There for you. Saudi arabias crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, has been invited to visit the uk in the autumn. The visit is likely to prompt sharp criticism over the gulf leaders Human Rights Record. It would be the first trip by the crown prince to the uk since the murder ofjournalist Jamal Khashoggi at the saudi consulate in istanbul in 2018. Us Intelligence Agencies concluded that the prince must have authorised the killing. Lets talk to may darwich, senior lecturer in the International Relations of The Middle East at the university of birmingham. Thank you for coming out of the programme will solicit about first while this invitation has been extended. I while this invitation has been extended while this invitation has been extended. ~. ,. , extended. I think there are several reasons as extended. I think there are several reasons as to extended. I think there are several reasons as to why extended. I think there are several reasons as to why the extended. I think there are several reasons as to why the uk extended. I think there are several reasons as to why the uk might. Extended. I think there are several l reasons as to why the uk might have invited Mohammed Bin Salman to visit. One of which is related to the International Situation following the ukraine war, but also related to covid 19 and brexit where the uk is now trying to seek new international partners, new cooperation and also looking for opportunities for investments at the very same time saudi arabia has a making large investments in this economy trying to diversify the economy trying to diversify the economy away from oil. So there are opportunities from both sides for cooperation, economic cooperation, and that might have prompted this invitation at this time. find and that might have prompted this invitation at this time. Invitation at this time. And what arguments invitation at this time. And what arguments are invitation at this time. And what arguments are the invitation at this time. And what arguments are the critics invitation at this time. And what | arguments are the critics making when they say that such an invitation should not be extended to saudi arabia . Invitation should not be extended to saudi arabia . Well, saudi arabia has a very strong saudi arabia . Well, saudi arabia has a very strong record saudi arabia . Well, saudi arabia has a very strong record breaking saudi arabia . Well, saudi arabia has a very strong record breaking human| a very strong record breaking human rights, especially the killings of Jamal Khashoggi has been one of the most International Events that have attracted attention on saudi arabias Human Rights Record, but also in the past several years, Mohammed Bin Salman has been already eliminating the opposition, imprisoning many critics in the saudi kingdom and definitely the Human Rights Record has been violated repeatedly. More important, looking at the yemen war and the Mohammed Bin Salman role in yemen in the last years since 2015, has been also full of Human Rights Violations from the Mohammed Bin Salman kingdom so there are definitely several aspects to these critiques where definitely western countries including the uk have made strong commitments to human rights, to the agenda of liberalism, and therefore this kind of invitation seems a little bit contradictory to this kind of norm. Little bit contradictory to this kind of norm. ,. , kind of norm. Having said that, are we auoin kind of norm. Having said that, are we going to kind of norm. Having said that, are we going to see kind of norm. Having said that, are we going to see more kind of norm. Having said that, are we going to see more of kind of norm. Having said that, are we going to see more of this . Kind of norm. Having said that, are we going to see more of this . A i we going to see more of this . A sign of things to come because earlier in the year we saw the Business Secretary sitting down in saudi arabia to talk about more collaboration in tech and space and critical minerals, so is thisjust the beginning . It critical minerals, so is this ust the beginningfi critical minerals, so is this ust the beginning . Critical minerals, so is this ust The Bearinnin . , the beginning . It might be ust the beaiannin. The beginning . It might be ust the beginning. R the beginning . It might be ust the beginning. Ithinkfi the beginning . It might be ust the beginning. I think saudi h the beginning . It might be just the beginning. I think saudi arabia the beginning . It might be just the beginning. I think saudi arabia is i beginning. I think saudi arabia is also exploring other partners. The uk is on the only partner, and definitely saudi arabia is under Mohammed Bin Salman very much eager to diversify its economy, but also investing in other sectors in order to build more or less a sustainable economy away from oil. And this has been ongoing now for several years with a goal in 2030 to achieve this kind of diversification. So the Mohammed Bin Salman kingdom is definitely looking at cooperation with the uk, but also other partners in the west. Qm. With the uk, but also other partners in the west in the west. Ok, so thats what saudi arabia in the west. Ok, so thats what saudi arabia will in the west. Ok, so thats what saudi arabia will be in the west. Ok, so thats what saudi arabia will be getting outj in the west. Ok, so thats what i saudi arabia will be getting out of building this relationship, but how does with the uk is pivoting towards compare with other countries especially in the west, the where they are managing their relationships with saudi arabia . I think the uk has been strong partners to the Mohammed Bin Salman micro to kino for decades, nothing new there, even if Mohammed Bin Salman or the saudi kingdom have not been invited to the uk since the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, many prime ministers have visited the saudi kingdom and also the us has been very much eager as well to maintain the relationship with saudi arabia following the ukraine war. Things also changed because the west, the us, the uk, other European Countries have been eager to maintain the oil prices within a reasonable range, and definitely cooperation and discussion with the saudi kingdom has been essential to achieve this goal. So the uk that regard is not particularly different, but they are much more dependent on this since breaks as well, so definitely the uk is kind of more and lets say the weaker side of the relationship and saudi arabia is definitely on the stronger side of this cooperation at the moment. ,. ,. ,. , side of this cooperation at the moment side of this cooperation at the moment. ,. ,. ,. ,. , moment. Really good to get your thou a hts, moment. Really good to get your thoughts, thank moment. Really good to get your thoughts, thank you moment. Really good to get your thoughts, thank you very moment. Really good to get your thoughts, thank you very much i moment. Really good to get your. Thoughts, thank you very much for joining if they are from the university of birmingham. More than 60 migrants are presumed dead after their boat was found drifting off cape verde in west africa. Its thought they were aiming to travel to europe via the spanish canary islands. The boat was about 300 kilometres from cape verde. Almost all those on board are thought to have come from senegal. 38 people, including children, have been rescued and brought ashore on the island of sal. Officials in senegal say they are making arrangements to bring survivors home. Meanwhile, after a boat illegally carrying migrants to the uk sank in the English Channel last week, four people have now been detained. Six of those on board lost their lives. In the last seven days alone, more than 2000 people have tried to cross the channel in small boats. Tom symonds reports from calais. On wasteland close to dunkirk, the worlds migrants continue to live in limbo. Theres food, water, phone chargers, even lessons for the kids provided by aid agencies. But these tracks lead to the coast, to the small boats, to britain. Karim, who asked not to be identified, paid people smugglers 2000 euros for a place on the boat which then sank. He said they promised him theyre going to send him to uk in good boat. In a good boat . Did they say what a good boat was . Translation big boat, 10 metres, 15 metres. I but in the end, it was three metres or four metres. And how many people were on that boat . They put 70 people on the boat, but there was no space and they left ten people behind. Karim was one of them. Two friends stayed on board. He thinks theyre dead. But 22 year old idris survived. Translation there were far too many passengers. The waves were very strong, and the boat split up. Some people fell into. The water and drowned. I never believed i would survive. I was fast losing the strengthl to swim, but i kept trying very hard to keep afloat. But when it comes to getting to britain, nothing has changed. Will you try tonight . |translation last night, | tried, | and my boat was cut by the police. And tonight, i dont know. In the uk, some ask is enough being done in france to stop the boats . We went to several beaches discretely at night, hoping to see migrants leaving. Each time. Bonjour, messieurs . We were immediately spotted by the police using night vision gear. Britain helps fund the officers and the equipment. Teams in camouflage watched us from the shadows. A Spotter Plane flew overhead, and on the ground, they searched for the hiding places used by the traffickers. But the coast is more than 70 miles long, and the traffickers have become experts at moving people. There are plenty of signs of how this works. The people smugglers hide their clients here in the dunes at night, trying to evade the police who are watching out for them. And they keep their boats here, heres one, an inflatable boat. And they try and rush to the beach atjust the right moment. The police, well, they try and slash the boats so they cant be used. The police are not a deterrent to migrants like jalla and her family. She says theyre fleeing gun attacks in iraq. They have tiny children, but theyre repeatedly trying to get on a boat. You know that a boat sank last week. Yeah, i know. What do you think about that . Its fate. If it happens, it happens . Yeah. Its not dangerous for us. We come across so many difficulties in my country. This is better than shooting us, you know, shooting my kids in front of my house. That raw drive is why stopping the boats is perhaps the governments most daunting challenge. Tom symonds, bbc news, calais. And i spoke to tom a little earlier about how people navigate such dangerous waters. Well, the primary factor is the weather. They all have, the migrants who are hoping to cross the channel, apps on their phones where they can check what the winds doing, what the waves are doing. They know as much about the weather as a sailor might do navigating these waters, and thats because if the waves here are really more than a metre, then those inflatable dinghies that are often used to cross the channel really are impossible to get across on. And so thats one of the key considerations. And what happens is, as we have had, if you get 2 3 weeks of very bad weather where the waves are too high, the wind is too high, and then a period of calmer whether, as it is today, waves of less than a metre, then a big rush of people try to cross the channel. There are other factors, too. People traffickers control all of this. People in the camps wait to be told by the people they have probably paid thousands of euros for a passage across to the uk, the wait for them to tell them where to go. They then travel out to the dunes around these beaches. They hide out. They wait for the police to be away, and they make a dash with the boats to the water. And so that success rate is very important as well. If the police manage to catch more people, and the policing is pretty serious along these coasts, then fewer people get across. And, tom, what impressions of you been getting of this issue based on the people youve been speaking to there . Well, we were asking them what they felt about the fact that there had been this awful capsizing of a boat last week. Six people died. Weve spoken to people who were on that boat, and one person who was on it and was pushed off it because it was so full, he couldnt get back on the boat. And people said that it has not changed their view of the risk involved getting across the vhannel because frankly the push factors pushing them to the uk are pretty great. We spoke to one iraqi woman, mother of several very small children, and her partner. She had tried eight times to get on a boat across the channel. She knows the risks. She says the risks are not as great as the risks in going back to iraq, where she said her Family Face Gun Attacks on her house, her car and her children. Shes just going to keep trying. Another young man, that young man who got off the boat because it was so full, he had tried again since the sinking to try to go across to the uk. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. Bbc news, bringing you different stories from across the uk. The end of another busy panto season, but for a veteran dame david robbins, the work doesnt end there. These elaborate wigs are all made in his nottinghamshire workshop, and its a process that starts in the winter. Some people have brought back ones that are a0 years old to be refurbished, so a lot of the first part of my year from panto finishing, is refurbing, respraying and basically getting wigs back to look brilliant. Its a full time job for david. He creates an estimated 60 80 wigs a year for dames across the country and repairs over 100 more. He says hes the only person in the country that still does it after taking over the business from his own suppliers seven years ago. They said to me, wed like to retire, and youre the only person we can think of who could take over the business. For more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. Youre live with bbc news. Some brief Breaking News from the world of entertainment now. It has been confirmed that pop star Britney Spears and her husband have it split up spears and her husband have it split up after 1a months of marriage. A divorce petition filed on wednesday now seen by bbc news site irreconcilable differences between the two, you might recall the couple got engaged at September 2021 and were married in 2022. So that is the first confirmation, official confirmation we are getting of that news that has been circulating. In nicaragua, a judge has ordered the seizure of all assets belonging to a Prestigious UniversityRun Byjesuit Priests in the countrys capital, managua. Thejudge has described Central American university, which is one of the countrys top private colleges, as a centre for terrorism organised by criminal groups. Nicaraguas opposition say this is just the latest attack by Daniel Ortegas government on the countrys Influential Roman Catholic Church and other institutions that oppose his rule. Hundreds of opposition activists, journalists and politicians have been arrested or forced to flee nicaragua since Street Protests in 2018. Jose de cordoba, Latin America correspondent for the wall streetjournal, gave us his assessment of the relationship between the nicaraguan government and the Catholic Church. The, i would say, totalitarian, at least authoritarian, government of Daniel Ortega and his wife, rosario murillo, have basically been at war with the Catholic Church and with nicaraguan Civic Society since 2018, when there was a widespread. There were widespread protests that almost toppled the government. About 300, more than 300 people were killed, most of them by Security Forces during that time. At the time, the Catholic Church took a very active role trying to get a settled. To Get A Mediated settlement with the government. And the government did not, never forgave it for basically being in opposition to it. Things got worse with the last president ial election of 2021, when president ortega arrested all of the main, all of his main opponents, seven, and did an enormous crackdown on all aspects of opposition, including journalists, the church and media, Political Parties of all types. As a result, since then, Hundreds Of Thousands of people have gone into exile in, most of them, in costa rica and up to the united states. So given. The catholic. Given that background, this news of these assets being seized, is that an escalation . I mean, is it surprising . Its really more of the same. The ortega regime has really basically quashed all space in which any opposition can take place. Theyve seized, i think the number is 27 private universities. Theyve closed down all all opposition media. They shut down more than 3000 ngos and civic groups. Theyve thrown out even mother teresas missionaries theyre basically shutting down absolutely any space that they dont control. Right now, the most important political prisoner in nicaragua is a catholic bishop, rolando alvarez, who refused to go into exile earlier this year. When ortega basically liberated some more than 200 Political Prisoners who have been injail, but stripped him of their citizenship and insisted that they go into exile. Bishop alvarez refused. And the next day, a Nicaraguan Court sentenced him to 26 years in prison for basically undermining the state. So as you can see, theres really no no space in nicaragua in which you can contest the government. And the church suffers because its, you know, its part of that space. On sunday, england face spain in the womens World Cup Final in sydney. The game will kick off at 11am here in the uk when most pubs arent necessarily open or cant sell alcohol just yet. But to celebrate the countrys first World Cup Final since 1966, Industry Bosses are hoping the government will loosen Licensing Rules for Opening Hours and alcohol sales. Under the current regulations, it is widely prohibited to sell alcohol before 10am on sunday, some even being restricted until midday. The british beer and Pub Association are pushing the home office to temporarily relax the rules. Here, 20 years after they were abused by a Grooming Gang who plied them with alcohol and drugs and sexually abused them, two women from rochdale have finally got justice. They cant be identified for legal reasons, but at Manchester Crown court five men have been convicted of a series of Sexual Offences against them, including rape and Sexual Activity with a child. Mohammed ghani, insar hussain, jahn ghani, ali kazmi and Martin Rhodes will all be sentenced at a later date. Phil mccann reports. The year is 2015 in rochdale. A woman in her 20s attended a Parenting Course. She wrote a presentation about what she went through as a child. This isnt her voice, but its what she wrote. The people running the Parenting Course called the police. And now eight years later, a jury has believed her story of what happened to her and another girl Ofa Similarage between 2002 2006. The victims are legally entitled to be anonymous, so theyre referred to only as a girl a and girl b. This trial� s heard that girl a is actually the victim of over a0 other men who committed similar crimes against her. The trial heard how girl a only realised she was a victim of abuse in 2014 when she read the book behind the bbc series three girls. It told the story of The Now Notorious Grooming Ring that was operating in rochdale in the late 2000s. Girl a told her sister, that happened to me. She later wrote that it was so much worse than what happened in three girls. Maggie oliver was the Greater ManchesterPolice Detective who worked on the case featured in the tv series. This trial actually is typical of many cases ive worked on before and still do in the Maggie Oliver foundation. It is a young child who is targeted by a gang of very sophisticated, very evil, in my opinion, men mainly from a pakistani background, because they see a child that they can groom and sexually abuse with very little chance of ever being prosecuted. Much of the abuse happened in a flat above a shop on this road on the edge of rochdale. Here the victim would be passed around for sex, plied with drink and drugs and abused sometimes when they were unconscious. Some of the abuse was filmed. Some of those films were then passed round rochdale. Another regular location for the abuse was this common next to a primary school. Throughout this trial, the prosecution said that the girls� abusers exploited the fact that they were very young, vulnerable and damaged. They were mere objects, they said, for them to use, abuse, humiliate and then discard. Girl a told her trial how rochdale was a very small world. She said she really cant go to town any more because she says, to this day, people still talk about what happened in my childhood, but they still dont see the Grooming Side of it. She also told her trial how she intends to sue Greater Manchester police and rochdale borough council, both of whom she said turned her away at the time like she was a naughty child. I admire this victim for having the strength not only to speak up in the first place, but to see this through to the end. And the damage to her life is irreparable in many ways but hopefully through her bravery, she will ensure that these abusers will go to prison, i hope, for a long time to prevent them doing the same to other children. Phil mccann, bbc north west tonight, rochdale. A harrowing case but finally some justice for those women. Now something very different englands Lake District is well known for being home to rare creatures like otters and ospreys. Now, conservationists are arguing that water voles should get similar protection as their population has plummeted in recent decades. And theyve launched a new project to push their numbers up. Victoria gill has more. Being prepared for a new home. More than 200 water voles transported here all the way from devon are being checked, ready for release in this cumbrian valley. Its part of a two year mission to bring the endangered mammals back to the Lake District. Oh, its really exciting. When you work in conservation, you want to see things that should be in the landscape. And sometimes things come naturally, and sometimes you have to give them a bit of a helping hand. So all of the work that the teams been doing on site for the last few years to make sure that this site is suitable for water voles, for it to eventually end up with the release of water voles is just a fabulous thing to see. Water voles used to be widespread in the rivers, streams and lakes of cumbria, but there are nowjust a few isolated populations left here. All of these animals have been bred in captivity and most of them will be introduced to their new habitats in these special soft release pens. Just very carefully carrying the water voles down onto the site. Its been prepared for about two years, this area, but its been kept a secret, the exact location, to protect these mammals. A key way this habitat has been prepared for today is by controlling the population of non native american mink, predators that decimated the water vole population. Volunteers will check on the pens daily until the doors are opened in about three days time. For a few of the more mature voles, though, its straight into the water. And while some are enthusiastic to swim, others seem keen to hide in the undergrowth. Its really exciting. Theyre an important component of the landscape. Their effects on vegetation by the way they burrow and how they make little lawns and grays, but they also provide a really good food source for native predators, the kind of animals that should be preying on water voles and eating them. So there is one in here. Itsjust good to see them back where they should be, you know, returning them back to the place where they should be in the first place. In total for this project, 350 animals will be released in two locations in cumbria, bringing a missing species back to the landscape where it belongs. Victoria gill, bbc news. Now heres the weather with stav. The next 2a hours looks fairly unsettled with the risk of some really heavy, Thundery Rain in places and also strong winds. So quite a mixture of weather to come for friday. Windy in places. It will feel quite warm and humid, and well have Thundery Showers spreading northwards. Now, weve got two Weather Fronts associated with the low pressure system. This is the main weather front. Ahead of it, well see a line of showers and storms spreading northwards. Thats during friday. But through tonight, it should stay largely dry across much of the country, clear spells, more cloud through central and eastern areas. But well start to see those showers pushing to northern ireland, wales and south west england, and some of them may turn out to be heavy and thundery in places. Quite a warm and muggy night to come, particularly towards the south. Then for friday, that line of showers, thunderstorms spreads northwards across northern ireland, wales, central, southern england, but starts to fizzle out as it moves northwards. Itll become very windy around irish sea coasts, especially northern and western wales, with gusts in excess perhaps of 60 mph. Not a bad day to come across scotland. Best of the sunshine in the west, high teens here. Further south, because theres a bit more cloud around and some showers, top temperature around 22 23 degrees, but it will feel humid. And then through friday night, the action really gets going. This band of heavy and Thundery Rain Spreads Northwards across pretty much all areas. You can see the livid colours indicating embedded thunderstorms there, so localised flooding could be an issue in one or two locations. And a warm and humid night to come for many, particularly across england and wales. So into the weekend, that area of Thundery Rain will continue to journey northwards with fairly strong, gusty winds on it. Moving northwards across scotland through saturday morning, becoming confined to the northern isles, and then the rest of the country has a fine day. Sunny spells with scattered showers across northern and western areas, and itll be more blustery here with temperatures in the low 20s. So feeling fresher, but still warm in the south east, 25 26 degrees. Similar story for part two of the weekend. Most of the blustery showers will be in the north and the west of the country, where itll feel a bit fresher. But again, across central, southern and eastern areas, closer to High Pressure in the near continent, itll stay sunnier, less windy. And we should see temperatures again around the mid 20s. Now it could turn very warm or even locally hot across the south east for a time monday and tuesday. Plenty of sunshine here, but cooler and fresher with showers further north and west. Hello. Youre watching the context on bbc news. If the conditions change, if the smoke gets too heavy, if the fire were to approach the highway, the highway would be closed and then the evacuation would be fully by air. Its so nice to come down here where you can actually breathe. And we washed our laundry this morning and all i could smell was the fire smoke. We were seeing the longest fire season, we have huge demands on our fire crews and we have been working since the middle of may. In canada, 20,000 people are told to leave their city as the fires close in. Its the countrys worst Wildfire Season on record. Also, in cape verde, survivors spent a month at sea before being rescued. Its thought more than 60 people died. Well be talking to the United Nations about the dangers of global migration. Theres a warning about the risk of a war at sea between nato and russia. We look at whats at stake in the black sea. And is Bradley Cooper right to wear a prosthetic nose to play the legendaryjewish composer Leonard Bernstein . We will start with developing