emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.allegation of sexual assault made against a former snp council leader, jordan linden. mr linden, whose resignation led to the collapse of the party's administration in north lanarkshire, also left the party earlier this year. mr linden says he doesn't accept the allegations. there have beenjubilant celebrations with supporters on the pitch at the etihad stadium — as manchester city rounded off their home campaign with a win over chelsea. they clinched the premier league title on saturday when nearest rivals arsenal lost — and earlier the team were presented with the trophy, for the 5th time in 6 years. they had a sensational run of 11 consecutive wins in the final weeks of the season. these fans are pretty happy with the result. i get to watch the best football i've ever seen from any football team i've ever seen. for me, it's amazing. we've had some fantastic players in the past, but the play is on the pitch of the moment of the best i've ever seen.—

emma vardy, thank ou, in are expecting.rdinary — and shocking — story from kenya, where, for the last month, more than 200 bodies have been discovered in this forest. they are of people — including children — thought to have starved to death while under the influence of a cult run by an evangelical pastor. he is now in custody, but hundreds more people are missing and the details revealed by the investigation so far are deeply disturbing. barbara plett usher has travelled to the area for this report. making a meal became an act of defiance for salema masha. just a few months ago cooking food for her family was considered a sin. salema rescued herfive children from a christian doomsday cult. she was told they must starve so they could seejesus. if she hadn't escaped, they would be dead. translation: when the child cries or asked for food or water, - we were told to take a cane and beat them so they could go and eat in heaven. so i thought about it and i said, "i cannot go along with this, and i can't eat while my child starv

let's speak to our ireland correspondent emma vardy. are the prospects here and what is at stake? many people will see the results of these elections as a verdict on the dup's these elections as a verdict on the dup�*s refusal to re—enter devolved government in the tough line they have taken. the party is going to have taken. the party is going to have a really big decision to take on what to do next once these results are out. the dup is hoping to remain the largest party in local councils here but there are some suggestions it may be overtaken by sinn fein, as it was at the assembly elections in northern ireland last year. in response sinn fein have focused their a campaign very heavily on their leader in northern ireland, michelle 0'neill, who would become the first nationalist first minister of northern ireland if the dup was to re—enter power sharing. sinn fein are hoping the dup�*s block on all of this is going to energise the sinn fein supporters to get out to vote. but of course the other story of northern ireland in recent year

emma vardy, bbc news.essor of politics at liverpool university. he's also author of northern ireland: conflict and change. how ireland: conflict and change. significant leap in no ireland. how significant leap in northern ireland. it’s how significant leap in northern ireland. fl ., , how significant leap in northern ireland. �*, ., how significant leap in northern ireland. fl ., , . how significant leap in northern ireland. ., , . ireland. it's only a year since the 've ireland. it's only a year since they've gone _ ireland. it's only a year since they've gone in _ ireland. it's only a year since they've gone in use. - the uk internal trading market. it's not given the context of the northern ireland protocol, a framework that deals with northern ireland by its comp coated relationship training wise with the uk and the european union. how much the uk government can help the uk is open to question. and it wanted to go back the wind framework is there and that's been agreed with the european union and they ca

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.fter being caught speeding in her car. the punishment for minor cases is usually a speed awareness course. it's reported that ms braverman requested a private course to avoid points on her driving licence. now opposition parties are urging mr sunak to launch an ethics investigation. this report from our political correspondent, ben wright. when a prime minister strides the world stage, it's always the questions about a rumpus back home that seem to irritate. injapan, rishi sunak was asked if he still had confidence in his home secretary. well, chris, i don't know the full details of what has happened, nor have i spoken to the home secretary. i think you can see first—hand what i have been doing over the last day or so. but i understand she has expressed regret for speeding, accepted the penalty and paid the fine. downing street later insisted that of course the prime minister had full confidence in suella braverman. it's not the speeding offence itself that has put her in the spotlight

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.which may be work—related to be investigated by the health and safety executive. writing in the british medical journal, the letter refers to the death of headteacher ruth perry following an inspection of her school and says this should lead to change. the office for standards in education described her death as a tragedy. here's our education editor, branwen jeffreys. ruth perry took her own life while waiting for an 0fsted report. caversham primary was being graded inadequate. inspectors raised concerns about how children were kept safe. an inquest will look at events around ruth perry's death. it's provoked a bigger debate about teachers�* mental health. suicides are not investigated by the health and safety executive. now two leading academics are calling for that to change. every suicide is a tragedy for the family and friends of the individual, for the individual who loses their life. and if there are circumstances that could be tackled to prevent that happening, we have a respon

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.d, as nations continue to grapple with how to achieve that, scientists have also been looking at ways to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. one possible route involves using humble pieces of the rock basalt, which one entrepreneur now calls magic dust. 0ur environment correspondent, jonah fisher, explains. there's very little that's green about 0rrock quarry in fife. the black basalt hillside is being steadily eaten away to make concrete and asphalt for new roads. this is our magic dust. basalt is a volcanic rock found in abundance around the world. and as it weathers in the rain, it takes the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. that's what's balanced our climate for the last millennia. enhanced rock weathering is a way of turbocharging that natural removal. what we do is we use this fine material which massively speeds up the process. so more contact between the rain and the rock? exactly. we watch as the basalt is spread. the science is still new but it is thou

emma vardy reports. the political landscape of northern ireland is changing.n part of the uk, is no longer the dominant force. as the democratic unionist party, for a second time in 12 months, has been overtaken by sinn fein. i thought it was inevitable that it would be that way, because people, well... my idea, you vote for people who are going to do the job. ijust think it was coming, the dup haven't been standing around doing anything, so... is that what it's down to, a lack of government? lack of government, yeah. someone has to make really vital decisions relating - to the environment, employment, . childcare, women's refuge provision, the whole abortion issue is still unresolved. - the scale of the jump in support for sinn fein is something they themselves hadn't even predicted, but will it do anything to change the dynamic in the power—sharing crisis here in northern ireland, which has left everyone without a government for a year? the dup are preventing a return to power—sharing as a protest over the brexit arrangements, the irish sea border, which the

our ireland correspondent, emma vardy, reports.ireland, winning seats in areas it has never had councillors elected before. the party says the victory is an endorsement by voters that the blocking of the stormont assembly must end. for me, it definitely was about positive leadership, it was about a restoration of the executive, it was about making politics work, and i'm very glad that that has resonated with the electorate and that they have come out in such strong numbers where we now are on course to have a very momentous election result. and then it is now obviously what we are going to do next, which is, in my opinion, we need to work, double down in terms of getting an executive restored. northern ireland is currently being run by civil servants while the dup are preventing a return to power—sharing as a protest over the brexit arrangements, which they believe undermined northern ireland's place in the uk. the dup avoided any losses, which they say shows there is support for their tough stance. obviously been at the expense of

our ireland correspondent, emma vardy, told me about the impact of this victory for sinn fein.t. it is another historic moment for sinn fein, just like we saw this time last year when they became the largest party at stormont too, a continuation of their success. will it do anything to change the dynamic and change the stalemate that we see at stormont that's left northern ireland without a government for a year? well, it's not really within sinn fein�*s gift to do that. it's the dup, the largest unionist party here, who've been blocking a return to power sharing. they have these deep objections to the brexit trading arrangements, the border in the irish sea that makes it more difficult to get goods over from great britain and to northern ireland. and while you can see the headlines of sinn fein success and the gains they've made, if you look at the dup vote, well, this hasn't meant a collapse in the dup vote by any means. the dup have largely held on to their vote. largely it's held up and they've held onto about the same number of seats. they've made one gain. so what they se

emma vardy, bbc news.orida to spend ten days on board the international space station. rayyanah barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, will become the first saudi woman to voyage into space. she will be joined on the mission by fellow saudi ali al-qarni, who's a fighter pilot. well, a little while ago, i spoke to sameer hashmi, who is injeddah, saudi arabia, who told us a bit more about his mission. she is a cancer researcher, she will become the first woman to go into space, which is why this whole trip is very historic, notjust saudi arabia but the world. she has been a fighter pilot for a long time. saudi arabia conducted research, they have been working on this project for a while now because they want to make space as a critical plan of the programme to diversify the economy and organise the economy as they try to move away from oil, so they have done a lot of interviews, screened a lot of profiles, and it was indeed a historic day for saudi arabia because it will be its first fourier in space in almost

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.emporary ceasefire. previous truce attempts between sudan's regular army and the para—military rapid support forces have tended to collapse within minutes of beginning. but the new deal which starts on monday is enforced by a "ceasefire monitoring mechanism". the prime minister of italy — giorgia meloni — has been visiting homes affected by the severe floods in the northeast of the country she returned early from the g7 summit injapan to see for herself the effects of the heavy rainfall near ravenna. ia people died in the extreme weather which saw six months worth of rainfall in just 36 hours. 36,000 people were displaced by the incessant rains in the emilia romagna region. 10,000 people have since been able to return to their homes. a woman from saudi arabia will make history later when she blasts off from florida to spend 10 days on board the international space station. rayyanah barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, will become the first saudi woman to voyage into space. sameer hashm

emma vardy, bbc news, belfast.n board the international space station. rayyanah barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, will become the first saudi woman to voyage into space. you are watching bbc news. do stay with us. hello, we have a lot of fine weather to come for the uk in the week ahead. very little rain to speak of. and for many, increasing amounts of sunshine will equate to temperatures working their way out. the reason it is going to be fine, a big area of high pressure centred down here across the azores. we often refer to it as the azores high. and through the course of the week, it will extend its way eastwards across the uk, and then later on in the week, it looks like if anything, we will see the centre of the high eventually pushing across towards the uk. so, a lot of fine weather to come. 0vernight, perhaps a few showers across eastern england. some strays getting pulled in on the breeze off the north sea. perhaps the odd spot of rain out of this old weather front dangling its way south into scotland.

emma vardy, bbc news.e said the cause was oesophageal cancer. martin amis was one of the defining writers of the 1980s and �*90s. he produced 15 novels and perfected a style that was satirical, witty and caustic. our arts correspondent david sillito looks back at his life. reads: in diston, everything hated everything else - and everything else in return hated everything back. martin amis reading from his 2012 novel lionel asbo: the state of england, a pitch—black comedy about the darker side of britain. trademark amis. money, london fields, yellow dog — much of his best work was set in london, little signposts of the changing and, in his opinion, declining state of our nation. the son of another famous author, kingsley amis, the connection was at times both help and a hindrance but the quality of his writing soon established him as a literary star in his own right. a generation that include salman rushdie, who paid tribute to a "unique and instantly recognisable "literary voice". his willingness to take o

our ireland correspondent emma vardy sent this report.the recent coronation. applause. it's the king's first major engagement outside england since being crowned, and queen camilla accompanied him as the couple were greeted by schoolchildren. they also met privately with the senior police officer detective chief inspectorjohn caldwell, who was recently shot multiple times in an attack suspected to have been orchestrated by republican paramilitaries, the first time he's been seen in public since leaving hospital. and at the gardens, the royals shook hands with the sinn fein mpjohn finucane. the republican party has historically had no allegiance to the monarchy, but recently has attended more royal events, they say as a mark of neighbourly respect. music. this musical garden complete with singing shrubbery... music. ..was designed with a nod to the king's own passion for sustainability and the environment. well, this all feels rather alice in wonderland. you're greeted by some dancing trees, and then the centrepiece underneath the crown —

our ireland correspondent emma vardy is there.of local schoolchildren who have been waiting very patiently to see the king and queen. i think they are just coming out to meet them now. and the king and queen have also been planting a tree to mark the occasion as well. now, it is king charles�*s second visit to northern ireland since he became monarchy. and this is the king and queen's first major engagement outside of england since the coronation. among the people that king charles has been meeting today, notably, is the sinn fein mpjohn finegan. sinn fein, the republican party, they don't believe in the monarchy. but sinn fein representatives in northern ireland have been attending more royal events more recently, saying that it is a neighbourly sign of respect, they are doing that again today. the gardens here have been designed in line with the king's own sustainable principles that he is very passionate about. there is a huge structure in the middle with what i can only describe as a giant disco ball with a crown on top. so, p

well a little ealier i spoke to our ireland correspondent emma vardy, i start by asking her why sinn're about three quarters of the way through the counting, second day of counting here, and yesterday morning. the picture was becoming pretty clear yesterday though and sinn fein�*s positionjust being cemented hour by hour, today as well. don't forget, sinn fein, their ultimate aim is to leave the uk and join up with the irish republic to create a united ireland but they don't put this front and centre of their campaign. they try to broaden their appeal, talk to people about issues that affect everybody, but something that has particularly benefited them this time around has been the situation not in local councils but up in stormont, the devolved government, where their rivals, the dup, the largest unionist party, have been blocking a return to power—sharing. they have been boycotting devolved government there because of the dup�*s opposition to the brexit arrangements, but that stalemate at stormont, that has left northern ireland without a government for a year, has, of course, frus

you are 'oinin: us enniskillen with emma vardy.ur? a lovely rustic _ over fermanagh. what's the flavour? a lovely rustic flavour. _ over fermanagh. what's the flavour? a lovely rustic flavour. it's _ over fermanagh. what's the flavour? a lovely rustic flavour. it's packed i a lovely rustic flavour. it's packed full of _ a lovely rustic flavour. it's packed full of local — a lovely rustic flavour. it's packed full of local flavour. and a lovely rustic flavour. it's packed full of local flavour.— full of local flavour. and you have a bacon sandwich _ full of local flavour. and you have a bacon sandwich ready _ full of local flavour. and you have a bacon sandwich ready for i full of local flavour. and you have a bacon sandwich ready for me. i full of local flavour. and you have i a bacon sandwich ready for me. you cooked this for charles and camilla when they came here a couple of years ago. when they came here a couple of years ago-— years ago. and luckily they are still together! _ years ago. and luckily they are still together! the

stormont where the dup have been blocking a return to power—sharing. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardyt's becoming a familiar story on this island. a surge for sinn fein on an elections results day. this time last year, the party became the largest party in the devolved government at stormont. today, they repeated that in the local council elections, overtaking the dup. it was about a message of telling people what we were for. it was about electing hard working councillors. but for me it definitely was about positive leadership. it was about a restoration of the executive. it was about making politics work. and i'm very glad that that has resonated with the electorate and that they have come out in such strong numbers. northern ireland's democratic unionists have been refusing to return to power—sharing at stormont because of their objections to the post—brexit trading arrangements. and while this election was for local councils, it was seen as people's first chance to send a message about the big political crisis. while the dup�*s vote largely held up, the unionist vote overall has s

live now to our ireland correspondent, emma vardy. message seemingly resonated so well? ~ ., fein's message seemingly resonated so well? ~ . ., ., , so well? we are about three quarters ofthe so well? we are about three quarters of the way through _ so well? we are about three quarters of the way through the _ so well? we are about three quarters of the way through the counting. - so well? we are about three quarters of the way through the counting. the | of the way through the counting. the second day of counting here and yesterday morning. the picture was becoming pretty clear yesterday and sinn fein's position has been cemented hour by hour today. don't forget, their ultimate aim is to leave the uk and join up with the irish republic to create a united ireland but they don't put this front and centre of their campaign. they try to broaden their appeal and talk to people about issues that affect everybody but something that has benefited then this time around has benefited then this time around has been the situation not in local co

live now to our ireland correspondent, emma vardy.n, just like we saw this time last year when they became the largest party, a continuation of their success. will it do anything to change the dynamic and change the stalemate that we see at stormont that has left northern ireland without a government for a year? it is not within sinn fein�*s gift to do that. the dup, who have been blocking a return to power—sharing, have these deep objections to the brexit trading arrangements, the border in the irish sea that makes it difficult to get goods over from great britain to northern ireland, and while you can see the headlines of sinn fein�*s success in the games they have made, if you look at the dup vote this has not collapsed the dup vote this has not collapsed the du peacoat by any means, they have largely held onto their vote, it has held up and they have held onto the same number of seats, they have made one game, so what they see this as, an endorsement of their policy for boycotting stormont until their concerns are met on the proto