this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. 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 upon receipt of the letter decided that nadhim zahawi could no longer stay in the cabinet. a bus has plunged into a ravine in pakistan, killing at least 41 passengers. a 16—year—old has been charged with the murder of a teenage girl who was stabbed to death in northumberland. israel's security cabinet agrees new measures in response to the deadly attack on a synagogue in eastjerusalem. and in tennis, novak djokovic wins

a record tenth australian open, beating greece's stefanos tsitsipas in straight sets in the final. the british prime minister has sacked the chairman of his party, nadhim zahawi, following an investigation into his tax affairs. mr zahawi had to pay a penalty to settle a multi—million pound tax dispute. an investigation ordered by rushi sunakfound he had broken the ministerial code. mr zahawi says he'll continue to support the prime minister from the backbenches, and criticised journalists for the way they reported his tax affairs. here's our political correspondent david wallace—lockhart he arrived in the uk as a young refugee before becoming a successful

businessman. he served as the vaccines minister, rising to become chancellor, this morning he was chairman of the conservative party but his ministerial career now lies in tatters. he had faced questions for some time about his previous tax affairs and the fact he paid a penalty to hmrc while he was in charge of the treasury. he insisted he acted appropriately throughout. the prime minister had asked his ethics adviser to investigate. sir laurie magnus reported back this morning. his findings were highly critical. in a letter to rishi sunak he said from april 2021 nadhim zahawi should have understood that he was under investigation by hmrc. he went on to say that nadhim zahawi ought to disclose relevant information, in this case the nature of the investigation and it outcome of a penalty. he concluded that his admissions amounted to a serious failure to meet the high standards set out in the ministerial code.

in a one—page letter the prime minister sealed nadhim zahawi's fate. he said it was clear there had been a serious breach of the ministerial code and that he was sacked from the government. the ethics adviser was also critical of what he labelled an untrue statement from nadhim zahawi, that he echoed in an interview last july. i was clearly being smeared. i was being told that the serious fraud office, that hmrc are looking into me. i'm not aware of this. the opposition say rishi sunak should have acted faster. this is very serious. nadhim zahawi has spent a long time dodging this. and i dojust think it speaks to rishi sunak�*s character and his judgment and his weakness. he isn't prepared to do what is right for the country. michael gove insisted the prime minister behaved appropriately. 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.

in his reply to the prime minister's letter, nadhim zahawi said he had been concerned about the conduct of the press towards him. he added that it was the privilege of his life to serve in government. mr zahawi's life story is an incredible one. this will be a devastating chapter to look back on. katy balls is the political editor of the spectator. what do you make of nadeem zaha we's letter to the prime minister. there is no reference to his tax affairs and certainly no apologies —— nadhim zahawi's letter. it and certainly no apologies -- nadhim zahawi's letter-— zahawi's letter. it begs the question — zahawi's letter. it begs the question that _ zahawi's letter. it begs the question that it _ zahawi's letter. it begs the question that it does - zahawi's letter. it begs the question that it does not i zahawi's letter. it begs the i question that it does not refer zahawi's letter. it begs the - question that it does not refer to the tax affairs other than to criticise the press for unearthing the story in the first place doesn't mean we will more from him in the future, it doesn't mean he doesn't accept the findings of the report, because there is no admittance or

sense of understanding why it happened. so i think this is one to watch in terms of will we hear more from him. and then of course there is the fact that as mentioned, it's much more blaming the press than having any reflection on what has actually happened and led the prime minister to decide there was no way to keep in government because the report by independent ethics adviser is pretty serious. multiple breaches of the code and therefore you would expect it to be referenced in some way. expect it to be referenced in some wa . ~ . expect it to be referenced in some wa , ~ ., ., expect it to be referenced in some wa . ~ . ., expect it to be referenced in some wa. . “ expect it to be referenced in some wa. ., ~ expect it to be referenced in some way. what do you think it says about rishi sunak's — way. what do you think it says about rishi sunak's strength _ way. what do you think it says about rishi sunak's strength as _ way. what do you think it says about rishi sunak's strength as a - rishi sunak's strength as a prime minister, that he waited for the report to come out before he acted? i think there's a few different ways of looking at it. we know labour at the moment is keen to pitch rishi sunak as a weak leader and that is their most effective attack line and they can use this to say he could

not take decisive action but within the tory party, while there are some mps who have been unhappy that this has been allowed to rumble on for the amount of time it has, nadhim zahawi is well liked in the party and its fair he was given a process to put his side of the story through and therefore this has happened but the pace at which the report arrived at the prime minister early today and move so quickly to them notjust going for doing the honourable resignation but to actually sack him shows number ten is sensitive to some of the criticism already and wants to show that this has passed. how problematic is we're heading to local elections and the conservative party at the moment doesn't have a chair. �* , party at the moment doesn't have a chair. �*, , .,, ., . party at the moment doesn't have a chair. �*, , ., ., party at the moment doesn't have a chair. m, chair. it's problematic but we could send all chair. it's problematic but we could spend all of— chair. it's problematic but we could spend all of this _ chair. it's problematic but we could spend all of this interviews - spend all of this interviews explaining what's problematic to the tories and the local elections.

there is a 20 point poll lead on two prime ministers were deposed in the sense of a vacuum and tory sleaze so any chairman would have a difficult job. 0ften any chairman would have a difficult job. often the tory party is not viewed as the plum role in it and he took it very seriously and was bringing data and a shake up to it and there's a big question as to who they bring in, and there's no sense that number ten will announce someone today and instead properly take time to work out who, but probably an unenviable task for whoever takes up the reins. thank ou ve whoever takes up the reins. thank you very much- — we can speak now to lord bob kerslake who's a cross—bench peer and former head of the civil service should it have come to this? one thinks not, _ should it have come to this? one thinks not, really. _ should it have come to this? one thinks not, really. i— should it have come to this? (he thinks not, really. ithink should it have come to this? (he thinks not, really. i think it should it have come to this? ij: thinks not, really. i think it was clear to anybody who looked at this from outside that it wasn't a question of whether he would go? it

was when. the transgression of the code were pretty clear and he in a weight did himself no favours by hanging on and waiting to be sacked. he should have seen what was coming and on the honourable thing and resigned earlier. arguably rishi sunak should have acted earlier as well. i'm not sure that sir laurie magnus's report, good as it is, told us anything more than we already knew and it was clear again that before he even started the investigation that nadhim zahawi had breached the trust of both the public and the cabinet office and the prime minister, so i think the prime minister will probably now think, i wish i had acted on my own instinct rather than waiting for a review. ., , ., , ., . instinct rather than waiting for a review. ., , ., . , ., instinct rather than waiting for a review. ., ., . , ., ., review. how problematic is it for a prime minister _ review. how problematic is it for a prime minister and _ review. how problematic is it for a prime minister and what _ review. how problematic is it for a prime minister and what are - review. how problematic is it for a prime minister and what are they l prime minister and what are they meant to do about it? notjust rishi sunak, those who have gone before with nadhim zahawi not declaring these tax issues beforehand. how is

these tax issues beforehand. how is the prime minister meant to cope with that if they don't know, because they can't act on it? it’s with that if they don't know, because they can't act on it? it's a aood because they can't act on it? it's a good point — because they can't act on it? it's a good point you — because they can't act on it? it's a good point you raise. _ because they can't act on it? it's a good point you raise. but- because they can't act on it? it's a good point you raise. but we - because they can't act on it? it�*s —. good point you raise. but we can have an investigation of every single minister's affairs. there has to be ultimately responsibility on ministers to come clean, to say way they are and what their conflicts are and here he had multiple opportunities. it wasn'tjust one serious breach it was something like seven so to be fair to the prime minister, he has to rely on his ministers acting properly following the code and being transparent and my personal view is we've lost a bit of that, especially during the johnson years where some of those standards were not as strongly upheld as they had been with previous prime ministers and i think rishi sunak is struggling to draw a line under thejohnson era and move on and say, i am different, i set a higher standard, on and say, i am different, i set a higherstandard, i on and say, i am different, i set a higher standard, i will do things in

my way and he hasn't yet sealed that, i think,, my way and he hasn't yet sealed that, ithink,, with my way and he hasn't yet sealed that, i think,, with his own cabinet or the public. that, ithink,, with his own cabinet or the public— or the public. how might this be a watershed moment _ or the public. how might this be a watershed moment when - or the public. how might this be a watershed moment when it - or the public. how might this be a | watershed moment when it comes or the public. how might this be a i watershed moment when it comes to standards more widely, that these processes are in place and if you are found wanting, then you will go. i think that's good. we know on at least one occasion with boris johnson, his ethics adviser found issues with priti patel with bullying, and the prime minister ignored that and the ethics adviser resigned at that time. this time he hasn't ignored it. you couldn't possibly, given the devastating findings and to that extent it shows that there are real consequences if you don't follow the code, that good. we don't yet know whether we have gone through the full set of issues from the johnson have gone through the full set of issues from thejohnson area. we know dominic raab is under investigation for bullying and he might want to think, perhaps i might

want to take the plunge now rather than receive a report i can't see anything but being critical. except dominic raab _ anything but being critical. except dominic raab denies _ anything but being critical. except dominic raab denies any - anything but being critical. except dominic raab denies any wrongdoing despite what the reported issues are. when did it start to turn? i am old enough to remember when it seemed that ministers resigned at the drop of a hat. i seemed that ministers resigned at the drop of a hat.— the drop of a hat. i think it had to dash change. _ the drop of a hat. i think it had to dash change, and _ the drop of a hat. i think it had to dash change, and i think - the drop of a hat. i think it had to dash change, and i think theresa | the drop of a hat. i think it had to - dash change, and i think theresa may was pretty robust and she essentially sack somebody for not giving her the full story, with damian green, despite the fact that his faults were much less than we hear and see today. i'm afraid boris johnson gave out signals, both about his own behaviour and about ministers that he didn't take this very seriously. you shouldn't go back and say it's been there forever, because it hasn't. i think this is a new thing, and in that sense i'm optimistic that given a

tougher approach by this prime minister, and i hope the next prime minister, and i hope the next prime minister when we come to an election, if labour come into power, that we can put things back where they are. we do need this.- that we can put things back where they are. we do need this. thank you ve much they are. we do need this. thank you very much for— they are. we do need this. thank you very much for talking _ they are. we do need this. thank you very much for talking to _ they are. we do need this. thank you very much for talking to us. - the former head of the civil service. in pakistan, at least 41 people have died after 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, 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 pupils 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. saad sohailfrom our urdu service details 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 that 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 overspeeding for the particular 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. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, will arrive in jerusalem tomorrow to discuss attempts to curb the violence in the region, which has seen both israelis and palestinians killed. overnight, the israeli security cabinet approved measures aimed

at preventing further incidents — after friday's shootings outside a synagogue which killed seven people. yolande knell reports from outside the home of the palestinian gunman responsible. israeli forces have told us to keep back, but we're just along the street from the family home of the palestinian who carried out friday's deadly attack. his parents, his siblings have been able to take out some of their things, but soon they're expecting their apartment to be demolished as a punishment. now israel's security cabinet has announced other measures it says it wants to take against the families of palestinian attackers, possibly even deporting them. it's also said it's going to make it easier for israeli civilians to get gun licenses. and there has been a promise to speed up settlement expansion in the occupied west bank. that's on land that palestinians want for their hoped—for future state. the palestinian government has accused the israeli government and its policies of 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 pre—planned visit and he's going to meet israeli and palestinian leaders at this tense time. police in memphis have disbanded a special crime unit involved in the death of 29—year—old tyre nichols. protests took place in the city last night, after a video released on friday showed nichols being beaten and kicked by five officers who are also black. he died three days later. police say the decision to abolish the so—called �*scorpion�* special unit "is in the best interest of all. a 16—year—old boy has been charged with the murder of a teenage girl after she was stabbed to death in northumberland. holly newton, who was 15, was found injured in hexham on friday evening. the boy will appear before magistrates in newcastle—upon—tyne tomorrow.

let's speak to our correspondent peter harris in hexham. what more do we know about holly? the flowers as you can see continue to be placed in memory of holly and speaking to people here in hexham in the last 2a hours, there is no doubt the last 2a hours, there is no doubt the sense of shock it has created in what is generally a very quiet town. as for holly, we do know more about her. we've had tributes from her school and they said she was a truly lovely student who was quiet, conscientious and kind. they say their thoughts are with their family at this time of unbearable pain and they will bring the school community together to grieve. this of course will have a devastating impact on holly's wrens, many of them very young people and a lot of them have come here to place flowers. we've also had words from northumbria

police in naming holly, saying she was a girl with so much to look forward to in life and said that grief cannot put into words what her family are going through. as for what happened to holly, we know she suffered a stab wound here at about five o'clock on friday afternoon, as did a 16—year—old boy. he remains in a stable condition in hospital today. northumbria police have announced that a boy who was arrested has now been charged with murder, attempted murder and possession of an offensive weapon and that 16—year—old will appear before magistrates in newcastle tomorrow. ., ~ , ., the uk's housing secretary, michael gove, has accepted that the failure of successive governments to implement safety regulations over many years was partly to blame for the grenfell tower fire. 72 people died in the incident in 2017. new rules could see developers banned from the market if they fail to fix unsafe buildings. richard galpin reports.

the fire in this high—rise apartment block was the worst of its kind in the country in living memory. many people trapped inside their homes as the flames spread up and across the 2a—storey tower block. others fleeing the flames before it was too late. the cause of all this, flammable cladding covering the building. hundreds of other tower blocks across the country also have this dangerous material on their homes. six years later, housing minister michael gove has admitted that faulty and ambiguous government guidance allowed the grenfell tower tragedy to occur by letting the dangerous cladding be used. now michael gove has said he will make an announcement on the issue. tomorrow i will be publishing a contract which will say to the developers concerned,

people who, you know, put up buildings which were unsafe, look, you now have, and as you said you will, have an opportunity to put that right to make them safe and it was collective over many years. it has been a collective failure of government. totally. it was a failure to effectively have a system of building regulations. those who have been directly affected by the fire are expecting action by the government. i really do hope that michael gove forces developers to sign this and this isn'tjust kind of empty words as we have seen in the past. many building businesses already pay a cladding tax. they want the government to do more to address the issue. the housing secretary has clearly said, he told the house of commons select committee last year, that the reason he is going after uk house—builders is because they are domiciled in the uk, they pay taxes here, and they are easier to engage with, as he put it then. we would argue and we have argued

for the past five years or longer that product manufacturers also need to pay their fair share and help towards their remediation efforts. the chief executive of the welsh rugby union has resigned after a bbc investigation revealed a series of claims about a sexist and toxic culture in the organisation. he'll be replaced by the performance director, nigel walker, who warned that welsh rugby was facing an existential crisis. let's speak to our correspondent, wyre davies. it goes back a little way, some of the background. big it goes back a little way, some of the background.— the background. big problems in welsh rugby _ the background. big problems in welsh rugby for _ the background. big problems in welsh rugby for a _ the background. big problems in welsh rugby for a long _ the background. big problems in welsh rugby for a long time - the background. big problems in welsh rugby for a long time and | welsh rugby for a long time and those problems covered many areas but this particular row refers to a bbc wales programme a week ago which heard disturbing allegations of sexism, sexist behaviour and a toxic

culture in the welsh rugby union. we heard testimony on the programme of women who not only had they been subject to the sexist behaviour but felt the structures of the welsh rugby union was such that it was almost impossible for them to air their grievances and they felt it wasn't a safe place for them to work. two women we spoke to said they had been driven to the verge of suicide by their experiences and we've also heard from a very senior female executive, or we heard her thoughts, a woman who had been sunday times business person of the year and was damning about a review into the welsh rugby union women's games, so all of this was very difficult for rugby union in wales when it is meant to be promoting women's rugby and the response was that no changes would take place and they would look at the issues raised and it was such objections from fans and it was such objections from fans

and clubs and ultimately from the welsh professional seems all calling for change that, in the end, the change had to happen.- change had to happen. cultural chances change had to happen. cultural changes are — change had to happen. cultural changes are the _ change had to happen. cultural changes are the hardest - change had to happen. cultural changes are the hardest thing l change had to happen. cultural. changes are the hardest thing to bring about, they say. does anyone have a clue what they are going to do to make it better? fit, have a clue what they are going to do to make it better?— do to make it better? a change of ersonnel do to make it better? a change of personnel is _ do to make it better? a change of personnel is one, _ do to make it better? a change of personnel is one, of _ do to make it better? a change of personnel is one, of course, - do to make it better? a change of personnel is one, of course, and l personnel is one, of course, and that's why the chief executive has gone. it's been replaced by somebody seen as a moderniser who has been within welsh rugby for a while my nigel walker, former player and a highly thought of sports administrator but this is a £100 million a year business and no longer a small committee running a couple of amateur teams. it's that failure to catch up with modern working practices, culture, a place where men, women and everyone can feel safe and that their careers are progressing and the feeling was that the welsh rugby union to many extents were stuck in the past and failed to modernise i was no longer

a place where women and girls were seeing their interest looked after vis—a—vis the game, but also those working in the organisation did not feel it was a safe place for them to work. for the moment, thank you very much. here in the uk, the princess of wales has written an open letter about the importance of early childhood in shaping the adults we become. our 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 and 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. it says on the autocue. weather. tomasz. rain expected in northern ireland in north—western england, so evening rain on the way. here is the conveyor belt of cloud on the satellite picture which has been pushed by quite a strong jet stream and embedded in this area of cloud, this conveyor belt of cloud our area of cloud that whistled through, so gale force winds in the north west and here is the weather front that sweeps further south but by the time

it reaches the south coast there won't be much rain on it and behind the weatherfront it won't be much rain on it and behind the weather front it is clear skies and by early on monday morning, not particularly cold and that should cover it across most of the uk. tomorrow starts of blustery in northern and north—east scotland but eventually the winds died down and for most of us it's a pretty decent day on monday with bright if not sunny weather and especially eastern, central and southern areas but in the north west of over late on monday in advance of the next area of low pressure. this one will whistled to the north of scotland but it will bring some strong winds on tuesday. it's actually tuesday, a really windy day across scotland, frequent showers, wintry over the hills and it will be blustery further south across northern ireland and northern england are not windy in the south but the gaels will strengthen as we go through the course of tuesday evening and throw the early hours of wednesday and northern scotland could have 80 mph

and widely across scotland around 60 or 70, so really blustery tuesday evening on the way. on wednesday the nasty area of low pressure moves into the north sea but in its wake an area of cloud and outbreaks of rain move in, so for most of us wednesday is often cloudy, and the central swathe of the uk should be dry and bright on wednesday, especially further south—east and also in the south of the country. let's have a look at the outlook as we head into the end of the week, not much changes, temperatures typically around double figures across most of the uk and on friday, high pressure in charge, so fairly quiet weather. goodbye.

this is bbc news. the headlines... the 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