the oxfam scandal in haiti. now the charity reveals it's investigating 26 more cases of alleged sexual misconduct. called to account by mps — oxfam's boss admits the sex scandal has prompted thousands of people to stop making donations to the charity. i am sorry, we are sorry, for the damage that oxfam has done, both to the people of haiti and also to wider efforts to aid and development. it comes amid fresh allegations against another charity tonight. also, in the programme... explosion. the suburbs of syria's capital. activists say up to 200 are dead as government forces attack the last rebel stronghold near damascus. the new treatment bringing hope to children with a rare blood vessel disorder that causes facial disfigurement. commentator: and christie goes down before they reach the very first corner. team gb's elise christie crashes out of the winter olympics, disqualified from her last event. her dreams of a medal are over.

# i've got new rules, i count ‘em... and dua lipa — the 22—year—old whose career began on youtube — is now leading the way at the brit awards tomorrow. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news... why barcelona have chelsea manager antonio conte awake at night as the two sides prepare to meet in the last 16 of the champions league. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. oxfam has revealed that it's investigating 26 more cases of alleged sexual misconduct after it emerged that some of its former staff had paid women for sex in haiti when they were dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake in 2010.

bosses from the charity were questioned by mps in the commons today. they said the scandal had prompted 7000 people to stop making regular donations to oxfam. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. in 2010, haiti was flooded with aid workers, most there to help the country workers, most there to help the cou ntry recover workers, most there to help the country recover from the earthquake. but seven men from 0xfam were also hiring prostitutes and bullying colleagues, men who were eventually dismissed or allowed to resign. today, the charity's most senior executives were summoned to parliament to explain what had gone on and why 0xfam hadn't been more open and done more to stop it happening again. sorry wasn't the half of it. i am sorry, we are sorry, for the damage 0xfam has done. on behalf of the council of oxfam, that we are ashamed of what happened in haiti, we don't think it was well handled. please allow me to begin by saying how sorry i am about what has happened. lam ashamed. in particular, 0xfam's chief

executive apologised for suggesting the criticism the charity was getting was disproportionate, saying it wasn't as if babies had been murdered in their cots. i do apologise. i was thinking under stress. i had given many interviews, i had made many decisions to try to lead 0xfam's response to this. 0xfam, he admitted, had not been explicit about what had gone on and was now paying the price. 7000 people had cancelled their regular donations in the last ten days. corporate sponsors were reserving judgment. how many more revelations have come to your notice? across 0xfa m have come to your notice? across 0xfam great britain, we have had about 26 stories and reports come to us about 26 stories and reports come to us that are either new reports come out as a result of these stories, or

earlier stories, where people said, ididn't earlier stories, where people said, i didn't necessarily report this at the time. mps i didn't necessarily report this at the time. mstust couldn't hide their frustration. you as an organisation are dealing with these women and girls as if they are just trinkets, and you can pay for them and give them a bit of aid and that's ok. and you don't, when you know about it, the organisation does not report it to the haiti authorities. that's pretty shocking. it's really heartbreaking that...m is. that we are in this situation. but i want to assure you that we are not doing nothing. from our point of view, does it not look like 0xfam was more interested in protecting its own brand than protecting vulnerable women and girls. its own brand than protecting vulnerable women and girlsm its own brand than protecting vulnerable women and girls. it may look like that. i can't do anything other than say i think it was wrong. lam other than say i think it was wrong. i am conscious of the fact you didn't hold responsibility at the time. the committee chairman said he would now hold a full enquiry, the

fourth 0xfam is now facing, to ensure it gets hits house in order. 0xfa m ensure it gets hits house in order. 0xfam is apologising to mp5, it's being more transparent. but what is clear from today's evidence is that to recover public trust it will have to recover public trust it will have to change a culture that tolerated the exploitation of vulnerable women. in the commons, 0xfam was warned if new safeguarding procedures were not in place by the end of next week, then current government funding could be cut. the uk government reserves the right to ta ke uk government reserves the right to take whatever decisions about present or future funding to oxfam oi’ present or future funding to oxfam orany present or future funding to oxfam or any other organisation we deem necessary. the real test will come not in haiti but the next time there is another natural disaster and the world's aid industry is deployed once again. studio: james is here now. tonight there are fresh allegations involving former boss at charity save the children. this involves somebody called justin forsyth who 110w somebody called justin forsyth who now has a senior position at a unicef, but who used to be chief

executive for save the radio 4 pm programme, there were three separate complaints of inappropriate behaviour towards female members of staff by mr forsyth before he left in 2015 such as inappropriate texts and comments. in a statement this afternoon mr forsyth says he made personal mistakes during his time at save thejudgment. personal mistakes during his time at save the judgment. he save thejudgment. he recognises that he had an suitable and thoughtless conversations with collea g u es thoughtless conversations with colleagues that i now row caused offence and hurt. when it was brought to my attention on two separate occasions i apologised unreservedly to the three colleagues are involved. the apologies were accepted and thought the issue was closed many years ago. this is the second case involving save the children in recent days. 0ver children in recent days. over the weekend, brendan cox, the husband of murdered mp jo cox, weekend, brendan cox, the husband of murdered mpjo cox, admitted he had made mistakes and behaved in a way that had caused some women hurt an offence when he was director of policy at the charity. james landale, thank you. almost 200 people — including children — have been killed on the outskirts of syria's capital

damascus since sunday, according to activists. syrian government forces have stepped up their bombardment of eastern ghouta — the last rebel—held enclave near the capital. the united nations has called for an immediate ceasefire. 0ur middle east editor jeremy bowen reports. his report contains distressing images. this could be the beginning of the end of a rebellion in eastern ghouta that began in 2012. all the other smaller rebel—held enclaves around damascus have been starved and bombed into submission. explosion. now, it looks to be eastern ghouta's turn as the regime pushes for decisive victory around the capital. activists say this is as bad as it's been. we can hear the shout and crying of women and children through the windows of their homes under the missiles and mortars dropping on us like rain.

there is nowhere to hide from this nightmare in eastern ghouta. a generation has been born into the war. dozens have been killed by it in the last few hours in eastern ghouta. over the years of siege, they've set up a network of underground hospitals. this girl, named in arabic, angel, escaped the worst, but will have to go back to the streets to get home. and this is her area. with the regime dropping what appears to be a barrel bomb, unguided — an indiscriminate killer. the syrian regime denies attacking civilians. it says it's trying to liberate eastern ghouta from terrorists. eastern ghouta is a sprawling mix of concrete suburbs and farmland,

starting about nine miles east of damascus‘ city centre. the syrian rebels that have controlled it since 2012 include several islamist militias, including one with its roots in al-qaeda. eastern ghouta is surrounded by syrian government forces. before the war, it was just a short drive from the syrian presidential palace. officially, it's been designated a de—escalation zone, that is an empty phrase. force decides what happens in syria. after seven years, syria's war isn't ending, but it's changing. president assad, with the help of russia and iran, is now secure, but syria is linked into a web of war and power politics, said the uk wantedrte—lead—a global and standards, not a "competitive race to the bottom". labour claims the uk will face

massive de—regulation after brexit, threatening the quality of food and the environment, as well as long—standing workers' rights. here's our political correspondent vicki young. the uk has decided to carve out a different path to the european union. but ministers don't seem to be preparing for a sharp change in direction. the message here in vienna was more about reassurance. david davis denying accusations from labour that the government plans to sweep away rules that protect workers or the environment. they fear that brexit could lead to an anglo—saxon race to the bottom. britain plunged into eight mad max style world borrowed from dystopian fiction. these fears about a race to the bottom are based on nothing. he argued that high standards could help ensure trade with the eu remained as frictionless as possible with both sides recognising each other‘s rules and institutions.

with both sides recognising each other's rules and institutionsm that these goals will not change the kind of country britain is. a dynamic and open country. that supports businesses like yours to grow, to invest, and to innovate in a competitive, open and fair market. some of the business leaders in the audience who want to keep close ties to britain were encouraged by david davis' words. i think his tone is i'iow davis' words. i think his tone is now different to what it was maybe one year ago. in reality, hopefully it will bring us together. in the end there will be closer relationships between the eu and uk, otherwise nobody will win. david davis' words today are a far cry from what many in his own party have been saying about the needs to break away from the burden of eu red tape that has been stifling british business for decades. he prefers to talk now about ongoing cooperation and mutual trust with the european union after brexit. cabinet

ministers have been touring european capitals in recent days, urging eu leaders to be pragmatic about brexit negotiations. but labour say it's the british government that needs to make some decisions. the problem is that you have david davis saying one thing, borisjohnson saying something else, and the prime minister saying almost nothing. it has got to be resolved. there is a basic question here, do you want to stay close in trading terms to the eu, or do you want to be distant and different question what david davis says he is certain that a good deal with brussels is on the cards. but discord among his colleagues need to be dealt with first. vicki young, bbc news, vienna. the parents of the seriously ill toddler alfie evans have lost their bid to prevent doctors from withdrawing life—support for their son. thejudge said he the judge said he accepted medical evidence that showed further treatment for 21—month—old alfie, who doctors say is in a vegetative

state, was futile. thejudge who doctors say is in a vegetative state, was futile. the judge said who doctors say is in a vegetative state, was futile. thejudge said he reached his conclusion with great sadness. adina campbell is at the high court for us. this was not the news alfie evans' parents were hoping for. bayard italy disappointment with today's ruling at the high court. when the judgment was read out it took approximately two hours. —— they are bitterly disappointed. alfie evans' father sobbed uncontrollably. he was bitterly disappointed to find out his son's life support would be withdrawn this friday. they had hoped to take their son alfie to italy where doctors there had potentially, were going to see if they could prolong his life by providing treatment, but that will not happen. the life support will be withdrawn on friday. this is what alfie's father tom evans had to say outside court earlier. this isn't over, this isjust the start. i'm going to take this absolute nhs down. i'm not giving up. my son ain't giving up. no one, and i repeat, no one in this country's taking my boy away from me, no one. and they're not violating his right,

and they're not violating my right. my son's two years of age and he's been sentenced to the death penalty. how wrong is that? alfie's parents are now coming to the end of this legal process. we believe they are going to appeal this decision, but the life support machine is expected to be turned off this friday and with time running out, they have just three days to go. the time is 6:15. our top story this evening: the oxfam scandal in haiti — the charity reveals it's investigating 26 more cases of alleged sexual misconduct. both at home and abroad. and still to come, the local council that's going to start giving thousands of kids a free meal, every day of the year. coming up on sportsday on bbc news: chelsea have the unenviable task of stopping barcelona as the two sides meet in the last 16 of the champions league tonight. nikki cristou is 13 years old — she was born with a rare blood

vessel disorder that makes part of her face swell causing serious disfigurement. and it can be life threatening. now research, involving great ormond street hospital, has found the genes responsible for the condition, which affects hundreds of children in the uk. and it also identifies existing cancer drugs as a possible treatment. our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports on the ground—breaking research. ok, so we need to do the eggs. and froth the eggs. 13—year—old nikki cristou never knows when her face will start to bleed. she has a rare disorder, which means high pressure blood in her arteries feeds directly into her veins. it causes swelling, facial disfigurement and life threatening bleeds from her nose, and even her tear ducts. it's very scary, because you don't really know if it's going to stop, how much blood you're losing,

and if it is really bad, then i can, you know, become very light—headed and things like that. so i think when these bleeds happen, you just know that it's time for an ambulance. nikki has not let her condition, known as avm, hold her back. the winner of junior bake off is...nikki. as well as winning junior bake off in 2016, she's also interviewed the prime minister for cbbc. so what were you like as a teenager? oh, gosh. nikki has had hundreds of appointments at great ormond street hospital, and 30 operations. how are you doing? it's lovely to see you. you, too. i'm just going to have a little feel of your face. and is now part of ground—breaking research, which is led by her consultant. the team at ucl‘s institute of child health sequenced the dna of more than 150 children with her condition, and found

it could be triggered by fourfaulty genes. this is really an enormous step for us, having discovered the genetic causes of these in individual patients, we're now able to suggest treatments, which could potentially slow the growth, stop the growth, or perhaps even reverse the growth of this condition in the longer term. and those drug treatments come from an unlikely source. the gene mutations discovered in this lab, which are responsible for these faulty blood vessels also play a key role in the growth of some cancers. now, the good news is, there are several cancer drugs, which inhibit these faulty genes, which can now be repurposed to treat nikki's condition. this is your right eye. and this is the avm. nikki's one of two patients who are taking the targeted cancer drugs. today, she is finding out the results of some new scans.

this looks good. it looks exciting that, after six months, it seems to be holding the growth. that's really good, isn't it. yeah, that's so good. thank you. it will be at least a year before doctors know for sure whether the cancer drugs nikki is taking are working. but the discovery of the faulty genes has given hope to patients with this debilitating condition. fergus walsh, bbc news. kfc says disruption is expected to continue across many of its restau ra nts continue across many of its restaurants for the rest of the week after a change of delivery supplier meant they ran out of chicken. the company said that half of its 900 uk outlets remain closed. the kfc crisis has even prompted calls to the police in london's tower hamlets, they say it is not a police matter. one of scotland's largest councils is going to start providing free lunches every day of the year for thousands of children from low income households. north lanarkshire council says it

will use sports centres and other facilities to provide meals when schools are closed. our scotland editor sarah smith has been talking to some primary school children. yeah, there's all different things you can get. my favourite's chicken curry. it's tomato pasta. so this is your favourite meal you've got the day? yeah. you get lettuce, and you have tomato and you have all the pasta. when i was at school, school lunches were not something you looked forward to, but are they actually could you? yeah. really good. all the kids here do seem to really enjoy their school meals, and the teachers know that, for some of them, it's the best meal they're going to eat all day. when the schools close, quite a few of these kids do, sadly, go hungry. that's why north lanarkshire council are to pilot a scheme providing free lunches to kids who need them, not just on school days, but every day. every so often, you can spot that someone's hungrier than we would like them to be after a weekend, or after late holiday period in particular. it can be individual children, we know that food is an issue. if you're hungry, you won't learn and you won't achieve. other councils in the uk provide

meals during school holidays. north lanarkshire will be the first to make free lunches available 365 days a year, from primary one up to the third year of secondary school. i know there are children out there that don't get a meal. some adults go without to give their kids during the holidays. the children get full meals at school, so in the holidays and that, you give them a piece for lunch, and they're, like, "where is my hot dinner?" ken? 40% of these children qualify for free school meals. but the school works hard to make sure it's not obvious who to avoid any stigma. for the same reasons, kids won't be coming into school at weekends and holidays, meals will be served in leisure centres or community halls. it will cost around £500,000 a year to feed children who might not otherwise eat a proper meal over the weekend. we know that when children leave school on a friday, sometimes they're not eating again until they return to school on a monday. and that has a significant impact

on cognitive development, it has an impact on behaviour and concentration levels. and we're hoping that this will help close the poverty related attainment gap. hungry children can't learn properly or achieve their full potential. north lanarkshire might be one of the most deprived areas in the uk, but they hope that doesn't mean that kids here have to go hungry. sarah smith, bbc news, wishaw. she was one of team gb‘s big hopes at the winter olympics, but elise christie's dreams of taking home a medal are over after she was disqualified in her 1000 metres short track speed skating heat. it was the last chance for the triple world champion after she crashed out of her two other events. our sports correspondent david ornstein reports from pyeongchang. just three days after leaving the ice on a stretcher, elise christie was back, her a wing tip hopes on the line. away they go. and christie goes down before they reach the very first corner. after crashing out of the 500 and 1500 metres, christie's bid for 1000 metre gold got off to the worst possible start.

but having been tripped, she earned a reprieve, the heat would be rerun. an ankle injury meant her participation was only confirmed in the hour before the race, and although slow to get going, she fought back impressively. with half a lap to go, christie's in position to qualify here. battling through a physical contest to finish second and reached the quarterfinals. or so she thought. as christie was carried away in pain, her night would take another turn for the worse, the judges spotting two infringements and disqualifying the triple world champion. so it's heartbreak for elise christie yet again after failing to win a medal at the last olympics four years ago, history has repeated itself here in pyeongchang, her dreams ending in bitter disappointment. right now, i'm a bit shell—shocked. i worked so hard to come back from this injury. i think a thousand people wouldn't have skated

with my ankle the way it was. the only thing i can say is, i promise britain i will fight back from this, and i will come back for beijing. and hopefully, you know, i can do britain proud then. it's going to come in nicely... there was better news for britain's curlers as the men out dazzled the colourfully dressed norway, and like the women who beatjapan, can progress to the semifinals with victories tomorrow. in the figure skating, penny coomes and nick buckland finished 11th in the free dance final, an event that will long be remembered for the world record display of tessa virtue and scott moir. skating together since childhood, the canadians took a stunning second gold of the games, and are now the most decorated skaters in winter olympics history. david ornstein, bbc news. and finally to the singer, songwriter and model dua lipa. she's just 22 years old but already she's the most streamed female artist in the uk. she started her musical

career at the age of 15 — posting clips on youtube. and it paid off because tomorrow night she's up for five awards at the brits — a record for a female artist as mark savage reports. # one, don't pick up the phone # you know he's only calling because he's drunk and alone with more than1 billion views on youtube, new rules has become dua lipa's signature song, inspiring hundreds of covers and tributes. # i've got new rules, i count ‘em... i never expected new rules to do what it did. you never expect it to take a world of its own, and it turns into memes, and you have people, like, recreating the dance moves. born in london to kosovan albanian parents, dua lipa returned to pristina when she was 13. she lasted just two years before flying the nest back to london. i didn't feel like there was enough opportunity for me to be able

to do this from kosovo. so when i moved back to london at the age of 15, i thought that i'm going to, kind of, use social media to my advantage. and i'm just go to put some covers online. before long, the teenager had a starring role in this x factor advert. but her music career took longer to get going. dua's debut album was delayed several times while she built up a huge live following. are you guys ready to sing with me? # oh baby, come on, let me get to know you # just another chance so that i can show...# i think her record label have, kind of, kept the faith and let us spend a long time making a debut album, and develop her perspective and the kind of pop star she wants to be. and that kind of faith, i think, is in short supply in the music industry at the moment. we're backstage here at the brit awards, where tomorrow night, dua lipa will find out if she can turn herfive nominations into actual prizes.

but whatever happens, she says she hopes she is the first in a new wave of british female stars. # if you don't like the way i talk, why am i on your mind...? # i feel like there are a lot more female artists on the rise, and there's going to be a lot more. and we're going to see a lot more females on those stages. # if we don't mess this whole thing up # guaranteed i can blow your mind #mwah...# mark savage, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's susan powell. we have had a good look at the sunshine across the british isles today, particularly to the north and west, with clear skies allowing the warmth through the day we gained today to radiate away. we will see widespread frost developing tonight. in the east, thicker cloud, and a weather front that will feed drizzle into eastern areas for the small hours, but the temperatures are above freezing for frost. we can see the blue on the map behind me, —2 or

three as a starting temperature. frosty but a lovely looking start for scotland and northern ireland with sunshine, always more cloud around for england and wales, hopefully some brightness, but perhaps cloud thick enough to bring rain into the midlands in the afternoon. top temperatures, 7—9, so cooler than today. high pressure is going to be keeping our weather settled as we look into the foreseeable future. the weather front is the last one we will see for some time. if you are a regular viewer, you will get bored of the higher pressure charts. thursday, high—pressure stored in the west to the atlantic, a fine day in the main, but cloud around on thursday, hopefully bright spells as well with easterly wind starting to nag to the south of the british isles. four in norwich, it will feel considerably colder, and that is a taste of things to come. the area of high pressure will not do to keep it settled, it will build and build three friday, saturday and sunday,

moving up to scandinavia, follow the isobars back as a pipeline to show you where the air coming our way will come from. it start in siberia. that cold air will drift across to the british isles. monday and tuesday next week, it will feel raw with a biting wind. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. 0xfa m oxfam has revealed around 7000 people have stopped donating money following revelations that some staff used prostitutes in haiti. the un says six hospitals in a rebel—held enclave near damascus have been deliberately targeted by syrian government forces. after months of wrangling — mps have released a report by the financial regulator — which said a unit of rbs mistreated

thousands of small firms. the brexit secretary david davis has told business leaders in vienna that the uk doesn't want to undermine its neighbours after it leaves the eu.