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. 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. they likely came from iran to put pressure on the saudi arabian government, which has been bombarding yemen for several years now. next and unrelated move that

several prominent princes, including several prominent princes, including several ministers, had been detained ina several ministers, had been detained in a sweeping anticorruption purge led by the crown prince. the heir to the throne has been moving fast to consolidate his growing power while spearheading a modernising reform programme. this latest move will now give him a nominal control of all the country's security forces but at the country's security forces but at the same time the removal of —— from office is bound to upset more conservative elements. saudi arabia isa conservative elements. saudi arabia is a deeply tribal society, an used to change. it is currently conducting a war against yemen, another against so—called islamic state and a boycott against its neighbour, qatar. what's clear is the regime is struggling very much, he's trying to consolidate power and this attack by the houthis on the capital has been an embarrassment to say the least. visa risky times in the desert kingdom. frank gardner,

bbc news. —— visa risky times. —— visa risky times. —— these are risky times. 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 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 the movement 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'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. earlier we spoke to barak barfi. he's a research fellow with the new america foundation and he also lived in yemen for a year. i asked him about the houthis targeting the airport. this is a big step forward, they've been able to use ballistic missiles, these are long—range missiles that likely came from iran to put pressure on the saudi arabian government, which has been bombarding yemen for several yea rs 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 the defence ministry 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 years now and we know in 2015 there was cross—border shelling, the saudis invited a pan—arab satellite station, which some of the princes owned, to the borders to show the arab world how they would respond to the shelling. at this point in 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've 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. yes, definitely. ayatollah khomeini, who led the revolution in the late ‘70s to take over iran from the shah, he wanted to export the revolution but he largely failed. the only country they could export the revolution to was hezbollah, it is a shia organisation and is able to take over lebanon at this time and it took over the sunni 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 lebanon. he doesn't have the leadership capabilities of this father and this is worrisome to the sunni bloc, notjust in lebanon but the larger arab world.

what will it mean for the delicate balance between the sects lebanon? hezbollah has been in charge for more than a decade now so not much. in 2007, the sunnis and their christian allies wanted to crack down on hezbollah when it was discovered that hezbollah had a secret communications network and they were controlling aspects of the network. there will be little change in lebanon. in the larger arab world, this does indicate a shift that iran is really winning the sunni—shia cold war and there is little the saudis can do unless the saudis step up to the plate and help 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 win this war on their own. australian prime minister malcolm turnbull has rejected a renewed 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. at a press conference after meeting with new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern, mr turnbull said the offer to take in 150 men might be considered in future. let's speak now to our correspondent phil mercer, who's in sydney. phil, first of all, explained the background to this detention centre.

—— explain. it was first opened in 2001 and a few years later it was closed, it was reopened in 2012 to house asylum seekers who were intercepted by australia trying to reach this country by c. last year the supreme court in papua new guinea said that the detention facility on manus island was unconstitutional. —— country by c. 0n unconstitutional. —— country by c. on tuesday australia effectively walked away, turning out the lights, but around 600 men still inside are refusing to leave, they're refusing to go to auldana did community accommodation because they believe it will be too dangerous. —— alternative. they say they have been attacked by locals in recent months and that's why they are refusing to walk out of the gates a few days after it officially closed. the detention centre is rather controversial within australia and within the international community?

since 2013, australia has automatically detained asylum seekers who come by ce the app manus island or another offshore processing centre on the tiny republic of nauru —— who come by c to manus island. of oche australia says it guarantees australia's manage time borders but critics have consistently criticised conditions inside the camp as being in the main and cruel —— maritime borders. the united nations has criticised these camps as well as various human rights organisations and the general criticism is the conditions inside these camps are harsh and australia is violating international law. do you think mr turnbull will have appreciated this offer from turnbull will have appreciated this offerfrom new turnbull will have appreciated this offer from new zealand turnbull will have appreciated this offerfrom new zealand or might there be any hint of embarrassment? this offer has been made before by

new zealand a few years ago. it was rejected then. it's been rejected today, sunday here in australia. the main reason for that as far as the australian government is concerned, while back it agreed with the outgoing 0bama administration for the united states to take about 1200 refugees from manus island and nauru. currently about 50 people have been resettled. donald trump once described it as a done deal. the prime minister of australia, malcolm turnbull, still thinks that's a priority, he still wants his government to pursue that deal and he thinks it's the best way to try to relocate some of the refugees from papua new guinea and nauru to other countries, because all the way through this australia says no refugee on manus island or nauru will ever set foot here in australia. film earth in sydney, thank you very much. —— phil mercer in sydney. donald trump has arrived injapan, the first stop on what will be

the longest tour of asia by an american president for a generation. in an address to us and japanese troops at an airbase near tokyo, mr trump praised the alliance with japan. the tour is set to be dominated by the crisis over north korea's nuclear programme. 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. the president met prime minister abe for lunch before a round of golf, where they had an opportunity to informally discuss north korea and regional security. when mr trump arrives in south korea on tuesday, he'll also have strong support for his stance on pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. 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. 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 injapan for the first leg of his 12—day tour of five asian countries. he's currently playing golf with the japanese prime minister, shinzo abe. a typhoon which battered southern and central vietnam has left at least 27 people dead, and more than 20 missing. typhoon damrey made

landfall on saturday, with winds of up to 90 kilometres an hour. more than 40,000 homes have been damaged, and there have been widespread power cuts. caroline davies reports. twisted, broken, flattened — buildings that could not stand up to the strength of typhoon damrey. it ripped through vietnam from the early hours of saturday morning, tearing off roofs, uprooting trees, and knocking down electricity cables. debris litters roads. few storms bring the military onto the streets, but this one is thought to be the strongest country has seen for 16 years. the damage was not only on the land. at sea, waves beached ships. this rickety houseboat struggled against the tides. the government say six ships capsized with 61 people on board. 25 have been rescued. there is no word on the others.

and it's not over yet. although the winds have died down, the rains bring new dangers — land— and mudslides. it is the wet season here but central vietnam may see much of its rainfall in only one week. the storm is expected to continue west, moving to the gulf of thailand and on. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news: islamic state militants 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 refugees gathered on the eastern bank of the euphrates river have been killed or injured. on friday, is lost control of deir az—zour city, its last remaining stronghold in syria. 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. 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. his lawyers had argued that he was suffering from mental conditions and shouldn't face prison. we spoke earlier to eugene fidell, the lead defence counsel for bowe bergdahl, who also teaches military law at yale school of law. he confirmed he would appeal and gave his reaction to president trump's intervention into the case. 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. 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. 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. 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. the stick! you can keep up—to—date on our website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @duncan golestani stay with us, we are back in a few moments with the headlines.

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. now on bbc news, a look back over an eventful week in parliament.