this is bbc news with the headlines. uk conservative party chairman nadhim zahawi says an error in his tax affairs was accepted by authorities as having been "careless and not deliberate" thousands of israelis take to the streets against benjamin netanyahu's right wing coalition in what could be the biggest anti—government protests in a decade. hello and welcome to bbc world news. the chair of the conservative party nadim zahawi has confirmed

that he made a payment to the tax office to settle a disagreement about his tax affairs. mr zahawi said hmrc accepted that an error concerning shares he gave to his father — for help in setting up the polling company yougov in 2000 — had been careless and not deliberate. it comes after newspaper reports that he'd paid a seven figure sum and been subject to a penalty. it's understood the dispute over mr zahawi's taxes was resolved while he was serving as chancellor of the exchequer. earlier labour had called on nadim zahawi to resign. here's our political correspondent helen catt. nadhim zahawi is a seniorfigure in the government, the chairman of the conservative party, who sits in the cabinet. last year, he was — for a few months — borisjohnson�*s chancellor, in charge of the country's finances. is the hmrc still after you, sir? but since then, he's faced questions about his own financial affairs and claims he tried to avoid tax. over the summer, he dismissed claims that hmrc was investigating him

as inaccurate smears. this morning, a cabinet colleague defended him. i don't know about nadhim's personal tax affairs — i wouldn't know personally, they're private to him — but he's been very clear that he's paid all his tax due in the uk, that his tax accounts are up—to—date and, of course, he's engaged with hmrc, so that's the position and i think he has been very transparent about this. if he needs to answer any further questions, i'm sure he'll do so. mr zahawi has now confirmed he did pay money to settle a disagreement with hmrc. he said it related to shares in the polling company yougov, which he set up in 2000. he said his dad gave him money to do it and got some shares in return as a founder. in a statement issued this afternoon, mr zahawi said that hmrc had... ..and that he had chosen to... he said hmrc had concluded this was a... labour says there are still things he needs to explain, and earlier

the shadow chancellor was scathing. when the prime minister came into office, he said that he would run a government that would have honesty, integrity and professionalism at its heart. none of those three things are happening today. mr zahawi said the matter was resolved and all his tax affairs were up—to—date when prime minister rishi sunak appointed him as the party chairman. anything you want to say, mr zahawi? he has now given some explanation. the question will be if it's enough. so, there is no obligation on politicians to make their tax affairs public, but by allowing this to drag on — with questions for several days — it has been damaging for the government. it's put the focus on the complicated tax affairs of a wealthy minister at a time when many people are struggling with the cost of living. and it's been a distraction for the government when it's trying to get its own messages out. now, mr zahawi has given some

explanation now about what happened, but there are things which remain unclear — most notably the timeline, when this was paid, and, crucially, what stage it was at when mr zahawi was the chancellor and in charge of the country's finances. a senior labour mp has accused the prime minister of failing to deliver the integrity and professionalism he promised, after he was fined for not wearing a seat—belt. sir chris bryant, who chairs the commons standards committtee, said rishi sunak had shown a "pattern of misjudgement." lancashire police issued a fixed penalty notice after mr sunak posted a video shot in the backseat of a car. thousands of israelis have packed the streets of several cities in the second weekend of large scale demonstrations against benjamin netanyahu's right wing coalition. thousands of israelis took part in tel aviv in what organisers believe could be one of the biggest anti—government protests in a decade. with banners and israeli flags the demonstrators say

they want to stop a coup being carried out. they accuse mr netanyahu of threatening democracy with the most radically nationalist and religious coalition the country's ever known. president zelensky and the first lady have been taking part in a memorial in kyiv for interior minister denys monastyrsky and 13 other people killed following a helicopter crash. the accident happened earlier this week in a suburb of kyiv, and set a kindergarten on fire. president zelensky says he'll keep asking western allies to send modern tanks to ukraine, after a meeting of allied nations in germany on friday ended without an agreement to provide them. protests have taken place in berlin to demand the approval of german—made tanks to be sent to kyiv. the bbc�*s security correspondent, frank gardener, explains where this leaves the west in terms

of its military backing of kyiv. i think it is stagnating if anything. i think it is a bit of a litmus test for how far the west is prepared to go to support its ally and neighbour ukraine. the west is already giving huge amounts of military aid to ukraine. the recent package of $2.5 billion worth announced by the united states, but he stops short of what ukraine says it needs desperately now, which is these leopard tanks, doesn't sitting in warehouses in western europe that could be transported very easily to ukraine, and does not take that long to train crews on them, they are easy to maintain, easy to acquire fuel, so it is what ukraine says they need to repel the coming russian assault of the spring offensive, and also to try and drive russian forces out of the areas that they have taken. what is holding germany back on this?

germany is saying, we are not saying no to it, but we want to be part of a wider consensus. they have been quite timid about it. they are not prepared to put their heads above the parapet, even though britain was the first country to send modern, sophisticated western tanks. germany does not want to send tanks on its own or release the tanks itself to other countries, unless it feels it part of a big package, along with the us, and that so far is not happening, and ukrainians are tearing their hair out in frustration, saying, "what is keeping you?" they are of course positioned all around europe, so if poland decided to send them without the permission of germany, it could do that. it could. in fact, there is one report that i've seen today that poland has already started to train ukrainian crews on them, in anticipation of them being allowed to be

released, but if poland or finland or any other country goes ahead without berlin's permission, they are breaking export rules here, so germany, like quite a lot of countries, the us is the same, has these quite tight reexport regulations when it comes to military equipment because you don't want to sell something to one person and then find them actually, they've gone and sold it to somebody else who ended up being your enemy. so they cannot sell it on without germany's permission and germany is very wary of escalating this conflict. russia has already been making noises, saying, if you send tanks to ukraine, this is an dangerous escalation. they have said this before about other things, but clearly russia does not want this, because if these 2000 or even a few hundred of these leopard tanks, ukraine is only asking for 300 of them, if they getting sent to ukraine, that is likely the blunt

to plunge russia's spring offensive and russia does not want that. it wants to finish this war on its terms and basically bring ukraine back under its sway. western tanks supplied by nato are simply going to feed into president putin's narrative that this is a war notjust against ukraine but against nato. ukrainians saying, we need this in order to survive and liberate what russia has advanced and conquered. frank gardner, thank you very much indeed. i spoke to sudha david wilp, director of the german marshall fund, an independent american public policy think tank, and asked her why germany is taking this stance. i think germany and its chancellor are very risk averse in general. they've certainly changed the countries stance since the outbreak of the war last year. germany had declared a site turning point and is made a lot of radical changes, whether it's getting off natural gas, investing in military. but

still very incremental and slow when it comes to supporting ukraine with weapons rather than thinking big picture about what ukraine needs to defend itself and to deter russia. but although germany, one must mention alongside great britain has been the biggest contributor to support ukraine behind the united states. but that message gets modelled because of the lack of strategic communication from the chancellor. the strategic communication from the chancellor. , . ., ., chancellor. the distinction that germany is _ chancellor. the distinction that germany is making _ chancellor. the distinction that germany is making here - chancellor. the distinction that germany is making here is - chancellor. the distinction that germany is making here is that chancellor. the distinction that i germany is making here is that a tank is an offensive weapon or allows you going to go on offensives in a way that missiles don't. it's very difficult line to draw, isn't it? it very difficult line to draw, isn't it? , , ., very difficult line to draw, isn't it? , ,., t, it? it sure is for laypeople. for them they _ it? it sure is for laypeople. for them they don't _ it? it sure is for laypeople. for them they don't maybe - it? it sure is for laypeople. for them they don't maybe see - it? it sure is for laypeople. for| them they don't maybe see the difference between the martyr, which is an infantry tank and the leopard tank, which is more of a combat tank. to all of us outside the military experts and probably partner countries in the east, they

redlined that nato countries have drawn is that they won't send troops to ukraine to fight against russia. there won't be a no—fly zone over ukraine. in other words, there won't be a no—fly zone over ukraine. in otherwords, no there won't be a no—fly zone over ukraine. in other words, no direct confrontation between nato and russia. so why not send the leopard tanks? how much more can russia escalate? we've seen terrible damage to critical infrastructure, innocent lives being lost and indiscriminate bombing just as we saw it recently. in this context do you think the chancellor is in lockstep with a population? we're seeing protests, demonstrations from germans. this is true. there have _ demonstrations from germans. this is true. there have been _ demonstrations from germans. this is true. there have been some _ demonstrations from germans. this is true. there have been some protestsl true. there have been some protests in front of the chancellor last night. but there is no clear majority within the electorate for sending leopard tanks to ukraine. i think there is always been huge support and sympathy for ukraine.

germany has also taken a record number of refugees from ukraine. but the chancellor notjust the number of refugees from ukraine. but the chancellor not just the fear of russia in terms of escalation, i think he also wants to make sure that he can keep popular opinion positive in terms of supporting ukraine. because really there is no timetable for when this war is going to end. the only timetable that ukrainians are pressing is that they need the weapons now because the window is closing as russia repairs at spring offensive. there is another day of protests taking place in france today against president macron�*s pension reform plans. left—wing party unbowed and other youth organistations are marching in paris. on friday, the country saw nationwide strikes — affecting travel, finance, education and other sectors — in protests organised by unions. 0rganisers say they are opposed to raising the state pension age from 62 to 64.

president macron says it's the best way to ensure the system remains affordable. peru has closed the famous inca citadel of machu picchu because of anti—government protests. hundreds of tourists have been left stranded. violent protests have continued in the peruvian capital, as thousands of demonstrators descended on lima, demanding the resignation of president dina boluarte. peru's ministry of culture said the closure of machu picchu and the inca trails network had been ordered to keep visitors safe because of the social situation. it said tourists would be given the assistance they need and tickets would be refunded or be valid for one month after the end of the protests. chris hipkins is set to become new zealand's next prime minister, after being the only candidate nominated by the governing labour party to replace jacinda ardern. mr hipkins is expected

to be confirmed as the new leader on sunday. he is currently minister for education and policing and came to prominence as one of the primary architects of the country's much lauded covid response. i'm a politician. i love myjob, and i'm really passionate about it. it is incredibly, it is a massive honour to have this opportunity. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's lizzie greenwod—hughes. pressure is mounting for everton manager frank lampard after his side lost to fellow strugglers west ham. jarrod bowen scored both goals in the 2—nil win at the london stadium. david moyes�* side climb—out of the relegation zone leaving everton second from bottom of the table. i think there really they watch the team, they watch the history, they grew up in history, i grew up on the history very aware of it. history moves and there's nothing that gives

you in this legal right to do anything for that we've seen huge football clubs go down, come back out, stay in the lead. it's all about the moment and how you try to move forward as a club with them if you don't do that then you will come into tough times for them at the minute were in tough times. it affects everybody at the club and everybody has to try to stick together and move forward. it was a difficult day for me because _ it was a difficult day for me because obviously i'm really keen to .et because obviously i'm really keen to get away— because obviously i'm really keen to get away from the position. i had a great _ get away from the position. i had a great time — get away from the position. i had a great time and today was a hard game for me _ great time and today was a hard game for me to _ great time and today was a hard game for me to do _ great time and today was a hard game for me to do that. i wanted to celebrate _ for me to do that. i wanted to celebrate because west ham, we needed _ celebrate because west ham, we needed a — celebrate because west ham, we needed a win, it was desperate for us. needed a win, it was desperate for us but_ behind all i have feelings for frank and everton. liverpool and chelsea played—out a goalless draw at anfield. even the debut of chelsea's new 62 million pound signing mikhalo mudryk couldn't bring about a score. the ukranian came close following his introduction in the second half

but he was unable to prevent a fifth consecutive draw between the two sides. villa's good form under unai emery has continued — they beat southampton i—nil and have now won five out of their seven league games under the new manager. 0llie watkins scored the game's only goal after southampton had two goals ruled—out by the officials. they remain bottom of the premier league. elsewhere plenty of draws in the premier league today — bournemouth conceded a late equaliser to nottingham forest it ended i all, brighton salvaged a point at leicester — finishing up 2—all and it was goalless in this evening's late kick off between crystal palace and newcastle. celtic are through to the last 16 of the scottish cup with a comfortable 5—nil win over second—tier grenoch morton. both kyogo furuhashi and aaron mooy scored twice... the japan international�*s second was his 20th of the season. mooy started and finished the rout. rangers are also through to the next round of the scottish cup. they beat stjohnstone i—0

at mcdiarmid park, fashion sikala hit the post and then borja barisic scored this, which was the only goal. but there was a strange atmosphere with most home fans boycotting the game after stjohnstone sold three—quarters of the tickets to rangers fans. andy murray's run at the australian open has been ended by spain's roberto bautista agut. (00v)murray, the former world number one and three—time murray, the former world number one and three—time grand slam winner — looked to be feeling the effects of his previous five—setter — and he lost the first set 6—i. he fought back to claim the second on a tie break with the crowd firmly behind him. bautista agut was just too strong in the end, winning the third and fourth 6—3, 6—4. i felt good about the way that i was playing. it was more enjoyable for me. when i'm playing like that and when i'm coming into a major event and really believing that i can do some damage. yeah, i can have a deeper run and the third run of a slam, there's no question about

that. dan evans was also knocked—out in straight sets by fifth seed andrey rublev. the russian hit 60 winners to win injust over two hours, he'll face danish ninth seed holger rune for a place in the quarter—finals. nine—time champion novak djokovic has reached the last 16 following a straight sets win over grigor dimitrov. djokovic won the opening set with a tie—break but needed with a tie—break but needed a medical timeout on the injury he's been carrying since before the tournament. djokovic won the second set but was in visible pain throughout the third which he took 6—4. in rugby union's champions cup — harlequins have secured their place in the last 16 by beating sharks, who'd already qualified. scrum half danny care marked his 350th appearance for quins by levelling the score in the sixth minute after sharks had taken the lead. the hosts went—on to run in another four tries at twickenham stoop to claim a 39—29 bonus point win. england lost in their opening netball match of the 2023

quad series tournament in south africa with australia winning 61—55. england were winning by nine in the first quarter and were still leading by one point at half time. but eventually australia got the better of the roses with a run of 11 goals in the third quarter. it means england have suffered their fourth straight loss to australia this season. that's all the sport for now. let's return to our top story — the news that the chair of the conservative party nadim zahawi has confirmed that he made a payment to the tax office to settle a disagreement about his tax affairs. my colleague kasia madera spoke to rebecca benneyworth, a chartered accountant who writes on tax issues. she says the tax authorities carefully check what you tell them and cross reference it with information they have. hmrc has got a very sophisticated

computer system, which goes off and gets data from all sorts of places and marries that data up and spot anomalies that they are concerned about. but in fact, what we're led to believe in mr nadhim zahawi's case is that wasn't how all of this started. the suggestion is that nadhim zahawi went to hmrc, once he realised that there was a problem with this tax and came forward. and the rate of penalty and some of the information that is in the public domain suggests that that is true. he actually went to hmrc, approach them and said, "look, i need to come clean, i need to tell you about it. when you say the rate of penalty for us to understand, in that case would he pay a higher penalty? we can't verify the exact figures but the guardian is reporting it was a penalty of 30%. the guardian is reporting it was a penalty of 3096-—

the guardian is reporting it was a penalty of 3096. yes. that report is consistent with _ penalty of 3096. yes. that report is consistent with what _ penalty of 3096. yes. that report is consistent with what nadhim - penalty of 3096. yes. that report is l consistent with what nadhim zahawi said in his statement this afternoon. hmrc have agreed that his behaviour was careless and not deliberate. but the penalty legislation does, once you have a tax inquiry where you have come forward and said, i got a problem, right at the end of it hmrc have to go into a bit of a look and see were you careless in underpaying your tax for them had the penalty legislation works is fairly straightforward. you send a document to hmrc, which is inaccurate, as a result of that inaccuracy you've underpaid your tax. the legislation then says we need to look at how this happened. were you careless, was it deliberate, did you send in a deliberately incorrect tax return was met or even worse did you deliberately misstate your tax and then try and cover it up afterwards? those of the sort of levels of

penalty, obviously much higher penalty, obviously much higher penalty for deliberate and what they call deliberate and concealed. careless is what has been agreed. if it was just simply to do with the uk the maximum penalty is 30%. then you get a reduction, the law says for what they call disclosure. that involves you coming forward or maybe hmrc asking you about it as you put your hands up. also how you work with hmrc while you are sorting it out. did you give them all the information needed, didn't you let them see all of your information so that you could arrive at the right amount of tax? the slight difference here with nadhim zahawi is that the yougov shares, if that's what the taxes relationship, they were in an offshore structure in gibraltar.

when the inaccuracy relates to something that happens offshore the penalty legislation are a little bit more aggressive. they'll say i don't like this at all. the starting point goes up to 45%. gibraltar is what's called a category two territory so it's the middle range of penalties. it starts off at 45%, if you come forward without being asked about it then you can reduce that penalty. the minimum you will get it down to is 22 and a half percent. if i announce it is right and i think this all seems to stack up with what's in the public domain, he did come forward voluntarily the because of penalty for what they call prompted disclosure, so after hmrc had said, what is going on here? that is much higher. it's likely he came forward voluntarily, he was moderately cooperative, not 100%

cooperative, otherwise the penalty would've been 22.5%, the minimum level. slightly less then overly enthusiastic to get hmrc sorted and get the whole thing resolved. but they've got a good reduction. whoever was negotiating for him and dealing with hmrc, they've come out with given the circumstances i think a lot of people are commenting today not a bad outcome in penalty terms 30%. tens of millions of people are on the move in china in preparation for the start of the lunar new year tomorrow. it's the first spring festival in china in four years without any covid travel restrictions, as michael bristow reports. there's excitement and relief, as china begins celebrating its first lunar new year since the lifting of covid restrictions. not surprisingly, there are more travellers than last year.

there are expected to be two billion individualjourneys in china over the whole holiday, although that's still fewer than before the outbreak began. for some, it's a first get—together since the start of the pandemic. translation: i'm very happy to see my son and his family. | this is ourfirst reunion in three years. but covid is casting a shadow over the new year. many are still cautious about travelling. people fear they could be taking disease home with them. translation: although we have opened up, i still have concerns. _ everyone needs to take measures to protect themselves. and for parents and the elderly, who have not got covid yet, we still need to be careful for them. in a new year address, china's leader xijinping promised glories and dreams in the upcoming year of the rabbit. in perhaps a veiled reference to china's current covid crisis, he said this passing year's achievements had not come easy.

chinese officials are trying to convince the public that the worst is over, but there are fears that such a huge movement of people across china over the lunar new year could fuel further covid infections and deaths. michael bristow, bbc news. the former us astronaut and the second person to walk on the moon — buzz aldrin — has got married for the fourth time — coinciding with his 93rd birthday. pictures from their private los angeles ceremony were shared by buzz aldrin on social media. the former pilot said that he and new wife anca faur were as "excited as eloping teenagers" now on bbc news the weather. hello there. it's been cold again today across england and wales, even if you did have the sunshine. some areas, though, it's been a real struggle with this mist and fog — across parts of northern england, east wales, the west midlands and the west country.

towards the north—west of the uk, things are looking very different. we're getting atlantic air and a lot of cloud coming in, bringing in some milder conditions. still going to be quite windy for scotland and northern ireland into the night. some more rain coming in from the atlantic as well. some of that cloud just could edge into western—most parts of england and wales. but on the whole, we've got clearer skies. that's going to lead to some more fog, particularly across some eastern parts of england. it'll be dense, it'll be freezing as well. there'll be a widespread frost for england and wales. could be as low as —7. bit chilly, i think, for south—east scotland. the rest of scotland, northern ireland should see temperatures above freezing. we've got milder atlantic air here, but that's really, really struggling to arrive across south—eastern parts of the uk, where we've got this blocking area of high pressure keeping it cold, but keeping us with some sunshine as well. there will be some fog around, then, as we move into tomorrow morning, especially for eastern england, only very slowly lifting. one or two patches could linger into the afternoon. western parts of england and into wales will see more clouds,

slightly higher temperatures. we've got cloud for scotland and northern ireland, a bit of rain and drizzle from time to time. could get some sunshine, though, around the moray firth — temperatures making ten degrees in western scotland and northern ireland. but across the midlands, eastern england, could be only three orfour degrees — and if the fog does linger, it'll be even colder than that. the weather front in the north—west weakens as high pressure builds across it in time for monday, keeping it cold for much of england and wales. some morning fog across eastern parts of england, again slowly lifting. some sunshine. we've still got cloudier skies across western parts of england and wales, and more especially in scotland and northern ireland, where it's still mild — temperatures again nine or ten degrees. but quite a contrast across the uk. we're still in that colder, generally sunny air through the midlands, towards the south—east and east anglia. we have to see this weather front actually coming in from the northwest to give us more of a definite change around the middle part of the week. but tuesday still looks cold across south—eastern areas, some sunshine and some fog. it's not until wednesday we see milder air pushing down across the whole of the country.

and with that milder air, looks like there's going to be a lot of cloud.

this is bbc news, the headlines the chair of the conservative party nadim zahawi has confirmed that he made a payment to the tax office to settle a disagreement about his tax affairs. it's understood the dispute over mr zahawi's taxes was resolved while he was serving as chancellor of the exchequer.

president zelensky says he'll keep asking western allies to send