mary lou mcdonald, welcome to hardtalk. thank you.nd is changing remarkably fast, both in terms of its social and cultural attitudes, its politics, as well. and your party, sinn fein, is steeped in the past. how can you persuade the irish people that you can be agents of change? well, i think you're right to say that ireland is changing, and in some respects quite dramatically. i mean, we had a recent referendum on the very vexed social issue of abortion rights. and i think, more than anything else in recent times, that is a weathervane forjust how radically irish public opinion has changed, and the extent to which we now live in a much more diverse, much more open, much more tolerant society. and a year ago, slightly more, of course, we had the referendum on marriage equality. again, another — not quite so vexed, but nonetheless a contentious issue. and similarly, the population of ireland stated that they were well ahead, in many cases, of their politicians and their political leaders. and sinn fein in both of those instances, in bo

its leader, mary lou mcdonald, campaigned to overturn the ban on abortion in ireland. believed sinn fein members should be able to vote according to their own personal beliefs. that is what will be debated here this afternoon. thank you very much. with all the sport — here's mike bushell at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. france are off to a winning start at the world cup. they had their work cut out against australia. history was made in a really busy match for the video referee officials. they were first called into action to decide if this was a foul byjosh wisden on anton krishnan. dion dublin tweeted that it was fair. but the referee decided that it was worthy of a penalty. just five minutes later, this one was clear—cut, a definite handball. the equaliser was made for australia. in the last ten minutes france won the game when goalline technology was called into use. to say that this paul pogba shot crossed the line, albeit after a deflection. it finished 2—1 to france. england have had a final training session before flying south ahead of their opening mat

to some degree, the party is still divided, at its leader mary lou mcdonald campaigned to overturn thers oppose it and 2a branches have put forward a notion saying they believe sinn fein members should be able to vote according to their own personal beliefs. that will be debated here this afternoon. the prime minister says she's disappointed after one of her own mps blocked plans to make upskirting a criminal offence. the new law would have seen offenders who secretly take photos up victim's clothes sentenced to up to two years in jail. but tory mp sir christopher chope was able to block the legislation by shouting "object". 0ur politcal correspondent, iain watson, reports. i was at a festival with my sister on a blistering hot day, waiting for my favourite band to come on stage and two guys took pictures up my skirt. gina martin was a victim of upskirting, the practice of secretly taking pictures under someone's clothes. a liberal democrat mp wanted to make it a criminal offence in england and wales, with offenders being jailed for up to two years. it's already outlawed in scotland bu

the sinn fein president, mary lou mcdonald said she believed that change in abortion law must happenr ireland correspondent emma vardy. anti—abortion campaigners turned out to greet sinn fein delegates this morning. these views were once in the party mainstream, but not any more. no more will our reproductive rights be capitalised and commercialised! today, sinn fein delegates of a new generation spoke in favour of abortion reform. we must face the reality that the lives of some women are placed in danger and real risk due to their pregnancy. during the recent referendum campaign, i was struck by the scores of women that came forward and told their personal stories. last month ireland voted decisively to overturn its ban on abortion. today sinn fein passed a motion requiring its politicians to back new laws in the irish parliament, allowing abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. but not without some internal division. the 26 counties of ireland has lost something beautiful and precious, the protection of the unborn, but we the already born did not lose on may the 25th — the unborn chi

its leader, mary lou mcdonald, campaigned to overcome the ban on abortion in ireland, but some membersable to vote according to their own personal beliefs. that is what will be debated here later on this afternoon. the un's special envoy to yemen has arrived in the capital sana'a in a bid to persuade rebels to give up control of a key seaport. pro—government forces backed by saudi arabia have been fighting to take hodeidah from iran—backed militias. most of yemen's aid passes through the port, and aid agencies have warned that a prolonged battle could worsen an already critical situation. spain's government says it has accepted an offer from france to take in some of the migrants from the aquarius rescue ship. the vessel is currently en route to spain, with more than 600 people onboard, who were picked up off the libyan coast. last weekend the boat was denied permission to dock in sicily after italy's new government promised a tough stance on immigration. the prime minister says she's disappointed after one of her own mps blocked plans to make upskirting a criminal offence. the new law

later this evening the president, mary lou mcdonald, will also give her first leader's address since adams. let's go live now to belfast and our ireland correspondent chris page. chris, i suppose the ramifications of that referendum in the republic of that referendum in the republic of ireland are being felt that there today. at right. mary lou mcdonald, the relatively huge sinn fein president, you need to go a few months ago, play date very prominent role in that referendum campaign which resulted in a landslide vote in favour of change, the irish republic has removed its constitutional ban on abortion. the irish government is not planning to bring forward legislation which would legalize the termination to pregnancy for any reason until a woman is 12 weeks pregnant. and till this afternoon sinn fein‘s current cost policy fell short of that in favour of legalizing abortions in cases where a woman's health was at risk. -- cases where a woman's health was at risk. —— current policy fell short. in the annual conference today they set the party executive first we should be able to instr

mary lou mcdonald gave herfirst conference speech since taking over from gerry adams.compassionate medical care at home. the north is next. now that sinn fein has changed its own stance on abortion, the party will continue pressing for the law to be changed here in northern ireland. where abortion remains illegal in most circumstances. but achieving this will be harder. sinn fein is not in government after power—sharing with the dup collapsed 17 months ago. change has come in the party but deadlock over access to abortion for northern ireland remains. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. with all the sport, here's olly foster at the world cup in moscow. it is well past midnight and there are thousands of fans on the streets, may be celebrating their victory today. we have hand—4—macro matches —— we have had four matches today. the full highlights are worth watching on match of the day after the news. we saw france helped by the video assistant referee in beating australia, and here in moscow, iceland, making their world cup debut stunned argentina by getting a draw. adam wil

mary lou mcdonald gave herfirst conference speech since taking over from gerry adams a few months agoat home. the north is next. now that sinn fein has changed its own stance on abortion, the party will continue pressing for the law to be changed here in northern ireland, where abortion remains illegal in most circumstances. but achieving this will be harder. sinn fein is not in government after power—sharing with the dup collapsed 17 months ago. change has come in the party, but deadlock over access to abortion for northern ireland remains. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. the former boss of france telecom and six other members of his team will face trial over an alleged culture of harassment that led to a series of suicides at the firm. they are accused of making life deliberately unpleasant for employees to make them want to leave. in one case an employee jumped out of a fifth floor window in front of colleagues and another is said to have stabbed himself in a meeting. in june 1993, is said to have stabbed himself in a meeting. injune 1993, the israeli meeting. injune1993, the israel

mary lou mcdonald is in charge of a party which is the second largest in northern ireland and the third new sinn fein leader in 35 years, having taken over from gerry adams a few months ago. the politician from dublin had a big role in the campaign in the republic to end an almost complete ban on abortion. after the referendum last month, the irish government wants to pass a new law to legalise terminations for any reason, until a woman's 12 weeks pregnant. but sinn fein's current policy doesn't go that far, saying that abortion should be allowed only when a woman's health is at risk. so the party leadership is bringing forward a proposal to the conference here to liberalise the position on abortion. it will would mean sinn fein politicians would have to support the party line on the legislation in the irish parliament in dublin, but some members will argue that they should be allowed a free vote according to their conscience. the party is also pushing for abortion law to be changed north of the irish border, where there are much more restrictions than the rest of the uk. brexit is high

tonight in her first conference speech as leader mary lou mcdonald will call for that to change.atherine downes at the bbc sport centre. thanks very much. the 2018 world cup has produced its biggest surprise so far. argentina's superstar lionel messi missing a penalty and his jaw and iceland were playing their first world cup. but we're friends beat australia. here's a report. and that of argentina's stars lit up this occasion, sergio aguero, israeli outshot. burdened by such expectation ryland, such as england was found out against the reputation counts. 0ffered was found out against the reputation counts. offered with their first ever world cup goal. predictably, lionel messi would have his moment. it came from the spot, the outcome, less predictable. messi and argentina still have a lot to do. as france took on australia, few so much wrong with this challenge. that was until the video referee took a look. a france penalty was eventually the decision, antoine griezmann ending that discussion. australia's response was clearer to see, but just as australia's response was clearer

tonight in her first conference speech as leader mary lou mcdonald will call for that to change.njured by a suicide bomb in the eastern afghan province of nangarhar. the so—called islamic state group said it carried out the bombing. the attack happened as taliban militants and afghan security forces embraced during a three—day ceasefire as the country marks the muslim festival of eid. the afghan president has urged the taliban to extend the ceasefire. our correspondent in kabul, shoaib sharifi, explained the significance of today's events. 17 years since the collapse of the taliban regime, kabul residents today saw an unprecedented scene on the streets of kabul when the taliban militants on motorbikes carrying the white flag of taliban were running here and there on the streets of kabul and stopping and hanging it up on soldiers as part of meet and greet of the ceasefire celebrations. not only that, and the very man, the commander of the police forces, the afghan interior minister, was out on the street taking selfies with the taliban soldiers as a gesture of showing support and

mary lou mcdonald, the relatively new sinn fein resident, she only took over from gerry adams a few months campaign which resulted in a landslide vote in favour of change to the irish republic as he removed its constitutional near ban on abortion. the irish government, now planning to bring forward legislation which would legalize the termination of pregnancy for any reason until a woman is 12 weeks pregnant, and until this afternoon sinn fein‘s current policy actually fell short of that. sinn fein were in favour of legalizing abortions in cases where a woman's health was at risk, so the party executive put forward a motion to the annual conference today, where they said that the party executive firstly should able to instruct mps to the irish parliament as to how they vote on the issue. and they said that abortion should be available without specific reason for a limited gestational period. so there is a bit of flexibility there. but the bottom line is that whenever this legislation comes before the irish parliament, the party leadership will be able to instruct its mps to vote in favour