at 6:00pm, borisjohnson is to be investigated by mps into whether he misled parliament over lockdown parties. on a visit to india, the prime minister says he has nothing to hide. the prime minister says i don't want to have any absence of scrutiny. i think we should wait until the conclusion of the inquiry. but i want to focus on the stuff that i think really matters to the future of the country. this is about honesty, integrity and telling the truth in this place. and it's an important principle and one we all share. we will have all the latest from westminster on a fast—moving day. the relief of ukrainian refugees who've escaped the besieged port of mariupol as president putin

claims victory in the city. the six—year—old rikki neave, who was killed almost 30 years ago. finally, a man is found guilty of his murder. he wasjust a teenager at the time. manchester united finally confirm that they've appointed ajax's erik ten hag as their next manager. and the queen is celebrating her 96th birthday today, as the country pays tribute. and coming up on sportsday later in the hour on the bbc news channel... it's a big night for burnley and their hopes of playing in the premier league. they need to beat southampton to give themselves a chance. good evening and welcome

to the bbc news at six. the prime minister is to face another investigation over lockdown parties in downing street — this one will be led by mps who will look at whether boris johnson misled parliament by denying covid rules had been broken in whitehall and downing street. the government was planning to try to delay the investigation but abandoned plans to do so at the last minute. this new investigation by a parliamentary committee won't begin until the metropolitan police have completed theirs. the prime minister today said he had nothing to hide and is keen for every possible form of scrutiny. 0ur deputy political editor vicki young has been following the day's events. right now, being 5,000 miles from westminster might be a relief for boris johnson. he's been wrapped up in a scandal about lockdown parties and whether he told the truth about them, but he wants to talk about other things. i don't want to have any absence of scrutiny.

and i mean this humbly and sincerely, if the opposition want to focus on this and to talk about this a lot more, that's fine. i think we should wait until the conclusion of the inquiry. but i want to focus on the stuff that i think really matters to the future of the country. back home, opponents were putting the prime minister's behaviour under the spotlight, insisting standards in public life matter. this is about honesty, integrity and telling the truth in this place. and it's an important principle and one we all share. as i say, i'm not claiming this as a labour party principle, it is a principle that we all share because we know the importance of it. that's why it's a matter for the house to consider. but it is a principle under attack. usually there are things mps aren't allowed to say about each other in the commons chamber. not today. there is one thing that needs to be said. one thing that needs to be heard.

and it's the very reason that we all need to act. and the reason is this. that the prime minister of the united kingdom is a liar. it wasn't just the fact that the prime minister broke his own laws. it's that he thought he could get away with it by taking the british people for fools. he stood at that dispatch box and told this house and the country repeatedly that there was no party. knowingly misleading parliament is a serious matter. the ministerial code says it's a resigning offence. the committee investigating all this will be able to demand documents, including photos. no wonder yesterday ministers were saying such an inquiry would be a terrible distraction. the way all this has unfolded has been chaotic. downing street were originally confident they could kill the whole idea of an inquiry, but under pressure from their own mps they decided the decision should be delayed.

then, at the last minute, all those plans had to be ditched. they had completely underestimated the anger amongst conservative mps, many of them simply unwilling to publicly defend their leader. i have to say, i'm sorry, that for not obeying the letter and the spirit, and i think we have heard that the prime minister did know what the letter was. the prime minister now should be long gone. madam deputy speaker, i will certainly vote for this motion, but really the prime minister should just know the gig's up. it is utterly depressing to be asked to defend the indefensible. each time, part of us withers. mrjohnson still enjoys the support of many tory mps, but it's impossible to escape questions about his leadership. we had mark harper, a very senior tory mp, this week, i saying you had to go. steve baker, fellow brexiteerl like you, senior tory, said this afternoon you should resign.

you are losing credibility. in your parliamentary party. well, that's what you say. that's what he says! and my point... that's what you just said. my point is that, you know, we've got to... we had two hours on this on, i think it was tuesday. we had quite a lot on wednesday. i don't think there's much more i can say on it. what he does say in his defence is that he was repeatedly assured by advisers that have no covid rules had been broken. today's twists and turns means an official inquiry will now decide whether that explanation is enough. what's been noticeable this week is that it's notjust opponents questioning the prime minister's integrity. it's many conservative mps too. which is why this embarrassing u—turn had to happen. i think that will be a problem for the prime minister. will that disquiet and anger translate into a move to oust him? probably not yet but the

next few weeks are looking far more tricky than they were. studio: vicki young, thank you. meanwhile, the chancellor, rishi sunak, has apologised, saying he is "extremely sorry" after he was issued with a fixed penalty notice over a gathering in downing street. he's been speaking at a meeting of the international monetary fund in washington, from where our economics editor faisal islam joins us now. it isa it is a testing time in the world economy but as you say, the chancellor has faced his own personal tribulations, a series of them. it's the first time we have really heard from him. as you said, he said he was extremely am sincerely sorry for the hurt and anger caused by the fixed penalty notice over partygate. he said he has acted in good faith as regard what he said to parliament but it's notjust what he said to parliament but it's not just about that. on the what he said to parliament but it's notjust about that. on the issue as to why he had a residency permit for here in the us, a green card for nearly, over a year and a half while chancellor, he said that was a legacy of his time living and working in america and nothing more

than that. on the issue of his wife's tax arrangements he said he fully supported her decision to pay taxes, uk taxes, on herforeign investment. although he didn't say that, when i saw him he had the air of someone who thinks he will be cleared by the independent investigation that should report backin investigation that should report back in the coming days or weeks. but it's notjust about back in the coming days or weeks. but it's not just about the back in the coming days or weeks. but it's notjust about the letter of the law, whether or not there was a conflict of interest. it is about the perception of a family that is relatively wealthy, enacting tax rises, seen by millions of people right now, and he volunteered too that he wants to keep helping people at this difficult time. we will find some colour and detail as to what that might be when the energy price rises change later this year. faisal islam, rises change later this year. faisal islam. thank _ rises change later this year. faisal islam, thank you. _ president putin has declared victory for russia in the besieged city of mariupol in south—eastern ukraine, and ordered his forces to blockade — rather than attack —

the last pocket of ukrainian resistance. the russians say there are 2,000 people inside a massive steel plant with underground tunnels. ukraine says half of them are civilians. mariupol has been under attack since the russians invaded in late february, with just a small area remaining under ukrainian control. some civilians have been able to leave, but thousands have been left behind. our correspondent catherine byaru hanga reports. after a 24—hour journey, they finally after a 24—hourjourney, they finally reached safety. from mariupol, one of the worst hit cities in this war. only 80 people escaped in this convoy. irena is gently helped off the bus by her daughter, tatiana. translation: i couldn't leave at first because my mum could barely walk. there is no

way i could have left her behind. there was constant shelling, even as we were leaving the city there was firing. we were leaving the city there was firina. �* ., ., , .,, , firing. and what of the people they have left behind? _ firing. and what of the people they have left behind? 100,000 - firing. and what of the people they| have left behind? 100,000 civilians are believed to be trapped. there are believed to be trapped. there are food shortages, no running water or electricity. translation: it was a miracle that _ or electricity. translation: it was a miracle that we _ or electricity. translation: it was a miracle that we found _ or electricity. translation: it was a miracle that we found a _ or electricity. translation: it was a miracle that we found a radio - or electricity. translation: it was | a miracle that we found a radio wave where we heard about the evacuation. that helped us to get out. there are pro—russian separatist vehicles that pull over but they are not saying anything about evacuations was that i think many people could have got out if they knew there was an evacuation planned. after days of negotiations. _ evacuation planned. after days of negotiations, only _ evacuation planned. after days of negotiations, only a _ evacuation planned. after days of negotiations, only a few- evacuation planned. after days of negotiations, only a few dozen i negotiations, only a few dozen people have made it out of mariupol, a drop in the ocean in terms of the numbers of those needing help. and this is what they are fleeing. a full—scale russian assault to capture the donbas region in the east. mariupol, devastated by

bombardments. hundreds of civilians are believed to be trapped, alongside the last ukrainian forces at a steelworks. its bunkers and tunnels stretch for miles. tapping his feet as he listened to his defence minister hale what he called the liberation of the city, president putin ordered a halt to the attack on the industrial plant. translation: i the attack on the industrial plant. translation:— translation: i considered the - ro osed translation: i considered the proposed storming _ translation: i considered the proposed storming of _ translation: i considered the proposed storming of the - translation: | considered the - proposed storming of the industrial zone unnecessary. i order you to cancel it. this is a case where we must think about preserving the lives and health of our soldiers and officers. there is no need to climb into this catacombs and crawl underground through these industrial facilities. block off this industrial area so a flight cannot pass through. for industrial area so a flight cannot pass through-— industrial area so a flight cannot pass through. for those who have esca ed pass through. for those who have escaped severe _ pass through. for those who have escaped severe fighting _ pass through. for those who have escaped severe fighting and - pass through. for those who have escaped severe fighting and a - escaped severe fighting and a

humanitarian crisis, perhaps an opportunity to rebuild their lives. but the fear is more ukrainians will face a similarfate but the fear is more ukrainians will face a similar fate as this war spreads to more villages and cities. catherine byaruhanga, bbc news, zaporizhzhia. our russia editor steve rosenberg joins us now. we saw president putin there. what did you make of his appearance today? did you make of his appearance toda ? , , ., ., ., today? this is a kremlin leader who is curowin today? this is a kremlin leader who is growing increasingly _ today? this is a kremlin leader who is growing increasingly impatient. l is growing increasingly impatient. vladimir putin wants military successes. he wants victories on the battlefield that he can announce to his people so russians believe that this special military operation, as he called it, and which he launched, is going according to plan. and that is going according to plan. and that is why he said today that mariupol has been liberated and that the military operation there has gone according to plan and is a success. even though we know that some ukrainian fighters are still at the

steelworks there. president putin will be acutely aware that coming up in russia in two and a half weeks' time are the annual victory day celebrations, a big national holiday here when russia marks the defeat of nazi germany in world war ii. by may the 9th he will want to be in a position to declare a major victory in ukraine, orat least position to declare a major victory in ukraine, or at least in eastern ukraine. whether he will be in a position to matter entirely. and certainly america is trying to ensure he will not be in a position to do that. today, president biden announced that the us is sending another $800 million in military assistance to help ukraine defend itself against russia. ,, .,, , a, , . ., russia. steve rosenberg in moscow, thank ou. more than 30 worshippers have been killed at a shia mosque in afghanistan. islamic state militants have claimed responsibility for the attack. officials say dozens

of people were injured in the powerful explosion, in a part of the northern city of mazar—i—sharif, where many members of the minority hazara community live. almost 30 years after he died, a man has been found guilty of murdering six—year—old rikki neave. the schoolboy was strangled and found naked in woods near his home in peterborough in 1994. james watson, who is now 41, was 13 years old at the time of rikki's death. his conviction follows a cold case review and advances in dna technology which helped solve the case, asjo black reports. on the 28th of november, 1994, ruth neave reports her son rikki hasn't returned home from school, but in fact he never made it to class. he'd left home alone that morning on peterborough�*s welland estate. hours later, he was dead. his body was discovered the next day in woods, a few minutes' walk from his home. this is the woodland where rikki's body was found. he'd been strangled, stripped naked, and he had been posed in a star shape.

his school uniform was found in a wheelie bin and at the time, detectives believed rikki's mother, ruth, had murdered him. she was cleared of this at trial but did admit child cruelty, and was jailed for seven years. we now know james watson, who was 13 at the time and used to live on the estate, killed rikki. rikki's sisters, who were one and three when he was killed, went on to be adopted. they say today's verdict doesn't ease the pain of losing their brother. that's not humane. that's not normal for someone to be out on the street and to be able to get access to a child like that and abuse him in that way. i just...it�*s so upsetting. i think what's so tragic as well is the fact that he was just so small and so vulnerable, and he came from such a bad home. when the case reopened, advances in dna testing linked james watson to rikki's school uniform.

watson claimed there was contact because he lifted rikki up to look at diggers over a fence. police proved that fence didn't exist at the time. we would say there's lessons that have been learned since the 1994 investigation. you know, we've certainly learned them during this trial, you know. but i have to say, you know, 1994 to 2015, when we opened this investigation, very different eras. for rikki's family, this has been a near 30—year wait for justice. watson will be sentenced next month. jo black, bbc news. the time isjust the time is just after quarter past six. our top story this evening... borisjohnson is to be investigated by mps into whether he misled parliament over lockdown parties. and coming up — we take a look at the final two candidates in the french presidential election, which takes place this sunday. coming up in sportsday in the next 15 minutes on the bbc news channel... as manchester united confirm that erik ten hag will be their new manager

from the end of the season, we have a special report from the netherlands about the man and his methods. sir david attenborough has been named champion of the earth by the united nations environment programme. the award is in recognition of the 95—year—old's lifelong efforts to protect and restore nature. sir david, who began working on natural history programmes in the 1950s, warned that the world must take action now to protect the planet. and he offered hope that change really is possible. we must feel that we are all citizens of this one planet, because unless we do, we won't solve the problem. the message is that the natural world has more resources than we can possibly imagine. we have worked out how to kill them,

now we could give them a chance for them to come back and save themselves and save us. and we have had successes after all. i mean, the success of the wales. —— whales. they were on the edge of extinction worldwide, and now there are more whales in the sea then anybody alive human beings have ever seen before. it's a wonderful success story. if we can do it with whales, we can surely do it with many other things too. i'm truly extremely honoured. sir david attenborough speaking after he was named champion of the earth". a mother, stepfather and a teenage boy have been found guilty of murdering a five—year—old boy and dumping his body in a river in south wales. logan mgwani's body was found in the river ogmore injuly 2021, close to his home in bridgend. his mother and stepfather pretended he'd gone missing. the court heard the boy had suffered

a brutal and sustained attack. our social affairs editor alison holtjoins me now. was five—year—old logan known to the authorities? yes, he was. there have been a number of incidents nearly a year before he was murdered. he was taken to hospital with a broken arm, that led to safeguarding made by medics, so they were concerned, they let the authorities know there was something they were worried about. the stepfather was known to have a violent past and the teenager was known to be troubled and violent. logan was on the child protection register, so that meant that a social worker was keeping checks on him and the family, but about a month before he died, he was removed from that register which suggests that at that point in time they felt there wasn't a significant risk of harm. you have then got covid

restrictions, which creates a pressure cooker situation for families and it is harder to keep checks on what is going on in a child's life. but he had lost weight. the decisions that were made will be scrutinised now in a child practice review. we expect that to report back at the earliest this autumn. �* ,., ., ., ~ report back at the earliest this autumn. �* ., ., ~ i. in france, it's the final leg of campaigning for the current president, emmanuel macron and his rival, the far—right leader marine le pen. the pair faced each other last night in a tv debate ahead of sunday's vote. it could be a tight race according to the latest polls, which suggest emmanuel macron is in the lead — but millions of people are still undecided. our europe editor katya adler reports from france. bonjour! could this be france's next president? marine le pen, patriotic woman of the people, visiting france's forgotten villages. orfar right nationalist hiding behind a

carefully reinvented, softer image. "how radical are you?" i asked. translation: i'm not radical, sorry. i'm running for president to establish a government of the people for the people. giving back power to the people. but these people and plenty of others in france remain unconvinced. so close to the elections, emotions are running high. it's always like this on campaign trail le pen. there's protectors, press and protesters wherever you look. marine le pen remains the outsider in this election, but her popularity has grown. she's focused on voters'

number one concern — the spiralling cost of food and fuel here. translation: marine le pen goes to markets to meet - working people like us. she's down to earth. we've always liked her here. translation: marine le pen, even if she tries to distance herself from the extreme right, that's her background, that's her party. i'm voting macron to keep le pen out. in fact, both presidential candidates have a reputation problem. eu obsessed and elitist is how emmanuel macron's critics describe him. so at this campaign event in marseille, he ditched the designerjacket and appealed across party lines to vote for him on sunday. translation: april 24th is a referendum for or against the environment, for or against young people. this election can be the start

of a new french and european era, of great hopes and ambitious. brussels and washington are watching all this extremely carefully, especially with the raging russia—ukraine crisis. france has the eu's biggest military, and second largest economy. macron wants to use that to boost eu, nato and transatlantic relations. le pen is euro and us sceptic with traditionally close ties to moscow. who becomes france's next president is as important abroad as it is at home for a number of reasons. i'm really well. marine le pen's programme would directly lead to a total collapse of the french economy, which would hurt the other european countries. also very important economic partner, which is the uk. marine le pen defends her economic plans. but france's next president — she or he won't be able to claim

the heart of all french people. this is a divided country. katya adler, bbc news, paris. fewer than a third of ukrainian refugees issued with visas have arrived in the uk. under the ukraine family scheme and the homes for ukraine sponsorship scheme, nearly 72,000 visas have been issued. but as of last monday only around 21,000 ukrainians have arrived here. waiting times at a&e departments in wales have hit a record high, with more than 10,000 patients waiting longer than 12 hours to be treated last month. high staff sickness rates and issues around the discharging of patients are adding to delays. after weeks of speculation, manchester united have confirmed that erik ten hag will be their new manager. the 52—year—old has been in charge of the dutch club ajax for the last five years. he'll become united's fifth permanent manager since sir alex ferguson retired almost a decade ago. our sports correspondent

andy swiss is at old trafford. yes, it's been anotherfrustrating season for the fans here at old trafford. first under ole gunnar solskjaer and then ralf rangnick, so now there is a new manager hoping to bring back the glory days. few in football have earned more plaudits. erik ten hag has guided ajax to two league titles, but now for a far bigger challenge. manchester united's thrashing by liverpool this week was a new low in a season that's had a few. it's a thumping victory for liverpool. and after five trophyless years, the erik era can't come soon enough. can't do as bad as the last lot. at the moment they're just a very poor team that's got _ no direction at all. so yeah, i think. it's fantastic news. if he can bring a team like ajax to a champions league semifinal then he could probably bring us to a final. why the optimism?

well, ten hag has flourished with a young team, attacking football, and a meticulous approach. at his first club, go ahead eagles, he even had a strategy for the person putting out the drinks. he wanted her to put the drinks, like, not randomly on the table, but in straight lines in the right order, for whatever reason. but it was all part of his bigger plan, like every single part of the club, every single part of the team should be professional. since sir alex ferguson retired nearly a decade ago, united have stumbled through a string of successes. so this time lucky, perhaps? the fans will be hoping that finally theyjust might rise again. andy swiss, bbc news, old trafford. the queen is celebrating her 96th birthday today at her sandringham estate in norfolk. this photograph has been released to mark the occasion — it was taken at windsor castle earlier this year and shows the queen with two of her fell ponies. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports.

happy birthday plays in the spring sunshine at windsor castle, a birthday greeting. happy 96th birthday, your majesty, from the band of the coldstream guards. a message repeated in different ways in different locations. in hyde park in central london, the king's troop royal horse artillery fired a 41—gun salute in tribute to the head of state. in scotland, the gun salute was fired from the ramparts of edinburgh castle. and what of the recipient of so many birthday wishes? the queen spent the day quietly at sandringham. she was seen being driven around the estate looking relaxed.

reflecting perhaps that ahead lie number of planned public appearances for her platinum jubilee. from buckingham palace, a photograph of her at the age of two was republished. then, she was princess elizabeth and few imagined she would one day be queen. and this, the official birthday photograph to mark the 96th birthday of the nation's longest living and longest serving monarch, elizabeth ii. nicholas witchell, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. thank you. a little bit chilly in sandringham with the cold wind off the north sea and that is really the story for the next few days. that cool breeze off the north sea will make its presence felt. this is what the weather map looks like now, low—pressure to the south—west of our neighbourhood, high pressure to the north, and basically the air

stream coming from scandinavia across the north sea. straight into tomorrow morning because there's not much happening, a bit of cloud first thing, partly cloudy skies and some glimmers of sunshine. through the course of the afternoon, there could be some showers, literally sprinkles in the wind from london, generally speaking it's a bride if not sunny day. the best of the weather in western, south—western scotland, could be 19 in some spots, compare that to 10 degrees on the north sea coast. the weather map doesn't really change through this weekend, we still have low pressure to the south, high pressure to the north, and these white lines show the wind direction coming from scandinavia, basically cutting across the country so it will feel chilly on the north sea coast. again the same pattern, some cloud here and there, may be some cloud here and there, may be some showers. chilly and newcastle, whereas elsewhere we could be hitting 18 degrees. the same thing

repeats on sunday, but generally speaking it will be at least sunny across most of the uk, and a fine day for most of us again, pretty nippy in newcastle with highs in the high teens out towards the west. let me repeat that all over again because that's what they pay me to do. not many changes over the next few days and an easterly breeze. temperatures will drop a little bit down to 14 degrees because of the persistence of the breeze. beautifully done, thank you. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc�*s news teams where you are. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm olly foster. he says he has a determination to bring back success to manchester

united.