the time forjustice is now — women who were sexually abused and raped by mohammed al fayad call for accountability. lawyers are representing 37 survivors — and have been contacted by more — who worked at harrods and were attacked by its late chairman. he told me in no uncertain terms that i was never to breathe a word of this to anyone. if i did, i would never work in london again, and he knew where my family lived. also on the programme... israel strikes more than a hundred hezbollah targets in southern lebanon, again raising fears of an escalation in the conflict. only half of patients with head, neck and bowel cancers get treatment in the target time — a leading charity says it's putting lives at risk. shoppers�* confidence in the economy drops sharply, with nerves about spending ahead of october's budget. my son says to me," don't you dare sing. "i'm telling you, i'm walking out."

and in a rare interview, sir alex ferguson talks about helping with dementia through music, and reflects on his life after football. and coming up on bbc news... can anyone stop chelsea getting their sixth women's super league title in a row as they begin the defence of their crown this evening? good afternoon, and welcome to the bbc news at one. lawyers say they're representing 37 women who were raped or sexually assaulted by the late owner of harrods, mohamed al fayed. they've also revealed that more have come forward after the allegations were made public in a bbc documentary yesterday. the legal team is now calling on the department store's new owners to help the survivors getjustice, after they say staff members working for mr al fayed helped to enable

and cover up his crimes. our reporter frances read has the latest. the billionaire, infamous in british society, now alleged to be a serial sexual predator. the accusations made by multiple women giving extremely distressing accounts of a variety of sexual crimes from assault to rape, perpetrated around the world. this morning one of those women and the legal team representing then held a press conference.— representing then held a press conference. a, ., ~ , conference. mohamed al fayed, my boss, the conference. mohamed al fayed, my boss. the person — conference. mohamed al fayed, my boss, the person i— conference. mohamed al fayed, my boss, the person i worked _ conference. mohamed al fayed, my boss, the person i worked for, - boss, the person i worked for, pushed himself on to me. ifell to the floor with him still on top of me but managed to kick free. hejust laughed at me. he then composed himself and he told me in no uncertain terms that i was never to breathe a word of this to anyone. we

will say it plainly, mohamed al fayed — will say it plainly, mohamed al fayed was a monster. our aim and our single _ fayed was a monster. our aim and our single aim _ fayed was a monster. our aim and our single aim is— fayed was a monster. our aim and our single aim is to seekjustice for the survivors. single aim is to seek 'ustice for the survivorsh single aim is to seek 'ustice for the survivors. ., , , the survivors. lawyers compared the case to a combination _ the survivors. lawyers compared the case to a combination of _ the survivors. lawyers compared the case to a combination of horrific- case to a combination of horrific cases involving high—profile figures, like harvey weinstein, jeffrey epstein and jimmy savile. a leading attorney for sexual abuse cases in the us who is working with the lawyers in this case said the system enabled and allowed widespread sexual abuse. something was rotten at — widespread sexual abuse. something was rotten at the _ widespread sexual abuse. something was rotten at the core _ widespread sexual abuse. something was rotten at the core of— widespread sexual abuse. something was rotten at the core of harrods. . was rotten at the core of harrods. the store was known for catering to every need of its customers, and it was presented as the epitome of beauty. the ugly truth, however, was that a number of female employees were being sexually abused by its chairman. he were being sexually abused by its chairman. ., ., , ., chairman. he tried to rape me more than once- — chairman. he tried to rape me more than once. more _ chairman. he tried to rape me more than once. more than _ chairman. he tried to rape me more

than once. more than 20 women - chairman. he tried to rape me more i than once. more than 20 women made alleaations than once. more than 20 women made allegations in the _ than once. more than 20 women made allegations in the bbc _ than once. more than 20 women made allegations in the bbc documentary . allegations in the bbc documentary and no more have come forward. the met police says it is aware of various allegations and each were investigated but did not lead to charges. mohamed al fayed owns harrods between 1985 in 2010. in 2008 he was questioned by police over allegations made by a girl he first met when she was 1a. but prosecutors did not take it forward. police then took advice from the cps again in 2018, 2021 and 2023, but it never went to court. the current owners of harrods say they are utterly appalled by the allegations perpetrated by al fayed and today it is a very different organisation to the one he controlled and owned. harrod says it has a process available to women who say they were attacked by fayed, saying they have been settling claims that the quickest way possible, avoiding lengthy legal situation is for the

women involved. al fayed died last year aged 94. the women making claims against him will never see him punished, but finally they are getting some semblance ofjustice. our correspondent azadeh moshiri was at the press conference. azadeh, the key word there was justice — what could that look like for these women? about 20 women who have come forward with their stories were in that room and what the lawyers set out its details of a civil case they are bringing forward against harrods for failing to provide a safe system of work. they had said that it is possible partly because of the bbc investigation has exposed, the bbc gathered evidence that harrods failed to intervene at the time of the allegations but also help to cover a potential abuse allegations and by gathering all this testimony

it has revealed a pattern of sexual abuse and predatory behaviour by mohamed al fayed. as for harrods, again, the current owners say they are utterly appalled by these allegations and they have set up a process for women to settle their claims quickly and avoid a lengthy legal process. what does this mean for the current owners? even though harrods changed ownership in 2010 it continued to exist as a legal entity, meaning that harrods is still responsible for any wrong that former employees had suffered even under new ownership. and now women feel more empowered to speak out and pursue that claim. azadeh, thank you. israel says it's hit more than a hundred hezbollah targets during a series of air strikes in southern lebanon, including rocket launchers and a weapons storage facility. earlier this week a co—ordinated detonation of explosives hidden in pagers and walkie—talkies killed more than 30 people and injured

thousands of others. hezbollah�*s leader vowed to inflict what he called "just punishment" for the attack, and israel's defence minister said a "new phase" has begun in the war. our middle east correspondent yolande knell reports from jerusalem. dramatic scenes in southern lebanon as israeli artillery strikes what is said to be hezbollah positions. but is this the product to a full born —— full—blown war? last night saw one of the twell�*s heaviest bombardment of lebanon in almost a year following bombardment of lebanon in almost a yearfollowing on from hezbollah attack and drone attacks. cross—border fighting attack and drone attacks. cross—borderfighting between attack and drone attacks. cross—border fighting between these old enemies has gone on in parallel to the war in gaza. increasingly now it is causing international alarm. last night at the us and uk were among those urging restraint. ladle last night at the us and uk were among those urging restraint. we are all ve , among those urging restraint. we are

all very. very — among those urging restraint. we are all very. very clear— among those urging restraint. we are all very, very clear that _ among those urging restraint. we are all very, very clear that we _ among those urging restraint. we are all very, very clear that we want - among those urging restraint. we are all very, very clear that we want to i all very, very clear that we want to see a negotiated political settlement so that israelis can return to their homes in northern israel and indeed lebanese can return to their homes, and that is why tonight i am calling for an immediate ceasefire from both sides so that we can get to that settlement, that political settlement, that political settlement required. but settlement, that political settlement required. settlement, that political settlement reuuired. �* , , settlement required. but this week's shockin: settlement required. but this week's shocking deadly _ settlement required. but this week's shocking deadly attacks _ settlement required. but this week's shocking deadly attacks involving - shocking deadly attacks involving explosives hidden in electronic devices used by hezbollah operatives has sewed fear across lebanon and ratcheted up tensions. yesterday hezbollah's chief, hassan nasrallah, struck a defiant note as he blamed israel and threatened strong retaliation. meanwhile israel, which has not officially commented on the

sophisticated attacks, has been sending more othered to buy land forces the lebanon border. —— sending more of its forces towards the lebanon border. translation: in the lebanon border. translation: in the new face of the war there are significant opportunities but also significant opportunities but also significant risks. hezbollah feels persecuted. the sequence of our military actions will continue. the risks include _ military actions will continue. the risks include the spiralling violence spreads from the border, threatening citizens across lebanon and israel, and the wider region. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. in a moment we'll speak to yolande injerusalem but first to hugo bachega who's in beirut. hugo, it's always very difficult to predict the next step in this conflict, and that'll add to the nervousness being felt in lebanon? exactly. this is a country still

trying to understand what happened in that unprecedented wave of explosions targeting walkie—talkies and pagers being used by hezbollah, but i think the question now is about what hezbollah is going to do. this was a humiliation for them, they are a group that wants to be seen as a sophisticated enemy by israel. yesterday was the speech by hassan nasrallah, he vowed to respond, but it is very interesting that the indications he gave was that the indications he gave was that hezbollah was not interested in an escalation in this conflict but we are in a very difficult position. because of the scale of what happened here there is the need to be seen to be giving a response but at the same time be no any type of strong reaction is likely to spark a major war with israel, and let's not forget hezbollah is supported by iran. it is vital to have a strong iran. it is vital to have a strong iran right next to israel for

hezbollah. hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets targeting several israeli military sites, just hours after one of the most intense waves of israeli air strikes targeting hezbollah possessions across southern lebanon. hugo, thanks, let's head tojerusalem and speak to yolande knell. yolande — we've also been hearing this afternoon that israel's military is investigating after some of its soldiers were filmed throwing bodies off a rooftop in the occupied west bank. what more do we know about this? there are several of these disturbing videos and we have just taken for illustration a still from one of them, there is one particular video where you can see israeli soldiers were they drag three palestinian bodies one by one from the edge of a rooftop and drop them over and footage appears to show a military bulldozer taking those bodies away. the context of this is

what the israeli military said it was a counterterrorism operation in the north of the west bank and local officials say seven palestinians in total were killed, there were gun battles and an israeli drone strike. the israeli military has come out in response to the footage, saying this was a serious incident, and it does not match up with its values and what it expects from its soldiers. under international law soldiers are obliged to treat bodies in conflict zones with respect, even if they are suspected of being those of enemy fighters. you can see why these images therefore have really caused widespread outrage. yolande knell, thank you. a senior member of the labour party says the prime minister needs to stop trying to justify accepting free gifts. sir keir starmer has defended his decison to take corporate hospitality tickets at arsenal. the row began after his wife,

lady victoria, was gifted clothes by a prominent labour donor. harriet harman says he should agree to do things differently, and move on. we're joined by our political correspondent iain watson. iain — this is an issues that continues to rumble on for the prime minister? that's right. i don't know if you can just about here a demonstration going on in the background, i can confirm it is not about freebies, but the issue rumbles on. harriet harman, baroness harman, the former deputy leader of the labour party says that sir keir starmer should says that sir keir starmer should say that with the benefit of hindsight they got things wrong and he will do things differently in future but there was no sign of him taking that advice. other senior labourfigures taking that advice. other senior labour figures have been taking that advice. other senior labourfigures have been expressing concerns privately. i think many of them buy into the idea that it is sensible to take a corporate box at arsenal for security reasons, but the sheer scale of the gifts and

hospitality is nowjuxtaposed with the decision to take winter fuel payments away from pensioners. and some people in the labour party are raising questions about the communications operation in downing street. how can it be that different government ministers have different explanations for the gifts and hospitality? all of this adding to the impression that the people in their own finding government far more difficult than opposition. iain watson, thank you. the king has arrived at an event in scotland to hear from organisations trying to target violent behaviour. he's been meeting with representatives from police scotland and the king's foundation at the charity's headquaterters in ayrshire, to discuss how to identify the causes of violence, and what better support could be offered to young people. researchers say that children's picky eating is largely influenced by genes. the study from university college london found that food fussiness starts in toddlers and peaks at the age of seven, but having family meals together and offering a variety of fruit and vegetables can help.

a serious lorry fire on the m25 has caused 11 mile queues and delays of up to three hours. two out of three lanes are closed on the m25 clockwise between junction 5 at sevenoaks and junction 6 at godstone while the lorry�*s recovered. cancer research uk says lives are being put at risk by an unacceptable variation in waiting times for the treatment of different types of cancer. they've studied the figures and found that head and neck, bowel and gynaecological cancer patients are more likely to face long waits. onlyjust over half are seen within the 62 day target. our health correspondent dominic hughes reports. amy gray knows what it can mean when cancer treatment is delayed. her mumjane, seen here on the right, waited for more than 70 days to be seen after suffering pain in 2021, despite a 16 year—history of cancer.

by the time she saw a specialist, it was too late. the cancer had spread. it was so frustrating. every single day that went by, it was like a form of torture. every single delay, every day that passes where you're waiting on a scan, you're waiting on treatment, it's just so frustrating. you're. .. you're ready and you're being told, not today. and it's a horrible feeling. it's crippling. you just want to get started. you want to get going. now, an exclusive analysis for bbc news of data for england injuly this year reveals some significant variations in waiting times for different types of cancer. the nhs target is for 85% of patients to start treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral. but for gynaecological cancers such as ovarian or cervical, just over 56% of patients were seen within the target time. for lower gastrointestinal cancers, including bowel,

it was even worse, just over 55%. and for head and neck cancers, it was fewer than 55%. these can be harder to diagnose than other forms of the disease, which could be one reason for the variation. but there's also a shortage of specialised staff and equipment, and experts say greater awareness and an ageing population means more cancers overall are being diagnosed, so services are facing increased demand. clearly, any wait for cancer diagnosis and treatment is agonising. but we also know that a four—week delay to surgery, we estimate about 6% to 8% increase in your risk of death, so treating cancer quickly is incredibly important. some cancers, blood, bone marrow and skin do meet the target. and while nhs england accepts more work is needed to address what it described as some "unacceptably long" waits, a statement said there are signs of progress, with the overall numbers starting treatment within 62 days showing some improvement.

but amy and her family live with the knowledge that faster treatment could have made all the difference for her mum. dominic hughes, bbc news, leicestershire. consumer confidence fell sharply in september, and it's raised concerns that shoppers have been spooked by the government's suggestion of a "painful" budget coming next month. the long—running survey by the market research company gfk spoke to around 2,000 people across the uk. our economics editor faisal islam joins us. so, faisal, is this mood a direct result of the government's messaging on what's coming in a few weeks? the straight up answer to that is you cannot draw a direct connection because that was not asked in the question. but what we can say is this matched watched gauge of consumer confidence has improved over several months as real incomes had gone up and this month after an

interest rate cut last month, you would have expected that to have improved. it has gone down sharply across the board, perceptions of the economy and personal finance, across the board, perceptions of the economy and personalfinance, their willingness to make major purchases and some economists and retailers and some economists and retailers and business groups are drawing a connection between the tone from the government ahead of the budget and what we see. some calls may be for some hopeful optimism from the government especially ahead of the party conference next month. they say they have to make tough choices because of the borrowing situation, that got worse according to other figures released this morning. a tricky balancing act for the chancellor. faisal islam, thank you. the time is 13.19. our top story this afternoon. women who were sexually abused and raped by the former harrods' owner mohammed al fayad call for accountability. and the former manchester united boss sir alex ferguson creates a special soundtrack to his life, as part of a project helping people

with dementia through music. coming up on bbc news... surrey�*s domination of the county champion continues — somerset�*s loss to lancashire at old trafford hand them their their third consecutive title as they become the first county to do so since yorkshire 56 years ago. the number of russian fighters killed on the front line in ukraine has now reached at least 70,000. an investigation by the bbc and the independent russian news site mediazona has been identifying the dead since the beginning of the war — and found that the volunteers dying in battle are getting older, and coming from poorer backgrounds. our correspondent olga ivshina reports. the faces of russian fighters killed in ukraine are changing. now, more and more men in their 40s, 50s and even 60s are volunteering for the frontline. 62—year—old rinat khusniyarov was one of them. before he volunteered, he had two jobs. fighting for russia, he earned seven

times what he did before. russian authorities have repeatedly increased sign—up bonuses to attract men like rinat. he died in february this year. we don't know where exactly, but thousands of kilometres away from his home in russia. last month, russian forces faced a ukrainian offensive in kursk — the first on russian territory. the kremlin claims this attack has encouraged more volunteers to sign up to fight. there are no official figures on the numbers of russians killed. so, since the start of the war, the bbc and its partner mediazona have been trying to build a picture of what's happening on the frontlines. we have been using photos of graves, social media posts and news articles to uncover the scale of russian losses. so far, we have managed to verify that 70,000 russian troops have died since the start of the war. the recent figures also show that, for the first time, the largest group of men dying are volunteers,

not regular soldiers or convicts, but men who have signed up after the start of the full—scale invasion in february 2022. a study from the russian ministry of defence, seen by the bbc, suggests that many of those deaths could be avoided with better first aid and medical care. they are fighting a battle where they are not prepared and might not have the needed equipment to fight. there isn't sufficient preparation and there are also equipment shortages or non—existent equipment for which there have been prepared for those few limited weeks that they have done so. as our count only includes deaths reported publicly, the true figure of losses is significantly higher. asked for comment, the russian government did not respond. early this year, ukraine acknowledged 31,000 soldiers had been killed, but estimates from the us intelligence suggest the number is higher. moscow continues to push on, willing to exchange thousands of lives for small pieces

of scattered land. olga ivshina, bbc news. reform uk's party conference has started today in birmingham. its leader nigel farage will make a speech later, after revealing yesterday that he's giving up ownership of the party and surrendering his majority shareholding. our political correspondent harry farley is in birmingham. harry, this is an important change, what does it mean? i think what it means is the members you see around me, three and a half thousand people attending this conference will have more of a say in how the party are structured and possibly more of a say in policy that the body develops. nigel farage, the leader will address a conference this afternoon and we can expect him to enthuse members and we can see here there is a sense of buzz here, long queues snaking outside the door arrived this

morning. mentions of sir starmer were greeted with roving and hissing from the stage and mention of the five mps that the reform party won were greeted with cheers. there is an acknowledgement from senior party figures they need to professionalise, they are not yet ready to win millions more votes they need to win to take more seats. so i think we can expect votes on a constitution, trying to professionalise the party but there is no lack of ambition. they talk regularly of nigel farage being the next prime minister and while that may be overly ambitious they are focused on 98 seats they came second and in the general election and the 89 or so of those were the labour party came first, they are second to labour and that is very much the focus at the conference. harry, thank you. domestic abuse specialists will now

be based inside some 999 control rooms in england and wales, as a pilot scheme to protect women and girls from violence. the new measure is part of raneem's law, in memory of raneem oudeh, after her estranged husband murdered both her, and her mother. our reporter divya talwar has more. phone rings. police emergency. what's the location of the emergency? hi. um, ijust called the police about half an hour, more than half an hour ago, and actually, i'm in danger. my ex—partner came, and he actually, um, harmed me and my mum as well. this is raneem oudeh's call to 999 just hours before her death. raneem made multiple calls for help in the hours before she and her mother were killed by raneem's ex—husband. she was on the phone to police while she was being attacked, but officers failed to get there in time. raneem had previously made 13 separate calls for help to west midlands police in the months before her death. an inquest found multiple mistakes by the force

which contributed to their deaths. labour first proposed raneem's law earlier this year, with plans for domestic abuse specialists helping in 999 control rooms. now ministers say this strategy will be piloted from next year. it will be a number of forces across the country having specialist domestic abuse teams, with both police officers who are specialist in domestic abuse, but also specialists from organisations to ensure that a new approach and a new culture around calls that come in on domestic violence and other violence against women and girls are both prioritised to the level of need that they need, but risk assessed and services can be put in place for those victims straight from the first time they call. the pilot has been welcomed by raneem's aunt. having specialists in 999 control rooms, it means that all the police officers, they'll be able to be

handed the right documents, the right logs, and they will be able to do their work and they will be counted upon, which is really important. now, in the future, we're going to have other policy under raneem's law. but most importantly, we need to save lives. we need to save those people when they first call us for help. from november, a second pilot will introduce domestic abuse protection orders in three police forces to strengthen powers already in place. they'll cover all forms of abuse and have no cut—off time. the home secretary says these measures are the first step in the government's commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. divya talwar, bbc news. the women's super league returns this weekend, and champions chelsea are aiming to win a sixth title in a row. they'll begin their title defence against aston villa this evening with a new manager.

and it's a new era for the league as well, asjo currie explains. the women's super league is back and embarking on a new era. for the first time in its history it'll no longer be run by the fa. instead, it's been taken over by a new company. women's professional leagues limited. all right, girls. i hope you see that we have sold out stadiums, that we have greater reach, that we have more visibility on tv and in print and in digital, that the best players in the world see this, that there's no doubt that this is where they have to play. those are some big goals, but it raises questions about how wpll are going to achieve them. firstly, they've been given a £20 million loan from the premier league, but how else do they plan to raise revenue? the current broadcast deal with the bbc and sky runs out at the end of the campaign, so as of next season, who will be showing the league and how much will they pay for the rights? and will wpll decide to increase

the size of the wsl from its current 12 teams in future years? manchester united, meanwhile, have come in for criticism for moving their women's team out of their training base and into temporary buildings to make way for the men's team because of construction work. after winning their first trophy last season, though, the players themselves say it's business as usual. having that feeling now of what winning feels like in a manchester united shirt, everyone who was a part of it last year and how much it meant to them, how much it meant to the fans and the club as well. and you obviously want to do it again. it all kicks off in south west london tonight as chelsea take on aston villa. jo currie, bbc news. a reminder of our top headline this afternoon. women who were sexually abused and raped by the former harrods' owner mohammed al fayad call for accountability. and 80 years on from the battle of arnhem, the last surviving uk glider pilot remembers his role in the largest airborne assault of the second world war.

just. look at the weather now. here's chris. we've got a mixed picture around the uk this afternoon, some hail storms in southern england, compare this with blue skies and sunshine across the north—west of the uk, barely any wind. these massive differences, and it's all down to the position of the atlantic jet stream, it's all down to the position of the atlanticjet stream, looking at it's all down to the position of the atlantic jet stream, looking at the big picture. an upper area of high pressures to the north of the uk keeping the weather and settled though there is low cloud coming in from the north sea and to the south and upper area of low pressure throws thunderstorms across england and wales. more across the weekend and wales. more across the weekend and on sunday we could see a months worth of rain and there is a of flooding. join me for more details a little bit later.

in a rare interview, sir alex ferguson — the former manchester united manager — has been speaking about his life after football. he's teamed up with a charity which uses music to support people living with dementia, and reflected on his connections to the disease through his friend bobby charlton. he's been talking to nina warhurst. chatter. i heard you were punctual, but you're 25 minutes early. i'm always early. are you? sir alex ferguson, thank you so much for talking to us on bbc breakfast. first of all, how's life? how are you? good, yeah. retired 11 years now, so you find a way of adjusting, you know? keeping yourself out of trouble? yeah, exactly. missing the management or not really any more?

yeah, i miss it sometimes. i think my first year after i retired, we were in the european final, and i said to cathy, i says, "this is what i miss, the big games, the european games." and so i go to most of the european finals because i find something that i can relate to. you know, what i'd like to have done every day. yeah. you know what i mean? because these are the big events a club like united should always be involved in, you know? so, you can watch them as an observer now and not... yeah, exactly. you're here today then to talk about national playlist day. so, this is encouraging all of us, whatever stage of life we're at, to pick the tracks that sort of run a thread through our history. and then if dementia comes our way, they're there as a sort of grounding for us. what is it about dementia that you think is important? well, i think it's a present—day challenge for all of us, you know,

and i've not got a great knowledge about the whole operation of dementia, obviously. but i think we know someone close to us who has got dementia, and that's a present—day challenge, you know? most of us will know somebody or a family living with it. absolutely, yeah. and when you look at the impact on some of the united legends — bobby charlton, denis law, nobby stiles — can you reflect on how it affected them as men? well, you know, ithink the main bearing on it is theirfamily. i think we're outside the door of it all. i mean, i was a great friend of bobby, a great friend of denis law. nobby worked for me, you know. he was one of my coaches. so, therefore, when you're confronted with the knowledge of it, you know, what can i do? and of course, they've great wives, fantastic wives, you know, and it's...

they've had to put up with all the burden of it. it takes its toll on the relatives, doesn't it? it takes its toll, all right. yeah. so, do you think football is doing enough to play its part on research between the links between football and dementia, and supporting former footballers? yeah. well, i don't know where we are at the moment, you know, but i know that there is an interest. i know there is a care about it because we don't like to see it. particularly when bobby... bobby was very close to me and he was a wonderful man, absolutely superb human being. can we hear some tracks from your playlist then? let's listen to this first one then. moon river. # moon river, wider than a mile...# where's that one taking you?

well, when my old team come up from glasgow to visit me, they're great guys, you know, and that's my song. but they don't listen to me. there was one time, honestly, i was singing away to it. i'm in another world and my eyes are closed. belting out. are these the lads from govan? yeah, some of them, a couple of them were in nursery when they were three years of age, four years. yeah, yeah. and they have been friends all my life. and they were my team in the old boys' club, and they're great people. never changed. you know, all married a long time. i was 50 years married. most of them are 58, 60 years married. so i always sing that. will you give us a quick blast now, then, of moon river? no! my son said to me, "don't you dare sing. "i'm telling you, i'm walking out." sir alex, a big thank you, i think,

from me and all families living with dementia for helping to raise the profile. pleased to do that. thank you very much. we'll have more coming up shortly, but now it's time to join our colleagues with the news where you are. fulham football club have released a statement in released to the sexual abuse allegations against mohammed fehr —— hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm tanya arnold. arsenal head to manchester city this weekend in a clash between the two best teams from the past couple of premier league seasons. can anyone topple chelsea as they start their bid for a sixth successive women's super league title? surrey�*s domination of the country championship continues. defeat for somerset hands them

the title for a third year in a row. arsenal head to manchester city on sunday in a clash between the top two teams from the past two premier league seasons. they do so unbeaten in all competitions, thanks to a double save that goalkeeper david raya described as one of the best of his career. he denied atalanta's mateo retaygi not once but twice as arsenal were held to a 0—0 draw in a game of few real chances. after the first 25 minutes, we were inconsistent with the ball. we had moments, but we never got it into dominance or threat. and i witnessed two of the best saves that probably i've seen in my career with david to save us from that moment. today, um, kept us in the game, that's the reality.

and you need that for your keeper at at this level. i'm really happy that he's in the form that he is at the moment. well, joining us now is former arsenal player and now broadcaster adrian clarke. adrian, without their captain, martin odegaard, arsenal struggled to create chances, didn't they? yes, there is no denying that. obviously the goal in the north london derby came from a set piece and didn't really to muster too many opportunities, just one really. that is concerned. martin odegaard mix everything together, doesn't he? it is obvious that he is going to be missed. that's arsenal will create chancesin missed. that's arsenal will create chances in this game on sunday and they will take them. theyjust need to be ruthless. as inter milan showed in the champions league, if you play on the counter against

manchester city on their own patch, you can open them up. i'm hoping that arsenal will be able to do that this weekend. while their attack might not quite be as sharp as they'd like, their defence is excellent so far this season. arsenal are obsessed with keeping clean sheets. they have a formidable partnership at the heart of the arsenal back four. they are desperate not to give goals away and i think that is so healthy, especially head of a challenge like this. it helps that your goalkeeper is probably one of the most in form around at the moment. his show reel from this season alone to steer is pretty special! arsenal had an amazing away record in 2024. statistically, they are the best defence away from home that we have seenin defence away from home that we have seen in the last 20 years, and that includes jose

seen in the last 20 years, and that includesjose mourinho's chelsea, who only conceded 16 goals in 2005. this arsenal team love defending. i think they will do plenty of it this weekend. even so early in the season, this feels like, if not a must win, at least a must not lose game for arsenal? it is huge. it is a six pointer. because it comes so early in the season i do feel that both teams would accept a draw, but it promises to be a cracking game. it is a big one for arsenal, they haven't beaten city away from home for a lot of years. they are getting closer, but to do so at the weekend they will have to defend as well as they did at spurs and take their chances. i'm looking forward to it. two great teams. let's see who comes out on top! city welcome arsenal to the etihad off the back of their own draw with italian opposition in the champions league. last season pep guardiola's side

were unable to beat the gunners in either the league or the community shield and the city boss is expecting yet another tough test against his former assistant. it is another unbelievable team. they defend really well, they don't concede chances, they don't concede goals. they are really good in many aspects, they control everything. the biggest title contenders the last two seasons. they are there, and they will be there for many years because they have created their squad, a young team. so it is another good test. but we are in september. so i would like to see in the team many things we are better than the past. it's a brave new world for chelsea as they kick off the defence of their women's super league title at home to aston villa tonight. the blues are looking for a sixth title in a row, but begin a season without emma hayes in the dugout for the first time since 2011. sonia bompastor has the unenviable task of following in her footsteps. in today's football news show, available on the iplayer later today, they look ahead

to the new campaign. no team has dominated the women's super league era quite like chelsea have. they have won the last five league titles and are, without a doubt, the team to beat, but it's been a big summer of change, hasn't it? so the question is, will they be able to keep that up? well, bbc sport's senior women's football reporter, emma sanders, is alongside me. emma, thanks so much forjoining us. are you excited for the new season? absolutely, i can't wait. i think every season we say itjust gets better and better each year. i think this year it will be exactly the same. new managers, new players. yeah, it's going to be another rollercoaster campaign. i just can't wait. yeah, neither can i. fingers crossed, it's going to be as good and as tight as it was last season because, in the end, chelsea obviously pipped manchester city to it, but there were seven goals in it. they won on goal difference. it was so incredibly tight. do you think this season is going to be as tight? yeah, i really think it will. as you say there, there were seven goals in it. if you remember back, chelsea won 8—0 on the second to last weekend of the season.

just a remarkable scoreline, really. manchester city must have felt, how can we not win this title again? so i think it will be absolutely tight again. i think it will go down to the final game of the season. manchester city and chelsea are the two horse race for me. i think arsenal will obviously want to get into that conversation as well, but i think it will be really tight and i think both teams are strengthened, both teams have brought in new players, so yeah, it's going to be a really interesting campaign. chelsea and villa kick things off tonight at 7.00pm — that's live on the bbc. the remaining five fixtures take place on saturday and sunday with the stand—out coming at the emirates, where arsenal host manchester city, with viviane miedema returning to face her former club. 96,000 fans are expected to pack out wembley stadium tomorrow night to see the all—british world heavyweight title fight between anthonyjoshua and champion daniel dubois. dubois was awarded the ibf title injune after oleksander usyk gave up the belt.

ahead of the weigh in later today, he says needs to beatjoshua to truly be recognised as a world champion. the world title, i need to retain it and hold on to it. so yes, it's a great thing to have, but no, i need to legitimise myself by winning this fight. so you know, i'm ready to go to war, i'm ready for a fight. it's a blessing to be back again, to be able to perform, prove to myself, prove to my team i have listened to the instructions in training camp. i am in supreme condition, both physically and also mentally. i have been watching some of the old fights as well, adding some fuel to the fire, ready to rumble. reminding myself what i can do and what i am capable of. surrey have won a third consecutive county championship cricket title after chasers somerset were beaten by lancashire at old trafford. second—placed somerset lost three quick wickets this morning to lose by 168 runs.

it means they can't now overtake surrey at the top of division one with one round of games still to play. yesterday, surrey beat durham by 10 wickets. it's their 22nd county championship title since 1890. wigan have picked up their third trophy of the season after sealing the league leaders shield. they comfortably beat salford, who rested many of their first team stars ahead of the play—offs next week. the warriors have already won the world club challenge and the challenge cup. they will be aiming to make it a clean sweep by retaining their super league title. to major league baseball, where japanese superstar shohay ohtani continues to break records. nine months after signing the largest contract in baseball history, worth $700 million, he became the first player in major league history to steal 50 bases and hit 50 home runs

in the same season. the los angeles dodgers superstar needed one stolen base and two home runs to achieve the feat and ended the night with 51 home runs and 51 steals in a 20—4 win over the miami marlins. you can get all the build up to the weekend's football and get the lowdown on the start of the women's super league on the bbc sport website and app, but from all of us here, goodbye. lets get an update on our main story this lunchtime. fulham football club, which was once owned by mohammed al fayed, has released a statement to say it is "deeply troubled" to learn of the accusations against the late billionaire. he's been accused of rape and sexual assault by women who worked

with him at harrods. let's get more now from our sports news correspondent laura scott. laura, what else has the club had to say? in the last 30 minutes we have had the statement through from fulham and they say they are deeply troubled and concerned to learn of the disturbing reports in the bbc documentary last night about their former owner and they say we have sincere empathy for the women who shared their experiences. mohammed al fayed bought the club and 97 for a reported £30 million and he owned the club for 16 years during which time the men's team rose from the third division all the way up to the premier league and into europe. the women side were turned fully professional in the year 2000, the first—ever women's team in europe that but downgraded to semi professional status in 2003 and fill in 2003 and fulham withdrew their funding for the team in 2006. earlier in the press conference

involving lawyers representing women who have accused the late billionaire of sexual abuse, the lawyers say they do not currently represent anyone who has come forward with alleged incidents relating to mohammed al fayed is a time at the club but fulham have passed anyone to come forward to their safeguarding team and the police if they have any information. —— have asked anyone. laura, thank you. this week marks the 80th anniversary of the battle of arnhem, one of the allied forces' boldest pieces of planning. it began what was the largest airborne assault of the second world war. but despite successes in italy and normandy, the battle of arnhem — in 1944 — was a defeat for the allies, and the number of british casualties was higher than on d—day, with 1,130 soldiers losing their lives. almost 6,500 were captured. our reporterjohn maguire has been to meet two veterans who fought in the battle. that's what the germans give us. if you got killed, they used to break it in half and, you know. but we used to sharpen it to use it

as a knife, you know? geoff roberts carries his prisoner of war dog tag in his wallet to this day. he was captured during the battle of arnhem 80 years ago. newsreel: this is the story of that | glorious yet tragic operation which, in mr churchill's words, will take a lasting place in our military annals and will, in succeeding generations, inspire our youth with the highest ideals of duty and of daring. building on the success of d—day, the objective was to secure bridges and river crossings to allow a route for the allies into northern germany and force a nazi surrender before the end of the year. the sky over northern europe turned black with aircraft, punctuated by white parachutes. hundreds of gliders were deployed. one of the last remaining members of the glider pilot regiment, peter colthup, explains why they were so vital. you're very useful in the glider, because when you land in a battlefield, you need guns, you need ammunition, you need...

you can't parachute it down, it's too heavy. and so that's what we do. so if we teach you to fly a glider, then you fly over the battlefield and you can land with all the ammunition, with anti—tank guns. so i used to do that. geoff was 19—years—old and serving with the king's own scottish borderers. he remembers the day his glider took off for holland, and the moment when they were hit by anti—aircraft fire. i've never seen so many aircraft in the sky at one time. got a bit of flak going on the dutch coast, where butch got bit up through his bum and one or two seats further up were knocked off the wall. despite early success, the battle of arnhem and the fabled bridge too far ended in defeat and withdrawal. much debated in subsequent years, the mission's failure has been attributed to poor planning, tactics, intelligence and underestimating the ferocity of the german defence.

geoff recalls the day two of his closest comrades were killed. they were aged just 24 and 25. that was chaos. it was absolutely chaos. two mates were in the other trench with a gun, and brown called out, "plumber's had it". and then there was another burst of fire and it went quiet, so obviously brown copped it then. thank you for giving us the freedom! it's an important anniversary, commemorated each september by the dutch and the remaining few who fought for them. geoff visited recently, taken across by the taxi charity for military veterans, and as always, paid his respects at the graves of the close friends he lost. that's where i'm going to end up. with them? yeah. not for a while, though. oh, no, i'm not in a hurry! well, it's the first place i go when we go to the cemetery, yeah.

yeah, yeah. i mean, there's several other people that i knew, but these two, they were in my section. my hut, we was in a hut of 28 blokes, and we knew everybody. and just the way it turned out, i suppose, you know. they were your mates? yeah. peter has a field where the gliders landed named after him, an honour he's been reluctant to accept. i tried to say, you can't do that, because i lived. but a lot of people died there. and, you know, you've got to visit there. "oh, yes. "my son was killed, my husband was killed here." and it's called the peter colthup field. and it's called the peter colthup field. and i said, you know, and i said, you know, "you can't do that," "you can't do that," but they did it anyway. but they did it anyway. but i said, i told them an important milestone but i said, i told them i wouldn't go to the ceremony. i wouldn't go to the ceremony. newsreel: the nazis would have given newsreel: the nazis would have given . a great deal to get the bridge back. i . a great deal to get the bridge back. i

the 80th anniversary of arnhem marks the 80th anniversary of arnhem marks an important milestone in the closing months of the war in europe. as the years pass, there are fewer and fewer with first—hand experience of the events of 1944. but those that are able will continue to honour their fallen comrades for as long as they can. john maguire, bbc news, lincolnshire. something a little bit different to end with. finally today, when you think of nudes in a museum, you'll probably think about paintings or sculptures. but one in dorchester is bringing the idea to life, and opening its doors to visitors who want to wander through the galleries after hours — naked. steve harris reports. i'd heard that a group of history buffs were going to be taking

the night's been organised by british naturism and the ticket price includes a glass of wine, changing facilities and a locker for the pa rticipa nts' clothes. wonderful turnout. 65 tickets i've sold, which is more than i anticipated. it's not rude, you know. we're just nude, that's all. that's all. yeah. i think for women, it's like a body conscious thing. um, and i've learned to accept my body for what it is now. and a lot of women can't do that. but, you know, give it a go, and if you don't like it, put your clothes back on again. dorset museum is doing it for the exposure. the venue had a multi—million pound revamp over covid and features exhibits from the collections of palaeontologist mary anning, sculptor elisabeth frink and novelist thomas hardy. but, earlier this year, it warned that its visitor numbers were down and its costs were up. i think for us it's fantastic because it enables us to showcase

the many ways in which you can enjoy museum and the fact that we're here for everybody. and it's also been really successful for them in terms of the number of people that have engaged and that are coming. and it's a new experience for both of us, for museums and for the british naturist society. it gives you a massive confidence to see normal people naked, because when you see naked people, it is generally instagram, porn, etc, and you see the stereotypical image that the press wants you to see. they're saying you should look like this. otherwise, you're not worth anything. yeah. you know? and i think that's wrong because it does instil people that, you know, why don't i look like that? for now, this evening is a one—off. and, after tonight, the museum will be closed until further notice. but i'm not going to miss out on a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity. what's that old saying? when in rome?

iam i am fully clothed, don't worry. for now at least. i am feeling overdressed all of a sudden but we had better get on with the weather! we have had some downpours in the last couple of hours, storms moving across into berkshire into oxfordshire and the rain really intense. some thunder and lightning. in contrast to that still and quiet weather for the north—west of the uk, lots of sunshine. not sunny everywhere but we have the speed of low cloud coming from the north sea. i reckon it should brighten up across lincolnshire, yorkshire through this afternoon with sunshine coming out but staying cloudy for north—east england and eastern scotland as we go through the afternoon. we continue to see thundery downpours across wales, the midlands and the south—west, many places dodging them but if you catch one of them it is intense so you

could see localised surface water flooding. feeling pleasant in the sunshine, temperatures creeping into the high teens and low 20s. overnight some storms coming from france affecting southern regions of england and wales and elsewhere low cloud is extensive, some mist patches and temperatures 11—13 . taking us into the weekend, a similar mix of whether stop starting cloudy and misty for eastern scotland, further south its sunshine, heavy thundery showers for england and wales, northern ireland should stay dry with sunny spells developing. in the sunshine and temperatures reaching low 20s and it will feel quite pleasant but saturday night into sunday we will see thundery showers merging to give longer spells of very heavy rain. the worst case scenario are some places could see a months worth of rain in 24 hours and so there is a much greater risk of seeing some

flooding as we head into sunday. as you can see it is not raining everywhere, the northern half of the uk keeping dry and some sunny skies across western scotland all day. temperatures high teens to late 20s, not changing too much but as we look into next week low pressure is moving off the atlantic and it looks like it will be a wet spell of weather for england and wales so we will watch the rainfall building up because they are starting to. once the low pressure moves through towards the end of next week we get a change in the weather, getting north—westerly when striking in colder weather and to give you some idea of what we are looking at in edinburgh, the average this time if you are 17 degrees, it will be down to about 11 next week so starting to turn colder with temperatures edging well below average. that is how things are looking for now. that's all from today's bbc news at one.

live from london. this is bbc news. mohamed al fayed is described as 'a monster�* by lawyers representing women who have accused the former billionaire owner of harrods of sexual assault. . ., ., , assault. the allegations involve cover-ups, - assault. the allegations - involve cover-ups, threats, and involve cover—ups, threats, and a quarter century of sexual abuse by mohamed al fayed after he purchased harrods. and became its chairman. aha, he purchased harrods. and became its chairman. a thick cloud of smoke _ became its chairman. a thick cloud of smoke can _ became its chairman. a thick cloud of smoke can be - became its chairman. a thick cloud of smoke can be seen i cloud of smoke can be seen rising over the lebanese capital, beirut. in the last few moments the israeli military says it carried out a targeted strike in the city. ladle targeted strike in the city. we are targeted strike in the city. - are monitoring the situation, still trying to work on the diplomatic channels to potentially avoid a full—blown war with israel, because the

past 48 hours were very difficult for lebanon.