this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm ben brown. our top stories: the british prime minister, rishi sunak, has sacked the chairman of his conservative party, nadhim zahawi, after an independent adviser investigated his tax affairs he concluded his report, he wrote to the prime minister earlier today and then the prime minister immediately on receipt that nadhim zahawi could no longer stay in the cabinet. israel's security cabinet agrees new measures in response to the deadly attack on a synagogue in eastjerusalem. translation: i will submit to the security council, _ translation: i will submit to the security council, additional- translation: i will submit to the security council, additional steps i security council, additional steps in the fight against terrorism. this includes significantly hastening and

expediting the license for authorising the use of weapons for civilians. a bus has plunged into a ravine in pakistan, killing at least 41 passengers. novak djokovic has won his tenth australian open tennis tournament, beating greece's stefanos tsitsipas in straight sets in the men's final. 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 the investigation made 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,

and finally, he assures the prime minister of his "support from the backbenches in the coming years". 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 5th 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. he 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 interest 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 quite 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. he 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 tojudgment 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've 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 their 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've 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, the 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. let's get some reaction now from the lib dem mp christine jardine. thank you for being with us. this news broke a few hours ago, what do you make of it, what is your initial reaction? , , ., ., ., ,, reaction? this should have happened da s auo. reaction? this should have happened days a90- rishi _ reaction? this should have happened days ago. rishi sunak _ reaction? this should have happened days ago. rishi sunak should - reaction? this should have happened days ago. rishi sunak should have i days ago. rishi sunak should have acted. he should have acted when he knew there was this penalty had been paid. it'sjust not knew there was this penalty had been paid. it's just not good knew there was this penalty had been paid. it'sjust not good enough. now we need to know, when did he know? who knew? why didn't he act sooner? there are serious questions for this government to answer and we need an independent inquiry to get at the bottom ofjust wide this decision wasn't made sooner, when it became obvious to everyone that there was a problem, there had been a breach of the ministerial code and that nadhim

zahawi should have been sacked. it shouldn't have had to wait for this, it should have happened already. the reason the prime minister had to wait, we had that from michael gove, we needed to have a cool, forensic look at all the facts. we needed to establish all the facts. in this country, people are innocent until proven guilty. so there needed to be an investigation, we have had that investigation, we have had due process. so laurie magnus and his letter to the prime minister and the prime minister has acted immediately on it? i prime minister has acted immediately on it? . , , prime minister has acted immediately on it? , ., on it? i absolutely agree with michael gove, _ on it? i absolutely agree with michael gove, we _ on it? i absolutely agree with michael gove, we need - on it? i absolutely agree with michael gove, we need due l on it? i absolutely agree with - michael gove, we need due process, but when we have a situation in government, the facts are already known, they are in the public domain, nadhim zahawi ada should have been sacked or at least stepped aside until the investigation had taken place. that has undermined

this government yet again. it undermined, as you mentioned earlier, the promise of rishi sunak made to the country, about integrity, professionalism, accountability. that just integrity, professionalism, accountability. thatjust now seems like empty words. if he is going to get this government back on track, he needs to act to reflect his words. what we need is an investigation, an independent inquiry into what was known and when. in the meantime, nadhim zahawi needs to step down as an mp because the people of stratford—upon—avon deserve much better. as long as we have people in government and in parliament over whom there are questions like this and have found to have broken the ministerial code, it is difficult for the public to have confidence in the process. he has broken the ministerial code, thatis has broken the ministerial code, that is what has been decided and the reason he has been fired by the prime minister. that doesn't mean you have to stand down as a member

of parliament. you have to stand down as a minister, not always, it appears nowadays, but generally that is the case. but why does he then have to stand down as a member of parliament as well?— have to stand down as a member of parliament as well? there have been auestions parliament as well? there have been questions about _ parliament as well? there have been questions about his _ parliament as well? there have been questions about his behaviour, - parliament as well? there have been questions about his behaviour, we i questions about his behaviour, we now know that his behaviour in this was unacceptable. at that point you have to question, in line what rishi sunak himself said about professionalism and accountability, you have to be accountable for those mistakes and if you haven't acted with integrity, there has to be some accounting for it. i don't think he has acted with integrity in this. we know he breached the ministerial code. you have to be able to say to your constituents that when you act on their behalf, you act with integrity and in their best interests. i would question whether nadhim zahawi can now do that and whether the people of stratford—upon—avon will be content.

christine jardine, thank you very much for being with us. you christine jardine, thank you very much for being with us.- christine jardine, thank you very much for being with us. you are very welcome. 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 iii 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.

this 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. a heavy loss, but that you also mention, ten children amongst the casualties. 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. the latest on those two accidents in pakistan. 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 was 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. israeli forces have told us to keep back but we're just along the street from the family home of the palestinian that carried out friday's deadly attack. his parents and siblings have been able to take out some of their things but they are expecting their apartment to be demolished, as a israel's security cabinet has announced that the measures it wants to take against the families of palestinian attackers, possibly even deporting them. it said it is going to make it easierfor israeli them. it said it is going to make it easier for israeli civilians to get gun licences. there has been promised to speed up settlement expansion in the occupied west bank. that is on land palestinians want

for their hopeful future state. the palestinian government has accused israeli government and its policies are being behind what they say is a dangerous escalation. 0n are being behind what they say is a dangerous escalation. on thursday, israel carried out its most deadly raid in the occupied west bank in many years and killed ten palestinians there. this is all going on setting the scene as the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is due to arrive on a preplanned visit and is going to meet israeli and palestinian leaders at this tense time. the iranian defence ministry says it has foiled an "unsuccessful" drone attack on a military facility in central isfahan province. this footage filmed and posted online by a localjournalist appears to show the explosion at the facility. according to local media, three drones were involved and only minor damage was caused to the roof of the building.

police in the north east of england have named a 15—year—old girl who was stabbed in the town of hexham as holly newton. a 16—year—old boy was also injured in the attack and is still in hospital in a stable condition. another boy, aged 16, has been charged with murder, attempted murder and possession of an offensive weapon. police say the three teenagers knew each other. the former nato general who'll be the next czech president has described the election outcome as a victory for the values of truth, dignity, respect and humility. in a speech to cheering supporters, petr pavel said it was time to return those values to politics. azadeh moshiri reports. 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. cheering and applause continues. 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 president 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. a british army officer has arrived back in the uk

after trekking nearly 900 miles across antarctica. preet chandi, also known as polar preet, broke the record for the longest solo and unsupported trek by a woman. she braved winds of up to 60 miles per hour and temperatures of minus 50 degrees celsius. 0ur reporter frankie mccamley was invited tojoin the welcoming party. she's only gone and done it again. captain preet chandi arriving into heathrow, reunited with her family. and after 70 days on the ice, it's an emotional one. it's really funny thinking back at the last one now, like, that was easy in comparison. it was... this one really tested me mentally and physically and yeah, no doubt, it pushed my boundaries. it's the hardest thing i've ever done. polar preet, as she's become known, was the first woman of colour to complete a solo expedition across antarctica in 2021.

the british army officer has now broken another world record for the longest solo and unsupported polar expedition by a woman. it was mentally tough and physically tough as well. and i just took it a day at a time, sometimes a step at a time. and, you know, you do one day, you can do two, you do two, you can do a week. you do that, you can do 70 days. despite not reaching her goal of becoming the first woman to cross antarctica solo and unsupported, she still trekked nearly 900 miles, beating the previous female record by ten miles in temperatures as cold as —50 degrees. you know, i didn't achieve it, but like i said, i don't think there's anything i could have done differently. and for that, i'm really proud. and i think it's ok to change the goalpost, you know, like dream big. but if you don't make it, that's ok. the first time i met captain chandi at an arrivals terminal, she had just broken herfirst world

record, and she told me she wanted to inspire young women and girls to break the glass ceiling. well, now, with her second world record under her belt, it's clear her inspiration is infectious. it makes me feel really, really proud that my aunty has broken the world record and it's inspired me and loads of other people. the level of, you know, grit, determination, perseverance, whatever you want to call it, she just shows it, you know, again and again. so we're so proud of her. she'sjust an amazing, absolutely amazing. mum, growing up, was preet always like this? was she always so determined? definitely. she never gave up. she just pushed herself further, yeah. as for what's next for this arctic explorer and world record holder? well, a lot of rest, food and a wedding to plan. frankie mccamley, bbc news.

nowak djokovic has won his 10th australian open. he beat 24—year—old stefanos tsitsipas 6—3, 7—6, 7—6 to equal nadal�*s 22 grand slam titles. during the entire tournament, he dropped just one set despite saying he feared a hamstring injury might force him to withdraw. he also reclaims the world number one ranking and very hard to argue that he doesn't deserve that position. world number one once again, novak djokovic, who has won his tenth australian open. tributes have been paid to the american singer and guitarist tom verlaine, who's died at the age of 73. he founded the legendary punk band television, famous for their seminal debut album, marquee moon. mike scott of the waterboys said

he was the best rock and roll guitarist of all time. 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 week, we're trying to get to space, which is even harder than it sounds. lara messes up the house... oh, no. i spilled my coffee! ..and then clears up. mind the cat, though. and fancy a drink? we're saving water... cheers. ..and trying to save nick from himself. oh, no, he's getting a tattoo. there's no going back from this. it's a pretty spectacular

view from earth's orbit. and there are plenty of things that have that view these days.