hello and welcome to bbc news. the us memphis police department has disbanded the so—called scorpion special unit whose officers are accused of murdering tyre nichols. the 29—year—old black man was kicked and punched by five policemen who are also black. they've now been sacked and face multiple charges including murder. a warning — nada tawfik�*s report contains distressing images. all chant: justice for tyre! woman: justice for tyre! the familiar rallying cry heard too often after incidents of police brutality. memphis�*s worst fears never

materialised as protesters remained peaceful — a considered effort by city officials to deliver swift justice for tyre nichols seems to have worked. small—scale demonstrations took place across the country — from new york to detroit and los angeles — mostly calm, just as the family wanted. five black officers have been charged with murder in the death of tyre nichols, in no small part due to the existence of these extremely graphic videos. (bleep). the officers aggressively approach his car after a traffic stop. taken aback, the 29—year—old black motorist is heard protesting his innocence. yells: i didn't do anything! he seems to comply... calmly: i'm on the ground. ..but as this encounter continues, mr nichols breaks away and flees. when they find him, they repeatedly kick him in the head, strike him with a baton and punch him. in distress, he calls out for his mother. tyre nichols was ultimately taken to the hospital in a critical condition

and died three days later from his injuries. all chant: justice for tyre! today in memphis, people again took to the streets, deeply affected by what they saw in the video. this is horrific. we are traumatised by it. but i applaud the city and the people here today who have gone about trying to correct this in an orderly way. this is an attack on human rights, this is an attack on the rights of black americans and, you know, this shows the true nature of policing. the mood here today is sombre. additional rallies are planned for later, where grief counsellors will be on hand for residents. and accountability is still key. in fact, after the video's release, the shelby county sheriff announced two other deputies who responded to this scene have now been relieved of duty. how can you look at that footage and not want to do something?

at a press conference saturday, state lawmakers said they plan to introduce legislation aimed at police training. if a dog in this country was beaten like that, what the hell would happen? you all know what would happen. if the dog is beaten like that, somebody�*s going to jail. now you got a man that's dead. these disturbing videos have reignited concerns about the culture of policing in america. the need for police reform is once again at the forefront of people's minds. that was nada tawfik. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has promised a "strong, swift and precise" response to an attack by a palestinian gunman outside a synagogue in occupied east jerusalem. seven people were killed and many others injured. here's our middle east correspondent, yolande knell. another victim of a jerusalem shooting being treated by medics. an israeli father and son were injured in a new attack this morning.

the suspect is just 13. he's said to be the relative of another teenager shot dead by israeli forces this week. meanwhile, this was the scene of yesterday's shooting attack — the deadliest israelis have seen in years. here, a palestinian gunman opened fire after prayers in a packed synagogue at the start of the jewish sabbath. as people rushed over to those injured, one witness said they were shot, too. translation: a guy stopped here to help them. _ he went out of his car and was hit by a bullet in his head. he died here, next to me, and his son was hit by a bullet in his back. after police shot dead the attacker, israeli politicians were quick to visit the scene. the veteran prime minister benjamin netanyahu has since promised to take immediate action. translation: iwill submit to the security council - additional steps in the fight against terrorism. this includes significantly hastening and expediting the licensing of weapons for authorised civilians.

as we have seen time and again, this saves lives. on the streets ofjerusalem tonight, emotions are running high. israelis blocked cars in palestinian neighbourhoods, here shouting "arabs, beware — hebrew blood isn't cheap". tensions had risen sharply after the deadliest israeli military raid in the occupied west bank in years. on thursday, nine palestinians, including two civilians, were killed. the israeli armed forces say they were acting on intelligence to prevent islamicjihad fighters carrying out major attacks. in response, palestinian militants fired rockets from the gaza strip. in recent months, amid rising violence, there have been repeated international calls for calm here but they've had little impact. and now, once again, fears are growing of wider unrest. yolande knell,

bbc news, jerusalem. you're watching bbc news. a sunday newspaper is reporting that the former prime minister borisjohnson was told by government officials to stop asking richard sharp for "advice" about his "personal financial matters" just days before mr sharp was announced as the new chairman of the bbc. our political correspondent iain watson has been looking into the sunday times article and gave us more details. the sunday times ran this story, in effect, last week, but what they have done this week is published a leaked memo from the cabinet office — the people who advise the prime minister on propriety and ethics. that memo comes from december 2020, so it was a couple of weeks

before the announcement of richard sharp as the bbc chairman, and it is offering strong advice to the then prime minister borisjohnson. it tells him to, quote, "no longer" ask for advice on his financial affairs from mr sharp. now, this would then — you would assume — tend to suggest that perhaps, that advice had been sought in the period when richard sharp was a contender to become bbc chairman. but as far as richard sharp was concerned, he had said at the time when this story first broke a week ago that his role has simply been to introduce a wealthy canadian businessman called sam blyth to the country's most senior civil servant to discuss how he could assist the prime minister financially. he had no knowledge, he said, of the financial arrangements. and in a letter to bbc staff, he said he didn't guarantee any loans himself and he didn't get involved in any financing, although mr blyth did turn out to guarantee a loan worth £800,000. now, following the publication of this leaked memo, as i understand it, mr sharp's

position hasn't changed — his position is still insisting that he was not a financial adviser in any way to borisjohnson. borisjohnson�*s spokesman is also saying he neither sought nor received any financial advice from mr sharp. as to the cabinet office itself, where this memo originated, they are refusing to comment. iain watson reporting. police in the north—east of england are questioning a 16—year—old boy on suspicion of murder after a 15—year—old girl was stabbed to death. the attack happened on a street in the small market town of hexham. another 16—year—old boy was taken to hospital but his injuries aren't thought to be life—threatening. northumbria police said the three teenagers knew each other. our reporter peter harris gave us this update from hexham. the flowers and tributes have been building here through the day at the spot where the police were called yesterday to those

reports of a 15—year—old girl and a 16—year—old boy having been stabbed. now, sadly, we now know the girl has subsequently died in hospital. herfamily, as you might expect, are said to be devastated beyond words. and earlier, we heard this from northumbria police. this is a devastating time for the families of these young people and what is really important is that we continue to provide that specialist support and advice by our specially trained officers to make sure they get through the coming days, weeks and months. that this could happen here in this normally quiet northumberland market town perhaps an illustration that this could happen anywhere. the mayor of the town here said that this has shocked the whole community — a loving community, he said — and knocked everybody here for six. now, tonight, to reiterate — a 16—year—old boy is still in custody, held on suspicion of murder.

that was peter harris reporting from hexham. let's get more on our top story now. devante hill is founder of one memphis one vision, and told me about the mood in memphis a day after the footage was released. the temperature here in memphis is unequivocally peaceful. we always knew memphis has always been leading the charge for peaceful protests. i don't know if you remember in 2020 in the likeness of george floyd and ahmaud arbery and breonna taylor, the world was in flames and memphis was at peace and we truly began the systemic work of changing what policing looks like in memphis and changing the way we deal with issues like this, that we knew one day would actually happen in our city. and so right now, the tone and temperature is that of peace because we were met with justice before we were met with the video. the trauma changed and the song changed and so, our protest, the sound of it has to change as well — and it has. and earlier on in the program, i mentioned that special police

unit, the scorpion, being disbanded in response to what happened to tyre nichols. do you think that goes far enough, and what further changes do you want to see now? actually, i actuallyjust sent a message to the desk of the mayor and the police director, whom i'm incredibly proud of in their swift movement to termination and through arbitration and also into the realm ofjustice. but ijust sent message to them that we have to dissect what the scorpion — the damage that the scorpion unit has done. we need to know how many violent complaints have been made against this unit. we need to ask questions such as what have we addressed or how we are addressing these complaints made against these units, and how can we use this knowledge as a dashboard to police departments across the world on how they deal with violent claims against units that are created, in their inception, to be aggressive?

and so, there is much more work that has to be done and, of course, our first african—american female police director here in the city of memphis, she has remained committed to doing that work. i'm actually incredibly — as an activist, i'm oddly enough saying i'm incredibly proud of our police director in this moment. i'm disgusted by our police department but i am not shocked. i am not at all caught off guard by what i was able to see because this has been happening to young black men across the country in america for decades. this is nothing new. but i am glad that memphis is now faced with a unique opportunity to show our country what it looks like to be a catalyst of change for the entire world and the world of policing. devante hill. in the czech republic, the retired nato general petr pavel has been elected as the new president. he saw off a populist challenger andrej babis in a contentious campaign, taking almost 58% of the vote, according to initial results.

mr pavel will replace milos zeman, whose second term ends in march. azadeh moshiri reports. chanting. thunderous applause and chants of "pavel to the castle!" they echo the chants for the czech republic's very first president after communist rule. petr pavel�*s supporters see this as a victory for liberal democracy. translation: i see values winning this election - - values like truth, dignity, respect and humility. and i am convinced that these values are shared by the vast majority of us. cheering and applause. in a symbolic moment, slovakia's president zuzana caputova joined him on stage. like him, she too is a pro—west and liberal leader.

across the country, fans celebrated wearing an unofficial emblem of his campaign — the flannel shirt. cheering. petr pavel is a man better known in uniform. he's a former nato general and a decorated war hero. pro—eu, his win anchors the czech republic firmly in the west and signals more support for ukraine. in contrast, his opponent andrej babis was widely seen as a populist leader. he previously served as prime minister and was criticised for running what some viewed as a negative campaign against petr pavel. applause. but in times when concessions are by no means a given, he sent a clear message to his supporters. translation: i congratulate mr petr pavel on his victory i and acknowledge my defeat. i congratulate him on becoming

the next prime minister of the czech republic. but it marks the end of a toxic campaign trail. it was rife with disinformation as well as death threats. that's why mr pavel�*s victory is being hailed as a new, more dignified era for the country. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. spanish police have seized 4.5 tonnes of cocaine that was aboard a cattle cargo ship sailing from latin america. the vessel was intercepted off the canary islands. the drugs have an estimated value of more than $100 million. officers arrested 28 members of the crew. the ship is registered in the west african nation of togo. severe rains sweeping new zealand's north island have prompted more local emergency declarations as flood rescue efforts continue in the city of auckland. at least three people have died following the torrential downpours.

let's now speak to ricardo menendez march, a green party mp there. thank you very much forjoining here on bbc news. we've been seeing pictures and itjust looks awful. what is the situation like where you are at the moment and how have you been impacted?— the moment and how have you been impacted? yes. like many --eole been impacted? yes. like many peeple across — been impacted? yes. like many people across auckland, - been impacted? yes. like many people across auckland, we - been impacted? yes. like many people across auckland, we had to leave our home as the water was rising rapidly on friday evening, and for many families, their homes have become uninhabitable now. in our case, our living room was flooded and we were only able to come back last night. it's been deeply distressing. many families are seeking shelter and trying to

access whatever support is available, and lucky the community has rallied around and is stepping up to provide leadership and support for those that continue with our home. ~ ~' ., those that continue with our home. ~ ~ ., ., those that continue with our home. ~ ., ., ., home. we know that a local state of emergency - home. we know that a local state of emergency that - home. we know that a localj state of emergency that has been declared, as you are saying, evacuations have taken place. you had to leave your home. what authority saying? what is official advice here? the official advice so far is that people should still be staying home and should avoid going out unless it's absolutely necessary. the concerning thing is that we are still due for another potential severe weather period over the next week, and so because our city has experienced severe flooding and lips, even small levels of heavy rain could have a significant impact. for people who already lost their homes and can't go back, it

basically means a week of uncertainty. there is going to be a whole conversation need to have about insurance and the level support that people have in the medium term. you level support that people have in the medium term.— in the medium term. you also previously _ in the medium term. you also previously mentioned - in the medium term. you also previously mentioned that - in the medium term. you also previously mentioned that the community are coming together to help one another. what is the mood of the community and what are you saying?— what are you saying? having walked around _ what are you saying? having walked around the _ what are you saying? having - walked around the neighbourhood and visited tenants who have been left without a home to the event, it has been really hard to see that. people have been delivering pizzas to shelter, offering their homes. i was one person who benefited from having people who offered their homes so that i could quickly escape and have somewhere to sleep in overnight. that is what is making things bearable for many. but ultimately, with the risk of more severe weather coming in our region, we're going to need more support, so i'm hoping that the community

support can keep up over the next few days so people don't feel like we can go back to normal yet. feel like we can go back to normal yet-— feel like we can go back to normal et. ,, normalyet. indeed. stay safe. it was good — normalyet. indeed. stay safe. it was good speaking - normalyet. indeed. stay safe. it was good speaking to - normalyet. indeed. stay safe. it was good speaking to you i it was good speaking to you here on bbc news.- it was good speaking to you here on bbc news. serbian tennis star novak djokovic is poised to make history later today, as he bids for a record tenth australian open title. the serbian community in melbourne have been out in force supporting their hero throughout this tournament. let's speak to the serbian sports journalist miodrag dimitrijevic, who is in melbourne. hello and thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. a great match coming up later on today. tell us who you see as the favourite here.— tell us who you see as the favourite here. novak d'okovic already won t favourite here. novak d'okovic already won nine * favourite here. novak d'okovic already won nine titles _ favourite here. novak djokovic already won nine titles here, | already won nine titles here, so he must be the player favourite, but it's it has assured us in this tournament

that he is playing pretty well. he made some mistakes, some changes on backhand, and that he will try to use against djokovic. for djokovic, it's the second home. he adored playing at rudd labour in the night session. maybe it is the most difficult thing to do in tennis to beat djokovic in the night session on rod laver arena. it's never happened before in the seim—finals and finals. at this moment he has 19 wins and zero defeats, so he is trying to get his 20th win in this two matches and a title. ., ., i. in this two matches and a title. ., ., ,, , , title. how would you sum up novak djokovic's _ title. how would you sum up novak djokovic's welcome i title. how would you sum up i novak djokovic's welcome back to the australian open this year? to the australian open this ear? , ,, , ., year? yes, the serbian community _ year? yes, the serbian community welcomed l

year? yes, the serbian i community welcomed him back great. on the first game against chaeronea bicester, he had so much serbian fans, but djokovic fans who are not from serbia. i never saw something like that. i was in a couple of football national team games, basketball national team games, but i never saw 100 serbian flags all around the crowds and everything, and there was chanting and everything. i mean, he got so much support for coming back.— mean, he got so much support for coming back. yes. he really is an icon _ for coming back. yes. he really is an icon to — for coming back. yes. he really is an icon to the _ for coming back. yes. he really is an icon to the serbian - is an icon to the serbian community. just describe that excitement for me. how excited are the fans to see him in action? , , ., �* ~ action? yes, but i don't think that he is— action? yes, but i don't think that he isjust _ action? yes, but i don't think that he isjust an _ action? yes, but i don't think that he isjust an idle - action? yes, but i don't think that he isjust an idle for i action? yes, but i don't think that he isjust an idle for the | that he is just an idle for the serbian community. there is a

big community of novak djokovic fans all around the world from kazakhstan, france, england, united states, even in australia, there is many people who adore djokovic. there are some australians who came to me and said that djokovic is their favourite player. he is playing tennis for 15 years now, even with grand slams, so there are so many people who grew up when he was rising, winning grand slams, winning masters and yes, the atmosphere is great on every occasion, and every match. as always, there are a few people who make mistakes and try to provoke him or anything, but the australian open did a greatjob there, and got them out of the stadium in

the last two or three matches. yes, the atmosphere is great. miodrag dimitrijevic, sports journalist, thank you very much for your time on bbc news. we shall wait for the results of that exciting match i had. thank you. manchester united booked their place in the fa cup fifth round as they beat reading 3—1 last night. and fulham were held by sunderland. adam wild reports. such remains the lure of one of those special fa cup days. 6,000 sunderland fans travelled from wearside to west london in search of one. premier league fulham's welcome was as prompt as it was generous, just minutes in, gifting a goal to jack clarke. the championship side could, probably should, have had more, which made tom cairney�*s quite brilliant equaliser all the tougher to take. still, there would be sunderland celebrations.

with just seconds remaining, 15—year—old chris rigg swept in what looked to be a dramatic late winner. the wild celebrations eventually curtailed by an offside flag. a replay now awaits. fulham to do the travelling next time. tottenham, too, were taking on championship opposition in preston. not much between them, until two moments of brilliance set spurs apart. both came from heung—min son. deadly and ultimately decisive. spurs into the fifth round. the only surprise at old trafford was that it took manchester united so long to find a way through against reading. casemiro with the first, eventually, and then, just moments later, the second. 3—1, it finished, united comfortable. so perhaps the biggest surprise of the day came at luton. no, not the sprinklers suddenly switching on, but a grimsby town equaliser. two divisions below luton — today, they're equal.

adam wild, bbc news. every january across the balkans, hundreds of people dress up as monsters. they do it to fend off evil spirits as the new year begins. the biggest such event takes place in the bulgarian town of pernik. but for the last few years, it was cancelled due to covid. now the monsters are back, as the bbc�*s tim allman explains. no, they don't seem that scary to me either. but maybe evil spirits are easily unnerved these days. the streets were full of colourful costumes and the sound of drums and bells. and they've been doing this around here for a long, long time. translation: time. transit around here for a long, long time. transit yellow our group has traditional masks from north macedonia. the position

is around 200 years old. about 50 members in the group and we have participated in many carnivals. everyone seems to want to get involved. men and women of all ages, although it is mostly man. and the monster costumes can take a variety of different forms. translation: we started around 1942 around one or two. our costume means we have horns. we also have costumes that are for others. —— have feathers. since this was the first post— pandemic carnival of monsters, perhaps the celebrations were more ferocious than usual. dancing, . ratin: , ferocious than usual. dancing, gyrating. and _ ferocious than usual. dancing, gyrating, and whatever - ferocious than usual. dancing, gyrating, and whatever this i ferocious than usual. dancing, j gyrating, and whatever this is. tim allman, bbc news. here's the weather

now with ben rich. hello. after an uneventful first half of the weekend weather—wise, sunday does look set to bring something a little livelier, with some stronger winds and some outbreaks of rain for some, particularly across the northern half of the uk. the reason — an area of low pressure pushing to the north of scotland, this frontal system which will eventually bring some outbreaks of rain. and plenty of isobars on the chart. that always shows that we will have some brisk winds. so a breezier day, really, across the board. a lot of cloud to start off in the south of england and south wales. some of that will break up, and actually for england and wales, we will see some spells of sunshine through the day. but winds really picking up across parts of northern england, particularly gusty conditions over the pennines and just to the east of the pennines as well. rather windy for this north coast of northern ireland and more broadly across scotland. strongest winds of all in the far north of scotland, gusting to 65 miles per hour. and this band of rain here pushing its way southwards and eastwards. but just ahead of that, a particularly mild feel,

12 or 13 degrees in parts of eastern scotland, and actually a fairly mild day generally. now, as we go through sunday night, we'll push this band of cloud and rain southwards. much of the rain will fizzle. behind it, a mix of clear spells and showers with some slightly colder air tucking in. some of the showers could be wintry over high ground in scotland. it probably will be too windy for us to see anything much, though, in the way of frost. and then into monday, we see this little bump in the isobars here, this little ridge of high pressure building its way in. so that means, actually, plenty of dry weather, some spells of sunshine. those early showers in the north—east should tend to ease off, but we will bring more cloud in from the west as the day wears on. a little bit of rain with that, temperatures of eight, nine or ten degrees. now, as we look ahead to tuesday, we will see some spells of sunshine. but particularly through northern england, northern ireland and scotland, there will be some showers, these falling as sleet or snow over high ground, but perhaps even to low levels in parts of scotland, where the winds will once again be strengthening. very gusty conditions the further north you are through tuesday afternoon.

temperatures north to south, seven to 12 degrees. and then as we head into tuesday night, well, there's uncertainty about the detail of this, but we could well see a really deep area of low pressure pushing close to the north of scotland. and that could bring some very windy, even stormy, conditions for some, particularly in the far north.

this is bbc news. the headlines — the memphis police department has disbanded the so—called scorpion special unit, whose officers are accused of murdering tyre nichols. the 29—year—old black man was kicked and punched by five policemen, who are also black. they've now been sacked and face multiple charges, including murder. a special meeting of israel's security cabinet has approved measures in response to the killing of seven people outside a synagogue in eastjerusalem by a palestinian gunman. family members of attackers are set to lose their residency and health insurance rights. the former nato general who will be the next czech president has described the election outcome as a "victory for the values of truth, dignity and respect". in a speech to cheering supporters in prague, petr pavel said it was time to return those values to politics.