this is bbc news — i'm victoria fritz with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the race is on to choose a new british prime minister, following the resignation of liz truss — afterjust six weeks in office. the conservative party announces a fast—track contest so that the new pm can move into downing street, within a week. the united states accuses iran of using its military expertise to help russia launch drone attacks on ukraine. storms and record rainfall continued to threaten south—eastern australia as people living close to the nation was my biggest river are

issued with emergency flood warnings. and — a jury in new york clears the actor, kevin spacey of making unwanted sexual advances towards a m year—old. hellpfind welcome leadership contest in four months after liz truss resigned saying she couldn't implement the policies on which she was elected as leader. under a new system, candidates will need the support of at least 100 mps by monday, with a view to having a new prime minister by next friday at the latest. the bookies�* favourites

are liz truss�*s predecessor borisjohnson — and the man she beat to the job, rishi sunak. here's our political correspondent, ione wells. the shortest—serving prime minister in british history. her position unsalvageable. we set out a vision for a low—tax, high—growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of brexit. i recognise, though, given the situation, i cannot deliver the mandate on which i was elected by the conservative party. i therefore have spoken to his majesty the king to notify him that i am resigning as leader of the conservative party. so attention now turns to who will replace her. tory mps have until 2pm on monday to nominate a new leader. they will need 100 nominations to make it onto the ballot. that means a maximum of three tory mps could make the cut.

if only one gets 100 nominations from colleagues, they will automatically become leader. if there's more than one there'll be an mps�* vote, and then tory members will pick between the final two in an online vote, with the whole thing done by 28th october. so, who are tory mps talking up for the top spot here? no mps have officially said they will run yet, but rishi sunak, who came second in the summer, is someone a lot of mps have already come out in support of. cabinet ministers penny mordaunt and kemi badenoch, who ran for the leadership this summer, are also being mentioned by some tory mps. as is suella braverman, who resigned just this week as home secretary. and then there's this man, the former prime minister boris johnson, forced to resignjust months ago after mass resignations from his own government. hasta la vista, baby. add a series of scandals over downing street parties, and revelations that he knew about sexual misconduct allegations involving one of his senior government colleagues.

some tory mps said they'd consider resigning as a conservative mp if he was elected again. rees—mogg has encouraged colleagues to back him. and other mps have said he is the only person with a mandate from the general public in an election. 0pposition parties, though, think it's time for a new election now. i really don't think another revolving door of chaos, another experiment at the top of the tory party, is the way out of this. what needs to happen now? well, on a uk level, there must be a general election. it is a democratic necessity. we don't need another- conservative prime minister. they need to go. we need another general election. let mejust get a show of hands. it's not scientific, but it's just to get an idea. who here would like a general election? an election is something tory mps will want to avoid, with the polls looking bad for them. the immediate race is to see which of them can get the support of 100 colleagues

over the weekend to have a shot at that top job. ione wells, bbc news. we will go through the papers in about 15—20 minutes' time, to see what the media makes of quite a day in politics. let's get some of the day's other news. a palestinian teenager has been killed in an overnight raid by israeli troops in the occupied west bank town ofjenin. palestinian health authorities say salah al—buraiki was shot in the neck and he later succumbed to his injuries. a 20—year old jenin resident was detained. the united nations says colombia has broken its own record for cultivating coca — the main ingredient of cocaine. a new report by the un office on drugs and crime revealed colombia's coca harvest area increased by 43% last year. colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine.

bulgaria has become the third country to say it won't take part in next year's eurovision song contest, which is being staged in liverpool on behalf of ukraine — this year's winner. north macedonia and montenegro have already pulled out of the competition, citing an increased entry fee. the teenage american chess grandmaster, hans niemann, has filed a lawsuit against his rival player, magnus carlsen, after the norwegian world champion accused him of cheating. mr niemann is seeking $100 million in damages from mr carlsen, his online chess platform, play magnus, and the website, chess.com. the united states says iran has deployed its military experts in russian—occupied crimea to help launch further drone attacks on ukraine.

iran is accused of helping co—ordinate so—called kamikaze drone attacks, which have caused immense damage to ukraine's power grid. 0livia 0tigbah reports. street lights extinguished. 0ffice blocks and apartment buildings without power for hours at a time. russian attacks targeting ukraine's power grid have translation: unable to use | energy resources as a weapon, the current leadership of russia gave the order to turn the energy system itself into a battlefield. in the space of a single week, at least 30% of ukraine's power stations have been taken off—line. hoping to make the most of the energy they do have, ukraine's government has imposed restrictions on electricity use, with power outages of up to four hours at a time. translation: we are ready i for outages - we have candles,

we have charged power banks, ukraine is charged to win. the latest wave of drone attacks have specifically targeted ukraine's critical infrastructure. and the origin of drones being used has put spotlight on iran. it's believed russia has been using iranian—made shahed 136 drones — also known as kamikaze drones. iran and russia have rejected these accusations, but now the white house is accusing iran of deploying military experts in russian—occupied crimea to help co—ordinate those attacks. we assess that iranian personnel, iranian military personnel, were on the ground in crimea, and assisted russia in these operations. russia has received dozens of these uavs so far and will likely continue to receive additional shipments in the future. western officials have blamed iran for playing a destabilising role in global security, and the uk — as well as the eu —

have announced sanctions on iranians businesses and individuals. but with winter approaching and drones continuing to fall, ukrainians will have to get used to dark for some time yet. 0livia 0tigbah, bbc news. to australia now where the flooding crisis continues in the county's southeast. it's a nervous wait for for people living near australia's biggest river, with warnings of further flooding and forecasts for more rain. residents in echuca near the victoria—new south wales state border are preparing for the murray river to peak later on friday. abc reporter clint jasper is in echuca. everything at the moment looks calm but the forecast is terrible at the moment. essentially, last week, we had

a pretty big rainstorm, the local metallurgical bureau described it as a tropical rain bomb, and in what has been a very wet year in australia, different parts of the country have been flooded since december last year, the soil is already so with moisture, and there was only way the water could go and that is across the land and down the murray river, our biggest river, and the residents of echuca are waiting for that huge flood to hit. the forecast change every day so everyone is nervously waiting to find out when that water will come down stream. lapko this is a country still reeling from previous disasters. we cannot catch a break. we rolled from the black summer bushfires which burned right up and down the east coast, straight into the east coast, straight into the current virus pandemic and, just as we were coming out of that, the floods began christmas last year. so we are currently in a la nina weather cycle which brings record

temperatures and with the forecast of a third la nina on the way people are worried about conditions heading into the summer.— the summer. you are experiencing - the summer. you are experiencing this - the summer. you are| experiencing this third consecutive year of la nina and it is bringing these conditions. what does this mean to the people living in the area, or insurance, business investment, how long lasting is the damage here?— investment, how long lasting is the damage here? floods are not an unfamiliar _ the damage here? floods are not an unfamiliar event _ the damage here? floods are not an unfamiliar event around - an unfamiliar event around these towns, around echuca they're looking at artificial levees being built, what is becoming known collectively as the great wall of echuca, which will protect houses from this coming surge, but as climate change makes these weather events more frequent and more intense, the same questions are being asked all over the world, about where we actually build houses, and lots of these were

built on a natural flood plain, and a lot of houses had been built in bushfire prone area so heading into this summer, it seems that every time the bureau forecasts and other heavy rain, people will be on high alert and those nerves will return, because there really is nowhere else for this water to go. really is nowhere else for this water to 90-— water to go. thank you very much for — water to go. thank you very much for that _ water to go. thank you very much for that and _ water to go. thank you very much for that and i - water to go. thank you very much for that and i hope . water to go. thank you very l much for that and i hope that it goes well in the coming hours, as that rain and bad weather front comes hours, as that rain and bad weatherfront comes in. stay with us on bbc news... still to come: the actor, kevin spacey, says he's "deeply grateful" — after a new york jury clears him of making unwanted sexual advances towards a 1a—year—old. a historic moment that many of his victims have waited for for decades. the former dictator in the dock older, slimmer and, as he sat down, obedient enough.

dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night on the plain, it lights up a biblicalfamine — now, in the 20th century. the depressing conclusion — in argentina today, it is actually cheaper to paper your walls with money. but as good friends, - we have always come to a good and lasting solution. concorde bows out in style after almost three decades in service. an aircraft that has enthralled its many admirers for so long, taxis home one last time. this is bbc news, the latest headlines. the race is on to chose

a new british prime minister, following the resignation of liz truss afterjust six weeks in office. the governing conservative party has announced a fast—track contest so that a new pm can move into downing street, within a week. 0pposition parties have called for a general election. a jury in new york has found that the american actor, kevin spacey, is not liable to pay damages to a man who claimed he was sexually assaulted by the oscar winner in 1986, when he was aged 1a. anthony rapp, also an actor, had been seeking around $40 million in damages. mr spacey denied the allegation and said the pair had never been alone together. 0ur north american correspondent, peter bowes has been following this story — hejoins me now from los angeles.

this is a curious one. when the verdict was read out, we understand kevin spacey dropped his head, thanked his lawyers and walked calmly up, but at some point before that, he had apologised for this, so, had they been alone together, had they been alone together, had they not? it is not straightforward, is it? it isn't straightforward, you're absolutely right. he apologised when these claims were initially made, in 2017, just as the metoo movement was getting under way. antony rapp in an article that was published made these claims, and kevin spacey�*s initial response was to release a statement through twitter. he now says that statement was, in part, because his publicist encouraged him to do so, to deal with the situation, and thatis deal with the situation, and that is where he apologised, although, a caveat, he said he didn't remember what happened, what could have been simply

drunken, inappropriate behaviour, but he now says and he said during the trial, that he said during the trial, that he regrets making that statement, effectively apologising for something that he did not do, and as you said in the introduction, he maintains that the two of them were never together at the same time, and that has always been his defence, that, yes, there was this party, that supposedly is where the sexual assault took place, according to antony rapp, this was in the mid—19 80s, when they were both appearing in separate plays on broadway, but as far as kevin spacey was concerned, what was precisely claimed simply did not happen. precisely claimed simply did not happen-— precisely claimed simply did not happen. so, kevin spacey did not molest _ not happen. so, kevin spacey did not molest antony - not happen. so, kevin spacey did not molest antony rapp l not happen. so, kevin spacey . did not molest antony rapp what what other charges or allegations does the actor face at the moment? in allegations does the actor face at the moment?— at the moment? in a quite separate _ at the moment? in a quite separate case, _ at the moment? in a quite separate case, the - at the moment? in a quite | separate case, the criminal

case, which is due to go ahead next year in the uk, there are still outstanding charges, in five charges that have been levelled at kevin spacey, between the years, 2005—2013, and we must stress this is a separate criminal case in the uk. this has been a civil case, here in the united states. kevin spacey has, in the uk, pled not guilty, and he will go back to the uk to take part in that file when it happens, and at the end of the proceedings here in the us, in new york, his lawyer said his purpose now was to go ahead and to prove his innocence in all the cases where he has been accused of sex offences against men. thank ou ve sex offences against men. thank you very much. _ sex offences against men. thank you very much, peter _ sex offences against men. thank you very much, peter bowes. - you very much, peter bowes. time now for the sports news.

hello, i'm chetan pathak with your sports news. we start with steven gerrard, who was adamant he would fight on, but his time as aston villa manager has been brought to an end after he was sacked by the club shortly after their 3—0 defeat at fulham in the english premier league. there were boos directed at gerrard from the visiting villa fans at craven cottage at the final whistle. the club have won just twice in the league this season and only sit above the relegation zone on goals scored. gerrard took over in november last year after leaving his role at glasgow rangers, but the former england and liverpool midfielder led villa to only 13 wins from a0 games during his 11 months in charge. this is what he had to say after thursday's defeat, before he was sacked. listen, i'm a fighter. i'm not going to quit. it's not in my dna. but i certainly share the frustration — i understand it — and, yeah, i certainly won't shy away from it. and you're confident you can turn it round and get villa up the table? i'll continue to fight. i'll continue to do what i do unless i'm told any different,

and we'll move forward in that position. arsenal are a step closer to qualifying for the last 16 of the europa league after beating psv eindhoven in their rearranged group a game. granit xhaka scored the only goal midway through the second half as the english premier league leaders made it four wins out of four in europe. they're now five points clear of psv, and need just a point from their last two games to reach the last 16. well, we are qualified, so that's the first step, so really pleased for doing that. and now we want to achieve the second one, which is to finish first in the group because we know the difference that's going to make in terms of the games that you have to play, and against who. and that is still something that we have to do. but, in general, really pleased with the performance, with what the boys shown, and we had some really dominant and good moments in the game, but we lacked a little bit in the final third, in the final action, specifically inside the box — to put more shots on target and score more goals, i think.

the two remaining places for the super 12 stage of the men's t20 cricket world cup will be decided over the next few hours. scotland, zimbabwe, west indies and ireland are all level on points ahead of the final round of matches. on thursday, sri lanka beat the netherlands to finish top of group a. mendes top—scored with 79 for the lankans, as they won by 16 runs. and, despite losing, the dutch have also qualified for the super 12 as namibia failed to beat the united arab emirates. and in golf there are joint leaders after the first round of the c] cup in south carolina. americans trey mullinax and the former us open champion gary woodland both opened up with six—under—par rounds of 65. on a congested leader board, they're one shot clear of a group that includes rory mcilroy. a win for the northern irishman this weekend would take him back to the top of the world rankings for the first time in two years.

and there's more on that and all the latest sports news over on the bbc sport website. but that is all from me for now. goodbye. let's turn back to our top story — the resignation of the uk's prime minister, liz truss, and the conservative party launching its second leadership contest in just four months. 0ur news reporter tom brada joins me now to talk through how the news is being covered in the papers. you have picked out some of them. let's start with the mail. within hours, we heard there was a plane coming back from the caribbean with someone we have all... from the caribbean with someone we have all. . ._ we have all... exactly, someone we have all... exactly, someone we are familiar _ we have all... exactly, someone we are familiar with, _ we have all... exactly, someone we are familiar with, everyone l we are familiar with, everyone will recognise. the mail

headline, borisjohnson versus rishi sunak, fight for the soul of the tories. it is likely to be a two—way battle between the former prime minister and the former prime minister and the former chancellor rishi sunak, and within the body of this article they suggest there will be an extra amount of drama because you will remember rishi sunak, it was his resignation that many people think was responsible for the eventual downfall of borisjohnson so if they go head to head there will be a little bit of extra spice in the battle. figs be a little bit of extra spice in the battle.— be a little bit of extra spice in the battle. as though we needed any _ in the battle. as though we needed any more. - in the battle. as though we needed any more. i - in the battle. as though we needed any more. i think i in the battle. as though we needed any more. i think itj in the battle. as though we l needed any more. i think it is worth saying, at this stage, we don't have anyone who has come out and said this... and it has not stopped everyone speculating. 0r saying, not stopped everyone speculating. 0rsaying, enough speculating. 0r saying, enough is speculating. 0rsaying, enough is enough, this is all over social media, of course, the labour party calling for a general election and they are very much not the only ones. what is the mirror saying?

enormous lettering, general election now, they say. there is a lot of polling suggesting people are not that happy that it is going to be done through the conservatives and their membership to decide who is our next leader and lots of people with propriety be sent back to the broader electorate. that is the broader electorate. that is the opinion of the mirror and of the labour party, certainly the labour leader sir keir starmer has called for a general election. and it is important to say it is unlikely the tories will call an election, because the new prime minister is not under any obligation to do so and it is fair to say that the tories are at a particularly low ad, so it would be a good time for the labour party do have an election, but a very bad one for the conservatives. fire election, but a very bad one for the conservatives. are they auoin to for the conservatives. are they going to be _ for the conservatives. are they going to be able _ for the conservatives. are they going to be able to _ for the conservatives. are they going to be able to avoid - for the conservatives. are they going to be able to avoid one? | going to be able to avoid one? do they have a candidate which they can coalesce around, that would be able to command the majority? would be able to command the ma'ori ? , ., , would be able to command the ma'ori ? i. , ma'ority? everyone is looking to majority? everyone is looking to see if there _ majority? everyone is looking to see if there is _ majority? everyone is looking to see if there is a _ majority? everyone is looking to see if there is a unity - to see if there is a unity candidate that everyone is

happy with who will be able to command respect in the commons and be able to get things passed. at the moment, it is not looking particularly likely. but even so, if we are still a few weeks from that eventuality, whoever comes into power will try to shore up support from party members and it remains to be seen whether a general election will be called. it seems unlikely at this point. it called. it seems unlikely at this point-— this point. it does not stop the telegraph _ this point. it does not stop the telegraph saying - this point. it does not stop the telegraph saying that. this point. it does not stop| the telegraph saying that a tory recovery is possible, potentially. wishful thinking, perhaps. potentially. wishful thinking, -erha - s. , potentially. wishful thinking, erha s. , ., , potentially. wishful thinking, --erhas. , ., , potentially. wishful thinking, ”erhas, , ., potentially. wishful thinking, --erhas. ., ., perhaps. they only say that on the basis that _ perhaps. they only say that on the basis that they _ perhaps. they only say that on the basis that they are - the basis that they are defining liz truss was not the premiership as so bad that they can only get better from here. we keep thinking that, don't we, then we get a new fresh hell! , .., hell! things can get, i hesitate _ hell! things can get, i hesitate to _ hell! things can get, i hesitate to say - hell! things can get, i | hesitate to say worse, hell! things can get, i - hesitate to say worse, but even more complicated. the headline for the telegraph is boris johnson tells tories, i can say party from election wipe—out.

this is a little misleading because we do not have a direct quote from boris johnson telling the tories he can save tories from election wipe—out. in the body of the article it quotes an ally of borisjohnson who suggested it would be a goodidea who suggested it would be a good idea to get behind the man because he is a proven winner, although that is the point some people are making, that he is a proven winner, that lots of mps are grateful to him for helping them win their seats in 2019, but, he is obviously a very divisive character. lots of mps are unhappy with him. he left office in a real sense of toxicity, so it remains to be seen whether him running would be a good thing for the conservatives. i be a good thing for the conservatives.- be a good thing for the conservatives. i will end on the historic _ conservatives. i will end on the historic souvenir - conservatives. i will end on| the historic souvenir edition of the daily star, congratulations to the lettuce who did indeed outlast liz truss. , . . who did indeed outlast liz truss. , ., ., , ., truss. they had a live stream, they wanted — truss. they had a live stream, they wanted to _ truss. they had a live stream, they wanted to see _ truss. they had a live stream, they wanted to see you - they wanted to see you wheatbelt first, and it turned

out that the lettuce was the winner and they they have a picture of a lettuce but remarkably similar hair to liz truss on theirfront remarkably similar hair to liz truss on their front page. thank you for taking us through the papers, tom. we have plenty more reaction from the business world injust more reaction from the business world in just a more reaction from the business world injust a moment. iwill see you soon, goodbye. first it was a stormy day with rain moving at times steadily north and that unsettled picture will continue for the next few days to come. low pressure centre in itself to the south—west, throwing these weather fronts around that low, driving and plenty of frequent showers. the wind direction coming from the south, so still relatively mild. a mile start to friday, plenty of showers from the south—west, some of these heavy and possibly thundery first thing. they will drift out of caudal up into wales and gradually towards the midlands as we go through the

morning rush hour. eventually moving steadily north, fewer showers into the far north of scotland, but nowhere will escape those showers as we go through the afternoon. they will rattle through it quite a pace because of that strong, southerly wind. the strongest gusts close to the centre of the low, during the afternoon, 50 mph are not out of the question in the south—west but always coming from a southerly direction, a mild sauce, so in between with a suntan coming through, temperatures still likely to peak into the high teens, pretty good for this time of year. as we move into the early hours of saturday morning, the centre of the low will move into northern ireland, north—west england and south—west scotland. that is where the frequent, sharp showers are likely to be. we may well see some mist and fog forming behind, as the winds become that little bit lighter. we have this little ridge of high pressure building for the start of the weekend. however, it will not be long before another low stance to move in

for sunday. saturday certainly the better of the two days through the week, showers into northern ireland and much of central and southern scotland, clearer skies behind, some sunshine coming through, lighter winds, so it will feel quite pleasant in the sunshine with highs once again, 18—19, where the best of the sunshine is. saturday into sunday, the next low pushing into the south—west. the isobars once again squeezing together, the winds are strengthening, throwing those weather fronts and showers across the country. so once again, we could see some sharp, thundery downpours on sunday, and that story will continue as we head into monday.

this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the humiliating end of trussonomics. a low—tax, high—growth dream that turned into a nightmare. now the uk must rebuild its financial credibility. we need a bit of stability and it is incredibly important that the conservative party has never been more split as it is at the moment. and this is a very dangerous time. so who will replace liz truss? business leaders tell us — whoever it is — they will need to tackle a wall of problems facing uk firms now some of these are increases in raw material cost, shipping costs. they have difficulty getting labour and now, of course, eye—watering increases in energy bills. we had a leadership battle over

the summer, and now we've had a back—and—forward of policies. so they really are looking for some political