the this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: more protests in hong kong — as demonstrators defy a ban on face masks. hong kong's leader accuses them of destroying the territory. the us secretary of state dismisses the latest attempts by the democrats to push forward their impeachment inquiry into president trump. when the world does not focus on the things that matter, the things that impact the lives of real people, and they get caught up in a silly gotcha game. the mother of a british teenager killed in a crash involving the wife of a us diplomat says the uk must put pressure on her to return to the country and face justice. why six elephants were found dead at the foot of a waterfall, in a thailand national park.

hello and welcome to bbc news. masked protesters have again taken to the streets of hong kong in defiance of their leader carrie lam who has introduced a new law banning face masks in public. a human chain was formed to show they're against the legislation which came into effect on saturday carrie lam is warning that she can no longer tolerate rioters ‘destroying' the territory. translation: the government will suppress violence with the greatest determination. i appeal to everyone to support the government to condemn violence together, and to cut ties with rioters with a firm will.

our correspondent robin brant has more now on how the shutdown is affecting the territory. a big slice of yesterday and now all of today, hong kong ‘s metro system, the light rail underground trains will not be running. the only service you can get is from the centre of the city to the airport. the decision yesterday by the authorities to essentially shut down authorities to essentially shut down a key part, the key part of the transport infrastructure here will continue today. you just heard from carrie lam, the most senior politician, this is what she is trying to bring to an end. we are in the middle of hong kong, premium shopping district. there is no traffic here because there was a protest in the last 30 minutes or so, about 2000 people marching to this point. it was peaceful but there was disruption. and this has taken place in the context of a significant escalation by the

authorities yesterday to bring in emergency powers stopping people wearing masks. and despite that, look here to my right. a youthful group of protesters here covering theirfaces. group of protesters here covering their faces. 0thers group of protesters here covering theirfaces. 0thers cover group of protesters here covering their faces. 0thers cover their face over there. i was here about 30 minutes ago and there were a 2000 and fairto say minutes ago and there were a 2000 and fair to say that 25, 40% were covering their faces as well. that tells you what some of these protesters think about the decision of the authorities to try to force them to stop covering their faces. that act is now technically illegal. us secretary of state mike pompeo has dismissed questions about donald trump's attempts to push ukraine and china to investigate democratic rival joe biden as a "silly gotcha game." democrats leading the impeachment inquiry into president trump have issued a legal order demanding the white house hand over more documents on its dealings with ukraine. mr trump is accused of abusing his position to put pressure on the ukrainian leader to investigate mr biden.

0ur north america correspondent chris buckler reports. no matter where america's commander—in—chief goes, there's no escape from the talk of impeachment, or the many questions about his request for a foreign government to investigate one of his political rivals. requests for documents from the white house have become demands. with a subpoena issued by the democrats, alongside a strongly worded letter, that accuses the president of choosing a path of "defiance, obstruction and cover up." among the many records they want is a full rather than a rough transcript, showing exactly what mr trump said to the ukrainian president in a phone call during the summer. that's when he controversially tried to pressure volodymyr zelensky into launching an inquiry into the potential presidential candidatejoe biden and his son, hunter, who had business dealings in the country. on a visit to greece, the us secretary of state couldn't hide his frustration at this latest

attempt by congress to put pressure on the president. this is what's wrong... when the world doesn't focus on the things that are right, the things that matter, the things that impact real people's lives, and instead you get caught up in some silly gotcha game. but democrats have still to decide on whether to hold a formal vote to impeach the president. some people say, "why are you doing this?" "he's not worth it, to divide the country this way." i say, "well, he may not be, but our constitution is worth it, our democracy is worth it." applause. the battle lines are being drawn in washington, and congress is preparing for yet another bitter fight with this white house. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. let's get some of the day's other news a north korean negotiator

says nuclear talks with the united states have broken down, blaming washington. the us state departement says north korea's comments don't reflect the content or spirit of the talks which lasted for more than eight hours in rural sweden. the event was the first formal discussions since donald trump and kim jong—un met on the border of the two koreas injune. french anti—terror prosecutors say the police worker who killed four colleagues in paris on thursday, adhered to a radical vision of islam. four police workers were killed in a knife attack at the police headquarters in paris and the attacker was later shot dead at the scene. at least four men, all believed to be homeless have been bludgeoned to death while they were asleep in new york. a fifth person is critically ill. the night—time attacks were carried out with a metre long metal object. a suspect is in custody. tens of thousands of supporters of scottish independence have taken part in a march through edinburgh. a sea of blue and white flags and banners could be seen as campaigners packed the central streets of the capital. in the 2014 referendum, 55% of voters rejected the move. but the governing scottish national party has been demanding a second referendum on the issue. there have been more

protests in iraq despite appeals for calm from political and religious leaders. five more people have been killed in the new round of unrest in iraq's capital baghdad. more than 90 people have been killed during four days of violence across the country, and almost 4000 people injured. security forces are using tear gas and rubber bullets to shut down the protests. 0ur middle east editor sebastian usher reports. despite heavy security, young iraqi protesters have come out onto the streets for the fifth night in a row. 0nce streets for the fifth night in a row. once again the police responded with force, firing tear gas into the crowd in an effort to keep them away from the main squares. hundreds have been injured in the days of protest, raising the prospect of a wider and more dangerous confrontation. the demonstrations are fuelled by anger and frustration at the failure of politicians to tackle rampant

unemployment, two years after is was declared defeated. 0ne demonstrator lamented the inability of the government to provide him with even the lowliest job. translation: government to provide him with even the lowliestjob. translationzlj have a masters degree but i cannot be hired even as a street sweeper. these young people are treated unfairly. 0thers railed corruption. for now, demonstrators remain without clear leadership but the demands cut across sectarian lines. the government seems to have been surprised by the fury on the streets and an effort to hold an emergency session in parliament to tackle the crisis had to be abandoned after key political blocks stayed away. the security forces may be able to contain the protest by force but the anger of the demonstrators is increasingly directed at the political class as a whole. so far it has shown no signs of having a plan to deal with the underlying causes of the unrest.

a british—australian woman and her australian boyfriend say they're relieved to be home after more than three months in an iranianjail. it's reported thatjolie king and mark firkin were freed in a deal afteran iranian man was released by australia. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. the views here are just epic. jolie king and mark firkin were travelling the world, recounting their adventures to thousands of followers on social media. it has honestlyjust blown us away. three months ago, the british australian woman and her australian boyfriend were arrested in iran, allegedly for flying their drone without a permit near military installations. yet more foreigners detained in tehran‘s jails. yeah, so we've been driving for a couple of kilometres now... but after what the australian authorities describe as "sensitive negotiations", the couple from perth have been released and have returned home. forjolie and for mark, the ordeal they have been through is now over.

they are being united with their loved ones, which is a source of great relief and joy to everyone. i can tell you that they're in good health and in good spirits. later it emerged that australia had released an iranian student, reza dehbashi kivi, who had been arrested in 2018 for allegedly sending us—made military equipment to iran. this prompted speculation both countries had negotiated a prisoner exchange — something the australian authorities refused to comment on. they said they were still trying to secure the release of another british australian — an academic called kylie moore—gilbert, who has been held in iran for almost a year, charged with spying. today's release will prompt questions about why the british government has yet to secure the freedom of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the british iranian mother detained in iran, despite denying accusations of spying. the foreign office wouldn't comment tonight but the cases are different. iran has a much more hostile relationship with britain than australia. mrs zaghari—ratcliffe is considered

by iran to be iranian and it's thought she has greater diplomatic value to iran in its confrontation with the west. and unless that changes, mrs zaghari—ratcliffe looks set to remain injail — and now without any visits from her five—year—old daughter, gabriella, who she is sending home to start school in the uk. james landale, bbc news. britain is calling on the united states to hand over the wife of an american diplomat who's left the uk, after she was involved in a fatal road crash. police say they want to question the woman about the death of 19—year—old harry dunn in a collision. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, says he's called the us ambassador to say he's disappointed the americans have refused to waive her diplomatic immunity. this is how local people have reacted to the death of harry dunn, a teenager from their community, killed on a country road.

harry had been on his motorbike when he was hit by a car. he died of multiple injuries. the car had been driven from this nearby air force base by the 42—year—old wife of an american diplomat. the base is a centre for us intelligence gathering. the woman, who lives on this american air force base, told the police that she would co—operate fully with their enquiry and that she had no plans to leave the country. it's now been confirmed she has left britain. in a statement, northants police said, "harry dunn's family deservejustice. the force is now exploring all diplomatic channels to ensure that the investigation continues to progress." harry's mother, charlotte, says the woman involved must come back to the uk. we're really hoping

to try and get her back. we don't understand how she can just get on a plane and leave our family just utterly devastated. today, the foreign secretary dominic raab urged the americans to act. he said he had called the us ambassador in london to express his disappointment that the woman had left the country. the options open to the government and the police are limited, but harry's family say they cannot grieve properly until this tragedy has been resolved. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in northamptonshire. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the trans opera singer breaking down gender and vocal barriers. this was a celebration by people who were relishing in their freedom. they believe everything's

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 slobodan milosevic took power. the dalai lama, the exiled spiritual leader of tibet has won this year's nobel peace prize. as the parade was reaching its climax, two grenades exploded and a group of soldiersjumped from a military truck taking part in the parade and ran towards the president, firing kalashnikov automatic rifles. after 437 years, the skeleton ribs of henry viii's tragic warship emerged. but even as divers work to bouy her up, 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 news. the latest headlines:

more protests in hong kong as demonstrators defy a ban on face masks. hong kong's leader accuses them of destroying the territory. staying with that story now, i spoke to sophie richardson, the china director at human rights watch. well, we think that the authorities goal is to try to deter people from protesting at all, if their identities can easily be known, there'd be less likely to come out onto the streets. but if they move thatis onto the streets. but if they move that is clearly disproportionate under international law. it doesn't nationally serve a law enforcement purpose. sorry to interrupt. chinese authorities would surely argue that we want to deter the violence and identify those violent protesters

and this is a way of doing it. i think if hong kong and beijing authorities had shown a fraction of the creativity that they've shown in restricting protest in actually answering people's grievances, we could have both outcomes, meaning there wouldn't have been lots of protests, and the legitimate rights that protesters are demanding would have been respected. you talk about legitimate rights there and obviously the five demands of the protesters. do you see any of them being met? well, the fact that hong kong authorities did formally withdrew the extradition bill was a significant victory. beijing doesn't blink often. but i think it's time for the hong kong authorities to really take seriously those other concerns, particularly an independent investigation into the use of excessive police force, and resuming the discussion about universal suffrage. people in hong kong have a right to vote and a right to run. people all over the world have that right. and these protests come after 20 years of people trying,

in multiple different ways, to assert those rights. so what we've seen over the last couple of months is notjust a flare—up that started at the start of the summer, it's the culmination of years of frustration. given that it is the culmination of years of frustration, as you say, what do you think the chances are of something like universal suffrage actually taking place? well, i think as we watch hong kong authorities again spend their time thinking about other ways to invoke the emergency orders to do things like extend pre—trial criminal detention, which is a very sort of ccp response to the problem, the odds aren't looking great. but i think there are some people in senior levels of the government, both in beijing and hong kong, who realise that people in hong kong aren't going to take their grievances home and sit quietly. they want to see their rights respected. 0k, very quickly, because we have to wrap things up, an impossible question. where do you see this

going from here? well, i think if you'd asked people in hong kong a couple of years ago, or all over the world this question, whether we'd see this number of people coming out weekend after weekend in the boiling sun and pouring rain, people probably would have said no. i think it's an extraordinary statement about how many people in hong kong care about their rights that they keep coming out. i think that's not going to go away soon. now to a tragic story in thailand where six elephants were found drowned in a national park before a rescue mission was launched to save the surviving members of the herd. this report contains some upsetting images. vince soodin reports. motionless, steel, and lifeless. the bodies of six elephants lay dead at the bottom of a waterfall known as hell's abyss. among them, the body ofa hell's abyss. among them, the body of a three—year—old calf. ranges

heard two surviving elephants crying most of the scene. it is feared the aduu most of the scene. it is feared the adult elephants died to when they tried to rescue the elephant. don't let the elephants were trying to cross the river, one of the smaller elephants may have slipped, and the others were slipped away when they tried to rescue. a rescue mission was launched to save surviving elephants trap in rocks above the turning what is —— trapped. rescuers through food laced with supplements to boost their energy and give them the strength to climb back up into the strength to climb back up into the forest. translation: at the moment, the elephants are taking a break. they're quite tired from trying to cross over from the other side. they arejust cross over from the other side. they are just resting by standing still because they used up a lot of energy wading through the water. the waterfall, which claimed the lives of eight elephants in 1992 was closed to tourists as the operations

of ways. now, six more of the selfless majestic beasts have fallen victim to hell's abyss. vince soodin, bbc news. a cinema in the us has cancelled two screenings of the film ‘joker‘ after police revealed, what they called, a "credible" threat to those with tickets to the blockbuster. police in major us cities have ramped up security to coincide with the release of the violent film, fearing it could incite gun violence. freya cole reports. twisted, wicked and cruel. thejoker is returning to screens around the world as dark as ever before. and one small thing? when you bring me out, can you introduce me asjoker? warner brothers filmed a story of

the mentally deranged beforejoker before batman. the r—rated movie has triggered widespread fears that it will incite violence. and less than a week into its box office debut, in california, two screenings have been cancelled. the local police department deemed the threat was credible enough to provide a uniformed presence at the theatre. now reopen, the huntington beach police department said it will provide patrols for the rest of this weekend. the need for heightened security stems from the 2012 shooting attack inside a colorado cinema. 12 people were killed and 70 injured when a gunman dressed in body armour and a gas mask opened fire during a midnight screening of the dark knight rises. those families have written to warner brothers, urging the corporation to do more to tackle gun violence. brothers, urging the corporation to do more to tackle gun violencelj brothers, urging the corporation to do more to tackle gun violence. i do believe if someone is trying to copy cat, that may be a movie like the

joker would be a place where that could happen. ithink joker would be a place where that could happen. i think people need to be aware of it. inevitably, some movie—goers will hold off seeing the film. i am conflicted about it because of the issues in america right now with gun violence. but the joker has a cultlike following. it's just a movie. like, you don't have to act out what you see in a movie. already, the film has broken box office records, making more than 13 million us dollars in its debut. freya cole, bbc news. five years ago she thought it was the end of her career but on saturday night lucia lucas made a little bit of history, the first performance by a transgender singer on the london 0pera stage. she appeared in ‘0rpheus in the underworld' at the english national 0pera. however, on stage, because of her deep baritone voice, she continues to play male roles. 0ur arts correspondent

david sillito reports. hi, my name is lucia lucas, and i'm a professional opera singer. i'm not trying to be a pioneer. i'm trying to see how far i can get this to go, how long i can stay in the business, because i hope that people in the future won't have the difficulties that i have had. lucia lucas, it's been more than five years since it was time to be her true self. "what happened to your voice?" i said it doesn't change. for better or worse.

i had done my research on that. with that baritone voice, she makes thatjourney each evening from she to he. on stage, you are playing male roles. is that uncomfortable? no, not really. it actually in a certain way justifies the difficulty that i had as a child. because i knew that i was not ‘team boy'. you've always been acting. because i've always been acting. but now ijust do it on stage. if it had been a choice of singing or being yourself? being myself, 100%. i never envisioned i could do both at the same time. you thought it would be the end of your career? yeah, of course.

five years on, rather than ending her career, it's blossomed. transitional hormones haven't affected that extraordinary voice, and tonight the debut of the london 0pera stage. another barrier broken. david silitto, bbc news. and before we go, i want to leave you with these pictures from the ethiopian capital. addis ababa hosted the annual thanksgiving festivals. there was tight security as thousands of people clogged the streets, chanting, singing and waving flags. city officials said they were expecting around 10

million people to take part. that's it, you can reach me on twitter. i'm @lvaughanjones. iam i am lewis vaughanjones and this is bbc news. goodbye. after a thoroughly wet night across many parts of the uk, there could be a lot of surface water on roads this morning. greatest concerns were essential and southern scotland, northern and eastern england. with the ground saturated, the flooding issue could be a little bit worse. be prepared for some travel disruption. this is the culprit weather front which has been disruption. this is the culprit weatherfront which has been putting eastwards overnight. ahead of it, some stronger winds developing in its wake, but a lot more dry, clearer weather to the south and west later on. let's focus on the rain band for the moment. it's going to be across much of scotland. heaviest and most assistant across central and eastern areas where there will be a gusty wind. maybe

turning my salary towards western scotland. wet weather to these of the pennines, too. and the heaviest, most persistent rain towards east anglia and lincolnshire. some ease for the midlands and middle east, that may return later on. west a blustery day, a few showers drifting through north—west england, north—west wales and the midlands. generally, a lot more in the way of dry and brighter weather compared to what we saw on saturday. right towards the north—east, but in the south—west, the windiest conditions. temperatures at levels they should be for this time of year. still some rainfora time be for this time of year. still some rain for a time as we going to sunday evening across central and eastern parts, that will fade away. dry with the mist and fog forming, than for much of the night, more wet and windy weather arrives back into the west. that will lift temperatures back into the start of the monday morning rush—hour, at straight towards the east of the

country. as we start monday, this is the chart. a big low pressure area south of iceland, doesn't look great, does it? strong gale force winds, they could become severe gale force in the north—west of scotland. 0utbreaks heavy force in the north—west of scotland. 0utbrea ks heavy and force in the north—west of scotland. 0utbreaks heavy and persistent in the morning, turning a bit lighter and more fragmented as it turns into the afternoon, some eastern areas not quite as wet. there could be some other minor flooding issues. brighter weather to finish the day in the west even though it still remains windy in places and a rather cool day, too. it sets us up for a really changeable autumn weeks. this is the jet stream pattern, a fairly vigorous one charging across the atla ntic vigorous one charging across the atlantic in this rough, snaking pattern. it is little deep in the jet stream will see a subsequent area of low pressure. 0ne after the other, after the other. it does mean wherever you are in the uk, rain will feature in many parts of the uk. so never be too far away from those waterproofs. goodbye for now.

this is bbc news, the headlines: most of hong kong's metro system remains shut after a day which saw stations and businesses attacked in violent anti—government protests. demonstrators defied a ban on face masks dring the unrest. chief executive carrie lam has defended her decision to invoke emergency powers in order to restore order. donald trump has lashed out at democrats leading the impeachment inquiry against him, saying they are wasting their time. during a press conference he stepped up his attacks on the chairman of the house intelligence committee calling him a low—life who should be investigated for treason. the british foreign secretary, has urged america to reconsider its decision to let a diplomat‘s wife, who was involved in a fatal car crash, claim diplomatic immunity to leave britain. 19—year—old harry dunn died in the collision near raf croughton in northamptonshire in august.