Trump v senators, and call for school sprinklers

Hello. Here’s your morning briefing:

Aren’t they supposed to be on the same side? Donald Trump has been heavily criticised by a second Republican senator. Jeff Flake of Arizona has accused the US president of “reckless, outrageous and undignified behaviour”. Facing some pretty dire polls, he’s decided not to run for re-election, saying he feels there’s no place for himself in Mr Trump’s Republican Party and calling his decision to comment a “matter of duty and conscience”.

The president has what you might call “previous” with Mr Flake, having described him as “toxic”. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said it was “probably a good move” for the senator stand down. Mr Trump himself has been less diplomatic in dealing with another Republican senator, Bob Corker of Tennessee, who says his nominal boss has debased the US and weakened it internationally. Using Twitter, he dubbed Mr Corker, who is also not seeking re-election, a “lightweight”.

Amid the soap opera of attack and counter-attack, writes BBC North America reporter Anthony Zurcher, battle lines are being drawn for the soul of the Republican Party. Traditionalists are taking on those who have embraced Mr Trump’s populist, nationalist brand of politics and Messrs Flake and Corker are unlikely to be the last to speak out, he adds.

Fire safety in public buildings has come under huge scrutiny since the Grenfell Tower disaster and now the National Fire Chiefs Council is demanding that sprinklers are fitted in all new and refurbished schools across the UK. Currently they’re mandatory in new school buildings in Scotland and Wales, but not those in England and Northern Ireland. England’s Department for Education said child safety was its priority and sprinklers had always been installed where recommended following risk assessments.

Twitter is promising to be clearer about who funds adverts and to what ends, especially when it comes to those placed by political organisations. Like several other tech firms, it’s keen to demonstrate it can self-regulate, amid growing calls in the US to bring in rules for social media that are similar to those that apply to TV and radio stations. Twitter’s announcement comes after it was found that Russian-backed groups were exploiting its ad platform.

By Fergal Keane, Africa editor, BBC News

The last days have passed in a swirl of chanting crowds, arguments in the courts and meetings between powerful politicians and election commissioners. The tension ahead of the polls crackles like static on the streets of Nairobi. At the Githurai junction on the city’s outskirts, several thousand people gathered to cheer President Uhuru Kenyatta. Passing cars were surrounded and plastered with party stickers. Briefly enmity flared. A man leaned out of a passing coach and drew his finger across his throat, shouting abuse at the president’s supporters. They surged forward but bus and man were quickly gone.

The financial details of some of the world’s richest people could be exposed following a computer hack in the tax haven of Bermuda, the Daily Telegraph reports. Meanwhile, the government-backed proposed third runway at Heathrow could be in doubt, according to the Times, after figures showed expanding Gatwick would bring “the biggest boost to the economy and the least damage to the environment”. And the Financial Times claims multinationals have avoided paying up to £5.8bn in corporate taxes in the UK by registering profits abroad instead.

Rohingya crisis A people fleeing from Myanmar to Bangladesh, in words and pictures

09:15 Brexit Secretary David Davis gives an update on negotiations in Brussels to MPs on the Exiting the European Union Committee.

09:30 The Office for National Statistics publishes its first estimate of UK GDP for July to September.

11:30 A five-day funeral ceremony for King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand – who died last October after 70 years on the throne – begins in Bangkok.

1983 US marines and army rangers invade the Caribbean island of Grenada, seizing the country’s two airports and taking Cuban and Soviet prisoners. The action follows a coup by Cuban-trained military.