welcome to bbc news. i'm lucy grey. our top stories: cheering and applause making history — rishi sunak will be the uk's next prime minister, the first ever british—asian to hold the post. we now need stability and unity, and i will make it my upmost priority to bring our party and our country together. russia's foreign spy—chief denies moscow is engaging in nuclear sabre—rattling and accuses ukraine of planning to use a so—called �*dirty bomb'. the us issues criminal charges against 13 chinese citizens as part of an investigation into beijing's activities in america. and disgraced former hollywood mogul, harvey weinstein, faces charges of rape and sexual assault in los angeles.

the uk's formerfinance minister rishi sunak will formally become prime minister later on tuesday after an audience with king charles at buckingham palace. he was named conservative leader after his only challenger, penny mordaunt, pulled out of the contest. mr sunak promised to work to bring the party and the country together. it is the greatest privilege of my life to be able to serve the party i love and give back to the country i owe so much to. the united kingdom is a great country,

but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge. we now need stability and unity, and i will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together. so who is britain's soon to be prime minister? here's our deputy political editor, vicki young. addressing the nation during a pandemic, a month after becoming chancellor. you will not face this alone. rishi sunak helped lead to the government's economic response. the furlough scheme paid 80% of millions of people's salaries for months and cost billions. hello! he also masterminded the eat out to help out scheme, encouraging diners back to restaurants when they reopened. there we go, brilliant. i have worked with rishi for some time and i would say everyone knows that he's smart and competent but he is also incredibly dedicated, really hard—working, and just a really kind person. big boots to fill, that. all of that came just five years after he was elected as the conservative mp for richmond,

in north yorkshire. his parents, of indian descent, came to the uk from east africa. he has spoken about the sacrifices they made to send him to winchester college, a top private school. he talked about the experience in a bbc documentary. you know, i have friends who are aristocrats, i have friends who are upper class, i have friends who are working class but — well, not working—class — but i mix and match and then i go to see kids from an inner city state school and tell them to apply to oxford and talk to them about people like me. after oxford university, a career in banking and his marriage to the daughter of a billionaire made him extremely wealthy. political opponents have commented on his expensive houses, clothes and shoes, suggesting he is out of touch with ordinary people. the revelation that his wife had non—dom tax status proved politically toxic. he said he had informed senior civil servants when hejoined government but a u—turn followed. she has always followed all the rules but she recognises this goes beyond just following

those rules so she has decided to pay both uk and foreign taxes. the episode was a low point for rishi sunak. he was visibly angry at what he saw as an intrusion into his wife's financial affairs. colleagues, though, felt that it betrayed a certain political naivety and some even predicted that his career would never recover. rishi sunak is a long—standing brexit supporter but, as chancellor, he rarely trumpeted the benefits of leaving the eu. he got caught up in the scandal about downing street parties, receiving a fine for breaking covid laws. friends say he had just turned up early for a meeting in the cabinet room. tackling the costs of transport... there had been rumours of tensions between him and boris johnson over spending. after a number of scandals, mr sunak resigned in protest. he was blamed by mrjohnson�*s friends for bringing him down. please welcome rishi sunak. when he stood to be tory

leader in the summer, he gave this warning about liz truss�*s tax cuts. liz, your plans, your own economic adviser has said that that would lead to mortgage rates, interest rates going up to 7%. can you imagine what that is going to do for everyone here and everyone watching? that is thousands of pounds on their mortgage bill. a few weeks ago, rishi sunak was rejected by conservative members. today, colleagues have decided he is the man to bring stability. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. we will take a look at how rishi sunak appointment is covered in the papers. in other news: the us department ofjustice says it has issued criminal charges against 13 chinese citizens as part of an investigation into beijing's activities in america. the accusations against them include stealing technology and harassing dissidents. our north america correspondent, peter bowes, reports. this involves three cases, 13 individuals,

two of those chinese officials, accused of paying a us official thousands of dollars, indeed tens of thousands in cash, injewellery, in bitcoin as well, to attempt to obstruct investigation into a chinese telecommunications company, which was not named as this was announced by us officials, but widely reported to be huawei. huawei, back in 2019, accused of stealing us trade secrets, amongst other charges, and these two individuals are accused of trying to get information about that investigation, possibly, including a witness list. the us attorney general merrick garland has described this as an egregious attempt by chinese officials to shield a chinese company from accountability and to undermine the usjustice system. the two other cases involved —

they are connected but they are slightly different — one involves an attempt to put pressure on chinese dissidents in the united states, wanting a us citizen to go back to china, and another a long running attempt to put pressure on the american academics, to the war in ukraine now and the chief of russia's foreign spy service has repeated an unsubstantiated claim that ukraine could be planning to use its own �*dirty bomb�* — a device that combines conventional explosives and radioactive materials. sergei naryshkin was speaking to our russia editor steve rosenberg. he is not only russia's spy chief, sergei naryshkin heads the russian historical society, too. and he is here to remember one of the most dramatic moments in history, when khrushchev and kennedy sparred in the cuban missile crisis 60 years ago, and the world came dangerously

close to a nuclear apocalypse. a chance for me to ask about the kremlin�*s current nuclear sabre rattling. "will you categorically rule out using the nuclear weapon "in ukraine," i ask. he dodges the question but points a finger back. translation: we are of course very concerned about western rhetoric regarding the possible use of nuclear weapons. it is simply unacceptable and yesterday our defence minister telephoned his counterparts in turkey, america and france and told them about the possible plans of ukraine's leaders to use a so—called dirty nuclear bomb. "but there is no evidence of that," i say. "and i'm asking about russia's nuclear rhetoric.

"do you admit it has been happening?" translation: no, no. absolutely not. the evidence suggests otherwise. days before the russian invasion, president putin oversaw massive nuclear drills and since then, several times, he has dropped unsubtle hints that he would be prepared to use a nuclear weapon in the ukraine conflict. and what about moscow's claim that ukraine is about to explode a dirty bomb and then blame it on the kremlin? well, the british, american and french governments have issued a joint statement rejecting what they call russia's transparently false allegations against kyiv adding that the world would see through any attempt to use allegation as a pretext for escalation. as for the cuban missile crisis, stas namin�*s grandfather was the soviet official who helped end the stand—off. he fears nuclear rhetoric can

lead to catastrophic mistakes. i don't think it's a real danger that somebody will decide to push the button. but it's not a matter of decision of one person, it's the matter of even a mistake, but the result will be the same. compromise diffused the missile crisis. so far, though, vladimir putin has shown little desire for that. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. opening arguments have begun in the latest sexual assault trial of the disgraced former hollywood producer, harvey weinstein. he faces eleven charges of attacking women in hotels. he's pleaded not guilty. the bbc�*s sophie long is in los angeles. this was the first proper day of the trial, after a two—week jury selection process. mr weinstein, who is now 70 years old, with failing eyesight and deteriorating health, was wheeled into the courtroom. he struggled to make his way from his wheelchair to his seat at the defence table. and then we had the opening statement

from deputy district attorney paul thompson, who spoke tojurers for over an hour. he told the court that we will be hearing from eight women over the coming weeks. four of those women will be giving evidence as jane does — now, that's the term used in the united states to protect a woman's anonymity — and four others will be giving evidence as prior bad act witnesses, so their evidence used by prosecutors that will demonstrate that harvey weinstein had a pattern of behaviour. we know that jane doe one was an italian model and actress at the time of her alleged assault, jane doe two, a 23—year—old actress and aspiring screenwriter at the time of the alleged assault, jane doe three, a massage therapist, and jane doe four, a young aspiring actress at the time of her alleged rape. mr thomson opened his statement by maing quotes from weinstein�*s accusers: "i am shaking, and kind of being dragged into a bedroom," he quoted one as saying. "part of me was thinking i should just make a run for it, but he's a big guy," said another.

"i was trying to convince him that nothing is "going to happen, i was like, �*please, i have kids.”' harvey weinstein sat in court listening to all these quotes and descriptions of the assaults and rapes that he is accused of, without making a reaction. mr thompson told the court that each of the women will be able to describe abnormalities in weinstein�*s genitalia resulting from surgery he underwent in 1999 which left which left considerable scarring. this afternoon we have been hearing from mr werksman, harvey weinstein�*s lawyer, as he made the defending opening statement. he said that two of weinstein�*s alleged victims made up the accusations, two others, he said, had what he called "tra nsactional sex" with him. he called jane doe four, "just another bimbo who slept with weinstein to get ahead in hollywood" weinstein nodded his head approvingly as mr waxman finished his statement. as you said, harvey weinstein has

pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges he faces, including four of those rape, carrying a maximum sentence of up to 140 years. he also appealing a 2020 conviction for rape and sexual assault in new york. the highest in the state of new york, hearing that case should get under way next year so the case is critical if he is successful in new york this is bbc news — still to come: the uk gets its first british—asian prime minister as millions celebrate diwali — the festival of lights. indira gandhi, ruler of the world's largest democracy, died today. only yesterday, she had spoken of dying in the service of her country, and said, "i would be proud of it. "every drop of my blood will contribute "to the growth of this nation." after 46 years of unhappiness, these two countries have

concluded a chapter of history. no more suspicion, no more fear, - no more uncertainty- of what each day might bring. booster ignition and lift—off of discovery, with six astronaut heroes and one american legend! we're enjoying the show. this is beautiful. baby cries a milestone in human history. born today, this girl in india is the seven billionth person on the planet. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: the former chancellor, rishi sunak, will be the uk's next prime minister — the first ever british—asian to hold the post.

so how is the news about rishi sunak being received both in the uk and across the world this morning? let's chat to stephanie prentice who's been looking through the papers. they the papers. all have rishi sunak on the they all have rishi sunak on the front page. the daily mail and the metro go with the same? notjust in the uk but around the world, rishi sunak on the front pages, the male and the metro had gone for a celebrated three tone, on the male celebrating him becoming the youngest modern prime minister and first with south asian heritage, metro have gone with here comes the sunak, they are looking forward to a change and seemingly quite stop but they are nodding to the economic challenges rishi sunak will have to face in the next few days, his message saying his party has one shot at redemption in his own words. if

we go to a couple of the tabloids, in the mirror and the star, a slightly different tone. in the mirror we had strong statement, they are saying who voted for you and what they are getting into is rishi sunak has taken the keys to number ten without a single vote being cast, the same for liz truss. they also touch on something that has dogged him as his personal wealth, they say he is twice as rich as the king and they say is that the person to leave the uk through an economic crisis? they do break that down a little bit more, they are touching on his £730 million fortune, and the fact he has said no to please for general election which was party doesn't make sense, they are trailing behind in the polls. are trailing behind in the olls. ~ . are trailing behind in the olls. . ., , polls. when we get a say, referring _ polls. when we get a say,

referring to _ polls. when we get a say, referring to the _ polls. when we get a say, referring to the fact - polls. when we get a say, referring to the fact he . polls. when we get a say, . referring to the fact he hasn't been voted on by an election wasn't even voted in light liz truss was because it didn't get that far, just the mps that voted for him. it that far, just the mp5 that voted for him.— that far, just the mp5 that voted for him. it was “ust in runnina voted for him. it was “ust in running which * voted for him. it was “ust in running which is h voted for him. it wasjust in running which is called - voted for him. it wasjust in i running which is called tension in the party which the other papers to get to. they say when do we get a say?— do we get a say? it could be two years- _ do we get a say? it could be two years. the daily star - two years. the daily star is almost reflecting _ two years. the daily star is almost reflecting a - two years. the daily star is almost reflecting a similarl almost reflecting a similar sentiment with their signature comedic style, the liz truss latest the daily star online saying would you rather have liz truss in charge or elitist. now we have turned rishi sunak is a prime ministerial candidate, he is our third prime minister of the year, the sentiment is the same, there are some people fed up with all this change and find it almost farcical. �*

farcical. but it is such a - serious situation we are in. and that is the direction taken by the times and the daily telegraph. they have gone with the same headlight. almost exactly the same. sunak tell stories we must unite or die, they are pulling this punches, a lot of mods to the division within this party, mps didn't get a chance to vote on who was in charge, some of them boris johnson loyalists aren't very keen on rishi sunak, there is a lot of mods to the divisions in the party, rumours of physical and writing even recently, and the times focusing on the challenge for gets anything done he has to get his party together, that isn't going to be easy. some of the comments they pull out, as we need

stability and unity, and he says he shows humility. that is quite reassuring given the amount of scandal we have seen this past year from the conservatives. going to the international press, the new york times, and here it is again on the front cover of the new york times, he says i could say i told you so, quite a pro sunak piece, they say something of an oracle, it is safe hands for us in the uk, a lot of his predictions for the last leadership race did come through stop he said i won't cut taxes and mortgages will rise and we have to be fiscally prudent, that did turn out to be true, they paint as a prudent character who got a raw deal, he was sounding economic alarms no—one was listening to. there is a nod to the fact liz truss has lost some credibility

for the uk on the global stage, on the international financial times, they again get into the economic problems facing sunak, they talk about his capabilities, they say it is a call to action, we need a medium term debt cutting plan, they get into some positive signs, they say yield on gold has gone down and the pound rallied against the dollar, but he —— they say he has a daunting in trade ahead of him. well, earlier, ispoke to the economist david blanchflower who formerly sat on the bank of england's monetary policy committee. i began by asking what his shorterm economic outlook was with rishi sunak as prime minister. it's going to be very tough and he had the benefit of experience that he was the chancellor and he did very well with the furlough schemes and he did oppose what liz truss was going to do, so he

has all of that going, and the market knows him. i think he is in for deep trouble and the politics is being driven by the economics. the economics, markets are sitting on a knife edge, and what it seems is all the things that the new chancellor, i assume hunt, will do, is overtaken by the fact the evidence seems to be that the uk already is in recession. we had data today on the pmi, purchasing manager indices, the services and manufacturing says uk in recession. retail sales falling, output falling, so the problem is if he says we're gonna do spending cuts and raise interest rates, actually, in a recession, you do the opposite. you raise spending and cut interest rates. so he has a real dilemma if he thinks he is gonna be able to go in there and say, lots of spending cuts are coming, unfortunately, the data will say something different and the markets will respond. he is more beholden to the bond vigilantes than he is to the politics or what happens in the inside of the tory party or what happens on northern

ireland. it's about the markets, can he calm them in the face of an economy that appears to be in the face of collapse? as you say, he has form as a chancellor with a big giveaway, billions of pounds went into the furlough scheme. could we see something similar in this cost—of—living crisis? the first thing is he is going to try to work out what he is going to do to pay for the energy subsidy. one possibility is to go back and think about doing a windfall tax on the energy companies or perhaps even the banks. i think he is gonna have to be calming but nimble. that's what we saw that he did but i think the words that people said two weeks ago, they will not apply today. what happened in 2008, i recall, i was there, in the end, you had to cut interest rates by a lot, they were a 5% and went down to half, eventually lower,

and gordon brown and alistair darling threw, literally, the kitchen sink at the economy, cut spending, cut tax, sorry, raised spending, cut taxes, to try and stimulate the economy. that's what got us out of recession, so the question is, which are we going to see, are we gonna see the sunak who is going to be fiscally responsible, or the sunak that says we've gotta save the country from this covid crisis? i suspect it's gonna be a test, and it's hard to think it's not gonna be a test very quickly because those data i talked about came in today, came in this morning, and so data is gonna come in fast, he's gonna have to respond fast. the bond markets appeared to do well, the exchange rate moved up a bit and later in the day moves down as the bad data came so he probably has had about 12 hours, only one period, we will see what happens tomorrow when he appoints his chancellor. my guess is it'll be all hands to the economic deck rather

than the political deck because that's what gonna drive the polls, his 35 points behind and if people can't pay their bills, and they see a government cutting spending that they like, the call for a general election is gonna be driven by the bad economics. david blanchflower, thank you very much. rishi sunak is a practising hindu. for him to become the new conservative party leader and soon to be britain's new prime minister during the biggest hindu holiday, diwali is considered highly auspicious. wendy urquhart reports. for the first time in two years fireworks are lighting up the skies over amritsar for diwali, this is extremely special because many millions of hindus chains and seats all over the world were forced to put their celebrations on hold during the covid—19 pandemic. the number of states and india have banned fireworks this year because of the surge with air pollution

they cause, but that's unlikely to dampen the testable spirit. hindus celebrate the festival of light as it is known in different ways depending on where they live, no matter where they live, no matter where they live, no matter where they are they all celebrate the power of light over darkness, good over and knowledge over ignorance stop there are many different diwali traditions but they all involve lavish feasting, lots of candles and stunning floor design made with coloured sand. during the five—day festival devotees offer our prayers to hindu gods and take blessings from burning elephant lamps. diwali is a celebration of brotherhood, and we observe it with much pomp and glory. . this day is conceded very auspicious, the lamps are in honour— auspicious, the lamps are in honour of— auspicious, the lamps are in honour of the hindu god. rishi

sunak has _ honour of the hindu god. rishi sunak hasjust _ honour of the hindu god. rishi sunak hasjust been _ honour of the hindu god. fl si sunak hasjust been named sunak has just been named conservative party deed and will become britain's new prime minister on tuesday slap bang in the middle of diwali, for a practising hindu it surely doesn't get any more auspicious than that. all from me for this half hour. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ lucy e grey. hello, there. one of the most notable features of the weather over the next few days will be the temperature. it is going to feel very mild, it is actually going to feel warm in places where we get some sunshine, but there will equally be some rain at times. it is all being driven by this big area of low pressure churning, spinning to the west of the uk, throwing showers or longer spells of rain northwards, but also sucking up this very warm air from a long way south, you can see the orange colours surging northwards towards our shores.

now, that said, tuesday morning is getting off to a relatively cool start, certainly not a particularly cold start for an october day but a little bit on the cool side first thing, clear skies overhead, but that means there will be some spells of sunshine. equally, a scattering of showers here and there but many places will avoid them and stay largely dry. thickening cloud will push rain into south west england and parts of south—west wales late in the afternoon. temperatures, 13 degrees in stornaway, 18 degrees in london, those values a little bit above what we would expect to see at this time of year. a wet evening across the south—west of england, wales, this heavy and perhaps thundery rain driving its way northwards into north—west england, northern ireland, and then across scotland. so, a wet start to wednesday, particularly across the northern half of scotland, and there will be bands of heavy, thundery showers following on behind. but once again, we will see some spells of sunshine developing. quite a strong wind, it is going to be breezy whereever you are, but as you can see from our wind gusts,

particularly windy around some of these western coasts, easily 40mph gusts, maybe those gusts touching 50mph in some exposed spots, but with the wind coming from the south, it will be mild, even warm in places, 15 for glasgow, 20 degrees for norwich, and for thursday, we will see some further showers here and there, some of which could be heavy, possibly thundery, this weather system trying to bring rain into the west. but ahead of that, that surge of warmth from the south with temperatures in parts of eastern england potentially getting to 21 or 22 degrees. another warm day, particularly in the south and the east on friday, where we won't see too many showers, where is further north and west, there is a bit more rain in the forecast. and as we head into the weekend, well, it will start

to feel just a bit cooler.

this is bbc news, the headlines: rishi sunak will be appointed britain's new prime minister by king charles on tuesday morning, after liz truss submits her formal resignation. mr sunak was declared leader of the conservative party, when his last rival pulled out just before the deadline. he'll be the first british—asian in the post. russia is to take its accusation that ukraine is planning a dirty bomb attack to the un security council. in a letter to the un secretary general and the security council — russia said the use of any such device would be seen as "an act of nuclear terrorism."

the us attorney general merrick garland