it isa candidate's marks on israel. it is a tou~h candidate's marks on israel. it is a tough decision _ candidate's marks on israel. it is a tough decision and _ candidate's marks on israel. it is a tough decision and necessary - tough decision and necessary decision, but when i say the neighbour party has changed under my leadership, i mean it. —— when i say the labour party has changed. on patrol when air strikes hit. we'll bring you an exclusive bbc report on the challenges paramedics face when responding to gaza's emergency calls. king charles returns to london for what is widely expected to be medical treatment following his cancer diagnosis. all of that coming up. first, though, let's head to the bbc sport centre. good evening. good evening, matthew. thank you. the return of the champions league is just a few hours away, as manchester city resume the defence of their title with a trip to fc copenhagen tonight. the current champions go into the last 16 tie as favourites, but city manager pep guardiola is warning against complacency when taking on a side which beat manchester united 4—3 at home

in the group stages. what i saw what they have done this group stage against these opponents, i say, wow. i said to the players this morning, you have to prepare mentally. the game plan will be as it has always been, but mentally we have to be ready. meanwhile, iii—time european cup winners real madrid travel to germany to face rb leipzig. carlo ancelotti's side will be without england starjude bellingham, who's out with an ankle injury after picking up a knock in their 4—0 win over girona in la liga on saturday. the premier league has officially approved sirjim ratcliffe�*s purchase of 25% of manchester united. the deal, worth around a billion pounds, is still subject to football association approval. the owners, the glazer family, will retain a majority stake in the club, but ratcliffe�*s ineos group will take control of football operations.

the football transfer record's been broken again in the women's game, with zambia international rachel kundananji signing for the newly created us team bay fc, based in the californian city of san jose. kundananji, who scored for her country in the world cup last summer, will be leaving madrid and heading to the national women's super league to be part of the bay squad's inaugural season, which begins next month. the fee paid is around £625,000, more than chelsea spent on mayra ramirez last month. there are so many girls who try to get advice from me, how they can get the best out of themselves. most of them, this is what they have been waiting for, we have been thinking about this for a long time. every time i am playing football, if you

text me and tell me, encourage me to continue working hard, maybe one day you will break some richards which nobody has ever done before, and i am sure now this is the first one and there are more coming —— break some records. england are in rajkot preparing for the third test against india later this week, with the five—match series level at 1—1. captain ben stokes will become the 16th man to play a 100th test for england. team—mate ollie pope says it's testiment to stokes' talent and commitment. for anyone to play 100 tests is unbelievable achievement, and i think he has obviously had his highs and his losing his career, but what he has done since he has been captain been amazing, and there's so many sort of special moments you can look back at on his career and he has probably changed the game a lot, in a lot of respects, and he has just got a way to bring out the very best of him when it means the most

for the team. third test sta rts starts on thursday. ferrari say their new formula 1 car "must be a consistent frontrunner" when the new season starts next month. at the launch of their car, the team told supporters they "must start off where they left off at the end "of last season". charles leclerc took pole position at three of the final five races of the 2023 campaign but failed to turn any of them into wins. there is more on that on the bbc sport website. sportsday at six of the pm, but that, matthew, is all your sport for now. chetan, thank your sport for now. chetan, thank you very much. let's return to that news that has just emerged in the last 15, 20 minutes, one of the country's best—loved broadcasters, steve wright, who presented programmes for radio 1 and radio 2, has died at the age of 69. he joined the bbc back in 19705 and went on to host the afternoon shows on radio 1 and radio 2, he also fronted

television programmes for the bbc, including top of the pops. he was last on air on sunday on a special prerecorded valentines edition of his programme. we were hurrying a wonderful trip it from his colleague and radio 2, jeremy fine, —— wonderful tribute. the director general had a statement saying, all of us are heartbroken to hear this terribly sad news. steve was a truly wonderful broadcaster, who is been a huge part of some any of our lives over many decades. no one had more energy to do our deliverer chose to put a smile on audience's faces. they loved him deeply. we are thing of steve and his family and will miss him terribly. that the statement put out by the bbc director general tim devi. more reaction on that story here in the next few minutes.

first, though, let's bring you more on that news that the labour party has withdrawn sport for its candidate in the rochdale by election, azhar ali, because of her marks made about israel. sir keir starmer made the decision after new audio came to light. political opponents have accused labour of being in disarray. here's the audio, published by the daily mail. he shouldn't have been suspended, right? he was suspended on what was said. i know him really well, yeah, and he's a solid, pro—palestinian supporter. the media and some of the people in the media from certainjewish quarters were giving bleep about what he said. - let's go live now to westminster and our political correspondent peter saull, and this story has piled so much pressure on sir keir starmer, pulling support for his candidate late yesterday evening, and of

course question upon question through the course of today? that's riaht, and through the course of today? that's right. and the _ through the course of today? that's right, and the latest _ through the course of today? that's right, and the latest in _ through the course of today? that's right, and the latest in the - through the course of today? that's right, and the latest in the past - right, and the latest in the past half an hour or right, and the latest in the past halfan hour orso, right, and the latest in the past half an hour or so, we've learned another labour candidate emma graham jones, due to be standing for election just jones, due to be standing for electionjust up the jones, due to be standing for election just up the road from rochdale, has been administered of the suspended from the labour party pending an investigation. he will be pulled in for interview, but it looks like he is going to have his candidacy for labour removed too. grahamjones was candidacy for labour removed too. graham jones was the labour mp between 2010 and 2019 before losing that seat to the conservatives, and it is one of those constituencies labour would have really been hoping to take back, and this follows on from a report from the right wing website, which had a recording of grahamjones supposedly website, which had a recording of graham jones supposedly at the same meeting as azhar ali, wahey allegedly made those comments that have led to his suspension, the labour candidate for rochdale, and graham jones was talking about israel's actions in gaza, using an

expletive which i certainly cannot repeat to you live on the television, and also talking about the british people who had gone over to fight for the israeli defence forces too and he suggested i was against the law and they should be locked up, according to this recording. as i say we have not been up recording. as i say we have not been up to verify it, but this is the latest revelation to come out and if piles increasing pressure on keir starmer. he will say that again he has acted very, very quickly in this instance. we do not know the full detail, just two days away from two very, very important by elections for the labour party, in other parts of the country, northamptonshire, wellingborough and near bristol, labour hoping to take both of those seeds from the conservatives, and now they are having to firefight about an entirely different issue. tell us a little but more about sir keir starmer has been saying, because he has given an interview. we come back to the basic problem, which is that this happened too late to have his name removed as the labour candidate so it is still, he

still exists on the ballot paper coming up? he still exists on the ballot paper coming up?— still exists on the ballot paper cominu u? ., , ., , coming up? he does, and when people in rochdale receive _ coming up? he does, and when people in rochdale receive their— coming up? he does, and when people in rochdale receive their ballot - in rochdale receive their ballot papers and a couple of weeks' time, they will see the name azhar ali enable ce the labour rose right next to it, so according to that ballot paper he is still the labour candidate, but he is not, the party has dropped him. i'm also told labour have already sent out camping material which will end on peoples doorsteps the next couple of days that have azhar ali's face all over them, so in a way, he is still getting the backing of the labour party machine through that campaign and by virtue of the fakie will be on the ballot paper, but officially is not the candidate, so in theory he could still that election and be, become the independent mp for rochdale, but there are other candidates standing there, it makes this by election which at one stage looked like a slam dunk for the labour party very, very difficult to predict indeed. you have people like the left—wing campaigner george gallery standing, you have the labour mp for some years ago

standing for reform uk, they are all hoping to disrupt this election, as are the other traditional parties. there's a full list of candidates you can see on the bbc news website, but as i say, this move from labour to remove azhar ali as their candidate has blown the whole thing wide open. keir starmer saying this proves how decisively he has acted to change the party, to move labour on from thejeremy corbyn era, which was really besotted, had lots of different problems to do with anti—semitism, and he said that is now firmly in the rear—view mirror. the conservatives saying that this all proves they have not fully moved on as a party, labour, now. it is on as a party, labour, now. it is definitely _ on as a party, labour, now. it is definitely claim _ on as a party, labour, now. it is definitely claim and _ on as a party, labour, now. it is definitely claim and counterclaim, with the conservatives arguing the polar opposite as you would expect the sub aside from the by elections, is there any sort of indication of nationally the impact it is having on the labour party, the damage? i suppose is too early to tell what latest saga has done to labour's

standing. naturally, they are still, according to the latest polls we have to boy add. —— nationally. they look likely to be the next party in government. we don't know when the next election will be. rishi sunak will say it is in the second half of the year, commentators expected to take place in october or november. the prime minister has not ruled out the prospect of having a general election in may, and if the poster too narrow a little bit, then he mightjust be tempted to do that, but it is been a difficult couple of weeks for labour. there was a u—turn on what has been a central point of their offering, to spend £20 billion a year on green projects, labour saying, actually, they are still committed to making those green pledges butjust not quite going to spend as much money as that because of the economic situation they are inheriting from the conservatives, so we'll wait and see whether all of this action has an impact on labour's poll ratings and keir starmer�*s approval ratings, but it

comes down to him as an individual as a leader. should he have acted sooner to remove azhar ali as a candidate when the initial revelations at the weekend? why was the exley selected? this row within the exley selected? this row within the labour party of those who seem to be close to the leadership, and azhar ali is seen to be that, those individuals are given an easier ride when it comes to being selected for constituencies than those on the left of the party, so some left—wing labour figures accusing keir starmer of double standards today. thank you for takinu of double standards today. thank you for taking us — of double standards today. thank you for taking us through _ of double standards today. thank you for taking us through all _ of double standards today. thank you for taking us through all of _ of double standards today. thank you for taking us through all of that. - for taking us through all of that. so much reaction through the course of the day. let's take you through some of it. earlier, i spoke to marc levy, chief executive of the jewish representative council for greater manchester. i asked him for his reaction to events especially as he had been with mr ali only in the past week. we were shocked by the comments, because during our routine political engagements, i was across the table from the individual, around 48 hours

prior to him making the shocking and appalling anti—semitic conspiracy theories, and the individual has a long track record of being moderate, sensible, combating extremism and anti—semitism, and we had a fantastic discussion where we focused on bringing communities together, sending he has been passionate about for a long time, so when you talk about the comments that have been made, we have been left completely shocked. it is someone who seem so sensible and had used in keeping with our own, that he could engage in such disgusting anti—semitic tropes. 50. he could engage in such disgusting anti-semitic tropes.— anti-semitic tropes. so, will you surrised anti-semitic tropes. so, will you surprised -- _ anti-semitic tropes. so, will you surprised -- were _ anti-semitic tropes. so, will you surprised -- were you _ anti-semitic tropes. so, will you surprised -- were you surprised | anti-semitic tropes. so, will you - surprised -- were you surprised when surprised —— were you surprised when labour, after it emerged he had made those comments, saying israel had let october seven happened so they could do whatever they wanted, after that became public, were you surprised labour at that point did

not simply ditching a candidate? it was a very difficult decision for the labour party, as you have stated in your report. this is rather precedented, to not have a candidate standing in a by election. but what is clear is that they have gone to the right decision and accepted the candidate's position became untenable. the jewish candidate's position became untenable. thejewish community... untenable. the jewish community... but untenable. thejewish community... but was not untenable... you talk about the shock and horrifying detail of that initial comment. was his position not untenable from the moment that became public, let alone what was said in addition to that that became public in the last 12, 18 hours? , ., , , that became public in the last 12, 18hours? , ., _ ,._ that became public in the last 12, 18hours? ,., _ 18 hours? obviously, the story was movin: 18 hours? obviously, the story was moving extremely _ 18 hours? obviously, the story was moving extremely quickly - 18 hours? obviously, the story was moving extremely quickly and - 18 hours? obviously, the story was moving extremely quickly and the l moving extremely quickly and the individual made a full apology, but it is my view that once someone has made overtly and transparently anti—semitic comments, it is very difficult to expect people to vote for him in a by election to be a

member of parliament here in the uk. it is for the couple catered by the fact that the person who will probably benefit the most from the candidate's withdrawal is george galloway, who has a history of creating divisive and difficult policies wherever he has stood, and we are concerned about a narrative thatis we are concerned about a narrative that is being pushed in rochdale by him and his supporters, where they are really seeking to focus solely on the conflict in the middle east. really briefly, keir starmer has worked hard to purge the party of anti—semitism. how much of a setback, then, do you think this is? like we say, we expect zero tolerance on anti—semitism. we have tolerance on anti—semitism. we have to give credit to sir keir starmer for the way that he has engaged with the jewish for the way that he has engaged with thejewish community. this is not thejewish community. this is not the liver party that was found to be institutionally anti—semitic under jeremy corbyn. the progress has been made and credit has to be given ——

this is not the labour party. the reaction through the course of today's programme, eventually in rochdale. let return to the breaking news, news that steve wright, who presented so many programmes over so many decades for the bbc on radio 1, radio 2, has died at the age of 69. that's talk now to a friend and colleague of steve wright of the broadcaster nikki campbell, who joins me on the programme. i was talking tojeremy vine, a wonderful tribute from him, but real shock too at this news. tribute from him, but real shock too at this news-— at this news. yeah, matthew, i cannot believe _ at this news. yeah, matthew, i cannot believe it, _ at this news. yeah, matthew, i cannot believe it, i _ at this news. yeah, matthew, i cannot believe it, ijust - at this news. yeah, matthew, i cannot believe it, ijust got - at this news. yeah, matthew, i cannot believe it, ijust got thej cannot believe it, ijust got the call 20 minutes ago, and i think it is important to come on and say, difficult as it is for all who knew him, i knew him since 1986, that this man was, in terms of radio dj and, in terms of broadcasting, in terms of committee kidding with an audience, in terms of doing that

wonderful mystical, magical thing that makesjust radio, wonderful mystical, magical thing that makes just radio, live, wonderful mystical, magical thing that makesjust radio, live, he wonderful mystical, magical thing that makes just radio, live, he was at top of mount olympus. some people will remember kenny everett. he was like everett. he created this wonderful universe of sound and texture and characters, and it was just such a comforting sound when you heard it as well. itjust took you heard it as well. itjust took you to a wonderful place, because you to a wonderful place, because you knew you were safe. he was a brilliant, brilliant broadcaster, and as a dj, of course, he communicated, he made us laugh, he made us think, a really, really good interviewer, and you will have had that delest when he five years. he did a lot of great interviews on his radio 2 show —— the last 25 years. asked really good questions.

when ijoined radio1 in 19 1987, i thought, 1987, ithought, my 1987, i thought, my goodness, 1987, ithought, my goodness, me, i am going to be on the same radio station as steve wright! he was the person, he alwaysjust, station as steve wright! he was the person, he always just, he station as steve wright! he was the person, he alwaysjust, he wasjust such an inspiration, you could be creative, you could be that stuff, you would be irreverent, you can try and be funny. he was all listings and be funny. he was all listings and he was brilliant. to see them operate in standing these few next door or to be in the studio with him, and to see them operating the buttons and knobs, what they used to have the old days, cartridges with the sound on, the records, in the speed of thought, his brain was like quicksilver. to be with, it was never a dome moment with steve. let's set aside the fact he was a complete and utter radio genius, but if you spent ten minutes with steve

or 15 minutes with steve which i was lucky enough to do on a lot of occasions when i was on his show, you felt for the rest of the day, the rest of the week, that was a brilliant 15 minutes, because i spent it with steve wright. i will]! spent it with steve wright. i will come back _ spent it with steve wright. i will come back to — spent it with steve wright. i will come back to some _ spent it with steve wright. i will come back to some of— spent it with steve wright. i will come back to some of that - spent it with steve wright. i will come back to some of that production genius that you were referring to them abutjeremy was saying that he was tremendously generous to younger colleagues coming through. is that what you found as well? completely. when i what you found as well? completely. when i joined — what you found as well? completely. when ijoined radio _ what you found as well? completely. when ijoined radio 1 _ what you found as well? completely. when ijoined radio 1 in _ what you found as well? completely. when ijoined radio 1 in 1987, - when ijoined radio1 in 1987, you can imagine, it was a fearsome place with some mighty strange people, and actually i had been on... me and mayo were the first generation of people at radio 1 who were professional parents and did not come from the pirate ships, but steve had come to the way, and he is a journalist as well, of local radio, and he was tremendous. he got in touch with me while i was at

capital radio. he said, i heard you doing a show there. imagine that, being a young journalist getting a call from steve wright, phenomenal. on radio 1, he was nothing but encouraging and helpful, and he spoke to us as equals. not all of them did. he was tremendously encouraging. he was a colleague, he was a friend. and he was an inspiration, and inspiration to so many. i am inspiration, and inspiration to so many. iam really, inspiration, and inspiration to so many. i am really, really inspiration, and inspiration to so many. iam really, really sad. it}! many. i am really, really sad. of course, many. lam really, really sad. of course, the craft, he absolutely loved it. we were hearing a little while ago about how in his time off he would drive across america, just listening to different radio stations, listening to different techniques, and you were talking aboutjust techniques, and you were talking about just the techniques, and you were talking aboutjust the genius of production. i mean, there were so many ideas that constantly he was trying out, producing, succeeding.—

that constantly he was trying out, producing, succeeding. yeah, it was all happening _ producing, succeeding. yeah, it was all happening on _ producing, succeeding. yeah, it was all happening on his _ producing, succeeding. yeah, it was all happening on his show, - producing, succeeding. yeah, it was all happening on his show, all- producing, succeeding. yeah, it was all happening on his show, all the i all happening on his show, all the voices of all the little quirky features in the music, and it should never be forgotten as well, and you are right, accu, he loved americana. he loved howard's and in that kind of radio which he brought to his country. —— howard stern. steve wright in the guys in the afternoon, the afternoon voice of the afternoon girls — he brought that zoo radio 2 this country. but what he did was he loved americana, but he put in three very english prism, and made it work. mrangry very english prism, and made it work. mr angry from whatever it was. all those fantastic characters, but the other thing, like everett, everett was like this, he created this world, this incredible radio fantasma, but also they loved music,

they loved their records. they were not like those people who came in and served on their egos and an ugly care about the music they were playing. steve adored songs. you heard that when he was playing his love songs. he adored great music. he understood records. you could say to steve, what record would work at half past ten on a saturday morning? and he would say, come, bang that income that will sound great. he knew how to play records. somehow he transmitted, through the airwaves, by some kind of magic, his love for music, his love for the records. he was one of these djs, they would play a record, he would introduce it, as he would sell it, and you tell he loved it and you loved it too. yeah! i'm hearing him here it and i'm hearing it, and this is

great. you knew he was listening to it as well. i great. you knew he was listening to it as well. ~' , ., ,., . ., it as well. i knew you in particular would connect _ it as well. i knew you in particular would connect and _ it as well. i knew you in particular would connect and love _ it as well. i knew you in particular would connect and love that - it as well. i knew you in particularl would connect and love that avoids her love of lyrics, in terms of different songs that you've played —— connect with that love of lyrics. you said he was a journalist. when you listen to him, just remarkably simple, straightforward but the right questions, he would ask. i right questions, he would ask. 1 always used to say that right questions, he would ask. i always used to say that to him. he was a really, really good interviewer. he knew his stuff. but a lot of it was instinctive. he had that wonderful, natural curiosity, and what i would say as well is that he was an incredibly funny gossip! he had a really, he was a kindly

man, very much so, but he had a wasp ish sense of humour, a really warm—hearted person with a really waspish sense of humour. he made me laugh until i cried. just a one—off, complete one off. steve right in the afternoon, i cannot believe he is not there, because as a young local radio dj, you're thinking, he was the ultimate, he was the goat, as they say, and he kept it going for years and years and years and he could've kept going for many, many more years. he was a natural. he was one of those people who came to life with a microphone in front of him and a pile of tapes and records and people around the consul to talk to and bounce off of the end he could bounce off you can announce off you

come and create this world, and that was when he became vital —— he could bounce off you, bounce off you, bounce off you, bounce off you, bounce off you, bounce off you, bounce off you. steve right was one of your greatest broadcasters we have ever had. —— steve wright. nicky campbell, thank you for providing such a wonderful should be to steve wright, we have learned he has died at the age of six to nine. thanks so much for watching. —— age of 69. hello there. good evening. gone now are those sunny skies across england and wales. instead, today, we've been seeing thickening cloud, showery outbreaks of rain on and off, milder—feeling conditions too, along with a brisk south—westerly wind. but the colder air hung on for much of scotland,

also to the far north of northern ireland. some hazy sunshine on and off. but even here, it will be turning milder and more unsettled now as we head through the rest of the week, as that warm front continues to drag the mild air in from the south—west, displacing the colder air to the far north of scotland, where even here, it'll disappear by the time we get to the end of the day tomorrow. but overnight tonight, still some showery outbreaks of rain on and off for much of the night across england and wales, more cloud being thrown across northern ireland. eventually, a wet start to the day here tomorrow. cloud, too, into the borders of scotland. but for many across scotland, clear skies, temperatures set to drop perhaps as low as —5 or —6 celsius in those sheltered glens. compare those temperatures to the double figures further south, where it's a very mild start to the day indeed. on wednesday, those weather fronts continue to push further northwards and eastwards. it's a wet start to the day across northern ireland, but the heavy rain will eventually clear, pushing into southern, central areas of scotland, where, as it bumps into the cold air, it will turn to snow, i think, across the cairngorms and the northwest highlands. some showers, too, further south

across wales and the south coast of england, but in the middle, across northern ireland and perhaps to the far north—west of england, we could possibly see some brighter spells develop to the east of high ground later on through the afternoon. very mild, 14 or 15 degrees celsius for many in the south. now, as we head through wednesday and into thursday, again, that deep area of low pressure will continue to push these fronts towards us. this is a cold front. by the time that sweeps through, temperatures will dip a little, but some particularly mild air on thursday across the south—east of england and east anglia. also some wet weather mostly towards the north and the west, a line of showers pushing into central, southern england by the time we get to the afternoon. but given any brightness out towards the east, temperatures could possibly rise as high as 16 or maybe 17 degrees celsius. by the time we get to friday, temperatures will drop just a little. there should be some brighter spells around on friday and a lot of dry weather, too. but the heavy rain returns perhaps on saturday night into sunday. bye— bye.

at six, steve wright, one of the bbc�*s best known and longest serving presenters, has died at the age of 69. he presented programmes on radio1 and radio 2 for more than 40 years. a short time ago bbc�*s sara cox broke the news to radio 2's audience. we are all absolutely devastated and

shocked and blindsided by this news. also tonight, more problems for sir keir starmer. a second labour prospective parliamentary candidate has been has been suspended. the body shop goes into administration after nearly half a century on the high street. almost 20 years after she was shot dead in bradford, a man goes on trialfor the murder of pc sharon beshenivsky. a unique insight into the habits of the hunting polar bear. and we talk to this british gymnast about her dizzying, new world record. and coming up on bbc news... football's spring has sprung — european football's back with holders manchester city opening the champions leageu last 16 stage with a trip to copenhagen. good evening.

the bbc radio presenter and dj steve wright,