and feeling chilly where you degrees and feeling chilly where you stick with the cloud all day long. tuesday, another cloudy day, rain in the north on wednesday, milder by this stage. this is bbc news with the latest headlines... the former conservative minister nusrat ghani says she was sacked from herjob because of her muslim faith. the government chief whip says that's false. the justice secretary says a formal complaint is needed to trigger an inquiry. it can only happen if the person making the complaint makes it formally — that's when the procedures kick in. and just to be clear about this, that advice was given to nus back in 2020. since then, nusrat ghani has said she asked the prime minister in 2020 to launch a government inquiry, but he told her to use the internal conservative party complaint process, which which she thought was not appropriate. the government says russia will face

severe economic sanctions if it installs a puppet regime in ukraine. a british man has died in thailand — reports say he was attacked with a knife in kanchanaburi, west of bangkok. new zealand's prime ministerjacinda ardern is postponing her own wedding, after placing the country on the highest level of covid—19 restrictions. hello, good afternoon. welcome to bbc news. the conservative mp nus ghani, who was sacked as transport minister two years ago, says she was told that her muslim faith was one of the reasons for her dismissal. nus ghani has told the sunday times that the issue

was raised as an issue. the conservative chief whip mark spencer says she had been speaking to him, and he called her allegations "completely false". downing street has said the prime minister had also spoken to her and invited her to make a complaint, but she did not do so. in the last few minutes, she has issued a statement. "when i told the prime minister injune 2020 what had been said to me in the government whips�* office, i urged him to take it seriously as a government matter and instigate an inquiry. he wrote to me that he could not get involved and suggested i use the internal conservative party complaint process. this, as i had already pointed out, was very clearly not appropriate for something that happened on government business — i do not even know if the words that were conveyed to me about what was said in reshuffle meetings at downing street were by members of the conservative party. not a day has gone by without thinking about what i was told and wondering why i was in politics, while hoping for the government to take this seriously. those that have not had their identity and faith questioned cannot fully appreciate what it does to you. now is not the time i would have

chosen for this to come out and i have pursued every avenue and process i thought available to me, but many people have known what happened. in my statement yesterday i was careful not to mention any names or implicate the prime minister. all i have ever wanted was for his government to take this seriously, investigate properly and ensure no other colleague has to endure this." that's what ms ghani had to say. earlier, the deputy prime minister, dominic raab, had said if the allegation that a minister's muslim faith was a factor in herfiring, it should be properly investigated, if she makes a formal complaint. i believe a claim like this, serious as this, can only happen if the person making the complaint makes it formally and that is when procedures kick in and, just became about this, that advice was given ti nus back in 2020. to nus back in 2020.

we've also heard from a downing street spokesperson who's said, "after being made aware of these extremely serious claims, the prime minister met with nusrat ghani to discuss them. he then wrote to her expressing his serious concern and inviting her to begin a formal complaint process. she did not subsequently do so". joining me now is mo hussein, former conservative special adviser and downing street chief press officer under david cameron. i have to say, you wouldn't have particularly welcomed these headlines in the sunday newspaper when you are doing the job. what do you make of the allegation and the way the government has responded? it is really disturbing, the allegation, and the response i have to say is quite disappointing. it is something that needs to be looked at very seriously and very quickly because it is not acceptable. i worked with nus in the home office. she's a very capable mp and minister, and if she's raising these concerns rather than getting caught

in process and procedure, itjust needs to be dealt with and dealt with quickly. needs to be dealt with and dealt with quickly-— with quickly. there is at least a difference _ with quickly. there is at least a difference of _ with quickly. there is at least a difference of view _ with quickly. there is at least a difference of view over - with quickly. there is at least a difference of view over this - difference of view over this question of an investigation. the statement from downing street said the prime minister encouraged her to initiate a formal investigation. dominic raab said she was invited to do so and nothing can be done until she begins the process. she is saying, hang on a minute, they told me i can initiate a conservative party process but i thought this was a government matter, not a party one. does that make sense to you? yes, the government is separate to the conservative party and will have its own rules and ways of dealing things. if we are talking about a reshuffle and who is in and who is out, that is decided by number ten and ultimately the prime minister, not really by the conservative party. it feels this should have been looked at by the government,

not existing party processes and mechanisms. but also this goes back to, you can keep on talking about process and procedure but you have to read the room. she has made her allegations, they are in the public domain. howeverwe allegations, they are in the public domain. however we get to the outcome, the outcome is what matters. people who experience discrimination or racism don't really need a report to tell them what they have gone through, they need a change in behaviour and action to be taken.— action to be taken. what's also interesting _ action to be taken. what's also interesting is _ action to be taken. what's also interesting is that _ action to be taken. what's also interesting is that she - action to be taken. what's also interesting is that she has - action to be taken. what's also - interesting is that she has received some fairly kind of weighty backing, hasn't she? notjust nadhim zahawi, the education secretary, but also sajid javid, the health secretary, and he is also interesting because he himself has called for an inquiry into allegations and examples of what is islamophobia. either hostility or at least a kind of reluctance to engage with muslim

conservative members. yes. reluctance to engage with muslim conservative members. yes, sa'id javid, the health d conservative members. yes, sa'id javid, the health secretary, i conservative members. yes, sa'id javid, the health secretary, didi javid, the health secretary, did call for this a few years ago. it is interesting the backing he has given her, also penny mordaunt, also the education secretary as well. i think this points to the fact the cabinet is in disarray with everything else taking up time and everything else going on. it is a very febrile atmosphere. i think a lot of people will remember when nus became the first female muslim minister to ever address the house of commons from the dispatch box and it was a real moment of pride for me, and should be a moment of pride for the conservative party. even now, we have one of the most diverse cabinets in our country's history which is a good thing, but this can be easily undone if allegations like this are seen to be dismissed or ignored, or people are hiding behind

process. ignored, or people are hiding behind rocess. , ., process. there will be those who say nothin: in process. there will be those who say nothing in politics _ process. there will be those who say nothing in politics is _ process. there will be those who say nothing in politics is coincidental - nothing in politics is coincidental oran nothing in politics is coincidental or an accident, that there is timing on this. these allegations are sincere and clearly this hasn't been made up, she clearly raised it, the government acknowledges she raised it at the time. mike spencer says he didn't use these words and he saying it is defamatory, and she has clearly raised in a previous form whether it is anything to do with mark spencer or someone else. but she is making it public now, and we are in the middle of one of the most dangerous times for the prime minister's leadership. and she is one of those who backed jeremy hunt against him in a conservative leadership contest. there will be those who are saying this is being used to blacken the reputation of the government politically and to damage borisjohnson. the government politically and to damage boris johnson.— the government politically and to damage boris johnson. there will be eo - le who damage boris johnson. there will be peeple who think— damage boris johnson. there will be people who think and _ damage boris johnson. there will be people who think and say _ damage boris johnson. there will be people who think and say that. - damage boris johnson. there will be people who think and say that. i - people who think and say that. i think they need to slightly look beyond these kind of conspiracy

theories and look at the issues she's raising, which are very serious. it can't be easy for her. it is not easy when you are experiencing this kind of discrimination. and yes the government has a lot of other challenges right now. it may well add to that and add to trying to fight on many fronts, but i think again, getting beyond that, getting back to the issues that are being raised where she has tried to raise them before and they haven't been dealt with adequately, now it is out there, it does need to be dealt with. ~ ., there, it does need to be dealt with. a, , , there, it does need to be dealt with. a, ,, ., ~ there, it does need to be dealt with. ,, ., ~ ,, , with. mo hussein, thank you very much. with. mo hussein, thank you very much- good _ with. mo hussein, thank you very much. good to _ with. mo hussein, thank you very much. good to speak— with. mo hussein, thank you very much. good to speak to - with. mo hussein, thank you very much. good to speak to you. - with. mo hussein, thank you very i much. good to speak to you. thanks for your time. the government has said it has intelligence that there's a plot by russia to install a pro—moscow leader in ukraine and fears there's a "very significant" risk that russian forces will invade the country. around 100,000 russian troops have been moved to ukraine's border. moscow has accused the uk of spreading disinformation. our diplomatic correspondent

paul adams reports. american weapons arriving in ukraine — 90 tonnes of what washington calls lethal aid. others including britain also sending supplies. hardly enough to defeat an invading russian army, but the message to moscow is clear. "if you do this, it will come at a price." but now the foreign office says it's seeing signs of a russian plan to install a puppet government in kyiv after an invasion. washington made similar claims on thursday. pro—russian politicians, they say, in contact with russian intelligence officers involved in planning an attack. it's totally unacceptable, contrary to international law. the international community as a whole needs to step up to the plate. so one of the things you're seeing, and the foreign secretary, i think, is doing a very good job of this, is making it clear what's at stake, so other countries come and support. the reality is... but is that what you are expecting to happen? an invasion? i think there's a very significant risk of it. the foreign office says this man, former mp yevhen murayev,

is being considered as a future leader by the kremlin. he's denied it. four others named are thought to be in moscow. it's not clear what, if any, role they could realistically play. the foreign office has released very few details. the kremlin says it's all propaganda. but russia's build—up goes on. fighterjets now flying to locations in belarus, north of ukraine. moscow says they'll be carrying outjoint drills. but diplomacy also continues. friday's meeting in geneva settled nothing, but the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has promised a written reply within days to russia's expansive demands. further talks could follow. british ministers are expected to travel to european capitals in the coming days. the defence secretary, ben wallace, likely to visit moscow. downing street says it plans to ramp up pressure on russia. sanctions being discussed among allies, the government says, would pierce the heart of the russian economy. paul adams, bbc news.

earlier i spoke to our reporter in moscow, andrei goryanov, who told me what the reaction in moscow has been to the uk government's comments. the russian foreign ministry firmly denies those allegations of planning to install the pro—russian leaders, and these british allegations are seen by moscow as evidence that nato, not russia, is escalating tensions, actually. but also you have to know that all these four men named in the foreign office statement actually... ..are old—fashioned politicians, lost their influence in ukraine since the revolution in 2014, the so—called revolution happened,

and probably you would not be able to find a significant supporter of those two figures in ukraine at the moment. i was struck by something that one of the ukraine foreign presidential advisers said. mr podolyak said this man was regarded as too ridiculous a figure to be a likely puppet leader. nonetheless he said we should take the allegations seriously. are the russians saying this is a bit of false information, a bit of a tactic designed to create a bit of a flurry? in other words it's using the tactics moscow is often used of accusing back at them. you're absolutely right, but in a way one could say that, would that be in the moscow interest? one could say yes.

is kremlin looking forfriends in ukraine? of course they are. are there significant allies in ukraine and moscow? probably less and less as time goes by. so it's been, what, seven or eight years since the revolution happened and ukraine is going away from russia, that's for sure. there's been no attempt to... i mean, i'm interested on your thoughts on this, the former president, president yanukovych, who fled ukraine and was regarded as probably ukraine's last reliably pro—moscow leader, he is in or has been in russia. is there been any attempt to put him on television screens to talk about ukraine? because we're obviously talking about it all the time in britain and other western european countries — never mind ukraine themselves — but i have heard a lot of coverage from your colleagues in bbc moscow saying actually ukraine doesn't feature that much

on television screens in russia at the moment. well, mr yanukovych himself lives a peaceful life in the south of russia on the border with ukraine. he doesn't appear much on television, neither in russia or ukraine. i wouldn't say he's trying to get back to politics in any way. the only time we see him on a television screen is when actually he is to go in a trial, in a court case. that's the only times, actually. a 16—year—old fatally stabbed last night in the stretford area of manchester has been named as kennie carter. four teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder — all boys aged between 15 and 17 years old. a crime scene is in place at the scene and also at nearby trafford park train station. our reporter phil cunliffe reports from the scene. greater manchester police are calling this a fast—paced investigation led by its major

incident team. four teenage boys aged between 15 and 17 have been detained on suspicion of murder. it comes after three warrants were issued last night in the stretford, old trafford and hulme districts of the city. it's a very large crime area. as you can see, this cordon stretches all the way down thirlmere avenue and into the neighbouring street, coniston road. it was here on thirlmere avenue around about seven o'clock last night that officers were called to reports that a teenage boy had been severely injured and had been stabbed. the boy was treated at the scene but taken to hospital, where sadly he died a short while laterfrom his injuries. the 16—year—old boy's family are being supported by specially trained officers. police say that investigations are continuing. more details are expected later about what's happened here in stratford. phil cunliffe, bbc news. a british man has died in thailand. there are reports that he was attacked with a knife in kanchanaburi, west of bangkok. the foreign office said a second british man had

been taken to hospital. matt graveling gave me an update. this is in a tourist area of thailand called kanchanaburi and both men had lived there for a number of years. during the fight, marcus evans, who's 49 from weston—super—mare, was tragically killed. and shaun dagnan, 55 years old from nuneaton, was taken to hospital. i have been speaking to shaun's partner, who is still out in thailand today, she said obviously she is very shaken up. shaun is still in hospital, he's recovering well but he has a big wound on his head. police, who are investigating the scene over the last few days, say they found a sickle which they believe was involved in the attack. a 22—year—old thai man with a history of mental illness was arrested on suspicion of murder at the scene. i have been speaking to the foreign office and they told us they are in contact with the royal thai police following the death of one british

man and the hospitalisation of another in thailand, and are ready to provide consulate support. sport and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre. a busy day in the premier league — with games affecting the top and bottom of the table — three of the four matches are into the second half. after leaders manchester city dropped points yesterday, liverpool can make up some ground with a win at crystal palace and it looks as though they are going to do that. virgil van dijk and alex oxlade chamberlain with first half goals. arsenal can move into the top four if they beat bottom side burnley.

and leicester and brighton meet in a mid—table battle. big game injust over an hour — chelsea against tottenham for the third time in a month. cheslea won home and away in the league cup semifinal but spurs are unbeaten in the league under antonio conte. we are talking about a really good team and i don't know if this is the right moment. we have our problems, many injuries. in the last two games. we have to try to learn something about the past and to try to improve and try to give our best. chelsea women could have moved to a point behind wsl leaders arsenal, but were held to a goalless draw at brighton. striker fran kirby had the best chance of the match late in the second half, but couldn't get past brighton keeper megan walsh, who had a really good game. brighton had lost the previous four league games, chance missed by chelsea.

there's a full programme in the wsl with all 12 teams in action. manchester united have moved above chelsea into second after a 3—0 win over tottenham. aston villa winning at the moment. birmingham and reading are level, as are west ham and everton. arsenal face manchester city later, hoping to move four points clear again. the quarterfinal line up at the australian open is beginning to take shape. ash barty, the world number one, is carrying a lot of expectation in the women's draw as she looks to become the first home champion in melbourne in 44 years. she's looking very strong in the tournament so far — earlier she beat the woman who knocked out naomi osaka, the american amanda anisimova, 6—4, 6—3, to reach the last eight. barty still hasn't dropped a set in melbourne. next up, jessica pegula, who's also from the us, in the quarter—finals. rafael nadal is also through to the quarter—finals. he won in straight sets against adrian mannarino but had to endure an epic 28—minute first—set tie break, the longest in his career.

he clinched that 16—14. next up for him is the canadian denis shapovalov who stunned the third seed alexander zverev. if he is able to keep improving, he will be a multi—grand slam winner. he has a lot of amazing things in his game and... and his results say that. when he is playing well, it is very difficult to stop him. in rugby, it's all eyes on the european champions cup as teams look to move into the last 16 stage. sale have qualified, they've just beaten ospreys 49—10. sale suffered a narrow defeat to clermont last week which put their qualification hopes on hold, but made no mistake today. this is the best try of the match. also the final one by jack metcalfe. ospreys remain bottom of pool a with no match points.

elsewhere, stade francis beat connacht, who were already through. wasps isjust getting under way — big match for the away side, who need a win to make it through. 47 year old sebastien loeb has become the oldest winner of a wrc rally with a record equalling eighth victory in monte carlo. the nine—time world champion was a guest driver for ford in the sport's highest profile event. he held off sebastien ogier to match his fellow frenchman's monte carlo record and claim his and ford's first win since 2018. there's been more frustration for england's women cricketers overnight. their third t20 ashes match against australia in adelaide was abandoned without a ball being bowled. the second match yesterday was also a wash—out. the points are shared again. australia lead the multi—format series 4—2, and will retain the ashes if they win the one—off test that starts this week. in golf, belgian thomas pieters won

the abu dhabi hsbc championship afterfinishing on ten under par for the tournament. scotland's scottjamieson had held a one—shot lead but had a terrible final round, five over on the day, leaving him six under parfor the tournament. pieters finished level par for the day, but that was still good enough for the trophy. that's all the sport for now. still no more goals going on in the premier league, so liverpool and leicester leading at the moment. i will have an update within the hour. thank you, and we will have an update to see if you are in good spirits at 6.30. heavy fighting is taking place in north—eastern syria between islamic state militants and kurdish forces backed by us airstrikes. the fighting began on thursday when the extremists attacked

a prison in the city of hasaka and attempted to free thousands of is prisoners, including leaders of the extremist group. mark lobel reports. scenes syrians never wanted to see again. they chant: allahu akbar! jihadists attacking a prison containing thousands of militants. there was a swift and determined fightback by kurdish—led forces, guarding the area. taking on islamic state fighters in one of the group's biggest operations since their self—declared caliphate was defeated almost three years ago. from above, us—led coalition aircraft supported the syrian defence forces. many prisoners were recaptured. with troops in pursuit of other fugitives that had fled to surrounding houses. families moved to safety in fear of their lives. translation: there's been shelling and killing since yesterday. - the jihadists killed four or five people in our. neighbourhood, liquidated them.

while this was playing out, across the border in iraq, is claimed responsibility for an ambush on a military post in which 11 soldiers were killed. in syria, it's claimed the prison is largely under control. however, is claim they're holding hostages. the kurdish authorities had long warned that they did not have the capacity to hold, let alone put on trial, many of the suspected fighters under their watch. there's also a concern over whether this much—feared jihadist group is ramping up once again. mark lobel, bbc news. police in the us city of atlanta say they're following up on a number of leads after the killing of the british scientist matthew willson. mr willson had only arrived two days earlier to visit his girlfriend when he was hit by a stray bullet while lying in bed, after a number of shots were fired nearby. vincent mcaviney reports.

the final photo of matthew willson taken on the second day of a visit to his girlfriend katherine sheppard in atlanta, just hours before his life was taken away. at around 2am last sunday, the couple awoke in this bed to gunshots being fired nearby. in what police are calling a random and senseless act, one of the bullets penetrated the exterior wall of the room, hitting matthew. as he lay dying in katherine's arms, her flatmate dialled 911. after the third orfourth round, ijust remember katherine sheppard screaming that matt had been shot, and when i walked over to the... ran over to the room, i saw he was laying on the bed, with a wound on his head, and just we called 911 instantly and we were trying our best to stop the wound. matthew, from chertsey in surrey, was a former phd student at the university of exeter, now working remotely

as a postdoctoral researcher for the university of liege in belgium. in a statement, the foreign office has confirmed they're in contact with us authorities and are supporting matthew's family, who've described him as a wise and joyful person. "such a beautiful soul." i mean, we are graduate students. we don't have a tonne of money, or at least that we get paid, but we were trying. we were on a budget, but we were trying to stay in the safest neighbourhoods. and so brookhaven is one of the atlanta suburbs and is considered a safe area. and so this apartment was picked, and i — me and katherine moved in in august last year, and we heard shots back in october, and we had to call the cops saying that we heard some gunshots. but again, there were justjust a few shots, didn't go past a couple of minutes, and then another time in november. and then we heard this time. but this time, the unusual part was it

wasn't just a few shots or a few minutes. it kept going on for 20, 30 minutes until one of those stray bullets hit matthew. police in the us are offering a reward for information. no arrests have been made, but officers say they are determined to put those responsible behind bars. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. riot police in belgium have been using water cannon and tear gas to try to disperse a group of protesters in brussels after a demonstration against coronavirus restrictions turned violent. officers had been pelted with rocks and pieces of pavement. the entrance to the offices of the european union's diplomatic service was damaged. earlier, a much larger crowd had marched peacefully, holding placards condemning what they called vaccine dictatorship. the first minister of wales, mark drakeford, says he wouldn't rule out recruiting nhs workers from england who leave theirjobs due to its mandatory vaccination policy. vaccines are not compulsory for nhs staff in wales. speaking to radio 4's broadcasting house programme, mr drakeford said a "vast majority" of care sector staff had also taken

the "protections that vaccination offers". we're not going to make vaccinations mandatory in our nhs, we haven't in our social care services, because we have succeeded by persuasion in getting the vast majority of people who work in our services to do the right thing and to take up the protections that vaccination offers. so will you recruit actively in england? no, i don't expect us to go looking for people who haven't been vaccinated. no. but if people apply, then they will be interviewed _ in the normal way. we'd look to see what lay behind their decision. we wouldn't rule them out, but we certainly wouldn't be going out there looking for them. the first minister of wales talking about the consequences of mandatory vaccination. and new zealand's prime

minister has cancelled her wedding after announcing new covid—19 restrictions there. jacinda ardern says the entire country will be placed under the highest level of virus restrictions after an outbreak of nine cases of omicron. gatherings will be limited to 100 fully vaccinated people at events from midnight tonight. as a result, ms ardern's own wedding won't be going ahead. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello there. a few of us got to see a better brightness today but for many more it stay predominantly cloudy. you can see the extent of the cloud, some of the best of the sunshine was found across eastern scotland, a few breaks across south—west england but as we go through tonight most places will be cloudy. if the sky is clear for any length of time that could allow temperatures to drop low enough for a touch of frost. the could be fog patches around by morning. also by the morning we will see outbreaks of rain pushing on across the north—west of scotland. this band of rain will sink further

southwards during the day. it is a