this is bbc news, i'm julian worricker. the headlines at 11:00pm: the latest paradise papers revelations show prince charles campaigned for climate change agreements to be altered without disclosing that his private estate had a financial interest in the reforms. former welsh government minister carl sargeant has been found dead, just days after being sacked over misconduct allegations. pressure mounts on priti patel to resign over herfailure to disclose meetings with senior israeli politicians while on holiday. coming up on newsnight, accidents, arguments, and missteps. in five months of the life of this government, can it last five years at the current controversy rate? good evening and welcome to bbc news.

tonight: more questions about how the royal family invest their millions. the latest revelations from the paradise papers, the cache of leaked documents about tax havens, show that prince charles‘s private estate, the duchy of cornwall, secretly invested in an offshore company in which a close friend was a director. that is perfectly legal, but he has been accused of a conflict of interest because he went on to campaign for international rule changes that would have benefited the company. the prince's spokesman insists he has never chosen to speak out on a topic simply because of an investment decision. the paradise papers were shared with the international consortium of investigativejournalists, including the bbc‘s panorama programme. richard bilton has this report. for years, prince charles has campaigned on environmental issues. this week, he's in malaysia, and yesterday, he spent time in the rainforests of borneo.

but panorama has discovered he campaigned on one issue that he secretly stood to profit from. the paradise papers show the prince of wales‘s private estate, the duchy of cornwall, had $4 million in the tax havens of the cayman islands and bermuda. this document shows $1 million in an offshore fund. their annual report says the prince is actively involved in running the duchy. the governance of the duchy of cornwall allows the prince of wales to have a hands on involvement. so you can really see his green wellies stamped over all this turf. we found one deal that centres on this man in the cap, the late hugh van cutsem. he was one of the prince's oldest friends. mr van cutsem was a director of sustainable forestry management limited. they were registered in bermuda,

and traded in carbon credits, a market created by international treaties to tackle global warming. sustainable forestry management limited would have made more money if international regulations were changed to include carbon credits from all forests. the chronology of events raises serious questions for the prince. in february 2007, the duchy buys 50 shares, worth $113,500. at that time, sfm's directors agree to keep the duchy‘s shares confidential. mr van cutsem asks for lobbying documents to be sent to the prince's office. the prince begins making speeches, campaigning for changes to two international agreements on carbon credits. injune 2008, he sells his shares for $325,000, a profit of more than $200,000. but we can't find, nor has

the prince's office been able to show us, any speeches prince charles made on this specific issue before he bought his shares. he made three major speeches in the seven months after he bought them. well, i think it's a serious conflict. there's a conflict of interest between his own investments of the duchy of cornwall, and what he's trying to achieve publicly. and i think it's unfortunate that somebody of his importance, of his influence, becomes involved in such a serious conflict. this is the sort of thing the prince was saying in his speeches: despite the prince's lobbying, the regulations surrounding carbon credits were not changed. his spokesman said:

i think what happened was wrong. what i don't think is that he deliberately acted in a way which was unacceptable. i think, if he'd realised the context in which he was being asked to do something, he would have acted in a different way. there is no suggestion that any of this is illegal, or tax was avoided, and it id impossible to know why the share price rose after prince charles‘s estate secretly invested in his friends company. but, for the second time in a week, the paradise papers raise serious questions about how royal

cash is being managed. richard bilton, bbc news. there is a special section on the bbc website dedicated to the paradise papers, with much more explanation and analysis. you can find it at bbc.co.uk/paradisepapers. a senior labour politician in the welsh assembly has been found dead, just days after he was sacked as a minister, following allegations from a number of women about his personal conduct. 49—year—old carl sargeant had been suspended by the party until investigations into the claims were carried out. it is thought he took his own life. his family say they are devastated beyond words. 0ur correspondent roger pinney has been in his north wales constituency connah's quay. well, if there is one word i have heard over and over again today it is shock. people told me they were shocked last week when carl sargeant

was sacked from the welsh government and they have been shocked today to the point of disbelief to learn that he has died. people here have told me ofa he has died. people here have told me of a man deeply rooted in the community here in connah's quay, to the extent that he lived just a street away from the house where he grew up. people have paid tributes from all the different political parties today. here in north wales, for example, the police and the crime commission, who is plaid cymru, paid tribute saying he was a man with a big heart that always politically partisan. —— but always politically partisan. —— but always politically un—partisan. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has faced calls to apologise and even resign over comments he made about a british woman who is being held in prison in iran. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe was arrested last year for allegedly being part of a plot to overthrow the government there.

borisjohnson told mps last week that she was in iran to train journalists, but her family insist she was just on a family visit. they say the foreign secretary's comments could add years to her prison sentence. this afternoon, mrjohnson said he was sorry if his remarks had been misconstrued. lucy manning reports. she has been held for 584 days, separated from her daughter gabriella and her husband. nazaneen zargari—ratcliffe, from north london, is iranian and british. imprisoned by iran, and now her case seemingly undermined by the british foreign secretary. borisjohnson‘s comments to mps last week suggested she was in iran training journalists before her arrest. when you look at what nazaneen zargari—ratcliffe was doing, it's just, you know, she was simply teaching people journalism, as i understand it. her family always clear the thompson reuters foundation employee was just visiting relatives with her young daughter. i don't think it was helpful, i think it was a mistake. and i think, you know, it's a mistake that needs

to be corrected. she was in a very bad way on saturday, when she'd just come out of the courtroom, and just cried for most of the phone call, you know, because she was bewildered as to why these new charges were coming. the iranian judiciary‘s website suggested the foreign secretary's comments shed new light on her case. it has meant five years in prison for plotting to overthrow the regime could be doubled to ten. the foreign secretary had to call the iranian foreign minister, and was forced to clarify in the commons. the uk government has no doubt that she was on holiday in iran when she was arrested last year, and that was the sole purpose of her visit. i accept that my remarks could have been clearer in that respect, and i'm glad to provide this clarification. he faced calls to resign. how about the foreign secretary himself shows a bit of personal responsibility, and admits that a job like this, where your words hold gravity and your actions have consequences, it is simply not the job for him.

will the foreign secretary now apologise ? he cannot be trusted to do thisjob, and he should resign. eventually, after nearly an hour, there was a sort of apology. of course, i'm sorry if any words of mine have been so taken out of context, and so misconstrued, as to cause any kind of anxiety for the family of nazaneen zargari—ratcliffe. according to the foreign office, the iranian foreign minister said today the fact mrs zargari—ratcliffe had been brought back to court wasn't due to borisjohnson‘s comments, and he promised to work with the british government to try and resolve the case on humanitarian grounds. but the political complications in iran between the more moderate elements and the hard—liners in the regime means it won't be that straightforward. maziar ba hari, a journalist, was held in an iranianjail forfour months.

for nazaneen, i'm not sure what is the price, but experience has shown that they're not going to release her without getting something in exchange. for richard ratcliffe, he has been unable to see his daughter or his imprisoned wife, as he can't get a visa. as gabriella's got older, she's understood more, so she now knows that her mum's in prison. she thinks that mummy and daddy are both in prison, and she said to her mum that she's praying to god for them both to be released. he now wants the foreign secretary to visit his wife when he travels to iran in the next few weeks. lucy manning, bbc news. pressure is growing on the international development secretary, priti patel, tonight after she held a series of unofficial meetings with israeli politicians during a holiday in israel. labour have called for an investigation, saying the 12 meetings, including one with israel's prime minister, involved serious breaches of the ministerial code.

0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. it began with some holiday photos from israel. not of priti patel seeing the sights, but having coffee with a politician, and visiting a charity. just two of 12 meetings she had without telling the foreign office. her most important engagement was with israel's prime minister, something theresa may knew nothing about when she welcomed benjamin netanyahu to downing street last week. this afternoon, labour summoned the international development secretary to the commons to explain herself. she's at a meeting. the speaker: minister of state alistair burt. but it turned out she was on her way to africa, leaving her deputy in charge. and she's presently — she's presently in the air. he said that ms patel had not harmed britain's interests, but made clear that ministers should

tell the foreign office about their trips. you would, of course, let the foreign office know in advance, which the right honourable lady — which my right honourable friend did not, and that was the error for which she has apologised, but the meetings were all really pertinent to her work. he confirmed that, after the trip, ms patel suggested using british aid money to help the israeli army treat wounded syrians in the occupied golan heights, an idea the foreign office vetoed because the uk doesn't recognise israel's annexation of this area. an idea theresa may did not know about until the bbc reported it this morning. all this, labour insisted, was a clear breach of the ministerial code of conduct. does the minister accept that it's time the secretary of state either faces a cabinet office investigation, or does the decent thing and just resign? some mps say that in normal times, with a strong prime minister with a healthy majority, priti patel would have had no choice but to resign.

but these are anything but normal times. the prime minister's spokesman says she still has full confidence in ms patel, but labour sensed blood and are bombarding miss patel with questions, that soon she will have to answer in person. james landale, bbc news. that is a summary of the news. newsday is coming up at midnight. now on bbc news, it is time for newsnight. government 2017? anotherfine mess... 0r two. the government's coping, or striving to cope, with one mishap after another. is it really capable of driving the country into a new brexit era? we'll analyse two separate controversies involving cabinet ministers. the foreign secretary and the development secretary. i think the problem is you've now got five cabinet ministers, the former defence secretary, the current defence secretary, the foreign secretary, the development secretary and the first secretary, all now mired in serious controversies of one form or another. and in each case, the prime minister unable to get a grip on it and unable to provide the sense of direction. we'll be asking if yet another minister could be gone by the morning. and we'll ask if the government can get itself back on track. also tonight, prince charles lobbied for a change in carbon trading rules — without pointing out

that the duchy of cornwall had