Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:13Live from London. This is BBC
00:00:16News. In an exclusive interview, interview, Earl Spencer stands by
00:00:19by his claims that the then Prince Prince Charles sounded giddily elated
00:00:22elated on the night that Princess Princess Diana died. He said like
00:00:26like a lottery winner. I'm reporting
00:00:29reporting every word in this book. book. I report exactly as I saw it
00:00:33it and felt it at the time. And I
00:00:36I was surprised at the giddiness giddiness of his tone. That's what
00:00:40what I'm recording there. At least least two people are killed in the
00:00:43the Moscow region after a massive massive Ukrainian drone strike overnight.
00:00:46overnight. Russia says it's an attempt attempt to disrupt the country's country's parliamentary elections.
00:00:49elections. The German chancellor, chancellor, Friedrich Merz, is facing facing growing political pressure
00:00:53pressure as local elections take take place in two German states.
00:00:57states. And Ed Sheeran apologises apologises to fans for what he calls calls mistakes as he
00:01:05Mistakes as he performs for the first time since one of his supporting supporting acts, Macklemore was dropped dropped for making pro-Palestinian
00:01:09pro-Palestinian remarks on stage. stage. What is happening in Gaza
00:01:12Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable unjustifiable and disproportionate.
00:01:15disproportionate. My heart has been been broken by the scale of devastation
00:01:19devastation and loss of civilians
00:01:21civilians lives, of children's lives.
00:01:34Hello, I'm Rajini Vaidyanathan
00:01:35we begin this hour with more on that
00:01:38that exclusive interview. The BBC's BBC's Laura Kuenssberg did with Earl
00:01:42Earl Spencer. In it he said he stood
00:01:44stood by his claims that on the night night that Princess Diana died, the
00:01:48the then Prince Charles sounded giddily
00:01:51giddily elated, like a lottery winner, winner, while Earl Spencer told Laura
00:01:55Laura Kuenssberg he was reporting reporting exactly how. As he saw
00:01:57saw it in his book, which has been been released by the Daily Mail.
00:02:01Mail. Laura Kuenssberg exclusive exclusive interview with Princess
00:02:04Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer
00:02:06Spencer is now live on the BBC iPlayer
00:02:09iPlayer for UK audiences. And Laura Laura joins us now to break down
00:02:13down some of the main exchanges in in that
00:02:20That interview. Laura, you challenged him first on that assertion assertion that the then Prince of of Wales sounded giddily elated in
00:02:24in the hours following her death. death. How did he defend those comments? comments? Because, of course the
00:02:28the palace has pushed back on them. them. Yes. I mean. Buckingham Palace Palace is very strongly objected
00:02:32objected to how Earl Spencer has
00:02:35has presented those days around Princess
00:02:37Princess Diana's death. Back in 1997.
00:02:401997. And for the context, you have have to remember this extraordinary
00:02:43extraordinary event both men in shock, shock, in grief. As the news was
00:02:46was coming through in the early hours hours of the morning. And it's one
00:02:49one of the most explosive claims claims in this book that Charles
00:02:52Charles Spencer makes, that Prince
00:02:54Prince Charles seemed to be pleased
00:02:57pleased about what had happened, happened, that he was also relieved,
00:03:00relieved, perhaps, that it meant meant he might be able to go on and
00:03:03and marry Camilla, who of course
00:03:05course now is Queen Camilla on the
00:03:08the throne alongside him. So it was was important in our interview really
00:03:10really to test out these claims and and really to say to Charles Spencer
00:03:13Spencer what was his evidence of
00:03:15of that? How? What exactly did he
00:03:18he recall? And this is our exchange. exchange. I remember picking up the
00:03:21the telephone. I was upstairs in
00:03:23in my house in Cape Town, and he
00:03:25he was telling me how he had told told the boys, William and Harry
00:03:29Harry at Balmoral and broken the
00:03:31the news to them. And I. I felt,
00:03:34felt, as I say in the book actually actually I felt there was a sort
00:03:38sort of giddy tone. I'd had a lot lot of calls that day from people
00:03:41people who cared, who were stunned
00:03:44stunned like we all were. And I just
00:03:46just felt there was a lightness in in his tone about Diana's death that
00:03:50that really jarred with me. You write
00:03:53write that he was giddily elated
00:03:56elated like a lottery winner. I mean, mean, you're suggesting he was somehow
00:03:59somehow pleased that his former wife
00:04:02wife was dead? Well, I'm reporting reporting every word in this book.
00:04:06book. I report exactly as I saw it
00:04:08it and felt it at the time. And I
00:04:12I was surprised at the giddiness giddiness of his tone. That's what
00:04:15what I'm recording there. It's an
00:04:18an incredibly damning thing to say, say, though, about his reaction to
00:04:22to the death of the mother of his his children. And you go on to write,
00:04:25write, I suspect the prince's reaction reaction must have been to think
00:04:29think more of how this event might might free him to marry the woman
00:04:32woman he loved, rather than appreciating appreciating the loss of the one
00:04:36one he did not. You're suggesting suggesting there in black and white
00:04:40white that the now King felt that
00:04:43that Diana's death was rather convenient convenient because he would be able
00:04:47able to marry Camilla. That is how
00:04:49how I felt at the time. From the the tone of his voice. So I've only
00:04:53only ever had two calls from him him and they were both around this
00:04:57this time. One was on the day of of Diana's death and one was a couple
00:05:00couple of days later. But are you you sure that's what he was thinking?
00:05:04thinking? I mean, I cannot. Be sure.
00:05:06sure. I'm saying that's what I assume
00:05:09assume from the tone is a possibility
00:05:11possibility and that's all I can
00:05:14can do. A very resolute Earl Spencer Spencer there, Laura. Even when you
00:05:17you pushed him on that. Of course,
00:05:21course, his book is also about his his sister and the loss. And that's
00:05:24that's something you also asked him him about, isn't it? Yes. I mean,
00:05:28mean, it's a strange thing in a sense. sense. Here you have these two families,
00:05:31families, the Spencers and the Windsors, Windsors, locked in a huge war of
00:05:35of words that has created headlines headlines right around the world.
00:05:37world. Yet when I sat down with Charles Charles Spencer and spoke to him
00:05:40him for half an hour or so about about everything that had happened
00:05:42happened and his memories of his his sister, it's also completely
00:05:45completely plain that he is still still first and foremost, however
00:05:49however angry the Palace is about. about. This book. A grieving brother.
00:05:53brother. And this is what came across.
00:05:57across. How much do you miss her?
00:06:02her? Well, every day, you know, that's that's the thing with sibling loss,
00:06:05loss, you never get over it. Do you
00:06:13you think there may be a time where
00:06:15where you've used the phrase get
00:06:17get over? But reading the book and
00:06:21and given how this has all played
00:06:23played in public, there is a sense
00:06:25sense that somehow what happened
00:06:28happened to her has understandably understandably almost consumed you
00:06:31you at times. I have a very. Luckily
00:06:35Luckily I have a hugely diverse and and happy life. One of the reasons
00:06:37reasons I call this swan song actually actually is because it's my sign
00:06:40sign off. I have been Diana's brother.
00:06:43brother. This is my final take on
00:06:45on the situation. And I have a wonderful,
00:06:48wonderful, happy life. With gorgeous
00:06:51gorgeous children, fabulous wife wife and we live this much more normal
00:06:54normal life than this looks like.
00:06:57like. And that's my future. This
00:06:59This is my swan song too. I'm not
00:07:02not here to bang on about Diana.
00:07:04Diana. This is my final word. Celebration
00:07:07Celebration of her. And I will step
00:07:10step off into the sunset now and
00:07:11and not be available for comment. He talks about his
00:07:16comment. He talks about his speaking speaking out as being a celebration celebration of his late sister, but
00:07:19but of course Laura. He also talked
00:07:21talked a lot about the media scrutiny scrutiny that she faced. That's right.
00:07:24right. And this is very complicated complicated because Charles Spencer,
00:07:27Spencer, of course you can tell there there he wants to pay tribute to
00:07:30to his sister. He wants to tell some some of his happy memories and share
00:07:33share them with the world as well. well. He also wanted to give his
00:07:36his view on exactly what the man man who's now on the Throne's behaviour behaviour was like at the time, and
00:07:40and that's been strongly objected objected from the Palace. He also
00:07:42also knows that there is huge interest interest and focus on his nephews
00:07:46nephews William and Harry, who are are locked in a dispute. Harry and
00:07:49and Meghan, who were at his country country estate, Althorp, over the the summer. And Harry and Meghan,
00:07:53Meghan, of course, who has been the the subject of massive media attention.
00:07:57attention. So one of the other things things I asked him is whether he
00:08:00he feared that there were echoes
00:08:02echoes of the press intrusion, which
00:08:05which he believes haunted and harmed harmed his sister in terms of how
00:08:09how Harry and Meghan were being treated treated right now, all these years
00:08:12years later. Do you fear there is
00:08:15is somehow in an echo of what happened happened to Diana? You know, Harry
00:08:18Harry has said on many occasions occasions that he hasn't felt supported
00:08:21supported by the institution over over the choices that he's made with with his life. I think there's a
00:08:25a perception in the media that I'm
00:08:27I'm on Harry's side. Well, I'm on
00:08:30on my deceased sister's son's side, side, both of them. And if either
00:08:33either of them wanted anything, then then I'd be equally there for them.
00:08:37them. And I never get involved in
00:08:39in one camp or the other except as
00:08:42as a benign figure, I hope that's
00:08:44that's my role. Do you think Diana
00:08:47Diana would identify with the attention,
00:08:49attention, the focus that has been been put on them? And with Meghan,
00:08:52Meghan, who said she felt like she she was the most trolled person in
00:08:55in the world. You know, they were were here during the summer not so
00:08:58so long ago. If you look at an article
00:09:01article in a tabloid about Diana
00:09:05Diana or the couple that you're mentioning, mentioning, Harry and Meghan, you
00:09:09you know, it's they can be really, really, really unpleasant. And I
00:09:13I think it would be really beholden beholden on people to learn from from Diana's example. I'm not here
00:09:17here to speak for Harry and Meghan,
00:09:19Meghan, but for anyone who's being
00:09:21being destroyed in this way daily,
00:09:23daily, it must be such a cancerous cancerous influence in their life.
00:09:26life. I saw it with Diana, I saw saw Diana, I mentioned it in the
00:09:30the eulogy, her tears of despair. despair. One of the problems with
00:09:33with Diana was she was very, very
00:09:36very sensitive to criticism. And And of course, I'm sure most of your
00:09:39your viewers now think, oh, she had had this splendid life and it was was all amazing. And she didn't.
00:09:43didn't. She was so privileged and and so perfect in so many ways. But
00:09:47But she was really brought low by by all that criticism. And yeah,
00:09:50yeah, I suppose it's a pity when
00:09:52when I see echoes of that now. Laura,
00:09:55Laura, as we've already discussed
00:09:58discussed in this interview, Buckingham Buckingham Palace have strongly denied
00:10:01denied many of the claims from Earl Earl Spencer, not least the one where
00:10:05where he said Princess Diana would would be soon forgotten shortly after after her death. You challenged him
00:10:09him on that. We did, and we should should just also reiterate Buckingham
00:10:12Buckingham Palace have given a very very strongly worded response to
00:10:16to the claims that emerged in the the last few days. They said the
00:10:19the King was mindful that the pain pain of fraternal grief can cloud
00:10:23cloud reason, affect judgement and
00:10:25and colour memory in ways other do
00:10:27do not. Others don't recognise. Even
00:10:30Even many years after such a loss.
00:10:33loss. Now for context, it's incredibly incredibly unusual that Buckingham
00:10:36Buckingham Palace would issue a statement statement on something so charged
00:10:39charged that's very, very unusual unusual indeed. You can tell from
00:10:43from the tone also that they are
00:10:45are pushing back very, very hard
00:10:47hard on this. And also, as you would would expect, given the nature of
00:10:50of the claim, how controversial and and explosive it is that for Charles
00:10:54Charles Spencer to make in his book,
00:10:56book, I asked him if he had any evidence, evidence, if he told anyone else,
00:10:59else, if he'd made notes at the time time of what he claims the then Prince
00:11:03Prince Charles said all those years years ago. He went ballistic would
00:11:07would be the right term and started
00:11:10started really going for my family family as a whole about their sense
00:11:13sense of duty not being adequate
00:11:16adequate enough and ranted for a a while. I have no idea how long,
00:11:19long, but it was a significant period period and I just listened. And then
00:11:23then he stopped and I thought, oh, oh, now now he's going to pull himself
00:11:26himself together and say something
00:11:27something more appropriate. And then
00:11:30then he said, we'll forget her soon
00:11:33soon enough. What went through your
00:11:37your mind? Well. I'm not sure I can can say exactly what went through
00:11:40through my mind, but I really was was so stunned. And I just after
00:11:44after a stunned silence, I said,
00:11:47said, I cannot believe you just said
00:11:48said that. And I hung up on him.
00:11:54him. You know that Buckingham Palace
00:11:57Palace has already said with a degree
00:12:00degree of fury. That that didn't
00:12:04didn't happen. Well, they haven't haven't actually, Laura, they've they've sort of smudged that one
00:12:08one haven't they? They've said that that recollections may vary. Well,
00:12:11Well, let me read you exactly what
00:12:12what the palace has said. They've
00:12:16They've said His Majesty is mindful
00:12:18mindful that the pain of fraternal
00:12:21fraternal grief can cloud reason
00:12:23reason affect judgement and colour
00:12:26colour memory in ways others do not
00:12:29not recognise. Even many years after
00:12:32after such a loss. The King is plainly
00:12:36plainly furious. Buckingham Palace Palace almost never issues any kind
00:12:39kind of statement. Well, is he. Furious Furious or is he embarrassed? Because
00:12:42Because I can tell you here and now now those are exactly the words he
00:12:45he said. I've only ever had two calls calls on the line with Prince Charles
00:12:49Charles at any stage of my life.
00:12:51life. I was hyper alert to what he he was saying, and those are precisely
00:12:54precisely the words he said. And And I promised that to you. Now,
00:12:57Now, genuinely, that is what he said. said. I don't hear him saying he
00:13:01he didn't say that. Did you write
00:13:06write it down? Did you keep a diary? diary? Do you have evidence that
00:13:09that that is what he said at the the time? Because to be fair, this
00:13:13this was a time of massive shock
00:13:15shock and emotion for both of you.
00:13:18you. I told friends and family straight straight away close friends and family
00:13:22family about what had been said because because it was so monstrous. Which
00:13:25Which Charles of the public meant meant to believe. Are they to believe
00:13:29believe you or are they to believe
00:13:32believe the King, the head of state state of this country, who's giving
00:13:35giving the impression very forcefully
00:13:39forcefully that this didn't happen? happen? Who are we to believe? Well,
00:13:42Well, I'm telling the truth. A strong
00:13:44strong response there, Laura from from Earl Spencer. Just lastly, as
00:13:48as we wrap up this conversation, conversation, I just wondered what
00:13:50what it was like to do that interview interview because of course, some
00:13:53some really astonishing remarks have have come out of it. It's slightly
00:13:57slightly surreal, to be honest. I
00:14:00I mean, this is a family battle that that has been played out in public
00:14:03public over many, many, many years. years. And if you like a contest
00:14:06contest for the legacy of who's controlling controlling the legacy of the women
00:14:10women who for a long time was the the most famous woman in the world,
00:14:13world, you know, not just here in in the UK where we're speaking in
00:14:15in London but around the world known
00:14:18known everywhere for, of course, course, the sadness around her, her
00:14:22her and Prince Charles's failed marriage, marriage, but also her campaigning,
00:14:24campaigning, her busting of conventions. conventions. And then of course,
00:14:27course, that terrible accident which
00:14:29which saw her lose her life. But
00:14:32But the timing of this interview interview also, which was just hours
00:14:35hours 12 or so hours after Buckingham Buckingham Palace had put its statement statement out, meant that rather
00:14:38rather than just being a conversation conversation about what Earl Spencer
00:14:42Spencer wanted to say, it was transformed transformed into a conversation about
00:14:46about integrity and truth and who
00:14:48who was telling the truth. And you you know, I've interviewed lots of
00:14:51of people over the years as you have have to, but to have a conversation
00:14:54conversation with someone who's questioning questioning the integrity of the
00:14:57the head of state is something that
00:15:01that is pretty unusual. And you can can watch the full interview as you
00:15:04you see here in the UK on iPlayer, iPlayer, but there'll be excerpts excerpts on YouTube and it'll be
00:15:07be available in other parts of the
00:15:09the world too. So yeah, it's a it's
00:15:12it's an important conversation. And And I think whatever you think of
00:15:15of either family here, the Spencers Spencers and Windsors have rivalries rivalries that go back for hundreds
00:15:19hundreds of years. You know, there's there's a lot of history here to
00:15:23to this is like it or not a public
00:15:27public conversation. And it is a
00:15:30a matter of historical record. The The interview that you certainly
00:15:32certainly won't forget Laura either. either. Thank you very much for joining
00:15:35joining us in the studio to take take us through that. And a reminder,
00:15:38reminder, as Laura said there, you you can now watch that full interview
00:15:42interview here in the UK on iPlayer. iPlayer. It's now available. You
00:15:45You can also watch it around the the world on the BBC News channel
00:15:48channel on a special programme which which will be at 7pm BST and of course
00:15:52course you can watch it at 7pm if if you're in the UK as well, and
00:15:55and it will air on BBC One at 6:30
00:15:596:30 pm. So lots of ways to watch
00:16:00watch that full interview with Laura.
00:16:03Laura. The authorities in Moscow Moscow say at least two people have
00:16:06have been killed and six injured injured in a massive overnight Ukrainian
00:16:09Ukrainian drone attack on the city. city. Posting this footage on social
00:16:13social media this morning, Ukrainian Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Zelensky confirmed that Kyiv had
00:16:17had hit a key Russian oil facility facility and a logistics site in
00:16:20in the region. The targets, he said, said, represented billions of dollars
00:16:23dollars that sustain the war machine. machine. Meanwhile, Moscow's mayor
00:16:26mayor says it was the largest drone drone attack on the Russian capital
00:16:30capital yet with some 450 drones
00:16:33drones heading for the capital shot shot down. Russian authorities accuse
00:16:36accuse Ukraine of trying to disrupt disrupt the country's parliamentary
00:16:39parliamentary elections, which end end today. They claim more than 1600
00:16:431600 drones have been repelled since since Saturday. Our Russia editor,
00:16:47editor, Steve Rosenberg, is in Moscow. Moscow. I asked him more about these
00:16:50these elections and the reaction
00:16:52reaction to these attacks. Well. First of all, the reaction
00:16:55reaction no sense of surprise here. here. More a kind of quiet resignation.
00:16:58resignation. I think that after more more than four and a half years of
00:17:01of Russia's war on Ukraine, Muscovites
00:17:04Muscovites have got used to their their city periodically becoming
00:17:07becoming a frontline. And many people, people, I think, had expected attacks attacks during the election. This
00:17:11This is one of the polling stations stations just behind me. But in the
00:17:14the centre. But earlier today we we were at a polling station very
00:17:18very close to the oil refinery that that got hit. One young voter told
00:17:21told me that he'd heard the explosions. explosions. He'd heard loud bangs.
00:17:24bangs. He said it was a bad situation. situation. I spoke to an older voter
00:17:28voter who said he wants peace, but
00:17:30but by peace he means Ukraine's defeat.
00:17:34defeat. As for the election, while while the whole process is tightly tightly controlled by the Kremlin,
00:17:38Kremlin, and I think Vladimir Putin Putin will want to use the election
00:17:41election and the results to be announced announced later to try to show that
00:17:44that the whole country is behind
00:17:47behind the Kremlin, behind the war war in Ukraine, almost to give him
00:17:50him a mandate to continue with the
00:17:52the special military operation. That That Russia editor Steve Rosenberg
00:17:56Rosenberg there. Well, I've been been speaking to our reporter from
00:17:58from the BBC's Russian service Sergey Sergey Goryashko, about Russia's
00:18:02Russia's claims that Ukraine is trying trying to derail those parliamentary
00:18:05parliamentary elections. Russia's Russia's authorities are at the same
00:18:09same time claim that neither those
00:18:12those attacks nor the attacks on
00:18:15on the cyber infrastructure would
00:18:17would have any effect on the ongoing
00:18:20ongoing election. And the process
00:18:22process is going just as usual. And
00:18:25And they expect the Russians to show
00:18:29show their support for Vladimir Putin
00:18:32Putin and for his ongoing invasion
00:18:34invasion in Ukraine. At least that's
00:18:36that's the official line for now. now. That's the official line. What
00:18:40What is the sense that you're getting getting from people you know in the
00:18:43the country about how the conflict conflict and how it's continuing
00:18:46continuing on is playing into all all of this, especially when Russia's
00:18:49Russia's economy is obviously not
00:18:50not doing too well. Of course, people
00:18:54people are regular people are not
00:18:57not happy with the current economic economic situation, with the surge
00:19:01surge in gas prices and obviously
00:19:05obviously with the rigged elections elections as well. So as we know,
00:19:09know, the only anti-war party, Yabloko
00:19:12Yabloko has been barred from participating
00:19:15participating in those elections. elections. And now none of the parties
00:19:18parties participate in the Rob Cameron
00:19:20Cameron of them criticise the ongoing
00:19:23ongoing invasion. So for many people
00:19:26people this could lead to some state
00:19:28state of depression and to their
00:19:31their unwillingness to go to the the polling stations because the
00:19:34the result the outcome of these elections
00:19:36elections is already known beforehand.
00:19:39beforehand. However, some in Moscow
00:19:42Moscow went today to vote as they
00:19:44they were urged by other opposition
00:19:48opposition leaders that the good good thing would be to vote on Sunday.
00:19:51Sunday. On the last day of this elections
00:19:55elections and that would make more more difficult for the authorities
00:19:58authorities to rig the results. And
00:20:00And in Moscow we see lines of people people around the polling stations
00:20:04stations which formed not because because so many people came, but
00:20:07but rather because there was an alleged alleged attack on the cyber infrastructure.
00:20:11infrastructure. So for now, Russians, Russians, people in Moscow cannot
00:20:15cannot get their paper ballots at at the polling stations and they
00:20:18they are urged to vote online. The
00:20:22The problem appeared because of an an alleged cyber attack, which does
00:20:25does not allow the workers of the the polling stations to issue the
00:20:29the paper ballots. And breaking news
00:20:31news coming to us from the AFP news news agency. And an explosion has
00:20:35has been heard near Erbil airport,
00:20:37airport, which hosts US led coalition
00:20:39coalition troops in Iraq's autonomous autonomous Kurdistan region. The
00:20:43The cause of the explosion remains remains unclear, and a journalist
00:20:46journalist from the AFP has reported reported seeing grey smoke rising
00:20:50rising from near the airport area. area. We don't have any more details
00:20:53details at the moment, nor do we
00:20:54we know who was behind the attack.
00:20:57attack. Voting is under way in two two German states for regional elections,
00:21:01elections, which may further weaken weaken Friedrich Mertz's position position as chancellor. He's already
00:21:04already cancelled plans to attend attend the UN General Assembly in
00:21:07in New York this week as speculation speculation grows about his future.
00:21:10future. Well, those votes are taking taking place in the capital Berlin
00:21:12Berlin and also in the Mecklenburg-Western Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania region.
00:21:16region. Our Berlin correspondent correspondent Jessica Parker has
00:21:18has more on why there's so much pressure
00:21:20pressure on Chancellor Merz. A regional regional election in Germany are
00:21:24are getting a lot of attention at at the moment, but there was one one in Saxony-Anhalt a couple of
00:21:28of weeks ago where the anti-immigration
00:21:31anti-immigration Russia friendly friendly Alternative fur Deutschland
00:21:33Deutschland party won a landslide landslide victory, polling top by
00:21:37by a long way. And that is a party
00:21:40party that Chancellor Friedrich Merz Merz had intended had planned to
00:21:44to curtail their support. But actually actually the opposite has been happening
00:21:48happening and that has alarmed people people within his conservative CDU
00:21:51CDU party. Added to that, Chancellor Chancellor Friedrich Merz is experiencing
00:21:55experiencing extremely personally personally low approval ratings while
00:21:58while voters voice frustration about about a range of issues the cost
00:22:02cost of living Germany's sluggish sluggish economy. Immigration is
00:22:05is one that comes up a lot as well.
00:22:08well. So Chancellor Friedrich Merz Merz suffering in terms of popularity
00:22:11popularity at the moment and there there has now been for months swirling
00:22:15swirling rumours about the idea of of a kanzler torture Chancellor swap
00:22:18swap could and this is not normal normal in German politics. But could
00:22:21could his party seek to place somebody
00:22:24somebody else in charge now? We're We're not there yet, but people are
00:22:28are looking at these results tonight tonight in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and here in
00:22:31in Berlin. And if they're really really bad for the CDU party, then
00:22:34then I think we can expect further
00:22:37further growing speculation, intensified intensified pressure on Friedrich Friedrich Merz about whether he can
00:22:41can keep the top job in German politics. politics. And is that essentially,
00:22:45essentially, Jessica, why he's not not going to New York, to the UN
00:22:48UN General Assembly? So we haven't
00:22:52haven't been told precisely why a a government official told me that
00:22:56that his presence was required in
00:22:58in Berlin. But as you say, we learned learned earlier in the week that
00:23:02that he had cancelled his planned planned trip to speak at the UN General
00:23:06General Assembly in New York, and
00:23:08and he has got lined up a series
00:23:10series of meetings with people in
00:23:14in his party. One tonight, we believe, believe, reportedly with some senior
00:23:17senior party figures, but it's widely widely being read. The cancellation cancellation to New York, these meetings
00:23:21meetings that he's set to hold as as an attempt to try and shore up
00:23:25up his position because the Chancellor Chancellor is saying that he's going
00:23:27going to carry on. He's got a planned, planned, delayed package of reforms
00:23:30reforms that are due before the Bundestag,
00:23:34Bundestag, and he's basically and and his backers are saying, you know, know, we need a bit more time to
00:23:37to deliver the change that Germany Germany needs. But time may be and
00:23:40and as of course we don't know at at the moment and there's no challenger
00:23:44challenger that has come out publicly publicly against Friedrich Merz. Merz. But I think the fear in Friedrich
00:23:48Friedrich Mertz's camp is he could
00:23:50could be running out of time. That's
00:23:53That's the BBC's Jessica Parker in in Berlin. We will, of course, stay
00:23:57stay across those elections as the the polls close in a couple of hours
00:23:59hours from now. Aleema Khan, the
00:24:02the sister of Pakistan's jailed former former Prime Minister Imran Khan,
00:24:05Khan, has been reportedly arrested arrested in Lahore. A spokesman for
00:24:08for Mr Khan's PTI party says Aleema Aleema Khan was arrested at her home
00:24:12home on Sunday that was ahead of of a planned party protest march,
00:24:16march, which is due to take place place next week. While the government
00:24:19government and police have yet to to comment. Former cricketer Imran
00:24:21Imran Khan has been in prison since
00:24:24since August 2023 after being convicted convicted on a number of charges
00:24:28charges which he says are politically politically motivated. Let's take
00:24:31take a look at some of the day's day's other news now. The new school
00:24:34school year has begun in Gaza, with with more than 500,000 children returning
00:24:37returning to formal education for for the first time in nearly three
00:24:40three years. The UN says 97% of schools
00:24:42schools in Gaza were damaged or destroyed destroyed in fighting since the Israel-Gaza
00:24:46Israel-Gaza war began. Working alongside alongside UN agencies, the education
00:24:50education ministry has opened about about 700 education facilities, some
00:24:54some as simple as a tent. Police Police in the Netherlands have clashed
00:24:57clashed with several hundred far far right protesters in the centre centre of The Hague. Authorities
00:25:01Authorities ordered a planned anti-immigration anti-immigration demonstration be
00:25:04be broken up after it spiralled into into violence as protesters were
00:25:07were gathering at a local park, demonstrators demonstrators threw fireworks and
00:25:11and projectiles at riot police and and chanted antisemitic slogans.
00:25:13slogans. At least 24 people have
00:25:16have been arrested. The American American footwear company converse
00:25:19converse has withdrawn an advert advert after criticism it evoked
00:25:22evoked imagery of the white supremacist supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan.
00:25:26Klan. Social media users said shadows shadows in the photograph resembled
00:25:29resembled a pointed white pointed pointed hood, while a pair of dangling
00:25:32dangling shoes was likened to an
00:25:34an image of lynching. In Ed Sheeran's
00:25:40Sheeran's first concert since his his support act Macklemore was dropped
00:25:43dropped over pro-Palestinian comments comments on stage, Ed Sheeran has
00:25:46has directly addressed the controversy. controversy. Speaking before his
00:25:50his concert in Philadelphia, the the British singer described the
00:25:52the situation in Gaza as catastrophic catastrophic and unjustifiable. He
00:25:56He said the Hamas attacks on Israel
00:25:59Israel on October 2023 were horrific, horrific, and added that Israel's
00:26:01Israel's response since had been been disproportionate. You can see
00:26:05see more about what Ed Sheeran said said on
00:27:38of the week.
00:29:58online at bbc.com/business to get get the latest news wherever you
00:30:00you are. Business on BBC News. Make
00:30:03Make the connection. MUSIC
00:30:13MUSIC
00:30:21These are the latest headlines
00:30:23from BBC News. In an exclusive interview
00:30:26interview to the BBC. Earl Spencer Spencer stands by his claims that
00:30:29that the then Prince Charles sounded
00:30:31sounded giddily elated on the night
00:30:34night that Princess Diana died. At At least two people are killed in
00:30:37in the Moscow region after a massive massive Ukrainian drone attack overnight.
00:30:40overnight. The mayor of Moscow claims claims 450 drones were directed at
00:30:44at the city. Russia says it's an an attempt to disrupt the country's
00:30:47country's parliamentary elections. elections. German Chancellor Friedrich Friedrich Merz faces growing political
00:30:51political pressure as local elections elections are taking place in two
00:30:54two German states. Opinion polls polls suggest the Chancellor's parties
00:30:56parties at risk of damaging defeats, defeats, raising questions about