we'll be hearing from others whose reputations were destroyed, and analyse how the new law might work. also tonight... after yesterday's dramatic storming of ecuador�*s tv station, we're on the ground as the president says the country is at war with ruthless drug gangs. this storm, which has turned ecuador from one of the safest nations in latin america to one of the most violent, has been brewing for years. the house cut off by last week's floods. we speak to the owner, to see how his homemade flood defences held up. and the sperm whales that organise themselves into clans — with distinctive cultures, and even dialects. and on newsnight at 7.30, we'll

speak life to key players on today's big stories. plus a first look at tomorrow's front pages. -- 10.30. good evening. some have waited over a quarter of a century to have their names cleared. hundreds of people wrongly accused of theft and false accounting, while running post offices. well, a new law in england and wales, to "exonorate and compensate" all these people whose lives were ruined is to be introduced after an itv drama questioned why one of the biggest miscarriages ofjustice in british history had not properly been resolved. downing street says it will also work with scotland and northern ireland to ensure victims wrongly accused in those nations are also cleared. scotland's first minister says he agrees with the law change.

in a moment, we'll hearfrom some of those post office workers who've campaigned for this day. dominic casciani will explain how the new law will work, and simonjack will look at the questions that remain for the company, fujitsu, responsible for the post office's it system. but first, chris is here with me. quite a day? quite a day? quite a day indeed- _ quite a day? quite a day? quite a day indeed. the _ quite a day? quite a day? quite a day indeed. the wheels _ quite a day? quite a day? quite a day indeed. the wheels of - quite a day? quite a day? quite a i day indeed. the wheels ofjustice, as you just said, have been creaking at iglesia will wait for ages and certainly they are whizzing around after a drama series. —— at a glacial rate. we are seeing something unprecedented, the government deciding it will interfere in the independent business of the courts because there's itv drama captured something in its casting, execution and timing which captured the public mood and

finally, as far as the campaigners theatre, the attention government. —— as far as the campaigners see it. four nights of drama on the telly after two decades of injustice. and, just one week later... we come to questions for the prime minister. ..the most high profile moment of the week at westminster, the start of prime minister's question time. and rishi sunak said... mr speaker, this is one of the greatest miscarriages ofjustice in our nation's history. today i can announce that we will introduce new primary legislation, to make sure that those convicted as a result of the horizon scandal are swiftly exonerated and compensated. this is the story of westminster transfixed like never before about a scandal over 20 years in the making. it is a huge injustice. people lost their lives, their liberty, and their livelihood, and they have been waiting far too long for the truth, forjustice and for compensation.

yes, compensation. yes, justice. itv�*s drama last week is what has provoked what you have seen in the commons. how did you find that, have you been in there before? no, never been in the chamber before. watching westminster�*s drama today, the director of the series. tell me about this last week. i mean, wow, look at what you have done. it's extraordinary. it is astonishing. we thought we would hopefully raise awareness and get the story out there and get the story of the victims to a wider audience, but no—one ever thought we would get this sort of reaction and response, and to be here today to see them announce the overturning of the criminal convictions is just mind—blowing. back inside parliament, the beginnings of the detail and scrutiny for the government. too many victims want nothing to do with the british justice system, nothing do with the post office, nothing do with government. they have had enough. we need to keep on the momentum

that the itv series absolutely engendered, in press, here, everywhere. i think we also still need to listen to the victims. in terms of those that _ have their convictions overturned, who have died, will their estates be able to access the compensation? i yes, the government says, their families will get the money. ministers acknowledge today's decision has big consequences, including the prospect some people who are actually guilty are now paid more than £500,000. but they believe it is the right call. we will be faced with the dilemma, either the present problem of many people carrying the unjustified slur of conviction, or accept an unknown number of people who have genuinely stolen from their post office will be exonerated or perhaps even compensated. constitutionally, politically, practically, financially, this is a big moment. for the victims, the prospect

after so, so long — justice, repayment, clarity. chris mason, bbc news, westminster. 983 sub—postmasters and mistresses, were found guilty of offences including false accounting, theft and fraud over a period of 15 years. it was based on incorrect evidence from a faulty computer system. only 95 of those convictions have so far been overturned by the courts. coletta smith has spent the day with some of those whose lives were wrongly turned upside down, as they awaited prime minster�*s announcement. thrust together again — nine sub—postmasters whose lives echo each other, but have all lived a very personal trauma, sharing their real life stories with the nation. it wrecked my life, my family's life. i was totally a recluse. the barrister said to me, - "if you plead not guilty, you're

probably going to go to prison." i first met janet nearly three years ago in her garden in hull. do you know, i haven't cried about this for years. she'd served time in prison and still had a criminal conviction hanging over her. so nervous. because i know my life is in the hands of three judges. her conviction was quashed in 2021, and as she's waited longer forjustice, her voice has grown stronger, directly challenging the minister this morning. you are the post office minister. is the government going to take back control over the post office? well, janet, i was talking about your case yesterday with david davis, sir david davis, who i think has been working on your behalf... you weren't holding back when it comes... all they keep saying is that, you know, "now that we're aware of what's been going on..." they've known for years and years and they've done nothing. you've not had a government ear like that before, have you? no, no. yeah, i think we're finally getting listened to,

but there's a long way to go. with pressure mounting, we watched as the prime minister took the floor in parliament this lunchtime. it was broadly positive. we wait to hear details on it. but introducing legislation, especially, is what we've been calling for to exonerate people. you can potentially get an interim payment of £75,000. how does that feel? well, we borrowed money over many years. it would give us pension security. we're old and decrepit enough. you know, i lost my pension at 55 because we had to put it into the post office. hopefully the the wave of support that we all have behind us now and the public understanding of the scandal is forcing the government to actually do something about it. heading home, but reuniting online

tomorrow as the public inquiry kicks off again. but for tim and his partner, they've a different excitement on the way. with a new baby due this summer, there's fresh hope for the future. coletta smith, bbc news, in salford. at the centre of this scandal is the horizon computer system, designed and operated by the japanese company, fujitsu. it's nearly 30 years since it was rolled out in post offices across the uk, and simonjack has been looking at some of the questions now surrounding the firm. simon? thank you, clive. the private company at the centre of this scandal is fujitsu — a £20 billionjapanese company whose uk arm won in 1996 a multi—million pound contract to computerise nearly 20,000 post offices. the horizon it system rolls out three years later in 1999 — but within weeks, some sub—postmasters report problems. the post office denies any systemic issues.

over the next decade and beyond, hundreds of branch managers are prosecuted , dozens convicted, with many sent to prison, declaring bankruptcy, losing their homes and in some case taking their own lives. campaigners then began an officialfightback — getting support from local mps. that was in 2009. in 2013 support grows, and an independent firm is appointed and paid by the post office to review the software. it finds defects but insists the system is largely robust. again the post office states "there are no wide scale problems with our computer system". in 2019 a landmark ruling finds there were defects in the fujitsu system, and the post office agreed to pay £58 million to 555 sub—postmaster and sub—mistresses — opening the way to criminal convictions being overturned. but what of fujitsu today? well, horizon is still installed, the post office has just paid fujitsu £36 million to extend that contract till the end of 2025.

because, say the post office, these systems are incredibly complicated — take years to design and build and can't be easily replaced. if you switched off horizon, you would bring the post office network to a standstill. so far, fujitsu has not paid anything in compensation and in their most recent accounts barely mention horizon as a risk to their business, and have set no money aside. despite this nearly 30 year fiasco, in the last ten years, the government has awarded fujitsu 191 contracts worth more than £6.5 billion — including projects for hmrc, the ministry of defence and the home office. in 2022, the government removed fujitsu from its list of preferred suppliers, but the firm is still able to win government contracts through the normal procurement process. fujitsu executives are due before the inquiry early next week. simonjack, simon jack, thank you. dominic casciani, the big question — how is this

new law, if passed, going to work? we haven't seen detail yet, but i think the real headline in some respects is modern democracy pride themselves on defending the independence of courts and judges, they do not normally then go around overruling them. until today the only power ministers really had in relation to the miscarriage of justice was a royal prerogative of mercy which was to disregard the effect of the punishment, not to disregard the finding itself in court. what has happened today is constitutionally quite enormous and has real implications, that is why there is a lot of nervousness. in essence no evidence would be considered, there will be no public declarations in court of an individual�*s innocence. when the law goes through, the convictions of anyone convicted in the said type will be quashed and they can self certify their innocence and entitlement to compensation on a

form. if there is any fraud, the government and come after individuals after that, but that is why nervousness exists. the government says it is an exceptional situation requiring an exceptional solution, some critics say there is not enough resources to push these cases to the court of appeal. there are other unintended consequences. an unknown number of genuinely guilty people will be exonerated under this blankets plan and there are questions which i have heard from miscarriage campaigners that it creates a two tier system in which some people, in this case the post office victims, will get 0ffice victims, will get compensation far more quickly than others wrongly convicted. justice delayed isjustice denied, that others wrongly convicted. justice delayed is justice denied, that is the real outage, that is why the government has made this political choice because nobody wants this to be delayed any longer. chris, this appalling case stretches back over a quarter of a century. there are so many questions to be

answered for a lot of people. yes, this has been a collective generational failure, yes, this has been a collective generationalfailure, lots yes, this has been a collective generational failure, lots of people let down— generational failure, lots of people let down for a lot of time. the breadth — let down for a lot of time. the breadth of— let down for a lot of time. the breadth of questions and the breadth of people _ breadth of questions and the breadth of people facing questions is really quite _ of people facing questions is really quite something. there are labour folk who— quite something. there are labour folk who were back in government way back when _ folk who were back in government way back when going through their records — back when going through their records to work out their involvement and also liberal democrats from the coalition years and conservatives. this being an election— and conservatives. this being an election year means the lotus questions are for party leaders who have had _ questions are for party leaders who have had some sort of role in the past _ have had some sort of role in the past connected to this. we have seen questions _ past connected to this. we have seen questions for lib dem leader ed davey— questions for lib dem leader ed davey who was more than —— one of more _ davey who was more than —— one of more than _ davey who was more than —— one of more than a — davey who was more than —— one of more than a dozen post office ministers _ more than a dozen post office ministers in this period. some have pondered _ ministers in this period. some have pondered labour leader keir starmer's role as director of public prosecutions for england and wales. the vast _ prosecutions for england and wales. the vast majority of prosecutions were _ the vast majority of prosecutions were private prosecutions but some were private prosecutions but some were looked at by the crown

prosecution service, around a dozen, three _ prosecution service, around a dozen, three of— prosecution service, around a dozen, three of them in keir starmer's time _ three of them in keir starmer's time he — three of them in keir starmer's time. he says they never reached his desi

raided a tv station, during a live broadcast, in the city of xguayaquil, in the city of guayaquil, and will grant is there for us live. will. guayaquil today is a city in shock. few residents here could believe the extreme gang violence that was unleashed. murders, bomb attacks and prison officer taken hostages. all of it unprecedented in the history of it unprecedented in the history of this port city, but unprecedented in the history of ecuador. viewers in ecuador watched in disbelief as masked and armed gang members entered a state tv channel and held staff hostage — all of it televised live. translation: they shot one of our cameramen in the leg. | broke the arm of another one. they were shooting bullets inside the studio. the police were called and came in minutes.

the gang was soon arrested and the hostages released, but the tv station ambush was just part of the descent into chaos. panic as gunmen stormed guayaquil university, explosions around the country, schools and businesses shut down and widespread rioting inside ecuador�*s prisons. in response, president daniel noboa called a state of emergency and imposed a curfew. by decree, he designated 22 gangs, terrorist organiations and ordered the military to, as he put it, neutralise them. translation: we are practically living in a state of— war against terrorism. these are not organised crime groups, they are terrorists who are financed by drug trafficking, trafficking in people, organs and arms. president noboa says that ecuador is now engaged

in an internal armed conflict. but while this explosion of gang violence may have the nation off guard, in truth, the storm which has turned ecuador from one of the safest nations in latin america to one of the most violent has been brewing for years. specifically this man. adolfo macias villamar, alias fito, is part of the reason ecuador finds itself on the brink of an internal war. he's the leader of a gang called los choneros and escaped his prison cell shortly before his transfer to a higher security wing. two prison guards have been arrested for allegedly helping him flee. the gangs are largely controlled from the prisons. even behind bars, macias ran his organisation without interference from the authorities. translation: people are scared, l they are closing all the stores, l there is no security. they're afraid gangsters will come and loot everything. an iron fist on crime has been used here before, but it did little to break the gangs stranglehold

on the andean nation or slow its slide towards bloodshed. will grant, bbc news, guayaquil. the funeral has been held in albania, of an asylum seeker, who died on board the bibby stockholm vessel in dorset, used to house migrants. he's believed to have taken his own life. the bbc has been speaking exclusively to his room mate on the moored ship, who says he fears others will harm themselves if living conditions don't improve. yusuf deen kargbo, has been speaking to danjohnson. this is the end of a journey made originally in hope by a young man who left albania seeking the safety of asylum, but ended his own life. leonard was 27. "he was treated very badly," his aunt says. "like an animal, he told us, we will suffer until we know the truth."

and for the first time, we've heard from the man sharing leonard's cabin. it's very quiet space. he likes to be by himself. he will be sitting alone with his phone, playing. so you didn't think he was struggling? first, when i moved there, i didn't see any sign of that in him. yusuf was the last person to see him alive. and he says many others are struggling on the vessel and sharing their concerns.

the barge is intended as a cheaper alternative to hotels, housing up to 500 men. the home office told us it takes the welfare of those in its care very seriously and that any concerns are swiftly addressed. it also highlighted the migrant help phone line available 24/7 for anyone in need. this family wants answers and action, which may come from leonard's inquest later this year. dan johnson, bbc news. the biggest attack yet by yemen's houthi rebels on international shipping in the red sea, has been repelled by british and us naval forces. the irainian backed group launched at least 21 drones and missiles overnight. the houthis say they'll continue their attacks, until israel allows full supplies of humanitarian aid into gaza. jonathan beale, our defence

correspeondent is here. are we moving closer to us attacks? the short answer is yes. this was the 26th attack of its kind by houthi rebels. they are now attacking western warships. last night was the biggest so far. american warships and aircraft and the british destroyer shot down 18 drones, three houthi missiles. seven of those drones were shot down by the warship you can see behind me, hms diamond, using the sea viper missiles. each one costs more than £1 million, considerably more than the drones in yemen is using. remember, earlierthis the drones in yemen is using. remember, earlier this month the us and uk, 12 nations in all issued an ultimatum to the houthis. stop this all they will be consequences. the

consequences, defence sources say, could be strikes on houthi targets inside yemen. today when the defence secretary grant shapps was asked about that, the likelihood of it, his answer was ominously, watch this space. it will be a us decision, they have the military hardware, the aircraft carrier and they are worried about the escalation, by iran, namely. there are concerns, but you can only issue so many warnings. but you can only issue so many warnings— but you can only issue so many warninus. ., . ., �* ., there have been angry scenes in the us congress, after president biden's son, hunter, unexpectedly turned up at a hearing, deciding whether he should be charged with contempt. he's refused to comply with a subpeona to give testimony to a republican led committee, investigating whether his father profited from his son's business dealings. the evidence may be used, at a future impeachment trial. smith has more from washington. mr biden, do you plan

on testifying today, sir? this surprise appearance was very much about being seen, not heard. hunter biden insists he will testify, but only if the committee let him do it in public. hunter biden's wilful refusal to comply with the committee's subpoenas is a criminal act. it constitutes contempt of congress and warrants referral to the appropriate united states attorney's office for prosecution as described by the law. deliberately sitting front and centre, hunter biden enraged the republicans who want to hold him in contempt. well, my first question is who bribed hunter biden to be here today? that's my first question. second question, you are the epitome of white privilege, coming into the oversight committee, spitting on our face, ignoring a congressional subpoena to be deposed. what are you afraid of? you have no balls. who wants to hear from hunter right now, today? anyone? come on! who wants to hear from hunter? let'sjust question him now,

argue democrats, who enthusiastically joined the belligerent grandstanding. a p pa re ntly apparently you are afraid of my words. ., apparently you are afraid of my words. . ., words. hunter leaving the hearing infuriated some _ words. hunter leaving the hearing infuriated some members - words. hunter leaving the hearing infuriated some members even i words. hunter leaving the hearing i infuriated some members even more than his dramatic arrival. it is than his dramatic arrival. it is clear and _ than his dramatic arrival. it is clear and obvious _ than his dramatic arrival. it is clear and obvious for - than his dramatic arrival. it 3 clear and obvious for everyone watching this hearing that hunter biden is terrified of strong, conservative republican women. his real fear, says the president's son, realfear, says the president's son, that any testimony given behind closed doors will be selectively leaked to opponents of his father. the republican chairs were commandeered in unprecedented resolution to hold someone in contempt, and has offered to publicly answer all the proper questions. the question is, what are they afraid of?— they afraid of? leaving, hunter said as little as possible, _ they afraid of? leaving, hunter said as little as possible, satisfied - they afraid of? leaving, hunter said as little as possible, satisfied he - as little as possible, satisfied he had made his pointjust by turning up. the reason you are seeing all this dramatic political theatre is

because we are now in a presidential election year and on that there is some other news tonight. we are expecting that one of the contenders for the republican party's presidential nomination will drop out of the race this evening. chris christie, the former governor of new jersey was the most vocal critic of donald trump, he was in this race. he was running just to stop donald trump. but the more people who are running against donald trump, the more that splits the anti—trust vote within the republican party, so it gives the former president a better chance. and so chris christie was under pressure to drop out, so some of his supporters might support some of his supporters might support some of the candidates who have a better chance and it looks as though that is what he's going to do tonight. sarah smith, and capitol hill in washington, thank you. a week after widespread flooding across large parts of england and wales, the clean—up continues for many. now that the waters are receding, our midlands correspondent

phil mackie has been to see some of the people caught up in the floods. remember this — nick lupton's house surrounded by floods and defended by the wall he built? the film we took last week has been viewed more than 30 million times. today, the house is attached to the mainland again. welcome. glad to see it so dry, at last. yes, dry is good. after being stranded inside for a week, the waters receded and we got to see the defenses close up. you can see previously we had a little bit of damp coming up the wall. oh, it's always a relief when the river goes down. we're into the recovery now. there's a fewjobs to do, even though the wall is keeping it away from the house. during storm henk, a torrent of water began pouring in. but the walls kept it out. nick built his flood wall 30 centimetres higher than the record level, but it may not be enough in the future. in the old days, we used to put these temporary barriers up here, which used to take hours and hours to put up — dave throup spent 20 years working for the environment agency and now lectures on climate change and flood prevention. the floods we're getting at the moment are getting

more and more extreme. we've been within a half a metre to a metre of the top of all of the flood defences now. so it's only going to take that one big event and then we're going to see significant overtopping of all these flood defences. would you believe that the river has fallen by more than two and a half metres since its peak on friday? luckily, there's no cricket scheduled for a few months yet. the problem is, this is the second big flood this winter and if there's another storm, all this will happen again. worcester has always flooded. these pictures from 1963 to show how little has changed. but the floods are coming more often. we have nearly a0 years of detailed data. between 1986 and 2000, the height of the severn never rose by more than five metres. since then, it's happened more and more often. not everyone has flood defences. theyjust have to do what they can. this was ian last week... now, of course, - we can open the door. ..and this is him now. we survive. it'sjust getting more and more.. ..effort.

worcester�*s that way. and back at nick's, after all the money he spent building the wall, was it worth it? yeah, absolutely. it was the right thing to do. it's proven to be the right thing to do. phil mackie, bbc news, worcestershire. researchers say they've discovered that sperm whales live in human—like clans, with distinctive cultures, and even dialects. the scientists used underwater microphones and drones, to examine the sounds and behaviour of the animals. jon donnison has that story. low-pitched clicking. the clicks and clacks of a sperm whale. and, as you might expect from the creature with the biggest brain on the planet, their chitchat has more to it than meets the ear. this latest research, published in the royal society open science journal, found there are at least seven separate clans of sperm whales in the pacific ocean, each with its own distinct culture and vocal dialect.

while the sperm whales sound very simple, their patterns of clicks is a bit like morse code. the two clans we discovered this on, one sounds click—click—click—click, and the other sounds click—click—click. . . click. the study also showed the whales use their distinct dialects to communicate and make democratic consensual decisions about where to go. one example saw them take an hour and a half to decide whether or not to make a 90 degree turn, and what the researchers called a slow and messy process. jon donnison, bbc news. time for a look at the weather, here's chris fawkes. today