about compensation for sub—postmasters. kemi badenoch says henry staunton wants revenge for being sacked, after he claimed he'd been told to delay payments to branch managers wrongly accused of fraud. alexei navalny�*s widow says her husband was killed because the kremlin couldn't break him and that she will carry on his work. translation: i will continue the work of alexei navalny, l continue to fight for our country. the crew of a british—registered cargo vessel have abandoned ship, after it was attacked by houthi fighters in the red sea. roy hodgson quits as manager of crystal palace afterfalling ill during training last week. the remarkable story behind this shot from the sea bed — we hearfrom the underwater photographer of the year.

and is this the fastest goal ever? the team from croydon who are hoping they've set a new world record. on newsnight at10:30... the russian authorities are denying alexei navalny�*s family and his lawyers access to his body in the remote arctic penal colony. did putin's people kill him with novichok, the poison of choice in russia? good evening. there's a deepening row tonight in the post office scandal between the business secretary and the former chair of the post office. henry staunton, a city veteran who was sacked from the job last month, claimed in an interview that he'd been advised to delay compensation payments to victims of the horizon it scandal. but the business secretary, kemi badenoch, said those claims were completely false and a blatant attempt to seek revenge for his sacking. here's our business

correspondent emma simpson. it feels like another post office drama, this time it is henry staunton, the 75—year—old boardroom veteran versus kemi badenoch, the business secretary. here he is in front of mps, he became chair of the post office in 2022 and was sacked by ms badenoch last month. and at the weekend, he gave an interview saying early on i was told by a fairly senior person, a civil servant, to stall on spend on compensation, and on the replacement of horizon. ,, . ., , ., ,, ., of horizon. secretary of state! explosive _ of horizon. secretary of state! explosive stuff, _ of horizon. secretary of state! explosive stuff, today - of horizon. secretary of state! explosive stuff, today kemi i of horizon. secretary of state! - explosive stuff, today kemi badenoch came out swinging, calling it a disgrace, saying there was no evidence it was true. i

disgrace, saying there was no evidence it was true.- disgrace, saying there was no evidence it was true. i would hope that most people _ evidence it was true. i would hope that most people reading - that most people reading the interview yesterday would see it for what it was, a blatant attempt to seek revenge following dismissal. labour called for an investigation into the claims and for all correspondence between the post office and government to be published. we office and government to be published-— office and government to be ublished. ~ ., ., , , published. we have two completely contrastin: published. we have two completely contrasting accounts, _ published. we have two completely contrasting accounts, one - published. we have two completely contrasting accounts, one from - published. we have two completely contrasting accounts, one from the| contrasting accounts, one from the former_ contrasting accounts, one from the former chair— contrasting accounts, one from the former chair of the post office and one from _ former chair of the post office and one from the secretary of state, and only one _ one from the secretary of state, and only one of _ one from the secretary of state, and only one of these accounts can be the truth — only one of these accounts can be the truth. , ., ,., only one of these accounts can be the truth. , ., ., only one of these accounts can be the truth. , ., ,., ., ., only one of these accounts can be the truth. , ., ., ., ., the truth. there is also a war of words about — the truth. there is also a war of words about how _ the truth. there is also a war of words about how and _ the truth. there is also a war of words about how and why - the truth. there is also a war of| words about how and why henry staunton was fired. he said she told him the government needed someone to take the wrap for the horizon computer scandal, take the wrap for the horizon computerscandal, but take the wrap for the horizon computer scandal, but according to kemi badenoch, he was dismissed because of concerns about his behaviour as chair, including this new allegation. i behaviour as chair, including this new allegation.— behaviour as chair, including this new allegation. i should also inform the house that _ new allegation. i should also inform the house that while _ new allegation. i should also inform the house that while he was - the house that while he was imposed, a formal— the house that while he was imposed, a formal investigation was launched into allegations made regarding his

conduct _ into allegations made regarding his conduct. this included serious matters — conduct. this included serious matters such as bullying. that was news to henry _ matters such as bullying. that was news to henry staunton. _ matters such as bullying. that was news to henry staunton. a - matters such as bullying. that was i news to henry staunton. a statement was released tonight on his behalf, saying mr staunton is not aware of any aspect of misconduct which could give rise to such allegations, they were certainly not raised by the secretary of state at any stage, such behaviour in any case would be completely out of character. mr staunton is not in the habit of resorting to fabrication or invention but decided to go public out of a desire to ensure that the public were fully aware of the facts. as the row rages, horizon victim just want the money they are owed. it victim 'ust want the money they are owed. , , ., owed. it is 'ust a distraction we don't owed. it isjust a distraction we don't really _ owed. it isjust a distraction we don't really need, _ owed. it isjust a distraction we don't really need, we _ owed. it isjust a distraction we don't really need, we just - owed. it isjust a distraction we don't really need, we just want| owed. it isjust a distraction we i don't really need, we just want to be delivered in full and fair compensation that has been promised. and obviously as we are seeing on the ground, that is not happening for us, you know? its, the ground, that is not happening for us, you know?— the ground, that is not happening for us, you know? a scandalthat is now barely — for us, you know? a scandalthat is now barely out _ for us, you know? a scandalthat is now barely out of _ for us, you know? a scandalthat is now barely out of the _ for us, you know? a scandalthat is now barely out of the headlines, i now barely out of the headlines, henry staunton has been invited to appear before mps at a select

committee next week. and emma joins me now. this really is quite the row. it this really is quite the row. it really is, and i think it is fair to say it is pretty unusual too, for a cabinet minister, a high profile veteran businessman to be so at odds over what date and didn't happen. and he claims he made, of course, was so damning, the key one being that he was advised to go slow on compensation. he stands by those comments tonight. there have been calls for mr staunton to name the civil servant, and no doubt he will be asked about this during next week's select committee hearing looking at compensation. they are going to want to get to the bottom of all this, so i think this story still has some way to run. mil still has some way to run. all ri . ht, still has some way to run. all right. for _ still has some way to run. all right, for now, thank you, emma simpson. the widow of the russian opposition leader alexei navalny says she believes her husband was poisoned with the nerve agent novichok and that he was killed

because the russian president couldn't break him. yulia navalnaya vowed to continue his work fighting for their country. her husband, who was a7, died unexpectedly in a prison camp on friday. his family have still not been allowed to see his body to try to independently ascertain how he died. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports. for three days now, she's been trying to recover her son's body, but alexei navalny�*s mother — here in the middle — was told that investigators are not ready to release it or even where the body is. a clue perhaps, caught on cctv in the dead of night near mr navalny�*s remote penal colony — a prison convoy heading to a nearby town, just hours after the announcement of his death. it's thought this midnight motorcade may have been transporting his body. alexei navalny was an ambitious politician, promising a brighterfuture for russia.

he once tried to run for president. he ended up in prison. now he's dead. in a video statement filmed abroad, his widow yulia accused the kremlin of killing him and vowed to continue his fight to change russia. translation: having killed alexei, putin killed half of me, _ half of my heart and half of my soul. but i still have the other half, and that tells me i have no right to give up. i will continue the work of alexei navalny, continue to fight for our country. today, yulia navalnaya was in brussels, meeting european foreign ministers. for years, she's kept a low profile. now she's vowing to unite opposition to vladimir putin. and the kremlin — what has it been saying about the death of its staunchest critic? very little.

president putin has yet to make any public comments about the death of alexei navalny, but today the kremlin spokesman described accusations that it was the russian leadership that killed him as "obnoxious and utterly unacceptable". at this makeshift shrine to alexei navalny, we discovered that many of the floral tributes have been cleared away. and yet muscovites were still coming here to honour the man who called for change but would never live to see it. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. let's talk now to our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford. her strength is remarkable, but can there really be a meaningful opposition in russia today? well, it is remarkable, isn't it?

yulia navalnaya has really stepped deliberately and dramatically into the political spotlight with a speech. her grief was so raw that at times it was quite difficult even to watch, but it is if you that she saysis watch, but it is if you that she says is driving her on and that leads her to say she can continue her husband's calls. for many supporters of the russian opposition watching that, people feeling despondent, they will have found it uplifting. i think she does have a certain moral authority, and she clearly is a strong woman, but can she put herself forward as a new political leader? well, first and foremost, yulia navalnaya is abroad, and i think after she has called vladimir putin a killer, she would find it very difficult and dangerous to go back to russia now. as for the political organisation, it has been banned as extremist, and all of his close allies are either in prison, like he was, or abroad for their own safety. basically, vladimir putin has spent the past two decade systematically crushing all political opposition in the country.

now, of course, overthe political opposition in the country. now, of course, over the last few days we have seen people bringing flowers and tributes to alexey navalny, these are people who do want a change in russia, who are sympathetic to his cause, and yulia navalnaya has now called on them to unite in a fist and to punch vladimir putin's regime. but i think the fear is very strong, and a sense of pointlessness, and of course it was navalny who punched the hardest in his lifetime, and he paid an extremely high price for that. thank you, sarah rainsford. in the first case of its kind, a man who piloted a dinghy carrying dozens of migrants from france to britain, four of whom drowned, has been found guilty of their manslaughter. ibrahima bah, who's from senegal, agreed with a smuggling gang to pilot the boat in return for a free crossing, even though he had no training in sailing. the case could have implications for future investigations, as our legal correspondent dominic casciani reports. a light in the dark. cries in the distance.

the early hours of december 2022. a fishing boat in the english channel discovers a sinking migrants dinghy. men swim for their lives. 39 saved. at least four drowned. this man in the blue coat, ibrahima bah, accused of their manslaughter. he agreed to pilot the inflatable to england. over two trials, prosecutors said he was criminally responsible for the deaths. when it began taking on water, he could have taken the dinghy back to france. one of the survivors, who's anonymous for legal reasons, said everyone feared they would drown. people stood up inside the boat, and then the boat collapsed. i don't know whether he is a smuggler, a refugee, asylum seeker, but he helped us and he saved us. i don't know what to say. he was speeding the boat in order to get closer to the fishing boat. he also turned or swerved the boat in a way that helped us.

and this is why the crossings are so dangerous. this boat is a similar size and construction to the one that ibrahima bar was in, and the border force have got this out to show us and filled it with the items they find typically in every rescue. you've got buoyancy aids, used on canoes, on lakes and rivers — totally unsuitable for the job. you've got fuel bottles, we've got foot pumps. and look at this, the construction — it's basically a bouncy castle. and that's why they say these are a death trap. jurors were told smugglers had offered ibrahima bah a free seat in return for piloting, so prosecutors argued the deaths occurred as part of a criminal enterprise — the senegalese man was responsible for everyone's safety and could have foreseen the tragedy. but bah said he had no choice — the smugglers threatened to kill him when he had second thoughts. this manslaughter trial has been unprecedented. somebody is responsible. he can't duck out of saying that he was responsible

simply because he says that he was in the same situation as the other migrants. he chose to be the man in charge. yep. more than 140 other people have been prosecuted for piloting boats since 2022 — boats that have brought 30,000 men, women and children on dangerousjourneys. a trade the government is under huge political pressure to stop. dominic casciani, bbc news. the crew of a british—owned cargo vessel have abandoned ship off yemen after it was hit by missiles fired by houthi fighters. a houthi military spokesman claimed that the ship, the rubymar, suffered "catastrophic damage" and had sunk — although there is no independent confirmation. and tonight the houthis claimed they had attacked two more ships in the region, both us owned. our diplomatic correspondent james landale is here. since november, houthi rebels based here in yemen have attacked merchant

vessels steaming up and down the red sea. they say they're doing it to support palestinians in gaza, claiming they're mostly attacking ships linked to israel, the us or the uk. the attack on the british vessel took place here on sunday close to the bab al—mandab strait between yemen and djibouti. the ship that was hit was the rubymar, a cargo vessel flagged in belize, operated from lebanon, but owned by a british firm. it was heading north bound for bulgaria. a spokesman for the houthis — which are backed by iran — said its armed forces attacked the ship with missiles, it suffered "catastrophic damage" and had sunk. there is no independent confirmation of this. but the uk authorities said the rubymar was taking on water, it had been abandoned and the 2a crew had been rescued. all this is damaging trade, as ships take the longer, more costly route around africa. egypt's president, fatah al—sisi,

said his revenues from the suez canal were down by 50%. since the middle of january, us forces, occasionally with raf warplanes, have hit back and attacked houthi military targets in yemen. a uk government spokesman said it and its allies reserved the right to respond appropriately. and the european union also agreed today to set up its own naval mission to protect shipping. but so far, none of this appears to be deterring the houthis. their spokesman promised more escalation and claimed it had made two further attacks, this time on us vessels. this week marks the second anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine. with recent russian advances in the east of the country, and with the us delaying new funding to support kyiv, concerns are growing about how long the war will drag on for, and whether ukraine

will have enough weapons and soldiers to keep fighting. our correspondent andrew harding visited the town of lyman one year ago. now he's returned to find out how the people who live there are coping. how do you judge the mood of a country this big and this broken? we've come back to a front—line town, lyman, a place seized by russian forces and then liberated by ukraine back in 2022. since then, the closest front—lines have remained just up the road. this was alexander a year ago with his cats. alexander. yes. andrew from bbc? today, he's still here. "yes, i remember you," he says. he shows me the wreckage of his old apartment block, hit by russian missiles. and he says he sees this

war differently now. i want peace, peace, peace. so has your opinion changed? changed, yeah, changed. so this is interesting. he's changed his opinion over the course of the last year. before, he said ukraine had to win this war. now he's saying there's been too much death, too much suffering. he wants talks, even if it means giving up land — peace is more important than victory. you can feel the weariness on the streets of lyman. british aid distributed here mostly to pensioners who ignore the sound of another explosion on the front—lines. "our youth are being exterminated. "if this continues, there'll be no ukraine left," says nadieska. "this war will go on for a long time yet," says pasha. but it's not all gloom here. council workers are out doing what they can,

and a younger generation isjust getting on with life. school is mostly online, but not entirely. laughter. "i've got everything i need," she says. a year ago, we found families hiding from the war in these cellars. and today, the dimitrenko family are still here, but there's regular electricity now, waterfrom a pump outside, and irina, an accountant, is quietly determined. "we are waiting for victory," she says. "we are all tired, but i don't see how we can negotiate with murderers." still, lyman's mayor is worried that america will stop supplying weapons to the ukrainian troops protecting his town.

"we're fighting a monster," says alexander zuraviov, "so we need more outside military help. our soldiers are doing their best, but they're running out of guns and ammunition." this small town feels torn between determination and despair. what unites it now is sheer exhaustion, the knowledge that this war will not be quickly won and, increasingly, the fear that ukraine's fate may yet be decided by foreign politicians in far—away capitals. andrew harding, bbc news, in eastern ukraine. a nine—month—old baby boy was among three young siblings found dead in a house in a suburb of bristol. the other children were a three—year—old girl and a seven—year—old boy. police discovered them after responding to a call from a member of the public in the early hours of yesterday. a 42—year—old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder. danjohnson reports from bristol.

sunday morning, shortly after midnight, a neighbour caught the moment police and paramedics answered a call from someone concerned about the children living in this house. officers found all three dead and a woman injured. this is a terrible and deeply distressing tragedy. and it is the young age of those children which is really upsetting. but we believe the victims are a boy aged seven, a girl of three and a ten—month—old boy. the death of such young children is a great shock to the whole community, and this incident has had a profound and deep impact on all of us in the police. fares was seven years old. joury was three, and police later clarified their baby brother mohammed was just nine months old. neighbours say their family's originally from sudan, and the sudanese community here is really feeling this.

everybody feels that tragedy, we feel really down. and we don't understand how this happened and why this happened, you know, everybody's shocked. i didn't want to believe it, i didn't want it to be true. i was really, really sad. salwa knew the family and has been unnerved by what's happened. those children, they are very happy children, they're amazing, they're beautiful children. we want answers. we want to know what happened to these children. we want to know how it happened. we been let down, and we want answers. this is described as an isolated incident but a terrible, disturbing tragedy. there are broader questions, though — in particular, what was the nature of previous police contact here? we know officers dealt with the family earlier this month, something the police watchdog is now considering. that's alongside an active murder investigation, and detectives are busy working through evidence here inside and out. they're also waiting to speak to the woman who's under arrest

but still being treated in hospital. and so many people are struggling to comprehend deaths so sudden and so young. danjohnson, bbc news, bristol. the broadcasting regulator ofcom has launched an investigation into whether a gb news programme which featured a q&a session with the prime minister breached rules about impartiality. the programme a week ago, called people's forum: the prime minister, saw rishi sunak take questions from the public in county durham. ofcom said it had received about 500 complaints. our culture reporter noor nanji is with me. so what's the basis of the investigation? at the crux of this is about impartiality, whether a wide enough range of views were represented in this programme. this is interesting. first of all it involves rishi sunak, the prime minister, in what

could be an election year speaking to the public. it's also interesting because it involves a gb news, this relatively new channel which has a sizeable impact here in the uk. it is a right—leaning network, one of its most popular presenters is nigel faraj and has recently hired boris johnson as another one of its presenters and this issue of former political leaders having a political platform on this channel has been a matter of some debate and some concern. ofcom have confirmed that it now has 13 open investigations into gb news and in the past it has found it in breach of its rules five times but it has cleared it of breaching its rules on another occasion last year. when asked about all of this earlier today, downing street said its a matter for ofcom which is independent. gb news was declining to comment.— lord cameron has become the first british foreign secretary to visit

the falkland islands in 30 years. david cameron said the islands' status was "not up for discussion". in 2013, islanders voted to retain their status as a uk overseas territory, but argentina's president javier milei has said he hopes to take control of the islands by diplomatic means. about a million adults in england have type 2 diabetes but don't know it, and experts are warning that's putting their health at risk. new data from the office for national statistics also suggests about five million people may be on the cusp of developing the condition, which causes high blood—sugar levels and can lead to serious complications if left untreated. roy hodgson has stepped down as the manager of crystal palace. it comes after he fell ill during training last week and went to hospital, amid speculation he was going to be sacked. the club have announced that oliver glasner will be their new manager — and tonight, they faced everton in the premier league at goodison park.

our sports correspondent katie gornall reports. as roy hodgson left selhurst park last monday, his crystal palace career was on borrowed time. defeat to chelsea intensified reports he was said to be sacked, but then came complications and concern. on thursday, he fell ill at training and was taken to hospital. now back at home, he released this statement. "this club means so much to me. "however, i understand it may be prudent for them to plan ahead, "and therefore i've taken the decision to step aside "so that they can bring forward their plans for a new manager." i'm sure that roy wouldn't have liked it, to have been now, maybe at the end of the season, but results do play a part in being a football manager, and unfortunately, due to injuries mainly, that palace haven't been able to put a full team out, roy has paid the price. for nearly five decades, hodgson's managerial career took him all over the world. he started with silverware in sweden before taking switzerland to the last 16 of the �*94 world cup.

the big clubs came calling — inter milan and later liverpool. in 2012 came his biggest role, as england manager. he insisted it wasn't the impossiblejob — results suggested otherwise. iceland have turned it round to lead! he later came home to crystal palace, the club he supported as a boy. in the end, it was a season too far. still, tonight at the everton match, he was remembered fondly. an honest, trustworthy, caring man. and he can proud for what he's contributed towards palace and football as a whole. shortly after roy hodgson's announcement, crystal palace fans had confirmation that oliver glasner would replace him. the 49—year—old won the europa league with eintracht frankfurt and will be in charge for saturday's home game with burnley. glasner was in the stands at goodison. for 66 minutes, there was little to entertain him, until the brilliance ofjordan ayew. with a fantastic strike! everton have their struggles on and off the pitch,

but with minutes remaining, amadou onana hit back. 1—1, enough to lift everton out of the bottom three, as palace's new era begins. katie gornall, bbc news, liverpool. this remarkable image shows a free diver examining whale bones on the sea bed, off remote greenland. it was taken by swedish photographer alex dawson, who saw off more than 6,500 other entries to win underwater photographer of the year. he's been talking to us about his work. it's all amazing. i feel so honoured that somehow my image managed to make it to the top. we dived under thick ice that's close to a metre thick and my model, the free diver, she was swimming on one breath from the surface, trying to find me under the ice among these whale bones. it's a minky whale on the bottom that she's swimming by and yeah,

it's a very challenging environment. —2 degrees in the water, its pitch black down there. yeah, it's a privilege and it's been a long, hard journey. i mean, i've been educating myself also in diving, in very advanced systems, very advanced cave diving, with vehicles that push you deep into the caves. it takes me to places that very, very few people have been able to go. the more people that can see my underwater photography and cinematography, the happier i am because it's such a different world and people need to know about it. we need to take care of what's under the surface, we need to think from environmental perspective, so think this is all very relevant in many perspectives, as much as i'd like to show beauty. i like to show the beauty of the world, like, it makes me happy. alex dawson, congratulations to him.

now, every football fan wants their side to get to off to a good start — but this good? this was non—league croydon fc player, ryan hall, scoring straight from the kick—off during a local cup match on saturday. croydon say it hit the back of the netjust over two seconds after his kick started the game. they're now anxiously waiting for guinness world records to establish whether this is, indeed, a world record. beat that, matt taylor is here with the weather. what i can say is we have had a remarkable run of high temperatures. not record beating but not what you'd expect at this time of year. london this afternoon, the daffodils out, 15 degrees. it is now the seventh day we have seen the temperature above a0 in celsius

somewhere in the uk and one above the average of six to 8 degrees. —— 1a in celsius. these daytime temperatures on friday will be lower than many we have been experiencing by night and that includes tonight in western scotland, northern ireland, eight in stornoway, nine belfast. a band of rain sweeping across scotland, northern ireland during the morning, sunshine afterwards and a mixture of sunshine and showers. that rain into northern england and wales and then later toward southern areas. much of daylight hours should stay dry, sunshine breaking through the cloud, 1a or 15 again. patchy rain pushing in here through the evening, clearer skies to the north of it, free frost potentially but mild air will surge back even more as we go into wednesday. these weather front tos will bring widespread rain wednesday

morning.