at10: a woman who was terrorised and abused by an mi5 agent takes legal action against the security service. what are you doing? a bbc investigation revealed the woman's former partner attacked her with a machete and threatened to kill her. her lawyer says she needs justice. she wants recognition of the damage that was done to her and to her mental health and she wants to ensure that this never happens again. we'll be asking what might now result from the findings of our investigation. also tonight: heavy artillery fire russia makes gains in the east of ukraine as president zelensky describes the situation in donbas as �*hell�*. hello, you are pretty cool. the student with social anxiety and fear of public speaking who took her own life — a judge rules she was discriminated against by her university. the inquiry into downing street and whitehall lockdown parties — the senior civil servant leading it

says she may name some of those fined by police. and after a week when it's all kicked off at football matches, the fa takes a stand — telling fans to keep off the pitch for their own and players�* safety. and coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel, wimbledon is stripped of all its ranking points by the men's and women's tours in response to its ban on russian players. good evening. a woman who was terrorised and abused by an mi5 agent is taking legal action against the security service. the woman, who we are calling beth, has lodged a formal complaint with the watchdog which oversees the intelligence services. it follows a bbc investigation, which revealed yesterday that her then partner used his status as a mi5 agent as a means of threatening

and controlling her. he also attacked her with a machete and said he would kill her. we cannot name the agent, as the government went to the court to prevent us from doing so, on the grounds of national security. our correspondent daniel de simone reports. a violent mi5 agent who used his position to abuse. ultimately, this position within the security services was used to terrorise me. last night, we revealed how the state informant attacked his girlfriend beth with a machete and threatened to kill her. the foreign agent, a right—wing extremist with a long history of abusing women, can't be named because the government obtained a court order keeping his identity secret. he attacked his british partner before leaving the uk while under police investigation, to work for a foreign intelligence agency. beth has launched a legal case against the security service, formally complaining

to the intelligence watchdog about how mi5 handled its agent. her lawyer says the case has a wider implication. i think this case raises issues about the state's protection of misogynists and men who pose violence to women. essentially, beth wants the truth. that's why she has made a complaint to the investigatory powers tribunal. she wants recognition of the damage that was done to her and her mental health, and she wants to ensure that this never happens again. the government gained legal anonymity for the informant because of a risk to him from extremists. labour have demanded action from ministers. well, the bbc report has shown very disturbing images of abuse, and domestic abuse is a horrible crime, and i think given the seriousness of this, the home secretary needs to make sure that there is an independent assessment of the handling of this case, looking not just at the agent handling, but at the criminal investigation as well.

speaking on the today programme, the deputy prime minister was asked about the failings we exposed. i've seen the bbc reporting of it, and no—one could find it anything other than harrowing and horrific. you know, mishal, that from the court case into this, as the judge made clear, that i can't comment on this because of the national security considerations. our investigation is generating serious questions about the value placed on women's safety by the state and mi5. daniel joins me now. what powers does the security services watchdog have? the? what powers does the security services watchdog have? they can only investigate _ services watchdog have? they can only investigate claims _ services watchdog have? they can only investigate claims against - services watchdog have? they can | only investigate claims against mi5 and other security agencies. if it chooses to take on this case, it

could call mi5 witnesses, examine paperwork, look at how this agent was cancelled. were it to make a finding against mi5, it could really have a wider implication for how agents are handled across all the security agencies in this country. so were it to do that, this case could be really very significant. thank you very much, daniel de simone reporting there. russian forces have been advancing on the battlefield in the south and east of ukraine, after suffering weeks of setbacks since their invasion in february. the last few ukrainian defenders of mariupol are finally ending their resistance. now the donbas region is the key focus for russia. it says what it terms "the liberation" of luhansk province is nearing completion, and it's intensifying its attacks on neighbouring donetsk. jeremy bowen has sent this report. explosions the russians are shelling severodonetsk, as they try to encircle it. more than 100,000 people lived in the city before the invasion.

now, it's one of russia's biggest targets. this is russia using the methods it perfected in syria and chechnya. heavy bombardment to try to break the will of its opponents. ukrainian rescue crews can still operate to reach civilians who need to get out. day by day, family by family, russia is grinding forward. it is a long way to safety, down roads out of severodonetsk that the russians are shelling. they're trying to cut the city off from support, rescue and reinforcement. children here were born into a war. ukrainians have been fighting russian—backed separatists in donbas since 2014.

in moscow, sergei shoigu, the defence minister, held a made—for—tv briefing, designed to back the kremlin�*s message that russia is winning. the minister said their advancing forces would soon take all off luhansk, which is one half of donbas, including severodonetsk. ukrainian combat engineers are trying to slow down the russian advance, laying charges to blow this bridge on a strategic road. explosion president zelensky started with his good news. translation: the ukrainian armed i forces continue to make progress. in liberating the kharkiv region, but the occupiers are trying to further strengthen the pressure in the donbas. it's hell and that's not an overstatement. bombardment of severodonetsk

is brutal and meaningless. ukraine's defences in donbas are creaking — they're still not breaking. away from the front lines, life goes on in ukrainian cities. in the end, the outcome of this war depends on ukrainian resilience, on the amount of help its army gets from nato, and president putin's determination to fight on — whatever the cost to russia. jeremy bowen, bbc news, dnipro. bristol university has been found to have discriminated against a student whose severe social anxiety led to her taking her own life. natasha abrahart�*s parents brought a civil action against the university, saying it had failed to make adjustments for her mental health. natasha was 20 when she took her own life in april 2018. her parents have been speaking to our correspondentjon kay.

she was my perfect daughter, really. natasha was a star. she was academically wonderful. you could not have wanted a better daughter. maggie and bob abrahart have spent the last four years fighting for their daughter, bringing a legal case against bristol university. today, 1,481 days after natasha took her own life, after years of protestations from the university, we finally have the truth. the university of bristol broke the law and exposed our daughter to months of wholly unnecessary psychological trauma, as she watched her grades plummet and her hopes for the future crumble before her eyes. hello. you're pretty cool... natasha abrahart had chronic social anxiety. 0ver several months, she'd struggled to stand up

and speak in front of an audience — and on the day of her suicide, she was due to give a presentation in a large lecture hall as part of her physics degree. her parents argued in court that the university should have adjusted the way natasha was assessed because of this disability. and today, thejudge said he had no doubt there was direct discrimination and that the university breached its duties under the equality act. it is a wake—up call. it is a clear statement that universities must carefully consider whether their existing policies and practices will put any disabled students at a substantial disadvantage. they need to consider how their methods of assessment will impact on each and every student — including those with non—physical disabilities. in a statement this evening, bristol university sent its condolences to the abrahart family and said it had offered natasha alternative ways of being assessed and had helped her get professional support.

it said today'sjudgment could have a significant impact right across higher education, and it's now considering whether to appeal. the abraharts spent tens of thousands of pounds bringing this case to court, and they're calling for bristol university to apologise. the couple say they will now campaign in natasha's name for students across the country. jon kay, bbc news. if you have been affected by any of theissues if you have been affected by any of the issues in that report, details of organisations offering information and support are available at the bbc website or you can call for free to hear recorded information on the number on screen. the sue gray report into lockdown rule breaking in government is likely to name at least some civil servants. ms gray is said to have

written to those she wants to name to inform them. it follows the ending of the metropolitan police investigation which led to the fining of 83 people, none of them named. 126 fixed penalty notices were issued in total, and ms gray is expect to publish her report next week. with more, here's our political correspondent alex forsyth. is that a sense of relief? borisjohnson was certainly up—beat at a factory in wales today, keen to be seen getting on with it. we're going to help people as much as we can. but he can't escape the fact he's the first sitting prime minister found to have broken the law. 126 fines were issued for repeated gatherings at the heart of his government, though he only got one. i continue to apologise for things that went wrong on my watch, and what we've also done is — i'll make this clear in the commons again — we've made a huge number of changes, already in the operation of number ten.

just a few months ago, it all felt very different. the prime minister was forced to apologise, as party details dripped out. i was also furious. some of his own mps turned against him. in the name of god, go. of course there were supporters. the leadership of borisjohnson this country has had _ has been so brilliant. but among some, the anger was palpable. everybody else was adhering to those rules and they didn't. in westminster, things have calmed, but that doesn't mean it's over. and obviously getting out and meeting poeple... once again, it's all eyes on sue gray — the senior civil servant seen here in parliament last month. her report on the whole affair�*s due out next week, and she's planning to name some officials involved. this former civil servant hopes it answers lingering questions. if you were invited to an event at work, by your boss,

you knew the prime minister was popping in to make a speech, you then, down the line, find you've been fined for it and they haven't, then i think you would be wondering what on earth's going on. next week's report might fill in some blanks. it will shed light on the culture here, which could be damaging for boris johnson. but for now, the immediate political danger�*s passed. this whole saga, though, has eroded confidence in his leadership. he's survived so far, but not unscathed. labour, whose own leader's still facing a police investigation, are keen to keep the pressure up on number ten. these were the people who were making the rules and asking everybody else to follow them, and the prime minister was in charge of that. so i think he has to take some responsibility for this. he might want to draw a line under this, move things along, but it could come round again, and key, of course, is how long all of this sticks in the public�*s minds. alex forsyth, bbc news, westminster.

there's a warning britain may struggle to keep the lights on in the coming years, because of a failure to adequately replace several nuclear power plants that are due to be decommissioned by 2028. nuclear energy currently provides around 16% of our electricity supply and is always available, unlike wind and solar. today, mps on the public acounts committee produced a report urging the government to try and extend the lifespan of the plants which are due for decommissioning. 0ur environment editor, justin rowlatt, is here. how serious is this? well, as you say, nuclear is about a sixth of the electricity generation in the uk sixth of the electricity generation in the u 1 . , sixth of the electricity generation in the u < . , , sixth of the electricity generation intheu , , , sixth of the electricity generation intheu , , in the uk and these seven plans a chunk of that. the _ in the uk and these seven plans a chunk of that. the public - in the uk and these seven plans a | chunk of that. the public accounts committee is saying governments have known for decades when these plants were going offline, and they should have had replacements in place. mps are saying to ministers, can you

find a safe and cost—effective ways to extend the life of these plants? the alternative is buying energy from abroad, via undersea cables or building more gas, and as we all know gas is very expensive, and it produces greenhouse gas emissions. but the government is building new nuclear plants, supposed to be? that is the plan. — nuclear plants, supposed to be? that is the plan. the _ nuclear plants, supposed to be? twat is the plan, the prime minister says he once ate new nuclear power plants by 2030, that would be about a quarter of forecast electricity demand. today we got a reminder of how challenging that agenda might be. the french owners of hinkley point c in somerset, the only new nuclear plant being built in the uk, said it would be another £3 billion over budget, and another year delight, so it will not go online untiljune 2027, a full decade after it was first planned. and the public accounts committee also said that decommissioning the nuclear fleet was costing much more than first estimated, costs have doubled, say

mps, leaving the taxpayer on the hook for an additional £10 billion. just then, thank you, justin rowlatt reporting there. survivors of the manchester arena attack say urgent changes are needed to mental health support for people caught up in terrorist attacks. this sunday marks the fifth anniversary of the bombing, when 22 people were murdered and many more injured. now a report from survivors against terror says initial help should be available within three weeks, and treatment within six, as judith moritz reports. this was the night abi quinn grew up. she was 12 years old when she went to see ariana grande at manchester arena. when the bomb went off, she wasn't physically hurt, but five years on, she's still living with the impact it's made on her mental health. she finally got therapy for ptsd and anxiety, but only after her mum wrote to their mp, who helped to fast—track abi's case. there's still such a backlog on mental health services

for children anyway, without events like this happening. it's just not ok, really. there needs to be a lot more put in place. you can'tjust keep giving 12 month waiting lists and just hoping that in them 12 months it sort of heals, because itjust doesn't. now there are calls for better mental health support for people caught up in terror attacks, including a maximum wait of three weeks for assessment and six weeks for relevant help. martyn hett was murdered at manchester arena. some of his family struggled to get access to the skilled therapy they needed. his stepfather, stuart, a gp, has co—written a new report pushing for improvements. i remember a moment... ..a couple of months afterwards, screaming in the car, saying how ridiculous this is. i've worked in the nhs for 30 years. i know the systems, and yet i'm having to pay for private help.

those affected by attacks often need ongoing support. but campaigners say there's no guarantee they'll get long—term care and say a register of survivors would help. though this memorial is dedicated to the 22 people who were murdered at the arena, the attack affected thousands more. and many i speak to tell me the anniversary is always a particularly difficult time, and the fifth — this weekend — may well trigger increased anxiety and heightened emotion. some of the manchester survivors choir performed at the memorial�*s opening. the choir�*s been a real success story. its members, who were all affected by the attack in different ways, have found help from mutual experience. just knowing that we'd all been there on that night and everything had changed in that one night meant that we could be there for each other. choir members have talked quite openly about that — that became their support network, that that was the thing that was giving them a reason to come back into the city,

to engage in a positive activity. the government says it's committed to providing swift support for survivors of terrorism and that it will continue to listen to their views to inform the help that's available. judith moritz, bbc news. the health secretary, sajid javid, has said another 11 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in the uk. the new cases come on top of the nine already identified. 0ur medical editor, fergus walsh, joins me now. how serious a threat does it pose? well, reeta, first some reassurance, this is not another covid, we are not about to have a monkeypox pandemic, but it is the biggest outbreak outside of africa, with scores of cases across europe and the us. monkeypox is from the same family of viruses as smallpox, but it is much less severe. symptoms usually start with fever and headache, moving on to a rush, often

on the face or genitals, and then blisters and finally scabs. it usually clears up within 2—4 weeks and is often confused with chickenpox, but there have been cases in africa which have been fatal. now, thankfully, it does not spread easily. you need close physical contact with someone who is infected. exposure to skin, blisters or to the clothing or bedding of an infected person. many of the current cases are in gay or bisexual men, and i have been urged to be on the alert for symptoms. there is a vaccine which can prevent not only monkeypox but smallpox, the only infectious disease to have been eliminated. the uk has bought more doses of the vaccine, and i understand that some sexual health clinic staff have already been immunised.— clinic staff have already been immunised. fergus, thank you very much. nurseries in england say government plans to allow staff to look after more children will not cut costs for parents. ministers are considering changing the rules to help reduce

the expense of childcare, amid the growing cost—of—living crisis. they say it could also improve the choice and availability of childcare places, but it's led to fears that children's wellbeing and development could be affected. 0ur education editor, branwen jeffreys, reports. shall we give your hair a nice little brush? it's important for me that whatever i spend is spent on making sure that my child is happy, healthy and very well looked after and he's learning. so to afford good childcare, shruti uses the tax—free scheme. many working parents don't know it's available from birth, but even so, for shruti and her husband, it's a big bill. it's a big chunk of your income that does go into childcare, but if i were asked would

i compromise on the childcare

i can understand why people would do it. it's very difficult when you're caught up in the heat of the moment. but such scenes are becoming worryingly commonplace. swindon say their players

were verbally and physically abused last night, after they were engulfed by fans, following their defeat to port vale. players were being hit, kicked, spat at, verbally abused. it's just not on. and the dangers are all too stark. yesterday, a nottingham forest fan was jailed for head—butting sheffield united's billy sharp, who later needed stitches. well, the state of pitch invasions that we've seen, including last night's at everton, is raising serious concerns. the pfa say some fans' behaviour is toxic, aggressive and dangerous. they say people are at risk of being seriously hurt or worse. since last year's lockdown and the violence which marred the euros finals at wembley, police say fan disorder has increased. so what can be done to keep supporters off the pitch? part of that is effective for the supporters and everyone stewarding, part of it may be physical measures,

but not fencing. the most effective way will be