a. tonight at ten, pope francis apologises and promises firm action on abuses within the church. he told the crowds at an open—air mass in dublin that the controversies engulfing catholicism we re controversies engulfing catholicism were an open wound. translation: we ask forgiveness for the times that, as a church, we did not show the survivors of whatever kind of abuse compassion. with scandals from america to australia, have the pope's words

allayed fear he's handling abuse cases properly? also tonight: a number of people have been killed in a mass shooting at a gaming tournament in florida. the daughter of a british couple who died at a hotel in egypt tells the bbc it wasn't due to natural causes. i think when they went back to that room that evening, there was something in that room that's actually killed them. tributes from around the world for the us senatorjohn mccain, who's died at the age of 81. and we talk to the former pupil paying tribute to her mentor leonard bernstein on the 100th anniversary of his birth. good evening. pope francis has asked the people

of ireland for forgiveness for all the abuses carried out by clergy. he was was speaking at an open air mass attended by more than 100,000 people to mark the end of his two—day visit to the country. addressing worshippers, he begged for forgiveness from god for what he called the "open wound" of sexual and institutional abuse. 0ur religion editor martin bashir reports. at a shrine where 15 people believe they witnessed an apparition of the virgin mary, a man said by the roman catholic church to be the successor of saint peter arrived at knock this morning. good morning. all: good morning. in a brief speech, pope francis extended greetings to the people of northern ireland, and prayed for a continuing commitment to the peace process. and again, he promised to be firm and decisive in dealing with child sexual abuse. well, has he won the people of ireland back? he certainly spoke very

proximately to them. he spoke very simply to them. and i think he has certainly gained the hearts and minds of many people here, which is most important. as he flew back from knock, people were beginning to arrive at what would prove to be the climax of this short visit, the celebration of mass in the vast open space of phoenix park, almost a0 years after the last pa pal visit. it'll be my first time seeing the pope. i remember mam getting ready in ‘79, but i always thought would i really get to see the pope in my lifetime? this might be our only chance. he wears a white like robe, and he has a set of the rosary around his neck. and he's from argentina. not forgetting the hurt and the abuse, that's important that we all remember that, but we're never going to move forward if we don't think of the hope, and pope francis's hope for the church. all ages rushed for a close—up view of the pope as he drove around the grounds for almost 30 minutes.

and then, speaking from handwritten notes in his mother tongue of spanish, he asked ireland to forgive the church for its sins. translation: we ask forgiveness for the times that, as a church, we did not show the survivors of whatever kind of abuse compassion, and the seeking of justice and truth through concrete actions. given the circumstances leading up to this visit, with abuse scandals raging from australia to america, this has been a relatively trouble—free trip for pope francis. but the overall message, both in and outside of catholicism, is that time for talking is now over. and decisive action must be taken if the church in ireland is to thrive once again. six speeches, two internalflights,

meetings with the homeless and victims of abuse. 81—year—old pope francis spared little in his effort to engage with the irish people. martin bashir, bbc news, dublin. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy is in dublin. emma, the pope spoke movingly and passionately about the failures of the church. how do you think his words were received?” the church. how do you think his words were received? i think pope francis was under pressure this weekend, and we saw him condemning clerical abuse more repeatedly than ever before. a number of people we spoke to who turned out to greet him told us they feel very reassured that he is sincere and genuine about tackling this issue, but there are also many survivors of sexual abuse who were listening to his words over the weekend who say they still feel a lack of confidence in the

vatican's own investigations, and some of those survivors spoke to pope francis directly and said they still came away from that meeting feeling that the church isn't going to be robust enough with members of its own clergy who have been involved in cover—ups, and they say thatis involved in cover—ups, and they say that is a culture within the church that is a culture within the church that will take time to change. so i think is pope francis leaves ireland tonight, people will be waiting to see what actions follow. emma vardy, thank you for that. a number of people are believed to have been killed and several injured after a mass shooting at an entertainment complex in florida. it happened during a gaming tournament in the city of jacksonville in the north of the state. police say the suspect was killed at the scene. 0ur correspondent david willis is in washington. david, what more can you tell us? what we know is that the shooting took place at a video gaming tournament at a shopping complex in downtown jacksonville. gamers from

across the country had gathered to ta ke across the country had gathered to take part in that event. it was streaming live when this gunman started to open fire, and you can hear, although the picture goes away, the sound continues and you can hear screaming and a lot of panic. at a news conference within the last few minutes, the local sheriff's deputies down there are saying that people have been killed and injured, but they are not saying at the moment how many, nor are they confirming reports, unconfirmed reports, that the gunman might have been a disaffected gamer, somebody who was actually taking part in this event. within the last hour, the white house press spokesman, sarah sanders, has tweeted saying that president trump has been briefed on the situation injacksonville, and that the white house is monitoring the situation. clive. david, thank you. david willis live with the

latest there from washington. the daughter ofjohn and susan cooper, the british couple who died at a hotel in egypt last week, has told the bbc she's convinced something in their room killed them. kelly 0rmerod, who was also staying at the hotel, believes her parents didn't die of natural causes. egyptian investigators say no trace of poisonous gas has been found in the couple's room. 0ur correspondent stuart flinders reports. john and susan cooper were on a family holiday at the red sea resort of hurghada when they were both taken seriously ill and died on the same day. their daughter, kelly 0rmerod, who arrived home in burnley this morning, was with them. at 11 o'clock, i went and knocked on the door, to see whether they were just having a bit of lie in and didn't want to be bothered. as i opened the door, i could see that my dad was extremely ill. he was staggering back to the bed. mum was laid on the bed and i could tell that something was seriously wrong with them. the egyptian authorities say the couple, both in their 60s, died from heart and respiratory

failure and that an inspection of their room showed there were no toxic or harmful gas emissions or leaks. tests are now being carried out on food, water and air conditioning at the steigenberger aqua magic hotel, as investigators try to establish how the couple died. their granddaughter noticed something suspicious in the room the night they became ill. mum and my daughter went back to their bedroom. as soon as they went into the bedroom, my daughter said that they could smell something that was a little bit funny, that wasn't right. all they did, really, was spray a little perfume to try and eliminate the smell. they then fell asleep and my father came back to the room an hour later, and my daughter woke up and said she felt very unwell with the smell and she wanted to come and return to my room. the tour company, thomas cook, says it's looking into every possibility and expects it to be ten days before the results of tests at the hotel are known. this isjust a solo investigation which are carried out by our independent experts,

in collaboration, of course, with the prosecutors in egypt and we have to leave them, what exactly they are testing. i totally trust that they are testing the right things. john cooper was a builder. his wife, susan, worked at a travel agent's in the centre of burnley. she is described as "loyal and long—serving", and the shop has been closed for the past few days as a mark of respect. their daughter is still coming to terms with her loss. mum and dad were the best parents anybody could wish for. mum was fit and healthy, we used to go to the gym two or three times a week and dad was the same, he was an active walker. postmortem results are expected in the next few days, but it could be weeks before kelly 0rmerod is allowed to bring her parents' bodies home. stuart flinders, bbc news, burnley. the british—iranian woman nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe has been

refused an extension to her temporary release fromjail in iran. her husband richard confirmed she'd returned to evin prison after a three—day release spent with her familyjust outside of the capital, tehran. she was given a five—year sentence in 2016 and accused of spying, a charge she denies. 0ur correspondent caroline davies is here. there was so much hope of an extension to her release, that that would be granted. that hasn't happened, so what now? today did start incredibly optimistically. nazanin was originally told she had been approved for this extension, but that was retracted. she was told it hadn't been signed off and she would have to be back in prison by sunset. we're getting this information from richard, her husband who is based here in the uk. he told us when she found out she was going back to prison, nazanin broke down in tears, as did their

four—year—old daughter who said she didn't want her mother to go back to prison. he says that nazanin was also told by prosecutors that it might be only a few days until the extension was signed and approved, however the family say they have also spoken to the british embassy, and that they haven't been given the same reassurances from the iranian authorities as well, so for now, nazanin remains in a prison cell in iran with no certainty about when or if she might be released again. caroline, thank you. let's take a look at some of the day's other top stories. the government is expected to announce funding for the uk's own satellite navigation system to rival the european union 5 galileo project. it comes after concerns that brexit could restrict britain's access to the programme. emmerson mnangagwa has been sworn in as zimbabwe's president. several african leaders attended the ceremony in the capital harare, along with tens of thousands of his supporters. the main opposition party, the mdc, boycotted the inauguration, refusing to recognise his victory in last month's election,

claiming the vote was rigged. the american playwright neil simon has died at the age of 91. he gained internationalfame in the 19605 for his stage and screen comedies including the odd couple and barefoot in the park. in 1991 he won the pulitzer prize for drama with lost in yonkers. there have been tributes from around the world and from past american presidents tojohn mccain, the respected us politician who's died at the age of 81. the vietnam war hero, defeated by barack 0bama in the 2008 presidential election, had been suffering from a brain tumour and decided to stop treatment two days ago. 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. during the vietnam war, he was shot down over hanoi, captured, interrogated and tortured.

the beatings he received during those years as a prisoner left him with lasting injuries. on his eventual return to the united states, he was hailed as a war hero and entered politics. he was to spend well over three decades representing republicans in congress, but he was fiercely independent, and spoke out against some of the party's policies and the influence of big money in american politics. i will break the iron triangle in washington of money, lobbying and legislation, and they know that would be very, very disruptive financially to a lot of people's lives. mr mccain was seen as a maverick, but he was respected, too. and in 2008 he was selected as a republican presidential candidate. but his campaign was not without mistakes, and he was criticised for choosing sarah palin as his running mate. ultimately, he was to lose to history in the form of america's

first black president. i wish the outcome had been different, my friends. the road was a difficult one from the outset. barack 0bama is, alongside president george w bush, expected to give a eulogy at his funeral. in a statement, mr 0bama said they were members of different generations, came from completely different backgrounds, and competed at the highest level of politics, but he insisted they shared for all their differences a fidelity to something higher. but the current president didn't always show his fellow republican such respect. he's not a war hero. he's a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren't captured, ok, i hate to tell you. john mccain made a point of walking into the senate and blocking mr trump's attempts to repeal the 0bamacare health reforms. with a grand gesture, he simply turned his thumb down. at the white house,

wherejohn mccain was never given the opportunity to serve, the flag has been lowered to half—mast. on friday, he chose to stop receiving medical treatment for the aggressive form of brain cancer he had been suffering from. his family said he took that decision with his usual strength of will. butjohn mccain was a man who never gave up hope in politics or in his own personal battles. i hope to impress on you again that it is an honour to serve the american people in your company. senatorjohn mccain, who's died at the age of 81. with all the day's sport, here's katherine downes at the bbc sport centre. sebastian vettel won the belgian grand prix, beating championship leader lewis hamilton, who started from pole. there was also a huge crash for fernando alonso on the first lap. andy swiss was watching.

a race which belonged to sebastian vettel, but will be remembered not for how it finished but how it started. as lewis hamilton led the cars into the opening corner, behind him just watch this... fernando alonso goes over the top... that no one was injured seemed more remarkable with every replay, after nico hulkenberg catapulted fernando alonso into thin air. his orange car skimming straight over the head of charles leclerc. drivers' cockpits used to be entirely open but this season they have introduced a protective bar called a halo. judging by the marks left on this car, it's perhaps just as well. it was the only first lap drama. moments later, vettel streaked past hamilton and the early chaos gateway to a victory procession, as vettel finished 11 seconds clear. hamilton still leads the championship by 17 points, but this absorbing title duel has

ta ken another twist. andy swiss, bbc news. the british motogp had to be cancelled today due to bad weather at silverstone. more than 90,000 fans were at the track for the race, but teams and officials decided against postponing it. it's the first time since 1980 that a race has been cancelled outright. match of the day 2 follows the news, so look away if you don't want to know today's premier league results. chelsea and watford moved into a share of the lead with liverpool after wins today. chelsea beat newcastle 2—1. despite dogged defence, a late own goal gave chelsea the win at st james's park. watford maintaned their perfect start to the new season with a 2—1 win over crystal palace. and fulham beat burnley 4—2. in the scottish premiership, celtic beat hamilton 1—0, and rangers remain unbeaten under steven gerrard after drawing 3—3 with motherwell. rangers twice came from behind, but motherwell rescued the point

in the dying moments when peter hartley scored from a corner. and great britian‘s men are the wheelchair basketball world champions. they beat the reigning 0lympic champions, the usa, 79—62 to win the world title for the first time. guys, guys that i literally used to look up to and watch hours and hours of clips going up, so to be competing against them and come out victorious against the best team in the world right now, it's ridiculous. congratulations to them. there's more on the bbc sport website, including build—up to the us open tennis which starts tomorrow. andy murray one of four british players in action. but for now, that's all from me. thanks, katherine, katherine downes there. it's 100 years since the birth of leonard bernstein, one of the most influential musicians, composers and conductors of the 20th century. the anniversary is being celebrated

around the world, including at the edinburgh international festival and the bbc proms, where his one—time pupil and protege, marin alsop, will be leading the baltimore symphony orchestra playing some of his works. 0ur arts editor will gompertz has more. the baltimore symphony 0rchestra rehearsing leonard bernstein's west side story. conducted by marin alsop, who took up the baton after seeing bernstein conducting when she was nine years old. a decade or so later, he took her on as his pupil. i was terrified to meet him because i didn't want to lose that idol i had. it is such a beautiful surprise. you cut this off? yes. but he exceeded all of my expectations, and that's so rare in a hero. and clearly a visionary.

in a way, him taking you on was a visionary act, because it was unusual for a young woman to want to be a conductor. he was at the forefront of feeling that women should be able to do this. i'm not sure he ever came to terms with it, because it was so foreign still to him. i remember one rehearsal at tanglewood, and he was still sitting out there, i went out and said, maestro, what's wrong, if something wrong? and he said, i can't figure it out. when i close my eyes, i can't tell you're a woman. so i said, listen, if you want to keep your eyes closed during my concerts, idon‘t mind. i think sometimes we underestimate our audiences. sometimes we would just say, just sit there and don't clap. just sit there and don't cough.

that's ridiculous. challenging you with. my feeling is, look, this is a big task i'm challenging you with. if you need to cough, go ahead. but thank you for listening. if you had a magic wand and you could do one thing... i do have a magic wand! you do! with your magic wand, if you could turn round and conduct the world, what one thing would you change about classical music now if you could to enable it to reach more people? i would ask every classical musician to think about opening the doors wide, whether it's through the internet, through recording, through television, and let's share instead of trying to hold it tight. applause will gompertz speaking to marin alsop. that's it. now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello.

this is bbc news. the us playwright neil simon has died at the age of 91. simon wrote more than 30 plays, including comedy classics come blow your horn and the odd couple. he was the first playwright to have a broadway theatre named after him, and won the pulitzer prize for drama in 1991 for lost in yonkers. joining me now on the phone from new york is harvard law professor emeritus alan dershowitz. key has seen all of those plays on broadway. thank you very much for joining us. what first attracted you to neil simon's work? he was writing about me and about everybody i grew up about me and about everybody i grew up with. it was as if we had our own playwright who was telling our story. we all grew up right near

brighton beach. every scene was familiar. when he wrote the odd couple it was our friends, so he was writing about us, it was as if we lived in london and shakespeare some either gotten into our neighbourhood and figured out what was happening. it was so personal and the ability to write that everybody and his plays are seen around the world where there are no dues, no people from brooklyn and the bronx. he wrote universally and also locally. how did he keep coming up with hit after hit. some people struggle to find even one successful formula? he was lucky, he left a miserable early life and it gave him a lot of food for thought. many of his plays really reflected his upbringing, his play laughter on the 23rd floor was

obviously based on his being in the same writing room, can you imagine, with mel brooks, woody allen, the greatest writers of comedy probably in modern history. he was any room on the 23rd floor with them. you wonder how they got anything done, you would imagine and hope they were laughing so much. where do you see has influenced these days after such a long career? he created the new genre. he created the serious introspective urban comedy and many people have tried to replicate that, people have tried to replicate that, people like woody allen are very much influenced by his writing. 0ther playwrights, although i think some of his plays are time bound. his some of his plays are time bound. h is style of some of his plays are time bound. his style of writing is immortal and will continue for many generations.

which was your favourite if you had one? all, i think laughter on the 23rd floor is probably my favourite, the odd couple second. the idea of making a play out of writing about comedy was brilliant, but brighton beach memoirs, barefoot in the park. any time there is a revival of a new simon play, i go and i think that i am getting younger because it fits me back. i am getting younger because it fits me back. lam am getting younger because it fits me back. i am ten years younger than neil simon said he was always ten years ahead of me, and no one i go back to his plays it makes me feel like i was 20,30, back to his plays it makes me feel like i was 20, 30, 40 years younger. he has this ability to bring you backin he has this ability to bring you back in time. you said that he think some of his plays will not necessarily stand the test of time but what about those turned into films? they are great films and he was so films? they are great films and he was so fortunate to have these amazing star is being willing to

play the characters and so i think both the quality of the playwriting and the quality of the comic acting will make the films enduring, but there are some that are time bound. biloxi blues is probably not one that will resonate to a modern audience, but everybody has gone through the kinds of elderly marital situations that is reflected in that play, so i think some of his plays all and you're forever, some will not, but his style will endure forever, and the idea of the urban comedy. he put it well. he didn't write for laughs, he wrote for the heart and he got lasts but in the end it was just a heart and he got lasts but in the end it wasjust a means of heart and he got lasts but in the end it was just a means of getting you emotionally involved to some of his characters. he certainly did that, thank you very much for sharing your love of neil simon's work. time to look at the weather.

hello. it's been a wet and, in places, windy sunday across the country. some heavy rain, lots of south wales seeing around 40 millimetres, close to two inches, but things have been slowly drying from the west over the past few hours, and that continues overnight. behind it for a time, some gusty winds along channel and eastern coasts, but they will start to ease down. a couple of showers across the midlands, wales, parts of northern england and scotland and northern ireland, but mainly dry overnight, with clear skies and lows between nine and 14. the week ahead is looking a little quieter. for most, it will be mainly dry, not so much rain, and a bit warmer, maybe some spells of sunshine around on most days, but not dry because, as we go into monday, which is a bank holiday except in scotland, there is still this brisk westerly wind which could feed in a couple showers through the day. many places will be largely dry and, even though there is a lot of cloud, some bright and sunny spells.

that breeze will have lost some of the gustiness we saw on sunday, and the best of any sunshine will mean it getting up to between 16 and 20. for many, a fine evening on monday, some late sunshine as the cloud thins and breaks. clearer skies for much of the night, but that will encourage some patchy mist and fog. for tuesday, parts of northern ireland, northern and western scotland, always closest to this front,