this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. lam ben i am ben brown. our top stories... the british prime minister, rishi sunak, has sacked the chairman of his conservative party, nadhim zahawi, following a prolonged controversy over his tax affairs. israel's security cabinet agrees new measures in response to the deadly attack on a synagogue in eastjerusalem. i will submit to the security council additional tips that might have stepped the fight against terrorism. this includes significantly hastening and expediting the use of weapons authorised for use by civilians. a bus has plunged into a ravine

in pakistan, killing at least 41 passengers. and, the princess of wales launches a new campaign close to her heart — the importance of early childhood. the british prime minister, rishi sunak, has sacked the chairman of his conservative party, nadhim zahawi. his dismissal comes after an independent investigation of mr zahawi's tax affairs. these have been the subject of growing controversy since it emerged that he had to pay a penalty to the tax authorities. the prime minister said it had become "clear that there has been a serious breach of the ministerial code". mr sunak received the report from sir laurie magnus, the independent adviser on ministers�* interests. sir laurie told the prime minister that certain "omissions" by mr zahawi fell short

of the standards that ministers are expected to abide by. he concluded, "i consider that these omissions constitute a serious failure to meet the standards set out in the ministerial code. i consider that mr zahawi, in holding the high privilege of being a minister of the crown, has shown insufficient regard for the general principles of the ministerial code, and the requirements in particular, under the seven principles of public life, to be honest, open and an exemplary leader, through his own behaviour." well mr zahawi has responded to his sacking. in a letter to the prime minister, he writes... "it has been the privilege of my life to serve in successive governments and make a tangible difference to the country." he then went on to criticise press

coverage of his position, saying... our political correspondent davd wallace lockhart gave me an update on this morning's breaking news. we didn't know when this was going to come, but this morning we got the report from sir lawrie magnus, the prime minister's ethics adviser who had been investigating nadhim zahawi, and after his findings, we also got that letter from the prime minister which he had sent to nadhim zahawi, telling him he was sacked from government. now, if we go through both of them — first of all, lawrie magnus goes into a lot of details in his findings, and it is quite critical of how nadhim zahawi has conducted himself in all of this. he says nadhim zahawi first started having talks with hmrc in april 2021. mr zahawi told laurie magnus that he formed the impression that this was just questions

coming from hmrc. lawrie magnus says he should have understood at the outset that he was under investigation. he talks about the fact that therefore this didn't come up in his declaration of interests, even when he became chancellor, the minister responsible for the tax—and—spend system, on the 6th ofjuly 2022 — lawrie magnus critical of that, and he says that failing to declare that ongoing investigation before later injuly 2022 was a breach of the ministerial code. you also talks about the fact that we know now nadhim zahawi paid a penalty as part of his settlement with hmrc. lawrie magnus again saying failing to update his declaration of interests form appropriately once that penalty had been paid was not correct, not disclosing the right information, and he said sort of taken together these omissions constitute in lawrie magnus�*s words a serious failure to meet the standards set out in the ministerial code. also, lawrie magnus goes into the detail of an interview nadhim zahawi gave where he said

that it was smears to say that hmrc were looking into him. lawrie magnus said this wasn't as open and transparent as a government minister is supposed to be. this report went to the prime minister and it looks like the prime minister took pretty swift action on this. he wrote in this letter to nadhim zahawi that there has been a serious breach of the ministerial code. as a result, i have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in his majesty's government. this was all going on moments before michael gove, the government minister who was out on the airwaves this morning talking on behalf of the government, was on the laura kuenssberg programme. he had to immediately respond to this. here's what he had to say. when facts emerged about the position in which nadhim found himself, the prime minister said that we need an independent investigation. sir lawrie magnus who, as you pointed out, is the independent adviser on ministerial standards, on ethics, was asked to look rapidly at the situation. you concluded his report, wrote to the prime minister i think earlier today and then the prime minister immediately

upon receipt of the letter decided that nadhim could no longer stay in the cabinet. but why seven days ago did nadhim zahawi and rishi sunak appear to think that it was ok for somebody who had paid a penalty to the taxman while being the boss of the taxman to stay in post? because i think, to many of our viewers, last week that seemed absolutely blatantly like something that wasn't sustainable. well, as ever, it's always important to make sure that all the facts are investigated fully and properly. and that is why sir lawrie magnus was given the opportunity to do so, why he has concluded as he did, and why the prime minister has acted as he did. as a general rule, i think it is important when allegations are raised that they are investigated promptly, but also we shouldn't rush to judgment before there has been that investigation. and again, the specific issues of an individual�*s tax affairs are ones that require in circumstances like this a cool, forensic analysis, and that is

what sir lawrie provided. so, that was michael gove talking to laura kuenssberg. david, pretty much straight after that we got labour�*s reaction to all of this. what did they have to say? well, the line we are hearing from many people who are critical of how rishi sunak has handled this was that there were grounds to sack nadhim zahawi before he even asked his ethics adviser to look into all of this. and we heard that put to michael gove there, the fact that we knew that when he was chancellor he paid a penalty to hmrc. there were also questions circulating about how much rishi sunak knew and when, and perhaps it was put into the bear pit of prime minister's questions without quite knowing the full picture here. that would be grounds in normal situations to be very displeased when one of your ministers had let you do that. that was along the lines of what we had labour saying this morning. it was bridget philipson who was on the laura kuenssberg programme for them. this should have happened weeks ago. it was always going to end this way, and i think it speaks to rishi sunak's weakness that it has taken so very long

for it to happen. but this isn'tjust about one individual. this is about right at the heart of government a government that isjust mired in sleaze. we had nadhim zahawi, suella braverman, who herself also broke the ministerial code and then appointed as home secretary, dominic raab, gavin williamson. i think this speaks to a government thatjust is focused on the conservative party, not on the interests of the public, and this is going to continue to happen. this really isn't going away, and i think there are still serious questions that the prime minister needs to ask about all of this. nadhim zahawi has spent weeks seeking to dodge questions and to threaten those who asked him questions about his tax affairs. so, that was labour's response to all of this. david, where does this leave the premiership of rishi sunak? of course, when he first came in, he stood famously outside the door of number ten and said his government was going to be all about professionalism and integrity and standards. yes, and rishi sunak in many ways pitched himself as the candidate who could move on from the scandals that had surrounded his previous two successors and there

are times in government. now, we've had gavin williamson, one of rishi sunak�*s ministers, who had to stand down over allegations about texts he had sent a former chief whip. we had dominic raab, the current deputy prime minister, who is facing a probe about allegations of bullying, which it should be said he denies, and now we have the conservative party chair who has had to be sacked for breaching the ministerial code, all at a time when michael gove this morning wanted to talk about cladding, when the government tomorrow want to talk about its plans for the nhs, but political oxygen is being sucked into stories about conservative party ministers and whether or not their behaviour has been appropriate, and when you are a prime minister not that far away from an election and lagging behind in the polls, this is not the sort of stories you want to be discussing at a point when you need to show the country you have plans for the

problems it is facing. i'm joined now by lucy fisher, chief political commentator with the times radio. labour are saying rishi sunak should have sacked him weeks ago, what is your view on this whole affair? i think there is a sense, not only from the labour benches but the conservative benches that this was always going to end in his departure. that had become clear in the past week because it had become such a distraction from the priorities of government eclipsing the away day at rishi sunak planned on thursday. and the very odd scenario where you would expect the tory party chairman to have led a discussion with the next election

campaign. the writing has been on the wall. he has wanted to show there was due process taking place. some in his own party thinks he should have done more to put pressure on nadhim zahawi to full on his sword sooner.— his sword sooner. does rishi sunak look weak that _ his sword sooner. does rishi sunak look weak that he _ his sword sooner. does rishi sunak look weak that he didn't _ his sword sooner. does rishi sunak look weak that he didn't sack - his sword sooner. does rishi sunak look weak that he didn't sack him l his sword sooner. does rishi sunak look weak that he didn't sack him aj look weak that he didn't sack him a week ago, or strong because he has sacked him today?— week ago, or strong because he has sacked him today? there is a sense, cominu u- sacked him today? there is a sense, coming up to — sacked him today? there is a sense, coming up to the _ sacked him today? there is a sense, coming up to the 100 _ sacked him today? there is a sense, coming up to the 100 day _ sacked him today? there is a sense, coming up to the 100 day mark - sacked him today? there is a sense, coming up to the 100 day mark of i coming up to the 100 day mark of rishi sunak�*s premiership and there is a sense that his style is very deliberative and some in his own party are characterising is lacking sort of ruthlessness that is needed of the prime minister, a willingness to grip political problems and not always treat things as a bureaucratic or technocratic way. and the labour party are seizing on this idea that he is weak, he is not

up this idea that he is weak, he is not up to and taking on the vested interests, whether they be in business, whether they be in his own party. i think the delay in nadhim zahawi going, the way the story has run and run has focused a spotlight on rishi sunak�*s leadership and whether he has the strength to get a grip of his cabinet. it allows the opposition to point out he has another problem coming down the line with dominic raab, who has been accused of bullying, accusations he denies, but nonetheless, many on the tory backbenches think he may have to go yet. rishi sunak reappointed suella braverman to the position of home secretary after having breached the ministerial code. when he stood outside downing street in his first address to the nation saying he wanted to restore integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level, to make a break with boris johnson's at every level, to make a break with borisjohnson�*s administration, i boris johnson's administration, i think borisjohnson�*s administration, i think there is a sense he hasn't

managed to do that. we have had sleaze and scandal dominating so far. white you pointed out some of the other cases and people will be confused. rishie sunak did say to nadhim zahawi i am sucking you because you have been found to have broken the ministerial code, but as you say, swell braverman broke the ministerial code and she was reappointed as home secretary? yes. reappointed as home secretary? yes, we haven't got — reappointed as home secretary? yes, we haven't got to _ reappointed as home secretary? yes, we haven't got to the _ reappointed as home secretary? yes, we haven't got to the bottom of who knew what and when regarding nadhim zahawi. the knew what and when regarding nadhim zahawi. ., ,, ., zahawi. the letter from sir laurie maunus, zahawi. the letter from sir laurie magnus. the _ zahawi. the letter from sir laurie magnus, the independent- zahawi. the letter from sir laurie magnus, the independent ethicsl magnus, the independent ethics adviser looks into three specific areas. whether nadhim zahawi correctly declared he was under investigation by hmrc, something he was supposed to do under the ministerial code of conduct under its provisions for declaring any interest i could give rise to conflict. the ethics adviser said he failed to do that. he failed to disclose he had to pay a settlement to hmrc, that was a penalty due to

carelessness. thirdly he found that nadhim zahawi found what were false statements, inaccurate statements that led to a false impression about the whole affair. there are many other questions that haven't been answered, including nadhim zahawi making legal threats to members of the press who were trying to uncover these facts. also questions about exactly what rishi sunak knew and when. this letter by sir laurie magnus goes into what nadhim zahawi did or didn't say to various officials, various permanent secretaries looking into different departments, but not exactly what the prime minister knew. that needs to be not the prime minister knew. that needs to be got to — the prime minister knew. that needs to be got to the _ the prime minister knew. that needs to be got to the bottom _ the prime minister knew. that needs to be got to the bottom of. - the prime minister knew. that needs to be got to the bottom of. you - to be got to the bottom of. you mention the press investigation into nadhim zahawi, his statement today, nadhim zahawi, his statement today, nadhim zahawi, his statement today, nadhim zahawi has a go at the press and says, headlines like the one we saw a few days ago saying the noose tightened, entirely inappropriate?

that is a headline, may be a source of regret for whoever wrote it, a little bit crude and a little bit crass. but nadhim zahawi is clutching at straws to go after the press in all of this. it is striking his resignation letter makes no reference to the substance of the findings against him and trying to just attack the press is a deflection of the substance at play here. . , . ~ deflection of the substance at play here. , ., ~' ,, deflection of the substance at play here. , ., ~ i. ., deflection of the substance at play here. , ., ~ ., here. lucy, thank you for your thoughts _ here. lucy, thank you for your thoughts and _ here. lucy, thank you for your thoughts and analysis. - here. lucy, thank you for your thoughts and analysis. chief l thoughts and analysis. chief political commentator with times radio. thank you for your time. in pakistan, at least 41 people have died when a bus plunged off a bridge. the accident happened in the south west of the country. local media reports say there were 48 people on board. officials said the vehicle hit a bridge pillar before losing control and bursting into flames. separately, officials say at least ten children have died in a boat accident in the north—west of pakistan. the boat capsized on the lake in tanda dam in kohat district.

the victims are students, aged between seven and ia, who were on a day—trip from a local religious school. several children are in a critical condition in hospital. earlier i spoke to saad sohail from our urdu service. he detailed the circumstances that led to both accidents. the bus was travelling from quetta to karachi and just 120 miles away from karachi, this accident took place. the bus crashed into a pillar, after which it fell into a ravine and it caught fire so the authorities are confirming most of the bodies, because of the charring, cannot be identified. 41 people are supposedly killed and most of them have been moved to karachi. the deputy commissioner from lasbela has confirmed he is citing over speeding for the particular incident.

incident so a heavy loss, but as you also mention, ten children amongst the casualties and for now the survivors, there was a woman and child that have been rescued. and the woman narrating the incident talks about how the bus, she could hear a loud bang when the bus fell into the ravine and after that she was just taken to the hospital. the other incident in the north west is about 25 children travelling from a religious seminary for a day trip to tanda dam where the boat capsized. most of the children were aged from 12 to 20, who were supposedly killed. the operation is still under way and for now we can report there have been ten casualties in that incident as well. turning to the middle east now, and the us secretary of state has just landed in egypt for the start

of a regional tour. on monday, anthony blinken heads to israel, where tensions have been escalating. an 18—year—old palestinian has been shot dead by an israeli civilian security team near a settlement in the occupied west bank — that's according to palestinian health officials. the israeli army says the teenager was armed with a handgun. this comes as israel's security cabinet approves a raft of new measures in response to two recent shootings by palestinian gunmen in eastjerusalem. here's our middle east correspondent, yolande knell. an outpouring of grief for an israeli couple in their 40s, eliahu and natalie. during friday's attack outside the synagogue, the pair apparently heard shots and went to help those who had been injured, only to be shot dead themselves by the palestinian gunman at point—blank range. translation: | went out -

and saw my neighbour eli running to the scene. he told me to call the police. i told him not to go, he only got married a year ago. he was a good neighbour, like a brother to me. i saw him drop down from a bullet. rest in peace, eli. this is the east jerusalem street where the shooting took place. seven people were killed in what's said to have been the deadliest single attack targeting israelis in more than a decade. and just hours afterwards, this is the victim of another shooting, being treated by medics. police say a palestinian boy aged just 13 opened fire, hitting an israeli father and son. now the israeli prime minister is promising strong action. translation: | will 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. and we have seen time

and again, this saves lives. 0n the streets ofjerusalem overnight, emotions were 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 west bank in years. on thursday, nine palestinians, including two civilians, were killed. israeli armed forces say they were acting on intelligence to prevent islamichhad 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 have had little impact, and now, once again, fears are growing of wider unrest. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem.

police chiefs in the us city of memphis have announced plans to disband the unit whose officers are accused of killing the black motorist tyre nichols. it comes after a video was released showing five black policemen from the �*scorpion�* team, beating the 29—year—old during a traffic stop earlier this month. the officers have been sacked and charged with murder. 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 after the torrential downpours. ika ba koyi reports. cars entirely drowned by floodwater and tires submerged by it. major roads have been blocked by the floods, causing long traffic queues on highways. there is no sign of an end to this storm. and the solution?

a state of emergency has come into force due to the extent of the damage, displacement and disruption by the weather and the need for response agencies to draw on more powers. these are trying times, but it has brought the best out of communities. they have been working tirelessly to support one another. new zealand is one of the lucky, we can say lucky place that people still we put our we put our stuff away, but we come together when things like this happen and the big support is coming from different ethnicities, different communities, from different areas. police have been playing their part, reportedly working with fire and emergency services, responding to calls and asking people to stay off the roads, if possible, authorities to less than a week in office.

prime minister chris hipkins flew by helicopter over the city before touring flood hit homes. this is an unprecedented event in recent memory and the aftermath. he we will have plenty of time to evaluate the response and ensure that all appropriate actions and communications have occurred in a timely way. but for now, our focus is on making sure that we support aucklanders through this. it's certainly come as a shock to many who have never experienced this type of flooding their entire life. i have been in this community my whole life 45 years. i've never seen it like this. the scale of devastation here means it will be a long time until things go back to normality. here in the uk, the princess of wales has written an open letter to launch a campaign on the importance of early childhood in shaping the adults we become. 0ur royal correspondent daniela relph reports.

supporting young children and their families, the focus of much of the work the princess of wales now does. the new campaign, launched this week, will reinforce her commitment to this issue. in her open letter published today — and signed off "from catherine", she says our early years are critical, but she writes, "as i am determined this long—term campaign will change this. look at you, so many words. focusing on early childhood has been a long—running theme of the princess's work. with the bbc, she backed the tiny happy people project two years ago, helping families in the first five years of a child's life. i didn't realise just how important it is. you know, some of the science behind all of it is extraordinary — 90% of our adult brain grows before the age of five.

her new campaign will run at a time when many families are struggling. just this week the prince and princess of wales were at a food bank in windsor. many working in this field do believe royal backing can have an impact. anything that gets, dare i say, more media and press attention has to be good for the early years set. i have to say, for decades i feel that we have been neglected. the hand of a princess at a photographic trip down memory lane. a tease on social media for the launch of the new campaign. one that wants us to see how experiences, relationships, and surroundings in the first years of our lives shape the kind of adults we become. daniela relph, bbc news. novak djokovic is currently playing stefanos tsitsipas in the australian open final in melbourne.

victory would give djokovic his tenth australian open title whilst 24—year old tsitsipas is searching for his second grand slam title. djokovic currently leads tsitsipas by two sets, and is up 5—4 in the third set. hello there. across england and wales there's been a cloudy start to the day, but there are prospects of some slightly brighter skies pushing in for a time this afternoon. whereas across northern areas of the uk we're looking at some strong winds moving in. those winds will be at their strongest just ahead of this band of rain, which is moving into scotland and northern ireland. so here comes the wet weather as we go through the next few hours with the winds really picking up, gales expected — gusts running into the 60s of miles an hour across parts of scotland for northern ireland, the north west of both england and wales. it will also be a windy afternoon with gusts generally getting

through into the 40s of miles an hour. but those strong winds bouncing across the high ground should break the cloud to the east of the pennines and into parts of the midlands as well. it's a mild afternoon. temperatures as high as 12 degrees in aberdeen. now, overnight tonight, that cold front pushes southwards. it weakens. not much rain moving across england and wales. but what will follow is north westerly winds, showers moving into north western areas. because it stays windy. it should for most be a frost—free night. now, looking at monday's weather charts, those strong winds easing away as this ridge of high pressure builds in from the west. there'll be more sunshine around across central and eastern areas of the uk in the west. after a bright start, it clouds over with some drizzle working into western scotland towards the end of the afternoon. still mild temperatures eight to ten degrees celsius. now for tuesday, we're looking at some very windy weather moving into northern areas. you can see the isobars really pinching together across the north of scotland in particular. it will be blustery by day, a day of sunny spells and showers wise on the charts. yes, there will be some snowfall, but quite high up in scotland, above 400 metres elevation. at lower elevations, lower levels,

you're more likely to see rain blustery again with gusts of wind again reaching 60—odd miles an hour through the afternoon across northern areas. and it's going to start to feel a little bit cooler here. now, it's tuesday night that we're looking at some of the strongest winds. we may well see the gusts getting to about 70 to perhaps as much as 90 miles an hour. warnings may well be issued for this zone of very strong winds. it looks like it could cause some disruption across northern scotland tuesday night. the winds then calm down for wednesday. we're back to a day of sunny spells and showers. the rest of the week looking cloudy and mild with temperatures as high as 12 in cardiff.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the british prime minister, rishi sunak, has sacked the chairman of his conservative party, nadhim zahawi. mr sunak said in a letter to mr zahawi that it was clear that there had been a serious breach of the ministerial code. a bus has crashed into a ravine in pakistan, killing at least a0 of the 48 people aboard. in a separate incident, at least ten children died in a boat accident in tanda dam lake in the north—west of the country. israel's security cabinet has approved new measures in response to killing of seven israelis in a synagogue in eastjerusalem. they include depriving residency and other rights