welcome to bbc news, i'm mike embley. our top stories: the white house refuses officially to co—operate in the trump impeachment inquiry, claiming it is unconstitutional. as the eu accuses the uk of playing a blame game over brexit, ireland's prime minister warns that finding any agreement won't be easy. i think it's going to be very difficult to secure an agreement by next week, quite frankly. we very much want there to be a deal and i'll certainly work until the very last moment to secure that. but not at any cost. turkey bolsters its military presence on the border with syria, as the us begins withdrawing forces from the region. we'll meet a very special penguin who found itself on an unexpected and very long adventure.

injust the in just the last few minutes, the house speaker nancy pelosi has said the president trump is not above the law. but the white house has confirmed it will not co—operate with the impeachment inquiry into donald trump. an official letter to democratic party leaders claims the process is "constitutionally illegitimate", and accuses them of seeking to rewrite the 2016 election. mr trump has blocked one key witness, the us ambassador to the european union, from giving evidence to congress, and democrats have now issued a subpoena to try to force him to appear. more legal wrangles are likely. this from our reporter peter bowes. a class at the heart of the american government. the white house flexing its muscle and refusing to have anything to do with the democrats's

impeachment enquiry and house of representatives. in an eight page letter, the president says the enquiry violates fundamental fairness, and lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation. fairness, and lacks any legitimate constitutionalfoundation. it accuses the democrats of seeking to overturn the results of the 2016 election, and deprive the american people of the president they've freely chosen. the white house believes the enquiry is flawed because it's forward without a vote on the floor of the house of representatives. the first sign the administration was putting up a roadblock to the enquiry came when this man, gordon sondland, the us ambassador to the european union, failed to appear before the house intelligence committee. the democrats want to question him about his role in discussions with ukrainian officials, which have led to claims president trump asked a foreign power to investigate a political rival. at the last minute, the state department stopped mr

sondland from appearing. president trump said: the democrats were quick to object. the failure to produce this witness, the failure to produce these documents, we consider yet additional strong evidence of obstruction of the constitutional functions of congress, a coequal branch of government. the white house is the impeachment process should be abandoned so the president can focus on leaving the country and fulfilling his promises to the american people. but with the country on the verge of a constitutional crisis, this is a tug—of—war that donald trump won't be able to ignore. peter bowes, bbc news. live now to washington dc and the political journalist and columnist for the daily beast, eleanor clift. eleanor, very good to talk to you. thank you very much for your time. all of the leaders in power are set

up all of the leaders in power are set up to bea all of the leaders in power are set up to be a check and balance on each other, aren't they? the white house, congress and the supreme court. i don't think there is anything constitutionally illegitimate about an impeachment process, but clearly there are many more legal wrangles to come. well, there are three coequal branches of government and the president refuses really to acknowledge that he has to co—operate with the congress. it is not unusual for this negotiating to go on for a president to resist the oversight from congress and an impeachment enquiry, but in the and, this is going to go to the courts. it will eat up time, which is part of the president's strategy, to wait this out, and his waging this in political arena, bowling this illegitimate, partisan and all of that. —— calling it. his supporters will believe that, but we are seeing a shift in the polls from softer

republicans, i guess they would say they are using the term, and the support for an impeachment enquiry, which is now better than 50%, its use among democrats of course does make it is huge, but you have to bring along the rest of the country as well. i think the president is really struggling to maintain his position and not to turn over any materials that obviously he might think are incriminating, and the congress is a refusal to turn it over is going to be taken as an indication of guilt. they can write an impeachment article based on obstruction of congress. so it's a lot of constitutional gobbledygook, you might say, but at the heart of it is the president seeking aid from foreign countries to aid him in his re—election bid, and then to find dirt on his political opponent.

people understand that. it's a simple proposition, it is not nearly as confusing as the two—year—old mother investigation into russia collusion, which didn't exonerate the president, but failed to move ahead with any kind of a indictment of him as a sitting president —— mueller investigation. a big question, but in a nutshell, if you can, what is your expectation about how all of this might play out eventually? i think it's virtually certain that the house will, there will be a vote to bring impeachment. and, as of now, i don't see 20 republicans defecting and joining the democrats to form a super majority in the senate to remove him from office. i think the democrats are taking a big gamble here. this president knows how to fight, he is a survivor, and if he isn't removed

from office, he will claim that he is the winner. so i don't know how this comes out in the end, whether it damages him for real action, or whether it damages the democrats. so it comes down to the voters next year. eleanor clift of the daily beast, thank you so much. thank you. in the uk's battle over brexit, talks with the european union are under severe pressure. after an apparently difficult phone call between prime minister borisjohnson and germany's chancellor angela merkel, a senior downing street source was being quoted as saying a brexit deal was now "essentially impossible". the eu's most senior official then publicly accused mrjohnson of playing a "stupid blame game." a short time ago the irish prime minister leo varadkar spoke to the broadcaster rte. we very much want there to be a deal. and i'll certainly work until the very last moment to secure that. but not at any cost. there are some fundamental objectives that haven't changed for the past three years and we need them guaranteed.

and what's your sense of it now? i think it's going to be very difficult to secure an agreement by next week, quite frankly. essentially what the united kingdom has done is repudiated the deal that we negotiated in good faith with prime minister may's government over two years. and have sort of put half of that now back on the table and are saying that's a concession. and of course it isn't, it isn't really. leo varadkar, irish prime minister there. in a newspaper interview, the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, was forthright. he said he does not accept what he called the "blame game" that's being played, which aims to pin the eventual failure of the negotiations on the european union. nobody, he said, would come out a winner in this scenario. here's our europe editor, katya adler. this isn't the end of the road to the eu because they are looking more long—term. they think a new brexit extension is the most likely outcome here, even more time for thoughts. but no—one here is starry eyed that i talk to about the idea of more time. of course you still need to

find an accord between the eu and the uk acceptable to the european parliament and the uk parliament as well. of course, no—one knows exactly what that accord will look like. neither now, nor in two or three months we posit time. katya adler, we will let you know. a spokesman for turkey's president erdogan has said turkish forces will shortly cross the border into kurdish—held areas in syria. dozens of military vehicles have been sent to the area after donald trump ordered a us troop withdrawal. ankara says it wants to establish a safe zone there to send back some of the millions of refugees from syria's civil war. but it's feared this could mean a likely turkish attack on the kurds, long—time american allies who the turks consider terrorists. 0ur international correspondent 0rla guerin reports from the border. tonight within a military buildup here at the border, two convoys arrived at a base nearby in the space of about one hour. a source close to intelligence of turkeys at the events that will begin in the

morning. that's unconfirmed, but someone oui’ morning. that's unconfirmed, but someone our courses believe it is imminent. and we've had reports they are appealing for civilians to act as human shields and they are pitching tends near the borderfor those human shields. a noisy reception for turkish forces on the move. ambulances and armoured personnel carriers close to the syrian border. we filmed this convoy tonight heading to a military base, the first evidence, perhaps, of a build to a turkish invasion of syria. and earlier, being busted to the border, syrian rebel fighters backed by turkey. they could be extra manpower for the planned offensive, which is causing havoc internationally, even before it begins. in washington, president trump has been meeting his top brass

and trying some damage control. he has denied abandoning kurdish forces, america's key allies in syria. but after their epic battles against is, they now feel mighty alone. and what now for that battle? there is growing concern internationally about what an offensive across this border might do to the global fight against islamic state. small wonder. there are thousands of is fighters being held in some kurdish — run detention centres. they have said if the turks atar, they will have to focus on the fight. -- atar, they will have to focus on the fight. —— turks attack. so defeated 0 rla fight. —— turks attack. so defeated 0rla guerin fighters like these may have fewer guards, raising fears some may escape “— have fewer guards, raising fears some may escape —— is fighters. and there may be less security at curtis cams, holding huge numbers of iss

supporters and family members —— 0 rla supporters and family members —— 0rla guerin supporters. but today at the border, a little gathering of turks who believe in kurdish are a security threat. an invasion appeals to president erdogan‘s base. critics say a war is a great distraction. tonight, more movement by turkish allies. rebel fighters from the free syrian army. they say they will reign fire on curtis forces —— kurdish forces. a powerful nato army appears to be on the way to battle, and there are real concerns about the possible cost for hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. in south africa, a recent spate of gruesome rapes and murders of women has prompted a public outcry. there have been street protests, a campaign on twitter, and an online petition signed by half a million people demanding

the reinstatement of the death penalty. a warning: this report from nomsa maseko injohannesburg contains material of a sexual nature, which some viewers might find disturbing. the killing of women in south africa has ignited outrage and protest countrywide. the government says attacks on women and children are similarto attacks on women and children are similar to those of a country at war. crime statistics have revealed nearly 3000 women and 1000 children we re nearly 3000 women and 1000 children were murdered in the last 12 months, many were assaulted and raped before their death. this johannesburg woman was gang raped by three men who broke into her home. she never got justice. i'm angry, i'm upset. yes, i've tried so hard to move on, but coming to the justice system, i'm so mad. it hurts every day because it's

something that you cannot say i would move on and forget with rape. after yea rs of would move on and forget with rape. after years of trauma, she opened a rape victims centre which inspired her to reclaim her life. keep on sending the message to others. she also runs a rape awareness campaign in her neighbourhood. in the last few minutes after this campaign started we came across a 23—year—old woman who was raped earlier this year but was turned away by the police stop here she is now. tell us what happened ? translation: i was raped twice by men who were my neighbours. i fear for my life because i often see one of the two people who attacked me. i reported the matter to the police, who turned me away and said i must stop causing trouble and that i should just give and forget. it's not easy! i've even turned to drugs asa not easy! i've even turned to drugs

as a coping mechanism. the president recently announced an emergency plan to tackle gender—based violence. there is a very violent and brutal war that is under way against the women of south africa. despite government intervention, attacks continue unabated. some of these things can't really be policed by some of the law enforcement agencies, it needs a change of attitude from men. they are the biggest perpetrators of this violence against women. many agree that levels of gender—based violence are unacceptable, and that a solution to deal with this worrying problem must be found. nomsa maseko, bbc news, johannesburg. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: basketball, china and freedom of speech — we'll look a how a tweet sparked a row in the worlds of sport and business.

this was a celebration by people who were relishing their freedom. they believe everything's going to be different from now on. they think their 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 soldiers jumped from a military truck taking part in the parade, and ran towards the president, firing from kalashnikov automatic rifles. after 437 years, the skeleton ribs of henry viii's tragic warship emerged. but, even as divers worked to buoy 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: the white house says it won't cooperate with the impeachment inquiry launched by democrats, calling it partisan and unconstitutional. earlier, the trump administration blocked a witness from giving evidence. he has now been subpoenaed. as the eu accuses britain of playing a blame game over brexit, ireland's prime minister says he'll work until the very last moment to try to secure a deal, but not at any cost. the head of america's national basketball association says the organisation will not compromise on freedom of speech. it comes after a backlash in china against daryl morey, the manager of the houston rockets, who tweeted an image supporting pro—democracy protests in hong kong. mr morey later said he didn't mean to cause offense,

chinese state media announced it would block the broadcast of two nba basketball preseason games. let's get more on this now. ben golliver is the nba writer for the washington post and joins me now. good to talk to you. thank you for your time. you don't necessarily following basketball may be surprised the nba is huge in china. it is, and it is part of an expansion into the chinese market. they have seen the economic opportunity available with the gigantic chinese population for decades going back to the late 19805. it decades going back to the late 1980s. it opened up nba china, a subsidiary of the nba to conduct business in that country back into thousand and eight. they have been hosting exhibition games in china since 200a. there are teams playing this week. this is part of a long campaign by the nba to attract chinese fans and the disagreement you are mentioning has really thrown a ratchet in all of those fans. it

is extraordinary that the final of this year's nba final was watched by more than people on a streaming service in china that watched idlib on the tv in the us. there are a lot of clever people in china. they will find a way around this kind of blocking, won't they? it is a symbolic action right now because the nba season hasn't officially started this year. there is some posturing going on back and forth. clearly the chinese government pride is at stake in their position on hong kong and they were challenged by houston rockets executives. for them, that is personal. the biggest chinese star of all time actually played for houston rockets. he was drafted by them in 2002. it is an extraordinarily popular team in china. they view the pro— hong kong trade by the houston rocket executive not only as a case of an american putting his foot into chinese business, but i think they

also view it as a little bit of an act of betrayal as well because of that organisation's popularity in china. briefly, one sure sign it is likely to be sorted out is that the players kind of need china, many of them go there to play after their career. it is their pension. it has been a fascinating dynamic because they did not formally apologise to china, the executive who kicked this whole thing off did not formally apologise but the 2018 mvp who plays for houston did apologise to china. he said he was sorry, nba players are known every single summer to go to china to sell their sneakers and obviously china buys a lot of jerseys as well, many ties between the athletes and china. there are times when players are getting ready to wind down their career they can have a second career in china and become big stars over there as well. it is clear the chinese market loves

nba basketball, they love the game andi nba basketball, they love the game and i think eventually this will get sorted out. right now they are in a staring contest because the nba has stood up for the executive and his freedom of speech and china has made very through the cctv and the television network that they don't believe he had the right to speak on issues he spoke on with regard to hong kong. thank you so much. it is my pleasure. now, just imagine if yourjob was to explore the earth's final frontier. that's the case forjill heinerth, one of the world's most famous cave divers. she's the first person in history to dive deep into an antarctic iceberg and lead a team that discovered the waterway remains of mayan civilizations. jill's now written about her adventures and recently she spoke with us. a lot of people think i'm some sort ofa a lot of people think i'm some sort of a fearless adrenaline junkie, but i'm not fearless. i am scared all the time. i led the team to be the

first people to go cave diving inside an iceberg. we did that in antarctica. so far away from help that there is certainly no—one around to rescue you if something goes wrong. during those dives inside this unbelievably dangerous and shifting environment, we got pinned down by a current that was like trying to walk against a hurricane except we were underwater, underneath an iceberg trying to swim against the current that was too strong to make any headway to get out of this ice cave. i have learned to deal with fear, terrifying mindnumbing fear, so it is really important for me to just stop, take a very deep, slow breath. we all

know what the next positive thing is that we can do to solve any problem, and soi that we can do to solve any problem, and so i just that we can do to solve any problem, and so ijust try that we can do to solve any problem, and so i just try and focus that we can do to solve any problem, and so ijust try and focus on those tiny steps one at a time, keep the emotions at bay, breathe slow and focus. there is a lot of preparation for a big dive. focus. there is a lot of preparation fora big dive. i may focus. there is a lot of preparation for a big dive. i may have been training and preparing equipment for a couple of years. slide into a dry suit that feels everything right down to my wrist and a rubber seal on my neck. these caves that i get to swim in our like museum of natural history. they hold evidence of global climate change, they contain the remains of civilisations that are no longer here on earth, and even the bones of polio animals that are now extinct. so these environments are beautiful, they are wondrous and they have so much to

teach us about science. i don't know what a retirement would look like for me because i am already doing the things that i love to do every day. i know it is a dangerous endeavour that i am involved in, but i don't see any nearer, you know, and to what i am doing. so impressive. learning to deal with mindnumbing fear. how about this for a tale of endurance and overcoming adversity. a penguin that swam more than 2,500 kilometres — that's about 1,500 miles — all the way from new zealand to australia. the bold explorer was eventually rescued by a local zoo and has now been released for a return journey. the bbc‘s tim allman has the story. there are swimmers... and then there are swimmers. this is a the 0dland penguin albeit no ordinary the 0dland penguin. this little board —

blackbird is made of sterner stuff after going on a very long journey. the fiordland penguin is unique to new zealand and tends to breed on the south—west coast of the country's south island. for reasons known only to itself, the penguin struck out alone, swimming across the tasman sea until it was discovered at kennett river, rescued by the marine response unit at melbourne zoo. when it was found, the bird was struggling and underweight and had to be slowly nursed back to health. experts are uncertain as to why it travelled so far, but this type of penguin is known to forage for food over long distances. 0nce known to forage for food over long distances. once it was back on its feet and in full health, the penguin was taken to a nearby beach and returned to the wild. the hope is it will find its way back home and then be able to breed. it is a tough life out there in the ocean said the zoo's head of veterinary services. this is one tough penguin. tim

allman, bbc news. for sure. that is it for now. thank you so much for watching. hello there. it was a fairly unsettled day on tuesday. we saw plenty of showers across northern and western areas. and a few got across into the east that were pretty heavy and thundering in one or two spots. but there was plenty of sunshine too. the next few days, similar story, staying rather unsettled with low pressure nearby, and it's going to be windy for most. on wednesday, low pressure again to the north of the uk. fairly strong winds, plenty of showers blowing from west to east. and then for thursday and friday, looks like we could see more organised weather fronts pushing in to bring more persistent rain for some areas. if you were watching yesterday, like i mentioned, it's not going to be particularly cold the next few days as our air source will be coming in off the atlantic from the west or the south—west. the night shouldn't

be too cold either. for wednesday then, it starts off bright, some sunshine across eastern areas. we'll have a scattering of heavy, perhaps thundery showers affecting south wales, southern counties of england through the day, and lots of showers will be piling into western scotland. and the winds strong, particularly across the west and when the showers come along, gusting 30, maybe 40mph in exposed spots. temperature wise, a few degrees down on what we had on tuesday. that is the low teens across scotland, northern ireland, maybe 1a or 15 across the south and the east. now, through wednesday night, it stays blustery. lots of showers again across northern and western areas. some of them merging together to produce longer spells of rain here. but we could see some drier interludes or long clear spells across central and eastern part of the country. those temperatures dipping down from 7 to 10 degrees. so, on into thursday then, we've got low pressure to the north—east of the uk. next system pushing in with more active weather fronts could bring more persistent rain to parts of the country, like i mentioned. so i think we'll start off

fairly cool, bright, plenty of sunshine around. to the west, thicker cloud and this front will bring more persistent rain to northern ireland and into scotland through the day but again, further south will be sunshine and showers, mainly across wales and the south—west of england. but a few spots will see some hazy sunshine. those temperatures back up again. 17 degrees will be the high. lots of weather fronts on the chart. you'll see on friday some uncertainty to where these fronts will actually be. it could be that warmer parts of the north—west of scotland to bring outbreaks of rain here. another one may move south—east across england and wales to bring a spell of persistent rain. some sunshine in between. those temperatures up a notch again, 17 or 18 degrees across the south and the east of the country. and it remains unsettled with low pressure always nearby into the weekend. showers or longer spells of rain, also a little bit of sunshine, but it will stay on the breezy side.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: the white house has officially refused to co—operate with the impeachment inquiry against president donald trump. in a letter sent to democratic party leaders, it rejected the inquiry as "baseless" and "constitutionally invalid". the "constitutionally invalid". trump administration har refused the trump administration has already refused a key figure to appear as a witness, three democratic house committees are investigating the president. as the eu accuses britain of playing a blame game over brexit, ireland's prime minister leo varadkar says he'll work until the very last moment to try to secure a deal by next week, but not at any cost. turkey has boosted its military positions on the border with syria after saying it's ready for a long—threatened operation that could target kurdish forces long allied to the us. the us has begun withdrawing troops from the region.