this is bbc news — i'm lucy grey. our top stories: the british prime minister says he has confidence in nadhim zahawi after the conservative chairman admitted to what he called a careless error with his taxes. britain's labour party demands that the parliamentary standards watchdog investigate reports that the bbc chairman helped boris johnson secure a financial loan. 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. turkey condemns the burning of a copy of the quran during a protest in sweden, describing it as a "vile act". wild camping campaigners say access to the english countryside is being eroded as they protest at one of the uk's biggest

national parks. hello and welcome to bbc news. the chairman 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. earlier labour had called on nadim zahawi to resign. here's our political correspondent helen catt. do you have anything you want to say, mr zahawi? nadhim zahawi was out and about this morning,

although not to talk to the press. instead, it was a cabinet colleague who defended him to the cameras, against claims he tried to avoid tax. i don't know about nadhim's personal tax affairs, i wouldn't know them, they are personal and private to him. but he has been very clear that he has paid all his tax due in the uk, that his tax accounts are up—to—date and he has engaged with hmrc. so that is the position and i think he has been very transparent about this. last year, mr zahawi was, for a few months, borisjohnson�*s chancellor, in charge of the country's finances. asked in the summer about his financial affairs, he dismissed claims that hmrc was investigating him as inaccurate smears. now mr zahawi has confirmed that 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 had given 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 disagreed about the exact allocation, and that he had chosen to settle the matter and pay what they said was due. he said hmrc had concluded that this was a careless and not deliberate error. there are some things which are still not clear. how much was paid, for example. a source close to mr zahawi suggested that there hadn't been any sort of negotiation or discussion, that he had simply paid what hmrc told him to. but it also appears that that happened while he was the chancellor of the exchequer, and in charge of the country's finances. 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 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. he has now given some explanation. the question will be,

if it's enough. staying in the uk. the former prime minister, borisjohnson has been reported to the parliamentary standards watchdog by the labour party. it follows allegations reported in the sunday times newspaper that the chairman of the bbc, richard sharp, helped mrjohnson to arrange a guarantee on a loan of up to £800,000 just weeks before the former gabriel pogrund is the whitehall editor of the sunday times newspaper, and one of the authors of this story. he gave my colleague samantha simmonds more details on his investigation. the chairman of the bbc was unbeknownst to the public, involved in behind—the—scenes talks about borisjohnson finances at the same time that he had a lead application for the role he was to go on to receive government support for.

in october 2020, applications closed in the following month, sharp dined with a friend of his, a man by the name of sam blythe who is a foreign citizen and distant cousin of boris johnson who was interested in the idea of helping underwrite the then prime minister's lifestyle. johnson had a lot of difficulty relating to those payments and childcare costs and sharp actually volunteered to help, he introduced the idea to assignment case, he actually went to see simon case, the cabinet secretary the nation's top official in downing street, they discussed the matter and he brokered the introduction to blythe and briefed the prime minister and it was in november, it was in november 2020 or early december the meeting occurred and the cabinet office and team

the internal watchdog for ministerial conduct and probity in whitehall, produced a formal letter to johnson expressly stating that they had to stop discussing and soliciting advice from sharp in respect of his private financial matters. stay with us, we have had reaction from the former

that's the response from the former prime minister and what is the political reaction to your story? briefly the dinner referred to the meal featuring johnson and sam blyth, guarantor on his £800,000 loan and sharp, the bbc chairman at checkers, the prime minister's residence. the former prime minister characterised, i don't ——a —— ajob —— a job application stated that they were not responsible so you ask what the reaction is tonight? it so you ask what the reaction is toniaht? , ., , , tonight? it is inevitably votinu tonight? it is inevitably voting on _ tonight? it is inevitably voting on the _ tonight? it is inevitably voting on the former i tonight? it is inevitably - voting on the former prime minister. lucy powell, shadow culture secretary, it was referred to the parliamentary watchdog and it was just

recently tweeted, the revelations undermined public confidence in the bbc and its reputation for neutrality and impartiality. there are kind of obvious questions, not only for the political establishment, the political establishment, the civil service, the prime minister, also the chairman and again, the sake of fairness, which i am sure you will in due course read this out anyway but sharp has acknowledged he introduced johnson's guarantor, the man who underwrote is 6—figure financial facility, sam blyth, he introduced him to simon case, he said that on the record but as the application process, says there were no interests to declare and said the activities went no further. so his position is straightforward in that respect. he says there was no conflict of interest. i suppose there is the act of introducing sam blyth to the nation's top official not in and of itself, at least a potential perceived

conflict, but his position is emphatic. ican bring i can bring you a statement from the bbc. bbc plays no role in the recruitment of the chair and any questions are a matter for the government. the cabinet office been contacted but has not commented to the bbc. the news that broken the last hour. six more classified documents found in the usjustice department search of president biden pod back in wilmington dell —— wilmington delaware. his attorney said the president offered access to the home to allow the department to search the entire premises for potential vice presidential records and potential classified material. neither the president nor his wife were present at the time. protests in israel against plans by the new right—wing government to overhaul thejudicial system have gone on into the night. there were more than 100,000 protesters in tel aviv alone. thousands more took to the streets in other cities. it's the largest demonstration since benjamin netanyahu's

return to power last month. from tel aviv, tom bateman reports. they came in the tens of thousands and brought central tel aviv to a standstill, accusing israel's coalition of accusing israel's coalition of a coup against democracy. i am a coup against democracy. i am a student. _ a coup against democracy. i am a student. a — a coup against democracy. i am a student, a law— a coup against democracy. i am a student, a law student - a coup against democracy. i am a student, a law student and i a student, a law student and once i heard about the requirement in the legal system, i was shocked. we as a student protest are against it and want to save our democracy. protesters railed against mr netanyahu, back in power with the country's most religious nationalist coalition ever. lawyers joined nationalist coalition ever. lawyersjoined in, slamming lawyers joined in, slamming plans lawyersjoined in, slamming plans for changes to weaken the power of the courts. with the prime minister himself on trial for corruption. 0pposition leader yael lapid was there calling for people to keep fighting until they win.

translation: this is a demonstration for the country. people have come here today to defend the democracy and its cause and the idea of coexistence with the common good. coexistence with the common aood. . coexistence with the common iood, ., ., , ~ good. -- yair lapid. mr netanyahu _ good. -- yair lapid. mr netanyahu dismisses i good. -- yair lapid. mr- netanyahu dismisses these neta nyahu dismisses these protests netanyahu dismisses these protests as inflammatory, saying they ignore the will of the voters. he says is raley�*s elected a full right—wing government and voted for security. —— israelis. 0thers security. —— israelis. others here highlight israel's decades—old explanation of the palestinian territories. they are deeply worried about the government they say is committed to exclusive juris rights to all the land. police are estimating numbers were greater than last week when they said there were at least 80,000 people protesting. that would make this certainly the biggest anti—government demonstration in israel and is ——in recent years. this drumbeat of protesters putting israel's old divisions back on

show. but the liberals and the secular of tel aviv no there's other views that have long been moving to the margins in israel. tom bateman, bbc news, tel aviv. we can speak to the american—israeli businessman, moti kahana — he's in tel aviv. welcome to the programme. you're at the protests earlier today. what made you want to take to the streets?— today. what made you want to take to the streets? thank you for having _ take to the streets? thank you for having it. _ take to the streets? thank you for having it. the _ take to the streets? thank you for having it. the fight - take to the streets? thank you for having it. the fight for - for having it. the fight for democracy, the fight against fascists, the changes in my country is going, notjust myself, but that took thousands and thousands of israelis to the streets of tel aviv. tell me exactly _ the streets of tel aviv. tell me exactly what _ the streets of tel aviv. tell me exactly what it - the streets of tel aviv. tell me exactly what it is, - the streets of tel aviv. tell me exactly what it is, is . the streets of tel aviv. tell me exactly what it is, is of the judicial reforms? the protesters are not fully united, there are many reasons why people are out demonstrating at the moment? people are upset about the government trying to change

some democracy to create a dictatorship and i'm going to comment on something else, the people voted for me therefore i can do whatever i can do to control the people, that's a dictatorship. it's reminding me, 120 people live in a building in 64 people decided to pee on the stairway. it doesn't mean you can pee in the stairway if the other remaining people in the building decided, let's go to court and see if it's ok to pee in the stairway, is that 0k? and the court will say no, it's not ok. what netanyahu is trying to do, change that, distort the court and if 64 people decided to pee in the stairway, therefore you can pee in the stairway because that's democracy.— that's democracy. that is what netanyahu _ that's democracy. that is what netanyahu is _ that's democracy. that is what netanyahu is doing. _ that's democracy. that is what netanyahu is doing. he - that's democracy. that is what netanyahu is doing. he is - netanyahu is doing. he is saying these protests are going against the will of the people. he is saying the two months ago a bigger demonstration to place and people turned out to vote

and people turned out to vote and they voted for what they have now. you accept the election as it was? definitely, i acce -t election as it was? definitely, i accept the — election as it was? definitely, i accept the election, - election as it was? definitely, i accept the election, there i election as it was? definitely, i accept the election, there is| i accept the election, there is noissue i accept the election, there is no issue with the election. it's not when you get elected to then destroy the court in order for you to just give the example. democracy is great, i love democracy, i support democracy, we all do within the 64 people or government members, decided to be against woman, against lgbt, against the divide of minority, that doesn't mean it's ok, that's why we have the court. mr netanyahu's _ why we have the court. mr netanyahu's argument is that judicial reform which is one of the main reasons people are taking to the street, that was one of the main issues people voted on. one of the main issues people voted om— one of the main issues people voted on-— voted on. people didn't 'ust voted on. people didn't 'ust voted on i voted on. people didn't 'ust voted on that i voted on. people didn't 'ust voted on that -- i voted on. people didn'tjust voted on that -- because i voted on that —— because before, he said he would not

change the court, he would not go against the court. now israel, the cost of living is crazy expensive. we live in a different neighbourhood. you guys live in london. after that election, the government focusing on changing the court. not increasing security, nothing, zero. the only thing to do right now, after exchanging the court. completely destroying the legal system. moving thejudges, having newjudges, completely having new judges, completely changing having newjudges, completely changing it, but the 64 appointed by netanyahu will decide the laws of israel, the politicians will be the judges as well. politicians will be the 'udges as well. . ., politicians will be the 'udges as well. ., ~ , ., ., politicians will be the 'udges as well. ., ~' ., ., as well. thank you for 'oining us. let's get some of the day's other news. peru has closed the famous inca citadel of machu picchu

because of anti—government protests. hundreds of tourists were left stranded but the country's minister of culture said that assistance would be given. violent protests have continued in the peruvian capital lima, where thousands of demonstrators demanded the resignation of president dina boluarte. there's been another day of protests in france against president macron�*s pension reform plans. left—wing party unbowed and other youth organisations have been marching in paris. on friday, the country saw nationwide strikes affecting travel, finance, education and other sectors. 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. new zealand's labour party is due to confirm chris hipkins as its new leader in the coming hours, paving the way for him to replace jacinda ardern as prime minister. the current minister for education and policing emerged as the sole nomination after ardern�*s surprise resignation on thursday.

president zelensky and the first lady have been —— 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. meanwhile, 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. i spoke with bojan pancevski, germany correspondent at the wall streetjournal, and asked him about the negative reaction in the country following this decision.

there is something about the tank that seems to be bothering mr schultz personally. his people will say that president biden of the united states has not sent tanks. you have to remember at the moment, i think britain is the only country that has officially announced that they will be sending 14 main battle tanks, the challenger 2. essentially, he is saying, "i'm only going to do this "if president biden goes a long with it". and that is difficult position to explain because prior to that, he has been saying, "we will go "along with whatever nato decides, with whatever our "european allies decide". it's difficult to explain to people why a tank should be an escalation, where a much bigger weapon has been there for months and months. boyan panchevski. turkey has condemned the burning of a copy of the quran during a protest in sweden, describing it as a "vile act". in the build—up to the protest, ankara cancelled a planned visit by the swedish defence minister. the anti—muslim demonstration in stockholm was organised by a far—right politician and took place in front of the turkish embassy. 0ur reporter

azadeh moshiri joins us now. this protest organised by the far right, the default politician was known about and planned so turkey, which knew that this was going to be in anti— muslim protest appealed to stockholm and urged them not to stockholm and urged them not to give permissions and get sweden did already, before the quran was even burned at the protest, turkey called off an important diplomatic visit by sweden's defence minister to ankara and the protest went ahead and on top of it quran was damaged in this way and turkey of course is a muslim—majority countries and any damage or insult of the quran is deeply offensive to them and so it's worth reading out part of the statement from the foreign ministry, which said "permitting this anti— islam act which targets muslims and insults our sacred values under the guise of freedom of expression is completely unacceptable." it also then went on to condemn the fact

that it sees a growing amount of is a phobia racism across europe and in response, sweden tried to distance itself from the protest. it's worth also reading out there, the foreign minister's response. he said," sweden has a far—reaching freedom of expression but it does not imply that the swedish government or myself support the opinions expressed" and it did say the was appalling but this is short all microphone complicate an already complicated relationship. cancelled the visit by the defence minister but what about more widely for their relationship?- more widely for their relationshi - ? ., , relationship? the meeting was extremely _ relationship? the meeting was extremely important _ relationship? the meeting was extremely important to - relationship? the meeting was| extremely important to sweden and that's because sweden as well as finland have said that they would like to join nato. they made that intention very clear after russia invaded ukraine. they seejoining clear after russia invaded ukraine. they see joining this western defence military alliance as extremely important to their own security. the

catch is that turkey is already a member and so it can block any other country from joining. and so, relationships between these two countries are extremely important and the meeting with the defence minister was extremely important and resident odour one has also made clear he would like concessions. he wants certain critics of his in sweden to be expelled, he insists some terrorists should be in expelled as well and he is setting a high bar and on top of it it was only last week that demonstrators burned in effigy of president odour one in sweden, so sweden already had a long way to go to make up that event and to close in the relationship. it looks like it has a lot more work to do. thank you very much. campaigners have staged a protest on dartmoor national park in the south—west of england after the high court ruled that people aren't allowed to camp there without the permission of landowners. the national park authorities have since agreed a deal to allow wild camping in designated areas, but the protestors say their access to the countryside is being eroded. 0ur environment correspondent claire marshall reports from

dartmoor. this is a battle bus rolling into the village square. we're here today to summon up a spirit, to defend dartmoor and its wild camping rights. the organisers of this rally, the right to roam, say they are at war for the right to sleep under the stars. and let's go and summon up the spirit of dartmoor! cheering. 0ne one of the main reasons i'm here — one of the main reasons i'm here today is because i work with— here today is because i work with ten_ here today is because i work with ten tours and students, bringing _ with ten tours and students, bringing them up to the moors and teaching them how to wild camp— and teaching them how to wild camp and _ and teaching them how to wild camp and leave no trace and hike — camp and leave no trace and hike and _ camp and leave no trace and hike and do their business responsibly and i'm really concerned about the future that this may have on them and their communities. they marched towards the southern slopes of the moor. 4,000 acres of it is owned by a hedge fund manager, alexander darwall. his legal action saw the high court rule there is no intrinsic right to wild camp on the moor — something that's been done for decades. i cut my football match to come here. did you? more important!

it's more important than a football match? yeah! a lot of people here today spoken to me about power and about how it's tipped away from the ability of people to camp out here on the moor in favour of the few people who own this land. but there is a darker side — the damage that can be done by people camping out. cans, foil, condoms, syringes sometimes... all those things... russell ashford owns buckfastleigh common. he was born here. at the end of the day, it is a fantastic, big, open wild space but it is a wild space and we surely don't want to visit it so much that it's damaged through that. a deal has been done — land owners will be paid and people can wild camp. the area is smaller, though, and the right can be revoked at any time. what everyone has in common is the desire for humans to leave no trace and to preserve the dwindling wild

spaces of england. claire marshall, bbc news on dartmoor. tens of millions of people are on the move in china for new year celebrations. it's the first spring festival since the lifting of covid restrictions. 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 2 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 haven't got covid yet, we still need to be careful for them. in a new year address, china's leader xi jinping 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. plenty more on our website on all of the stories we are covering. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @lucyegrey. thanks very much for watching.

goodbye. hello. we have seen some cloudier, milder conditions moving in from the north—west but many of us further south and east have clear skies overhead and some frost and some fog. nearer the ground, this is the picture in the sowerby bridge earlier on. and we are going to see a real mix through sunday, still sticking with the cloudier, milder theme in the north and west with some rain around but further south and east, cold, frosty with some lingering fog, too. and that contrast�*s down to the fact that throughout this cold air mass with us across central and southern areas. but this weather front in the north and west is bringing milder conditions and some fairly patchy rain through the course of the day too. so, for the rest of overnight period, there's that rain then pushing in across the west of scotland, northern ireland. fog forming through the early

hours across many central, eastern and southern parts of england in particular to start off our sunday morning. we're going to see temperatures to about —6 possibly —7 degrees towards the south and east but frost—free in the north—west. so, through the day on sunday, then, there's that early fog in the east, slowly clearing away. some rain for parts of western scotland and through some of these irish sea coasts, pushing into pembrokeshire, perhaps cornwall as well. some sunshine develops once that fog slowly lifts away from southern and eastern england but it will feel cold — just two or three degrees in the east, even colder if you see the fog lingering, but perhaps double figures for the likes of belfast. some clearer skies for a time across the north of scotland. as we move through sunday night now into monday, more of the same — cold and frosty towards the south and east with temperatures down below freezing, but frost—free with milder weather holding on across scotland and northern ireland. so, we've got this area of high pressure which is really building across much of the uk as we move through into monday. just weather fronts in the far north there. so, i think it could be some

rain for the far north of scotland and northern isles, for instance, and the odd splash around some of these irish sea coats. some sunshine again developing for the bulk of england and wales after that fog gradually clears away. so, top temperatures again around 3—5, on the chilly side, but there will be some sunshine towards the south—east. milder but cloudier in the north and the west. and then, as we head through the middle of the week, still high pressure around, perhaps just a weak front making its way south and introducing a few splashes of rain. but in the outlook — generally a lot of dry weather but it will be turning milder through the week ahead, but also rather cloudy at times, too. bye— bye.

this is bbc news — the headlines: the bbc has been told that the british prime minister is satisfied with nadhim zahawi's account of his tax affairs. the conservative party chairman has issued a statement saying the uk tax agency accepted an error with his taxes was careless rather than deliberate. britain's labour party has asked the parliamentary standards watchdog to investigate a report alleging that the chairman of the bbc, richard sharp, helped arrange a guarantee on a loan for borisjohnson weeks before the then—prime minister recommended him for the role. a spokesman for mrjohnson called the report rubbish. the bbc chairman said there was "not a conflict".