this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 8: # amazing grace...# america joins together to rememberjohn mccain — the former us senator, presidential candidate and vietnam war veteren — at a memorial service in washington. america does not boast because she has no need to. the america ofjohn mccain has no need to be made great again, because america was always great. for all the times we sparred, i never tried to hide and i thinkjohn came to understand the long—standing admiration that i had for him. misery for northern rail customers as more than two—thirds of services are cancelled in a dispute over driver—only operated trains. the shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell says he's "worried and saddened" at the prospect of the labour party splitting and is pleading with mps considering walking away to talk to the leadership. also coming up, a traffic

light system for honours. official documents reveal the way hm revenue and customs rate the tax arrangements of people nominated for an honour. and coming up in talking books, kirsty wark talks us race relations with t geronimojohnson. that's in half an hour on bbc news. former us presidents barack obama and george w bush have led tributes at a service for senatorjohn mccain at washington's national cathedral today. the vietnam war hero, who was one of america's most high—profile politicians, died a week ago from brain cancer at the age of 81. our north america correspondent, chris buckler reports. for almost four decades, john mccain

served inside the capitol building. today, his body was carried from it to begin a final journey through washington. the cortege paused at the vietnam memorial. a moment for his family to pay tribute to senator mccain's military as well as his political service. during the vietnam war, john mccain was shot down as he flew over hanoi. for years he was held prisoner and periods of torture and interrogation were to leave him with lasting injuries, as well as a sense of duty. when he returned to america, he rose through the ranks of the republican party, eventually becoming its presidential candidate. he may have failed in that attempt, but with his sense of public service

and duty, he was remembered here as a true american. america does not boast because she has no need to. the america ofjohn mccain has no need to be made great again because america was always great. applause. that was every bit as pointed a reference as it seemed. although donald trump's daughter and son—in—law attended the service, the current president was specifically not invited. past presidents did pay tribute. whereverjohn passed throughout the world, people immediately knew there was a leader in their midst. and in that epic life was written the courage and greatness of our country. but for all our differences, for all the times we sparred, i never tried to hide and i think

john came to understand the long—standing admiration that i had for him. john mccain always believed it was important to reach out to both sides of america's political divide. during this presidency, finding a middle way has become more difficult and the personal politics of this man who never became president feel of a long—gone, less polarised era. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. passengers on northern rail and south western railways are facing problems travelling today because of a fresh strike in a long—running dispute over the role of train guards. it comes after a summer of problems for people using northern‘s services after a new timetable led to widespread cancellations. our correspondent sharon barbour reports. it has been another weekend of disruption for rail commuters across the north of england. northern rail workers who are members of the rmt staging

a 24—hour strike in a row over driver—only trains. it comes after a summer of timetable changes that caused widespread cancellations across the services. today's upheaval is being acutely felt in places like blackpool. it is a big weekend for the seaside town as thousands head here to see the illuminations and britney spears perform in concert. helen runs a small hotel in the town and says it has been a nightmare. the concert and the illuminations and the events go on until ten o'clock at night but the train services finish at seven. how are people going to get home afterwards? when we talk about driver—operated trains, we're talking about the driver opening the door instead of the guards. rail regulators say it is a safe system and their position is supported by the government. but the unions disagree. we believe fundamentally as a union that trains are more safe by having

a safety critical conductor on board trained in a host of competencies and emergency evacuations and controlled evacuations. some passengers face being stranded in blackpool tonight. i have newborn twins who were crying and another five kids in tow, we don't know what to do. there are replacement buses going from liverpool to blackpool, but we are going from blackpool to preston so hopefully we will be fine. northern rail says the priority is to get people to where they need to go. the rmt says that it intends to go ahead with the walk—out every saturday this month. sharon barbour, bbc news. shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell has said he is "worried" at the prospect of the labour party splitting. he is pleading with mps who are considering leaving the party over issues such as anti—semitism or brexit to talk to the leadership, who he says has an "open door". earlier, i spoke to our political

correspondent chris mason, he told us more. it is quite striking that he is even willing to entertain out loud at the prospect of a split. this is in the context of frank field decided to resign, a labour of up to no longer set as a member of parliament but still has his seat in the commons. john mcdonnell employs a bit of self—deprecating humour in his descriptions of his own political position and what he hopes the labour party can't remain as a broad church. he talks about how he lost the debate for 30 years but did not leave the party. he is saying we are in charge now, of which he is one, and there are some people into not share their views but is bleeding with them to stay together. he draws the comparison, which is often drawn whenever you have a conversation with a neither of the two big

political parties about the prospect ofa political parties about the prospect of a split, a comparison is drawn with the sdp, that breakaway group of labour mps. the view of some on the left, and it is one he argues about in his interview, that it allowed the conservatives to win seats because in seats were both the sdp and labour were fighting, the voters split and to lead the conservatives to sneak through the middle and score a victory. what does he mean when he says labour party could split? are we talking about a new party defections elsewhere? i think he is concerned about people disappearing off, and what they do is less of a concern to him than the fact they will be going. clearly, in his remarks about the sdp, he is concerned about the prospect of people disappearing off and forming some sort of other entity, to which some who might have previously voted labour might be drawn towards. in his view, there could be a split on the left in terms of where people are willing to place their vote. he says in this

interview, "the concept of the party asa interview, "the concept of the party as a broad church is a good thing." he also reckons that "it is in the nature ofjeremy's he also reckons that "it is in the nature of jeremy's politics he also reckons that "it is in the nature ofjeremy's politics that it is not to alienate people, it is to bring people in." if he is wanting to bring people in, what is he is saying about how they are going to address this issue, particularly of anti—semitism? brexit is another one, but it has riven the labour party and does not seem to be a change in approach to try to sort that out. what i have been really struck by for the last couple of months is thatjohn mcdonnell has been more willing to be more candid and more blunt on this issue of cynicism thatjeremy corbyn has. —— anti—semitism than jeremy corbyn has. he says this issue has to be sorted as quickly as possible, we have to resolve it and well and that is it. the magazine says he did stop short of explicitly adopting the idea of this national definition of

anti—semitism. this will be a discussion in the next few days. clearly, he gets the political danger of not being seen to wrestle with that, whilst leading to the broader party that whatever individual mps' breaks might be, whether anti—semitism, brexit or the place within the party, their career if you like, then the leadership's doors open and wants to talk about it. he is really desperate to avoid useless because he senses that he might never have predicted that ten yea rs might never have predicted that ten years ago but there is any prospect that he could be the next chancellor of the exchequer. he could be in government if labour wins the election. it is clear that there is a split the likelihood of that happening recedes. our political correspondent, chris mason. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are martin bentham, home affairs editor for the evening standard, and business journalist john crowley.

a 21—year—old man has appeared in court charged with the murders of a mother and daughter in solihull. janbaz tarin is accused of killing raneem 0udeh and khaola saleem on monday. he was remanded in custody to appear before birmingham crown court on tuesday. it's been revealed hm revenue and customs use a traffic light system to rate the tax arrangements of people who've been nominated for an honour, according to government documents seen by the times. it's claimed the system has meant some high profile nominees may not have received awards as a result. i have been getting a reaction from a labour peer and former cabinet minister, who has written several studies on the british class system. people should only get owners who are completely above board when it comes to their tax affairs. there are comes to their tax affairs. there a re lots of comes to their tax affairs. there are lots of aggressive tax schemes, and hmrc are wanted in the whole time. as the ipod?, often it is

just?, over individuals then it needs to be absolutely clear that they are above board. —— and if they have got questions, often it is just questions. in many events, the challenge of these schemes takes yea rs challenge of these schemes takes years to see to it and i think it is absolutely appropriate that is hmrc have good reason to believe that somebody may be engaged in a scheme that could be ruled to be illegal that could be ruled to be illegal that they should not receive an honour. i think the public would be astonished if they thought that some process like this was not taking place. in the case of lords, the law was changed a few years ago. you cannot be non—domiciled for tax purposes and ordered a peerage. we are becoming increasingly transparent about these things that they did then. unlike tax evasion, tax evasion, tax avoidance may not be to everybody‘s tastes but is not illegal. it is not necessarily clear to some people, because tax is so complicated, that they are even participating in something that may be distasteful to other people. we're talking about people receiving honours from the queen, not people

who are testing what the boundaries are 01’ who are testing what the boundaries are or i'm not with title. it is perfectly reasonable for people to test the boundaries where it is unclear. if people want to receive honours, they need to be absolutely above board. if hmrc have reason to believe they might be engaging in a scheme which contravenes the law, until it is absolutely clear that is not the case, i think it is appropriate they do not receive honours. should people who have been blacklisted or prevented of having an award because of tax avoidance been told that that is an interesting idea. i am not sure whether it is right or not because you do not tell anybody deer being considered... there are some people who have excelled in the fields who it would be fairly understandable for them to think that they might be due something and do not get one. should they be told? in those cases, i think they have got a pretty good idea. this is england. the way the system works is by a lot of things

that i have known. people have now they are being considered for others, particularly if they are at the top of their field. if they do not receive an honour repeatedly for a number of years and they are also engaging in aggressive tax planning, i think they will have a pretty shrewd idea that of the reason why they have not received an honour. russian forces are beginning a week long naval exercise in the mediterranean sea. the kremlin says the operation is justified due to a failure by the west to deal with militants in syria's idlib province. there are signs that the syrian government is preparing an offensive against the last remaining rebel stronghold. joining me now from washington is michael kofman, a specialist in russian affairs who works at the american research organisation, the cna. michael, thank you very much for joining us. what do you make of the kremlin‘s justification for these exercises? i think the exercises are

being done in support of a much larger event, where they are gathering forces that are going to be drilling from september one two september eight in the eastern mediterranean, involving quite a few ships and submarines and aircraft. strategic bombers. the kremlin‘s go beyond that is to deter any potential us intervention, because the likely expect that the syrian regime is going to use chemical weapons during the offensive and the word it is going to result in another crisis and stand—off. word it is going to result in another crisis and stand-off. how likely is it that the united states would really want to get involved, evenif would really want to get involved, even if that apparent red line, as it has been called, of chemical weapons is crossed again?|j it has been called, of chemical weapons is crossed again? i do not think the united states wants to get involved but their credibility will be on the line in terms of enforcing the norm that they have set out on punishing the use of chemical weapons. that is what the last strike was about, indicating that was not a strong intent to really conflict damage against the assad

regime or syrian military, but maintain the credibility of the united states' international statements. that said, i think the kremlin assessed in april that the correlation of forces was disadvantageous to them. instead, they have gathered quite a few ships and aircraft in advance of a possible crisis. how likely is it that the west, in some form, will feel that it needs to intervene in some way? it does not have to just be the united states, does it? absolutely not. previously, the united states had french and british forces participating as part of a coalition. i think the united states will feel that it has to respond, even though it may not wish to is going to get into a crisis. but i do also think that the use of chemical weapons is very likely by the syrian regime. there is a difference between april and this coming up offensive, russian forces were somewhat reacting to the crisis and

situation just as ours were. at this time, they seem to be well prepared and planning ahead, both in an informational environment and the number of forces they are gathering. the forces are only a deterrent if they are a deterrent, of course, while they are in that part of the mediterranean. how tempted me the kremlin beep to linger there are a little while longer? i think they are going to stick around. the interesting part of this is that russian jets to not have the capacity to interceptor missile strikes. they are not fully geared to defend the syrian regime. they are the end the event that this result in a game of competitive risk—taking. at the end of the day, as the united states want to conduct as the united states want to conduct a large missile strike against the assad regime, there is not that much the russian forces could really do to defend them. michael, thank you very much for your time. thank you for having me on your programme. the headlines on bbc news: america joins together to rememberjohn mccain — the former us senator, presidential candidate and vietnam war veteren —

at a memorial service in washington. misery for northern rail customers as more than two—thirds of services are cancelled in a dispute over driver—only perated trains. the shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell says he's "worried and saddened" at the prospect of the labour party splitting and is pleading with mps considering walking away to talk to the leadership. sport now, and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. hello. thank you, let's start with cal walker, who helped premier league champions manchester city continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 2—1win against newcastle. they had 78% of the possession, and it looked like a long evening for newcastle. raheem sterling scored after eight minutes. but they equalised for the visitors against the run of play. but for a stunning

winnerfrom the run of play. but for a stunning winner from carole walker, the run of play. but for a stunning winnerfrom carole walker, is the run of play. but for a stunning winner from carole walker, is first for the club, helped city keep the pressure on those above them. it is liverpool who are top of the table this evening in add‘s early kick—off. the side beat leicester city 2—1. a mistake from alison. the £67 million goalkeeper let one back in but liverpool held on to maintain their 100% record. chelsea also have maximum points so far this season. they beat bournemouth 2—0 at stamford bridge. they were made to wait for the goal is to come. pedro with his bird of the season. aidan hazzard killed in a second five minutes from time to seal the win. at the other end, west ham already in trouble, losing to wolves. four defeats in four. a late winner for his new club since joining from middlesbrough for the first goal—scorer. there has been £100

million of investment over the summer million of investment over the summer following their new manager's appointment. it is a very bad start. you cannot lose pointed, especially the six points that we lost at home, maybe pulling away against arsenal, liverpool, if you don't play well you do not have a result. but here at home, to lose these six points, of course, we must be very worried. in the day's other games, britain came from 2—1 down to draw with fulham. hearts, without manager craig levein, who continues his recovery after being taken to hospital this week, beat st mirren. steven naismith scored a first—half hat—trick. this was his third goal and also provided the assist for the other goal as for hearts beat st

mirren to keep their place at the top of the scottish table. england's batsmen have been there many promising position in the fourth test against india in southampton. butler made 69. the struggles did continue for england's top dollar. the captain made 48 before he was run out. exeter chiefs have made a winning start to the new season, thrashing leicester tigers 40—6. such was that she'd' dominance, leicester only managed to get inside the last 22 of exeter‘s have once during the entire match. six tries overall, meaning it goes down as a bonus point win. it is also the first weekend of april 14, as glasgow warriors edged connacht 27—26. the warriors had a

one—point lead with this goal and then with the clock on red, connacht had a chance to snatch victory, but watch this. craig robertson smacked the outside of the post, as glasgow warriors winners. wins for ulster and munster as well. ferrari set the fastest la p and munster as well. ferrari set the fastest lap in formula 1 history after the driver install poll position at the italian grand prix. he clocked that record lap time during qualifying on saturday. it is ferrari's first italian grand prix pole since 2010, when they last won the race. championship rivals sebastian vettel and lewis hamilton are second and third on the grid. just quickly, before i go, at the us 0pen, roger federer has taken the first set 6—4. he is 5— love up in the second and that is all the sport for now. thousands of far—right demonstrators are marching through kemnitz in eastern germany, where there were violent protests last weekend after the death of a man blamed on immigrants.

there have also been smaller counter—demonstrations with a heavy police presence aimed at keeping the groups apart. 0ur correspondentjenny hill said the atmosphere in the city was tense. there have been scuffles and angry scenes as once again thousands of people have taken to the streets of kemnitz. there is real anger and real fear kemnitz. there is real anger and realfear in this kemnitz. there is real anger and real fear in this city. today has seen a protest led by far right groups, including the political party alternative for germany, in what was billed a funeral march protesting about the death of a german man last weekend, apparently at the hands of a syrian and an iraqi man. at the same time, thousands of people have taken to the streets as part of a counter demonstration. it is running very deep, the division here. i have spoken to people today, elderly people, who say they are very word

about what they perceive to be migrant— fuelled criminality in the city. but then you speak to right—wing extremists or political leaders who appear to be rather whipping up those concerns. at the same time, migrants, a very small population of simulator, are terrified. i have met people who live here say they were attacked in the past few days, others who say that they are too scared to leave their homes. —— a very small population of them. a woman came up to be specially to say please do not go away thinking that kemnitz is just full of right—wing extremists. some of us are horrified about what is happening. so far, the police have managed to hold the line. keep the protests broadly speaking under control. it did not have the repetition of violence that they feared that happened, happened. they have been on standby, with water cannon officers and the one. they have managed to keep the situation under control but on the longer term, the authorities are going to find it much harder to deal with and

contain the anger that has burst out in kemnitz in the last week. the us has long been the biggest donor for the un agency which helps palestinian refugees. but no longer. washington has announced it's cutting all its funding to the united nations relief and works agency, which provides health care, schooling and emergency services to palestinian refugees. the decision has been denounced by the palestinian leadership as a "flagra nt assault" on the palestinian people. yolande knell reports. palestinian pupils back at un—run schools this week. but it is not clear if these will still be open by the end of the month. the organisation has been facing a financial crisis, after the us, which was its biggest donor, throws $300 million it planned to give this year. now, washington has announced it is stopping all support, drawing palestinian condemnation. back in

1948, some 700,000 palestinians fled, or are forced to leave, their homes in the first arab— israel home. the un relief and works agency was set up to take care of them, and over time their descendants. they are now over 5 million registered refugees a cross are now over 5 million registered refugees across the palestinian territories, jordan, lebanon and syria. many still live in refugee camps, 110w syria. many still live in refugee camps, now overcrowded neighbourhood services are provided. palestinians here claimed the right to return to their ancestral land, which now lives in israel. israel rejects that asa lives in israel. israel rejects that as a threat to itsjewish life in majority. along with the united states, it accuses the organisation of perpetuating false hopes and the israel — palestinian conflict. but officials of the peace talks must decide the fate of refugees. the status has to be resolved. it may be

an attempt to bring about peace in the middle east, but we are very clear on this. international law must be respected. un resolutions must be respected. un resolutions must be respected. if there is to be a resolution of the refugee crisis, the refugees themselves must be consulted, and they have rights. the refugees themselves must be consulted, and they have rightsm gaza, where most palestinians are refugees, the recent deadly protests on the border with israel were called the great return the march. sentence mac. with the truth still being negotiated, there are fears that the latest statement from washington could lead to unrest and regional instability. the queen has arrived at the highland games in scotland where she will open a new centre named after her son, prince charles. the queen is at the braemar gathering which is considered the biggest event in the highland games calendar, as catriona renton reports. the queen arrives at the braemar

gathering. she has been coming here since she wasjust gathering. she has been coming here since she was just seven years old. this is the oldest highland games in scotland, dating back to 1815. with all the traditional heavy events, throwing the hammer, tossing the caber... damn thing, piping, and, of course, the tug of war. people come here from all over the world to take pa rt here from all over the world to take part and watch. a lot of things going on! we don't get it to see these games in the states. so, this is different for us. i am also here to see the queen. this is a regular date in the royal calendar. prince charles is seen here enjoying the games as a child. today, the queen named the new pavilion after him, the duke of rothesay, his scottish title. it is a heritage centre filled all things highland games, so people can experience them all year round. it will be a home to highland

games, because as famous as they are all over the world there is no permanent exhibition to their history. so, here at braemar, probably the most famous highland games in the world, there is this wonderful new centre. it is estimated 15,000 people attended today's gathering. it takes a lot of planning. this is 18 months‘ worth of work for me to bring this together with the team as i have so that we have one day per year, the first saturday in september, where people come along from all over the globe to enjoy traditional highland games on sport. but people will not have to wait another year to come to braemar and find out about the games, as the new pavilion is expected to open to the public in the spring. have you ever had a chance meeting with an old flame and wondered what might have been? in the 1950s, ruth holt and ron 0wen courted for a short time before going their separate ways. but almost 60 years later, they met up in the same sheltered housing accommodation and, next week, at the ages of 79 and 84, they‘re getting married. beccy barr went to meet them.

# my old flame... #. love blooms in unexpected places. when ron moved into sheltered accommodation in st annes, a series of coincidences prompted the warden to realise ron may have met one of her existing residents before. i came in one day and she said there‘s an old girlfriend on site called ruth. isaid, ruth? without being... i don‘t know any ruth. he said he couldn't get to my flat because it was upstairs and he had problems with his hip. so if he couldn't come to me, i thought, well, i'll have to go over there. there was a knock at my door and this good lady stood there and said, "hi, i‘m ruth."