the poet, professor and performer benjamin zephaniah has died just weeks after being diagnosed with a brain tumour — he was 65. and how this street in manchester was secretly transformed into a catwalk for chanel tonight. on newsnight at10:30pm, we go deeper behind the headlines and talk to key players from today's major stories. plus a first look at tommorrow�*s front pages. good evening. images have emerged today from gaza which appear to show dozens of palestinian men on their knees, stripped to their underwear, being held by israeli defence forces. it's not clear if they have surrendered or if they have been

taken by the military. israel has not said who the men are, but it has confirmed that its forces are making arrests in gaza. the new images come as tens of thousands of palestinians are streaming into rafah city, near the gaza strip�*s southern border with egypt, trying to escape intense fighting elsewhere. the head of humanitarian affairs for the united nations says there is no longer any humanitarian operation worthy of that name in the south of gaza. from jerusalem, here's our international editor, jeremy bowen. a warning — you may find some of the images upsetting. video emerged this afternoon off palestinian men taken for interrogation. bbc staff recognised the town in northern gaza and we have geo— located the video there too. palestinian diplomats said these were savage images evoking humanity's darkest times. the israeli army said only that suspects

were being interrogated. posts on social media said the men had been sheltering with their families at a un school and that others were killed during the israeli raid. in this photo the men had been moved to another location, which we have not been able to verify. one of the captives is a journalist. he was forced to leave his disabled daughter, according to the newspaper he works for in london. earlier in israel was met parliament a prominent government supporter told me that only israeli forces can control gaza, not the independent palestine the americans want. i think that when we talk about a two—state solution we are using three words and three lies. it's not two, it's not a state, it's definitely not a solution. so what's the answer, an everlasting occupation? first, occupation is not the word. you cannot..one cannot occupy his own land. israel is not an occupier in israel. it's the land of israel.

so what about gaza? again... that's the land of israel? the land of israel, you cannot be occupying it. we're not occupying it from anyone. in gaza, civilians are lost in the rubble of israeli strikes. so far the world is not close to controlling the powerful chaotic forces unleashed by this war. the un secretary—general saying international peace and security is injeopardy is demanding an immediate ceasefire. a palestinian leader told me the us and uk must not veto the next ceasefire resolution. the united states of america and britain now has the key. if they oppose resolution about immediate ceasefire they will not be complicit only with this aggression, they will be a participant in these war crimes. they have to approve the ceasefire immediately because what is at stake is the life of 2.3 million people now. half of them are children.

without a political solution this conflict will go on when, if, israel declares victory in gaza that war will not have a neat ending. two opposing forces are at work here. on the one hand pressure for a ceasefire. on the determination of the americans and the british to give israel the time it needs to achieve its objectives and one western diplomat i talked to was thinking about perhaps another month. now, the un secretary—general wants to hurry that process up by putting pressure on them and also shaming them into taking action sooner. as gaza's food queues get longer, the un says it cannot run dependable humanitarian operation. with hungry people jumping warehouse fences, israel says world peace

requires gaza's liberation from hamas and that will take force. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. the prime minister has urged mps to back his rwanda plan, after growing criticism from within his own party. rishi sunak said his new legislation was the "toughest immigration law ever", would prevent legal challenges, and finally allow deportation flights carrying illegal migrants to take off for east africa. he said the draft law addressed the concerns of the supreme court, which had previouslyjudged the policy to be unlawful. here's our political editor, chris mason. autumn of last year. rishi sunak becomes prime minister, the rwanda plan is already six months old. but as the seasons turn, no migrants are sent to east africa. winter becomes summer, and still no planes are leaving. and then the supreme court, this autumn, said it was unlawful. the slogan on the lectern is familiar, and boat crossings are down. good morning... but the prime minister felt

compelled to sell his new plan after his former immigration minister resigned, reckoning it's a dud. we simply cannot have a situation where our ability to control our borders and stop people taking perilous journeys across the channel is held up in endless litigation in our courts. for the people who say you should do something different, the difference between them and me is an inch. but that inch, by the way, is the difference between the rwandans participating in this scheme, and not. are you saying to your mp5, bluntly, on all of this, back me or sack me? what i'm saying, notjust to my mp5, but the entire country, is that i share their frustration. right? my patience with this has worn thin. it's patiently unfair, what is happening at the moment, which is why it requires action like this, that is novel, that is contentious, but that's what we're about. we're about getting stuff done on the things that matter. this matters, and we're going to make sure that we deliver.

so, what exactly is this new plan? the safety of rwanda bill, where i was the other day when the home secretary visited kigali, to sign a treaty with the country, will say rwanda is safe and give ministers the power to disregard parts of the human rights act. but critics reckon it doesn't go far enough, and will still get gummed up in the courts. ultimately, this bill will fail. i'm just being honest about where we are. we've put two acts of parliament through already. we've done huge amounts of work to stop this problem. we have not succeeded in stopping the boats. time is running out. we cannot afford to put forward yet another bill that is destined to fail. will he lead the conservatives into the next general election? listen, i hope he does. "i hope he does" is about as tepid an endorsement of a prime minister as you're likely to hear. and here's another tricky thing for rishi sunak. others in the conservative party, including the ioo—plus mps and peers too in what's called the one nation

caucus, have a different instinct. it's rather like a bill which says that parliament has decided that all dogs are cats. but we know that all dogs are not cats. but we're being told that, apparently, parliament has reached a conclusion that rwanda is safe, when the evidence before the supreme court, and the court below it, was that it wasn't. and all this after robertjenrick packed it in as immigration minister, suggesting the prime minister needed to be more brave and more willing to contest international law. replacing robertjenrick at the home office, two men. michael tomlinson is the minister for illegal migration, and tom pursglove is minister for legal migration. emergency legislation, and now emergency reshuffle, and, as we speak, an emergency press conference. it's total chaos. they are now in free—fall, unable to govern.

all the while, families worried about paying their bills and affording christmas. mps will debate the latest rwanda plan on tuesday. its future, and prime minister's authority, up in lights. our political editor chris mason is here. this comes to a head next week with a vote in parliament.— a vote in parliament. yeah, it does and between _ a vote in parliament. yeah, it does and between now— a vote in parliament. yeah, it does and between now and _ a vote in parliament. yeah, it does and between now and then - a vote in parliament. yeah, it does and between now and then the - a vote in parliament. yeah, it does - and between now and then the various tribes within the conservative party, a few of which you had a flavour of there, have gone away to scrutinise it often with their own legal experts poring over the line office bill. all of which presents me with a flashback to the brexit years, when there were very similar arguments that went on in different corners of the conservative party scrutinising legislation then. now, the twist is that these groups are not homogenous. so when you hear from one of them they are not representing necessarily the view of

what can be hundreds of their colleagues, but they are looking at it this weekend, they are going to decide on that basis how or whether they will vote come tuesday. prime minister you know today talked about the importance of parliamentary sovereignty in this new act, as it hopes it will become. he is feeling that parliamentary sovereignty now because of what his mps are saying. he did say today after repeated questioning he doesn't regard next week is a confidence vote, one that would bring about an election if he lost. there is no doubt though it tests his authority but i absolutely, he is under intense pressure, staking a lot on this. where does it leave him? he got a sense of the pressure today, he hosted the news conference, it is not a naturally performative prime minister, he did it because he's run out of better ideas. he had his former home secretary and former immigration minister trashing his policy and had to come out and make the case for it. now, when i speak to conservatives across the party in government and out, there is a fear,

whether they support rishi sunak or not, that by accident the party could walk towards a situation where enough mps demand a vote of confidence that it ends up happening. now, most think that rishi sunak, if that were to happen and it may not, would win it, but if it happened it would be hugely, hugely damaging. the party chairman said today about the idea of a leadership race, which is lots and lots of hoops down the track, that that would be insanity. the thing is, the last couple of years, if you discounted the ludicrous, the implausible, the highly unlikely, well, things would have turned out rather different so you can't discount those. who knows. it's a big moment next week for the prime minister. , a, ,., big moment next week for the prime minister. , ., ~ , ., borisjohnson has told the covid inquiry that claims he didn't care about the suffering being inflicted on the country and wanted to let covid rip were simply not right. appearing for a second day, the former prime minister said he had experienced at first—hand,

during his time in intensive care, how appalling covid could be. our deputy political editor vicki young has the details summer 2020, the end of the first lockdown. the government was keen to boost the economy, get people spending again. as chancellor, rishi sunak did his bit, despite some warnings that the eat out to help out scheme could spread the virus. borisjohnson has previously insisted that medical experts like sir patrick vallance and sir chris whitty were consulted about the idea, something they've denied. but now, today, you're saying you're not sure whether it was discussed with them, and you're surprised that it wasn't? the reason i said that in my statement is because i, frankly, assumed that it must have been discussed with them. and i... i'm perplexed. in light of your views, secretly held, about people dying, having reached their time anyway... mrjohnson looked irritated when he was read extracts from sir patrick vallance's diary,

suggesting he advocated "letting the virus rip". frankly, it does not do justice to what we did, ourthoughts, ourfeelings, my thoughts, my feelings, to say that we were remotely reconciled to fatalities across the country. questioning then turned to rule breaking. first, his chief adviser, dominic cummings' visit to barnard castle. it was obviously damaging. it was a bad moment. and i won't, you know, pretend otherwise. and what about the parties in downing street, which led to more than 100 fines, including ones for the former and current prime ministers? he apologised again, but said he and staff thought they were within the rules. the version of events that has entered the popular consciousness about what is supposed to have happened in downing street is a million miles from the reality of what actually happened

in numberio. bereaved families said today that mrjohnson was unfit for power and had failed to act quickly enough to protect lives. he, though, told the inquiry what he'd felt after being in hospital with covid. i knew from that experience what an appalling disease this is. to say that i didn't care about the suffering that was being inflicted on the country is simply not right. some will never be persuaded by borisjohnson�*s arguments. he insists he was at all times focused on saving lives. vicki young, bbc news. the serial killer, steve wright, has been arrested in connection with the unsolved murder of vicky hall in suffolk in 1999. the 17—year—old went missing after a night out with a friend in felixstowe and was found in a ditch five days later.

wright, who's 65, is currently serving life for the murder of five women in ipswich in the early 20005. kent police say a 49—year—old man has been arrested after a seven—year—old boy was killed in a crash involving two vehicles in folkestone yesterday. william brown was hit as he tried to collect his football, according to his father. a driver of one of the vehicles left the scene. police are appealing for motorists in the area to come forward with dashcam footage. a coroner has concluded that an ofsted school inspection "likely contributed" to the death of its headteacher ruth perry. mrs perry took her own life after a report from the inspectors downgraded caversham primary school in reading from its highest rating to its lowest following concerns over safeguarding. staff at the school said the headteacher was left tearful and incoherent after the inspection in november last year. bra nwen jeffreys reports. ruth perry took her life on the 8th of january this year.

today, a coroner said an ofsted inspection contributed. after the verdict, ruth perry's husband and elderly parents stood alongside her sisterjulia. the inquest into ruth's death has shown the brutal inhumanity of the system of ofsted inspections. she gave theirjudgment on the inspection system. callous. perverse. inhumane. in court, the coroner criticised the way the ofsted inspection was carried out. she said it lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity and at times was rude and intimidating. ofsted had argued the inspection was professional and sensitive. it's been a long 11 months for the family. this afternoon, i heard from julia walters in her only interview about the verdict.

we were right. what we've been saying, what other head teachers have been saying, what the teaching unions have been saying was right, and ofsted were wrong, and they weren't prepared to admit that. after ruth died, her sisterjulia found some handwritten notes, including one dated from christmas day. i have seen examples of suicides, forced removal, resignation in shame. ruth perry knew an inadequate grade might mean the loss of herjob. she had gone to caversham primary withjulia as a child and cared deeply about what the community thought. tonight, ofsted said sorry for the "distress mrs perry undoubtedly experienced as a result of our inspection." it said more changes would be made. ruth perry's family said

she would be remembered as loving, funny and kind. "we shall feel her terrible loss every day for the rest of our lives." branwenjeffreys, bbc news, reading. if you've been affected by any of the issues raised in branwen�*s report, you can find details of organisations offering information and support at bbc.co.uk/actionline. and you can see more on this story on the death of a head, available on bbc iplayer. tributes have been paid to benjamin zephaniah — one of britain's leading poets — who's died at the age of 65. he'd been diagnosed with a brain tumourjust two months ago. the writer, professor and performer also appeared in the bbc drama peaky blinders. his family described his as a "true pioneer and innovator". david sillito reports. i used to think nurses were women. i used to think police were men.

i used to think poets were boring, until i became one of them. this is benjamin zephaniah. benjamin zephaniah... i love me mudder and me mudder love me. we come so far from over de sea. he rose to fame in the �*80s. his dub poetry rooted in the rhythms, language and street politics of his home, handsworth, in birmingham. his words were political, musical, radical. he turned down an obe, saying they'd obviously not read his words about empire. when he began, he could barely read. by the end, he had 16 honorary doctorates. and for one friend and fellow poet, his passing, a terrible loss. he was incredibly friendly, approachable, kind on a personal basis. he could talk to us about things that matter and the things that mattered to him, which is the oppression that he himself experienced but he sees and saw around him

in the world and he could express that to almost any age of person in very direct terms. he also appeared more recently in peaky blinders. dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join together in holy matrimony... in a statement, his family said he was a true pioneer and innovator, who has left the world a joyful and fantastic legacy, the poetry of benjamin zephaniah. i am not the problem. i greet you with a smile. you put me in a pigeon hole. but i am versatile. well, these conditions may affect me as i get older, and i am positively sure i have no chips upon my shoulders. black is not the problem. mother country, get it right. and just for the record, some of my best friends are white. the poet and writer benjamin zephaniah, who's died at the age of 65.

the government has announced the bbc licence fee will increase by £10.50 to £169.50 a year, from next april. the rise is about £5 less than expected. the bbc is already making £500 million worth of savings as the licence fee has been frozen for the past two years. the corporation said it would mean more changes to its budgets. she danced with vladimir putin at her wedding — now austria's former foreign minister karin kneissl has moved to russia. she says she was forced out of austria by political pressure and has found freedom in russia — describing president putin as �*the most intelligent gentleman'. she's been speaking to our russia editor steve rosenberg in st petersburg. dancing the waltz, vladimir putin and karin kneissl in 2018. then austria's foreign minister, she'd invited russia's president to her wedding.

a private visit — strictly. butjust months after the salisbury poisonings, which the eu, like the uk, have linked to the russian state. now, with her boxer winston churchill, karen kneissl has moved to st petersburg. she claims that after leaving office, she had problems at home. she was seen as too close to russia. it was all about not being able to work. so this was number one and that was political pressure. she's running a russian think tank. controversial considering russia's war in ukraine. isn't there a danger that by being here that you are legitimising the invasion, the war and also the domestic repression that takes place in russia? well, so far, i have not seen any sort of repression in my immediate surrounding. i can work here in a kind of academic freedom,

which i started missing when i was still teaching at various universities. just a few days ago in this city, a young russian woman was sent to prison for seven years for replacing some price tags in a supermarket with anti—war slogans. yeah. and so what do i have to do with that? i just explained at length the situation that i have been going through. and what about that dance? you see, i've done other things in my life before and after, and honestly, it's so boring. honestly, it's very boring. to talk about the wedding? yes. so we should just... i mean, i think there are other more interesting topics we can discuss. honestly. you have no regrets about it? i consider it as honestly boring. and the dog just fell asleep and was snoring because he knows the topic. and her view now of vladimir putin? he is the most intelligent gentleman, with the focus on gentleman, and i've met a few, in the sense of what jane austen

wrote about the accomplished gentleman in pride and prejudice, he amounts to this standards. we're seeing a wave of repression domestically and we've seen russia invade ukraine. it's hard to classify that as a gentlemanly action. well, tony blair, cameron, they all were involved with the governments being involved in military actions. finally, i mean, you say that there are people in austria who've accused you, or accuse you of high treason, accuse you of being... a russian spy. ..a russian spy. can you, to an extent, understand? no, not to an inch. not to, not even to an inch. i don't understand it. it's just dirty fantasy. the former austrian diplomat, who claims to have been hounded in the west and moved east. at a time when the gulf between russia and europe feels wider than ever. steve rosenberg, bbc

news, st petersburg. this is thomas street in manchester city centre — normally home to independent shops and bars. but for weeks now it has been closed off with locals sworn secrecy about what this was all about. tonight, all has become clear. one of the biggest names in fashion, chanel, chose the street to stage its annual luxury catwalk show called metiers d'art catwalk. our culture correspondent charlotte gallagher was there. high fashion and a manchester high street. the legendary french fashion label chanel has taken over the city centre. models, celebrities, and the children of manchester icons liam and noel gallagher filled the front row of the chanel fashion show. even a—list actors couldn't keep away. are you enjoying the latest?

yeah, lam. i've been walking around in the rain all day. it was fine. no, it's so good. and i'm telling you, it's like, it is such an iconic place for me, and i've been dreaming to come. the show celebrated not just fashion, but also the music of manchester. the rapper and actor bugsy malone came dressed for the occasion. we have the jacket, the watch, the trainers, and i'm very serious about the chanel thing right now. and the necklace is that chanel as well? yeah. you're manchester, obviously. born and bred. so what does it feel like to be at a chanel show in manchester? you're one of the guest of honour. by the way, it's a real privilege just to have chanel in manchester. so to be here, to witness it. amazing, i've had a great time. people who didn't have a ticket also wanted to see what was going on. obviously, there's a nod to the weather. in fact, the crowds gathered in the rain all day wondering which celebrities would arrive. so why did chanel choose manchester?

and that's a history that is political, its social, but also, of course, linked to fashion and textiles. so in this area where we are in the northern quarter, a lot of these buildings would have been warehouses, they would have been centres of production of cotton. in the 19th century, manchester was called cotton palace. manchester born supermodel karen elson took part in the show, and models weren'tjust on the catwalk. they were in the audience too. really epitomised the spirit and creativity of manchester and the north. and, yeah, it's been amazing. the show may be over, but the party here, well, that's just begun. charlotte gallagher, bbc news, manchester. football and in the premier league everton�*s points deduction appears to have galvanised team spirit at goodison park. tonight they beat high—flying newcastle 3—0 to move out of the relegation zone. in tonight's other match, west ham won 2—1 at tottenham. andy swiss watched the action.

everton fans booing the premier league anthem, still furious at their clubs recent ten—point penalty. and against newcastle, that frustration didn't look like easing. calvert—lewin�*s blazing over the bar. dominic calvert—lewin with a glorious chance to put them ahead. and didn't he just know it? but after the break, step forward dwight mcneil with spectacular results. a stunning strike to put the hosts ahead, and that was just the start, as abdoulaye doucoure coolly added a second. suddenly, goodison park was rocking and beto duly rounded off a 3—0 win. everton now out of the relegation zone and for their fans, finally something to celebrate. meanwhile, it was a colourful night at tottenham as spurs took an early lead against west ham. cristian romero putting tottenham in front, but come the second half it was all change as jared bowen equalised for west ham before one of the more

bizarre winners you'll see. james ward—prowse eventually giving the hammers a 2—1win. another gift of a goal for west ham united. delight for them, but for spurs, another difficult night. andy swiss, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's simon king. it's been a very wet day for many others. we've had heavy rain spreading its way north and eastwards across many parts but towards the south—west of england, it is here we have had most of the rain. in devon we've had around about half of december�*s rainfall falling in the space of a day, that lead to localised flooding. as that rain cleared, a beautiful sunset in devon with those red skies. the rain still with eastern areas, pushing away tonight, still some fairly strong winds around the northern isles of scotland tonight and then further showers will start to spread their way in from the west by a

frost free night, temperatures down to four to 6 degrees. friday, showers will move in across western areas. some on the heavy side, blustery winds around the irish coast but was eastern and south—eastern areas of england, here largely dry with sunny spells for much of the day and temperatures for many getting into double figures, eight or nine degrees at the far north. through the evening more persistent rain will spread into northern ireland, south—west of scotland, the wind is starting to pick up here as well and as we go into the weekend, it will remain unsettled with rain at times, strong winds as well, but also a bit of sunshine. saturday morning starts off very wet across wales and southern england, that will quickly move its way northwards. eventually sunny spells developing in central and southern areas but that rain pushes into northern ireland into central areas of scotland. temperatures in the north single

figures, further south 11 to 1a degrees but