hello, i'm ben bland with a summary of bbc world news. president trump says he wants to face an impeachment trial in the senate. but he also wants the anonymous whistleblower — who raised concerns about his phone calls to ukraine — to give evidence. mr trump is currently being investigated by a house of representatives committee. it's examining claims that he withheld military aid to force ukraine to investigate his political rival, joe biden — which he denies. nada tawfik has more. adjourned. less than 2a hours after two weeks of dramatic and contentions public impeachment hearings ended, president trump out with his counter—attack.

increasingly, every waking moment in washington seemed to hang on the latest revelations from these 12 us officials, called as fact witnesses by democrats to bolster their case that president trump abused his office for personal political gain. with impeachment all but certain and pressure building, the president rang into his favourite programme, fox and friends, for a nearly hour—long interview. mr president, you expect an impeachment vote. do you expect to get impeached, and would you say you embrace the idea of... no, i don't expect it. you don't expect it? you don't expect democrats will vote for this? i think it's very hard for them to impeach when they have absolutely nothing. still, the president has begun strategizing with republicans and claims he wants a senate trial. but what of the key question, whether a white house meeting in us aid was expressly tied to the ukrainians announcing investigations into the bidens? perhaps the most damning testimony against the president came from the us ambassador to the eu, gordon sondland. was there a quid pro quo? the answer is yes. the president again denied it

and claimed a reported phone call with sondland about the investigations never took place. there was no quid pro quo. i want nothing. democrats believe they have enough evidence to draft articles of impeachment. with a full house vote possible by the end of the year, the president's fate moves in 2020 to the republican—controlled senate and then, perhaps, to voters. nada tawfik, bbc news, washington. let's get some of the day's other news. bolivia's interim government has launched legal action against the ousted president, evo morales. it's after he called on his supporters to maintain blockades in the country. morales, who is currently in exile in mexico, has been accused of sedition and terrorism. people in pacific island group of bougainville have begun voting on whether to become independent from papua new guinea.

the referendum is part of a peace deal, ending a decade of civil war that has killed at least 20,000 people. 0bservers predict strong support for independence. president trump hosted a roundtable of experts to discuss the health impact of vaping and whether there needs to be a ban on flavoured products that attract young people. representatives from the vaping industry said jobs would be lost if they were banned and that responsible marketing was the answer. but doctors stressed that this was a health crisis that needs to be addressed. the uk prime minister, borisjohnson, has welcomed the return home of a group of british children who were orphaned in syria. they've been flown back from an area that used to be controlled by the islamic state group. several other countries, including france, denmark and kazakhstan, have repatriated children whose parents travelled to syria to support is. humanitarian groups have praised the government's move, but they say dozens more need to be brought back urgently from the region. 0ur diplomatic correspondent

james landale has the latest. according to thejudge in the case, they arrived in london this morning, they were, in his words, "in good spirits" and, crucially, after all that time away, he said that they immediately recognised other family members when they got home, which is considered a good sign. the judge said they'd seemed to have settled in and appear to be as happy as they could possibly be under the circumstances. the question now, of course, is what happens to the other british children who remain held in detention camps in northern syria. charities are pushing for them to be released, repatriated, they estimate there are about 60 of them left, but i wouldn't expect large numbers soon. there are the logistical difficulties in finding them, identifying and negotiating their release, there are the legal difficulties of deciding who has rights over some of these children, there are the security issues about what happens if you bring their mothers home and they're considered a risk but can't be prosecuted. the prime minister says, look, the government will do everything it can, but will be over—optimistic to expect all these children

to be repatriated. the problem is this — they're living in abject conditions at the moment, and some charities fear they won't survive the winter. diplomatic correspondence james landale. you are watching bbc news. uk politics where the election was centre stage tonight. with less than three weeks to go until the vote, the leaders of the four biggest parties appeared on the bbc to answer voters' questions. they appeared individually but members of the audience got a chance to compare their views. the bbc‘s political editor john pienaar sent this report. he's looking confident — it's what he does — but this campaign's just getting going. everything's still to play for. just look atjeremy corbyn. young voters often like him and he needs them. 0h jeremy corbyn! tonight, though, he wants to reach more than just the converted. so does the lib dem leader jo swinson, maybe keen

to build more momentum. and snp leader nicola sturgeon. looking forward to tonight, first minister? looking forward to it, yes. for them all, it's a big night. first up, the labour leader, and from jeremy corbyn a clear answer to the brexit question that's dogged him. will you campaign to remain or leaving the eu if elected? why would anyone vote for labour without knowing the answer to that question? the answer was neither one and his frustration showed. 0ne, we will negotiate a credible leave deal with the european union. laughter let me finish, please. i'm trying to answer the gentleman's question. secondly, we will put that alongside remain in a referendum. i will adopt a neutral stance so that i can credibly carry out the results of that, to bring our communities and country together. then, a question that hurt him. anti—semitism in the party, his own treatment of a jewish woman mp. ruth smeeth, a jewish mp, was heckled out of that press conference and there

you are at the end of the press conference chatting happily to that same heckler. i don't buy this nice old grandpa, i see that video and that tells me all i need to know. misogynism, racism in any form is absolute not acceptable in any form whatsoever. there's a big question over the union. the snp wants a referendum, he says not his priority, so when? what does the early years mean, year two, year three, year four? the early years, the first two years, at least. another answer that'll be remembered, but nicola sturgeon wants more and hoped to get it if no party wins the election outright. if there is a hung parliament, what is the price of your cooperation with a minority government? i could not in good conscience ever put borisjohnson into number 10 downing street. applause in terms of what i would seek to win from a minority labour government, obviously i would ask for and expect jeremy corbyn to respect the right of the scottish people to choose their own future.

and if she wanted another brexit referendum why was one vote on independence enough? would you want a confirmatory vote? no, because... ok, so you want a referendum for brexit, a second one, but not for your independence deal? the point i'm making is i don't think the position we're in right now with brexit had to be like this. that was down to the bad planning, the lack of planning. jo swinson next, she's a potential power broker, too, but the lib dems, to one questioner, were still carrying the baggage of being junior partner to the tories in coalition. do you regret consistently voting with the conservatives in favour of harsh and uncaring benefit cuts? there are far, far too many people in our country living in poverty and life is too hard and we did not get everything right. the lib dem pledge to block brexit came with a cost — the anger of leavers. is revoking article 50 confirming to 17.4 million people that you think we're stupid and didn't

know what we were voting for? you want to leave and i don't think that makes you a bad person and i want to remain in the eu and i hope you think that doesn't make me a bad person. you can disagree with me, but you lost. i haven't changed my view on whether i think we're better off in the european union. but anger too from people who never wanted brexit at all. but the liberal democrats standing on a manifesto to unilaterally cancel brexit and the electoral pact has absolutely cost you my vote. this is the essence of democracy. i am standing here and telling you honestly what i would do if i was elected as prime minister, i would revoke article 50 and if you vote me into that position, i will do what i've said i will do. then, the one they all want out of his job and straight away a tricky one for borisjohnson, who's so often accused of bending and breaking the truth — this time to his face. how important is it for someone in your position of power to always tell the truth?

i think it's... i think it's absolutely vital. and i think that the issue of trust in politics is central to this election and fundamental to the corrosion of trust in politics at the moment is... so why do you think you were being asked that question? ..let's be clear, is the failure of politicians to deliver brexit. because the people have, yes... hang on. hang on a minute. we have a deal and it's a good deal. applause it will allow us — it's a great deal, it's there and ready to go. as i never tire of saying, oven ready. so a potentially awkward moment used to make the case for brexit. no shortage of tough ones, though, this one to the man who compared muslims in burqas to bank robbers and letterboxes. racist rhetoric in this country is completely rife. will you admit that you have personally contributed to this and say the words "i'm sorry"? i've written many millions of words in my life as a journalist and i genuinely never intended

to cause hurt or pain. what i was really doing was mounting a strong liberal defence of the right of women in this country to wear what they choose. and again, could the country believe what he says? why on earth should i now believe yet another pledge that you will recruit an additional 6,000 gps over the course of the next parliament? well, richard. 5,000 more doctors this year than last year. we are making progress. yes, of course i want more gps and of course i want more investment in the nhs. and we're putting in, now, the biggest ever cash boost into the nhs under this one nation conservative government. he'd survive the ordeal, they all did. borisjohnson even seemed pleased or at least relieved with how it had gone. trust is an issue for all the leaders in this campaign and somehow they all seemed rather defensive. john pienaar, bbc news, sheffield.

well, we heard from four of the main party leaders tonight, and in a week's time voters will be hearing from all seven leaders or seniorfigures, who's parties are contesting the election. that debate will be held in cardiff and broadcast live on bbc one and on bbc radio 5 live, and hosted by nick robinson. the leader of the brexit party, nigel farage, has unveiled their election policies, promising what he calls a "political revolution that puts ordinary people first". apart from leaving the european union, there's a pledge to cut the foreign aid budget, abolish the house of lords, and put a cap on permanent immigration, at 50,000 people a year. 0ur political correspondent, alex forsyth has more. nigel farage! he might be synonymous with brexit but, today, nigel farage tried to widen his pitch, setting out what else his party stands for, insisting it has a place. we now want to lead the next phase,

which is a political revolution that puts the ordinary people first. maintaining his anti—establishment stance, this wasn't called a manifesto but a contract with the people. not a programme for government — he knows he won't get there — but a small book calling for big change. a new voting system, capping immigration, cutting the cost of living. a pitch to labour voters now he's pulled out of tory seats. the question, though, is his strategy right? would it make sense for us to stand against sitting conservatives when they're now beginning to say the right thing? that wouldn't have made sense. we're taking on labour in their heartlands. in those seats, we're the challenger, and if we can get brexit party voices in the house of commons, we can then keep boris to his promises. you've effectively said the conservatives can get brexit over the line, so you've cut off what is your central message... well, what i've said is... ..at the knees. what i've said is the conservatives have shifted their position because we exist. if we didn't exist... but the conservatives have now shifted their position...

yeah, and... so why would you vote for the brexit party? because the conservative party have let us down over the course of the last three and half years by making promises and not delivering on them. in coventry, where the party first launched, they are still standing, trying to tap into brexit frustration. nigel farage says he needs mps in parliament to keep brexit on track, but he's struggled to turn support into seats in the past and there is a risk, in limiting where his party's standing, that he's put it on the sidelines of this contest. in this labourarea, some brexit party supporters aren't persuaded. farage has got some really good policies. i agree with a lot of the stuff. i feel that staying with the conservatives, hopefully, the deal will go through. at the pilot pub, jim had a similar view. farage has done a good job as far as getting out of europe. i agree with a lot of them things. but as far as a general election, it will split the vote. but for some avid brexit party backers, the only wish is they were standing more widely.

i think they should have stuck it out, gone for all the 600—odd seats, because i think the people of this country are so sick of the people in parliament today. that's what this campaign is banking on — a brexit backlash to win support, but it might not be an easy ride. alex forsyth, bbc news. meanwhile, plaid cymru is promising a £20 billion investment, in what it calls a ‘green jobs revolution' for wales. launching its election manifesto, the party's leader, adam price, said there would also be major investment in rail and bus services, a new offshore wind farm and three tidal lagoons to generate electricity. he also talked about his ambition for an independent wales. here's hywel griffith. once, these valleys powered britain's industrial revolution. now the rhondda's coal mines have become museums. post—industrial wales is a place struggling with its political identity, where some sense an opportunity.

plaid cymru sees this brexit election as a chance to sell its vision. although most people here voted to leave the eu, it wants wales to remain as an independent nation. we want to be at the heart of europe, on our own terms, in our own right, standing proud. the party's manifesto calls for another referendum on eu membership. it also pledges thousands ofjobs from green energy projects like tidal lagoons and wind farms. and it offers an extra £35 a week for every child in a low—income family. as it sets out ideas for the future, plaid has been drawing on the past and talking about wales as a country once rich in natural resources like coal, which has been stripped of its assets and left in poverty. it's demanded reparation payments to be made after decades of what the leader calls "british rule".

adam price wants £20 billion to reboot a nation. who should pay this money? what we're saying is, the uk government should actually increase its level of infrastructure investment. as a debt owed to wales, as reparation payments? look, as an investment in our own future. exactly what the welsh contribution... some of these first—time voters say they are curious about independence, but are they persuaded to back plaid? in theory, i am indy—curious, because i do like the idea. but i really don't see myself voting in that direction. i don't think people know the ins and outs of how, like, a trade deal would be formed, how we would get money into the country, what we would export and i feel like because of that, it's a big stumbling block for people. remaining in europe, breaking out of the uk, plaid hopes its manifesto can bring more voters on board. hywel griffith, bbc news, pontypridd. this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump has told fox news that he wants a trial in the senate and that he'd like to hear

from the whistleblower whose report led to the impeachment inquiry. leaders of the four main parties at westminster have been questioned by voters in a question time election special, as they made their pitches with less than three weeks to go before polling day. prince andrew spent part of friday riding with the queen in the grounds of windsor castle, the first time he's been seen with his mother since stepping down from royal duties. but the fallout continues following his bbc newsnight interview concerning his friendship with the convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. royal correspondent nicholas witchell has been at buckingham palace. not a good week for the royal family. a disastrous one for andrew. more organisations cutting their ties to him — the english national ballet, the royal philharmonic orchestra dropping him as patron. 0thers expected to follow. barclays, the latest financial institution to end its support for pitch@palace, that's andrew's

initiative helping new businesses. and quite what role, if any, he will have with that going forward is unclear. all this as his private office here at buckingham palace is being wound down, possibly closed completely, and his private secretary amanda thirsk is moving across to be chief executive of pitch@palace. it's a demonstration of the queen and the prince of wales acting this week very assertively when they perceived a reputational risk to the monarchy itself. for andrew, there may yet be further difficulties. the bbc has said today that its panorama programme investigation will be transmitted on december 2. that will contain the first british television interview with the young woman, virginia roberts. a man who strangled a british backpacker in new zealand and hid her body inside a suitcase has been found guilty of murder. grace millane was found buried in bushland outside auckland last december. the 21—year—old was killed after a night out on the eve

of her birthday. her killer can't be named for legal reasons. shaimaa khalil reports from auckland. this is grace millane the night before her 22nd birthday in december — the last time she was seen alive. she arrived in auckland last november after graduating from the university of lincoln. grace had been on a round—the—world trip and travelled to new zealand after spending six weeks in south america. today, united in their grief, david and gillian millane left court after their daughter's killer was convicted of murder. grace was taken away from us in the most brutal fashion a year ago and our lives and family have been ripped apart. grace was a beautiful, talented, loving daughter. grace was our sunshine and she will be missed forever. she did not deserve to be murdered in such a barbaric way.

grace's killer appeared in court today. his identity cannot be disclosed for now due to a court order. cctv showed the pair out drinking, but within hours, she was strangled in his apartment in a hotel in the city. this is the killer telling police why he didn't call an ambulance to help grace. i dialled iii. i didn't hit the button. because i was scared how bad it looked. why did you think it looked bad? well, because...a dead person in my room. the jury heard that after the murder the man searched online for how to dispose of a corpse and watched extreme pornography. they also saw him going out on a date with another woman while grace's body

was still in his room. this is him later, moving the body in a suitcase. he then buried it in a shallow grave in bushland on the outskirts of auckland. the defence argued that grace died accidentally, that this was a consensual sex act gone wrong. but the jury simply didn't believe it. they heard forensic evidence of how grace endured sustained pressure on her neck for five to ten minutes. they also heard the prosecution's argument that the killer sexualised her death by taking intimate photos of her dead body. grace's murder shocked this nation. the outpouring of sorrow and support was felt strongly by her family. we would love to thank the people of new zealand. they have opened their hearts to grace and ourfamily. we must return home and try and pick up the pieces of our lives and day—to—day without our beloved grace. today's verdict brings some justice for grace's family,

but it will not bring back the daughter they say will be missed forever. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, auckland. the owners of the hotel in eastbourne ravaged by a fire today have said they are devastated at the loss. the blaze at the grade ii—listed claremont hotel broke out this morning. flames have destroyed the roof and gutted the inside of the victorian—era building. firefighters with 12 fire engines have been pumping water from the sea to try and fight the blaze. it's being reported that everyone inside was safely evacuated. the boy in the dress — it's a best—selling children's book and it was written by the tv star and author david walliams. now his book has been turned into a musical with the help of the royal shakespeare company and the pop star robbie williams. arts editor will gompertz reports. # though it feels so right to me,

how do i know that it isn't wrong? you gave us two weeks! two weeks to write 24 songs. # feel like i belong... elton john wrote the songs for billy elliott in one week. yeah, but i can go... but, you know, i can't... i don't know how to do that! words are very different. i bet eltonjohn did, but i bet you... lee hall, i think, wrote the lyrics. well, i bet you lee hall took about two months to think of the words. 0k, all right. # you have to admit that's a perfect fit # i've never dressed up like a girl # you wouldn't ever know it... it's written before you had a child. it's written before instagram and social media has become a big thing. if you were writing it today, would you write it differently?

um, i hope not because i think the theme is always relevant, because the theme is what it is to be different and the celebration of someone who has the courage to be different and do their own thing. the interesting thing is that debate has kind of moved on a lot in ten years, because when the book came out, it wasn't much of a success commercially because i think that people were quite resistant to maybe the title of the book. and then, the creative process? my process is, "i'm going into the studio today to get a hit." you know, where i think that other people that may have written musicals before are thinking about the book and the journey and where it needs to go and the elements, it's like, each individual song, i'mjust thinking, should be a number one somewhere in the history of music. # dance, dance, dance # forget about the world outside... does this show relate to shakespeare? i think it does in a way. there was a point where

i decided on a cunning piece of programming, which was that we would do as you like it and the boy in the dress, so the girl in the trousers and the boy in the dress. you know, rosalind in as you like it puts on her trousers and understands a different perspective on humankind and i think dennis does the same in the boy in the dress. # dance, dance, dance!# that report by will gompertz. another show to add to the ever—growing theatre list. the weather now with helen willetts. hello there. rain is the main concern over the next 2a hours. there are various met office warnings warning about that persistent rain, but there could be some travel disruption, even possible flooding. it's certainly been wet through the evening and night across the south—west and wales and across northern ireland. that rain's been moving northwards, so the warnings come into force as well through the midlands and then northern england, eventually parts of scotland too. so, given that we've already had well in excess of what we'd normally see through the autumn, rain—wise, there is a concern

that there will be some further flooding because we could see another half a month's worth of rain in some parts of england, wales and later up into scotland as well. it looks pretty wet for northern ireland as well. all this rain is meandering around. an area of low pressure towards the south—west. so, even once the main rain clears, there'll be showers around, some quite hefty ones. they dry up for a time, but we'll have a legacy of drizzly and rather cloudy weather, low clouds and some hill fog around as well. you can see the day looks quite wet through the midlands, northern england and through the afternoon as well. that rain's creeping up into eastern parts of scotland. so, the north—west, after a chilly start, might see the best of the sunshine. the northern isles as well doing quite well in terms of dry and bright weather on saturday, but the rain then arrives through the evening and overnight, across eastern and north—western parts of scotland. elsewhere, well, we see a brief ridge of high pressure, so that's a window of drier weather, 12 to 2a hours for most of us before the next low pressure rolls

in by the end of sunday and into monday. so, sunday does look like the drier day of the weekend for most of us — not all of us, but most of us. however, there'll be a lot of grey weather, some morning fog. of course, after all that moisture around, that takes a long time to clear in november because we're lacking strength in the sun, and then it just lifts into low cloud. we've got a much wetter day for the northern isles and here comes the rain later on. the winds won't be as strong tomorrow as they will be today, so it'll feel cold today just because of the wind as well as all the cloud. but that's easing tomorrow. but still, it's only 9 to ii, which is about average for this time of year. sunday night season x arrival of rain. tuesday's rain on monday night, tuesday looks a bit more persistent once again. we are into this unsettled picture. temperatures are up on those of last week. it is just a hint that later in the week we might again get a respite from the rain and has some drier weather. for the weekend, rain is definitely the concern. particularly as we say in england and wales and parts of scotland it does look dry for

many of us on sunday. the warnings are on the wet side. —— website.

this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump says he would welcome a full trial in the senate if the house of representatives votes to impeach him. he told fox news the process would help him get re—elected. mr trump added he'd like to hear from the whistleblower whose report led to the inquiry. with less than three weeks to go to the british general election, the leaders of the four biggest parties at westminster have been given a grilling by members of the public in a special edition of the bbc‘s question time. there were uncomfortable moments for them all as they made their pitches. a man who strangled a british

backpacker in new zealand