we start with the growing scandal surrounding harvey weinstein. police in new york and london have now stepped in, launching their own investigations. the hollywood producer is facing multiple allegations of rape, sexual assault, and harassment. he denies all accusations of non—consensual sex. in his first public comments, he said everyone makes mistakes and asked for a second chance. stars including emma thompson and jane fonda have spoken to the bbc about the allegations and the film industry's reluctance to speak out. our correspondent david willis reports from los angeles. harvey weinstein is admitting he needs help. in his first public comments on the widening sexual abuse scandal, he said he made mistakes but hopes for a second chance. more than 20 women, among them angelina jolie and gwyneth paltrow, have now spoken out. the latest is british actress kate beckinsale, just 17 when she claims weinstein first harassed her. who are the women that he preyed on? young women. meanwhile, hollywood legend jane fonda has spoken of her knowledge of his activities on the bbc‘s hardtalk programme. most of these women were in their 20s when it happened, vulnerable, afraid that if they said or did anything, that it would ruin their careers. i found out about him about a year ago, and i wish that i had spoken out. why didn't you? it didn't happen to me. i understand that, but nevertheless... i didn't want to expose him, i admit i should have been braver. male stars are also registering their revulsion at the allegations. it is horrific. anybody that i have spoken to shares the level of being appalled that i felt when reading of what went down. i wish everyone who was a victim of it a speedy recovery and a peaceful path through it all, and hopefully it makes whatever changes need to be made so it doesn't happen again, because it shouldn't. harvey weinstein has denied three allegations of rape and any suggestion of non—consensual sexual relations. yet it has now emerged that police on both sides of the atlantic are investigating separate allegations of sexual assault. prosecutors in new york have been criticised for not pursuing a case against weinstein two years ago after mounting an elaborate sting operation against him. if we had a case that we felt we could prosecute against harvey weinstein, we would have. journalist: when you say "we", do you mean you made the decision? we made the decision as an office. some believe the problem of sexual harassment in hollywood goes way beyond harvey weinstein. i didn't know about these things, but they don't surprise me at all and they're endemic to the system anyway. what i find sort of extraordinary is that, you know, this man is at the top of a very particular iceberg, you know? i don't think you can describe him as a sex addict. he's a predator. harvey weinstein is now reported to have admitted himself into a rehab centre in arizona. meanwhile, police in new york are urging any other women with allegations against him to come forward. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. results are still coming in from tuesday's presidential election in liberia, but george weah, former international football star and fifa world player of the year, has opened up a clear lead. if no candidate wins 50% of votes, the top two go forward to a second round next month. the united states is pulling out of the un's cultural organisation, unesco. according to the state department, it's a reflection of concern about the need for fundamental reform and what it called "anti—israeli bias." washington had already cut off funds when unesco granted membership to the palestinians. uber has until today to lodge an appeal against a decision by transport for london not to renew its licence to operate in the city. tfl ruled that the taxi—hailing firm had shown a lack of corporate responsibility in relation to a number of issues, including public safety. if it presses ahead with an appeal, it will continue to operate in london until the process is complete. a british—built satellite will go into orbit later today to monitor air quality around the globe. its city—scale maps will track polluting gases coming from cars and power stations, and enhance forecasts of poor air days. it will also monitor levels of volcanic ash to help with aviation safety. rachel home is here with all the business news. we start in iran, where all eyes today will be on us president trump. in a few hours time, he'll give a speech outlining his new strategy towards iran. he has strongly hinted he will remove his support from the 2015 deal that lifted sanctions in return for iran halting its nuclear programme. congress would then have to decide whether to reimpose sanctions that could put the us at odds with europe. the uk, france and germany are firmly in favour of keeping the iran deal in place. european firms like peugeot and airbus are all doing business in iran. the big prize, of course, is energy. iran has the world's second—largest gas reserves and fourth—largest oil reserves. injuly, the french energy giant total signed a $5 billion gas development deal — iran's first big foreign deal in more than a decade. but it's just a start, according to bloomberg — around $100 billion worth of investment is needed to update iran's ailing oil and gas industry — a huge opportunity for foreign firms. the lifting of sanctions has already had a striking effect. iran's economic growth hit 12.5% in 2016, largely thanks to oil exports. that made it one of the world's fastest—growing economies last year. iran needs that growth to combat high unemployment. so what happens if the us does walk away from the deal? it's unclear whether europe could keep it alive, even if it wanted to. if us sanctions are reimposed, the us could freeze the american assets of european companies who do business with tehran. faced with that, big european firms would probably pull out. we will be speaking to the founder of the europe—iran forum. we are also looking at south korean tech giant samsung. its boss and heir to the family empire, jay y lee, is currently appealing his conviction and five—year prison sentence for bribery and corruption. but that doesn't seem to be doing the business too much harm. in the past few hours, samsung has estimated that its profits tripled in the three months to september to an all—time record. it releases its full results at the end of the month but gives an earnings preview — it says it made a massive $12.8 billion profits in the last quarter. it has clearly bounced back from the massive recall of its note7 phones over exploding batteries. its successor the note8 is doing very well. but it also sells screens and chips to the whole industry. one analyst told us every time apple sells an iphone ten, samsung makes over $100. dun‘t furggtmtii ;:;, tf:,i" of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcrachel horne. with tension growing in the north of iraq, despite successes against the extremist group islamic state, the prime minister of iraq has denied that his forces are now about to attack iraq's kurds. concentrated in the oil—rich northern provinces, kurds make up about 20% of iraq's population and last month voted for independence in a referendum the government in baghdad says was unlawful. our correspondent orla guerin, who's south—west of kirkuk, has seen a big build—up of iraqi forces. she sent this report. on the move once again. we came across convoys of iraqi troops — something the authorities didn't want us to film. they were on the road towards kirkuk. held by the kurds, claimed by baghdad. kurdish commanders say they are coming for the oil fields. senior iraqi officials deny they are closing in on the city. the troops told us otherwise. "god willing, we are going to kirkuk," says hussein. "and we will crush them. the city belongs to iraqis." well, this area has onlyjust been cleared of the so—called islamic state but already, we're seeing a large amount of military movement, convoys on the road — iraqi troops, federal police, and shia militia units — and this time, the enemy is different — it's the kurds. nearby, we found troops showcasing their latest victory over is, at ease in what was the militant‘s last urban stronghold. britain and america want iraqi forces to stay focused on battling the extremists, not the kurds. locals here tell us they have suffered years of anguish. this sunni arab family was torn apart, some trapped behind is lines, others outside, unable to reach them. when his wife died, the militants wouldn't allow him to come home to bury her. his young relative has just been reunited with his mother. but he says it's time for the next battle. "i hope iraqi forces will liberate kirkuk today," he told us, "not tomorrow." "the kurds want kirkuk, and they hate the arabs. i am ready to fight myself." this could be just a show of force by baghdad to intimidate the kurds but it's a risky move and there are fears that kirkuk could be the spark that ignites civil war. the number of dead from the wildfires still raging through the wine country of northern california has risen to 31. fire officials say hundreds of people are missing in what is now the worst fire in the state's history. the winds hampering firefighters' efforts have now died down, but there's concern they may pick up again at the weekend. dave lee reports from california. more than four days on and still, it burns. the 8000 firefighters battling to contain more than 20 huge fires, even prison inmates here have been called upon to help. but effo rts have been called upon to help. but efforts remain at the mercy of the winds, predicted to get worse as the weekend comes around. this is what remains of coffin part, community in the city of santa rosa which was particularly badly hit. it has been several days now since fires roared through here but there is a sick smell of ayesh in the air and still some small fires burning. the only people who passed the right now are fire crews and the odd police car on the lookout for looters who, unbelievably, think they can find something of value in this mess. now, the investigation has begun, into how and why this fire caused so much damage. their responsibility is to begin trying to assess potential cause of how the fire evolved, spread, so that's ongoing as we speak. residents have been supportive of the response from the emergency services. at the community meeting, each official was applauded. they are doing a great job, it is difficult is. big the fire is. i felt really safe here. on i could every sign that egg; skit; victims. 551i; victims. so average agefg had —— £113 overl a over be could weak dewerline falling reverrbe could weak oowerline falling overlie 53 set off . tragedy? could weak oowerline falling overlie 53 set off.” ’ are edy? ” that theew lee. that “1&4? irev; ' 7 . lee. bbq news eerej . lee. bbq news a , .

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