this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm rich preston. our top stories: in the race to be britain's next prime minister, two of the leading candidates have been meeting face to face. the uk's former chancellor rishi sunak is, so far, the only person to have secured the backing of more than a hundred mps. rivals of the former prime minister borisjohnson dismiss claims by his allies that he's also reached that number. thousands take part in a rally in germany, supporting protesters in iran the biggest ever demonstration by iranians overseas. at china's party congress, president xi's

predecessor, hu jintao, is mysteriously led out of the hall by officials. just tell me what i've done to you. ijust don't like you no more. and we speak to colin farrell and brendan gleeson about their new film about the end of a friendship. britain's former prime minister borisjohnson and the formerfinance minister rishi sunak, have held face—to—face talks about the conservative leadership race, though neither has formally declared their intention to stand. penny mordaunt, the leader of the house of commons, was the first to formally declare, on friday. mr sunak has the public support of over 100 conservative mps, the threshold required for this leadership contest.

some of mrjohnson�*s former cabinet colleagues have warned against his return to downing street, barely three months after a series of scandals forced him out. our political correspondent damian grammaticas has been following events. are you running for the leadership? he was tight—lipped this morning, but rishi sunak clearly has a well of support among conservative mps — more than 100 now publicly backing him. and that sets up the extraordinary possibility he could face off against the man he helped bring down. borisjohnson, flying back from a caribbean holiday for a possible political comeback. it's just over four months since mrjohnson faced a revolt by his own mps and a confidence vote. the vote in favour of having confidence in borisjohnson as leader was 211 votes and the vote against him was 148 votes. more than 40% of his mps had no confidence in him then. dozens then resigned from his government. but some now say they want him to return.

what we've seen in the last few days is that some of the mps who resigned, some of the mps who called for boris to go at the start of the summer have now said that they would like to see him put himself forward. they've admitted that they were wrong — and i know there are many others waiting to hear on if he makes the decision to run before they go public. thank you all very much for coming! those who want him back remember this — borisjohnson is a vote winner. but many tory mps haven't forgotten what followed — lockdown parties that broke the law. parliament will soon begin hearings into whether mr johnson lied about this. it's why the man who was his deputy prime minister is backing rishi sunak. i think the country needs a prime minister that is focused 100% on them and i just don't see as a practical matter that that can be boris if he is then dealing with all of those issues — and i say that as someone who would love to see boris return to frontline politics. i think he can, but i don't think he can until he's addressed those issues. the first candidate

to declare she was running was penny mordaunt last night, but she has far fewer public declarations of support. i'm backing penny because she's the candidate i think that can not onlyjust bring the conservative party and parliament together but, actually, the whole country. she's got a proven track record, working across eight departments in her 12 years in parliament. this was borisjohnson injuly. to the right, rishi sunak. later that day, mr sunak resigned as chancellor, saying people needed competent, serious government. three days later, mrjohnson was out of office. so, the choice facing tory mps may come down to two men with a bitter history or an untested alternative compromise candidate. damian grammaticas, bbc news. and damian has been keeping up with the latest from westminster. the bbc has been told that those two men who are

the frontrunners have been meeting tonight. we don't know anything about what it may be about, but you could reasonably ask yourself why they would want to meet at this point? possibly, you could assume, maybe to sound each other out or come to an accommodation? we know that rishi sunak has what is crucial in a race like this — momentum. he is well past the threshold he needs. it is very unlikely that he would be in any mood to stand aside. perhaps he could be trying to seek some sort of accommodation for mrjohnson, but borisjohnson�*s best hope may be to try to take it to a vote of the party membership, where he may feel he would get some support. but when it was put out that he might have 100 votes and they were asked to show the names, they were unable to. we only have them on 50 and the momentum at the moment seems with rishi sunak. we will be finding out how the leadership race is being viewed

from the united states later in the programme. in germany, police say around 80,000 people joined a rally in support of protesters in iran. it's the biggest demonstration by the iranian diaspora ever. protests in iran are now into their sixth week, sparked by the death of mahsa amini, a young woman who died while in custody of the morality police. mahsa amini, a name that has become a rallying cry. in berlin, tens of thousands show their support for protesters in iran and their disdain for the government. it iran and their disdain for the government.— iran and their disdain for the government. it is breathtaking and amazing- _ government. it is breathtaking and amazing. i'm _ government. it is breathtaking and amazing. i'm amazed. - government. it is breathtaking and amazing. i'm amazed. it l government. it is breathtaking | and amazing. i'm amazed. it is the first time that so many people in our nation are united, regardless of their political beliefs before revolution and after revolution, so i am really

proud. revolution, so i am really roud. ., proud. mahsa amini i am the voice of- _ proud. mahsa amini i am the voice of- it — proud. mahsa amini i am the voice of. it is _ proud. mahsa amini i am the voice of. it is about - proud. mahsa amini i am the voice of. it is about to - proud. mahsa amini i am the voice of. it is about to be - proud. mahsa amini i am the voice of. it is about to be thei voice of. it is about to be the bi est voice of. it is about to be the biggest protests _ voice of. it is about to be the biggest protests against - voice of. it is about to be the biggest protests against the | biggest protests against the iranian diaspora ever. some protesters say they have travelled from many countries. similar protests have happened in other western states as well as japan. governments have tried to balance calling out human rights abuses in iran, with appearing to meddle in the country's affairs, and i accusation regularly levelled their way by the iranian government. but the iranian diaspora is demanding more action. they are calling on western governments to add more sanctions on the powerful revolutionary guards and asking them to expel iranian diplomats. within iran, protests are now into their six the week. students are still marching on their campuses and chanting death to the dictator.

shopkeepers and other workers are on strike. all this adds to the sense that this movement is unprecedented and a threat the islamic republic is struggling to contain. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. italy's first female prime minister, giorgia meloni, and her ministers have been sworn in at a ceremony in the presidential palace in rome. she's the country's first far—right leader since the second world war. her brothers of italy party won last month's elections with just over a quarter of the vote. stefano fasano reports. speaks italian. giorgia meloni, the first woman to be italy's prime minister, takes the oath of office. she is also the only leader of a party with neofascist roots to form a government in the republic�*s history. ms meloni will give a speech in parliament on tuesday and must win a vote of confidence in both chambers. more formality, given the very solid majority. but the coalition has proven to be notably fractious

in the past week. former prime minister silvio berlusconi, one of her alliance partners with matteo salvini's league, for the war with russia, and admitted he had rekindled the two exchanged gifts and very sweet letters, he said. in response, ms meloni reiterated her government would be strongly pro—nato and anyone who rejected that could not be part of the government. as far as foreign policy goes, she will stay put, as in, ms meloni, madame meloni, she wants to stay on the european and nato side, but the alliance with salvini of la lega, and berlusconi with forza italia, are much more pro—russia. the biggest changees are expected internally rather than at a national level. ms meloni's government has changed the name of some ministries, including the ministry of agriculture

and food sovereignty, and that of family and fertility. observers say that might be a sign of what's to come. there are rumours that mr salvini of lega won't get any kind of assignment of immigration, and they will go to mr musumeci, a sicilian politician, that now is the new minister on sea. don't ask me what it is about, i am sicilian myself, but now we have a minister on sea. on sunday morning former pm mario draghi will officially hand over his post to ms meloni, the last step before the confidence vote on tuesday. stefano fasano, bbc news. president zelensky has denounced renewed russian attacks on ukraine's energy infrastructure as an attempt to break his country. kyiv says almost 1.5 million households are without power following another barrage by russian missiles on civilian energy facilities.

the national electricity operator said the latest strikes could have caused more damage than the intense bombardment lasting several days earlier this month. president zelensky said the world had to stop the terror. translation: russian propagandists are lying when they say that this terror against our infrastructure and people can somehow slow down the active actions of our military or cause any difficulty for our defence. ukrainians are united and they know for sure that russia has no chance to win this war. chinese president xijinping is poised to clinch a third term as china's leader, cementing his place as the country's most powerful ruler since mao zedong. these are live pictures now from the communist party congress and president xi

jinping has been handed another five year term. earlier, footage of china's former leader, hujintao, being removed from the stage of the communist party congress drew global attention. mrhu —who is 79 — was sitting beside president xijinping when he was led away by officials. chinese state media blamed ill health for the incident. 0ur correspondent, stephen mcdonell, has more from beijing. the first thing you notice from these incredible events at the great hall of the people is that china's former leader, when asked to leave doesn't want to go, and you have to ask yourself, why? what's going on? well, because he represents a type of government so different to the way things are done now. a period of opening up to the outside world, of collective leadership. speculation has first turned to the possibility that this was a piece of political theatre — that he was being symbolically removed to show who's really in charge. but then, when you look at the footage more closely, he doesn't seem to be well. at times, he doesn't seem

to know what's going on. if there were legitimate health reasons, though, for him to be removed, why did hu jintao have to go so suddenly? why at that time? and why do it in front of the cameras? unfortunately, china's system, though, is so opaque that we are getting nothing else from the government by way of explanation. staying with the news about hu jinatao's abrupt removal, i asked lynette 0ng, author and professor of political science at the unversity of toronto, what she makes of the incident. he could be sick, but the time he was escorted out of the congress was also just after the media — people from the media were allowed into the congress, so that could be a power—play, a political play by president xi. or it could be because, you know, at that time, the list of central committee members had just been released, so he could've seen the list and then disagreed with people who have been elected and president xi sees him as a threat. but all of these

remain speculative. we don't actually know what the reason is because the political system is extremely opaque. you say it's feasible that president xi sees him as a threat but, realistically, is he a threat? he's the former leader, he's in his 70s and president xi's just got another third term for himself? i think president xi has tried to eliminate so many rivals and enemies in the last ten years that a lot of people he would potentially see as a threat. is hujintao the biggest threat? definitely no. but, you know, we can't really rule anything out because of the opacity of the system. does hujintao play a significant role in china's daily politics at the moment? he doesn't, but one could argue that taking such an important person out in, you know, just under public gaze is out

to show that who is in charge, right? i mean, so, in a way, he becomes a scapegoat for symbolism purposes, to showcase who is really in charge at the moment. this is bbc news — a reminder of our top headline: in the race to be britain's next prime minister. two of the leading candidates, borisjohnson and rishi sunak, have been meeting face—to—face. so how is this political and economic chaos being viewed in the united states? earlier i spoke to ambassador robert holleyman. he was the deputy us trade representative in the second term of the 0bama administration. it is certainly unsettling but it is not something that should be a significant barrier to good trade relationships between the us and the uk. this whole relationship is premised on three things. one, the historic people and culture

ties to the national security ties to the national security ties and, three, economic ties between the united states and the uk. icr is weathering all of those because of that relationship and, certainly this adds an element of uncertainty in the uk even as we go into elections here in the united states within three weeks. so a lot is happening on both sides the united states within three weeks. so a lot is happening on both sides of the united states within three weeks. so a lot is happening on both sides of the the united states within three weeks. so a lot is happening on both sides of the atlantic the united states within three weeks. so a lot is happening on both sides of the atlantic and we will see how this pans out in the coming days. you we will see how this pans out in the coming days.— in the coming days. you say that you _ in the coming days. you say that you see _ in the coming days. you say that you see us _ in the coming days. you say that you see us weathering | in the coming days. you say i that you see us weathering this but if the uk continues in this cycle of domestic political turmoil added to the us midterms, can the uk in the us continue in the months ahead? you can count on the us, i do not see that fundamentally endowed. what i think is not likely that the us can do is to step in if needed in any significant way, other than the good solid relationship we have now. there had been discussions about possible new k us trade

deals as the uk left the eu but that it deals as the uk left the eu but thatitis deals as the uk left the eu but that it is really founded and that it is really founded and thatis that it is really founded and that is largely because of the change in the administration and the us because of us domestic politics. 0ne and the us because of us domestic politics. one of the things that could be good for our relationship going forward would be to reach a bilateral trade agreement between the two countries that would approve the economies in both countries. i think that is possible but not probable, in large part because of the political challenges that we face here domestically in the united states. i face here domestically in the united states.— united states. i am glad you brou:ht united states. i am glad you brought this _ united states. i am glad you brought this up _ united states. i am glad you brought this up because - united states. i am glad you brought this up because as l united states. i am glad you i brought this up because as you mentioned during the breakfast —— exit campaign there was of great fanfare about this trade deal that would come but never materialised. do you think in practice there is the political will, in america, to make this happen? i will, in america, to make this ha--en? .�* will, in america, to make this ha en? ., �* ~' , happen? i don't think there is the political _ happen? i don't think there is the political will. _ happen? i don't think there is the political will. trade - the political will. trade issues are difficult in the us so i hope we can find

accommodation but it is possible not probable. liz truss and _ possible not probable. liz truss and rishi sunak when they were campaigning for leadership one of the big points of controversy was the economic plans and plans around tax cuts. what do you make of the promises they made and how things transpired? i promises they made and how things transpired?— things transpired? i think we see how they _ things transpired? i think we see how they transpired - things transpired? i think we see how they transpired with the way the markets in the economy responded to the actions. what we hope will happen is that there will now be a move towards stability which is certainly needed within the uk and that will also help to stabilise the global relationship of the us and the uk and the uk's prominent world —— position in the world is the fifth—largest economy. we need the uk to be a strong global player, the uk is but the challenges, like the ones we have seen recently, because many people to question that commitment. i don't think the us questions it but certainly the us wants the strongest possible ally in the

uk. and that is why it is in the interest of the us to get these issues resolved sooner rather than later. well, as you can imagine — the leadership race has dominated the news agenda here in the uk. the morning papers have landed let's have a look at some of them. , , ,, ._ them. this is the sunday time is running _ them. this is the sunday time is running with _ them. this is the sunday time is running with a _ them. this is the sunday time is running with a headline - them. this is the sunday time is running with a headline the| is running with a headline the tory rights burning johnson as sir —— support four when max urges. looking at the daily telegraph, rishi sunak races to secure a majority. at the time it went to air —— print it that he had 77 people supporting him but that has now surpassed 100. he is not officially declared an interest. this is the daily mail. a rumour after the two men met that there may be some power—sharing agreement on the cards but we will have to wait

and see. this is the daily mirror running a headline, not again. the sub headline here bereaved covid families join the furious shock return after, of course, those scandals that ousted boris johnson from number 10 ousted borisjohnson from number 10 including the lockdown parties. the financial times weekend says that they are alarmed by the idea of the return ofjohnson to number 10. they talk about the pound falling one point 1% against the dollar. and here we have the dollar. and here we have the son. deal or no deal. it says over 100 mps support boris johnson, a figure disputed by those against him but it says that rishi sunak bags the big beasts, those front bench mps who have voiced their support. that is dominating the front

pages here in the uk this sunday. now how do you respond when your best friend randomly decides to call time on a lifelong friendship? well that's the plot of the film, the banshees of inisherin, set in the 1920s on a fictional remote island off the coast of ireland. 0ur entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba has been talking to its stars, colin farrell and brendan gleeson. have you been rowing? dark and quirky... what the hell's going on with you and me brother? he's dull, siobhan. but he's always been dull. ..humorous and compelling. you're behaving awful unusual. the film tells the story of a lifelong friendship that suddenly ends. people have responded to it in such a positive way and it's meant something to the people that i've spoken to that have seen it. there's been a kind of relatability or personalisation of this film in regard to their own lives and their own experience of whether it's friendship, loss or isolation had to be dealt with, so it means a lot, it's lovely. yeah, breaking up and all that kind of stuff, like,

we've all had a bit of it. it's hitting home with people in a way that's quite moving and stuff. you just kind of feel, "wow," you know? "this is one that has worked the way it should." do you know who we remember for how nice they was in - the 17th century? who? absolutely no—one. yet, we all remember| the music of the time. everyone to a man - knows mozart's name. i don't, so there goes that theory. one of the central themes is how much people should sacrifice in order to create meaningful art, with both actors drawing on their own experiences. through the years, i've missed things. i've missed funerals of people who meant a lot to me, i missed — you know, i have two children. i missed the birth of one, i was there for the birth of the other one, but only because i wasn't gainfully employed at that time, thank god! so, at least i was there for one of me boys being born, but you miss really important — fundamentally important moments. at one stage, i was nearly seven months away over the year in three different jobs. it was too much for my kids. it was breaking my heart to be there, and i said, "i'm not... "there's a certain level —

i'm missing too much". so it's a constant line you're trying to walk. how gratified are you to be talked about as 0scar contenders? if you got a nomination or something like that and i didn't, we'd have a laugh with it. we would. we would have a laugh with it and then, we would — it'd be business as usual, do you know what i mean? it would be great, let's be honest. and then it'd would be business as usual, you know, afterwards. no, but it'd be great! it'd be a laugh! yeah, yeah, yeah. "i want it," is what he's saying! "i want it! "when do we find out?" well, 0scar nominations are still three months away but when they are announced, many expect to see the names gleeson and farrell on that list. lizo mzimba, bbc news. mexico city is one of the world's biggest cities. more than 22 million people live there, the largest population of any city in north america. it is a place of opportunity — and also much poverty. but in one district they are trying to use art to improve lives as the bbc�*s tim allman explains.

in this part of mexico city, they want things to look spectacular from any angle. the rooftops in iztapalapa are a vivid display of colour and creativity, which is fortunate when you realise there is a cable car running through the area. translation: all these works of art have helped improve - the public space. i think it has the potential to change the environment. seeing certain works can lead you to create certain things. for the last four years, they have been painting murals around here — nearly 8000 of them by now, around 150 artists taking part. it was the brainchild of the local government, designed to — as officials put it — improve public spaces throughout. even people at ground level seemed to approve. translation: i would thank the artists for the work - they did. they came and brought more

colour, more life and a better image to the market and my stall. some of these murals tell stories. 0thers highlight issues, such as protecting the environment. but most of all, as one local put it, they certainly brighten up the journey. tim allman, bbc news. within the last hour president xijinping of china has within the last hour president xi jinping of china has secured a third term as leader. these are live pictures from the opposition people's hall in 0pposition people's hall in beijing. as an xi jinping 0pposition people's hall in beijing. as an xijinping has been reconfirmed as the party general secretary which means he is almost certain to be re—elected president in march. he appeared in beijing alongside other members of the

politburo standing committee, the top decision—making body in china. we have much more on that on our website. from all of us here in london, thank you for watching. hello there. temperatures on saturday rose to a high of 19 degrees in essex and it's going to be a mild start to sunday as well but we're dominated by low pressure and that means while it's mild, we're going to get more cloud and rain. this is the main feature, this low pressure spinning away to the south—west, pushing cloud our way and bringing with it some outbreaks of rain out from the south—west. and on sunday, that rain is going to move its way northwards. it'll be heavy and it contains the risk of some thunder as well. so this is where we've got the really wet start early in the morning. that rain heavy and thundery, could give a lot of rain in a short space of time, but it doesn't last long. it races northwards, up across northern england,

in the afternoon as it heads into central and southern parts of scotland. the rain band followed by some sunshine but also some heavy, maybe thundery showers, particularly in the south of england later on in the afternoon. temperatures still on the mild side but maybe not quite as high as they were on saturday. that rain continues northwards across scotland into the evening and then, we get more rain arriving across england and wales overnight. that area of low pressure moving across the uk, heading northwards and out of the way. we're going to be left with more of a west to south—westerly breeze this time on monday, and that means a mixture, again, of sunshine and also some showers. the bulk of the showers coming in across the western side of the uk and feeding through the english channel. a few showers will get to eastern areas but there should be some sunshine in between those showers as well. and those temperatures again reaching highs of around 16 or 17 degrees widely across england and wales. we've got a bump of high pressure overnight as we see those showers fading away and into the start of tuesday before another weather system arrives from the south later on in the day. so, we start off dry. there may be some mist and fog patches around in northern areas on tuesday and then, we'll see the breeze picking up. that'll blow in this cloud

and rain to the south—west of wales later on but for many parts of the country, tuesday looks like it will be a dry day with some sunshine and temperatures reaching 17 or 18 degrees. the really cold weather is kept way to the north of the uk or out here in the atlantic and instead, we're getting more southerly breezes, bringing that warmer weather all the way up from the azores. and temperatures, really, through the rest of the week will be around four degrees above normal for this time of the year — could make 21 in the south east of england — with the wetter weather further north and west.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the former uk prime minister borisjohnson and the ex—chancellor rishi sunak have held face—to—face talks about the conservative leadership race though neither has formally declared their intention to stand. current cabinet minister penny mordaunt was the first to formally declare. chinese state media has blamed ill health for the unexpected removal of the former president hu jintao from the hall during the communist party congress. the xinhua news agency said he had insisted on attending the closing ceremony even though he was recuperating and then felt unwell. in germany, police say around 80,000 people

joined a rally in support of protesters in iran. it's the biggest demonstration by the iranian diaspora ever. iranians from across europe are calling on western