welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is duncan golestani. our top stories: saudi arabia's crown prince launches a major anti—corruption purge, several senior ministers are detained. touchdown in tokyo. donald trump arrives injapan as his mammoth tour of asia gets under way. lawyers for the us soldier who pleaded guilty to abandoning his post in afghanistan say he will appeal his sentence. as harassment claims continue to engulf british politics, the opposition calls for a new way to deal with complaints. hello and welcome to bbc news. the heir to the throne in saudi arabia has overseen a major

purge in the country's leadership. 11 princes, four current ministers and dozens of former ministers have been detained in a campaign to stamp out corruption. crown prince mohammed bin salman, who's in charge of the new anti—corruption committee, appears to have sidelined powerful rivals. it seems the heads of the saudi national guard and navy have been replaced. staying in saudi arabia, state media there says the military has shot down a missile over the capital, riyadh. officials believe the weapon was fired from yemen, where houthi rebels, backed by iran, are fighting the saudi—backed government. mohamed taha from bbc arabic says it's clear the houthis intended to cause major damage. it couldn't be denied because, as you said, whether the missile or part of it hit the airport or a building in the airport,

whether it has been intercepted or not, but you know, at the end of the day, there is a fire, there is explosion in parts of the airport. i'm sure what happened tonight will have a very interesting effect on what happens in the war in that era. mohamad taha of bbc arabic. and in a further development in the region, iran has rejected accusations by the lebanese prime minister that it's spreading violence across the middle east. saad hariri resigned from his post unexpectedly, saying he feared for his life. iranian officials say his resignation is a saudi plot to create tension. martin patience reports from beirut. it is an honour to be here with you, mr president. for the prime minister of a small nation, saad al—hariri has had some very powerful friends.

that's because lebanon matters in the middle east. it's a country outsiders fight to control. and today, an extraordinary sign of that. the prime minister resigned, saying he feared assassination. speaking from saudi arabia, which backs him, saad al—hariri fired this warning to iran. translation: i want to say to iran and its followers, that they are losing in their interference in the affairs of the arab world. our nation will rise up, as it has done in the past and cut off the hands that wickedly extend into it. iran and saudi arabia are fighting a proxy war across the middle east. in lebanon, tehran backs hezbollah, which commands strong support. but its opponents say it operates as a state within a state. and its armed wing was accused

of killing saad al—hariri's father, rafic, more than a decade ago by a massive truck bomb. it traumatised the nation, but ultimately reshaped the middle east. now some are asking whether his son's resignation will do the same. this announcement has left people here stunned and created enormous uncertainty. lebanon has generally been spared the violence seen elsewhere in recent years. but now many lebanese fear their country could be a casualty in the wider regional struggle. martin patience, bbc news, beirut. let's talk to barak barfi, who's a research fellow with the new america foundation. he also lived in yemen for a year. hejoins me now from los angeles

targeting the airport is quite a provocation by the houthis, isn't it? this is a big step forward, they've been able to use ballistic missiles, long—range missiles that likely came from iran to put pressure on the saudi arabian government, which has been bombarding yemen for several years now. what makes you think the missiles came from iran? the houthis do not have the technology to create these missiles, to put these missiles together. it's possible be defence minister e had these missiles in its warehouses, in its capacity before. it's more than likely the iranians had some participation and involvement in the firing of this missile. if that is the case, how do you think saudi arabia's crown prince will react and respond? well, we've seen the saudis have escalated the war for several yea rs have escalated the war for several years now and we know in 2015 there was cross—border shelling, the

saudis bombed a pan arab satellite station which some of the princes owned at the borders to show the arab world how they would respond to the shelling. at this point of time the shelling. at this point of time the war has escalated so much that there's very little or the saudis can do at this point in time to show and demonstrate and flex their muscles against the houthis and the iranians. as you been hearing from the reports, we've got two countries among many in the region, yemen and lebanon, both being used in this proxy war between saudi arabia and iran? definitely. ayatollah khomeini, who led the revolution in the late 70s to take over iran from the late 70s to take over iran from the shah, he wanted to export the revolution but he largely failed in. the only country they could export the revolution to was hezbollah, it isa the revolution to was hezbollah, it is a shia organise and is able to

ta ke is a shia organise and is able to take over lebanon and it took over the sunny block and their saudi allies. it's not the first time they have been able to sideline him. hariri hasn't been a very strong leader. he made this announcement from saudi arabia of this resignation and not in lebanon. he doesn't have the leadership capabilities of this father and this is worrisome to the sunny bloc, not just in lebanon but the larger arab world. what will it mean for the devil delicate allardyce between the sects in the region —— delicate balance. hezbollah has been in charge for more than a decade now so not much. in 2007 the sunnies and their christian allies wanted to crack down on hezbollah when it was discovered hezbollah had aids it could communications network and they were controlling aspects of the

network. in the larger arab world, this does indicate a shift that iran is really winning the sunny shia cold war and there is little the saudis can do unless the saudis stepped up to the plate and help the saudis by minna marleau minimising hezbollah to move against its forces in syria, to minimise iranian influence in iraq. there's little that can be done. the saudis aren't going to be able to wind this war on their own. good to talk to you, thank you very much. —— to win. president trump has arrived injapan and met with prime minister abe. it's the first stop a 12—day, five—nation asian tour set to be

dominated by the crisis over north korea's nuclear programme. later in the week the president will travel to south korea, china, vietnam and the philippines. sophia tran—thomson has the latest. touchdown in tokyo. after flying in on air force one from hawaii, the president and first lady met with us troops stationed in the region. much to the delight of the greeting party, the president gratefully accepted his official military gift. i like this better! you can have myjacket, just... in an effort to strengthen ties, the tour of asia will be the longest an american president has attempted in a quarter of a century and discussions will focus heavily on north korea and regional security. today, nations that once waged war now stand together as friends and partners in pursuit of a much better world. we're getting there. we're getting there faster than you think. and when donald trump arrives

in south korea on tuesday, he'll also have strong support in seoul. but he'll need commitment across the region to squeeze the north even tighter through sanctions, and that means getting china on board. on wednesday, donald trump meets xi jinping. their talks may be less than cordial if mr trump pressures his counterpart to take a stronger line with pyongyang and raises the issue of what he calls china's unfair trade practices. this marathon 12—day tour will end with regional summits in vietnam and the philippines. leaders there will be listening to hear how committed this america first president is to the region at a time when china continues to emerge as the dominant regional force. sophia tran—thomson, bbc news.

for more on the president's tour of asia, i spoke to our correspondent stephen mcdonnell in tokyo. here in the japanese capital people are wondering what donald trump's visit will bring on questions such as trade but the fear is all these economic matters are going to be totally swa m ped by economic matters are going to be totally swamped by north korea. 0f course people here are very concerned about the nuclear threat coming from north korea and they wa nt to coming from north korea and they want to know what can the sort of cobble together with donald trump and with the leaders of south korea, japan and china —— cobbled together. the problem is, though, these relations are pretty tense, even at the best of times, and when donald trump comes out and describes japan as he has just trump comes out and describes japan as he hasjust done trump comes out and describes japan as he has just done as a warrior nation, now, this of course rings alarm bells in south korea and china, and so concerns japan might

change its constitution, might become more militarised, this is going to potentially put pressure on donald trump's efforts to build a coalition of nations to put pressure on north korea over its nuclear weapons programme. how do the japanese view donald trump's much tougher approach to north korea when he says that he won't rule out military force for example? well, i think the government doesn't mind that type of pork, but the population of calls will be divided. there are people who think, sure, let's get tough on north korea but others who worry about this sort of talk that it might inflame the situation, so you have all manner all views here. certainly what people would like to see from whatever persuasion or view you would like, plan, some way of moving forward on north korea. because whenever north korea fires its test

missiles it comes across this country. the fear is even one of these test nuclear missiles, test missiles, imagine if it was fired incorrectly and landed somewhere on japanese soil so there's quite a bit of concern here and hope this trip from donald trump might bring some sort of a breakthrough, although it's hard to see where it could come. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. militants of the islamic state group are reported to have detonated a car bomb at a gathering of people displaced by fighting in the syrian province of deir az—zour. syrian state media said dozens of people gathered on the eastern bank of the euphrates river had been killed or injured. on friday, is lost control of deir az—zour city, its last remaining stronghold in syria. typhoon damrey has killed at least 19 people in central and southern

parts of vietnam. rescue teams say more than 33,000 people have been moved from their homes and at least a dozen are missing. australian prime minister malcolm turnball has rejected an offer from new zealand to take in asylum seekers from the manus island offshore detention centre in papua new guinea. hundreds of refugees are refusing to leave the detention centre, which has now been closed, and has no power or water. mr trump's former campaign manager paul manafort, who's been charged with money laundering, has offered to post bail of $12 million in assets in an effort to avoid continued house arrest. court documents say mr manafort also offered to limit his travel to new york, washington and florida. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: turning back time. we'll tell you about the cycling enthusiasts who are harking back to an earlier age. the israeli prime minister, yitzhak rabin, the architect of the middle

east peace process, has been assassinated. a 27—year—old jewish man has been arrested, and an extremistjewish organisation has claimed responsibility for the killing. at polling booths throughout the country, they voted on a historic day for australia. as the results came in, it was clear — the monarchy would survive. of the american hostages, there was no sign. they are being held somewhere inside the compound, and student leaders have threatened that, should the americans attempt rescue, they will all die. this mission has surpassed all expectations. voyager one is now the most distant man—made object anywhere in the universe, and itjust seems to keep on going. tonight, we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of ourarms, or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines... the crown prince of saudi arabia has launched a major anti—corruption purge in the government. several royal princes and current and former ministers have been detained. the american president donald trump has arrived in japan for the first leg of his twelve—day tour of five asian countries. he's currently playing golf with the japanese pm shinzo abe lawyers for the us soldier bowe bergdahl, who pleaded guilty to abandoning his post in afghanistan, say they'll appeal the sentence he was given by a militaryjudge on friday. bergdahl was spared a custodial term, but given a dishonourable discharge, a $10,000 fine, and a demotion to the rank of private. earlier i spoke to eugene fidell.

he's the lead defence counsel for bowe bergdahl. i asked him how his client was doing. he is catching his breath. 0bviously obviously this was a stressful experience for him, on top of the other stressful experiences of his short life. this was a tremendous relief for him to know he is not going to prison. he is trying to figure out what is going to happen in the next chapter of his life. we understand you are going to appeal. what is actually going to happen? he did plead guilty, of course, did he not? yes, he did. the way our system works, the system is a markup of the system that was in effect under george iii. we inherited that and we still have a bit of it in large effects. from here goes to the convening authority in north carolina. a a—star general at fort bragg.

after he acts on the proceedings, the case is eligible for review by the us court of appeal which consists of serving officers. then it goes to the civilian court of appeal for the armed forces, a court of appeal. eventually it can wind up at the supreme court. 0k. can i move you on to president trump and his comments? 0utside court you described his comments as a dark cloud over the case. how much do you think he influenced the process? he... umm... he has thrown a spanner into the works here. president trump has committed some of the worst misconduct of any president in terms of interfering with the administration ofjustice. and he has done a world of damage to public confidence in the administration ofjustice. that kind of conduct which we call apparent unlawful command influence is said to be the lawful enemy of militaryjustice and i can assure

you we will pursue that very energetically. when he said that sergeant burgdahl should be executed, how did bowe burgdahl react? he took it poorly. donald trump vilified him back and forth across the country at rally after rally. he started a lynch mob atmosphere, and he is still at it. that is what is prosperous! i understand that as part of this dishonourable discharge, as it is known, bowe burgdahl would lose his healthcare benefits, the things he is entitled to as a veteran, how important would they be to him? it is so important. he has several issues that he requires benefits for. he obviously needs care and the army

has been providing that to him. has physical and mental disabilities due to his treatment at the hands of the haqqani network for nearly five years. he was kept in a cage for much of that time. he is a person that is going to need a lot of medical and psychological assistance for the remainder of his life. here in britain the opposition labour party has called on all the main political parties to agree a new, independent system to tackle sexual harassment at westminster. it comes ahead of a meeting planned by prime minister theresa may with 0pposition leaders, to discuss proposals for fresh grievance procedures for staff and mps. the crisis has now spread to scotland, where a government minister has resigned over "inappropriate" behaviour. iain watson reports. this is the week when politicians' private lives became very public. past actions by some mps have had serious consequences. there have been accusations, resignations, investigations, and it's clear the current crisis at westminster will continue to fill the front—pages.

tonight, there are newspaper claims that sir michael fallon lost his job when a journalist contacted downing street to say he'd behaved inappropriately towards her 1a years ago. friends of michael fallon don't deny that this took place but i understand no single incident led to his departure. and tonight, a new resignation, this time, the childcare minister in the scottish government. in a statement the snp's mark mcdonald said... and he went on to apologize to anyone he may have upset. political parties are now responding to the spate of allegations. the conservatives have toughened their code of conduct. the shadow foreign secretary has said a younger generation no longer put up with harassment and many women mps have been pressing for an independent body to hear any complaints and labour's leadership has now agreed.

we need to make sure that our youngsters know that we will listen to them, that we will help, that it is not acceptable, and that they do not need to put up with any of it. you know, we've got to say no to this and they will find friends and allies, people like me, who will not put up with this. you know, some of the things i've heard in the last week have been so disgusting. the physical structures of parliament are being made fit for the 21st—century, and, on monday, theresa may wants to do much the same thing with the wider culture here at westminster. she is holding cross party talks to try to get broad agreement on tackling harassment and inappropriate behaviour, but some mps are worried that political careers could end on the basis of rumour and the settling of old scores. there is a febrile atmosphere, and there's a feeding frenzy that some have described, i think probably rightly, as a witch—hunt. yes, this may sell tomorrow's chip wrappings but this is more serious than that. and i believe that my colleague,

members of parliament have a right to the same naturaljustice as everybody else and they are not getting it. party leaders want to be seen to be taken tough action against harrassment but they know, perhaps even fear, that they are not entirely in control of events. iain watson, bbc news. the ousted head of the catalan government, carles puigdemont, has urged ‘all democrats' to unite, ahead of snap elections in catalonia. a spanishjudge has issued european arrest warrants for mr puigdemont and four of his allies. they went to belgium after the catalan parliament declared independence, and madrid reacted by imposing direct rule. commenting on social media, mr puigdemont called for the release of political prisoners. eight former members of the regional government are being held in custody in spain. in the czech republic, some people were turning back time

on saturday — namely to the victorian era. cycling enthusiasts gathered in prague for an annual racing event. but the bikes they were using were a little old fashioned — as tim allman reports. meet the members of the czech velocipedists' club, claimed to be the oldest sporting club in europe. every year, the men and women, although mostly men, come to this park in prague to remember simpler times. the slower pace of life, riding their penny farthings. there is a spot of racing, albeit at a fairly sedate pace, but there is also some formation display cycling. the velocipedists may hark back to the 19th century,

but this event is a bit more recent than that. translation: it started as a race. the tradition was born in 1993 when prague hosted the world championship of historic bicycles. we had some broken arms and concussions so we decided it was better to go more slowly and enjoy the ride in the autumn. and enjoy it they did. and no doubt come the same time next year they will return. the gentlemen and even the odd lady of the czech velocipedists club doing what velocipedists do. tim allman, bbc news. you are watching bbc news. you can find me on twitter and we will be back with the headlines in a few minutes. well, after the rain cleared

through on saturday afternoon, colder, brighter conditions moved in its place but plenty of showers rattling in from the north—west. and through the course of the night, a very showery one across many western areas with some snow over the high ground, hail and thunder mixed in too, whereas further east it's been drier with clear spells. we start sunday morning on a chilly note. generally speaking, though, it's going to be a drier day than saturday for most of us. plenty of sunshine around but it's going to be noticeably cold in all areas. we'll start sunday off with some of the showers across western areas with some wintriness over the hills, they'll slowly fizzle away into the afternoon and become more confined to western and south—western and eastern coastal areas with many inland places dry but cold. eight to 10 degrees, it really will be struggling, those values.

and as we head on in towards bonfire night evening, those temperatures really will be falling. you can see the blue hue there across scotland. a few showers dotted around northern coasts there. a few through the north channel, pushing on in towards northern and western wales, and there will be some showers across the east coast. but for most places it will be dry for bonfire night, but cold, you really will need to wrap up warm. one or two showers around the channel islands too. now, as we head further on into sunday night and the early hours of monday, it turns even colder. you can see those blue colours across the north extending south into central and eastern areas, with some places potentially seeing lows down to —5 or —6 degrees. so it could be a bit of a misty and a very cold start for monday with some frost around. the ridge of high pressure which brings the fine weather on sunday and monday morning slowly ebbs away and allows this weather system to push in off the atlantic to bring thickening cloud, strengthening winds and outbreaks of rain. but it's a cold start on monday, but dry with plenty of sunshine. the sunshine gradually diminishing from the west as that weather front moves in, but it will stay

bright across east anglia and the south—east. spots of rain developing across western britain and certainly some persistent, heavy rain for northern and western parts of scotland where here it will be turning a little bit milder but cold, like i mentioned, in the east. for tuesday, quite a messy picture, that weather front will continue its journey eastwards. some heavy and persistent rain on it as it slowly trundles eastwards. fairly mild here but turning cold again across the north and the west with sunshine and showers. and then on into wednesday, again, we're in between weather systems. that one eventually clears in the south—east and leaves colder, clearer conditions in its wake. more wind and rain pushing into the north and the west later on. this is bbc news, the headlines: there's been a major purge in the government in saudi arabia. ten royal princes, among them several senior ministers, as well as dozens of former ministers, have been detained in a campaign to stamp out corruption. the crown prince appears to have sidelined powerful rivals. president trump has

arrived in japan the first stop on what will be the longest tour of asia by a us president in 25 years. the trip comes at a time of heightened tensions with north korea over its nuclear programme and missile tests. the issue is likely to dominate the tour. the opposition labour party has called on all the main british political parties to agree a new, independent system to tackle sexual harassment within parliament and politics. it follows a series of allegations levelled against several high profile figures, some of whom subdequently resigned.