i'm reged ahmad, with a summary of the bbc news. parts of hong kong's metro system are still closed after stations and businesses were vandalised in the latest anti—government protests. the violence followed a decision by the territory's chief executive, carrie lam, to use emergency powers to ban the face coverings frequently worn by pro—democracy demonstrators. gareth barlow has the latest. hong kongers resist, that was the call as protesters formed human chains, as they defied a ban on facemasks while demonstrating.

everyone knows carrie lam is messing up hong kong. this is why she is pushing through with the emergency law. we all expect the next step to be imposing a curfew. this is a tool, a way to suppress hong kong people. carrie lam has not learnt from this and has not done anything to appease us. she is just constantly suppressing us. throughout the city, shops and transport hubs remain closed after a spike in violence. in a televised address, hong kong's chief executive carrie lam pledged to quash the violence. fellow citizens, hong kong had a very dark night last night because of the extreme acts of the rioters. today, the city is semi—paralysed. everyone is worried or even afraid. the government will act with the utmost determination to curb violence. months of protests have paralysed hong kong hand have proven a stern

test of the laws that provide greater freedoms compared to mainland china. business groups are pressuring the government to end the protests but the authorities new tactics may trigger more violence rather than stop it. gareth barlow, bbc news. us secretary of state mike pompeo has dismissed questions about president trump's attempts to push ukraine and china to investigate his democratic rival joe biden, as a silly gotcha game. democrats leading the impeachment inquiry into the us president have issued a legal order demanding the white house hand over more documents on its dealings with ukraine. chris buckler reports from washington. no matter where america's commander—in—chief goes there is 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 is when he controversially tried to pressure volodymyr zelensky, into launching an inquiry into the potential presidential candidate joe biden and his son, hunter, who had business dealings in the country. on a visit to greece, the us secretary of state could not hide his frustration at this latest attempt by congress to put pressure on the president. this is what is 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 is not worth it. to divide the country this way. i said, well, he may not be but our constitution is worth it, our democracy is worth it. the battle lines are being drawn in washington and congress is preparing for yet another bitter fight with this white house. chris butler, 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 department says north korea's comments don't reflect the content or spirit of the talks which lasted for more than eight hours in sweden. an attacker who killed four people at the police headquarters in paris adhered to a radical version of islam. anti—terrorist prosecutors said michael harpon had converted to islam 10 years ago and recently

showed signs of radicalisation. 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. a suspect is in custody. at least five people have been killed in the latest clashes between anti—government protesters and the security forces in iraq. hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of the capital, baghdad, despite a heavy security presence and an appeal for calm from political and religious leaders. our middle east editor sebastian usher reports. you are watching bbc news. you are watching bbc news. despite heavy security, young iraqi protesters have come out onto the 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 politicians‘ failure to tackle rampant unemployment some two years after the islamic state group was declared defeated. one of the demonstrators lamented the government's inability to provide him with even the lowliest job. i have a masters degree, but the government would not even hire me as a street sweeper. all of these young people are treated unfairly. others railed at the culture of corruption that has seen the infrastructure of iraqi cities crumble. for now, the demonstrators remain without any clear leadership while their demands cut across sectarian lines. the government seems to have been taken by surprise by the fury on the streets. an effort to hold an emergency session in parliament to tackle the crisis had to be abandoned after key political blocs stayed away. the security forces may be able to contain the protests by force, but the anger of the demonstrators is increasingly directed

at the political class as a whole, which so far has shown no sign of having a plan to deal with the underlying causes of the unrest. sebastian usher, bbc news. the british government has urged the united states to reconsider its decision to let a diplomat‘s wife leave the uk after she was involved in a fatal car crash. british police say the american woman is being treated as a suspect in their investigation into the death of a nineteen year old motorcyclist. the woman claimed diplomatic immunity to leave the country. duncan kennedy reports. 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 airforce base, told police that she would co—operate fully with their inquiry 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 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. borisjohnson has urged the eu to show it's willing to compromise with the uk on a brexit deal. writing in two sunday newspapers, the prime minister appeals to the eu to begin serious negotiations. but europe's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, has said he couldn't advance talks based on the current wishes of the remaining 27 eu leaders. tens of thousands of supporters of scottish independence have taken part in a march through edinburgh, waving flags and carrying banners. the organisers said more than 200,000 people had taken part. police scotland weren't able

to give an estimate. scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon didn'tjoin the event but said she was there "in spirit". pope francis has appointed 13 new cardinals, the highest position in the roman catholic hierachy, aside from the pope himself. ten of them are under the age of 80 which means they may be eligible to vote in the conclave that will elect the next pope. the appoinments come ahead of a three—week meeting at the vatican, where bishops will discuss environmental and religious issues in the amazon. one of the more contentious issues on the agenda is the idea of ordaining some married men as priests to help alleviate a shortage of catholic clergy in the nine countries of the amazon region. jd flynn is the editor in chief of the catholic news agency.

he's in denver, colorado. thank you so much forjoining us. i am sure most people know that catholic priests are celibate, so this would be quite a radical change, wouldn't it? it would be a radical change. the idea of courses that there are communities in the amazon that might not see a priest for more than a year and so they would not have access to the catholic sacraments. this is what has this idea to ordain married men in the amazon. bishops i have spoken to say they do not think he will address the core problem is that the church are facing and that this will be seen as a viable idea. does that mean it is unlikely to happen essentially? yeah, that's right. pope francis has indicated an openness to discussing it, the bishops who i speak with... certainly from the european countries to put this on the agenda. but the brazilians and peruvians

that i speak with say it is not a core issue. presumably celibacy is quite central to catholicism when it comes to been ordained as a priest. so does the mere fact that the pope is talking about this, could that send ripples through the church and precipitate change? send ripples through the church and precipitate change ?|j send ripples through the church and precipitate change? i think it certainly has started a conversation. the pope is trying to put every idea on the table that he can to bring the catholic church and to bring the gospel and the sacraments of the catholic church does many people as possible. so this age—old discipline of celibacy in the roman catholic church, he said that, yeah, we should at least look at it. i think the idea is to spuras look at it. i think the idea is to spur as much conversation as is possible about how the catholic church can move from a missionary mandate, especially in the global southin mandate, especially in the global south in the developing world. that conversation has also spurred another one where women of course, some women, are pushing the agenda

of been ordained. how much movement is there likely to be on that? well, pope francis himself said that he thinks that is a nonstarter. he has affirmed the catholic church's position that men can be ordained priests because was the way that jesus christ set up the church. what the pope has said is that there does have to be real reflection in real conversation about how women can be invited into leadership positions and how doors can be opened for women to be in positions of influence. but he separated up for the priesthood to say that women and indeed all laypeople should exercise a co—response ability with priests for the ministry of the church. aright, thank you so muchjd flynn, editor in chief of catholic news agency. this is bbc news, the headlines... more protests in hong kong — as demonstrators defy

a ban on face masks. hong kong's leader accuses them of destroying the territory. let's stay with that story now. ho—fung hung is professor of political economy atjohn hopkins university. he joins us from baltimore. thank you so much for your time. i just wonder, with hong kong we have been seeing the emergency powers coming in, we have been hearing about bans on people wearing face masks. the fact that these emergency powers have been triggered, what does that signal? i think that this is doctrine of the situation because the anti—facemask ban that establishment politicians have been talking about even before the protests 2014, 2016, but they're talking about passing a law in the legislative council. this time the

key thing is that the government is using this emergency power to pass the law by decree, so it opens a precedent that the government thinks it can pass any law that it likes without going through the legislative council. so what does that mean then for the future of a sense of rule of law in hong kong and an independent legislative system ? and an independent legislative system? it will have kind of damage done to the international community and business community in hong kong, confidence about the rule of law. and it is a one—shot thing that the government only do it once for the mask ban. but now there is speculation that the government might do more, this kind of invoking

emergency powers to pass more laws to control civil liberty and protest. there is speculation about whether the government will possibly shut down the internet and extend the detention period with no trial. so there is all the speculation. maybe it turns out to be not right but it is the case that the government is trying to do more of this kind of decrees or to make law by decree and it will make hong kong the rule of law application... as you say, we do not know what is going to happen next but certainly we have seen the effect on the city, we have seen the effect on the city, we have seen the effect on the city, we have been hearing about the closing of the metro system. what is happening with business there and hong kong as a financial hub? the retail sector is definitely hit very hard. the city is basically at a standstill. more importantly what people are watching is how much confidence in the hong kong

financial centre status will be hurt by this episode. and we have seen some business research and some data and reports showing that actually wealthy people are starting to move their money out. some of them have moved to places like singapore and things like that. if things continue like this with no resolution, that i am sure that wealthy people will diversify their risk and try to move some of the wealth and investment out of hong kong. and it will be more dire damage to the hong kong economy. thank you very much for that. 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 as part of an exchange, as 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. but 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 tehran to be iranian and it's thought that 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.

six elephants have fallen to their deaths in thailand while trying to save each other from a notorious waterfall. a warning — this report contains some upsetting images. donna larsen reports. the bodies of six elephants lying motionless at the bottom of the waterfall known as hell's abyss. among them is the body of a three—year—old calf. the discovery was made in thailand's khao yai national park, when rangers heard two elephants crying close to the scene. it is thought the adult animals had been trying to save the infant. the elephants were trying to cross the river. one of the smaller elephants might have slipped, and the adults were swept away by the current when they tried to rescue. a mission was launched to rescue the surviving elephants trapped in rocks above the fast—flowing waters. food laced with supplements was thrown to boost the animals' strength and to give them the energy

to climb back up into the forest. at the moment, the elephants are taking a break. they are quite tired from trying to cross over from the other side. they are just resting by standing still, because they have used up a lot of energy wading through the water. the waterfall, which also claimed the lives of eight elephants in 1992, was closed to tourists as the operation took place. park officials now say they fear for the safety of the remainder of the herd, as the animals are known to suffer from emotional grief. donna larsen, bbc news. ten people have been arrested in london ahead of two weeks of protests planned by the environmental group, extinction rebellion. the metropolitan police says they were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance. extinction rebellion says officers confiscated six vehicles, as well as gazebos, portable toilets and bean bags.

the competitive world of publishing has seen many titles come and go, but one monthly magazine has just launched its 500th edition — after almost half a century. gay times is now europe's longest running lgbt publication and ben hunte has been looking at how it's changed through the decades. glossy magazines fill the shelves, but this one, which looks like coffee table art, started 47 years ago as a monthly voice for gay activists. here in the national lgbt archives in east london, you will find a treasure trove of queer history. almost half a century later, some of the pages still feel relevant today. one of the things we have seen within this magazine, within the first edition, is media watch. can you just talk me through what media watch was? it was basically a look at what was being said in the national media about the lgbt community at the time.

"loonies who want a sense of family life." and even more relevant, "save the children from sad, sordid sex lessons." reading some of the headlines here, they aren't too dissimilar to headlines that we still actually see today. of course, predominantly targeted at what was called the gay community then, but within lgbtq communities, some of these headlines being targeted towards people with a trans experience now, quite often in well—known media titles. today, the 500th edition has changed quite a bit. the magazine has diversified, and so has the business model. the magazine now really only represents a tenth of the gay times organisation. we work much more with the community and content channels across social and digital platforms, we're the biggest lgbtq partner on instagram. in a woke world full of specialist publications, competition to represent communities, and make more money, is getting tougher. but activists say the platforms are more important than ever. ben hunte, bbc news.

five years ago, lucia lucas thought her career was at an end, but now she's made history as the first transgender singer to perform with the english national opera in london. she transitioned in 2014, but continues to play male characters due to her deep baritone voice. she's been speaking to our arts correspondent, david sillito. hi. my name is lucia lucas and i am a professional opera singer. she sings opera. i am not trying to be a pioneer. i am trying to see how far i can get this to go and 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 has been more than five years since she decided the time had come to be her true self. the director of the opera at the time said... "just one question — what happens to your voice?" i said it doesn't change. i've done my research on that and for better or worse it doesn't change. and so with that baritone voice she makes the journey each evening from she to he. tonight, a debut for english national opera. ladies and gentlemen, you have 15 minutes. there you go. thanks. on stage you play 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.

because you've always been acting. i've always been acting but now ijust do it on stage. if it had been a choice of singing or being yourself? be myself. 100%. i never envisioned that 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 has blossomed. transitional hormones haven't affected that extraordinary voice and tonight, a debut on the london opera stage, another barrier broken. david sillito, bbc news. what a voice. let's check on the weather prospects now with matt taylor. hello. after a thoroughly wet night

across many parts of the uk, there could be a lot of surface water, a lot of big puddles around if you are about to head out onto the roads on sunday morning. the greatest concern — parts of central southern scotland, northern and eastern england, where the rain will be at its heaviest and most persistent first thing. and of course, with the ground saturated, that flooding could be a little bit worse. so be prepared for some travel disruption. this is the culprit, a weather front which has been pushing its way eastwards overnight. ahead of it, some stronger winds, strong winds developing in its wake. but a lot more in the way of dry, clearer weather to the south and west later on. but let's focus on the rain band for the morning. it is going to be across much of scotland. heaviest and most persistent through central and eastern areas, particularly towards those eastern coasts where there will be a gusty wind. maybe turning a little bit more showery towards western scotland. wet weather to the east of the pennines too. and the heaviest and most persistent rain will be down those eastern counties towards lincolnshire and east anglia. some of the rain will have eased for the east midlands and the south—east, but don't let your guard down. some of that rain may return later on. west of that, a blustery day. the strongest winds to the south—west and south wales. a few showers drifting through western scotland,

north—west england, north wales, and the midlands throughout. but here, generally a lot more in the way of drier and brighter weather compared with what we saw on saturday. a bright day towards the north east. but the north east and the south west, there windy conditions. and temperatures at the levels they should be for the time of year. they will feel cooler down those eastern coasts with the wind off the sea. still some rain for a time as we go into sunday evening across central and eastern parts. that will fade away. drier with some mist and fog forming. and then, later in the night, more wet and windy weather arrives back into the west. that will lift temperatures up into the start of monday morning rush hour. a little bit cooler, but at least drier to the east of the country. as we start monday, this is the chart. a big area of low pressure to the south of iceland. it doesn't look great, does it? and these weather fronts will bring persistent rain to start the day in western areas. strong to gale—force winds. they could become severe gale—force in the north west of scotland. outbreaks of rain, heavy and persistent in the morning. turning a bit lighter and more fragmented as it heads eastward into the afternoon. so some eastern areas not quite as wet. but again, given the rain we have had, there could be some other minor flooding issues.

brighter weather to finish the day in the west, even though it still remains pretty windy in places. and a rather cool day too. and it sets us up for a really changeable autumn week. this is the jet stream pattern. a fairly vigorous one charging across the atlantic in this rough snaking pattern. on each little dip in thejet stream, we will see a subsequent area of low pressure. one after the other after the other. so it does mean wherever you are across the uk, rain will feature in many parts through this coming week. so never be too far away from those waterproofs. bye 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. the 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". leading democrats have issued a legal order demanding the white house hand over more documents on its dealings with ukraine. 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.