could get financial aid, if it gives up nuclear weapons. he made the comments after meeting with his south korean counterpart. france and germany are moving to safeguard their economic interests in iran. paris has asked the european union to revive sanctions—blocking measures — if washington punishes firms for doing business with tehran. malaysia's jailed opposition leader anwar ibrahim has been given a full and immediate pardon by the country's new prime minster mahathir mohamad. he's also been told he could take the top job in a couple of years. the chief inspector at the un's nuclear watchdog, the international atomic energy agency, has resigned. no reason was given for his sudden departure. now on bbc news, glenn campbell tells the little known story of ss tuscania and hms otranto. 100 years ago, war‘s grim tide swept

this coastline. as the island of islay‘s sons fought away on the western front, at home their families could not escape the conflict. the carnage came to them. in two separate shipping disasters. this is the almost forgotten story of how islay cope with mass casualties in the first world war. to wa ke casualties in the first world war. to wake up in the morning going out toa to wake up in the morning going out to a day ‘s work and to be met with this tragedy in orbit at wadis, must have been horrific. islay's small community share the grief of an emerging superpower and one injuring respect. the fact that so lovingly cared for the soldiers and cared to make sure that they have the proper

burial and have the proper flag in order to be buried under the flag, shows that it was very heartfelt. century on, islanders and americans are coming together to remember twin disasters that destroyed lives and discovered heroes. i think it's a wonderful tribute to all the young men who lost their lives, but to me it is also a tribute to the people of islay. 2018 is the centenary of the first world war ending. a yearfor commemorating events that shaped the course of history. i was brought up on islay, which is remembering the hundreds killed when two troop ships

went down. tragedy is that tested this farming, fishing and whiskey making island to its limits act in 1918. and by then the community was already enduring considerable pain. there was about 150 men already killed, and that is of a population of about 6000 people. everyone would have known someone or been related to someone who had died in france. and of course none of these young men had graves on islay. the island was far from the western front, but it was not removed from the wall. its position at the mouth of the north channel between mainland britain and ireland was on the front line in the battle at sea. the united states entered the war in 1917, and sent many ships, packed with soldiers and supplies across the atlantic. these convoys were

protected by the navy. so i asked a modern—day commander how the system worked. they would zig-zag across the atlantic, notjust from a to b. they were defended by destroyers leaving america and entering the uk, however the majority of the atlantic crossing was undefended, with the exception of a few arms and munitions on the armed merchant ships. the greatest threat to the convoys lurked beneath the waves. german u—boats with crews trained to hunt and german u—boats with crews trained to huntand sink german u—boats with crews trained to hunt and sink ships. on the sixth of the very 1918, a convoy from new york turned into the north channel and was spotted by submarine u b 77. —— february six 19 18. and was spotted by submarine u b 77. -- february six 19 18. it followed that convoy of ages, terrified of

being run over by british destroyers being run over by british destroyers being found by british destroyers, it played a real game of cat and mouse and eventually captain meyer of the ub 77 got a big transport ship in his sights, and fired two torpedoes. they were attacking the ss tuscania, a luxury liner converted to the war effort. the ship was carrying almost 2500 us soldiers and british crew when it was hit. a torpedo is a ship killer, it is apparently one of the worst ways to disable a ship, because it creates an air bubble above the explosion, and literally breaks the back of the ship. and one hit the ss tuscania and midships, this board —— destroyed its boiler room, and the ship was now a powerless hulk. the call came to abandon ship, and hundreds made to the lifeboats. among them a young man from michigan

who had never been to see. in america, i met his youngest son i met his youngest son there had been at least one or two british destroyers came alongside and tried to ta ke destroyers came alongside and tried to take off those survivors, some we re to take off those survivors, some were successful, some were not, they we re were successful, some were not, they were dumped into the ocean and drowned or were crushed between the ships and everything. so finally him and another guy decided that they we re and another guy decided that they were going to try and lower lifeboat, and they each got in at and they lowered it, and did it successfully. and they were alone and they really did not know where they were, and are tied pretty much took them. —— the tide. they were, and are tied pretty much took them. -- the tide. it took them here, to this treacherous stretch of islay's coastline. the pensioner is remote, wild and unforgiving. what happened was —— peninsular. they have the sound of surf. so they knew

they were getting close to it, breaking water. but they were not control on the boat very well, and it roach, it got sideways. and before they reach the shore it overturned. so those who made it into lifeboats were swept towards this rugged coastline, and when they reach the shore, many were shipwrecked a second time. we thought he was going to die, but at last he grabbed hold of a rock and when the sea receded he managed to hang on. he climbed to the shore, and there was another shoulder within, he managed to —— soldier. he managed to hang on as well, and when daylight came they saw the other bodies floating up on the beach and they heard someone, and evidently it was a scottish farmer who ultimately found him, my father, alive and

believed that other —— i believe the other soldier with him passed away during the night of exposure. other soldier with him passed away during the night of exposurem other soldier with him passed away during the night of exposure. it may have been farmer robert morrison who saved after. he risked his life rescuing soldiers from the rocks and took them to his home where his family fed dozens of survivors home—baked bombs. —— sconce. —— sconce. alistair grew up hearing tales of the ss tuscania, he has farmed on this land all his life and knows little and well, and remembers robert kelling him the story of one of the ben ross —— washed ashore. the first thing he did put his hand in his wallet in his pocket, and wallet out, and robert would never. . .

wallet out, and robert would never... he would never take any money, but he was telling us. one of the survivors was... wanting to pay him for rescue of the rocks. but he wouldn't take anything. nearby the farmer here also save lives without seeking reward. he gave food and shelter to 1a survivors, his name was duncan campbell. he was a galax bega, he rarely spoke english —— a lick speaker. gaelic. and he would say, what an awful sight seeing the bodies piling up in the galleys, it was an awful sight, but we found strength to do it. it was wonderful what was achieved. but initially there were a lot of bodies, but four

days maybe weeks after, there were other bodies being swept ashore. duncan campbell is buried near some of the victims of the ss tuscania here at the cemetery in port ellen. he would actually be involved in many sea rescues during his lifetime. but it was for what he did for the ss tuscania survivors that he and the obe. i am particularly proud of duncan campbell, it was what i did not know until we started making this film is that he was my great—grandfather's rubber. —— brother. the ss tuscania sinking was a massive disaster for a small island to manage. nearly 150 survivors, needed food accommodation

and medical care. and then there we re and medical care. and then there were the dead. eventually almost 200 bodies were washed ashore. and the man in charge of relief and recovery was gaelic —— was islay's malcolm mcneil. his grandson is a well—known public figure. he was in the building that is now a bank, and he could have had no experience of anything on a major scale. hisjob would have been largely administrative in an island without any real crime. the island with just four police officers had to identify and bury nearly 200 men. this is like lockerbie, or 7—7, and bury nearly 200 men. this is like lockerbie, or7—7, or even and bury nearly 200 men. this is like lockerbie, or 7—7, or even 911. for a small community, the huge events taking place with deaths, bodies, survivors and the calamity

that was involved, certainly in the early stages before any of the emergency services could be mobilised to come. it was probably one of the worst things they had ever seen one of the worst things they had everseen in our one of the worst things they had ever seen in our lives. most if not all of the young men were away in the war. on the days of funerals and burials, the women almost from every household would line up with tears streaming down their cheeks, in a dreadful state. despite their trauma, the islanders worked tirelessly to bury the dead with dignity. but there was a problem — they had no american flag of a funerals. so this small group of locals made one. and here it is. carefully preserved in washington's smithsonian museum. the fact that they so lovingly cared for the soldiers and cared to make sure that

they were... had the proper burial and have the properflag in order to be buried under that flag shows that they, it was very heartfelt. people went out of their way to respect those who had just recently lost their lives. the seeming is not quite straight, but when you turn the flag over it looks beautiful. and it is still a very well—made flag eve n and it is still a very well—made flag even though it was done very quickly. this year the flag is coming home for the centenary. on loa n to coming home for the centenary. on loan to the museum of islay life where it will take pride of place. the flag to me as one of the key elements of the commemoration. the creation of the flag to give them the proper respect. in rural that military people should get was foremost in people's mines. and i

think that sums up really the caring and compassionate way that people are on this island. within weeks of the tuscania sinking, survivors were fighting on the western front. arthur siplon fought in france and survive that conflict to come home and marry. he had a life that continued on, and to me, so did i and all my siblings. but i think the other thing that made him was that it made him realise the frailty of human life, and how important it is to live your life fully while you have the opportunity, and not fritter it away, make it worthwhile. in america, the disaster seemed to galvanise support to us involvement in the war. a generation of young

men signed up for military service on the other side of an ocean. on october six, 1918 the troopship hms otranto was nearing the west coast of islay in a terrible storm. it was ina of islay in a terrible storm. it was in a convoy with hms kashmir, but its journey was about to be cut short. and it wasn't an act of war that put the ship in peril, it was human error. an accident. when ships are navigating incredibly closely together you have to be very careful of any manoeuvre that you make. and with the wind and tide and the weather, that would have only added to the difficulty. the kashmir, who correctly identified islay as islay, then altered to started and her bow was u nfortu nately then altered to started and her bow was unfortunately smashed into the hms otranto midships and caused a whole host of catastrophic effects.

the hms kashmir, which was about ten 11,000 tons of steel, just hammered into the side of the hms otranto, hitting it midships and destroying the boiler room and engine room, killing 20 or 30 people instantly. and be otra nto killing 20 or 30 people instantly. and be otranto was stuck wallowing in the sea in a force 11 gale with a huge gash in its side, with no power, and slowly sinking. in near hurricane conditions, the royal navy destroyer, hms mancy, came alongside the otranto, destroyer, hms mancy, came alongside the otra nto, giving destroyer, hms mancy, came alongside the otranto, giving soldiers and sailors the chance to jump aboard. one who did was sam leavy, a us army officer from one who did was sam leavy, a us army officerfrom georgia. he trained here at fort screven, where i heard his story from his grandson. after all his men at the lifeboat station that he was manning had jumped,

fortu nately that he was manning had jumped, fortunately the mancy came alongside again and he made the decision to jump again and he made the decision to jump along and he did. but as it turned out, he picked daytime where the otranto was going on, the mancy was coming up, and so when he landed on the mancy it was a very harbour landing. the mancy's commander was lieutenant france's craven. he is high risk rescue saved around 600 men, while the rest of the convoy steamed on. the convoy was under orders, by the way, that if any ship was disabled,, orders, by the way, that if any ship was disabled, , no orders, by the way, that if any ship was disabled,, no other ship was to be rendering assistance. in my viewpoint, captain craven a real hero. the real hero of the event. he saved hundreds of lives that would have otherwise been lost, including... my grandfather! those left a boa rd including... my grandfather! those left aboard the sinking ship were

being swept towards islay was met west coast. the otranto's upton was running out of time. there was nothing captain davidson could do to save his ship. his best hope was that the storm would wash it ashore, here at the safety of makkah bay. that was not to be. the waves lifted the otranto that was not to be. the waves lifted the otra nto ended that was not to be. the waves lifted the otranto ended dumped its down on toa the otranto ended dumped its down on to a reef. it broke its back and broke the ship into a million pieces. this would not be a large—scale rescue operation. those cast into the cold, heaving atlantic had little chance. many were torn apart by the wreckage. just 21 men came out of the sea alive. some help ashore by the macphee family. just

up ashore by the macphee family. just up in the shepherd ‘s cottage behind me here. it would all be happening in front of them. all they had to hand was there crooks, because they we re hand was there crooks, because they were young shepherds at the time, and they would use what they had. that is the length of life and death. that was as far as they could reach? that's right. it must have been so sad for them, waking up in the morning to a normal day's works, hundreds of dead bodies by the evening. it was horrendous. once again, islay out of the grim task of finding, identifying, and burying the dead. so, this notebook that has survived since the otranto disaster, 90 at pages of copperplate, handwritten descriptions. —— 90 odd pages. this is lieutenant vh kaufman. "body in a decayed state,

falling to pieces". there were letters in his pocket. the detail with which he has written each one of these descriptions, of each of the bodies, seems to be a herculean piece of work. the people of islay buried almost 400 soldiers and sailors from the otranto. they had more outside help this time, but this disaster still required the whole island to pull together. you only have to look at the photographs of the bodies to know that this was a real tragedy, involving real human beings. on a small islands, where the size of the tragedy, you know, would seep into the soul. growing up on islay i neverfully

would seep into the soul. growing up on islay i never fully appreciated how significant this year of double disaster was. i think when certain generations died off, it was forgotten. this has been revived now, i really don't know what the effect will be on some people, because there were so many families touched by the whole thing. people, evenin touched by the whole thing. people, even in my home, rarely talked about it. there is one very visible memorial, built by the american red cross, just after the war, on the 10th remark. —— on the mull of ole. the red cross felt like, since this area was away from what was considered the theatre of war, for world war i, that there needed to be something there to remember the fallen soldiers. this was a little different. this was unique. this was

a large event in the grand scheme of casualties for the united states in world war i. for hundreds of the americans who perished in these disasters, islay was only aid temporarily place of burial. in keeping with american military tradition, their bodies were taken home after the war. except for one. private roy monkhorst, whose family decided he should you left where the islanders laid him to rest. —— of the left. in georgia, the otranto dad —— and dad are remembered in small towns across the state. just last year this memorial was unveiled in screven county, from where 24—bit scheme. what was it about this story that touched your heart? just the sadness of knowing how small this

community is, in this county. and how young those boys were. i'm sure some of them lied about their age. and just knowing they had gone to fort teifi, seen the ocean for the first time, and having lost their lives at such a young age, and the fa ct lives at such a young age, and the fact that hard on this little county. while some from this little cou nty county. while some from this little county would never grow old, others must certainly did. rose thomason's great uncle, donald cooper, survived the otranto. great uncle, donald cooper, survived the otra nto. he great uncle, donald cooper, survived the otranto. he was rescued by the mounsey and taken to belfast and onto the wall. he never forgot his narrow escape off onto the wall. he never forgot his narrow escape off the coast of islay. he always told war stories to my grandfather, but it wasn't until i was my grandfather, but it wasn't until iwas an my grandfather, but it wasn't until i was an adult that i really started to ta ke i was an adult that i really started to take notice about what he was

saying about world war i. he have to dojump saying about world war i. he have to do jump from saying about world war i. he have to dojumpfrom a saying about world war i. he have to dojump from a sinking ship, did he ever talk about that?” dojump from a sinking ship, did he ever talk about that? i remember him saying that. he just had to do what he had to do. so, you know. it was hard. he said it was very hard. it impacted him, because he still talked about it for years and years, if anybody would ask him about it, and his memory was still really very clear on it. even as he aged and aged and aged. donald cooper's life touched three centuries. he outlived everybody on the otranto, reaching the age of 104. when private donald cooper was laid to rest in this georgia cemetery, the sinking of the otranto passed from living memory into history. the same is true for the tuscania. but in this centenary

year, there are people here in the united states and in scotland determined to make sure that these twin disasters and all those touched by them are not forgotten. this is a year to honour the victims, and to honour what islay did for those in peril, a century ago. the actions of those people, hundreds years ago, rippled through time to affect me, hundreds years later. —— 100 years later. so it sort of tells me, what we do makes a difference. let's not forget the wonderful people of islay risks to our own lives to save our young men. you know, i can imagine going out in a hurricane, freezing cold, and

trying to save those young men's lives, taking the strangers into your home. and to me, it honours them, too. it was a huge contribution to the war effort at the time. but also suit humanity as well, and i think our small and remarkable island played a big part in history, and it should be remembered. hello once again. friday started well enough in many central and eastern parts of the british isles, but from the word go there was a bit of cloud to the bringing rain, not just a glasgow but quite widely across central and western parts in the first part of the day. eventually, though, the far west did p0p eventually, though, the far west did pop out into something brighter, as that whole ribbon of cloud eased its way further east so that all the island, parts of wales and the south—west popped out into some evening sunshine. so this is how we start the weekend, still with that ribbon of cloud, producing rain

across the eastern quarter of the british isles. that ribbon comes backin british isles. that ribbon comes back in after a bright start. south—eastern part should see a little bit of rain in the afternoon, moving towards the east england —— towards eastern england and east anglia. as in the west, the best conditions through the day. the chance of a few showers in northern ireland and western wales, maybe one or two indie ireland and western wales, maybe one ortwo indie far ireland and western wales, maybe one or two indie far south—west and was the channel islands. this is the way we see it later on in the evening, with a pulse of rain working its way slowly but surely up the eastern side of england. out west i think you will hold onto some pretty decent weather. into the wee small hours, that continues itsjourney decent weather. into the wee small hours, that continues its journey up towards the borders and into eastern scotland. under that legate of cloud, eight or nine or 10 degrees, out to the west end into the north, well down into single figures. some doubt about sunday, aboutjust how far west some of this rain is going to get. don't be surprised if it gets all over the midlands for a

time, maybe on to the west of england or towards klaasen. we think much of it happy moment will stay that bit further east. if you've got a plan for sunday you'll just need to get on top of the forecast as we get on through saturday. i think on sunday, again, it is going to be the case that the very best of the conditions will be found out towards the west. here we are as far ahead as monday. the thing here to notice is that there will be much more of the way of wind across the eastern quarter and the cloud will fill in across western scotland and northern ireland as well. many of us will have a dry day, temperatures into the teens, if not towards the low 20 degrees mark. and from there on, for the next couple of days after that, lots of dry weather around and there will be some sunshine in forecast and things will get a tad warmer as well. this is bbc world news. i'm alpa patel. our top stories: the us secretary of state suggests that pyongyang could be in for a financial boost if it gives up nuclear weapons. if kim jong—un takes bold action

to quickly denuclearising the us is prepared to work with north korea. the row over sanctions on iran deepens. the french economy minister says europe shouldn't allow the us to police the world's economy. kenyan authorities say a dam which burst earlier this week — killing at least 45 people — was illegally built. also in the programme, a date at the proms — the first professional ensemble to be led by disabled musicians is set to make its debut.