assessment to the highest level following a bomb explosion on a rush—hour train in london. theresa may said security analysts had concluded that a further attack might be imminent — and there would be more armed police on the streets. the united nations security council has strongly condemned north korea for carrying out its latest missile test — calling it ‘highly provocative‘. but after an emergency meeting — the un said there would no further sanctions for now. north korea fired a missile over japan for the second time this month. after twenty years in space, the cassini mission to the ringed planet saturn has come to a spectacular end. the probe had run out of fuel — and the us space agency nasa had commanded it to destroy itself by plunging into the planet's atmosphere. now on bbc news: in the last two years, three saudi princes in europe have disappeared. all were critical of the saudi government and there is evidence they were abducted and flown to saudi arabia.

in the penthouse of this luxury hotel cover a saudi prince is preparing to visit the powerful relatives. it meeting that will change his life forever. sultan bin turki bin abdulaziz has been publicly criticising the saudi royal family. now he has been invited for a conversation. early in the morning, prince sultan is driven to a palace on the outskirts of geneva. it belongs to his uncle, king fahd of saudi arabia. this man, is the king ‘s favourite son. he has invited his cousin to breakfast. they arejoined by invited his cousin to breakfast. they are joined by the saudi

minister of islamic affairs. abdulaziz asks sultan to return to saudi arabia. he says he will be protected and everything will be resolved. sultan refuses. abdulaziz excuses himself to make a phone call. then, the minister of islamic affairs also leaves the room. sultan is left alone. suddenly masked men rush in. they beat sultan and handcuff him. one plunges a needle into his neck. unconscious, sultan is rushed to geneva airport, where a plane is waiting. several days later, he awakes, he is in hospital

in riyadh. last year, bbc arabic has been investigating the disappearance of three saudi princes, all of whom we re three saudi princes, all of whom were living in europe, and all have vanished. there is strong evidence that they were abducted. this is king fahd's palace outside geneva where prince sultan was allegedly abducted. what really happened that morning in 2003? and what could prince sultan have done that would lead his own family to violently drug and kidnap him? if sultan was really kidnapped by the saudis, could that give us a clue to the fate of the other missing princes? i need to know what sultan had been doing in the months leading up to his disappearance. my journey

doing in the months leading up to his disappearance. myjourney begins in the english seaside that —— seaside town of bournemouth. i have come to meet sultan's, communications officer. come to meet sultan's, communications officerlj come to meet sultan's, communications officer. i think they we re very communications officer. i think they were very unhappy that he was opening the lead up, effectively, on the regime. in 2002, sultan went to europe to medical treatment. he also began giving interviews critical of the savage government. —— saudi government. sultan's comments were not welcomed in riyadh. i would make and receive calls that a prince, and certainly in so doing i definitely picked up on the fact that there were members

of the regime, the royalfamily, who we re very of the regime, the royalfamily, who were very very much against what he was doing. sultan said the saudis had frozen his assets so he could not pay his hotel bill or his staff. then came the meeting on the 12th of june. then came the meeting on the 12th of june. everybody was awake. prince sultan was as well. the tension started to ramp up, you could feel it in the air, it felt very much like it was going to be a make or break situation. eddie had no idea this would be the last time he would see sultan. who was about to be abducted and flown back to riyadh. seven months later, injanuary 2004, the prince resurfaced. in a call to an arabic news channel, he said he was under house arrest. he described his experiences and named those he

had held responsible. years later, sultan approached a lawyer in boston, and told him his story. it belies any credit or see that this was anything other than the abduction described by prince sultan. i interviewed ten witnesses, collected medical evidence, including a medical record from the hospital where he was admitted on june 13 2003, which indicated he had

been injured in geneva and being put ona been injured in geneva and being put on a media that plane that was the summaries and waiting at the airport. aspiration is the insertion ofa airport. aspiration is the insertion of a tube into some of that to help them breathe. the hospital said this had been done to prince sultan, and that one side of him was paralysed, presumably because of the assault. as the hours passed, those waiting at the hotel became increasingly concerned. the silence became deafening. we could not reach the security team, that was the first real alert. we tried to contact them, could not get through, no response. we tried to contact the prince, no response, no answer. then in the afternoon, two unexpected visitors arrived. the saudi ambassador to switzerland came in with the general manager of the hotel, and quite simply told

everybody to vacate the penthouse and get out. the prince was in riyadh, our services were no longer required, and we could leave. we asked to speak to speak to the prince and the minister. neither responded to our requests. ever since 1932 when king abdulaziz created saudi arabia, the country has been controlled as an absolute monarchy. it's conservatism has driven some members of the royal family to live overseas. i am eating another prince, whose branch of the family fell out of favour long ago,

and who recently began to question the saudi regime as a whole. eventually he fled to germany where he claimed political asylum. according to prince khaled, the fate of the princes is decided at the very top of the saudi government.

i wondered what it felt like for khaled to be forced into exile, and unable to travel freely. this is prince turki bin bandar al—saud. once he was a major in the saudi police, which gave him access to highly sensitive information. a

bitter inheritance dispute with the family landed turki in prison. on his release he fled to paris where he lived in this apartment. injune 2012 he began posting videos on youtube, in which he calls the reform and saudi arabia. turki also claimed to have some very damaging documents. he threatened to expose corruption and at the royal family's highest levels. i have spent months tracking down people in paris who knew turki. most are reluctant to speak, saying they fear retribution from the saudi government. but i have finally had a break. this man is a blogger and activist who was a friend of turki's. you watched turki bin bandar‘s videos. did you discuss

them with your family? —— with the family? —— with him. the saudis react did as they had with prince sultan and tried to persuade turki to return. when the deputy minister of the interior called, the prince recorded the conversation and posted online. the saudis. they turned up the

pressure, turki refuse to return. was he threatened? turki went on publishing videos untiljuly 2015. then, sometime later that year, he disappeared. although he believed turki had been

kidnapped, i needed to find out more. so i asked prince khaled, who is still connected in saudi arabia. i searched the international media to news of turki. finally i found this article in a moroccan newspaper. it says turki was about to leave morocco for friends when he was arrested and jailed. then ——

france. ben following a request from the saudi authorities, he was approved for deportation. if the article is accurate it looks like the government of morocco may have couuded the government of morocco may have colluded with the saudi government to aid his deportation. the moroccan government decided —— declined to comment. that knowing what has happened to turki bin bandar, he added a note in a book that he gave to his friend that reads like a prophecy. what do you believe happened to him? there is no proof that turki has

been executed. more likely he has spent in prison. what he is lower in the royal pecking order than sultan, so he is more vulnerable. after his return to riyadh, sultan was moved from house arrest to a high security prison. his health deteriorated badly. fearing the possible consequences of his death, the family eventually allowed him to seek medical treatment in boston. what he did next must have horrified the saudis. he confided in me the details of the abduction that he described, that had occurred injune of 2003, in geneva. the details of which formed the basis of eventually a criminal complaint. in november 2014, sultan accused prince algal

and sheikh saleh al—sheikh, for being responsible for his kidnapping. he gave testimony. clyde bergstresser was present. he said swiss authorities have done little in the case. nothing was done to pursue what occurred at that airport. who were the pilots, what we re airport. who were the pilots, what were the flight plans, when these planes from saudi arabia arrived. this abduction occurred on swiss soil, and one would think that there would be an interest in finding out how that occurred. for the first time, a senior saudi royal was launching a criminal complaint in a western court against another family member. the pressure on the monarchy was mounting. i had heard about yet another saudi prince who had disappeared. he was a relatively

minor royal, playboy with a liking for europe's casinos in expensive hotels —— saud bin saif al—nasr. but in 2014, saud began tweeting attacks on the saudi monarchy. translation: to those who say i am criticising people from a family, i say it is obligatory to state the truth. in september 2015, an anonymous saudi prince wrote two letters calling for a coup to remove king salman. the letters went online and were read by millions. this was an astonishing display of opposition. prince saud was the only royal to endorse the letters. this was tantamount to treason, and may have sealed his fate. a few days later, his twitter account fell silent. this tweet on the 10th of september was his last. translation: i call for the nation

to turn the content of the letters into popular pressure. to turn the content of the letters into popular pressurelj to turn the content of the letters into popular pressure. i have made contact with a man who was in touch with saud in the days before his disappearance. he fears reprisals, so an actor speaks his words. despite saud's precautions, prints khaled believes he may have fallen into an elaborate trap. —— prince khaled. khaled fears that if saud is in riyadh, his life there may not be present. —— pleasant. we can't be sure what happened to

prince saud, but we do know about prince saud, but we do know about prince sultan. in january prince saud, but we do know about prince sultan. injanuary 2016 he was staying in this exclusive palace hotel. he was about to visit his father in cairo. he was travelling with an entourage of about 18, including his personal doctor and nurses, and bodyguards from the us and europe. two of them tell us what happened. they fear reprisals, so we have hidden their identities, and actors speak their words. the saudi consulate had offered sultan the use ofa consulate had offered sultan the use of a private jet. consulate had offered sultan the use of a privatejet. despite consulate had offered sultan the use of a private jet. despite everything that had previously happened, he accepted. translation: we pulled onto the tarmac, and in front of us was a huge aeroplane. it had the country of saudi arabia written on

it. translation: it was a little eerie, because there were a lot of crew members on board. all of them we re crew members on board. all of them were mail. the plane took off with its in—flight monitors showing it was set for cairo. prince sultan said he was tired, and that he wa nted said he was tired, and that he wanted to go to sleep, so one of the security members helped him to his room, and he went to lie down. 2.5 hours into the flight, all the monitors suddenly went lank. he woke up monitors suddenly went lank. he woke up about an hour before we landed, and looked out of the window, and his entire demeanour changed. he grew anxious —— blank. it wasn't untiljust before grew anxious —— blank. it wasn't until just before we grew anxious —— blank. it wasn't untiljust before we landed that we realised we were in saudi arabia. as soon as realised we were in saudi arabia. as soon as the prince realised where we work, he got up without his walker and was trying to get towards the door. the prince lashed out at the

gentleman in front of them. sultan was banging on the cockpit door, and yelling for help. one crew member ordered the prince's team to stay in their seats. they were about to land in riyadh. we looked out the window, and wejust in riyadh. we looked out the window, and we just saw a bunch of people get out with their rifles slung over their chest, and surrounded the plane. the soldiers and cabin crew dragged sultan from the plane. he was screaming at his team to call the us embassy. it was a very chaotic, frightening atmosphere, because none of us really knew what was going on. the prince and his medical team were taken to a villa and put under armed guard. on the plane, the others waited nervously. then they came on with people with

uniforms, with weapons. they told eve ryo ne uniforms, with weapons. they told everyone rebel your and get off the plane. —— grab all your stuff and get off the plane. they took us to a hotel. everyone got a room, and they just said we will talk to you soon. after three days in captivity, sultan's teamwork given back their passports and phones, and allowed to fly to destinations of their choice —— team were. fly to destinations of their choice -- team were. i sat down in front of the saudi official. i actually recognising, as he was one of the quote unquote flight attendants on the plane. he told us that we were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that he was sorry for the inconvenience.” wrong time, and that he was sorry for the inconvenience. i wasn't inconvenienced, i was held against my will, in a country i didn't choose to go to. it was an

astonishing situation. together with prince sultan, around 18 foreign nationals had been kidnapped and taken to saudi arabia. they had had their phones and passports confiscated, and were held by the saudi military. there has been no news of prince sultan since these events. his lawyer told the swiss prosecutor what had happened. he hoped something might finally be done about sultan's earlier complaint. as far as i know, he has done nothing to seek to get access to prince sultan in saudi arabia, or any of the people against whom prince sultan complained for the 2003 abduction. instead, the swiss lawyer said he intended to suspend the prosecution, because prince sultan was not available. my understanding in swiss law is you have 15 years to complete a prosecution. 15 years from thatjune

date in 2003, and it's a lengthy process , date in 2003, and it's a lengthy process, going through the entire prosecution. so effectively, by suspending the prosecution, it's really defeating the ability to, in a timely manner, pursue the prosecution. in effect, the legal action against sultan's alleged kidnappers will be allowed to expire. we asked the government of saudi arabia to respond to the allegations in this film. it declined to comment. meanwhile, prince khaled, now exiled in germany, fears he too may face the same fate as sultan. hello. saturday starts on a chilly but fine note for many of us. will be a few showers for coastal parts to begin with —

they'll begin to develop elsewhere throughout the day, and spells of rain affecting parts of northern and western scotland for a time, and edging down into northern scotland by the end of the afternoon. catch a shower, the winds are a little bit lighter, so it might hang on a little longer. perhaps thundery through some parts of england. inevitably, some places will miss the showers and stay dry. one shower doesn't make a washout of the day, if you do catch one, and there will be sunny spells around as well. most of us the showers fade, and overnight into sunday, there will be some heavy rain towards south devon. along the south coast, could be some heavy showers close by, but most places going into sunday morning dry, clear and chilly. temperatures in parts of scotland and northern ireland close to freezing. there could be a touch of air frost for some of us for scotland, wales and western england. scattered showers elsewhere, maybe the odd heavy one. this is bbc news.

i'm gavin grey. our top stories: the uk's terror threat level is raised as the hunt goes on for the person who planted a bomb on a rush—hour train in london. thejoint terrorism the joint terrorism analysis centre, the independent organisation which is responsible for setting the threat level on the basis of available intelligence, has now decided to raise the national threat level from severe to critical. it's the fifth terror attack in the uk this year. the so—called islamic state group says it planted the device which injured 29 people. north korea's leader says his country will meet its nuclear ambitions despite sanctions, after the un strongly condemned friday's missile test. and the cassini space probe

plunges into saturn,