welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories: john mccain, the us senator and former presidential candidate, has died. senator mccain was 81, a vietnam war veteran who'd been taken prisoner. he'd been diagnosed with a brain tumour last year. tributes have been paid from across the political world from presidents trump and obama who said he was an american hero. hello and welcome to the programme. we have breaking news. the us senator and former presidential candidate john mccain has died at the age of 81. the vietnam war veteran had been suffering from brain cancer. although he was a republican, he was a frequent critic

of president trump. chris buckler looks back at his life. john mccain was a politician of principle. a patriot who believed in his country, and fought for it at tremendous cost to himself. as a young navy pilot, he was shot down over hanoi, interrogated and tortured. his capture saw a potential propaganda coup, when his father became the commander of us forces in vietnam and offered him release. but john mccain refused despite the many beatings he had suffered. on his return, he was hailed as a war hero and entered politics. and would eventually spend 35 years representing republicans inside congress. but he was fiercely independent and often spoke out against the party, notably challenging the influence of big money on american politics. the party establishment will not finish me off anywhere.

why is that? because i will break the iron triangle in washington of money, lobbying and legislation and they know would that would be very, very disruptive financially to a lot of people's lives. he may have challenged washington, but he was respected here too. and in 2008, he was selected as a republican presidential candidate. you but his campagin was not without mistakes and he was criticised as choosing sarah pailin as his running mate. ultimately, he was to lose to history in the form of barack obama. i wish the outcome had been different, my friends, the road was a difficult one from the outset. but your support and friendship never wavered. in the divisive and aggressive world of american politics, there was always respect shown between pesident obama and john mccain. but donald trump didn't always show him such courtesy. he's not a war hero. he is a war hero because he was captured. i like people that

weren't captured, 0k? i hate to tell you. he was a war hero because he was captured! his influence was still obvious in the twilight of his career. after brain surgery, he walked into the senate and stopped donald trump's attempts to get rid of the obamacare health reforms. with a grand gesture, he turned his thumb down. john mccain was a fighter till the end. he lived longer than expected after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. his family said it was with his usual strength of will that he chose to stop receiving medical treatment, but he was a man who never gave up hope in politics, or in his own personal battles. i'm going home for a while to treat my illness. i have every intention of returning here and giving many of you cause to regret all the nice things you said about me. and i hope to impress on you again that it is an honour to serve the american people in your company.

thank you, fellow senators, mr president. applause. tributes are pouring in forjohn mccain. here are just a few of them. barack obama, who ran against senator mccain in 2008, said: former vice—presidentjoe biden, who served many years withjohn mccain in the senate, said: his daughter, meghan mccain, issued a statement, saying: president trump tweeted:

president george w bush, who beat mccain to the republican presidential nomination in the year 2000, said: governor sarah palin, mccain's running mate in 2008, said: and senator chuck schumer said: looking at what his wife said:

he passed away he lived on his own terms around by the people he loved and the place that he loved best. the bbc‘s anthony zurcherjoins me live from washington. he's recently produced a radio documentary on his life and career. i suspect those tweets just kind of sum up the man. i think so. and you can see how well respected and liked he was across american politics, not just members of his own party, who he spied with our times, but also the democrats. when he ran from president in 2000, there were many

democratic voters who saw him as a republican who spoke truth to power and ran against an establishment that they were tired of. i think you could see thatjohn mccain, because of the way he conducted himself, because he occasionally broke ranks with his own party, because he voted for his principles and spoke up for what he believed in an engaged and spoke out against the corruption of money and politics, i think you could see that he was... i was saying that what is it about

john mccain, what is so special about his life that wanted you to make a break —— radio documentary about him? his life span and are essentially of what is called the american century, the time when american century, the time when america became a global, political, cultural and military power. he was born on the eve of world war two, the son of an admin —— admiral, he fought in vietnam war, he was in a scandal involving money in politics and influence, he transcended that and influence, he transcended that and became a reformer, a very active reformer of. he obviously ran the president in 2000, capitalising on the same sorts of spirit and sentiment that eventually led to donald trump ausmat election. he ran in 2008 against barack obama. he was

well respected in that campaign, and in the past decade he was always willing to speak his mind and he cast a decisive vote against his own party, i think that encapsulated type of person john party, i think that encapsulated type of personjohn mccain was, that he would do what he thought was right, and time and time again, talking to the people who knewjohn mccain, worked with him in his campaign to spend time with him at the naval academy, he was a man who stuck by his principles, stuck up for the little guy and he did what he thought was right. thank you very much. joining me now on the phone is mica mosbacher. she was national co—chair of women for mccain when senator mccain ran for president and she knew him for over 20 years. thank you so much the joining us. you must be heartbroken today. yes, iam. first you must be heartbroken today. yes, i am. first of all, might husband died of pancreatic cancer and was

diagnosed shortly after the 2008 presidential election, so i know first found —— first—hand how they are feeling, and i have to chime in and say thatjohn mccain was a man of great principle, but he also exemplified the greatest generation, a man of courage and conviction, a maverick, fiercely independent who stood up for his principles and loved his country, and he really died with his boot on. i have a personal story to share a. my husband and i have decided to help john mccain in the 2008 presidential election, but we were helping him on thought of a marginal basis, and in about 2007, john mccain's money dried up. and you know, money is the

mothers milk politics. john mccain's campaign was pretty much gutted. and my husband and i had decided that after my son got married in 2007, we we re after my son got married in 2007, we were going to sort of semi— retire from politics and take a honeymoon cruise kind of really have the honeymoon to the bahamas, and one night a husband came to me and said, i have got to help this man. i thought, i guess i'm not packing for a cruise. he said, i'm going to washington, his money has dried up, and the secretary of commerce were the legendary fundraiser for george bush senior who really credited him with putting him into office, and so bob went to washington and they offered him an extension of the pentagon, kind of disk crummy headquarters, fright —— quite frankly, certainly not commerce department, and bod —— bob made the

phone call and would slowly, one by one, procure a cheque from donors, and they sent a messenger out to pick up the cheque and davis was a campaign manager, he would walk across the street to the bank and deposit the cheque. slowly, the money came in. i relocated to washington as well and bob and i shared an office, we raise money to john mccain. we spent a lot of time in our home in houston withjohn as well helping to raise money and to strategise, and i talked to his family and both women of independent spirit, cindy did so many things worldwide the charity including operation smile, and followed other interests. she was very quiet about what she did. megan was a fiercely independent bright young woman, and

i know that her father as well as cindy's husband was the light of their lives. my husband lost his wife in 2010 and john mccain was speaker at his funeral in washington. this is a very emotional moment for me. i can imagine. we have seen various pictures, for example, the last statement he made on the senate floor before leaving to go and receive treatment, and also pictures of both of you together. we often talk about his childhood and the fact that he moved around a lot because of his father's job as an admiral in the navy. but he found a home in arizona where he had thought of the, staple of the community, and we saw pictures, people were commenting on how sad they are seeing the pictures of the hearse pulling in to his ranch in arizona. yes, it's such a beautiful

place, very peaceful. he met the love of his life, cindy, who was from arizona, but that explained why he was drawn to that state. i would like to think of it this way. he was the phoenix that rose from the ashes so to speak during the campaign, especially after his monetary funds dried up. and i think that its amplifiers who he was. he kept rising from the ashes so graciously, gave such a wonderful concession speech the night he lost and he reached out to president obama and you said earlier on your programme, your correspondence said that he was able to reach across the aisle and to understand john mccain, you had to understand john mccain, you had to have known his mother, roberta. the most fiercely independent woman i have ever met. during the campaign, she shrugged and said, i don't want any aid, i do want any assistance. she was so fiercely independent that when she was too

old to rent a car in europe, she just went out and bought one. that is tojohn mccain was. thank you very much. she is the national coach out of women for mccain when the senator ran from president in 2008. alex bolton is senior affairs senate reporter with the hill newspaper and he's in washington. biogas, if you were talking about the most recognisable faces, voices and figures in the senate, senator mccain would arguably been top five? —— i guess, if you. mccain would arguably been top five? -- i guess, if you. absolutely. he is probably the best—known member of the senate, or was, is probably the best—known member of the senate, orwas, until is probably the best—known member of the senate, or was, until his passing. as evidenced by the fact that the bbc is having an extended programme on him. he was a start like we haven't seen since, i think, ted kennedy died. a bigger star than

hillary clinton barack obama were in the senate, though they had distinct careers after the senate. in terms ofa careers after the senate. in terms of a star senator, i have been covering the senate for 20 years and i think there is nobody who had his charisma and had his appeal. 0n i think there is nobody who had his charisma and had his appeal. on both sides of the aisle, i think. that is why i think he called the media his base, because the media loved him. even when they hated him they still couldn't get enough of him. he was such a great story. we often talk about gridlock in washington these days and how people never vote with the other side, nobody ever crosses the other side, nobody ever crosses the aisle, so to speak. but senator mccain was known as somebody who criticised his own side, and also reached across to the opponents? absolutely. i mean, he had some major bipartisan competence, probably the biggest one in 2002

when he passed the campaign finance reform act. it was a landmark act is and what was so amazing about accomplishment was that at the time, the republicans control the house and george w bush, the republican president, was in the white house. they oppose campaign finance reform, but mccain, working with the democrats, who controlled the senate, was able to get it passed, really based on his force of personality and sheer charisma. he jilted the republican party into going along with it. —— guilted. he was a man of principle and he felt so strongly about his principles and when you disagreed with him he not only called you out, he also called the rat in moral terms. he would point out your disagreement has a moral failing. point out your disagreement has a moralfailing. that point out your disagreement has a moral failing. that could point out your disagreement has a moralfailing. that could have, it could be a very effective way to persuade people, because people knew thatjohn mccain was somebody who stood on principle and when you got called out why him it was a bad thing. he had, ithink, the called out why him it was a bad thing. he had, i think, the trust of

voters. he had the trust of many of his colleagues on capitol hill. i think he had ability unlike many, many politicians in washington and i think it was because of his willingness to speak out on principle. going back to the 2000 campaign against george w bush for president, it was one of the times when he had a lapse, when he did not stand on principle, during the primary in south carolina when there was a big controversy over the state house flying the confederate flag, john mccain called it, as he saw it, a symbol of racism and intolerance. and he basically, his political advisers told him, you know, you can't do this, this is a big mistake. john mccain then amended his position and said he could understand both sides of the flag debate. he thought that was something that hurt him. years

later, or put it this way, after the campaign he came back to south carolina and apologise to voters and said, idid carolina and apologise to voters and said, i did not stand on principles, idid not said, i did not stand on principles, i did not stand for the truth. i apologise for that. i just think thatis apologise for that. i just think that is a remarkable anecdote from his career, because how often do you see a politician, after a race has been won, and they lose, to come back and apologise for not speaking the truth? i think things like that gave him credibility, and that credibility allowed him to work across the aisle and allowed him to get people to support things even when they didn't really want to. campaignfinance when they didn't really want to. campaign finance reform being a good example. thank you very much. that was alex bolton, who covers the us senate for the american political website the hill and has reported on senator mccain's work for many yea rs. steve herman is white house bureau chief with voice of american news. he's in washington. thank you so much forjoining us.

this is a day for, sort of, a dark day in washington, so to speak. it isa day in washington, so to speak. it is a day which will be tugging on the hearts of many people in the city. yes, there is no doubt about it. we are hearing from both sides of the aisle, former presidents, both republican and democrat, offering condolences and is very clearly stating what a remarkable senator and statesman john mccain was. i can tell you as a journalist, those of us who interviewed him over the years, he was always available for quotes. he had an encyclopaedic knowledge about what was going on in the world. he was the chair of the very powerful armed services committee. and most remarkably, in recent months, and in the past couple of years, he was the most prominent republican willing to take

on, directly, donald trump, both during the campaign and during president trump's administration as well. let's touch on a couple of thoseissues well. let's touch on a couple of those issues in terms of global affairs. i know that many world leaders will knowjohn mccain from his frequent trips to various countries, and he is being at the forefront of american diplomacy. what do you think his legacy is on that front? i think he is somebody who showed true compassion for what was happening all over the world. but he was someone who was a fierce defender of america's power and felt that america had a leading role to play in the world. i would run into him in places like singapore, where he would be deeply engaged in geopolitical issues that were happening in that part of the world. probably some of that comes from his time as being a prisoner in

vietnam's, and he was of course among those, despite what happened to him, he was tortured repeatedly over a period of years as a captive in north booval. —— north of vietnam's. he was among those who felt the time was right for the united states to have diplomatic relations and solve things from a geopolitical aspects —— aspect. the vietnamese, he knew, felt co mforta ble vietnamese, he knew, felt comfortable in this era with entering into some sort of accommodation with the united states asa accommodation with the united states as a bull walk —— bulwark against china. so he was very much a realist and willing to put whatever feelings he hard a side, despite being tortured by the vietnamese. -- had aside. and in the past couple of yea rs, aside. and in the past couple of years, since president trump got the republican nomination for the

presidency, he was a vocal critic of president trump? he was probably the most prominent republican who criticised donald trump during the campaign. he said bluntly that donald trump was unfit to be president of the united states. he then reluctantly supported the republican nominee when donald trump ca ptu red republican nominee when donald trump captured the nomination, but then withdrew that when there was that so—called access hollywood tape, which came out. and after trump was inaugurated and the various things that the president had said, that's mccain strongly disagreed with, he would never hesitate to criticise the president. of course, the president, clearly, was irked by that. he repeatedly criticised mccain. just as a very few days ago he was still talking aboutjohn

mccain's thumbs down vote for repealing and replacing 0bamacare which prevented the republican party from getting that passed in the senate is. we have had nothing else from the white house so far apart from the white house so far apart from that tweet the president put out. many people here, including some in the white house, felt that after we got word yesterday that the senator had stopped his cancer treatment, that that would have been the appropriate time before he died to have issued something positive aboutjohn mccain's legacy from the white house. just briefly, steve, would it be fair to say that because of his age and the tenor with which he served in the senate, this is the end of a narrow? -- end of any. i certainly think so. as far as sitting senators go, we had bob dole and then in the past we had barry goldwater as the type who were seen

asa goldwater as the type who were seen as a very tough, straight talking, but willing to work across the aisle. who can replacejohn mccain? nobody. that will be up to the arizona governor, to put somebody in until 2020. whoever that person is, i think they will be the first to admit that they cannot really step into the shoes ofjohn mccain. admit that they cannot really step into the shoes of john mccain. steve herrmann, white house era chief at voice of america news, thank you so much forjoining us. —— bureau chief. 0ur our main headline here on the bbc is that senatorjohn mccain, former us presidential candidate, has died at the age of 81. he stopped receiving treatment for cancer on friday and he died with his family in arizona on saturday. that is all we've got time for now. thank you forjoining us. time for now. thank you forjoining us. goodbye. hello there.

more sunshine today, fewer showers. it still didn't feel very warm. 21 was the top. that was in southampton. you would expect to be a bit warmer, but it is not really the case. 0vernight, temperatures not quite as low, but it will feel quite chilly, i think, during sunday, because it is going to be dull and it is going to bea is going to be dull and it is going to be a bit rainy as well. maybe starting drive the eastern scotland and eastern england but we will see the rain elsewhere pushing its way eastwards, quite heavy rain at times, especially for wales and the south—west. improving and brightening up in northern ireland in the afternoon with breaks coming over the irish sea later in the day. quite a blustery day, especially windy around the coast of wales in southern england. the wettest weather in the south—east later on in the day. 17, perhaps, but only

1312 in scotland, even though the rain might not amount to much. typically it will all clear away as things start to get dark and we see those skies clearing overnight. still showers across the northern half of the uk, a bit breezy as well, so nothing too cold despite the low temperatures through the day. monday, a bank holiday for most, and much better day. a blustery westerly wind, and some showers blowing in for the western and northern half of the uk. further south and east, it is going to be a largely dry day, a few scattered showers and with some sunshine it will be warmer, significantly so in scotland, low 20s in the south—east of england and east anglia. in between, two weather systems on monday and tuesday, this one arriving in the north—west. got to keep an eye on this developing low pressure around biscay, more on that ina pressure around biscay, more on that in a moment. we don't really see the rain developing until later in northern england. probably a bit warmer, temperatures into the mid—20s in the south—east. a few showers not far away. the other side

of the channel, we saw that low pressure there. that could arrive in the showers into the eastern side of england overnight. lots of uncertainty about the forecast on wednesday. that weather front is moving in from the atlantic and that will be a bit more dominant. most of the showers and arrange a steering away from east anglia and the south—east. the next weather fronts not amounting to two much, then we get the sunshine and following behind there will be a few showers in the north—west, slightly cooler and fresher. as we head towards the end of the week, the end of the month, we are likely to find high pressure building on, and that will see a return to dry conditions and good spells of sunshine and it should feel a bit warmer as well. that's it from me. that night. this is bbc news. the headlines: tributes are being paid to the united states senator and former presidential candidate john mccain, who has died at the age of 81. he was diagnosed with a brain tumour last year. he was a critic of president trump and continued to play an active role in politics until very recently. on his first official visit to ireland, pope francis has met

survivors of abuse by members of the roman catholic church. among them was a prominent survivor of sexual abuse by a priest in the 1960s and at least two people born in homes for unmarried mothers. hundreds of venezuelans have been allowed into peru, just hours after the country said any venezuelan crossing the border would need a passport. a senior official in one border town said they were requesting refugee status. many had travelled with an identity card only and were stranded at the border. women in england will be allowed to take an early abortion pill at home, under a government plan due to take effect by the end