welcome to bbc news. i'm simon pusey. our top stories: voting is underway in hong kong's elections. they're being seen as a test of opinion after months of protest. rudy giuliani says he doesn't fear being indicted, despite claims he was at the centre of white house efforts to pressure ukraine. hello, and welcome to bbc news. let's start in hong kong where local elections are underway. the authorities have threatened to suspend voting if there's serious trouble but pro—democracy campaigners have told their supporters not to cause any disruption.

this vote is the first to take place since protests and often violent clashes with police started back in june. so it will be a test of support for pro—democracy and pro—bejing candidates. the poll is for the lowest rung of government in the city. more than 1,000 candidates are running, competing for more than a50 seats throughout the city's 18 districts. a number of seats currently held by pro—beijing incumbents, are being contested by pro—democracy candidates. butjoshua wong, one of the prominent protest leaders is banned from running, because he called for self—determination for hong kong. jonathan head joins us. it is early in the morning, but what is the mood like where you are and what is the turnout been like, from what you can tell? a very impressive turnout, and we are getting a report from other

polling stations as well. in fact, at this one, people came down pretty much on time and the voting started at 7:30am, about an hour and a much on time and the voting started at 7:30am, aboutan hourand a half ago, and almost a few minutes before the queues started forming, they are really very long. as you can see, this line goes all the way down there, comes around, around that statue, and then comes all the way over here and people are actually having to go into the polling stations tucked away in there, and in fact the queue goes all the way along that building there. hong kong is are saying this is unusual, it is an impressively large turnout and people are putting down to the fact that this is the first chance people have had to have a specific say about the situation here. —— hong kongers are saying. these are local elections, it is local issues which normally concern people, these district councils don't actually have much power and are traditionally dominated by pro— beijing parties which are traditionally better funded. if there is a massive swing to the opposition, the pan democratic alliance, it will widely be seen in many ways of a vote of no—confidence

in the government of chief executive carrie lam, who has been under enormous pressure because of the protests are handled. there is quite a lot at stake here. i should say when you actually look at these dedicated voters lining up, it is all very orderly, but people here are getting a chance to vote freely and are being given a real choice of candidates, and it is worth remembering that is simply something you do not see anywhere in the rest of china. that will be on the minds of china. that will be on the minds of many people who are pushing for greater democracy in hong kong as well. absolutely, jonathan. you talk about the situation in hong kong at the moment. i heart —— how high up the moment. i heart —— how high up the list of priorities other protests for voters, do you think? because obviously issues other than the protests. there are other issues, and for many people they will be on their minds, if they have particular concerns about their own communities. but there is no doubt the crisis overshadows everything here. it has affected everybody‘s lives. people are often quite emotional about what has happened to hong kong, there are very strong opinions on both sides. this is

something that is on everybody‘s minds. now remember, these councils do not have a lot of power. there is no way really for hong kongers to change the government. indian, the chief executive has decided largely by beijing. but they are hoping, if there is a significant swing in these elections, it will add to the pressure on carrie lam, chief executive, to change course and start thinking about some of the demands being made by the protesters, perhaps to make concessions, something she has not done something assume beijing will not allow her to do. whether a decisive results in these elections makes the difference or not, we don't know, but certainly that will be the test. jonathan, thank you, it will be an interesting barometer of the mood in hong kong. president trump's lawyer, rudy giuliani, has said he's not concerned about being indicted for crimes now being investigated by the impeachment inquiry. this is after the us state department released records relating to the trump administration's dealings with ukraine which show repeated contacts between secretary of state mike pompeo

and mrgiuliani. here's chris buckler in washington with the latest developments. during the impeachment inquiry rudy giuliani's name was mentioned a lot. he's been accused of smearing people and of trying to push ukraine into launching these politically partisan investigations into donald trump's rivals. well, he's come out fighting. and in a pretty angry interview with fox news, mr giuliani has defended himself against any wrongdoing. are you afraid, mr mayor, that you could be indicted? oh, wow. how long have you known me? i have known you several years. do you think i'm afraid? i don't know. do you think i get afraid? well, the... i did the right thing. i represented my client in a very, very effective way. he insisted that us media reports that he was being investigated

because of his links to two soviet—born businessman, who are currently facing campaign finance charges, were completely wrong. and he's attacked some democrats, particularly singling outjoe biden, two, of course, was one of the people he wanted to see ukraine investigate. he actually made these unsubstantiated allegations that mr biden was involved in some kind of corruption, was, of course, mr biden denies. he also indicated that the president, in his words, would not throw him under the bus during the investigations that are taking place. but he also said, perhaps pretty intriguingly, that he had insurance to ensure they did not happen. i have seen things written like he is going to throw me under the bus. when they say that, i say he isn't but i have insurance. 0k. this is ridiculous. we are very good friends. he knows what i did was in order to defend him. he's also been mentioned in documents that have been released over the last 2a hours. they've been released by the us state department after a freedom of information request from an ethics watchdog group called american 0versight. and in those documents it seems very clear that there was contact and conversations between rudy giuliani and the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, at the time he was pushing

for ukraine to launch these investigations. now, up to this point mike pompeo has tried to stay out of this whole impeachment hearing process that has been taking place. but rudy giuliani's contact with him mightjust drag him into that. the us vice—president, mike pence, has made an unannounced visit to iraq to try to reassure kurdish leaders of america's continued support. he flew into irbil in kurdistan in the north of the country. you may remember us troops withrdrew from kurdish areas in neighbouring syria last month. that withdrawal was criticised by syrian kurds, who say it was a betrayal. after the us military left, turkey moved into the border area around tal abyad and other kurdish—controlled towns. here's what mr pence had to say. i don't think there was any confusion now among the leadership here in the kurdish region that president trump's commitment

to our allies here in iraq as well as to those in the syrian defence forces, the kurdish forces who fought alongside us, is unchanging. jeremy corbyn has defended his decision to adopt a "neutral" stance in the event of a future brexit referendum, calling it a sign of "strength and maturity." he told friday night's bbc question time leaders' special he would not campaign for leave or remain, if his party wins power, in order to allow him to credibly carry out what voters decide. his opponents have questioned his position, as our political correspondent, nick eardley reports. applause. whatever your priority at this election, brexit is one of the biggest issues facing the country. for months, labour has walked a political tightrope, trying to keep everyone — leave and remain — happy. ifjeremy corbyn wins power, he's promising a new deal

and another referendum. but he's now confirmed he won't pick a side. you're telling us tonight you will remain neutral on the issue of whether or not we should remain within the eu? yes. first heard here on question time. some see that as weak, others indecisive. but mr corbyn disagrees. i think being an honest broker and listening to everyone is actually a sign of strength and a sign of maturity. our country has to come together. we can't go on forever being divided by how people voted in 2016. boris johnson faced pressure too on the question of trust, and he would love to keep the election focus on brexit, saying his deal is ready to go. and after months of bitter splits, his party is uniting around it. 0n the critical question of our times on brexit, we've got a clear plan agreed with the eu ready to go. and in sharp contrast to what we saw in this debate last night ofjeremy corbyn saying that he has

decided to be indecisive on brexit. absolutely, yeah. she agrees, even if she is on the other side of the debate. jo swinson says she'll stop brexit right away in the unlikely event she wins power. she faced pressure last night from some who branded that anti—democratic, but the lib dem leader says she, and not jeremy corbyn, is the champion of those who want to cancel brexit. they want a leader, not a bystander. i think it is...just beggars belief that somebody who is standing for the role of leading our country can then say that on the biggest issue that we have faced for generations they're not going to take a position. it's a total abdication of leadership. the snp, who could be crucial in a hung parliament, are scathing too. i do think people have a right to expect from somebody aspiring to be prime minister that they say where they stand on the issue of should the uk be in or out of the european union. and i think that sort of statement of so—called neutrality will simply feed the suspicion that maybe people

have thatjeremy corbyn actually wants the uk to be out the european union, but simply isn't willing to say that. because we know whose side we, the labour party, are on. jeremy corbyn has been taking sides on many issues, promising to take on the elite on behalf of what he calls the many. but on brexit, the labour leader is keeping his cards close to his chest. the conservative party is to launch its manifesto later on sunday. among the pledges, there will be no rises in income tax, national insurance or vat. and a promise of more money for childcare, a pothole filling programme, and a national skills fund. here's nick eardley again. borisjohnson's pitch to the country tomorrow will feel very familiar to the pitch he's been making for months now. unsurprisingly, at its heart will be that pledge to deliver brexit. the conservatives will say tomorrow that if they win a majority brexit bill, the withdrawal agreement bill, will be back in parliament before christmas.

all part of a strategy to make sure that the new deadline of the end of january is met. what mrjohnson will call an early christmas present to the nation. now, his opponents will point out that even if we do leave at the end of january there will still be months, potentially years of trade talks to come. but the conservatives believe that the simple act of leaving will allow the uk to start focusing instead on domestic priorities. tomorrow we'll see what mrjohnson thinks that they are. now, he will promise big pledges on tax — no rise in income tax, no rise in national insurance payments, no rise in vat. all of which will make it harder for the government to raise money. and at the same time there will be big spending pledges.

pensioner friendly policies like keeping the pension triple lock, keeping winter fuel payments, keeping free bus passes for the elderly. we already know that mrjohnson's talking about more money for the health service, for police, and for schools. tomorrow there will be i billion for childcare, 2 billion to fill potholes in england, 3 billion for skills. now the tories say all of this manifesto promise will be fully costed. we'll find out tomorrow exactly how they'll pay for it. but an election where the cheque—book has been opened, the tories are no different. labour has pledged to put an extra tax on foreign companies and trusts buying property in the uk. if labour win the general election, the party says it would charge offshore organisations an extra 20% on their purchase. labour says the extra £35 billion a year raised by the measure, would go towards public services. gps have voted to reduce visits to patients' homes, saying they "no longer have the capacity" to offer them. doctors supported the proposal at a meeting of english local medical committees on friday.

but the health secretary, matt hancock, said the idea of taking home visits out of gps‘ contracts was a "complete non—starter". jenny kumah reports. family doctors say their workload is on the rise and this, coupled with falling gp numbers, mean something has to give. in his surgery in leeds this doctor is well aware of the challenges facing surgeries like his. one of the daily pressures that gp practices are under is the obligation to do home visits. what would be much better is if we had a dedicated home visiting team with people with the time to be able to do this throughout the day, rather than gps having to squeeze it in. under the proposals, home visits would not be scrapped completely but delivered by a separate service. similar to the way out—of—hours care has been contracted out. sometimes, a gp has to go and see someone and they might be too frail to travel. and that has always been part of the vocation of being a gp and it will continue. so these proposals won't go any further, but what we will do is train, fund,

and recruit more gps. they're saying, as a point of desperation, they can no longer continue those home visits. this is a siren call to all of us, a siren call that the funding of the nhs has to be increased so that gps can undertake those home visits. doctors say they recognise that vulnerable, complex, and end—of—life patients will need home visits. theyjust want to see a change of policy to ensure patients get a suitable service. jenny kumah, bbc news. a number of police officers have been assaulted while trying to break up a large fight at a birmingham cinema. west midlands police were called to the star city complex in nechells late yesterday afternoon, following reports of a group carrying machetes. a spokesperson for the force said fighting broke out as officers tried to clear a group of more than 100

people from the area. several arrests have been made. this is bbc news. the headlines: voting is under way in hong kong local elections. they are being seen as a test of opinion towards the territory's government and its response to months of democracy protests. jeremy corbyn has defended his decision to remain neutral in the event of another eu referendum if labour wins the election. he said that being an honest broker was a sign of strength. brazil's most popular team, flamengo, have won the showpiece tournament of south american football, the copa libertadores, for the first time in nearly four decades. flamengo scored twice in the last three minutes to come from behind and beat the argentine side river plate. the final was originally due to have taken place in santiago, but the match was switched to lima, peru because of street protests in chile. and this was the scene in rio de janeiro when the final whistle blew.

flamengo fans had gathered at the maracana stadium to watch the final on large outdoor screens. let's cross live to buenos aires, argentina and speak with tim vickery, the bbc‘s south america football correspondent. tim, have you ever seen anything like that in the last few minutes of the final of the copa libertadores, two goals in the last three minutes? well, maybe manchester united fans will remember their champions league victory over bayern munich in 1999. it was a little bit similar. river plate didn't only have one hand on the title, they had one hand and maybe three or four fingers of the other hand on the title. i think only of flamengo fans are still, a few hours afterwards, thinking well, how on earth did we win that one? what an extraordinary game of football. so dramatic, and i suppose ina way football. so dramatic, and i suppose in a way that vindicates the decision by the authorities over here to move to this idea of having a one off final on a neutral ground.

the tradition over here, simon, has a lwa ys the tradition over here, simon, has always been a two legged final, home and away. now, the switch has come really for two reasons. one is commercial. this game happened at a good time slot for europe. bbc two showed it in england, in britain, for example. also there was a hope, i think, that a neutral ground would throw up an excellent spectacle, and we certainly got a dramatic spectacle. the flipside of the coin, if you like, the downside of this one off final on neutral ground, is that south america is not europe. distances are vast, travel is expensive, and income is badly distributed, so some of the fans really suffered. there were tales of 55, 60 hour busjourney really suffered. there were tales of 55, 60 hour bus journey is to get there. but when i lose, whichever side you are supporting, i think no—one who was there in the stadium in lima will forget the experience. yes, you're absolutely right. it is so to travelling here in europe with the champions league. for people watching back at home who may not know, just explain how big this is

in south america. it is the south american equivalent of the champions league. so the winners of this are the champions of the continent. but that's not all. it also means that, as continental champions, they go next month to the club world cup, which is a competition which unites the champions of all of the continents. now, in europe, that doesn't play a very big. 0ver continents. now, in europe, that doesn't play a very big. over here, it is huge, because it has the chance of a crack, if you like, at the promised land, the chance of having a go at the glamorous european champions, who this year, of course, are liveable. now flamengo, as you mentioned, have only once before in their history won the copa libertadores, the south american title. they followed that up american title. they followed that up in december 1981 with a win over the european champions, 3—0. those european champions were liverpool. so the flamengo fans are desperate for history to repeat itself. they still sing about the events of

december 1981. i am sure they will sing about the events of november 2019. they are likely to sing about the events of december 2019 as well, but in order to do that, they would have to beat liverpool next month in qatar for the world cup. it is a great match, obviously, to showcase the copa libertadores, so often overshadowed by the champions league, financially, at least. thank you so much for bringing us up—to—date on that match. tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets across france in a show of solidarity for victims of domestic violence. at least 115 women have been murdered by a partner or ex—partner in france this year alone. the government is set to unveil plans to tackle the issue on monday, but protestors have blamed authorities for turning a blind eye for too long. freya cole reports. government guilty, justice system complicit. it is just one of the many chance heard across france as

women stand side—by—side to confront theissue women stand side—by—side to confront the issue of msi —— chants. the killing of a goal or woman, most likely by a man they know —— femicide. 0ne likely by a man they know —— femicide. one woman is murdered in france every three days by their current or former partner, according to national data. a crisis which protesters say has been hidden for too long. translation: the government must do something to help us. we get punched, we get humiliated, insulted, raped, hit, and this must stop. the government must really listen to us. the police must. the courts must listen to us. because we are hardly heard. these signs bear the names and ages of women whose lives have been tragically cut short this year. 0phelie, aged 28, was the 86 the victim, according to protesters. this woman holds a sign which reads no means no. she says she is

marching for herfriends no means no. she says she is marching for her friends who are victims of abuse. translation: they isolate themselves, and when they begin to do that, they feel diminished. they lose their self—confidence. they feel that everything is being done to make them feel inferior, and to prevent them feel inferior, and to prevent them from defending themselves. the mass movement of women and their male allies comes ahead of a major announcement by the french government. 0n announcement by the french government. on monday morning it will outline new measures to curb domestic violence, policy which will be closely watched and scrutinised by those leaving this movement. translation: it is a question of culture which starts in school. 0bviously culture which starts in school. obviously in school you get a rather strong far—right offensive in these last ten years, which prevents the teaching of the abcds of equality in

matters like this. so essentially it sta rts matters like this. so essentially it starts in school. organises hope the mass turnout will not only send the message to government authorities, but to victims of domestic violence, that they are not alone. to latin america, where the colombian president, ivan duque, says he will later today launch what he calls a national conversation in response to a wave of deadly anti—government protests. demonstrators are angry at planned austerity measures and a renewed upsurge in violence. janey mitchell reports. curfew, colombia—style. protesters simply defied it, with a noisy picket of the bogota home of president duque, who some see the puppet of former right—wing president alvaro uribe. translation: i'm here for the same reason all colombians are here. we're tired of mr duque, we're tired of mr uribe. they're a pair of liars.

the night—time curfew in bogota followed clashes on friday, with police firing tear gas to disperse protesters, amid reports of looting in the south of the city. hundreds of people, including police officers, were injured. three were killed as protests turned ugly elsewhere in colombia. the violence came a day after a nationwide strike, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets to express fury over rumoured changes to the minimum wage, pension and tax reforms — all denied by the government. demonstrators are also angry at what they say is a lack of action to end corruption and the murder of human rights activists. some accuse the government of failing to honour its 2016 peace deal with the left—wing farc rebels, amid a spike in killings. in a televised address on friday, president duque promised dialogue on his social policies aimed at narrowing the gap between rich and poor.

translation: from next week, i will launch a national conversation to strengthen the current social policy agenda, working in a united way on a medium and long—term vision to allow us to close gaps in society. little sign so far of demonstrators being placated, as a wave of social unrest sweeps latin america. janey mitchell, bbc news. the british conductor, organist and composer stephen cleobury, who directed the choir of king's college cambridge for nearly four decades, has died at the age of 70. # 0 come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant... his name was familiar to millions around the world through the bbc world service's broadcast of carols every christmas eve. sir stephen was knighted earlier this year. he retired as director of music at king's college just two months

ago after 37 years in the role. the weather now, with alina jenkins. hello. after a very wet day across parts of the uk on saturday, sunday promises to be a drier day. albeit with a lot of cloud and some misty, murky conditions. but briefly, we have a weak ridge of high pressure extending across the uk. still some rain to talk about at first on sunday, particularly for eastern scotland, still on the heavy side. slowly that heavy rain pushes its way across northern scotland, and eventually becomes confined to the northern isles through the day. quite wet and windy here. but elsewhere, turning drier across scotland, largely dry across northern ireland, england and wales, but with a lot of cloud and some mist, some patchy fog through the morning, that will be slow to clear. poor visibility in places,

so any brightness really at a premium on sunday. but away from the northern isles, it's mainly dry and mild, 9—12 celsius the top temperature. then our attention turns to the south—west. our next area of rain pushing into south—west england and south wales through the evening and overnight. and not getting much further north and eastwards. quite a wet start to the week across south—west england and wales. further north and east mainly dry, mild, temperatures not much lower than five or six celsius, but generally the theme in the week ahead is for more rain. this is the set—up as we go into monday. an area of low pressure, frontal systems pushing their way north and eastwards. it looks like the heaviest of the rain on monday is probably going to be across england and wales. as it tracks its way north and eastwards through the day, it starts to become a little bit patchier. but there will be some outbreaks of rain in northern ireland. it could pep up for a little bit across northern england for a time, into southern scotland. northern scotland mainly escaping, probably dry. some brightness and sunshine following on behind the rain

across wales and south—west england, but also a few showers. but it is another mild day, 9—13 celsius. now, one area of low pressure pulls away into the north sea. here's our next one arriving as we go into tuesday. this has the remnants of what was tropical storm sebastian. so it's going to pep up the rain, strengthen the wind. the timings of this rain may well change as we go into tuesday, so keep an eye on the forecast if you can over the next 24—48 hours. but it looks like we'll see another spell of quite heavy rain at times, strong winds as well, particularly across wales and south—west england. some spells of sunshine following on behind the rain, but also some heavy showers. so, all in all, it's a really unsettled and often quite windy day on tuesday. still mild, 10—13 celsius. bear in mind there are some warnings in place for the rain on both monday and tuesday. all the details are on the website. it looks like, as the week goes on, things do eventually turn drier, but also colder again. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: people in hong kong are voting in local elections for the first time since pro—democracy protests began. activists opposed to chief executive carrie lam have encouraged voters to turn out in large numbers. authorities have warned the elections will be suspended, if there is serious disruption. president trump's lawyer and close ally, rudy giuliani, has said he's not afraid of being indicted in connection with the impeachment inquiry. speaking on fox news, he attacked those who've accused him of pressing ukraine to make investigations into the family of presidential rivaljoe biden. protests have been held in cities across france, against the high rate of murders of women by partners. some french groups say at least 115 women have been killed this year alone, and accuse the authorities of turning a blind eye to the problem. the south yorkshire village of fishla ke has held its christmas fair, barely a fortnight after devastating

floods left many people homeless.