tonight at ten — borisjohnson offers another apology to the public for breaking his own lockdown rules. the prime minister was on his way to parliament to make his first statement to mps since being fined by police. flanked by his chancellor, who's also been fined, mrjohnson was still insisting that he hadn't knowingly broken the law. as soon as i received the notice, i acknowledged the hurt and the anger and i said that people had a right to expect better of their prime minister. what a joke. even now, as the latest mealy—mouthed apology stumbles out

of one side of his mouth, a new set of deflections and distortions pour from the other. we'll have the latest on today's events at westminster. we'll also have more from ukraine — where russian forces are now targeting the east. among the victims of russia's aggression are ukraine's children — we'll have a special report on the families who've suffered terrible loss. the uk economy will be hit harder than most by the effects of the war in ukraine according to the international monetary fund. and in virginia, the actorjohnny depp ex—wife amber heard. and coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel... we'll have all the reaction from the battle of the bitter rivals as liverpool go head—to—head with manchester united at anfield.

good evening. the prime minister's latest attempt to draw a line under the scandal of lockdown gatherings in downing street, has been dismissed by labour as an insult to the public. borisjohnson, speaking in the commons for the first time since being fined by the police, said he apologised profusely for what happened, and insisted he understood the hurt and anger felt by so many people. but the labour leader sir keir starmer said the apology was a joke, he said mrjohnson had lost the trust of voters, and urged him to resign. the prime minister could now face an investigation by a parliamentary committee. our deputy political editor vicki young has the latest. he may want to talk about something else but this isn't over yet. boris johnson's honesty and integrity are being questioned. many of his mps offered support as he made a choreographed commons entrance with his chancellor.

"you're cheering a criminal", shouted labour. i now call the prime minister. all he could do was apologise — again. it did not occur to me then, or subsequently, that a gathering in the cabinet room just before a vital meeting on covid strategy could amount to a breach of the rules. i repeat, that was my mistake. and i apologise for it unreservedly. mrjohnson said last week he had been fined for a gathering with colleagues that had lasted just nine minutes. the labour leader accused him of coming up with insulting and absurd excuses. what a joke. even now, as the latest mealy—mouthed apology stumbles out of one side of his mouth, a new set of deflections and distortions pour from the other. but the damage is already done.

the public have made up their mind. they don't believe a word the prime minister says. the most uncomfortable moment for the prime minister and his chancellor came when sir keir talked about a husband who couldn't be with his wife in hospital. john would have given the world to hold his dying wife's hand, even if it wasjust for nine minutes. but he didn't, because he followed the prime minister's rules. the prime minister continues to apologise for his behaviour but he is effectively downplaying the seriousness of his lawbreaking, saying there are far more important things a prime minister should be concentrating on, but this wall of tributes to those who lost their lives to covid goes some way to explaining why it could be so difficult for him to move the debate on.

lockdown and the harsh restrictions we all lived under for so long won't be easily forgotten. there was plenty of support for mrjohnson today but this conservative mp had heard enough. i'm very sorry to have to say this but i no longer think that he is worthy of the great office that he holds. mps will decide on thursday whether mrjohnson should be investigated by a committee for deliberately misleading parliament. the real question is for tory backbenchers, will they finally grow a spine and remove this person from office, or is the tory strategy to go on about standing behind a prime minister who the public can't trust with the truth? will he at least give conservative mps on thursday a free vote? so they can decide for themselves whether the prime minister deliberately misled parliament or was just so incompetent that he did not even understand his own rules.

scotland yard continues to investigate all this which means mrjohnson and conservative mps can't be sure the trouble is over for the government. the prime minister then made his way to another part of westminster to address his own mps. live to westminster and vicki. what was the message from that meeting and what is your assessment of the prime minister's own standing tonight amongst his own people? be tonight amongst his own people? es: in no tonight amongst his own people? ej: in no doubt about it, that afternoon was incredibly uncomfortable for the prime minister and there are not many who walk into the chamber and your opponents are shouting criminal at you, and you have to sit there for 100 minutes while your honesty and integrity is questioned over and over again but he is coming out fighting over this. he thinks it is an overreaction, quite frankly and he thinks people should get a sense

of perspective. what do tory mps think? they are crucial in this and tonight at the private meeting the prime minister posed them a question saying, who do you want, me or a labour prime minister? and for now tory mps say they are behind him and there was only one mp today who publicly got up and criticised him but don't forget they are a ruthless bunch and as we get closer to elections they will make a constant assessment of how damaged their leader really is. many of them are fearful that if more fines are coming borisjohnson�*s weight he may not be able to explain them away as easily as the last one —— way. vicki young, thanks forjoining us. let's turn to the conflict in ukraine. russian forces have now launched a major offensive in eastern ukraine after redirecting forces from around the capital kyiv. russia claims to have struck more than 1,200 military targets overnight — in a bid to establish full control

over the donetsk and luhansk regions — known collectively as the donbas. in mariupol, a strategic port on the edge of the donbas, separatist fighters backed by russia have been trying to seize an indsutrial complex, but the city's last defenders have been holding out, along with hundreds of civilians. 0ur correspondent catherine byrhanga sent this report from close to the eastern front line. russia unleashed its long anticipated assault on eastern ukraine, thousands of troops backed by heavy weaponry, on the move. it's a campaign to seize the donbas region, an attempt to salvage some kind of victory after significant losses in the north. another stage of this operation is beginning and i'm sure this will be a very important moment of this entire special operation. villages like novoselivka are becoming the new front line of this war.

russian forces have stepped up their bombardment. a small bomb squad has been called in to defuse unexploded munitions. they have to work carefully, but quickly. explosion there are more and more people needing their services. translation: the enemy has started i deploying these munitions in large l numbers and quite a few of them failed to function in certain conditions. from this village we can hear live artillery rounds in the distance, their loud booms. and this community is trying to prepare itself for a full on russian offensive. they're doing their best but this is going to be a difficult, protracted war. mykola ivanovich was home when the explosion started. from a population of 300 people,

there are just a handful left in novoselivka. translation: it happened at night, it started with three _ massive explosions. at 6am i got up to work and i saw people running around. i saw bits of bombs covering farms and i told them not to go there. sometime ago a woman picked one up over there and got killed. there's a devastating cost to russia's invasion. mariupol, in the south, has been razed to the ground. aid agencies say thousands of civilians are trapped here, under siege. a few ukrainian forces refuse to let the city fall, holding out in an iron and steel plant. today, russian specialforces began storming buildings nearby. but a russian victory is far from certain in ukraine. catherine byaruhanga, bbc news.

borisjohnson says the uk will be sending more weapons to ukraine, as the conflict moves into this new phase, with russia targeting the donbas. 0ur security correspondent frank gardner has been looking at how the latest russian offensive might differ from what's been seen so far. this conflict has really now evolved into a war on two fronts. 0n the big strategic front, russia is firing a lot of missiles at targets right across ukraine. even as far west as lviv close to the polish border. it is aiming to hit things like storage depots, training bases, railways. the whole idea is to degrade ukraine's ability to sustain its war effort. most of the fighting on the ground, though, is taking place in the east of the country, the region known as the donbas. and this is where much of ukraine's army is dug in. and it's here that the decisive

battles of this war will be fought, but they could go on a long time. we have not moved into face—to—face confrontation yet and if and when this happens it could go on for a very long time because you have a very well—trained and motivated ukrainian army fighting a very badly trained and unmotivated russian army. but it does have the advantage of numbers so this could go on for months or even years. ukraine forces have both advantages and disadvantages. playing against them is the sheer weight of russian forces ranged against them, particularly artillery. russia relies heavily on artillery strikes to basically batter down enemy positions before rolling in with tanks and infantry but these are experienced ukrainian forces and they are equipped with the very latest state—of—the—art nato supplied missiles, something that really annoys president putin. that supply of missiles and hardware is what ukraine

is depending on to be able to survive these battles. ukraine's morale is remarkably high given the damage their country has suffered. but that is partly due to the charisma of their president, volodymyr zelensky, who has been able to galvanise pretty much the whole country behind him. the big fear in western circles is that if president putin doesn't get his own way here, there is a risk, and the cia has said this, that in desperation he could be tempted to lash out with something like a tactical nuclear warhead, an artillery shell or small missile, that would set off a nuclear explosion. the first time one has been used in anger since 19115. frank gardner reporting there. moscow says this new phase is "a very important moment for this entire special operation". 0ur correspondentjenny hill is in moscow tonight. what are russians being told tonight?

they being told tonight? have been told that the operation they have been told that the operation to liberate the donbas region, as the kremlin puts it, is under way, the propaganda machine has intensified its efforts in recent days, amplifying putin's narrative that russia is the victim, defending itself against an aggressive ukraine and a belligerent west, so for example we have seen repeated accusations of ukrainian strikes on russian territory and we have seen moscow accused the west of seeking to prolong the conflict for as long as it possibly can and as the state television, last night one contributor suggested that the uk was looking for an excuse to wipe out russian people in a nuclear strike. none of this is happening by accident, this is vladimir putin trying to rally the russian people to reinvigorate public support and of course there is substantial public support for his operation and

also he is trying to prepare people for the possibility that his mission in ukraine might take a bit longer and that victory may not be so easily won. don't forget that for vladimir putin this was never simply about ukraine and it was about challenging the west and its security architecture and when you look at everything that has been said here you come back to two open questions, what will vladimir putin do next if his troops are able to take the donbas region, and what will he do if they can't? jenny hill, thanks forjoining us. the invasion by russia has had a devastating impact on ukraine's children — more than 200 have been killed since the conflict began, according to the authorities. and the un says as many as two—thirds of all children in ukraine have been forced to leave their homes because of the fighting. 0ur correspondent yogita limaye has been talking to families caught up in the conflict.

the worst moment of a parent's life. a father's final conversation with his boy. a community scattered by war, together in grief, to honour the life of a child they loved. this is elisei ryabukon�*s grandmother. he was 13. a month ago, he was killed in firing by russian soldiers, as his family tried to leave their village. remembered as a humble, helpful boy, who didn't like to fight. and who refused to play aggressive sport. one last time, his mother inna tended to her son before they took him away.

in moments like these, the senselessness of war is so plain to see. translation: | want i the world to know about the crimes of russia. i want every victim to be counted. russian soldiers had allowed us to leave. they even waved us goodbye. then when we were crossing the field, they started firing at us from every direction. elisei is among 200 children known to have been killed in ukraine, so far. hundreds more have been injured. six—year—old danyil was outside his home in a residential neighbourhood which was shelled. his parents also suffered multiple injuries. to save his mother's leg, his father used the strap of a bag as a tourniquet.

danyil told his parents he was all right. but when he tried to stand up, they saw shrapnel wounds and blood all over his body. doctors don't know when danyil will be able to walk, his father 0leksandr tells us. translation: he has told nurses all about how we i were covered in blood. he remembers everything and he blames himself. right before it happened he was told to go to the basement with his mum. but he insisted on coming outside. i have explained to him that he is not guilty, but he has changed drastically since the incident. the impact of war on the lives of ukraine's children is evident in the spaces they once occupied. two—thirds have been forced to leave their homes. this school in bucha near kyiv was used as a base by russian soldiers. hundreds of schools and colleges in ukraine

have been damaged. many more are empty because people have fled. when you walk through classrooms like this one, there are so many questions that come to mind. what must this place have looked like on any given weekday before life was suddenly interrupted? who were the children who sat here? we followed the story of one student from bucha. ilya bobkov now lives in one room of a rundown government building in kyiv, with his whole family. they managed to escape the fighting through a humanitarian corridor that had been opened in march. "it was so hard to get through the nights — we were afraid a shell would hit us at any moment", he said. "even here, i can't escape the feeling that the war is still all around us. i dream about my family being killed, or taken hostage by the russians. i wake up in cold sweat." children like elisei didn't have the chance to grow up.

and it's farfrom over forfamilies in ukraine. every day, thousands of young lives are at risk. yogita limaye, bbc news. the uk economy will be hit harder than most by the effects of the war in ukraine, according to the international monetary fund. the imf says the conflict is driving up prices for food and fuel, which will slow economic growth around the world. the uk would no longer be the fastest growing economy in the g7 group — and was likely to be the slowest in 2023. 0ur economics editor faisal islam has more details. just as the world appeared to be recovering from the aftermath of the covid pandemic, another unprecedented

economic shock has hit — the war in ukraine. a severe setback to the recovery, says the international monetary fund, slowing growth and driving up prices. in washington this week, finance ministers and heads of central banks are meeting to try to tackle these twin shocks to the system as the imf sharply cut its forecast for the world economy at the same time as raising its forecasts for inflation. we view a number of clouds on the horizon. first and foremost, the war itself could escalate militarily, but also the sanctions could be tightened. then there is inflation growing and broadening everywhere, and that might lead to a more aggressive path of monetary policy tightening in many parts of the world, including the us, but also in europe or the uk, and that would weigh down growth. but this is affecting both rich and poor countries, including the forecasts for the uk. last year, the uk was the top performer in the g7, rebounding from the severe pandemic hit. for this year, injanuary, the imf had predicted the uk still at the top — much trumpeted by number

10 and number11. but now, although growth is still healthy, that's no longer the case. and next year, the imf now predicts the uk will be the slowest growing economy in the g7, growing atjust1.2%. and at the same time, the uk is forecast to see the highest inflation in the g7. it is a troubling combination of lower growth than expected and at the same time, even higher prices, and it is affecting the whole world. but this imf forecast raises the question about whether it's affecting the uk even more so. and whether it's the simultaneous rise in energy prices, taxes and interest rates that's driving this. back in the house of commons, energy company bosses said these big economic numbers were going to have a very real impact. never seen anything like it in my 30 years in the industry. so we are expecting a severe impact on customers' ability to pay. there is no doubt that the government's intervention, the £200 that will be paid

in october and the rebate on council tax will help, but it isn't nearly enough. the treasury said it recognised concern for households from these forecasts and that £22 billion of support was being offered this year. but it is these squeezes on household incomes from energy, fuel, food and tax that risk weighing down the entire economy. it is worth remembering these are forecasts, there is no magic crystal ball. but it is pretty clear that there is something going on in the world economy and there seems to be a bigger effect, certainly in 2023 for the uk. it raises dilemmas for the policymakers arriving in washington. forthe the policymakers arriving in washington. for the chancellor, rishi sunak, how much support should he give given how what energy bosses have just said, an unprecedented and

further rising energy costs that may be coming in the autumn. for the governor of the bank of england and other central bankers, how quickly should they raise interest rates just to rein in inflation, is it going too fast? just how harsh do they need to be in terms of russian sanctions for the aggression in ukraine, given the inevitable impact of that, the further rises in energy prices. tough decisions for households for their bills and difficult dilemmas for the policymakers in washington. many thanks, faisal islam in washington. patients in waiting rooms in england are no longer required to socially distance. the new "stepping down" rules apply to nhs hospitals, gp surgeries and emergency departments. people will still be encouraged to wear facemasks and practise good hygiene. it's hoped the change will relieve pressure on the health service, which is facing record waiting times. at least nine people have been killed in

the afghan capital, kabul, in a series of explosions which were reported to be aimed at schoolchildren. it's thought the islamic state group was behind the attacks in a western part of the city, which is dominated by the shi'ite, hazara minority which has been targeted repeatedly by is militants in the past. police in sri lanka have opened fire on people protesting about severe fuel shortages. one man was killed and 11 people wounded in the central town of rambukka na. the country is facing its worst economic crisis since 19118. fuel prices increased today by more than 60%. in virginia, the actorjohnny depp has told a courtroom, that his ex—wife amber heard's allegations against him were "heinous and disturbing", as he took the stand in his $50 million defamation

trial against her. he's accusing her of sullying his reputation. the lawsuit is over an opinion piece that ms heard wrote, in which she calls herself a victim of domestic violence. he denies any abuse. 0ur correspondent david silito has the latest. good afternoon, mr depp. good afternoon. can you please tell the jury why you're here today? erm, yes, erm... that pause rather captures the moment. his audience, a court, and this, johnny depp's one chance to salvage his reputation. watching was his ex—wife, amber heard, who says she endured months of violence during their brief marriage. all of it, he says, is a lie. never... ..did i myself reached the point of striking miss heard in any way. nor have i ever struck any woman in my life.

two completely opposed accounts of a marriage, and so many of the witnesses are either close friends or employees. and the events, most of them took place behind closed doors so the heart of this for the lawyers is who to believe, which is why today matters. he talked of childhood abuse, his long career and the effect of the allegations. one day you're... ..cinderella, so to speak, and then in 0.6 seconds, you're quasimodo. and i... ..i didn't deserve that, nor did my children, nor did the people who have believed in me for all these years. 0k, we'll take a recess, thank you. thank you. throughout, he was careful, hesitant, serious. of course, this isjust one side of the story, amber heard's will follow.

but as they rose to leave for recess, a little whistle... whistling. ..a smile. david sillito, bbc news fairfax, virginia. football, and liverpool have been hosting manchester united tonight at anfield in a crucial premier league match. during the match, fans paid tribute to the family of cristiano ronaldo, after the united star revealed he and his partner had lost a baby son at the weekend. 0ur correspondent joe wilson reports. applause seven minutes played at liverpool — applause for manchester united's no 7. cristiano ronaldo wasn't playing, but he was in everyone's thoughts. the death of his baby son is a deeply personal loss. the sadness can be shared universally. there are times, even in football where there is no place for rivalry. the match is always the match. by the seventh minute, liverpool were already winning. luis diaz, as simple as that.

this is one of the most competitive fixtures in football, traditionally. commentator: in for salah. .. 2-0. mo salah. alex ferguson and the face of every united fan. 0ne team just waiting for a direction, the other seeking trophies, lots of them. sadio mane, 3—0. there's a race going on. manchester united are nowhere near it. who'd provide the final touch? that's salah. that's 4—0. that's top of the league. next move is manchester city's. joe wilson, bbc news. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow.

with me are lord kim darroch, the former british ambassador to the united states, and former national security adviser. and also with me is lord digby jones, who was a trade minister between 2007 and 2008. tomorrow's front pages. starting with: an apology from boris johnson on the front page of the metro, with the paper reporting on his statement to mp5. a message to tory mps in the mirror, urging them to vote for an investigation into whether the prime minister misled parliament over lockdown parties. the i quotes conservative mp mark harper, who called for the prime minister to resign after that apology in the house of commons, saying mrjohnson is "no longer worthy of the great office he holds."