this is bbc news. i am a rich preston. ourtop this is bbc news. i am a rich preston. our top stories: the contest to become the uk's next prime minister heats up, the former us president donald trump is summoned to testify before the congressional committee investigating last year's attack on the capitol building. giorgia meloni prepares to become italy's first female prime minister, and its first far—right leader since world war ii. we have a special report on the growing anger inside russia that man with no military experience are being called up to five on the front line.- to five on the front line. when mobilisation _ to five on the front line. when mobilisation was _ to five on the front line. when mobilisation was being - mobilisation was being discussed, i agreed with my

family that if such a situation arose, i would refuse. even if they sent me to prison. find arose, iwould refuse. even if they sent me to prison. and the ja anese they sent me to prison. and the japanese cartoon _ they sent me to prison. and the japanese cartoon characters - japanese cartoon characters being re—created for the staged by the royal shakespeare company, breaking box office records in the process. hello and welcome to bbc news. very good to have your company. in a few days the uk will have a new prime minister following the resignation of liz truss on thursday. penny mordaunt, leader of the house of commons, the first conservative to say she wants the job. no other mp has declared an interest in being a candidate but both borisjohnson and former chancellor rishi sunak have had

nominations from other mps. sources have told the bbc rishi sunak has received the backing of 100 mps to become conservative leader. johnson left office just over six weeks ago, forced out over a series of crises and scandals. however becomes the next conservative leader also becomes the next british prime minister but opposition parties are calling for a general election. rw political editor vicki young has this report. i will remain as prime minister until a successor has been chosen. thank you. once again, there is a vacancy at the top of government. liz truss' resignation means conservatives now need to choose their fifth leader and prime minister injust over six years. but can anyone now unify a party that seems to have lost its way? cabinet minister penny mordaunt thinks she can, launching her campaign with a tweet and saying she offered a fresh start. supporters think she would bring competence to the job. i think penny is the unifying candidate.

she is a robust brexiteer, she is a highly experienced and competent government minister. penny has already indicated should she become prime minister, jeremy hunt will remain as chancellor, so she is absolutely not going to do anything that risks businesses or the market. remarkably, this man is being tipped by some for a comeback. yes, borisjohnson, who was ousted injuly after a series of scandals including lockdown parties. he has been weighing up his options while on holiday in the dominican republic. this photo was taken last week. seniorfigures are offering support. at the moment i would lean towards borisjohnson. in 2019 he won a general election with a huge majority and he was legitimately sent into parliament as the prime minister based on the vote of the whole electorate, notjust on tory members, notjust the members of parliament. he got a mandate, and i think that is an important thing for all of us to bear in mind. mrjohnson is of course

still being investigated by mps over allegations he lied to parliament about parties in downing street. one tory said it would be "catastrophic" to bring him back. plenty of others are appalled. he was forced out by dozens of resignations only a matter of weeks ago. it is very hard to believe that he could put together a stable government as far as i can tell. i think that is a risk we can't afford to take as a party, and not one we should inflict on the country. morning, mr sunak! momentum is building behind the former chancellor rishi sunak, who lost to liz truss last time. he wasn't saying anything today, but friends say his predictions about the economy were spot on. i am backing rishi sunak because i believe he is able to take us forward. his economicjudgement has been shown to be absolutely correct, and i think he can unite the party by bringing all the talents, if you like, into the government. the problem is, rishi sunak was rejected by conservative party members not very long ago. well i think they might want,

in light of experience, to revisit that. unity is what conservative mps keep talking about, but putting aside their differences and agreeing on a leader without a contest — that was always going to be a remote possibility. even the suggestion today that borisjohnson might stand has reopened old wounds. and all this going on while the country faces difficult economic questions. liz truss is on her way out — her brief, unsuccessful spell in charge has made her successor�*s job a lot harder. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. let's ta ke let's take a closer look at the front runners in the conservative leadership contest. here is political corresponded jonathan blake. they claim to have the support of 100 curvers of mps, and a pot number because the bar has been set very high people to formally enter this contest, they will need 100 nominations from conservative mps to get on the ballot in the first place

although rishi sunak, who finished behind liz truss and the race to replace boris johnson has not formally declared his candidacy. it's a case of when, not if, he is widely expected to and he is at the moment by far and away among mps the front runner. borisjohnson is the other big name in the frame. he resigned as prime ministerjust a few months ago and is now being talked up by his supporters to make a possible comeback. we can report the night that he has boarded a flight back to london from the dominican republic on holiday with his family, due back in london tomorrow morning and we are told by his supporters that he is up for it, whether he will end up standing and entering the contest we wait to find out. and then penny mordaunt, leader of the house of commons, held a couple of other cabinet jobs as well, but she is the only once you have publicly declared her candidacy, tweeting earlier on the day

that she wanted to unite the party, deliver on their pledges to the electorate and win the next general election. the us house committee investigating last year's attack on the capitol building in washington dc has ordered former president donald trump to testify under oath. the committee says its evidence shows mr trump played a central role in an orchestrated effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. our north american correspondent peter bowes reports. they want to see documents relevant to the circumstances surrounding january the sixth, that can include text messages, it could include details of phone calls, anything that could cast any sort of light on what the president was doing, who he was talking to during a crucial time in the committee wants to see those documents by 4 november, just a couple of weeks away. they also want him to testify under oath in person and given a deadline of

and given a deadline 01:14 november and right in between those two market dates we have the mid—term elections and that could be crucial in itself because if the republicans take control of the house of representatives, this committee will be disbanded and all of theseissues will be disbanded and all of these issues will become moot points. let's now speak to bruce fein, a constitutional lawyer, he joins us live from washington dc. good evening and thanks for joining us. i've got the subpoenaed document in front of us, accusing donald trump of purposely and maliciously disseminating false allegations, illegally pressuring state officials, summoning tens of thousands of supporters to washington and refusing to disband his writing supporters. this is extraordinary language. how significant and hysterical is this? . ., ,. ., , this? the language is certainly tou~h. this? the language is certainly tough. remember _ this? the language is certainly tough. remember that - this? the language is certainly tough. remember that we - this? the language is certainly - tough. remember that we already had a federal court in california find that mr trump

conspired with his attorney, mr eastman, to defraud the american people out of the peaceful transfer of presidential power in the 2021. so that is not unusual. it is true, of course, that the allegations that are made with regard to mr trump far exceed, and i participated in the abridgement of richard nixon and watergate cover—up, any of the things alleged against mr nixon. as bad as they were they won't an effort to overthrow the basic system of government. however, we need to remember that there are few things that are odd here. one, why was a sabina issue now, they could have been issued a year ago? the facts that are alleged are all not new. why are they subpoenaing mike pence, a former vice president, who had half a dozen meetings with the president solely and the

electorate certified by the state to satisfy president biden as the president of the united states. lastly, unless congress asserts its inherent contempt power, affirmed by the united states supreme court over a century ago, there is no way that their subpoenae will be enforced before the november elections, before the congress expires and the subpoenae will expires and the subpoenae will expire injanuary the third inevitable happens in november, because a subpoenae by congress can't extend beyond the life of the congress that issued it. so it looks to me like it's a political study rather than a serious legal effort to get the information from mr trump. moreover, this is not virgin territory. say there are four subpoenas against president nixon when here in fact was president by the house judiciary committee and he was impeached when he refused to comply, the committee did not go to court, and gerald ford testified before the house judiciary committee about pardoning mr nixon, you member williamjefferson

pardoning mr nixon, you member william jefferson clinton, he was called and deposed under oath that we saw it with regard to monica lewinsky, and the sexual harassment lawsuit, so this is not like it is pioneering legal terrain. should have done is a long time ago and should have made clear that if they were serious, they would assert their inherent contempt meaning if he does not comply he will spend time in jail on capitol hill until he does. , , ., ., does. many people would not exect does. many people would not expect donald _ does. many people would not expect donald trump - does. many people would not expect donald trump to - does. many people would not l expect donald trump to comply and he hasn't complied illegal orders in the past, either saying he is exempt, has present your privilege or uses the argument that this is a witch—hunt. {iii the argument that this is a witch-hunt.— the argument that this is a witch-hunt. . ., , ., witch-hunt. of course he had not gonna — witch-hunt. of course he had not gonna comply _ witch-hunt. of course he had not gonna comply which - witch-hunt. of course he had i not gonna comply which makes all the more stunning why the committee itself didn't make it clear that they were going to send a martial capitol police and arrest him if he does not comply with the subpoenae. that was done a century ago in the us supreme court, affirmed the authority of congress to do that for a very simple reason, if there isn't authority to act

quickly, you can things forever and all information becomes moot by the time it gets through all the court proceedings up to the supreme court. that's what this really is about. myjudgement, the committee itself is derelict and not asserting its authority, i believe the reason is they worry when mr biden leaves office and the republicans are in control, mr biden may have skeletons in his closet, hunter biden, who knows what, and that it happening to him so to protect mr biden they aren't going after mr trump a serious way. it aren't going after mr trump a serious way-— serious way. it will not be enforced. _ serious way. it will not be enforced. we _ serious way. it will not be enforced. we will - serious way. it will not be enforced. we will leave . serious way. it will not be enforced. we will leave it| enforced. we will leave it there. thank you for making the time for us. let's get some of the day's other news. the former pakistani prime minister, imran khan, has called on his supporters to end protests after the election commission disqualified him from public office on charges of corrupt practices. in a video message, mr khan denied any wrongdoing and said the decision was biased. the election authorities have said he failed to declare gifts he received from foreign

leaders during his tenure. the un security council has voted to impose sanctions on armed gangs that have caused widespread disruption in haiti in recent months. the council singled out the island's most powerful gang leader, jimmy cherizier, who's known as �*barbeque.’ in italy, the leader of the far—right brothers of italy party, giorgia meloni, has been invited by the country's president to form a government, after winning elections last month. she will be italy's first ever female pm and her cabinet will be sworn in on saturday. tom brada has this report. deliver to the presidential palace in a classic italian car. jordan maloney has now formally accepted the job of forming italy's next government and in doing so will preside over the country's most right—wing administration since the world war. translation: we

a . reed the world war. translation: - agreed about the need to give the country a new government as soon as possible. we have many urgent issues to tackle at both national and national level. her coalition government includes the far right liga party led by matteo salvini and also italia led by former prime minister silvio berlusconi. and there are concerns about how they will legislate on a range of social issues from abortion to lgbt rights.— to lgbt rights. what might chance to lgbt rights. what might change is _ to lgbt rights. what might change is what _ to lgbt rights. what might change is what happens - to lgbt rights. what might change is what happens in | to lgbt rights. what might i change is what happens in the domestic kind of level, especially for what concerns issues such as migration and also the rights of minority groups. also the rights of minority urou s. ~ , also the rights of minority u-rous. ~, ~ ., h also the rights of minority u-rous. ~, ~ ., �*, also the rights of minority u-rous. ~, ~ ., , groups. ms meloni's acid is remarkable _ groups. ms meloni's acid is remarkable for— groups. ms meloni's acid is remarkable for italy, - groups. ms meloni's acid is remarkable for italy, one i groups. ms meloni's acid is| remarkable for italy, one of the founding members of the eu, and the block's third largest

economy but when it comes to foreign policy, some feel her far right credentials are somewhat overstated. maloney made it clear _ somewhat overstated. maloney made it clear that _ somewhat overstated. maloney made it clear that italy - somewhat overstated. maloney made it clear that italy is - made it clear that italy is with the eu and nature and strongly rejected prue putin and pro—russia positions. {lin and pro-russia positions. on russia, and pro—russia positions. on russia, there is one coalition partner long used hogging the limelight who is causing ms meloni a painful headache. 86—year—old silvio berlusconi has been at the centre a furious row over two lecture recordings. in them he blamed ukraine for starting the current or planned claimed president putin considers him number one among his five best friends. for now, ms meloni and her allies have been added front, power thanks to ambitious pledges to rebuild italy's economy and bring down energy costs, but to achieve those

goals sure firstly to keep the peace in her own political ranks. tom brada, bbc news. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the contest to become the uk's next prime minister heats up, with penny mordaunt becoming the first to enter the race. borisjohnson heads boris johnson heads back borisjohnson heads back from holiday. the former us president, donald trump is summoned to testify before the congressional committee, investigating last year's attack on the us capitol. a vigil has been held in memory of the murdered french schoolgirl, lola, in her hometown of fouquereuil. lola's body was found dumped in a suitcase in paris last friday — a discovery that shocked the french public. a 24—year old woman from algeria, has since been remanded in custody on suspicion of murder, rape and acts of torture. speaking for the first time about the crime, french president emmanuel macron said the murder was an act of "extreme evil" and paid tribute to lola's family. translation: i think that

all the parents feel- at their core what lola's parents are experiencing. fear for child who we drop off at school. fearfor a child who returns home after the end of school. it is that, exactly that. so i think of lola's parents, of her brother, of her stepbrother, of this family in disarray, which is extremely dignified and united in this moment. i think that above all it needs the respect and affection of the nation. there's growing anger in russia over the forced mobilisation of men to fight in the war in ukraine. president putin had said the call—up was a temporary measure, but today the kremlin refused to say when it will end. as russian forces struggle to hold territory in ukraine, men with no military experience are being sent to the frontline to fight, and often to die. our russia editor steve rosenberg reports. this is the picture the kremlin is trying to paint. putin, the strongman...

the caring commander—in—chief. and russians lining up to do their patriotic duty, mobilised to fight in ukraine. these alleged recruits are well equipped. but these aren't. for weeks now, mobilised russians have been complaining of a lack of resources and training. these men say they've been given old guns and no helmets or body armour. mobilisation has sparked deep alarm in russian society. this human rights group is giving advice on what to do if your loved ones are sent to the front line. as you can see, it's packed. the kremlin says that more than 200,000 reservists have been called up to fight. with mobilisation, what is happening in ukraine has suddenly become very real for the russian public. now, the kremlin wants russians

to believe that those people who've been drafted into the army are being sent off to defend the motherland. but not everyone here believes that. man speaking. the voice belongs to mikhail. 500 miles from moscow, he told the local military draft office he wasn't going to fight because there was no threat to russia. mikhail insists that if russia truly needed defending, he would rush to volunteer. he considers himself a patriot, but he doesn't believe in this war. he won't fight ukraine. translation: when mobilisation was being discussed i agreed - with my family that if such a situation arose, i would refuse, even if they sent me to prison. if i had to, i would choose prison. the state will consider me a criminal if i don't go to fight in this war.

but i won't be a criminal from the point of view of humanity or myself. after his refusal to fight, mikhail has received some abuse on russian social media. but what is interesting is that he's had plenty of support, too, for his decision to take a moral stand. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the first wild bison for thousands of years has been born in the uk. three bison were released back injuly as part of a rewilding project in kent — but, unknown to the rangers, one of them had a secret passenger on board. jonah fisher has been to see the new arrival. oh, she's she's like a ray of sunshine on a dark, cloudy day. it's thousands of years since a bison was born in the wild in britain. so this is quite a moment

in kent's blean woods. europe's largest mammal, once hunted almost to extinction, taking her first steps. she's a little ball of energy. and when she sees... when we get a little bit of rain, she starts sprinting around and it's, "what's this stuff falling out of the sky?" she's fantastic. she's doing so, so well. donovan oversaw the arrival of the first three bison in july. as part of the settling—in process, he brings them some extra food every morning. it's basically a little treat, but that is the menu, what you see out there. these bison are not free to roam. under uk law, they've rather unfairly been classed as dangerous animals, which means they have to be surrounded by this rather big fence. but inside the enclosure, they forage, they graze, they look for food. and in the next few months, the enclosure is going to be massively expanded, leaving the bison to effectively live as wild animals inside.

the role of the bison in the rewilding is to act as nature's bulldozer, trampling corridors through the forest and killing trees by eating their bark. in the clearings they create, light can come through and there's space for other wildlife to thrive. and where would you like to see this project go? in time, the greatest aspiration would be to drop the fences, leave the fencing alone, and let the bison move through a native english landscape as as they were intended. do you think that's really realistic? i do. so this baby bison could be just the beginning. jonah fisher, bbc news, in kent. it's one of japan's greatest cultural exports — the oscar—winning studio ghibli's distinctive animated feature films have a host of devoted fans across the globe. now in a world first, its animated movie my neighbour totoro has been adapted by the royal shakespeare company

for the stage. our culture editor katie razzall has been to the barbican in london for an exclusive peek of the production. it's just an old house. there is no sign of totoro in our sneak preview of this show. the rsc is keeping the mysterious creature befriended by two children under wraps. the only puppets on the stage right now are the so—called soot sprites. working with puppets is so much fun. they're so funny and they are so cheeky, a lot of them, and they really do have a life of their own. you're talking about them like they're real people. both: yeah, they are! my neighbour totoro has never been staged before but, for more than 30 years, this hand—drawn animation has been one of the most—loved films to have come out of japan's equivalent of disney, the renowned studio ghibli.

with legions of global fans, there's a lot riding on the new show, not least how to replicate the magical furry totoro. this is our backstage puppet workshop, where we're... puppet designer basil twist, who devised the dementors in the harry potter films, isn't giving much away. so you're showing me chickens. i want to see totoro. right, well, you'll see chickens for now. we're still keeping totoro under wraps so that people can find the surprise of him when they come and see the show. there are clues from los angeles, where basil created the totoro puppet and others, with the company behind the muppets, jim henson, in a real east meets west collaboration. i would keep in touch with the japanese as i went, and they're very specific about totoro's eyes, the distance between his eyes and the shape of his head and how that works because, once you come into a three—dimensional world, it's very different than a 2d world. my neighbour totor0 theme plays what's not different is the music

and the man behind it, the celebrated japanese composer who persuaded the studio to allow this adaptation showcasing japanese heritage for a new audience. we have our own music, our own culture, so this is very important for me. to show the world? yes. you saw the production last night. what did you think? great show, spectacular. so there is a daunting aspect of bringing something totally new and the adaptation of it being new on the stage. to be bringing this. treasure ofjapanese culture to the stage, yeah, it's been one i of the privileges of my life. we all love the film. i mean, most of us grew up with it. please, get well soon. but will this magical fantasy cast a spell on theatre audiences, as it has on screen? katie razzall, bbc news. much more on those stories on the bbc news website, or you can download the bbc news app.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ richpreston. from all of us on the team here in london, thank you for your company, we will see you next time. hello there. friday brought heavy rain forsome, and in areas where we are desperate for it. the heaviest of the rain moving up through dorset across the midlands, and in fact there was over an inch of rainfall in parts of oxfordshire throughout the day, so some pretty muddy fields starting to develop now. however, eastern england, lots of blue sky and sunshine, and temperatures peaked at 20 degrees. a beautiful opportunity for getting out and enjoying some of the gorgeous autumn colour that we have. the start of the weekend quite promising with this bump of high pressure, but the second half of the weekend sees this low developing, moving in and bringing further outbreaks of rain. once again the winds will become a feature, but we keep the wind direction from a southerly,

so that milder flow stays with us. those temperatures are widely going to sit in the mid to high teens over the next few days. so on saturday we'll have some outbreaks of showery rain through northern ireland pushing out of northern england into southern scotland and weakening just a touch. at the same time we will start to see showers, some of them heavy and thundery, gathering to the south—west. but sandwiched in between the two, that's where the best of the sunshine is likely to be, and temperatures again peaking at 18—19 degrees with that sunshine, it will feel very pleasant. into sunday, here's the low starting to bring some heavy thundery downpours up across the country, a spell of wet weather through the morning which will start to grind to a halt across central scotland into the afternoon. brightening up with sharper showers behind and still pretty warm with it, so a day of contrast i suspect once again into sunday afternoon. as we move into the beginning of the week, that frontal system will start to push through the far north

of scotland, but we will still keep the threat of further fronts moving in from the west as we go through the week ahead. so on monday we have got some wet weather clearing scotland, sunny spells and scattered showers behind, still the risk that some of those showers could be thundery, chiefly out to the west — the best of the dry weather once again remains for eastern england. and against we will see those temperatures into the high teens, above where they should be for this time of year. and that will be the trend as we go through the week ahead. it stays relatively mild but we have got more showers to come towards the end of the working week. that's it — whatever you're doing, have a lovely weekend.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the senior conservative, penny mordaunt has become the first to announce she will run in the contest to become britain's next prime minister. her rivals may include borisjohnson, who is heading back from a caribbean holiday, and the former finance minister, rishi sunak. the former us president, donald trump has been summoned to testify before the congressional committee, investigating the 6january riot at the capitol building. the committee says it has evidence that mr trump played a central role in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. italy's far—right leader, georgia meloni, has accepted

an offer from the country's president to form a new government, after winning last month's election.