the charity commission begins a statutory inquiry into oxfam following the scandal involving aid workers in haiti. the government says the situation is serious, but it won't be making any hasty decisions. i'm going to take these things very seriously. i know people will be worried about the charity, about the man “— worried about the charity, about the man —— money, but we need to be guided by the charity commission, andi guided by the charity commission, and i have made it very clear to oxfa m and i have made it very clear to oxfam what we need to see from them. we'll have the latest from oxfam's headquarters on the increasing scandal. also this lunchtime: jacob zuma still clinging to power. the anc says it has decided to sack him as south africa's president, but there's no agreement about when he should go. british package holiday—makers take off for tunisia for the first time british package holid crashes rs take

british package holid crashes outake of the women's 500 metres speed skating final at the winter olympics. and prince harry and meghan markle are visiting edinburgh this lunchtime on their first trip to scotland. coming up in the sport: england lose again in the t20 tri— nations series, and their chances of reaching the final and now out of their hands. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the charity commission has taken the most serious action it can against oxfam, and begun a statutory inquiry into its procedures. staff used prostitutes as they carried out disaster relief in the aftermath

of the earthquake in haiti in 2010. 0xfam's deputy chief executive penny lawrence resigned yesterday in relation to the charity's response to the allegations. 0ur correspondent matt cole is at 0xfam's headquarters in oxford. good afternoon. there is a lot for the leaders here at 0xfam to think about as they face the possible loss of government funding. the eu commission could take away its £30 million a year funding commission could take away its £30 million a yearfunding if it commission could take away its £30 million a year funding if it isn't happy that 0xfam's house is back in order, and now there is this most serious investigation by the charities commission. this crisis is already claimed one senior figure, this crisis is already claimed one seniorfigure, 0xfam's this crisis is already claimed one senior figure, 0xfam's now former chief executive penny lawrence, but her resignation has far from chief executive penny lawrence, but her resignation has farfrom drawn chief executive penny lawrence, but her resignation has far from drawn a line under the matter, with the organisation now facing the most serious form of investigation the

charity commission can undertake, a statutory inquiry which could lead to the suspension of trustees or the freezing of bank accounts. and there is more freezing of bank accounts. and there is more pressure freezing of bank accounts. and there is more pressure from the government. i take these things very seriously. i know people will be worried about the charity, worried about the money. as oxfam fights for its future, there are some claiming it had ample opportunity to avoid this scandal. helen evans spent three years at 0xfam's head of safeguarding, but says as she unearthed the scale of the problem, the charity failed to respond with sufficient resources. we had one in ten saying they had experienced unwanted sexual touching, sexual assault. this was staff on staff. we went to beneficiaries who received aid from us. beneficiaries who received aid from us. i was extremely concerned by those survey results. 0xfa m those survey results. 0xfam says it has new safeguarding measures in place, better checks now, but the biggest fight it might face is to maintain public

confidence, that most precious commodity that if lost severely hampers its ability to raise money and help those most in need. the labourmp and help those most in need. the labour mp peter kyle was formerly an aid worker. he worries people with an agenda to oppose international aid spending might exploit the situation. i am deeply concerned. let's not beat around the bush. this scandal could bring 0xfam to its knees. the organisation could implode, and the people who will suffer the most through this will be the people who depend, the thousands of people, who are extraordinarily vulnerable, who depend on the work that organisations like 0xfam does. as 0xfam waits to learn more details of the statutory inquiry into its failings, it at all other aid agencies are being told by the government they must step up and provide statements of assurance about the policies and procedures. what is being dubbed a significant also being planned. all major charities will discuss how the sector as a whole will face these problems. leaders here at 0xfam have until the

end of the week now to offer assurances to the government that they can deal with future allegations, but there are already more allegations coming through with concerns being raised, albeit uncorroborated, that there has been abuse here in uk shops of young volunteers, too. much more for bosses here to think about. back to. matt coles, thank you. the president of haiti has condemned the actions of some staff from 0xfam as outrageous and dishonest, accusing them of using the country's earthquake in 2010 to sexually exploit people in need. will grant is in the capital port—au—prince, and has been talking to former 0xfam employees in the country. a girl, a street corner, a parked car. in the poorest country in the americas, buying sex is easy. it's a common scene on any given night in haiti. girls, somejust teenagers, risking their lives for a few dollar bills.

0rdinarily, internationalaid agencies help tackle the problem. 0xfam, however, is now embroiled in it. we've spent the past few days speaking to former 0xfam employees in haiti. most are too scared to show their faces on camera, fearful of retribution for speaking out. they all confirmed the stories about 0xfam in 2011, in particular its disgraced country director roland van hauwermeiren. translation: some expats come to haiti to work. others come to party and look for girls every night. the drivers picking up the girls had no choice. it was theirjob and they were told to do it. another former security guard claimed young and underage girls were among the victims. i can tell you for sure there were sex parties at the house, he told me. young people would often come to the office looking for the director, and i'm sure these people weren't there for work. for its part, the haitian government

confirmed to the bbc that it is prepared to open a full investigation into the allegations. it may be what happened at oxfam was just the tip of the iceberg, they said. we will start with the oxfam allegations to open a broad investigation into ngos operating in haiti. other haitians working in the charity sector agree that the problems go beyond oxfam alone. after the earthquake, organisations, international organisations, received money, a lot of money. what is the result? i will not say zero, zero, but you cannot see the result. oxfam is facing perhaps the biggest challenge of its history, it international reputation in serious jeopardy. if it's going to take time to rebuild its name in the united kingdom, in haiti it may never fully recover. will grant, bbc news, port—au—prince. in the past hour, the governing african national congress

in south africa has decided to recalljacob zuma from the position of president. the party's secretary general said mr zuma had agreed in principle to resign, but that talks were continuing. jacob zuma has come under mounting pressure to go following several corruption scandals. pumza fihlani is injohannesburg. to say that this situation is protracted is to put it mildly. what is going on? that is certainly right, and we wish we had a straight answer. coming out of that 15 minute press c0 nfe re nce , answer. coming out of that 15 minute press conference, it seems that the african national congress has said to the president that they want him to the president that they want him to go, except they have not put a deadline to it. so here's effectively been fired but told he can still think about it and come back when you have made a decision about whether you want to go or not. but it is a very serious matter, and

one not opposition on the sideline of the anc process have been watching carefully, and they have said that if the anc is not willing to pushjacob said that if the anc is not willing to push jacob zuma said that if the anc is not willing to pushjacob zuma out, they would do it themselves. pumza fihlani, thank you very much indeed. more than 200 people have become the first to fly on a british package holiday to tunisia since the terrorist attack in the country in 2015. the foreign office advised against all but essential travel to tunisia after 38 people, 30 of them british, were murdered by an islamist gunman on a beach. but that advice has now been eased, and this morning a flight took off from birmingham airport. john maguire reports from there. with its idyllic white beaches and pristine mediterranean coastline, tunisia was a hugely popular draw for british tourists, attracting around 430,000 a year. but then came the attack in june around 430,000 a year. but then came the attack injune 2015, when a gunman killed 30 britons and another

eight holiday—makers on a beach. so—called islamic state said it was behind the shootings by a tunisian student in sousse which came just three months after 22 people were killed in the capital tunis. tunisia says it has made huge steps in counterterrorism since the attacks. almost three years on, tour operator thomas cook has for the first time resumed its package holidays, travelling to the resort hamamet, one hour north of sousse. this morning 20 passengers were the first to return on an early—morning from birmingham. we were staying in the hotel down the road when the last attack happened, but we love the country, so as soon attack happened, but we love the country, so as soon as we attack happened, but we love the country, so as soon as we knew attack happened, but we love the country, so as soon as we knew there was another flight going, we decided to come back. if we had been bringing our children, we probably wouldn't be going, but as it isjust the two of us, we didn't feel it was

a concern. the two of us, we didn't feel it was a concern. it's probably more dangerous staying in london than it is going out there. this first package holiday will take people to a country that has worked extremely ha rd over a country that has worked extremely hard over the last couple of years with international help to make itself as secure as possible for tourists. it is a country that will be very pleased to see visitors back in large numbers once again. and industry experts say that tunisia has been desperate to see travel restrictions lifted. the authorities we re restrictions lifted. the authorities were getting frustrated. what do we have to do to get holiday—makers back? eventually, of course, they can the government here that they would be able to make things as safe as possible for british holiday—makers, and that is why you have got hundreds of people heading backin have got hundreds of people heading back in from today. we have also customers from our german, belgium and french operations who have remained, because their countries did not impose any restrictions, so

it is interesting to go out and get a feel for what was happening on the beaches, were customers aware of the situation, did they feel safe and secure? two flight have arrived today. departures from birmingham and manchester, with other uk airports to follow. one survivor from the sousse attacks says british holiday—makers are badly needed, and will be hugely welcome. they were forming human shields in front of people they didn't even know, and they are such wonderful, open, kind—hearted people, and we couldn't have been better looked after. these travellers who have chosen to go back today are stoic, optimistic, and also being warned by the foreign office to be vigilant. tunisia remains in the state of emergency, and its tourism industry a long way from recovery. john maguire, bbc news, birmingham airport. american government investigators have been appointed to examine the grand canyon helicopter crash which killed seven people,

including three british tourists. 27—year—old becky dobson, her boyfriend stuart hill and his brotherjason died in the crash. their parents have described the siblings is wonderful songs and inseparable. the four survivors, including the pilot, are still in hospital in las vegas. james cook reports. stuart hill, a car salesman in brighton, died celebrating his 30th birthday along with his girlfriend, becky dobson, who was 27. stuart's brother, jason hill, a lawyer in the 20, also died. he was 32 years old. his girlfriend, jennifer barham, survived. so did newlywedsjon udall and ellie milward, seen here on the left at their wedding with becky and stuart. the helicopter, a eurocopter ec130 operated by tour firm papillon airways, crashed in the grand canyon just before sunset on saturday. bad weather meant it was nearly nine hours before the three surviving passengers and pilot could be flown to hospital in las vegas.

family and friends have now arrived here, along with investigators. the purpose during the on—scene investigation is to gather perishable information, that's information that will no longer be available to us once the wreckage has been disturbed. so our plan at this time is to continue to document the wreckage in situ before it's recovered to a secure facility in arizona. the focus here is on treating the survivors, not just for their physical injuries, but also trying to help them with the trauma they've endured. but there are also questions for the helicopter company and the tour operator about why three passengers were apparently unable to escape. james cook, bbc news, las vegas. the time is quarter past one. our top story this lunchtime: the charity commission begins a statutory inquiry into oxfam following the scandal involving aid workers in haiti. and coming up: secret succession plans. the commonwealth begins

to consider who might succeed the queen as its head. coming up in sport: a head injury forces footballer ryan mason to retire after deciding it's too risky to carry on playing. he won one england cap, and isjust 26. history has repeated itself at the winter olympics for britain's speedskater elise christie, who crashed out of the 500 metres short—track final in pyeongchang, four years after the same thing happened at the games in sochi. the 27—year—old fell on the penultimate lap after making contact with a competitor as she jostled for a medal position. the gold was taken by italy's arianna fonta na. our sports correspondent, andy swiss, is in pyeongchang. yes, jane, elise christie came here

to pyeongchang hoping to put behind her what happened in so cheap. and those hopes were high. she's now a triple world champion, britain's biggest medal hope of these games. but almost unbelievably, it was the same old story. racing for redemption. until now, elise christie's olympic story had been one of heart break. disqualified from all her events in sochi, now here in pyeongchang hoping to write a very different chapter. elise christie has successfully negotiated the first hurdle of the day. the early signs we re hurdle of the day. the early signs were encouraged. in the quarterfinals, she set a new olympic record. a picture of relaxation in between rounds. and she duly made it into the final. elise christie! a five way battle for olympic glory. away they go, the final is on, they

get away first time. from the very start, christie was trying to play catch up. stuck in fourth place, could you find a way through? with time running out, she spied a gap and went for it. but what followed was all too familiar. greste tries to make it on the inside... and christie crashes out! christie as out of it once again. it's a photo finish on the line. once again, christie's hopes were sent sliding into the crash barriers. it was sochi autodrom again. and as italy's arianna fonta na went sochi autodrom again. and as italy's arianna fontana went on to clinch victory, christie once again was left in tears. can you believe it, another olympics and another tumble for elise christie. she still has two events to come, but her gaines have started in disappointment. yes, i know i'm supposed to be prepared for this, but... it i know i'm supposed to be prepared forthis, but... it still i know i'm supposed to be prepared for this, but... it still hurts, you know? obviously it's still almost a week until... so, that's a positive.

and, i don't know... no, week until... so, that's a positive. and, idon't know... no, ijust can't see living with this feeling, you know? i got knocked over, and that's that. the question now, though, is whether britain's biggest medal hope can pick herself up on a day of deja vu. yes, you have to feel for elise christie. you can seejust yes, you have to feel for elise christie. you can see just how devastated she was in that interview. she feels she was knocked over by one of her rivals. but what this means is that team gb are still waiting for their first medal of these games. for elise christie, it is another very personal disappointment. andy, thank you very much. andy swiss in pyeongchang. the bbc has learnt that the commonwealth has secretly begun considering who might succeed the queen as its head. the role isn't hereditary, and so won't automatically pass to the prince of wales on the queen's death. however, there is no formal process

for deciding a successor. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, is here. and this is only recently emerged, james. how does this work and what do we know is going on? this is the debate that nobody really wants to have, certainly not in public. you'll never find this issue on any agenda of any formal commonwealth body, even this high level group of seniorfigures within body, even this high level group of senior figures within the commonwealth that was set up and is meeting today to look at the whole governments of the commonwealth, this was not part of their formal mandate. however, whenever you get senior members of the commonwealth together, one of the issues that comes up together, one of the issues that comes up is the succession. that is because the queen is 91 years old, and we have the big meeting of commonwealth heads of government in a couple of months‘ time here in the uk, and

it is one of those issues that people talk about on the margins. the reason they have to talk about it is because it is not hereditary. it's it is because it is not hereditary. it‘s not something that goes from the monitor the ad to the throne. now, if you talk to be but they say, look in theory, the commonwealth can choose anybody. but in practice there is no realistic alternative to there is no realistic alternative to the prince of wales, as far as they know, at the time of speaking. but one of the issues they are having to look at is, well, if that‘s the case, if the commonwealth were to make that decision that it should be the prince of wales, should it be a one—off decision, or should they establish a new procedure which says it is always in the future going to be, whoever is head of state in the united kingdom? because it essentially goes to the heart of the commonwealth‘s debate about what it is, what it means, its identity, what is this network? is it too anglo centric? should it be focused elsewhere in the world these days? should it move on? should accuse the opportunity of when the queen has gone to say, let‘s go in a new direction? ostensibly it‘s also about techniques and procedures, but there is also a broader debate about what the commonwealth is. ijames landale, thank you. the rate of inflation held steady last month, with the consumer prices index unchanged from december, at 3%.

the rate, reported by the office for national statistics, is close to the six—year high of 3.1% set in november. most economists were expecting to see a small fall. a further rise in interest rates could now happen in the coming months, as our economics correspondent, andy verity, reports. if you go down to the shops today, beware of the odd surprise — like fruit, up 7.2%. orcoffee, up 7.5% compared to a year ago. more recently, those food prices have started to fall, but not by enough to slow down the overall rise in the cost of living for ordinary households. i think people are digging deeper into their pockets now and thinking carefully about what they are spending their money on. everything's gone up, hasn't it? just everything's so expensive. you're working all these hours in the workplace and everything, and for what? by the time you've paid your wages and everything, and you pay your rent, your gas, your bills, your electric, you're left with nothing. the difficulty is, prices have gone up, but my wages haven‘t. i haven‘t had a pay increase in line with inflation for about six years. the buying power of the average

income has barely risen in the last decade — the worst for living standards in 200 years. so, when will that squeeze come to an end? so the squeeze on living standards is going to start to recede this year as inflation comes down. and then from 2019 onwards, the obr is forecasting that the increase in wages will actually exceed the general increase in the price levels, so you should start to see real wages beginning to increase from 2019 onwards. prices are still rising faster than the bank of england would like. the price of goods went up by 3.2%. the price of services rose by 2.8%. but there are signs that that inflationary pressure is easing. the cost of raw materials which make the goods that we buy in the shops rose by 3.5%. that‘s the lowest it‘s been in 18 months. oil is bought and sold in dollars, and the pound‘s been strengthening against the dollar, which has helped to slow down

price rises at the pumps. but against other currencies, the pound hasn‘t grown as strongly, so import prices won‘t stop rising just yet. the sterling has strengthened against the dollar, but that‘s largely because the dollar‘s been weak. and if we look at sterling against the euro — which is much more important in terms of where we get our imports from in the uk — it hasn‘t strengthened nearly so much. so, no, we think that exchange rate impact is going to continue for a few months more. in the city, they‘re now betting the bank of england will raise interest rates again in the next few months. it is expected by most to happen in may. andy verity, bbc news. the england cricketer ben stokes has indicated a not guilty plea after being charged with affray following a fight outside a nightclub in bristol last september. jon kay is at bristol magistrates‘ court. explain what‘s been happening, jon? yes, jane, five months after that

alleged incident outside a nightclub in bristol, ben stokes returned to this city to appear here at the magistrates‘ court. it was a very short hearing, only lasted about 12 minutes. and during the hearing, the england all—rounder was asked to ban up england all—rounder was asked to ban up behind a sheet of glass, and he was asked how he would be pleading to a single charge of affray. he answered, not guilty. two men who we re answered, not guilty. two men who were charged alongside him, ryan hale and ryan ali, who are both in their 20s and from bristol and are also charged with affray, they too said they would be pleading not guilty to the same count. the men we re guilty to the same count. the men were told by the judge hear that all three would go to trial at bristol crown court with an initial hearing in the middle of next month, on the 12th of march. however, just moments after ben stokes left ear, the england and wales cricket board issued a statement saying they had been told that he wouldn‘t have to

attend that next hearing in person, he doesn‘t have to be in court in the middle of march. and so tomorrow he will fly to new zealand to join his england team—mates. we are told initially that will be for training. there are no plans at the moment for him to play in the t20 tri—series. alternately the decision will be up to the england management. ben stokes left this court and made no comment to the journalists who were waiting outside. jon kay, thank you. the government has revealed new software that it claims can detect and immediately block onlinejihadist videos. the home secretary, amber rudd, has travelled to silicon valley in california to discuss the tool with technology companies, as well as other efforts to tackle extremism. dave lee reports from san francisco. created by an artificial intelligence company based in london, and funded with more than £500,000 of government money, the tool draws upon a vast database of material posted online by the so—called islamic state. we have two videos — one of which is legitimate news content, the other is terrorist propaganda. now, to my naked eye,

i actually can‘t tell the difference between the two. but fortunately, down at the bottom, this is very low probability of being terrorist content. but this one is much higher. now, what that means is, if you were to be in charge of some kind of video upload platform, you could use this when anyone clicks to upload a video, and flag this video for review, and let this one through without any problems. using this technique, the software creators believe they can spot up to 94% of is content posted online, with an accuracy of 99.995%. anything the software is unsure about is flagged for human review. i‘ve had a demonstration of it, and i know a lot of other people have as well. and it‘s a very convincing example of the fact that you can have the information that you need to make sure that this material doesn‘t go online in the first place. the home secretary says this is a tool to help small companies, ones which may not

have the resources to tackle extremism properly. but if they don‘t want the goverment‘s help, they may soon be forced to take it. we‘re not going to rule out taking legislative action if we need to do it. but i remain convinced that the best way to take real action, to have the best outcomes, is to have an industry—led form like the one we‘ve got. this has to be in conjunction, though, of larger companies working with smaller companies. advocates of an open internet often push back against this kind of software because it can lead to false positives — that‘s content being blocked when it shouldn‘t be. yet it is estimated that more than 400 different web servers were used to spread propaganda in 2017 — and so the task is less about blocking jihadis online today, but instead predicting where they might be on the internet tomorrow. dave lee, bbc news, silicon valley. prince harry and meghan markle are visiting edinburgh today as part of their public engagements in the run—up to their wedding in may.

they‘ve been at the city‘s castle, and heard the 1pm gunfire at the garrison. our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, is in edinburgh this lunchtime. how is the visit going down, nick? hi,jane. how is the visit going down, nick? hi, jane. well, yes, we‘ve seen them in south london and nottingham in england, in cardiff, and now in edinburgh. all part of meghan markle‘s introduction to the uk, three months ahead of the wedding. they have left here to go to a social cafe which helps homeless people, then they will be going to a reception for young people at the palace of holyrood house. but the visit began here at edinburgh‘s most famous landmark. edinburgh castle, and they welcome to scotland on a date when the temperatures were not far from zero, and felt rather less. a day, then, for a good, warm coat. and there was

meghan markle, wrapped up in something with a touch of tartan about it. as for harry, well, he‘s used to the bracing temperatures. just think of all the time the rules spent at balmoral. it is chilly, said meghan, as she greeted the crowds. i got to meet meghan today, and she is absolutely beautiful, i‘m so and she is absolutely beautiful, i‘m so excited. they the future of the rural family, meghan and so excited. they the future of the ruralfamily, meghan and harry, william and kate, they are the future. waiting for the couple just outside because all gates, the band of her majesty‘s royal marines scotland, there to welcome harry, recently appointed captain general of the royal marines in succession to his grandfather. a relatively brief visit, but important. it‘s all pa rt brief visit, but important. it‘s all part of meghan markle‘s familiarisation with the different parts of the uk, and a chance to underline scotland‘s importance to the royal family. nicholas witchel, bbc news, edinburgh. time for a look at the weather. here‘s chris fawkes. hi,jane.

hi, jane. we‘ve had some or —— more wintry weather. you get a sense of curtains of snow sprinkling over the landscape. the hills in lewis in the outer hebrides. we have seen quite a bit of snow already today across northern parts of the country. further south, it has generally been more rain that‘s been falling, and a winteriness for one or two across parts of wales. the rest of the afternoon, i will weather front becomes slow moving across the eastern counties of england, a dull, damp and chilly end of the day. further west, sunshine working in.