leonid volkov, is defiant, as he tells the bbc he'll "never give up" fighting president putin — in his first tv interview since a brutal hammer attack outside his home in lithuania in march, where he lives in exile. israel says its military has struck more than 70 targets in gaza in the past day, as fighting continues to intensify in both the north and south of the territory, including jabalia in the north, which israeli forces said had been cleared of hamas fighters months ago. now, it's been called the uk's biggest ever health scandal and, on monday, the infected blood inquiry will release its final report. more than 30,000 people in the uk were infected with hiv and hepatitis c, after being given contaminated blood products by the national health service in the 1970s, �*80s and �*90s. many have since died.

some unknowingly passed infections on to their partners, who then also died. victims and their families have spent decades fighting for compensation. chloe hayward explains. it's known as the biggest treatment disaster in nhs history and, so far, we know 3,000 people have died in the uk from infected blood and infected blood products given by the nhs. 0verall, 30,000 victims have been identified and these fall into two main categories — the people with rare genetic blood clotting disorders and people who needed blood transfusions after surgery, for example. let's start with this first group, the haemophiliacs. people with blood clotting disorders need a special protein called factor viii or factor ix injected which helps their blood clot, but by the 1970s, the uk was really struggling to meet demand for these blood products and so they started

to import from america. but because america pays for blood plasma, rather than it being donated forfree, it came from a lot of high—risk individuals including prisoners, drug addicts and those most in need for money. with these donations came some deadly viral infections such as hepatitis c and hiv. in the late �*70s, us drug companies were aware that their product was infected with viruses including hepatitis, but did not take steps to stop that transmission. instead, what they did is they mixed together ever—larger batch numbers of donations, sometimes up to 50,000 plasma donations would be mixed together in one batch, and it tookjust one infected donor to infect the entire batch. by 1983, the pharmaceutical companies were aware there was a link between haemophiliacs and hiv, but instead of raising the alarm, they kept it quiet. some medics and whistle—blowers did try to raise the alarm around the world, but health officials did not listen.

we now know that 1,250 people were infected with hiv and hepatitis c who had blood clotting disorders in this country. 320 of them were children. and almost all have now died. let's look at the second group of people, those with blood transfusions. they were given blood transfusions in surgery, or after childbirth, or an accident, it was infected with hepatitis c. it was known blood transfusions could infect people with hepatitis as early as the 1970s, but those exposed were not tested, even when a test became available. and minimal effort was made to identify those affected. even now, we still have people coming forward in this country who have just been diagnosed, decades after their infection, but often, it is too late. hepatitis attacks the liver, leading to cirrhosis and eventually cancer, so a late diagnosis often comes with a dire prognosis.

the inquiry said that through blood transfusion treatment, up to 27,000 people were infected with hepatitis c, and between 80 and 100 got hiv. during the inquiry, we heard from children who grew up as orphans, mothers who buried their children, and husbands who unknowingly passed infections onto their wives. victims said they were ignored by doctors and treated as dirty or second—class citizens by the nhs. victims and their families have waited a0 years forjustice. the focus now is on compensation. earlier, i spoke to chris marsh — he's a victim of contaminated blood transfusions, which were given to him and his two brothers, both of whom have since passed away — and he told us what he and his family went through. well, we both... well, all three of us got infected with poisonous blood back in the early eighties. they had motorbike accidents and needed treatment and received bad blood, which gave them

hiv and hepatitis c, and it potentially killed them. and what effect has it had on your life? well, i've lost that. and both of my brothers. my mum and dad passed away as well. and it's just been really bad. just explain, at the time, what were you told? was anything told to you, or how did you find out? well, i was infected in �*81, but i didn't find out for another ten years later. when my specialist told me that i had hepatitis, he said, it's nothing to worry about. it's just a word. i'm no different to how i was a year ago. i didn't know that it could potentially kill me and that i could transmit it to other people. and how do you feel now that this inquiry is coming to an end and we'll hear the outcome on monday? i'm a little bit angry and a little

bit annoyed by the way we've been treated. what do you hope it will say? well, it'd be nice to get answers. i don't think it would give us closure, but it'd give us facts. and ifeel, i don't know, more needs to be done. who do you think is to blame? i don't know. i really don't know. i wish i knew. and what do you think will happen in terms of the compensation? i know money won't bring back your brothers, but would it help you if you had compensation? which is, i think, what a lot of the families and victims do hope will come from this inquiry outcome. most definitely. i believe it's needed. it's been too long. it should have been sorted years ago. and do you think that it will have an impact on how the nhs

goes forward, in terms of any other problems that might come up with the health service? and this inquiry will be a watershed moment, in that sense. i hope so. i hope it's a learning curve. i hope people that don't realise what had happened, hopefully now it's in the public eye, will understand what happened and it'll help teach them so that it doesn't happen again. yes, because that's part of the issue, because a lot of people didn't want to speak about this because they've been infected with hiv or, indeed, hepatitis like yourself. it has been difficult for the victims to talk about this. that's right. well, me and my family, when we spoke about it, we used to call it bad blood, because infected blood seemed dirty. but bad blood seemed an easier way to explain what it was. because a lot of the victims faced prejudice when they did say and come forward to say they

had been infected. almost definitely. there's a lot of stigma about... i suppose there's now more understanding about what hiv was and how you can contract it. but back in the early eighties, it wasn't seen that way. and what effect did it also have on your family and your friends? quite a bit. i never had a family of mine, where i'm scared to infect my partner because i've got a partner called belinda and we've got stepkids. while i've got stepkids, i've never had any of my own kids where, obviously, i don't want to infect anyone with hepatitis c. of course. you said you don't think it will bring closure. do you think you will ever have any form of closure even after this inquiry report is out on monday? no, i don't think so. it'll give us the facts.

it'll let us know what happened. but it's not going to give me true closure, i don't feel. and you can follow monday's proceedings live on bbc news and iplayer. that will be across the day on bbc news on monday. now to the plight of unpaid carers in the uk, who look after elderly or disabled relatives. more than 100,000 unpaid carers are being forced to repay an average of £18,000 — or almost $2,300 each — money that many of them say they don't have. radio 4's moneybox reporter dan whitworth has more. unpaid carers do an incrediblejob, caring for a loved one, often day in, day out, week in, week out, with few, if any, breaks. but many tens of thousands of them have unwittingly or accidentally received overpayments of carer�*s allowance, and now they're being asked to pay it back. people like karina moon, whose daughter amber requires round—the—clock care. she told breakfast three weeks ago that she's having to pay back

£11,000 after unknowingly earning slightly over the claim limit at her part—time supermarketjob. at the moment, i pay £60 a month and i've been paying that for the last four years, to repay my overpayment, which was the £11,000. and i will be paying that until i'm 73. so i've got another 11 years of paying the £60 a month, which takes money out of our income. it's money that would help me run the car, help pay bills, put food on the table, all of those things. 0r people like gina, who's also been landed with a bill. i was presented with a bill, that obviously, i'd been overpaid, and it was sort of £7,600. you know, receiving that bill was a huge blow. because, you know, it was a big debt

by anyone's standards, even though i was only working part—time. for me, it was huge. these latest figures show £251 million is currently owed by more than 134,000 carers, which works out as an average debt of nearly £1,900 each. liberal democrat leader sir ed davey, who's a carer for his teenage son, has previously called for these debts to be cancelled. it's just unbelievable that the government should be clawing back this money and blaming the carers, when it's the government's own incompetence and the government's flawed system. there's something seriously wrong here. you know, people work hard. they pay their taxes, they look after their loved ones. the government should be incentivising work, helping these carers, and it's doing the reverse. if unpaid carers care for someone for more than 35 hours per week, they're entitled to carer�*s allowance worth £81.90 a week.

but they're not allowed to earn more than £151 per week take—home pay. if they do, even byjust a few pence, they lose the entire allowance. but because they don't realise or aren't informed for months or even years, some carers keep receiving overpayments, and unwittingly racking up debt. it's really tough. they are shocked and horrified when they get a notice that they've been overpaid, and it's devastating for their mental health and feels really tough paying that back sometimes as well. the department for work and pensions says the total owed by carers includes historical debt, compares to a forecast budget of £4.2 billion on carer�*s allowance this year alone, and that it is committed to fairness in the welfare system. let's speak to dan whitworth. it will take years for some of these

people to repay these debts? you are absolutely right. _ people to repay these debts? you are absolutely right, nicky. _ people to repay these debts? you are absolutely right, nicky. the _ people to repay these debts? you are absolutely right, nicky. the issue - absolutely right, nicky. the issue here is how quickly carers, who are due carer�*s allowance, you heard £82 a week in the report, it is how quickly they are being informed if they are being overpaid. so if they have gone above that the earnings limit and lost the right to that allowance, it is a cliff edge benefits so they lose it all essentially. and obviously, the obligation is on the individual to tell the government through the department for work and pensions, i have gone above that £151 limit, i am not entitled to the carer�*s allowance any more so please stop. but critics of it is saying it is really complicated, the system. it is difficult when you are working week in and week out, you might have to do an extra hour or two of overtime or get a small pay increase, it is difficult to stay on or below that earnings threshold of £151. and if you are a carer and not told about that and you don't realise you have gone above the limit, if it isjust a

realise you have gone above the limit, if it is just a couple of months you are getting this allowance and it is being overpaid so you are not due it, that is fine. but a lot of these people are getting these overpayments for years and years and then being left these huge debts to the government of thousands of pounds. and of course, it is taxpayers' money. the government rightly says, it has been paid accidentally and we have to get it back. but unfortunately for a lot of carers, that means they don't have the money and it is taking them years to pay it back. find have the money and it is taking them years to pay it back.— years to pay it back. and it is the fact a lot of _ years to pay it back. and it is the fact a lot of the _ years to pay it back. and it is the fact a lot of the politicians - years to pay it back. and it is the fact a lot of the politicians we - fact a lot of the politicians we heard ed davey saying it is the fact that they were not told about this or have not been told about this. yes, let me throw another politician at you, says stephen timms. in the uk, he is quite an influential mp because he chairs the work and pensions select committee in the houses of parliament so he is a cross if his brief. that is something he says because his committee to scrutinise government policy on this, they have been told his majesty's revenue and customs, the taxman, they are related within

a month if carers go over that earnings limit and lose the allowance. but that message, so hmrc look to the dwp, department for work and pensions, the carer has gone over the limit, then it stops at the dwp and they don't pass that message on. 0bligation dwp and they don't pass that message on. obligation is on the individual carer come again. but i sense there is a shift here in tone from the government on this. for example, the dwp is now talking about using text messages or e—mail alerts to try to warn carers earlier if they have strayed above that limit. they are also talking about how they can try to make it easierfor repayments because again, the government will say it is committed to fairness in the system. from the government's point of view, that is of course fairness to carers of course, but also to taxpayers because fundamentally, this is taxpayers' money the gunmen is trying to get back. ., ~ , ., , . money the gunmen is trying to get back. ., ~ i. , . ., back. dan, thank you very much for that. -- back. dan, thank you very much for that- -- the — back. dan, thank you very much for that. -- the government _ back. dan, thank you very much for that. -- the government is - back. dan, thank you very much for that. -- the government is trying i back. dan, thank you very much for| that. -- the government is trying to that. —— the government is trying to get back. and you can listen to that

report on bbc sounds. breaking sports news from the premier league. brighton have said their head coach will leave his post after tomorrow's home game against manchester united. the club have issued a statement saying, we have mutually agreed to end the contract of roberto, allowing us the earliest opportunity to plan for next season and roberto time to plan for his next move and future. the statement from the brighton chairman tony bloom. brighton at the moment are tenth in the premier league and they are playing manchester united tomorrow and they are saying that roberto de zerbi will leave the club after that. roberto de zerbi will leave the club afterthat. he roberto de zerbi will leave the club after that. he took charge at the amex stadium in september 2022. you will remember he also led brighton to their highest ever top—flight finish when they came six in the

2022, 2023 season. but he is to leave after tomorrow's game against manchester united. you can get more on that breaking sports news on the bbc sport website or app. new figures show that alcohol abuse in england costs services £27 billion a year. it's according to research from the institute of alcohol studies, which found that the harms of drinking put an extra strain on the nhs, social services, the criminaljustice system and labour market. the department of health and social care said it's funding specialist care teams in hospitals in england. families whose loved ones have been killed because of knife crime are urging young people to understand the devastating consequences of carrying a blade. ashish nahar was attacked while walking through a park. his 16—year—old killer was sentenced to 14.5 years in prison. 0ur reporter, janine machin,

has been hearing his story. he was a fun, happy, cheerful, loving and very, very caring boy. in june last year, 25—year—old ashish nahar was walking throuthubilee park in bedford when he was attacked by kamil serba. the 16—year—old had cycled over and stabbed him through the heart. in seconds, his life was lost and his family's lives changed forever. i was singing a song in the garden. i texted a friend. just to wish them each mubarak. just to wish them eid mubarak. and then i told them that ashish was doing well, he had a good job. you know, "he's turned his life around". three hours later, i'm texting the same person to say that he's passed away. one morning, ijust went straight to the park. everything was sealed off.

and there was police guarding the area. i was sitting there crying, everybody wondered where i had gone to. i've been brave to walk around, talk, laugh, but deep down, i know how much it kills me. but i have to keep going for my little boy. everybody is broken. my dad doesn't know how to reassure me. when she talks about ashish, she starts crying. my heart gets broken because i can't handle it. i can't explain to anyone how i miss him. those feelings are something ben hardwidge's family knows too well. he was 22 when he died after being attacked in essex. he had been stabbed 50 times.

that was 20 years ago, but his brotherjames says the emotions are raw. when i come to see ben at his grave, it does get to you _ it does get to you. what would it be like if he was still here? i everybody loved him. i looked up to him. i've always looked up to him. he was my little brother. it was hard, especially for my mum and dad. i my mum and dad ended up moving away, kind of — - it destroyed us. destroyed us, really. such a fun—loving guy. and i stayed, and mum and dad went to spain. j two families, 20 years apart, but united in grief. each hoping that by sharing their story for the just drop it campaign, they can help save another life. talk to your child. the way you talk to them about sexual abuse and strangers. talk to them about knives.

the severity of it. the damage it does. i won't be able to see ashish�*s children, grandchildren. thousands have marched in a pro—palestine protest in central london calling for the end of the war in gaza. crowds took to oxford and regent street carrying palestinian flags. the protest was marking the anniversary of the 19118 nakba. meaning catastrophe, by palestinians. in which israel declared independence, and in a war where up to 750,000 palestinians who had lived on that land fled or were expelled from their homes. six people have been killed, as unrest continues in the french pacific ocean territory of new caledonia. the protests have been sparked by changes to voting rights. some areas are calm, but residents have reported hearing gunfire and explosions. emily brown has more on why this unfolded. yes, a fifth night of unrest in new caledonia as you mentioned. let's look at the background into why this

has happened. new caledonia in the south pacific has been french territory since colonisation in the late 1800s. politics remains dominated by debate around whether the island should be part of france, autonomous or independent. later cycle of violence was sparked by pines in paris to impose new voting rules that could give tens of thousands nonindigenous residence rights to vote —— the cycle. and there have been tensions over —— between france and azerbaijan, paris has pointed to the sudden emergence of azerbaijani flags in the protest, relations have been difficult since last year when azerbaijan took the region of nagorno—karabakh. this crushed armenian separatist forces and france is a supporter of armenia. france has accused azerbaijan of political interference in its pacific territory, new caledonia. but the claims have been denied by baku. the french prime minister has met parliamentary liaison committees to discuss the

new caledonia crisis. meanwhile, the french government has even banned tiktok in new caledonia as it has been popular with rioters in the region. but despite another night of unrest, french authorities now say the situation is being brought under control. , . ~ the situation is being brought under control. , ., ~ , ., , the situation is being brought under control. , ., ~' , ., , . control. emily, thank you very much indeed. the personal wealth of the prime minister and his wife rose by £122 million last year, making the couple richer than king charles. that's according to the sunday times rich list. it's mainly due to ms murty�*s shares in an it company co—founded by her father. bridgerton has been a fan favourite on netflix forfour years — and now it has returned for a third outing. set in the early 1800s, the series showcases the regency era with its decadent gowns and grand ball rooms — and grimsthorpe castle in lincolnshire has served as the backdrop to some of this year's scenes. let's take a look at

how the filming went. we've been open since about 1978, so we've been open a long time. but you don't really see us, you know, that much on the internet or anything like that. so, yeah, seeing usjust randomly scrolling through your phone, you're like, oh, that's grimsthorpe castle in a little advert by netflix. yeah, it was really cool. you look especially beautiful tonight, ms featherington. this is the bamburgh hall and this is where they filmed their ballroom scene. and it was amazing. so they they hung these beautiful blue curtains and they made sure they matched the colours, blue and gold, to the grimsthorpe colours. so we're blue and gold. so this floor, you can see, is stone and marble. and because they wanted to bring in 200 dancers, film crews, as you can imagine, that's heavy trolleys, lots of cameras, lots of lights, so they built a fake floor.

it was the first night they filmed coming out of a carriage, and they came in the doors and you could just see theirfaces change. they sort of were acting, came in and then theyjust stopped, looked around and were like, wow! and they said it was amazing, and that it was one of the most beautiful properties they've actually filmed in. so that was nice to hear. i'm really hoping it's going to bring more visitors to grimsthorpe. more visitors to lincolnshire, and a slightly different demographic as well. maybe like a younger audience that don't normally visit stately homes. it looks an amazing location. now it's time for a look at the weather with helen willetts. good afternoon. there'll still be a lot of dry weather to be enjoyed throughout the rest of the weekend, but there are complications. we've got low pressure close by. this weather front has brought some patchy rain, and now we're seeing

some storm development. and we've got a weak weatherfront towards the north—west as well. now those storms will bring the majority of the rainfall throughout the rest of this afternoon and this evening. slow—moving, because there's little wind to move them on. so certainly, the possibility of flooding, and there is a warning out for it. you can find more detail on the website. most likely, though, those storms across the south—west and wales, but also through the central highlands, the south—west of scotland. one or two elsewhere, perhaps, later on across east anglia and the south—east. so those, obviously, will bring the temperatures down. but for most of us, it's another pleasantly warm day, away from the sea fog, which is around in some eastern areas and around the irish sea coast. and there's more cloud, anyway, in the north—west of scotland today and for northern ireland, and that creeps further in overnight. the storms ease away. the sea fog returns quite widely to central and eastern areas. one or two patches still for the irish sea coast. so a fresher night, i think, and a rather murky start to our sunday morning. but again, that mist and that murk should clear away quite readily. and i think it looks like there'll

be a lot of dry and sunny weather for many and fewer showers. probably more cloud, on balance, across scotland, and again, across the west of northern ireland. we start with lots of mist and fog and even some lowland fog elsewhere, which will take a while to clear away. and it mightjust persist for some parts of north—east england and eastern scotland. sea haar and sea fret. but you can see elsewhere, fewer showers. there will be the odd one, particularly as the sun's strong, and we'll get temperatures perhaps a little higher than today across england and wales as a result, still in eastern parts of northern ireland. the central belt a little bit lower than today as well. same sort of story as we get into monday. the misty, murky weatherfirst thing slow to clear away. just very isolated showers. just a bit of a northerly drift coming in, so temperatures won't be quite so high. but do bear in mind, even if it isn't quite as warm, it's still strong. the sunshine is just as strong. and then as we head towards the middle of next week, well, this low pressure mightjust bring in something more significant wind and rain—wise. but obviously, the devil's going to be in the detail that far away.

but it does look as if, at that stage, it will turn more unsettled once again, after today's storms, and a bit windier too.

live from london. this is bbc news. president zelensky says ukraine only has about a quarter of the air defences it needs to fight off russian attacks. a close ally of the late russian opposition leader alexei navalny tells the bbc he'll never give up fighting president putin after a brutal hammer attack in march. he

putin after a brutal hammer attack in march. . r' putin after a brutal hammer attack in march. ., w , ., in march. he asked us to never give u . in march. he asked us to never give u- and to in march. he asked us to never give up and to continue _ in march. he asked us to never give up and to continue our— in march. he asked us to never give up and to continue our work- in march. he asked us to never give up and to continue our work and - up and to continue our work and build, to defeat putin and build this beautiful russia for the future. , ., , this beautiful russia for the future. israel says it has struck more than _ future. israel says it has struck more than 70 _ future. israel says it has struck more than 70 targets - future. israel says it has struck more than 70 targets in - future. israel says it has struck more than 70 targets in gaza l future. israel says it has struck| more than 70 targets in gaza in future. israel says it has struck- more than 70 targets in gaza in the past day as fighting intensifies in both the north and south of the territory. and they boil water notice has been lifted for thousands in and around brixham after no traces of parasite were found in the supply area. hello i'm nicky schiller. welcome to the programme. we begin this hour in ukraine, where president zelensky says his country only has about a quarter of the amount of air defences it needs to fight off russian attacks. he said ukraine needed up to 130 of the western f—16 fighter jets. dozens are due to arrive sometime this yearfrom european donor countries —

and ukrainian pilots are currently being trained.