u.s. presidents have to varying degrees been willing to pander to saudi arabia. to the arms of an old friend, the kingdom of saudi arabia. the pariah that they are. we must act and we will act. the president who vowed to be different. president biden is about to kiss the ring of mbs. remarkable reversal. it s going to be awkward. is now just another patron of a prince. the crown prince is a wrecking ball. a dictator renowned for a very brutal end. his body was chopped up into small pieces. why would you bring a bone saw? who at the same time is a reformer. this man is extremely popular. revolutionizing his nation. new era, new age. it s that simple. the kingdom s power lies under the desert sands. keep your pumps up and you can do whatever you want out back. liquid gold oil. is america betraying its values? to understand this unusual relationship you need to understand the very unusual country that is saudi arabia. good evening. saudi
Heres to you norfolk. A white wine from the broads, beats global competition, to be crowned one of the worlds best. And the legend of king arthur gets the guy richie big screen treatment. Our own knight at the round table mark kermode will be giving it his verdict in the film review at 5 45pm. Its five oclock. Our main story Julian Assange the founder of wikileaks and urged on the belt that prosecutors in sweden have dropped their investigation into Rape Allegations against him. He said in a tweet i do not forgive or forget. He has always denied the charges. The development emerged this morning as the swedish prosecutor announced they would discontinue the investigation into an alleged sex offence committed in 2010. Julian assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy since august 2012. The met police say they would still be obliged arrest him on a lesser charge if he tried to leave. He has now gone back inside the embassy and has not said what he will do next. Victory is howJuli
This is bbc news. The government says 27 high rise blocks of flats in 15 local authorities have failed fire cladding safety tests. Four buildings on the Chalcot Estate near Swiss Cottage in london were evacuated last night by authorities for urgent fire safety works. They identified a number of issues in the blocks around gas pipes going into flats, around fire doors and the message to me was the combination of the flammable external cladding and the issues inside the block meant the building was not safe. Some residents spent the night in hotels or on airbeds in a leisure centre. Around 80 households have refused to leave. The general advice is to get out and evacuate but until circumstances change my intend to stay put. Now it is Dateline London. Hello and welcome to Dateline London at the end of a week in which one leader held on Against The Odds whilst another found himself out of a job. The unlucky one was saudi arabias crown prince, replaced by a relative half his age, an encoura
This is bbc news. The government says 27 high rise blocks of flats in 15 local authorities have failed fire cladding safety tests. Four buildings on the Chalcot Estate near Swiss Cottage in london were evacuated last night by authorities for urgent fire safety works. They identified a number of issues in the blocks around gas pipes going into flats, around fire doors and the message to me was the combination of the flammable external cladding and the issues inside the block meant the building was not safe. Some residents spent the night in hotels or on airbeds in a leisure centre. Around 80 households have refused to leave. The general advice is to get out and evacuate but until circumstances change my intend to stay put. Now it is Dateline London. Hello and welcome to Dateline London at the end of a week in which one leader held on Against The Odds whilst another found himself out of a job. The unlucky one was saudi arabias crown prince, replaced by a relative half his age, an encoura
At the end of a week in which one leader held on Against The Odds whilst another found himself out of a job. The unlucky one was saudi arabias crown prince, replaced by a relative half his age, an encouraging sign for those hoping for reform. Britains Prime Minister theresa may, though, made it to the brussels summit of european leaders, defying predictions she would quickly be deposed after her election humiliation. It was the week where her government began negotiating brexit. Those leading the talks exchanged gifts a book On Mountaineering and a Walking Stick. Just how much of an uphill struggle will it be . With me are steve richards, uk Political Commentator and author of the rise of the outsiders. Mina al oraibi, an iraqi british journalist, whos about to become editor in chief of the national. Agnes poirier, uk editor with the french magazine marianne, and American Writer and broadcasterjeff mcallister. A warm welcome to you all. Thanks with being with us again. Agnes, let me as