offences. he was arrested on friday along with a 57 year old woman who s been charged with aiding and abetting in connection with the alleged offences. they ll both appear in court next month. sirjeffrey is northern ireland s longest serving mp at westminster. he says he ll strenuously contest the charges. jennifer o leary reports. jeffrey donaldson, a leader who, just weeks ago, returned his party to power sharing at stormont. today, his political career appears to be over. in a statement, his party announced his resignation, confirming that he s been charged with allegations of an historical nature. bbc news understands he has been charged with rape and multiple other sexual offences as part of a police investigation spanning months after two women came forward. in a letter to his party, sir jeffrey donaldson said he would be strenuously contesting the charges. the dup s new interim leader is mp gavin robinson. it s a devastating revelation and has caused tremendous shock,
gaza. injerusalem, there is an uneasy calm, as palestinians mark easter and ramadan. our international editor jeremy bowen reports. injerusalem, where tension and worse are normal, there is always the consolation of religion. this ramadan, many of those ending a day of prayer at the aqsa mosque were palestinian israelis, around a fifth of israel s population. israel, citing security, restricts access to jerusalem for palestinians from the occupied west bank. just down the road, palestinian christians were deep in their celebration of easter, walking to the old city from the garden of gethsemane, where they believejesus prayed on the night before he was crucified. but in this city, sacred for christians, jews and muslims, religion and politics always mix. all the palestinian people are suffering today. they are suffering from occupation, they are suffering from apartheid, they are suffering from genocide. and today, what we are praying is to stop this disaster situation he
he was arrested yesterday along with a 57 year old woman who has been charged with aiding and abetting in connection with the alleged offences. they will appear in court next month. sirjeffrey, who is northern ireland s longest serving mp at westminster, says he will strenously says he will strenuously contest the charges. jennifer o leary reports. sirjeffrey donaldson, a leader whojust weeks ago returned his party to power sharing at stormont. today, his political career appears to be over. in a statement, his party announced his resignation, confirming that he s been charged with allegations of an historical nature. bbc news understands he s been charged with rape and multiple other sexual offences as part of a police investigation spanning months after two women came forward. in a letter to his party, sirjeffrey donaldson said he will be strenuously contesting the charges. the dup s new interim leader is mp gavin robinson. it s been a devastating revelation, and has caused
welcome to the world today, an hour of international news from the bbc. we start in northern ireland, where politics has been thrown into turmoil with the news that the leader of the democratic unionist party, sirjeffrey donaldson, has resigned after being charged with rape and other historical sexual offences. he was arrested yesterday along with a 57 year old woman, who has been charged with aiding and abetting in connection with the alleged offences. they will appear in court next month. sirjeffrey, who is northern ireland s longest serving mp at westminster, says he will strenously contest the charges. jennifer o leary reports. sirjeffrey donaldson, a leader whojust weeks ago returned his party to power sharing at stormont. today, his political career appears to be over. in a statement, his party announced his resignation, confirming that he s been charged with allegations of an historical nature. bbc news understands he s been charged with rape and multiple other sexual