this is bbc news, the headlines: the white house has attacked its own most senior ukraine official, as he was giving public testimony to the impeachment hearings, investigating whether donald trump has abused his presidential power. as alexander vindman told congress a phone call made by the president was "improper" and left him in "shock", the official white house this is bbc news — welcome if you're twitter account was watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: questioning hisjudgement. four more witnesses testify in washington — as the impeachment inquiry ramps up amnesty international has confirmed pressure on president trump. reports that at least a hundred people have died in iran it is improperfor the president in 5 days of protests of the united states to demand against a fuel price rise. a foreign government the actualfigure may be higher. security forces are accused investigate a us citizen of firing directly on protesters. and a political opponent. iran's supreme leader blames amnesty international says at least 100 people have been killed the unrest on foreign enemies. across iran in days of demonstrations. security forces are accused twitter has issued a warning of firing directly on protesters. to britain's conservative party for rebranding one of its twitter accounts to look like an independent twitter condemns britain's conservative party, fact—checking agency saying it misled the public during the first tv debate by rebranding one of its accounts of the election campaign. "factcheckuk" during a live tv debate. and, is hong kong's university

stand—off in its final hours? amid the debris, only a few dispirited protesters remain. more senior officials have appeared before the impeachment hearings, investigating whether donald trump has abused his presidential power, and the white house has attacked its own most senior ukraine official, even as he was giving public testimony. as lieutenant colonel alexander vindman told congress that a phone call made by the president was "improper" and left him in "shock", the official white house twitter account was questioning hisjudgement. in his evidence, the iraq veteran, who serves on the us national security council, said mr trump did make "inappropriate" demands of the ukrainian leader, to help him, politically, in next year's us presidential election. aleem maqbool was there for us.

many are taking huge risks to testify against their president. for lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, a military hero and national security aid still working for the white house, those risks felt acute. dad... hands shaking as he gave his opening statement, he addressed his father who'd fled soviet ukraine for a better life in the us. ..do not worry, i will be fine for telling the truth. he was one of those who was on the crucial call between donald trump and his ukrainian counterpart and felt the need to report what he'd heard. i was concerned by the call. what i heard was inappropriate and i have forwarded my concerns to mr eisenberg. it is improper for the president of the united states to demand a foreign government investigate a us citizen and a political opponent. these hearings are about the accusation donald trump tied military aid to ukraine to the country opening investigations into the activities of hunter biden,

son ofjoe biden. i just got to watch and the republicans are absolutely killing it, they are doing so well, because it's a scam, it's a big scam. they're doing something that the founders never thought possible and the founders didn't want, and they're using this impeachment hoax for their own political gain. if you will you both please rise? but in today's hearings, we also heard from one of the key figures who steered donald trump's ukraine policy. at no time was i aware of or knowingly took part in an effort to urge ukraine to investigate former vice—president biden. as you know from the extensive real—time documentation i have provided, vice—president biden was not a topic of our discussions. i was not on thejuly 25 phone call between president trump and president zelensky. i was not made aware of any reference to vice—president biden or his son by president trump until the transcript of that call was released on september 25, 2019.

we're now into the second week of these public hearings with much more testimony to come over the next couple of days. but if social media is anything to go by, then supporters and opponents of donald trump are only becoming more entrenched in their views with very few americans changing their mind. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington. according to amnesty international, 106 people are confirmed dead in iran in 5 days of protests. but the human rights group believes the real number is much higher. the unrest is a reaction to friday's sharp rise in petrol prices. banks and other buildings have been set ablaze, and security personnel killed. video appears to show security forces shooting at demonstrators. gareth barlow reports. the unrest following the government's announcement on friday that petrol prices would rise by 50% continues. days of widespread protests

responded to with widespread force. we're especially alarmed that the use of ammunition has allegedly caused a significant number of deaths across the country. we urge the iranian authorities and the security forces to avoid the use of force to disperse peaceful assemblies. amid a government—imposed internet blackout, the bbc has managed to obtain this footage, which appears to show security forces firing directly on protesters from behind a wall and from behind a tree. demonstrations have taken place nationwide with security personnel using lethal force. some iranians have told the bbc the authorities have refused to release victims' bodies. what began as a protest against a rise in fuel prices has developed into a far more serious and deadly situation. iran's supreme leader has blamed enemies and declared victory over the protesters.

the government does have support. demonstrators chanting "death to the us" have taken to the streets. the country's economy is blighted by american sanctions. washington now says it's working with ordinary iranians to get around the government's internet blackout. we have been able to get into the hands of the iranian people circumvention tools that allow them to communicate with each other when the regime tries to censor them, and so this work has been going on for well over 1.5 years. with reports of the authorities using snipers against protesters, the unrest is the most serious in years. the country's economy is severely strained. inflation is soaring and unemployment is around 15%. what began as an economic crisis has escalated into a deadly suppression of public anger. gareth barlow, bbc news.

let's get some of the day's other news: emergency services in the netherlands have confirmed that at least 25 people have been found in a refrigerated container on board a ferry bound for the uk. the dfds ferry returned to the port when the suspected stowaways were discovered on board. standard chartered bank will not be renewing its sponsorship of prince andrew's charity, pitch—at—palace. the bank said it had made the decision for commercial reasons. the duke of york is facing criticism following a bbc interview about his links with the convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. at least three people in bolivia have been killed in a clash between protesters and the security forces in the city of el alto. 30 others have been injured. witnesses say police and soldiers opened fire at supporters of the ousted president evo morales. twitter has issued a warning to britain's conservative party after it rebranded one of its twitter accounts to look like an election fact—checking agency during the first tv debate of the election campaign.

the account was renamed factcheckuk with no clear mention of its party connections. our technology correspondent, dave lee says the conservative party's actions haven't impressed twitter. they're not happy to say the least. they put out a statement about what the tory party has done with that account, saying that it was misleading and that it wouldn't be tolerated in future. they said they would take decisive corrective action if the tory party or, indeed, any other account tries to pull a stunt like this in future. twitter‘s pretty clear about this kind of thing. it has a policy about pretending or implying that you're something that you're not on the platform, and i have to say this is a company that's had to battle this type of technique of changing the identity of an account as something that foreign governments would do to interfere in elections, so to see it coming from a british

political party has really angered twitter, at least that's the sense i'm getting from the company today. more now on the tv debate itself between the leaders of britain's two main political parties have clashed in the first televised debate just three weeks before the election. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg reports. tonight, the conservative prime minister, borisjohnson, and the leader of the labour party, jeremy corbyn, debate. first, their chance at an opening pitch. labour is offering real change and real hope. people want to get brexit done and to unleash the potential of this entire country. i think it is time that we actually recognise we have to maintain a firm and good trading relationship with europe, otherwise more jobs will be lost all over the country, as they've already been lost because of the uncertainty. we have a deal that, as i say, is oven—ready. it's ready to go. and it's approved, as i say, not just by our friends and partners in the eu, but by every one of the

635 conservative candidates, and it delivers everything that we wanted from brexit. remember, the prime minister wants to leave injanuary with his deal. jeremy corbyn‘s offering you another referendum on leave with a different deal, or remain. are you going to campaign for leave or remain? i want to bring people together... applause ..therefore, there will be a referendum in which that decision will be made by the british people, and our government will abide by that decision. when you say you'll get it done, really, mrjohnson, you are going to embark on probably seven years of negotiations with the united states on a trade deal. be aware, this election could be a majorjunction for the uk. the tories rule out another referendum on scottish independence. labour? of course, jeremy corbyn and the labour party are going to do a deal, and they probably already have done a deal, with nicola sturgeon and the snp to form a corbyn—sturgeon coalition. and the price of that deal,

the price of nicola sturgeon's support, let's be in no doubt, she's made it absolutely clear, would be a second referendum on the union. i think i ought to be able to reply to this nonsense. will you be able to rely... crosstalk i'd just like to, i'd just like to have a moment of... applause ..this nonsense of a coalition between labour and the snp. there's not going to be a coalition between labour and anybody else. there are no deals that've been done, and there will be no deals that are done. 0k. applause does the truth matter in this election? i think it does, and i think it's very important. laughter i think it's very important to hear from... i've been very clear about the deal that i've done. then, in the immediate aftermath of that interview, they were asked to step onto the minefield of the monarchy. is prince andrew fit for purpose? before we discuss prince andrew, i think we should discuss the victims that are there because of what epstein was doing. applause i think all our sympathies which should be obviously with the victims of jeffrey epstein, and the law must

certainly take its course. the first duel over, weeks still to go in this campaign. but initial impressions of the two rivals for number ten may well last. here are the leaders of the liberal democrats and snp reacting to the debate. i think what we had with the bluster and aversion from both of them, frankly, that needed to be challenged and whether that that was oi'i challenged and whether that that was on the beach trying to excuse their re cord on the beach trying to excuse their record on anti—semitism or in the case of borisjohnson, trying to divert the question about racism onto brexit which i thought was very strange, they are just proved tonight they are not up to the job. whatever future scotland wants, should be decided here in scotland by the people of scotland, it's not for borisjohnson orjeremy corbyn to dictate, and that's

the issue at this election, are we're going to let these westminster politicians and that failed system to determine what our country can become or are we're going to take that descison into our own hands? stay with us on bbc news, still to come: paving the way. the who claims the first stone on london's new music walk of fame. benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistan's general election and she's asked pakistan's president to name her as prime minister. jackson's been released on bail of $3 million after turning himself in to police in santa barbara. it was the biggest demonstration so far of the fast—growing european anti—nuclear movement.

the south african government has announced that it's opening the country's remaining whites—only beaches to people of all races. this will lead to a black majority government in this country and the destruction of the white civilisation. part of the centuries—old windsor castle, one of the queen's residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds worth of damage. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: four more witnesses have testified in washington, as the impeachment inquiry ramped up pressure on president trump. more now on our main story: 0ur north america correspondent, david willis has the latest, on the impeachment hearing following the testimony of us army lieutenant—colonel alexander vindman.

he was listening in on the call. he was born in the ukraine and is an iraq war veteran and appeared today in full military uniform to tell the impeachment enquiry that at times he could not quite believe what he was hearing on that call. he said that president donald trump's call for his ukrainian counterpart to open investigation into the political rival, joe biden, was inappropriate and improper and "my worst fear of how our ukrainian policy could play out was playing out." on wednesday there was another big witness and some nervousness about amongst

republicans about wednesday's testimony. i would think so. this is going to be a pivotal witness. gordon sondland, the us ambassador to the eu was the man who reached out on behalf of president trump to the government of the ukraine. he did so, initially, he said, in order to press the fight against corruption, but subsequently he amended his testimony and basically seemed to agree with the fact that there was a quid pro quo, that aid money was withheld in turn for the investigation intojoe biden being launched. remembering that he was the direct point person between the president and the ukrainian government it will be very interesting to see what he has to say about those phone calls with president trump. we will keep you up—to—date on wednesday's hearings, of course. the us senate has passed a bill to limit armss sales to the hong kong police, as the stand off between police and protestors at hong kong's polytechnic university enters its fourth day.

only a few pro—democracy protestors are still inside. they face an increasingly desperate situation, supplies of water and food are running out. at the height of the campus occupation there were hundreds on campus, but their number has dwindled. rupert wingfield hayes was there for us. they came out looking more like prisoners of war — hands on each other‘s shoulders, forlorn, humiliated and exhausted. family members looked on anxiously, hoping to catch a glimpse of a missing child. this man saw his brother, a man he says was only in the hong kong polytechnic to help negotiate, but he too is now in a police cell. how does that make you feel? angry. very. and... he wanted justice to come out in hong kong. it's one country, two systems. it's not china. it's the rule of law in hong kong.

but now it's being like china. tonight, we managed to get inside the university, and this is the sight that greeted us. the detritus of sunday's battle and the ammunition, ready for a battle yet to come. what's this? petrol ether. and another one. ethyl acetate. so, this has all come from the university's chemistry labs, it looks like, and has been used to make what was clearly being... look at this, this is a bottle with a gas canister attached to it. i'm not sure whether it would have actually worked, but the students here, the protesters here were preparing, you can see, for another full—scale battle with the police. tonight, maybe 50 protesters are still holding out here. they are portrayed in the media as the hardest of the hardcore,

but this young man seemed more scared and lonely. he told me even his family has now turned against him. "they blame the protesters and say they deserve this," he tells me. "they even say it's right for the police to shoot at protesters. when i hear this, it's very tough, i feel very sad". it's clear none of the remaining protesters wants to stay. the steady trickle of surrenders has continued all evening, many too exhausted to go on. then suddenly, as we watched, a group of about ten tried to make a run for it. within seconds, the police were on them from all directions. they never really stood a chance. it appears this, or surrender, are now the only choices facing the few who remain inside. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in hong kong. derek liu is the president of the polytechnic university's student union and hejoins me now from hong kong.

thank you very much for talking to us, what are you hearing from people still on campus, and what are you expecting to happen next? the situation has now become worsened, there are less and less people still staying inside the campus, now there was 100 or two, but those inside a still consuming what they had from last week, they are still having that daily supply and none of the supply could enter and any means. most people feel frustrated, those with praying the humiliating police force would still set the barricades until they surrender. but now a learn from the university that the university will close until the end of this month, and for those who are staying inside, they have to wait

until next month then they could step three. 50 as you understand step three. so as you understand that they may just stay in step three. so as you understand that they mayjust stay in the university for all that time? yes, island from the university that they will reopen the campus from the first of december, but it might postpone, it depends on the situation inside the campus. we have to assume from the way that the police have been acting, they will still want to arrest those people. what are you hearing about people, how the way people have been arrested and how they are being treated? well, actually we couldn't hear them because most of them are going to the court today, which some of us, student union members and supporters, will be heading to the courts to support them and to hear how they are being allocated by the police force and as well the judiciary. you are the president of

the student union at the polytechnic. does the occupation of the campus feel, to you, like a turning point and what chance do you see now of the government agreeing to any of your demands? actually, we see that the us has passed already the bell in the senate, and we hope that it will somehow give some pressure to the hong kong government in order to make some changes and in order to restrict what the police force is acting on us, as well as those who are staying in campus. we sincerely hope that international society assists in pressure on the chinese government as well as hong kong, which we could see the chinese government react, responding so frequent to what the international is responding. so we think that it

some pressure to the chinese government and we hope that it could carry on until those staying in polytechnic university could leave the campus safely without being arrested or any allegations on them. all right, thank you very much. prosecutors in sweden have dropped an investigation into a rape allegation made against the wikilea ks co—founder julian assange back in 2010. mr assange who denies the accusation avoided extradition to sweden for seven years after seeking refuge at the embassy of ecuador in london. he was evicted in april and sentenced to 50 weeks in jail for breaching his bail conditions. caroline hawley reports. afterjulian after julian assange was afterjulian assange was hauled out of the ecuadorian embassy in april, swedish prosecutors have been busy working on the case against him. 0ver working on the case against him. over the summer, they interviewed seven witnesses. but today, they

announced that memories had faded with time, and although the woman who made the rape allegation was credible, they didn't have proof. translation: my assessment is that all investigative measures that can be taken, have been taken. i've concluded the evidence is not strong enough to file an indictment. the investigation into julian enough to file an indictment. the investigation intojulian assange first get back in 2010 went to swedish women accused him of sexual assault. he was arrested and fought assault. he was arrested and fought a legal battle against extradition. when he lost that in 2012, he sought asylu m when he lost that in 2012, he sought asylum at the embassy of ecuador. this year, the rape allegation was reopened stopping the following month, then home secretary signed an extradition request from the us, where 18 criminal charges have been unveiled againstjulian assange, over the maths league of american secrets. with his legal troubles in sweden however, there will be no

swedish extradition request to compete with the one from the us. hearings for that began here at the westminster magistrates' court in february. from behind bars here in dalmatia jail, julian assange is putting together his case. and just briefly, you should know that the first stone on the music walk of fame has been unveiled. the veteran what dominic rock and the who were the first to be honoured. may this avenue of stars grow and grow and grow, because we have got the best real music industry in the world. of course, there is much more news for

you on the bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @bbc mike embley. hello there. it was a very cold start to tuesday — widespread frost up and down the country, particularly across scotland, the far north of england. now, for this morning, it's not going to be quite as cold to start. that's because we've had more of a breeze, and variable amounts of cloud too. there's still a few chilly spots across the north—east of the country, where a few clear spells linger. but further west, we'll have more of a breeze, and these weather fronts bringing thicker cloud, outbreaks of rain affecting parts of south—west england through the day, maybe western wales, along some irish sea coasts, northern ireland, and affecting western scotland at times. there could just be the odd shower, as well, running into the eastern coast of england, perhaps into north—east scotland, but most places will be dry. variable cloud, some

spells of sunshine. again, another chilly day to come, maybe not quite as cold across western areas. more cloud here, ten or 11 degrees. now, as we head to wednesday night, it says mainly dry again for much of the country. variable cloud, quite a breeze blowing, so it's not going to be quite as cold again, with lows down to 1—3 degrees. but generally, for many, fours and fives, and certainly a little bit milder than that further west, where we have the cloud and the rain. thursday, a similar picture. we'll continue with this weather front across western areas, bringing outbreaks of rain. the odd heavier burst towards the south—west, but generally light and patchy elsewhere. variable cloud, some sunny spells, and a bit more of that around on thursday. temperature—wise, again, single figures for most, but nines, maybe tens across the south. some subtle change as we head on into friday. looks like this weather front may push a little bit further northwards and eastwards across the country, so it could be a cloudier day still, with outbreaks of rain moving across northern england into parts of scotland. further south, we may see some

sunshine developing, but a rush of heavier showers following on into friday afternoon and into the evening, particularly in the south—west. temperatures coming up on the south, as well. tens and 11 degrees quite widely. still a cooler feel across the north, but even here, eight and nines. then, as we head on into the weekend, looks like this area of low pressure will skirt southern parts of the uk. the weather front may spread northwards, introducing a band of rain. and then we look to the west, this next area of low pressure, which could bring more widespread wetter and windier weather as we head through the latter part of the weekend into the start of next week. but you will notice the orange colour is really taking over, so it really will be quite mild as we end the week, although it will be turning more and more unsettled, with rain spreading to many areas. it will be quite windy as well. those temperatures reaching the low teens celsius, particularly across england and wales. 00:29:34,085 --> 2147483051:51:31,757 which has caused millions 2147483051:51:31,757 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 of pounds worth of damage.