nicholas witchell, bbc news.birmingham have tonight been charged with terrorism offences. ummariyat mirza — who was arrested by armed officers in birmingham a week ago — has been charged with purchasing a knife and other items that would help him carry out an attack in the uk. his sister zainub mirza has been charged with with sending links to isis beheading and execution videos, and other terrorist images. they're due to appear at westminster magistrates court tomorrow. the defence secretary sir michael fallon has announced that the iraq historic allegations team.. ..will officially close on 30 june 2017. the remaining claims against troops that served in iraq, which are expected to number around 20, will then be dealt with by the service police, hopefully by the end of next year. the government's move was enabled by the striking off of lawyer phil shiner — who'd pursued multiple cases until he and his firm, public interest lawyers, were discredited. the european parliament has agreed its priorities for the fort

nicholas witchell reports.d almost within its precincts, at westminster abbey, a service symbolising hope. leaders of the different faith communities from across the united kingdom werejoined in the congregation by the duke and duchess of cambridge and prince harry, together with members of the emergency services, some of those who were injured, and some of the bereaved, including melissa cochrane, whose husband, kurt, was one of the four people who died. candles were lit to represent the light which can never be extinguished by the darkness of terror. in his address, the dean of westminster recalled that among those who were directly affected by the attack were people from britain and 12 other nations. he posed the question so many have asked — why? what could possibly motivate a man to hire a car and take it from birmingham to brighton to london and then drive it fast at people he'd never met, couldn't possibly know, against who he had no personal grudge, no reason to hate them and then run at the gates of th

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at kensington palace.di arabia on the second day of a visit to develop closer trading and security links with the gulf states. the prime minister rejected criticism of her visit from those who draw attention to saudi arabia's record on human rights. she said she'd have no difficulty in raising what she called "hard issues", including saudi involvement in the war in neighbouring yemen. 0ur deputy political editor, john pienaar, is travelling with the prime minister. a warm welcome for theresa may, and this time no—one could blame herfor enjoying it. her day started with a visit to this uk—supported secondary school in oman, where these children, jordanians and syrian refugees, learn and dream, some told her, of becoming doctors. the smiling face of british policy in the region. it's not all this easy. next stop, saudi arabia and down to business, boosting trade, mostly lucrative arms sales. earlier, she'd brushed aside those who say it's wrong to support and sell weapons to a country so criticised for its r

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at kensington palace.ring how to fix the problem of pedestrians, bikes and cars battling for space in the enormous cities of the middle kingdom. china correspondent stephen mcdonell took to the streets of beijing to try and find a path through the chaos. the rapid success of china's bike hire companies took everybody by surprise. it has also raised questions as to how a city should run its transport. it not about the roads, but the foot paths. as you can see, there are spaces in beijing which are now totally crammed with bikes. the beauty is that you scan them with your phone, and then leave them with your phone, and then leave them wherever you like for the next person —— footpaths. some of those complaining about the bikes want to park cars on the footpath. ultimately, this system is effective because the bikes are everywhere. if the authorities limit is too much, they could ruin the whole scheme. they'd be doing something that really works and that millions of people are using. —— they'd be killing. you

nicholas witchell, bbc news. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. and the west have clashed over who is responsible for a deadly gas attack in syria which left 70 people dead. president trump has condemned the attack and says his attitude towards president assad has changed. north korea has test—fired a medium—range ballistic missile. it did so from an eastern port called sinpo. south korea's defence ministry said it flew about 60km. now bear in mind that on thursday donald trump meets the chinese president. also bear in mind this is in a financial times interview. donald trump said that if china didn't do something about north korea, america would. this is the state department's statement on this most recent test. if it looks short, that's because it is. this is the full statement. "north korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. the united states has spoken enough about north korea. we have no further comment." earlier i spoke withjenny town from john hopkins university. i asked her what she made of the state department's re

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at kensington palace.at was mined in south africa in 1999 has broken the world record for a gemstone at an auction. it fetched more than $71 million in hong kong. the 59.6 carat pink star is the largest polished diamond in its class to go under the hammer. it fetched a higher price when it was put up for auction in 2013, going for $83 million, but the new york—based buyer defaulted on the deal. hello there. high pressure is going to be the dominating force for the weather across the uk for the rest of this week and into the weekend. here it is, just nudging in from the south—west, pushing that area of low pressure out of the way — and that has brought some severe gales to the far north of scotland, and certainly to the northern isles, that gradually easing down. so first thing on wednesday, for most of us, the winds will be light, quite a chilly start across england and wales, especially in rural places. now, there will be quite a bit of cloud across the northern half of the uk, where it will be quite wind

our correspondent nicholas witchell reports.go the area around the westminster abbey was caught up in the chaos of that afternoon. nearby on westminster bridge there were casualties. people moan down as they enjoyed the sights of london, closer still just enjoyed the sights of london, closer stilljust inside the gates of the houses of parliament, there were gunshots. and a murder of an unarmed police officer, one of the four innocent people who died that day. two weeks later at westminster abbey, the service, quite deliberately not a memorial service, it is felt to be too soon after the event for that, but what the abbey described as a service of hope, and leaders of the different faith communities from across the uk were joined in the congregation by the duke and duchess of cambridge and prince harry along with members of the emergency services, some of the bereaved families and some of those who were injured. the violent assault two weeks ago against londoners and visitors to the city from around the world and the killing of a

nicholas witchell, bbc news.f those attending the service was melissa cochrane — she and her husband kurt were both hit by khalid masood's car on westminster bridge. kurt was killed, melissa suffered a broken leg, broken ribs and a gash to the head. that day had been part of the trip of lifetime, they'd travelled from their home in utah through europe to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. earlier today melissa spoke exclusively to me about her memories of the attack and of her husband. kurt was probably the best man i have ever met. he was sweet and kind. andi have ever met. he was sweet and kind. and i am extremely proud of him and very happy that the world now knows what a wonderful man he was. he would probably hate all the publicity that is going on, he is a very private kind of person. very generous, very sweet. the love of my life. what can you remember about that day. we were just having another wonderful day in our vacation. just enjoying the sights, taking pictures, making our way to the abbey. i

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at kensington palace.ter, i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello there. high pressure is going to be the dominating force for the weather across the uk for the rest of this week and into the weekend. here it is, just nudging in from the south—west, pushing that area of low pressure out of the way — and that has brought some severe gales to the far north of scotland, and certainly to the northern isles, that gradually easing down. so first thing on wednesday, for most of us, the winds will be light, quite a chilly start across england and wales, especially in rural places. now, there will be quite a bit of cloud across the northern half of the uk, where it will be quite windy. the best of the sunshine, to start off with across central and southern areas. so that wind quite a feature across the northern half of scotland and for the northern isles, we'll see some outbreaks of rain and a little patchy rain as well across western scotland, drier across the east. but generally speaking, it's going to be quite cloudy for scot

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at kensington palace.accident that happened here was of the sort that can at worst produce a meltdown. in this case the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well 25 years of hatred and rage as they jump up 25 years of hatred and rage as they jump up on the statue. this be in role became a massive demonstration of black power, the power to influence. —— this demonstration. todayis today is about the promise of a bright future, a day when we hope a line can be drawn under the bloody past. i think picasso's works were beautiful. they were intelligent. and it's a sad loss to everybody who loves art. this is bbc news. i'm mike embley. the latest headlines: the us has accused syria's president of brutal, unabashed barbarism after an apparent chemical attack left at least 58 people dead. a d raft a draft un resolution has called for a rapid investigation. all 11 candidates in the french presidential election have taken part in a live televised debate. the frontrunner in the polls, emmanuel macron, spoke

nicholas witchell, bbc news.he first time a formal delegation of british muslim leaders has gone to the vatican. the four imams serve communities in leicester, birmingham, glasgow and london. pope francis said the interfaith gathering furthered humanity's most important work — listening to each other. let's ta ke let's take a look at the weather with darren. it has been a fine spring day today, some sunshine around. this is the satellite picture from earlier. more coders spilling in notjust across northern ireland but other parts of the uk. rather thin clouds, some clearer skies for a while across the south. tending to increase the cloud amounts to the cause of the night, but the best of it is likely to be in north—east england and scotland. we will be around 7 degrees or so. high pressure dominating on thursday, light winds are many, the cloud will be thin, sunshine at times. the best of the sunshine used in scotland and pubs north—east england, western scotland seeing more lower cloud and drizzle. otherwise it

our royal correspondent nicholas witchell on today's service.a around westminster abbey was caught up in the chaos of that afternoon. nearby on westminster bridge there were casualties. closer still, just inside the gates of the houses of parliament, an unarmed police officer was killed. one of the four innocent people who died that day. two weeks later, a service symbolising hope. leaders of the different faith communities across the uk were joined different faith communities across the uk werejoined by different faith communities across the uk were joined by the different faith communities across the uk werejoined by the duke different faith communities across the uk were joined by the duke and duchess of cambridge and prince harry, together with members of the emergency services, some of the bereaved families and some of those injured. candles were lit to represent the light which can never be extinguished by the darkness of terror. in his address, the dean of westminster recalled that among those directly affected by the attack were people f

this correspondence from our royal correspondence —— report, nicholas witchell.go the area around westminster abbey was caught up in the chaos of that afternoon. nearby on westminster bridge there were casualties. people mown down as they enjoyed the sights of london. closer stilljust inside the gates of the houses of parliament, there were gunshots. and the murder of an unarmed police officer, one of the four innocent people who died that day. two weeks later at westminster abbey, the service. quite deliberately not a memorial service — it‘s felt to be too soon after the event for that. but what the abbey described as "a service of hope". leaders of the different faith communities from across the uk were joined in the congregation by the duke and duchess of cambridge and prince harry along with members of the emergency services, some of the bereaved families and some of those who were injured. the violent assault two weeks ago against londoners and visitors to the city from around the world and the killing of a police constable on duty at the palace of westminst

nicholas witchell, bbc news. one of those attending the service was melissa cochrane.nd were both hit by the leader massoud's car. kurt was killed in the attack. they were in london to celebrate the 25th wedding anniversary. mousset spoke to fiona bruce put the service. probably the most beautiful thing i have ever seen. most beautiful thing i have ever seen. it was quite an honour. to my husband and all of the other victims who were affected by this tragedy. i have never been to anything so beautiful. it was great. tell me about your husband, what kind of person was he? kurt was probably the best man i have ever met. he was sweet and kind and i am extremely proud of him and i am very happy that the world now knows what a wonderful man he was. he would probably hate all the publicity that is going on. he is a very private kind of person, very generous, very sweet and the love of my life. when did you find out that cat had been killed? it was after the surgery on my leg. i compiled of recovery and they put me in a hospital room and my parents had come to visit and we re

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at kensington palace. you have been watching newsday on the bbc.or continues, and today will be looking at thailand, and how it is being transformed and what is driving the demand. and before we go, i wanted to leave you with this picture from last week. they hike was given a warning after what appeared to be an abandoned black bear cub in are gone. now to orphan farecards had been saved in montenegro by a farmer. both cases are raising questions about the saving of wild animals. hello there. high pressures could be the dominating force for the weather across the uk for the rest of this week and into the weekend. here it is, just nudging in from the south—west, pushing that area of low pressure out of the way. and that has brought some severe gales to the far north of scotland and certainly to the northern isles. that gradually easing down. so posting on wednesday, for most of us, the whistle be light. a chilly start across england and wales, particularly in rural places. quite a lot of cloud across the northern half of uk, will be windy. those of

cambridge and prince harryjoined those attending the multi—faith service, as our royal correspondent nicholas witchell events which occurred almost within its precincts, at westminster abbey a service symbolising hope. leaders of the different faith communities from across the united kingdom werejoined in the congregation by the duke and duchess of cambridge and prince harry, together with members of the emergency services, some of those who were injured and some of the bereaved, including melissa cochran whose husband kurt was one of the four people who died. candles were lit to represent the light which can never be extinguished by the darkness of terror. in his address, the dean of westminster recalled that among those who were directly affected by the attack were people from britain and 12 other nations. he posed the question so many have asked — why? what could possibly motivate a man to hire a car and take it from birmingham to brighton to london and then drive it fast at people he‘d never met, couldn‘t possibly know, against who he had no personal grudge, no reason to hate them and then run at

our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell reports.rogress was made. forward now to 2017 and it is her son, harry, who is challenging the world to finish his mother's work. in august 1997, one month before her death, diana went to bosnia. there she met two boys both of whom had lost their legs to landmines. to one of them, harry said she had made a promise. when my mother said goodbye to zarko that august, just weeks before her untimely death, she told him that he would not be forgotten. please help me keep her word to zarko and malic, and others like them throughout the world. harry met zarko and his friend, both now grown men. both, though, struggling with the life changing effects of weapons of war, which, as diana pointed out 20 years ago, killand main without discrimination long after the wars are over. the duke and duchess of cambridge will attend what's being called "a service of hope", for the victims of the westminster attack later. faith leaders and members of the emergency services will also be among the guests. it will be l