tonight at ten — an official investigation has now been launched into the funding of renovation work on boris johnson's flat. there are grounds to suspect an offence may have happened, according to the electoral commission, and labour stepped up its attack. what do we get from this prime minister and this conservative government? dodgy contracts, jobs for their mates and cash for access, and who's at the heart of it? the prime minister, major sleaze sitting there. week after week, the people of this country can see the difference between a labour party that twists and turns with the wind, that thinks of nothing except playing political games, whereas this party gets on with delivering on the people's priorities. we'll be asking what the involvement of the electoral commission could mean for the prime minister. also tonight...

arlene foster is to step down as leader of the democratic unionists and as northern ireland's first minister, after dozens of colleagues said they'd lost confidence in her leadership. the pandemic in india — hospitals overwhelmed, record infections and soaring death rates. we report on the fight against the new surge. a new study finds thatjust one dose of a covid vaccine cuts the risk of transmission by up to 50%. and an excellent night in paris puts manchester city within sight of the champions league final. and coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel, lions coach warren gatland admits it's a big blow losing george north to a knee injury ahead of their upcoming tour to south africa. good evening. there's to be an official

investigation into the funding of renovation work on borisjohnson�*s flat above number ten downing street. a formal inquiry will be carried out by the electoral commission, which says there's reason to believe the rules may not have been followed. mrjohnson has again insisted that he paid for the work himself, and has complied with the codes of conduct. labour's leader sir keir starmer said the inquiry showed how serious this matter had now become, and he accused mrjohnson of leading a government mired in sleaze. our political editor laura kuenssberg has more details. there's no place like home. are you worried about the investigation, prime minister? and there's been no fix quite like this for borisjohnson before. who coughed up for the flat, sir? his flat had an expensive makeover. he won't say who first paid — a mystery that's now subject to a serious investigation. but the electoral commission today said...

with claims that tory donors might have picked up the tab, there's suspicion the rules were broken. "initially" is the key word here. who initially paid for the redecoration of his downing street flat? he should know that i paid for downing street refurbishment personally, mr speaker. any further declaration that i have to make, if any, i will be advised upon by lord geidt — lord geidt used to work for the queen, and he will now watch over ministers�* behaviour — but remember, the question isn't who stumped up in the end, it's who paid borisjohnson�*s bills at the start. what do we get from this prime minister and this conservative government? dodgy contracts, jobs for their mates and cash for access, and who's at the heart of it? the prime minister, major sleaze, sitting there. don't the british people deserve a prime minister they can trust and a government that isn't mired in sleaze, cronyism and scandal?

week after week, the people of the country can see the difference between a labour party that twists and turns with the wind, that thinks of nothing except playing political games, whereas this party gets on with delivering on the people's priorities! this isn't about spending cash on cushions or curtains, it's about where the money came from to do so at the start. all politicians have to declare any money or loans they receive, so that we can all be absolutely sure precisely what's going on. the prime minister appears to be feeling the heat now on several fronts. angry denials down there were the order of the day. did the prime minister rage he'd rather see bodies pile up than lock down again, as several sources familiar with the exchanges have told the bbc and other news organisations? can the prime minister tell the house categorically, yes or no, did he make those remarks or remarks to that effect?

no, mr speaker, and i think that, if he's going to repeat allegations like that, he should come to this house and substantiate those allegations. parliamentary rules stop me - from saying that the prime minister has repeatedly lied to the public over the last week, _ but can i ask a question? are you a liar, prime minister? i didn't say those words. what i do believe is that a lockdown is a miserable, miserable thing, and i did everything i could to try and protect the british public throughout the pandemic, to protect them from lockdowns, but also to protect them from disease. yet the prime minister's opponents are trying to peck away at boris johnson's integrity and, at the very least, unanswered questions are a big distraction. if a serving government minister is found to have broken the rules on party funding or even law, should they resign? given that this is a coronavirus press conference, you won't be surprised that i'm not going to add to the answers the prime minister's already given to very extensive

questioning, thanks. but avoiding questions doesn't make them disappear. there are multiple inquiries now into exactly what happened. political reputations must be tended to with care. laura joins us from westminster. what is the potential danger to the prime minister from this latest inquiry? prime minister from this latest inuui ? ., ., ., . inquiry? today's announcement certainly puts — inquiry? today's announcement certainly puts this _ inquiry? today's announcement certainly puts this saga - inquiry? today's announcement certainly puts this saga into - inquiry? today's announcement certainly puts this saga into a l certainly puts this saga into a different league. whether or not you're watching tonight and you are interested in expensive furniture in downing street, whether or not you're watching tonight and thinking you're watching tonight and thinking you have no interest in the interior design and travails of everything that has happened in the downing street flat, the fact is that an independent organisation, the electoral commission, which has legal powers, has taken a first look and has concluded that there are enough doubts and enough unanswered

questions that what has been going on here does merit a formal investigation. the prime minister has been clear that in his view, nothing has gone wrong, no rules have been broken and there are several enquiries now looking into what has been a mystery in terms of who picked up the initial bill. but this matters because in this country, there are strict rules about how politicians are meant to approach any money, loans or financial donations they are given, and there are strict guidelines and there can be consequences when ministers don't follow them. but for those ministers and conservatives who in the last few days have tried to shrug this off as just being tittle—tattle or have tried to suggest that the public somehow isn't interested in this at all, the fact that there is now a formal investigation like this does change that. and for as long as there are questions that haven't been answered by the prime minister, questions will still hang over him about

exactly what went on.- exactly what went on. laura kuenssberg. _ exactly what went on. laura kuenssberg, with _ exactly what went on. laura kuenssberg, with the - exactly what went on. laura kuenssberg, with the latest| exactly what went on. laura - kuenssberg, with the latest analysis in westminster. in northern ireland, arlene foster has resigned as the leader of the democratic unionist party, and as first minister. more than 20 dup assembly members at stormont and four mps at westminster signed a letter saying they have no confidence in her leadership. she became leader of the party in december 2015, and was the first woman and the youngest person to hold bothjobs. our ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. a warning, it contains some flash photography. applause. in its 50—year history, arlene foster is only the third leader of the dup. a party known for its hard—line brand of unionism and staunch british identity now at a rare crossroads. a short time ago, i called my party chairman to inform him that i intend to step down as leader of the democratic unionist party. it has been the privilege

of my life to serve the people of northern ireland as their first minister. mrs fosterformed her political ideals growing up during the years of violence in northern ireland. the ira tried to kill her father when she was a child, and a bomb exploded under her school bus in fermanagh in 1988. and i closed my eyes cos ijust didn't know what was going on... as a law student, arlene foster joined the youth wing of the more moderate ulster unionists before defecting to the dup. i believe that the democratic unionist party is now the mainstream unionist party in northern ireland. she rose quickly through its ranks, becoming one of the party's most popular and unwavering politicians... when you think about bullying me, think again. ..before replacing peter robinson to become first minister in 2016.

chanting. it meant working alongside sinn fein�*s martin mcguinness, the former ira commander who became northern ireland's deputy first minister. until he resigned over the handling of a green energy scheme which wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers' money. tonight, arlene foster's coalition partner at stormont had a message for her successor. it stormont had a message for her successor-— successor. it is about working to . ether successor. it is about working together and _ successor. it is about working together and politics - successor. it is about working | together and politics delivering successor. it is about working - together and politics delivering for everybody. it's about delivering for all citizens who live here. it everybody. it's about delivering for all citizens who live here.— all citizens who live here. it was brexit which _ all citizens who live here. it was brexit which became _ all citizens who live here. it was brexit which became arlene - all citizens who live here. it was - brexit which became arlene foster's biggest nemesis. her profile rose as the dup propped up theresa may's government through the confidence and supply agreement. when boris johnson promised to protect the union, she championed him. he is a

fabulous friend _ union, she championed him. he is a fabulous friend to _ union, she championed him. he is a fabulous friend to the _ union, she championed him. he is a fabulous friend to the union. - union, she championed him. he is a fabulous friend to the union. but. fabulous friend to the union. but when he agreed a brexit deal which separated northern ireland in trading terms from the rest of the uk, it was damaging to the party and arlene foster's leadership. now the anger among loyalist communities over brexit has raised the stakes. there is a sense that unionism in northern ireland is weakened and losing ground to nationalists. now arlene foster is paying the price. emma vardy is at stormont tonight. as you were saying, it's a fragile political situation there, so what are the implications of arlene foster's resignation?- are the implications of arlene foster's resignation? well, any chance foster's resignation? well, any change in _ foster's resignation? well, any change in leadership _ foster's resignation? well, any change in leadership can - foster's resignation? well, any change in leadership can have i foster's resignation? well, any| change in leadership can have a significant effect on the dynamic of the power—sharing relationships here at stormont and for the whole mood towards brexit on the streets. because of not being strong enough in opposing the northern ireland

protocol, those brexit arrangements for northern ireland, is being seen as one of the reasons for arlene foster's downfall, the new party leader could decide to take the party further to the right and dig in even harder against those brexit arrangements, especially in the run—up to the assembly elections next year, when they will have to answer to dup voters on the doorsteps as to why they ended up with the thing they least wanted, a border town the irish sea. but taking that approach, campaigning against the brexit arrangements for northern ireland, also risks angering nationalist parties here, who do want to make the irish sea border arrangements work. and recent history shows us that any increase in divisions in the power—sharing partners here at stormont can eventually potentially affect the overall running of northern ireland altogether. overall running of northern ireland alto . ether. . overall running of northern ireland altoaether. . . , altogether. emma vardy, with the latest thoughts _ altogether. emma vardy, with the latest thoughts at _ altogether. emma vardy, with the latest thoughts at stormont. - in india, the pandemic continues to worsen with more than 200,000

deaths officially confirmed. on average in the past week, more than 340,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported each day — that's an infection rate more than 20 times higher than two months ago. as for deaths, the official count is an average of more than 2,600 people a day over the past week. but for both infections and deaths, the numbers are thought to be a significant underestimate. across the country, hospitals are continuing to struggle with a shortage of oxygen and beds, as our correspondent yogita limaye reports from delhi. her report contains images you may find upsetting. years of training, but nothing could have prepared them for this. this woman, a nurse and the mother of three young children. every few minutes, there's a new patient. oxygen mask!

oxygen cylinder! she's constantly scanning how others are holding up. treating as many as they can. translation: people say, "sister, please save our loved one." - they call us god. that makes us so emotional because we can only do so much. we've been following her all week. it's been relentless. "i tried so hard to revive this man," she told us, "but i couldn't."

with resources so short, they're having to choose who they might save. decisions they should never have had to make. translation: at times, we break down. - some nights i wake up crying, but i also feel a sense of satisfaction that i'm doing something to help. this is a hospital in a big city, better off than most others. weeks of toil lie ahead in a city that's overrun. everything needed to fight covid is in short supply. every morning in india, we're waking up to news that someone we know has died. through the day, there are frantic pleas for oxygen, hospital beds, medicines on the phone, online, even on the streets. and amidst all of that,

we are also seeing people who wake up every morning, put on their protective gear and get down to business trying to help as many people as they can. this man is a volunteer trying to provide oxygen to critical patients. they should be in intensive care. desperation has brought them here. he offers a temporary reprieve, keeping people alive till they get hospital care. "when people's lives hang in the balance, we thought this is one thing we could do to try to save someone," he says. this woman has driven her mother here. "we are getting nothing from the government, no support. they only come to us when they want a vote. now, where are they? she says.

this man collapsed on his way here. the need is just too great. with each cylinder, they're trying to help as many as they can. once stabilised, the hunt begins again. "hundreds of people are coming here each day. if we had help from the government, we could do so much more," he says. ten days since delhi locked down, people wait by the side of a road for oxygen. this is india's capital city. yogita limaye, bbc news, delhi. that was the report that yogita filed a short while ago, but now we canjoin her live in delhi. let's talk about the concept of

accountability for the problems and the tragedy we saw in that report. what is the notion of political accountability? i what is the notion of political accountability?— what is the notion of political accountability? what is the notion of political accountabili ? ~ , ., ., ., accountability? i think you have to look at the — accountability? i think you have to look at the circumstances - accountability? i think you have to | look at the circumstances resulting in india finding itself in this position. in february the ruling party virtually declared victory over the pandemic under the leadership of prime minister narendra modi. in early march when surgeons were being reported from some districts, the indian health minister said the coronavirus pandemic was in its endgame in india. the government allowed mass gatherings for religious festivals and political rallies until as recently as a week ago, and with that messaging from the top, you saw people on the ground becoming complacent, not following covid protocols even though in india we could see the second wave of covid—19 was more deadly in many

parts of the world, basic things like stocking up on oxygen supplies and medicines, ramping up medical facilities, was not done. during the first wave, field hospitals were built, they were actually dismantled. so india finds itself in this position where it is trying to rush oxygen to places where there is a shortage, age is coming in from other parts of the world but this crisis is unfolding on the ground at such rapid speed that this help is not getting to people in time. there are people dying today who could have been saved if they had oxygen or a hospital bed in time. man? or a hospital bed in time. many thanks, yogita _ or a hospital bed in time. many thanks, yogita limaye, - or a hospital bed in time. many thanks, yogita limaye, our- thanks, yogita limaye, our correspondent in delhi. covid cases in india have been rising steeply over the past few weeks, and with the increase has come the inevitable increase in deaths. our science correspondent rebecca morelle has been looking at what's behind the surge, and what it means for

the rest of the world. the death toll keeps on rising, as india struggles to cope with its covid crisis. but how did they get to this point, and are variants behind the surge in cases? since april, india has reported five million covid infections. each day is bringing record numbers. are changes to the virus causing this explosive growth, or people's behaviour? it's always a combination of things. the increase in social mixing that's happened over the last several months, the sort of dropping of the guard of people, thinking that they can go back to being normal, as well as, potentially, the variants that have emerged. so how is the virus mutating and what do we know about the variants? the picture is different in different parts of the country. in delhi and punjab, the uk variant is dominant. it has a mutation to the spike of the virus that allows it to enter cells more easily,

so it can infect more people. but in maharashtra and west bengal, a new indian variant has emerged. it has two key mutations. lab studies suggest it's slightly more infectious, but less so than the uk variant. but the changes may mean that antibodies find it harder to block the virus. but scientists need to assess how much immunity is lost. it probably means the virus is a bit less well able to be neutralised by vaccines, but certainly i don't think there's any evidence that it's an escape mutation or that it fundamentally can't be stopped by the vaccines. and i think we have to obviously watch carefully but there is at present no reason to panic about it. so, is this only affecting india? what does it mean for the rest of the world? the priority now is to get medical care to the sickest, but there is also an urgent need to reduce transmission, because if the virus is out of control in one country, it's likely to spread to others. and these are ideal conditions

for the virus to evolve. the way to limit viral variants emerging in the first place i is to prevent the virus replicating in us. - that's when they get the chance for the mutation to arise. - so the best way to control variants is actually to control the global- amount of disease that we have at the moment. _ globally, the pandemic shows no sign of easing. the world health organization says vaccines are vital, but until they are available everywhere, this is a bleak reminder that no—one is safe until we're all safe. rebecca morelle, bbc news. the latest government figures on coronavirus show 2,166 new infections in the latest 24—hour period, which means an average of 2,299 new cases per day in the last week. and there are 1,634 people in hospital with coronavirus — the number continues to fall. 29 deaths were recorded in the last

2a hours of people who'd had a positive covid—19 test within the previous 28 days. the average number of deaths per day in the past week is 22. the total number of uk deaths is now 127,480. onto vaccinations, and a total of nearly 34 million people have now had theirfirstjab. the overall number who've had their second jab is now over 13.5 million. the united kingdom has purchased another 60 million doses of the pfizer vaccine to support a booster vaccination programme which will begin in the autumn. ministers will prioritise the most vulnerable people for the extra jabs, to try to ensure they're protected through the winter. our medical editor fergus walsh reports. every day, with every vaccine, our defences against coronavirus get stronger.

just one dose of either pfizer biontech or oxford astrazeneca not only gives substantial protection against severe covid, but for those who do still get infected, it cuts their chances of passing on the virus by up to half. what this means is, the evidence is stacking up that the vaccine protects you, it protects your loved ones, and it is the way out of this pandemic. the route out of lockdown looks increasingly clear, as cases, hospitalisations and deaths all remain low. the number of covid patients in hospital in the uk has fallen by 96% since the peak injanuary, and is continuing to decline. at the same time, nearly seven in ten adults in england, slightly lower elsewhere in the uk, now have antibodies and therefore some immunity to coronavirus, either from past infection or vaccination.

it's highest among those aged 70—74, where 87% have antibodies. most of them are fully immunised. but nearly 20 million adults still haven't had a dose of covid vaccine. ministers and leading scientists are still urging a cautious approach to lifting restrictions. if we all go completely wild and just ignore everything that we've learnt over this last year in terms of social restrictions, there will be another wave, and that wave will be much larger. the government is buying a further 60 million doses of the pfizer vaccine, which should be available from this autumn as third booster shots. as for this summer, the nhs app might be used to show evidence of vaccination or a recent negative virus test for those wanting a foreign holiday.

spain will shortly begin testing digital vaccine certificates, but the rules here banning foreign travel will remain in place until at least 17th may. fergus walsh, bbc news. the us presidentjoe biden is preparing to mark 100 days in office with his first speech to a joint session of congress in the next few hours. he's expected to call for major changes to the benefits system, paid for partly by reversing donald trump's tax cuts on the wealthiest americans. our north america editorjon sopel is at the white house. almost 100 days of the biden presidency now, has this been what we expected? i think we expected it to be harmer,

we expected not to get the daily fireworks that we had in the translation: era -- i think fireworks that we had in the translation: era —— i think we expected it to be calmer. translation: era -- i think we expected it to be calmer. because it is an exciting _ expected it to be calmer. because it is an exciting does _ expected it to be calmer. because it is an exciting does not _ expected it to be calmer. because it is an exciting does not make - expected it to be calmer. because it is an exciting does not make it - expected it to be calmer. because it is an exciting does not make it an i is an exciting does not make it an interestingly —— does not make it uninteresting. joe biden would like to be transformational, adopting european style social welfare policies not seen in america for many decades. the sums of money he is talking about spending our iborra to ring, chileans, it starts to add up to ring, chileans, it starts to add up as serious money. and all of that against the backdrop of the coronavirus outbreak which he is using as a pretext to rewrite economic rules that have guided britain and america for years. some people would say it is expensive and controversial and thatjoe biden is an old man in a hurry. studio: thank

you, jon sopel. rudy giuliani, the personal lawyer to former president donald trump, has had his manhattan home searched by federal investigators. the raid was ordered as part of a probe into mr giuliani's dealings with ukraine, officials say. federal prosecutors have been investigating mr giuliani's role in attempting to sway ukrainian officials to dig up political dirt onjoe biden. two metropolitan police officers have been charged over photographs allegedly taken at a crime scene where two sisters were stabbed to death. the photographs relate to the deaths of bibaa henry and nicole smallman, who were found in wembley, lastjune. pc deninaffer and pcjamie lewis have each been charged with misconduct in a public office, and they will appear in court on the 27th may. nestle has announced plans to close its factory in newcastle—upon—tyne, with the loss of 475jobs. the plant in fawdon, which makes more than a dozen products including fruit pastilles and rolos, is expected

to shut by the end of 2023. almost 100 otherjobs will be cut at a second factory in york. a murder investigation has been launched into the death of a police community support officer in kent. the body ofjulia james, who was 53, was found in woodland near dover yesterday. detectives say her death is being treated as suspicious, but no arrests have been made. new details have emerged of the impact of the government's decision to cut the uk's overseas aid budget. a leaked ministerial briefing paper shows that most of the funding set aside for water and sanitation projects is being withdrawn. our diplomatic correspondent james landale is here with more details. james? huw, the government announced last november it was going to cut about £4 billion from the foreign aid budget, but it refused to say where the axe would fall. details, though, are now beginning to emerge. a leaked foreign office memo says

there'll be an 80% cut to britain's direct funding for water, sanitation and hygiene projects, right in the middle of a global pandemic. according to the devex development website, there's going to be an even greater cut, 95%, to britain's funding for polio eradication. and at a recent united nations conference, the uk said it would reduce aid for the humanitarian crisis in yemen by more than 50%. now the foreign office says these cuts are "tough but necessary decisions" because of the impact of the pandemic on the economy. and ministers think many voters will agree. they also emphasise that, despite the cuts, britain's still one of the biggest aid donors, with £10 billion remaining in the budget to spend on things like girls�* education and climate change. but charities, mps and peers lined up today to criticise the cuts, accusing ministers of balancing the books on the backs of the world's poorest — while also damaging britain's reputation, prompting fresh talk of a possible legal challenge. so, the political battle continues,

while the impact of the cuts begins to be felt on the ground.