? mary lou mcdonald, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. ireland 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 both of those campaigns, was front and

republic voted to change its policy recently. 0ur ireland correspondent reports. mary lou mcdonald is in charge of a party which is the second largest in northern ireland and the third largest in the irish republic. she is the first 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 ab

policy on abortion at its annual conference in belfast. the president, mary lou mcdonald, will also give her first leader's address since replacing gerry adams. our ireland correspondent emma vardy is at the conference in belfast. well, sinn fein, in fact, brought this party conference foward to allow the party to have this debate on abortion much sooner. in the past, sinn fein has only supported access to abortion in very limited circumstances but following the overwhelming referendum result in the republic of ireland to overturn the ban on abortion there, the proposal being put forward here, if it passes, would mean that sinn fein politicians would have to support the party line on new laws in the irish parliament, in dublin, to legalise abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, but to some degree, the party is still divided on this. its leader, mary lou mcdonald, campaigned to overcome the ban on abortion in ireland, but some members oppose it. and 24 branches have put forward a motion saying they believe sinn fein members should be able to vote according to their own personal belief

. the sinn fein president, mary lou mcdonald said she believed that change in abortion law must happen across ireland. from belfast, here's our 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 b

did. leading the call for change, sinn fein‘s first delayed in 35 years. mary lou mcdonald gave herfirst conference speech since taking over from gerry adams. every woman who caused this island home must have access to 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

access to terminations at its annual conference in belfast. later this evening the president, mary lou mcdonald, will also give her first leader's address since replacing gerry 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 to

ramifications of the recent referendum in the republic of ireland are being felt there today. mary lou mcdonald, the relatively new sinn fein resident, she only took over from gerry adams a few months ago, played a very prominent role in a referendum 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 th

. leading the call for change, sinn fein's first new leader in 35 years. mary lou mcdonald gave herfirst conference speech since taking over from gerry adams a few months ago. emery woman who calls this island home must have access to 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. 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 a

speech as leader mary lou mcdonald will call for that to change. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. with all the sport, here's katherine 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 r

conference speech as leader mary lou mcdonald will call for that to change. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. at least 25 people have been killed and dozens injured 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