this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: investigators looking into the downing of flight mh17 over ukraine say russian officials directed the rebels linked to the attack. now democrats are focusing part of their impeachment case against president trump on a simple allegation of bribery. the bribe is to grant or withhold military assistance in return for a public statement of a fake investigation. a teenager opens fire on classmates at a high school in california, leaving two dead, three wounded.

a state of emergency in venice after the worst flooding in more than 50 years. and a low birthrate in south korea is an opportunity for these grandmothers to go back to the classroom. investigators examining the shooting down of a passenger plane over ukraine in 2014 have disclosed intercepted phone calls that they say indicate close links between senior russian officials and the rebels accused of attacking the aircraft. nearly 300 people on malaysia airlines flight mhi7 were killed. in the phone calls, close aides to president putin seem to be organising supplies of weapons for separatist fighters. gareth barlow has the story. investigators say the intercepted calls show ukrainian separatists and russian officials were in frequent contact before the attack, with russia directly aware of and influencing

administrative, financial and military matters. translation: what we see are separatist leaders, almost on a daily basis, were in contact back then with officials in the russian government. they used secured phones and unsecured phones. we suspect these had been provided by the russian intelligence service, fsb. the transcripts appear to show ukrainian fighters were following russian orders. in one released call, separatist leader alexander borodai told an unknown figure, well, your plans are far—reaching. mine are not. i'm carrying out orders and protecting the interests of one and only one state, the russian federation. that's the bottom line. despite a key aide to president putin being heard on one of the calls, and the russian defence minister being directly referenced, russia rejects allegations it was involved.

298 people died when the malaysia airlines flight was struck en route from amsterdam to kuala lumpur. the aircraft came down in eastern ukraine, and dutch investigators have worked for years to establish who is responsible for the disaster. russian—backed separatists have been linked to the attack, but moscow argues the investigation is flawed, and aimed at discrediting its international reputation. four men have been charged and are due to go on trial, probably in absentia, early next year. investigators have already said the missile launch system used in the attack was sourced from russia. their hope now will be to ascertain who gave the orders and who pressed the button to trigger the deadly attack. priya pillai is a legal consultant specialising in international law, who formerly worked for the un's international criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia.

the russians, as we have been saying, fiercely disputed these findings. do you think they are likely to be accurate, and what year is most interesting to you? what is most likely to move the investigation forward? good morning, thank you for having me. there are a few things going on here at the moment. the most important thing, actually, is that the joint investigative team has come up with its transcripts and audio recordings and is essentially making the case that there wasn't just and is essentially making the case that there wasn'tjust military support, but that this is broader, that it support, but that this is broader, thatitis support, but that this is broader, that it is military, financial as well as administrative support by the russian state. yesterday, what they actually did was ask for witnesses, and release a call for further, much more targeted information. if you look at the website, they have released the transcripts and audio, which basically have very specific questions. and at the end of the series of questions they have

basically said, you know, if you are in the conflict zone, if you essentially want to get out but you have information but you think you might be tried for ukrainian crimes, there is a possibility of even looking out a way of some of those criminal charges. so essentially an incentive. and i thinkjust to highlight the fact that at this point there are four defendants who have been named, and arrest warrants have been named, and arrest warrants have been named, and arrest warrants have been issued for them. three russians who have links to the fsb, as well as the gru, and one ukrainian commander who is on the ground. the charges against them are charges of murder, and that they we re charges of murder, and that they were involved in the deployment of the buk missile system. but what the investigators want to do now is look up investigators want to do now is look up the chain and down the chain. they want to say, who was in charge of the rebel factions? it was in charge of those on the ground who made the decision to deploy the buk missile system, as well as looking for the crew who were in charge

about missile system. so clearly looking up the chain of command as well. and maybe just looking up the chain of command as well. and maybejust to highlight one more point, which is that at this stage, last friday, the international court ofjustice has just issued a judgement on what is called a preliminary objection, which basically means that ukraine had approached the icj on a few other issues, not just had approached the icj on a few other issues, notjust mhi7, but mhi7 is part of their filing, other issues, notjust mhi7, but mhi7 is part of theirfiling, and a week ago icj said you can proceed with the case, that some of these initial objections are not valid, and the case will continue. so for me, these to tie into each other, in looking at the larger issues of the responsibility of a state, attributing these actions to a state, beyond individuals who were, you know, involved in these criminal acts. just briefly, if you can, if the russians continue to refuse to co—operate, what then? the russians continue to refuse to co-operate, what then? that is definitely a problem, which is why

the investigators are issuing this request for witnesses to come forward. and if you look at what they have said, they also talk about witness protection. they are basically trying to access evidence, trying to access very painstakingly the bits and pieces of evidence that will all add up. they already have some of it, but they have made the case in public to say, if you have information, and if you need help and protection, that is something that we can look at, to try to access people as well as information. as we know, access has been an issue in the past, especially after the downing of mhi7. so i expect that russia will continue to refute this, but the investigators do seem to be piece by piece building their case, very painstakingly and currently. thank you. thank you. the speaker of the us house of representatives has said president trump has already, in effect, admitted bribery, in the phone call with ukraine's leader which is at the heart of the impeachment inquiry. nancy pelosi was speaking just before a second day of public

hearings, and she had this to say about republican pressure on the whistleblower who triggered the inquiry. nobody — nobody — president — president is not above the law. the president will be held accountable, and nobody should have the right to endanger whistleblowers, and that is the system that i will defend. and the american people — the american people understand that. speaking at a campaign rally in louisiana, president trump again lashed out at the democrats. this just thisjust came this just came out. big story. " new remarks from top ukrainian official damages democrats' impeachment narrative". just came out! i only

read it because they don't like to report stories like this, you know. because where fighting the democrats, but much more difficult to fight is the fake news, i'm telling you. —— we're fighting. and they are a partnership. i call them a partnership made in hell. our washington correspondent chris buckler has more. yes, president trump in fact is already railing against that impeachment enquiry at that rally thatis impeachment enquiry at that rally that is being held in louisiana. during the rally he has been talking about the fact that as far as he is concerned, the full story is not being reported, insisting on quoting from some news articles but as far as he is concerned, there was no quid pro quo, and he says that is what ukrainian officials have been suggesting. at the same time it is very clear that democrats are lining up very clear that democrats are lining up an argument to impeach president

trump. if you listen carefully to the speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi, it is clear where they are going with this. she is talking about bribery. this is the whole idea that donald trump essentially tried to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars of military aid to ukraine until they launched an investigation into his political rival, joe biden. now, it is likely that is going to be one of the articles of impeachment. another may well be the fact that president from locked or tried to stop some of those officials from going to give evidence to the impeachment enquiries. you get a sense the democrats are moving forward, but you also get a strong feeling from president trump and republicans that they have their defence well prepared, and he is pointing out time and time again, in increasingly aggressive terms, but first of all, no investigation was actually launched by ukraine, and that actually, that military aid was paid. on another point, there is another turn in the battle of the

president trump's tax returns? yes, a long—running one, this. time and time again, people have been calling for the president to release his tax returns, right back to the 1970s, pretty much every president has done it. donald trump has refused. but there is a criminal investigation taking place in new york and prosecutors there have managed to get a subpoena, trying to force mr trump's accountants to release his corporate and personal tax returns. now, mr trump's lawyers do not want to do that and they want to take the case now to the supreme court. they say it is a constitutional issue because a president, or at least a sitting president, should not be the subject of prosecution or an investigation in a criminal case. they say it is about presidential immunity. however, whether the supreme court actually takes the case, we have to wait and see, and beyond that, democrats are pushing on this issue, time and time again, and there is a separate legal case in which congressional legal committees are also demanding to see the tax returns. another shooting at an american school.

two students have been killed, several more were seriously hurt. los angeles police say a student, identified as nathaniel berhow, pulled a semiautomatic pistol from his backpackjust as the school day was beginning at saugus high, in the town of santa clarita. after firing on fellow pupils, he turned the gun on himself but survived. it was his sixteenth birthday. he has been arrested and taken to hospital, along with three of his victims. now we're going through the very lengthy process of conducting a thorough investigation to figure out what happened and why. at the same time, we're busy now doing the reunification with the students with their parents, and all the affected students have been notified. theirfamilies have been notified and they're with them currently. these students from the school talked to reporters shortly after the shooting. this marks, like, a really important time, especially in santa clarita, where we all need to come together and rally for the students

and for our own safety, because i don't want to go to school and be scared for my life. i want to go to school and get my education, focus on my career, being with my friends for my senior year, and not worry about whether or not i'm going to come home. the chaos wasn't bad at all. obviously everyone was feeling their own inner chaos, feeling scared, terrified. i was personally absolutely terrified, hoping that my friends were 0k, trying to reach my mum. but i was — i was ushered out of school completely. i was safe, i knew i was safe with all the cops, and — yep. let's get some of the day's other news: the israeli military has launched new air strikes against positions held by islamicjihad in gaza. the israelis‘ assassination of a commander of the group has been followed by palestinian rocket attacks, which israel calls a "very severe" violation of the truce, in place since thursday. lebanese media say political groupings are to nominate a billionaire businessman

and veteran politician mohammad safadi as prime minister. crowds have already gathered outside his home to protest against his appointment. italy's cabinet has declared a state of emergency in venice over the serious tidal flooding which at its highest in the past few days, engulfed more than 80% of the historic city. venice is a unesco world heritage site. prime minister giuseppe conte has allocated $22 million as the first bloc of emergency funds. jenny hill is in venice for us. even as they clear up, the flood alarms are going off. in a few hours, it is feared venice will be deluged again. it's a disaster, for ourfamily and for all the venetian people. a really, really, really big storm. they haven't seen anything this bad since the 1960s. one couple filmed as they tried and failed to keep the water out.

water coming from everywhere, and we — we found ourselves surrounded by water. the beauty of this ancient city fragile now. inside st mark's basilica, they are still assessing the damage. the crypt was full — filled of water. venice lies low, prone to floods, vulnerable to the effects of climate change, a planned flood defence scheme delayed for years by corruption, scandal and overspend. little comfort for those watching as the tides rise, fall, and rise again. jenny hill, bbc news, venice. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, no longer the stuff of comic books — we meet the british inventor who smashed his own record for the fastest flight in a jet suit.

the bombastic establishment outsider, donald trump, has defied the pollsters to take the keys to the oval office. i feel great about the election result. i voted for him because i genuinely believe that he cares about the country. it's keeping the candidate's name always in the public eye that counts. success or failure depends not only on public display, but on the local campaign headquarters and the heavy routine work of their women volunteers. berliners from both east and west linked hands and danced around their liberated territory. and with nobody to stop them, it wasn't long before the first attempts were made to destroy the structure itself. yasser arafat, who dominated the palestinian cause for so long, has died. palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning. after 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy. women ministers who'd long felt only grudgingly accepted in the ranks of clergy suddenly felt welcomed.

this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: an international inquiry into the downing of malaysian airlines flight mhi7 over ukraine says russian officials directed the rebels linked to the attack. moscow has rejected the allegation. the democrat speaker of the us house of representatives says president trump has in effect admitted to bribery in his dealings with ukraine. it's nearly two years since robert mugabe was deposed as president of zimbabwe. emmerson mnangagwa took over on a wave of optimism and goodwill. but it was short—lived, and his government has just presented an annual budget in the midst of the worst economic collapse in years. the bbc‘s shingai nyoka examines how so much went so wrong — and the impact it is having. this should be one of harare's

busiest clinics, but the economic crisis has brought the public health system to its knees. normally, this clinic would be a hive of activity. it serves about 100,000 people in the community. but there is only one qualified nurse at work, and so everyone is being turned away. the sick are not sure where to turn for help. this baby has the flu. her mother tells me there is no help here. there is no medicine. for others, the consequences are far worse. this woman didn't want to be identified. her niece had died of heart failure a few nights before. we couldn't take her to the clinic, because the clinics, they are closed. and also the hospitals like harare hospital, there are no doctors there. so, after two days, she passed away.

for over two months, hundreds of doctors have been on strike. triple—digit inflation has slashed their salaries by 80%. just two years ago, president emmerson mnangagwa deposed robert mugabe. his presidency was greeted by optimism and celebration. he pledged to set zimbabwe on a new path to prosperity, but the reality is that life has worsened. at a township on the outskirts of harare, it's plain to see. thousands queue for food handouts. half the population is in need of food aid, compounded by the worst drought in living memory. and even the most vulnerable don't always get it. this 72—year—old is one of them. she collects discarded plastics to try to sell to buy medication and food. the government has asked for more

time to improve the economy. but for many people, time is running out. south korea is running out of children. strange thing to say. it has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. the impact is being keenly felt in rural areas where schools are struggling to fill classrooms and stay open at all. facing a year without any first graders, one school in the south—west has opened its doors to grandmothers who'd never had the chance to learn to read and write. this from our correspondent, laura bicker. "we will study hard", these grandmothers tell their teacher. for decades they dreamt of learning to read and write. now that they have their chance, every moment in this first grade class is special. translation: i never went to school because we were poor. now i am learning new things and realising it is really nice to go to school.

translation: now i know how to read and write. i can thank my teacher 100 times. that is how good i feel. they've lived most of their lives sacrificing for their families, usually male siblings. there was a culture of sending sons to school but not daughters. the root cause was poverty. this rural school once had 90 pupils in each grade. now there are 22 in total. last year there were no new first graders. so the grandmothers asked if they could come. translation: when i was young i couldn't go to school because i had to raise my siblings. now that i am older i heard this was a good opportunity.

that is why i am doing it. babies are becoming an increasingly rare sight in rural areas as south korea's birthrate plummets to one of the lowest in the world. i'm the first scottish person you have met. to try to help, officials have built a new baby unit to support new mothers and encourage them to stay in the area. translation: the trend for young people is to just to live happily with themselves and their husbands. i think the economic factor is the biggest concern in raising a child. but family finances are not the only concern. a demanding work culture makes it difficult for many women to balance their career with family life. as a result, south korea is running out of children. in this class there is only two students and they are in different grades. but amidst this crisis has come a rare opportunity. to offer an older generation a chance to make up for lost time and lost education.

translation: now i can write my name. it is fun. it is just fun to walk to school. a british inventor, who calls himselfjetman, has smashed his own record for the fastest flight inajet suit. richard browning shot through the sky above brighton beach at more than 130 kilometres an hour. ian palmer was there. we have lift—off, but can he break the jet—propelled bodysuit world record?

i've shouted so loudly before i've been heard over myjet engine noise, on the gopro on my head as i was just exclaiming with joy. it is like this unparalleled degree of freedom when you're flying. it is super fun. richard browning is on his second adjudicated run. can he go any faster? the british inventor didn't just go faster, he obliterated his own world record — reaching a top speed of more than 85 miles an hour. it did start out for no practical reason at all and it's still not how you will take the kids to school any time soon. but as a first stepping stone that opens the door to a whole new way that it might inspire. it already has. these air scouts travelled all the way from northamptonshire to witness this extraordinary event.

it's a wonderful opportunity. you don't get to see a jetpack every day. it was amazing. it's a wonderful chance to be able to come down here and watch it. we really passionate about aviation but this is something really different. this is great, actually. i was very surprised to see a guy just take off and go into the sea, so, yeah. yeah. today is guinness world records day, with more than 650,000 people taking part worldwide. what's certain is that none of them will have stimulated the imagination quite like the british inventor, richard browning. ian palmer, bbc south east today, brighton. and finally, another interesting attempt at a world record with a different vibe. most nationalities ina sauna. different vibe. most nationalities in a sauna. this was a successful attempt from fenland, taking the record from china, 19 nationalities in the sauna that —— 99. they received help from helsinki to

recruit people from other countries. that's it for now. thank you for watching. hello. thursday was another rough day of weather across many parts of the uk. for some it was snow, this is how it looks over high ground in staffordshire. for many more it was rain, that rain falling on sodden ground so there are a number of flood warnings in force and you can read about those on the bbc weather website. the culprit, an area of low pressure spinning across continental europe and the strip of cloud here is what brought the persistent rain across parts of the midlands and north england. snow for some as well. that rain band is now working westwards and weakening but our area

of low pressure still spinning around and still in charge of the scene so it will throw more outbreaks of rain in from the east as we go through the day. across england and wales, largely cloudy day with outbreaks of rain at time. light and patchy at times and heavy rain into the south—east later on. some rain expected in eastern and southern parts of scotland, also northern ireland. morning showers will tend to fizzle and leave some sunshine through the afternoon. it will still be breezy but perhaps not quite as chilly as it was on thursday. into the early hours of saturday you can see further outbreaks of patchy rain spreading from the east towards the west and the best of the clear spells we found across scotland and northern ireland although in scotland there could be dense fog patches to take into saturday morning. into the weekend, an area of low pressure still with us but notice the white lines, those isobars. there are not many of them. the low is flabby which means there's nothing to push the various areas of rain around and so it is a little tricky for us

to forecast the exact details at this stage. it looks like many of us will see cloud in some outbreaks of rain during times during saturday. the best chance of brightness down towards the south. it will not be as windy as it has been. on sunday, a greater chance of seeing heavier and more persistent rain from the east, potentially moving into parts of northern england and the midlands that have seen flooding, so with staying in touch with the forecast. best of the sunshine across the west, particularly northern ireland. into monday, a little ridge of high pressure is going to move its way through and for the start of the week that will settle things down. but there is a big low waiting in the wings in the atlantic and that will bring the return of some rain at times as we head through next week. it will often be windy but will eventually turn a bit milder.

this is bbc news. the headlines: international investigators looking into the downing of malaysian airlines flight mh17 over ukraine say high—level russian officials were directing separatists in eastern ukraine linked to the attack. moscow has rejected the allegation, based on intercepted phone calls. the russians claim investigators have manipulated the inquiry. the speaker of the us house of representatives, nancy pelosi, says she believes wednesday's live televised hearings in the impeachment inquiry against president trump show he has admitted to bribery in his dealings with ukraine. the president denies acting improperly. two students have been killed and several others wounded when a classmate opened fire on the campus of their school near los angeles. it was the gunman‘s 16th birthday. he later turned the gun on himself but survived, seriously wounded. he's been arrested and taken to hospital.

now on bbc news,