Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:13Live from Washington. This is
00:00:15BBC News at a concert in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Ed Sheeran makes his
00:00:19his first remarks since his support
00:00:20support act was dropped over pro-Palestinian
00:00:23pro-Palestinian comments. And I'm I'm Carl Nasman live in Philadelphia,
00:00:27Philadelphia, where Ed Sheeran in in that stadium behind me has called
00:00:30called the situation in Gaza
00:00:35unjustifiable. The Houthis in Yemen Yemen claim responsibility for missile
00:00:38missile and drone attacks on the
00:00:40the Saudi capital and Nato welcomes
00:00:43welcomes a deal between the US and and Denmark, which President Trump
00:00:46Trump claims gives the US security
00:00:49security control over Greenland forever.
00:01:00forever. I'm Helena Humphrey good good to have you with us. As we begin
00:01:03begin with some breaking news in in Ed Sheeran's first concert since
00:01:06since his opening act, Macklemore Macklemore was dropped, he directly
00:01:10directly addressed the controversy controversy and his thoughts on the
00:01:12the Gaza war. Now Macklemore was
00:01:14was removed from the tour after making making pro-Palestinian remarks leading
00:01:18leading to other opening acts dropping dropping out in solidarity. Tonight,
00:01:21Tonight, Ed Sheeran said the decision decision to drop Macklemore was made
00:01:25made by his promoters and not by by him. Well, here's Ed Sheeran addressing
00:01:29addressing that controversy at the the start of his concert in Philadelphia.
00:01:32Philadelphia. It's OK if I say a
00:01:34a few words about this last week.
00:01:40week. I've used my music being criticised
00:01:43criticised and I'm always happy to to take that because I'm lucky. A
00:01:46A lot of you like my stuff and to to be honest, I'm surprised. I'm
00:01:49I'm not surprised that people don't. don't. You know it's normal. But
00:01:53But this week the criticism was about about something much more important
00:01:56important and I've had to take and and make difficult decisions and
00:02:00and I am making mistakes and I'm
00:02:02I'm so, so sorry. I don't want to to disappoint fans. And I've never
00:02:06never wanted to be an activist musician, musician, but this has put me in
00:02:09in the middle of an important and and passionate argument about freedom
00:02:12freedom of speech and the most complex
00:02:14complex political issue on the planet.
00:02:24planet. Our concerts have always
00:02:25always been a safe space for everyone everyone and that matters hugely
00:02:29hugely to me. Honouring my commitment
00:02:31commitment to my fans is also completely
00:02:34completely central to who I am, and
00:02:36and that is why I'm here tonight
00:02:39tonight on my own and continuing continuing my current tour. Well,
00:02:42Well, the singer went on to explain explain his views on the Israel-Gaza
00:02:46Israel-Gaza war. Take a listen. This
00:02:49This is a humanitarian issue and and I cannot hide how I feel about
00:02:52about it any more. What happened happened in Israel and at another
00:02:56another music festival on October October 7th was horrific and compounded
00:02:59compounded centuries of Jewish pain.
00:03:02pain. What is happening in Gaza is
00:03:04is a catastrophic and unjustifiable unjustifiable and disproportionate.
00:03:08disproportionate. My heart has been been broken by the scale of devastation
00:03:11devastation and loss of civilians
00:03:15civilians lives, of children's lives lives and the systemic injustice
00:03:18injustice we're seeing unfold in in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.
00:03:22overlooked. I am already speaking speaking to people across the spectrum
00:03:24spectrum to work out how to make make a contribution that helps victims
00:03:28victims of these terrible times and and listening and learning, because
00:03:32because I do not know enough. Well,
00:03:33Well, let's go live now to our correspondent
00:03:37correspondent in Philadelphia, Carl Carl Nasman Carl, you were there
00:03:40there at that concert. Talk us through
00:03:41through what Ed Sheeran had to say.
00:03:45say. Yeah, we were there. And really really in some of the first rows
00:03:49rows actually inside the stadium stadium there behind us, this was was really a remarkable moment. I
00:03:52I mean, everybody was wondering exactly exactly what might happen and how
00:03:56how Ed Sheeran could address some some of the controversy that we've we've seen really enveloping his
00:03:59his tour over the past few days. days. And this was the first moment,
00:04:03moment, literally Ed Sheeran walks walks out on stage and he launches
00:04:06launches into that speech that you you just heard. It appeared to be
00:04:08be a prepared speech, but he kind kind of addressed a lot of things
00:04:11things that people were wondering
00:04:13wondering about specifically his his stance on the situation in the
00:04:17the Middle East, and also what his
00:04:20his thought about Macklemore being being dropped from his tour. We heard
00:04:22heard the reporting that this was was due to potentially a pressure
00:04:25pressure campaign from some of the the owners of the stadiums on this
00:04:29this tour. He said he was deeply
00:04:31deeply concerned by the fact that
00:04:33that artists like Macklemore and
00:04:35and content of concerts could be be pre-screened by the owners of
00:04:39of these types of concert venues. venues. So I think that was also also a really important moment there.
00:04:43there. The reaction from the crowd, crowd, I think was generally very very positive. The biggest cheer
00:04:47cheer of the night was when he said said that he was committed to being
00:04:50being here tonight, to playing for for the people gathered inside that
00:04:54that stadium and to continuing his his tour. Obviously everybody here,
00:04:57here, you know, wanted to come, wanted wanted to see Ed Sheeran perform
00:05:00perform whether or not he had those those opening acts, whether Macklemore
00:05:03Macklemore was there or not. There There was also this interesting moment, moment, kind of an emotional moment
00:05:07moment in the middle of his concert concert where he addressed the crowd crowd and he said, look, I don't
00:05:11don't know if you've been looking looking at social media recently, recently, but there's been a lot
00:05:14lot of stuff out there specifically specifically about me. I was actually
00:05:18actually worried coming out here here today about the reception that
00:05:22that I would get from people in Philadelphia
00:05:24Philadelphia at this concert, and and that was a huge cheer from the
00:05:28the crowd there in support of Ed Ed Sheeran. So I think there was
00:05:32was some speculation. How would he he stand with his fans? Would there there be protests? What would the
00:05:36the reaction be? But that moment, moment, I think proving that Ed Sheeran
00:05:39Sheeran still has a lot of support, support, especially inside that stadium
00:05:42stadium behind us. And so Carl, how how did this concert unfold? Has
00:05:45Has it been a pared back performance performance so far? Did anyone join
00:05:49join him on stage? So as we said,
00:05:55said, his back-up band, the band band that usually joins him, you
00:05:59you know, for some of these songs, songs, plays some of the other instruments
00:06:02instruments they dropped out when when Macklemore was kind of dropped
00:06:05dropped from this tour. They left left in solidarity with him. So the
00:06:08the thinking would be would there there be anybody else on stage at at all? And in the beginning it looked
00:06:12looked like it would just be a one one man show. He's an incredible
00:06:15incredible artist. He's very talented talented at looping tracks, playing
00:06:19playing a riff, looping another one, one, using some vocalisation to create create this beautiful background
00:06:23background track that he then used used to sing over for many of his
00:06:26his songs. But then about through through halfway he was joined by
00:06:28by some other artists on stage. He He said they had about three days
00:06:32days to prepare to learn these songs songs and get up there. He said. said. The biggest concern that he
00:06:35he had was that people would pay pay tickets, they'd come to his concert
00:06:39concert and it wouldn't be the same, same, that he wouldn't be able to to perform some of the songs that
00:06:42that he otherwise had hoped to do. do. So in the middle of that concert,
00:06:46concert, he was joined by kind of of this impromptu band behind him,
00:06:49him, and they were able to play some some of his biggest hits. Carl, it's
00:06:53it's probably difficult to tell right right now, but will this be enough,
00:06:56enough, do you think? What do sense sense you get? Will his words tonight
00:06:59tonight be enough to limit some of of the damage that we've seen to
00:07:03to his reputation over the past week?
00:07:06week? Yeah, I think that is the question question going forward. And I think
00:07:09think some of those questions might might be answered next week because
00:07:13because he'll be performing inside inside Gillette Stadium that's just
00:07:15just outside of Boston and that is is the stadium that's owned by Robert
00:07:19Robert Kraft. And he's reportedly reportedly the owner who took offence
00:07:22offence to the comments made by Macklemore Macklemore and was reportedly the
00:07:26the one that really spearheaded this this pressure campaign to have Macklemore Macklemore dropped from the tour.
00:07:30tour. So we'll see what kind of reception reception he gets in that stadium
00:07:33stadium next week. But you know, know, I think a lot of fans here
00:07:36here and I think a lot of his fans fans who are concerned about the
00:07:40the situation in Gaza really wanted wanted to hear something from Ed
00:07:42Ed Sheeran. I think it was notable notable that the very first thing
00:07:46thing he did tonight was give this
00:07:48this two minute speech to his fans fans to try to address this head
00:07:52head on. So I think for many people people here tonight, this would be
00:07:55be enough. Carl Nasman they're reporting reporting from Philadelphia. Carl,
00:07:58Carl, thanks a lot. And of course
00:08:01course you can always find the very very latest on that story with that
00:08:04that concert still under way on the
00:08:07the BBC web page there. As our correspondents, correspondents, including Carl continue
00:08:10continue to follow the latest as
00:08:13as that unfolds. Now the Iran backed backed Houthis are claiming responsibility responsibility for drone and ballistic
00:08:17ballistic missile attacks on Saudi
00:08:19Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh, marking marking a significant escalation.
00:08:23escalation. Smoke was seen rising rising from fuel tanks near Riyadh's
00:08:27Riyadh's international airport, where where flights were temporarily disrupted
00:08:30disrupted on Saturday. It's the first first time that the Yemen based Houthis
00:08:32Houthis have reached that far north
00:08:36north since the Iran war began. They They also attacked Saudi state oil
00:08:39oil as well as gas facilities at at Yanbu. That's on the Red Sea coast,
00:08:43coast, Houthi military spokesperson spokesperson called it retaliation
00:08:46retaliation for Saudi attacks on on Houthi forces in the Yemeni capital
00:08:49capital Sanaa. Well, for more than than a decade, the Houthis have been
00:08:53been fighting the Saudi backed government government for control of Yemen.
00:08:56Yemen. That conflict largely subsided subsided after a ceasefire was declared
00:09:00declared in 2022. But this year, year, the Houthis became involved
00:09:04involved in the wider US-Iran war
00:09:06war threatening international shipping shipping through the Bab al-Mandab
00:09:10al-Mandab Strait. Fatima Abo Alasrar Alasrar is a non-resident fellow
00:09:12fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute Institute that's a non-partisan think
00:09:15think tank. She told me more about
00:09:18about the significance of these latest
00:09:20latest Houthi attacks. Well, this
00:09:22this is a huge escalation and I think
00:09:26think that the Saudis are not going
00:09:31going to take it. They're going to
00:09:35to respond harshly. Basically their
00:09:39their security is being tested. There.
00:09:41There. The Houthis are trying to
00:09:44to shatter that image of or the illusion illusion of deterrence that Saudi
00:09:48Saudi Arabia is trying to impose.
00:09:52impose. So this is going to be fairly
00:09:55fairly consequential. We've seen
00:09:57seen also Riyadh state previously
00:10:00previously that the Houthis attempted
00:10:03attempted to go into Mecca as well.
00:10:05well. So there's this continuous continuous escalation from the Houthis.
00:10:08Houthis. They are choosing violence
00:10:11violence in this scenario. And part part of this is to fulfil their strategy,
00:10:15strategy, which is a two part strategy.
00:10:18strategy. The first is to impose
00:10:21impose white big costs on the Saudi
00:10:25Saudi kingdom get them to back off
00:10:27off their support of the internationally internationally recognised government
00:10:30government of Yemen. And the second
00:10:34second is to reach some kind of an
00:10:38an agreement that would favour the
00:10:39the Houthis. Even a short-term agreement
00:10:43agreement and help them get out of of the economic squeeze that they
00:10:47they are in at the moment. So they're
00:10:50they're going to continue imposing
00:10:55imposing this kind of both economic, economic, political and even now
00:10:58now psychological costs on the kingdom.
00:11:01kingdom. So how do you think Saudi
00:11:03Saudi Arabia might respond? Yeah,
00:11:06Yeah, I'm concerned Saudi Arabia
00:11:10Arabia have attempted everything
00:11:13everything to restrict and contain contain the Houthi. And we haven't
00:11:17haven't seen this group contained contained the United States have
00:11:19have tried that last year as well
00:11:23well through the Operation Rough Rough Rider. Nothing has happened.
00:11:26happened. As a consequence, the Houthis
00:11:30Houthis continue to have the upper upper hand through asymmetric use
00:11:33use of force. They don't want to
00:11:36to win lands. It's not that they
00:11:38they have that their aim is not to
00:11:41to win in a conventional power, but
00:11:43but to impose costs and to outlast
00:11:46outlast their adversaries, adversaries
00:11:48adversaries in wars of attrition. attrition. That's basically what
00:11:52what they want, they want to impose
00:11:54impose these economic costs in order order for them to find leverage at
00:11:58at any type of negotiations or settlement.
00:12:01settlement. What do you think it it would take for the Houthis to
00:12:04to stop? So far, the US has declined
00:12:09declined to carry out strikes on on the Houthis at the request of
00:12:13of the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed Mohammed bin Salman. Do you think
00:12:15think that might have to be revisited
00:12:17revisited at a later date? I mean,
00:12:21mean, the Saudis are trying to find
00:12:23find their own security arrangements. arrangements. They have one with
00:12:27with Turkey and Pakistan through through the Mecca Agreement and that
00:12:31that yet has to be tested. But the
00:12:34the Saudis have learned that if they
00:12:37they continue to placate the Houthis,
00:12:40Houthis, it doesn't necessarily translate translate into long-term security
00:12:42security at all for them. As we've we've seen the past three years,
00:12:46years, the Saudis and the Houthis
00:12:50Houthis had some informal agreements.
00:12:52agreements. The Saudis have facilitated
00:12:55facilitated so much in terms of,
00:12:57of, you know, did not attack the
00:13:01the Houthis and help them at times
00:13:02times at the cost of Yemen's government,
00:13:05government, that the Saudis are backing. backing. So it has been a complicated
00:13:09complicated relationship. But even
00:13:11even regardless of that, the Saudis
00:13:14Saudis continue to bear the brunt
00:13:18brunt of this I would say it's the
00:13:20the fallout really from the Tehran
00:13:24Tehran US war because you can't decouple
00:13:26decouple the Houthis from Iran. Briefly, Briefly, what does all of this mean
00:13:30mean for the Yemeni people have also also seen reports of people fleeing
00:13:33fleeing across. What is the dangerous dangerous Bab al-Mandab Strait to
00:13:37to Djibouti. And the humanitarian
00:13:40humanitarian crisis is going to mount.
00:13:42mount. We have over 100,000 people people displaced. That's just the
00:13:46the size of a small city in the United
00:13:48United States. Like, you know, maybe
00:13:50maybe Berkeley, California, so that
00:13:53that that the population is is going going to continue to suffer. They're
00:13:57They're displaced. They don't want
00:13:59want to be under the control of the the Iran backed Houthis. And they
00:14:03they understand that if they live
00:14:04live in these areas, they might be be conscripted into the wider war
00:14:09war by the Houthi militia. Nato is
00:14:11is welcoming a new deal between the
00:14:14the US and Denmark over Greenland, Greenland, which President Trump
00:14:16Trump claims gives the US security security control of the territory
00:14:20territory forever. While the exact exact terms haven't yet been made
00:14:23made public, Denmark's foreign minister minister said the agreement respects
00:14:26respects its red lines and strengthens strengthens security in the Arctic
00:14:30Arctic and North Atlantic. Greenland Greenland is a mineral rich, semi-autonomous
00:14:34semi-autonomous Danish territory territory whose strategic location
00:14:37location has drawn growing US attention. attention. President Trump has repeatedly
00:14:40repeatedly warned that the island island is vulnerable to Russia and
00:14:43and China. On Saturday, Nato said said that the Arctic is vital to
00:14:47to the alliance's collective security. security. Our correspondent Sean
00:14:51Sean Dilley has the latest. It's It's more than a thousand miles from
00:14:54from America's coastline. But the the US believes Greenland is critical
00:14:58critical for its national security. security. Last night, President Trump
00:15:01Trump said a deal had been done that
00:15:03that gives the United States permanent permanent control over security of
00:15:06of Greenland at no cost to the US..
00:15:09US.. The President's language is is strikingly different to December,
00:15:12December, when he threatened to annexe annexe the mineral rich island. We
00:15:15We need Greenland for national security. security. And if you take a look
00:15:19look at Greenland, you look up and and down the coast you have Russian
00:15:21Russian and Chinese ships all over over the place. We need it for national
00:15:25national security. We have to have
00:15:27have it. That caused protests by
00:15:31by Greenland's residents and an angry angry reaction from politicians in
00:15:35in Denmark, which has sovereignty sovereignty over the semi-autonomous
00:15:37semi-autonomous island. Since 1951, 1951, US troops have been based in
00:15:41in Greenland as part of a defence
00:15:43defence pact. President Trump has has long argued that it would be
00:15:47be better for the land to be part part of the US., even unsuccessfully
00:15:50unsuccessfully offering to buy the the island during his first term
00:15:53term in office. Now, though, it seems seems previous tensions have been
00:15:57been parked. Jason, of course, I
00:15:59I am pleased that we now have a deal deal that is about to be within reach.
00:16:03reach. It's taking its time and all all the talk that's been around all
00:16:06all the way through in the media, media, but it's also work that's
00:16:09that's been going since the month month of January. I'm pleased that
00:16:12that we finally have an end product
00:16:14product within reach. It's a
00:16:18deal. Then that appears to be supported supported in Denmark and Greenland, Greenland, but a deal that feels
00:16:21feels important for Washington to. to. President Trump has argued that
00:16:25that Greenland is strategically important important for its defence. Sitting
00:16:28Sitting between the US and both China
00:16:30China and Russia in Greenland's capital,
00:16:32capital, the deal has met with a
00:16:34a mixed reception. Secretary at the
00:16:37the Trump. I can just say that Trump
00:16:39Trump needs to stay far, far away away from Greenland. He shouldn't
00:16:43shouldn't count on our children and and grandchildren to be Americans Americans in the future. They won't
00:16:47won't be. He needs to stay away.
00:16:49away. It's fine for me because Denmark
00:16:52Denmark is too small a country. It
00:16:54It can't defend itself when it's
00:16:56it's such a small country. I'm pretty
00:16:59pretty confident that our politicians
00:17:01politicians are again made a fire
00:17:03fire has made a good deal for the the country. The text of the proposed
00:17:07proposed deal has not been published. published. It's expected to be signed
00:17:10signed next week, but both Greenland Greenland and Denmark say there's
00:17:13there's a real prospect of a deal deal that could strengthen security
00:17:17security for everyone. Sean Dilley
00:17:18Dilley BBC News. A new study is under
00:17:21under way in the Democratic Republic Republic of Congo to see whether whether an existing Ebola vaccine
00:17:24vaccine can help fight the latest latest outbreak. The operation is
00:17:28is backed by the World Health Organization Organization and Doctors Without
00:17:32Without Borders. It'll give the Ebola
00:17:36Ebola vaccine to 20,000 frontline frontline health workers. Now this
00:17:39this outbreak was caused by a different different strain called Bundibugyo,
00:17:42Bundibugyo, for which there's currently currently no approved vaccine or
00:17:45or treatment, although there is a a longer term vaccine in development
00:17:48development and on the ground, medical medical charities are warning against
00:17:51against premature optimism after after the DR Congo government claimed
00:17:55claimed that the outbreak passed passed its peak. More than 3000 people
00:17:59people have died from the virus, virus, with more than 7000 confirmed
00:18:03confirmed cases. That's nearly a
00:18:05a 50% fatality rate. Well, Doctor Doctor Anne Rimoin is a professor
00:18:09professor at the Department of Epidemiology Epidemiology at UCLA. And I asked
00:18:12asked her what she makes of the current
00:18:14current outbreak in the Democratic Democratic Republic of the Congo.
00:18:18Congo. Well, I think that when we're we're talking about an Ebola outbreak
00:18:21outbreak on the scale that we're we're seeing here in DRC, we've got
00:18:24got multiple outbreaks happening happening throughout the country
00:18:26country with multiple chains of transmission, transmission, and we are seeing cases
00:18:30cases start to go down in the Ituri Ituri region where this outbreak
00:18:34outbreak really started. That said, said, in North Kivu and another part
00:18:37part of the country we're still seeing
00:18:39seeing cases continuing to move very,
00:18:41very, very quickly. So it's great great that we're seeing cases starting
00:18:44starting to decline in certain places. places. We know how to contain this.
00:18:48this. We're starting to see the fruits
00:18:50fruits of their labours, but we are are still behind this outbreak. There
00:18:53There are still a lot of people who who are very vulnerable to it. And
00:18:56And so it's not time to sit back back and relax. It's time to double
00:19:00double down and to be able to save save as many lives as possible. And
00:19:03And so in terms of the Ebola vaccine vaccine being used, of course, it's
00:19:07it's not quite the exact vaccine
00:19:09vaccine needed which is still under under development right now. But
00:19:12But what are the hopes as to whether whether it might be able to make
00:19:15make a difference? This Ervebo vaccine
00:19:19vaccine is a licenced vaccine. It
00:19:21It is licenced for use for the Ebola
00:19:24Ebola Zaire species, and it's been been very effective in reducing cases,
00:19:28cases, reducing mortality, reducing reducing hospitalisation. So, you
00:19:31you know, we do know that this can can be an effective vaccine that
00:19:35that can be deployed in this region. region. My team has published a paper
00:19:38paper very recently in The Lancet Lancet describing our work where
00:19:42where we followed health care workers
00:19:44workers during the Ebola Zaire outbreaks
00:19:47outbreaks for five years after they they were vaccinated with Ervebo.
00:19:50Ervebo. And what we did find very very interestingly was there a large
00:19:53large proportion of those health health care workers did show reactivity
00:19:57reactivity to this virus or to with
00:20:01with protection against this virus virus from the vaccine for several
00:20:05several years after the fact. So
00:20:08So just showing reactivity does not
00:20:12not necessarily mean that it is going going to be protective, but it is
00:20:15is the question that we need to answer. answer. And that's why this study
00:20:18study that's being done is so important. important. We're going to really
00:20:22really learn can this vaccine protect protect against it. And it's very very possible that it can provide
00:20:26provide some protection. That would would be really fantastic. You know,
00:20:29know, the public health and medical medical community does have more
00:20:33more knowledge now than it previously previously did about how to fight
00:20:36fight Ebola from previous outbreaks, outbreaks, including what we saw
00:20:40saw in West Africa. So, you know, know, we know how to shut it down.
00:20:43down. Why is this proving so difficult
00:20:46difficult to extinguish this current
00:20:47current outbreak? Well, this outbreak
00:20:51outbreak started when we didn't have have diagnostics for this particular
00:20:55particular strain of Ebola or this
00:20:56this species of Ebola. So we had
00:21:00had diagnostics that would that were were for specifically for Ebola.
00:21:03Ebola. Zaire, not for Ebola, Bundibugyo. Bundibugyo. And so we really just
00:21:06just didn't have any situational situational awareness. And with Ebola, Ebola, you have to get in front of
00:21:10of it. You need to admit that you you see cases, you need to start
00:21:13start isolating the cases, doing doing contact tracing. So, you know,
00:21:16know, it went on for several months. months. And so we've been chasing
00:21:19chasing behind it ever since. But But we do have tools to be able to
00:21:22to get in front of it. And we know
00:21:24know it starts with community participation
00:21:28participation and great communication. communication. Safe burials, isolating
00:21:30isolating cases, doing the contact contact tracing, quarantining people
00:21:34people who have been contacted, who who have been in contact with cases. cases. So there's so much that we
00:21:38we do know how to do here. Even without
00:21:41without a vaccine, to be able to to get in front of it. And that's
00:21:43that's what we've actually seen work
00:21:45work in the region. Doctor Anne Rimoin
00:21:48Rimoin there at UCLA now. Princess Princess Diana's brother has exclusively
00:21:51exclusively told the BBC that he's he's telling the truth about a phone
00:21:55phone call with King Charles in the
00:21:57the days following his sister's death
00:22:00death in 1997. In his book, which which is due to be published next
00:22:03next week, I'll Spencer claims that
00:22:05that the then Prince of Wales said
00:22:09said of his former wife, "We'll forget forget her soon enough.". What followed followed was a strongly worded response response from Buckingham Palace,
00:22:13Palace, which queried Earl Spencer's Spencer's recollection of events.
00:22:16events. Ellie Price has more. A stunning stunning new claim from Princess
00:22:20Princess Diana's brother. I would would imagine it is the talk of the
00:22:23the town. There has indeed been a a lot of talk this week about exactly
00:22:27exactly what happened nearly 30 years
00:22:28years ago. Princess Diana's brother
00:22:31brother Earl Spencer, speaking exclusively exclusively to Laura Kuenssberg in
00:22:34in an interview to be released in in full tomorrow, has doubled down
00:22:38down on claims he's made in a new new book about a conversation he
00:22:41he had with the then Prince Charles Charles just days after Diana's death,
00:22:45death, a phone call in which the the earl objected to the plan for
00:22:47for the two young princes to walk walk behind their mother's coffin.
00:22:51coffin. He went ballistic would be
00:22:53be the right term and started really
00:22:56really going for my family as a whole whole about their sense of duty not
00:22:59not being adequate enough and ranted
00:23:03ranted for a while. I have no idea idea how long, but it was a significant
00:23:06significant period and I just listened. listened. And then he stopped and
00:23:09and I thought, oh, now now he's going going to pull himself together and
00:23:12and say something more appropriate.
00:23:14appropriate. And then he said, we'll
00:23:16we'll forget her soon enough. What
00:23:22What went through your mind? Well. I'm not sure I can say exactly
00:23:25exactly what went through my mind, mind, but I really was so stunned.
00:23:28stunned. And I just after a stunned
00:23:31stunned silence, I said, I cannot cannot believe you just said that.
00:23:33that. And I hung up on him. Following
00:23:36Following her death, Princess Diana Diana became known as the People's
00:23:40People's Princess and the Royal Family Family were criticised for their their response. They appeared out
00:23:44out of touch with the public. The
00:23:46The reputational damage lasting years. years. But friends of the now King
00:23:49King have questioned the earl's claims. claims. I simply cannot believe.
00:23:53believe. That he could have said said something like that. It's just just not his character. It's not
00:23:57not his personality. He's a he. I
00:23:59I never, ever have I heard him say
00:24:02say anything like that. On Wednesday, Wednesday, the Palace released an
00:24:05an unusually robust statement when when excerpts of the book were first
00:24:09first released, it said the King King was mindful that the pain of
00:24:11of fraternal grief can cloud reason,
00:24:14reason, affect judgement and colour
00:24:16colour memory in ways others do not
00:24:18not recognise. Even many years after
00:24:20after such a loss. It was a far cry cry from the usual approach of the
00:24:23the Royal Family of never complain, complain, never explain, but I think
00:24:27think shows the depth of anger felt felt by the King of contentious times
00:24:30times nearly three decades ago. There There has been no further comment
00:24:34comment by the palace nor from the the princes William or Harry. The
00:24:37The king's youngest son was out yesterday yesterday in Birmingham. His first
00:24:41first set of engagements back on on British soil. It's understood
00:24:44understood he hasn't read his uncle's uncle's book, but with more extracts
00:24:48extracts expected to be released released this weekend, there may may be little getting away from it
00:24:51it for any of the Royal Family. Ellie
00:24:54Ellie Price BBC News. Well, before before we go, a reminder of our breaking
00:24:58breaking news. Ed Sheeran broke his his silence on dropping his support
00:25:02support act Macklemore from his ongoing ongoing tour. Sheeran had said that
00:25:05that the decision to drop Macklemore Macklemore over pro-Palestinian remarks
00:25:08remarks was made by his promoters, promoters, not him. The price for
00:25:11for tickets dropped and sales declined declined for the remaining US leg
00:25:14leg of his Loop Tour due to the controversy. controversy. And Sheeran told the
00:25:18the crowd, quote, I never wanted wanted to be an activist musician
00:25:21musician but this has put me in the the middle of an important and passionate
00:25:24passionate argument about free speech speech and the most complex political
00:25:28political issue on the planet. He He went on to say what's happening
00:25:31happening in Gaza is catastrophic catastrophic and unjustifiable and
00:25:35and disproportionate. My heart has has been broken by the scale of devastation
00:25:37devastation and loss of civilian civilian lives, of children's lives.
00:25:41lives. He also acknowledged the horrific horrific October 7th attacks on Israel.
00:25:44Israel. He said, saying it compounded compounded centuries of Jewish pain.
00:25:48pain. Ed Sheeran said that he's trying trying to work out how to make a
00:25:51a contribution that helps victims victims of these terrible times,
00:25:54times, he said, and that he is listening
00:25:56listening and learning because I I do not know enough. We'll have
00:26:00have more on that at the top of the
00:26:02the hour. Stay with us here on
00:27:35dry, hot and sunny.
00:29:55online at bbc.com/business to get get the latest news wherever you
00:29:58you are. Business on BBC News. Make
00:30:01Make the connection. MUSIC
00:30:14MUSIC Now Now on BBC News. Join our AI Decoded
00:30:17Decoded team as we unpack, explore explore and take a deep dive into
00:30:20into the world of artificial intelligence.
00:30:35Hello again. Welcome to AI
00:30:38Decoded. Last week a researcher walked
00:30:40walked out of one of the world's world's leading AI companies with
00:30:44with a warning. The race to build build ever more powerful machines,
00:30:47machines, he said, could end in human human extinction. Days later, the
00:30:50the boss of the same company published
00:30:52published an essay urging the entire
00:30:55entire industry to slow down. President President Trump has dismissed it
00:30:58it as a hoax, a