this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: president under pressure — democrats issue a legal demand to the white house for documents relating to an impeachment inquiry. hundreds of protesters join unofficial rallies in hong kong, defying a government ban on face masks. prince harry launches legal action against the owners of two british newspapers over alleged phone hacking. and the revolutionary technology that's allowed a paralysed man to move again.

the white house has been ordered to hand over documents relating to the impeachment investigation of president trump. a statement from the heads of the democratic—led inquiry committee said they sent a letter to the acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney, demanding evidence related to allegations that mr trump pressured ukraine for political favours. they accused the president of defiance, obstruction and cover—up. our washington correspondent, chris buckler, reports. what one president asked another is at the heart of a democrat impeachment enquiry. and they are determined to find out how far donald trump was prepared to go to push the ukrainian leader into investigating his political rival, joe biden, and a business with his son hunter. the chairman of three congressional committees have now issued subpoenas demanding documents

that they hope will also reveal what was being discussed the white inside house. in an open letter, they said motor pool request had been ignored and they accuse the president of choosing a path that make path of obstruction and cover—up. donald trump did ask the ukrainian president to launch an enquiry into the bidens. but he claims that was his right. this is about corruption. and if you read our constitution and many other things, i have an obligation to look at corruption. i have an actual obligation and a duty. and amid all the talk of impeachment, mr trump continues to make unfounded allegations about mr biden. who hopes to challenge him in next year ‘s presidential election. you point out why he is flatlining when there is no evidence, not a scintilla, not a tiny little piece. the american people know me and they know him. even the people who

support him, even though he lacks character, even though the people who support him though he lies co nsta ntly. who support him though he lies constantly. pressure on the ukrainian government has been given more weight by the reveal of this text from bill taylor. donald trump insists that there was no quid pro quo. the democrats say they need to see all of the white house documents to get a clear picture of the president ‘s actions. don't forget you can get a lot more analysis on our website including this piece that takes you through all those text messages between diplomats that everybody is talking about. that is from one of our north

american report is so a lot of analysis there. all of the text m essa 9 es analysis there. all of the text messages can be read their —— there. hong kong's entire metro system has been shut down following violent demonstrations by thousands of protesters, who defied a newly—imposed ban on wearing face masks in public. it's the first time the whole network has been closed since the unrest began four months ago. demonstrators lit fires outside several stations, and attacked businesses and banks linked to china. police responded with live ammunition and tear gas. rupert wingfield hayes reports from hong kong. hong kong's chief executive made her whole cabinet stand with her and face the cameras together, visually declaring their support for the dramatic step she was about to take. we believe that a new law will create a deterrent effect against masked, violent protesters and rioters and will assist the police in its law enforcement. the objective of this regulation

is to end violence and restore order and i believe this is now the broad consensus of hong kong people. chanting. that is certainly not what it looked like on the streets outside. in hong kong's central business district, news of the facemask ban brought angry office workers onto the streets in their hundreds. they tore down a giant banner celebrating communist china's 70th anniversary and rapidly put it to flame. within hours, the numbers on the street had swelled from hundreds to thousands. carrie lam has told the people of hong kong, "if you come out on the streets tomorrow wearing masks, you will be a criminal". well, this is their response. they are furious and they are challenging her and her government to do their worst. they fired tear gas. this young woman did not

want to show her face. butjust listen to her anger. we are not afraid of this unlawful act and we will tell the government that we will not surrender because of their suppression. and also, the authoritarian government, because they are pro—beijing. we are hong kong. we should be given the democracy to rule by the rule of law. attacks on police by masked protesters, like this one on tuesday, is the reason the government says it has been forced to bring in the facemask ban. but tonight it seems to be making the violence even worse. this is a video of a policeman, under attack in the town ofjianlong. the officer has fired his gun. now the protesters respond with petrol bombs. as the midnight deadline passed, and the new facemask law came into effect, tear gas grenades continued to rain down. the streets continued to burn.

we can speak tojoseph yu—shek cheng, an academic and pro democracy activist — who's in hong kong. he has taken part in some of the protest. thank you very much for yourtime, protest. thank you very much for your time, joseph. the facemask band, did that stop some protesters coming out onto the streets or didn't make the situation worse? this has certainly made the situation worse because this is imposed within the framework of the activation of the emergency ordinance which actually gives the government emergency powers. amounting to declaring a state of emergency, although the carrie lam administration denies it. it also ‘s symbolises the end of any attempt to

establish a dialogue and achieve reconciliation and restore the legitimacy of the government. this explains why people are so angry with the imposition of this anti— mask regulation. presumably the mask and is so that police can identify protesters. do you know if there have been arrests of people for wearing a facemask? not yet. but people have certainly been arrested during the clashes, during the protest activities last night. during the clashes, during the protest activities last nightm during the clashes, during the protest activities last night. it is expected that this very afternoon there would be an official and technically illegal protest rally in causeway bay in hong kong. it is

expected that the numbers will be quite numerous, probably up to tens of thousands and maybe even hundreds of thousands and maybe even hundreds of thousands and the police will not be in any position to make an arrest. but people feel very sad and very pessimistic in regard to the future because the government refuses to listen and to respond to the demands of the people and refuses to engage in reconciliation and dialogue. if people feel pessimistic, why do they continue to protest? they feel that today they still have a chance to protest and articulate their demands so they need to grab this opportunity. otherwise the opportunity may not exist tomorrow. there is a sense of desperation and this also explains the escalation of the level of

violence on both sides, on the side of the protesters as well as on the side of the police. briefly, are we in danger of china intervening? there is a lot of subtle intervention. the activation of the emergency regulation ordinance certainly has been endorsed by the chinese authorities and it is believed that china would like to exercise more subtle control although definitely avoiding the mobilisation of the people ‘s army in hong kong. academic and pro—democracy activistjoseph, thank you for your time. iraqi officials say at least 60 people have died during four days of anti—government protests. nearly 200 have been injured. many of the deaths occurred on friday, including those of at least two policemen. in central baghdad, gunfire erupted as the security forces confronted a group of demonstrators.

gareth barlow reports: funerals for some of those killed during iraq's protests. increasing anger against the government is proving deadly. the violence in majority shia regions is the worst in years. for days, crowds have defied the authorities and curfews to challenge unemployment, which is up 16% for young people. over one fifth of iraqis live on less than $2 a day. translation: the government has not stood up for me. i am only living with the help of god. no housing, no salaries. and i am a graduate with five languages. this is a country of nepotism. people have no meaning to the parties. who speaks on behalf of all those people? as the violence attracts international concern, the influential cleric and political figure muqtada al—sadr called for fresh elections. the government promises reform.

translation: tomorrow, parliament will start work. we will not wait long to approve these reforms, which will come from the council of government and the parliamentary committees. "we will have moved the government from office," this man says, "even with our last breath." with such determination and such a dire economy, can the government make the required reforms? buckingham palace says prince harry has begun legal action against the owners of the sun and the daily mirror newspapers, in relation to alleged phone—hacking. it's not yet clear when the prince's allegations date from — but in a phone hacking criminal trial in 2011 he was named, along with prince william, as a victim. his move follows the announcement earlier this week that his wife

meghan was taking a separate legal action against the mail on sunday. our royal correspondent johnny dymond reports. all smiles at the end of a high—profile tour. but in the works, a legal bombshell. harry is suing two of the biggest newspaper groups in britain. mirror group newspapers, publishers of the daily mirror, and news group newspapers, which publishes the sun and the now—closed news of the world, defendants. the case, allegations of harry's calls being hacked in the early 2000s. the news of the world closed down as a result of phone hacking revelations. its owner paid out huge sums to celebrities, as has mirror group newspapers. i think it's because prince harry has declared a one—man war against the tabloid press. an ill—advised one, i think. i'm not defending phone hacking in any way, shape or form,

but the timing is so significant, and i know there is division between senior royals and their advisers over the wisdom of what he has done. the news comes just two days after it was revealed that meghan is taking legal action against another newspaper, the mail on sunday, for publishing a letter she wrote to her father. as that was announced, harry launched an angry and deeply personal attack on the tabloid press and what he said was its ruthless campaign against his wife. royals rarely reach for a lawyer or a writ, and the reason is that it's such a high risk strategy. they can be cross—examined, they can also have disclosure go to places that they don't really want, so it is a very high risk strategy for things that are outside their control, but it's also a high risk strategy for the editors, who are going to have to give evidence too. the royalfamily is always high profile, but harry has pushed back before.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: in memory of the lives lost in paris, we'll take a look at a new sculpture by the american artistjeff koons. this was a celebration by people who we re this was a celebration by people who were relishing in theirfreedom. they believe everything cosmic going to be different from now on. they think the country will be respected in the world once more as it used to be before lower than the loss of its took power. the dalai llama, the exiled spiritual leader of tibet has won this year's nobel peace prize. as the parade was reaching its climax, two grenades exploded. after

437 years, a skeleton rib of henry viii's 437 years, a skeleton rib of henry viii's tragic was it emerged. but even as divers work to pull her up, the mary rose went through another heart stopping drama. the mary rose went through another heart stopping dramalj the mary rose went through another heart stopping drama. i want to be the people's governor, i want to represent everybody. i believe in the people of california. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: democrats have issued a legal demand to the president trump's chief of staff for documents relating to an impeachment inquiry. thousands of protestors in hong kong have defied a government ban on face masks and held unofficial marches and rallies. as the impeachment investigation deepens against president trump — so do divisions in america.

with the presidential election just over a year away, the battlelines between democrats and republicans are drawn and the stakes couldn't be higher. aleem maqbool reports from california on how both sides are reacting to recent events. applause. there are many on the left in america hopeful donald trump could be removed from office. at a town hall meeting in california, democrats gathered to hearjohn dean, the whistleblower who helped bring down president richard nixon. this president is making richard nixon look like a choir boy. the idea of donald trump's impeachment appears to be galvanising grassroots democrats. calling another world leader and asking them to interfere with our election, it's disloyal, it's unpatriotic. it makes me worried and angry for our democracy.

for me and i think all the other people here today, my neighbours and friends, we really want to see impeachment move forward. you have to wonder why the leftist dems are pushing so hard to impeach. the media forgets that they have been screaming for impeachment since the election... but the impeachment issue appears to be energising those on the right as well. this is a meeting of trump supporters in beverly hills, angry about the impeachment inquiry. i think most people don't think it's absolutely an attack on donald trump, it's really an attack on the people who voted for donald trump. ifell kind of sad because i think it is not authentic and at the end of the day, i love my country and i would like impeachment to be reserved for very serious situations. the guest speaker at this conservative gathering was an activist and street artist on the far right. he's a trump supporter on the extremist fringes who thinks

the impeachment inquiry will only help the president. it's going to enrage the right. you're only going to infuriate the right. you're only going to bring more voters out. if you think for one second someone's going to say, "oh, my god, donald trump is colluding with ukrainians," it is not going to happen. democrats say impeachment is simply about the president having committed crime. many republicans though tell us that it all has to do with the left still being unable to accept the election result of 2016. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in los angeles. an australian couple who were detained whilst travelling through iran have been released with all charges against them dropped. jolie king and mark firkin were arrested and held in a tehran prison after reportedly flying a drone without a permit. a new sculpture by the american artistjeff koons has been unveiled in paris.

the ‘bouquet of tulips' was intended as a gift to the city in memory of the victims of 2015 terror attacks. but there's been a lot of criticism of the design with opponents saying its inappropriate and the connection to the attacks isn't obvious. there was also a 3—year dispute over its location. it was feared the sculpture would interrupt views of the eiffel tower. hrag vartanian is an art critic and editor—in—chief of hyperallergic. so why all the controversy about the sculpture? well, people were really confused why there wasn't a public process to this sculpture. and try to understand why the victims themselves were not consulted or asked. and so people were wondering why it was placed near the art museum as opposed to the site of the attack, and there's a lot of confusion about this process. now it's been unveiled, i don't think a lot of those questions have been

a nswered lot of those questions have been answered for people. the issues were raised in 2016, i believe, when the sculpture was announced. it is extraordinary that some of them have been dealt with or addressed. absolutely. it's really kind of peculiar y this would happen quite this way, and when we interviewed one of the survivors of the atar, they were really perplexed does much of the attack, why no—one was consulted. and what this process is. a lot of people feel it is a very top—down approach to this monument, especially a monument that is supposed to speak to people's pain. and for such a communal, you know, there was such a sense of community after the attacks. people really hoped it would reflect some of that. and there was also criticism ofjeff koons himself, wasn't there? absolutely. well, i mean, there was an idea that he was being sort of

generous, but of course people had to manufacture, and there were millions of dollars that was spent on this sculpture. so people were kind of wondering why it was done this way and, you know, people also — people considered jeff koons' sculpture, it seems strange because he talked about his own experiences and his own issues he has dealt with, different kind of things like 9/11 in new york. but he wasn't really talking about the specificity of this incident. and people were hoping that that would be the case. now, it should be said that some victims have said nice things about the sculpture, been supportive. but there is a long history of sculptures that get kind of negative feedback. what tends to happen, do they get replaced all do theyjust kind of continue to exist? well, i think they tend to sort of exist and ta ke think they tend to sort of exist and take on personas. when this case, i mean, we're going to find out whether it becomes some kind of instagram hit or it becomes a place that people rally during times of

morning. these are things were going to discover in the coming and years. but that is something we're going to have to discover as time goes on. we simply don't know. but, the other thing is people may be very upset after a while, and who knows what the upkeep with his kind of things can be. public art can sometimes be very expensive to upkeep, especially if there is vandalism or any kind of damage. so we're going to have to wait. art critic hrag vartanian. a frenchman has been able to move all four of his paralysed limbs using an exoskeleton suit controlled by his mind. the 30—year—old was paralysed from the neck down after falling 15 metres in a night club four years ago. he said using the exoskeleton made him feel like being "the first man on the moon." here's our medical correspondent, fergus walsh. this is mind controlling machine. thibault, who was paralysed in all four limbs, is sending instructions to his exoskeleton suit using brain signals. the movements may bejerky, but it is a significant technological achievement.

the study in the journal lancet neurology explains how thibault had surgery to place two 5cm implants on the outer membrane of his brain, above the areas which control movement. electrodes read his brain activity then beam messages to a computer which converts them into instructions for the exoskeleton. thibault practised by learning to control an avatar in a computer game, and then gradually mastered increasingly complex movements. this is a brain—computer interface... scientists at imperial college london are pioneering uk research into implants. they've praised the french exoskeleton study as groundbreaking. this is a very important and significant step. usually it has been demonstrated through a movement ofjust a single limb, and in this case they have

demonstrated all four limbs simultaneously, although the complete exoskeleton was still attached to the ceiling, so many other elements are missing, such as balance. any device implanted in the body carries the risk of infection, but the potential benefits are huge. the technology that merges brain, body and machine is moving at a rapid pace. as well as paralysis, there are potential applications for implants in the fields of epilepsy, even depression. one team here at imperial is even working on a gut implant to suppress appetite to control obesity. the exoskeleton can't yet be used outside the lab, and the technology is so expensive it will be out of reach of most of those with spinal cord injuries.

but as a proof of concept it is an impressive step forward. fergus walsh, bbc news. remarkable. stay with us. hello. as one weather system clears, another one comes in from the atlantic. it doesn'tjust sum up the weekend weather across uk, pretty much the next 7—10 days out there was that here is the next weather system coming in as we go through saturday and sunday. is the they come in on monday. more rain to come this weekend, not a washout, though, there will be some drier, brighter skies. the rain will spread its way eastwards. here is how we start on saturday morning. i chilly across the eastern side of the uk, where we will have had clear skies overnight, a touch of rust in north—east scotland. where it has been clear there could be some mist and fog patches. clearing during the early

morning. that weather system comes in from the atlantic, initially quite some light rain feeds in first but notice how is heavier rain comes in towards western parts as we into the afternoon. here's a look at things that bm, pick a temperature near you , things that bm, pick a temperature near you, the wind speeds as well be strengthening south—easterly. and the north—east of scotland, still dry, still some sunny spots around in the northern isles. a wetter picture in northern ireland, western scotland, and some bursts in western england and. patchy rain feeding eased ahead with cloud. that rain will get heavier still as we go on through saturday night and into sunday. some brighter colours showing up on the rain full forecast here, so there will be some reasonably high rainfall totals going into sunday, that turns more widespread, early pushing further east on what would be a mild night going into sunday morning. so the big picture than for part two of the weekend shows that frontal system

with the rain, at times right across us, and in no hurry to clear away eastwards on sunday. behind it, where it does briefly clear, some high pressure before the next system turning wet again on monday. here is how sunday is looking, yellow indicating where the met office has warnings for rain, the eastern side of england, 15 payment 30 millimetres, the risk of some flooding and travel disruption in places. —— 15—30 millimetres. most likely to break out into brighter skies on sunday in northern ireland, wales and south—west england. eventually that next weather system coming in on monday, there will be more to come next week. it will be often windy, it will be wet at times but some occasional sunshine as well, but autumn — full throttle.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the white house has been ordered

to hand over documents relating to the impeachment investigation of president trump. the heads of the democratic—led inquiry committee said they sent a letter to the acting white house chief of staff demanding evidence related to allegations that trump pressured ukraine for political favours. thousands of protestors in hong kong have defied a ban on face masks and held rallies demanding political reforms. earlier police fired tear gas at protesters who'd attacked buildings, including chinese banks. the territory's entire metro network was shut down — the first time since the unrest began four months ago. prince harry has begun legal action against the publishers of two newspapers for alleged phone hacking. this comes just days after his wife, meghan, announced she was suing another newspaper for publishing one of her letters.