he stepped down from his government role yesterday after becoming the latest tory mp to be embroiled in accusations of sexual misconduct. there just doesn't seem to be any sort of standard of how the prime minister reacts to these cases and one can only assume

he reacts differently when they are people who are loyal to him and that they help him stay in power. also on the programme... another sharp rise in covid across the uk. hospital admissions are up too. the number of new cases has jumped by half a million in a week — we'll be looking at the latest figures. in ukraine, at least 19 people have been killed by russian missile strikes near the black sea port of odesa. the end of an era for radio two's steve wright in the afternoon as the dj announces he is leaving the show after a0 years. and tennis history for britain's heather watson and cameron norrie at wimbledon, as they make it through to the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time. coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel, a swashbuckling century from india's pant frustrates

in england on the first day of the test in edgbaston. good evening. the conservatives party have suspended the mp chris pincher, who stood down from his government role following allegations he assaulted two men at a private members�* club on wednesday night. chris pincher quit his post yesterday, saying in a resignation letter he "drank far too much". he will now sit as an independent, after he was reported to pa rliament�*s behaviour watchdog. two senior female conservative mps, caroline nokes and karen bradley, joined labour in calling for his suspension from the party — and said there should be a new code of conduct for mps. with the latest from westminster, here's our correspondent nick eardley. this is chris pincher. untilyesterday, hisjob was to enforce discipline among conservative mps. but after allegations he groped two men, he resigned as a government whip and been suspended from the party in parliament.

mr pincher had been drinking here, a private members�* club in london, with other conservative politicians. he admitted drinking too much and said he had embarrassed himself. we take all of these things incredibly seriously. nobody — this, these, my first reaction when i heard this, was one of sadness and frustration that here we are again, in this position. it is absolutely beholden on us to make sure that we do these things properly, from the point of view of the victims. the prime minister was back in downing street today, meeting new zealand's premier. reporter: will you i suspend chris pincher? it's been claimed downing street was warned about mr pincher�*s behaviour before he was given a governmentjob. number ten insisted borisjohnson had not been made aware of specific allegations. chris pincher was one of the conservative mps who helped borisjohnson keep hisjob earlier this year. it was one of the reasons he was promoted to government.

but after the allegations of groping emerged last night, there was considerable pressure from senior tories for a zero tolerance approach, and tonight it was confirmed that mr pincher would be suspended from the tory party in parliament. a spokeswoman for the chief whip said... the right thing has happened. what i think is sad is that it took all day for borisjohnson to show any leadership and borisjohnson has now decided that the best thing for borisjohnson is for chris pincher to lose the whip. but some parliamentary staff have raised concerns about general allegations not being taken seriously enough. henry and angus both work for mps. as staff in parliament, we know about these rumours and we know who these people are, and we see them walking round every day, and if we know they have been doing these things,

how do we know it is a safe place to work? no—one wants to work in a workplace where those around you, _ especially those more senior than you, are accused - of quite serious misconduct. five conservative mps have been involved in sexual misconduct allegations this year alone. an snp mp resigned from his party amid sexual assault claims too. and it's put the way parliament works back in the spotlight. there has been criticism tonight of how long it took for the conservatives to suspend mr pincher. labour says that the prime minister had to be dragged kicking and screaming to that position, that it's a sign of his bad judgment that it's a sign of his bad judgment that it didn't happen sooner. number ten's responses that they were waiting to see what the alleged victim did in this case. that once a complaint had been made to the

independent grievance system in parliament, that the prime minister acted swiftly. there has been no further comment from mr pincher since his short resignation letter. for now, he remains an independent mp. while that investigation is carried out. nick, thank you. there has been another sharp rise in the number of covid infections in the uk — they have jumped by nearly a third in a week. the virus is most prevalent in scotland, where one in 18 people is infected. across the uk, 2.3 million are estimated to have covid, and hospital admissions are on the rise again. our health editor hugh pym is here. yes, sophie. further sharp increases in covid infections — driven by variants of omicron known as baa and ba.5, which spread more rapidly. case rates rose in all the uk's nations, with scotland still the highest, where one in 18 people had the virus last week. it was one in 30 in england and wales, and one in 25 in northern ireland. but if you look back at previous covid numbers, the latest level of infections

is still less than half what it was in march — and lower than january. so what factors might influence where things go from here? portugal, looking at our european neighbour, had a big rise in infections, that's now coming down. the second feature may be to do with our behaviour and interactions. many schools are about to break up, they have done so in scotland, and we will see that elsewhere in the uk, and we have seen when schools are on holiday, just because of the interactions we have, that over that holiday period those infection rates may go down. total covid hospital numbers have gone up. the most up—to—date figures are for england. there are currentlyjust under 9,000 covid patients in hospitals. some are there because of another health issue. that is still below april's number of over 16,500. but nhs staff say the virus is making life more difficult at a time of high pressure. health care workers are particularly vulnerable to picking up covid because of the environment they work

in, because they do a lot of work which is people—facing, so you then create this workforce problem, where what we're seeing is lots of staff are off. that is creating lots of problems that we can't open wards, we don't have enough beds to look after patients coming through. vaccinations are continuing, including at this centre at bath racecourse. as infections rise, health officials are urging all those who qualified for a second booster and haven't had those jabs, to come forward. in the autumn, those aged 65 and over are set to get a fourth dose. there have been calls for that to be reduced to 50. officials want to stress that covid hasn't gone away — and their message is that it's sensible to use hand gel and wear a face covering in crowded indoor spaces. sophie. hugh, thank you. there's more updates, news and analysis, including information on the new 0micron

subvariants, on bbc news 0nline. that's bbc.co.uk/news, and by using the bbc news app. ukraine has accused russia of waging a war on civilians, after at least 19 people were killed by russian missile strikes near the black sea port of 0desa. more than 30 others were injured in the attacks, which severely damaged a block of flats and a recreation centre in the resort of serhiivka. children were among the casualties. from kyiv, our correspondent joe inwood sent this report. it has become a grimly familiar sight. they work through the night to find anyone left alive. by dawn, the scale of the tragedy was obvious. a ukrainian apartment block left a burned out shell by russian missiles. in normal times, serhiivka is a popular holiday destination just to the west of 0desa, but these are not normal times.

translation: we heard strikes, we live close by. j together with the emergency workers we helped those who survived. those who unfortunately died, we helped carry them away. for hours the search continued, more in hope than expectation. one by one the victims were pulled from the rubble. at least one child was killed. holiday in the midst of war. ukrainian officials say this devastation was caused by three soviet—era x—22 missiles, the same type that earlier in the week destroyed a shopping centre in the town of kremenchuk, killing at least 19 people. today's attack has already surpassed that total. russia always denies attacks like this and today, the kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov did so again, saying president putin himself says they don't hit civilian targets. here in kyiv, a city that's come under sustained fire,

that will be met with disbelief. they say russia is a terrorist state. in ukraine's parliament, they held a minute's silence for the victims. president zelensky said they are fighting to live a peaceful life and avoid mornings like today in 0desa. russian missile strikes have more than doubled in the last two weeks. once again, it is ukrainian civilians who are paying the price. joe inwood, bbc news, kyiv. russian state media are reporting that two more britons in ukraine have been charged with what they are calling mercenary activities by russian backed separatists in the self—proclaimed donetsk people's republic in the east of the country. russia's defence ministry says the andrew hill, from plymouth, surrendered to russian forces in april. the other briton, dylan healy, is said to have been helping as a volunteer aid worker in ukraine

when he was taken prisoner will stop. abortion in northern ireland was decriminalised more than two years ago, but services are still limited, and last year more than 160 women still flew to england for terminations. many who choose to have abortions in northern ireland have to contend with protestors as they arrive at clinics. later this month the uk's supreme court will decide whether or not to ban such protests, amid calls for more protection for staff and women who use abortion clinics. here's our ireland correspondent, emma vardy. they chant: have mercy on us and on the whole world. - a prayer and a protest. this has become a regular sight outside some of northern ireland's main hospitals. they're here because daisy hill hospital in newry provides a clinic for women to access abortion services. what we have found, and what people have told us, is that it's really intimidating coming up to these gates. fiona and cara have started

a voluntary service to chaperone women in. if you were going in there to access any sort of treatment — this is a multiuse site — it's intimidating and harassing. people who are going in for counselling after having miscarriages and stillbirths, and then are met by graphic images. more than 100 women a year from northern ireland still fly to england to access abortions. despite the change in the law here, only limited services have been set up. those that do access clinics often encounter protesters. you don't want to be confronted by men — some women, but mostly men — who are pushing placards in your face, who are praying at you. the anti—abortion protests also take place at ashleigh topley�*s local hospital in craigavon. she was denied an abortion after being told here her baby wouldn't survive. those appointments, when i was here, some of them were very, very difficult anyway, and had i had

to run the gauntlet of protesters just prior to that appointment, it would have made them even worse. because abortion had not yet been decriminalised, ashleigh had to continue with the pregnancy. having to go through the trauma of waiting and waiting and waiting, like, that wasjust hardship — unnecessary hardship on top of the most awful period of our lives. so many times i feel like marching down there to say, "listen — this is what happened to me." for those people that need to have abortions, it's just so cruel. so cruel. the supreme court ruling in america, which overturned women's right to an abortion, has re—energised campaigns on both sides of the argument here. northern ireland's new law to create safe spaces, so—called exclusion zones, outside clinics and hospitals has been referred to the uk's supreme court. if the exclusion zone legislation goes through, groups like this would be required to move some 100 metres or so

away from the entrance to a hospital or a clinic. but there's also questions over whether this conflicts with legislation around human rights and the right to free speech. what do you think this actually achieves? we are informing the public. john mitchel place in newry ran an abortion clinic there. it's closed, because we were there. but do you think about how women feel, who walk in through these doors? yes. they may have already been dealing with the fact their baby's not going to survive. a sign like "abortion is murder", how does that help them? because it is murder. it's a living part of life. the women that are coming here are already in trauma. doesn't this make it worse? no, no, because they have a decision to make — do they have their baby, or do they murder their baby? that is the question. is this compassion? it is compassion. it's compassion for the baby. the baby doesn't have a say. it can't shout out the womb,

"0i — i don't want to be aborted." but northern ireland's health service is expected to be compelled to provide more abortion services in future. what's now in the hands of british judges is what kind of experience women will face when they come through these gates. emma vardy, bbc news. hong kong is marking the 25th anniversary of its handover to china. for more than 150 years, it was a british colony. injuly 1997, hong kong was given back to china under a "one country, two systems" arrangement, allowing it to keep its freedoms for 50 years. but 2014 saw the umbrella movement — mass protests for weeks after china used its powers to control who could be elected in hong kong. protestors shielded themselves from tear gas and police with umbrellas in 2019, there were even bigger demonstrations over an extradition bill, as china moved to allow criminal suspects to potentially be extradited to mainland china.

and then a year later, a sweeping new national security law, effectively banning dissent in hong kong, as china tightened its grip, as our world affairs editorjohn simpson reports. hong kong still seems to make the chinese leadership nervous. when president xijinping arrived by train from the mainland yesterday, he wasn't planning to stay long. he soon retreated back into china proper to spend the night, then came back again this morning. mr xi told the hong kong people that after reuniting with the motherland they had become masters of their own city. hong kong's true democracy started from there, he said. 25 years ago, when britain handed hong kong back to the chinese, it was richer per capita than britain

and was the most transparent economy in the world. the approach which china promised to follow was "one country, two systems", meaning hong kong would be part of china but would keep its freedoms. what do you feel when you think back 25 years ago on leaving hong kong? i was incredibly sad. i was quite proud of the way we left hong kong, but... and maybe slightly... a little bit deluded in thinking that the chinese would behave properly. because they haven't? because they've behaved appallingly badly. the chinese leadership was worried that the waves of protest in hong kong might spread to the mainland. under hong kong's draconian national security law,

more than 200 politicians, journalists and lawyers are now injail. nathan law, a leading opposition figure, is in exile in britain. we're talking about a whole civil society being demolished in one and a half years. the speed of it was incredible and people were so upset about it. now, hong kong is changing right in front of our eyes. the famous skyline may look the same, but hundreds of thousands of people have left, and they're often the best and brightest. china doesn't mind. it would much rather have a quiet, obedient hong kong than the exciting, vibrant place it used to be. john simpson, bbc news. the man accused of the murder, attempted rape and robbery of zara aleena in east london has been remanded in custody after appearing at the old bailey.

jordan mcsweeney allegedly killed the 35—year—old as she walked home from a night out in the early hours of sunday morning. today, the family of the newly trained solicitor spoke of her "fearless" and "independent" spirit, asjune kelly reports. zara aleena, her mother's only child and described today by her aunt as part of a family of strong women. the one word that would describe zara, if i had to use one word, i would say independent. that was what she valued more than anything, her independence. and so, you know, she was encouraged by all of us to pursue her dreams, and at five years old, she said, "i want to be a lawyer." last weekend, the life of this young woman at the start of her legal career was suddenly ended when she was attacked close to where she lived, in ilford, east london, on her way home from a night out. zara was already using her legal training to help people.

she worked with resettling refugees fleeing violence. she had a really big heart. tomorrow, in the neighbourhood zara knew so well, and where her life was taken, her family and friends will lead a walk to remember her. it'll be a silent, sombre walk, and we'll hold her in our hearts. then we walk, as a woman should be allowed to, as a woman should have the entitlement to, and we walk her home. that was zara's aunt, ending that report byjune kelly. now a look at some other stories making the news today. there are now more than 1200 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the uk, the uk health security agency says. that figure is the highest in the world, and today, the world health organization has

called for "urgent" action to prevent the spread of the disease, with cases tripling across europe in the past two weeks. thousands of police officers in scotland are withdrawing what they call "goodwill", in a dispute about pay. police officers are not allowed to take industrial action by law, but will now charge for all overtime and refuse to begin shifts early. police scotland say they hope a deal can be reached when talks resume on monday. tens of thousands of people will be marching at pride events in many parts of the uk this weekend, to celebrate the lgbt+ community. today, many of the founders gathered in london to mark 50 years since the gay liberation front organised the uk's first ever pride parade, paving the way for the gay rights movement. a0 years after it first began on the bbc, steve wright in the afternoon is finally coming to an end. the dj told his radio 2 listeners today that he's leaving his show in the autumn. 0ur media and arts correspondent

david sillito reports. friday 1st ofjuly 2022, and live till five, it's the big show, it's steve wright in the afternoon. radio 2, steve wright in the afternoon, and an announcement. this is going to be a little bit difficult. at the end of september i'll be taking a breakfrom daytime radio — in other words, stepping down from this programme. as he left wogan house it was clear, this was a moment. aw, this is nice of you to come over. steve wright in the afternoon, which had first begun on 1981 on radio 1 and had been part of radio 2 for 2a years, is being dropped. that's the way it goes. you know, sometimes people want you, sometimes they don't. sometimes they want to make changes, give you another offer, and that's ok. i understand that. i really understand that. jingle: steve wright, '94 to '95! his sound, which he developed

in the �*80s, was a highly produced mix of comedy characters and a whooping, applauding, cheery, chatty posse. and the bride is 107. chorus of cheers. yes! i think it was just because it was something different. it was slightly subversive. there's a little bit of satire in there and it wasn't like... deep vows: �*there you go, j that's the great sound of. # steve wright in the afternoon!# known as a zoo—format radio it was, at its peak, reaching 7 million listeners a day. hello, good evening, and welcome to top of the pops. steve wright will still keep his sunday morning show and scott mills will take over the afternoon slot, but it will be, in september, the end of a little bit of radio history. david sillito, bbc news. it's the british grand prix this weekend and sir lewis hamilton, britain's seven—time formula one world champion, is calling for a change of tone in formula one, saying that what he calls "older voices" should not being given a platform in the media. it comes after former f1 driver

nelson piquet used a racially offensive term to refer to hamilton during a podcast. 0ur sports correspondent natalie pirks reports. austria 2020 — lewis hamilton and 13 others took the knee on the grid in a powerful protest against racism. austria 2020 — lewis hamilton and 13 others took the knee on the grid in a powerful protest against racism. yet, two years on, the seven—time world champion is still facing negativity, and he's tired. i don't know why we are continuing to give these older voices a platform, because they are repre... you know, they are speaking upon our sport and we're looking to go somewhere completely different and it's not representative, i think, of who we are as a sport now and where we're planning to go. it's notjust about one individual, it's not about just that

one use of that term, it's the bigger picture. hamilton has been a driving force for change in formula 1, working with his team to increase diversity in the sport but mercedes want others to do more. the teams just need to ramp it up. i think showing support via instagram is great, and we'd rather have that than nothing, but, you know, commit. hamilton is the most successful driver here at silverstone — eight race wins, including last year, but this problematic bouncing mercedes has seen them fall behind their rivals, and if hamilton fails to win on sunday it'll be the first time in his career he's gone 11 races without a victory. that hasn't been a problem for red bull. they've won the last six races, five of them for max verstappen. the excitement is building for sunday. you know, great to see the fans back in the seat, getting back behind drivers, getting behind the sport, and hopefully we can put a great race on for them on sunday. you must be confident. you can never be confident. you've got ferrari, mercedes are there or thereabouts, and there is an english summer to deal with, as well.

a record crowd is expected across this weekend with vociferous british support a given. hamilton will hope to find solace on the track after a turbulent build—up. natalie pirks — bbc news — silverstone. britain's heather watson has made it through to the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time today, at wimbledon. the 30—year—old, who made her debut at wimbledon more than a decade ago, thanked the crowd on centre court for carrying her through. joe wilson was watching them both. spot the british tennis player heading to wimbledon. is that cameron norrie? well, see you later on centre. however you do it, keep moving. heather watson was a junior grand slam winner, ups and downs inevitably followed, but here she was, at 30, striving, delivering. great hustle from watson. her greatest strength was her experience. against an up—and—coming slovenian opponent, watson often was stretched but produce shots kaja juvan could not quite believe. she's made that, wow.

the first set was a tie—break, the second, a celebration, eventually. 6—2, heather, for the first time ever, you're in the fourth round! playing here at home in front of all you guys, the atmosphere is everything. i love you too! so please can all of you come back for my fourth round? 0h, they'll be there. at 5:23pm, cameron norrie was walking on to centre court and he never looked back. up against experienced american stevejohnson, norrie was soon expressing himself and winning. 0h, they are off their seats on centre court! in straight sets! he is ranked 12 in the world but he's never reached the fourth round of a grand slam, until now. you can do well all over the world, you get some success here at wimbledon

and you get attention. all of this is now for cameron norrie. venus williams has lived through all the adulation tennis could offer. at a2, she's back here this year for the mixed doubles, with jamie murray. it was a late treat for the court one crowd who got three extra sets. that's round one done. is serena here just for fun? there is a trophy to win. joe wilson, bbc news, wimbledon. time for a look at the weather. showers have been taking centre stage again. bit like a stuck record. the biggest of the showers across eastern scotland, eastern areas of england where we've seen a few thunderstorms but now we are looking at the next area of rain working in from the west. quite wet at the moment _ working in from the west. quite wet at the moment for _ working in from the west. quite wet at the moment for northern - working in from the west. quite wetj at the moment for northern ireland, across parts of wales, north—west england and the rain getting into scotland, as well. the rain continues its journey in a north—eastern direction overnight. never really reaches east anglia where it will stay dry. about ten to

13 degrees. for wimbledon, we've certainly got some showers in the forecast, but they probably won't reach wimbledon until well into the evening, so most of the day is dry, cloud building up through the day. we've got a band of rain for the rest of you, work its way south—eastwards. east anglia and south—west england having a good start but behind that feature the showers will form and they will be widespread, some showery and heavy, particularly for northern ireland and across the north and west of scotland. temperatures similar to what we've been used to over recent days, high teens in the west, still quite breezy, the warmest weather in the east with temperatures in the low 20s. second half of the weekend, most of you having a bright start with morning spells of sunshine, but the cloud will bring scattered showers, a few heavy ones, particularly in north western areas where it stays windy. similar temperatures, high teens in the west, 22 degrees for london and the south—east. next week, this