the uk post office chairman, henry staunton, is asked to step down by the secretary of state, kemi badenoch. and landmarks across the uk light up purple to commemorate holocaust memorial day, marking the 79th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. hello. the uk hasjoined the us and several other countries in pausing funding for the un agency for palestinians, unrwa. it follows the sacking of several of the organisation's staff, after israel accused them of being involved in the 7th october hamas attacks against israel. an investigation has been launched into the claims, as our correspondent injerusalem, mark lowen, reports. crushed from the air. lives, homes, families and now

the very mission set up to help gaza's desperate is taking a hit too. the un agency for palestinian refugees, or unrwa, firing several employees for alleged involvement in hamas�* assault on israel. a body set up to protect, accused of attack. britain and a handful of other countries have now paused theirfunding. the foreign office said it was appalled by claims of complicity in what it called "a heinous act of terrorism." hamas stormed israel on the 7th of october, killing more than 1,200 people and abducting at least 240. israeli intelligence has reportedly passed on material set to show the participation of unrwa staff and the use of its vehicles and facilities. its government has seized on the allegations as the world remembers another massacre. translation: it was proven on international holocaust i

remembrance day what we have been saying for years, that the unrwa employees are collaborators with the terrorist organisation hamas and that the un has become not only a place where the existence of the state of israel is de—legitimised, but also a place where employees are physically collaborating in the extermination of israel. the un, which has frequently batted away past israeli criticism, says it is horrified by the news and will ensure any unrwa employee shown to have participated or abetted what transpired on the 7th of october or in any other criminal activity be terminated immediately and referred for potential criminal prosecution. but as israel's inoffensive intensifies, driving 70% but as israel's offensive intensifies, driving 80% of gazans from home, the un plays a great vital role role there and say some, a mission with 30,000 staff shouldn't be tarred by the violations of a few.

it certainly looks as if there is cause to be concerned about the actions of some of the members of unrwa, the un relief and works agency, but that does not or should it impugn the entire agency and the entire body of work they are doing. they have helped save literally thousands of lives in gaza. they do important work. the worst attack in israel's history has left scars here that will last generations. and with trauma, comes rage. towards those who aided the aggressors, not the victims. chris gunness is a former chief spokesperson for unrwa, and now director of the myanmar accountability project. he gave me his reaction to the israeli allegations. they are very serious and unrwa has taken robust action in implementing its zero tolerance policy. if you look at the statement of the commissioner general, the head of unrwa, philippe lazzarini, he made it clear that he was sacking these people to protect unrwa's interests. in other words, in advance

of the results of the investigation, in the absence of prima facie evidence, unrwa has dismissed these people. so, you know, these accusations are taken very, very seriously. unrwa always takes disciplinary action up to and including dismissal and that is what we have seen in this case. and to be clear, this is disproportionate and it is punitive. it is going to hurt the million people who are, at the moment, in a war zone in unrwa installations. the women, the children, the newborn, the sick, the babies, the dying, they are the ones who are going to be punished by this. and at a time where western governments are worried about the middle east war spreading, an agency which we all agree brings stability through its development work to the middle east region, having its aid suspended makes no sense whatsoever. so, you have been, as i said, at the heart of the organisation, do you think these allegations are plausible? look, i've not seen the evidence and far be it

for me to pass judgment. i would say two things. firstly, the timing is really odd. a day after the supreme court of the world, the international court ofjustice, essentially said that there are suspicions that israel is committing genocide. bang, the next day, what feels like a piece of news manipulation comes out. that is not to say unrwa is not taking it seriously, which it does. it sacked these two people. i think the other important thing to say is that israel has put out lies and disinformation. israeli spokespeople, civilian, military, even the prime minister's office was putting out lies about us that i had to deal with. during the 2014 war, we were continually told that our schools were hit because there were militants in them. not true. this was never proven except perhaps in one incident where unrwa came very clear about it when rocket parts were found in the schools, but essentially, you know, there is a huge history of false allegations being made by israel and its supporters.

and, you know, unrwa is doing everything it can and i would like to see this disproportionate, punitive measure changed immediately. it is the most disadvantaged, the frail, the vulnerable who are going to be hit by this. and how can it possibly be in israel's interest to have the agency which is calming things down on its borders in gaza... and to be clear, unrwa works in syria, injordan, in lebanon and the west bank. over 500,000 children go to unrwa schools every day. how could it possibly be in the interest of regional stability to have funding cut? the post office says its chairman, henry staunton, was asked to stand down after talks with the business secretary, kemi badenoch. she says there was a "need for new leadership". he was appointed in december 2022. with me is political

correspondent iain watson. the post office says he was asked to stand down but the government which said the two had reached a mutual agreement. some may say he had been sacked? indeed, they have been very careful with language but it is the government said they agreed to part their ways with mutual consent. that may be mutual consent by the end of that conversation. the post office are telling me he was asked to stand down and therefore the person who instigated that call was undoubtedly the secretary of state and kolisi wanted him to go. it is rare, i think, for someone who is chairman to be called up on a saturday afternoon and persuaded to go, but clearly this was the secretary of state who wants a change of leadership at the top of the post office. we know the government is trying to push through legislation to compensate and exonerate sub—postmasters and post mistresses who were caught up in the scandal

and this has been a major issue since the itv drama at the start of this year. do since the itv drama at the start of this ear. ~ , ., ., this year. do we think it is to do with the horizon _ this year. do we think it is to do with the horizon it— this year. do we think it is to do with the horizon it scandal - this year. do we think it is to do with the horizon it scandal that| with the horizon it scandal that he has had to go, or another issue? fine has had to go, or another issue? one government — has had to go, or another issue? (he: government source said has had to go, or another issue? iez government source said it probably would not have happened without the horizon scandal but that does not mean it is directly linked. as you say, he was appointed only in december 2022, say, he was appointed only in december2022, he say, he was appointed only in december 2022, he was on the boards for other organisations as well such as w h smith and itv, so it does not mean he was involved in the horizon scandal. i think it is how does the government to sort out the mess after the horizon scandal? an independent director in charge of the post office offers of compensation, it was announced he was departing just over a week ago, will be a replacement and it is

possible there were tensions over perhaps hit that replacement was or exactly how the post office itself undertook its own compensation scheme, but now that the business department, nor indeed mr staunton himself, would call it any further. there now has to be another chairman, all during all the stuff around the horizon scandal. it will not be easy for someone to come in and amongst that and get up to speed. and amongst that and get up to seed. i“ , and amongst that and get up to seed. .. , , speed. exactly, it will be incredibly _ speed. exactly, it will be incredibly difficult. - speed. exactly, it will be i incredibly difficult. perhaps speed. exactly, it will be - incredibly difficult. perhaps the secretary of state has someone in mind, i do not know, but there will be someone appointed on an interim basis from what they are saying, so they will not be that stability is a time when there is a big public focus on them and in parliament mps will be voting on effectively offering compensation and exoneration for people caught up in the scandal. clearly the secretary of state must have thought it was better to have new blood rather than continue with the current chairman

but it does mean there will be an interim chairman and then an actual chairman in due course. it is quite clear the government has been politically attacked for being slow to deal with this scandal and there is political pressure on government ministers to get a grip. qm. is political pressure on government ministers to get a grip.— ministers to get a grip. 0k, iain watson, thank _ ministers to get a grip. 0k, iain watson, thank you _ ministers to get a grip. 0k, iain watson, thank you very - ministers to get a grip. 0k, iain watson, thank you very much. i ministers to get a grip. 0k, iain i watson, thank you very much. you ministers to get a grip. 0k, iain - watson, thank you very much. you can get more on that on the bbc news website or app. the us has asked china to use its influence to convince iran to rein in its support for houthis attacking shipping in the red sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. a significant amount of chinese goods bound for the west pass through the area. firefighters from the indian navy have now put out a fire on board the latest vessel to be attacked. the marlin luanda oil tanker, which is operated by a uk registered company, was hit by a houthi missile on friday, while it was travelling in the red sea off the coast of yemen. the uk government says it reserves the right to respond appropriately.

our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. this is the marlin luanda last night, fire visible from the bridge, threatening its cargo of russian oil bound for singapore. the houthis are quick to take credit, their spokesman saying once again that this was being done to support the palestinians in gaza and in response to what he described as american—british aggression. the fire was finally brought under control this morning as indian, french and american naval vessels arrived on the scene. the crew was unharmed and the tanker now heading for a safe harbour. it's been two weeks since britain and the us first hit back, striking military targets inside yemen, aiming to deter the houthis. so far, the strategy doesn't appear to be working. so the attack on the marlin luanda in the gulf of aden signifies a great extension and escalation from the red sea to the gulf of

aden, so a geographical extension, and also with the type of weapons. the missile used yesterday was a ballistic missile, and the houthis started their attacks in the red sea using drones, so we're seeing a technological expansion and a geographical extension. the houthis are using the attacks to bolster support at home, orchestrating huge rallies on the streets of the capital, sanaa, relishing this confrontation with the west — something they've thought about and planned for for years. they're being helped by iran. when us navy seals seized a dhow off the coast of somalia earlier this month, they found parts of ballistic and anti—ship cruise missiles. diplomats say weapons are also being smuggled through oman. this afternoon, the defence secretary grant shapps condemned what he called this "intolerable and illegal attack" and said britain remained committed to protecting freedom of navigation. paul adams, bbc news.

now it's time for a look at today's sport. hello from the bbc sport centre. we're starting with football and a big upset in the fa cup this weekend, as the lowest—ranked side left in the competition, non—league maidstone united, have knocked out the in—form championship side ipswich town in the fourth round. maidstone are 98 places and four divisions below ipswich in the english football pyramid, but they managed a 2—1 win at portman road, it's a day their supporters will never forget. they did need a few heroics from their brazilian goalkeeper, lucas covolan, and they had to see out eight minutes of added time, but they held on for a famous win, much to the delight of their cameroon manager george elokobi. this one binds us for life now, we are tired, i supporters richly

deserve days like this, we are tied for life. and my college, i hope doing you all proud, i hope i'm doing you all proud, i hope i'm doing the entire country proud and the entire continent proud. realize the entire continent proud. really have. luton are through after a memorable 2—1 win over everton. substitute cauley woodrow scored the winning goal in the 96th minute despite having a suspected broken hand. it's only the second time luton have reached the fifth round of the fa cup, the last time was more than a decade ago. elsewhere, brighton were 5—2 winners at sheffield united including a joao pedro hat—trick. leicester were comfortable 3—0 winners over birmingham city, while leeds will have to replay against plymouth. fulham against newcastle is into the second half, and newcastle are leading i—0. the africa cup of nations has reached the last 16 stage in the ivory coast. angola have beaten namibia 3—0

to become the first team to book their place in the quarterfinals. both sides ended the match with 10 men. gelson dala scoring twice for angola. cameroon against nigeria is under way in abidjan. still goalless there. nigeria have had a goal disallowed. onto tennis, and aryna sabalenka has won the australian open women's singles title for the second year in a row. the number two seed belarussion comfortably beat china's zhung chinwen, who was playing in herfirst grand slam final, in straight sets. our correspondent russell fuller was watching. the whole fortnight she has been very impressive and she has underlined why many thought she was the favourite. not an easy thing i would argue to do, but to do so without dropping a set, and at this final she made a fast start, i think probably chinwen, having not played any top 50 opponents to get to the final, was a little taken aback and took a bit of time to get used to

the pace of sabalenka's ball. first set fairly straightforward and when chinwen had three double faults you felt the writing was on the wall and there was not too much jeopardy, felt the writing was on the wall and there was not too muchjeopardy, it felt like sabalenka was in control of the final. there was an extraordinary third day to the opening test between india and england. just when it looked like india had it in the bag, ollie pope staged a one—man rescue act to keep england in the game in hyderabad. with wickets falling all around him and the tourists in deep trouble, pope's epic 148 not out is being hailed as the best overseas century in indian test history. england will start day 4—126 runs ahead on 316—6 for their second innings. the way that pope has played todayis today is honestly an absolute masterclass on how to bat in these conditions is an overseas player. someone that is not exposed to these

surfaces day in, day out, to come off the back of a serious injury, have that amount of time out of the game and put that together, i'm speechless. honestly, one of the best knocks i've ever seen. and that is all this but for now. about 20 former prisoners who were held at the auschwitz death camp have taken part in a ceremony there to mark 79 years since its liberation. the event was one of many around the world to mark international holocaust remembrance day. here in the uk, major landmarks were being lit up in purple, and people are being encouraged to light a candle in a window to signal their opposition to hatred and prejudice. we can speak to alfred garwood, a holocaust survivor who was just eight months old when he was taken to bergen—belsen concentration camp.

thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc news. ijust said you were only eight months old when you are taking to the concentration camp, but tell our viewers about you and your family's experience. i camp, but tell our viewers about you and yourfamily�*s experience. i was and your family's experience. i was born in 1942 _ and your family's experience. i was born in 1942 in _ and your family's experience. i was born in 1942 in a _ and your family's experience. i was born in 1942 in a nazi _ and your family's experience. i was born in 1942 in a nazi ghetto - and your family's experience. i141?» born in 1942 in a nazi ghetto and when i was eight months old, all four of us, my parents and my older sister and myself, were taken to bergen—belsen concentration camp. we were given starvation rations, the amount of food you had was about 160 calories per day. one piece of bread, some water, soup and that was basically at. and the life expectancy was about six months. being a baby, clearly that led to different problems. fortunately, my

motherwas different problems. fortunately, my mother was able to breast—feed me, but the breast—feed, when i was eight months old, you need a bit more thanjust milk, and eight months old, you need a bit more than just milk, and they were starving but the only way they could give me some food was to take the bread they had got and to soften it and moisten it in their mouth and they were starving hungry, yet they had to take it out of their mouth, we did not have a spoon, we had nothing, they had to use their thumb to just take the bread out of their mouth and feed me with it. it was absolute torture for them. life was unbelievable in some ways. people, you would be talking to someone and they would just drop dead in front of you and the place was littered with dead bodies and the children had to play amongst the dead bodies. ijust can't imagine that. how did

you deal in later life with the obvious trauma that you went through as a baby? the obvious trauma that you went through as a bab ? ., obvious trauma that you went through asabab? ._ as a baby? the thing about early trauma is that _ as a baby? the thing about early trauma is that it _ as a baby? the thing about early trauma is that it is _ as a baby? the thing about early trauma is that it is remembered| as a baby? the thing about early i trauma is that it is remembered in the body and in the way you deal with stress and anxiety. it makes you very insecure and it affects your whole life and many years later, i realised i needed therapy and help and so i have had some 20 years of therapy to help me with the trauma, but in wanting to deal with the trauma, i became a doctor, i wanted to become a healer and heal the wounds of other people, but also my own wounds, and so apart from

becoming a doctor and a general practitioner, i became a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist and i started working with holocaust survivors who were traumatised. i spent my professional life as a healer, healing others but also learning to heal myself. did you find it helpful _ learning to heal myself. did you find it helpful helping _ learning to heal myself. did you find it helpful helping those - learning to heal myself. did you i find it helpful helping those other survivors? it find it helpful helping those other survivors? , , , ., survivors? it is deeply rewarding. when ou survivors? it is deeply rewarding. when you know _ survivors? it is deeply rewarding. when you know that _ survivors? it is deeply rewarding. when you know that someone - survivors? it is deeply rewarding. when you know that someone is| survivors? it is deeply rewarding. | when you know that someone is in pain and you can help them reduce that pain, feel less desperate, less stressed, it is very rewarding and you can see the results of your efforts, and they are grateful and so you have a good relationship with them and it also makes you feel reassured that it is possible to heal the wounds. it gives you hope for the future. i

heal the wounds. it gives you hope for the future.— for the future. i understand it you returned in _ for the future. i understand it you returned in adult _ for the future. i understand it you returned in adult life _ for the future. i understand it you returned in adult life to _ returned in adult life to bergen—belsen? returned in adult life to bergen-belsen? returned in adult life to beruen-belsen? , returned in adult life to beruen-belsen? �* , bergen-belsen? because i was so ounu , bergen-belsen? because i was so young. my — bergen-belsen? because i was so young. my parents _ bergen-belsen? because i was so young, my parents did _ bergen-belsen? because i was so young, my parents did not - bergen-belsen? because i was so young, my parents did not want i bergen-belsen? because i was so | young, my parents did not want to believe that i had been damaged by the experience, scarred by the experience, and they would say you are lucky you were a baby, you did not remember anything, it did not affect you. not remembering is correct, but saying it was not affecting me was kind of denying my ability to actually deal with it, and so eventually, i had a crisis in my life where my wife died and my family was kind of falling apart. i asked my father to go back to the camp to tell me about it so that i could understand it more and feeling a sense that i understood the experience and how it might have affected me. and at first when i

went back, i didn't feel anything, i had no reactions, i was constantly being told i was too young and did not remember anything and that did not remember anything and that did not allow me to remember what i could remember, but then i went into the camp on my own without the influence of my family and something happened to me and ifound i could hardly stand up. i became weak, my head dropped, i was looking at the floor, ifelt head dropped, i was looking at the floor, i felt terrified and frightened of people who walked quickly and what was happening, i was having a body memory, feeling how i felt when i was two years old, starving, could barely walk because i had ricketts and the fear was the terror i felt then and so that was a very important experience to recover the sense that it did affect me and

it then allows me to move forward and i decided i needed to speak to other children who had been holocaust survivors, so i formed a psychosocial group, the first in britain, to help children who are holocaust survivors, and then i helped to found the survivors centre in north london is that there would be a place to meet and we used to meet every month and talk to one another and because i was also a psychotherapist, there were major international meetings of child survivors and i became a sort of therapist to them and i did 30 years of work with giving psychotherapy to child survivors. that allowed me to understand what really happened, how it affected us children in a way because the psychiatrist and the specialist did not understand

holocaust trauma and so it enabled me to study and to write, and i have written a book, and i continue to write new theory about how the mind works with trauma and how it deals with it. so it has been enormously rewarding and it has helped me heal my own wounds. rewarding and it has helped me heal my own wounde— my own wounds. alfred, we really a- reciate my own wounds. alfred, we really appreciate you — my own wounds. alfred, we really appreciate you talking _ my own wounds. alfred, we really appreciate you talking to - my own wounds. alfred, we really appreciate you talking to us - my own wounds. alfred, we really appreciate you talking to us here | my own wounds. alfred, we really i appreciate you talking to us here on news, thank you very much for joining us. you are watching bbc news. hello there. temperatures have been a little bit higher today, but we have seen more cloud around, particularly across more western parts of the uk. a lot of the cloud is still quite thin, high cloud, mind you. and if you have a look at the satellite picture, you can see all that cloud that's been coming in from the atlantic to the south of our weather front

that's been hanging around in the north and north—west of scotland, bringing some outbreaks of rain. but through the night, as we see a southerly wind picking up, we're going to blow that rain band out of the way. it still could be quite cloudy in northern ireland and scotland, bit of dampness in the air now and again. rather more variable cloud across england and wales. and last night it got to minus three at exeter airport. lowest temperatures will be across eastern parts of england where we have clearer skies and there could be a touch of ground frost first thing on sunday morning. but with that wind picking up on sunday, we should see temperatures continuing to rise and most places will have a dry day again. some sunshine at times, a bit more cloud in the south west of england, maybe moving into the midlands and ahead of our rain band approaching northern ireland and heading into the north—west of scotland, it's going to be windy with some gales in the north—west, some quite lively winds developing through the irish sea as well. but it is a southerly wind and that's why temperatures are continuing to rise. it's going to be a milder day on sunday, it could make 14 degrees in north wales and the moray firth. now those southerly winds are coming from a long way south

and they could actually pick up some saharan dust, which will get blown in towards the uk just ahead of that weather front there, which will bring some wet weather. and we've got a bit more rain pushing towards england and wales. could turn quite heavy rain over the hills of wales, across northern england. and in the southern uplands, we're likely to find some snow falling as things get colder in scotland and northern ireland. but for the midlands, many parts of eastern england it may well be dry and we're in milder air here, so temperatures are likely to reach 14 or 15 degrees. that milder air, though, will get pushed away overnight as these weather fronts move their way eastwards. could bring some snow to other higher parts of eastern scotland before that low pressure is out of the way and all the wet weather is out of the way, leaving cloud for england and wales, sunshine across scotland and northern ireland. that'll push a bit further south through the day. it will introduce cooler air, mind you, so we've got eight degrees in glasgow. could make 12 degrees in the south—east.

this is bbc news, the headlines... israel is continuing to put pressure on unrwa saying that its boss should resign. it is after israel accused some of unrwa's staff of being involved in the 7th of october

attacks. a former agency spokesman has defended the agency. emergency services in liverpool have declared a major incident following a huge blaze at a four—storey building. firefighters warned of the structure could collapse. homes and businesses have been evacuated. landmarks across the uk have been lit up in purple to commemorate holocaust memorial day. marking the 79th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. and the post office chairman, henry staunton, has stood down following a phone call with the business and trade secretary. he had beenin business and trade secretary. he had been in the job for 13 months. now, here on bbc news, one of very, very big spoiler alert. if you have been watching the traitors on bbc one and you have not seen the final yet, how shall i put it? go and do

something else for the next 30