the former chief executive has been arrested into the investigation into the party's finances. an inquest into the deaths of 48 people in a nightclub fire in dublin 43 years ago finds they were unlawfully killed. prince william — is given — get well soon cards for the princess of wales — as he makes his first appearance, since her cancer diagnosis. mann all of those stories in a moment or two. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. hello from the bbc sport centre. after the european exits of manchester city and arsenal in the champions league yesterday... of manchester city and arsenal three more english teams will be hoping to stay in european

competition this evening. liverpool face the toughest task of all — in trying to avoid elimination from the europa league tonight. they go into their second leg against italian side atalanta 3—0 down, after defeat in the first leg at anfield. that's really not easy for them as well, so we will see who deals better with the situation and all of these kinds of things if it goes through, congratulations, they deserve it, if not, the something would have happened, but i don't know at this moment if this is possible. west ham also have work to do tonight to reach the semi finals. they're 2—0 down against the newly—crowned german champions bayern leverkusen. elsewhere, roma face ac milan and marseille are at home to benfica. in just over ten minutes�* time, aston villa will be aiming to book their place in the europa conference league semi finals. they have a 2—1 lead against french side lille, heading into their second leg. if unai emery�*s side are successful, they will reach their first major european semifinal since 1982. domesticaly, there'll be a change to the fa cup from next season —

as all replays will be scrapped. it means all matches that end in a draw after 90 minutes — will go to extra time and penalties if required. in addition, all rounds of the tournament will be played on weekends. the changes come as part of a new six—year agreement between the football association and the premier league. this will deny them, when they have been able to host these replays or go to the big premier league clubs, they have benefited hugely both from match day revenue and tv revenue. we are told there will be in an increase in what is called facilities fees, those are tea vps when games are moved away from 3pm kick—off. nonetheless, depending on who you ask, for many, some of the magic of the fa cup will be lost

because of this overhaul in the competition.— because of this overhaul in the cometition. ., ., competition. away from a football now. britain's cameron norrie has eased into the quarter finals of the barcelona open. he beat home favourite roberto bautista agut in straight sets — winning 6—4, 6—4 , to set up a finalfour tie tomorrow against argentina's tomas martin etcheverry. the victory — which came in less than an hour and a half — was norrie's 200th tour win of his career. the england and wales cricket board has announced eight counties that will host professional women's teams, as part of a major restructure of the domestic game from 2025. the plans will see the creation of a three—tiered domestic competition structure , which the ecb says could lead to an 80% increase in professional women's players in england and wales by 2029. durham, essex, hampshire, lancashire, nottinghamshire, somerset, surrey and warwickshire have all been awarded tieri status — whilst glamorgan and yorkshire join them in 2027. it's a cool thing in this country.

it's a cool thing in this country. it means more investment, it means properly aligned men's and women's system and i think regional game has been brilliant but i think what has been brilliant but i think what has been missing has been that chance to have equal access all the time at one club. and i think commercially it's been really good hopefully for the women's game as well. england women have made two changes to their starting 15 for saturday's six nations match against ireland. captain marlie packer returns to lead the team out at twickenham — after coming off the bench for their victory against scotland last weekend. lark atkin—davies is the other change — replacing hooker amy cokayne who's suspended. england currently sit top of the table with and the draw for the world snooker championship has been made — with ronnie 0'sullivan taking onjackson page in the opening round — as he tries to win a record eighth title at the crucible. meanwhile — luca brecel will begin the defence of his title against david gilbert, while the 2019 winnerjudd trump faces hossein vafaei. head to the bbc sport website to see the full draw — the tournament begins on saturday. and that's all the sport for now. hugh ferris is here at 6:30pm with

sportsday, so he will see you then. gap great stuff, thank you very much. —— gavin. the jury at an inquest into a fire at a nightclub in dublin in 1981 which killed 48 people has delivered a verdict of unlawful killing in all the deaths. the fire broke out in the early hours of valentine's day in 1981. a further 200 people were injured in the blaze. it has been the longest running inquest in the history of the irish state. earlier i spoke with the bbc�*s jennifer 0'leary who has been following the story as you have outlined, it is where over 800 young people, many of them teenagers, went for a night of dancing and fun. but in the early hours of the morning, on unimaginable horror unfolded. what started as a small fire quickly spread throughout the ballroom. black smoke, the lights went out, black smoke surrounded and impeded

those who were trying to escape. the ceiling collapsed. and today's inquest findings are very crucial in terms of establishing the facts of the fire. the inquest opened last year. the reason it has taken many decades for these findings to be put in the public domain is because the victims families and survivors have long campaigned for the second inquest to establish the facts of how their loved ones died. so the inquest today, the jury concluded that the unlawful killing in the case of each of the 48 young people who died, the average age, in fact, was 19. and crucially it's also found that the inferno that resulted inside the stardust nightclub on that night in 1981 was spurred on, if you like by the fact that there was tiling, carpet tiles on the walls, the height of the ceiling,

the type of material that was in the seats in the nightclub, all contributed to its spread. also, crucially today, v inquest returned without the fire, the cause of the fire was an electrical fault. now, there are over 800 young people in that nightclub, and they were all trying to get out when the fire broke out, and crucially, thejury concluded today that at the time of the fire, exits in this stardust ballroom were either locked, chained or otherwise obstructed. and for this reason, thejury said the deceased were impeded in their ability to access or exit through the emergency exits.— ability to access or exit through the emergency exits. jennifer, since we have had — the emergency exits. jennifer, since we have had the _ the emergency exits. jennifer, since we have had the result _ the emergency exits. jennifer, since we have had the result here, - the emergency exits. jennifer, since we have had the result here, tell - we have had the result here, tell me, what of the families been saying? me, what of the families been sa in: ? . , me, what of the families been sa in? . ,., ,, ., saying? the families applauded the 'u after saying? the families applauded the jury after the _ saying? the families applauded the jury after the jury — saying? the families applauded the jury after the jury foreman -

saying? the families applauded the jury after the jury foreman returned a verdict earlier this afternoon. this has been a long and very emotionaljourney to this has been a long and very emotional journey to this this has been a long and very emotionaljourney to this point. i mean, many of the people in the dublin coroner �*s court today were survivors of that fire. there were people there who lost her sisters, brothers, who themselves were at that nightclub on that fateful night. we are awaiting further reaction from the families, but the tee shot, the irish prime minister has released a statement, and he is talking about the families. he said, "you never gave up on justice for them. he never let ireland forget about them." may have —— the criminal cases review commission has offered an unreserved apology to andrew malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of rape. he had applied for his case to be reviewed in 2009 and 2020, but the commission refused to order further forensic testing or refer the case for appeal,

amid concerns over costs. however, his conviction was finally quashed last summer. the body's chairman, helen pitcher said an independent review of the case made it clear for more on this let's cross to our correspondent graham satchell. we had that unreserved apology, not surprising, given the repeated failings here, given there was clear evidence that undermined the safety of this conviction. so tell us more about what the commission has been saying. about what the commission has been sa inc. ., �* , about what the commission has been sa in. about what the commission has been sa inn. . �*, ., saying. that's right, matthew. you may remember— saying. that's right, matthew. you may remember this _ saying. that's right, matthew. you may remember this is _ saying. that's right, matthew. you may remember this is described i saying. that's right, matthew. you| may remember this is described by the british government as an atrocious miscarriage ofjustice. today i think a significant development. so the head of the criminal cases review commission has issued what she describes as an unreserved apology. she said the commission failed andrew malcolm �*s income and for this i am deeply sorry. the criminal case is the public body here in britain that you go to if you want to appeal his

case. andrew mauk and satan appealed his case he always said that he not done it and he was innocent. and went to this twice. —— malkinson. it turned him down from of him twice until eventually new evidence that had come forward in 2007, new dna evidence that defectively pointed the finger of blame at another man, somebody else, meant that his conviction was quashed. that didn't happen until last year. the independent criminal case review commission has been conducting this internal independent inquiry and have now issued this big apology. nobody can begin to imagine the devastating impact that mr malkinson�*s wrongful conviction has had on his life. i can only apologise for the additional harm caused to them by our handling of his case. figs caused to them by our handling of his case. �* , ,, caused to them by our handling of his case. ~ , i. ., ., ~ ., his case. as you are talking, we are seeinu his case. as you are talking, we are seeing pictures _ his case. as you are talking, we are seeing pictures of— his case. as you are talking, we are seeing pictures of andrew - his case. as you are talking, we are | seeing pictures of andrew malkinson outside of the court and people will rememberjust how powerful his

comments where when finally that's conviction was quashed. has he said anything today as a result of this? he has. he has put out a fairly new patrol statement that he feels vindicated by the apology but it's too little too late. he said he wanted an immediate apology from the criminal cases review commission and they didn't give it to him. andrew malkinson has said the fact that they didn't apologise immediately shows that helen picture, the woman in charge of this commission shall no longer be in thejob. he said that speaks to me of someone who is in denial and not fit to lead a body which is meant to be dedicated to reading ourfailures in ourjustice system. he says the delay in apologising has added significantly to the mental turmoil that he is experiencing as he continues to fight for accountability for what was done to me. so a very angry response from mr malkinson today. fit, response from mr malkinson today. a final thought.

response from mr malkinson today. a finalthought. in response from mr malkinson today. a final thought. in terms of that commission, since all of this emerged, had there been any consequences, changes, overhaul of the system, the way it operates, given what actually happened here? i think the short answer to that is no, not yet. so the government has announced that there is going to be announced that there is going to be a bigger wider public inquiry into exactly what went wrong in this case. why the dna evidence wasn't taken more seriously when it surfaced at the time in 2007. i think what is interesting is that even though the criminal cases review commission has done its own reports, it hasn't published it today and the reason it hasn't is because it says that it may well have an impact on the wider public inquiry. so reading between the lines, it is likely that what the independent report that the commission has done today will have found failings in other agencies,

possibly the police, but they can't publish that in case it influences the wider public inquiry that we are expecting next year.— expecting next year. there in the newsroom. _ expecting next year. there in the newsroom, thank _ expecting next year. there in the newsroom, thank you _ expecting next year. there in the newsroom, thank you for - expecting next year. there in the newsroom, thank you for that - expecting next year. there in the - newsroom, thank you for that update. as promised, let's return to that breaking news, the former chief executive and husband x first minister, nicola sturgeon is understood to be rearrested in connection with police, and's investigation into the party's finances. let's speak to our political correspondent. david, tell us more. ~ ,, us more. well, matthew, snp headquarters _ us more. well, matthew, snp headquarters in _ us more. well, matthew, snp headquarters in edinburgh - us more. well, matthew, snp - headquarters in edinburgh where, of course, peterserved headquarters in edinburgh where, of course, peter served for a long time as chief executive of the party, a position he no longer holds. but, of course, this is the latest development and operation branch, thatis development and operation branch, that is the police got an investigation into the snp�*s finances that has been going on for

almost three years now. he is also the husband of the former first minister, nicola sturgeon, was first arrested around this time last year. he was released without charge at that point. he's not the only person arrested in connection with operation branch form arrested and released without charge. calling the former treasurer was also arrested and released without charge. the latest development now we have a police operation that has had a lot of criticism about the length of this investigation seems to be taking. the latest opponent we've had is this news that the former chief executive of the snp has been rearrested, important to stress at this point that that is all that is. no charges, the understanding is that he was taken in by police scotland this morning when he was rearrested, and that is the latest

he's put outjust now. just to stress, this investigation really has been something rumbling along in scottish politics, occasionally flaring up, but three years this investigation has been going on and a lot of questions being asked about when exactly it will reach any sort of conclusion.— when exactly it will reach any sort of conclusion. david, we will leave it there. thank _ of conclusion. david, we will leave it there. thank you _ of conclusion. david, we will leave it there. thank you very _ of conclusion. david, we will leave it there. thank you very much - of conclusion. david, we will leave it there. thank you very much forl it there. thank you very much for that update. thank you. a leading thinktank has warned that medicine shortages are a "new normal" in the uk, and are being made worse by brexit. the report, by the nuffield trust, found that drug shortages in the uk more than doubled between 2020 and 2023, including for things like epilepsy medicine and antiobiotics. manufacturing problems linked to covid, inflation and the war in ukraine have all contirbuted to the uk's inability to import medicine into the market. but the report said that britain's departure from the eu in 2020 had significantly aggravated the problem, laying bare the "fragility" of the country's medicines supply networks and potentially causing serious health problems let's find out more from mark dayan,

the lead author of the report and the nuffield trust's brexit programme lead. thank you forjoining us here on the programme. just lay out for us the real—life problems here that people are facing. real-life problems here that people are facina. ~ ., ., , are facing. well, unfortunately it has now reached _ are facing. well, unfortunately it has now reached a _ are facing. well, unfortunately it has now reached a stage - are facing. well, unfortunately it has now reached a stage where i are facing. well, unfortunately it - has now reached a stage where many people have experienced their gp prescribing the medicine, something they may need for a short or long—term illness, something quite severe, including epilepsy, as he mentions, and they take their prescription, they go to the pharmacist to discover it simply isn't in stock. that's very worrying for the health service to be in. it is really built on the basis that if something is prescribed or required, it is available to get to come up at the trends we have seen in recent years means that while many medicines still remain in good surrply, medicines still remain in good supply, for a growing number of people, they face the reality that they cannot get what clinical

professionals have decided they need to. ~ ., ., professionals have decided they need to. . ., ., , ., professionals have decided they need to. . ., ., y., “ professionals have decided they need to. ~ ., ., ,, ., professionals have decided they need to. what do you think are the risks and what are _ to. what do you think are the risks and what are the _ to. what do you think are the risks and what are the sorts of - to. what do you think are the risks and what are the sorts of delays i and what are the sorts of delays that you are actually talking about? how long? the that you are actually talking about? how lona ? , that you are actually talking about? howlonu? that you are actually talking about? howlon? .,, how long? the risks can vary depending — how long? the risks can vary depending on _ how long? the risks can vary depending on the _ how long? the risks can vary depending on the product - how long? the risks can vary depending on the product in| depending on the product in question. you know for something like epilepsy, could be truly dangerous. foradhd, where like epilepsy, could be truly dangerous. for adhd, where we have seen a related shortage to global manufacturing problems, missing medication, if that is the result, can certainly be unpleasant, may disrupt study, may disrupt work. there is no single weight that you have for a medicine. there is no single weight that you have fora medicine. in there is no single weight that you have for a medicine. in some cases, alternatives are available, so in some cases, another pharmacist will have it. patients may bounce back and forth between the gp and the pharmacist. trying to find a medicine that will work for them thatis medicine that will work for them that is available. apart from the cost of the patient, that wastes valuable time for nhs staff as well. i will come to brexit in a moment, i have read in terms of this story, people actually embarking on huge long journeys to actually locate and

find medicines. are you hearing those stories as well?— find medicines. are you hearing those stories as well? yes. those will be the _ those stories as well? yes. those will be the realities _ those stories as well? yes. those will be the realities facing - those stories as well? yes. those will be the realities facing some l will be the realities facing some people. in certain cases, some people. in certain cases, some people may not be able to find what they need anywhere. so we have seen some fairly worrying situations with different products, and i think the overall point is that this is an issue that has bounced to area to area to area, always with different causes and different effects on different patients. for example, last winter, very difficult situation with antibiotics and a much more urgent rather than long—term set of conditions. but looking at it in the round, it is just happening more than it used to. i mentioned in the introduction of a long list, including brexit, including inflation, including the war in ukraine, what is a path that you can navigate to mitigate these things, to get to a better place. how do we do it? i things, to get to a better place. how do we do it?—

how do we do it? i don't think we should overrate _ how do we do it? i don't think we should overrate brexit _ how do we do it? i don't think we should overrate brexit as - how do we do it? i don't think we should overrate brexit as a - how do we do it? i don't think we should overrate brexit as a cause | should overrate brexit as a cause of these issues. because we have looked at data from other developed countries, including germany and italy, and what is very clear as they are seeing these spikes and shortages as well. something has gone wrong with the global supply chain where we get a lot of these medicines often quite cheaply from weather manufactured in bulk in asia. lead times are much longer than they used to be. that means if there is a shortage come you cannot order new supplies as quickly as you could before some of the disruptions associated with covid and the other factors that you listed. so step one really needs to be doing as much as it is possible, and i recognise that civil servants in the department of health have been trying hard for years to get earlier notifications from companies of one there will be a shortage. sometimes that seems to happen. 0thertimes a shortage. sometimes that seems to happen. other times there doesn't seem to be that level of notification in time to try it and seriously explore alternatives, and thatis seriously explore alternatives, and that is a very important domestic priority. where brexit really comes into play is that it does seem to have moved us out of the wider pool of medicines in the eu, and the eu

increasingly is taking steps to try to bring back manufacturing domestically, too show itself up against those problems in the supply chains from asia and do things like buying jointly and transferring medicines between itself. the uk in the coming weeks and months will have to see if it can engage with some of these things be left out further because of the sheer size would often be able to outbid us. it is a real problem, so it is a story we will keep our eye on. thank you forjoining us here in the programme, thank you for your time. there are calls today to improve treatment for strokes in children. the stroke association says a central database with details of young people who've suffered a stroke in the uk would improve standards of care. a mother whose son suffered a stroke at just two years old is backing those calls. here's navtej johal. three—year—old carter has been knocking down a lot of obstacles recently. i think it's been the same for us

all, just the worry and the fear, the shock of it all. in october last year, on a day like any other, his and his family's life was thrown into turmoil. and i popped him the bath to get him ready for bed time and his face dropped on one side and ijust knew that he was absolutely having a stroke and we had to get him medical assistance straightaway. he was rushed to his local hospital by ambulance before being transferred to southampton children's hospital. we were told even before transfer to prepare ourselves for the worst and when we got to southampton we were told, you know, originally we were taking it one hour at a time. carter had suffered a rare form of stroke and was put into a medically induced coma. when he woke he couldn't eat, he couldn't speak, he couldn't move, he couldn't sit, so he had to really start again, like a newborn. age two. at aged two. doctors say he has made a remarkable recovery, but carter is still receiving regular rehabilitation. well done.

wow. it is really hard. dr shakti agrawal works at birmingham children's hospital and is an expert in childhood strokes. most commonly when we say stroke we are talking about what's called arterial ischaemic stroke, which means the blood supply to the brain is hampered because of one reason or another. a child's brain is a developing brain, so if you affect a developing brain's structure and function, then it is going to have long—lasting consequences. although most strokes affect older people, around 400 children a year are diagnosed with a stroke in the uk. newborn babies can be affected by them and even babies in the womb can have a stroke. but the research and data for childhood strokes is far behind that for adults.

that's why the charity stroke association is calling for a childhood stroke registry. it would be a central online database that logs important details about strokes in children, similar to an adult version which already exists, providing data that could help with treatment. we'd be able to drive up standards of care and support for children - and families affected by stroke and ensuring those minimum i standards are met and even raising those even higher. l how important is it that a registry is developed? oh, it would be the biggest thing that could happen. i can't support it enough, to be honest. it's absolutely required, crucial. stroke association says a lack of funding is holding back the creation of a registry. the department of health and social care says it welcomes funding applications for research into childhood strokes. carter's family are supporting the charity's calls while marvelling at their son's progress. we are incredibly proud, incredibly proud of everything he does. it's really hard not to cheer when he does something that's naughty and very three—year—oldy,

because on the one hand you don't want naughty behaviour but when it's so age—appropriate you just think, yes, that's excellent that you're doing that! navteonhal, bbc news. prince william has returned to official public duties for the first time since his wife revealed her cancer diagnosis four weeks ago. he was given lots of get well soon cards for his wife and also for the king while visiting a food cherry in surrey, where he lent a hand in the kitchen and helped load meals into delivery vans. 0ur royal correspondent, johnny diamond was also there. it’s correspondent, johnny diamond was also there. 3 ,., . ~ correspondent, johnny diamond was alsothere. �*, ., also there. it's back to the day 'ob for prince william d also there. it's back to the day 'ob for prince william after i also there. it's back to the day 'ob for prince william after a i also there. it's back to the day 'ob for prince william after a long h for prince william after a long easter break, but perhaps more importantly, three weeks since his wife made that announcement about undergoing treatment for cancer, having preventative chemotherapy. in this kind of event is the meat and drink for the royalfamily, west

this kind of event is the meat and drink for the royal family, west of london, this is a place where they collect surplus food, and then shipped out to the needy end prince william was pitching in, chatting with volunteers here. for around an hour, both outside the venue and almost certainly inside, a lot of curiosity, of course, about the condition of the princess of wales. there's been absolute silence, the palace isn't giving anything like a running commentary or any kind of information about that, but there were no direct questions, and he certainly wasn't offering up any comments, instead he got two get well cards, one for kate and one for the king. that is it from me. thanks for watching and hopefully see you at the same time tomorrow. thanks good evening. bit of a weather cliche, i know, but a north—south divide with the weather story today. we had some beautiful sunshine, and with lighter winds across central and southern england,

it felt a little warmer as well. this was londonjust a few hours ago. different story further north. it was cloudy and wet at times, a rather drizzly, overcast picture, as you can see in argyll and bute. and that's because of this weather front. it's toppling around the high pressure that's pushing in for the weekend, that's bringing some rain. now, the progress of the rain has been quite slow. it's been moving its way out of scotland, pushing into northern england and north wales. for the rest of the day, it will gradually sink its way steadily south. so, we will see some outbreaks of rain through the night tonight across central and southern england. clearer skies further north, a brisk wind and a few scattered showers. and with temperatures to the tops of the mountains, perhaps into low single figures, maybe a little bit of a wintry flavour here as well, but a milder start to the morning for england and wales. a dreary, drab morning here, slowly brightening up into the afternoon. sunny spells, a few scattered showers, but, again, the winds picking up. that'lljust take the edge off the feel of things, particularly in eastern scotland — we could see gusts in excess of a0 miles an hour.

so here, only a high of 8 celsius in aberdeenshire, with a little more shelter further west, we could — with more sunshine — see 111—15 celsius. here's the high that's going to arrive through the weekend. a lot of dry weather around at the weekend. this weather front will just introduce a little bit of patchy drizzle. and as we go into sunday in particular, more of a northeasterly flow, making it feel cool on exposed east coasts and certainly producing a lot more in the way of cloud. so we will be chasing cloud amounts around this weekend. but on the whole, saturday starts off sunny. there will be a brisk east wind, north east wind coming through, making it feel cool here. further west, with a little more sunshine, we could see highs of 1a celsius. so this west—east divide continues, particularly for the second half of the weekend. in the east, it will be a gray, drab affair and the temperatures struggling, i'm afraid,

from time to time. with a little more shelter and more sunshine in the west, it's not out of the question, we may see 17 celsius in parts of northern ireland.

at six — the mp suspended from the conservative parliamentary party amid accusations he misused campaign funds. it's alleged mark menzies asked for thousands of pounds for what he called "bad people" who'd locked him in a flat. he denies this. and in the last hour it's been announced that peter murrell, former snp chief executive and husband of ex—first minister nicola sturgeon, has been re—arrested in connection with the police investigation into the party's finances. police break up an international

gang of alleged cyber criminals who had tens of thousands of victims in the uk. and we talk to the woman left paralysed in a car accident who's taking the reins at a major championships tomorrow. 0n bbc london: with two weeks to go before the election to choose and coming up on bbc news — liverpool have staged epic european comebacks before. they'll need another one — 3—0 down from their europa league quarterfinal second leg against atalanta in italy. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. labour is calling for police involvement after a conservative mp was suspended by the parliamentary party after claims he misused campaign funds to pay off what he reportedly called "bad people" who had locked him in a flat. the times newspaper says mark menzies, a lancashire mp, requested thousands of pounds —

and a further £14,000 was spent on private medical bills.