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. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. 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 what do we know about 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 rishi sunak helped lead 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. conservative members rejected his approach a few weeks ago — today, colleagues have decided he is the man to bring stability. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. 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 an 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, one a us citizen — to get that individual to go back to china, and another a long running attempt to put pressure on the american academics, including a us professor to work for the chinese. 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 this 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.

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 4, "just another bimbo who slept with weinstein "to get ahead in hollywood" weinstein nodded his head approvingly as mr werksman wound up his opening defence statement and returned to the defence table. as you said, harvey weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all the 11 charges he faces, including four of rape. they carry a maximum sentence of up to 140 years. he's also appealing his 2020 conviction for rape and sexual assault in new york. the highest court in the state of new york has said it will hear that case. it should get under way next year it should get under way next year so this case is critical, really — if he is successful in his appeal in new york, this case in la will determine whether or not he walks free. the ethiopian government official andrew to meet rebels in south africa two and a civil war that has been raging for two years. the tops of the first formal attempt to bring

peace to the northern region. fighting has been intensifying in recent weeks with reports of civilians are facing a dire humanitarian situation. a funeralfor a humanitarian situation. a funeral for a 12—year—old girl sexually abused, turgid and modern in paris ten days ago. a woman has been charged with her mother. the case has been seized upon by those seeking to curb immigration in the country. i boycott cold for exporting of goods in israel after posts of a campaign event. ultranationalist have event. ultra nationalist have been event. ultranationalist have been gaining strength ahead of the israeli elections in november. it could become the third largest bloc in parliament. reports say an air raid targeting and insurgent groups are skilled at least 50 people in myanmar. officials

say aircraft dropped three bombs on a concert. villagers say there was no morning before the raid. the director of the myanmar accountability project gave his reaction. the myanmar accountability pro'ect gave his radiomi gave his reaction. the pro'ect condemns �* gave his reaction. the pro'ect condemns what is i gave his reaction. the pro'ect condemns what is clearly h gave his reaction. the project condemns what is clearly an i condemns what is clearly an indiscriminate and disproportionate attack, predominantly on a civilian audience at a pub concert. this is far as we're concerned is a potential war crime, a crime against humanity and we believe and urge that you went to investigate. the secretary general will soon be in meander. that is myanmar. the un has a presence in the country and there is no reasons they should come and see what has happened. up to 60 people have been killed. many more injured. it is also becoming clear that the myanmar army was

actually looking civilians been taken to hospital. so all manner of international laws are being violated by this illegaljointer. they do not have control of the country. they are using aerial bombardment to sign they have lost control. junta. it is a war crime that needs to be investigated. 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, "i would be proud of it. "to the growth of this nation." 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 recieved both in the uk and

across the world this morning? let's chat to stephanie prentice who's been looking through the papers. the daily mail and the metro go with the same? the daily mail and the metro with this picture of rishi sunak outside the conservative party headquarters smiling and baby, a lot of papers have a positive tone, the youngest modern p.m., the first with asian heritage, celebrate three times. they do get into the economic challenges that will be facing him, they are undeniable, we see that in other papers. undeniable, we see that in other perm-— undeniable, we see that in other papers. these are on all the front _ other papers. these are on all the front pages _ other papers. these are on all the front pages his _ other papers. these are on all the front pages his photo, - other papers. these are on all the front pages his photo, the times has gone for the same photo as the daily telegraph? some editors won't be too pleased this morning. sunak tell stories we must unite or die, they are referring to real

divisions in the conservative party, split a number of ways, his first big challenge will be to bring that party together. that is what these papers are touching on, some of his comments as what the party needsis comments as what the party needs is stability and unity and integrity and humility. the other asoeet — and integrity and humility. the other aspect from the independent and the daily mirror is who voted for you, referencing the fact he was just appointed we had boris johnson pullout and penny mordaunt pullout, nobody no tory members got to vote, what these papers is complaining about the country hasn't been able to vote it. we about the country hasn't been able to vote it.— about the country hasn't been able to vote it. we have heard rumours of — able to vote it. we have heard rumours of backbenchers - rumours of backbenchers complaining they didn't get to vote, penny mordaunt stood down they say who voted you, rishi sunak has one keys to number ten without a single vote been cast. page four, digging into that, they say when do we get to stay in touch on the fact

rishi sunak has said no to please for some by please for a general election in the uk. in another tabloid a similar sense of frustration, and the daily express, and their signature comedy style, we have sunak for october, the third prime minister in a year. this is the tablet that bought us liz truss versus the lettuce. and rishi sunak for october.— versus the lettuce. and rishi sunak for october. who knows, what about _ sunak for october. who knows, what about the _ sunak for october. who knows, what about the international. what about the international press? what about the international -ress? what about the international ress? ., ~' , what about the international ress? ., 4' , ., press? the new york times have actually taken — press? the new york times have actually taken this _ press? the new york times have actually taken this more - actually taken this more seriously, gone with the headline i told you so, they have gone into his economic pedigree, one of his biggest strengths as a safe and economically and painting him as someone as an oracle, saying he predicted some of the problems the uk is facing up.

talking about the leadership contest and he was talking about what this could lead to with liz truss. the financial times? it with liz truss. the financial times? , ., times? it gets into the markets. _ times? it gets into the markets, saying - times? it gets into the markets, saying this i times? it gets into the markets, saying this isj times? it gets into the i markets, saying this is a person who can be trusted, with economic capabilities, looking at a former chancellor, they get into some of the nitty—gritty, the yield on gilt has gone down, the pound went up has gone down, the pound went up against the dollar, and what they do say is rishi sunak has a golden dividend, they say people trust him and say he is a conservative conservative. which is very welcoming after the liz truss turbulence and they talk about a step towards sanity. stephanie prentice with the papers. 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 into deep trouble and the politics has been driven by the economics. the economics, the 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 come 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, 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 moved 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 poles, he's 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 there. full coverage of rishi sunak�*s meeting with the king later in the day. rishi sunak is a practising hindu — and some see him becoming conservative party leader and prime minister during the biggest hindu holiday— diwali as auspicious. wendy urquhart reports. for the first time in two years, fireworks are lighting up the skies over amritsar in the indian state of punjab for diwali. this year is extremely

special because many millions of hindus, jains and sikhs all over the world were forced to put their celebrations on hold during the covid pandemic. a number of states in india have banned fireworks this year because of the surge in air pollution they cause, but that's unlikely to dampen the festival spirit. hindus celebrate the festival of light, as it's also known, in different ways depending on where they live, but no matter where they are, they all celebrate the power of light over darkness, good over and evil, and knowledge over ignorance. there are many different diwali traditions but they all involve lavish feasts, lots of candles and stunning floor designs or rangoli, which are made with coloured sand. during the five—day festival devotees offer our prayers to hindu gods and take blessings from burning elephant lamps.

translation: diwali is - a celebration of brotherhood, and we observe it with much pomp and glory. translation: this day - is considered very auspicious, the earthen lamps are in honour of the hindu god, lord ram. rishi sunak hasjust been named conservative party leader 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. you can find more on this story on our website, the international response to rishi sunak�*s leadership. or you can download the bbc news app.

coverage throughout the day on tuesday. as rishi sunak is appointed the new prime minister by king charles. 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 but once again, we will see some 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 the uk's next prime minister, he next prime minister, was just the first ever british—asian to hold the post. 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'. ina in a letter, russia's upper use of any such device would be seen as an act of nuclear terrorism. us attorney—general

meret has accused china of trying to undermine the us justice system as he