggling, and that they put the northern ireland peace process at risk. michel barnier says he wants to suss out the uk's room for manoeuvre. can boris johnson jenny further? and depending on the answers he gets, mr barnier says he will tell germany and france and the rest of the eu whether he thinks it is in their interest to keep negotiating. katya adler there. the us health authorities say at least 18 people across the country are now known to have died from lung problems linked to vaping e—cigarettes. the centers for disease control and prevention said 1,080 cases of probable lung injury had been reported in the united states so far. it's a jump from around eight hundred known cases reported last week.

dr albert rizzo is the chief medical officer for the american lung association and hejoins me now from chicago. docter, thank you so much for your time. first of all, the cdc in the united states talks about informal sources, it talks about people who have got ill possibly using thc, cannabis, in the vaping product. do you think this could be a contamination? people using the products in an unrecognised way, or do you think it is the vaping products themselves? well, since there are 70 cases occurring a different pathology being seen when biopsies are done, it is hard to pin down one device, one substance, one chemical, is i think we need to keep an open mind. i think most of the cases have involved tac being part of the ingredient in the vaping products, but by no means is that considered across the board —— thc.

that is the difficult part. we see more and more cases being recognised a new cases being brought to attention, so we need to look harder and find the ingredient that is causing the problem. the cdc has called for sweeping changes, effectively they're saying young people shouldn't use vaping products, and adults who don't use it shouldn't start, is the cdc overacting a little bit given they don't know what is behind this? well, i think the cdc is not overreacting. the american lung association has felt for a number of yea rs association has felt for a number of years that anybody who does not use nicotine for any reason should not begin using nicotine as part of the vaping device. in the worry we have ha rd vaping device. in the worry we have hard is that the flavours that have been so attractive to young people has led to an epidemic, in this country, of teenagers and adolescents taking up vaping when they would not have taken up smoking otherwise. we have a whole new generation addicted to nicotine and who may become cigarette smokers in the future, with more potential

death from tobacco. we have put the point of flavoured vaping to consumer advocates for smoke—free alternatives, and they say it is the aduu alternatives, and they say it is the adult users who want that kind of flavouring and it is not targeting young people. well, unfortunately, in this country into target the young people. we don't have the same type of restrictions and regulations that some of countries have. and over the last several years and has been very easy for the young people to acquire these drugs, these devices. and they have become addicted because the flavours are so attractive. just briefly, what do you think should happen next now with vaping? well, the main thing is that the fda in this country needs to do that the fda in this country needs todoa that the fda in this country needs to do a premarket review of any product that is out in the marketplace and determine whether or not it is appropriate for public safety. i think about vaping and the illness is going on now, the advice is don't vape, if you have never

vaped, don't start them if you have been vaping, please stop, if you are vaping and you continue to get symptoms similar to what has been noticed, please seek medical attention as soon as you can. 0k, dr albert rizzo, with the american lung association, thank you very much your time. an undercover investigation by the bbc in iraq has exposed evidence of sexual exploitation of children and young women by some shia muslim clerics. it centres around a practice known as "pleasure marriage", which allows men to take wives for a short period of time — sometimes as little as an hour. and in some cases, money is changing hands for girls who are controlled by clerics. you may find some parts of this report by nawal al maghafi distressing. karbala — the holiest shrine in shia islam, visited by millions of pilgrims every year. in the streets around the shrine are marriage offices where couples come to get wed. but they hold one of iraq's darkest secrets.

we had heard some clerics were abusing their power, using temporary marriages, or mutah, to facilitate prostitution with young girls. it is a marriage contract with an expiry date, which can be as short as an hour. some say they can be a positive move for couples who are aware of what they are doing. but they are also ripe for exploitation. in a year—long investigation, we went undercover around some of iraq's holiest shrines. these temporary marriages are illegal in iraq. however, we found clerics willing to do them, not only facilitating them with young girls, but also offering justification through their interpretation of islamic law to have sex with them.

we showed our footage to an expert in islamic law, ghaith al tamimi, a former high—ranking cleric himself. translation: what this man is saying is a crime, that must be punished by law. ghaith says it is one reason

he decided to speak out against the clerics. translation: i realised that these rules were ugly and cruel, and could not come from god, or from anyone human. throughout our investigation, we gathered evidence of clerics willing to facilitate sex with young girls in return for cash. in one instance, we were told children cost as little as £700. rasul is 16 years old, but already she has been sold to more men than she can remember. with no parents, and a younger sister to support, she was groomed by a cleric atjust 13 years old.

this cleric denied carrying out temporary marriages, and we received no response from this cleric. both say they're followers of grand ayatollah al—sistani, one of the most senior figures in shia islam. we put our findings to his office, which released the following statement. countless years of war have left millions of women and girls vulnerable and destitute. as long as the religious clerics operate with impunity, they will continue to be victims of iraq's secret sex trade. nawalal—maghafi, bbc news, iraq. stay with us on bbc news.

still to come: criminal damage and red faces — the environmental protest that failed to hit the mark. in all russia's turmoil, it has never quite come to this. president yeltsin said the day would decide the nation's destiny. the nightmare that so many people have feared for so long is playing out its final act here. russians are killing russians in front of a grandstand audience. it was his humility which produced affection from catholics throughout the world. but his departure is a tragedy for the catholic church. this man, israel's right—winger ariel sharon, visited the religious compound and that started the trouble. he wants israel alone to have sovereignty over the holy sites, an idea that's unthinkable to palestinians.

after 45 years of division, germany is one. in berlin, a million germans celebrate the rebirth of europe's biggest and richest nation. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump has urged another foreign country, china, to launch an investigation into his democrat rivaljoe biden, and his son. the british prime minister, boris johnson, puts forward further proposals to break the brexit deadlock but european leaders say they're not convinced. the united kingdom and the united states have signed what both countries are calling an historic agreement on sharing data. it's intended to "dramatically speed up" investigations into criminals' online activity. the reciprocal arrangement means law enforcement bodies could demand terrorists' and child abusers' electronic data directly from technology companies

based in either country. the uk home secretary priti patel announced the agreement, along with the us attorney general, william barr, after a meeting in washington. this will effectively leave callous criminals who exploit the internet with nowhere to hide. our law enforcement agencies will be finally able to demand the data they need from internet giants, to bring people who abuse children and terrorists to justice. i would like to give my particular thanks to the attorney general, and to all of those, many of whom are here today, who have made this momentous occasion possible. the president of ecuador has declared a state of emergency after a day of protests against cuts to fuel subsidies, which came into effect on thursday. lenin moreno has criticised the violence, which is the worst unrest in the country for years. sylvia lennan—spence reports.

four hours they raged through the streets of the capital, sewing their anger to the government. masked protesters threw stones at police who responded with tear gas and deployed armoured vehicles. without the city, roads were blocked with burning tyres. groups of demonstrators trying to reach the government palace in downtown were pushed back by riot police. officers made a number of arrests. testers are angry at president lenin moreno's decision to end ao—year—old subsidies forfuel, moreno's decision to end ao—year—old subsidies for fuel, which were costing the government more than $1 billion annually, and therefore, he said, no longer affordable. translation: these subsidies benefited those who didn't need it and benefited from smuggling. these resources must be invested in health, housing and security for all ecuadorians. they are part of his plan to bolster ecuador‘s economy

and is its debt burden. it announced it was leaving the organisation of the petroleum exporting countries, opec. it currently pumps more than 500,000 barrels a day. but with prices now expected to more than doubled, people are angry. translation: mr lenin moreno, the looting organised —— blamed by protesters, was organised. they should be paying for this crisis. the people will keep fighting. ecuador has a long history of political instability. street protests toppled three presidents during economic turmoil in the late 19905. during economic turmoil in the late 1990s. when lenin moreno took office in 2017, he said he would not allow protesters to impose chaos. something that demonstrators have now vowed to keep doing. sylvia lennan—spence, bbc news. peruvian authorities have

intercepted a huge shipment of dried seahorses, fished illegally from the pacific and due to be sold in asia. the seizure, weighing more than a ton, highlights the growth in wildlife smuggling around the world. andy beatt reports. dried, boxed, and ready for export. 12 million pacific seahorses packed onto a ship in callao, peru's biggest and busiest port. evidence of an environmental crime. translation: we have seized 55 boxes of dried seahorses weighing more than 1000 kilos. the capture and trade of the species are strictly prohibited anywhere along the peruvian coast. the contra band cargo was destined to be sold abroad. in traditional chinese medicine, seahorses are believed to help with ailments as diverse as infertility, baldness, and asthma. this huge haul likely to be worth millions of dollars on the black market. conservationists say the illicit trade, fuelled by organised crime, is one of the gravest threats to wildlife across south america and beyond. four crewmembers, three peruvians and a venezuelan, have been detained by police. if found guilty they face

3—5 years injail. andy beatt, bbc news. a painting by the mysterious british street artist, banksy, has sold for a record amount for one of his works. gareth barlow has more. it sold for five times more than its estimate. the uk parliament, but not as you know it. cheering politicians replaced by a troupe of chimpanzees, howling, instead of "hear, hear." painted a decade ago, the artwork could be considered particularly pertinent in an increasingly polarised political world. this is one of our oldest

democracies, and within it we see the regression towards tribal, animalistic behaviour — that regardless of which side you stand on the brexit debate, there's no question that over the last few weeks we've seen incredible behaviour here in the house of commons in the uk. at four metres wide, the painting is banksy‘s largest piece, and now commands the highest price. his reaction to the record figure — shame i didn't still own it. gareth barlow, bbc news. climate change activists in london have taken their protest to the government attempting to spray fake blood over the treasury building. members of extinction rebellion used an old fire engine to spray 1,800 litres of coloured water over the building. it comes ahead of two weeks of protests. and as ayshea buksh reports, not everything went to plan. taking control of a fire hose is

never easy, particularly when you are aiming it at a government building. the red liquid is said to symbolise blood, and the people behind it, climate change activists. a small group of demonstrators stayed outside the treasury, testing, they said, against the government's funding of claimant damaging policies. after a few hours, some were arrested, including vetera n hours, some were arrested, including veteran protester, 84—year—old phil kingston. our inaction is making our weather... and at a press conference in soho, some of those plans were unveiled. we are going to peacefully blockade and sat down every single road going into the central area of westminster around the uk government. earlier this year, parts of central london were brought to a standstill by similar mass direct action, and thousands were arrested. this taxidriver does not remember it fondly. i lost a lot of money, you can't move anywhere. i'm sure the government are doing as much as they can, they're making a sold run

electric carbs there are people just trying to go about their ordinary lives. they may feel they are trying to reduce their emissions or do their bit for climate change. personal behaviour change isn't going to do anything like what we need to do to address this crisis. and the met police commissioner has also expressed concerns about police resources . also expressed concerns about police resources. extinction rebellion have been extremely challenging as a group to police. in the times that they have been in london or indeed when they went to heathrow, recently. last time around we arrested over 1100 people, i hope we don't have to do that this time but we will police positively and firmly. the government says they are tackling this climate crisis, but for protesters, it's not enough. now, before we go, let'sjust now, before we go, let's just remind

you of our top story. leading democrats in the us are again accusing president trump of betraying his oath of office after he publicly called on china to investigate his election rival, joe biden, possible election rival. stay with us. hello. at one stage hurricane lorenzo, way out in the atlantic, had winds gusting up to 190 mph. it is no longer a hurricane, and it weakens quite quickly as it moves from ireland across the united kingdom during friday. that said, it is still quite windy, though nothing too unusual for the time of year. as we start friday, winds easing in northern ireland, but they are going to be picking up towards south wales and south—west england. and it'll be fairly blustery wherever you are, with cloud and outbreaks of rain. a much milder start compared with thursday morning. and the winds pick up a bit further, south wales, south—west england, during friday morning, maybe gusting along some coasts up to around 60, maybe 65 mph, before easing later. a lot of cloud, outbreaks of rain to start the day, but edging southwards across south wales and southern england on through the afternoon, replacing any early brightness, whereas elsewhere it turns a bit drier and a little brighter. the best of the sunshine in northern

scotland and throughout the day in the northern isles, and temperatures a little bit higher compared with thursday. so the winds ease further as we go on through friday night. still some cloud and patchy rain for parts of southern england, south wales, into northern ireland. the clearest skies to the north and east of that. there'll be a few mist and fog patches developing, and where you are clear, temperatures are dipping down into single figures as we start the weekend. so on saturday morning, then, some mist and fog patches around. some sunny spells the further east you are, but there's another weather system coming in from the atlantic, and that's going to spread cloud further east. with it, initially some light and patchy rain. that rain, though, turning heavier into northern ireland and western scotland, with a strengthening south—easterly wind during the day. and, as for those temperatures, of course it'll feel best where you get to see some sunshine. but then again, as the breeze picks up, well, we'rejust talking about the mid to low teens. now, let's take a look at the big picture going into sunday. this frontal system is coming across us, and quite slowly, with some heavy and persistent rain. there could be some quite large rain totals in places on into sunday,

so that's something worth watching. and, while there's a bit of uncertainty about how quickly this is going to clear eastwards, some of us will emerge into the sunshine on sunday. but the further east you are, some of us, as you can see, will not. we'll keep you updated on how that looks over the next few days. and again, as for temperatures, well, we're talking mainly towards the mid—teens. in any cloud and rain, though, it is going to feel colder on sunday compared with saturday. and just a look into next week, a selection of places here. it's looking very autumnal. it will be quite windy throughout the week. it will be wet at times, not all the time. there'll be some sunshine occasionally, too.

this is bbc news. the headlines: in washington the row over the democrats' impeachment inquiry for donald trump has reached a new level. without reached a new level. offering any evidence, he called without offering any evidence, he called adam schiff, who chose the house intelligence committee, a lowlife who should be investigated for treason. . just presented by prime minister borisjohnson, briefings just presented by prime minister boris johnson, briefings from diplomats in brussels focusing on concerns that the british proposal does not resolve the issue at the irish border, could threaten both the peace process and the eu's single market. at least seven people

have been killed as a vintage world war ii bomber crashed. those are the headlines. stay with us on bbc news. now on bbc news — panorama. jamal khashoggi. smart, kind... ..an outspoken saudi journalist. he vanished after walking into an embassy. tonight on panorama, we hear from two women who've listened to recordings of what happened next. the horror of listening to somebody‘s voice and the fear in someone's voice makes a shiver go through your body. the sound will indicate he has been suffocated —